Search Engine Optimisation

Increase visitors through SEO
Click-through rates from Google search results for each page-1 position

Boost visitors by ranking higher in search results

The higher you rank in search the more visits your site will get, and the more sales you'll make. The first result in Google search usually gets nearly 30% of clicks. For each subsequent position the click-through rate declines significantly. Results on page 2 get very few clicks since most people never look beyond the first page of results.

SEO is an effective and inexpensive strategy for getting more visitors to your site compared to running Ad campaigns. If you achieve high ranking on Google your rankings usually persist after the SEO project ends, whereas when you run paid Ads to drive visitors to your site those visitors vanish as soon as the Ad campaign is paused. SEO is therefore an investment not just an expense.

The SEO Process

Keyword Research

Knowing what words people use to search for your products is crucial. Your site shouldn't say "motorcycle apparel" if customers search for "motorcycle gear". Also important are the typical search volumes for different keywords. If search volumes for a keyword are low then ranking #1 won't really increase visitor levels. These things are revealed through keyword research.

The goal of keyword research is to end up with a limited set of "target keywords" to focus the SEO effort. Target keywords should be relevant, have decent search volumes and also be achievable (meaning competition isn't so high that you can't get to the first page of results). There's more benefit to ranking #3 for a medium-volume keyword than ranking #13 for a high-volume keyword. I'll help you to figure out the right balance.

Keyword > Page Mapping

For each keyword group or theme it's important to decide which page on your site has the best chance of top ranking. The way Google's algorithms work is that when a page is more about one thing, it must be less about something else. Trying to target too many different keywords using the same page generally doesn't work - it ends up not being predominantly about any of the topics and gets poor ranking for all of them.

Keyword Mapping is about grouping all your target keywords into similar themes, deciding which of your sites pages is going to be the target page for each keyword theme, and optimising each page's content accordingly.

Page Optimisation

It might sound simplistic but if you want to rank well in Google search for "custom cookies" then that exact phrase has to appear on the page. But where it appears is also important - Google's algorithms see page titles, URLs and main headings as more important; so your target keywords must appear in those important places in addition to body content.

How does Google know which is your main heading? It's based on the page's HTML markup whereby text is assigned "h1", "h2", "h3", "p" styles and so on. If you assign a line of text a "p" (paragraph) style but make it really large that doesn't make it the main heading - it has to be given an "h1" style. This is a mistake many web designers who aren't skilled in SEO make. Applying the correct HTML markup hierarchy to text blocks is very important.

Website Speed

Did you know that Google affords higher ranking to sites that load more quickly? Website speed is an important aspect of SEO.

There are many variables involved in increasing the loading speed of pages and each site is different. It might require re-sizing or re-formatting images, "deferring" the loading of images or scripts that aren't used until further down the page, or removing unused apps or code.

Directory Listings

The goal of Google's search algorithm is partly to list the most relevant website pages at the top of results; and partly to list the most popular (or well-known) sites at the top.

If you start a website to sell running shoes you won't rank ahead of Adidas in a search for "running shoes", no matter how much your content is about that topic. Google realises that Adidas is better known than you; and the way they know that is because other lots of websites mention Adidas and contain links to their site.

SEO is therefore partly about being mentioned in as many other sites as possible, and adding your business to the many online directories out there is one way to achieve that.

Reviews & Social Media

When Oscar Wilde said, "there's only one thing worse than being talked about, and that's not being talked about" he wasn't referring to SEO but he might as well have been. In Google's quest to give priority in search results to better-known brands, the number of online reviews you have and the amount your business is talked about on social media is important.

Part of a successful SEO strategy is ensuring you have a presence on social media platforms, encouraging people to talk about you, and encouraging happy customers to post online reviews.

Get A Quote

Want to increase visitors by ranking ahead of your competitors in search results? I'll be happy to advise you on what's realistic and provide a quote for achieving it.