You may have heard of the expression Search Engine Optimization or SEO before but have wondered what it is and what impact it has on the success of your web site.

It is essentially the process of improving ranking in search engine results. With the correct work and strategy you can have your web site show higher than others when a person types specific search terms into a search engine like Google.

Obviously the higher you show up on page one of the result screen the more hits to your web site you are likely to receive.

The rewards are clear and money spent on SEO could save further expense on paying for advertising. However, SEO is opten taken to such a paranoid extreme it is very easy to get caught up in it and become a slave to the system. SEO professionals are always trying to figure out the way search engines are grading the relevance of a web site for it's results. They will charge you a lot of money to keep on top of it. Sometimes it may work and pay for itself, other times it is not worthwhile. Certainly, depending on the web site, any available money could be better spent on other forms of marketing and promotion.

How can I improve my web site's natural ranking?

There are a few areas that are completely in your control which will influence how well your web site does in the search engine. All of the following can be done with a little hard work on your part (or ours!):

• Contact any web sites online that are relevent to your product or service and ask them to place a link back to your web site. The link should ideally contain words that describe your product or service. Search engines will naturally assume your site is popular and this helps enormously in the rankings. The more links you have the better. Ideally these would be one way links but placing a link back to their site from your own is better than nothing.
• Use a domain name which includes a key word for your product or service. Search engines will give extra value to domain names that include the seach terms. For example, WokingWebDesign.com will perform better than AdriansCompany.com, all other things being equal.
• Writing original and keyword rich content and keep it fresh. It helps if you write articles on your web site and update them periodically. You don't have to go over the top but search engines do generally like to see that a site is being kept fresh and alive. Articles should include relevent words that others would expect to see in relation to your product or service. (In fact, this article I am writing right now is a good example!). If you have a web site based on a CMS (Content Management System) then updating web sites is incredibly easy and could even be done by mobile phone when you are on the train!

We will offer SEO advice for free as part of our service. The depth of our initial and ongoing involvement in this area is completely up to you. Contact us for more details.