Search Engine Optimisation
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process to make your website visible to all search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Search Engine Optimization does not only mean getting your website listed on search engines, but it means getting it visible in the right position on the organic listing driven by the right keywords.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is carried out in two stages:
1. On-page SEO
This involves optimizing elements within your website to make it more search-engine friendly
- Keywords: Selecting relevant keywords that potential visitors may search for. These should be incorporated naturally into the content, headings, meta descriptions, and URLs.
- Content: High-quality, informative, and engaging content that answers users' queries.
- Meta Tags: Proper meta descriptions, title tags, and header tags (H1, H2, H3) to help search engines understand your content.
- Internal Linking: Linking to other pages on your website to help both search engines and users navigate.
- Mobile-Friendliness: Ensuring your site is responsive and works well on mobile devices, as search engines like Google prioritize mobile-friendly sites.
2. Off-page SEO
Off-page SEO focuses on increasing the authority of your website through external signals.
- Backlinks: Acquiring high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites to improve your site’s credibility.
- Social Signals: Engagement on social media platforms that can indirectly affect rankings.
- Brand Mentions: When your brand is mentioned across the web, it can help improve your site's reputation.
3. Technical SEO
This focuses on the backend of your website, ensuring it is structured properly for search engines to crawl and index.
- Site Speed: Faster websites tend to rank better, as user experience is prioritized.
- XML Sitemap: A sitemap helps search engines understand the structure of your website.
- Structured Data: Using schema markup to provide search engines with more context about your content.
- Crawlability: Ensuring that search engines can crawl and index your site without any technical issues.
4. Local SEO
This is focused on optimizing a website to rank in local search results.
- Google My Business: Setting up and optimizing your Google My Business profile.
- Local Listings: Ensuring your business is listed in local online directories with consistent information (name, address, phone number).
- Local Reviews: Encouraging customers to leave positive reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, or Trustpilot.
5. SEO Analytics & Monitoring
Using tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and other SEO platforms to track performance, keyword rankings, backlinks, and user behaviour. This helps to continuously improve your SEO strategy.
Effective SEO requires a combination of these elements, and it's an ongoing process to keep up with search engine algorithm updates and changes in user behaviour.