Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of increasing a Webpage’s quality and quantity of traffic through what’s called, unpaid ‘organic search engines’. You might be asking yourself, ‘why should I care about SEO?’ Well, to put it simply, if you want to increase your brand’s exposure and stand out from your competitors, then you’ll want to learn the basics of SEO.
How SEO works
There’s no doubt that the term ‘Search Engine Optimisation’ (SEO) sounds intimidating and something that’s reserved for tech savvy folks. In reality, it’s really about understanding your target audience, what answers they’re looking for and how you can provide a solution to their query. Once you’ve established this, then search engines are able to conduct operations. And how do they do that you’re probably asking? Search engines systematically carry out searches through filtering internet content, in order to provide an answer to a specific search or query.
This is done through a process called ‘crawling and indexing’, which results in content being ordered from most relevant to least relevant. The most relevant content that appears in a search has a higher Google ranking and is more visible. In a nutshell, that’s why SEO works and fosters stronger connections between a business and their audience online. Below we’ve summarised our top tips to SEO for beginners, which is a serious game changer for your brand.
1. Choose your Domain Name Wisely
A key starting point for optimising your website’s search rank is having a good domain name to begin with. It’s important to choose a domain name that’s easy to spell and remember, since SEO is all about enhancing user friendliness. Less is more when it comes to choosing an attractive domain name. A shorter domain name is easier for people to remember. You also want to ensure your domain name is unique and available when starting a website for your business. To check the availability of your desired brand name, there are search tools you can access to get your domain name out there and registered.
In 2020, it was estimated that 49.2% of existing domain names used the ‘.com.au’ extension that we’re all familiar with. When we say to choose your domain name wisely, we’re talking about choosing the best domain name for your business or brand. If ‘.com.au’ isn’t applicable then other extensions such as ‘.org’, ‘.au’ or ‘.net’ may be used. However, the general consensus for profitable businesses or blogs would be the ‘.com.au’ extension. Having keywords in your domain name is also useful and takes us to the next tip in our beginner’s guide.
2. Improve Keyword Search
Conducting a keyword search before putting any content out there in the wide web is very critical. In order for search engines to systematically filter through volumes of information relating to your business, ask yourself the following questions:
- What’s my page actually about?
- What am I hoping to achieve? Am I selling a certain product or service?
- What are my customers or potential customers searching for?
- How many customers are searching for the product or service?
- How do people want this information presented to them?
Use Keyword Research Tools
After making an assessment of the above, you should now have a better understanding of the keywords that you want your business to rank highly in. Additionally, you might also discover new keywords that suit your site more. Using a Keyword Research Tool is a great place to start. These tools allow you to enter keywords so you can narrow down the best suited keywords to what you’re targeting. A lot of these tools are also free and provide insight and data of what people are searching monthly. By using a Keyword Research Tool, you can also find out the keywords your competitors are using and strategise your next move.
3. Create Content that Focuses on Keywords
Now, the part you’ve been waiting for and if you’ve read this far you may as well keep going. In order to increase site traffic and customer engagement, producing high quality content is another stepping stone to improving your SEO. To clarify, content is what you publish on your website that’s meant to attract, engage and have people coming back for more. Content comes in the form of information on your Webpage, blog posts, pictures and videos or even infographics to name a few. You want to make sure that you create content that focuses on keywords and consider having the following:
- Engaging headings and subheadings: to increase website visitors;
- Relevant information: ensure your page that aligns with keywords and that you have a good variety of the keywords you want;
- Quality and purposeful content: content that provides answers to a solution your target audience is searching;
- Good content length: 600-1000 words is considered an ideal length that’s comprehensive and doesn’t drag on.
- New and frequent content: showing your audience that you’re actively putting new content out there will in turn, increase traffic to your site.
4. Optimise Your Page URL
To optimise your page URL, you should ensure that your URL is clear, concise and encompasses keywords that will also boost your search rank. Here’s what you want to avoid when optimising your page URL and to make sure it’s ‘keyword-friendly’:
- Avoid ‘Dynamic URLs’. This type of URL is contains many numbers and characters, which decreases the visibility of your website.
- Use ‘Static URLs’ instead. According to SEO.com, as the word static suggests, this type of URL doesn’t change or contain numbers and characters. Here’s an example of what a Static URL would look like: ‘lawpath.com.au/blog/search-engine-optimisation-seo-5-tips-for-beginners’. This is preferred and more effective because it allows your audience to see exactly what you’re all about from the link itself.
5. Set up Analytics Software
To find out how much traffic your website is getting and how it ranks against your competitors, setting up an analytics software is our final tip. Google Analytics can do just that. Google Analytics allows you to track your website’s monthly traffic, the time people are spending on the site and the most popular pages users are searching. While this list is non-exhaustive, there are many other features which are useful to increasing SEO. Starting off with a free analytics software is ideal to get yourself comfortable with tracking your website’s performance.
Final Thoughts
To wrap things up, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) isn’t as complicated as many of us think. That’s not to say it’s easy either. As we uncovered here, optimisation is about people as much as it’s about search engines who filter through information. SEO is crucial in the digital world we live in and is transforming the way businesses connect with their customers. If you wish to seek further advice for your business, feel free to contact a Lawpath Consultant to point you in the right direction.
