How can my customers find me online?

Search engines are now the number one place to go when looking for information. And that applies not only to consumers, but to the B2B world too: research into products, services, suppliers and potential business partners now largely starts with Google and other search engines.

For companies, this makes appearing near the top of the search results particularly important. Yet many businesses find that their PR content is difficult to discover online. So what can you do about it? The key is search engine optimisation, or SEO.

What may seem like a mysterious science is actually far less complicated than you might think, as these five tips show:

1. Choose the right keywords

Choosing the right keywords is fundamental to making your marketing or PR content easy to find. The key is to put yourself in your target audience’s shoes: what words or combinations of words would a potential customer type into a search engine?

But be careful: keywords should be used strategically and in moderation. There is no benefit in squeezing them into every paragraph several times. Overusing keywords can actually result in a poorer Google ranking. A better approach is to identify two or three core keywords in advance that best reflect the topic of your content.

2. Put your keywords in the right places

We have already established that stuffing a text with keywords is not a good idea. But where should your most important search terms appear?

First and foremost, in the headline and teaser – the short introductory text. Your primary keyword should feature in both. This has another advantage: anyone seeing your content in the search results can immediately tell what it is about.

Search engines also look specifically at subheadings and image captions when assessing content. Captions should therefore do more than simply state the name of the person or people pictured. Instead, they should provide a meaningful description of what the image shows.

3. Give your content a clear structure

Several pages of uninterrupted text are not only difficult for people to read; they also make it harder for search engines to scan the content. Google can index content more easily and efficiently when it is clearly structured, using elements such as subheadings, images, graphics and information boxes.

Bold text and bullet points can also help. But moderation matters here too. Highlight too many words and you may make certain elements more visible to a search engine, but the result can quickly become confusing for the reader. It is all about finding the right balance.

4. Focus on relevant, high-quality content

Content quality is another crucial factor when it comes to improving your visibility in search results. Search engines favour content that is current, relevant and high quality. For companies, there is therefore real value in regularly creating content around emerging topics in their industry.

Duplicate content, on the other hand, can have a negative impact on search visibility. If the same or very similar content can already be found elsewhere online, Google may see little additional value in it. As a result, the page may appear so far down the search results that users are unlikely to reach it.

The aim should therefore be to create distinctive, original content that offers something new. Of course, some overlap is unavoidable: companies operate alongside competitors who may well be covering the same topics. The important thing is to bring your own perspective and value to the subject.

5. Keep your writing clear and accessible

Clear, easy-to-understand language can also help your content perform better in search. If a sentence stretches across several lines or is packed with abstract nouns and passive constructions, you are making things unnecessarily difficult – both for your readers and for search engines.

A useful rule of thumb is: one idea, one sentence. Ideally, use straightforward language alongside the most common industry terms – particularly those you have identified as your target keywords.

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