“Successful SEO is not about tricking Google. It is about partnering with google to provide the best search results for users.”
- Phil Frost
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO)
Increase website traffic. Generate qualified leads. Build authority and trust.
It’s no surprise that 81% of people now search online when buying a product or service. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a powerful way of improving the organic visibility of your website and putting your product or service in front of more prospective customers.
SEO generates traffic to your website by targeting users who search for information relevant to your business. With more than half of website traffic on average coming from organic search, it makes good business sense to invest in SEO.
Search engines use complex algorithms to determine where a page will rank in search results. SEO involves working with technical and content tactics to optimise the site, giving it a greater chance of being shown for searches related to your target niches and audiences.
Whether you have a large and complex website or a small, local business website, I can optimise your site so the right people find you. I have experience achieving outstanding results with SEO for Squarespace, Drupal, Wordpress and Wix websites.
My three-step SEO process involves analysing your website, developing a plan of action and implementing a best practice SEO strategy with measurable results.
WHY IS SEO IMPORTANT?
Attract more relevant traffic, leads and potential customers to your website.
It’s cost effective and can be more successful than paid online advertising.
Users trust search engine results: businesses further down in search results are less likely to get organic traffic.
It works: invest in SEO and commit to a relevant content strategy … results will follow.
For local businesses (such as trades and retail), optimising for local search is critical for reaching local customers online.
SEO is crucial to being competitive online. Everyone is doing it, including your competitors.
the seo process
STEP 1: WEBSITE AUDIT
A comprehensive audit of your online presence is completed to identify opportunities for generating more organic traffic and leads. A report of findings plus recommendations will be supplied for further discussion. The audit will include:
A review of your website’s technical performance against a technical SEO checklist (including mobile friendliness, site speed, user experience, architecture and menu structure).
A review of the website content including meta titles and meta descriptions, with recommendations for improvement.
Using industry leading paid and free tools to review current performance for targeted keywords.
Setting up/ reviewing Google Analytics (for reporting) and Google Search Console (for checking performance).
STEP 2: DEVELOP AN SEO PLAN OF ACTION
A custom SEO plan is developed to suit your business needs and budget. For smaller businesses, this may include a combination of tactics that you can implement yourself plus some more complicated aspects for me to handle.
The plan of action will usually include some quick wins, along with more strategic activities that will be implemented over time.
STEP 3: IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING
This is the action step where the plan comes to life. This step includes implementing technical SEO recommendations, advanced keyword research, competitor analysis, formatting meta titles and meta descriptions, optimising page copy and any other tactics identified in the plan of action.
Your website will be benchmarked prior to implementing changes so results can be tracked over time. Regular monthly reporting, analysis and ongoing optimisation are included in monthly retainer packages.
How do you “DO” SEO?
SEO for a website is not a set and forget exercise. It’s an ongoing process that needs regular review and attention.
An holistic SEO strategy incorporates a range of technical and content SEO techniques, applied over time. The primary intention of SEO is to provide the best possible user experience - a technically sound website that performs well, is mobile responsive and offers valuable information for users. Ultimately these techniques will help your website appear in search results.
TECHNICAL AUDIT
Technical enhancements often completed in partnership with a developer (on larger sites). For smaller sites, technical SEO carried out well is lasting investment. A monthly check should be carried out to identify issues and implement continuous optimisation.
Is the website platform friendly to SEO techniques?
Mobile responsiveness
Ability to customise meta information
Load time
Check for duplicate content
Submit an XML sitemap
Identify crawl errors
CONTENT SEO
An effective content SEO strategy incorporates all the information and images on a website. Best results are achieved from a dynamic, ongoing content plan that accurately represents what your business has to offer and offers relevant information for visitors.
Even more important is the ability of information on your website to closely match user intent - what the customer actually wants. Nailing the user intent factor requires a carefully crafted content strategy informed by research and a deep understanding of customer needs.
Search engines love fresh content which is why SEO specialists emphasise the importance of regular content updates through blog posts, case studies, testimonials, videos or news.
Undertake keyword research
Competitor analysis
Internal link structure and menus
Optimise meta information
Review and rewrite existing content
Optimise image file names
Original copywriting
If you have a new website, you might like to check out my article, Can’t find your website on Google? How to be a search sleuth or visit Content Writing for more details about my copywriting services.
