Website Designer in Glasgow Takes You Behind the Scenes & Reveals:

Hey there!

Before we jump on into this guide, I wanted to be absolutely sure that it is right for you so as not to waste a single moment of your time.

Please have a quick glance at the questions below and if any of them resonate with you, then you’ll know you’re in the right place.

You’re a smart business owner so I won’t lecture you about the importance of planning.

With that being said, so many business owners jump ahead and start making their websites without planning what they want to rank for.

And, all that does is lead to confusion.

So, to get your website headed in the right direction, you need to do a little research.

Luckily, it’s very simple

Just note down exactly what your business does.

That might be: ‘plumber’, ‘hairdresser’, ‘make-up artist’…whatever it is you do.

Then, add ‘Glasgow’ onto the end.

So your keyword would be ‘SERVICE NAME Glasgow’

Reason being, that’s most likely what your clients are searching for.

Copy and paste that into a keyword research tool and it will give you the number of searches per month and a bunch of related terms will appear that you might be interested in ranking for.

My recommended keyword research tool:

I would recommend using Ubersuggest because it’s free and has a nice user interface:

Ubersuggest (click to access)

Selecting the right keywords

You’ll likely have a huge set of keywords in front of you.

However, not all of them will be suitable.

You need to go through these and consider which ones may be most appropriate.

Highlight those keywords and export them to a csv (or excel spreadsheet).

Then, you’ll be presented with something like this:

(this is for the keyword ‘SEO Glasgow‘)

What this actually means

As you can see above, there’s a couple of main keywords that you want to focus on.

Then, there’s a bunch of other keywords that have less people searching them.

By ‘sprinkling’ these keywords throughout your web page, you’ll rank for these terms too.

I’ll cover how to optimise your web page in the next section…

A lot of SEO consultants and agencies make this part appear so difficult, but it’s really not.

An optimised website is very much like a well-written essay.

It’s got clear headings, a structure that makes sense and it tackles the subject comprehensively.

Writing in this way plays into Google mission statement, allowing you to push your ranking higher.

If you can get this part right, you’ll be able to out-rank most local businesses in Glasgow.

Just follow the steps below and you’ll nail it!

Part 1: Your domain’s relevancy

As I mentioned before, Google’s overriding goal is to aggregate all of the world’s data to make it easier to use.

Therefore, it makes sense for them to categorise websites into different topics.

If you own a website about gardening and pre-dominantly discuss this subject throughout you site, Google will see you as being relevant to that topic and give you a higher ranking for related terms.

However, if you decided one day that you wanted to rank a page for a term like go-karts, then you’ll have a bit of trouble.

Reason being, it’s not related to your core topic.

There are some exceptions to this rule, but my advice is to stay in your lane and keep your website laser-focused.

Takeaway: Keep your website focus on one specific topic to build relevance.

Part 2: The headings

Consider why a heading actually exists…

The purpose of a heading is to navigate a user towards or away from an object.

By providing an idea of what to expect, they can decide if following that path is good for them or not.

Throughout life, we’re given signs all the time to follow all the time, but some are evidently more important than others.

On a website we have lots of opportunities to use headings to direct our users too.

And, over the past 10 years, it’s been clear in the SEO community that 3 specific ones matter most…

The page title

Arguably, the most important heading on your site is the page title.

It’s the first thing people see when they Google your keyword and your site pops up.

And, that’s where most people go wrong.

Let’s say you run a butcher shop in Glasgow.

If you don’t explicitly use the keywords ‘butcher’ and ‘Glasgow’ in your page title, then Google will think it’s not relevant to the keyword you’re targeting.

This one simple change can make a substantial difference to your ranking!

Takeaway: Make sure your keywords are in shown in your page title

The URL

Next up is the URL of your webpage.

Most people don’t realise this, but it’s the 2nd thing you actually see before clicking through to a website on Google.

By giving Google a clear indication of what your page is about in your URL, it will help you rank for the keyword you’re looking for.

As an example, have a quick glance at the URL of the webpage you’re reading right now:

https://finlaymarketing.com/seo-glasgow/

You can see that I am using the exact keyword in my URL that my audience are searching for - ‘SEO Glasgow’.

If you go to my other service pages, you’ll notice I use this structure for those pages too:

If you have multiple services you offer, like I do, then I’d suggest you use this format.

However, if you only offer one type of service, I wouldn’t recommend this.

Instead, I would skip out this stage and focus on ranking your homepage so it won’t confuse Google or your audience.

For example, my friend and client, Fred Chesne’s site is optimised for ‘personal trainer Glasgow’ and the url is simply ‘hypermove.co.uk‘.

Takeaway: Add your keywords to your URL structure, if you have multiple services

The h1 header

The h1 header is the main signpost once you reach the webpage.

It’s has two purposes:

1) To match the expectations of the user who saw the page title on Google

2) To encourage them to keep reading about your service

To satisfy these criteria, you’ll want to include the keyword you’re targeting in your title.

However, you’ll need to jazz it up a bit so people actually pay attention!

I find the best way to write an h1 is to follow the structure:

“I help X to achieve Y by doing Z”

X = your target audience

Y = intended result

Z = service (your keyword)

For example, if you take a look at DeservedMassage.com, the h1 is:

“We help people in Glasgow to re-gain focus and strength with tailored massage treatments”

I’ve highlighted the target keywords so you are aware of what the business is optimised for.

Takeaway: Use your keyword in your h1 header where it makes sense 

Part 3: Content helpfulness

A few years ago, if you wrote a couple thousands words of nonsense on your webpage and spammed the text with your keywords, you’d rank on Google.

But, that’s all changed now.

Google’s algorithms has evolved.

They’re looking for quality content that they can use to fulfil their mission.

So, that’s what we need to optimise for.

From the keyword research you carried out earlier, you’ll have picked a bunch of search terms that will help you get traffic and sell your service.

A lot of people struggle with what to write on their site when thinking about SEO.

However, if you just consider what the most helpful content would be for the people you’re targeting, then you’ll be onto a winner.

The website that has the most helpful content will be rewarded.

Let’s use the page you’re currently reading as an example.

I’m optimising this page for the keyword ‘SEO Glasgow’.

Let’s consider the intent for anyone searching for this term:

You, my readers, want to rank your website so that you can generate more business from Google.

While every other SEO consultant in Glasgow is trying to pitch you on their service, I have created this helpful guide that literally shows you step-by-step how to do to get results.

There’s no pitch, it’s all value content!

Ironically, by giving your audience quality information for free, you get greater rewards.

Many people reading this guide would much rather skip the work and have me do it for them.

FYI - if that’s you, click this link to hire me.

Takeaway: Have the most helpful page and you’ll be rewarded with a higher ranking.

Part 4: User experience

The last on-page factor we want to consider is the attractiveness of your website.

While it’s difficult for Google to quantify this metric, they do monitor it using what is called ‘exit rate’.

This is the rate at which visitors will go onto your website then leave when they feel confused.

Many website designers will talk about how having a high-end design will impact your SEO.

However, it’s largely overstated.

In fact, I’d go far as to say that it’s not about providing a good experience, more so that you just need to avoid a bad one.

The way you do that is by:

1) Keeping your messaging clear

2) Keeping your colours consistent

3) Avoiding distractions

My advice is: avoid overthinking your design, just make sure that it makes sense.

The easiest way to tell if your website is over-complicated is to show it to a techno-phone.

I use my mum as my guinea-pig for most of my design projects.

If she can’t navigate towards through the call to action easily enough, I rework it.

Takeaway: Keep your website simple and user-friendly

If you’ve read up to this stage in the training, you now have more knowledgeable about SEO than 95% of business owners in Glasgow.

And, with the knowledge you can beat them.

However, if you’re going to go up against people who know what they’re doing, then you’ll need to know how off-page SEO works.

In a nutshell, off-page SEO is any metric that Google analyses externally to your website that impacts upon your ranking.

Although there are hundreds of off-page signals that the algorithm take into account, it’s widely accepted in the SEO community these three pack the biggest punch:

#1 Links from relevant websites

The first, and most important off-page signal is what we call a ‘backlink’.

When an external website creates a backlink to your website, it is effectively referencing the material on your site.

You might have seen a list of references at the bottom of academic papers before?

These backlinks indicate to Google that your website is related to the topic that is being discussed on the external website.

Therefore, it should be given a higher score and increase in ranking.

The problem with backlinks

In the early days of SEO, few people had cottoned onto the fact that backlinks could increase your ranking.

You could just pay a bunch of spammy, made-up website to send you links and your ranking would shoot up.

As more people started doing this though, it made Google inefficient - it wasn’t living up to its mission. And, so they had to update their algorithm.

Now, instead of increasing your website’s ranking based on the sheer number of links, the algorithm takes into account the relevancy and authority of the external website too.

How do you get backlinks from trustworthy sites?

This is, by far, the hardest part of search engine optimisation.

Effectively, you’re influencing other website owners to talk about your site.

Sure, you could be-friend them at the pub and convince them that way, but why that could take a while.

Here’s my favourite methods:

Method 1: Reach out to bloggers

There’s loads of people in Glasgow who blog regularly.

Although these websites aren’t always super-specifically related to your topic, they are geographically correct.

For instance, if you own a hairdressing business, reach out to a lifestyle blogger and offer them a discount or even a freebie in return for a post.

I’ve recently discovered an website called influence.co that helps you find these bloggers. So, there’s no need to spend ages hunting them down.

Check it out!

Method 2: Get in the press

A backlink from a newspaper carries some serious ranking power.

It shows Google that your business is relevant and newsworthy!

To get a newspaper to link to your business isn’t easy though; you need to do something ‘remarkable’.

And I don’t use that term lightly.

You literally need to create a story about your business that people will talk about.

And, it can’t seem like a sales pitch (newspaper editors hate those).

Unique events, charitable deeds and competitions all go down a treat!

Method 3: Create a useful guide, training, cheatsheet or tool

If you craft a unique piece of content that people find useful, then there’s a good chance they’ll link to it.

If you browse through this training, you’ll notice that I’ve linked to a couple of different websites that I use on a regular basis.

Simply by being useful, these sites have ‘earned’ a link from me and as a result, Google will recognise that.

Again, creating truly useful content isn’t easy. 

You’ve got to get to know a problem that people are having then solve it for them comprehensively.

Then, when someone needs to solve that problem again or reference it in their own training, they’ll give you a link.

Hopefully, if you find this training valuable, you’ll share this SEO training with your friends and colleagues and link back to it as way to help them find it.

#2 Citations from local directories

A business citation is any mention of your business name, address or phone number on a local service directory like yell, yelp, trip advisor and foursquare.

Over the last 10 years, internet users have started using business directories less and less (due to the prevalence of Google). However, they still carry some weight in increasing your ranking.

And, there’s incredibly easy to submit your website to.

Recommended directories for Glasgow businesses:

Here’s a list of the main local business directories in Glasgow you can sign up to:

• Yell (http://www.yell.com/)
• Yelp (http://www.yelp.co.uk/)
• Facebook (Facebook.com)
• Google My Business (https://www.google.com/business/)
• Bing Places (http://www.yelp.co.uk/)
• Thomson Local (http://www.thomsonlocal.com/)
• Scoot (http://www.scoot.co.uk/)
• Free Index (http://freeindex.co.uk/)
• Hot Frog (http://www.hotfrog.co.uk/)
• 192 (http://192.com/)
• 118 118 ( http://www.118118.com/) 
• UK Small Business Directory (http://www.uksmallbusinessdirectory.co.uk/)
• Opening Times (http://www.opening-times.co.uk/)
• Brown Book (http://www.brownbook.net/)
• CycleX (https://www.cylex-uk.co.uk/)

Important note: before you sign-up to these directories, keep in mind that they will call and email you multiple times and try and sell you a new website or an SEO package.

Although their directories carry some value in ranking your site, the supportive services are completely worthless.

In fact, if you buy a website from some providers (such as yell), it can have a negative impact on your ability to rank because of the layout of the page.

#3 Social media shares

It makes sense for Google to track the number of social shares that website gets on Facebook right?

Think about it this way… if you share a link on Facebook to a business you’ve been to, then there’s a fair chance that you’re recommending it to friends.

For that reason, Google treats these shares as trust signals that help support rankings.

How do you encourage people to share your website on Facebook?

An easy way to do it would be to start a referral scheme.

If you offer customers a reward if they refer a friend, it would encourage them to talk about you on social media.

Obviously, the bigger the incentive, the higher chance of shares.

Although this may sound like a lot of work to get a social share, you should look at it as part of a broader marketing strategy.

If someone does end up buying your service because of a friend, you’ve now got another new customer too!