Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a pretty big rabbit hole to go down and the learning curve never stops. The good news is that there are some SEO basics that aren’t overly technical and can still make a real difference to how your website performs in search engine results. If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume that you already understand what search engine optimisation means and what you’re trying to achieve with an SEO plan of action. Still trying to wrap your head around understanding what SEO is? Start with this article that explains SEO for beginners first and then meet me back here. In this article, I want to break down the steps of a planning a basic business website SEO strategy. For quick reference, there’s a downloadable infographic further down the page that you can print out and keep handy to remind you to stay on track.
Why do you need a website SEO Strategy?
Essentially, an SEO strategy is a plan that sets out your website’s objectives. By taking the time to create a plan, you can be clear on:
- Who you are targeting,
- What they are searching for,
- Why you can help them, and
- What action you want them to take.
I see so many business websites that are confusing or unclear about the product or service that they provide to their customers. The most common problem I see, however, is that a website hasn’t been set up to to let both search engines and human visitors understand what it is all about.
You see, search engines run on an algorithm, so they send bots out to ‘crawl’ all the websites out there, searching for clues as to what each page is about. The information they get from those clues helps the algorithm determine what websites it should serve up when someone types a certain query into Google (or Bing etc). A website needs to consider both the human user’s experience when they visit, as well as the search engine bots when it comes to SEO, and ensure that it’s easy for both to understand what the web page is about.
Spending a little time in this planning stage will pay off in truckloads down the track because so many people simply don’t do it. Oh, and big hint: if you’re paying someone else to do your SEO and they haven’t discussed these things with you, it’s time to ask them what they are ‘optimising’ your website for exactly.
Understanding On Page vs Off Page SEO
SEO can be broken into on-page and off-page strategies. On-page SEO is referring to things you can do inside your website itself. It includes optimising images, page titles, headings and text content as well as internal linking from one page to another inside the same website. Off page SEO is when we start building links to other websites and implementing strategies that improve the connections to the website that increase it’s authority. In this article, we’re going to be talking about on-page SEO strategies to consider when designing or editing your business website.

Identifying and understanding your ideal customer.
One of the first things I do when I’m working with a business owner is to create a very clear picture of who their ideal customer is. The more specific you can be, the better. You could consider:
- The age, gender, cultural and socioeconomic background of your customers;
- What is their issue / problem and how does it make them feel?
A big tip here is to accept that not everyone needs to be your customer. Focus your attention on a smaller group of people, but with much more targeted language, imagery and benefits.
How to target your audience’s needs and offer solutions.
Now that you know who you’re focusing on, it’s time to direct your product or service towards that type of customer.
- How can your product or service help them? How will it make them feel?
- What are your customers searching for online? Do they even know your product / service exists or what it is called? What solutions might they be looking for?
The answers you come up with here will begin to form the basics of your keyword list.
Crafting a powerful keyword list for your website SEO strategy.
This can be a pretty big topic and keyword research can go deep down the rabbit hole, with lots of tools (both free and paid) available to help. It’s too big a topic to go in to too much detail here, because it can be daunting for a business owner having a crack at this for the first time. The good news, however, is that some rudimentary keyword research is easy to do and will still give you a great head start because it’s a step that a lot of people skip altogether!
Brainstorming keyword ideas:
First of all, simply list out all the services or products that you offer. Think about different ways to phrase things, such as aircon, AC, and air conditioning.
Now write down some of the problems your target customers might be experiencing, from the questions you asked previously. This could be something like “aircon keeps icing up”. See how you’re starting to build out a bigger list now than simply “aircon repair”?
Expanding your keyword list:
One of my favourite “quick and dirty” keyword hacks is to simply use Google for help. Start by typing in your main service into the search bar – for example, “aircon repair”. Scroll down in the results and you’ll often find a section called “People also ask”. In here, you’ll find some commonly searched questions that directly relate to your service. In this example, I came up with:
“Is it worth fixing an AC?”
“What is the lifespan of an aircon?”, and
“Can aircon be repaired?”
Add these to your keyword list!
Prioritising your keywords:
Once you’ve got 30 – 60 keywords or key phrases, it’s usually pretty obvious what your main ones are going to be. At a professional level, I then go and anaylyse the search volume of these keywords and start deep diving on how how competitive they are and which ones will be best to target first, but let’s keep things simple here.
Pick 5-10 keywords as your main ones – for our aircon repair company here, those top keywords will be some combination of the main services and the locations served.
How to incorporate keywords into your website:
Keywords will form the core signals that you’re sending to Google or other search engines to tell them what your page is all about and can be used in:
- URLs
- page titles
- headings
- subheadings,
- content, and
- images
Those top 5-10 keywords are the ones you want to include in URLs, page titles, and headings. The longer, more specific key phrases can be used in subheadings, content and even as blog topics.

What is the purpose of your website?
This might seem like an obvious questions, but hear me out. Your website should have a clear objective, that is, what you want the visitor to do. This could be:
- Arrange a quote
- Visit the physical store
- Pledge a donation
- Make a purchase
- Call a phone number
- Submit an enquiry form
- Subscribe to a newsletter
- Book an appointment
Whatever the objective, make it clear and obvious to your website visitors. In marketing terminology, this is often referred to as the “call to action”.
Being clear on the purpose of your website will help you stay on track with your content. It’s easy to waffle on about company values and your backstory, which might not address the visitor’s reason for landing on your website in the first place.
Tell your potential customers how you can provide a solution for them and why they should choose you over your competitors. This could be a money-back guarantee, a five star rating, or something as simple as the fact that you offer free parking.
Once you’ve given your visitors a reason to choose you, make it super simple and obvious as to what action they should take next.
Key principles for simple website navigation
Sometimes a person isn’t ready to take action just yet. If they want some more information first, make it easy for them to move around your website and find what they are looking for. Good navigation includes menus, clickable links and sidebars, so they can get to any page on your site within a couple of clicks. If your content is useful and engaging, not only will a visitor be more likely to take the action you want them to, but good engagement is an excellent metric when it comes to SEO and highly regarded by search engine algorithms.

The long term power of creating quality content
Good quality content is the absolute backbone of SEO. In today’s world where AI content is becoming increasingly prolific, the importance of being able to produce really high quality content is greater than ever. Here’s what you need to know about written content…
First of all, the biggest mistake I see business owners making with the content on their websites is a lack of keywords. Remember, creating a good keyword list is one of the first steps to your SEO strategy. For many local businesses, your main keywords will be some combination of your main services or product and your location. It’s tempting to use flashy headlines and creative wording, but not at the expense of getting those target keywords in important places like your page titles and headings. For example, “A sparkling finish every time” doesn’t say much about what a webpage is about, however if we changed it to “Your number one choice for pool cleaning in Shellharbour”, you can see that it’s pretty obvious.
Plagiarised or copied content is easily detected by search engines, plus it can leave you open to copyright issues, so just don’t do it. Using AI to craft your website’s content is fine, but it depends on how you use it. AI is an excellent tool for structuring articles or coming up with catchy headlines, but it does have some drawbacks. An entirely AI written blog post can be easy to spot because it tends to be very formulaic and repetitive. AI can churn out website content fast, but it doesn’t always grasp what resonates with people or matches a brand’s vibe like humans do. Plus, it can miss the mark on creativity and specific details, ending up with bland or off-target messages.
Did you notice that the last two sentences I wrote here were AI written? Probably not, so incorporating a little AI text to help round out your content or to summarise a topic can be helpful. A big drawback in using AI is that it can be factually incorrect, so be sure to check what you’re putting out there!
Google has openly stated that their algorithm doesn’t have a problem with content being AI generated, providing the content is helpful. What the world’s biggest search engine have been very clear about though is their emphasis on EEAT signals. So what is EEAT?
EEAT stands for expertise, experience, authoritativeness and trust, which is something artificial intelligence simply can’t compete with if you’re a real business or subject matter expert. Some simple ways you can demonstrate EEAT signals on your website include:
- Testimonials from clients
- Case studies or portfolios of past work
- Awards or recognition you’ve received
- Being mentioned in the media
- Industry specific regulatory bodies you may be a member of or registered with
- Qualifications or licenses
- Social media links

Other SEO factors to consider:
Page speed: The speed at which your website loads is an important factor when it comes to SEO, but optimising a website for speed can start to drift into technical expertise, so I won’t get too far into the weeds here. Basically, there are several things that can impact your website’s speed, including the hosting provider or server, the platform your website it built on and how much heavy code is in it, and components such as large images or videos.
A good tip is to make sure that any images on your website are optimised by resizing them down from high resolution formats. Video sliders look pretty cool on a website, but can negatively affect the performance by slowing down the page loading speed.
Google Business Profile:
If you’re a locally based business, either with a physical location or servicing a geographical area, you should set up a Google Business Profile. It’s free, it’s pretty simple to set up, and it can really help you be found online.
Building links:
Keywords, content and links are pretty much the building blocks of SEO, but it’s important to get your on-page SEO (your website itself) sorted out first. Links are basically other websites online that are pointing to, or referencing your website and go a long way to establishing those EEAT signals we discussed earlier. So how do you get links to your website? Some examples include:
- Creating profiles in online directories and local business guides
- Sponsoring a local club or charity
- Contributing some valuable content to another local business or publication
- Testimonials through social media or forums
Basic Website SEO Strategy Printable Guide
Putting your basic website SEO strategy in motion
As a business owner, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the world of online marketing, and most people don’t have the time or inclination to learn about SEO for themselves. SEO should be an investment, in that you should get some benefit for your input, whether that’s through time or money. Because SEO doesn’t deliver results straight away, it can be hard to know whether the strategy you’re putting in place is working. Whether you decide to get stuck in to doing your own SEO or you choose to engage a professional to help you out, it’s important to at least have a grasp on the basics of what is involved in search engine optimisation. That way, you can feel comfortable asking the right questions and understanding what you’re paying someone to do.
