SEO Search Engine Optimisation
How do you become number one on Google or Bing?
This is popular question we are asked. There are basically two main ways. Either pay to go to the top of Google using Adwords or use Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Using Search Engine Optimisation works for all search engines. You don't have to pay each one to get you to the top. Often paying gets you to the top of one search criteria, but the lack of Search Engine Optimisation does not help you with any other search criteria that might be applied to your site.
Paying for getting you website to the top does work but might cost £5 per click. It brings in much money for Google and Microsoft and it can be used to help promote your site.
Search Engine Optimisation is all about writing and designing the search criteria into the website from the start. The words you want people to search for must be on the page.
Start thinking about search engine optimisation before you design the site and you won't go far wrong. Ask yourself what will people be looking for.
The answer is simple - not flashy graphic but content. Poor websites are rejected by users before they even go to them.
Some Simple Rules for Search Engine Optimisation
- Use site text content that is machine readable - do not use graphics for text. Don't use flash
- Use robots.txt
- Have a favicon.ico
- Please don't use frames. Most cause confusion.
- Eliminate any broken links.
- Include all your chosen keywords as phrases within the copy of each page. Use keywords in the page title.
- Use ALT Tags on all images.
- Make use of Formatting Highlight hot keywords with Strong h1 and emphasis
- Register site with other engines such as Yahoo!
- Reciprocate links with similar sites
- Join Web Rings
- Use HTML5 and CSS3 for preference.
- Use target words in anchors.
- Give intelligent names to your images.
- Ensure your pages are fully optimised.
- Have lots of content
- Build in quality links to your site (from high ranking other sites) min 50!
- Have lots of pages. The more pages the more content. Google looks at the content.
- Add a site map to Google.
- Use SMM
There are more rules but these should really help.
Google will make as many as 500 changes to its search algorithm this year (2017) Can you keep up with this?
Adwords help but this too requires careful monitoring if you are going to get the best value for money. Adwords costs a lot typically £200 p/w. This only works if you can bring in more than this in business.
A few ideas for Search Engine Optimisation
How do you get noticed?
- Register with search engines.
- Write Quality information
- Look at your website from the users point of view - what do they want?
- Submit a site map
- Make the most of social media marketing
- Don't over do advertising -it puts people off
Getting into the 'top ten' in a web search
- Put Quality information on your website
- Get links from popular websites to your site.
Search Engines - How do they work?
Simply a program scans your web-page and looks for words and word patterns. If the word isn't there is can't be indexed! Put the words there too often and the search engine may think this is spam.
Some simple questions to ask yourself about Search Engine Optimisation.
How many search engines are there?
- Can you name the 5 most popular?
- If 90% of the population use these 5 search engines let us see how can can become number one on each of them.
- How does Google work?
- How does Bing work?
- How do you become number on Google?
- How many different Meta Tags are there?
- Do you still need meta tags?
- What is a newsgroup?
- How would you successfully advertise on a newsgroup?
Many people can't answer these questions. That is one of the reasons that they cannot get their websites in the top 10.
Having taught Search Engine Optimisation for a number of years at University and having been involved in the writing of some, we know the difference. We can usually get most sites we develop into the top ten within a few days. Getting a site in to the top ten is quite hard. Keeping it there requires a lot of skill.
Proof it works
Lets suppose we want to learn how to play the organ. We need an organ tutor.
Typing in NSOS will find it as number one on Google - but you would have to know the company before you searched for it.
Type in Organ Tuition, or Organ Tutor and you find the site in the top ten.