Search Engine Optimisation
Improving your website’s position in a search can be done by paying for Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) or Bing Ads (or equivalent) and therefore appearing above natural search results. This is a quick (but permanently expensive) fix.
Alternatively, there is search engine optimisation. This involves ensuring your website ranks above competitor sites by ensuring it is better in certain key ways that are determined by the search engines from time to time.
Whilst it takes time to reap the rewards of SEO and early on can be costly particularly when considering return on that investment, this is the solution that creates a long-term saving.
Examples include:
Content creation
- Create valuable and unique content:
Focus on providing informative, engaging, and well-written content that addresses user needs and search intent - Use relevant keywords:
Integrate keywords naturally within your content to help search engines understand what your page is about - Optimise for user experience:
Ensure your content is easy to read, well-structured, and visually appealing, making it enjoyable for users to navigate and engage with
On-page optimisation
- Optimise your website's structure:
Use descriptive URLs, organize your site effectively, and create a clear and intuitive navigation system - Use meta tags:
Craft compelling meta descriptions that accurately summarize your page's content and encourage clicks - Optimise images:
Use descriptive alt text for images to help search engines understand their content and improve accessibility - Optimise video content:
Make your videos easy to find by providing descriptive titles, descriptions, and relevant tags
Technical SEO
- Improve website loading speed:
Ensure your website loads quickly to enhance user experience and improve your search ranking - Optimise for mobile:
Make sure your website is responsive and easily accessible on all devices, as Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites - Submit a sitemap:
Help search engines crawl and index your site more effectively by submitting a sitemap - Fix broken links:
Identify and repair any broken links on your website to maintain a positive user experience and avoid penalties
Link building
- Build backlinks:
Get links from other reputable websites to increase your site's authority and credibility - Create linkable assets:
Develop valuable content that is worth linking to, such as high-quality articles, infographics, or videos - Utilise outreach:
Reach out to relevant websites and bloggers to ask for links or guest posts
Social media & online presence
- Promote your content on social media:
Share your content on relevant social media platforms to increase visibility and drive traffic - Engage with your audience:
Respond to comments and questions on social media to build a community and foster engagement - Build a strong online presence:
Ensure your website and social media profiles are consistent and professional
Ongoing monitoring & improvement
- Track your progress:
Use analytics tools to monitor your website's traffic, rankings, and user behaviour - Adapt your strategy:
Continuously evaluate your SEO performance and make adjustments to your strategy based on the data you gather - Stay updated:
Keep up with the latest SEO trends and best practices to stay ahead of the competition
Key legal takeaways
Improving your website’s SEO requires considerable skill and knowledge and necessitates keeping up-to-date with the latest positions of the major search engines. As a general rule, this is best done using highly experienced external providers.
Key legal takeaways for website development contracts and website maintenance contracts (and SEO services agreements):
- SEO considerations need to be front and centre to the creation of any website
- Maintenance and optimisation contracts should include: high level requirements/targets; as well as low level details as to what steps the support provider will undertake to ensure a website’s SEO position is maintained and enhanced over time
- Consideration needs to be given as to how to measure performance and whether charges should be related to the same
These are in addition to key considerations for website development generally.
Notable work
Advising various retailers and suppliers on:
- Agile website development and maintenance arrangements, some worth in excess of £1.5m per year
- Magento website development and implementation
- Shopify for e-commerce
- Supporting on the legal arrangements necessary for hundreds of separate websites
Meet our team
Jaskeerat Sanghera
Managing Associate
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