Improve SEO Performance in SERPs
It’s competitive out there and SEO / SEM are terms you will have heard. Google continually move the goal posts and adjust the rules to ensure only the best quality content is delivered to searchers. This makes it a constant challenge for Website Owners to stay within the rules and improve their sites.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) involves a set of practices aimed at improving your website’s visibility in ‘the SERP’s’ (Search Engine Results Pages. Done well, the adjustments can help you to improve your position and generate more organic traffic. Done badly, the exact opposite will occur!
Whether you’re running a blog, an e-commerce store, or a service-based business, understanding the basics of SEO is crucial to your website’s success.
We will introduce you to the basic elements of SEO so that you have a better understanding of what it is.
What is SEO?
It is the practice of improving your website so that its pages rank higher in the search engines. but remember, it’s not all about Google! There are other Search Engines ……
When a user ‘searches’ in their chosen Search Engine, the goal is to make sure your website ranks on Page 1, ideally No.1 on Page 1
Ultimately, IF someone searches for something you provide and you rank immediately, you have a far better chance of achieving business
BUT if your pages fail to:
- deliver EXACTLY what the user wants
- deliver the BEST price, service or experience
you will FAIL to convert the user
It’s NOT all about Page 1 and reaching No.1
I have been in the game a LONG time … (25 years now) … and clients often ask:
‘Why do we get no Traffic or Enquiries BUT we rank No.1 on Page.1?’ ….
Answer is almost always, one of these two things:
- No one searches for the term you rank at No.1
- Your website has technical issues
SEO is the art of making your website ‘better‘ *than your competition:
- Better Website Design
- Better Content Writing
- Better User Experience (UX)
- Better Load Times
- Better Trust than your competitors
- Better Range of Products or Services
- Better Reviews
- Better Customer Services
- Better Location
- Just better …. *than your competitors…
Why should it be any different to a bricks and mortar – high street shop?
Would you as a consumer, visit the smart shop, with friendly staff, great premises and fair deals on a great range of items, OR visit the shop which looks tired, has unfriendly and unhelpful staff with limited product range?
Let me me brutally honest with you!
Anyone who just takes your money to ‘SEO’ your website, without delving in to how ready your website is once the (properly targeted) traffic arrives, is not doing their job properly!
Three Main Areas of SEO
1. On-Page SEO:
As it sounds … this is where we (or you) work on the actual website e.g on the posts, pages and ‘content’ of the site.
The objective here is fundamentally simple.
The objective of On-Page SEO IS to to work on these elements:
Keyword Research:
Identify relevant keywords and phrases to target within content (pages and posts)
Title Tags:
To create appropriate ‘unique and compelling’ title tags that ‘may or may not’ include target keywords, within 60 characters.
Meta Descriptions:
To create concise meta descriptions to describe the page within 160 characters.
Header Tags (H1, H2, etc.):
Correctly utilise Heading Tags in topological order to organise content, with primary keywords in the H1 tag and related keywords in H2-H6 tags.
URL Structure:
Ensure URLs are short, descriptive, and contain relevant keywords. Avoid long, complex URLs.
Content Quality and Relevance:
Write high-quality, informative, and engaging content that answers user queries and incorporates keywords naturally.
Internal Linking:
Add links to other relevant pages on your site to improve navigation and distribute link equity.
Image Optimisation:
Compress images, use descriptive file names, and add ALT text with relevant keywords for better accessibility and SEO.
Mobile Friendliness:
Ensure your website is responsive and provides a good user experience across devices.
Page Speed Optimisation:
Optimise page load times by minimising HTTPS requests, leveraging browser caching, and using a content delivery network (CDN).
Schema Markup:
Add structured data to help search engines understand the content type and display rich results in SERPs.
User Experience (UX):
Focus on a clear, intuitive design, easy navigation, and interactive elements that enhance user engagement.
The objective of On-Page SEO IS NOT:
- to generate spammy poorly written content
- overuse keywords unnaturally throughout content
- copy content from other websites
- create duplicate content
- failing to implement the basics of SEO fundamentals
- over utilise anchor text
- embed hidden text and links
- fail to check and optimise for Mobile and Tablet devices
- fail to identify, fix and monitor broken links
It might seem a lot, but really. Most of this should come naturally to the conscientious website owner.
2. Off-Page SEO:
This refers to actions taken outside your website that impact your rankings, such as acquiring backlinks from other reputable sites. Quality backlinks tell search engines that your content is credible and trustworthy.
Link Building:
Establishing quality backlinks from reputable sites to improve domain authority.
Social Media Marketing:
Promoting content on social platforms to increase visibility and drive traffic.
Guest Blogging:
Writing articles for relevant blogs to gain exposure and earn backlinks.
Influencer Outreach:
Collaborating with influencers to share and endorse content or products.
Brand Mentions:
Ensuring your brand is mentioned positively on other websites and platforms.
Content Marketing:
Creating high-quality, shareable content that attracts backlinks and traffic.
Forum Participation:
Engaging in industry forums to build authority and include links where appropriate.
Local SEO (Citations):
Listing your business in local directories to improve local search rankings.
Press Releases:
Distributing newsworthy content to gain media attention and backlinks.
Blog Commenting:
Adding valuable insights on relevant blogs with a backlink to your website (use cautiously).
3. Technical SEO:
This involves optimising the backend elements of your site, such as improving site speed, ensuring mobile-friendliness, and setting up structured data. It ensures that search engines can easily crawl and index your site.
Site Speed Optimisation:
Improve loading times by compressing images, minifying CSS/JavaScript, and leveraging browser caching.
Mobile-Friendliness:
Ensure the website is fully responsive and performs well on mobile devices.
SSL Certificate:
Secure the site with HTTPS to improve security and trustworthiness in search rankings.
XML Sitemap:
Create and submit an XML sitemap to help search engines crawl and index the website efficiently.
Structured Data (Schema Markup):
Add structured data to pages to enhance search engine understanding and improve rich results.
Fix Broken Links:
Identify and repair broken internal and external links to improve user experience and crawl efficiency.
Crawl Errors:
Regularly check for and resolve crawl errors in Google Search Console to maintain accessibility.
Canonical Tags:
Use canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues by specifying the preferred version of a page.
Optimize Robots.txt:
Configure the robots.txt file to control search engine crawlers’ access to specific areas of the site.
URL Structure:
Maintain a clean and organised URL structure with keywords, using hyphens instead of underscores for readability.
The Basics of SEO
1. Keyword Research
Keywords are the foundation of SEO.
They are the terms and phrases that users type into search engines to find information, products, or services.
Five key factors in Keyword Research are:
Search Volume:
The number of times a keyword is searched per month, indicating its popularity. High search volume shows strong interest, but it may also mean more competition.
Keyword Difficulty:
A measure of competition for a keyword. High difficulty means more established sites are ranking for it, so targeting lower-difficulty keywords can often be more effective for new or smaller sites.
Search Intent:
Understanding the intent behind a keyword (e.g., informational, transactional, navigational) helps in creating content that matches user expectations and needs.
Relevance:
Ensuring keywords are highly relevant to your business, products, or services. Targeting unrelated keywords can lead to high bounce rates and low engagement.
Long-Tail Keywords:
Targeting more specific, longer phrases that may have lower search volume but often higher conversion potential, as they attract users closer to making a decision.
Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs can help you find high-traffic keywords.
Focus on both short-tail (e.g., “digital marketing”) and long-tail keywords (e.g., “affordable digital marketing services for small businesses”) to capture a broad audience.
Once you have your target keywords, incorporate them naturally into your content, headings, and meta tags.
2. Quality Content Creation
I have been in the game since 1998 and seen so many things change. Back in the day, spamming the keywords tag was all that was needed, with sub-standard content. Not any more!
There is an old saying, which has stood the test of time.
Content is King
Your content should:
- answer users’ questions
- solve users problems
- provide useful information.
Regularly updating your site with fresh content—whether blog posts, product descriptions, or landing pages—helps improve your SEO performance.
Here are five key points for creating quality content:
1. Understand Your Audience:
Research your target audience’s interests, pain points, and preferred content types to ensure your content meets their needs.
2. Provide Value:
Focus on delivering actionable insights, solutions, or unique perspectives that add real value and address readers’ questions or challenges.
3. Use Engaging Formats:
Mix text with visual elements like images, videos, infographics, and bullet points to make content more digestible and visually appealing.
4. Incorporate SEO Best Practices:
Optimise for relevant keywords, use proper headings, add internal links, and create compelling meta descriptions to improve visibility and relevance.
5. Edit and Proofread:
Ensure accuracy, clarity, and readability by thoroughly editing content, checking grammar, and refining language to enhance professionalism and credibility.
These elements help ensure your content is engaging, informative, and effective at reaching and retaining your audience.
3. Mobile Friendliness
As of 2024, mobile-friendly websites are crucial for SEO success due to the significant shift in how users access the internet. With over 7.5 billion mobile connections globally and 5.3 billion unique mobile users, mobile devices account for a majority of online traffic. This shift has led Google and other search engines to prioritize mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor, making it essential for any website aiming to rank well.
Mobile-First Indexing:
Google’s adoption of mobile-first indexing means that the mobile version of a website is primarily used for indexing and ranking. This means that if a website is not optimized for mobile, it may rank lower in search results, even on desktop searches. Google’s mobile-first approach reflects the fact that 58% of all internet traffic now originates from mobile devices.
User Experience:
A mobile-friendly design ensures that visitors have a seamless experience on any device. Websites that are not optimised for mobile can lead to higher bounce rates, as users often abandon pages that require excessive zooming, scrolling, or are slow to load. This not only impacts user satisfaction but also sends negative signals to search engines, affecting rankings. Studies show that 53% of mobile users will leave a website if it takes more than three seconds to load.
Local Search Impact:
Mobile-friendliness also directly impacts local SEO. Mobile users often conduct location-based searches, looking for nearby services and businesses. Google has found that
76% of people who search for something nearby on their smartphone visit a related business within a day, making mobile optimisation critical for local businesses.
Mobile optimisation is no longer optional; it’s a vital component of modern SEO.
A mobile-friendly website improves user experience, meets search engine standards, and ultimately increases a site’s visibility and accessibility across devices. Websites optimised for mobile are well-positioned to attract, retain, and convert the vast audience browsing on mobile devices.
Find out how well your site performs across different devices:
4. Backlink Building
Backlinks, or inbound links, are links from one website to another.
They are a foundational element of SEO, serving as indicators of credibility, relevance, and authority to search engines like Google.
In 2024, backlinks remain crucial for SEO because they function as endorsements of content quality.
When reputable websites link to a site, it signals to search engines that the site is trustworthy and valuable, which can boost its rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Relevance of Backlinks in 2024
Backlinks have been central to SEO strategies since Google’s early days, and their importance hasn’t diminished, even though search algorithms have become increasingly complex. Quality backlinks from reputable, high-authority sites (e.g., government or educational websites) can significantly improve a site’s search visibility and organic traffic. However, in 2024, the focus has shifted from sheer quantity to quality and relevance of backlinks.
Google’s algorithms, particularly updates like Penguin, have refined how backlinks are evaluated.
The emphasis now is on natural, relevant, and high-quality backlinks.
Manipulative backlink practices like link farms or purchasing low-quality links are penalised and can harm SEO performance. Instead, earning links organically through quality content and valuable partnerships is essential.
Importance of Backlinks in Modern SEO Work
Backlinks play a pivotal role in establishing a website’s authority, helping it rank for competitive keywords and boosting domain authority (DA). A well-rounded backlink profile can also protect against search engine updates, as websites with a variety of high-quality, natural backlinks are less vulnerable to penalties. In local SEO, backlinks from reputable local sources are crucial, helping to increase visibility in local search results, which is especially important for businesses with physical locations.
Are Backlinks as Critical as Claimed?
While backlinks are still highly influential, there is debate within the SEO community about their future significance.
Google has increasingly integrated user experience (UX) signals, content quality, and on-page SEO factors into its algorithm. This means that factors like page speed, mobile-friendliness, content relevance, and user engagement are also major contributors to rankings. Google’s RankBrain, an AI algorithm, considers user intent and behaviour, possibly reducing reliance on backlinks alone.
For some less competitive niches, websites can achieve good rankings through excellent on-page SEO, content optimisation, and technical SEO without needing extensive backlinks. Additionally, small businesses focusing on local SEO can benefit greatly from strong location-based signals, customer reviews, and Google My Business optimisation, sometimes with less emphasis on a vast backlink profile.
However, while backlinks may be somewhat less central than they once were, they remain a critical piece of the SEO puzzle for competitive and broader niches. For businesses with national or international reach, they are still essential.
Here are some really useful resources if you want to learn more:
5. Site Speed and Technical Performance
Site speed is not only important for user experience but also for SEO. A slow-loading website can frustrate users and cause them to leave, leading to higher bounce rates. Google favours sites that load quickly, as it wants to deliver the best possible user experience.
Compressing images, leveraging browser caching, and using a content delivery network (CDN) are just a few ways to improve site speed. Additionally, ensuring that your site is secure with HTTPS is critical for both user trust and SEO.
Hiring a SEO Professional
SEO is time-consuming and a complex continual process, especially if you’re new to it. You can be forgiven if you need to spend time on what you do best and find someone who can do this work for you properly.
While it’s possible to learn and implement basic SEO strategies on your own, partnering with a professional SEO service like erm …. us, can not only save you time but deliver much better results.
We have the expertise, tools, and strategies to take your SEO efforts to the next level.
Whether you’re just starting or looking to optimise an established site, we offer tailored SEO solutions to help your business grow and develop a comprehensive SEO strategy that drives traffic, improves rankings, and generates more leads for your business.
Areas Covered
We proudly offer our services to businesses across all locations, with a strong client base in the UK and a few overseas clients as well.
Situated in the Midlands, on the border of Northamptonshire and Leicestershire, we naturally focus on local clients for the ease of in-person visits. However, we effectively serve clients nationwide and internationally, utilising video conferencing tools and online project management platforms. No matter where you’re located, our skills and dedication ensure seamless collaboration, allowing us to meet your needs wherever you are.
Talk to Us on 01604 211260
For expert SEO services that deliver measurable results, contact W.E.B.S Ltd today.
Find out the Cost to SEO a Website
The cost will depend on a number of factors, primarily:
- scope to compete in a sector defined by your products or services
- state of your current website speed and performance
- effectiveness of your site on multiple devices
- quality of your existing content and potential for new content
- current User Experience factors and potential to improve
- current traffic levels and ability to achieve improvement
- social media channels and followers and ability to utilise
- budgetary constraints and timescales
This is not an exhaustive list but we consider many factors, including any conflicts of interest with existing clients.
We welcome all enquiries and as long as we see a way to add value, and financially it suits both parties, we will be happy to help. Call us 01604 211260 or visit our SEO Site Checker to initiate dialogue with us.