SEO TutorialUnderstand how SEO works. Follow these steps for immediate results.

15 Proven Steps to SEO Success 

In this SEO Tutorial you will learn:

1. Why SEO is important and how to use SEO to attract more tra�c to your website

2. SEO is not ‘free’ tra�c, as implementing SEO takes time and like all marketing it is an iterative process

3. How to measure what matters

4. If you outsource your SEO – understand the principles

5. Track progress

6. Make realistic judgements 

7. Focus on conversions as much as tra�c – one is useless without the other

8. Step by step guide to the basics of SEO

9. Do’s and dont’s

10. Real examples

Overview

SEO is full of myths and bullshit. I’m sure you all receive spam emails promising you the earth for $9 dollars

per month. I know I do.

If you outsource your SEO be careful, get references and ask to see live behind the scenes results via Google

Analytics or similar tools.

Beware of SEO companies making promises. Ultimately Google decides what it wants to show on page one of

their search results not you, not an SEO company.

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However, by understanding & implementing best practice SEO you can and will improve your online visibility

and get found for what you do, rather than just who you are. Start implementing, start tracking.

SEO is full of myths & bullshit

De�nition of SEO – Search Engine Optimisation, or Search Engine Optimization if you’re American!

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Every single page and every single post or product needs to be SEO’d. Search engines retrieve by – relevancy

– trust – competition.

If you’re implementing SEO correctly, when you look at your website analytics,  you will see that many visitors

�nd you via many di�erent pages not just your brand name and home page. Your home page is there to direct

visitors to what’s relevant to them.

You’ve only got to look at the �ercely competitive travel sector to see this.

But smaller companies can win big online. If you apply the principles of this SEO Tutorial

Always remember, you don’t have to be the best at what you do to do well with SEO,

you just have to be good at SEO. 

Why do you Need SEO?

You may think that Google, Bing & Yahoo are super smart. And they are. But not as smart as you might think.

The search engines are computers trying to read the code of your website and make sense of it.

Without applying SEO basics, at best, you are missing out on Google & co �nding you when someone searches

for a service like yours. You haven’t given them enough ‘clues’. Think of SEO as a technique that allows Google

to understand what you do. 

Google will struggle to retrieve and show your website for the myriad of services that you o�er – if you’ve just

tossed your whole website into the pile alongside tens of 000’s of similar looking websites & services to yours.

Remember it is not human. Without helping Google understand what you do, it’s unlikely to be able to �nd you.

A bit like a vast library with millions of books thrown in without any titles. how would the librarian ever be able

to �nd anything?!?! 

Principles of SEO

1. Always stay true to your proposition

2. Shortcuts rarely work [for long]

3. Invest in content marketing

4. Use SEO alongside several other marketing tactics

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5. Over-reliance on one tactic is unhealthy

6. Measure progress & plan ahead

7. Customer experience – really matters

Customer Experience

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Responsive web design simply adapts to the device a user is using

Responsive Web Design

1. Check if your website is mobile friendly here

2. If it isn’t don’t bother with SEO until you’ve built an SEO friendly website

3. Over 58% of searches are from mobile – a non mobile friendly website says to your customers that you

don’t care

4. A non mobile friendly website says to search engines that you don’t care

5. If you need a new website built we can help

Check your website speed here

Website Speed

1. Don’t bother with SEO until you’ve sorted out any website load speed issues

2. Your website needs to load within 4 seconds on mobile & on desktop. You can check your website

speed here

3. The 2 main culprits of slow website speed are: heavy images, use image compression tools to compress

them and slow overcrowded cheap hosting. Get a better host.

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From Google Webmaster Blog back in 2014

Website Security

1. If you’re selling anything online then an SSL certi�cate is a must it secures communication to & from

your website

2. If you want to future proof your SEO & re-assure your customers add an SSL certi�cate to your website

now. Most hosts provide these free now.

3. SSL security is a positive ranking factor with Google

4. Your site will start https instead of http 

Let’s Get Started

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On Page and o� Page SEO

There are 2 core elements to SEO

On page SEO – what you can do to your website

O� page SEO – how other websites and sources can help, links to your website

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On Page SEO 

On page is important because:

It will help increase website tra�c [visitors] and importantly build your brand as you share valuable content. Of

course you can share content on your website and social media platforms too. The more places people can

�nd your content the better.

O�  Page SEO

O� page SEO is important because:

There are thousands of websites and web pages that state they do what you do. So how does Google know

which website to retrieve and display on page one of its search engine results page [SERP]?

If content is similar and other factors are similar it will look at who is linking to your content. A quality link to

your content is a ‘vote’ of trust & con�dence and that’s what Google is looking for. A quality link would be from

an authoritative website with the webpage the link is coming from discussing the subject matter of your web

page. Think: quality + relevance. 

Look out for our full list of link building ideas coming up.

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Measure the progress of all your online marketing with our Monitoring Dashboard.

FREE 7 DAY TRIAL

Step 1

Increase website visitors. Get found.

On Page SEO Basics

1. Title tags – 70 characters

2. URL SEO friendly links – not too long

3. H1, H2 tags – always use in line with content

4. Meta descriptions – 120-160 characters 

5. Alt tags for images – recommended max 5 words

6. Content keyword phrases – In the �rst 100 words & throughout. There’s no need to keyword stu�. I said

there’s no need to keyword stu�. It’s just silly.

7. Natural language

8. Fresh, relevant content

9. Content sharing

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Step 2

Common search term used in Title Tag

Match common search terms with your Title Tag

Title Tags

In SEO terms the title tag is what you see in the browser

Every website page must have a unique title tag, otherwise Google is likely to class this as duplicate content &

won’t know which page to display.

Title tag ideal length is 70 characters [varies slightly dependent on desktop/mobile/pixels]

Start with your keywords [phrases that people commonly use to �nd what your page is about] at the beginning

for example:

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Emergency Plumber Hereford | 24/7 Call Out | ABC Company

Separate with commas or pipes likes this:  | 

Google will read each separation in its own right.

Most businesses add their brand name at the end. Though it’s not compulsory. Big brands may use title tags

di�erently – because they are big brands!

 

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Step 3

Change permalinks in WordPress

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URL

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator – each one is unique and will take the user to a speci�c web page,

image or element.

Keep them short, sweet & relevant. Use hyphens to separate words, underscores will join them up.

URLs  are often created automatically.

When you create a new page or post you can change them by typing into the keyword friendly version you

want.

If you’re using WordPress, ensure the permalink option you have chosen is:  the URL by post name.

If you have an eCommerce website try to avoid numeric URLs – these are not SEO friendly.

If you change a URL that is already published you will have broken the link & will lose any SEO value you had.

You can �x this by adding a re-direct.

Step 4

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H1 Tags

H1 Tag is the heading of the web page or web post, or product page.

It is on the page and should relate to the content of the page. For example the H1 Tag of this page is: SEO

Tutorial, so too is the URL and so too the title tag.

The content is naturally in line with the subject, there is no need to keyword stu� and Google will know that

certain terms relate to each other naturally as part of the overall subject.

 

Also recognise: this is one page one subject.

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Step 5

H1 & H2 - be obvious NOT cryptic, & engage

H2 Tags

H2 Tags tell Google what else is important on your page. In theory you should only have one H2 Tag but often

there are more, usually as a result of styling and the look and feel [uniformity] of the page. It’s not a big issue.

There are also H3, H4, H5 & even H6 Tags too – you can use these if you wish.

Step 6

Alt Tags

Alt Tags [Alternative Text Tags] should be added to all images on your website so that search engines know

what they are.

They are also an integral part of accessibility, helping visually impaired users understand what your website is

about.

Just say what is in the image in relation to your content.

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Step 7

Use the meta-decription to summarise why someone should visit your website

Meta Descriptions

A Meta Description is a summary description of what is on the web page or post. Every meta description

should be unique, to match the unique content on your page/post.

The Meta Description  is not visible on your website, but it is usually [not always] used in Google’s search

engine results page.

Meta description length 120-160 characters including spaces.

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Pay attention to your Meta Descriptions as people scan results & will often click-through or not based on what

they read in the meta-description. Now is the time to put your creative head on and tell people what your web

page is about & why they should visit. 

Often, the Meta Descriptions are skipped over or ignored by marketers, webmasters or whoever takes charge

of your website but they are well worth spending the time on. 

Even if you are not at the top of Google a well written Meta Description can increase click-throughs to your

website.

Power up your Meta Descriptions for increased click-through rates.

Step 8

Google My Business - is FREE claim & verify your listing.

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Google My Business

Google My Business [previously Maps/Local/Places ] keep up!

This is a free listing & spot from Google. It typically shows up for local searches – as mine here for St Pauls

Marketing Birmingham.

If you haven’t claimed and veri�ed your listing then do so now. 

Add images, reviews, opening hours and more. You will need to verify as the owner of the website. Usually by

postcard to the address with a pin number or sometimes by telephone with a pin.

Why do Google give you this listing and ask you to claim it? So that they know who you are and can sell

Google Ads to you of course!

But hey, don’t let this put you o�. Claim it. it’s yours and it’s free.

Claim your Google My Business listing here.

Claim similar on Bing Places too here

Step 9

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We can check on links pointing to your website

Building Quality Links to Your Website

Ignore any emails you get o�ering this service

Bad links to your website are negative – we will run a check for you

Aim for quality over quantity

Links must be relevant to the theme of what you do

Links to authoritative websites or articles carry more weight than listings

Add the same name, address, phone number to any directories

Aim to use the same brand name when creating pro�les on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc. Though this

isn’t always possible. It will help the search engines know that you are the same business

 

Step 10

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We can monitor your backlinks

We can help you assess quality backlinks

Link out to quality websites

It’s a good idea to link out to quality websites, where relevant. Use the ‘open a new window’ option on your

CMS [content management system] so that the user can easily step back to your website.

Use internal links too

Use internal links to link to relevant pages or posts on your website. Don’t go too mad with this though as it will

jar the �ow of your content.

O� Page SEO

O� Page SEO mainly refers to links and citations [mentions] on other websites and platforms that either link

directly to your website or mention your brand.

O� page SEO will help your on page and content marketing stick.

As you know competition is �erce online & everyone wants to win the coveted page one of Google for as many

search terms as possible. So where there are thousands, often millions of competing web pages, those with

more ‘trust’ according to how search engines view trust, will win and more likely retain their position. You try

knocking Wikepedia o� the top spot! 

With link building – quality beats quantity every time.

Step 11

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We can help you turn clicks to conversions. in no time.

REVIEW MY WEBSITE

Conversion Rate Optimisation

What is Conversion Rate Optimisation? [CRO] is a term used to describe the deliberate act of increasing

conversion on your website.

Think about what you want website visitors to do:

contact you

sign up for an email

buy a product

Then ensure your website is geared towards this. We can help you with this.

Measure the progress of all your online marketing with our Monitoring Dashboard.

FREE 7 DAY TRIAL

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Step 12

Content

A skinny website is going to struggle with SEO. Words are like oxygen to search engines.

If you’re in a niche sector and a geographic area with little competition you’ll probably

just about get by with a thin website. But for most businesses you will need to fatten

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My advice would be to lead with the content & SEO it as you go. If you try and lead with an SEO �rst approach

it’s likely that your website will not �ow properly, the writing will feel stilted and  worse still it will veer o� from

your proposition. 

A Content Marketing Plan is a great way to structure and plan your content. We will provide you with a

framework, tools & resources to make your life easier.

up your website with FRESH RELEVANT CONTENT

Step 13

Measure what matters

Share on social media

Content Marketing Calendar

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Create your own content marketing calendar.

Here are some great ideas & templates

Content Marketing Calendar Templates

Once you’ve created your content, publish it everywhere your audience hangs out, social media, other

people’s websites, online newspapers, magazines & marketplaces. 

You can re-purpose your content too. Turn text into video and images into slideshows. One piece of carefully

crafted content can go along way. And remember it’s evergreen.

Step 14

Google Console data will show you some of the keywords people are using to �nd you. We integrate Google

Conosle into our own reporting suite, alongside everything else, for a holistic view of your marketing progress.

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Use the free Yoast SEO helper Plugin if you use WordPress

SEO Tools

You can add Google Analytics to your website, it’s free

Also add on Google Console it will show you some of the terms people are using to �nd your website.

Use Google’s Adwords Keyword Planner tools to check search volumes. Use ONLY as a guide. Many keyword

terms won’t register on these tools as the volumes are too low, or they may be aggregated. We will advise on

how to �nd the right keywords for your business.

More SEO tools to follow

Easy to understand reports written by people not engineers! Phew

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St Pauls Marketing  Tools

We love simplicity. So our dashboard shows all of your online marketing analytics in one simple user friendly

way.

Works a treat on mobile & tablet too.

No tech speak either. Written for humans not robots.

Your data. Your way. Try free for 7 days. Then £75 pmth, cancel anytime.

FREE TRIAL

Step 15

Managing Expectations

SEO is a great way to increase leads and sales. But it is not something that will happen overnight.

Unlike paid advertising where you have immediacy, but also a �nite on/o� situation, SEO takes time, but has a

lasting e�ect – if you keep it up!

 

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Clare Mckee MA [Digital Marketing]

Clare has 15 years hands on SEO experience. She has worked as an

external user experience consultant with senior marketing teams

at Tesco, Directline, The National Lottery, plus 100's of small &

medium businesses. Regardless of the size of the company, the

mission is the same - ruthlessly focus on marketing that drives

sales, whilst enhancing the user experience.

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