What is SEO? Five search engine optimisation tips

When was the last time you checked your ranking in search results?

The answer is complex, and has a lot to do with search engine optimisation (SEO).

Sadly, there is no one trick way to “rank up”! It takes commitment, hard work, and ongoing maintenance to achieve and keep your search ranking. 

And even if you’re doing all the ‘right things’ to maintain this ranking, Google can and will throw the odd curve ball at you, via its algorithm updates. It’s a constant process as you battle competitors (and the algorithm) to be found on page one. 

What are some things you can do?

1. Update your site content and create new content regularly! Optimising your site content is one of the easier ways to improve your rankings. First and foremost, make sure your content (words, pictures, video) are great. There is no point in creating blogs and other content if they provide no value to your website and business. Create content for humans! 

2. Optimise imagery. This one can be easy to forget. First and foremost, make sure images are compressed. Don’t upload a photo straight from your phone or camera as these large file sizes will impact your page speed with longer load times. Additionally, consider the file formats you are using. For example, JPEG is a format that can be used for images with lots of colours (ie a photo), whereas an SVG file format is great for vector images (like logo files etc). 

Bonus tip: Give your images a relevant file name. Choose relevant, descriptive keywords before uploading them to your site. 

3. Make sure your site is mobile friendly. What you may not know is that Google uses an index that only counts the mobile version of websites. A significant amount of website traffic comes from mobile devices, so it’s important to ensure your website performs well on these devices. 

4.Test your page load speed! Use tools like Google Page Speed Insights to see where you can make improvements. 

5. Don’t forget local SEO. When your business serves a specific location or geographic area, it’s important not to neglect your Google Business Profile. Keep this handy tool up-to-date, share content, reply to (and encourage) reviews. 

Now, this list is by no means exhaustive, but as you can see there is plenty to do to give your website the rankings edge. Other notable mentions include backlink building to improve site authority, keyword research, optimising for featured snippets, and internal linking. 

If all of the above has already been delegated to your ‘too hard basket’, why not reach out to our team to devise a strategy that works for your business? 

Ben Hayward is our digital strategy guy and loves helping businesses in Ipswich be found in search. In Cahoots Co will help your business be found in a noisy digital world. Ask us about SEO! Connect with Ben via the button below.