Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is an iterative process for improving your business’s website by increasing its visibility for relevant search engine results. Improved visibility in searches means more engagement with your company from prospective and existing customers.

An SEO Audit is the evaluation of a website in its ability to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs). The audit is a starting point for flagging up any issues that need to be repaired or improved to boost your website’s search engine performance.

SEO keywords are the words and phrases (long-tail keywords) that define the ideas and topics that make up your website’s content. When someone searches with Google or another search engine using your keywords, and you’ve got your SEO set up correctly, then your website should appear in the search engine results. Getting it to rank high in those results is the tricky bit.

Local SEO refers to the process of optimising your local online visibility to bring more traffic to your business from relevant local searches. A great starting point is to set up a Google My Business profile for your company. Google and other search engines also depend on other search signals, such as:

• Local content
• Social media pages
• Links
• Citations

to provide the best results for relevancy and proximity for the search engine user.

For local businesses wanting to be found online, the Google 3 pack is the ultimate goal. Google highlights three local companies in its 3 pack at the top of page one search results. For example, a Birmingham accountancy firm can be part of the top three results for the search query from a mobile device for “Best bookkeeping firm in Birmingham”.

Along with being at the top of the search results, the local 3 pack also provides more detailed information about the local businesses it displays, including Google map reference, opening times and phone number. The above example shows one of our clients (J Davey) at the top of the local search results.

Professionally optimised local SEO will give you the best chance to appear at the top of local organic searches via the 3 pack.

Providing the best User Experience (UX) is what companies must strive for. Being able to measure your user’s pain points through your online customer journey will enable your business to create an optimised experience.

More happy customers = more revenue. 

Google very recently announced a new ranking algorithm designed to judge website pages based on perceived user experience (UX) when viewing and interacting with a web page. The Google Page Experience update won’t be going live until 2021, but there are already signals that the search engine giant is starting to compile rankings with specific metrics in mind.

Page load timings, mobile-friendliness, HTTPS encryption being present and the smoothness of website navigation will be (and are beginning to be) took into consideration.

An SEO professional should go above and beyond combining SEO and UX to address these changes that Google has announced and is already showing signs of using. Your business’s website will then be as prepared as possible for any impact on rankings from the Google Page Experience algorithm.

Conversion Rate Optimisation or CRO is a User Experience methodology that when used on your website will increase the percentage of visitors to ‘convert’ into customers. With a combination of metrics and user behaviour, CRO can transform your online services by simply meeting the visitor’s needs.

Organic traffic is targetted traffic. Visitors to your website from a search engine’s organic (not paid advertising) results are specific with their intent and if you can provide them with a solution then there’s a good chance they’ll become a customer (convert).

Just like great reviews, votes of confidence are a boost for any business. Backlinks represent confidence in your brand.

A backlink is a link to your website from another website, blog or social media platform (see What’s the difference between on-page and off-page SEO?).

Search engines like Google see backlinks as votes of confidence as long as they are from trusted sources.  The more votes (backlinks) your website has, the more likely your business will see improvements in ranking for relevant search queries.

Citation building is the process of using consistent, accurate and relevant information about your company in online business directories. With this link-building method of utilising quality links, search engines will rank your business’s website higher and local customers will know how and where to find your business and what times you are open.

Search engine optimisation in it’s simplest terms can be split into on-page and off-page SEO. On-page SEO is the term used for the direct manipulation of a website to help it gain visibility in search engines and, therefore, draw more traffic. Off-page search engine optimisation refers to the online signals that point back at your business’s website that will also help with search engine rankings and brand awareness. Social media and online directories (see What is citation building?) are proven examples of off-page SEO.