Web Designer, Business Strategist, Photographer, Yogini, Animal Lover, Wanderluster from Sydney, Australia.
May 30, 2020
Your site may be super cute like the little pug here, but unfortunately, that won’t guarantee you a spot on google search results.
This is a question that I am asked the most by clients and while I usually cover it 1:1 with them I thought it is probably a question you have wondered about too.
Unfortunately, it is not a case of “build it, and they will come”, if you want to appear on the first page of Google for your product or service, it is unlikely to happen unless your site is optimised for Googles search engine ranking factors.
Firstly optimising your site for search engines is an essential part of a website project and begins before the website exists. What do I mean by that?
There are four core elements of an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) campaign:
The content on your website should be there for your website visitor, but it is important to note that search engines “read” content too. Therefore, it is essential to research your keywords and keyphrases before you create your website as you will want to use them throughout your website.
How do you do that?
Then you want to look at the search volume of those keywords, you can use Google’s Keyword Planner to do that, but you will need to sign up for a Google AdWords account if you haven’t got one already (its free to create) and follow the prompts.
Categorise the keywords into categories and then prioritise them by search volume then narrow this list down to 3 keywords with one primary keyword to use on your website.
Ask yourself these questions:
Your site content and the way you structure and present it is where content is key, it is content that drives the internet.
This is where using the keywords that you identified come into play.
You want to use them in:
Designate the ‘buying intent’ keywords to the home page and service pages.
Designate the ‘research’ keywords to content pages such as the blog, FAQ etc.
Remember that your site, while you are “optimising for google”, ultimately needs to be understood by your potential client or customer. They need to immediately know that you can solve their problem. You may want to read this post on what makes a good first impression.
Lastly, remember to add new keywords and keyphrases to your SEO strategies when you add new content or make changes to your website.
SEO work that is done aside from the content is referred to as Technical SEO, and from an SEO perspective, the technical development of the website is the foundation.
It is as it sounds, technical. However, you can check all these yourself, but you may want to bring in your web developer or hire an expert to resolve any issues you come across, so I won’t go into details here, just provide you with the tools.
Firstly you want to make sure your website is indexed by google by searching ‘site:yourwebsite.com’ in Google, if not you will need to create and add your sitemap to google search console.
The main criteria Google uses to judge your website’s reputation are the links pointing from other websites to your website.
So, now that you have your site optimised now its time to put yourself out there by:
Note: Ensure your Name, Address, Phone (NAP) is consistent on your website and all online profiles. Make sure you have added relevant keywords and descriptions and if you have more than 1 location that they each have a listing.
When it comes to optimising your website for search engines, there is no one single solution, and it is not a set and forget approach either. You will also want to think about paid marketing like PPC (Pay per click advertising) and advertise your site on other sites. Also depending on your business and budget offline marketing such as traditional advertising in newspapers, magazines, radio, television.
If you have any questions on the above or would like to dive deeper, get in touch, we can grab a coffee and work on a strategy together.
Your site may be super cute like the little pug here, but unfortunately, that won’t guarantee you a spot on google search results.
This is a question that I am asked the most by clients and while I usually cover it 1:1 with them I thought it is probably a question you have wondered about too.
Unfortunately, it is not a case of “build it, and they will come”, if you want to appear on the first page of Google for your product or service, it is unlikely to happen unless your site is optimised for Googles search engine ranking factors.
Firstly optimising your site for search engines is an essential part of a website project and begins before the website exists. What do I mean by that?
There are four core elements of an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) campaign:
The content on your website should be there for your website visitor, but it is important to note that search engines “read” content too. Therefore, it is essential to research your keywords and keyphrases before you create your website as you will want to use them throughout your website.
How do you do that?
Then you want to look at the search volume of those keywords, you can use Google’s Keyword Planner to do that, but you will need to sign up for a Google AdWords account if you haven’t got one already (its free to create) and follow the prompts.
Categorise the keywords into categories and then prioritise them by search volume then narrow this list down to 3 keywords with one primary keyword to use on your website.
Ask yourself these questions:
Your site content and the way you structure and present it is where content is key, it is content that drives the internet.
This is where using the keywords that you identified come into play.
You want to use them in:
Designate the ‘buying intent’ keywords to the home page and service pages.
Designate the ‘research’ keywords to content pages such as the blog, FAQ etc.
Remember that your site, while you are “optimising for google”, ultimately needs to be understood by your potential client or customer. They need to immediately know that you can solve their problem. You may want to read this post on what makes a good first impression.
Lastly, remember to add new keywords and keyphrases to your SEO strategies when you add new content or make changes to your website.
SEO work that is done aside from the content is referred to as Technical SEO, and from an SEO perspective, the technical development of the website is the foundation.
It is as it sounds, technical. However, you can check all these yourself, but you may want to bring in your web developer or hire an expert to resolve any issues you come across, so I won’t go into details here, just provide you with the tools.
Firstly you want to make sure your website is indexed by google by searching ‘site:yourwebsite.com’ in Google, if not you will need to create and add your sitemap to google search console.
The main criteria Google uses to judge your website’s reputation are the links pointing from other websites to your website.
So, now that you have your site optimised now its time to put yourself out there by:
Note: Ensure your Name, Address, Phone (NAP) is consistent on your website and all online profiles. Make sure you have added relevant keywords and descriptions and if you have more than 1 location that they each have a listing.
When it comes to optimising your website for search engines, there is no one single solution, and it is not a set and forget approach either. You will also want to think about paid marketing like PPC (Pay per click advertising) and advertise your site on other sites. Also depending on your business and budget offline marketing such as traditional advertising in newspapers, magazines, radio, television.
If you have any questions on the above or would like to dive deeper, get in touch, we can grab a coffee and work on a strategy together.
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