Search Engine Optimisation
Search Engine Optimisation: All you need to know
Search Engine Optimisation is the process of formatting website pages so that their contents are ranked highly for chosen keywords, or to be precise, key-phrases. This involves the following steps:
- Make a list of key-phrases that represent your business
- Use industry tools to discover alternatives
- Research the number of times these key-phrases are searched
- Research the number of competing pages
- Assess the top ranking sites - are they optimised?
- Filter your list based on your findings
- Start again from the top if necessary
- Record benchmark ranking values for before/after comparison
- Write informative copy, placing your key-phrases in:
- page title
- meta keywords
- meta description
- h1 tag
- h2 tag
- anchor text
- copy
- Upload your search engine optimised page
- Wait while rankings settle
- Record new rankings
- Compare new rankings with benchmark
- Tweak where necessary
Search Engine Optimisation is a specialist skill that takes time and dedication. There is no ‘magic bullet’ or cheap alternative. Anyone who tells you any different should be treated with suspicion as shortcut techniques can result in being blacklisted by the search engines.
We follow Google’s Webmaster Guidelines to the letter and only engage practices that adhere to the spirit of this document.
For results-based search engine optimisation.
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Beware of cheap SEO
When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Think about it. There are billions of web pages on the internet. If it were that easy, we’d all be number 1 on Google, wouldn’t we? And it’s funny how these cheap SEO merchants always want their money up-front, isn’t it?
The truth of the matter is, it’s not easy. There is no quick fix where search engine optimisation is concerned. And no guarantees. There is absolutely no guarantee Google will list you, let alone in the top 10.
Strangely though, the answer is pretty simple. Google likes good, well-structured content, presented in a way the internet was designed to work. So that’s where we always start. And if we can’t get you the result we’ve agreed, you don’t pay us. Even simpler.
Let’s look at that bullet list in more detail, shall we?
Make a list of keyphrases
We start by asking you what you believe your potential customers type into Google to find your products or services. After all, it’s your business, you know it better than anyone else, right? Right. And it doesn’t hurt to ask your customers, friends, family either.
Oh, while we’re here, let’s just sort something out. When we talk about search engine optimisation and Google, we do so for a reason. Research shows that 93% of internet sessions begin with a search and Google regularly accounts for 60-80% of those searches. So Google is the most important search engine, although we acknowledge there are others. Generally speaking, what works for one will work for the others.
Use SEO industry tools to discover alternatives
We then feed your suggestions into our search engine optimisation black box and it spits out a few more suggestions that perhaps we hadn’t thought of which may prove to be more successful.
Research the number of times key-phrases are searched
No point being number 1 for a keyphrase for which no one ever searches!
Research the number of competing pages
Being realistic we need to know how many other pages come up when this keyphrase is typed into Google.
Assess the top ranking sites - are they optimised?
Sometimes we find that whilst there may be loads of competition they’re actually not very good. This being the case we’re on to a winner. On the flip side, sometimes we come across a keyphrase that is so tightly wrapped up there’s little or no chance of competing.
Filter your keyphrase list based on your findings
Start again from the top if necessary
Sometimes this judicial editing leaves us with a very short list. This being the case we may have to start all over again.
Record benchmark ranking values for before/after comparison
Really rather important this one, and yet so many people forget. How else will you know if we’re successful?
Write informative copy
To quote Google:
“Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.”
Don’t be concerned with being devious and finding ways to trick the search engines. It may work for a while but when you get found out you may find you’ve been removed from the search engine results pages altogether. We regularly report competing websites to Google if we discover foul play.
The only thing we need to pay special attention to is the placement of keyphrases. We know this is where Google looks for them:
- page title - found in the title bar at the top of the window
- meta keywords - hidden in the code and not visible on the web page
- meta description - ditto
- h1 tag - the main headline of the page (there should only be one)
- h2 tag - the supporting headline of the page
- anchor text - the text which is used as a link
- copy - main bulk of the text
Upload your search engine optimised page
Well, it won’t make top 10 on your hard drive, will it?
Wait while rankings settle
A new website can take up to 8 weeks or more to settle in the search engine results pages. Existing sites take less, depending on how often Google visits. If you have a website that hasn’t changed in years this won’t be very often.
Record new rankings and compare with benchmark
It’s time to revisit those rankings and see how we’ve done, and how much more work there is to do.
Tweak where necessary
It may be that we have done enough at this point to get you where you want to be in the search engine results pages. If not, there are some other approaches to try. For example, every link to your website from another website is a vote of confidence - the more you have the higher you’ll rank. However, it’s important to do this ethically. Google say:
“Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.”
We have had customers whose websites were linked with completely irrelevant sites, including lesbian dating. Nothing wrong with dating a lesbian we say, but not really relevant to precision engineering.
The sort of link building you should engage in is with relevant sites and directories, making sure that not all of the links point at your home page but that at least 40% of them go to deeper pages (this is known as deep linking ratio).
Call the experts
Or you could just leave it to us. Let us do what we do best, leaving you to do what you do best - running your business.
