Learn More About SEO

What is SEO?

SEO is the dynamic practice of optimising a website by improving its internal and external aspects in order to increase the web traffic that the website receives from search engines. SEO includes a variety of different elements. Therefore, it is difficult to distinguish a clear-cut distinction between website optimisation and search engine optimisation. In fact, most SEOs consider that website optimisation is a part of their portfolio due to the very close relationship of these two different elements. The scope of SEO can vary due to the requirements of the client. Some may opt to optimise a part of their website while others may concentrate on a broader approach. For example, a vendor may decide to optimise only the landing page(s) of their website because the website in question has a very low bounce rate. Thus, further optimising efforts may be deemed unnecessary.

Why is SEO important?

SEO is an important marketing tool to anyone who runs a website. The internet landscape of contemporary times is characterized by heavy competition and heavy information saturation. This is a vital aspect because the only way most websites can reach a potential viewer is through a search engine. Therefore, anyone who takes the trouble to host a website needs to pay extra attention to possible Search Engine Optimisation techniques because there is no point in hosting a website and not having viewers to visit the website. Thus, he/she needs to optimise the website in such a way that it ensures top positions in the SERPs [Search Engine Result Pages].

Google is by far the most favoured search engine in the world. It is also the most technologically advanced search engine. The Googlebot [Google Crawler] is thought to be comprised of more than 70 different components that sample different aspects of a website that it crawls through. Because of the complexity of the search ranking procedure and the high importance it assigns to elements that cannot be optimised easily, such as natural link building, etc, Google remains a huge obstacle for webmasters. However, because of the complexity of its search ranking algorithms, Google returns much relevant results for its users’ queries. As a result, Google is by far the most favoured search engine in the world.

Almost all the other search engines use algorithms similar to that of Google. In addition, AOL uses the results of Google to power its SERPs.

Web Design and Development

There are many factors that contribute to successful web design and development. For example, the speed of the internet connection used to play a crucial role in the design stage of web development even in the recent past. The common industry standard was that a webpage should load within 8 seconds on a 56 KBPS connection. But with the enhancement of internet speeds, such benchmarks have slowly faded into the background now. Another such example is the use of the colours. Originally, the standard was to use colours from a palette of 256 web friendly colours. But now, most web designers use shades that are not included in this palette. The reason again is the expansion of the broadband connections. Nowadays there is a lot of room to experiment because internet connectivity has expanded in reach and in speed.

Online market comprises of many small and medium sized vendors who are not well known outside their respective fields and niches. In fact, most vendors fall in to this category. These vendors need to work extremely hard to make their web pages appear at the top of SERPs. Though the revenue generation process is based on direct online sales in most cases, such vendors need to go through many stages before they convert a successful transaction.

Requirements, tastes and characteristics of target markets

Web design and development can differ very much according to the requirements, tastes and characteristics of target markets. For example, a website designed for small kids should include large characters and eye catching colours. Another important aspect that has to be kept in mind is the general loss of attention span of the current online audience.

It has been found through research that regular internet users lose their attention span due to the heavy information saturation. Therefore, most web developing companies concentrate on user interaction and the use of rich media. For example, a video stream can be a more effective presentation tool in an online commercial environment because users may hesitate to read through a long commercial web page. In such situations, a perfect balance has to be achieved for user attraction and user retention.

On Page SEO

Visitor attraction and retention mainly depends on the site design. The website design is the foundation for search engine optimisation, which is an ‘On Page Factor’ that is used for visitor attraction/retention and most importantly helps to make a web site Search Engine Friendly. Search engines always prefer to see sites designed using search engine friendly design techniques that give a better user experience.

Off Page SEO

Search engines always reward sites with a good neighbourhood. It is important to have good inbound links from quality sites and outbound links to relevant websites. This is done by search engine directory submissions, getting listed in top portals, online press release distribution and by linking to relevant sites.

Copy Writing

A website's true potential is shown through the quality of its content. Although search engines cannot measure the likelihood of whether users enjoy a particular website or not, the PageRank and links operate as a substitute for identifying the best content in a market. Therefore, great content will lead to better links and, consequently high rankings.

Much like professional design, Content quality is not always dictated by strict rules and guidelines. What passes for "best of class" in one sector may be below average in another market. The competitiveness and interests of peers and competitors in a space often determine what kind of content is necessary to rank. However, Despite these variances several guidelines can be almost universally applied to produce content that is worthy of attention:

Internet Penetration

European Statistics

As a premier SEO company, SEO Vantage is in the unique position to evaluate and implement SEO campaigns to best suit your requirements. For further information, please contact us. For a free SEO analysis on your website, visit our free SEO Analysis page.