Search Engine Optimisation
Search engine optimisation (seo) is not something mysterious! It is all really quite obvious when you think about it. Businesses want to be found for terms that are relevant to them. Search engines want to yield results to surfers that are relevant to them. Search engines do not reveal how they determine the ranking of their organic listings.
However it seems fairly obvious that if you have a website that has what people want then search engines will want to rank your site highly. Sounds easy? Maybe not that easy ….but certainly logical!
We know that search engines look at a number of factors:
- On your web page (on page factors)
- Not on your web page (off page factors)
On Page Factors
On page factors are those things on your web page that the search engines take into account in determining how your page should rank (although remember that these factors alone are not enough to ensure decent ranking).
Content
The top on page factor is content. The quality and relevance of your content will be one of the most important factors influencing your position in search engines. It is also important to remember that content and how it is set up on the page is one of the crucial determining factors in converting visitors to customers.
Coding
The underlying coding of your page can have an impact on the ability of search engines to rank your page.
The rule of thumb here is the cleaner you can keep your coding the better it is for search engines. If you adhere to web accessibility guidelines, that’s good for search engines too.
Off Page factors
The off page factors can be summarised as how highly rated your site is by other sites the search engines think are important. Easy to say, not so easy to do!
If you build a website that has good quality information on it and is valued by your industry and customers, it is likely that over time your site will increase in popularity. This will happen because businesses and people who see your site and rate it, will link to your site. Now you can wait for all of this to happen, or you can take a proactive approach to building this reputation.
The big thing to watch out for here is the quick and dirty approach – if you pay for your links through a link exchange, you will find you have a number of links to your site and you will be running the risk of having your site penalised by the search engines.
One way to build popularity of your site is to write articles that are useful for your industry and submit them to online directories.
Issuing online press releases is also useful in building popularity.
Sounds easy! Well, again it isn’t rocket science. You can do all of this in-house or we can help you. There is benefit in working with people who have been working with search engines and optimisation for several years…and of course getting results.
We will conduct a key phrase analysis for you to find out what terms people are searching for in your industry and how many competitors there are for those terms. We will optimise pages for you for all on page factors. We will build high quality incoming links to your site and we will create, optimise and submit online articles and press releases for you.
We will also monitor the results and make recommendations on a monthly basis.
Some success stories:
Example 1: Specialist interview coaching business
Challenges
The company was not ranked highly by Google for relevant search terms
Solution
Xanthos conducted a competitor analysis to determine a search engine strategy. Xanthos then optimised pages for 3 key search terms and implemented a link popularity campaign.
Results
No 1 ranking was achieved for all 3 terms on Google
Turnover doubled in 4 months.
We can do this for you too. Call us now!
Example 2: Specialist publishers
Challenges
This was a start up business and needed to ensure that their website was found on the Internet.
Solution
Xanthos conducted a key phrase analysis to determine a search engine strategy. Optimised 2 initial pages followed by a further 9 pages. Implemented a link popularity campaign.
Results
The company now holds first page rankings for its optimised terms.
Increased page views from 41,000 in Jan 2006 to 105,000 in Jan 2007. The company has also achieved record turnover since then.
We can do this for you too. Call us now!
Example 3: Landscapers
Challenge
An established landscaper with a an established website could not be found on the search engines.
Solution
Xanthos conducted a key phrase analysis and determined a search engine strategy. The site was optimised for a relevant key phrase.
Results
The company achieved top rankings across the search engines and business enquiries subsequently increased.
We can do this for you too. Call us now!