What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?

Search Engine Optimisation in Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall

Many people in business talk about SEO or needing SEO…but what is it?

Well, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, and it is the process of optimising your website so that Google recognises your website and sees it as a legitimate place to send users when they search for businesses like yours.

Now you might be thinking, “Search Terms? Optimising? Argh, still need help!” Well here is a little break down for you, about what we do.

Search terms

Search terms are the words used by users in a Google search to find a service or website. When you consider search terms, you need to get into the mind of your customers and think about what language they may use to find your services. For example, if you provide Security, you may consider all the ways in which you could search for someone that provides this service; Nightclub Security, Bouncers, Chaperone, Doorman, Door supervisor. 

Baseline SEO report

Next comes a baseline SEO report. (You can claim your FREE report here) This is important for SEO because you need to measure the progression of your SEO status.

SEO system

To optimise your website, let’s think of SEO like a points system. The more points you get from your website, the higher in a Google search your website will be listed. Your website scored points by making small changes to the front and back end of your website, (that’s the bit other people can see, and the bit used for designing and adding things to your website!).

There are several things that help your SEO and they are ever-changing, but here are some common ones to try yourself;

  • Get listed on Google My Business. (Need help? We can do this for you, get in touch!)
  • Mention key phrases in your content.
  • Have more than 2 pages on your website.
  • Link between pages.
  • Add a blog.

Then there are more in-depth changes you can make;

  • Change slugs.
  • Alt tag images.
  • Backlinks.
  • Metadata.

Now, your website doesn’t just need to score points, it needs to be relevant. There is no point in bombarding your site with these changes if it is a poorly made or spammy site. This includes things like, a site that Google cannot ‘crawl. Can Google go from one page to another on your website? Try linking a word in a paragraph of text to another page, such as ” Contact“. If you need help, feel free to pop us a message for advice. Other factors include; a slow loading site, not enough headings and sentences that go on, and on, and on.

Make sure your page is not full of irrelevant pop-up ads and it has an SSL certificate, this is a security feature for your site. You can tell if your site has this but looking at the URL when visiting a website, check for a small padlock symbol. Google chooses where to rank websites based on legitimacy, and relevancy so it is important not to just ‘tick boxes, for box-ticking sake’.

Now you have some knowledge about SEO, but if you want to find out more visit (here) to hear it from our friends over at Google.

Our websites are all professionally made ready to conduct advanced SEO, get in touch if you need a hand. Our simplest website designs include hosting on WordPress and included are; Links to your social media, 5+ pages, Website GDPR, SEO ready pages and much more!

Call today to arrange a meeting or email us!