SEO step-by-step guide, part 1: The SEO basics.
In this article we will approach some of the SEO basics that you should bear in mind before creating your website, or at least in its infancy.

SEO can appear somewhat of an arcane art. However, using basic search engine optimisation techniques you can see a real increase in visitors and traffic to your website. Take this case study: The website AireysOfKendal.com recently underwent search engine optimisation, carried out by its ecommerce provider. Despite being a relatively new site, appropriate SEO techniques meant visitor numbers saw a 3,900% increase. Obviously, this is highly desirable for any site, new or old. How did it do this? Read on to find out!

Choose a sensible domain.
When registering a domain name for your website, make sure that it contains relevant keywords in it. For example, Aireys of Kendal.com is a website for the UK business Aireys of Kendal, so the domain name makes perfect sense. However, it’s not always possible to get the exact domain you want. When this happens, consider what sorts of keywords will be present on your website and produce a hyphenated domain. If you sell coats, for example, this could be www.uk-coats-online.co.uk. Try to match up the domain type with your target market as well, for example, .co.uk if you are a UK business.

Consider your navigation.
If people get confused by navigating your website, search engines will pick up on this and penalise you. It is better to have a clear navigational structure that is easy to follow and easy to find the correct information and content your visitors are looking for. Decide on 4 or 5 keywords to use as main sub sections. From there, split these sub-sections up into appropriate categories and so on. These subsections will act as your secondary keywords. After that, it can be handy to sit down and sketch out your navigation system, detailing how visitors get from one place to another.

Research your keywords.
Perhaps most importantly, you need to make sure that as you write your content, you are filling it with your primary and secondary keywords. Also consider how visitors will be searching for your site. If you sell coats, many users may simply type in, “coats”. However, many will be more specific than this, searching for niches such as, “buy brown coats online”. These searches will represent millions a month and it’s important you cater for these in your content.

In the next part of our SEO step by step guide we will address page structure.