Setting up a new website is an exciting time - a brand new online shop front that shows off what you do! However, far from being a ‘build it and they will come’ situation, you need a solid plan in place to actually get eyes on it; it can be the best looking website in the world, but if people don’t know it’s there, it won’t fulfil its purpose.
Optimising your website to be found in Google search results (known as Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO), is one crucial way of doing it, and should be prioritised as part of the creation of your new site as well as your ongoing marketing strategy.
In this article, we’ll be sharing our TOP 10 new website SEO tips, so that you can create a site that has top spot potential sooner rather than later.
Why is SEO important?
From social media and influencer marketing to email campaigns and print ads, there’s likely to be a lot going on in your marketing strategy - and so there should be.
In most examples of marketing activities, you’re marketing to people you think will want what you offer, albeit with good reason to believe so. However, one activity that markets you to people you know are already searching for what you do; Search Engine Optimisation. Those people are already in the market for the products or services you offer, so it makes sense to do everything you can to get in front of them.
SEO is the process of getting Google to rank you higher on their results pages, and the ultimate goal is being the first site your users come to when they search something relevant to your business.
Our TOP 10 SEO tips for new websites
There is no one golden bullet in SEO for new websites - getting into Google’s good books relies on a combination of elements to come together, both when you’re creating a new website, and on an ongoing basis. By following our top tips at the design and build stages of your site, you can get on a path to SEO success. Here are our top tips:
Choose an effective domain name
The abstract won’t do here - you need a clear, concise domain that suggests what you do. It should ideally be no longer than 15 characters, and shouldn’t really include special characters such as hyphens. It may take a little time to find a domain that’s suitable as well as available, but it’s worth it when it comes to remaining memorable, and signalling to Google what you’re all about.
Carefully plan and outline your website’s architecture
Think of your website as a house, and all the pages are rooms. How do they all fit together? What needs to be accessed first? How do they all interconnect? Google wants to be able to ‘crawl’ your site in a way that makes sense, just as you’d want a visitor to walk through your house in the right order - no one wants to walk through the front door into the bedroom!
Make it easy for both your user and those Googlebots to make sense of your site, by working out what pages will be the main ones (such as the home page, services page, about page and blog page) and then deciding on subpages if necessary.
Set up Google Search Console and GA4
You want to know how your website is performing on an ongoing basis, right? Without knowledge there is no power, so arm yourself with the numbers generated by Google’s analysis tools. These come in the form of Google Search Console, which monitors your site’s SEO performance, and Google Analytics 4, which gives you a huge range of insights into the way users find and use your website, so you know what areas need improvement.
Have a mobile friendly design
Did you know that over half of web traffic comes from mobile these days? Not only does this mean that by having a site that adapts to different screen sizes you’re serving a huge percentage of your users, but you’re also appealing to Google too. Google rewards sites that are set up for mobile traffic, and this should reflect in your rankings accordingly.
Run an organic competitor audit
Any good business owner knows who they’re going up against, and in this digital world, you should know how they’re performing online too. Where do they rank in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages)? What are they doing well? What are they not doing so well? This competitor analysis means that you can benchmark your own SEO performance, discover new content ideas, and gain a real understanding of how competitive your market is.
Conduct keyword research for search friendly terms
Google wants to show search results that are relevant to what the user is looking for, so you need to tell them what it is you’re about to give you a chance of appearing when you need to. You can do this by including keywords naturally in your content, and conducting keyword research is an essential part of getting this right. Keyword research means that you can:
- Understand what users are searching for within your industry, niche or market
- Make your content helpful to your user, because you know that’s what they’re looking for
- Ultimately drive more users to your site
Using tools such as Keyword Keg and AHREFS will help you understand what keywords to include in your content.
Create high quality SEO optimised content
Talking of content, it’s a good idea to get your head around just how important the text on your page is, even at the build stage of your website. Using what you’ve learned through keyword research, craft content for each page that answers your users questions and signals to Google what you’re about.
Google’s emphasis has been helpful content for some time, and that won’t change any time soon. By writing person-first helpful content, you’re in with a chance of appearing on that first page of Google, as well as attracting traffic and increasing sales and enquiries.
If you need a hand with creating helpful, SEO content, keep Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines in mind, and self assess the content you do write using Google’s handy questions.
Locate and fix any technical issues
Issues such as slow loading pages and 404 errors can be pretty frustrating for the user - and Google isn’t a fan either. Not only could you be turning your users off from your site, but you’re also affecting Google’s ability to crawl it, and your rankings will suffer as a result. Regularly run audits to ensure you’re on top of any technical problems, and fix them ASAP.
Get blogging
Regular fresh content shows Google you’re alive and kicking, so apply the logic we talked about in the ‘high quality SEO optimised content’ section of this article to create helpful, shareable articles that enhance the user experience.
Promote your website
A website that attracts traffic is an indication to Google that people like what you do, and therefore you’re a site to show to others too, in the form of higher search page rankings. Use marketing techniques such as social media, PPC, email campaigns, print ads, and good old word of mouth to get eyes on your site - which you’ll be doing anyway, right?
If you’re feeling particularly SEO-savvy, you could delve into the world of backlinks to generate traffic too.
Need help with your new website?
If you’re building a new website, chances are you’ve got a fair bit on your plate. Even if you understand why SEO is important when building a new site, you may not have the capacity to implement these best practices - which is where we can help. 427 Marketing stays at your side throughout the build process, giving your site the best chance of SERP success when it comes live. Sound good? We’d love to chat!