What is SEO?

Why is SEO important?

SEO is about making your website visible to potential customers when they need it most. When someone searches for a product, service, or solution online, you want your website to appear at the top of their search results. This isn't just about appearing on page one - it's about ensuring your site stands out as a relevant and authoritative source of information.

Why does this matter? Higher rankings in search results directly lead to more traffic. In fact, the #1 organic result on Google now captures around 39.8% of clicks, more than double the second position (18.7%). And let's face it - very few people ever make it to the second page of search results. SEO, therefore, is about earning and keeping those top spots by excelling in what search engines value.

SEO is crucial because it's how you earn and keep those prime positions. But to secure these top spots, your site needs to meet certain criteria that search engines value. These include factors like page speed, content quality, and user experience.

So, what exactly do search engines value? SEO can be broken down into three main pillars: Technical SEO, On-Page SEO, and Off-Page SEO. Each of these elements plays a role in how search engines evaluate and rank your site. Let's take a deeper look at each of these pillars and why they matter in today's competitive digital landscape.

Practical SEO Tips for Beginners

If you're new to SEO, all this information might feel overwhelming. What are some concrete steps you can take to get started? Here's a quick checklist of beginner-friendly SEO tips that can set you on the right path:

Keyword Research

Keyword research is finding search terms related to your business service or product. Use free tools like Google's Keyword Planner or search query data from Search Console to find out what terms people use related to your business. Focus on a mix of broad keywords and more specific "long-tail" phrases. For example, "running shoes" is broad (and very competitive), whereas "best trail running shoes for beginners" is a long-tail phrase with clearer intent. Long-tail keywords often have lower search volume but higher conversion potential - and they're less competitive, making them great targets for new sites.

Page Titles and Meta Descriptions

Page titles are a key SEO element that introduces search engines to the content on the page. Ensure every important page on your site has a unique, descriptive title tag that naturally includes your primary keyword for that page.

A Meta description is a short synopsis of the content on your page that is used to inform users what your content or webpage is about. Similarly, write a compelling meta description that summarises the page and entices searchers to click. While meta descriptions don't directly affect ranking, they influence your click-through rate (CTR) on the search results, which can impact your rankings. Think of the title and meta as your page's ad in the search results.

Quality Content

Start a habit of content creation, be it a blog, resource centre, or news section on your site. Aim to publish content that answers questions your customers have or provides real value. Over time, try to build more comprehensive pieces that can act as linkable assets. And don't set it and forget it - update your content periodically to keep it current. Fresh content can give you a slight edge, and it signals to visitors that your information is up-to-date.

What is quality content?

Quality content refers to content that provides real value to its audience while meeting the expectations of both users and search engines. It's about offering information, entertainment, and solutions that are useful, engaging, and easily accessible.

User Experience

Choose a clean, professional site design. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly. Improve your site speed by compressing images and minimising heavy scripts - users will leave if your page takes too long to load. Navigation should be intuitive; if a user can't find what they want easily, neither can Google.

What is user experience?

User experience (UX) refers to the overall experience a person has when interacting with a website. It encompasses all aspects of the user's interaction, from how easy and enjoyable it is to navigate to how efficiently they can complete tasks and how well the website meets their needs. A strong UX strategy ensures that website visitors can easily find what they're looking for, have a smooth and enjoyable interaction, and leave satisfied.

Google Search Console and Analytics

Google Search Console (GSC) will tell you how your site is performing in search - it shows which queries you're getting impressions and clicks for, alerts you to any site errors or penalties, and lets you submit sitemaps. It's invaluable for SEO monitoring. Google Analytics helps you understand your traffic and user behaviour. Together, these tools provide the data you need to measure SEO progress and identify opportunities.

What is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that helps website owners, marketers, and webmasters monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot their website's presence in Google search results. It provides valuable insights into how Google crawls and indexes your site, and offers data on the performance of your site in search.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a free web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. It provides in-depth insights into how users interact with your website, helping you understand your audience, measure your marketing efforts, and optimise your site for better performance.

Internal Linking

As you add more pages or blog posts, remember to link between them contextually. When you mention a topic in one blog post that you've covered elsewhere on your site, make it a hyperlink. This is where anchor text plays a key role: the clickable text used in the link should describe the page it's pointing to. Using relevant and descriptive anchor text helps both search engines and users understand the link's purpose. Internal links help spread link equity across your site, guiding readers to more valuable information. For example, if you wrote an article about "site migration checklist", and you mention it in a new post about website redesigns, link it! (On that note, if you are planning a website overhaul or domain change, be sure to follow an SEO migration plan - migrations can be tricky for SEO, and it's worth getting it right.)

What is internal linking?

Internal linking refers to the practice of linking one page on your website to another page within the same domain. These links help establish a clear site structure, making it easier for users to navigate and for search engines to crawl and index your website's content.

Internal links are crucial for both user experience and SEO. They help users find relevant information more easily while guiding search engines to important pages on your site. Proper internal linking can also distribute link authority (also known as link juice) throughout your website, which can help boost your site's overall SEO performance.

Advanced SEO

Advanced SEO refers to optimising your website's infrastructure so search engines can crawl and index it effectively. Think of your website like a building - technical SEO is the solid foundation and wiring that makes everything else function smoothly. No matter how great your content is, if search engines can't access or understand it, you won't rank well.

What is advanced SEO?

Advanced SEO refers to more sophisticated and strategic techniques used to improve a website’s search engine rankings beyond the basics of keyword optimisation, on-page elements, and link building. It involves a deeper understanding of search engine algorithms, user intent, and technical factors to achieve optimal website performance in search engines like Google.

While basic SEO focuses on the fundamental elements such as keywords, meta tags, and creating helpful content, advanced SEO goes further by refining these areas and implementing advanced strategies and tactics to gain a competitive edge.

Key Components of Advanced SEO

Advanced SEO is about leveraging a more strategic, technical, and data-driven approach to improve your site's search engine rankings and visibility. By implementing these advanced strategies, you can gain a competitive edge, improve your rankings, and drive more qualified traffic to your website.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is about removing any barriers that prevent your site from being discovered, understood, and trusted by search engines. Before investing heavily in content or link building, it's wise to perform a comprehensive SEO audit of your site. An audit will surface technical issues (like broken links, duplicate content, missing meta tags, crawl errors, etc.) and provide a roadmap of fixes. Think of it as a health check-up for your website - resolving technical problems first ensures all your other SEO efforts can yield maximum results.

Website Crawling and Indexing

Ensure that search engine bots (like Googlebot) can discover all important pages of your site. This means having a logical site structure and using tools like XML sitemaps and robots.txt wisely. A well-structured site makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your content. For example, clear hierarchical navigation (with pages categorised and interlinked intuitively) helps Google see which pages are most important. (Tip: Use Google Search Console to identify any indexing issues or crawl errors and fix those promptly.)

What is crawling and indexing?

Crawling and indexing are two critical processes that search engines like Google use to discover, understand, and rank web pages. Understanding these concepts is essential for improving your website's SEO and ensuring your content is visible in search engine results.

Site Speed and Core Web Vitals

Google's Core Web Vitals (Largest Contentful Paint, First Input Delay, and Cumulative Layout Shift) measure how fast and stable your pages are for users. A faster site not only pleases users but also earns favour in search rankings. Users expect near-instant load times. Optimising your images, leveraging browser caching, and using a fast hosting provider are baseline requirements.

What is Core Web Vitals?

Core Web Vitals are a set of key metrics developed by Google that measure the user experience of a webpage, focusing specifically on aspects such as loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability. These metrics are part of Google's broader focus on page experience signals, which aim to ensure that websites not only deliver relevant content but also offer a seamless and enjoyable browsing experience for users.

Core Web Vitals were officially introduced in May 2020 and became an important ranking factor in 2021. Websites that perform well on these metrics are likely to rank higher in search results, while websites that struggle with them may experience lower rankings.

Mobile-Friendly and Responsive Design

With the majority of searches happening on mobile devices, Google has long since switched to mobile-first indexing. This means the mobile version of your site is considered the primary version for ranking. Ensure your site is fully responsive, and features like navigation, buttons, and forms work seamlessly on smaller screens. If mobile users have to pinch-zoom or encounter broken elements, it will hurt both UX and SEO.

What is responsive design?

Responsive design is an approach to web design and development that ensures a website's layout, images, and content adapt seamlessly to different screen sizes and devices. Whether a user is viewing the site on a desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone, responsive design ensures the site looks and works well, providing an optimal user experience on any device.

A responsive design makes websites easy to read, navigate, and interact with, regardless of the screen size, resolution, or orientation.

Secure and Accessible Site

Security is a must - websites should be served over HTTPS. Not only does an SSL certificate protect your users, but Google uses HTTPS as a lightweight ranking signal. Equally important is web accessibility: clean HTML, proper use of headings, alt text for images, and compliance with WCAG guidelines all contribute to better user experience and indirectly help SEO (accessible sites are often easier for search bots to parse too). Ensuring your site is secure and accessible widens your audience and avoids penalties.

What is site security?

Site security refers to the measures and protocols put in place to protect a website and its users from cyber threats, such as data breaches, hacking, or malware attacks. One of the most important aspects of website security is SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption, which ensures secure communication between a user’s browser and the website server.

What is SSL?

SSL is a security protocol that encrypts the data exchanged between a user's browser and a website, making it unreadable to third parties (such as hackers) while in transit. It's commonly used to protect sensitive information, such as login credentials, credit card numbers, and personal data, ensuring privacy and data integrity.

Structured Data and Schema Markup

One advanced aspect of technical SEO is implementing schema markup, a form of structured data that helps search engines understand the context of your content. By adding schema (for example, marking up products, reviews, events, FAQ, etc.), you make it easier for Google to create rich results - those eye-catching enhancements like review stars, FAQs, or product information in the search results. This not only improves click-through rates but also future-proofs your site for the age of AI-driven search. (Schema is admittedly technical but extremely worthwhile.) Structured data is an area where a knowledgeable developer or technical SEO expert can give you a significant edge.

What is schema?

Schema (or Schema Markup) refers to a specific type of structured data that helps search engines understand the content of a webpage in a more meaningful way. It is a form of metadata that is added to the HTML of a webpage to provide search engines with additional information about the content on that page. This data is typically written in JSON-LD, Microdata, or RDFa formats and can be used to describe various types of content, such as articles, products, events, recipes, reviews, and more.

On-Page SEO for Users and Search Engines

On-Page SEO is all about the content on your website and how you present it. This includes the visible text, images, videos, and also the behind-the-scenes HTML elements like title tags and meta descriptions. On-page SEO centres on relevance, quality, and experience. Gone are the days of keyword stuffing or writing for robots - modern on-page SEO is about delivering helpful, user-centred content that satisfies the searcher's intent.

What is On-Page SEO?

On-page SEO refers to the practices and techniques that are implemented directly within the content and structure of a website to improve its search engine rankings and overall visibility. On-page SEO is all about optimising individual web pages to make them more accessible, understandable, and relevant to both users and search engines.

On-page SEO is critical because it directly influences how well search engines crawl, index, and rank a page. It also ensures a better user experience, which can lead to improved engagement, lower bounce rates, and higher conversion rates.

Key Elements of On-Page SEO

By optimising individual elements like content, headings, meta tags, images, and internal links, you can help search engines better understand your content and improve your site's ranking. Furthermore, a strong on-page SEO strategy ensures that users have a seamless, engaging experience when visiting your site, which contributes to long-term success in both SEO and business objectives. Here are the key components of on-page SEO to focus on.

High-Quality Content that Matches Search Intent

Content is still king, but not just any content - it needs to deserve to rank. This means understanding what a user is truly looking for when they search a particular keyword (their intent) and crafting content that comprehensively addresses that need. For example, if someone searches "how to improve website visibility" they likely want a detailed guide or tips, not a sales pitch. Conduct thorough keyword research to identify the terms your audience uses, then create in-depth content around those topics. Incorporate related keywords and topics (semantic SEO) to cover a subject holistically. As Google's algorithms (and AI assistants) get smarter, they're better at evaluating content quality - they look for depth, accuracy, freshness, and usefulness.

Tip: Aim to be the most helpful result for your target queries. Including real examples, up-to-date statistics, images or diagrams, and actionable advice can set your content apart.

E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)

Google's Quality Rater Guidelines emphasise E-E-A-T when evaluating content, especially for "Your Money or Your Life" topics (like health, finance, legal, etc.). Even if you're not in a YMYL category, demonstrating expertise and authority in your content boosts credibility. This might mean showcasing author bios with qualifications, citing reputable sources, or including case studies and original insights. With so much content (and a lot of low-quality AI-generated content) online, establishing trust is critical. People (and search engines) gravitate towards content that feels reliable and authoritative. Make sure your site has clear information about who you are, why you're credible, and references to back up claims.

What is E-E-A-T?

E-E-A-T is a set of guidelines used by Google to evaluate the quality and credibility of content on the web. These factors are particularly important for websites that deal with sensitive topics or provide advice on areas like health, finance, and safety, which can have significant impacts on users' lives.

Why is E-E-A-T in Google's Algorithm?

E-E-A-T is an integral part of Google's algorithm because it helps Google determine the quality of content on the web and deliver the most relevant, reliable, and accurate results to users. As the web grows and more information becomes available, ensuring that search results are trustworthy and helpful becomes increasingly important, particularly for topics that can impact people's lives - like health, finance, and legal matters (commonly known as YMYL or Your Money, Your Life pages).

HTML Tags

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) tags are essential for structuring and formatting web content, providing meaning and context to the elements on a page. Understanding and using the correct tags ensures that your website is functional, accessible, optimised for search engines, and user-friendly.

What are HTML tags?

HTML tags are special codes or elements in HTML that define the structure, content, and formatting of a webpage. HTML tags are used to tell the web browser how to display the content of a page, such as headings, paragraphs, links, images, and other media.

How do HTML tags impact rankings?

HTML tags play a crucial role in how search engines understand and index your content, which directly impacts your website's SEO rankings. Search engines like Google rely on HTML tags to interpret the structure, relevance, and meaning of a webpage's content. Proper use of HTML tags can help search engines properly index your content, understand its context, and improve its visibility in search results.

Multimedia

Incorporating multimedia elements like images, videos, infographics, and charts can significantly enrich the user experience. These elements provide visual variety and can help communicate complex information more effectively. However, it's important to optimise multimedia files to ensure fast page loading times and improve SEO. For example:

• Compress images to reduce file size without sacrificing quality.
• Use descriptive file names for images and videos to provide more context.
• Always include alt text for images to improve accessibility and provide additional SEO value.

If you include videos, consider embedding videos from platforms like YouTube or using video-structured data. This allows your videos to be more easily discovered in video search results, helping increase visibility and engagement.

Engagement

Engaging content is key to keeping users on your page longer, which sends positive signals to search engines. Dwell time (the time users spend on your page) is a significant factor in SEO. To encourage user engagement:

• Use interactive content such as quizzes, calculators, or tools to make your page more engaging and unique.
• Encourage interaction with calls to action (CTAs) that prompt users to comment, share, or take some other action.
• Provide content that adds value, whether through informative articles, entertaining videos, or helpful resources that cater to user interests.

By offering a mix of multimedia and interactive elements, you can keep visitors engaged, improve the user experience, and enhance your SEO performance.

UX Signals

While not traditional "on-page SEO" factors, user experience metrics (like bounce rate, dwell time, and conversion rates) are intertwined with SEO success. A well-designed page with clear navigation, easy-to-read typography, and a lack of intrusive pop-ups will perform better. Google's algorithms increasingly consider user engagement data. For instance, if users consistently pogo-stick (bounce back quickly) to search results after clicking your page, it might indicate your content wasn't what they needed. Focus on usability: fast loading, no annoying interstitials, and logical next steps for the reader.

On-page SEO is about optimising for humans first, and search engines second. If you create content that genuinely helps your audience, and structure it in an SEO-friendly way, you're ticking the on-page boxes. One common question we hear is "Can I just use AI to generate my content?" Tools like ChatGPT have exploded onto the scene and can help with drafting content, but be cautious. AI can assist with ideas and even writing, but it requires human editing and oversight to meet Google's quality standards. Even Google's own guidance suggests that while AI-generated content can be used, it often lacks the nuance, originality, and clarity of human writing. Producing lots of generic AI-written text without added human expertise is likely to fall flat. Use AI as a tool, but always review and enhance the content to ensure it's accurate, unique, and valuable. Remember, helpful content wins (Google's Helpful Content updates specifically target thin or unhelpful pages). If in doubt about your content strategy, consult with our SEO experts who can guide you on creating content that ranks and resonates.

Off-Page SEO

Add section to backlinks? Off-Page SEO refers to actions taken outside of your website to improve its search rankings - primarily focused on building your site's authority, reputation, and trustworthiness on the wider web. Think of it this way: if on-page SEO is what you say about yourself, off-page SEO is what others say about you. Off-page SEO is as crucial as ever, but the tactics have matured. It's less about spammy link schemes and more about earning your reputation through quality content and relationships.

When reputable sites link to yours, it's like a vote of confidence - a signal to Google that your site is trustworthy and valuable. Not all links are equal, however. A single link from a high-authority site (imagine getting a mention in a major news outlet or an industry-leading blog) can outperform dozens of links from low-quality directories. In fact, low-quality or manipulative links can hurt your SEO. Modern link-building focuses on quality, relevance, and natural acquisition.

Here are some effective off-page strategies.

Earn Backlinks

A recommended backlink strategy is to share your new content on your business's social media profiles - someone might see it and link to it. If you have partners or suppliers, see if they have a "partners" page or if they would be willing to mention your site. Register your site on relevant business directories or local chamber of commerce pages. If you're a member of any industry associations, get listed on their website. These are straightforward ways to get your site's first backlinks, which can help search engines discover your site and begin to establish trust.

Avoid the temptation to resort to shady shortcuts (buying links, stuffing keywords, etc.) as these will backfire long-term. Instead, keep creating value on your site, follow best practices, and slowly, you’ll notice more websites linking to your content.

What are backlinks?

Backlinks (also known as inbound links or external links) are links from one website to another. In simple terms, when a website links to your site, that is considered a backlink. Backlinks are one of the most important factors in SEO because they serve as votes of confidence from other websites, signalling to search engines like Google that your content is valuable, credible, and authoritative.

Digital PR

Create content that earns links because it's genuinely useful or newsworthy. This might be a research study, an infographic with interesting data, a valuable how-to guide, or a thought leadership piece. Then, promote it. Outreach to journalists or industry bloggers with a pitch about your content can result in press coverage and backlinks. This approach, often termed "Digital PR", blurs the line between traditional public relations and SEO. For example, if you publish a survey with unique insights, you might get authoritative sites citing your findings (with a link back). This not only improves SEO but also drives direct referral traffic and brand awareness.

Guest Posting and Partnerships

What is? Writing guest articles for other relevant websites in your niche can be a win-win: their audience gets valuable content, and you typically get an author bio link (or sometimes contextual links) back to your site. The key is to target reputable sites and provide truly high-quality articles (think of it as impressing a new audience). Avoid the old approach of mass guest posting on any site that allows it - focus on sites that have real editorial standards and engaged readers. Building long-term partnerships (e.g., co-authoring content, sponsoring industry events or podcasts, etc.) can also naturally lead to mentions and links.

What is Guest Posting?

Guest posting, also known as guest blogging, is the practice of writing and publishing content on someone else's website or blog. It allows you to share your expertise with a new audience while gaining exposure, traffic, and backlinks to your own site

What are Partnerships?

Partnerships refer to collaborations between businesses, influencers, or organisations that align with each other's goals and values. These partnerships are mutually beneficial and can help both parties achieve greater success, whether through joint marketing efforts, co-branded content, or other collaborative strategies.

Local Citations and Reviews

If you operate a local business or serve specific regions, off-page SEO also means managing your local presence. Ensure your business is listed consistently on platforms like Google Business Profile, Yelp, Bing Places, Facebook, and local directories related to your industry. These listings (citations) don't always provide direct SEO link value, but they reinforce your business's legitimacy and help you appear in local search/map results. Online reviews are another off-page factor - not only do potential customers trust reviews, but Google likely factors in the quality/quantity of reviews in local rankings. Encourage happy customers to leave reviews on Google and other key platforms.

What are Local Citations?

A local citation refers to any online mention of your business's name, address, and phone number (NAP). These citations can appear on business directories, websites, maps, and other local listing platforms. The primary goal of local citations is to ensure that your business is discoverable when users search for products or services in their area.

What are Reviews?

Reviews are user-generated feedback about your business, products, or services, typically posted on online platforms such as Google, Yelp, Facebook, or other industry-specific sites. Reviews often include a rating (usually 1-5 stars) and written comments from customers.

Social Media and Brand Signals

While links from social media don't directly boost rankings (they're usually "nofollow" or otherwise not counted as traditional ranking votes), having an active social media presence can indirectly benefit SEO. Strong content will often get shared, increasing its reach and the odds that bloggers or journalists see it (and link to it). Moreover, a branded search presence - people searching for your company name - is a positive sign. Building your brand through platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, etc., can thus amplify your SEO. It's also been observed that brand mentions (even unlinked mentions of your brand/name on the web) can contribute to your site's perceived authority. The bottom line: being talked about online in a positive way is good for SEO.

Here are some ways to adapt to evolving search behaviour and AI.

Optimise for Featured Snippets and AI Answers

Even before SGE, Google had Featured Snippets - those direct answer boxes for queries (the box that appears above normal results, often called "Position 0"). Many of the strategies to capture featured snippets apply to AI snapshots too. This includes structuring your content to answer questions clearly. For example, use questions as headings (H2/H3) and provide concise answers right below, followed by more detail. Use lists or tables for data when appropriate. Essentially, make it easy for Google to grab a relevant excerpt. If you're the source of truth that the AI pulls into its answer, you still get exposure (and usually a link).

Focus on Comprehensive, Authoritative Content

Google's generative AI is designed to pull from multiple sources to construct an answer. Sites that are authoritative on a topic have a better chance of being included. This circles back to E-E-A-T - if your site is known for expertise in a particular area, Google is more likely to "trust" your content in its AI summaries. This means producing in-depth content and perhaps a hub-and-spoke content architecture (a main authoritative guide with supplemental detailed posts) to signal topical authority. Being cited by others (off-page SEO) also contributes to this - another reason why link-building and digital PR matter even in the AI era.

Monitor Traffic Patterns

As search behaviour changes, keep track of your own analytics. You might notice certain pages losing traffic if Google starts answering those queries directly. If so, think about how to target alternative, more specific keywords or how to make your content more useful than a basic answer. Also, monitor Google Search Console's performance reports - Google may eventually show data on how often your site is shown/cited in AI results.

Leverage Other Search Properties

"Search" isn't just web results. There's Google Images, Google News, Google Maps, Google Discover feed, YouTube, and more. As traditional results become more competitive due to AI, don't neglect these other discovery channels. For instance, optimising your images can get you traffic from image searches. Creating video content can capture those who prefer video answers - plus videos can appear in Google's results. Being active in Google News or getting content featured in Discover are other ways to diversify your SEO traffic sources.

Voice Search and Multimodal Search

Voice search hasn't "killed" SEO as some predicted, but it's certainly prevalent with smart speakers and voice assistants on phones. Voice queries tend to be longer and phrased as questions or commands ("find me a nearby café open now"). Optimising for voice often means optimising for natural language and question keywords. Many voice answers come directly from featured snippets as well, so snippet optimisation helps here too. Additionally, Google Lens and image-based search usage have grown. Ensure your local SEO is strong (for "near me" voice searches) and that you use descriptive captions and metadata for images (for visual search).

User Experience is Key

As AI takes on more straightforward queries, the queries that do bring users to your site might skew toward those where the user really wants to dive deeper or accomplish something (like make a purchase, get a detailed tutorial, etc.). Thus providing an excellent user experience when they arrive is paramount. If someone clicks through to your site after scanning the AI summary, they're likely looking for more detail or a next step. Make sure your site delivers - fast, helpful, and easy to navigate. This will keep your engagement high even as the nature of searches shifts.

It's an exciting time because while AI presents challenges, it also presents opportunities. Google still needs websites to exist - the AI answers have to come from somewhere, and Google has explicitly stated it wants to send traffic to content creators even with SGE. Indeed, they're citing sources and even adding features for users to drill down into those sources. So SEO is far from dead; it's simply evolving. The companies that adapt by staying on top of these changes, and perhaps even optimising for them, will maintain an edge.

SEO is a long-term Investment

One theme that has remained constant: SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Unlike paid media advertising (such as Google Ads), where you can flip a switch and appear at the top of the page (for a price), SEO takes time to build - but it also rewards you over the long haul. Many marketing experts consider SEO a high-ROI strategy because its effects are cumulative and lasting. In fact, 50% of marketers say SEO provides better ROI than any other marketing channel. Why is that?

Organic Traffic is Cost-Effective

Once you've achieved strong organic rankings, the traffic you receive is essentially free. There's no cost per click. If you've ever run a PPC campaign, you know those clicks can be expensive (some industries pay $10, $50, even $100+ per click for competitive keywords!). SEO requires upfront investment - quality content creation, site improvements, link earning - but once you rank, you could be getting tens of thousands of visits per month without paying for each. Over time, this often yields a lower customer acquisition cost than paid media. Moreover, organic traffic tends to have a decent conversion rate: users trust organic results. Leads from SEO have a notable close rate (one study often cited puts it around 14.6% close rate for SEO leads, significantly higher than outbound leads)because users actively search for what you offer.

Compound Growth

SEO benefits compound. If you consistently publish great content, each piece can rank for various keywords and draw traffic. Over a year or two, you might have dozens of high-ranking pages bringing in visitors. They also reinforce each other - as your site's overall authority grows, new content can rank faster. It's similar to investing money and getting compound interest. One piece of content might start bringing in 100 visits a month, then 200, and so on as it climbs the rankings; multiply that by many pages, and you see exponential growth in traffic. And unlike an ad campaign, that content doesn't "turn off" when a budget is exhausted - it keeps working for you 24/7.

Competitive Advantage

Achieving top rankings can create a defensive moat around your business. For example, if you are ranking #1 for several of the most lucrative search terms in your industry, that's traffic and leads your competitors are not getting. They might have to outspend you on ads or invest heavily in their SEO to catch up. We often explain to clients that SEO is like capturing territory - once you hold those top spots and continue to reinforce them, competitors have to play by Google's rules to unseat you (which isn't easy if you keep doing SEO right). This is particularly true for local markets.

Synergy with Other Channels

SEO doesn't operate in a vacuum. The efforts you put into SEO can also improve other marketing channels. For instance, a fast, user-friendly website optimised for SEO will also convert better for your Microsoft Ads or social media ads. Great content created for SEO can be repurposed for email newsletters, social posts, or even sales collateral. Conversely, running PPC ads can give you data on which keywords convert well, which can inform your SEO targeting.

All that said, the long-term nature of SEO means it requires patience and strategic consistency. Results typically take 3-6 months (or more) to really materialise for new SEO efforts, depending on the competition and starting point. It's important to set realistic expectations: if you launch a new website today, it won’t outrank incumbents next week. SEO is also ongoing - algorithms change (Google makes thousands of tweaks per year, with major core updates a few times annually), and competitors will be working on their own SEO. This is why SEO is not a one-time project but an ongoing process of optimisation, content creation, and refinement.

When budgeting for SEO, think of it like hiring a highly efficient long-term salesperson: the upfront and monthly costs cover the work needed to build your "organic sales funnel", and over time the revenue far exceeds the cost. If you're curious about the investment level needed, our post on How much does SEO cost breaks down the factors that influence pricing (from local campaigns to enterprise SEO projects).

This checklist is just the tip of the iceberg, but it covers the fundamental actions for any SEO newbie. And remember, you don't have to do it all alone. There is a vast SEO community out there (blogs, forums, even SEO podcasts) and of course, professional agencies and consultants who specialise in this field.

Partner with an Experienced SEO Agency

SEO can be complex and time-consuming. It requires a mix of technical know-how, creative content skills, and strategic analysis. As a business owner or marketing manager, you already wear many hats - keeping up with every Google algorithm change or spending hours on schema markup might not be feasible. This is where partnering with an experienced SEO agency can pay dividends.