Domain age plays a huge part in SEO – New domains are not yet established enough to outrank established competitors. Let your domain mature for 2-3 years before starting an aggressive SEO campaign
Keyword Research is the bread and butter for an effective SEO Marketing strategy
Add Meta Data such as title tags and meta description (on every page)
Use H1 Tags (One per page)
Sprinkle the main keyword across the content, but only where it makes sense (Keyword stuffing is frowned upon by Google)
The Essentials
Install plugins that help you manage your on-page SEO and redirects. Example: Rank Math SEO, All In One SEO, and Yoast SEO
Keep your URLs short and simple
Create a Sitemap (XML and HTML) to help search engines navigate through your site
Create a Robots.txt to tell search engines which URLs they should crawl/not crawl
Add alt tags and include keyword variations
Add Breadcrumbs for better site hierarchy
Install a SSL certificate and ensure all 301 redirects are in place
Check Google Search Console to see which URLs are indexed. Alternatively, type site:example.com in Google to see how many pages and posts are available in search results
Make use of long-tail keywords for faster rankings. Also, create a list of long-tail keywords that are topically relevant to one another, so you can create a content cluster
Check for any spelling errors
Technical SEO
Ensure the website loads within 3 seconds
Use the Google Developer tool to check that your website is mobile responsive
Analyse your competitors to plan your next steps
Analyse your content – Does it satisfy user intent? Is it helpful and easy to read? Are you covering enough information to become an authority figure in your field and outrank your competitors?
Make use of images, videos, infographics, tables, etc – Your reader should find your content easy to digest
Interlink your pages to increase topical relevance – Create clickable text using keywords relevant to the content you are linking out to
Add outbound links to external sources as it will help you support facts
Set up Google Search Console and Google Analytics to easily see which areas you can improve
Embed Google Maps on the contact page (Very powerful for local service businesses)
Ensure category pages are structured correctly
Fix any broken links or code
Add Suggested Search Results and “Ask A Question” at the bottom of the website
Insert table of contents in every blog post
Authority Boosters
Add important pages – T&C’s, FAQ’s, Size Guide, Modern Slavery, About Us, Product Declaration, Cookies, Careers, Ingredients, Case Studies
Reach out to your clients and ask for honest Google reviews
Add Schema Mark-up such as Local Business, Job Listing, Video Page, FAQ, How To, etc
Create link-worthy content or reach out to your contacts to arrange a link swap
Order a press release & distribute it to news websites.
Off-Page SEO
Ensure all Off-page links are correct – Check your address, telephone number & URL being used to link back to you
Backlinks are seen as “votes” to your website; they tell Google your content is useful and trustworthy. Be careful, though! Avoid toxic links like PBNs and Blog Comment Spam. Use a tool like Semrush to analyse your competitors and replicate the type of backlinks they have
Make your backlink profile look natural – Do not blast 1000s of links all in one go! Start with foundation links such as social profiles and press releases, then start building more powerful links. Don’t forget to diversify your anchor text!
Accessibility Checks
Ensure your website is accessible by those who are deaf, visually impaired, or blind – add screen view and font size adjustment
Implement keyboard accessibility – Create keyboard shortcuts for both Windows and Apple computers