Search Engine Optimisation - The Facts

Wednesday 29th October 2008

What are Search Engines? How do I get my website found in Search Engines? How do I get to the top of Google? All good questions, which we get asked on a regular basis, but unfortunately not easy to answer and in the case of getting good Search Engine rankings not easy to achieve - if it was everyone would be doing it!

Dusza offers a full Search Engine Marketing service, but as a taster we thought we'd write a quick article giving you some basic information and guideance.

What is a Search Engine?

A Search Engine is a program, which searches websites on the Internet for specified keywords and returns a list of websites where the specified keyword was found. Some examples of Search Engines include Google, Yahoo and Alta Vista, different search engines will use slightly different methods of searching for keywords, but all work in the same basic way.

Search Engines send out 'spiders' which fetch website pages, an 'indexer' then reads through the pages and creates an index of keywords within the website pages. The Search Engine uses an 'algorithm' to return the best results for each search made.

What is the most commonly used Search Engine?

Without doubt it is Google, in fact Google is the most commonly visited website in the World. Although all search engines work slightly differently it is fair to say that if you optimise your website to achieve good ranking in Google it will also do well in all other Search Engines.

Do I have to pay to get on the first page of Google?

Quite simply no! You can pay, but that is not your only option. When you search for a product or service in Google (rather than information) the results returned at the very top (highlighted in yellow) and on the right hand side of the page have paid to appear in these positions. This is called Pay-Per-Click (PPC). These companies have set up PPC campaigns for specific keywords and pay each time someone clicks on their advert (whether or not they actually buy anything). More about PPC campaigns below.

Without paying it is more difficult to get on to the first page of Google, however it is achievable.

How do I get my website on the first page in Search Engines?

There is no simple solution to getting found in Search Engines, the best way to achieve high search engine ranking is to create the best possible website for your clients as the quality of the website and the information it contains is what search engines use to order results. Some of the things you need to bear in mind are:

Accessibility - If a website does not confirm to WC3 web standards for accessibility (read more about accessibility in our web services section it is likely that Search Engines will not be able to index the content of your website properly, in some cases (websites with high flash or image content rather than text) the website may be almost invisible to Search Engines.

Volume of information - it is important that you give your client's a wide range of information about your product or service

Updating of information - it is important that you regularly update the information on your website to give your client's accurate up-to-date information

Keyword research - it is important to think about or even better to research keywords which clients may use to find your website

Keywords use - it is important that the information on your website contains your chosen keywords, but in a balanced way (keyword 'stuffing' can be recognised by Search Engines and will be penalised)

Link building - this is one of the most time consuming and effective ways of achieving high Search Engine ranking. Link building is having a link to your website on someone else's website, it is even better if that link is reciprocal (a link on your site to theirs and on their site to yours). However it is also a very dangerous activity - Search Engines are capable of recognising links to unrelated sites and unrealistic volume of links both of which would be penalised.

These are just some of the ways to help your website do well in Search Engines and just a brief overview of each. If you would like more information about Search Engine Optimisation please contact us for a FREE consultation.

Can you guarantee that my website will get to the top of Google?

No. Any company who claims to be able to guarantee that they can get your website to the top of any search engine is, at the very least, stretching the truth, and at the worst, lying!

It is likely that your website could get to the top of Search Engine Rankings for your company name, as long as it is also the address of your website. If you have been lucky enough to get a website address which is also your product or service eg. www.website-design-services.co.uk, then it is likely that you will also be top for this term. However without further investment, either in terms of time or money, that is likely to be it.

Some SEO companies will use a variety of methods to try and deceive Search Engines, some of these are:

Presenting 'fake' content to Search Engines by using hidden words or links

Using misspellings or other brand names to 'steal' users from competitors

Link schemes, which automatically create a huge number of irrelevant links

Stuffing pages with keywords

Duplicating content on multiple pages, domains or subdomains

All of these methods would be penalised by Search Engines. These are just a few of the Bad Practives, which Google lists as resulting in penalisation and possibly black-listing (not appearing in Search Engine rankings at all - ever!). However Google never reveals all of it's search criteria so the best way to ensure that you stay on the right side of Search Engine law is to ask yourself whether you feel comfortable with the methods you are using to improve your Search Engine ranking. If what you are doing or planning to do will definitely benefit your users (and may also increase Search Engine ranking) then it's ok. If your plans involve any kind of deceit either of Search Engines, users or competitors then it's probably best to steer clear.

If you have any questions about any aspect of Search Engines please get in touch and we will be happy to help and advise you.