SEO Consultation

One of the most common questions I (and probably most web developers) receive is - how do I rank number 1 on Google?
This is a loaded question that cannot be answered without further investigation. For example, what are you trying to rank for? How well do you currently rank? How competitive are your keywords?

These are the following steps I incorporate when building a website with Search Engine Optimisation in mind.

Step 1: Choosing keywords

Choosing the right keywords to rank for is a step you cannot afford to get wrong. If you target keywords that are too generic, you will find it very difficult to rank well. For example, if you are a plumbing website, it's no use trying to rank for 'plumbing'. That keywords is too general and will be far too competitive. On top of which, you may attract jobs geographically you cannot deliver. Instead, you need to niche down. Plumbing in West Sussex is more specific. Better yet, Plumbing in Tunbridge Wells, West Sussex. Another route is to rank certain aspects of plumbing - for example, 'bathroom plumbing in Tunbridge Wells'.

When choosing keywords, I use a range of tools to find out how competitive each one is and if the client can expect results by targeting them.

Step 2: - Internal SEO

This consists of all the steps you can take within a website to rank as well as possible, including things like meta tags, title tags and using your keywords naturally within the content. The most important thing is unique, fresh content. You don't need to have a keyword in every single sentence. In fact, Google may well punish you if you do. The content just needs to read well and engage the reader.

Google values a low bounce rate (people who 'bounce' of your site only visit it for a few seconds before going elsewhere). To achieve this, you need good, quality content. Quantity is also important - it's not good having two or three pages of 50 words or less. Ideally you would have five to ten pages of good content, addressing the various aspects of your business.

Step 3: Blogging

Even though the popularity of blogging has waned slightly with the advent of Facebook and Twitter, it still serves a very important purpose. If you are able to blog just once a week, adding fresh new and interesting content, you will help your site markedly. On the other hand, if you cannot keep this up to date, it can work against you, as nothing looks worse than a stale-dated blog.

Step 4: Social Media

I cover this in more detail on my social media page, but in a nutshell, you can use social media to gain an audience, promote to them and ultimately, direct them to your website. This isn't for everyone, as it does take some work and you need to decide if your type of business is suited for it.

Step 5: Links

Links to your website used to have far more influence on your Google ranking, but after constant abuse, Google adjusted the significance of this factor. However, links from popular, trusted websites are still valuable and will help your rankings over time.

Final thoughts

Providing you choose the right keywords, it is possible to move up steadily up towards page 1. However, I cannot stress enough that this is a gradual process, requiring regular work on your site. With persistence, and all the above points in place, it will happen.

For more information, see also: