Stand Out In A Crowd

Stand out in a crowd.

Search engine optimisation or SEO is a widely used term to describe a process of refining the contents of a Website to improve its ranking at the search engines. You can spend hundreds or thousands of pounds on this kind of service for which there are many providers.

 A Website’s ranking is based on the ‘Score’ it is given, ranging from 0 to 10. There are only one or two sites with a score of 10 and those with 4 or above are doing well. These scores are based on a series of relative strengths and weaknesses and so the stronger the site the higher its score and, therefore, ranking. Good looks alone are just not enough.

Some basics

Good text content is essential, but so too is having carefully thought-out Meta-Tags. These are the ‘hooks’ by which the search engines find Websites to review and list. Sites with well written Tags have a clear advantage over those that do not. Spending time on these will make a big difference to the way a Website is reviewed and listed. Without them it may not be listed at all.

The Page Title Tag seems to be the most important and is usually the first text the search engine spiders see when reviewing a Web page. The more succinct and relevant they are the better. Search engine spiders don’t like spending time reading long descriptions and certainly not if they have little or nothing to do with what is on the page.

Alt-Tags, the little text boxes that should appear when you move your PC mouse over any Website images, graphics or logos, offer another chance to mention key words. They may not make a huge difference but are certainly worth including.

 Google Sitemaps

Since most firms want to be found on Google before any other search engine, it is worth making sure it can read and review all the pages. Google offers XML code to embed into Websites to make them easier to read. A site may be listed on Google but only for one or two pages. If the page titles are obscured by programming code or hidden behind navigation buttons, Google may not be able to see all the pages. A Google Sitemap lists all the page titles in plain easy to read XML code making it more likely that the entire site is listed.  

Inbound Link Building

Search engines like sites with lots of inbound links. A high number suggests a certain level of importance and credibility which will often be rewarded with a higher score. Over a period of time the number of inbound links should grow but if your site has less than 50 it is time to subscribe to a link building service. This will submit your site to hundreds if not thousands of other sites including links from Website directories, trade associations and other business connections through the trade and locally.

 Social Network Bookmarking

The search engines pay a lot of attention to Social Networking sites as they attract thousands of visitors each day. Associating yours with these huge sites can boost its importance and credibility. Bookmarking at the 100 plus Social Networking sites has become popular and a very quick and effective way to develop the online presence of your Website. Whilst bookmarking in this way may not generate direct enquiries, it is another type of link that the search engines value and use when scoring Websites.

Securing a first page entry at the top search engines is not easy, but by paying attention to the features they value and consider important, your Website has every chance of securing that elusive and much sought after top ranking.