What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimisation and it refers to the way you can strategically market and manipulate your business online presence to have the best opportunity to appear in a preferred spot on search engine searches. Put simply – SEO meaning is the science of helping your website rank on page one of Google.

If done properly, SEO can work with various search engines to genuinely improve a website’s visibility in SERPs (search engine result pages). But the truth is that, while SEO was once about sneaky techniques designed to trick search engines and their users, these days SEO is more complicated, but essential for small business.

In fact, one main reason that Google regularly updates its algorithms is so it can ensure that only professional SEO practices are undertaken by website owners each day. These techniques do more than just help a web page rank higher – they are designed to help online users access relevant information easily.

So, yes, SEO is here to serve you, as the website owner – but it’s also there to help the user, who is your potential client.

So before you go and hire an SEO specialist try out some of our tips, but remember SEO is a long game and it can take some time for any changes you make to take effect.

Get Started With Smart SEO

SEO experts are everywhere and it can be confusing so we drilled down to some basic tips that will help you improve your website SEO and online presence. Try these 8 tips to undertake your own SEO audit:

1. Be sure that your website structure is clear and up-to-date

The way your website is constructed is critical for both SEO and the visitors to your site.

To ensure your pages and sub-pages are found quickly and indexed by search engine crawlers, you need clear navigation.

Intuitive navigation also helps your site visitors find what they want to in the least amount of time. Have you heard of the three click rule? It means that any information available on your site should be accessible to a site visitor within three easy clicks. How does your business website stack up?

2. Feature one primary keyword in your page URL

Web pages in your domain name can feature multiple keywords.

For the best SEO results, focus on just keyword phrase and include it directly in the URL address.

3. Avoid using underscores (_) and use hyphens instead (-)

Using an underscore to separate words in your URL makes Google read it as one word. To have your name recognised properly in search engine searches, they are best avoided.

4. Create your URL address to be brief, relevant and descriptive

With one quick glance, any visitor to your site should be able to tell what it’s about.

When you custom edit your url, it’s easier for visitors to understand – and that makes searching for information on your site a lot easier.

5. Every single page of your website should have a catchy and concise title-tag

A title tag explains what your website is about. This short sentence enables you to describe your online space and will appear in several places online – including SERPs.

6. Meta-description explains your brand in more detail

The meta description is a brief paragraph (150-160 characters) that displays under the SERP’s title tag. This description provides the opportunity to introduce your brand to a potential client before they actually visit the site.

7. Name all your images with ALT attributes

The images on your site aren’t read by search engines – but the ALT text accompanying each image is.

Using an ALT attribute helps engine crawlers decipher the meaning of each image and what it is representing. By placing keywords in bold text surrounding the images, engine crawlers recognise that the information is important.

8. Always include a location in your keywords

By doing this, you’re helping your website become optimised for relevant local searches. For example, you’re a graphic designer in Adelaide, you want people to know you’re in Adelaide – delivering graphic design services.

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SEO strategy is interesting – and is detailed. There are plenty more tips to share – but this is the basics. To learn more about SEO search out online video tutorials to help you understand the potential power that strategic SEO marketing can deliver. You can also outsource the SEO for your website to SEO specialists, who work with professional copywriters and website designers to ensure the content you publish, and the design of your website, helps your business be found online easily.

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