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  5. Search engine optimisation guide

Search engine optimisation guide

6 minute read • Last updated: 25 February 2025

Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is key in introducing your business to new audiences. By learning SEO best practices, and applying them to your website, you can increase both the quantity and quality of traffic you get via search engines, such as Google.

SEO can help you ensure your content works for real users by using the search phrases they use most on a day-to-day basis. It also helps you manage your website performance by looking at the technical delivery such as page speed and load time.

It can take some time to build up your visibility in search, so make SEO part of your core content creation process from the beginning.

In this article:

  • Understand search engine optimisation
  • Using keywords on your website
  • Where to use the keywords

Understand search engine optimisation

Why is SEO so important?

Search engine optimisation (SEO) ensures your business is visible when potential customers search on Google or other search engines.

It’s key to bringing more traffic, customers, and revenue to your business. If you do SEO properly, you could increase the number and quality of visitors to your website from search engine results pages.

How has SEO changed?

In the early days of SEO, the primary tactic was to include as many ‘exact match keywords’ into your content as possible. Nowadays search engines are much more advanced, understanding the context behind a visitor's search query and tailoring rankings based on how users interact with the results. This has made SEO much more about the holistic picture, beyond just keywords and covering both the content and technical elements of a website.

Despite this, keywords still underpin much of on-page SEO, and are still a very valuable dataset to consider when creating content.

What are keywords?

Keywords are what someone types into a search engine. You want to learn what customers are searching for, and deliver content and products that match those topics.

From a user perspective, seeing the same keywords on a page of content shows them they are in the right place.

Using keywords on your website

Visitor Service manager using digital technology in gift shop

Visitor Service manager using digital technology in gift shop

How to find your keywords

It’s important to do your research. Find out what keywords and phrases visitors search for when looking for a business or event such as yours. There are lots of tools that you can use for keyword research, including:

  • Google Adwords Keyword Planner
  • Moz Keyword Explorer
  • SEM Rush
  • Ahrefs

You want to establish a list of:

Primary keywords – this should be the most relevant keyword for your product and the content on your website. This is about the best match, not simply about the keyword with the highest search volume.

Secondary keywords – less specific but still topical keywords that are relevant to your product and the content on your website. These tend to have higher search volume as they are more general.

Use the keywords on your site

Each page of content on your website should have a primary keyword and a list of secondary keywords.

Your primary keyword should fit naturally into the first 100 words of copy.

For example

An accommodation business offers self-catering lodges with hot tubs in Fort William.

They have a product page detailing what each lodge offers.

The primary keyword might be “fort william lodges with hot tub” which has an average search volume of 140 searches per month in the UK.

Secondary keywords might include:

  • fort william lodges (880 UK)
  • luxury lodges fort William (50 UK)
  • fort william cabins (390 UK)
  • fort william accommodation with hot tub (140 UK)

Where to use the keywords

Once you have your keywords, you'll need to include them on each webpage using the following:

Title tags

These appear to a user at the top of their browser when they’re viewing a webpage, and as the title in search results pages.

Always keep the title concise and accurate, it should be no longer than 70 characters and include the primary keyword or phrase. Add the name of your business at the end using a pipe or dash to separate it into two sections.

For example

Lodges & Cabins with Hot Tubs in Fort William | Business Name

Meta descriptions

This is the description that shows up with the title tag on a search results page.

Meta descriptions are where you sell your content - make it sound exciting and be clear about what it is so the customer can tell if it’s what they’re looking for. You have up to 160 characters (including spaces) and should include your primary keyword or phrase.

If you don’t have a meta description, a search engine will tend to use a line of copy from somewhere on the page, which might not be relevant.

For example

Find breathtaking lodges in Fort William, with a hot tub, at Business Name. Perfect for a relaxing weekend away with your loved ones.

URLs

This is the web address you use to visit a website and each page.

A URL is not just functional, it shows the user what the page is about. It’s important that every page has a unique and clear URL, so don’t include the likes of numbers and characters. Its best to keep them short and easy to read.

For example

https://www.businessname.com/lodges-cabins/hot-tubs must be accessed from:

https://www.businessname.com/lodges-cabins

Find more advice about URL structures.

H1s

This is the main title or heading on each webpage. 

Every page on your website should have one main heading (or H1). They should be short, descriptive and easy to understand. Always try to include your keywords.

It's not just the user who sees all this information on page. The search engine also reads it and uses it in different ways to decide what your website or webpage is about.

H1s are often like your title tags, but without your business name.

For example

Lodges and cabins with hot tubs in Fort William

Internal linking (links to your own webpages)

This is how you link between the pages on your website.

Internal linking is important for SEO and user experience, as it helps search engines to find your content and navigate through the website.

This is the main way search engines find your content. So, if there’s no links to a page, neither search engines nor your users will likely ever see it.

The most important links you can add to your site are from a child page to a parent page.

For example

http://www.businessname.com/lodges-cabins/hot-tub must be accessible from:

http://www.businessname.com/lodges-cabins

External or outbound links (links to other websites)

Normally, you want visitors to stay on your website and make a booking with you. But there can be occasions where you should link out to other relevant, trustworthy websites.

Doing so can help search engines and visitors understand more about what your content is covering by knowing who else you link to. It can also help to build trust if you link to other well-known and high-quality websites.

You might have a page that talks about what a customer can do in the area so it would be helpful to link to nearby attractions or experiences.

More information

How to carry out an SEO audit on your website

Carrying out an SEO audit to see how your site is ranking and highlight any issues that could prevent good rankings. 

See from Business Gateway how to carry out an SEO audit.

Manage your website

Consider how you can improve your existing website to clearly deliver the unique story of your product and make it really easy and enticing for customers to book. Check your key pages are working well, think about creating new content and getting advice on the sustainability and security of your digital channels.

Manage your website

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