The Benefits of an SEO Audit

The Benefits of an SEO Audit

by | 5 Mar 2022 | SEO

Reading Time: 3 minutes

What we know about Google’s search algorithm is that it changes almost daily, with up to 200 tweaks and amendments made every year. These constantly moving goalposts is why many businesses struggle to keep on top of their SEO – and why a regular SEO Audit is important.

Where to start with an SEO Strategy

Every business with an online presence should have a strategy in place to ensure that the content they’re producing and publishing digitally ranks where it should on search engines – making and maintaining visibility amongst desired target audiences when they search for related queries online.

Exactly how each brand chooses to approach their SEO will vary, but commonly focused activity tends to include:

    • Pages built and content produced for each relevant topic
    • The research into and onward usage of relevant keywords and phrases
    • A consistent content-producing and publishing schedule
    • A plan for link-building
    • A process for the development of new pages and sites that includes technical SEO
    • Regular updates on the latest ‘best practice’ for SEO updates and strategy.

A comprehensive business SEO strategy will allow content to be produced in a way that plays into the search engine algorithms to keep organic search traffic as high as possible; although often working alongside paid-for ads.

What is an SEO Audit?

An SEO Audit is a full analysis of a website’s features that help or hinder its rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs). This entails analysing its areas of success as well as highlighting any areas where improvements could be made, in accordance with current SEO best practice approaches. An SEO Audit should form the first step in creating a tangible workplan to maintain a healthy SEO approach and to consistently improve performance – so the purpose of it is to build a foundation from which to work.

An audit will uncover any issues within technical SEO, the website structure, on-page SEO, user experience, content gaps, content opportunities, off-site opportunities and competitive marketplace standing; clearly mapping out any areas where changes should or could be made.

Although a very basic check through of any website for SEO purposes can be carried out by anyone with the relevant knowhow, it is always recommended that businesses use an SEO specialist for a comprehensive site audit. This provides more technical expertise as well as ensuring the latest in SEO best practice is adhered to; particularly important when you consider the constantly changing Google algorithm.

Why is an SEO Audit important?

A common misconception amongst brands is that as long as your website contains plenty of relevant keywords, it will rank well on search engines. Whilst this may have been the case many years ago, the Google algorithm has long moved on from the simple search of appropriate words and terms. Instead, high SEO ranking now relies upon a vast variety of factors including technical aspects of a website, accessibility functions and links from other trusted and authentic sources – although exactly what combination of successful factors is paramount is unknown.

SEO Audits immediately and discreetly highlight any areas for improvement, so any broken links, missed keyword opportunities or small technical amendments can be fixed. The constant changes to websites combined with human error means that mistakes do happen; and an SEO Audit can ensure they are swiftly rectified with minimum disruption to the site’s rankings.

Regular SEO audits are an essential way to ensure that a website is being worked on in the most appropriate way to adhere to current best practice in an ever-changing environment.

How often should an SEO Audit be carried out?

SEO Audits should be carried out regularly but not so often that the business doesn’t have the chance to enact any required changes and see the difference they make. Ideally, a comprehensive review of the site managed by an expert will take place either every quarter or every six months; with actions taken from it to improve the SEO position as quickly as possible once delivered.

Even if a business is managing their own SEO requirements without the involvement of a specialist service, it is recommended that they invest in a professional SEO Audit at least twice a year to assert their position and reinforce that the actions being taken are correct.

Free SEO Auditing Services

If you are paying for SEO services and do not receive regular reports, or find that your business isn’t feeling the benefits of the service, you should absolutely have an independent SEO audit carried out by a separate SEO provider. This will show you if the services you are paying for are being carried out as they should. Every SEO provide should provide their clients month reports.

At Woya Digital, we offer a free SEO audit report service. Request yours now.

Google SEO Ranking Factors

Google SEO Ranking Factors

by | 2 Mar 2022 | Digital Marketing, SEO

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Search engines present what they deem to be relevant search results to users looking up various keywords and phrases, and to do this, their automated algorithm programs ‘crawl’ web content continuously.

These crawls pull up a variety of data and intelligence on websites, using this information to understand what a site is about, who its relevant for and what it offers. The elements of a website that are scanned and used by the search engine algorithms to determine where and how to rank them are known as SEO ranking factors.

It’s not known exactly how many webpages or websites are crawled by Google’s systems daily, but we do know that hundreds of billions of pages are scanned continuously; primarily based on previous searches made by search engine users. The crawlers work through site maps, paying attention to the usability and performance of the site overall, links to and from it, changes made to pages it has crawled before, and the content on the site itself.

Each of these SEO ranking factors are taken into account and this helps the system decide where to display a website on relevant SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

What are Google’s SEO Ranking Factors?

There is a common misconception that the only influence on search engine ranking is the written content within a website – and this has resulted in lots of websites being full of content that is stuffed with as many keywords and phrases as possible.

While this was effective in the early days of SEO, technology has moved on vastly since and this activity is now penalised by Google. There are now over 200 SEO ranking factors for Google alone.

Google’s SEO ranking factors change continuously and the algorithm changes and tweaks daily; so it’s nigh-on impossible to hit exactly the right spot for top organic SEO ranking all of the time. The 200+ SEO ranking factors that Google currently refers to includes, by is by no means limited to:

  • Domain factors – security, keywords in domain, domain history, geographic registration
  • Page-level factors – keyword usage, tags and meta data, content, page load speeds, image optimisation, responsiveness
  • Site-level factors – site architecture, site uptime, site navigation, Core Web Vitals
  • Backlink factors – links to and from the site and the authenticity of the sites linking
  • User interaction – user behaviour, content interaction, traffic, bookmarks
  • Algorithm rules – geo-targeting, safe search, shopping results, YouTube results, local results
  • Brand signals – branded text, branded searches, linked social media accounts
  • On-site webspam – pop-ups and ads, poor quality content, hidden links, on-site spamming
  • Off-site webspam – site hacking, unnatural links, fake links, fake likes, spam traffic.

This variety in ranking factors highlights just how much ongoing work there is to be done to demonstrate to Google how useful and genuine a business’ website is.

Ranking Factors for other search engines

Google has by far the highest market share of search engines. However, there are audiences using search engines other than just Google.

SEO ranking factors aren’t made entirely public for all search engines, but all of the algorithms operate along roughly the same lines. There are some differences that should be noted, though, including:

  • Bing have commented publicly that social media is a very influential factor in their SEO
  • Yahoo relies heavily on Bing’s search algorithm and so optimising for Bing will too optimise for Bing
  • DuckDuckGo does not track users and so results are never based on search history
  • Baidu hugely favours domains registered in China
  • Amazon essentially relies entirely on keywords.

Generally speaking, it is best to follow all of the principles of Google SEO in order to rank on other search engines too.

The Importance of Optimising SEO Ranking Factors

Google is an increasingly competitive search engine with 8.5 billion searches carried out daily, so there’s no shortage of traffic. If businesses are to gain competitive advantage over competitors, they must focus on SEO to ensure that they rank higher, are more likely to be found online.

The Most Important SEO Ranking Factors for Google

Not all SEO ranking factors are equal. Although there is no complete transparency over which are exactly the most influential in ranking score, the most important factors are more user-focused than content-focused.

Google prioritises site security, responsiveness and its overall customer experience as a very important SEO ranking factor. This also includes the crawlability of sites – because if it can’t be ‘crawled’, it can’t be assessed for ranking in SERPs.

Content does form an important part of SEO, and Google now considers high quality content more eminent than the presence of relevant keywords and phrases; although they too do influence.

SEO management involves a careful and curated balance of all elements of a website in order to provide the best and most relevant user experience possible – and this acts as an extension of the brand’s overall customer experience. This makes good business sense and cannot be underestimated in its contribution to the overarching brand perception.

The Importance of SEO Keywords

The Importance of SEO Keywords

by | 28 Feb 2022 | Digital Marketing, SEO

Reading Time: 4 minutes

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the process of improving the quality of a website to make it rank higher in search engines, and be found by those searching particular terms or keywords. The higher the ranking on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), the more likely users are to see and click onto the website.

The first step in the SEO optimisation process is to ensure that SEO keywords are used sufficiently and appropriately. But what are these keywords, how can you identify the relevant ones for your business and how should they be used?

What are SEO Keywords?

SEO keywords are words and terms users type into a search engine as a search enquiry. These same keywords in website content help the algorithm programs behind search engines understand the theme or topic of the website: which they can then match up with the same enquiries being typed in by users to display the most appropriate search engine results.

In more traditional terms, keywords are the index terms of the internet. Index terms are the theme or essence of a topic in a document, making up a controlled vocabulary for use in bibliographic records. Libraries and informational retrieval services collect, organise and disseminate documents in this way – and the use of SEO keywords is simply the same practice, but digitally.

Why are Keywords important?

Search engines have become a way of life for all of us and to ‘Google’ something has entered the everyday lexicon. With over 8.5 billion searches on Google daily (and plenty others on other search engines), businesses need to ensure that they’re present and prominent in search engine results to gain and maintain competitive advantage.

Many people default to an online search when looking for a product, service, experience or brand – making it a crucial marketing tool. There are few very businesses who will never be searched for online and so it’s critical to show up as a solution where customers are seeking one.

Different types of SEO Keywords

While the use of such themes online is usually referred to as keywords, there are a variety of different types of vocabulary used and they’re often not just single words. There are four types of intentional SEO keywords; that is, those defined by the intent behind the searching of them. These are:

    • Informational keywords – used to find the answer to a specific question or general information
    • Navigational keywords – used to find a specific webpage or website
    • Commercial keywords – used to investigate brands, products or services
    • Transactional keywords – used to complete an action of purchase.

For the words or phrases themselves, there are eight different types of SEO keywords:

    • Short-tail SEO keywords – keywords made up of three words or less. The most popular type of keywords by search volume but also the most competitive
    • Long-tail SEO keywords – keywords made up of more than three words. More specific searches than short-tail, but less popular by volume and less competitive
    • Fresh SEO keywords – a short-term and current keyword or phrase; that is, something that will be searched for a lot at a certain time (ie. For a news story or film release), but then will drop in searches sharply thereafter
    • Long-term evergreen SEO keywords – keywords that are relevant all the time. Search volume may fluctuate but not extremely
    • Product defining SEO keywords – keywords that explain and describe products
    • Customer-defining SEO keywords – keywords that reflect the person searching them
    • Geo-targeting SEO keywords – keywords that specify a geographical location
    • LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) SEO keywords – thematic keywords that are closely related to the main keyword used.

All SEO keywords need to be used and targeted adequately and appropriately to best ‘tap in’ to the search engine’s programming and rank well in results.

Finding the right Keywords for your business

It is imperative that businesses research properly into the keywords relevant for their brand, products and services in order to ensure that what they’re presenting matches up with what real customers are searching for.

This is achieved through the specific practice of SEO keyword research, which investigates and establishes exactly what is being searched and by whom.

There are a variety of keyword research tools available but their relevance and focus differs. Moz Keyword Explorer is considered a good ‘all-rounder’, and Semrush is favoured by SEO professionals. RankIQ focuses more on providing SEO-driven content and Jaaxy is a specialist service for affiliate marketers. Keyword Surfer is a newer tool that works as a browser extension for non-SEO professionals.

Keyword research needn’t be a lengthy process but it should be done properly to avoid the onward SEO strategy presenting incorrectly and resulting in little to no benefit. It is always best to consult with professionals before embarking on an SEO strategy to ensure that the keyword research has been done accurately and will inform the work positively.

Get support with Keywords and SEO Services

Woya Digital are always on-hand to help support with SEO services. We carry out a thorough SEO keyword research process before making any recommendations and will establish the target audience and ideal persona with customers before any work is initiated.

Our team work on a continuous learning cycle to keep abreast of all the latest Google updates and algorithm changes. SEO can be a tricky discipline to master but we thrive on the challenge!

On-Page and Technical SEO

On-Page and Technical SEO

by | 21 Feb 2022 | Digital Marketing, SEO

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Google processes over 8.5 billion searches every day. The rise of the internet as an everyday consumer tool has impacted hugely on business practices for firms of all shapes, sizes and types, and SEO is just one discipline that most simply cannot afford to ignore.

SEO forms a full-time role and profession itself, but for those who don’t have the time to invest into both the learning and practice of it, it can be a very confusing area.

The Definition of SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation: the process of optimising a website so that the automated algorithms behind search engines are able to understand what they are, who they’re relevant for and where to feature them in SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

The exact process of SEO is an ongoing one that is completed continuously in line with all new content published and the updates made to algorithms. For the most part, SEO refers to the optimisation of business web presence for Google’s systems (after all, in most areas of the world Google holds the highest market share for search engines by a long way) but its practices do hold benefits for other search engines, too. For the purposes of this article we will be focusing on SEO for Google.

Two of the main types of SEO activity are on-page SEO and technical SEO.

Does SEO change over time?

Absolutely! Google makes tweaks to its algorithm constantly – and although there are no set public details around every system change, experts estimate there to be between 500-600 changes a year; which is almost two a day. While many of these changes don’t make significant differences to the way businesses should approach SEO, some do.

The sheer volume of change involved in the way Google works is why so many organisations invest in either hiring a full-time SEO specialist or working with an expert external team.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO, also sometimes called on-site SEO, is the optimisation of web content through the inclusion and correct usage of specific keywords and phrases. All written content on a web page is scanned regularly by Google and so is constantly monitored for relevance and authenticity. On-page SEO not only makes clear to Google what a website is about and who it’s relevant for, but also helps the algorithm decide where to rank it on SERPs compared to other similar sites – which are likely those of a business’ competitors.

What does On-Page SEO involve?

On-page SEO is primarily the creation of written content featuring the keywords and phrases searched by those relevant to the business, as well as the alignment of page-specific elements such as title tags, headings, content, and links internally and externally to the site.

On-page SEO used to be primarily achieved by the input of as many mentions of keywords as possible in a practice known as ‘keyword stuffing’. This was believed to demonstrate relevance to the algorithm and is still fairly widely practiced. This practice however is now detrimental to SEO performance – the system has evolved a long way since its origins and will websites will be penalised for keyword stuffing and for the production of inauthentic and inorganic content, rather than relevant, high-quality content.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is the optimisation of technical aspects of a website in order to increase the ranking of its pages on SERPs. The elements to be optimised here are still technically ‘on-page’ such as the written content, but these are pillars that aren’t in word format that still contribute to search ranking.

Technical SEO is a fairly new discipline and something that unfortunately many businesses still miss the mark on. The usability of a website now forms a core part of Google’s ‘Web Vitals’ which form criteria a website must meet to rank highly.

What does Technical SEO involve?

The technical elements of a website that can be optimised permit a search engine to ‘crawl’ it faster and more easily, and present opportunities for easier access by users. This includes optimising site load speed, responsive in format to the device on which it is being viewed, that all site content is unique and not duplicated, that all links work and that the site is held securely without presenting any safety risks to users. All of these aspects affect the overall user experience of the site, and contribute just as much to the potential search engine rankings.

How to successfully integrate all areas of SEO into your business

SEO is an important tool for digital marketing and will transform a business’ success online. Its potential is not to be underestimated, and neither should the ongoing effort and work required.

Hiring a specialist SEO agency or expert is a prudent decision and different levels of involvement and activity can be managed depending on budget and the website scale. Woya Digital are an expert SEO team who understand the evolving needs of successful SEO. Get in touch with us to discuss your online business growth.

Does Social Media Affect SEO?

Does Social Media Affect SEO?

by | 16 Feb 2022 | SEO, Social media

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Digital marketing is a cornerstone of all marketing activity for modern businesses – and social media perhaps even more so.  Social media forms a large part of most business’ online presence and if it doesn’t, it should.

Organisations don’t need to manage a presence on every social media platform, but should definitely do so on platforms whereby their target customer would be or would expect them to be. This will have an onward impact on the overall business’ visibility through search engines (their SEO ranking) and so can combine to help elevate their content online, to gain competitive advantage.

SEO Basics

SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimisation. These three letters refer to the process of optimising a website or other online content for search engines to help improve their ranking (how high up they appear) on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) in order to increase their chances of their online listings being clicked on.

In order to judge where content should be ranked in search result listings, websites are constantly ‘crawled’ by automated programs that judge a site on its:

    • Theme or niche
    • Quality of content
    • Target audience and relevant audience
    • Usability
    • Authenticity

These factors all help the algorithm determine an SEO ranking and judge where to feature the content in the search engine listings and who to show them to. This can then be further influenced by Google Ads and further digital marketing tactics.

Business SEO vs Business Social Media

SEO is a continuous activity carried out on a business’ website, made up by 3 focus areas:

    • On-page SEO
    • Off-site SEO
    • Technical SEO

On-page SEO refers to the production of high-quality relevant content that is appropriate for the business’ industry, sector, products and services. It is achieved in part by the use of suitable keywords and phrases; normally those that users would look up on the search engine if they wanted to find something related to the brand in question. This presents the relevance of the site.

Off-site SEO is the presence of links to the site from genuine and high-authority websites in order to demonstrate their trustworthiness and authenticity.

Technical SEO is the focus of maximising usability, accessibility and performance of the website to improve user experience.

Social media platforms enable users to create and share content with others; widely considered the digital form of socialising. Social media channels are important marketing and communication tools with which to link with both potential and existing customer bases.

How Social Media Supports SEO

While content published on social media sites is ‘crawled’ and read by search engines, it is done so in a different way and doesn’t act as a primary factor in SEO ranking (unless perhaps there is no other mention of the company online and no dedicated website).

Social media content for a business influences the company’s overall SEO ranking in several ways:

External links back to the main business website

While social media profiles linking back to a brand website aren’t considered ‘high authority’ links, they do help prove to the search engine algorithm that they’re an extension of the brand’s presence online (although this is different for comment or link on a brand by the social media company itself, which would be considered high-authority).

This proves to the algorithm that a brand is being talked about, and in some cases recommended, by others and so it is considered relevant to certain audiences.

Reinforcement of brand presence

A business being mentioned or linked to anywhere externally is a positive factor for SEO as it proves the perceived trustworthiness and niche (or sector) the business operates in, to the algorithm. This reinforces how and when a business should be displayed in search engine rankings.

An organisation that is mentioned in numerous places online is likely to hold a much higher SEO ranking than one which has its own website but has no further mention on the internet.

Reinforcement of authenticity

Social media acts as a fantastic discussion tool for communities and where a business is mentioned, this discussion further proves that it is relevant for an audience. Where reviews or ratings are set up this helps demonstrate to the algorithm that genuine customers for the business exist, and so reinforces its authenticity.

Where there is a constant brand interaction with members of a social media channel, this too reiterates the genuine connection of the business with customers.

Strategising Social Media and SEO Marketing

Social media and SEO are separate disciplines within digital marketing, and there are certainly specialists in both. However both should be approached with the same focus – to ensure that they are in sync and complement each other.

Woya Digital’s expert team are able to offer advice and SEO and social media support, and can help ensure that both on-site, off-site and social media content all combine to best boost your chances of appearing as high as possible on SERPs – even before any paid advertising is considered. Get in touch and let’s talk through your business’ online idiosyncrasies – there’s lots that can be done!

Things That Hurt Website Rankings

Things That Hurt Website Rankings

by | 14 Feb 2022 | SEO, Digital Marketing

Reading Time: 4 minutes

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a digital discipline and an ever-evolving practice; forever at the mercy of Google’s daily changing algorithm and user’s shifting appetites and attitudes.

Ranking on Google isn’t a simple task nor is it a static one, and there are many reasons why a website may not appear as prominently on the search engine results pages (SERPs) as businesses may like.

If you find that your SEO efforts are letting you down and not working as well as you’d like, read on. There are many factors that impact website rankings on Google and not all of them are obvious.

Domain Authority

While it was for many years considered a vast disadvantage in SEO terms to buy a brand domain name and launch a new website, it is not necessarily the domain age that influences how Google ranks it in its listings; but rather, the authority.

When a new website launches, it will usually contain some relevant content but it is only over time that it accumulates a library of high-quality, appropriate content as well as backlinks from other websites. A website that is well populated with content and referred to (ie. linked to) by other sites is considered to have high authority by the Google algorithm.

This means that the search engine’s automated systems believe it to be a reliable source of information for its users and a trusted online presence. A domain with good authority will find itself with a higher ranking on Google than one without.

How to fix it

Domain authority takes time to build. Webmasters can improve their website’s authority through the continuous publishing of relevant, timely and high-quality content as well as through the build up of backlinks from other appropriate domains. This requires ongoing work as a cycle of improvement.

Unoptimised Site Technicalities

SEO is often misconceived as simply a case of publishing lots of written content with relevant keywords included, but ranking on Google now involves many more factors than just search terms.

On-site SEO is also required for a site to rank well, and this includes a whole host of technical aspects that sit ‘behind the scenes’ of a functional website. On-site SEO allows for the easy ‘crawl’ of the site by Google (that is, its automated programs to scan and compute it) as well as demonstrates how good a user experience the site provides.

On-site SEO includes relevant alt-text for images, working internal links between pages, fast page loading times and responsive display to the device on which it is being viewed. Ranking highly on Google highly is very difficult to achieve if a site hasn’t optimised its technicalities.

How to fix it

A ‘health check’ of a website can be undertaken to ensure that it is readable by Google’s bots and also that it works well for users. Every image should have appropriate alt-text, every page should load quickly, all links should work and every page should be created with responsive design to ensure correct formatting no matter the size of the screen being used. It is always worth consulting with a professional in regards to on-site SEO to ensure all aspects are covered.

Unoptimised Site Content

A primary factor influencing a site’s ranking on Google is its content. In order to decide how and where to list a website on its SERPs, Google must be able to understand the topic of the site and match this up with the search terms used by users to present them with the most relevant results.

If a site publishes content that is not clearly relevant to its business niche, is likely of too short a length to be helpful, or is of poor quality, it will not favour it.

How to fix it

Brands should look to position themselves as thought leaders in their fields with the continued publication of high-quality appropriate content. Thorough keyword research should be carried out to identify how users search for the brand, product/s and/or service/s, and content provided throughout, tailored to match.

Violation of Google Webmaster Guidelines

The Google Webmaster Guidelines are a set of rules that stipulate conditions to be met in order to be ranked on Google SERPs.

Many websites are inadvertently in breach of these guidelines because of the use of Black Hat SEO tactics. Black Hat SEO is the manipulation of search engine algorithms in order to rank higher than would otherwise be the case. This often includes the practice of ‘keyword stuffing’ (inclusion of multiple relevant terms even where the resulting text is nonsensical), paying for backlinks and/or paying for false traffic.

Violation of the Google Webmaster Guidelines can result in a website being removed entirely from Google (being ‘no-indexed), being ranked lower down than usual or being blocked from buying paid ads on SERPs.

How to fix it

Once a site has been ‘no-indexed’ or identified as being in breach of Google Webmaster Guidelines, it can be extremely difficult to rectify the situation and prove to Google that it is deserving of new trust. It is always best where mistakes have been made or guidelines breached to consult with a professional in order to strategise how best to work with SEO moving forward.

Woya Digital have a whole team of SEO experts on-hand who can advise and devise plans for recovering from poor SEO performance to rebuild authority, trust and a positive professional reputation. No matter what has been done in the past we are confident that we can help rectify the situation.