SEO can be a tricky and often confusing topic. So many people claim particular techniques work whilst others claim they are a waste of time. So, here it is, your simplified 5 step guide to good SEO for your site. We’re going to cut through all the confusion and give you these 5 simple steps to ensure that your website is well optimised to give you the best chance of ranking for those all important keywords in Google.
Step 1. Keyword Research
Before diving in we need to do a little homework and find out what keywords are actually going to be effective for your website. In order to do this we need to find out what your customers are typing into Google to find you. For example.. a cleaning business in Brisbane would obviously target phrases such as ‘cleaning Brisbane’. However, we find that some of the most effective key-phrases are what is called ‘long tail keywords’ which would be something like ‘carpet cleaning Brisbane’ or even something really specific such as ‘best carpet cleaning in west end Brisbane’… OK, it’s not likely that many people will ever search for something like that. That’s why we need to find what people are typing and how often. The Google Keyword Tool is an excellent way of finding out this information. In addition to showing you how often a search is done it will even suggest related keywords that you might not have thought of.
Step 2. Use that Keyword in your title tag
Now that we have found our keywords we need to ensure that one or two of those keywords are in your title tag. Keyword usage in the title tag is arguably the most powerful part of on-site SEO. So, if we are going for ‘carpet cleaning Brisbane’ your title should look something like “Company Name | Carpet Cleaning Brisbane”. Just a couple of things to keep in mind… the closer the keyword is to the start of the title tag the better… and keep it under 70 characters otherwise Google will chop the title tag off at the end when it pops up in the search results.
Step 3. Use that keyword in your headline tag
Each page should have what’s called a H1 tag which should be your main headline for the page. Try and think creatively about how you can embed your key-phrase into the headline. Something like ‘We’ve been carpet cleaning brisbane since John Oxley landed’. You’ll probably be able to think of something better but you get the idea.
Step 4. Use that keyword at least once in your main text
Again, another simple one. Drop your keyword into your text atleast once, preferably twice. Don’t overdo it… stuffing your site with keywords will make it carpet cleaning Brisbane sound like your Carpet Cleaning Brisbane too much and sound Carpet Cleaning Brisbane unnatural.
Step 5. Use that keyword in your URL
If you haven’t purchased your domain yet then you have the chance to buy a domain name with one or all of your keywords in it. Before doing so, have a think about whether it’s the right decision for your business as it is often better to just get the name of your business for you URL. This way it remains easy for people who are already aware of you to find you.
Otherwise, if you’re optimising a sub-page of your site, ensure the keywords are in the URL if you can. I.e. ‘www.example.com/carpet-cleaning-brisbane.html’
Any we’re done!
Whilst there are many more things to consider for an SEO campaign these simple steps are a very large part of the battle for Google Rankings.