Dominate Google Rankings with Our SEO Solutions

What is SEO?

When you search for something on Google or another search engine, you’re shown a list of results. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) refers to the strategies and techniques used to improve a website’s position in those search results. A website’s ranking depends on several different factors that search engines consider when displaying results.

How effectively key technical aspects of the website are optimized
The quality and relevance of the page content
The volume and quality of relevant websites linking back to our pages
How successfully competitor websites have implemented their SEO strategies

Why SEO Matters

More than 60% of website traffic originates from search engines.
Pages that appear higher in Google search results are far more likely to receive clicks, as users tend to trust the top results the most.
If your pages are not ranking near the top, potential visitors are unlikely to find your website.
SEO is a shared responsibility between the web team and content editors. It helps connect the right audience with the right information at the right time.

How Search Engines Work

Search engines like Google scan the internet by crawling websites and discovering links between pages.

When a search engine finds a page, it analyses the content to understand what the page is about and then stores that information in its index.

When a user types a search query into Google, the search engine tries to deliver the most relevant, useful, and high-quality results for that query.

The goal of SEO is to help ensure that our web pages appear as highly as possible in those search results.

Google uses many algorithms and ranking factors to determine where pages appear in search results. Our role is to optimise as many of these factors as possible, including:

the quality of our content
the websites linking to our pages
website coding and technical performance
mobile friendliness
the quality and authority of websites linking back to us

Ways to Enhance Your SEO

Understand your audience before you start writing.
Who are you creating content for?
What are they searching for, and what drives their decisions? Use marketing insights to better understand their needs and behaviour.

Think about why visitors would choose to read your web page and what action you want them to take once they arrive.

Review competitor websites and other channels your audience uses to gather information and compare approaches.

Most importantly, ensure your web page has a clear and focused purpose.

Understand the psychology behind the searcher:

To create effective content, you need to identify the type of audience you’re targeting and tailor your writing to match their intent. A helpful approach is to think of the questions users are likely to search for when looking for information.

Keyword Research:

Targeting the right keywords can have a major impact on your website’s success. By analyzing keyword demand within your market, you can identify the most effective terms and phrases to optimize for SEO while also gaining deeper insights into your audience and their search behavior.

The goal isn’t simply to attract more traffic to your website—it’s to attract the right visitors who are more likely to engage and convert.

Keyword research can be carried out using various SEO tools, such as Semrush or Moz. These platforms help generate keyword volume reports and provide valuable data, as illustrated below.

Keyword Planning

List the keywords and phrases that align with the questions your audience may search for.

Some users may not know exactly what they need and search broadly, hoping to discover useful information. For example:

How do I get into marketing?
What if I don’t achieve the exam results I expected?

Others may have a clearer idea of what they’re looking for and search more specifically:

Universities offering marketing courses
How to apply through Clearing

Some users already know both what they want and where to find it:

University of Essex marketing course
University of Essex Clearing information

Keyword Prioritisation

Once the keyword research is complete, create a ranked list of the top 10 keywords based on priority and use them strategically across the page.

For example:

Prioritise keywords that are already generating organic traffic to the webpage. If a keyword is already performing well in search rankings, it should remain a high priority during optimisation to avoid negatively impacting its position.
Assess the competition level for each keyword to understand how difficult it will be to achieve top search rankings for that term.
Use Priority 1 and Priority 2 keywords in title tags and metadata within Sitecore, as these have the greatest SEO impact. Secondary keywords should then be incorporated naturally into the page content alongside the primary terms.

Keyword Stuffing

Avoid cramming too many keywords into your content. Google can detect keyword stuffing and may penalise websites that overuse it. Even if it helps temporarily with rankings, it creates a poor user experience and can drive visitors away from your page.

Instead, focus on creating natural, engaging content that includes your target keywords organically. Write with the user in mind first — not just the search engine.

Engaging, High-Quality Content Matters

Content quality is now one of the most important ranking factors for Google and other major search engines. Google evaluates how relevant and valuable a webpage is by analysing its content and overall user experience.

Search engines also pay close attention to user behaviour to assess website quality. Metrics such as bounce rate (when visitors leave after viewing only one page) and average time spent on a page help indicate how useful and engaging the content is. For example, a page where users stay for 50 seconds is likely to rank better than one where visitors leave after just 12 seconds.

That’s why creating high-quality content is essential for effective SEO.

Best Practices for SEO-Friendly Content

Write content that is rich, engaging, informative, and descriptive.
Use the same words and phrases your audience is likely to search for.
Ensure your content is relevant, useful, and easy to understand.
Keep visitors engaged with valuable information that encourages them to stay on the page longer.
Use readable text directly on webpages rather than placing important text inside images, as search engines cannot interpret image text as effectively.

Ensure your metadata is optimized and effective.

What is metadata?

Metadata consists of short pieces of text that describe the content of a webpage. It doesn’t appear directly on the page itself but is embedded within the page’s code. One important element is the meta title, which appears at the top of your browser and is recognized by search engines as the title of your page. Another key element is the meta description — a brief summary of up to 160 characters that explains the page’s content. Its primary purpose is to encourage users to click on your link in Google search results.

Why It Matters

Every day, people search online for services, products, and blog content like yours. With so much competition, standing out in search results is essential.

Your meta description is one of the most effective tools for attracting attention and encouraging users to click through to your page. A well-written description can help turn a searcher into a customer, reader, or supporter.

Key Things to Keep in Mind

Review the meta data in Sitecore by checking the details entered in the Content Editor for each page. Update them where needed, and contact
Google uses meta data to understand your pages, so ensure your meta titles and descriptions are clear, unique, and accurately reflect the page content.
Write meta descriptions with action in mind — think of them as an invitation to visit the page.
Be clear and specific about what users will gain after clicking.
Include a strong call-to-action, as the meta description acts like promotional copy for your page.
Ensure the description matches the actual content of the page to meet user expectations.
Use your focus keyword naturally, as Google is more likely to display and highlight matching terms in search results.
Keep every meta description unique and avoid duplicating text across multiple pages.
Focus on the audience’s needs rather than talking about your organisation — users care most about the value the page offers them.

Structure Your Content Properly

Use heading tags correctly and make them as descriptive as possible so search engines can better understand your content. Clear headings also help users quickly scan a page and identify the information it are looking for.

The H1 tag should be the largest heading on the page and act as the main title of the content. Search engines and browsers use this heading to understand the primary topic of the page.

Use H2, H3, and other subheadings to organise content into clear sections and subsections, making the page easier to read and navigate.

Accessibility

Alt text helps describe images for users who cannot view them, such as people using screen readers or browsers with images disabled. It plays an important role in making websites more accessible and inclusive.

Image SEO

Although image recognition technology used by search engines has advanced significantly, search crawlers still cannot interpret images the same way humans do. Adding descriptive alt text helps search engines understand the content of images, improving both accessibility and image SEO.

Google evaluates a page’s authority based on how many external websites link to it and how credible those linking sites are.

To improve rankings, aim to build backlinks—links from other relevant and trustworthy websites that point to your site.

Continuously re-evaluate your content and ask whether everything on the page is still relevant and how it can be improved. Regularly review your pages and make updates as needed, following an ongoing optimisation cycle.

SEO process cycle checklist:

Research: Identify primary keywords using tools, analytics, and competitor analysis.
Structure: Plan and organise keywords across individual pages.
On-site SEO: Optimise each page for target keywords and ensure high content quality.
Link building: Create internal and external links to strengthen page authority.
Analyse: Allow time for search engines to update, then revisit rankings and traffic to evaluate performance and refine your strategy.