If you’re running a small business, you’re in marketing, or you’re just clued up – you’ll know about SEO. But if not, let’s quickly dive into the basics.

SEO basics

Search engine optimisation is one of the simplest ways for your company’s website and brand to gain momentum online. 

SEO is a (generally) easy way to make sure your business is visible on search engines like Google, and can easily be found by potential shoppers. Understand the nitty-gritty of how a search engine works here.

1. Relevant and fresh content 🔥

Search engines are always looking for fresh content which has to do with the subject your website or brand deals with. This could be blog posts, product updates, or industry-related news. 

Posting once a month is not going to cut it, either. Search engines make sure the content you put out is relevant to your consumers, not to mention useful.

2. Publish content off of your website 📱

With the expansion of social media, this one isn’t too difficult. 

By creating an integrated social media campaign, you’ll be able to easily share your websites content on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and even Instagram. 

By doing this and expanding your social presence, you’re showing search engines that you’re relevant.

3. Website auditing 🔎

Search engines like to search every inch of your website. Because of that, it’s important that you’re constantly auditing your website for:

• Metadata: A meta tag is a short sentence or paragraph explaining a website pages content. It’s basically a sentence which lives to explain to search engines what a page is about
• Alt-text: Make sure for every image you upload to your website, you add in alt-text. Alt-text is a short sentence, or a few words, describing an image
• Internal links: By linking to other pages of your website, you’re helping search engines understand the hierarchy of your website, and in turn, it rates your website higher
• Backlinks: These are links to your website, from another domain. When this happens, search engines start to see your page as an authority on the relevant topics

4. Reviews ⭐️

Search engines love reviews. “Why?” you may ask. Because they indicate to search engines such as Google that people are actively interacting with your brand. This helps the search engine see that you’re facilitating trust with your current consumers, and potential ones. 

In order for reviews to help your SEO ranking, make sure they’re:

• Recent
• Frequent
• Continuous
• Informative

Collecting reviews on Platforms such as Hellopeter is a simple way to help your website to start ranking better. Even call-outs help your SEO ranking, so don’t be afraid of a little complaining.

5. Headings 👑

Who would’ve thought? 

This simple change on your website makes your pages far easier to read. For search engines and consumers alike. Just by adding headings and sub-headings, your pages, blogs or content, become much more digestible, and allow for consumers to skim through without missing the good stuff.

There you have it. If your website is just starting out, you needed a nudge in the right direction, or a sign: this is it. 

Start working on your SEO today! Results take time, but these five tips are a surefire way to get a headstart in the SEO game.