Search engine optimisation

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

So - you have got a new web site up and running, but if you want to use the Internet as a tool for marketing your goods and services, your site will be well nigh invisible unless it is optimised to appear in the first few pages of search engine results. To be frank, there is no point having a web site if no-one is going to visit it! This is where search engine optimisation is essential for your aite's visibility.

 

SEO Hall of Horrors

We have seen the following errors on local web sites, some of them produced by companies who claim to include search engine optimisation as part of their design package:

  • A web site whose index page title is " HOME ". Page title META tags should concisely describe what the page is about.
  • Web sites with most or all of the text displayed as a graphic. Search engine robots can't read what is in pictures!
  • A web site with the following description tag: " Welcome to (Company Name removed to save embarrassment) ; Our combination of quality and price cannot be matched " What do these people sell? Description tags appear in search engine results, and this one gives no clue as to the content of the web site.
  • Web sites with huge numbers of keywords, but not much else in their META tags. Keywords are ignored by most search engine robots nowadays. It is much better to concentrate on page content, title and description tags.

We have not made these up - honestly. Links to the sites in question have been witheld to avoid embarrassment.

 

Our SEO Service

We can't guarantee number one placement on search engines and, quite frankly, we don't believe the claims made by many of the SEO companies out there on the Internet. We can offer a complete service to optimise your web site for the best possible rankings on Search Engines and submit it to all the major search engines.

A summary of our service is given below:

1. Register a suitable domain name

We can help you choose and register a domain name that is descriptive of the content of the site, rather than the name of the owner.

2. Give your web pages relevant names

Each page is given a file name that describes what the page is about. For example, this page is called 'search-engine-optimisation.shtml'.

3. Research and compile META tags for your web pages

All web pages contain hidden content called META tags. These should contain the important key words (or short phrases) that appear in the page. We carry out research to identify suitable key words and phrases that customers would use when searching for your site and incorporate these in the title, description and keywords tags.

4. Optimise the text of your pages to include key words

By far the most important measure of the relevance of a web page is its content. We work with you to produce optimised pages with relevant headers and body text, incorporating the key words and phrases that people will use to search for a site such as yours.

5. Carry out a programme of search engine submissions

We submit your web site to all relevant search engines from the 40 or so on the Internet, including the major search engines Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Submitting to many search engines can have beneficial effects on your ranking in Meta search engines such as Dogpile and Mamma. We check your listing on search engines weekly and repeat submitting your site as necessary until your site is listed.