What is SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)?
- SEO is the term given to describe the marketing technique of making a websites pages visible to the search engines for search terms that are most relevant to each page in order to increase its chances of being ranked in the top results of a search engine.
- The aim of Search Engine Optimisation is to see a user type a specific keyword into the search engine search bar and have your website appear as a top listing on the results page.
- The majority of search engine users, use Google’s search engine (over 90% in Ireland). The ultimate objective of web search engine marketing is to appear and rank high (organically) on their results page.
- This involves optimising the website’s content and Meta Data and providing the appropriate amount of natural links. Link building SEO is a very popular form of optimisation.
- The use of Social Media is now a crucial element of building your profile with the search engines. The nature of social media is around up to date relevant information being shared between internet users and thus providing current relevant content as search engine results.
- SEO also helps create exposure and promote online brands.
How SEO works?
Search Engine Optimisation is the process of improving both the volume and quality of traffic to a website from relevant search engines via “organic” means such as using the right, optimised keywords (keyword search engine ranking).
SEO considers what people search for in terms of keywords and content. SEO content is what gets increased rankings.
Carrying out Search Engine Optimisation on a site involves the following:
- Carrying out a Keyword analysis and then applying the results to the Meta data (HTML tags) and the website content (SEO content).
- Ensuring the presentation of the site is appropriate in terms of colour, text formats and that the site will adapt to all browsers, and screen sizes.
- Structure – is the site user friendly? Is it easy to navigate around? Is the call to action functions easily visible?
- Fixing any other problems that could hinder a search engine from picking up on the site , e.g. Flash, Frames.
- Adding the appropriate amount of natural links – avoiding link farms altogether (this is called black hat SEO). Link building SEO falls under white hat SEO.
In order to achieve the web search engine marketing campaign it is important that the Meta Data, which is a series of HTML tags, is optimised accordingly. The following are some of the basic examples:
Selecting relevant keywords: When selecting keywords you must always think of the search terms your customers will use on search engines to find you.
Title Tags: Should be short, relevant and contain keywords for the page you are trying to optimise. The Title tag is important for search engines as the page title indicates to the search engines the subject of the page.
Description Tags: Description Tag should describe the content of the page. The description is important as search engines may use this to provide site information on the search results page (SERPs). Description should be customised for each page describing your business and products you offer etc.
Heading text: Important to have heading text and to include your keywords in headings as search engines pay particular attention to this. It enables search engines to establish what the web page is about.
URL Structure: URLS should be well structured easy to remember and short. They should always be relevant to the page’s content.
Linking: Links are one of the most popular ways for people to find new sites and so the more quality sites that link to you the better. It can also have a dramatic effect on your search engine ranking. Never use link farms.
Benefits of SEO
- SEO marketing services helps increase visibility of your site making it easier for customers to find you on search engines.
- Drives more traffic to your site.
- Sites rank higher up in organic listings on search engines with the help of optimisation.
- Increases sales & web conversion rates.
- Keyword services such as Google Adwords Keyword tool allows for targeted traffic and in turn a better chance of turning targeted traffic into customers.
- Global/Regional perspective – by having targeted keywords or phrases to target your audience, SEO ensures that your website is found on a global scale by those who require what it is that your offering
- High Return on Investment.
- Long term positioning – web search engine marketing is a long term and cheaper solution to retaining a higher organic position.
- More cost effective – an SEO campaign requires a minimal amount of capital but in return your website will receive a massive amount of exposure if carried out correctly.
- Results are measurable – if you have optimisation in place on your website it is simple to quantify the results of the campaign. By viewing your status report (something all search engine marketing professionals should provide) there will be a noticeable difference in the web conversion rates, visitors to the site etc.
- Constant Promotion – by having a quality SEO campaign in place means that your website is on view 24/7 365 days a year.
- Faster loading of webpage’s – if files are properly optimised and validated they will in turn be smaller and mean less server requests and quicker download times.
- Increased accessibility – if your site has been properly optimised it will also more likely be user friendly. If a site is user friendly, there is a higher chance of keeping visitors on the site for longer.
- Cross browser compatibility – if your site has been properly optimised there is a better chance of it being compatible on all browsers, giving it the chance to be viewed properly by a greater amount of people.
Overall, the ultimate benefit of having a solid SEO campaign in place is that it is proven to have results and most definitely increases visibility of your website, which in turn increases web conversion rates. Also, it is an inexpensive far simpler method of seeing significant results in brand visibility, sales and higher organic rankings.
WebResults.ie offers a range of Search Engine Optimisation services and will happily recommend to you which services will get the best results for your business. Contact us now with any questions you may have.
- Website Optimisation
- Market Research and Competitor Analysis – getting to know your market
- Keyword Analysis
- Writing Search Engine Optimised (Keyworded) Content
- Adding Keyword rich resources – RSS feeds and topic related articles
- Link Building/Creating inbound linksReporting/Web analytics (Measuring performance of website)