“If you’re not on the first page, you’re not in the game.”
That’s the harsh reality of digital marketing. According to a study by Backlinko, less than 1% of searchers click on a result from the second page of Google. That means if your site isn’t optimised for search engines, you might as well not exist online. The good news? You can change that with the right SEO strategy.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) isn’t just about keyword stuffing or writing content for the sake of ranking. It’s about creating a website that provides real value—both to users and search engines. Here are five actionable steps you can take today to start boosting your SEO and drive more traffic to your site.
1. Optimise for Core Web Vitals
Google cares about speed, responsiveness, and user experience more than ever. Core Web Vitals (CWV) are a set of metrics that measure your website's load performance, interactivity, and visual stability. If your website is slow, laggy, or unstable, not only will users leave, but Google will also penalize you in the rankings.
Actionable Tip: Run your website through Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. It will give you a breakdown of your Core Web Vitals, and suggestions on how to improve them. If your scores are low, focus on reducing image sizes, leveraging browser caching, and eliminating unnecessary plugins.
2. Focus on High-Quality Content
Content is still king, but the throne has evolved. It’s not about producing a high volume of blog posts; it’s about producing high-value posts. Google's algorithm rewards websites that provide in-depth, original content that meets search intent. Thin content is a fast track to irrelevance.
Actionable Tip: Use tools like AnswerThePublic or Google’s own “People Also Ask” section to find out what users are searching for in your niche. Write comprehensive guides, how-tos, and deep dives that fully answer these queries. Aim to create content that users will want to share or bookmark.
3. Leverage On-Page SEO
On-page SEO remains one of the most effective ways to improve your ranking. This involves optimising individual pages to rank higher and get more relevant traffic. The most critical factors here are your title tags, meta descriptions, header tags (H1, H2, H3), and keyword optimisation.
Actionable Tip: Ensure every page has a unique, descriptive title tag that includes your primary keyword. Meta descriptions should be under 160 characters and entice users to click. Use header tags to structure your content, and naturally integrate your keywords in key areas, but don’t overdo it. Search engines can detect keyword stuffing, and it will hurt your ranking.
4. Build Quality Backlinks
Backlinks are still one of Google’s top ranking factors. They serve as "votes of confidence" from other websites, telling search engines that your site is credible and worth ranking. But not all backlinks are created equal. A few high-quality, authoritative links are worth far more than dozens of low-quality ones.
Actionable Tip: Conduct a backlink audit using tools like Ahrefs or Moz. Look for opportunities to build quality links by reaching out to industry publications, guest posting, or participating in expert roundups. Create link-worthy content like data studies, infographics, or original research that other sites will want to reference.
5. Optimise for Mobile-First Indexing
Google switched to mobile-first indexing, meaning it predominantly uses the mobile version of your site for ranking and indexing. If your website isn't optimised for mobile, you're leaving a lot of potential traffic on the table.
Actionable Tip: Check your site on various mobile devices to ensure it’s responsive and user-friendly. Make sure buttons are clickable, fonts are readable, and images aren’t distorted. Google also provides a Mobile-Friendly Test to help you identify issues and fix them quickly.
Final Thoughts
Boosting your website’s SEO doesn’t happen overnight, but with the right strategies in place, you’ll see real, sustainable growth. Focus on improving your site’s user experience, producing valuable content, optimising for mobile, and earning quality backlinks. SEO is a long game, but every small step today is an investment in your website’s future success.
And remember—Google is always evolving, and so should your SEO strategy. Keep experimenting, learning, and refining. Your website’s ranking depends on it!