The Great Northern Blog » Search Optimisation

SEO Primer – Increasing Your Website Search Ranking

AndyAdmin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:30:35 +0000

By now, smart business owners know that every enterprise needs a website in order to succeed. And not just any website, but one that can easily be found online. Otherwise, it will be a wasted investment. Therefore, all website owners should focus on improving their search ranking in the top search engines such as Google and Bing (Yahoo search results are now provided by Bing).

Landing on the top of the search engine results page (SERP) and becoming a sensation in the World Wide Web is not easy. Theprocess can be complex and confusing, especially to those who are new to Internet marketing. To help guide you, we have listed below a few helpful tips on how to increase your website’s search engine ranking:

Create a search-engine friendly website. Have an SEO focus starting from day one. Don’t wait until you have spent a fortune in developing your website only to discover later on that it’s not being crawled by search engine robots. Good search ranking is built on the foundati0n of a well-designed site.

Come up with a solid seatch optimisation plan. SEO is often categorized into two area: On-Page (techniques within your site) and Off-Page SEO (techniques outside your website). On-Page SEO means your website content is well-written with relevant keywords, can be easily navigated, has a site map, has minimal Flash elements, etc. Off-Page is the process of creating links from related, authority sites. Off-Page techniques employed include social media marketing, blogging, forum posting, article marketing, etc.

Improving your search engine ranking is an on-going, long-term process because the search engines’ criteria change regularly as does your online competition. Therefore, you must seriously consider search optimisation (SEO) as part of your overall marketing strategy, especially if you want to succeed and dominate the search rankings in the future. And once you’ve accomplished your initial SEO goals and desired results, a maintenance plan is needed to maintain that position and visibility.

Attaining the most coveted top spot is far from easy. However, the top three search ranking positions can generate the most traffic. So if your site is not to be found , it means you haven’t completely taken advantage of your site’s potential to dominate the rankings. This also means there are further opportunities for you to grow your business by improving your search results.

Of course, climbing the top search rankings for the most relevant keywords takes a lot of work, time and patience, but this is the only way you can succeed in a highly competitive online environment. Eventually, the fruits of your labour will pay off and you will gain a significant Return on Investment.

If you are interested in improving the search engine ranking of your website, why not call Andy at WSI Chester for a free initial consultation – 01928 787026.

SEO Primer – What are Organic Search Results?

AndyAdmin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:25:53 +0000

Most people have heard of organic search results. In fact, you will have encountered them without knowing it. In the world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), they are also called natural or crawler-based search results. The word ‘organic’ means that a search result is based on content and keyword relevance and quality. In short, it is a result that fulfils Google’s and or other search engine’s specific algorithm. Organic search results are the exact opposite of sponsored or paid results like PPC (pay-per-click) ads such as Google AdWords.

But why are they so important? Internet-savvy “Googlers” and searchers are certainly familiar with the difference between organic search and paid search results, and therefore tend to trust natural results more. This is similar to consumers who tend to be motivated more by an honest product review article than a paid print advertisement.

And since most people prefer organic Google search results, an Internet marketer and or website owner cannot ignore organic SEO. While paid ads can help with your marketing endeavours, in the end, organic search results typically provide higher click-through rates, which can bring more targeted website traffic.

Natural search results are totally free of any charge. Listing your site on Google and Bing does not cost anything. But of course, appearing high on SERP (search engine results page) is a whole different story. You need to work hard on your SEO techniques to improve your visibility. Remember that organic search results that show up with specific keywords/phrases are the ones deemed by search engines to be the most relevant, informative and high-quality.

Organic search engine results from Google and other major search engines not only offer high-quality traffic that can last for many years (given that you maintain your SEO efforts), but potentially high quality targeted sales leads. Though optimizing your website to rank high in the organic search results is time-consuming and labour-intensive, it is definitely worth it and should be included in your overall marketing/business strategy.

If you are interested in improving the search engine ranking of your website, why not call Andy at WSI Chester for a free initial consultation.

Search Optimisation of E-commerce Sites

AndyAdmin — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 09:25:10 +0000

Online sales need online visibility!

If your business relies on an eCommerce site, then you know it’s important to appear in the organic search results ahead of your competitors; especially if your competitors are selling the same products online. Having top rankings for an eCommerce website is crucial for long term success in the online marketing world.

On-Page Optimization

Optimizing an eCommerce site isn’t that different than optimizing any other type of web site. To make a page rank well in the organic search results, it needs a good title tag (that includes the keywords you’re targeting); and good content on the page that includes the appropriate keywords. Here are some more tips for on-page optimization:

Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it.
To achieve good keyword focus, limit yourself to just one or two keywords per content page. You can even create a page for each product in your store so that you can take advantage of long-tail keyword phrases.
One reason why product pages on eCommerce sites appear in the search engine indexes and then disappear is because they are duplicating content (which the search engines catch on). Keep content and tags unique.
If you’re selling products that your competitors are also selling, then your product descriptions need to be unique and different from theirs. Don’t just copy the generic product descriptions of items that are provided by the manufacturer. You’ll risk having your page considered a duplicate page by Google and other search engines.
Add links to related products or accessories, or perhaps a testimonial about the product. Adding ‘related products’ type of navigation on your product pages will help visitors stay on your site.
Product Reviews can increase your visibility and improve your page rankings. This gives the search engines more content to read and also creates a third party endorsement for your product.

Online shoppers are using search engines to compare product features and prices, and if your eCommerce site isn’t positioned in the top search engine results, you’re missing out on a lot of potential online sales!

Off-Page Optimization

Offsite optimization is all about acquiring quality inbound keyword links. It is best to get links from high ranking websites and web pages, but internal repeating links within your own website also count. Here’s how to improve off-page SEO:

Submit articles to various article directories for syndication and curation, making sure your content contains many keyword links back to your other content pages.
Go social! Create profiles on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social networks to get links from existing customers.
Cross-reference related items between individual product pages (include accessories or similar products). This creates healthy internal links.
Create and share video content to attract more visitors.
Create a blog and be active in forum discussions in the area of your business.
Issue press releases and PR briefs about product launches, events and promotional offers regularly.

Just starting out as an online retailer with a few products to sell? Selling thousands of products online for many years now? Either way, make sure your eCommerce site is optimized for the search engines so you are most visible to your potential customers.

WSI Chester can help optimize you eCommerce site for higher page rankings, better conversions and increased sales. Contact us today on 01928 787026 to drive greater search engine traffic and more conversions (sales) on your eCommerce website.

Yahoo UK to switch to Bing – finally!

AndyAdmin — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:16:07 +0000

Yahoo! has finally announced a date for when its main European properties switch to Microsoft’s Bing search engine for their results. For european site owners, this represents the end of a long wait as the planned migration to Bing search results was first announced in the Microsoft-Yahoo collaboration agreement signed back in early 2009.

According to Yahoo, from August 3rd the organic search transition will begin for Yahoo properties in UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The impact on the rankings for individual sites will obviously vary, and it is unclear how fast this switch over will be.

Pay-per-click advertising through Yahoo! in Europe is unaffected by the transition of its organic search results to Bing.

For more information and assistance in optimising your site for Google and Bing, why not call WSI Chester today on 01928 787026.

Which comes first? SEO or Design?

AndyAdmin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:11:20 +0000

For many new sites, or site rebuilds, it’s worryingly common for search engine optimisation to be the last thing considered. Often ignored until after the site is launched.

Of course, as an Internet Marketing consultant, I’m biased. But is it a coincidence that sites where SEO is an after-thought tend to perform less well than ones where they have thought about SEO while the site was being planned?

If you’re looking to build (or rebuild) a site, here are a few of the reasons why you should think about SEO from the start (before the designer arrives!):-

1. Get the right site structure

Planning for optimisation means planning how best to link the content together and how to make your navigation work well for search engines, as well as for your visitors.

You can make sure that you can reach important pages in as few clicks as possible from your homepage, and you can generally build in a way that’s most likely to perform best.

When the site has been built, the underlying site structure can be one of the hardest things to change. So SEO involvement means you get it right first time!

2. Keywords drive content

Keyword research is the foundation of optimisation. Keywords are your link into the mind of the potential visitors and their intentions. If you identify the keywords most important to your target visitors then you can build relevant content-rich pages which will appeal to those visitors. Keyword research can therefore define which pages should be built. Too often, the converse happens.

3. Accessibility

Search optimisation considerations can steer the web development team to use the most appropriate Content Management Systems and design techniques. Too often, designers will use graphics to display text in unusual fonts rather than styling them properly. Is the complete site visible to the search engines or are pages inaccessible due to ‘clever coding’?

In summary, I’m a firm believer that if you consider and address search optimisation issues before your site is built, you should find that your site will perform well for both search engines and human visitors. You will avoid the technical pit-falls and the need to play SEO catch-up later.

To answer the headline, SEO helps defines the functional and technical specification of a site, the graphic design comes along later.

WSI regularly works alongside creative agencies and web designers to help define the information needs and outcomes for new sites. If you are planning to invest in a new website, why not give WSI Chester a call today?