{"id":4513,"title":"The principles of SEO","description":"In this video and blog, we talk about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). We help you to understand what SEO is, how it works and how to get your brand to the top of Google. You don't need to know how to code and it won't cost you a thing, so let's begin.","content":"

In this video and blog, we talk about Search Engine Optimisation<\/a> (SEO<\/a>). We help you to understand what SEO is, how it works and how to get your brand to the top of Google. You don't need to know how to code and it won't cost you a thing, so let's begin.

It doesn't matter how much effort you've put into your design work or how many hours you've put into your photography<\/a>, if your site is at the bottom of Google, it's almost like your work doesn't exist.<\/p>

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is basically how Google performs. You type something into Google and then Google gives you lots of results. Those results are web pages.<\/p><\/blockquote>

There's a difference between marketing on a search engine like Google and marketing on social media, like Instagram or Facebook. On social media people are most often flicking through for entertainment, whereas on Google, people are actively searching for something. It's the difference between people actively hunting for answers and people that just happen to come across them.<\/p>

We call hunting for answers the search intent<\/strong>. Coupled with the search intent is the search phrase - otherwise known as keywords<\/strong>. This is where the search intent is expressed.<\/p>

Here's an example, our intent is that we have a football match on Saturday and we want some new boots because our ones are worn out. Our intent is also that we want to buy these new boots on the Internet. To get Google to give us the answers we want we might specifically type in \"Men's football boots UK\" or \"Buy football boots online UK\". These are the keywords we use to find the answers to our search intent.<\/p>

Google uses this search, returns results and orders them, from what Google thinks is the best match all the way down to what Google might think is the worst match. Sometimes people call this ranking positions<\/strong>.<\/p>

A good rule of thumb is that the top three ranked results will get about 85% of the traffic. It really is the difference between success and failure to be in those top top three results, as this is where most of your customers will come from.<\/p><\/blockquote>

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The reason Google is the most popular search engine is because the majority of the time you can find what you're looking for, and this makes you want to come back again and again. Actual specifics of how the algorithm works are super complex, secret and constantly changing.<\/p>

That's why search engine optimisation can be quite a confusing place - people often talk about the latest details in how the algorithm works, then they try to beat it and trick their way to the top of Google. Trying to beat Google is a mistake. Following the principles - rather than the tricks - of SEO can get you there the right way.<\/p>

Google is a digitised place where people come to find things. Sometimes it's for information, but it's also often for products. The best place to go for a real world analogy is the High Street, so try to see Google as a digital High Street. Let's imagine that we go there now, and we're looking for our new football boots. We need to make some decisions about where we might find them. There are three parts to that decision-making process. The three parts are as follows:<\/p>