Search engine optimisation is a process that rests on the pillars of three concepts. The content, structure and links of your site are what make your SEO plan fly or fall. Each is as important as the other, although the order in which you deal with them can effect how difficult your site’s SEO is.

The easiest place to start is with structure. Without a good structure to begin with, search engine optimisation is a bit of an uphill struggle. SEO professionals know a lot about how to develop site architecture to gently guide search engine spiders.

Most businesses, however, begin with content, due to having a structure already in place. Content is an easy place to start when you have an established site. It’s easier to think about polishing up existing content, writing new content and placing keywords in strategic areas as a starting point for SEO. Once some grasp of the site’s state of content has been made, a rethink can be done on structural issues.

Links are often thought about toward the end of the first optimisation of a site. This is mostly due to the difficult nature of developing inbound links for a site. In many ways, it can seem futile to approach other sites for links before the site is ready to confront the search engines.

What you get when you look at the three pillars of SEO, however, is the inextricably intertwined nature of all three. Without some knowledge of the desired content of your site, it’s impossible to plan your site’s structure. Without targeted content, inbound links have less effect. Without a clear structure, content doesn’t have a chance to shine and internal links lose their potency.

Although all three must be considered in the initial plan for your SEO, work has to begin somewhere. Structure is a good place to begin if you can. After thinking about the content you wish to feature on your site, a basic structural plan should be drawn up. Even a flow chart will contribute a lot in clarifying how your site’s structure should work. This should highlight important pages and give you some idea of where to direct your internal links.

Next, content needs to be considered. If you have had the chance to consult your SEO expert from the start in designing your site’s structure, your content can be done from scratch as well. The major keywords for your campaign need to be distributed throughout the site within genuinely engaging content, and it can be helpful to talk to your SEO consultant about content provision. In this stage, internal links can also be laid out, using the appropriate keywords as link anchors.

All three pillars of SEO need to be considered together at the beginning of your optimisation, regardless of whether you’re optimising an existing site or a planned one. Seeking out an SEO expert before your site is built can help you immensely when it comes to your site’s optimisation, and you can talk to our experts at SEO Consult.

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