SEO is one of those things that can sound far more complicated than it needs to be.
There are whole businesses built around it, plenty of jargon attached to it, and no shortage of people promising to get you to number one on Google.
But if you’re a small business owner, freelancer or charity, you don’t need to become an SEO expert to understand the basics.
There are some simple things you can do to help search engines understand your website, make it easier for the right people to find you, and create a better experience for the people who land on your site.
So, let’s start at the beginning.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation.
In simple terms, it means improving your website so that search engines such as Google can understand what your site is about and decide when it might be useful to show it in search results.
Unlike paid advertising, SEO is focused on organic search results.
That doesn’t mean there’s a magic switch you can flick to suddenly appear at the top of Google. SEO takes time, and lots of different factors can affect where and when your site appears.
But getting the basics right gives your website a much stronger foundation.
What is SEO actually trying to achieve?
At its simplest, SEO is about helping the right people find the right information.
If someone searches for a service you offer, asks a question you can answer, or looks for a business like yours in their area, search engines want to show them useful, relevant results.
Your job isn’t to trick Google.
It’s to make it clear what you do, who you help and what each page on your website is about.
And, just as importantly, to make sure the website is useful once someone gets there.
So, where do you actually start with SEO?
This is where SEO can start to feel overwhelming, because there isn’t one single thing you can change on your website and suddenly declare it “SEO’d”.
Search engines look at lots of different things when deciding which pages might be useful to someone searching. Some of those things can get quite technical, but plenty of them are simply about having a well-built, useful website.
And that’s where I think most website owners should start.
Before you worry about complicated SEO strategies, backlinks or trying to second-guess the latest Google update, make sure the foundations are in place.
Here are ten SEO basics that will help make your website better for search engines and, importantly, better for the people using it.
1. Give every page a clear purpose
One of the best things you can do for both your visitors and search engines is make sure every page has a clear job.
Your homepage might introduce your business and help people choose where to go next.
A service page might explain one particular service and who it is for.
A blog post might answer a specific question.
Problems start when a page tries to do everything at once.
If you know what a page is there to achieve, it becomes much easier to decide what information belongs on it, what headings to use and what you want the reader to do next.
It also makes it easier for search engines to understand the page.
2. Write useful content for people first
SEO and website copy shouldn’t be fighting each other.
You don’t need to cram the same keyword into every other sentence or write awkward copy just because you think Google will like it.
Your content should be useful, clear and written for real people.
Think about the questions your clients regularly ask you.
What do they need to know before they work with you?
What are they confused about?
What might stop them from taking the next step?
Answering those questions clearly can help your readers and give search engines more context about what your website covers.
The goal is not to write for Google.
The goal is to write useful content that Google can understand.
If you want to explore this further, read How to Get Search Engines to Fall in Love With Your Website Content.
3. Use clear page titles and headings
Headings aren’t just there to make a page look nice.
They help people scan a page and understand how the information is organised. They also give search engines useful clues about the content.
Your main page heading should clearly describe what the page is about.
Subheadings can then break the content into logical sections.
You should also give each page an SEO title and meta description.
These are the bits of information that can appear in search results.
They don’t need to be clever.
They just need to make it clear what the page is about and give someone a reason to click.
4. Make your website easy to use
Good SEO and good user experience often go hand in hand.
If someone lands on your website and immediately struggles to work out where to go, that’s not a great experience.
Clear navigation, readable text, sensible page layouts and obvious calls to action all help.
Ask yourself:
- Can someone quickly work out what this page is about?
- Can they find the information they need?
- Do they know what to do next?
A website that works well for people is generally giving search engines better signals too.
5. Make sure your website works on mobile
Your website needs to work properly on phones and tablets, not just on a desktop computer.
That means more than simply shrinking everything down.
Text needs to be readable.
Buttons need to be easy to tap.
Menus need to work properly.
Images shouldn’t take forever to load.
And nothing important should disappear off the side of the screen.
If your website is awkward to use on mobile, you’re making life harder for both your visitors and your search visibility.
You can read more about this in How to Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly (Without Losing Your Mind).
6. Pay attention to website speed
A slow website is frustrating.
If someone has to wait too long for a page to load, there’s a good chance they’ll leave before they ever see what you have to offer.
Speed can be affected by lots of things, including:
oversized images
poor-quality hosting
too many plugins
unnecessary scripts
badly optimised pages
You don’t need to obsess over every tiny technical score, but your website should feel quick and responsive to use.
If yours is dragging its feet, have a look at Help! My Website Loads So Slowly That I’m Losing Potential Customers…
7. Think about local SEO
If you work with people in a particular town, city or region, local SEO is especially important.
This means helping search engines understand where you work and who you serve.
That might include:
mentioning your location naturally on your website
keeping your contact details consistent
setting up and maintaining your Google Business Profile
creating useful content relevant to the people and places you work with
You don’t need to mention your town in every sentence.
The aim is simply to make your location and service area clear.
For more on this, read What Is Local SEO and How Can It Help Your Small Business?
8. Link your pages together
Internal links are links from one page on your website to another page on the same website.
They’re useful for two reasons.
First, they help readers discover more relevant information.
If someone is reading a post about website speed, for example, it makes sense to point them towards an article about mobile usability or website maintenance.
Second, internal links help search engines understand how the content on your site is connected.
A blog shouldn’t feel like a pile of completely separate articles.
The more clearly your content links together around useful topics, the easier it is for both readers and search engines to make sense of it.
9. Use images properly
Images can add personality, explain ideas and help make your website more engaging.
But they can also cause problems if they aren’t used carefully.
Huge image files can slow down your website.
Poorly labelled images can make your site less accessible.
And generic images that add nothing to the page aren’t especially useful to anyone.
Where appropriate:
resize and compress images before uploading them
use sensible filenames
add alt text when an image needs a text alternative
choose images that genuinely add something to the page
Alt text in particular should be written for accessibility first, not treated as somewhere to stuff keywords.
10. Keep your website healthy
SEO isn’t only about words on a page.
A website that is secure, maintained and working properly gives visitors a much better experience.
That includes:
keeping WordPress, themes and plugins updated
using HTTPS
checking for broken links
keeping backups
fixing errors
checking your site regularly on different devices
making accessibility part of your ongoing website care
None of these things alone will magically send you to the top of Google.
But together, they form part of a solid, trustworthy website.
What SEO can’t fix
SEO can help more people find your website, but getting people onto your website is only half the job.
SEO can’t fix confusing messaging.
It can’t make an unclear offer suddenly appealing.
It can’t make people trust a website that looks abandoned.
And it can’t help someone take action if they don’t know what they’re supposed to do next.
That’s why I tend to look at SEO as part of the bigger picture.
A good website needs to be findable, but it also needs to be clear, useful, easy to navigate and designed around the people you want to reach.
There’s not much point sending more people to a website that isn’t doing its job.
When should you speak to an SEO specialist?
There’s a lot you can do by getting the basics right, but there comes a point where SEO becomes a specialist job.
If you want to get into detailed keyword research, competitor analysis, backlink strategies, technical SEO audits or an ongoing SEO campaign, it’s worth working with someone who specialises in that area.
A good web designer can make sure the foundations of your website are sound. A specialist SEO can take things much further.
Knowing where one ends and the other begins will help you know who you need to chat with.
Start with the basics
SEO doesn’t need to be something you avoid because it sounds complicated.
Start with the fundamentals:
- Make it clear what your website is about.
- Create useful content.
- Make your site easy to use.
- Keep it quick, secure and mobile-friendly.
- And help people move naturally from one useful page to the next.
Those things are good for search engines.
More importantly, they’re good for the people using your website.
And if you’re not sure whether the foundations of your website are helping you or holding you back, a Site Audit can give you a clear picture of what’s working, what isn’t and what to prioritise next.