Search Engine Optimisation – The Basics: What is it?
We live in a time where more and more people are navigating the web via computer, smartphones and tablets to research information before doing everything from making purchases to redecorating homes and planning a vacation. Therefore it is more important now than ever before to develop a search engine optimised website that allows your content to be easily discovered by those looking for it.
If you are wondering what benefits you stand to gain from strong SEO strategies then here are just a few of many:
- Just moving from a #1 ranking on Google to a #9 ranking can increase your website’s traffic by as much as 1,500%
- A high ranking from Google works wonders to reinforce your credibility and reputation in the eyes of search engine users.
- SEO is measurable online, and it’s an ideal way to determine which of your marketing methods are working the best and which ones are working against you.
For some, SEO might as well be a foreign language. There are so many rules and regulations to abide by that it can quickly become overwhelming trying to understand it all. Fortunately, this guide is here to help you identify the basics of search engine optimisation and give you some ideas for starting points.
Enhance Your Vocabulary
There are a lot of words that get thrown around when referring to SEO and if you don’t know what they mean you could end up quickly confused. Take some extra time out to learn about anchor text, meta tags, long-tail keywords, social bookmarking and external linking. Just knowing what these terms mean can save a lot of hassle and headaches later on down the road.
Keep Your Strategies Clean
When it comes to search engine optimisation there is white hat SEO and black hat SEO. Knowing the difference between the two can prevent a website from being penalized by Google. Typically, white hat strategies are smiled upon by search engines and have the most effective positive results. Black hat strategies, on the other hand, often consist of keyword spam and links that may bring initial results, but it does nothing to nurture the reputation of your website and can even lead to your site being removed entirely from search engine results.
Search Engine Optimization is a Long-Term Commitment
Like most industries, search engines are constantly growing and changing. In the last year alone Google introduced a number of algorithm updates that impacted search results. It is wise to keep in mind when developing an SEO campaign that algorithms are always subject to change and what works now may not work 6 months or a year from now. In some cases, business and site owners find it more effective to outsource SEO help from someone with greater knowledge of search engines. If you choose to outsource, make it a point beforehand to research the company or individual’s qualifications and confirm that your investment will be worthwhile.
Sally is a marketing guru and has set up and run several businesses. Drummond LLP is an example of a new website which needs to be taken into account when looking at PageRank.
