SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is an element of digital marketing that is often misunderstood. Climbing to the top of Google takes time, patience, and dedication. It’s not a case of launching a website and immediately you’re there - you need to look for ways to build your site content (often via blogs) and to direct traffic to your site from high authority sources (known as backlinks).
As a team, we’re always looking for ways to up-skill, and regular training on the fundamentals of digital is vital. We were thrilled to welcome SEO legend, Barry Adams to Newry late last year for a full day of advanced SEO training. Barry has worked with some of the world’s top publishers, including The Guardian, The Sun, Fox News and LadBible, to successfully improve SEO and grow their audiences, so we were pretty confident he could teach us a thing or two!
During our time, Barry talked us through the A-Z of search ranking and while it would be impossible to list everything we covered, we wanted to share some key takeaways from the session (better late than never, eh?):
1. Why do we need SEO?
SEO is all about using technology to optimise your site for potential users, using relevant content to attract key audiences, and building authority so you appear higher in Google searches.
When your chance of a user clicking through to your website more than halves if you’re not on the first page of Google, it becomes clear how important good SEO is to your online presence!
2. Technical SEO vs On-Page SEO
There are two types of SEO. Firstly, technical SEO, which deals with optimising your site for load speed, crawl optimisation, mobile SEO, JavaScript… your nitty gritty SEO!
And then there’s on-page SEO which utilises keywords and content structure and quality to assist Google’s algorithm in helping direct readers to the most relevant content. More than ever, it is imperative that we write for humans as Google favours publishers who create consumable and useful content for their chosen audience(s).
Both are important, and both take some time to implement across your website!
3. Getting started
So where to start? We’d recommend enlisting the help of a technical SEO expert or web developer to assist with technical SEO, but on-page SEO offers a chance for brands to get more hands-on with optimising their content.
Even before you carry out keyword analysis, it is vital that you know exactly how and where you want to be positioned on the web. Using Mitso as an example, as a brand and digital agency, we offer a wide range of services and it’s important that we prioritise and understand exactly what we want to be known for and by whom. In fact, we’re currently revamping our own strategy to help reframe our content to speak to the right people and welcome them to our site.
Make a list of the top priority services or products you sell and be clear about your USPs. Then, and only then, should you begin to develop a keyword plan.
4. Keyword planning
Search engines look for keywords and phrases when they're searching for relevant and useful content, and they can be implemented across your website.
It can be overwhelming to develop keyword plans, with lots of information and buzzwords to consider! Starting with your core USPs, it might be helpful to develop keyword clusters so that you can focus on specific service areas at one time and to keep your approach simple.
Don’t just throw keywords into the text (a.k.a. “keyword stuff”) without considering language that makes sense to your reader – this could negatively affect your site’s authority (trust) in rankings.
At a minimum, each page on your site should have its own keyword or phrase, a title tag (a H1 tag) and a meta description (including your keyword).
5. Write for people first, search engines second
The internet is a big place, and it’s important that your content breaks through the noise to reach your target audience. As much as the technical, SEO side of things is important, you want your writing to be understandable and relevant for both humans and search engines.
Use personable language and try to pre-empt the questions your audience are likely to ask.
You want to make sure your reader gets all the information they need before they leave.
When it comes to quality content, just think EAT:
- Expertise
- Authoritativeness
- Trustworthiness
6. Link to related articles
A.k.a. a backlink strategy. Linking to other relevant websites and articles through your content is a great way to build authority with readers and show that other sites can vouch for your content (by the time you’ve got to this paragraph in our blog, we've already included three!)
If lots of sites link back to your website, search engines like Google can then interpret this as content worth linking to and including in search rankings. For example, backlinks can be used to reference a statistic or contextual information, or to drive readers to a certain part of your site.
One very simple example of a backlink is known as a citation: a simple listing of your brand or company on Yell.com or stakeholder sites such as Newry Chamber. Taking this a step further, you should make a conscious effort to be featured or affiliated with news publishers, influencers and any authoritative source within your industry to link back to your site.
7. Include images
Including relevant images can help you draw readers into your content and make it more visually appealing. It’s also important to include alt-tags on all your website imagery to ensure they also rank within Google search.
Barry Adams SEO Training - Mitso
Pssst…be careful! Don’t use imagery with a large file size as this could slow your site loading speed.
8. Include Calls To Action (CTAs)
To create engaging content, it’s really important to include calls to action (CTAs). A call to action is anything on your page that encourages people to do something:
- Click a button or link
- Sign up for a newsletter or mailing list
- Download an e-book or whitepaper
This helps to break up your content, which your reader (and Google) will appreciate.
Pro tip: when including Calls To Action links on your website, try not to use generic terms such as “Click Here”. If instead, you specifically state where the link is directing to (e.g. “Download our SEO Checklist”), this will help Google to determine how relevant that link is and therefore becomes a ranking factor.
9. Use technology
Don’t shy away from using Search Engine software to help you improve your SEO performance. There is a plethora of tools out there that can help, including SEMRush (analyses technical site health and assists with keyword planning and competitor analysis); Google Keyword Planner (does exactly what it says on the tin!); and Screaming Frog (crawls your entire site to help understand where you are with your SEO so far).
In summary, while the ever-changing SEO landscape can be daunting, it is important to remember that SEO is simply about understanding what you offer and who you want to attract and developing useful content for those users.
Creating an authoritative and interesting source of information within your industry, you’ll help to establish your company as a thought leader and help increase your search ranking.
Need help improving your SEO and connecting with your customers? Get in touch with the Mitso team today to find out how we can support your next project.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is an element of digital marketing that is often misunderstood. Climbing to the top of Google takes time, patience, and dedication. It’s not a case of launching a website and immediately you’re there - you need to look for ways to build your site content (often via blogs) and to direct traffic to your site from high authority sources (known as backlinks).
As a team, we’re always looking for ways to up-skill, and regular training on the fundamentals of digital is vital. We were thrilled to welcome SEO legend, Barry Adams to Newry late last year for a full day of advanced SEO training. Barry has worked with some of the world’s top publishers, including The Guardian, The Sun, Fox News and LadBible, to successfully improve SEO and grow their audiences, so we were pretty confident he could teach us a thing or two!
During our time, Barry talked us through the A-Z of search ranking and while it would be impossible to list everything we covered, we wanted to share some key takeaways from the session (better late than never, eh?):
1. Why do we need SEO?
SEO is all about using technology to optimise your site for potential users, using relevant content to attract key audiences, and building authority so you appear higher in Google searches.
When your chance of a user clicking through to your website more than halves if you’re not on the first page of Google, it becomes clear how important good SEO is to your online presence!
2. Technical SEO vs On-Page SEO
There are two types of SEO. Firstly, technical SEO, which deals with optimising your site for load speed, crawl optimisation, mobile SEO, JavaScript… your nitty gritty SEO!
And then there’s on-page SEO which utilises keywords and content structure and quality to assist Google’s algorithm in helping direct readers to the most relevant content. More than ever, it is imperative that we write for humans as Google favours publishers who create consumable and useful content for their chosen audience(s).
Both are important, and both take some time to implement across your website!
3. Getting started
So where to start? We’d recommend enlisting the help of a technical SEO expert or web developer to assist with technical SEO, but on-page SEO offers a chance for brands to get more hands-on with optimising their content.
Even before you carry out keyword analysis, it is vital that you know exactly how and where you want to be positioned on the web. Using Mitso as an example, as a brand and digital agency, we offer a wide range of services and it’s important that we prioritise and understand exactly what we want to be known for and by whom. In fact, we’re currently revamping our own strategy to help reframe our content to speak to the right people and welcome them to our site.
Make a list of the top priority services or products you sell and be clear about your USPs. Then, and only then, should you begin to develop a keyword plan.
4. Keyword planning
Search engines look for keywords and phrases when they're searching for relevant and useful content, and they can be implemented across your website.
It can be overwhelming to develop keyword plans, with lots of information and buzzwords to consider! Starting with your core USPs, it might be helpful to develop keyword clusters so that you can focus on specific service areas at one time and to keep your approach simple.
Don’t just throw keywords into the text (a.k.a. “keyword stuff”) without considering language that makes sense to your reader – this could negatively affect your site’s authority (trust) in rankings.
At a minimum, each page on your site should have its own keyword or phrase, a title tag (a H1 tag) and a meta description (including your keyword).
5. Write for people first, search engines second
The internet is a big place, and it’s important that your content breaks through the noise to reach your target audience. As much as the technical, SEO side of things is important, you want your writing to be understandable and relevant for both humans and search engines.
Use personable language and try to pre-empt the questions your audience are likely to ask.
You want to make sure your reader gets all the information they need before they leave.
When it comes to quality content, just think EAT:
- Expertise
- Authoritativeness
- Trustworthiness
6. Link to related articles
A.k.a. a backlink strategy. Linking to other relevant websites and articles through your content is a great way to build authority with readers and show that other sites can vouch for your content (by the time you’ve got to this paragraph in our blog, we've already included three!)
If lots of sites link back to your website, search engines like Google can then interpret this as content worth linking to and including in search rankings. For example, backlinks can be used to reference a statistic or contextual information, or to drive readers to a certain part of your site.
One very simple example of a backlink is known as a citation: a simple listing of your brand or company on Yell.com or stakeholder sites such as Newry Chamber. Taking this a step further, you should make a conscious effort to be featured or affiliated with news publishers, influencers and any authoritative source within your industry to link back to your site.
7. Include images
Including relevant images can help you draw readers into your content and make it more visually appealing. It’s also important to include alt-tags on all your website imagery to ensure they also rank within Google search.
Barry Adams SEO Training - Mitso
Pssst…be careful! Don’t use imagery with a large file size as this could slow your site loading speed.
8. Include Calls To Action (CTAs)
To create engaging content, it’s really important to include calls to action (CTAs). A call to action is anything on your page that encourages people to do something:
- Click a button or link
- Sign up for a newsletter or mailing list
- Download an e-book or whitepaper
This helps to break up your content, which your reader (and Google) will appreciate.
Pro tip: when including Calls To Action links on your website, try not to use generic terms such as “Click Here”. If instead, you specifically state where the link is directing to (e.g. “Download our SEO Checklist”), this will help Google to determine how relevant that link is and therefore becomes a ranking factor.
9. Use technology
Don’t shy away from using Search Engine software to help you improve your SEO performance. There is a plethora of tools out there that can help, including SEMRush (analyses technical site health and assists with keyword planning and competitor analysis); Google Keyword Planner (does exactly what it says on the tin!); and Screaming Frog (crawls your entire site to help understand where you are with your SEO so far).
In summary, while the ever-changing SEO landscape can be daunting, it is important to remember that SEO is simply about understanding what you offer and who you want to attract and developing useful content for those users.
Creating an authoritative and interesting source of information within your industry, you’ll help to establish your company as a thought leader and help increase your search ranking.
Need help improving your SEO and connecting with your customers? Get in touch with the Mitso team today to find out how we can support your next project.
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