Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is one of the most important elements of Internet Marketing. It is also one which so few companies pay attention to - often assuming that the off-line brochure that has stood the test of time will make the transition online, and generate sales! Needless to say, this rarely happens. And the reason it doesn't happen is that the web is a very different medium and requires a company to think in a different way.
There is no silver bullet when it comes to Search Engine Optimisation and a top ranking on Google cannot be guaranteed by any company. However, in most cases applying best practice SEO should result in a marked, often significant, improvement in your rankings on the search engines. That is what I usually succeed in delivering to clients.
The people I tend to work with fall into three categories:
- Clients who have a website but are not happy with the way it is performing. These clients could be owners, marketing managers or directors. hey probably know that the site could work better for them but don't know, or their web developer doesn't how, how to achieve this.
- Clients who haven't built a website and want to make sure that their new site will be found on search engines for their main search terms.
- Web Developers who want to know how to build best practice SEO techniques into their websites or whose clients need to know how, through content, they can optimise their website.
The SEO consultancy that I offer clients aims to achieve two, key goals:
- it focuses on driving, targeted, relevant traffic to your site
- it makes sure that visitors are presented with a clear 'call to action' and act on it.
Ideally, I work with clients from the beginning of the project - identifying site objectives, creating a SEO-friendly structure and making sure the site mirrors the language of their target audience. In order to do this I talk to and research the following:
- customers - the best people to speak to
- client - the second best!
- competitors - observing and analysing what they are doing
- market - looking for trends
Once I have a clear idea of the above, I then work with the client to assess the website objectives and creating a website structure which will help achieve these goals - focusing heavily on the site's calls to action. Building on data from the research stage, the next phase will look at adding the content and other relevant SEO elements to the site. Should the client be involved in updating the site they will be briefed on best practice techniques for adding information.
Another key component of the SEO process is the linking strategy. Links can provide your site with qualified prospects and are an important factor in search engine ranking. That is why obtaining high quality, relevant links is a crucial element of SEO.
Post launch it is important to monitor the performance of the website, using SEO tools and a good statistics package, to see how effective it has been and to make an changes which may be necessary.
For more information on my Search Engine Optimisation services, please get in touch.
