SEO
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving your website’s visibility within the “natural” results of the search engines for specific words or content.
The “natural” results appear on all the major search engines. Within the results the search engines rank various types of web content including web pages, web sites, video, images, maps, PDF’s etc based on their relevance to the users search. The “natural” results tend to appear on the left hand side of the search engines results and are separate from the “paid” ads or “PPC”.
Why SEO?
The ultimate aim of SEO is to generate better traffic (in terms of volume and quality) to your site from people who are actively searching for products or services that match your own. The higher your website is ranked for core ‘keywords’ or content the more visitors it will receive from the search engines and the more business you will do.
When developing a strategy to achieve higher rankings within the search engines it is important to understand that search engines like Google are simply conduits via which people find information. The search engines are simply trying to make this process as efficient as possible.
The search engines really have one goal when ranking sites. They want to return a list of the most respected and relevant sites for a search. The search engines success relies on users thinking that the results they are served (through typing in search terms / keywords related to their subject) are the best possible results for what they are looking for.
If you think about your customers and the type of information they are looking for first, then it is highly likely that you will fulfil the criteria that the search engines use to positively assess a site and you will rank well within their SERPs.
What are the Search Engines looking for?
- Website Crawlability – neat sites, that users will find easy to use
- Content Relevance – sites with unique and respected content that users will find beneficial
- Popularity and Reputation – sites which have been endorsed by other relevant and popular sites
Sites that perform well for all of the above generally have good visibility in the SERPs. Plus because they typically fulfil their users’ needs, they are also sites which make a valuable contribution to their owners businesses.
Success through Balance
Effective SEO is a balance. The constituent parts have their own challenges but they are not in themselves that difficult to effect. It is the balance of the parts, the competitive landscape in which your site sits and the way the search media change their view of what makes a site valuable that makes SEO challenging.
