SEO Optimisation
What is SEO Optimisation?
Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO is a process in which you can optimise webpages on your website so they can be better found by search engines such as Google, Yahoo, etc. Without having to pay for Ads.
The better “optimised” your webpages are, the more likely your website is to be brought to the top of the results page and the more visitors you’ll get.
This is why you see so many websites with blog/ article sections.
If you position yourself as an authority on a subject, it builds trust and increases the likelihood that those readers will convert into customers while visiting your website and increases the likelihood that they will purchase a product or service from you.
SEO is a long-term business strategy; it’s likely that it’ll take at least 6 months to see traction, but a consistent strategy compounds over time and can be a great revenue generator, given it’s free digital marketing that is less reliant on regularly changing social media algorithms.
How it works
Google calculates how optimised your page is by looking at (crawling) your site to understand it’s content and structure.
It’ll look for things such as
Do you have labelled headings that match your titles?
Are your titles displayed in H1, H2 format?
What backlinks do you have to known reputable sources that support the facts you are providing?
How closely do your title/ headings match the question asked by the user?
They then apply their advanced ranking algorithms to make sure that the most relevant content is displayed on page 1 and to the correct users.
Optimising for Google bot ensures you are making your content discoverable, accessible, and high-quality for both users and Google's crawling/indexing systems.
This process directly impacts how the site will rank and how it is displayed in search results.
The Project
As with optimising anything, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll fully reach an endpoint with it. It’s very much an evolving process where there are endless rabbit holes and exciting tips you can find.
I was particularly interested in learning the basics and understanding how SEO optimisation would change with the prevalence of AI searches, fast becoming the norm.
I also wanted to identify ways that AI could help me optimise further and cut down the amount of research time needed for each piece of copy.
I recommend the tool: https://www.seoptimer.com/ to pretty much every new business owner/ client I have as a result of this project, as it breaks it down perfectly and gives a great actionable list to work off of.
My top tips from this project include:
1. Write for Your Readers First
Focus on providing valuable, engaging content that satisfies the needs and questions of your audience. Without interesting content, none of the below matters, no matter how optimised it is!
2. Add Keywords Strategically
Use your main keywords early in the content, especially within the first 25 words, in titles, headers, and naturally throughout your text.
Great tools include:
- Google keyword planner
- SEM rush
- Ahrefs
And Google Trends (not quite a keyword finder, but will show you the prevalence of your chosen topics over time, which can inform larger decisions.
3. Create Compelling Page Titles
Include your target keywords in the page title tag and make titles enticing with clear value propositions to encourage clicks.
4. Structure Content with Headings and Lists
Use a clear heading hierarchy (H1, H2, H3...) and bullet points or numbered lists to make content easy to navigate and scan. Keep this consistent between all webpages and articles
5. Use Visual Content
Incorporate images, infographics, and videos to improve readability, engagement, and potentially attract backlinks.
6. Keep URLs Short and User-Friendly
Use simple, concise URLs with keywords and avoid unnecessary words or numbers. Having a footer that links back to all of your pages also helps.
7. Add Alt Text to Images
Provide descriptive alt text to help search engines understand images and improve accessibility.
8. Internal Linking
Link related pages within your site to help users find more content and boost SEO authority on topics. I like to use suggested articles/ products and make sure there’s always a header and footer visible.
9. Optimise Site Experience
Ensure fast loading speeds, mobile optimisation, and easy navigation for a better user experience. If you’re finding it’s slow, then reducing the file size of your images, videos or switching image format to SVG can really help
A great tool to test your site speed is: Google PageSpeed Insights
10. Regularly Update Content
Keep your website content fresh and authoritative by revising and expanding it over time. I try and revisit mine every couple of months, but 3-12 is most common.
11. Build Quality Backlinks
Earn links from reputable sites to improve authority and search rankings. This is one I continually scored lower on and need to create a more robust strategy for once Project 50 has been completed. Parenting with other companies (ie guest blogging) and making sure your content is consistently high quality will help this happen organically; however, quite an active process is required.
12. Use Transcripts for Videos
Include transcripts to make video content crawlable and boost keyword relevance. This hack allows you to make the most of loads more keywords, so it can really help!
How I found applying SEO Optimisation
I really enjoyed this project! I love finding new tech tools that can make tangible differences, and there’s a whole art/ science around SEO optimisation. I found it difficult at times not to get taken too far off topic as I got into the various rabbit holes of interesting behavioural science.
My major learning is you don’t need to know it all 100%, know what your quick, high-impact wins are and stick with them. Knowing this skill can really take your writing a long way and much closer to being found.
I struggled with not having a particular skill or audience to build, given each project is so diverse, but could tailor my SEO optimisations to learning new skills, starting things and gaining confidence. Once I had figured this out and ‘got out of the weeds’ planning an SEO strategy and article templates off the back of it was great and very rewarding, I’ve used it loads since.
Shoutouts!
James Spice, an SEO consultant who kindly shared a few tips of wisdom on our lunchclub call (you can find more here https://tintac.com )
Stephanie Dotto: for her endless patience and for introducing me to the topic as a whole!
James Vincent for all of his insights and tips, shared on the Bath Unis Click Start Course
SEO Optimisation
What is SEO Optimisation?
Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO is a process in which you can optimise webpages on your website so they can be better found by search engines such as Google, Yahoo, etc. Without having to pay for Ads.
The better “optimised” your webpages are, the more likely your website is to be brought to the top of the results page and the more visitors you’ll get.
This is why you see so many websites with blog/ article sections.
If you position yourself as an authority on a subject, it builds trust and increases the likelihood that those readers will convert into customers while visiting your website and increases the likelihood that they will purchase a product or service from you.
SEO is a long-term business strategy; it’s likely that it’ll take at least 6 months to see traction, but a consistent strategy compounds over time and can be a great revenue generator, given it’s free digital marketing that is less reliant on regularly changing social media algorithms.
How it works
Google calculates how optimised your page is by looking at (crawling) your site to understand it’s content and structure.
It’ll look for things such as
Do you have labelled headings that match your titles?
Are your titles displayed in H1, H2 format?
What backlinks do you have to known reputable sources that support the facts you are providing?
How closely do your title/ headings match the question asked by the user?
They then apply their advanced ranking algorithms to make sure that the most relevant content is displayed on page 1 and to the correct users.
Optimising for Google bot ensures you are making your content discoverable, accessible, and high-quality for both users and Google's crawling/indexing systems.
This process directly impacts how the site will rank and how it is displayed in search results.
The Project
As with optimising anything, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll fully reach an endpoint with it. It’s very much an evolving process where there are endless rabbit holes and exciting tips you can find.
I was particularly interested in learning the basics and understanding how SEO optimisation would change with the prevalence of AI searches, fast becoming the norm.
I also wanted to identify ways that AI could help me optimise further and cut down the amount of research time needed for each piece of copy.
I recommend the tool: https://www.seoptimer.com/ to pretty much every new business owner/ client I have as a result of this project, as it breaks it down perfectly and gives a great actionable list to work off of.
My top tips from this project include:
1. Write for Your Readers First
Focus on providing valuable, engaging content that satisfies the needs and questions of your audience. Without interesting content, none of the below matters, no matter how optimised it is!
2. Add Keywords Strategically
Use your main keywords early in the content, especially within the first 25 words, in titles, headers, and naturally throughout your text.
Great tools include:
- Google keyword planner
- SEM rush
- Ahrefs
And Google Trends (not quite a keyword finder, but will show you the prevalence of your chosen topics over time, which can inform larger decisions.
3. Create Compelling Page Titles
Include your target keywords in the page title tag and make titles enticing with clear value propositions to encourage clicks.
4. Structure Content with Headings and Lists
Use a clear heading hierarchy (H1, H2, H3...) and bullet points or numbered lists to make content easy to navigate and scan. Keep this consistent between all webpages and articles
5. Use Visual Content
Incorporate images, infographics, and videos to improve readability, engagement, and potentially attract backlinks.
6. Keep URLs Short and User-Friendly
Use simple, concise URLs with keywords and avoid unnecessary words or numbers. Having a footer that links back to all of your pages also helps.
7. Add Alt Text to Images
Provide descriptive alt text to help search engines understand images and improve accessibility.
8. Internal Linking
Link related pages within your site to help users find more content and boost SEO authority on topics. I like to use suggested articles/ products and make sure there’s always a header and footer visible.
9. Optimise Site Experience
Ensure fast loading speeds, mobile optimisation, and easy navigation for a better user experience. If you’re finding it’s slow, then reducing the file size of your images, videos or switching image format to SVG can really help
A great tool to test your site speed is: Google PageSpeed Insights
10. Regularly Update Content
Keep your website content fresh and authoritative by revising and expanding it over time. I try and revisit mine every couple of months, but 3-12 is most common.
11. Build Quality Backlinks
Earn links from reputable sites to improve authority and search rankings. This is one I continually scored lower on and need to create a more robust strategy for once Project 50 has been completed. Parenting with other companies (ie guest blogging) and making sure your content is consistently high quality will help this happen organically; however, quite an active process is required.
12. Use Transcripts for Videos
Include transcripts to make video content crawlable and boost keyword relevance. This hack allows you to make the most of loads more keywords, so it can really help!
How I found applying SEO Optimisation
I really enjoyed this project! I love finding new tech tools that can make tangible differences, and there’s a whole art/ science around SEO optimisation. I found it difficult at times not to get taken too far off topic as I got into the various rabbit holes of interesting behavioural science.
My major learning is you don’t need to know it all 100%, know what your quick, high-impact wins are and stick with them. Knowing this skill can really take your writing a long way and much closer to being found.
I struggled with not having a particular skill or audience to build, given each project is so diverse, but could tailor my SEO optimisations to learning new skills, starting things and gaining confidence. Once I had figured this out and ‘got out of the weeds’ planning an SEO strategy and article templates off the back of it was great and very rewarding, I’ve used it loads since.
Shoutouts!
James Spice, an SEO consultant who kindly shared a few tips of wisdom on our lunchclub call (you can find more here https://tintac.com )
Stephanie Dotto: for her endless patience and for introducing me to the topic as a whole!
James Vincent for all of his insights and tips, shared on the Bath Unis Click Start Course