The basics of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): Improve your website rankings for free

SEO is the process of improving content on your website so that it becomes visible to more users when they search online. This blog discusses the basics to help you understand how you can improve your website rankings.

Search engines scan the content of your website to decide how useful it is to a user. The more useful your website is considered to a user’s search, the higher it will appear in rankings. It is best to understand what a user is looking for and write your content to fit that need.

Below are the four basics you can do to improve your rankings in search engines.

Keywords are the search terms that users type into a search engine. Including keywords in your written content, titles and meta descriptions will organically improve your websites rankings. It is important to add keywords without losing the message of your content (write for the user first) as keyword stuffing can have a negative impact on your rank. Google keyword planner is a great free tool to find keywords.

The main title of you page appears in search results, it is important that it appears when users search, and makes an impact. When you succeed in both of these things, the user will click on to your website. Page titles should be between 30 to 60 characters and include 1 to 2 keywords.

Meta descriptions are a short description explaining what your web page is about. They appear in search results under the page title. The best length for meta descriptions is between 150 to 160 characters, we also suggest trying to add 1 to 3 keywords for the best results.

Alt text is a description of a visual on your web page (such as an image.) Alt text will help your website to be more accessible, and when used correctly can also improve SEO. Include keywords in your image descriptions as these are also indexed by search engines.

SEO can be complicated, hopefully with these key tips, you will now better understand what you can do to improve your website rankings. Remember to write original, useful content aimed at your user’s needs. This will help your pages to perform the best.