A Human Centred Approach to Search Engine Optimisation
Most website traffic comes from search engines. Organic search - as opposed to paid online advertising - is viewed as more credible by most people. 57% of B2B marketers state that Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) generates more leads than any other marketing initiative, so keeping up to date with this ever-evolving area is key to any marketer's success. In addition, unlike sponsored search and most social media platforms, Search Engine Optimisation - or SEO - is a tactic that will continue to reward your efforts over time.
Found with machines, enjoyed by humans
One of the aims of SEO is to optimise your webpages so your content is evaluated as highly relevant for the search queries your target audience is making. As 75% never scroll past the first page of search engine results pages (SERPs), appearing as high up as possible is vital.
However, while it is the search engine's job to sift through all of the information on the internet and help us find the best possible answers to our questions, your listings in the search engine results also need to appeal to your human audience and convince them to click through to your site.
Often construed as just a numbers game, SEO isn't merely a case of satisfying the requirements of the search engines' algorithms. From this perspective, it is best to approach SEO with the mindset of optimising your communications for both person and machine simultaneously. Relevance must blend with discoverability.
Search Engine Optimisation Tips
Optimising for your users will please the robots
Have you taken a close look at your website lately? Does it help your users to find out what they need to know about your business and how they can buy from you? Does it load quickly and function well on mobile devices? A well-organised, well-coded site that has a clear information architecture with relevant page titles, menu items and headings will not only create a good impression and be more pleasant for a prospective customer to use. A functional site with clear sign-posting and unambiguous headings and labels also helps search engines to crawl and index your site more easily, helping you to climb the rankings.
Create valuable content
There’s no question that search engines love high-quality content, and it seems that long form, detailed content ranks better. The average word count for a first-page result on Google at 1890 words. When you focus on writing only the best content, your visitors will want to spend more time on your site and link back to it by sharing your content elsewhere - all factors that demonstrate to Google and Bing that your content is trusted and has authority.
Think about search intent
Short-tail searches consisting of just one or two keywords have high search volumes; however, they're also highly competitive and less specific. If you want to attract visitors who are more likely to convert, a better tactic would be concentrating on the 70% of searches made up of longer phrases. Although the search volumes will be lower, these are the searches that will help you to target a user's intent:
Informational Intent: wants to find information on a particular topic (e.g. searches 'B2B SEO techniques' to find hints and tips from multiple sources)
Navigational Intent: wants to navigate to a specific website or page on a website (e.g. 'Google SEO' to find the link to the Google SEO support pages)
Commercial Investigation Intent: wants to research potential suppliers for a future purchase (e.g. 'B2B SEO agencies’)
Transactional Intent: wants to buy something specific (e.g. 'B2B SEO agency London reviews' to find a recommended consultant specialising in B2B SEO in a specific geographical area)
Don't try to game the system
No matter how critical it is for your company to rank highly for specific search queries, we wouldn't advocate using unethical strategies and techniques - known as 'black-hat' tactics - in an attempt to get ahead. Methods such as keyword stuffing, redirects, paid links or comment spam will provide a poor experience for your end user and often result in the search engines penalising your site.
Far better is to concentrate on making pages designed to be valuable and engaging for your audience, not to trick the search engines.
Viewing SEO as a case of reducing page load times, providing clear navigation, writing keyword rich copy and generating lots of backlinks is only part of the story. Yes, the technical and data-driven aspects of SEO are important, but a successful SEO strategy goes deeper and considers the human user over and above the automated crawler.