As a marketing agency, we understand the importance of search engine optimisation (SEO) for our clientâs businesses. SEO forms a critical aspect of digital marketing and helps businesses to improve their online visibility as well as help them to achieve their marketing goals; whether thatâs to encourage more traffic to their website or generate more leads and sales.
In this blog, weâll be bringing it back to basics and giving you SEO 101; helping you to understand more about optimising your businessâ presence online in the search engines and whether it is something to invest time into.
What is SEO?
Firstly, letâs understand what exactly SEO is and how it can be used as part of your wider marketing strategy. SEO is the process of optimising your website and content in order to improve your rankings in search engine results page (SERPs). By publishing carefully considered and optimised content, you are more likely to rank higher in search engines and in turn, be more visible to your customers when it counts.
In other words, when people come to search for specific keywords and phrases that relate to your business, you want your businessâ website to be one of the first results they see. This can be done by optimising your website and content using SEO. seo success seo tools seo strategy
What does SEO stand for?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation and refers to the techniques and strategies used to improve your websiteâs ranking in google search results pages as well as the search results pages of other search engines. SEO involves both on page SEO optimisation (optimising the a web page, including a page title and meta description) and off-page seo optimisation (link building and promoting the website on other platforms).
Getting started with SEO
Getting started with SEO can feel like a daunting task, particularly if itâs not a practice that your team is familiar with, which is why you may want to consider working with a dedicated and experienced SEO team to work closely with your business.
That said, when starting out with SEO, itâs important to understand that whilst technical SEO know-how is an important part of the process, so is understanding the wants and needs of your audience. If you know what your customers are looking for online, then youâre in the best position to help them find it.
How to do SEO
Disclaimer: SEO is constantly changing, so when learning how to do SEO, be sure to remain vigilant as to its evolving nature; ranking factors and what determines âgood contentâ, technological trends and the user experience all contribute to how you can best get results.
With that disclaimer out of the way, here are some of the most important techniques to focus on when getting started with SEO.
Keyword research and optimisation
Firstly, do some research into identifying the keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for. There are several tools available that will help you to find relevant keywords with high search volume and low competition. These are the keywords that will give you the best chance of your web pages ranking high in the search engine results pages.
Check out our blog post on âquick winâ keywords to get started.
Once youâve found your list of keywords, the next stop is to embed them into the content, meta tags and images on your website. Itâs important to remember at this stage though that producing high-quality and valuable content for your customers will help you more in the long run compared to content that has not been written with a specific focus or aim in mind.
Remember: youâre writing content for humans, and not robots. Search engines exist to help people, so engaging and helpful content is where you should focus your efforts. This is particularly with recent Google search updates such as the MUM Update which has had huge impact on websites and their organic search results.
Website Optimisation
SEO is not just about the content you produce, but also optimising your website in general; whether thatâs loading speed, navigation or the websiteâs structure, it all matters both on and off the page. Your website needs to be user-friendly and have a good user experience (UX). This includes having a good sitemap to ensure that your website is not only easy to follow for your customers but also for search engineers, who will scan everything your website has to offer.
Monitor and adapt
As we mentioned above, SEO is constantly changing so monitoring your results and adapting accordingly is an essential part of your SEO journey. Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track your websiteâs traffic, rankings and other important metrics and then use this data to adjust your SEO strategy and improve results.
How to improve SEO
Tracking your results with SEO and keeping up with technological changes within the space is the number one way to improve. Make a habit of subscribing (and reading!) SEO newsletters and blogs to keep up with any forecasted changes or updates that could be useful for your strategy.
Donât forget your content!
When it comes to SEO, content is king. Keeping your content fresh and updated is one of the best ways to remain relevant and keep your rankings high. Making use of your social media to promote that content will help to attract more traffic to your website, and in turn, generate more leads.
When can I see results?
One of the most common questions that businesses ask is how quickly they will be able to see results from their SEO efforts but itâs important to know that SEO is a long-term strategy and as much as weâd like them to, results will not come overnight. When seeking advice or help with your SEO, you may hear promises from agencies or professionals that you can see results in a matter of weeks, but the reality is, that that just isnât possible. At Wriggle, in general, our clients see results after 6 months. We will try to identify âquick winsâ from the get-go to get the ball rolling but generally speaking, optimising your website is just the first step and seeing the results will take time.
How can Wriggle help with Search Engine Optimisation?
At Wriggle Marketing, we have a dedicated and experienced team of SEO experts who are ready and waiting to help you get started with SEO. We work with a range of clients in a number of different industries and can provide a full SEO service.
Get in touch with our team today and find out how we can help you to achieve your marketing goals!
In the meantime, to continue on your SEO 101 journey, check out our other SEO blogs for more tips and guidance:
- Truth Behind SEO
- SEO Q&A
- Does UX Affect SEO?
- 5 Things To Do When Picking An SEO Agency
- SEO For Small Businesses
- What To Expect From Our SEO Services
- SEO For Newbies
- 3 Top Doâs and Donâts in SEO
- SEO Basics
- The Importance Of Finding Quick Win Keywords
- Instagram SEO To Improve Visibility & Reach New Audiences
