About
SEO
Guide to Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
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Every day, millions of people enter "keywords" into Google for various things they are looking for and Google responds by displaying a number of websites that are relevant to the keywords they have entered in their search. The higher your website ranks in these search results, the more likely it is that a potential customer will find and click through to your website. This is known as Search Engine Optimisation.
With countless people searching for your services online every day, the aim is to attract some of those relevant people looking for what you have to offer and bring them to your website. This is the process by which businesses get new customers by being online. Owning a website is the first step to entering the online world and accessing new customer opportunities.
Please follow the links below for answers to our most commonly asked questions.
1- What is Search Engine Optimisation?
2- Why is SEO Important?
3- How does SEO work?
4- Why can't I see my website in Google yet?
5- How can I get my website to rank for the first page of Google?
6- What does Your Business Web Designs do when It comes to SEO?
7- Where can I learn more about SEO and social media?
8- Are there any things I can do without paying for an SEO provider
9- SEO tips to help boost your website ranking
10- Access further resources and other info about SEO.
1-WHAT IS SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION? (SEO)
It is the process of helping your website get found online and ranked by the search engines when someone searches for a keyword related to your business. The aim is to get traffic to your website, from search engines, without paying for advertising. The higher your website appears on a search results page (known as a “SERP”), the more visitors it is likely to get and therefore the greater likelihood of generating a new lead for your business.
This process is known as ‘organic’, ‘natural’, or ‘unpaid’ search marketing (as opposed to paid search eg Google adwords).
Search Engines are used every day by millions of people to look for information online. The most commonly used search engine is Google, followed by Yahoo, Bing and a few others. To help us explain SEO, Small Business Web Designs will talk about the most commonly used search engine in Australia, Google.
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2-WHY IS SEO IMPORTANT?
Say you’re looking for a motel in Sydney. If you wanted to find Lullaby Motel in Sydney, you might type “Lullaby Motel Sydney” into google.com.au. It comes up first because it’s an extremely close match for the search term. However, if you don’t know the name of the motel, and just type “motel Sydney”, Greenwich Inn comes up first – Lullaby Motel doesn’t even appear on the first page. A ranking in the #1 position on the first page of Google for a keyword will often get approximately 40% of traffic coming to their website... this is why it's a highly coveted position!
You want as many people as possible to find your website, even if they haven’t heard of you. It's generally accepted that higher-ranking websites are more trustworthy and informative. SEO is the key to making this happen for your business’ online presence.
There are two parts to SEO - on-page optimisation and off-page optimisation. Successful search engine optimisation involves continued efforts on both of these components. If you want anyone to find your website without paying for advertising, your success depends on SEO.
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3-HOW DOES SEO WORK?
There are many factors that search engines take into account. Google has previously indicated that their algorithm assesses around 200 variables when determining a website ranking!
Some of the basic ways to maintain a website that appeals to both users and search engines include:
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having fresh, relevant information and continuously updated content on your website (a BLOG is good for that)
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using relevant, descriptive keywords for your titles, copy, URLs and images
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creating content that other people want to share and link back to - building a natural link network around your website.
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list your website on many directories to enhance its visibility.
4-WHY CAN'T I SEE MY WEBSITE IN GOOGLE YET?
It takes 2-6 weeks for Google to index a new website to appear in Search results.
It’s important to note that it takes significant time for a website to move higher in the ranks and get found by users on the Internet. New websites will take up to 6 weeks before Google indexes them (ie recognises their existence in the search engines). So it’s best to get your website up as soon as possible to start building your online presence and get your domain to begin ‘ageing’.
GETTING A WEBSITE IS THE FIRST ESSENTIAL STEP but it DOESN'T GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL BE FOUND ONLINE!
The reality is that you are competing with millions of other websites already online and you need to find a way to make yours rank higher. If you invest your efforts correctly, you will be able to harness the advantage of thousands of daily searches that occur in Google every day!
As a website owner, it's important that you have good awareness of how websites work and more importantly, rank, among others in the search engines. There is a common misconception that having a website online will automatically mean that it will attract traffic and new clients simply by being online. However, the effort you put into your website is worth it for the opportunities that are available to grow your business and gain new clients online.
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5-HOW CAN I GET MY WEBSITE TO RANK FOR THE FIRST PAGE OF GOOGLE?
This is a complex question because there are many aspects to SEO that will affect your website ranking, and the answer is not simple.
Firstly, your website will rank differently for each keyword you type into Google. For example, if you provide massage therapy services in Sydney, and you want to rank on the first page of Google for "Sydney massage", the chances of ranking on the first page naturally are low because this is a very competitive keyword. That means that there are many other websites that have been engaging in long term SEO efforts to boost their website ranking (likely for years) to reach the first page of Google and you will be competing with them to try to outrank them.
However, if you have a unique business name, such as "Lalaland Massage", it's unlikely that other websites have been trying to rank for this keyword, so you are likely to come up on the first page of Google as it's lower in competition to outrank other websites. Less common, more specific and unique keywords are likely to rank higher because they are more targeted and have less competition - these are referred to as "long-tail keywords". For example, a keyword such as "Sydney pineapple facial massage" is unique, very specific and less competitive to rank for in the search engines so you can rank highly for this. Importantly though, there is no point in ranking high for a keyword that no-one searches for!
Generally speaking, your unique business name should be able to rank on the first page of Google with on-page SEO alone. There may be some circumstances when it does not but there are always ways to keep working on it to boost it and we are always here to help you with more ideas. When it comes to more competitive keywords (which generally incorporate more general, broad words), we cannot guarantee that you will rank on the first page of Google. However your website can still get found through search results for these words in numerous other ways which is why it's important to keep working on your website's reach and marketing.
We will still incorporate competitive keywords in our keyword selection for your business for this reason.
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6-WHAT DOES your BUSINESS WEB DESIGN DO WHEN IT COMES TO SEO?
Your website should be written or labelled in a way that search engines can understand and is made up of many elements, including the content and images on the page and the code behind it – all of which search engines consider. There are two parts to SEO for a website, on-page SEO and off-page SEO. We undertake all of the on-page SEO when creating your website.
To distinguish these two methods:
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On-Page SEO - We conduct a Google Keyword analysis to identify the most relevant keywords for your business and region searched on Google. We select the most appropriate and relevant keywords and use this to optimise your website content website and the meta data with them so you can get found for these keywords. Meta data relates to the data that sits in the background part of your website pages which Google crawls through to determine your website relevance for a search.
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Off-Page SEO - This involves ongoing, long-term efforts to creating links back to your website and spreading its web presence. This can include a number of things such as an active social media campaign (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc), maintaining a high quality blog with regular posts, listing your website link in relevant industry websites and generally creating link networks back to your website. This is a separate paid service that is often used for competitive keywords and requires ongoing effort.

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So, to summarize,
We provide the following on your website:
On-Page SEO Services
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We conduct a Google Keyword analysis to identify the most relevant keywords for your business and region searched on Google by users.
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Select the higher-volume based keywords that are most appropriate to use on your website.
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Optimise the title, paragraph and keyword meta-data fields of each page on your website for these keywords. These are the fields that Google crawls through when it searches for the relevance of your website to particular search queries (it is not visible on your website).
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Naturally use these keywords when writing the content on your pages including titles, descriptions and tags that are picked up by Google.
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Apply keywords appropriately to Image ALT tags
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Natural interlinking between pages
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Appropriate industry and external website links
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Incorporate relevant anchor text within content
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We do NOT provide the following on your website:
Off-Page SEO Services
We are not SEO consultants so Your Business Web Design does not provide any off-page SEO services. Not all businesses require off-page SEO, and depending on your goals for your website we encourage you to read our guidance on SEO Tips that you can do yourself before paying money for an SEO provider. We also encourage you to speak to them to see what they have to offer.
We do not provide the following:
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Guarantees for first page rankings
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Social Media campaign management (please read our information below on tips for doing this yourself)
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Competition analysis to identify your ranking competition
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Directory listings (you can do this yourself)
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Blog articles (we encourage you to do this yourself)
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Website links to external websites
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Competition analysis
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Google Adwords campaigns
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Article Marketing and Submissions
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Press Releases
7-WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT WEBSITE SEO AND SOCIAL MEDIA?
Do you have an appetite for more information and love more technical details? SEOmoz has a fantastic beginner's guide to help you along, so grab a cup of tea and get comfortable to start the fascinating journey of learning SEO:
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8-ARE THERE ANY THINGS I CAN DO TO BOOST MY WEBSITE WITHOUT PAYING FOR AN SEO PROVIDER?
Yes! Please read our Tips to boost your SEO ranking. Most importantly, please keep the awareness that SEO is a product of time and effort so don't expect results overnight. With the right guidance, you can take your website to harness the thousands of daily searches that can be your next customers so please keep up your efforts and learning.
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9-SEO tips to boost your website ranking
Yes! Please read our Tips to boost your SEO ranking. Most importantly, please keep the awareness that SEO is a product of time and effort so don't expect results overnight. With the right guidance, you can take your website to harness the thousands of daily searches that can be your next customers so please keep up your efforts and learning.
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