Basic search engine optimisation (SEO) is vital for your small business website to be able to compete against your competitors in the search market.

It doesn't just enable your website to be found and returned in searches, implementing best practices for SEO also helps to give your visitor a good experience on your website.

Search engines want to provide their users with relevant, quality content. If you aim to do that on your website in terms of design, structure, and content, you may be returned more prominently.

Search engines like secure websites which also give your visitors more confidence whilst browsing your information. Search engines like fast-loading websites which in turn means your visitors don't have to wait anymore. You can see how these SEO best practices aim to improve the browsing experience for your visitors. The better the experience, the more likely you are to be returned with a good placement in a relevant search.

Vitally important though are keywords, and terms relevant to your business and your content. All of these give search engines the context for what your website is about.

We are talking about the keywords and terms that your prospective audience would type into an online search. Once you understand what these terms are, they then need to feature in your website both in the build and in your content.

The use of these words and terms needs to be natural and informative in your content and easily readable. Search engines can see through (and penalise) keyword spamming.

Search engines have become highly sophisticated and can determine quality content; if your content is very complex, or provides little value to your visitor, you may not feature well in search results.

One additional factor that has become increasingly important is the user experience, as measured by Core Web Vitals. Search engines now place a lot of weight on metrics like loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability when determining search rankings.

It is also more critical than ever to create high-quality, valuable content for users. Search engines have become extremely sophisticated at detecting and rewarding substantive, informative content that provides a good user experience.

In summary, implementing basic SEO isn't just to get you found by anyone, it will help ensure you are found by the people specifically looking for what you offer and that you are providing them a with quality, user-friendly experience.