SEO basics

Plain-language guides to the search and analytics ideas behind the work.

• What a title tag is and how to write a good oneThe title tag is the blue headline in search results, and the words in it decide whether people click.
• Writing meta descriptions that earn clicksA meta description is the short summary under your search result, and a good one persuades people to choose you.
• Heading structure: H1 to H3 explainedHeadings are the outline of a page, and a clean one helps both readers and search engines see what it covers.
• How to write helpful image alt textAlt text describes an image in words, which helps blind visitors, helps search engines and covers you when an image fails to load.
• What a canonical tag is and when to use itA canonical tag tells search engines which address is the main copy when the same page can be reached at several.
• Redirects: 301 versus 302 and how to avoid chainsA redirect sends visitors from one address to another, and choosing the right kind keeps your rankings and your leads.
• What an XML sitemap does and how to check yoursA sitemap is a list of the pages you want search engines to find, and checking yours takes a few minutes.
• Robots.txt: what it blocks and common mistakesRobots.txt tells search engine crawlers which parts of your site to stay out of, and one wrong line can hide your whole site.
• What structured data is and which types matter for a small businessStructured data is code that labels facts on your page so search engines can read them exactly, which can earn richer results.
• How to fix duplicate contentDuplicate content means the same or nearly the same text lives at several addresses, and merging it focuses your rankings on one page.
• Mobile-friendliness: what to checkMost visitors reach you from a phone, and a page that is hard to use there loses the lead before it starts.
• HTTPS and why browsers warnHTTPS encrypts the connection to your site, and without it browsers tell visitors your site is not secure.
• What keyword research is and how to startKeyword research is finding the words your future customers type into a search box, so your pages use the same words.
• Search intent: the four kinds and how to match a page to oneEvery search has a purpose; a page that serves that purpose ranks better and turns more visitors into leads.
• Long-tail keywords for small businessesLong, specific searches have fewer searchers each but less competition and a clearer buyer, which suits a small business.
• How to write a page that answers a searchA page that gives the answer early, in plain words, with proof and a next step, serves both the searcher and the search engine.
• Internal linking basicsInternal links connect your own pages so visitors and search engines can find them and understand how they relate.
• What backlinks are and how to earn them honestlyA backlink is a link to your site from another site; the lasting way to get them is to be worth linking to.
• Anchor text explainedAnchor text is the clickable words of a link; descriptive words help people and search engines know what is behind it.
• What E-E-A-T means in practiceE-E-A-T asks whether a page shows real experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness; here is how to show each.
• Content refreshes: when and how to update an old pageUpdating a page that already has some visibility is often cheaper and faster than writing a new one.
• Keyword cannibalization: how to spot and fix itWhen two of your pages compete for the same search, neither does as well as one strong page would.
• Local SEO basics and a Google Business Profile checklistLocal search shows nearby businesses on a map; claiming and completing your free listing is the biggest first step.
• How to read a search results page (SERP features)A results page is more than ten blue links; knowing what else it shows tells you what a search is worth to you.
• Core Web Vitals explained: LCP, CLS and interaction speedCore Web Vitals are three measurements of how fast, stable and responsive a page feels, and each has a pass line you can check.
• How to speed up a slow page: images, caching and scriptsMost slow pages are slow for three reasons, oversized images, no caching and too many scripts, and each can be fixed by hand.
• What Google Search Console shows: queries, pages, clicks, impressions and positionSearch Console reports how your pages appear in Google search, and each of its four numbers answers a different question.
• What Google Analytics measures: users, sessions and eventsGoogle Analytics counts what visitors do after they arrive, and its three basic units are users, sessions and events.
• Setting up a conversion or key eventA key event marks the one action that counts as a win, and without one a traffic report cannot tell you whether anything worked.
• Click-through rate: what is normal and how to raise itClick-through rate is the share of people who saw you in search and clicked, and it depends far more on position and query type than on any single average.
• Bounce rate versus engagement rateBounce rate and engagement rate are two sides of the same measurement, and neither says on its own whether a page did its job.
• UTM tags: tracking campaigns correctlyUTM tags are short labels added to a link so analytics can tell which email, advert or post sent a visit.
• How to run a simple before-and-after SEO test, and why correlation misleadsA before-and-after test compares a page against its own recent past, and it only means something if you control for what else changed.
• Seasonality: why traffic moves without any change from youDemand for most products rises and falls on a yearly pattern, so a change in traffic is not always a change in your results.
• What a Google algorithm update is and how to respondAn algorithm update changes how Google orders results for many sites at once, and the right first move is to check, wait and then act on evidence.
• A monthly SEO reporting checklist for a small teamA short monthly routine of eight checks keeps a small team honest about whether search work is producing leads.
• What hreflang is and when a site needs itHreflang tells search engines which language or country version of a page to show to which visitor.
• How Google indexing works and how to check a page is indexedA page can only appear in search once Google has found it and stored it. Here is how to confirm that happened.
• Pagination and how to handle paged listsLong lists of products or posts are split across pages. Here is how to keep them easy to crawl and use.
• URL structure and slugsA clear web address helps visitors trust a link and helps search engines understand where a page fits.
• Favicons and why they matterThe tiny icon on a browser tab is a small trust signal, and search results can show it beside your name.
• How JavaScript-heavy pages are crawled and renderedIf a page builds its content with scripts, search engines may see less than visitors do. Here is how to tell.
• Preparing for voice searchPeople speak to their phones in full questions. Pages that answer plainly and locally are easier to use.
• Call to action writingA call to action tells a visitor the one next step to take. Clear wording turns reading into enquiries.
• What a lead is and how to capture oneA lead is a person who has shown interest and given you a way to reach them. Here is how to collect them.
• Landing page basicsA landing page is the first page a visitor sees, built to lead to one action. Here is what it needs.
• When to use the link disavow tool (rarely)Disavowing tells Google to ignore certain links to your site. Most sites never need it.
• Domain authority and similar scores: what they do and do not meanThird-party authority scores are estimates made by tool vendors, not numbers Google uses.
• Cloaking and other practices that break search guidelinesSome shortcuts get a site demoted or removed from results. Know which ones to avoid.
• The marketing funnel and how content maps to itPeople move from noticing you to acting. Each step needs different content.
• How to read heat maps and scroll depthThese tools show where visitors click and how far they read. Use them to spot patterns, not to judge a single visit.
• Pogo-sticking and short visits: what they tell youWhen people click your result, leave at once and try another, the page missed what they wanted.
• Reading CSS-related page speed problems in plain languageSpeed reports mention CSS often. Here is what the common warnings mean and who can fix them.
• Image formats and compression for a faster sitePick the right format, size images to fit, and compress them. Images are often the heaviest part of a page.
• How to write a clear page title and URL for a service pageName the service and the place in plain words, keep the address short, and make each page distinct.
• How often to publish contentThere is no magic number. Publish at a pace you can keep, and put quality and usefulness first.
• How to do a basic SEO audit yourselfA one-afternoon check of your own site that finds the problems most likely to be costing you visitors.
• How to check why your traffic droppedWork through the likely causes in order, from a broken tracking tag to a real loss of rankings.
• What a manual action is and how to respondA manual action is a penalty applied by a person at Google. Here is how to find it and ask for a review.
• How to submit your site to Google Search ConsoleAdd your site, prove you own it and send your sitemap so Google can report on your pages.
• How to find and fix crawl errorsCrawl errors are pages Google tried to reach and could not. Here is where to see them and what to do.
• What a 404 page should sayA good error page turns a dead end into a second chance, as long as it also sends the right signal to Google.
• HTTP status codes in plain wordsEvery page request gets a three-digit answer. Here are the ones that matter to a site owner.
• What a site migration needsMoving to a new domain, host, platform or address structure is where most sites lose their traffic. Plan it.
• How to set up a new website for searchGet the foundations right before launch, so the site can be found from its first week.
• What mobile usability reports meanThe common warnings in mobile checks, what each one means for a phone visitor and how to fix it.
• How to write a blog post that ranksA blog post ranks when it answers one clear question better than the pages already showing for it.
• How to do competitor research without special toolsLook at who shows up for your searches, what they offer and where they are thin, then act on the gaps.
• What a content calendar is and how to keep oneA content calendar is a simple plan of what you will publish and when, so content actually gets made.
• How to turn customer questions into contentThe questions customers already ask you are the best source of topics, and the words they use are the keywords.
• How to get customer reviews and why they matterReviews help people choose you, and the simple habit of asking every happy customer is what builds them.
• Google Business Profile posts and photosPosts and photos on your profile show what is current and real, and help a stranger decide to visit or call.
• How to optimise a product or service pageA strong product or service page answers what it is, who it is for, what it costs and what to do next.
• What schema for a local business looks likeLocal business schema is a small block of code that states your name, address, hours and phone in a form machines read.
• How to measure whether content is workingDecide what success looks like before you publish, then check a few numbers on a regular schedule.
• How to build topic clustersA topic cluster is one main page on a subject linked with several pages that cover its parts in detail.