Search engine optimisation (SEO) explained

What is search engine optimisation (SEO)?

Search engine optimisation is a term used to describe the technique of improving a web site's position, or rank, within a search engine.

The three most widely used search engines are currently: Google , Yahoo! and MSN.

Why is SEO important?

A search engine is one of the first places people go to find products, services and information via the internet. Clearly, there is a greater chance of searchers finding and entering a site if it appears in a high position in the rankings.

As SEO improves a web site's ranking position within the search engines, it will in turn increase traffic (viewers, customers) to your web site.

What requirements are involved in SEO?

There are many different factors that a search engine will use to rank a web page in its results pages.

Below are some of the most important methods used in getting a page to the top of the rankings:

Quality web site content:

Unique, quality content - this should be revised and updated on a regular basis to keep the search engine spiders coming back to index your site.

Link popularity:

External web sites that link to your site - these should be trustworthy web sites that are relevant to the webpage's content. Put simply, the search engines will usually count a link to a page on your site from another as a recommendation for that page.

Even if the search engines did not include links as a ranking factor, it is still sensible to develop links to your web site - it's free advertising, and another valid way of bringing traffic to your site.

Inbound link text:

The use of a descriptive anchor text in the link to your site is now an important feature that the search engines use to determine how much influence is given to that particular link.

Code optimisation:

HTML code should be tagged correctly using valid mark-up to ensure the content is easily viewable to the search engine spiders. Keywords should also be added to the appropriate tags (i.e. title, heading, strong, alt).

Appropriate keywords:

Choose appropriate, relevant keywords and key phrases. These should be placed strategically throughout the page, without resorting to spamming by over use.

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