Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the art and science of optimising your site's visibility and rankings in search engines like Google. Modern SEO is no longer about simply adding keywords and expecting your website to magically appear towards the top of rankings. It's now about creating high quality, relevant content and providing a great user experience.
Search engines use complex algorithms to crawl, index, and rank websites. While the exact details aren't publicly disclosed, Google has confirmed many of the factors that influence rankings. For example, in 2015 Google announced mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal, and in 2018 Google announced that https could impact search rankings.
To improve your site's rankings with Google, follow the instructions below and also on this page. Your site will not appear in search results until after it has been crawled and indexed by Google and other search engines.
Note: If you want our support team to help you, we can do so for a one-off fee. Please complete this form to purchase SEO support.
Things you can control
There are some settings you can configure for your website that are generally believed to impact your search results with Google and other search engines, including:
- Website Meta Title
- Website Meta Description
- Ability to add a Facebook Pixel ID
- Ability to add Google Site Verification Code
- Ability to set heading tags such as <h1> and <h2>
- Ability to set Alt text for images
Adding descriptive meta data is generally believed to help search engines index your site and match your content against search queries. You can change your site's Meta Title and Meta Description in the Site Settings menu > SEO & Analytics.
Meta Title
The Title tag is used to summarise the content found on your site. When you set a Title for your site, it will appear like this when your home page appears in the search results:
Search engines expect a Title tag to include relevant keywords and phrases that describe what your site is about. So if the Title you create is not relevant to your site, Google can choose to automatically generate a different Title instead.
Meta Description
The Description tag is a short summary of the content found on your page. A Meta Description gives you more space to tell people what you’re offering, and it’s an opportunity to give them a compelling reason to click through to your site. You only have 155 - 160 characters available so keep it clear, compelling and user-focused.
When you set a Meta Description it may appear as a snippet in the search results here:
Note: It can take a few days or even weeks after you set your tags for them to be indexed by Google and appear in search results.
Analytics Tracking
Using tools like Google Analytics 4 allows you to understand how users interact with your site, including traffic sources, behaviour, and conversions. To learn more click here.
Facebook Pixel ID
You can obtain a tracking code from Facebook (pixel code) and then whenever people visit your website, Facebook collects data that helps you track conversions from Facebook ads, optimise ads, build targeted audiences for future ads, and re-market to people who have already taken some kind of action on your website. To learn more click here.
Google site verification
Verifying your site with Google gives you access to valuable search performance data through Google Search Console. To learn more click here.
Other elements that impact your search ranking
Some other things that effect how highly your website ranks within search results include:
High-Quality Content
Content is the most important ranking factor. Your pages should answer user questions clearly, provide useful, relevant information, and be more helpful than competing pages.
The use of headings
Google attributes a greater weighting (importance) to text on your page that is used for headings, so it's important to use headings throughout your pages. Your Sporty website settings allow you to define the default style for your Heading 1 <h1> and Heading 2 <h2> to make it easy for you to consistently apply these whenever you use the website text editor. To learn more, click here.
Page names
Google considers the name of each of your pages and gives a greater weighting to these words. Make sure the page names are relevant to what users might be searching for.
Https
In 2018 Google announced that sites lacking a security certificate may rank lower in search results. To learn more about getting a security certificate installed for your website, click here.
Geographic proximity
Google is normally able to determine your approximate geographic location from your IP address and other meta data that it can obtain as you browse. Google now uses the knowledge of your approximate location to return relevant search results. Include location-based keywords naturally throughout your site, and ensure consistent business details across your pages.
Inbound links
Google applies greater importance to websites that are linked to from other websites. If other reputable and relevant websites link to a page on your website as a reference resource, then this is expected to improve the way your site is ranked within search results.
The relevance of your domain name
Your domain name should be clear and easy to remember. If you do not yet have your own web address, we can help you with this. You can either order a domain name online here or contact us using the details below.
Also see:
Why Can't I Find my Site on Google?
How to connect your domain name (www address) to your website