I would like to hear your thoughts on how to improve the SEO of my website

[Shopclicks]

Despite everything your site is really good and well-liked by Google.

The problem is, the site is liked by Google for all the low volume search terms.

The popular ones that a lot more people use, not so much.

For example:

can a bailiff force entry
what can bailiffs take
can bailiffs take my car

I'm not sure what is 'really good' about the site?

 

[UKSBD]

The problem is, the site is liked by Google for all the low volume search terms.

The popular ones that a lot more people use, not so much.

For example:

can a bailiff force entry
what can bailiffs take
can bailiffs take my car

I'm not sure what is 'really good' about the site?

I see it top 20 for all those phrases, even though the phrases don't even appear on the page.

1st one is top 7, phrase doesn't appear on page, canonical tags are messed up, title is poor, headers are poor.

Page appears to be crawled well (today), change title, header, add a good anchor text link to page and it will probably be top 2 or 3 within a week.

 

[fisicx]

When I built a new site for a chap in London who did something very similar we focused on a number of popular searches. Enquiries went up and he converted most of those. Ended up employing 2 calls handlers it got so busy.

The words on the page were kept very simple and were designed to give confidence a solution could be found.

 

[UKSBD]

When I built a new site for a chap in London who did something very similar we focused on a number of popular searches. Enquiries went up and he converted most of those. Ended up employing 2 calls handlers it got so busy.

The words on the page were kept very simple and were designed to give confidence a solution could be found.

I could be wrong, but this looks like one of those projects where an SEO does barely anything, the site ranks better and the SEO gets all the credit.

 

[fisicx]

I could be wrong, but this looks like one of those projects where an SEO does barely anything, the site ranks better and the SEO gets all the credit.

It was mainly down to research and choosing the right keywords to target. Everything else was building a highly converting site. Google liked what we did and rewarded us accordingly. SEO is mostly about answering search queries with authority.

Google has always said: write for people not the search engines.

Towards the end and before the owner moved overseas it was earning thousands per day. I did ok out of the deal.

 

[Shopclicks]

I could be wrong, but this looks like one of those projects where an SEO does barely anything, the site ranks better and the SEO gets all the credit.

I think most SEO practitioners talk out their proverbial. I certainly wouldn't advise the OP to engage an SEO 'specialist'.

 

[Talktime]

I came here for this SEO advice and was recommended to consult an SEO expert, and now I am not.

I'm told on this board that content creation is not my strong suit, and my writing sounds more like AI or Chat GPT, which is a concern. This was never an issue during my law degree before Chat GPT was invented.

I have also been busy digging into SEO and have discovered that the search market is in flux. On May 1, Google and others introduced AI-generated content, sometimes without clickable links to the source. Google might be trying to remonetise Adwords instead of giving accessible business to "tradesmen" when Google prefers to be paid.

Going forward,

1. National Bailiff Advice's articles need to be redesigned to answer the question posed in a search query in a single sentence, expand on the answer afterwards, cite the authorities, and then give a Call to Action.
2. Re-write the website's articles in simple English and more engaging.
3. Change the colour scheme.
4. Declutter the home page.
5. Add testimonials and case history links.
6. Include schema and meta tags on every page and let the search crawler decide.

Does anyone have any other comments to add to this list?

 

[fisicx]

Your number 1 point needs preceding with doing some market research. This will help focus the site.

You don’t aim to answer the query with a single sentence. You aim to be the authority on a set of related search queries. This may need a long page. It might not. You may need multiple pages each one covering a nuance.

You really need to consider using a CMS. There are so many benefits to doing so.

And #7: add analytics to the site.

SEO is not in flux. For most it’s business as usual. Those getting in a state are those who try to game the system. If you follow the rules it’s just fine.

But it’s not SEO you need to focus on. It’s marketing. Get this right and SEO tags along as a useful by product.

 

[UKSBD]

I'm told on this board that content creation is not my strong suit, and my writing sounds more like AI or Chat GPT, which is a concern.

It's not that your writing is wrong, it's more that you are not writing the things that people would search for.

What is the purpose of the site, why would people come to it?

 

[UKSBD]

But it’s not SEO you need to focus on. It’s marketing. Get this right and SEO tags along as a useful by product.

He does, but not in the typical SEO way more the develloper way.
ie.
He needs to get all those URL's mapped out, so if he does move to a CMS he can get the redirects set up correctly.

He also needs someone who knows what they are doing technically (again, mainly the URL's, redirects, etc.)

He also needs to get the malware of the site (404 page)

 

[fisicx]

I'm told on this board that content creation is not my strong suit, and my writing sounds more like AI or Chat GPT, which is a concern. This was never an issue during my law degree before Chat GPT was invented.

Writing for a law degree is very different to writing for a stressed family whose car has just been towed away. The whole writing style needs to focus on their exact needs. Nothing wrong with long copy (which test have show converts better) but it need to use the words and phrases they expect to see. You also need consider things like the gunning fog index and even the use of emotive language.

Writing for effect isn't easy.

 

[UKSBD]

I came here for this SEO advice and was recommended to consult an SEO expert, and now I am not.

What you need is SEO advice not an SEO (If that makes sense).

 

[fisicx]

Is the purpose of the website to provide advice or to generate leads? Two totally different things with different writing styles, structures and layouts.

 

[fisicx]

#8: add a proper menu

#9: add full contact details

#10 sort out the form!

 

[Talktime]

Here's the revised list.

1. National Bailiff Advice's articles need to be redesigned to answer the question posed in a search query in a single sentence, expand on the answer afterwards, cite the authorities, and then give a Call to Action.
2. Re-write the website's articles in simple English and more engaging.
3. Change the colour scheme.
4. Declutter the home page.
5. Add testimonials and case history links.
6. Include schema and meta tags on every page and let the search crawler decide.
7. Add a proper menu

I have looked into Analytics, and public consensus on other boards shows that installing analytics does not improve search rank. It would add another layer of work when I can use the time for better-quality content writing and servicing clients.

I'm unsure what you mean by adding a CMS to the site. I understand a CMS is a Client Management System, and I already have one, Lawbase.

The site's purpose is to give free advice and generate leads. I have used this model since 2006. By giving advice to potential clients, I build trust, and they contact me for further advice or take action. I have tried single-purpose sites to generate leads (a blind site such as this: https://bailiff-advice.uk/stop-bailiffs-now/?gad_source=1), but they just empty the advertiser's bank account with click fraud). I have learned organic clients are much better quality and more likely to convert. Hence, I use free advice to attract clients to the site.

Can you show me an example website with a proper menu you have in mind?

Adding full contact details backfires on me. My email is besieged with people wanting free advice, and my phone rings with single mums in top-floor flats stressing over council tax bailiffs, the kind of client that has no value. This is why I charge £35 because it gives me better quality clients who dont baulk at instructing me and leave the rest to benefit from my free advice on the website.

I've made a mockup form split into separate stages, but I prefer the original compact minimalist form.

Paged form: https://www.dealingwithbailiffs.co.uk/forms/view.php?id=91005


Current form: https://www.dealingwithbailiffs.co.uk/forms/view.php?id=16812

 

[Shopclicks]

articles need to be redesigned to answer the question posed in a search query in a single sentence, expand on the answer afterwards,

The answer to a search query, needs to be contained within your content. There is nothing wrong with answering a query with a small paragraph and expand on that further. Your title tags (h1, h2, etc. should be single sentences.

I have looked into Analytics, and public consensus on other boards shows that installing analytics does not improve search rank. It would add another layer of work when I can use the time for better-quality content writing and servicing clients.

Search Console would be more helpful to you than Analytics. If you can't measure it, you can't improve it.

I'm unsure what you mean by adding a CMS to the site. I understand a CMS is a Client Management System, and I already have one, Lawbase.

In this context CMS means Content Management System (Wordpress or other open source CMS)

 

[fisicx]

I have looked into Analytics, and public consensus on other boards shows that installing analytics does not improve search rank. It would add another layer of work when I can use the time for better-quality content writing and servicing clients.

Analytics will tell you which pages are visited, bounce rate, conversions and other useful data. it has nothing to do with SEO or ranking

I'm unsure what you mean by adding a CMS to the site. I understand a CMS is a Client Management System, and I already have one, Lawbase.

CMS = Content Management System. EG: wordpress. Which isn't as you described in an earlier post

The site's purpose is to give free advice and generate leads.

What percentage of your visitors convert? It may be you don't need to worry about SEO, all you need to do is improve conversions.

Can you show me an example website with a proper menu you have in mind?

Pretty much any site has a proper menu. Look at the top of this one as an example.

I've made a mockup form split into separate stages, but I prefer the original compact minimalist form.

How was the original minmalist? You have 20 fields!

The new form has 10 sections!

Form design isn't easy. It can take a lot of work to make it effective. I have a form on one on my plugins that took around 6 months to get just right. Loads and load of testing required.

If all you need is an email to start the process, just get that. You then reply and get them to tell you about the problem.

Or you use conditional fields. For example: Have you paid the bailiff anything Yes/No. If yes you have a conditional field to ask how much and when. Or you ask if a vehicle was taken Yes/No. If yes, a conditional fields display to get the vehicle details.

Improving conversions is far more productive that worrying about SEO.

 

[Graham Mac]

There's a lot of good advice in this thread, it's a long one and I'll admit I've only skim read it so apologies if I repeat what others have said.

I did see a few people mention the canonical and also WordPress and potentially moving the site across.

From a technical SEO perspective, you DO need to remove the canonical tag which is pointing back to your homepage. I suspect this is is a fixed line in your header template and can be removed from all affected pages with a single deletion.

You should move to WordPress, as already mentioned by someone else, your assumptions about it are wrong. You can get hosting with SSL with a Namecheap for about £30 for the whole year, whenever I take on a new client I normally do this for them and it can save a fortune. The page render time is an SEO task to improve if it's poor by default.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vxN4jbHuoqHu23Q8_HoLje_hFVQEbeS4ZvT1IQRY134/edit?usp=sharing I've downloaded your current keyword rankings as per Ahrefs just to give you an idea of where your current low hanging fruit opportunities are.

As others have mentioned, if you don't already, then you should get yourself onto Google Analytics and Search Console. GSC will allow you to see the exact search queries people are using to find your pages along with the clicks and impressions, you can use this data to then re-optimise your pages using the correct data rather than third party tools such as Ahrefs.

Moving to WordPress will make it a lot easier to sort out your technical issues, things like your website is using www but the non-www version does not redirect https://i.imgur.com/xM468c7.png your canonical is using www so this is taken care of but it does mean that some of your backlinks are pointing at the non-www version (e.g. https://cpdonline.co.uk/career-guides/how-to-become-a-bailiff/) so you're losing link equity that way.

You have other issues too such as some pages have multiple H1 tags and whereas this isn't necessarily a bad thing, SEO best practise would be to have a single one and have your main keyword in it.

I'm also seeing some broken links in places, again not good for technical SEO.

Your website is aged, seems like April 2018 it was first registered and according to Ahrefs you seem to have weathered many Google update storms quite well with no sudden dips in your traffic graph or abnormal backlink acquisition peaks or troughs.

In short, I think the age has helped your site and Google has a certain amount of trust with you but if you fix the technical issues and then use data to optimise your pages based around what you can prove people are actually searching for you should see further improvement.

Take into consideration what others are saying here too with regard to your layout and design. Know which device your audience are using (likely mobile/tablet in a B2C environment) and design your UX around that whilst making sure not only do you meet the user intent but also provide them with your ultimate Call To Action in a way that works for both you and the user.

 

[Graham Mac]

Analytics will tell you which pages are visited, bounce rate, conversions and other useful data. it has nothing to do with SEO or ranking

Just a small point but the recent leaked Google data shows this does indeed seem to be taken into consideration.

 

[fisicx]

Just a small point but the recent leaked Google data shows this does indeed seem to be taken into consideration.

I’ve read a summary of the leaked documents and the effect is very minor. For no other reason in that it can be easily manipulated.

 

[Talktime]

Here is my shortlist of work to be done on National Bailiff Advice.

1. National Bailiff Advice's articles need to be redesigned to:

i) answer the question in a single sentence in a search query.

ii) then expand on the answer and cite the authorities
iii) use simple English and make it more engaging
iv) then give the Call to Action.

1. Add burger menu
2. Change the colour scheme
3. Declutter the home page
4. Add client feedback, case histories and 'about me' pages in the footer
5. Include schema and meta tags on every page and let the search crawler decide

 

[fisicx]

No. Don’t do any of that.

First thing to do is develop a marketing plan. Identify target clients and the topics that need resolving. Might even be necessary to create personas.

Then create articles that answer the topics.

You can’t create a list of tasks until you fully understand the results of your market research.

Marketing and website development can’t be planned like a legal process. It’s a bit of a shifting set of goalposts that change as the project develops.

For example, you mention a burger menu. How do you know this will be the most suitable method until you have created your internal navigation?

 

[fisicx]

And use a CMS! For your site to be effective you need to move away from the static html template you are using.

A CMS will automate much of the development process.

 

[mahad]

And use a CMS! For your site to be effective you need to move away from the static html template you are using.

A CMS will automate much of the development process.

That's good for the future for SEO, but it needs to be known that there is always a learning curve if they're not familiarised with CMS yet, there's a learning curve involved in using any new platform, so they'll need to invest some time in understanding the CMS's interface and features.

 

[fisicx]

That's good for the future for SEO, but it needs to be known that there is always a learning curve if they're not familiarised with CMS yet, there's a learning curve involved in using any new platform, so they'll need to invest some time in understanding the CMS's interface and features.

That no different to anything in life. And a CMS won’t make any appreciable difference to SEO. What if will do is make content management easier which does affect ranking

 

[rajeshk]

@Talktime - I've taken up a similar task on my blog and worked with a couple of handy SEO agencies & pickedup some insights. Please let me know, if you still looking. Happy to help.

Technical is more about - how google sees your page. The structure - h1, h2, ...
Off-page is how humans perceives the articles.

I see you use wordpress, try Yoast SEO plugin [free version will do] - optimize the content for keywords & readability. Keep track of domain authority, keyword rankings by checking every 30 days.

 

[Local Burak]

Schema markup and rich snippets are missing

 

[Wasgrou]

I have the same problem as your website. I use AI to generate articles, but the traffic is not very good. so I also want to know how to write the content of my articles.

 

[fisicx]

I have the same problem as your website. I use AI to generate articles, but the traffic is not very good. so I also want to know how to write the content of my articles.

Stop using AI. Learn marketing and create content that adds value.

 

[SEO Lady]

I have the same problem as your website. I use AI to generate articles, but the traffic is not very good. so I also want to know how to write the content of my articles.

Just don't copy and paste! Generate the content then overwrite with your own words.

We all know how to spot AI content, and most of the content has been generated elsewhere by someone in the same business as you.

Heavy Human Edits = Unique Content that no one else has written.

 

[MickelCL]

You need to redesign your website to make it user-friendly. Then, update the content and add keywords.

 

[essafaizal]

Just don't copy and paste! Generate the content then overwrite with your own words.

We all know how to spot AI content, and most of the content has been generated elsewhere by someone in the same business as you.

Heavy Human Edits = Unique Content that no one else has written.

after you wrote all this, you can ask AI to recheck and review your article. Is it high quality content and already has a minimum standard with EEAT guideline? It will improve your article, and don't ask AI to revise it!

And add some point, from your perspective, make your content unique

Also, put your own image or picture, AI can't do this, and the reader will appreciate your content with a real image

 

[LLHOST]

1) Clear on-page structure (H1–H3, schema markup, internal links)
2) Fast loading speed and mobile-friendly design
3) Natural keyword usage in titles, meta descriptions, and first paragraphs
Search engines reward content that keeps users engaged and fulfills their intent better than any competitor.