SEO is part of your Story
There’s something deeply personal about crafting a website — a sense of storytelling that parallels the writing of a novel. Every page, every image, every piece of content weaves together to form chapters of a story we wish to tell. In the digital age, your website is your book, your novel to the world. It’s where you reveal who you are, what you stand for, and the value you bring. And just as a book must captivate from the first page, a website must be optimised to capture the attention of its readers and search engines' invisible audience.
When I first understood this, it felt like my approach to SEO changed entirely. I wasn’t just optimising for rankings — I was writing a story, ensuring each chapter resonated with the human visitor and the algorithms that shape our online visibility. Crafting an optimised website then becaoes an act of creative expression and precision, much like composing a well-thought-out plot. It’s about bringing order and structure, while still maintaining an air of curiosity, making sure that what you’re presenting is both beautiful and discoverable.
Technical SEO: The Framework of Your Story
In the same way a good novel relies on a strong narrative structure, your website’s technical foundation needs to be solid. Think of Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools as the editors of your manuscript, guiding you on how to fix errors and improve readability (for search engines, of course). Without this framework, even the most beautifully written book can go unnoticed.
You also need Google Analytics — the tool that helps you understand how readers (your website visitors) engage with the story you’re telling. It tracks which pages resonate, which fall flat, and where readers drop off. It’s like receiving real-time feedback on your novel, allowing you to adjust your pacing, tone, and direction as you go.
Keyword Research: Finding the Language of Your Audience
Every good book has a language that speaks to its readers. In SEO, this language is your keywords — the words and phrases that connect you to your audience. Much like selecting the perfect words for each sentence, finding the right keywords helps your website rank for the terms your audience is searching for. Tools like Semrush, Moz and Google Keyword Planner are your thesauruses, helping you discover the most effective terms to weave into your narrative.
On-Page SEO: Polishing Each Chapter
Just as a novel’s chapters need to flow seamlessly, so does your website. Each page should be optimised with meta titles and descriptions that are not only engaging but keyword-rich. These are like the chapter titles of your book, setting the stage for what’s to come. Each heading and subheading (H1, H2, etc.) creates a sense of structure and flow, guiding your readers through your content while also helping search engines understand its importance.
Internal Linking: Connecting the Storylines
Much like an intricate novel with interconnected subplots, your website’s pages should be linked to one another. Internal links are the threads that tie your chapters together, helping users and search engines move fluidly through your content. It’s about building bridges, ensuring that one page leads naturally to the next, allowing the reader to fully immerse themselves in your story.
Content Optimisation: Writing with Purpose
In any good book, the story must serve a purpose. On your website, content optimisation means ensuring that every piece of text, image, and video serves both your reader and the search engines. High-quality content should address your audience’s questions and provide them with valuable insights. If SEO is the technical backbone, content is the heart and soul — the part that breathes life into the entire experience.
Incorporating structured data is like providing footnotes for your book, giving search engines deeper insights into your content, making it easier for them to promote your story in the form of featured snippets and rich results.
Mobile Optimisation: Ensuring Accessibility Across All Platforms
Just as a book must be readable in all formats, your website needs to be optimised for mobile devices. Google’s mobile-first indexing prioritises websites that deliver a seamless mobile experience, much like a novel that flows perfectly, whether it’s in hardcover or e-book form. Ensuring your website looks and functions beautifully on a mobile screen is critical in capturing your audience’s attention, no matter where or how they access your story.
Link Building: Building Credibility Through Collaboration
Every author knows the value of a good review, and in the world of SEO, backlinks are your reviews. High-quality links from reputable sites tell search engines that your content is trustworthy and valuable. Like a glowing endorsement from a fellow writer, backlinks enhance your credibility and boost your visibility.
Monitoring and Evolving: A Story that Grows
A good story evolves, and so does your website. Using tools like Google Search Console and Analytics, you can monitor how your audience interacts with your content. Adjust your strategy as needed, and keep refining your site, knowing that SEO is a journey, not a one-time effort. Like a novel that matures through each draft, your website will improve as you consistently optimise, test, and adapt.
SEO Checklist
Technical SEO:
Set up Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
Install Google Analytics for traffic and behaviour tracking.
Submit an XML sitemap and create a robots.txt file.
Optimise your website for speed and fix crawl errors.
Keyword Research:
Conduct thorough keyword research with tools like Semrush.
Identify primary and long-tail keywords to target.
Map keywords to relevant pages on your site.
On-Page SEO:
Optimise meta titles and descriptions.
Use headings (H1, H2, etc.) to structure your content.
Add internal links to guide visitors through your site.
Optimise images with alt text and compress them for faster load times.
Content Optimisation:
Create high-quality, keyword-rich content.
Use structured data (schema) to help search engines understand your content.
Regularly update your content to keep it relevant.
Mobile SEO:
Ensure your website is mobile-friendly.
Test site performance on mobile using tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
Link Building:
Build high-quality backlinks from reputable sites.
Disavow harmful or spammy links that could hurt your SEO.
Monitoring and Analytics:
Regularly review traffic and behaviour data using Google Analytics.
Adjust your strategy based on performance metrics.
Track keyword rankings and improve pages that underperform.
Much like a novel that resonates with readers long after the last page is turned, a well-optimised website leaves a lasting impression. It becomes a story worth revisiting, a digital experience that continues to engage and inspire. This process is not just about optimising for search engines — it’s about telling your story in the most impactful way possible, ensuring it reaches the hearts and minds of those who need to hear it.
