What is SEO and why is it important?

SEO remains the most sustainable and cost effective way to generate business online. It's why we put so much time and effort into it, we want to help people get to the top and stay there. It can take a bit of time but the rewards are totally worth it.

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April 6, 2017
SEO
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John Marsh

Introduction to Search Engine Optimisation

SEO marketing or search engine optimisation is the use of techniques to improve your website’s position in search results. Google is the chosen destination for most people looking for information, products and services in the UK, having an 88% share on desktop and 94% on mobile, so unsurprisingly any efforts made in SEO should focus on pleasing them.

Why is SEO Important?

Being well placed on Google for keywords which your customers are using is essential for you to be able to generate new business online. The chart below shows exactly how important being on page one is with around 71% of all clicks taking place there and 67% going to the top 5 results!

Graph showing CTR in Google

Digital Mast's Top 5 Tips for SEO

1. Write for The Reader not Google

A common mistake made is writing your content specifically for search engines and almost disregarding the user’s experience. Keyword stuffing, the repeated use of the same words over and over again, will ultimately create less user engagement, a higher bounce rate (people leaving shortly after arriving) and subsequently a lower position in organic results.

2. Set Unique Page Titles

We often see sites which have been poorly set up featuring duplicate page titles throughout the site. The page title is one of the primary factors in your Google rank and each should be descriptive and an accurate reflection of the page’s content.

3. Use h (heading) Tags to Highlight Important Content

Using headings or h tags doesn't just change the style of text, they also show search engines what's important content. h1 should be the page’s primary heading and only ever used once per page, h2-h6 should then be used as sub headings for sections throughout, breaking copy up into clear parts.

4. Ensure Your Site is Mobile Friendly (Responsive)

As a vast amount of visitors arrive at your site on their smartphone or tablet, your site needs to respond and adapt to the device being used. Google now takes this into account and marks down sites which aren’t responsive.

5. Get an SSL Certificate

An SSL certificate secures the connection between the site and the user. When you visit a site that has an SSL you’ll notice in the top left hand corner of Chrome it says “Secured” followed by the address that starts with https://. Once again Google is trying to weed out fake sites and spam, and part of this is making sure that the results it delivers are well protected. If you don’t have an SSL certificate you should speak to your web designers to get one arranged.

SEO In Bournemouth

Digital Mast in SEO Agency In Bournemouth working with small businesses across the UK helping them to identify issues with their websites and subsequently solving them. Specialising in Search Engine Optimisation we can review your website and produce a detailed plan of recommendations for either you, your web designer or us to implement. If your website isn't anywhere to be seen in Google then please get in touch, we'd be happy to have a chat about where problems might lie.

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