What is SEO? An Ethical & Technical Guide to Search Engine Optimisation

What is SEO? An Ethical and Technical Guide

Search engine optimisation, or SEO for short, is a fantastic way to boost the quantity and quality of visitors to your website through search engines. Unlike paid ads and social media, SEO is all about helping your website climb the rankings in search results. In this complete guide, I’m excited to share the concept of SEO and the essential components that make up this important digital marketing strategy. So let’s delve in to the question, what is SEO?

TLDR: What is SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a digital marketing strategy aimed at improving a website’s visibility and ranking in organic search engine results. It involves optimising website content and structure to make it more accessible to search engines like Google, which dominates the market with an 89.79% share. SEO relies on three key processes: crawling (finding web pages), indexing (understanding content), and serving (matching pages to user queries). The benefits of SEO include increased brand visibility, higher website traffic, enhanced user engagement, and long-term trust-building. Effective SEO strategies require audience research, keyword optimisation, and continuous adaptation to algorithm updates to stay competitive. SEO encompases different types of tactics including on-page seo, content marketing, off-page SEO, technical SEO, local and international SEO. Ethical SEO is also an important part of the developing marketplace.

What is SEO? A definition

So, first things first, what is SEO? SEO involves assisting search engines (SEs) such as Google in understanding your website and the content it holds and determining whether to display it to users seeking their services or products. The goal of SEO is simply to get more eyeballs on your website. It entails making adjustments to your site that can enhance your ranking with SEs. These modifications can accumulate, resulting in a better website experience for both your users and SEs. SEO and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) often get confused as they had overlapped in the past, but now SEO only refers to the organic search aspects of search engines, whilst SEM refers to paid ads on search engines.

To begin your SEO journey, grasping how search engines function is an excellent starting point.

How do search engines work? Crawling & Indexing

There are three main steps when it comes to how search engines work to produce search engine results pages (SERPs):

  1. Crawling – A search engine must first be able to find that a web page/website exists. SEs ‘crawl’ the internet to find new web pages, which they may find through other links or because a website owner has specifically told the SE that they exist.
  2. Indexing –  Once a SE knows that a page exists it can try to understand what the page is about. It will read the text, images, videos as well as the structure of the page to understand the context of the page. This then becomes part of their search index.
  3. Serving – Once the SE has the above information, it can make a decision on whether your particular web page is relevant to the searcher’s query. Every time a user searches for something in a search engine query box, the SE will analyse millions of pages and websites in milliseconds to decide which organic search results to show. For SEs, it’s all about presenting relevant content to their user base.

Based on this simple outline, you want to make your website crawlable, indexable and relevant to the right audience. This is the essential task of SEO. 

The SEO Industry & Search Engine Market: Google Dominates

In the dynamic world of digital marketing, the SEO industry is a vital component of a better digital world. As Google and other search engines frequently update their algorithms, it’s crucial for organisations to stay proactive, ensuring their websites remain not just visible but also competitive. With so many companies competing for those top positions in search rankings, it’s all about driving more traffic and generating more business!

As the need for SEO services keeps growing, businesses need to prioritise this area. Doing so can really help them stay ahead of the competition and connect effectively with their target audience. We can discover some interesting points when looking at some key stats for the search engine landscape. There are some great figures to look at on Statista.

Search Engine Market Share Worldwide

Market share worldwide of various search engines from January 2025 Stats

Google89.79%
bing3.93%
YANDEX2.73%
Yahoo!1.27%
Baidu0.71%
DuckDuckGo0.67%
Ecosia0.11%

Worldwide monthly visits to Google & Other Search Engines

Stats from January 2025

Google85.5 bn
bing1.4bn
YANDEX3.48bn

Why is SEO Important?

From a big-picture perspective, search engines now dominate the world. Most of us in the UK won’t go a day without Googling something. So much so that ‘to Google’ has been a verb in the dictionary since 2006. If you are an organisation offering information, goods, or services that people want and can access online, you want to be found. Search engine optimisation (SEO) enables businesses to rank higher on a search engine results page. This increases the likelihood of web pages being visited by customers seeking those goods or services. However, SEO is more significant than merely that initial prominence at the top of Google.

1. Boosts Awareness and Visibility

SEO’s primary goal is to rank your website at the top of search results for relevant queries. Optimising for the right keywords is crucial, but ranking high is only valuable if it targets the right audience at the right time. Being featured on the first page of Google increases your brand visibility and awareness, making SEO vital for marketing strategies.

2. Drives Traffic

Once your site ranks well, driving traffic becomes the next key objective. Only 0.63% of users click on results from the second page, so ranking on the first page is critical for search visibility. Optimising titles and descriptions to be relevant and engaging increases the likelihood of users clicking through to your site.

3. Enhances Engagement

Engaging your audience is crucial once you’ve attracted traffic. Ensure your content matches user intent to keep visitors on your site. A positive user experience (UX) with fast site speed and great design encourages visitors to stay longer and boosts conversions. These elements improve your rankings and customer engagement simultaneously.

4. Builds Trust

SEO helps establish trust with your audience, even if they don’t convert right away. Providing well-optimised, informative, useful content that aligns with user needs fosters credibility. Over time, SEO nurtures a long-term relationship with your audience, making them more likely to return and convert in the future.


Research for SEO Strategies

Probably the most important aspect of SEO research is keyword research. Keywords are the words and phrases that users search for in Search Engines (SEs). As SEs are serving up Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) for users based on their queries, it’s essential to know what those queries are. If you discover the terms people search for that relate to your business, you can optimise your site for them. So, how do you do keyword research? Below is my guide on how to do it.

Target Audience Research

Understanding your audience is the foundation of a successful SEO campaign. Without knowing your audience, you can’t tailor your marketing efforts to engage them effectively. By examining the key demographics that shape your audience, you can refine your strategy to speak directly to their needs.

Start by exploring the following demographics:

  • Age: Knowing your audience’s age range helps you determine the tone and language of your messaging. Younger audiences may prefer a casual, trendy style, while older demographics may respond better to a more formal or informative approach.
  • Gender: Understanding gender preferences ensures your content speaks inclusively and resonates with both male and female consumers (if applicable to your industry).
  • Family Make-up: Are your potential customers’ parents, single professionals, or retirees? This influences the type of products or services that appeal to them.
  • Location: The location of your audience determines if you need to target regional keywords, set up localized pages, or run location-based campaigns.
  • Socioeconomic status is essential for positioning your products or services in accordance with your audience’s purchasing power.
  • Education: Tailor the complexity of your messaging to your audience’s average educational level. This will ensure that your content is accessible and engaging.
  • Interests and Hobbies: Learn what excites your audience outside of your product offering to connect on a deeper level and create content they care about.

Why Knowing Your Audience Matters for SEO

Once you’ve defined your audience, you’ll uncover valuable insights that will shape your SEO strategy. Here’s how audience understanding helps improve your SEO:

  • How They Discover Products: Knowing how your audience finds new products (search engines, social media, etc.) allows you to target the right channels and keywords for your campaigns.
  • The Questions They Have: By understanding the questions your audience asks, you can create content around these queries, optimizing for long-tail keywords that meet their needs.
  • Challenges They Face: Knowing the problems your target market encounters helps you position your services as the solution, making your content more relevant and appealing.
  • The Language They Use: By incorporating the language and tone your audience is familiar with, your content will be more relatable and engaging, increasing click-through rates.
  • The Campaigns That Attract Them: Understanding what types of offers, calls to action, or content will catch their attention ensures your campaigns resonate and drive more targeted traffic.

Search Intent & Keyword Research

Now that you have a better understanding of your audience, it’s time to figure out what they are searching for. Keyword research is a crucial component of any successful SEO strategy, as it helps you target the right terms and phrases that will attract relevant traffic to your site. Here’s a streamlined approach to getting it right.

  1. Brainstorming: Begin by listing keywords that are directly related to your products, services, and common customer queries. Think about FAQs, your brand name, and key product names. This will help form the foundation for your research.
  2. Competitor Research: Analyze which keywords your competitors rank for. This can reveal valuable insights into what works in your industry and highlight gaps you might be able to exploit.
  3. Find Related Terms: Use tools like Google Autocomplete, the “People Also Ask” feature in search results, and keyword research tools (e.g., Google Keyword Planner) to uncover additional related keywords. These often highlight trending search terms or alternative phrases your audience may be using.
  4. Understand Audience Intent: Dig deeper into your audience’s interests by exploring forums, blogs, and social media. This helps you understand the questions they’re asking and the challenges they face so you can tailor your keywords to their needs.
  5. Selecting the Right Keywords:
    • Relevance: Ensure the keywords align with your business offerings and the questions your target audience is asking.
    • Competition: Consider how competitive the keyword is. Highly competitive terms may be hard to rank for initially, so look for more specific, less competitive “long-tail” keywords.
    • Content Creation: Choose keywords you can realistically create content around, whether it’s blog posts, product pages, or FAQs.
    • Search Volume: Aim for keywords with decent search volume, but avoid overly generic terms that might not lead to conversions.
    • Local SEO: If you have a local business, include location-specific keywords to attract nearby customers.
  6. Competitor Content and Backlink Analysis: Look at the content your competitors are producing and their backlink profiles. This can give you insights into what types of content are performing well and what topics are missing in the market.
  7. Ongoing Refinement: Keyword research isn’t a one-time task. Regularly revisit your strategy to account for changes in search behaviour, new trends, or shifts in your industry.

By following these steps, you can build a solid keyword strategy that helps drive relevant traffic and improves your site’s SEO performance over time.

Technical Research & Website Analysis

A thorough analysis of your existing website is a critical first step in developing a robust SEO strategy. It helps you identify areas for improvement across on-page SEO, technical SEO, and content marketing. Search engines crawl and index your site based on numerous factors, so presenting your website in the best possible light is crucial. Here’s what a website analysis can do:

  1. Pinpoint Technical SEO Problems
    Technical SEO refers to the behind-the-scenes elements of your website that impact its performance in search engines. A website analysis can help identify issues such as broken links, crawl errors, or slow-loading pages, ensuring search engines can easily access and index your content.
  2. Identify Missing On-Page SEO ElementsOn-page SEO encompasses factors such as meta tags, headers, internal linking, and keyword optimisation. Your website analysis will identify any missing or under-optimised elements, ensuring that you are maximising every SEO opportunity available.
  3. Evaluate Website SpeedWebsite speed is a crucial ranking factor for search engines and has a substantial impact on user experience. Pages that load slowly can result in higher bounce rates and diminished search rankings. An evaluation will review your website’s speed and offer suggestions to enhance load times.
  4. Traffic Acquisition & Backlink Profile ReviewUnderstanding the sources of your traffic and the quality of your backlinks is vital for growth. A website analysis provides insights into your current traffic channels, helping you identify which avenues attract visitors and assess your backlink profile’s robustness, ensuring your site gains the credibility necessary to rank higher.
  5. Identify Design and User Experience (UX) IssuesThe appearance and functionality of your website influence both search rankings and conversion rates. An analysis will reveal design or UX issues that may impede navigation or user engagement, allowing you to implement enhancements that encourage visitors to stay on your site longer.

When combined with thorough keyword research, audience analysis, and competitor comparisons, a website analysis forms the foundation of a strong SEO strategy. If you’re looking to kick-start your SEO efforts, I offer comprehensive SEO audits either as a stand-alone service or as part of my monthly SEO packages. For more information, check out my SEO services page.


Types of SEO Tactics & Skills

You now know what SEO is and the starting research you’ll need to inform your strategy. We can now discuss what SEO tactics and techniques you need to create a comprehensive SEO campaign. I have deep-dive content on each element of SEO, so look for the additional information links to learn more about the different types of SEO.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO refers to optimising individual web pages to improve their ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). It encompasses the content, code, and design elements of a page, focusing on providing valuable and relevant content to users. A well-optimised page ensures that search engines and visitors can easily understand the page’s purpose.

What does On-Page SEO include?

Relevant Keywords:

Ensure your website content is optimised with relevant keywords for which your target audience searches. Incorporate aspects of your website, including blogslanding pages, case studies, and product descriptions. Strategically integrating keywords enhances visibility and attracts organic traffic from users seeking your products or services. Practical keyword usage is crucial for successful SEO strategies and significantly impacts search engine rankings.

Content Quality:

High-quality content is essential for online success. Producing material that meets user intent and provides valuable insights is vital. Engaging and informative content helps websites build authority and improve user experience. This entails crafting well-researched articles, using relevant keywords, and adding multimedia to enhance quality. Ultimately, prioritising content quality attracts and retains a loyal audience, driving organic search traffic to your site.

Technical Adjustments:

To optimise web pages for search engines, it’s essential to include specific keywords in title tags, meta descriptions, headers, and alt text. By incorporating these keywords, developers help search engines index the page better, improving the website’s chances of ranking higher in search results. This search engine optimisation process is crucial for driving organic traffic and increasing visibility online.

User Experience (UX):

A user-friendly website boosts engagement. Key factors include easy navigation, fast loading, and mobile compatibility. Optimising these aspects ensures a seamless experience for visitors, leading to higher engagement and improved performance. Staying updated with technology and user preferences is essential for enhancing the website’s appeal and usability.

Why is On-Page SEO important?

On-page SEO is crucial because search engines use it to understand your website’s content. The better optimized your page is, the more likely it is to rank highly on search engines, attracting more qualified traffic. Moreover, improving the user experience by making the site easy to navigate and fast-loading can increase conversion rates, turning visitors into customers.


Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO focuses on activities outside of your website that can improve its ranking. The primary tactic is link-building, which is all about getting other reputable websites to link to your site. These external signals show search engines that your site is trustworthy and authoritative.

What does Off-Page SEO include?

Directory Listing:

Directory listings are online directories where consumers can find businesses, much like the Yellow Pages. They provide essential details like business name, contact information, website links, and sometimes reviews. Although their SEO importance has decreased, they can still help improve your website’s domain authority and visibility when used correctly. To maximise benefits, focus on reputable, relevant directories, such as local or industry-specific ones, and keep your listings accurate and engaging. Directory listings should complement your broader SEO strategy, which includes quality content and off-page efforts like guest blogging and influencer marketing. Avoid purchasing mass listings, as this can damage your SEO efforts.

Guest Blogging: 

This involves writing content for other websites in your niche, boosting your site’s traffic, authority, and brand awareness. Choose high-traffic, relevant sites, pitch your ideas effectively, and ensure engaging posts follow site guidelines. Avoid over-promotion; instead, create valuable content for the audience. After publishing, promote through your channels, track performance, and update as needed to maintain relevance.

Social Media & Influencer Marketing:

Brand mentions, social media promotion, and influencer marketing boost your website’s visibility and SEO. Brand mentions involve discussions about your brand on other platforms without direct links. Social media promotion generates engagement and attracts potential backlinks. Influencer marketing collaborates with influencers to drive traffic, increase visibility, and create backlinks, enhancing your search engine presence.

Why is Off-Page SEO important?

Off-page SEO plays a significant role in boosting your website’s authority and trustworthiness in the eyes of search engines. Quality backlinks not only improve your SERP rankings but also drive referral traffic, increase brand awareness, and help build long-term credibility for your website.


Content Marketing

Content marketing focuses on creating and distributing valuable content to attract and engage your target audience. Well-executed content marketing can turn casual visitors into loyal customers and even brand ambassadors.

What does Content Marketing include?

Written Content:

When producing written content for your website or marketing, utilising blog posts, articles, and case studies is valuable. Blog posts share industry news, articles offer detailed information, and case studies highlight success stories for potential clients. Consistently creating high-quality content helps establish authority, drive organic traffic, and generate leads. Mixing these content types keeps your audience engaged and informed.

Visual Content:

Visual content like infographics, videos, and images captures the audience’s attention. Infographics present complex information visually, aiding understanding. Engaging videos bring your brand to life through demos or storytelling. Images quickly convey key messages, and using these visual forms effectively enhances audience communication and brand experience.

Audio Content:

Podcasts and audio clips have gained popularity for engaging audiences on the move. By creating high-quality audio, businesses can connect more deeply with their market and communicate messages more personally. Through storytelling, expert interviews, or discussions, audio content showcases brand personality and values. This versatile content can be enjoyed during commutes, workouts, or relaxing at home. Incorporating podcasts and audio into marketing strategies enhances brand awareness, builds credibility, and expands audience reach conveniently.

Distribution Channels:

Distribution channels are vital for businesses to share content effectively. Platforms like websites, social media, email newsletters, and third-party sites help reach a broader audience. Strategic distribution increases brand awareness, drives traffic, and generates more leads and sales. Businesses must choose the correct channels based on their target market and goals to maximise the impact of content marketing.

Why is Content Marketing important?

Content marketing drives organic traffic to your site by addressing your audience’s needs and answering their questions. By creating valuable, informative, and entertaining content, you can build trust with your audience, strengthen your brand’s authority, and improve customer loyalty. Engaging content also generates social shares and referrals, expanding your reach.


Technical SEO

Technical SEO focuses on optimizing your website’s backend to make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your content. Proper technical SEO ensures your site functions smoothly, loads quickly, and offers a positive user experience.

What does Technical SEO include?

Site Architecture:

Designing your website’s architecture requires careful organization for easy navigation by search engines and users. This includes establishing a clear page hierarchy, using relevant keywords in titles and URLs, and implementing internal links to connect related content. Optimising your site can enhance visibility in search results and improve user experience. Regularly reviewing and updating your architecture is vital to adapt to evolving trends and user behaviours, ensuring user-friendliness and discoverability.

Mobile Optimisation:

In today’s digital landscape, mobile optimisation is crucial as users increasingly access websites on smartphones and tablets. A responsive website that adapts to various screen sizes provides a seamless browsing experience, enhancing user satisfaction and improving search engine rankings since Google favours mobile-friendly sites. For any business, investing in mobile optimisation is essential to remain competitive and relevant in modern technology.

Speed Optimisation:

Improving web page load times is crucial for search engine rankings. Search engines favour fast-loading sites, which enhance user experience and reflect good site maintenance. Strategies like optimising image sizes, reducing server response times, and utilising browser caching help boost load speeds and search engine visibility. Therefore, investing in speed optimisation is essential for a website’s competitiveness and success online.

XML Sitemap:

You must create and submit an XML sitemap to optimise your website for search engines. This tool is a roadmap for crawlers, helping them discover and index your pages. By including important keywords and metadata, you can boost your site’s visibility and attract more organic traffic. Regularly updating your sitemap informs search engines of your latest content, providing a competitive edge. Don’t underestimate the power of an XML sitemap in maximizing your website’s potential online.

Why is Technical SEO important?

Technical SEO is essential for ensuring that search engines can crawl and index your website correctly. Without proper technical optimisation, search engines could overlook your website, preventing it from appearing in search results. Faster load times, mobile optimisation, and a well-structured site contribute to better user experiences and, ultimately, higher rankings.


Local SEO

Local SEO optimises your online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches. If you have a physical location or offer services to a specific area, local SEO helps ensure that your business appears in front of nearby customers who are searching for your products or services.

What does Local SEO include?

Google My Business (GMB):

GMB helps businesses boost visibility in local searches. By optimising your listing with accurate information like address, phone number, and hours, potential customers can easily find you. Adding photos and responding to reviews highlights your offerings. Using relevant industry and location keywords in your listing further enhances visibility and attracts more customers.

Local Citations:

Local citations are essential for businesses aiming to boost online visibility and attract local customers. Listing your business in relevant local directories can enhance search engine rankings, making it easier for potential customers to find you. This includes popular sites like Yell.com, Thomson Local, and Yelp, along with industry-specific directories. Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) information across listings is vital for search engines to verify your business and enhance local SEO. Furthermore, local citations build credibility and trust among consumers in your area. By managing local citations accurately and consistently, you can further increase visibility and attract more local customers.

Location-Based Keywords:

These keywords are essential for SEO in the UK. Incorporating geo-targeted terms into your content attracts local searchers and drives relevant traffic. They help users find nearby businesses, increasing conversion chances. For instance, using terms like “London bakery” or “Manchester plumber” boosts local search rankings and online visibility. Strategically utilising location-based keywords strengthens your digital marketing and connects you with local customers.

Reviews and Ratings:

Actively seeking positive reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp boosts credibility and visibility in local searches. Encouraging satisfied customers to share their experiences helps businesses attract new customers and build a solid online reputation, which is crucial for small businesses in a competitive market. Focusing on positive feedback strengthens online presence and drives more traffic to their websites.

Why is Local SEO important?

Local SEO is essential for businesses that want to connect with customers in their geographic area. It helps improve visibility in local search results, driving foot traffic to physical stores or local service inquiries. As more people rely on mobile search for local needs, a strong local SEO strategy can significantly boost your customer acquisition.

If you have a global audience, you may want to talk to an SEO Specialist with expertise in international SEO to help you conduct the research you need.


Ethical SEO

Ethical SEO involves creating strategies that prioritise long-term, organic growth, aligning with search engine guidelines, and providing valuable content for users. Its foundation is transparency, honesty, and a focus on delivering relevant and engaging experiences.

Core Principles of Ethical SEO

Navigating the digital landscape is so much easier when you embrace ethical SEO practices! They play a vital role in helping businesses maintain their credibility and integrity. By focusing on key principles like transparency, relevance, and a great user experience, businesses can achieve sustainable growth and enhanced visibility online. By following best practices in keyword research, content creation, and link building, you not only boost your search engine rankings but also foster trust with both users and search engines. Ultimately, ethical SEO is all about crafting valuable and engaging experiences for online audiences while staying true to ethical standards in the constantly changing world of digital marketing.

Quality Content:

Instead of keyword stuffing or misleading tactics, ethical SEO emphasises producing high-quality content that addresses users’ needs. This type of content not only engages but also establishes authority in your niche.

Transparency and Authenticity:

Ethical SEO practitioners ensure all practices, such as link-building or technical optimisations, are transparent and done with the user in mind. Techniques like “black-hat” SEO are avoided, which includes hidden text or irrelevant backlinks, as they can lead to penalties.

Long-Term Success over Quick Wins:

While unethical SEO methods might offer temporary gains, they often lead to penalties that can harm a website’s reputation and search rankings. Ethical SEO focuses on long-term strategies, such as building genuine relationships and creating sustainable growth.

User-Centric Approach:

At its core, ethical SEO aims to enhance the user experience by providing easily navigable sites, quick load times, and valuable content. This ensures that visitors have a positive and informative experience.

Why Ethical SEO Matters for Businesses

Ethical SEO helps businesses build trust with users and search engines. By following ethical practices, companies can avoid short-term penalties and gain sustainable ranking benefits. It also helps build a positive reputation, which is increasingly important in today’s digital world, where consumers value transparency and integrity from brands.


Common Questions About SEO

When it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO) and organic search, these are often common questions that arise.

How Long Does SEO Take to work

There is no hard and fast rule regarding how quickly SEO takes to work. While I often provided clients with a timeframe of 3 to 6 months over the last few years, we’ve observed industry developments that have shortened or lengthened that timeframe depending on different organisations and their industries. It’s also important to clarify what we mean when we talk about ‘working’. For me, this means that the SEO efforts must have an effect, but this can encompass different outcomes for various websites. For instance, improved keyword rankings, increased traffic, and enhanced conversions could all be part of SEO’s impact.

In most instances, the first thing you will notice is improvements in the keywords you aim to rank for. With the right effort, we can begin to observe key phrase ranking enhancements within a few weeks to a few months, depending on the work and the industry. However, this process can take longer based on competition, the existing website, and the volume of effort involved. Nevertheless, that doesn’t guarantee an immediate significant increase in traffic or conversions.

Most search engine users will only click on links on the first page of search results. Therefore, at month zero of your efforts, you may not be ranking at all for your desired search term, such as being ranked above the 100th position (higher than page 10). However, by month three, you could be ranking on average at position 23 (Page 3). While this demonstrates a fantastic improvement rapidly, it’s unlikely to lead to a significant increase in traffic because users only visit page 1 or perhaps page 2. So work must continue.

SEO takes a long time because the work done has to have a compounding effect. This takes time to produce the required volume of work so it can seem much slower than other marketing tools. However, the long-term benefits of SEO are fantastic.

Now that you know that it can take a few weeks, if not a few months, to start seeing effects, let’s highlight what can cause it to be longer or shorter.

  • Competitive Industry/Keywords: High competition for keywords can slow your SEO progress, as many organisations are vying for the same terms. A higher volume or quality of SEO work may be required to compete effectively.
  • Domain Authority: A well-established domain with off-page SEO efforts will see quicker results, while a new domain or one with minimal SEO work will take longer to show progress.
  • The Website: A poorly performing website in terms of speed, security, design, or usability can hinder SEO results. If your site isn’t optimised, search engines may not favour you, and a high bounce rate could negatively impact your rankings.
  • Previous Work: Sites with previous quality SEO work or foundational elements (e.g., service pages, an active blog) may see quicker results, while new sites or those with no prior work will take more time to build content and rank.
  • The Volume of SEO Work: Investing more in SEO will lead to faster results. Larger teams can cover more ground, while individuals may struggle to keep up with consistent, high-volume tasks like blogging.
  • The Quality of SEO Work: Quality is as important as quantity in SEO. Well-executed SEO with expertise and knowledge will yield quicker and more effective results, as search engines reward high-quality content.

What are the best SEO tools?

When it comes to improving your website’s search engine ranking, having the right SEO tools at your disposal is crucial. From keyword research to backlink analysis and website audits, there are a variety of tools available to help you optimise your website for search engines. Some of the best SEO tools include SE Ranking, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz, and Google Analytics.

These tools provide valuable insights into your website’s performance and help you make data-driven decisions to boost your online visibility and drive more organic traffic to your site. With the help of these SEO tools, you can stay ahead of the competition and ensure that your website is always working at its best.


SEO Tools & Organic Search Resources

These are some of the best SEO Tools and resources

  • Google Search Console: If we had to choose one thing, it has to be Google Search Console. This free SEO tool is perfect for all businesses and organisations looking to improve their organic search results. and help you understand what is working for Google and what needs improvements.
  • Analytics: Google Analytics, Fathom Analytics, Matamo Analytics
  • SEO Software: There are countless keyword ranking tools and content software to choose from. Some highly regarded ones include SE Ranking, SEMRush, Moz and Hrefs.
  • The Middleton Marketing Blog – I write about all sorts of ethical SEO tactics and tools, answering some of the more common questions in the field.

Start your SEO Campaign

I hope you now have a more thorough understanding of what is SEO and can see why it is an important part of any digital marketing strategy. Whether you need help with any element of SEO or the full suite of services, I am here to help. Contact me today, and let’s see how we can grow your business together.

For a bit more about me, my name is Lorna Middleton, and I am a freelance marketing consultant who assists ethical organisations in growing without compromising their values. I collaborate with companies, charities, and social enterprises to enhance their brand awareness through SEO, content creation, copywriting, and website improvements. My focus remains on delivering valuable digital services that are ethical, inclusive, accessible, and eco-friendly. I prioritise marketing ethics and devise a plan that elevates your brand while respecting both people and the planet.

If you care about doing business in an ethical and environmentally conscious way, we could be a great fit together. Get in touch, and let’s grow your organisation.

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