Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or online shop’s ranking in the organic results of a search engine. Charles Mechri from rankingCoach explains the most important elements of SEO to help you getting more traffic from Google and other search engines.
SEO is divided in two parts: On-page SEO and off-page SEO. On-page SEO refers to all techniques that can be implemented on your website to improve your ranking in SERP (search engine results pages), whereas off-page SEO refers to everything that can be done outside of your website to improve its visibility on the web. To assist you in completing the best possible SEO for your website, here are 6 keys elements of a good SEO strategy.
On-page SEO
Content
The content of a website is the most important element of an effective search engine optimisation strategy. When assembling your website content, you should consider which information is essential for the customer. The length of a website’s content has importance for both search engines as well as the impact of your SEO, so we recommend to add text composed of a minimum of 300 words, but a good average for a page is best around 500 words. Keep in mind that the longer the content, the better, but try to keep your content interesting and relevant for your customers while avoiding repetitiveness.
Keywords
Keywords are terms users type into search engines such as Google to find a website. Having relevant keywords is a must in order to be found in the organic search engine results pages. A good keyword is a term with many requests in Google and is closely connected to your business area. To be found in SERPs, you must integrate your keywords in the title of your webpages as well as in the content of your website. It is preferable to integrate the keywords at the beginning of your text, while assuring that the integration looks natural and fitting to your content. If you simply list your keywords, one after another one without proper integration you risk being detected by search engine monitoring and your website can be penalised.
Meta title and meta description
The meta title is the title published in the SERPs. It can be maximum 55 characters to be displayed entirely in the SERPs. An effective meta title should include your 3 main keywords and perfectly define your business to motivate users to visit your website.
The meta description is the text displayed in the SERPs under your meta title. This description should contain maximum 150 characters and should also contain your 3 main keywords. The description must clearly outline your business to attract users to visit your site.
Off-page SEO
Backlinks
It is a well-known fact that word-of-mouth can be the best form of advertising for any business. Backlinks is exactly this, however it can be considered the trickiest part of SEO as it requires outside sources to publish content about your business. The easiest way to encourage backlinks for your website is by creating good content as well as publishing interesting news frequently, which will in turn encourage others to review/talk about your business. Another effective method of securing backlinks is to contact relevant bloggers/websites directly that focus on your business area as it will be perceived as extra information from a customer’s point of view.
Social media
Social media is one of the best channels for businesses to interact with their customers and provide updates on any news from your business. Social media can be very useful in reaching specific targets as well as promoting products and services by posting interesting content such as images and videos.
Online directories
Online directories allow you to be visible on a variety of websites as well as gather reviews from your customers. A good online directory presence and positive customer reviews can bring many new customers to your business. It is important to also review and respond to negative reviews about your business as this can inevitably affect your brand image and deter customers from your website and/or services.
