SEO Fundamentals
Why are you building a website? In most cases, the answer is: “So people can find us”, or something similar.
Here are some SEO fundamentals that need to be part of your plan if you expect to be found in search.
Also in most cases, people use Google to find a website, even if they know the name of the website, and even when they know the exact address of the website.
Most people typically DO NOT type “h t t p s : / / w w w . w e b s i t e n a m e . c o . n z” into their browser. Too long, too hard to remember that “http” stuff and too easy to make a mistake.
If even for this reason alone, SEO is super important.
When a user knows the name of the business, they type “{business name}” into Google (or their browser), which starts an organic Brand Search. So, Brand SEO is arguably the most important SEO of all. This will help connect people who already know the Brand.
To connect people who do not know the Brand but are interested in what the Brand sells, then Keyword SEO becomes important. They might search {description of product} into Google and expect to find someone who offers the product they want.
What makes for good SEO?
Currently, Google considers a website optimal for SEO if it has the following characteristics:
- Experience
- Expertise
- Authoritativeness
- Trustworthiness
There are NO shortcuts to doing this properly.
There are many things to do to establish EEAT, too many to list here. A customised plan would be necessary for the individual businesses needing SEO work.
SEO order of execution:
Take particular note of the fact that not every point below is only about doing things organically. We believe (and will stand behind) the need to think more holistically when marketing any website. Doing strictly only SEO tasks often doesn’t work out well.
- Information Architecture planning for SEO: Planning how the site should be constructed in terms of where to find content and on which URLs, and even which code-base to use.
- Technical SEO basic: to follow some best practices when developing a site. This is just some necessary basics built in by the developers and doesn’t make any difference to ranking. Sometimes known as making a website “SEO friendly”, which is mainly just a preparation for the next steps.
- Technical SEO advanced: to apply some advanced technical SEO elements typically not included in development. These usually require SEO project work and scoped based on the size and type of the website. This is always just agency side work because it is very technical and requires advanced (and current) industry knowledge.
- Brand Search optimisation: to get the site to rank for a brand search. Not always possible if the brand is a common word. This is done by an SEO expert (agency side).
- Generic Keyword SEO: to tactically optimise for keywords that will help find NEW customers. This usually involves a collaboration between an SEO expert (agency side) and a product expert (business side). This SEO work delivers results slowly over time. Expect small changes over months depending on the effort put in. This phase also includes tactics to help grow Links over time and leverages the EEAT elements of SEO.
- Brand Marketing using Display Advertising (Google Display): use paid marketing to grow awareness in the Brand and the Products offered by the Brand. This helps drive Brand Search (point 4) in a kind of snowball SEO effect.
- Generic Search Engine Marketing (Google Ads): use this type of paid marketing to connect NEW users who are in the market to buy what the Brand is selling. It delivers traffic and sales quickly. (fast-track version of point 5). This is a way to ensure a business can remain profitable while they wait for SEO work to supplement their customer acquisition.
Let’s have a conversation about your SEO needs soon.
info@rankpower.com
