SEO – Search Engine Optimisation
The process of making the best of your web presence.
Photo by NisonCo PR and SEO on Unsplash
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It is the process of making the best of your presence on the web. Optimising your content and site to perform better in search.
There’s More To It Than You Think.
Many people think SEO is simply using the right words on the page of your website and presenting it in a certain way in order to get to number one on Google.
In fact, it’s a lot more than that. That particular aspect of the work is probably best termed as “On-Page SEO”.
To help demonstrate how much more work is involved, I tend to break it down into 4 main areas – listed opposite.
It’s useful to do some initial research into your site before taking the full SEO plunge. I can help.
The Right Search Engine Optimisation Tools
I use Ahrefs software to audit sites, produce reports, conduct keyword research and produce competitor analysis. Along with other software.
My research is bespoke and can be very cost effective. The software subscription alone for Ahrefs can cost between $100-1000 (USD) per month + UK VAT, and it requires someone with experience to leverage the best out of it. Therefore it can make sense to use an external consultant who already uses and has access to this software.
The 4 Components of SEO
I break the tasks of SEO down into 4 key components. They are distinct areas and I believe it’s helpful to think of them that way.
Part 1: Keyword Research
This is the starting point for understanding where you are. It’s so important, I have a dedicated page for Keyword Research.
Part 2: On-Page SEO
This is the part that most people are aware of. How to structure and write your page content to maximise its potential.
Google is becoming much smarter at this. It is very focused on entities and keyword intent.
Part 3: Off-Page SEO
This is the process of building your reputation away from your actual website. Google relies on reputation. People who have a reputation are talked about. You need some profile linking back to your site to be seen as credible. Its importance can’t be understated.
Part 4: Technical SEO
This is about the infrastructure of how your website operates and its performance. Google cares about whether someone on a mobile phone can quickly find and look at your page. In competitive niches, this can be make or break.
Where Do I Begin With SEO?
I hope this isn’t oversharing, but once on a foreign holiday, I got very drunk and very lost. I was aimlessly wandering about. I found my way back to the hotel by looking at the map on a tram stop. It would have been useless, except that it had a little disc on the map with the words, “You Are Here”.
The starting point of every journey is to know where you are. Then you have a sense of what to do.
You Are Here
Let me help you.
