Everyone wants to have their website found in a Google search – this is known as Website SEO. In order to have your website found in a Google search you need to ensure your site is built correctly, has well written content and that each page has its own unique metadata.
In this post I am going to tell you about some of the work you to need to do in order for your website to be found on page one of Google. Disclaimer: If your site is targeting a very competitive keyword phrase that has a lot of competition the on-page SEO techniques discussed here may not be enough. If this is the case you will need our Aggressive SEO Package to build inbound back links to your site from other websites with a good domain authority.
FYI: When your search for a term in Google, the results displayed is known as SERP – Search Engine Result Page.
Okay, lets cut to the chase. Here is a list of on-page SEO work you need to carry out to optimise your website to be found in a Google search.
Keyword Research
Research your competition. Search for the primary keyword phrase and location you want to target and look at your top 10 competitors. You need to build up a list of keyword phrases to target for your website and your competitors have already done the research for you – because they are already on page one! It’s best to compare each site and cross reference keyword phrases they are using to ensure you are getting the right ones.
View the source code and look at keyword phrases used in their:
- Browser page titles – No more than 70 characters long.
- Metadata descriptions – no more than 165 characters long. Don’t use any stop words when writing these descriptions. Example stop words are: And, A, The, In, On, Of, Be I Me
- Metadata keywords (Note – Google does not use this information any more). 2 -3 phrases max.
View the on page written information and look at keyword phrases used in:
- H1 Titles
- H2 Titles
- Paragraphs
- Keyword phrases used as internal links.
When looking at competitor websites it’s worth noting the words used around the main keyword phrases. These are call ‘around keyword words’. These words are often used when writing in support of the primary keyword phrases the content is about. It’s also worth noting that you should use variations of your keyword phrases when writing to make the content appear natural. This also helps target similar keyword phrases with less competition.
Well Written Content
Focus your website content and write for people – not Google. Google is much better at evaluating page content now so you can write more naturally rather than keyword stuffing your content.
It’s all about relevancy. You bowser page titles must be relevant to the page content. Likewise for the H1, H2 titles, metadata descriptions and URL for each page.
When writing really think about your website’s niche. Who are you talking to and what keyword phrases should you use? For example, rather than saying ‘Website Design’ say ‘Website Design for small business Geelong’. These are known as longtail keyword phrases. They have much less competition but attract better quality traffic and people who are interested in your services.
Writing Tips:
- Write unique content
- Think – is this relevant?
- Use the main keyword phrase near the beginning of the page. Bold tone instance of your keyword phrase.
- Write regular blogs if your website has the facility.
- Write regularly on other websites that have similar content to your. Ensure your content includes a link back to your website.
Internal Link Building
Link building is important when it comes to website optimisation. The good thing is that you can control your internal links. Internal links make it much easier for people and Google to quickly find related information / pages on your site. Think about how Wikipedia uses internal links to push you to other ‘relevant’ pages on the site.
Note: 20% of internal links can be keyword phrases such as ‘website design Geelong’. The other 80% must be more generic such as ‘click here for web design information’. This is the best balance – otherwise it appears as keyword spamming.
External Link Building
External link building is difficult and time consuming. You need to first find good quality websites that good domain authority and well written content that is related to your website content. Secondly, you then need to speak with the website owner to gain access to the site to post an article or link back to your site. Most website owners say no. This is why external link building is difficult.
Pixelfire has a partnership with one of Australia leading SEO companies that has access to hundreds of such websites making the process of link building much easier and less time consuming. Obviously access to these sites has to be paid for but in the end it will save you money and time and the links created will improve your website SEO / SERP.
Website Design
Finally website design. The way your website has been created and structured is also important. Sites need to include responsive website design technology and pass Google mobile friendly test. Sites also need to load fast so that people don’t leave before the site has loaded – this is known as a bounce.
For website optimisation, ensure the following points have been covered:
- Optimise your images to the right size and ppi.
- Compress CSS & Javascript.
- Remove white space in your HTML.
- Enable Gzip in the Cpanel of your website.
- Ensure your robots.txt file allows visiting search engines access to the files the need to see.
The above content is a quick summary on the work I do for my clients when creating their websites. For more information on our website design services please click here 😉