Search Engine Optimisation takes into account the factors used by Google, Bing etc. when they position websites in their natural listings. The natural listings form the main body of a Search Engine's pages. Paid listings are separate to natural listings. In a typical Google or Bing search, you can see the paid listings in the right column and in the yellow box at the top. The 'natural' listings are straight from the main index. Algorithms are used to determine the position of a web site in a Search Engine directory.
We want to be right up there where we can be seen. Nobody will know we're there if we're way down on page eight! It isn't possible to say for certain exactly which measures SE's use to grade sites. They keep it a closely guarded secret!
So as time has gone on, a sophisticated industry has evolved to get the most from the listings. On the one side you have SE's like Google deliberately filing technology patents in many different areas. This makes determining their ratings methods more complex. And then you have an industry built around SEO. This uses empirical testing and measuring of various factors to determine which ones are the most important.
The objective is to maximise both 'on-page' and 'off-page' optimisation. There are also 'off-web' factors such as demographic and geographic information - but we have no control over this area. (We've covered 'Off Page' factors in a separate article, as there wasn't enough room here.)
SEO 'On-Page'
It's possible to change the pages of your website to make them 'friendly' to the Search Engines. It's not too complex - it just requires setting your website up the right way. Doing things such as: Keyword seeding (in the right places and the right amounts), using H1 and H2 header tags (and to some extent meta-tags) and internal linking.
Don't worry if you don't understand the technical terms. The bottom-line is, that while it is the easiest to control, it has the LEAST affect on your ranking. To be blunt, some would say it hardly has any effect at all. Search Engines used to credit on page factors in the past. Not any longer though.
If, however, off-page has been optimised, (and there are many inbound back-links), then on-page continues to be important. At that stage, Internal Linking and some On Page manipulation can be beneficial.
Take Counsel - Avoid doing SEO on keywords that have millions of listings. Take car insurance for instance. In Britain alone you'd get seventy million sites listed. When you're just getting going, it's not a great idea to face such huge competition!
On the other hand... The phrase 'Southampton Car Insurance' only brings in three hundred thousand. (Assuming I was a car insurance provider in Southampton.) This still seems quite a large amount, but it's actually not in search terms.
We can do much more with this. In point of fact, a phrase like Car insurance would massively set me back. I'd face fierce rivalry from wealthy opposition! Not a sensible option for anyone.
A precise description is much more valuable to us. We call them Long-tail phrases, as they're made up of a few particularly chosen keywords. Depending on how competitive your market is, the phrases could be from 2 to 7 words long. Typically they will be 3 or 4 words long.
We prefer to begin optimisation strategies with phrases that bring in less than five hundred thousand results. Sometimes we'll consider higher counts if the top results are not benefitting from optimisation. As time goes on, we'll benefit from an automatic improvement on the bigger terms as well. And as our work makes progress, we'll be onto the bigger terms a few months down the road. This strategy is also far more targeted at the start. Frankly, we're only interested in the customers who are looking specifically for what we offer. There's much more chance these people will buy!
Your home page isn't the only place for back-links. Spread them liberally around your website. This technique is referred to as Deep Linking. For example, build links to the pages that group products. That's because pages like this generally have links to several individual pages. So don't limit the back links to one page. Google and the other SE's are looking more and more at how individual pages on your site are listed and treated.
We want to be right up there where we can be seen. Nobody will know we're there if we're way down on page eight! It isn't possible to say for certain exactly which measures SE's use to grade sites. They keep it a closely guarded secret!
So as time has gone on, a sophisticated industry has evolved to get the most from the listings. On the one side you have SE's like Google deliberately filing technology patents in many different areas. This makes determining their ratings methods more complex. And then you have an industry built around SEO. This uses empirical testing and measuring of various factors to determine which ones are the most important.
The objective is to maximise both 'on-page' and 'off-page' optimisation. There are also 'off-web' factors such as demographic and geographic information - but we have no control over this area. (We've covered 'Off Page' factors in a separate article, as there wasn't enough room here.)
SEO 'On-Page'
It's possible to change the pages of your website to make them 'friendly' to the Search Engines. It's not too complex - it just requires setting your website up the right way. Doing things such as: Keyword seeding (in the right places and the right amounts), using H1 and H2 header tags (and to some extent meta-tags) and internal linking.
Don't worry if you don't understand the technical terms. The bottom-line is, that while it is the easiest to control, it has the LEAST affect on your ranking. To be blunt, some would say it hardly has any effect at all. Search Engines used to credit on page factors in the past. Not any longer though.
If, however, off-page has been optimised, (and there are many inbound back-links), then on-page continues to be important. At that stage, Internal Linking and some On Page manipulation can be beneficial.
Take Counsel - Avoid doing SEO on keywords that have millions of listings. Take car insurance for instance. In Britain alone you'd get seventy million sites listed. When you're just getting going, it's not a great idea to face such huge competition!
On the other hand... The phrase 'Southampton Car Insurance' only brings in three hundred thousand. (Assuming I was a car insurance provider in Southampton.) This still seems quite a large amount, but it's actually not in search terms.
We can do much more with this. In point of fact, a phrase like Car insurance would massively set me back. I'd face fierce rivalry from wealthy opposition! Not a sensible option for anyone.
A precise description is much more valuable to us. We call them Long-tail phrases, as they're made up of a few particularly chosen keywords. Depending on how competitive your market is, the phrases could be from 2 to 7 words long. Typically they will be 3 or 4 words long.
We prefer to begin optimisation strategies with phrases that bring in less than five hundred thousand results. Sometimes we'll consider higher counts if the top results are not benefitting from optimisation. As time goes on, we'll benefit from an automatic improvement on the bigger terms as well. And as our work makes progress, we'll be onto the bigger terms a few months down the road. This strategy is also far more targeted at the start. Frankly, we're only interested in the customers who are looking specifically for what we offer. There's much more chance these people will buy!
Your home page isn't the only place for back-links. Spread them liberally around your website. This technique is referred to as Deep Linking. For example, build links to the pages that group products. That's because pages like this generally have links to several individual pages. So don't limit the back links to one page. Google and the other SE's are looking more and more at how individual pages on your site are listed and treated.
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