Search Engine Optimisation SEO
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Why is SEO important?
SEO Service
Search engines use complicated algorithms to determine which organic links to website pages they display when a user types a query. There is always competition between various websites to get their site to appear on the first page of free search results (the closer to the number 1 result, the better).
So, where should your website pages appear in search results? People use keywords and keyphrases to find what they are looking for online (the search query). Targeting the right keywords/phrases means the pages of your website which are relevant to the query are found by more customers who are interested in your business.
How do you use your website to target people who are your potential customers? It’s one thing to create a website that looks great and offers a good user experience, it’s another to market it to the people looking for your products, service or shop.
SEO Tactics
Making a site and its pages ‘Google friendly’ is often a balance between what makes for a good user experience and what Google looks for on a page, which determines a page’s indexed position in search results. A ‘User friendly’ site should always be the priority. However, there is no point in building a totally ‘User friendly’ site, if nobody sees it.
The competition for search results position is based on relevance of a webpage to the search query. In other words, ‘which page best matches and answers the users enquiry’. Search engines can only use the information it gathers from a website when the site is regularly crawled by search engine ‘bots’, to determine relevance.
The aim of targeting is to dedicate the structure and content of a page to one or more commonly used keywords and keyphrases which are relevant to the page. Keyword research is all important to determine how users search for your type of business.
On-page refers to every element contained in the page structure, including the page title and content hierarchy, meta content, the page content, in-bound and out-bound links, page load speed, image optimisation, etc.
What do search engines look for when they crawl your website’s pages? They look at the ‘theme’ of the page which could also be explained as ‘which search queries does this page answer?’.
When the content of a page is decided, it’s time to conduct keyword research to determine the search terms people use when looking for the the page content. The page structure is then based around the most popular keywords or keyphrases which match the page content.
There are a number of off-page SEO tactics which can be used to sustainably improve your website’s page rankings. Links from other websites can improve your pages’s influence on search engine rank. However, rules do apply.
Search engines favour what we know as ‘natural’ links and can penalise pages which have an inbound link profile with ‘paid for’ links.
Natural links are obtained from websites which identify as relevant to a page theme. These might include your suppliers dealer locator links, local and national directories and review sites. Links from Social Media sites add no SEO value as they can be too easily manipulated.
Local SEO for shops and services
Your potential customer catchment area may be further away from your locality than you are currently reaching. Most shops & businesses make sure they have their Google Business Profile listing verified, which can help your business get added to the ‘Local Pack’.
Your Business Profile listing is shown to people who search for your business name, regardless of their location. Your business can be added to the ‘Local Pack’ which is shown to people who search for your business type, only when they are located within what Google considers your local area. Outside of your local area, people will be shown a different ‘Local Pack’ which highlights businesses in their location.
So, is this enough to catch all of the people who might be your potential customers? Definitely not.
It’s very important to note that Google indexes pages individually, not websites. A Google Local Pack does not show for some searches. This is another reason to optimise your site’s pages for keywords & keyphrases which are relevant to your business. Where a Local Pack is not displayed for a search, Google display search results from relevant websites (plus paid Ads). If a business local to the searcher has optimised a webpage for a matching search term, Google is more likely to show that page to the searcher.
By optimising your website pages for relevant search terms, your website pages are far more likely to be shown outside of your local area, thereby introducing your business to many more potential customers.
Keyword Research & Optimisation
Google only know what you tell them about your business via your web pages. Keyword research is vitally important if you’re going to reach all of the people who are looking for a business like yours. There are a number of methods you can use to find out which search terms people use to find the products or services you offer.
Google have their own keyword research tool which generates keyword suggestions and search volumes. This tool and other keyword planning tools can be useful for terms you may have missed when compiling your own list.
Keywords are used within your page titles, internal links, content & content titles, meta titles & meta descriptions. Using your relevant keywords within your pages tells Google and other search engines which search terms your pages are relevant to.
The better optimised your pages are, the further up the list of Local Pack results your listing will appear and the more likely your listing will be clicked and viewed. While local SEO is based around the geographical location of your business, the reach of your website is not limited to a specific area.
There are several reasons to optimise your web pages for local searches. Google uses the information they gather from your web pages and from your business profile to determine which keyword searches to index your listing for. The more information you give Google via your page content about what you offer, the more likely your business listing is going to be shown in relevant searches.
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