Thinking about SEO for your new website?
If you are in the process of launching a new website, it's important to factor in some SEO planning in the design process. It's crucial to get SEO right to give you the best chance of achieving top organic search results.
First of all, lets clear up a few things:
1. If I build a cool website, will the visitors start rolling in?
Not a chance! If it were that easy, there would be absolutely no need for SEO in any form. Yes of course great content is a big part of SEO and is definately required but it also needs killer keywords, amazing ALT tags, magnificent META and lots of (good quality) Links, amongst many other things.
2. I was told that Search Engine Ranking doesn't matter. Is this true?
A lot of people and companies say that they aren't interested in ranking and that traffic to their site is what matters to them most of all. Of course traffic is vitally important, but the difference between positions 1 to 5 and postitions 5 to 10 on Google for example can have a large effect on the volume of organic traffic to your site.
3. If I pay for Google Adwords, will I automatically rank higher for organic search?
This is most definately not the case according to Google's own Matt Cutts. That would really defeat the purpose of it being organic!
So, when designing a new website, follow these basic guidelines:
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Design the site using HTML, limiting the use of java and flash. The more complex you make the site, the harder it is for the search engine spiders to read and rank!
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Make sure that you apply proper tags throughout your pages. Tags such as H1, H2 etc are useful when used correctly to promote your keywords. Try to use the tags at least once and use them in order from H1 to H6, ensuring the hierarchy is not broken as doing so is considered SEO-unfriendly. It's not necessary to use all heading tags.
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Use an xml sitemap. Including one on your site ensures that search engines are aware of all the pages within your site and can index them accordingly. Google Webmaster tools also require a sitemap.
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Google doesn't like duplicate content in its search results so it's best to avoid duplicate content completely. It's harder to avoid these on e-commerce sites, for example when a product is available in multiple categories. The way around this is to tell Google which of your duplicate pages is the master, effectively letting it know which version should be shown in the search results. This is achieved by using a canonical tag.
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Is the content on your website built around the right keywords? It's important to choose words that accurately describe what your business is offering, focussing on keywords most likely to be used by your potential customers as they use search engines. Avoid stuffing your pages with every possible keyword you can think of. Not only will this effect the quality of your content, but Google really doesn't like it.
There are many other things to consider in relation to SEO when launching a new website.
If you would like to find out how we can help, simply get in touch with us.
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