What is SEO - Search Engine Optimisation?

Jessica Zoo
Jul 12, 2013
3 min read

We are dedicating this page to our online marketing rookies, who want to find out the basics of SEO, what it's for and how to do it without feeling overwhelmed.

SEARCH ENGINE WHAT?

Optimising your presence on the web so that you rank highly in search engine results.When somebody types in "giant marshmallows" (or whatever your website is trying to promote" SEO will help your website address become at the top of that list.

DO I NEED SEO?

If you want new clients to find you on the web, the answer is YES. It would be the same to publish a book and then not making it available to bookstores. The good news is, that basic SEO is within everyone's capabilities. You may not think that it's within your priorities, but if you run a business, you surely recognize that getting new leads is of utmost importance. Dedicating one day to polish up your web presence will be far more productive and sustainable than a week of cold calling. Where to start?

ON YOUR WEBSITE (On-page SEO)

Make sure your content is RELEVANT and descriptive. Use key words appropriately: these are words that describe your products and services.
Name all of your images with descriptive keywords.
Create a web statistics website. By keeping an eye on what people are looking for and browsing on your website, it will give you a clear idea of which areas you need to improve.
Add meta-tags to all your pages. These 'tags' describe what your individual web page is about. You can add these tags by accessing your page options on your CMS (Content Management System).
Update your content regularly and ensure that it is of interest to the general public. Perhaps offer some information, or a blog that people will be interested in visiting regardless of purchasing your products (see what we did there!?)

ON THE WEB (Off-page SEO)

Submit your site to search engines. Your website should be picked up within a few weeks time. If you don't do it, it will take a very long time for your website to get recognized.
The higher the number of links to your website, the higher you will rank. However remember not to cheat (see below) and consider that a link from a larger website will have more value than from a number of small websites.
Submit your site to websites who will genuinely list your services for the right reasons. Add your business to Google maps and other business directories.
Socialize! Get involved with facebook, twitter, youtube, and all other social networks that can help you interact with potential clients, or even just to get your brand out there!
Consider online advertising such as Adwords and Facebook (to get very targeted advertising to relevant audiences)

DON'T CHEAT! (Black Hat SEO)

Search Engines are smart and will penalize your website by blocking it.. So here is a list of 5 top things that you should never do.

Don't copy content across pages and other websites.
Don't spam your pages by writing irrelevant content or overload it with keywords.
Don't submit your website to link farms (websites that will all link to each other with the purpose of increasing links to the websites).
Don't hide or shrink keywords / links so that they are invisible to the human eye (search engines will still pick them up!).
No cloaking! This means sneakily directing web users to content which they were not expecting. Always match relevant landing page to what you are advertising.

If you need some more help in creating an SEO strategy for your business and see how you can boost your business by improving your search rankings please contact us at info@socialmediamentors.co.uk