Search Engine Optimization Guide

This video walks through the various elements which have to be updated on a page per page basis to make all your website pages search engine optimised for a specified key word or key phrase.

Page Titles, URL Structure and H1 Tags

The first element to consider is Page Titles.

The Page Title or title tag can be seen at the top of your browser. Title tags are still very important in search engine optimisation but many websites have the website address or company name within the title tag on every single page on their website. This is typically because of the Content Management System (CMS) which runs the website and the default configuration of that management system, which is not the best option.

Ideally the title tag of each page should be changed to the key word or key phrase that you want that particular page to rank for.

Another important factor is the URL structure, the website address of each and every page. It is very beneficial if the wording in the URL contains the keywords that you want the page to rank for. This is normally controlled by a setting within your content management system so it is important to make sure that this is configured properly to enable your website produces search engine friendly URLs.

The next important element are heading tags, the technical term being H1 tags but most website content management systems will create this H1 tag when you create and save the title for your page which should include the keyword or phrase that you want to rank for, again this is assuming that the CMS has been configured correctly.

Actioned correctly, your main keyword will be incorporated in your Page Title, the URL structure and in your H1 Tag.

SEO Content and Copywriting

The next section to consider is SEO content and copywriting. As well as writing rich, engaging content that will appeal to your site visitors you will also want to write search engine friendly content. The basic principles to writing good, search engine friendly content are as follows.

You need to make sure that each page has a reasonable amount of content, ideally around 500 words or more per page. It can be helpful to use the keyword again as part of a sub heading on the page and also make sure that you repeat the exact keyword phrase somewhere else within the content. For long pages e.g. with over 1,000 words you should repeat the phrase twice.

Another way to strengthen content further in SEO terms is to use Google to find related keywords and key phrases and where appropriate distribute them in your content. For the term “Digital Market Strategy”, a related keyword would be “digital marketing tools” and using this within the content would increase the relevance from a Google search engine perspective to the initial keyword, which enhances the authority of the page for the primary keyword.

If you look at the html of a page you can see the keyword and description meta tags. Keyword meta tags are almost entirely ignored by Google, so these are the least important from a Google search engine optimisation perspective, but as some other search engines who do look at the tags it is worthwhile making sure these are up to date.

Most Content management systems allow you to edit the meta tags and meta descriptions and the best practice recommendation is to stay specific, don’t enter 20 or 30 words but include the primary keyword or key phrase and a few other selected keywords that you want the page to rank for.

The meta description is more important, especially when the search engine displays the description as part of the search engine results. When displayed, this description will influence whether people click through on a particular search result so it is important to get your description understandable and engaging.

This is a summary of the key “hands on” factors when carrying out search engine optimisation. The essential element in all of the tasks is selecting the right keyword to use. Onsite ranking factors do vary over time with new search engine updates impacting on the weighting of certain elements and you should keep aware of this and make the necessary changes when required.