If you're new to SEO, it can seem like a complicated mix of keywords, rankings, technical settings and Google algorithms.
The basics, however, are fairly straightforward.
Website SEO is about making your website easy for search engines to understand and useful for the people you want to attract.
When your website is well structured and provides helpful, relevant information, search engines have a better understanding of what your pages are about and when they may be useful to people searching online.
What Is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation.
It is the process of improving your website so that search engines can discover, understand and potentially rank your pages for relevant searches.
SEO includes several different areas, including:
- Website content
- Keywords and search topics
- Page titles and descriptions
- Headings
- Website structure
- Internal links
- Technical performance
- Mobile usability
- External links and website authority
You don't need to understand every technical aspect of SEO to get started.
Building a website with good SEO foundations is the most important first step.
How Do Search Engines Work?
Search engines such as Google use automated systems to discover webpages and understand their content.
Search engines can follow links between pages and websites, analyse the information on those pages and use a range of signals to determine which results may be useful for a particular search.
When someone searches for something, the search engine then selects and ranks results based on many different factors.
This means having a website doesn't automatically mean every page will appear in search results.
Your website needs to provide useful information and make it possible for search engines to understand what that information is about.
Start With Your Customers
Good SEO starts with your customers rather than search engines.
Think about what your customers want to know and what they are likely to search for.
For example, someone looking for a local builder might search for:
- Builders in their city
- New home builders
- House builders
- Home renovation services
- Specific types of building projects
These searches can help you identify the topics your website should cover.
Your goal isn't to create pages for every possible keyword. It's to create useful pages that genuinely answer the needs of your potential customers.
What Are Keywords?
Keywords are the words and phrases people use when searching online.
For example, someone looking for information about creating a website might search for:
how to build a website
or:
website builder for small business
Keywords can help you understand what people are looking for and what language they use when searching.
However, SEO isn't about repeating a keyword as many times as possible.
Use relevant words naturally and focus on creating content that answers the searcher's question.
Create Useful Content
Your website needs useful content for both visitors and search engines.
Every important page should have a clear purpose.
A service page should explain the service. A product page should explain the product. A guide should answer a particular question.
Useful content should:
- Be relevant to your audience
- Clearly explain the topic
- Answer common questions
- Provide useful information
- Be easy to read
- Help visitors take the next step
Avoid creating pages simply because you want more content on your website.
Give Every Page a Clear Topic
A page should have a clear subject that can be understood from its heading, content and other page information.
For example, a page about website design should focus on website design rather than trying to cover website building, SEO, ecommerce and every other website topic at the same time.
Clear topics help visitors understand the page and make it easier for search engines to interpret your content.
Use Clear Page Titles and Headings
Your page title and headings help explain what your page is about.
A page should have a clear main heading, followed by logical subheadings where appropriate.
For example:
H1: Website SEO Basics
H2: What Is SEO?
H2: How Do Search Engines Work?
H2: What Are Keywords?
This structure makes longer pages easier to read and understand.
Create Search-Friendly URLs
Your website URLs should be simple and descriptive.
For example:
/website-seo/website-seo-basics/
clearly indicates what the page is about.
Avoid unnecessarily complicated URLs containing random numbers or information that doesn't help describe the page.
Your URL structure should also reflect the organisation of your website where appropriate.
Link Your Pages Together
Internal links connect pages on your own website.
For example, this page could link to more detailed information about:
- Keyword research
- On-page SEO
- Technical SEO
- Local SEO
- Website content
Internal links help visitors discover related information and can also help search engines understand the relationships between pages on your website.
Don't add links simply for SEO. Link when the destination page provides useful additional information.
Don't Forget Mobile SEO
Your website needs to work well on mobile devices.
Visitors should be able to:
- Read your content
- Navigate your website
- Click buttons
- Complete forms
- View images
- Find important information
A website that is difficult to use on a phone can create a poor experience even if its content is otherwise good.
Check your website on different screen sizes as part of your normal website review.
Website Speed Matters
People expect websites to load quickly.
Large images, unnecessary features and poorly optimised website elements can contribute to slower loading times.
Good website SEO therefore includes paying attention to website performance.
You don't need to become a technical expert, but choose a website setup that allows you to create a fast, reliable website and avoid adding unnecessary features that could slow it down.
What Is On-Page SEO?
On-page SEO refers to improvements you make directly to your webpages.
This can include:
- Page content
- Keywords
- Headings
- Page titles
- Meta descriptions
- URLs
- Internal links
- Images
- Content structure
The aim is to make each page clear, useful and relevant to its intended topic.
What Is Technical SEO?
Technical SEO covers aspects of your website that help search engines access, understand and process your website.
It can include things such as:
- Website speed
- Mobile usability
- Crawlability
- Indexing
- Site structure
- XML sitemaps
- HTTPS
- Structured data
Some technical SEO can be managed through your website builder, while more advanced requirements may need technical assistance.
What Is Local SEO?
If your business serves a particular area, local SEO can help you reach people searching for businesses like yours in that location.
Local SEO can include:
- Location-focused website content
- Relevant service and location pages
- Accurate business information
- Your Google Business Profile
- Local links and references
- Customer reviews
For a New Zealand business, clearly identifying the areas you serve can help both customers and search engines understand where your business operates.
SEO Takes Time
SEO isn't usually an instant process.
Search engines need to discover and process your website, and your pages need time to establish visibility.
Your results can also depend on factors such as:
- Competition
- Search demand
- Website quality
- Content
- Website authority
- Technical setup
- How established your website is
Rather than expecting immediate results, focus on building a useful website and improving it consistently.
Avoid Common SEO Mistakes
Some common mistakes include:
- Stuffing keywords into your content
- Creating pages with little useful information
- Copying content from other websites
- Creating multiple pages targeting the same topic unnecessarily
- Using unclear page titles
- Ignoring mobile users
- Forgetting internal links
- Publishing outdated information
- Buying links or using other shortcuts designed to manipulate rankings
Good SEO should improve the website for your visitors as well as search engines.
SEO Is an Ongoing Process
Your website doesn't become "SEO finished" when it goes live.
As your business develops, you may add new services, products, locations and content.
Search behaviour can also change, and your competitors will continue to improve their websites.
Regularly review your website and look for opportunities to improve existing pages, answer new customer questions and create useful new content.
Start With the SEO Basics
You don't need to become an SEO expert to build a search-friendly website.
Start with the fundamentals:
- Understand what your customers are searching for.
- Create useful pages around relevant topics.
- Give every page a clear purpose.
- Use descriptive titles, headings and URLs.
- Link related pages together.
- Make your website easy to use on mobile.
- Keep your website fast and technically sound.
- Continue improving your content over time.
These basics provide a strong foundation for more advanced SEO work.
Learn More About Website SEO
This guide covers the foundations of SEO. From here, you can explore more specific topics including website SEO, keyword research, on-page SEO, local SEO and technical SEO.
If you're building a new website, start with our guide to creating a website and make SEO part of your planning from the beginning.
