As you may understand, SEO (search engine optimisation) is integral to how you market your business online.

Businesses that implement good SEO practices usually have two goals in mind:

• To create content that their customers are searching for online. By optimising their websites to align with keyword searches, they can better meet the needs of their customers.
• To drive more traffic to their websites after using SEO practices to rank higher on Google and other search engines.

These could be the SEO goals you have set out to accomplish with your website. However, care needs to be taken. As SEO methods are constantly evolving due to the changes in search engine algorithms, it is possible to make mistakes. So, rather than getting a higher rank on Google, there is the possibility of being pushed further down search engine pages if mistakes are made. 

Why SEO Is Important To Get Right

We have just discussed one reason why SEO is important to get right. If you optimise your website correctly, you will rank higher on search engine pages and avoid being penalised with a lower ranking. 

There are other reasons why you need to nail your SEO. 

You will rank higher than the competition

Unless your business is unique, you will have competing businesses to worry about. Like you, they will try to stand out online, so you need to do what you can to outsmart them when building an internet presence. One way to do this is to ensure you rank higher than they do on search engines. When people come across your listing first, there is a high chance that they will click on your website link instead of your competitors.

Search engine users rarely scroll beyond the first page of a search engine

According to Hubspot’s research, 75% of web users rarely scroll beyond the first page of a search engine. This is why many businesses fail to attract more website visitors; they may be overlooked if they aren’t ranking highly. So, don’t miss out on potential customers for your business. If your business can make it to page one, more people will visit your website. 

SEO is good PR for your business

A good ranking on search engine pages will elevate your brand’s profile. When people search for information related to businesses like yours, your company name will be imprinted on their minds if they regularly see your business at the top of their searches. There will be the assumption that your business is to be trusted, too, as web users often associate success with web page rankings. 

SEO can build trust and credibility

Your business needs to build trust and credibility, which is one way to secure more customers. As we discussed above, if your website ranks higher than other businesses, people will think better about your business. 

But to rank highly on search engines, you must also build trust and credibility with Google. You can do this by boosting domain authority. Using backlinks, optimised on-page elements, and guest posts on other websites, you will earn authority and benefit from the way Google’s algorithms work when ranking websites. 

The Elements Of SEO You Need To Get Right

When you get SEO right, you rank higher on Google and win over more customers. When you get SEO wrong, you can get penalised by Google and suffer from lower rankings on search engine pages. As such, your business may be overlooked as potential new customers will stumble across your competitors first. 

These are just some of the elements of SEO you need to get right.

Keyword research

What is your audience searching for? And what keywords are they using when they make those searches? When you know the answer to these questions, you can optimise your website for keyword searches. You can discover the answer to these questions through keyword research and there are a lot of tools available online to help you do this. 

If you don’t commit to research, you will struggle to get this element of SEO right. However, you shouldn’t spam your website with keywords, as Google could penalise it and lower it down the search engine rankings pages (SERP). It’s a balancing act and one that must be handled carefully. We can help you in this regard, so contact our team.  

Mobile SEO

Mobile SEO is about optimising your website for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. These are the devices that most people are using to scroll the web these days, so if you don’t cater for this, you will run into problems with your Google ranking. With our web design solutions, we can produce a website that is optimised for mobile, so get in touch with us to learn more. 

Technical SEO

The goal of technical SEO is to optimise the infrastructure of your website. When done correctly, you can help search engines access, crawl, and index your website, ensuring your site has a better chance of appearing higher on the search engine page. However, technical SEO can sometimes be challenging to get right. If there are problems with your website, such as slow load speeds and a lack of mobile optimisation, you will get penalised by Google.

Secret Weapon: Local Targeting

A little-known fact is that you can improve your local SEO by publishing geo-targeted content on your blog.

That’s because when you focus your content on a specific geographic area, you make it easier for search engines to determine the location of your business and what type of products or services you offer. This can help boost your ranking in local search results, which is especially important for small businesses that rely on customers in the vicinity.

Understanding how to use geo-targeting and optimising it for search engines is essential. As a result, we will provide you with a few tips to get started. 

Use Local Keywords

When you include local keywords in your content, it helps search engines understand your piece’s context. For example, if you’re a plumber in Chelmsford, Essex, you might want to use keywords such as “plumbing services Chelmsford” or “Chelmsford plumbing company.” This method tells search engines that your business is based in Chelmsford and provides plumbing services, making it more likely that you’ll appear in results during searches. 

Include Location Information in Your Meta Tags

In addition to using local keywords, you can help search engines understand your content’s geographic focus by including location information in your meta tags. The most important meta tag for geo-targeting is the “location” tag, which needs to be added to your web page’s <HEAD> section. 

This meta tag tells search engines that your content is relevant to users searching from Chelmsford. You can also include other location-specific meta tags, such as the “geo.position” and “geo.placename” tags.

Use Google Maps Embed Codes

Another way to help search engines understand your content’s geographic focus is to use Google Maps embed codes. You can add these code snippets to your website to display a specific location map. This is helpful, as it not only tells search engines the general location of your business but also provides them with additional information such as your street address, phone number, and website URL.

To start with Google Maps embed codes, go to https://www.google.com/maps/  and type in your business address. Then, click the “Share” button and choose the “Embed map” option. From there, you can copy and paste the code into your website.

Optimise Your Images for Local Searches

In addition to optimising your website’s text content for local SEO, it’s also essential to optimise your images. Include relevant keywords in your image file names and alt text to achieve this. For example, if you have an image of your business’s storefront, you might want to name it “plumbing-storefront-seattle.jpg” and include the following alt text: “This is the storefront of a plumbing company in Seattle, WA.”

Get In Touch

When it comes to good SEO practices, much more can be said. But the takeaway for you is to ensure you get SEO right. There is much you can do in this regard, but as SEO and web design professionals, we can give you all the advice and support you need to improve your website’s rankings. Get in touch with us today and benefit from the help that our expert team can offer you, or check out our Search Engine Optimisation service.