According to Wikipedia Search engine optimisation (SEO) is “the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural,” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results”.
Basically the higher up your website ranks in a search engine like Google – the more visitors your website will get. So if you have a business that relies on online sales or if you are wanting more online sales, then you need to know about SEO!
As more business rely on the internet it is increasingly important that a business has an understanding of SEO and is able to take appropriate action in the hope that their website will rank highly.
SEO experts, gurus and agencies have been around for many years now. While they may agree on the basics, if you ask 10 SEO experts their opinion on tactics to implement to rank a website highly, then the odds are they will not all agree 100%.
This is because SEO is constantly evolving. The goal posts are often shifting – thanks to search engines like Google frequently changing their algorithms which determine a websites ranking. A website that ranks highly today may not tomorrow – all because Google changes their algorithm. Following Google’s “Panda” update last year many websites lost their high rankings overnight – which can have devastating consequences for some businesses.
While algorithm changes by search engines can effect your business – in a good and bad way – the fact is as a business you need to be ready to react or even better be pro-active. As author and serial entrepeneur George Marshall stated in a recent blog post: “Google Doesn’t Owe You A Living”. So if a search engines change their algorithm and your website ranking drops – then you need to roll with the punches, take action and make the required changes/updates to your website – rather than moaning about Google or Yahoo or MSN or any other search engine. Accept it, deal with it and move on.
Now the difficult part is what is the appropriate action to take if your website drops in the rankings? What do you do SEO wise? If all the SEO experts don’t 100% agree, then what is the best course of action for you to take?
The fact is content is King – you should always try to ensure your website always has excellent content that visitors want and need. The fact is SEO experts are constantly testing, trialing new SEO tactics & strategies to find out what works best – this is especially true after Google makes a new algorithm change.
Now you may not have the time, resources or expertise to experiment on lots of SEO tests, so our advice is to learn from the experts. Visit their websites, blogs, SEO forums, attend SEO/Internet conferences, etc and hopefully you will be able to get a general consensus on what is the best strategy to take for your website SEO wise.
