5 December 2017 - Richard Shire
As a business owner trying to figure out how to get your business online, you may have come across the term SEO but not understand what it means. Getting to grips with SEO is a fundamental aspect of increasing your online visibility and will increase sales long term. So if you are clueless about it, now is the time to get clued up! In this post we will share an easy guide so you can know what it is and how it can grow your business.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It is the process that businesses can use to get their website high on the search engines listings.
All search engines sort through the limitless pages on the internet using a specific algorithm. This helps them sort and categorize each page and enable them to deliver the right information when a user makes a search.
You can think of SEO like an internet sat nav. Another analogy is that the SEO works like spiders on a ‘web,’ scurrying the internet looking for clues on each website page to ascertain if it would be relevant to a search.
On page optimisation is the process that you can follow to make sure that each page on your website will perform as well on the search engines. You want to make sure that each page has the right clues for the SEO spider bots to pick up on. These clues can be left in the form of keywords.
As the SEO spiders look for relevant pages, they search for the copy that matches the search terms inputted by the user. The term ‘long tail keywords’ refers to three or four keyword phrases which are very specific to your page and what you are selling.
The algorithms that search engines use have changed a great deal over the years and have become so much more sophisticated. It used to be all about the key words but it isn’t as simple as this anymore.
The search engines now rate your page on how readable it is too so if you have filled the copy with keywords in the hope of impressing Google, think again. Your page will not read well and the search engines will punish you for it.
If you don’t want to get too technical, the biggest advice we can give you is that when you are writing copy, have clarity about what the purpose of the page is. Write naturally and focus on delivering the message as oppose to over using the keywords at every opportunity.
Try to use the keywords in the introduction, conclusion, in headings and subheads and if possible on picture captions but remember to make the copy engaging, easy to read and clear. It is also worth remembering that if people arrive at your website and then just leave because it is difficult to navigate and understand then this will reduce your SEO too.
It’s not just about what is on your website; off site optimisation is what happens outside your website that impacts the listings. Increasing your SEO through off page optimisation isn’t a quick process. It takes time to build credibility, relevance and authority.
One way to do this through backlinks, these are links in other places on the internet; the more links that go back to your site, the more the search engines recognise that your business is relevant. To increase back links focus on creating regular and fresh content that can be shared and re-shared on social media. Another great tip is to build relationships with other business so they can provide links to your site on their social media platforms and their website. You can do this by guest blogging which is writing articles for other websites showcasing your expertise and providing a link back to your site.
We hope this overview helps you to understand what SEO is and how you can use it to grow your online visibility. If you want a professional touch to your website with a team that focuses on conversions then simply contact us here at Aspire Shire and we can arrange a no obligation call for you to find out how we can help you.