When you hear the word “SEO” do you feel like it’s just too complicated and overwhelming (especially for beginners)?
Or do you worry that implementing “important SEO” tactics means you’ll have to sacrifice connection with your target audience because you’ll have to write spammy, robotic text to appease the search engines?
Do you wish SOMEONE would just give you some simple SEO tips (that you can actually implement) to help you understand SEO and boost your rankings?
If so, this might be the exact article that will reveal an achievable SEO strategy tailored for you.
These tips have helped my clients to appear at the top of search engine results pages and market their businesses 168 hours a week (without having to endlessly write 2000-word blog posts).
SEO TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
I’m going to cover some easy, practical, actionable things you can do to make your website and blog posts more search-engine friendly, without needing to code or do anything amazingly techy.
The beauty of SEO is that although it can take 6-12 months to see tangible results, you’ll thank your past self for taking the time to implement these easy tasks when the results start paying off.
Bonus: I’m also going to share a downloadable SEO cheat sheet with bite-sized SEO tips for beginners you can keep on your desk to refer to.
Before I kick off, I just want to reassure you that clients are searching for you online, in case you’re worried about whether SEO could work for you.
The beauty of getting found on Google or other search engines is that you know your website visitors are primed to sign up for your freebies and check out your offers and services.
That’s because they are actively searching online for the solution you offer.
Think about it. When was the last time you googled something?
I’m willing to go out on a limb and bet it was pretty recently.
Guess what, your clients are no different.
So why aren’t the client enquiries flooding in now that you’ve set up your website?
A website can be one of your biggest marketing assets. It can also help you get a steady flow of visitors to your website, but you have to create SEO-friendly and enjoyable content.
Most clients I work with are great at the second part, but haven’t a clue how to go about creating content that can help them get found online by their right-fit clients.
That’s why I’ve written this article. I know that SEO can seem like a complicated topic. So I want to reassure you that there are some pretty simple things you can do to improve your rankings and get started on the right foot.
Follow the easy SEO tips in this article and they will give you a head start when it comes to making your website more visible online.
What is SEO?
Before we go any further, I want to make sure that you know what SEO actually is…and isn’t! It’s one of those acronyms that gets bandied about a lot, but sometimes it’s not all that clear what it means.
SEO stands for search engine optimization – the practice of helping your website show up on search results pages when people type certain keywords into search engines.
In other words, it is a process that you follow to help search engines understand your content better so that your website shows up in the search results. That’s important because it helps someone who really needs your help to find out that you exist.
Think of search engines like Google as the online equivalent of the Golden Pages.
Years ago if your washing machine suddenly flooded the kitchen floor, you’d reach for the telephone directory and look up plumbers and ring around until you could find someone who had availability to come to your house at short notice and fix it.
Nowadays if you need help, more than likely you’ll ask a friend for a recommendation, or start googling.
That’s why it’s important to write SEO-friendly content – it helps with your online visibility so that the people who need your services can find you.
I always tell my clients “SEO is a VERB”, in other words, it’s up to you to take action. You need to add content to your website regularly that is written with your target audience in mind. This content needs to be helpful, thoughtful, and comprehensive.
I hope it’s obvious, but just in case, SEO is not about gaming the system or plonking generic, plagiarized content on your website and thinking “that’ll do”.
Why SEO matters
You might think SEO is just about ranking on search engines. But you’d be wrong. As Julia Roberts put it in Pretty Woman – “Big mistake. Big. Huge!“
Of course, you’ll miss out on clients if you’re not ranking for your target keywords. But at its heart, SEO isn’t about that at all.
SEO is about …
- Creating a website that leads to a clear customer journey 🗺️
- Helping your right-fit client understand how working with you could help them solve a problem
- Building a website that’s easy to navigate (creating a better user experience)
- Making sure that your website isn’t so slow to load that someone could boil the kettle in the meantime
- Checking that people can find what they’re looking for on your site (otherwise they’ll click the back button and visit a competitor instead)
SEO is an organic (free!) way of getting more visitors to your website by showing up in search engine results. Even better, these visitors are self-selecting to view your content, which means they are more likely to be interested in what you offer than someone who just randomly stumbles across you on social media.
When it comes to improving your website’s visibility in search engines like Google and Bing, implementing effective SEO strategies is crucial. SEO, or search engine optimisation, is the practice of optimising your website to rank higher in search engine results pages.
By following SEO best practices, you can increase your website’s chances of being seen by your target audience and attract more organic traffic.
How important is Keyword Research for SEO?
Keyword research plays a vital role in SEO. It helps you understand what keywords and phrases your target audience is using when searching for services like yours.
By conducting thorough keyword research, you can identify the most relevant and valuable keywords to incorporate into your website’s content. This will improve your website’s visibility and increase the likelihood of attracting the right visitors.
Keyword research is critical for SEO. But it’s not the only factor that counts when it comes to getting found online.
The number one mistake I see SEO beginners making is that they don’t understand it and try to rank for short-tail keywords. These keywords have a high search volume, but they’re also highly competitive and very difficult to rank for.
Instead, it’s better to focus on long-tail keywords as these are less generic, more specific, more targeted, and tend to have a higher conversion rate.
How to Rank Your Website: Search Engine Tips
Eight Simple SEO tips for better rankings
1. Create content regularly
At the heart of successful SEO is consistent content creation using a strategic plan. Whether you have a lot of time or not, it is important to make sure that your posts are informative, relevant, and helpful to your audience.
Focus on creating helpful, original, and high-quality content that matches what users are looking for. This includes producing content that is well-written, informative, and relevant to your audience.
Don’t forget to include keywords throughout your content. These keywords will be necessary for helping your content rank in search engines.
But beware of stuffing too many keywords into your content; this can result in negative consequences from Google because visitors will head back to the search results if they feel your content isn’t matching their search intent.
A good rule of thumb is to use keywords thoughtfully and sparingly, sticking to a more natural feel.
Stuck for ideas on what to blog about? >> create a simple blog content plan (2024)
2. Use Internal Links
One easy-to-implement tip is to use internal links.
By linking to other articles or pages on your own site, you can keep visitors engaged and help them find more of the content they’re interested in.
SEO Improvements – Tools for WordPress users
If you are using WordPress, you can install a plugin to display related posts at the bottom of your blogs.
I recommend using the Link Whisper plugin if you have a WordPress website
Find out why internal links are recommended.
3. Write guest blogs
Focus on writing for high-quality sites. Link building is important for SEO, but rather than focusing on the number of links you have, it’s better to focus on quality. This means looking for opportunities to get backlinks from authoritative websites in your industry or niche.
Head here for tips on getting backlinks
4. Get listed in relevant online directories
One of the most important things to consider is getting listed in online directories related to your niche. By doing so, search engines will see you as an authority in your field and may rank your website higher in their results.
Visit this post to find out about directories for therapists and coaches.
5. Use a mobile-friendly theme
It’s essential to use a mobile-friendly theme so that your website is easy to use on a range of devices. Google also takes mobile-friendliness into account when determining search rankings, so this is an important step regardless of your goal.
Ensure that your website is fast to load and easy to navigate on both desktop and mobile devices. This will help ensure that users have a positive experience while browsing your site, which can impact your rankings in search results.
6. Use only one H1 heading on each page
The H1 heading is a key element that tells crawlers what the page is about. The best SEO practice is to use only one H1 heading per page. Include your keyword in the H1 heading.
How to use the “Header Checker” Google Chrome extension to check your heading structure.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when writing for SEO is to use your keywords effectively. Make sure to include your keyword in
- the title of your page or post
- subheadings and throughout the content itself
- the meta-description
- the page or post URL
This will help search engines to understand what your page is about and rank you higher in the search results.
7. Share unique content
One of the simplest and most effective ways to improve your SEO is to focus on quality content. This means creating in-depth, well-researched articles that provide a thorough walkthrough of your topic. Additionally, you should try to avoid publishing duplicate or previously published content, as this can negatively impact your search rankings.
Another key factor in improving your SEO is incorporating relevant keywords into your content. These keywords should be naturally woven into the text, rather than being blatantly stuffed into your article for the sole purpose of tricking search engines. Choosing the right keywords and using them effectively will help increase traffic to your site and establish you as an expert in your field.
Include relevant links to other websites. By linking out to authoritative, trustworthy resources, you can add authority and credibility to your own website, which will also help with rankings.
Another great tip is to take advantage of social media. Platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn are excellent ways to promote your website and reach a wider audience. Simply sharing links to your latest articles or blog posts can help increase traffic levels.
8. Use SEO-friendly formatting
One of the most important things you can do is format your content with headings, sub-headings, bullet points, bold, italics and short paragraphs. This makes your content easier to read and helps search engines understand what the main ideas are.
Another key element of SEO is including keywords in your headline, first paragraph, and URL. Use relevant keywords that accurately describe your content and will help users find it when they search online.
Bonus tip: add questions to your headings – by 2016 20% of searches were voice searches, undoubtedly that figure is even higher now.
To make your content even more effective, include images or infographics that support your text. Be sure to add alt text and clear meta descriptions, as well, to make your content more engaging for users and help search engines better understand what your content is about. Check out this blog post for more tips on image SEO.
What are the top SEO mistakes?
One easy-to-implement tip is to use internal links. By linking to other articles or pages on your site, you can keep visitors engaged and help them find more of the content they’re interested in. If you are using WordPress, you can install a plugin to display related posts at the bottom of your blogs.
1. Not writing content your target audience is searching for
Many business owners use their website as a business card, instead of recognising that it can be one of their best marketing assets.
Always keep your ideal client in mind when creating content for your website. Think about the type of content that would be most helpful to them – a list post, a “how-to” article or maybe a quick tutorial.
Make sure your content uses the language your audience uses. If you’re unsure what to write, do some research: type your search term into Facebook, see what pops up, and read related comments and threads.
2. Wasting time worrying about SEO plugins
“Should I use Yoast or Rankmath”? Pick one and do your best to optimise your post, but don’t get obsessed with the green light. Do your best to add your keyword in the optimal spot, then move on to the next item on your to-do list. Use SEO plugins as a guideline only.
3. Neglecting to add a meta-description
Your meta-description can increase the click-through rate (the number of users who click on the link to visit your site) because it gives an idea of what your post is about.
Put effort into writing copy that encourages the user to read your post.
This is a sample meta-description
A meta-description is a short description of a blog post or page on your website that shows up on search engines.
4. Broken links and 404 errors
In addition, you should also make sure your website is free of broken links and 404 errors. Broken links can give a bad impression of your website because they can indicate that you’re not regularly updating it. Visitors more than likely will click away if they come to a broken link.
Fixing broken links and other errors will not only help to keep people on your site, but it can also improve your search engine rankings. Check your website for broken links using this free tool.
Avoid making SEO mistakes by checking out my post on what to avoid in 2024.
You may have heard of search engine optimization (SEO) before, but might not know how to rank your website for your targeted keywords and phrases.
There are several different ways to optimize your website for search engines. One of the most popular and effective methods is to make sure that your website has a good quality score and a high page rank. The best way to achieve this is by using the right keywords in the right places on your site.
You also have to keep your audience in mind. You could try and rank on Page 1 for Reiki, but is that actually what they’re searching for? Maybe they’re typing in queries like “How can I feel more relaxed”?
Search engines are constantly updating their algorithms to ensure that websites with quality content are rewarded, and those with spammy or low-quality content are penalised. To optimize your website for search engines, here are a few simple tips:
Ensure that your website is fast to load and easy to navigate on both desktop and mobile devices. This will help ensure that users have a positive experience while browsing your site, which can impact your rankings in search results.
Read this article if you are wondering how to speed up your WordPress website.
Imagine going into Penney’s last minute on Christmas Eve. The perfect gift you’d been meaning to pick up might be in-store, but impossible to find because the shop is up in a heap! Similarly, if your website isn’t visible on search engines, people might be ready to work with you but unable to because they can’t track you down.
If potential clients can’t find you online, they might not see your business as being credible. Think of SEO as a helping hand that enables your ideal client to access a solution. Help Google, Bing, etc. to understand what your site is about – use an XML sitemap generator.
Focus on high-quality links. Link building is important for SEO, but rather than focusing on the number of links you have, it’s better to focus on quality. This means looking for opportunities to get backlinks from authoritative websites in your industry or niche.
Head here for tips on getting backlinks
FAQS ABOUT SEO FOR BEGINNERS
Does my website need SEO?
ALL websites need SEO. If people don’t know about your site they can’t find it. There’s no point in only being visible to your existing audience – SEO gives you a good crack at being found by new ideal clients.
How long does SEO take?
SEO is a continual process. You must prioritise it if you want to keep and improve your search engine ranking. Don’t rely on your Web Designer to get you to Page 1 the day your site goes live. Your Web Designer can optimise your site to be search-engine friendly by following technical and on-Page best practices, but you need to focus on SEO as an ongoing measure if you want to rank well.
Don’t let people fool you about SEO—if you want results, you need to put in the work. A new site could take 6 to 12 months to rank, assuming that fresh, quality content is being created. However, it is so worth the investment because it could continue to send targeted visitors to your website for a long time to come.
Is SEO dead?
No! Search engine optimisation is about helping the user to find what they’re looking for. SEO and best practices might change, but if you adapt and follow guidance about creating helpful content that’s in your wheelhouse, your website can thrive.
Is link-building dead?
No! You’ve probably heard that it’s a good idea to guest blog or get featured in online publications that have a bigger audience than you do. That still stands. It helps your website if other sites link to it because it signals trustworthiness and that others endorse the content you share.
What SEO Tools Should I Use To Track Website Performance?
Google Search Console and Google Analytics are the best tools to track your site’s progress and get an insight into how effective your strategies are.
Focus on metrics such as organic search traffic, keyword rankings, time spent on each page by visitors, etc.
This data will inform your decision-making when it comes to choosing areas to improve or further optimise to gain higher search results.
When your website first goes live, more than likely you won’t have many articles. This is why it’s important to monitor your results as you add more content to your site.
Sometimes the content you write will become outdated or new trends will emerge. This means that you need to keep an eye out for shifts in your rankings to ensure your content stays relevant and up-to-date.
Track user behaviour on various pages and posts so you can decide which content is most popular over time.
PRO TIP: Regularly review competitor websites using tools such as Ubersuggest so that you can stay one step ahead of them in terms of visibility and search ranking.
Check out their Off-Page SEO efforts and make a note of guest blogs they’ve written or backlinks they’re received – these could be opportunities for you!
How Many Keywords Should I Use?
Focus on one primary keyword/key phrase per article. You may find that eventually, a well-researched, well-written, helpful piece of content will start ranking for other, secondary keywords, but try to stick to one keyword to focus on for each blog you write.
How much time should you spend creating SEO-optimised content for your site?
SEO needs to be sustainable or else you won’t keep it up. Far better to be realistic about the amount of time it takes to perform a keyword analysis AND the time you have available to create new content.
It’s much better to post one well-researched, well-written, helpful article a month than to burn yourself out attempting to sustain the time investment needed to post new blog content every week.
How long does it take for SEO to work?
SEO isn’t a magic wand! It takes time and effort, so you need to be convinced that the benefits are worth it.
Don’t be disheartened if you don’t see the benefits of your search engine optimisation efforts immediately. Your authority builds over time.
Keep sharing helpful content that answers a problem for your clients. Include links on tools available that speak to topics a client would type into the search bar.
Build your brand credibility by making your coaching website a go-to resource for prospective clients and your page views will naturally increase over time.
Update content regularly
Create a process for publishing that allows you to easily update your content regularly. And don’t forget to track the analytics to see how your content is performing.
Re-write your meta-description to make it more compelling – this can help to get you more clicks
Link to helpful related posts – Google loves internal links
Keep an eye on your site speed – make sure you are compressing your images
Stay updated on SEO best practices and avoid common mistakes to ensure your website’s success. With a well-optimized website, you can attract more visitors, increase your online visibility, and grow your coaching or therapy business.
By following these simple SEO tips, you can improve your website’s visibility, attract more traffic, and ultimately grow your online presence. Remember to prioritise quality content, use effective keywords, and stay up-to-date with SEO best practices.
With dedication and consistency, you’ll see the benefits of SEO in driving more traffic and clients to your website. Good luck!
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