A good, thought-through SEO strategy is one of the most effective ways for your website to reach more customers. But getting your head around all the intricate parts of keywords, meta descriptions and linking can be difficult. Adding to the fact that the moment you do start to understand something, Google goes and tweaks its algorithm and it’s no longer relevant.
As an experienced SEO company in Melbourne, we know how important it is to keep on top of your SEO strategy. We stay up to date with all of Google’s little (and large) changes so that you can feel confident knowing that your website will continue to be found online.
In this article, we’re going to take you through 10 of the most important things your business needs to be doing in terms of SEO. This will give you a good start to better understand why it’s so important and how it can affect your business.
But First, What Is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. That basically means optimising your website so that it appears on the first page of Google’s search results. Not sure why that’s so important? 75% of people won’t scroll past the first page of search results.
So, if you’re appearing on the 10th or even the 2nd page, the chances of people clicking on your website and discovering your products are way lower than if you were on page one.
Creating a strong SEO strategy is complex and is most effective when done with experienced SEO professionals.
They’ll be able to analyse your current performance and create a long-term plan to keep customers engaged with your content and buying your services.
Here’s how…
10 SEO Tips From An SEO Company in Melbourne
Tip #1 – Create Good Quality Content
Content is one of the most important factors when it comes to SEO. And that’s not just for your readers. Google also really likes well-written content. In 2011, Google first introduced the Panda Update (Google tends to use cute names for all its updates) which began to put quality content at the heart of SEO.
Google was becoming worried about the number of content farms appearing in searches and therefore started to look at other factors when it came to ranking. It began to emphasize user experience (taking into account how long people stayed on your websites, return rate etc) and whether users would consider your content informative and authoritative.
Fast forward to 2023 and it’s not enough just to regularly write and upload blogs. You need to be answering questions that people are searching for and delivering the answers they want. It’s important to think about writing style so that your content is engaging and readers are inclined to share it – which Google really likes.
Tip #2 – Use Relevant Keywords
Researching keywords is the best way to know what your target audience is searching for. When you partner with an SEO company in Melbourne, they’ll have access to the latest tools to thoroughly carry out keyword research. They’ll be able to assess what you’re already ranking for, and come up with a list of keywords to create content around.
Through these tools and experience, they can find out what people in your local area are searching for and how difficult it would be for you to rank for that keyword.
At Elevate Websites, our SEO experts will be able to come up with a long-term strategy to get you ranking for the best keywords possible. Our copywriters will then create engaging and informative content so that you become an authority in your field.
Tip #3 – Focus On Your Article Title
The title is the name of your web page – whether that’s a core website page or a blog. It’s important that each web page title is unique and describes the content well, but it shouldn’t be long-winded. It’s what will appear on the search engine results page (SERP) so should attract your potential customers and be informative.
Both Google and customers will use your web page titles to understand what the content is about. If your page doesn’t have a title it will read “untitled” which isn’t very helpful from an SEO point of view or a user experience one.
Tip #4 – Include A Meta Description
The meta description is a brief explanation of what users can expect to find on your web page. It appears below the title on a SERP and should engage users so that they click on your content. As is the case with your page title, it should include your primary keyword so Google knows exactly what your page is about.
So, you need to entice your audience, explain your content and use your main keyword – all within 160 characters (anything after typically won’t appear, depending on the search engine).
Tip #5 – Heading, Tags and Bolding Text
Headings are useful for both readers and Google.
Heading tags (H1, H2, H3, H4) separate the text so that it’s clear for people to read. They work a little like the title for the paragraph to come which makes skimming text easier too.
Bolding important parts of a text helps to draw in the reader’s eye. Just don’t do it too much – everything you have to say may be important, but reading more bold than normal text can become frustrating.
Whilst it might be nice to think of Google as a person reading your blogs word for word, that’s unfortunately not the case. Google sends out crawlers to read the code on your page. When these crawlers come across an HTML tag ‘H1’, they know that this is important and very relevant to the rest of the content. If it contains your primary keyword (which it should) this will also let Google know what you’re aiming to rank for.
Google will check that the content that follows is relevant to whatever the heading was. The crawlers will also read the code behind the other heading tags and bold text to understand what the content is about and how it’s organised.
Tip #6 – Consider Adding Images, Infographics and Videos
Content isn’t just text. We live in a world that’s becoming ever more visual and many (if not most) people don’t have time to read through paragraphs and paragraphs of text. Images, videos and infographics are a great way of keeping people engaged on your page and giving them the answer they’re looking for.
They make your blogs and web pages more attractive and colourful and Google loves them too. Every image should have an ‘alt’ tag which helps explain to Google what the picture is of. The crawlers can then determine whether it’s relevant to the rest of the content on the page. Pages with a good amount of images will appeal more to readers, which will make them stay on the page longer which will make Google rank you higher.
In addition to well-written and researched alt text, the file name of your images is also important. Uploading an image with the file name IMAGE0001 isn’t very helpful when describing what the image is off. Try to use words that clearly describe the image – Google will like it much better!
Tip #7 – The Importance of Site Structure For Your Website
Site structure is an essential part of SEO. It’s also one of the most difficult things to do yourself. As well as understanding what your particular web page is about (thanks to heading tags, keywords etc), Google likes to know you’re organised. When crawlers go through your website, they’re looking for your least and most important pages. The most important ones are often referred to as pillar pages or cornerstone content.
So how do they determine this? They follow links between your blogs and pages to determine the most important (the ones with the most links) and least important (the ones with the fewest).
But site structure isn’t just important for Google and its crawlers. It’s also essential for user experience.
We all know how frustrating it can be when you’re on a website and you can’t navigate it properly. You have to use the back button, can’t find the page you’re looking for and the content isn’t organised well.
Most of us bounce from websites like this and head to a competitor who has structured their website well. Of course, that doesn’t do your sales any good but it also doesn’t make you very popular with Google. Remember Panda? User experience is pretty important for that update – and bouncing doesn’t look like your users are having a good time.
Tip #8 – Use Link Building To Boost Credibility
One of the biggest benefits of working with an SEO company in Melbourne is that they’ll have a good overview of all the content on your website. This allows them to link naturally and effectively between your web pages which helps with site structure (and we know why that’s important).
By internally linking on your website, you guide users to other information they might find useful. Of course, you can also lead them to your pillar pages to drive traffic there.
As well as internal links, external links are also important. External links to reliable sources can help to improve your credibility. You can provide your readers with references which, in turn, improve the authority of your website too.
Likewise, backlinks from other websites can help to boost your website’s credibility. As we’ve learnt by now, this is important to Google and they’re more likely to rank credible websites first.
Tip #9 – Page Speed
Slow websites are one of the main reasons users bounce. Nowadays, people get impatient in just a few seconds, so it’s essential you make sure your website is running smoothly and loading quickly. If not, they’ll be bouncing off to your competitor again.
Website maintenance is really important and an essential part of SEO. Maintaining your website ensures it’s secure and loading quickly. As part of our SEO packages in Melbourne, we also offer website maintenance services to make sure your online presence is as strong and secure as possible.
Tip #10 – Create A Mobile-Friendly Website
In 2016, Google announced that it was moving towards mobile-first indexing. In 2021, every website on the internet was being indexed on a mobile-first basis. So what exactly does that mean?
It means that having a mobile responsive website is very important. More than half of all the searches on Google come from a mobile device, which was the drive behind the move. It’s therefore important that your beautiful desktop website looks just as good on a mobile phone or tablet. Small images, text that you need to zoom in on, or a non-functioning navigation bar will all cause people to leave your website.
Good website design will ensure your website is mobile-responsive so those visiting from a mobile device have just as good a user experience as those on a desktop.
Why Partner With Elevate Websites for your SEO Strategy?
Whilst these 10 SEO tips may seem fairly simple, keeping on top of them all can be a challenge.
Unless you have a dedicated team in your company who can research keywords, organise your site structure, write engaging content, post it with links and monitor the results, it’s best to leave it up to a professional SEO company in Melbourne.
At Elevate Websites, we have years of experience creating SEO strategies for businesses of all sizes. Whether you have an existing website that’s already ranking, or you’re a brand new company looking for web design and SEO services, we’ll be able to help.
We take out time to thoroughly understand your business. This allows us to manage the entire process from understanding your target audience and what they’re searching for, to monitoring the results of your new content.
If you’d like to increase your online presence through SEO, get in contact with the team at Elevate Websites. We’ll be happy to advise you on the next steps for your website to keep Google and your customers happy.
Calem Koek is a web designer and owner of leading Melbourne-based digital marketing agency Elevate Websites. He has been helping businesses in Melbourne and across Australia scale their business online through quality website design and world class SEO services.