SEO: 10 Top Tips

Charlotte, our SEO Manager, brings over 10 years of experience in SEO, both from in-house and agency perspectives. Along the way, she’s developed some key skills and picked up certain things that have been invaluable in her pursuit of search engine optimisation:

1. Attention to Detail

SEO demands an eye for the finer details. With so much data—from source code to reports, keyword research and crawls—being able to sift through it all and pick out the key elements that can boost your SEO is crucial. While it may feel overwhelming at first, the more you practice, the quicker and more accurate you’ll become in spotting opportunities.

2. Regularly Refer Back to the Strategy

The SEO journey can lead you down many rabbit holes. As you dive deeper, it’s easy to get distracted by all the things you might uncover. But staying focused on your strategy is key. If you’re working with a client, you likely have a strategy with clear tactics and goals. Regularly checking back on it ensures your actions align with those objectives. Along the way, you may spot things that "could use a tidy up." Make a note of them—ask yourself, “Can this wait for the next strategy refresh, or does it need attention now?”

3. Get Familiar with Spreadsheets & Formulas

Managing larger sites, especially ecommerce, means handling tons of URLs and data. Knowing your way around spreadsheets can make your life so much easier. Functions like ‘Find & Replace,’ ‘Concatenate,’ ‘Length,’ and ‘VLOOKUP’ will quickly become your best friends in SEO.

4. Stock Your Toolkit with Tools You Know How To Use

Over time, you'll come across numerous free tools that can help streamline your SEO tasks. Keep a folder full of links to go-to tools so you can easily access them when needed. Most SEOs also have a few paid tools, like Screaming Frog, SEMRush or Ahrefs. Taking the time to master these tools will not only give you deeper insights but could also save you money by reducing the need for duplicate tools.

5. Keep It Fresh

Freshness is key! Regularly reviewing the content on your site—whether it’s blog posts, FAQs, or product pages—ensures it remains relevant. This helps improve SEO and shows search engines that you're keeping your site active. For ecommerce, consider how your product pages are performing. If certain products are lagging, a quick refresh of the page content could do wonders.

6. Consistency is Key

SEO is an ongoing process that requires regular attention. While some tasks will be one-off fixes, many elements will need ongoing monitoring and tweaking. Keep an eye on your performance, adjust as needed, and stay in tune with any algorithm updates or shifts in business priorities.

7. Log the Effects of SEO Factors

Tracking the impact of SEO changes is vital, especially when you need to justify budget and demonstrate results to non-SEOs. SEO is a long-term game, and results can be unpredictable. When you see positive changes, log them along with the actions that might have contributed. If performance dips, investigate and make a note to adjust accordingly if possible.

8. Consider the Impact of Non-SEO Factors

Don’t forget that external factors like algorithm updates, marketing campaigns, or competitor behavior can also influence organic traffic. Many performance monitoring tools allow you to annotate graphs, helping you track and understand these external factors and their impact on your data.

9. Relevance Rules

All content should be aligned with your website’s core purpose, but some topics that aren't directly related to your product or service can still be valuable to your audience. For example, a car dealership might create blog posts about car insurance, tax, maintenance or even popular road trips. While not directly selling cars, these topics can attract potential customers and build brand awareness.

10. Evolve with It or Get Left Behind

SEO is ever-changing. With the rise of AI and technology influencing search results and social media disrupting search behaviour, staying on top of industry updates, like algorithm changes in search platforms, is crucial. The SEO community on LinkedIn can be a great resource for the latest tactics, but be wary of anyone promising quick fixes—they’re often too good to be true. Take advantage of free SEO courses online, but make sure the sources are reliable and up-to-date.