Your website looks great, but where are all the visitors? It’s frustrating when you’ve spent time and money on a site that nobody seems to find. The problem usually isn’t your design or content – it’s that search engines don’t know your site exists or what it’s about. That’s when you need search engine optimisation.
What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
When someone searches for “plumber near me” or “best chocolate cake recipe”, Google’s algorithm considers hundreds of factors to decide which websites to show based on how well they match what the person is looking for. For the top results in these searches, SEO is what’s happening behind the scenes to help these websites rank above their competitors.
SEO is not as mysterious as it sounds. The fundamentals come down to creating content people want to read and making sure search engines understand what your site is about. Your job is to make it obvious to Google that your content answers people’s search queries better than your competitors do.
The payoff of search engine marketing is worth it. While you might pay £2-5 for each click on your Google Ads, clicks from organic SEO traffic cost nothing. A single well-optimised page can bring in visitors for months or even years.
These nine techniques will get you there, and most of them you can tackle this afternoon.
1. Target the Right Keywords
Keywords are what people type into Google when they’re looking for something. Get this wrong, and you could spend months creating content nobody searches for. Get it right, and you’ll attract visitors who are genuinely interested in what you offer.
Understanding Search Intent
Not all search queries are the same. Someone searching “buy running shoes” is ready to purchase, while someone searching “how to start running” wants information.
There are four main types of search intent, and you need to match your content to what people want:
- Informational searches: “How to tie shoelaces” or “what is SEO” – people want to learn
- Navigational searches: “Facebook login” or “Webhive Digital” – people want to find a specific website
- Commercial searches: “best laptops 2025” or “iPhone vs Samsung” – people are comparing options before buying
- Transactional searches: “buy Nike Air Max” or “plumber near me” – people are ready to take action
How to do Keyword Research
Once you’ve figured out why they’re searching, start with a list of topics your customers care about. If you run a bakery, that might include “wedding cakes”, “birthday cakes”, “gluten-free baking”, and “cake decorating”.
Now you’ve got your core topics, it’s time to take them to a keyword research tool, like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or SE Ranking, to find the specific search terms people use, keyword ideas, accurate data on how often they’re searched and carry out SERP analysis to figure out your competition.
Pro tip: The best keyword in the world won’t help if it’s irrelevant to your content or audience. If you sell handmade candles, targeting “industrial lighting solutions” might get you traffic, but it won’t get you customers. Focus on keywords your ideal customer would use when looking for what you provide.
If you’re on a budget, you can use free methods like Google’s autocomplete suggestions and the “People also ask” sections in search results. While you won’t get keyword data, you will find keyword ideas based on Google’s knowledge of similar searches people make and identify who currently ranks for those keywords.
Pro tip: Instead of trying to rank for “cakes” (which millions of websites target), go for long-tail keywords like “gluten-free wedding cakes Manchester.” These longer, more specific phrases have less competition and attract people who know exactly what they want.
Track Your Keyword Performance
Once you start targeting keywords, you need to track how visible your site is when they’re searched. Google Search Console is a free tool that shows you which keywords bring visitors to your site, your site’s average position for each term and how well your SEO campaign is going.
You can also use Bing Webmaster Tools for similar data on Bing searches.
If you’re looking for a more advanced keyword tracking option, you can set up position tracking in tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs to monitor rankings daily and compare performance against competitors.
2. Create an SEO Content Strategy
Once you know what keywords to target, you need a plan for creating or optimising content for them. This means auditing what you already have and identifying what’s missing.
Start by mapping your existing web pages to your target keywords. You might discover that your “About Us” page could easily rank for “web design agency Essex” with a few tweaks, or that your service pages are missing key terms your customers search for.
For keywords that don’t fit your existing content, think back to the search intent behind the keyword to decide what type of content makes sense. Someone searching “how to choose a web designer” wants an informational guide, while “web design prices” suggests they want a pricing page or comparison guide.
If you’re not sure, look at what’s already ranking on page one of Google for your target keywords – that tells you what format and depth Google expects.
Ideally, you should create a content strategy that covers your customers’ entire journey. Educational blog posts and how-to guides attract people who don’t know they need your services yet (i.e. top of funnel), while detailed service pages and product descriptions convert people who are ready to buy (i.e. bottom of funnel).
Pro tip: Comparison guides, case studies, infographics, and video tutorials work well for people weighing their options. Landing pages can target specific campaigns, while FAQ pages often rank well for question-based searches.
3. Upload New Content Regularly
Google loves websites that consistently add fresh, valuable content. Search engines notice patterns, and regular publishing helps establish your site as a reliable source of information. It also signals that your site is active and worth crawling regularly. But this doesn’t mean posting random blog articles three times a week. Quality beats quantity every time.
Look at your resources honestly and create a realistic publishing schedule. If you can only manage one well-researched, 1,500-word piece of content per month, that’s better than publishing thin, basic AI-written content weekly. Consistency matters more than frequency for on-page SEO, so set a schedule you will stick to, whether that’s weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.
4. Carry Out SERP & Competitor Analysis
Your competitors are already doing some of the hard work for you. They’re testing what works, what doesn’t, and showing you exactly what you need to beat to rank higher. Smart SEO means learning from their successes and failures.
Your biggest business competitor might not be your biggest SEO competitor, so start by identifying who you’re competing against in search results. Search for your target keywords and see which websites consistently appear on page one – these are the sites you need to study.
Use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to analyse their top-performing pages. What keywords are they ranking for that you’re missing? How long are their articles? What topics do they cover that you don’t? Look at their content structure, use of images, and internal linking patterns.
Don’t just analyse competitor websites – study the search engine results pages themselves. What type of content does Google favour for your target keywords? What are they including in the AI overview (if there is one)? Are there featured snippets you could target? Do image, shopping or local results appear? Are there “People also ask” boxes that suggest related topics to cover? The SERP layout tells you exactly what Google thinks searchers want to see.
5. Optimise Your Meta Titles
Your meta titles do a lot of heavy lifting in your SEO work. They’re what people see in search results before deciding whether to click on your website, and they’re the most powerful on-page SEO element you’ve got. Get them right, and you’ll attract more visitors, even if you’re not ranking at the top.
Your meta title should include your target keyword near the beginning and stay under 60 characters to avoid being cut off in search results. Make it compelling enough that people want to click, but accurate enough that they won’t bounce immediately when they land on your page.
Meta descriptions have more room to work with, so use this space to expand on your meta title, include a clear benefit or call to action, and maybe squeeze in another target keyword (if you can keep it natural). Think of it as ad copy that needs to convince someone to choose your result over the nine others on the page.
Pro tip: Don’t stuff keywords into your meta tags. Google is smart enough to understand synonyms and related terms, and users can spot keyword stuffing from a mile away (and they don’t love it!). Write for humans first, search engines second. A compelling meta title that gets clicks is worth more than a keyword-stuffed one that gets ignored.
6. Optimise Images and Videos
Search engines can’t “see” images and videos the way humans do, so you need to help them understand what your visual content is about. This isn’t just good for SEO – it’s essential for accessibility and helps your content appear in image and video search results.
Start with file names. Instead of uploading “IMG_1234.jpg,” rename it to something descriptive like “chocolate-wedding-cake-three-tiers.jpg.” Use hyphens to separate words, and keep it concise but descriptive.
Alt text is major for both SEO and accessibility. Describe what’s in the image as if you’re explaining it to someone who can’t see it. “Chocolate wedding cake with three tiers and white fondant flowers” is much better than “cake” or “wedding cake image.” Screen readers use this text to help visually impaired users understand your content, and search engines use it to understand more about the image.
Large image files slow down your website, which can impact user experience and engagement rates, both of which can hurt your SEO rankings. Compress images before uploading them using tools like TinyPNG or Squoosh, and use modern formats like WebP when possible.
For videos, create detailed titles and descriptions, add captions or transcripts, and use video schema markup to help search engines understand your content better.
7. Add Schema Markup
Schema markup helps search engines understand your content better and can make your search results stand out with rich snippets showing star ratings, prices, or event dates directly in search results.
Think of schema as providing context to search engines. When you mark up a recipe, you’re telling Google, “this is the cooking time, these are the ingredients and here is the calorie count.” This helps your content appear in recipe carousels and voice search results.
You can find all available schema types at schema.org – there are hundreds of options covering everything from local businesses and products to events and FAQ sections.
Common types include Organization, LocalBusiness, Product, Review, Article, and FAQ schema. Not all schema types guarantee rich snippets, but they all help search engines understand your content better.
If you’re not sure how to get started, follow this guide on how to set up schema markup.
Pro tip: If you’re not sure if you’ve set up your schema markup correctly, test it using Google’s Rich Results Test tool. This shows you exactly how Google interprets your markup and whether it’s eligible for rich snippets.
8. Check Your Page Load Speed
While many people are quick to say page speed isn’t a direct ranking factor, it is an indirect ranking factor.
Google has made it clear that it prioritises user experience in its search results. Websites delivering a poor user experience typically get pushed down in search results.
A slow loading website often impacts your website’s engagement rate, which is a ranking factor, especially on mobile devices, where people expect instant loading.
Test your website speed using Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to see how quickly it loads and what’s slowing your site down. Aim for loading times under 3 seconds – anything longer and you’ll start losing visitors.
When looking at your results, remember that most of your visitors are probably browsing on phones, and mobile networks can be slower than desktop connections. So test your mobile speed separately and prioritise fixes that improve mobile performance. Google’s mobile-first indexing means your mobile site performance directly affects your search rankings.
Pro tip: Common speed killers are oversized images, too many plugins, slow hosting, and unoptimised code. Compressing images often provides the largest speed boost for the least effort. If it’s a server issue, think about upgrading your hosting if you’re on a basic shared plan – the performance difference can be dramatic.
Enable caching to store static versions of your pages, which load much faster for returning visitors. Most hosting providers offer caching solutions or CDNs like Cloudflare, or you can use plugins like WP Rocket for WordPress.
9. Build Relevant Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites to yours and one of Google’s strongest ranking signals. Think of them as votes of confidence – when a reputable website links to your content, it tells search engines that your site is trustworthy and valuable.
If you’re looking to boost your local SEO, start with national & local directories. These are often easy wins that don’t require much effort but provide solid SEO value.
Depending on your industry, guest posting on relevant websites can earn high-quality backlinks while showcasing your expertise. Look for websites that your target audience reads and pitch them genuinely useful content ideas. The key is providing real value, not just trying to get a link.
Digital PR creates newsworthy content or campaigns that journalists and bloggers want to write about. This could be original research, industry surveys, or timely commentary on trending topics. When done well, digital PR can earn dozens of high-authority backlinks from a single campaign.
Can I optimise my website myself?
Absolutely! Lots of these techniques are things you can tackle yourself with some time and patience. To help you get started, our free on-page SEO checklist covers all the essentials for optimising each page of your website.
The challenge comes with scale and expertise. Researching keywords for one page takes an hour. But doing detailed keyword research for an entire website and tracking rankings over time? That’s weeks of work. Add in technical SEO audits, competitor analysis, and link-building campaigns, and you’re looking at a substantial time investment.
At Webhive Digital, we help businesses turn their websites into lead-generating machines through strategic SEO. Whether you need a complete SEO overhaul or want to build on the foundations you’ve already laid, we can create a custom SEO package that fits your goals and budget.
Ready to boost your search rankings? Contact our SEO experts today and learn more about how we can support your goals.
