Chris Anders - Internet Strategy Consultant

Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) - Improve your Website Ranking in Search Engine Results

If you have ever performed a search in Google you'll have observed that a simple search can often reveal a lot of results! For example a search for "London Restaurant" brings up close to 2.75 million results. If you are managing the website of a restaurant in London and want anyone to find you how on earth do you compete against so many other sites?

Search Engine Optimization (or SEO for short) is all about helping people find your site. Like any other marketing process it starts off with you spending time thinking about who your customers are, what they are looking for, how they look for services and what your competitors are doing.

Searches on Google, Yahoo and other Search Engine - How well does your site perform?

The words people use to make searches on Google or Yahoo are commonly referred to as "keywords". The aim of a Search Engine Optimization exercise is to perform as well as possible for particular keywords - in the above example if you came first for "London Restaurant" the chances are that you would get a lot of people visiting your site! Previous research suggests that if you can get to the #1 spot you are likely to get around 40% of people clicking through to you. This falls rapidly as you appear lower in the results and if you are not on the first page it is dramatically lower (e.g. the study referred to showed that only 0.66% of people clicked through if you were first on the second page).

Coming #1 for a search term in what is often referred to as "natural" or "organic" search results typically delivers dramatically more traffic than via paid for sponsored links where even a well optimised ad and landing page often only get only a few percent of people clicking through.

So what does this mean in terms of a search engine optimisation strategy?  Many organisations make the mistake of blindly choosing a keyword and then deciding that they want to be number #1 in the search results for it. For example a charity might decide it wanted to be Number 1 for the term "childrens charity". This can be a huge mistake!! If anyone could develop a site and get it to #1 for any keyword they chose the Google index would be pretty meaningless and after a while we'd probably all stop using it - clearly not in the search engine's interest!  Search Engine Optimisation also requires more than simply adding a few keywords in strategic positions on your website - a consultant can talk you through the issues you need to consider and then either implement a strategy for you or empower you to take action yourself.

Why do I need an SEO Strategy?

"First do no harm"

Even if other online marketing techniques may be more appropriate for you, a basic understanding of search engine optimization is essential for any organisation.  Many organisations however often rush to complete a website with little consideration for how they plan to market it.  If you don't stop to think about how people are likely to find you online they most likely won't be able to!

Another common mistake many organisations make is to, often inadvertently, push the name of their organisation to search engines rather than information about what your organisation actually does or the products it offers.  If you work for a well known brand that may be okay to some extent but if you are a small company that very few people have heard of it's the type of services or products that you offer that people will be interested in and perform searches for.

Search Engine Optimisation isn't a science but if you don't follow the basic principles your site will most likely perform poorly and you are unlikely to see a return on your investment.  A poorly thought through and unoptimised site can also have implications if you advertise with search engines on programmes such as Google Adwords.  Search Engines operate a quality check for the pages your adverts link to - optimised pages that take into account keywords that people actually search for tend to perform much better and have a higher quality rating.

Increase your website ROI

Search Engine Optimisation can take time to take effect.  If you can make a longer term commitment to it then the results can be significant. Coming number #1 for a popular keyword in search engine results can generate significant volumes of traffic to your site which, unlike PPC programmes, you don't pay for!  It's important however to be aware of the effort that might be required to perform better and of the risks of relying wholly on an SEO strategy - search engines often change the way they rank sites and so SEO is not alas something you can perform once and forget.

How can a consultant help?

Search Engine Optimisation strategies need to be carefully thought through and developed over time.  If you are running a small business or charity the expense of outsourcing all of this can sometimes be prohbitive.  Search Engine Optimisation is only one of several online marketing strategies. For some organisations SEO can pay huge dividends but for others other forms of marketing may be more suitable.

Engaging a consultant can help you in a number of ways as follows:

• SEO is only one of many online marketing strategies.  A consultant can take into account the market niche you operate in, competition within it, your resources and strategy and decide to what extent SEO is likely to deliver a return on investment for your organisation.
• There are both technical and some more straightforward techniques within SEO.  If you are operating on a budget, a consultant can explain the key principles to you and enable you to at least take on some of this work yourself.  If you also have web development skills you may be able to take full control of your SEO strategy.
• There are pitfalls to SEO and risks associated with certain techniques or heavy reliance upon this marketing approach.  A consultant can talk you through these issues and help you decide an overall strategy.

Interested in finding out more?

If you would like to find out more about the services I offer please feel free to contact me via this website.