When engaging a digital agency for SEO services, it is difficult for the average business owner to know what services they are getting or even what service they should ask for in the first place. So lets start by explaining what SEO is.
What is SEO?
SEO is an often-used but not universally understood term. Some see it as the process of ensuring a website meets the technical optimisation guidelines set by search engines. Others expand on that to also incorporate content optimisation, where written information or images/videos are presented in the best possible way that search engines will want to rank that content highly.
Technical SEO Explained
We all know that Google is the world’s most popular Search Engine, but it is not Google alone that sets the standards for websites. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an organisation that publishes standards that all websites should aim to meet. These standards are designed around the principles of creating a web that is usable, safe and accessible to all. In meeting these standards a website will have the greatest chance of being accepted and ranked by all search engines.
A lot of the standards relate to how content should be presented for readability & accessibility on all device types, however other standards relate to performance speed. Modern websites can often contain a lot of images, videos and/or animation, and each of these can slow down the loading speed of a website. Not only can a slow-loading website be frustrating, but it can render a website unviewable on slower internet connections in remote areas.
Google is the first Search Engine to penalise websites that do not load quickly and correctly on mobile devices. Therefore Technical SEO can now have a serious impact on the ability of your website to reach your customers through search engines.
Content SEO Explained
Content optimisation to some degree is a part of Technical SEO. For example, all written content should be formatted into the correct HTML content types ie. Heading tags, paragraph tags, lists etc. However, proper content optimisation has more to do with good copywriting than meeting any kind of technical guidelines.
Copywriting for SEO is about creating content that follows certain structural guidelines that will assist search engines in determining whether or not the information is relevant to what people are searching for. Good copywriting does this in a way where the content remains engaging for humans to read and is not just written in a way that is trying to trick Search Engine Artificial Intelligence.
Content Optimisation, therefore, aims to achieve that balance of refining written information so that it might rank better in search engines but never in a way that it would change the purpose, intent or ‘humanity’ of the content.
The Benefits of SEO are Clear
The answer to the question of whether or not your website needs SEO is an unequivocal YES and should not need to be asked. A better question might be:
How do I ensure my website meets the modern requirements of SEO?
The answer is that you engage a professional web agency like Unbranded Space. In building your website we will have an honest discussion with you about what SEO services are required. Before we even start your website we are thinking about SEO, and after publishing your site we perform audits to ensure nothing is missed. If we are also engaged in running a content marketing campaign, then you can rest assured that SEO will be an integral part of that strategy.