Search engine optimisation is definitely a long-term strategy, as search engine optimisation may take anywhere from 4 weeks to 16 weeks for results to show. However, when that waiting period is over, search engine optimisation usually pays off quite handsomely! Here are some search engine optimisation best practices:
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Write excellent copy (text not images).
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Have your meta tags reflect that copy.
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Have your alt tags reflect that copy.
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Optimise for keywords that are directly related to your site.
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Build a keyword anchor text rich site map.
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Make file names that have your keywords in them.
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Submit your site to relevant directories.
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Get your site listed in the Yahoo directory.
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Get links from other relevant websites (even non-relevant may help).
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Build links to your site slowly.
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Add new content to your site.
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Develop deep websites so that your visitors stay longer on your site.
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Avoid having frames in your site.
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Avoid having an entirely flash driven site.
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Do not use white on white text (hidden text).
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Do not submit to link farms.
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Do not use cloaking.
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Do not have mirror websites (duplicate websites) as only one tends to get listed.
Please note that many people believe that their website's appearance in Google and other search engines is automatic. However, it is important to realise that most search engines can take up to six months to appropriately index and rank a new webpage.
Online Marketing - Search Engine Optimisation Australia
Search Engine Optimisation - This is when you optimise your website and tweak it around the keywords/phrases you are interested in, for the purpose of increasing the ranking of your site on search engines. The higher your ranking on search engines, the higher the number of visitors your site receives. The more visitors to your site, the higher the chance of converting visitors into buyers.
Furthermore, Search Engine Optimisation also known as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), is the process whereby web pages are improved to increase their organic search engine rankings. The outcome of an SEO campaign is to create high organic rankings for the specific and appropriate keywords / keyword phrases, ultimately creating an increase in targeted traffic to the website.
Search Engine Optimisation Services Offered
Achieving better search engine results begins with a well-defined keywords list and a website that is 'optimised' for search engines. The easier it is for search engines to find and index your content, the faster your site's search engine ranking will begin to improve.
We offer two Search Engine Optimisation services:
Search Engine Optimisation Report - Detailed Website Analysis: This report provides an expert analysis of your entire website and delivers an 'optimisation' action plan that outlines how to best configure your website structure and content for maximum results. Learn more about our Search Engine Optimisation Report - Detailed Website Analysis.
Beyond the optimisation of your site, you need an ongoing campaign to increase and maintain your website's position.
Complete Search Engine Optimisation Program: This program is for businesses looking to capitalise on their website optimisation. In addition to keyword and onsite optimsation, we implement a campaign to increase your website's search engine value through a structured, quality link-building program over a minimum 6 month period. Learn more about our Search Engine Optimisation Program.
Why Implement A Search Engine Optimisation Service For Your Website?
A beautifully designed website without Search Engine Optimisation is only half finished. Unless SEO is included as part of the package, you risk an expensive failure launching your online business.
Websites cannot survive without traffic. Unless there is a steady flow of visitors to convert into customers, particularly early on, the website becomes a financial liability very quickly.
The key to Search Engine Optimisation is that it theoretically pays for itself. SEO creates more traffic. More traffic means more sales. More sales mean a faster return on investment.
Search engines provide the majority of traffic to websites across the Internet, regardless of the core theme of your website. If your site cannot be found and properly indexed by the leading search engines, you are missing out one of the best opportunities to drive targeted visitors to your website and therefore potential revenue.
Features of an Effective Search Engine Optimisation Campaign
A good SEO campaign includes the following three aspects:
Keyword Analysis
Onsite Optimisation
Offsite Optimisation
Keyword analysis is the process by which you analyse and select keywords based on traffic, competition and relevance. If you are not selecting the proper keywords, then the rest of the optimisation is really a waste of time. The text and theme of the site needs to revolve around these keywords and very much define how the site appears to both users and search engines.
Onsite search engine optimisation deals with changes made to the site itself - the tweaking of your website to make it more search engine friendly. This involves making changes to the text content, architecture of the site, HTML code, and page layout. This includes the title tag, meta tags, alt tags, anchor tags, H1 H2 H3 tags, sitemaps, bold and italicised fonts. This is the most commonly understood aspect of SEO, but only accounts for about 40% of a site’s rankings. This is where your keywords are placed throughout the code to show the search engines what your site is about.
Offsite search engine optimisation (or Link Building / Link Aquisition) is basically the number of links that point to your website from other websites. This is the key to improving your site's link popularity on search engines and dramatically increasing your search engine rankings and placement. Offsite search engine optimisation mainly involves increasing the quantity and quality of inbound links to the site. Approximately 60% of Google’s current ranking algorithm is based on inbound linking. Your goal is to maximise your website's exposure on the Internet and have as many sites as possible linking back to your site.
Keyword Selection Criteria
The best keywords have the following qualities:
Strong relevance to your site: terms for which you have content to support
Relatively high search volume: terms people are actually searching for
Relatively low competition: terms with a small number of search results
Keywords that have the following characteristics should be avoided:
Highly popular and overly competitive keywords. You end up with terms so broad that hundreds of thousands of other sites are competing for them and you don't stand a chance of getting a top ranking.
Keywords that do not fit the theme of the site.
Keywords that are too generic
Very narrowly targeted or niche keywords. You end up with terms that are so specific that no one actually searches for them and a top ranking is wasted because no one is there to see it.
Link Aquisition
“Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at considerably more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; for example, it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages ‘important.”- Quote from Google’s website
Link building, as part of the offsite optimisation process, is the process of finding related/relevant websites and receiving a link from them to you. If two sites have equal keyword relevance, the site with the most ‘link popularity’ will appear higher in the list. Links are now far more powerful in SEO than they were a few years ago and it is important to emphasise that keywords alone will not place you at the top in Google.
Link popularity is one of the most important factors search engines use in determining where you will rank in the search engine results for your keywords and keyword phrases. Popularity is judged by how many websites link to you and how popular those sites are themselves. Another important factor for a search engine is how relevant those websites are to your industry. A website that has lots of links from well regarded businesses operating in a similar industry shows a search engine that your business is receiving recommendations from reputable industry partners. As such, a search engine will be more inclined to recommend such a web page to its searchers by putting that web page at the top of its search results.
Search Engine Optimisation Useful Definitions
Search Engine – The website or online application that allows you to enter a word or phrase and returns a
(long) list of the most relevant websites that contain your request. The most popular search engines include
Google, Yahoo and MSN.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – The activity of adjusting webpages through a number of methods to
increase the chances of appearing prominently in the most relevant search engine results for your product.
SERPs – Search Engine Results Pages
PageRank (PR) – (a feature and trademark of Google – it is always written as one word with the ‘R’
capitalised). A score between 0-10 reflecting Google’s assessment of the relevance or trust held within a
website. This score contributes to the algorithm process and the final appearance within the search engine
results.
White Hat – A search engine marketer that abides by the Google Webmaster Guidelines when determining
website strategies.
Black Hat – A search engine marketer that chooses to use SEO tactics not endorsed in the Google
Webmaster Guidelines. We do not advise or endorse black hat tactics.
