Web marketing resources

Search Engine Optimisation in 3 Steps

3internet recommends the organic method to improve Search Engine Optimisation. This is where a site is ranked well because of its structure, design and content. The things that make the site work well for human beings also work for search engines. The site will have a logical structure, clear HTML links to each page, the content and keywords will have been carefully chosen to convey the desired message and provide the right sensitivity to search terms, and the site will be updated regularly. This is a world away from those services that promise miracles by submitting your website to 5000 'leading search engines'.

There are real advantages to this approach. All the Search Engines wholeheartedly endorse it and, in addition, visitors will be able to use the site effectively when they have found it.

It is essential to have a Content Management System that supports the process of building websites that will work for organic search engine ranking. This was one of the fundamental requirements for the Inigo CMS from 3internet. Inigo has proven to be an excellent tool for building websites that are ranked very well and even provides the ability to edit the special search engine metatags.

The 3-step Search Engine Optimisation process consists of first defining the search keywords, then ensuring that the site structure supports organic search engine optimisation and then submitting the website to the key feeder search engines.

Step 1: Keywords

Keywords are the words that will identify your site in the search engines. Select keywords with care - think about the words and phrases that should find your site but wil also be relevant when site visitors read them. Use a keyword analysis tool to help.

The keywords should be used in the page titles and the content of the site. The keywords must be used in context. As a rule of thumb, if the words make sense to a human being they will be seen as valid and not an attempt to artificially improve your ranking. Including loads of keywords for the sake of it will be counter productive.

The ideal is to select keywords that are searched for frequently in the search engines, but which also find the lowest possible number of sites. Ideally there will be many searches done using your keywords, but relatively few sites competing for them.

Step 2:  Site structure

Inigo will support the desired site structure perfectly. These are the basic rules:

• Page Title must be descriptive and short (under 15 words) and use the Primary key words for the page
• The Page Title must be echoed in a main heading tag in the page and must not be an image  (images are often used to make headings visually clearer, but the Search engines cannot understand any text inside them)
• Keyword density should not exceed 2% (ie keywords in the title should not be heavily repeated in the text to artificially increase relevance)
• The page must be linked from the home page using HTML links - ie the link should not be hidden in a JavaScript or Flash menu for example. This is to facilitate the Search Engine spiders finding their way around the site
• Metatags within the page are important (especially the title and description fields) - keywords should be the same as those found in the title and repeated in the page content.

It is far more efficient to design the website to be search engine friendly from the start.

Step 3: Submissions

The last step is the easiest, but only if all the work and planning that has gone before has been done carefully to support good search engine accessibility.

Register with each of the key feeder search engines. It is important to realise that the search engines will regularly discard submissions before they are processed. This is often just because of the sheer volume of submissions. Also, some indexes appear to give preference to sites that are updated regularly. So your site should be updated regularly and resubmitted about twice per month to ensure ongoing success.

1-2-3 Go

You will have seen that consistent success comes from getting the basics right. Find a web company that understands how search engines results are affected by the structure and design of a website. The web company should also be able to provide a Content Management System that builds search-engine friendly websites like Inigo does now.

Contact us today to find out how 3internet can help.