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Beginners guide to SEO

Posted by Stuart Walters on February 15, 2021

When it comes to SEO (search engine optimization) it is changing all the time. There are some basics that you can get the hang of, though, that will help to make a difference to your small business. There is a wealth of information out there to help you, so implementing the things that you read and putting them into practice for your small business website will make a difference. Keep researching and keep updating things, to make sure that you’re helping your small business to be seen online.

 

What is SEO and Why is it Important?

If you’re reading an SEO guide, then the chances are that you have a little knowledge in the area but want to really understand it and how it can help your small business. SEO is all about being found online, getting more visibility for your website, and to help you to rank better when someone searches for something relevant to your business on a search engine. But you need to really understand the steps that you can do as a business, to help your search results, without having to pay to be at the top page of a search engine. What will be interesting to you as a business owner is knowing how you can leverage your SEO to help you to drive more traffic to your website, get more leads, generate more sales, and then ultimately build your revenue. That is why having a basic knowledge of SEO as a small business owner is important.

 

Keyword Research and Targeting Best Practices

One of the first steps that you should take in SEO is to think about what you are actually trying to optimize. This means that you are able to identify the keywords or terms that people are searching for on a search engine and that you then want your website to rank for. It might sound simple but there are some factors to think about when you are determining the keywords that you want your site to target. 

 

  • Search volume: this is important to consider as it takes into account the number of people that are searching for a particular word or term. If more people are searching for a particular keyword then the bigger the audience that you could potentially reach. If there are very few people searching for a keyword, then there will be very few people that you will reach. 

 

  • Relevance: if you find a term that is searched for a lot, then that can be good, but it's it going to be relevant to your business? You will know what you do and don’t want to rank for, and if you choose something not relevant, people will click on your site and then quickly click away once they realize that you’re not what they are looking for. If you use a very competitive term, then you could get lost in the crowd. 

 

  • Competition: like any opportunity in business, with SEO, you should consider the likelihood of success, as well as potential costs. Relating to SEO and keywords, this means understanding the competition for specific terms, and your likelihood of ranking for those specific terms. Understanding your customers and prospective customers helps here, as you can get an idea of what they would be searching for. 

 

Solid foundation for SEO

Understanding SEO also and how it can help your small business needs to start with a solid foundation. Having a solid SEO foundation starts with ensuring that there is crawl accessibility for your business website, and then it goes from there. When search engines can read your website, it means that it will make it easier to rank for certain keywords right from the start. 

 

Content

One of the next steps to work on, once you have a solid foundation, is having enough compelling content on your website that will allow a search engine to crawl through. Not only that, but if you have content that answers the question that someone is searching for, it will help your site to be found and to appear in a search engine search. A blog on your website, as well as different products or about pages will help this, as well as updating the website with new content on a regular basis. The content should include backlinks to other pages on your website, as well as be keyword optimized.

 

The content that you share should also have a relevant title and URL, as well as a description. Then if it comes up in a search engine results page (SERPs) the click-through rate (CTR) will be improved, as people will be able to see it is relevant to what they are looking for. wh

 

As well as creating content that will help to get your website found as it answers a specific question, you should look to create content that others can link to. This can help to amplify your content, as well as your website, and it shows to a search engine that a certain webpage is good, as plenty of people are citing it or referring to it. 

 

User experience

When a customer comes to your website, you need to make sure that they have a great user experience. So designing a good website is key. It should load quickly and have a great experience for a new user. If they found your site from a search engine search, then even if you’re not completely what they are looking for, they are more likely to have a look around if the website is easy to use, looks good, and provides a great user experience.

 

If you want to improve your search engine traffic but don’t know where to start, then this SEO guide is a good place to start. When you learn the basics of SEO, you are helping to do the background work that can all be done easily, without having to spend a penny. Understanding SEO and then implementing it, are vital steps in being able to achieve the goals of your business online. 





Privacy Policy – Alexander Advertising International Ltd

This website is operated by Alexander Advertising International and whose registered address is Ispden House, Lutpon Road, Wallingford, OX10 9BS. We are committed to protecting and preserving the privacy of our visitors when visiting our site or communicating electronically with us.

This policy sets out how we process any personal data we collect from you or that you provide to us through our website. We confirm that we will keep your information secure and that we will comply fully with all applicable UK Data Protection legislation and regulations. Please read the following carefully to understand what happens to personal data that you choose to provide to us, or that we collect from you when you visit this site. By visiting www.alexander-advertising.co.uk (our website) you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy.

Types of information we may collect from you

We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal information about individuals who visit and use our website:

Information you supply to us. You may supply us with information about you by filling in forms on our website. This includes information you provide when you submit a contact/enquiry form. The information you give us may include your name, address, e-mail address and phone number.

Information our website automatically collects about you. With regard to each of your visits to our website we may automatically collect information including the following:

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. For detailed information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them see our Cookie Policy.

How we may use the information we collect

We use the information in the following ways:

Information you supply to us. We will use this information:

Information we automatically collect about you. We will use this information:

This information is collected anonymously and is not linked to information that identifies you as an individual. We also use Google Analytics to track this information. Find out how Google uses your data at

Google Analytics Data Usage
Disclosure of your information

Any information you provide to us will either be emailed directly to us or may be stored on a secure server located in the UK. We use a trusted third-party website and hosting provider (Perfect Web Design) to facilitate the running and management of this website. Perfect Web Design meet high data protection and security standards and are bound by contract to keep any information they process on our behalf confidential. Any data that may be collected through this website that Perfect Web Design process, is kept secure and only processed in the manner we instruct them to. Perfect Web Design cannot access, provide, rectify or delete any data that they store on our behalf without permission.

We do not rent, sell or share personal information about you with other people or non-affiliated companies.

We will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that your personal data is not disclosed to regional/national institutions and authorities, unless required by law or other regulations.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

Third party links

Our site may, from time to time, contain links to and from the third-party websites. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.

Your rights – access to your personal data

You have the right to ensure that your personal data is being processed lawfully (“Subject Access Right”). Your subject access right can be exercised in accordance with data protection laws and regulations. Any subject access request must be made in writing to info@alexander-advertising.co.uk. We will provide your personal data to you within the statutory time frames. To enable us to trace any of your personal data that we may be holding, we may need to request further information from you. If you have a complaint about how we have used your information, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Changes to our privacy policy

Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy policy.

Contact

Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be addressed to info@alexander-advertising.co.uk

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