{"id":118,"date":"2021-07-07T06:12:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T06:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/?post_type=seo_blog&p=118"},"modified":"2024-01-22T04:49:35","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T04:49:35","slug":"5-steps-boosting-your-seo-visibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/5-steps-boosting-your-seo-visibility\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Easy Steps to Boosting Your SEO Visibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hopefully if you\u2019ve landed on this article, you already know\u00a0why SEO is so important for your small business<\/a>. But you might be wondering exactly how you can use search engine optimisation to boost your rankings and get page one of Google.<\/p>\n

Good news: the answer is not as complicated as you might think. After\u00a0almost a decade in the SEO game<\/a>, I know a thing or two about how Google works, and I\u2019m here to break it down for you.<\/p>\n

SEO has come a long way in recent years, and it\u2019s about much more than just adding a few keywords to your web copy. Optimising your website for Google means optimising for users, so it\u2019s just as important that your website loads quickly and visitors can easily find the content they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

So, how do you optimise your website to keep your website visitors and search engines happy? Here I\u2019ve put together 5 simple steps to take you from S-E-Oh so confused to Google guru in no time.<\/p>\n

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1. Get to know your audience<\/h2>\n

You know that feeling when you\u2019re about to give a speech and think, \u201cI hope they like me?\u201d We all dread it! If the audience doesn\u2019t feel engaged by what you\u2019re saying or how you\u2019re saying it, then your opportunity to get your message across is totally lost.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why\u00a0keyword research<\/a>\u00a0is so important. Not only do keywords help potential customers find you, but by knowing exactly which keywords people are searching for, you\u2019re better able to solve their pain points and lead them to take action \u2013 like booking your services.<\/p>\n

In reality, search engines are a treasure trove of information about your customers. After all, they spend their days jumping on Google to find answers to their questions. So if you\u2019re after some clues about what\u2019s trending in the community that you serve, or how your customers talk about your services, start by looking at the keywords they type into Google.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2. Write content that serves your audience<\/h2>\n

Once you know what keywords your customers are using, you need to make sure your website content provides the info they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

Each time someone types a keyword into Google, the search engine chooses the most relevant and useful content to answer the searcher\u2019s query. And the key to being relevant and useful is creating content that perfectly aligns with what someone is looking for. This is where search intent comes in.<\/p>\n

Search intent is the\u00a0why\u00a0<\/i>behind a search query. Why is the person making this search? What are they looking for?<\/p>\n

Sometimes intent is obvious from the keyword, for example \u201cwhen is my tax return due\u201d or \u201cbest accountant for small business\u201d. But often broad keywords like \u201ctax advice\u201d are more difficult to decipher.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not sure about the intent behind one of your target keywords, just fire up Google and type it into the search bar! Google will show you which content best answers the query, and give you an idea of what content to include on your own site. Just make sure you do this using incognito or private browsing so that your location and previous searches don\u2019t skew the data.<\/p>\n

Once you understand the search intent behind your target keywords, you can go ahead and create the\u00a0right type of content<\/a>\u00a0(think service page, FAQ, or blog article), with the right angle (pricing, benefits, comparison), and in the right format (step-by-step guide, comparison table, Q & A).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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3. Help Google understand your content<\/h2>\n

So you know what your customers are searching for, and you\u2019ve created content that answers their query. The next step is to help Google understand what your content is about, and show that it\u2019s useful and relevant.<\/p>\n

The easiest way to do this is to make sure your target keywords from step 1 are included on each of your pages. Try to keep each of your web pages about one topic, and select a target keyword or keywords related to this topic to use throughout your copy.<\/p>\n

Page titles and descriptions\u00a0<\/i><\/h4>\n

On average, people spend less than 1.17 seconds viewing each search engine listing and deciding what to click, so they need to be impressed quickly! Your title should include the keyword you\u2019re targeting and accurately describe what\u2019s inside \u2013 think like an advertiser who is trying to sell their product in one sentence or headline.<\/p>\n

An SEO description (sometimes called meta-description) below your page title should tempt people into clicking, so it needs to grab attention with well-written content.<\/p>\n

Tip<\/b>: Google will cut-off the end of your page titles and SEO descriptions if they\u2019re too long, so check that your page titles are under 60 characters and descriptions are under 160.<\/p>\n

Header tags<\/i><\/h4>\n

Just like a headline tells readers what an article is about, page headers help structure your content and make the purpose and theme of a page clear to your website visitors. But they\u2019re also important for search engines.<\/p>\n

Header tags help organise your web page into sections, making it easier for search engines to understand the main points of your content.<\/p>\n

Tip<\/b>: Make sure your headers are formatted correctly! You should have only one H1 at the top of the page, and any following sub-headings should be marked up as H2, H3 or H4.<\/p>\n

URLs<\/i><\/h4>\n

Your URL is one of the first things your visitors see when they click on to a page, so it needs to be clear and readable. Google will also look at your URL for content relevance while searching \u2013 so make sure you include keywords!<\/p>\n

Tip<\/b>: Keep your URLs short and concise, separate words with a hyphen (not underscore), and avoid stop words like and or the.<\/p>\n

Image alt text<\/i><\/h4>\n

Image alt text (sometimes called an image alt tag) is a short description of an image on your website. This text not only helps visually impaired users understand your visual content better \u2013 it also helps Google.<\/p>\n

Tip<\/b>: Your image alt text should be kept under 10 words, include keywords, and accurately describe what can be seen in the image.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4. Create a great user experience<\/h2>\n

As part of their mission to make the world\u2019s information accessible, a number of Google\u2019s ranking signals relate to user experience.<\/p>\n

Think about it. If everyone provides a fast and secure website with mobile-friendly content, Google users will be able to access more relevant knowledge from all over the web faster than ever before!<\/p>\n

Secure your site<\/i><\/h4>\n

If your website isn\u2019t secure, it will be flagged it as unsafe in Chrome, which doesn\u2019t give your business a good\u00a0impression for any potential leads coming to your site.\u00a0Google will also penalise an unsafe website, so you\u2019ll find it near impossible to rank on the first page of search results.<\/p>\n

You can check if your website is secure by simply looking at the URL. If your domain begins with \u201cHTTPS\u201d instead of \u201cHTTP\u201d this means your website is secured with an SSL certificate. Good job! The S\u201d in HTTPS stands for \u201cSecure\u201d, and having this extra letter at the front of your website URL tells Google that your site is safe and secure for users.<\/p>\n

Speed things up<\/i><\/h4>\n

The bottom line? A slow site is bad for SEO. Google doesn\u2019t like slow sites, and neither do users.<\/p>\n

40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load . Imagine you had a physical shop front and almost half your visitors turned back around after just three seconds inside. It wouldn\u2019t be very good for business!<\/p>\n

Check your page load speed using\u00a0Google\u2019s Page Speed Testing Tool<\/a>\u00a0and implement the recommendations to speed things up.\u00a0You might need to get some help from a developer, but there are a few easy fixes right at your fingertips \u2013 like reducing your image file sizes.<\/p>\n

Keep it mobile-friendly<\/i><\/h4>\n

With 80% of near me searches being done from a mobile device, it\u2019s important that your website has a responsive design and fonts that are easily read on a smaller screen.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just about content. Mobile-friendliness is one of Google\u2019s 200 ranking signals so if you don\u2019t get this right, your visibility will suffer. Lucky for us, Google has created a free\u00a0Mobile-Friendly Testing tool<\/a>\u00a0which is definitely worth checking out!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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5. Update your local business info<\/h2>\n

Having a\u00a0Google Business Profile<\/a>\u00a0is one of the top ranking factors for appearing in search results against local and \u2018near me\u2019 keywords. And with almost half of all Google searches looking for local businesses, it\u2019s important that your listing is kept up to date so customers can find and contact you.<\/p>\n

If you only do one thing to improve your\u00a0local SEO<\/a>\u00a0visibility, make sure you\u2019ve optimised your Google Business Profile! Your listing should include your business description, trading hours, services and photos. The more information you provide, the better!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hopefully if you\u2019ve landed on this article, you already know\u00a0why SEO is so important for your small business. But you might be wondering exactly how you can use search engine optimisation to boost your rankings and get page one of Google. Good news: the answer is not as complicated as you might think. After\u00a0almost a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"dipi_cpt_category":[],"ppma_author":[43],"authors":[{"term_id":43,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"rhiannonc","display_name":"Rhiannon Carnohan","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/rhiannon-carnohan-seo-coach-and-expert.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/rhiannon-carnohan-seo-coach-and-expert.jpg"},"first_name":"Rhiannon","last_name":"Carnohan","user_url":"","description":"Self-Professed Google Geek & Passionate Small Business Supporter.\r\nRhi is your go-to SEO cheerleader, empowering the do-ers and creatives with the SEO know-how to level up their services so they can finally feel like they\u2019re making a damn difference in the world. "}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118"},{"taxonomy":"dipi_cpt_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dipi_cpt_category?post=118"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhiannoncarnohan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}