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Website search optimisation in a nutshell
Search Engine Optimisation (or SEO) is the process of using strategies to get more people to visit your website.
When you use a search engine, you expect to see list of results which are the closest matches for the search term you entered, and with some order of relevance. That all sounds straightforward, but according to a study by AHrefs, 90.63% of web pages get NO traffic from Google!
90.63% of web pages get NO traffic from Google!
Successful SEO Search Engine Optimisation on websites and individual pages will allow them to stand a better chance of being listed amongst the top search results.
This can be achieved by using a variety of methods to determine how a website and each of its pages should be set out to be as effective as possible in search engine results.
As a business it is no longer enough to just be online. To succeed you need to be found, so even if you have the most incredible website, you could have a big problem if nobody sees it!
To succeed it's no longer enough to just be online
Getting seen requires a strategy
If you want your website to be seen, being as close to the top of the list of search results as possible should be your goal. Any new business offering services within a geographic area will need to earn the right to be amongst existing well established websites for those same search criteria.
Done correctly and consistently, SEO can make this happen, but this won't happen overnight. SEO requires a lot of attention, monitoring and analysis, so it WILL take some time.
Why an SEO strategy is important
Using professional SEO tools including as Semrush and Ahrefs along with some Google inspection and analysis tools such as Google Search Console and Google Analytics, we can assess where you're at currently, discuss where you need to be, and create an SEO strategy to help you get there.
Be assured that many of your competitors are doing exactly that, and those competitors who you currently see occupying the top positions in search results are not there by chance!
What does SEO involve?
Ideally your website should be designed with SEO as a key consideration right from the start, but many people make the mistake of treating it as an add-on at the end.
But what if your website has already been built? Is it too late? What can be done?
Our free website audit would be a good place to start the initial free SEO analysis of your current website.
Free website audit!
Things can certainly be done to improve your effectiveness with search engines, and this would need to be assessed on a case by case basis. There may be problems and room for improvement on your website, but remember that your website won't be out there producing great results purely because you have ticked all the boxes... You're in competition, so your competitors need to be looked at too!
So other websites actually affect how my own website performs on search engines?
Exactly. The search engines need some way of determining which websites are the best match for each search term entered, and in which order to place them in the list of results. So getting to the top and staying there can require a lot of sustainable effort.
Some examples of what should be reviewed would include:
Competitor analysis:
- Which of your competitors are appearing in the top search engine results?
- What are they doing to give them such a high position?
- A
gap analysis
would be carried out to assess the content and structure of your website in comparison to your competitors.
Checking for website errors:
Broken links:
Checking for any links to pages which may have been removed, or links which have been incorrectly set up and therefore fail to reach a target page.Missing images:
Checking for images which are not displaying. The results may be different for mobile and desktop displays.Missing images:
Generally looking out for any website errors.
Review for improvements to your website:
Website content:
Conduct a website content review and suggest enhancements.Keyword research:
Analysis of what is working, what is not working, what your competitors are doing, and suggesting.Tag analysis:
Checking how the major tags such as<title>,<h1>and<h2>etc are being used.Page load speed:
Carrying outpage load time
analysis for desktop and mobile displays.Website architecture:
An analysis on the structure of your website.Internal links:
Analysis and review of existing internal links and identifying opportunities for improvement.Inbound linking:
Analysis and review of links from other websites to your website (also known as
)backlinking
Outbound linking:
Analysis and review of links from your website to other websites.Landing pages:
Determine strategy for the use oflanding pages
which could be used to great effect in organic searches and paid searches.
Google submissions:
Google validation
and submitting.Google Analytics
tag installation, validation, analysis and monitoring.Google Business Profile
(formerly known asGoogle My Business
) listing to help your business to stand out when people are searching in your area for the services you provide.
Bing submissions:
- Submission to the
Bing search engine
- Submission to
Bing Places
which will help potential customers find your website when searching for businesses like yours on Bing.
Recalling my first SEO retainer plan in 1998!
I still recall my first SEO retainer contract: Sleeperz Hotel in Cambridge, back in 1998.
After I had built their first website, the owner told me I'm going to need you to spend a few hours a week getting my website high in the search engines, otherwise I'm going to struggle against the other hotels in the area.
Monthly SEO packages
Monthly SEO packages are now commonplace because the effort that SEO requires is ongoing. Just how much effort depends on your business and your competition.
Successful SEO can't be done by spending a couple of days of effort on SEO and sitting back while it all happens.
SEO takes time, and it's usually more effective to spend a couple of hours a week to analyse results, look at competitors, review page content and tags, tweak where necessary, and keep repeating that process methodically over a period of time.
How much does SEO cost?
Due to the nature of SEO, you will see SEO specialists offering monthly retainer plans, which can cost upwards of £100 and run into several £1000's depending on the size, effort and other factors such as whether paid advertising and pay-per-click strategies are required.
Setting expectations for SEO
You are unlikely to see results straight away.
I realise that is not a positive headline, but it's the truth...
Success in organic searches can take weeks or even several months, depending on the type of business you're in and level of competition.
That IS the reality, and so anyone who claims that they can get you to the top in organic search results is likely to be exaggerating!
Also remember that your competition will be working hard to get to the top too, and they'll continue to work hard to stay there.
"We can get you to the top in Google" they claim!
This is an ambitious claim that you will hear a lot from people offering SEO services.
A reality check is needed, and expectations need to be set.
An ambitious claim that you will hear a lot from people offering SEO services.
A reality check is needed, and expectations need to be set.
An SEO reality check
Claims by SEO agencies to get you to #1 in Google for organic search can be exaggerated, and should usually be taken with a pinch of salt.
SEO is an ongoing process. It is competitive and requires effort, analysis, frequent monitoring of progress, and tweaking of pages and content.
And if you're expecting to display right at the top of the search results when those who are already at the top have paid to be there, organic search won't get you to the top.
The best you could hope for without paying for Google Ads is to get as high as possible AFTER the paid search results.
We can certainly help!
