|
Now that Google is set to overtake Channel 4 as a UK
advertising medium, (see http://www.brandrepublic.com/bulletins/br/article/601830/google-set-overtake-c4s-uk-ad-revenue-says-duncan/)
it's more vital than ever to ensure that your website
can be found in the UK search engines. You could rely
on paid listings for your traffic but here's why you
should invest in search engine optimisation or SEO services.
User research demonstrates that about 70% of the traffic
derived from search pages is generated by the natural
listings as opposed to the paid listings - Google Adwords
being the most popular example of the paid listings.
So, if you're relying on pay-per-click advertising
for your website traffic, you're potentially missing
out on 70% of the people who are searching for your
products or services.
SEO services vary widely in their scope, value and
professionalism. Amazingly there are still companies
hawking search engine submission services as if submitting
a site to a search engine was something that you couldn't
train a chimpanzee to do.
To make a material difference to your website's sales
performance, these are the kinds of SEO services you
should consider:
1. Keyword research. Before you optimise your site
you need to know which search terms, keywords and phrases,
your prospects are using to find people like you. Keyword
research involves checking online databases that capture
search terms and assessing their scores for usage and
competition.
2. Analytics coding. If you've already got a website,
your analytics tools will help you see how people are
finding you already. Optimising for terms that people
are using will get you more traffic. It's also helpful
to know how Google sees your site. The Google webmaster
code will help in this respect.
3. On-site optimisation. This involves ensuring that
the site is built so that the search spiders can find
your pages, building sitemaps in XML, HTML and URL lists
for Google, Yahoo and MSN, writing your meta title,
description and header tags and ensuring that your visible
content features your keywords in such a way that the
content reads well but can be recognised by the search
engines as relevant to the searches you want to be found
against.
4. Off-site optimisation or link recruitment. Search
engines, particularly Google, check which pages link
to your pages. If they see that lots of relevant web
pages, which themselves have attracted links, are linking
to your pages, they will rank your pages more highly.
You will be seen to be part of a good 'linking neighbourhood'
and rewarded accordingly. SEO service companies can
help you build a network of links into your site over
time.
For professional SEO services in the UK, call us on
01453 873638. We'll be happy to advise you on
how to get the most from your budget.
To find out more, call us on +44(0)845
456 5342
|
