Search Engine Optimisation
The three pillars
SEO divides into on-page, off-page and technical work. On-page covers the title tag (the clickable headline, roughly 60 characters), the meta description (a ~155-character snippet that influences click-through, not ranking directly), heading hierarchy with one H1, keyword placement in body copy and URL, internal links, and descriptive alt text for images. Off-page means backlinks and brand signals: links from relevant, authoritative sites pass value; links bought in bulk or exchanged at scale are link schemes. Technical covers crawlability, clean URL structure, page speed, mobile-friendliness, HTTPS, canonical tags to resolve duplicates, 301 redirects for moved pages, and sitemaps.
Keyword research starts from search intent - informational, navigational, commercial, transactional - not from volume alone. Head terms are broad and competitive; long-tail phrases are specific, lower volume and often convert better. Map one primary keyword to one page to avoid pages competing with each other (cannibalisation).
Traps
- Claiming meta descriptions are a direct ranking factor.
- Confusing noindex (excluded from results) with nofollow (link value not passed).
- Believing anyone can guarantee a number-one ranking.
- Keyword stuffing, hidden text, and doorway pages - all black-hat.
- Forgetting that searchers, not keywords, are the target: intent beats density.
Rule of thumb
Write the title tag as primary keyword + differentiator + brand, keep it near 60 characters, and audit with the question: does this page answer the query better than the current top result?