
Top Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Basic You Should Master
If your website isn’t visible on Google, it doesn’t exist. In today’s market, Google is everyone’s go-to for information and product and service recommendations. Mastering the basics of search engine optimisation is complex, but it isn’t rocket science.
What is SEO and why is it Important?
SEO is a process, not an end-goal, and during the process, you perform activities to boost your site’s visibility in the results pages. Sounds simple enough, right? But since everyone is vying for the same spot (number one), it's unlikely that your website will show high up without any work. And, because your time is best spent running your business, hiring the services of SEO specialists can bring you results faster.
Set your Website up for SEO Success
What can you do to market your website and outperform your competitors?
Invest in a Quality Domain
Don't worry if you already have a domain as most domains are suitable for SEO. However, if you're still looking around, remember these two qualities of a quality domain:
- Avoid trying to fit too many keywords in your domain name. It's a good idea to use your company name without any hyphens or other characters.
- Be mindful of the extension: although .com domains are the most popular TLDs, .net and.co extensions are also suitable choices. Extensions like.info and.biz, which people often associate with spam, should be avoided. If you have one, though, it's not the end of the world. It is still possible to create a legitimate website that ranks.
Use a Website Platform
Website platforms make it simple to build and maintain a website. You have two categories to consider:
- Hosted Platforms
With hosted platforms, everything is taken care of for you. They supply ready-made templated designs, host the website, and let you add and change content without a background in coding.
- Self Hosted Platforms
These also enable code-free content addition and editing. The only difference is that you must install and host them yourself.
SEO success depends, in part, on your hosting platform. Make sure the platform you select has strong security and quick page loading. Quicker loading times can improve the user experience and help your website rank higher.
Create a Logical Site Structure
Content on your website should be simple for search engines and people to find. This is why it is crucial to arrange your content in a logical hierarchy You can accomplish this by making a site map.
Factors Influencing SEO
Many factors influence a website’s SEO. Each one can increase your website's search engine ranking and boost traffic to your domain. Here is an overview and how to best utilise them.
Keywords
Finding the terms your target market uses to search for the goods or services you provide is the main goal of keyword research. You should utilize this knowledge to build your keyword strategy.
Without keyword research, you risk becoming lost in jargon and ignoring well-liked terms that your target audience is already using. Alternatively, you can find yourself up against industry titans, in which case your chances of success, even with a brilliant approach, may be slim.
Keyword Research can provide insightful information like:
- How many people are looking for a particular term or phrase?
- How appropriate a term or phrase is for your content and target audience
- How challenging it is to rank for a particular term in relation to other websites' competitors
- Long-tail keywords that can help you create content themes and offer further insights into the problems that your audience faces
To use keyword research efficiently, take the following actions:
- Brainstorm relevant topics for your business/website
- Use a keyword tool like Ubersuggest, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or Semrush
- Use the keywords in your content
- Monitor and adjust your strategy regularly
Quick Tips for Keyword Research
Understand your audience
Examine the terms and phrases that prospective buyers enter into search engines to find your product or service. To find out who is visiting your website and what keywords they used to get there, employ a website analytics tool.
Brainstorming seed terms
Make a list of common terms or expressions related to your company and sector. These can serve as the starting point.
Focus on long-tail terms
When a consumer gets closer to making a purchase, they tend to use longer, more focused phrases known as long-tail keywords. These typically have greater conversion rates and less competition.
Content Creation
Content attracts visitors to your website. This lets the search engines know you offer relevant and helpful content. Think of content ideas based on the needs of the audience.
Use your target keywords to generate article ideas. For instance, if you own a plumbing company, "how do I fix a sink" can lead to a blog article explaining why calling a plumber rather than trying to fix it yourself is preferable.
Write briefly and clearly, so that the material in your content is helpful and free of "fluff." For easier reading use headers, bullet points, and short paragraphs.
Include relevant search engine keywords. Although it might seem apparent, incorporate your goal keywords in your article if you want to optimize it for search engines. Close with a call-to-action by providing a link to a page where your audience may easily respond to.
Optimize meta Descriptions and title tags
Well-written title tags and meta descriptions are fundamentals of SEO that can raise your website's search engine results, increase traffic, and help you meet your marketing objectives. That means how well, or how poorly, we craft a page’s title tag will impact that page’s ability to rank. A quality title tag is well-written and engaging. It should always include a page’s focus keyword and compel people to click.
How to Optimize Title Tags
- Draft title tag copy that is unique, descriptive, and compelling.
- Write for humans, not search engines.
- Include the page’s focus keyword at the front of the copy and your brand at the end.
- Keep title tags under 60 characters if possible.
- Use separators like the pipe, hyphen, or colon to separate different elements.
- Place your brand name after the title separator, except on the homepage, where it typically goes first.
- Capitalize like a blog title.
Some Quick Tips for Creating Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
- Position keywords toward the beginning of the text
The most relevant material is what search engines seek to show. When you begin a phrase with your keywords, Google will see that you mean business.
- Maintain their focus and conciseness
Don't go over 150–160 characters when stating your unique selling proposition or primary value.
- Use appropriate keywords
Keywords in title tags and meta descriptions will improve the visibility of your material, just like they will if you include them in the body of your writing.
- Speak with action-oriented words
Action verbs like "discover" and "accelerate" can draw readers in, while words like "now" and "today" communicate a sense of urgency.
Prioritize Mobile Experience
Before smartphones were popular, Google used crawling and indexing to find, process, and rank pages on desktop. Google has been more considerate of mobile devices since its 2015 mobile-friendly upgrade.
Sites designed for these portable devices now rank higher in mobile-first indexing, so if you want to be an SEO master, you must focus on mobile optimization. The first step you need to take to accommodate mobile sites is responsive design. It indicates that when users visit the website from a non-standard screen size, the design changes. A desktop page and a mobile page have different dimensions and angles that you can see.
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