Why SEO (Search engine optimisation) is so important
Search engines like Google use website crawlers to review web page content. Crawling will rank our content for relevant searches. SEO-optimised pages appear frequently for relevant searches.
We can break down SEO practices into three categories:
- SEO keyword research before writing content
- SEO techniques while writing content
- SEO techniques after writing content
SEO keyword research before writing content
Keyword research is exploring how people find information about your topic in Google. When you know the keywords or phrases that people search for you can focus your content on those searches.
By doing this you are getting detailed insight into the needs of your audience. Your content improve on readability and relevance.
Every content piece should have one primary and few secondary words and/or phrases.
Free keyword research tools, sites and extensions
Use the below tools to get started on keyword research for your topic.
Answer the Public: use the search bar to search for your chosen topic.
Uber Suggest: perform the search before selecting Australia as a country.
Keywords Everywhere: click Add to Chrome button on the top-right to add as an extension to your Google Chrome browser.
Google Trends: type your topic in the search bar.
Google Search: perform a search for your topic on Google and observe the results of the top-ranked pages, and what is shown under 'People also ask' section.
SEO techniques while writing content
It is possible to improve SEO rankings on pages using techniques while writing your content. These techniques include optimising titles, content structure, assets and readability.
Headlines (meta title)
Each page has a main title, also known as headline or H1 tag. In the source code, this is automatically used as the meta title, or SEO title, of your page.
SEO best practices for page titles:
- Use a primary keyword. Google use this to identify the main topic of the page.
- Write headlines that are unique but concise to the page. For example, 'Contact the Registry' instead of 'Contact Us'.
- Keep titles max 70 characters. This is inclusive of white spaces.
When creating your pages in the content management system (CMS), the SEO title is the same as the title of your page.
Example of a sub-optimised page title:
Here's the example re-worked so it is more SEO-friendly:
It is best to stick to a natural feel when using keywords.
Using too many keywords will make content hard to read. Search engines might also flag it for spam and remove the page from their results.
This applies to every stage and tag.
Page summary (meta description)
The page summary describes the purpose of the page to its readers. It appears after the page title.
The meta description duplicates this summary. It appears after the SEO Title on Google. The meta description improves click-thoughts from Google results.
SEO best practices for summary and meta description:
- Write unique action-oriented summary. Eg: 'Find…' or 'Explore…'
- Include the primary keyword.
- Keep it between 120-160 characters (inclusive of whitespaces)
When creating your pages in the CMS, it is possible to have a different summary and meta description. This can be set in under 'Meta Tags'.
Content structure
Content broken up into shorter paragraphs with headlines are easier to read.
Both readers and search engines skim-read using the headings. Starting with the page Title (H1), then the H2s, H3s, and H4s break down the subtopics within the piece.
SEO best practices for page structure:
- Include secondary keywords into the sub-headings.
- Avoid keyword stuffing. This lowers your search rankings.
- Use keywords thoughtfully and sparingly, sticking to a more natural feel.
An SEO-optimised page structure will look like the below:
Anchor text
When linking to another page, use keywords in the link text, relevant to the page linked.
Avoid using ‘Read more’, ‘Click here', ‘Find out more', etc.
Readability
- Follow the content principles. Make your content simple and easy to understand. If possible, use plain English.
- Siteimprove provides readability scores we all try to improve. For more info, check Siteimprove’s readability guide and their Drupal widget.
URLs
Google uses URLs to understand a page's content. URLs should include the primary keyword (or phrase separated by ‘-‘). Avoid too many keywords (see keyword stuffing section), to avoid spammy URLs.
- Good URLs: /covid-19/rules or /covid-19/dine-discover-nsw
- Bad URL: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/victorian-covid-19-vaccination-guidelines
You can use the URL slug to have a shorter, optimised URL for the page.
Image name, size and alt tag
Google uses image names and alt tags to get context for a page's content. Screen readers also use the alt tag to tell users of low vision what the image is about.
- Include relevant keywords in image name. Eg: 'Animal-Welfare-Funding-Banner' vs 'IMG_722019'.
- Image size can slow page down significantly. Use proper image formats (jpg) and properly sized images for most screens.
Learn more about using images for nsw.gov.au
To get feature snippets, create keyword rich content using one or more of the below:
- Answer common questions with your content upfront.
- Write headings in question format.
- Provide information (or answer) directly after the question and if require you can also add answer in a table format/list format.
SEO techniques after writing the content
Once your content is live a few things might affect your page’s SEO.
- Duplication (paragraphs or full text) appearing on other pages.
- Links on the pages might break, resulting in 'Not Found' or '404' error.
- Page might get retired and once needs to redirect it.
Duplicate content and robot tags
Duplicate content is when the same content appears in more than one place on a website or websites. Duplicate content lowers page rankings in Google.
Content authors can fix duplicate content issues by using robots directives or canonical tags.
With your page opened, under Metatags Advanced, enable the noindex and nofollow checkboxes. This lets Google know you don't want your page to appear in search. This is useful when dealing with duplicate content.
With your page opened, under Metatags Advanced, choose ‘Canonical URL’. Add the URL that your page overlaps with in content.
Broken links and redirections
Links on a page can break. Broken links are bad user experience (UX) and lowers Google rankings.
- Siteimprove highlights broken links so that it is easy to find them.
301 redirect means that page content has been moved to another URL.
For example:
- bdm.nsw.gov.au redirects to /births-deaths-marriages
- https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/department-of-regional-nsw is relocated to https://www.nsw.gov.au/department-of-regional-nsw
If you are deactivating a page, change the URL using a 301 redirection. This retains Google's page value and gets visitors to the right place.
Need any more help?
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