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Everyone talks about, everyone has an opinion about it, so what is Search Engine Optimisation and how can it help your website? Let’s start at the beginning, why are search engines so important?
Very simply you can think of the internet as a massive network of servers (or computers), each server containing many websites, each independently hosted with a connection to the internet. The problem is that there is so much information available it is difficult for an internet user to find new websites and information. The internet user has three options, they can firstly find out about a website by word of mouth or via advertising, secondly they can follow a recommendation or a link on an existing website they visit or thirdly they can use a search engine which allows them to search specific keywords and topic based criteria to find new sites. Search engines have made information assessable to anyone in the world with an internet connection.
Search engines revolutionised the internet, they allowed users to search and find information about any topic from a global community. Without search engines the internet would be a very different place. It would be almost impossible to find websites; we would have to rely on recommendations and word of mouth. Search engines made the internet an investable and commercial business environment which allowed business owners to sell their products and services to a much larger audience. With all commercial growth comes investment, search engines saw a very big opportunity and began to invest in new technologies. This in turn resulted in a larger level of growth and more investment. Today the result is a massive, global marketplace, where small traders can compete with national high street brands. There are billions of websites, containing unique content with information that is fully accessible. Anyone can learn about anything using the internet. Search engines are the reason for the massive success and growth of the internet, they made an amazing technology completely useable.
Search engines are the easiest way to communicate with your businesses target audience, allowing you to sell your products or services directly to potential customers who are searching for your type of business. So what is Search Engine Optimisation? Search engine optimisation is the process of assessing an online business website, understanding how that site needs to be marketed and optimising the site and its content to maximise the levels of site visitors, enquiries and sales. So how is this achieved?
Search engine optimisation must follow three simple stages, discovery, on site optimisation and search engine marketing.
- The discovery period is used to analyse the website, assess the business and its potential marketplace, identify business competition and create a marketing strategy to maximise online exposure and popularity.
- The onsite optimisation period is where the site’s code, meta data and content are adjusted to make sure the site’s content is targeted to its specific marketplace. So every page of the website will appear under appropriate keywords and search terms which are relevant to the business and page content within each of the major search engines. It’s possible to change the title and description which appears within the search engines. These changes are undertaken by using the information that was accrued during the discovery period.
- Search engine marketing promotes and increases the popularity of the online business, which increases targeted and qualified traffic levels. Search engine listings will increase in ranking which will in turn increase conversion and visits by potential customers. This is achieved using a variety of techniques and a bespoke marketing strategy. The techniques used will vary depending on the requirements of the business. Common practices include link building, directory submission, article and press submission, social media marketing and RSS and news syndication.
Search engine optimisation is an essential part of any online business wishing to complete online. It forms the backbone of a successful marketing strategy. Can you afford to not get involved ?
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