What is SEO?

SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is the process of improving your listings in search engine’s results. This involves getting the right keywords into your website copy, adding these keywords into meta tags, image tags and schema properties.

Getting your website high on Google’s search results can have a huge impact on your business.

Unlike Google Ads where you can be on page one of Google quite quickly SEO takes time to get high organic search results.

Also SEO isn’t a one off task. You should regularly monitor and improve the SEO of your website by using tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

You might also want to consider investing in software such as Semrush or Ahrefs that help you to track the progress of your search engine rankings as well as helping you with what your competitors are doing and they also give you advise on new content ideas.

Different Types of SEO

There are 4 main types of SEO; Onsite SEO, Offsite SEO, Technical and Local

Onsite SEO is the process described above which is to get your keywords into the website copy and meta tags. Offsite SEO is all about getting backlinks to your website. This helps improve your domain authority which then makes it easier to rank for more competitive keywords.

Technical SEO usually starts with an audit of your website. The audit should check for things such as is the site structure good, check the site speed, indexability, crawlability and is your site mobile friendly. Also has it got an SSL certificate installed to make it secure. Local SEO is the process of optimising your website for local searches in the search engine organic rankings and maps listings.

How can SEO help your Business

Businesses that sell online via an ecommerce website compared to a local physical business will require a different approach to SEO. There will be some cross over factors such as the onsite SEO will be very similar but for example a local business will benefit more from having a Google Business Profile than an ecommerce site will. That isn’t to say that an ecommerce site shouldn’t have one it is just that they will want people from all around the world to find them rather than just people in their local area.

DIY or Outsource?

So the big question is should you do your own SEO or should you outsource to an SEO agency. There isn’t an easy answer to this but if you have plenty of spare time and have the technical skills it might be worth having a go yourself.

If you don’t have the time or skills to do SEO yourself it would be a good idea to ask friends or other local businesses for a recommendation because finding a good SEO agency can be difficult. Questions that you should ask an agency include; can we see some case studies of your current customers, is there a minimum contract and do you provide monthly reports to show the progress of the SEO campaign.

If you do decide to go it alone you will need to utilise SEO tools in order to succeed. These could include Semrush which has a suite of tools to assist you. You should also use Google Search Console as this help you see the keywords driving visits to your website and will tell you if you have issues with your site.

SEO is a vital marketing channel for your business so make sure you get the most from it.