2. The Top of Google – Getting Started

The SEO Masterclass

Learn Tips to Get Your Website to the Top of Google

A Brief History of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

In the beginning, and even before Google search results pages existed, we had to use other search engines to find what we were looking for. But the problem, though, was that the Internet back then was still very much in its infancy. Knutsford website design owners implemented various unscrupulous ways of getting their website to the top of Google’s list, and one such example was to repeat the same word or phrase over and over at the very foot of a webpage, but they hid it from view by making the text colour the same as the background colour of the page (i.e. white text on a white background).

The search engines thought these webpages were important due to the high number of keywords (not like today’s standards, and rightly so!). But it worked back in the nineties and, for a while, the world had to endure the introduction to the Internet with tasteless websites and terrible search engine results. It was no help to anyone.

…but suffer no more.

Edit a Webpage to Make it SEO Friendly

Eventually, the search engines became wise to this and started to write their code with a little more efficiency, and once the long list of website designers caught wind of this, they have both been involved in a game of cat and mouse ever since. Indeed, it has to be accepted that both sets of industries have helped each other to advance.

Of course, there are still various ways to edit a webpage and make it SEO friendly so that it climbs to the top of Google search results pages in Knutsford, but it has forced the website owners to rethink its most valuable asset, the content. Search engines have evolved into helping companies create better scripted websites and, in turn, they have helped the end user find what they’re looking for by providing better and more informed Google search results pages.

The code written by the search engine industry has demanded a better quality website, but here we still are after all these years trying to outthink what their secrets are. Guessing can both help and hinder, which means we have to tread carefully with how we optimise a website.

Google Algorithm and Code Changes

We have known for many years that companies such as Google frequently update their code, and it’s this that worries the SEO community because it can and has affected a website’s ranking, and thus many business bottom lines; sales figures and profits.

Updating their algorithms has kept us on our toes for many years, and it has certainly kept us busy, but the future of search engines may take a drastic step into the unknown, but the issue as always is that we don’t know what it’s going to be, or when.

So, as per usual, we shall continue to second guess what a website needs so to climb to the top of Google. The algorithm updates can be so vast that the effects have been dramatic, and it’s our job by offering a list of SEO services to clients to stay ahead of the game, for now at least.

The Ever Demanding and Frantic Client

Entire lists of industries have been rocked to the core after a search engine algorithm has changed, but a positive domino effect was created for companies like CreativeOpolis (Knutsford, Cheshire) who were kept busy by the ever demanding and frantic client. But, from our experience over the years, we are much more relaxed than we used to be because we have come to accept that changes are always imminent, and we make sure that our clients are informed of such potential headaches.

If a client expects it, and we expect it, then it makes everyone’s job a whole lot easier to manage, particularly the stress of worried clients after their website drops out of sight after enjoying being at the top of Google for long periods of time. But fear not, we have managed to work hard to learn of new and innovative ways to return clients to their former place of glory. Until next time…

Let’s Get Started

Enough of the Jibber Jabber; We Have SEO Work to Do

We are assuming that you either have an existing website that isn’t performing to your liking in search engine results, or that you are about to launch a brand new website. Either way, this SEO masterclass is for you. It’s also for anyone who has been asked to manage someone else’s website (by a client or an employer, or worse, a family member or friend!); perhaps you’re here to learn how SEO works so to help your career advancement; for educational studies; or maybe you are a hobbyist. Maybe your website is already at the top of Google!

Who knows?, but whoever you are, welcome!

We will also presume that you have access to the most commonly used website platform, WordPress, and that you are comfortable with a little HTML and CSS. Although, strictly speaking, our methods of optimising a website mainly focus on the actual content of each individual webpage and therefore the platform should not matter. So, welcome to everyone working with Joomla, Drupal, Jekyll, Tumblr, CMS Made Simple, Wix, Medium, Ghost, Weebly, Squarespace, Textpattern, Expression Engine, Google Sites, Shopify, Statamic, Blogger, and the list goes on…

The Below List Just Might Put You Off

Like anything, learning a new topic makes you realise just how much there is to digest; but we did say that SEO is an extremely time-demanding job! If you feel as though it’s already becoming too much, have no fear, rest assured that you can CONTACT CreativeOpolis in Knutsford for IMMEDIATE assistance. Click to read more about our SEO services

During this search engine optimisation masterclass of How to Get your Website to the Top of Google (see what we did there?), we will be discussing at length, amongst many other issues, the following topics:

Keyword Research

Buying a domain name

Creating a new WordPress page

Naming a page / URL

Headings

Structuring paragraphs for SEO

Where to place keywords on a website

The structure of a website

Content marketing

WordPress Plugins (Yoast SEO, Jetpack, WPS Hide Login, cache, security and more!)

XML sitemaps and robots.txt

Statistics

Alexa

Moz

SEMrush

Google Analytics

PPC (Pay per Click) v Organic

Social media
– YouTube
– Twitter
– Facebook
– Pinterest
– LinkedIn
…and many others

Links
– Internal
– Inbound / backlinks
– Reciprocal

Multiple contributors to your website
– Bloggers, writers, editors etc.
– Comments box (site visitors / members)

Blog / Diary / News

What Keyword Should I Use?

This is one of THE most important tasks you will do

You know your industry better than we do (even though we WILL do our research if you become our client), so the best thing you can do BEFORE you build a website (or add a new page) is find out what the most important keyword and phrase is that’s being used on Google. Look at the front page of Google’s results and do your research about the websites that are there (they are your competitors so you should know everything about them anyway). Ask yourself why there are at the top of Google and look at their general page layouts.

Keyword Research

Another explosive SEO task for you

If you want to get to the top of list on the Google front page, there are several ways of finding out what your industry’s top keywords are by doing a little research. Some companies charge so be careful you don’t spend unnecessary money (mind you, it will be a great investment if your website starts to perform well based upon their software database results); their systems tracks data in foreign languages, different countries, on desktop and mobile devices, and also for any post code location, plus many other useful bits of information. Weekly and monthly rank-checkers aren’t as efficient as daily reports due to fluctuations and misinterpretations.

Another, more useful way to perform keyword research, is to sign up with Google Adwords. This is a paid service ONLY if you place Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads (these are the paid advertisements seen at the top of Google (and bottom); if someone clicks through to the website, the advertiser pays). This is why organic results are better, but even the most successful website combines organic results with the PPC service (paid advertisements cover both bases; if their website suddenly drops down in the organic rankings without warning, at least PPC will keep the traffic flowing into the website until they return to page one of Google and / or the top of Google; it’s a safety net).

SEO Gurus

We consider ourselves well versed in SEO, but there are some who simply reign supreme; the ‘go-to’ places where even the top search engine optimisers, us Knutsford marketeers, visit. We will cover the likes of Alexa, Moz and SEMrush at a later date but, for now, we shall stick with the basics. These guys have the fast track to the information we all need. It’s expensive to use their services but what you get out of it will be well worth the investment. But you have to know what you’re looking for, you have to know what you’re doing, and you need to have the time and energy to stay on top of what’s being made available to you. That’s why it’s worth contacting CreativeOpolis in Knutsford because we already have that fast-track knowledge and can save you both time AND money. Do you want to get to the top of Google quickly?, then ask someone who knows what they’re doing. Ask us!

These First Few Pages are Mere Snippets of SEO Information

These first few pages of ‘How to Get to the Top of Google’ are mere snippets where we quickly jump in and out so you are able to dip in and get your feet wet.

As with all SEO topics, CreativeOpolis (click to read more about our SEO services) will be covering Google Adwords in-depth at a later date. Additionally, Keyword Research is also an extremely lengthy and ongoing topic, and thus we will dig deeper, MUCH DEEPER, for you very soon.

Is a Single or Double KeyWord Phrase Better than a ‘Long Tail’ Search?

“I beg your pardon?” We hear you ask. Sorry to confuse you, but… it’s not that confusing after all. It’s quite logical, and here’s why: Highly specific multi-word phrases on Google tend to be far easier to rank well than the more generic single keyword or double keyword phrases.

Here’s a specific example. Let’s say your business sells Modern British Friesian cows in Cheshire. At first, you might consider targeting a generic phrase like cows. After all, a cow is generally the type of animal a farmer wishes to buy whilst at a cattle market. However, if you tried to use this too-specific a phrase on Google, you’d be facing direct competition from big websites, such as, wikipedia.org, peta.org and oxforddictionaries.com. It’s unlikely you’d be able to knock any of those particular websites out of the top ten unless you’re willing to invest a huge amount of money and an ocean of time. Moooove over..! 🙄

But, even more importantly, cows isn’t the best phrase for you to target anyway. That’s because many people who search using that phrase are looking for items along the lines of milk, worming, slaughter, and doing general research on the various breeds of the animal. They’re probably not saying to themselves…

“I’m looking for someone who sells cows to farmers who are looking to get into breeding so I can grow my herd.”

If they were, they’d be entering something other than just cows. Even if you were to target a more specific phrase like friesian cows you’d still be up against heavy hitters, such as, wikipedia.org, thecattlesite.com and ukcows.com. So, unless you sell everything related to cows for all cattle markets around the world, the traffic you’d get for that keyword isn’t likely to convert to many sales.

So, let’s look at some of the longer phrases / keywords that are specific to what you’re selling; keywords that you can immediately start ranking for so to generate traffic and, ultimately, create sales. Here are a few variations of highly specific keyphrases that relate to your potential customers’ needs:

how to buy a friesian cow
best breed of friesian cow in Cheshire
top breeders of friesians in Cheshire
friesian sales in Cheshire

Of course, these are just a few examples, and we’re certain that you could think of many more. However, the point is two-fold;

Longtail keywords are much easier to rank, and
People who search by using longtail keywords are far more likely to become buyers, especially yours!

Buying a Domain Name

Let’s face it, content is king and it always will be. However, if you are able to purchase a domain which includes the most popular industry keyword, then it won’t do you any harm. For example, there’s absolutely no point in buying a domain name with the word ‘chairs’ contained in it if your business sells books. It is of no relevance.

Although, at the end of the day, if your content is clear and precise, and your SEO management is up-to-date, it won’t matter what your website it called. I’m sure we can all think of plenty of domain name examples which fall into this particular category. You have to set up your website so that it takes advantage of every opportunity if you want it to get to the top of Google.

Protecting Yourself

Many companies and individuals purchase multiple domain names which are similar to one another so to protect themselves from harm and, to further eliminate being unnecessarily preyed upon, they purchase ID protection so their valuable contact details are kept from public view. We cannot recommend this highly enough.

You can do this on our website by clicking here:
Domain Names, SEO Management, Website Design & Hosting by CreativeOpolis, Knutsford Cheshire

DO YOU NEED OUR HELP?

Remember, if you try and skimp on your investment you will only get what you pay for (buy cheap, pay twice), and that’s why you should click to read more about CreativeOpolis SEO services; you will be in good hands for help with Internet sales and marketing.

Two sayings we love!

We would like to place an order with you

Thank you!

03. How to Create a WordPress Page for SEO