Ten SEO principles that increase users to your website.

25 January 2024
Read time: 4 mins

Written by:
Lewis Moran.

GEL Studios marketing team discussing SEO principles

SEO (search engine optimisation) is a way of optimising your website's visibility for search engines that ultimately increase organic traffic.

Google says in order for your web pages to rank highly in the search, you should create helpful, reliable, people-first content. But how do you do it?

In this blog, we’re going to look at what you can do as someone in digital marketing to create helpful, reliable, people-first content that boosts the organic traffic to your website.

1. Start by conducting keyword research.

The first thing to do is to conduct thorough keyword research into your topic. You can do this through a number of different tools such as Semrush’s keyword research tool, or even the Keyword Planner in Google Ads. What you’re looking for is that sweet spot between high search volume, low difficulty to rank and high relevance to the topic you’re writing about.

Tip: Start with your initial list of keywords to research and then search for other related ways to say the same thing. So for example, if I was researching the term ‘marketing’ which is a highly searched, but highly competitive keyword, you might also look at Digital Marketing or Content Marketing. It’s worth highlighting that no one can guarantee a #1 keyword ranking on Google.

2. Begin content creation.

The header is the first element your user will see and sets the overall tone for the rest of your content. It’s often also the deciding factor in whether a user will read the rest of your content so you want the header to grab the reader's attention and convey the clear benefit of reading your content. By using your core keyword in your title tag it helps Google understand that the copy is a relevant result for a particular search.

3. Write a compelling meta description.

This is the text that shows up in the Google Search results. You want it to be relevant, engaging and you want users to click your result over the thousands of other results shown. Even though Meta descriptions aren’t a direct ranking factor they are really important for SEO.

4. Use a clear writing structure.

When it comes to writing the actual on-page copy, start with a well-crafted introduction that entices the user to read more. As you make your way through the written content, use breaks, bullet points and headings to give it clear structure, and use long and short-tail keywords throughout the copy. Let your keywords flow naturally and in a contextual way. Long paragraphs can be really tricky to read so shorter sentences are more punchy and are better at highlighting your key points.

5. Check out the people who also asked section.

Providing the answers to the most relevant FAQs can be really helpful for existing users and drives new traffic to your page. While this isn’t a ranking factor it can help Google to see your site as an authority on the subject. Once you’ve added FAQs, you need your developer to add FAQs schema to your site to see the benefit.

6. Build an internal linking structure.

Link to other related pages and resources on your website so that users and Google can find other relevant content on your website.

7. Use Alt-tags on compressed images.

If you’re using images (and I highly recommend you do) make sure to add alt text. This helps Google to understand your image and place it in the image results. While on the subject of imagery, Google rewards pages that are fast-loading, so compress your images as much as you can.

8. Write for the Featured Snippet section.

Featured snippets are the most direct answers to search queries. There is a lot of competition to get the featured snippet result so your answer needs to be detailed but brief.

9. Link to high-authority websites.

As you build out your content, don’t be afraid to link externally. It not only shows you’ve done your research, but you’ve also provided extra information for the user.

10. Run a technical SEO audit.

Ask your seo agency to run an audit through their seo tools. At GEL studios we use Semrush with a little bit of screaming frog here and there. This SEO audit will flag everything ‘technically’ wrong with your site and help you to build a roadmap of fixes. It’s worth pointing out that using these tools can sometimes be like using Chat GPT. It can spit out results, but it will need to be checked by a real human who understands Tech SEO to see whether it’s actually worth you spending your time fixing.

That was a quick rundown of ten ways SEO can help increase the traffic to your website. If you need support with your website's SEO, or marketing more generally why not get in touch with us. 


Written by:
Lewis Moran.

Share this article:

Read more from us on:

Related articles.

Send us a message.

hello@gelstudios.co.uk

01793 677150

Unit 2, 3 Lancaster Place,
South Marston Park, Swindon, SN3 4UQ