The Basics of SEO

Search Engine Optimisation is a broad and many-layered art – even if you’re technically minded, it can be tricky to get a handle on its many facets. Here are some facts on the absolute basics.

Among the most crucial elements in any SEO campaign are keywords. They’re exactly what they sound like: any word or term directly relevant to your industry or area of expertise. The aim is to make your site keyword-rich by adding words and phrases that search engines will recognise as relevant to potential queries, and direct them to your site. There is, however, an art to it – simply cramming as many keywords as possible into your website sounds odd and unnatural, not unlike the content of spam emails for example. Both search engines and humans will see it as such and steer clear accordingly, so a balance needs to be found. If you’re not sure what that is, just read through your content. Does it read oddly to a human? If so, it will read oddly to a search engine.

Also important is link-building. Modern search engines use complex algorithms to determine the quality of links, which in turn affects how your website is seen in terms of authority. Think of it in broadly the same terms as keywords – a decent amount of relevant links inserted in the right places can boost your rankings. However, slamming shoddy links into every other sentence is liable to again get your site labelled as spam. Good links can build relationships with other sites, which are often likely to link back to you in turn. Apart from getting boosts from their traffic, these relationships mean that search engines will see you as an authority with an emotional investment and knowledge of your business, as opposed to a pop-up site only dedicated to making a quick buck.

Another decisive factor in your site’s rankings in search engines is the User Experience (UX) which we’ve discussed previously. For example, Google takes into account page loading times as well as the number of steps it takes to make it to an online checkout. A page overloaded with flashing text and images is going to slow load times dramatically, adversely affecting your search engine rankings. Speaking of images, remember that search engines can only read writing, so surrounding your images with keyword-rich text, descriptions and captions are the best ways to get better recognised.

Finally – constant, regular updates are an excellent way to keep your site fresh and relevant. If your inventory or services are static, then a blog is a great way to keep new material coming into your site. If this is still all a little intimidating, feel free to call into our office on 01538 750 538 or email us at [email protected] for some helpful expert advice.