Many businesses invest time and money in creating a professional website, but still struggle to generate consistent traffic. In most cases, the issue is not the design; it’s how well search engines like Google understand the website.
Google remains the primary gateway for online visibility. If your website is not structured and presented in a way that search engines can easily interpret, you are limiting your ability to attract new customers and generate leads.
The good news is that there are several simple, practical actions you can take to improve your website's performance over time. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can be quite technical, but there are still some things you can do yourself to help with SEO.
Below are three key areas to focus on.
Tip 1: Get your page tagging right from the start
Search engines rely on signals within your website to understand what each page is about. These signals come from elements such as your title tag, headings and page structure.
If these are unclear or inconsistent, your visibility will suffer. At a fundamental level, every page should include:
- A clear and relevant title tag
- A structured set of headings (H1, H2, H3)
- Content aligned to a specific topic or keyword
For example, if you run a café in Bingham and want to draw local customers searching online, your page might be structured as follows:
- Title tag: "Cafe in Bingham – Fresh Coffee and Breakfast Options"
- H1: "Independent Cafe in Bingham serving fresh food and coffee"
- H2: Something like - "Breakfast menu" / "Lunch options" / "Visit us in Bingham"
This clarity helps Google understand both the purpose and location relevance of your page.
A disciplined approach to tagging is one of the most effective ways to improve how your site is indexed and ranked.
Tip 2: Write meta descriptions that stimulate action
A meta description is an HTML element that summarises a page's content to help users and search engines understand it better. When you do a Google search, you often see the website URL and then a short description underneath, so you can scan through the search results and select the page that is most relevant to what you are looking for online.
While meta descriptions do not directly influence rankings, they play a key role in whether someone chooses to click on your website. Think of your meta description as your opportunity to “sell the click”.
A strong meta description should:
- Be between 150 and 160 characters
- Include relevant keywords appropriately
- Clearly explain what the user will find
- Include a simple call to action
Using the same café example, your meta description could be:
"Looking for a cafe in Bingham? Enjoy fresh coffee, homemade breakfasts and a relaxed atmosphere. Come see us today or view our menu online."
This type of description aligns with user intent and provides a clear reason to click through.
Over time, higher click-through rates signal to Google that your page is relevant and valuable.
You should write a unique meta description for every page and blog on your website.
Tip 3: Structure your content for both users and search engines
Well-structured content is not only about SEO. It improves the overall user experience, which is increasingly important for ranking performance.
Your headings should guide both readers and search engines through the page. A simple structure might look like:
- One H1 that clearly defines the page topic
- H2 headings to break content into key sections
- H3 headings for more detailed supporting points
For example, a café website page could include:
- H1: "Cafe in Bingham serving fresh food and coffee"
- H2: "Our menu"
- H3: "Breakfast options"
This structure makes your content easier to scan, improves engagement and helps search engines interpret the hierarchy of information.
Bringing it all together
Improving your website performance on Google is not about quick wins or shortcuts. It’s about building a solid foundation and applying consistent, well-structured practices over time.
To summarise:
- Ensure every page is clearly tagged and aligned to a specific topic
- Use meta descriptions to drive clicks and communicate value
- Structure your content so it is easy to read and easy to index
Taken together, these steps strengthen how your website is understood, indexed and ultimately ranked by Google. It’s obviously easier to do this when building your website for the first time, but I would highly recommend that if you want to improve your current website, take some time out from working ‘in your business’ and ‘work on your business’. It really is worth it!
If you sell products rather than services, then you should follow the same steps for every product that you add to the website. It's a time-consuming task, but it will make a real difference for search engine optimisation.
For most businesses, this is where the real opportunity lies. Not in doing more marketing, but in doing the fundamentals well and doing them consistently.
If you would like any further advice on improving your website, then please do get in touch, and we can arrange a one-to-one training session. You can call me on 0115 880 0247 or email shamshad@shamshadwalker.co.uk
