Having a website is essential for small businesses, but just having one isn’t enough. If your website isn’t optimised for search engines, potential customers may never find it. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) ensures your website ranks well in search results, making it easier for your audience to discover your business online.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to creating an SEO-friendly website that improves your visibility, attracts more visitors, and helps grow your small business.
1. Start with a Mobile-Friendly Design
A mobile-friendly website is critical for SEO in 2024. With more people using smartphones to search, Google now prioritises mobile-friendly sites in search rankings. If your website isn’t optimised for mobile, you’ll struggle to rank well.
How to Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly:
- Use responsive design so your site automatically adjusts to fit any screen size.
- Ensure buttons, menus, and links are easy to tap on mobile devices.
- Simplify your site’s layout to make navigation clear and quick for mobile users.
Quick Tip: Test your site using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to see how well it performs on mobile devices.
2. Optimise Page Speed for Better Rankings
Page speed is a crucial ranking factor. A slow-loading website frustrates users and increases bounce rates, which can hurt your rankings. Search engines like Google want to provide users with fast, seamless experiences, so websites that load quickly tend to rank higher.
How to Improve Page Speed:
- Compress images to reduce their file size without losing quality.
- Minimise the use of heavy scripts and plugins.
- Use a fast, reliable web hosting service.
- Enable browser caching so your site loads faster for returning visitors.
Quick Tip: Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to test your site’s speed and identify areas for improvement.
3. Create Clean, Organised URLs
Your website’s URL structure plays an important role in SEO. Clean, descriptive URLs are easier for search engines to crawl and index, and they make it clearer for users to understand what the page is about.
Best Practices for SEO-Friendly URLs:
- Keep URLs short and descriptive.
- Include target keywords in your URLs (e.g., www.example.com/seo-services).
- Use hyphens to separate words (avoid using underscores or spaces).
- Avoid using numbers or random characters that don’t add value.
Quick Tip: Structure your URLs around the hierarchy of your website. For example, www.example.com/services/seo would tell search engines and users that this page is part of your services offering.
4. Use Keywords Strategically Across Your Site
Using the right keywords is at the heart of SEO. To rank for the terms your audience is searching for, you need to include relevant keywords naturally across your site’s pages. But don’t overdo it—keyword stuffing can hurt your rankings.
Where to Use Keywords:
- Page Titles: Include primary keywords in your title tags, but keep them concise (50-60 characters).
- Meta Descriptions: Write compelling meta descriptions that include your primary keywords (150-160 characters).
- Headings: Use target keywords in your H1 and H2 tags.
- Body Content: Naturally include keywords in your text without overstuffing.
- Alt Text: Describe images using keywords in the alt tags, which also helps with accessibility.
Quick Tip: Focus on long-tail keywords that are specific to your business, as they’re often easier to rank for than broad, competitive terms.
5. Create High-Quality, Relevant Content
Search engines prioritise websites that offer valuable, relevant content. This doesn’t mean just adding random blog posts—it’s about creating content that directly addresses your audience’s needs, answers their questions, and solves their problems.
How to Create SEO-Friendly Content:
- Write in-depth blog posts and articles around topics that matter to your customers.
- Make sure your content is unique and not copied from other sites.
- Use internal links to guide users to other relevant pages on your site.
- Update old content regularly to keep it fresh and relevant.
Quick Tip: Create a content calendar to plan blog posts and updates ahead of time. Consistent content updates signal to search engines that your site is active and relevant.
6. Optimise Your Website’s Images
While images make your website visually appealing, they also impact SEO. Properly optimising your images can improve page load speed and help search engines understand your content better.
Image Optimisation Tips:
- Use descriptive file names: Instead of “IMG1234.jpg,” use a name that describes the image (e.g., “seo-friendly-website-design.jpg”).
- Compress images: Reduce file sizes to prevent slow page load times. Tools like TinyPNG or Imagify can help compress images without losing quality.
- Add alt text: Use alt tags to describe the image and include relevant keywords to boost SEO.
Quick Tip: Use the WebP format for images, which is smaller in file size and faster to load than traditional formats like PNG or JPEG.
7. Ensure Your Website is Secure with HTTPS
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) encrypts data exchanged between users and your website, protecting it from cyber threats. Google uses HTTPS as a ranking signal, so ensuring your website is secure is essential for SEO.
Why HTTPS Matters:
- It builds trust with users by showing your site is secure.
- Google prioritises secure websites in search results.
- It helps protect your business from data breaches and hacking.
Quick Tip: If your site isn’t secure, ask your hosting provider to set up an SSL certificate to switch from HTTP to HTTPS
8. Use Internal and External Links
Linking internally between pages on your website helps search engines crawl your site more effectively and keeps visitors engaged. External links to relevant, high-authority websites can also improve your SEO.
Linking Tips:
- Internal links: Guide users to other relevant content on your site to improve user experience and keep visitors on your site longer.
- External links: Link to authoritative websites in your industry to back up your claims or offer further reading.
Quick Tip: Review your website regularly to ensure all internal and external links are working. Broken links can hurt your SEO.
Conclusion
Creating an SEO-friendly website doesn’t require a massive budget—it requires strategy. By focusing on mobile-friendliness, optimising page speed, using relevant keywords, and creating valuable content, your small business can significantly improve its search rankings and attract more visitors. Follow these steps to ensure your website is well-optimised for SEO in 2024.
Need help optimising your small business’s website? Contact New Era Digital today for expert SEO services and website optimisation tailored to your needs.
Want to create an SEO-friendly website? Get in touch with New Era Digital for custom SEO strategies that help your small business rank higher and drive traffic.
