Keeping ahead of, or at least in step with ever-changing Google search engine algorithms is vital if you want your business to succeed.
Falling foul of Google’s ‘best SEO practises’ is likely to result in potentially devastating penalties, so knowing the ‘who, what, where and how’ of good SEO is essential.
The ‘Who’
This is basically all about who to actually optimise your Website for. Do you optimise it for Google or other search engines? No, definitely not. The idea is to provide high quality experiences for visitors, so you should first and foremost optimise your site for visitors and, of course, mobile users. Mobile users in this context means users of devices like smart phones, tablets, iPads, laptops, and so on.
The ‘What’
What should optimised blog or Website content look like? It should be well written and relevant; informative and flowing naturally in a tone your intended readers can relate to. Good content should be unique, sharable, of value to your readers and never, ever be stuffed with keywords.
Imagine reading a post packed with sentences like this: ‘Good running shoes, well fitting running shoes, running shoe, athletics footwear, well fitted trainers, well fitted shoes, perfectly fitted trainers provide both comfort and support.’ Admit it; you would give up by the third instance of ‘running’. So would other readers, and Google would definitely come down on you like a ton of bricks for ‘keyword stuffing’.
The ‘Where’
Where should you find your back links? Create unique, valuable, relevant and sharable content and links from relevant, high quality sites will come naturally. This may take a little longer, but you should fear the punishing hand of god, oops, sorry, Google, and never even consider buying links or linking to totally unrelated, spammy or low-quality sites.
The ‘How’
How can you keep track of your site’s vital information? This one is easy: set up Google’s Webmaster Tools and don’t just let them sit there, use them! Regularly updating and using Webmaster Tools to monitor your vital statistics, messages and errors goes a long way towards good search engine optimisation and getting found on the Web.