Search Engine Optimisation tips

We built PagePlay with search in mind, and customers often tell us about their much improved results after they switch to us.

Simply having a PagePlay site takes care of what we consider to be the technical side of SEO. To really win in search, you should also carefully consider how you put your content together.

When we refer to keywords or key phrases now, we mean the word or words that bring your site up on the first page when typed into Google.

The longer or the more specific the phrase you use, the fewer people will search it. Because it's more specific and exactly what they are looking for however, a much higher percentage of people will click your result and end up on your site.

Select different keywords for each page, and the most important keywords to use across the whole site. For example a garden centre might choose "garden, gardening, garden centre" as words and phrases to use regularly across the whole site, but then also "spade, shovel, trowel" on a page which sells digging tools.

Use your selected keywords in the pages' Name, Title, Intro and url

Use your keywords in photo titles and alternative values. Photos can't been interpreted by search engines or blind people using screen readers, so help them both understand what your photos are of by adding these details to them.

Sprinkle your keywords, and synonyms of them, into the pages paragraph text. Bold your phrase at least once per page and always use it in the first and last paragraph.

Use video if it suits your content. Search engines love video so ensure the video title and details contain your keywords and add them to your page. You might not think that video content is suitable for your site, but some examples might be a printers videoing a printing technique, a baker documenting a recipe, a decorator sharing a painting style or a removal company showing how to pack a box well.

Ensure that any file uploads have keywords and phrases in their details. pdfs for example have an set of file details you can change, and the search engines can read. Also ensure the file name you add on PagePlay includes these words.

Build links from other sites. Other than your content, the next most important factor to your position in search engine results is links back to your site from other peoples sites. The more links you have, the more votes you have, the more useful your site appears. Try to get the sites to link back so that the words you click on their site are your chosen keywords. Also try to get links back to all areas of your site using the relevant keyword text as links, not just to your home page. You can start by writing guest posts for other sites where you choose the content and links, but they get a free well written article.

Covering your pages with keywords. Search engines are pretty clever and will penalise you for keyword stuffing. Make your pages readable and useful for a human.

Swapping links with other sites. Reciprocal links do not add great value to your site. One way links are what you want.

Building a links page. A list of links without context is useless to visitors and so seen as useless by search engines. Always include outgoing links inside rich chunks of content.