For anyone wanting to set up a website for the first time the matter of search engine optimisation (SEO), or getting your website found in Google, might seem rather daunting. SEO is a huge area of expertise; this post aims to covers the basics that need to be carried out by your web designer to set you on the path to website happiness.
Your website is for people not search engines
It’s your web designer’s job to create you a professional looking website that promotes your business and encourages people to contact you or use your services. The focus of your website should be your audience rather than the search engines. If you have a well developed site with great content then the basic SEO will take care of itself. If you’re launching a website into a competitive sector it might need extra help to push it up in the search engine rankings. Not all web designers provide extensive SEO services so you may need to find a reputable SEO company or consultant once your website has been launched.
Good search engine results may take time. If you’re working in a saturated industry, your new website isn’t going to overtake well established websites within a few days or weeks of launching. Be wary of anyone who makes guarantees about getting your website to a certain position in Google.
The website design, development and SEO process
As part of your website development process your website designer will:
- Build the website with clean, standards compliant xhtml/css code, when researching your web designer check what their services cover.
- Add appropriate page title tags; search engines look at the title tag to determine what the page is about so they should contain relevant keywords, for example “Freelance Web Designer Brighton”. Titles are displayed in search engine results and the very top bar of your web browser.
- Add a Meta tag description for each page with relevant information and keywords. Search engines index Meta tag descriptions and often use the descriptions in their search results. Google doesn’t use Meta tag keywords anymore, although many web designers will still add these as part of process.
- Create a sitemap if there are a large number of pages, this helps search engines understand the structure of your website.
- Create a custom 404 error page; this is displayed if a search engine finds an incorrect or broken link on the website. It also tells your website visitors that the page they are looking for cannot be found and how they can get back to your website content to find what they need.
- Set up web analytics; this provides useful reports on visitors to your website. You can ask for access to see these reports or have the reports emailed to you.
- Submit your website to the search engines to be indexed.
Once the website is live it will take anywhere between a few days to a few weeks to appear in a search. Google says “We do not add all submitted URLs to our index, and we cannot make any predictions or guarantees about when or if they will appear.” There is no reason why a well developed website wouldn’t appear, but you might need to be patient. You might also see fluctuations in rankings for a few weeks after the website has been launched.
What you, as the client, can do to help your website’s SEO
Responsibility for your website’s SEO can no longer be placed solely in your web designer’s hands. In the world of the web, content is king and this expands across different mediums, such as blogs and social media. Here are a few suggestions to get on your way to great content:
- Your website should be continually evolving and updated with content. Write rich helpful content for your customers. Use “keywords” where you can and where is natural in your content. If your budget allows you might consider employing a copywriter.
- Add relevant page headings when writing your content. Heading should also use “keywords” so rather than adding headings such as “Home”, “Contact”, “About” etc, use descriptive text such as “Web Design Services Brighton”.
- You might consider using social media or a blog to complement your website. Create a Facebook business page or Twitter account if they support your message. And if you are interesting in writing about what you know, a blog is a good way to add relevant keyword rich content to your website on a regular basis. Social media and blogs, if correctly used, can generate links and help with SEO.
- Connect your website with other relevant/industry websites and blogs by contributing information and exchanging links. Wherever you add links back to your own website use keywords in the link text if possible, for example “Web design Brighton”, rather than “www.roweena.co.uk”.
How to find a reputable SEO company
Some tips on finding a good SEO company or consultant:
- They will need to analyse and discuss your site with you, this will include looking at the content and website structure.
- They will research your competitors.
- They will carry out “keyword analysis”.
- Ask for examples/case studies and look at their portfolio of clients.
- Ask who will be managing your account and what this will involve.
- Avoid anyone who makes promises about getting your website on page 1 or at number 1 in Google.
- Avoid companies that talk about link building and directory submission as their main methods of SEO.
There is much more that could be said on the subject of SEO. As a starting point always talk to your web designer to find out what their experience covers so that there are no misunderstandings about what can be achieved.
