SEO needs to be something that you strategize and implement from the very beginning of a new website or online business. Doing so, you can create a website that performs well for SEO from day one; effectively gaining and building traffic to your new venture. However, how to achieve this can be a point of debate.
When it comes to initial SEO success, it needs to be very much focussed on the website itself. So, with that in mind, here are some of the key elements you need to ensure are in place on any website looking to succeed when it comes to Google rankings:
Consider Domain/Business Name Carefully
A domain name needs to be relevant, easy to remember and if possible it needs to encapsulate what your website is all about.
For some, making sure there is the potential for a strong keyword in the domain and business name is important. This way you are able to target a valuable keyword in the root of your site domain. However, depending on the industry and keyword this can be more spammy than helpful. So, it is a tactic that should be carefully considered before implementation.
For example, “helens-barbies.com.au” gives you an idea of what the site is about and is less in your face than “barbie-for-sale-sydney.com.au”. It’s to the point, to be sure, but isn’t likely to be effective from a user perspective.
Focus on Content
The phrase ‘content is king’ is used a lot across the digital marketing scene. Some people agree with it, others are vehemently against it. But, either way the fact of the matter is that content is a vital factor when it comes to ranking a website. And especially for a website that is relatively new. Good content can truly push it to the next level.
Your content needs to be cohesive, to the point and it needs to inform your potential customers/users what your website is about or selling. Content needs to be written for the user first and search engine’s second. Which is a mistake that many new websites and businesses tend to make.
Content can, ultimately, help to drive traffic to your site for years to come. So, make sure that it is right from inception in order to achieve this.
Keyword Research & Site Structure
Keywords are the bread and butter of any SEO campaign. Such a staple, that even someone with limited knowledge can research and implement these to good effect. But, what makes a valuable keyword for a new business website?
In terms of search, you have your local, national and international audiences to consider. In all likelihood, as a new business, the very first target you should set for yourself is the local market. This way although your traffic levels may be lower, they can be powerfully targeted and therefore of great value. This means targeting things like the above “barbie for sale sydney”. Having a specific location at the end of your keywords makes them more beneficial from a local perspective, as you can attract an audience more local to you.
Site structure is also a key component that you need to map out alongside your keywords. This involves identifying the pages which will have the most impact, either due to topic or on the strength of the keywords, and making sure that they are at the top of your site hierarchy. Typically, you might see a hierarchy similar to the following: HOME > SERVICES > BLOG POSTS/OTHER CONTENT.
Site structure dictates to Google the importance of your site pages. So, if you want to highlight or push a particular page, then this needs to be higher in your site structure to do so.
Technical Aspects
Ensuring you have a fast server response time, good page speed load and implement elements such as structured data are all important factors of the umbrella term ‘technical SEO’. The more advanced you want your site to be, the more you need to invest in these individual elements to achieve this. However, you don’t necessarily have to be a web developer or technical guru to understand or implement any of these things.
The first step to ensuring a good web page loading time is to choose a reliable host. As, to a large degree, the load speed of your site is down to the server that it is hosted on.
Optimise Optimisation
Once everything is in place, it needs to be reviewed and put through a final optimisation session. This means going through every page and making sure that the following are optimised with your chosen keywords:
- URLs
- Meta Title & Description
- Headings
- Content
- Image Alt Tags
There are plenty of arguments for and against some of the various elements outlined here. Stating that they are outdated or otherwise unnecessary for good SEO results. However, it’s always better to cover all of these elements and be sure your optimisation has been done. Rather than suffer poor rankings and wonder what could be done to help. Optimise everything from the outset and you won’t have to worry.
Achieving Organic Traffic Results With A New Website
Overall, starting a new website and targeting real, sustainable, SEO growth can be quite a long and winding road. Ultimately, you will need to rely on the above factors to set a solid foundation for other factors to grow upon. Such as social traffic, off-page techniques such as link building and even just brand awareness driving traffic to your site on a regular basis.
But, if everything is in place from an on-page perspective, you should be able to achieve first page results worth celebrating.
If you’re looking for some more useful SEO tips and strategies, check out these other Marketing.com.au articles: