The Dos and Don’ts of SEO: easy steps to keep up your sleeve
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The world of SEO is nuanced and ever-changing – but it’s rising in popularity and skyrocketing in importance. Mike Andrew understands how to wrap your head around the SEO world.
Because, ultimately, your business is only as good as Google says it is.
Whether you’re looking for gentle reminders about the basics, jumping back in after a few years outside of the field, or you’re just getting started in SEO and want to ensure you’re on the right track, there are a few steps every SEO and marketing manager should have up their sleeve.
As head of SEO at leading Aussie digital marketing provider Localsearch, working with 28,000 small businesses across the country, I’ve pulled together the ultimate Do’s and Don’ts of SEO for any marketing manager to keep in mind and ensure your business is reached online.
Correctly using Title and Meta Descriptions tags
DO: Use the Title and Meta Description tags to highlight your specific service or product. Also check your page for the correct heading tag structure.
DON’T: Use ‘home’ as a tag.
Finding the best way to link pages and encourage indexing
DO: Make sure you have an Internal Linking Structure on each page – Google will follow the links to discover your content.
DO: Remember Google indexes pages not websites – each page should be optimised.
DON’T: Just optimise your homepage.
Identifying and balancing keywords
DO: Include your focus, product, and/or service keywords in the first few paragraphs. Spread them throughout your page heading tags and ensure your product or services are positioned high up on the page. The higher on the page, the more important they are.
DO: Research your keywords and choose ones that have good search volume and are commercially viable to your business.
DO: Make sure your text reads naturally.
DON’T: Stuff your content with keywords. Or alternatively only include them in the footer where they likely won’t even be identified as keywords.
Including content
DO: Make sure your content is relevant to where you want your site to rank. Google is a solution provider – give it the best solution available. This will give you a very good chance of ranking highly for your service or product.
DO: Give your images titles and make sure you include alt text on all images on your page.
DON’T: Use font sizes smaller than 16 pixels. It becomes hard to read on mobile devices and can result in a penalty
Mobile-friendly websites
DO: Make sure your site is mobile-friendly – Google uses mobile-first indexing to ensure it’s up to scratch.
DON’T: forget. Check your page speed on mobile devices. Your page should load in under 2.5 seconds to ensure no penalty from search engines.
Creating the ultimate user experience
DO: Tailor your content so it’s relevant to the consumer’s search. Include an FAQ section or links to additional product information.
DO: Add a Google review badge to your site – this helps both Google and consumers. People searching for a product or service are far more likely to choose a company with a high star rating. Show it off.
Mike Andrew is the head of SEO at Localsearch.