All search engines are different but they all look for relevancy, clarity and engagement. This rule is universal across the board. The unique thing about human beings is that we evaluate site content and need to know if it is indignantly false, we subconsciously assess it based on several criteria.

  • First, the website titles and descriptions and well as website content should be clear and concise to the point where nothing needs to be completely clarified.
  • Second, it should be able to ensure to all groups that it is the answer to their questions, without elaborating.
  • Third, in spite of the fact that many components are present, the theme should be aesthetic yet practical.
  • Finally, back in the day, SEO was a lot simpler. However nowadays, engagement and bounce rate are significantly more important and each experience is more tailored to a real human being as opposed to a computer.

Then came the time of link building, the second aspect of SEO

Looking at the design and objective of the web site, SEO is beneficial when it comes to;

  • Website title
  • Meta tags
  • Meta description
  • Image alt tags

After this came SEO analysis tools, which nowadays track everything from keywords to clicks. Newer versions even track the sub domains and links pointed to and from the web site for great added value. They are truly amazing tools, and often include an insight into the Google index. Most tools like this truly go to show that the benefits outweigh the costs.

Below we will walk through the main 4 steps of basic SEO to ensure you have a foundation of success.

Step 1 - analyse your website

Firstly it is important to create an overall report on your website. This will include:

  • Current statistics for keywords, search engines and search terms.
  • Web page optimisation report.
  • Content optimisation report.
  • Regularly updated web page optimisation report.
  • Meta tag optimisation report.
  • HTML validation report.
  • Advanced web page optimisation report.
  • Site maps creation and static site map validations.

It is vital you have an understanding of these facts and figures regarding your own website to ensure your SEO budget and marketing development plan is optimal.

Step 2 - Perform initial keyword research

Compile a list of relevant keywords. Arrange keywords in descending order from the most appropriate to the least appropriate. Create a spreadsheet of these words and use a Project Manager to track their progress weekly and month by month.

Create another spreadsheet to hold information on the search engine optimisation keywords the plan uses.

Link up these lists of keywords and promote as much as possible for all the major search engines. The lists will also include the existing and future related keywords that yourself or an SEO manager may use at some point in the future. 

Step 3 - Choose your keywords

You must have the right keywords, and then the combination of those keywords to be even slightly successful. Good keywords are those that have high traffic but low competition, low or poorly designed, and little competition those who are serious about their business.

By low competition I mean that whoever reaches a top ten listing needs very little backlinks or further optimisation to rise to that top ten listing.

Step 4 - Give age and effort to your small business website

A brand new website when it is launched will set the SEO aside, as the newness is not recognised by Google’s crawlers immediately. It takes some time for these to be indexed as new websites are created and this may take some time.

Google sets the minimum age for official websites and the maximum age for those with a DoFollow link - one year for all DoFollow links and three months or more for all NoFollow links.

Some of the SEO tactics that can be used for a new website are:

  1. Ensuring your website is of the highest quality possible. Websites will be placed in lower SERPS if Google or others decide that the new site is of poor quality.
  2. Create a link building plan
  3. In the first 60 days a website should have an H1 and H2 heading tag with the keywords. A page title tag is also important.
  4. Concise and clear pages that are built for each topic
  5. Stay up to date on SEO practices

Eve Becker is a professional writer for Technical Writers with a first class degree in Business Management. She originally captured her passion for all things business related when she gained her work experience at a marketing agency, helping to manage several projects.