Actionable SEO tips for beginners

Here are some actionable SEO tips to help you get found online:

Use keyword research to identify keywords. Keyword research is the process of finding and analysing which words or phrases people use to search for information on your topic. You can then include them in strategic places in your content to improve your rankings on the search engine results pages.

Long-tail keywords are three to four words, like “gluten-free sausage roll”. Short-tail keywords are one to two words, like “sausage roll”.

For SEO it’s usually best to focus your keyword research on long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords have less competition than short-tail keywords, which makes it easier for your content to rank.

Think about User search intent - what someone is looking for when they type in keywords online. Try to make sure the content you create answers the questions searchers are asking. One strategy is to type your keyword into Google and look at the top results to see what type of content is ranking. Another option is to type keywords into the ‘Answer the Public’ website to get a list of questions people are asking about the topic.

Some strategic places to include keywords are:

- In your page titles

- In ‘meta title’ tags

- In ‘meta description’ tags

- In image ‘ALT’ tags

- Used naturally in your content, especially in the first 100 words

- In heading tags like H1, H2

- In clickable ‘anchor text’ used to describe hyperlinks

- In your domain name if appropriate

Meta titles and meta descriptions are very important - they are usually shown by search engines in their results pages. Use keywords in your page titles and meta descriptions to visitors understand what your pages are about. If you have a WordPress website, the easiest way to edit these is with an SEO plugin such as Yoast.

Create content that is relevant to your audience and useful to them.

You can use a headline analyser tool to help you create catchy headlines that engage readers.

Claim and optimise your Google Business Profile to improve your local visibility on Google search and maps.

Building quality links to your website from other websites can help improve your website’s rankings, although this is a more advanced technique.

I hope these tips are useful. If you need more help please get in touch.