Search Engine Optimisation
Search engine optimisation or SEO for short is one of several effective ways of attracting business through the internet.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) engineers web pages so that they can be found by visitors that use search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN to find what they are looking for. How high a site will rank depends on a web site pages relevance. There are a number of factors which give a web page relevance, two of the most important being design and content. Search engines look for relevant information and it is important that the website shows this.
If a website is badly designed not only will it turn visitors away it will also damage your search engine rankings. Good web design helps the search engines and your visitors to find what they are looking for. Search engines find out information about your website by using programs called 'spiders'. These programs are basic and they prefer easy to navigate text based sites. If a website contains elements such as messy code, navigation or scripts a spider can easily be detered from properly retrieving information. If this happens a website's ranking will drop significantly.
As content is important then so should be the quality of any descriptive text. Web sites containing sales based text are aimed at selling a service to the customer, but will only be partially effective at drawing web traffic. To compensate for this a website should also contain other usefull information and resources which will increase the potential of attracting visitors to your web site. Large sites with many elements have a greater potential for ranking under a wider range of keywords.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is not just about content. There are a multitude of other factors that can and will influence the position of a web site. An SEO engineer will spend time analyzing these factors in order to determine what action is needed in order to help raise the website's ranking. SEO engineer's will also determine which combination of keywords will best serve your website based upon their initial research findings. As individual businesses often vary then so do the suitable keywords that are available. Search engine optimised websites require regular monitoring because the search engines often change their ranking methods.
A word of caution
When search engine optimisation was in its infancy there were few companies offering the service. Some say that back then optimisation was easier. This was definetly the case for spammers. The 'spammers' are individuals who attempt to artificially raise a website's search engine ranking by using deceitful methods. As time went by search engines such as Google became increasingly good at detecting those sites that spammed. There are many methods a spammer will employ and if detected a search engine will often penalise the website in some way, usually by lowering the positioning. In extreme spam cases websites have been know to lose their search engine listing completely.
The difference between a good and bad search engine optimiser? A good SEO engineer will not employ spam tactics and do their best to abide by the terms and conditions set by the search engines.
A bad SEO engineer will use underhand methods and try their best not to get found out. Such methods still used are;
1. Cloaked pages - These are keyword stuffed pages that are invisible to everyone except the 'spiders'. These pages often redirect the spider to another page. Although this method is still used, search engine's are getting a lot better at detecting them. Other SEO's will also report any website that looks like spam.
2. Text stuffing - These pages do not redirect but they contain a lot of text that is hidden from the viewer and are there purely to increase search positions. They deceive any visitors because often the actual visible page looks nothing like the search engine description.
If an SEO company offer their services to you make sure they are not using any questionable methods by asking them how they propose to optimise your website. Most search engines now have information on what they consider good / bad optimisation practises. If you think that an SEO company is breaking a search engine's terms and conditions then look elsewhere. There are plenty of SEO companies around that work within these guidelines and still deliver good results.
Avoid those search engine optimisation companies that say they have 'a special relationship' with the search engines and make promises of guaranteed first place positions. Some companies will try and hard sell you their services. Check them out thoroughly before handing over any money, especially credit card details.
If you have any questions or concerns with regards to search engine optimisation then feel free to contact us as we are more than happy to offer advice.