Search engine optimization

Search engines are sites such as Google, Bing and Yahoo that let you search for information on the internet. Search engine optimization is the process of improving your website’s position in search engine results for specific search terms, eg 'solicitor in Nottingham' or 'self-catering in Norfolk'. There are many factors that influence how search results are processed and how high up the list your website will appear.

The search engines all have their own ranking criteria, which are sets of rules that determine how to rank websites for search queries. These are generally a well-guarded secret (so that the system is not abused) and, obviously,we have no control over them.

However, with the inclusion of appropriate keywords and key phrases throughout your website, we will help give your site its best chance of being found by potential customers using popular search engines such as Google. We will discuss with you any changes to your supplied content that will improve the chances of your website being found by the search engines. We will also submit your site to these search engines so that they are indexed there.

While the quality of your website's content and the use of good keywording is very important, many experts¹ agree that the top 3 factors are as follows:

While it may look like these are completely out of your control, this is not the case. There are a multitude of business directories on the internet; some free, some not; some general and some tailored to specific trades. Having your website listed on several of these sites will help improve your ranking in search results.

Also, it can be useful to have content on your website that encourages people to create links to your site from theirs. This could be things like competitions, quizzes, coupons, vouchers, special offers etc.

¹ Data from seomoz.org.