On-site optimisation

The list of requirements for a well-optimised web page is long. But the good news is that a number of them come as standard with a modern web platform. These include the way the code is written and structured, compliance to global standards and ease of use by vision-impaired visitors.

Taking these as given then, the key activities for on-site optimization are:

• generating web-pages themed around your keywords, and
• ongoing editing and organizing of pages to increase their relevance to specific searches.

Themes?

A web page's theme includes its title, its web address, the headings, the way images are presented, the amount of copy (not too much... not too little!) and the way that links are written.

On-site optimization is an iterative and ongoing process. This is because the position of your website on Google is achieved relative to other websites that are also optimising and competing with you to be the most relevant site for a specific set of keywords.

Off-site optimisation

Websites do well on Google when they are trusted by other websites. Sites that link into yours could include directory sites, your business partners, news, social networking sites, blogs and other information portals.

Search engine results can therefore be improved by building the number of well-written (using descriptive text) inbound links from websites that are:

• Relevant: making use of similar keywords
• High quality: also do well in natural search
• Popular: gauged according to Google's PageRank algorithm

Is there anything else I need to know about?

Optimizing your website to better support your business can be a time consuming process. However it goes hand-in-hand with "Pay Per Click' (‘PPC') advertising which can often be quicker to get up-and-running.

For companies that are operating in a very crowded market and for those that want a quicker return on their investment, PPC is well worth considering. The cost can be surprisingly low: as little as £10 per day and you can switch it off at no notice. And because you get immediate feedback on what works and what doesn't work, it's a great source of information for your list of SEO keywords.

PPC is a whole separate topic that we'll cover soon.