If you’re brand new to the world of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) then this video is for you. In it I go through the basics, including “What is SEO?,” “Who should and shouldn’t do SEO?” and some basic and intermediate SEO tips to help you get started.
Links & Resources Mentioned in the Video
- Google Places
- Google Alerts
- Australian Business Directories list
- Google Keyword Planner
- Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO
Sections;
- Who should do SEO?
- What is SEO and how does it work?
- Basic SEO Tips
- Intermediate SEO Tips
Who Should do SEO?
- If your target customers use search engines to look for the solutions that you provide then SEO is a marketing channel you can potentially benefit from
- Every business should do the basics (which I’ll go through later)
Who Shouldn’t do SEO?
Here are some indicators that SEO might not be valuable for you;
- You don’t have a website
- You’re in a competitive market but have a small budget
- You need customers quickly
- You are not knowledgeable about your products and services
What is SEO and how does it work?
SEO = Search Engine Optimisation
SEO is any activity that helps you get more traffic (visitors) to your website from the organic (non paid) search engine results.
Every time someone makes a search on Google, they analyse all the webpages in their index against hundreds of different factors. The factors fall into two basic categories;
- Onsite Factors – is the webpage relevant to the search query?
- Offsite Factors – is the webpage a trusted authority on the topic of the search query?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) attempts to maximise your website’s performance for those two types of factors on search queries related to your products and services. There are three basic processes involved in doing that;
- Keyword Research & Website Optimisation – increases relevancy
- Ongoing Content Creation – Increases relevancy and authority
- Ongoing Link Building – Increases authority
Basic SEO Tips (can mostly DIY)
Keyword Research & Website Optimisation
- Claim and verify your Google Place page and fill it out completely with categories, a description, photos, opening hours etc.
- Encourage customers to submit a review on your Google place page
- Make sure each of your products and services has its own page and that the main target keyword for that product or service is included in the ‘page title,’ ‘heading’ and ‘content’ of the page
- Write a unique meta description for each page
- Include detailed information on the page about the product or service
- Put your business address and phone number on every page of your website
- Focus on creating a good user experience, including for those on mobile devices as this accounts for 50% of web traffic now e.g. consider getting a responsive website
Ongoing Link Building
- Encourage websites to link to you when relevant e.g. if your business is mentioned in a blog post, news item, resource list etc.
- Add your business to high quality local and industry specific business directories
- If you operate a product business, reach out to the brands you stock and ask that your information (including your link of course) be added to their stockists lists
Intermediate SEO Tips (may need some help)
Keyword Research & Website Optimisation
- Use Google’s Keyword Planner to determine which keywords are best to target on your pages
- Get an SEO Audit done on your site to identify and fix any issues (more important for large and/or complex websites, particularly e-commerce websites)
Ongoing Content Creation
- Start a blog or create a section on your site where you add in depth written content on topics related to your products, services and industry
- Write a case study for each client project you complete with a description of the problem you solved for them, how you did it, how you overcame challenges etc.
Ongoing Link Building
- Find websites that link to your competitors and email them to ask if they could link to you too (works better if you can give them a reason to link to you, such as pointing out a resource on your site that would be useful to their audience)
- Make a list of all of the businesses that have ever supplied your business with a product or service that you liked e.g. your accountant, web designer, office cleaner, sign writer, computer repairman etc. Email each of them and ask if they would like a testimonial to put on their website. Send a testimonial to those who said yes and include your business details with a link back to your website.
- Host a free event and promote it through bloggers, local news and event websites