Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

The world of search engines is very complex and volatile. New partnerships are formed almost on a daily basis, and the methodology used to index and rank web sites is constantly changing.

A lot of search engines that existed only a few years ago have disappeared. Despite the complexities, there are a few basic, never-changing rules to follow:

Choose the Right Keywords

Keywords are the words or phrases that your potential customer or client will enter into a search engine to find your site. Before writing any text for your site you should make a list of your most important keywords.

Ask friends and relatives which keywords they would use to find your type of business. Do not prompt them for the words but let them tell you what they think are the right words. This can be at times a big surprise as customers might not use the same words as you would for your search.

Start with your most obvious words or phrase (word combinations or phrases are always better than single words - most surfers soon realise that entering a single word will return results that are just too broad).

We will include your most important keywords in the page title. This is the easiest, yet most overlooked way to attract search engines to your site. How many times have you visited a site with the page title "Homepage" or worse, "Untitled Document"? Very few people will use a search engine to search for your company by name. They will search for the products or services you provide. The search engines place high importance on the page title.

Create Keyword-Rich Pages

Once you've created your list of keywords they should be "scattered" throughout your text. Your keywords should be more prominent at the start and finish of your page, and sprinkled throughout the rest of the page body. We will also include those in the links, headings and image "alt" tags. Before you write your text ask us for the short tutorial on how to write good website copy (only available to signed up clients).

Meta Tags

Meta tags are special code contained within the head of an HTML page to assist search engines index your web site. The most important of these is the description tag. This is where we enter a summary of what the page is about. Many search engines will include this summary when displaying the results of a search. We will include your important keywords in the description tag. Because the description tag will be read by humans, it should tempt to "get the click" by offering a compelling description of your page.

The other meta tag your Web site will have is the keywords tag. In days gone by, search engine optimisation consisted of stuffing as many keywords in this tag as possible. These days that no longer works. Because of widespread abuse some search engines ignore this tag altogether. However, we will include your most important keywords, being careful not to trigger the search engine's Spam filter.

So, this was just a quick introduction to the real basics of search engine optimisation. There is much, much more to consider. Too much to list here but we will discuss this at the beginning of the project.

Our code of practice

Is to hand submit your site to the major free search engines and directories and to follow their rules for submission. Submitting to the hundreds of minor, little known engines is largely a waste of time, except for those that are specialising in your field of trade.

In recent years, many search engines and directories have moved from "free" to a "pay for inclusion" or "pay per click" business model.

Does paying for your listing mean we won't have to optimise your site for the search engines? It is actually quite the opposite, just because you paid for the listing does not mean you will be at the top with a high ranking. It only means that you will be included in their directory.

In the "pay-per-click" engines, where your web sites ranking depends on how much you are prepared to pay per click can cost a fortune and is a completely different bag of tricks. Again pay per click is a very intensive and costly subject matter and too much to write about here. We can discuss your options on the phone once the website has been created.

Submitting to Search Engines

As part of our standard service we will advise you on how to submit your website to the Search Engines and Directories, including:

Please Note: We do not use the services of websites that promise to submit your website to "hundreds or even thousands" of search engines. This involves an automated submission to "Free For All" websites. We have learned from past experience that these submissions will bring you nothing but spam, also called junk email. It is also being actively discouraged by the major search engines. If this happens too often with your website the search engines could even blacklist or ban your web site from their search results.

Which Search Engines and Directories are the best?

This question gets the web site designers all worked up. Some believe it is Yahoo, others believe it is Google. Over the last six months the search engines have re-grouped themselves, lost and made allegiances, the bigger search engines bought little ones (their competition) and are now letting these small search engines die or are "depreciated" like Alta Vista and All The Web.

Directories are different from search engines, as they get edited by real human beings, whereas search engines use software known as "spiders" or "robots" (bots) to index your site.

Yahoo are extremely picky about the websites they accept into their directory. One speculates that only about one in four or five submissions gets accepted. Yahoo likes to see lots of high quality content. If your site is too heavy on sales or affiliate programs then your chances of getting in are slim. Another drawback is that paying for your submission does not guarantee that your site will be listed. It only guarantees that an editor will look, read and review the website. Editors can decline paid submissions and you will not get a refund of your money!

The Open Directory Project is a directory similar to Yahoo, but does not operate as a stand alone facility. The Open Directory Project supply their directory to many partners. The editorial policy is very similar to Yahoos', but the editors are actually volunteers.

Google has become the dominant player in the search engine industry. A good ranking in Google is absolutely vital. Submissions are still free, but getting listed can take quite some time. Google will index to your web site, if it's already listed in the Open Directory Project, who they use to supply directory results. (This has now changed, but we do not yet know the full extend of this.)

Summary

The most important part when planning your web site is the content.

Lots of high quality, original and informative content related to the theme of your site will:

1. Give you a better chance of being accepted into directories like Yahoo and The Open Directory Project, which in turn will improve the chances of a good listing in Google.

2. It will encourage other sites to link to yours and thus increase your "link popularity", a very important consideration, as many search engines, particularly Google, take the number plus their ranking and content quality of incoming links into account when ranking your web site. (Stay away from "free for all linking" and "link farms", when in doubt ALWAYS ask your web designer first.)

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