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What is search engine optimisation

What is search engine optimisation

The main benefit of search engine optimisation is obvious, getting your website in the first page of search results for carefully thought out and researched key phrases results in pin-point targeted people visiting your website. These self-qualified prospective clients are far more likely to buy your products or services from your website.

Before looking at specific aspects of search engine optimisation, I think it is important that we start with an overall view and then look at each component in more detail.

I define search engine optimisation as the placement of a website in the first page of search engine results for product related phrases, used by the website's target market when looking for the type of products offered by the website.

There are several stages in the optimisation process - first there is the technical review, then key phrase research, onsite and off-site code optimisation, search engine submission and finally optimisation of the content for higher conversion rates. Below is an overview of each stage, in later articles we will dig deeper into each stage.

Technical review - There are several things that are either outright forbidden by search engines or are of a technically incompatible which impede the website from being "seen" by search engines. Before the actual optimisation of the website code it is important to look at these aspects making sure that none are present before submitting to search engines.

Key phrase research - It is very important to find out what a market is looking for and how big it is.Key phrase research allows one to establish whether a product has an online market and secondly to choose the ealted key phrases closest to what is on offer. Also by choosing the correct phrases one not only brings in targeted traffic but can also customize the content to suit the specific requirements of the market.

Onsite optimisation - This refers to what is done to the website code and content in order to make it search engine friendly. Here one has to look at the Meta tags, key phrase usage in text, code to text ratios, keyword density, etc.

Off-site optimisation - There are several "rules" that have been set by search engines which give websites higher rankings provided that they are met. These ranking rules or algorithms include certain aspects which are not easily manipulated by webmasters. These aspects are not present within the website but are measured by the actions of other websites and visitors to the website. The most important being how many other websites link to yours.

Search engine submission - Some search engines need to be alerted that there is a new website to add to their database. This is done via an online form which needs to be filled in and submitted. Depending whether the submissions are viewed by human editors and if the search engine offers a premium submission option the time it takes for a website to appear in their search results could be a couple of months.

Web content optimisation - During the indexing period one can concentrate on the websites ability to convert visitors to enquiries or sales. Numerous research papers are available online showing what it is that people look for in a website before committing to giving away their anonymity.

I will be writing a series of articles about search engine optimisation in which I will outline in more detail the stages mentioned above. Also please feel free to contact me at any time if you have any specific questions about the article which I will gladly answer.





What is search engine optimisation - To learn more about this author, visit Gary 's Website.

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John Alexander
John has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center.
I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website

David Acheson
David Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns.  David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website

Stephanie Robey
Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals.

She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

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Gary
(Visit Gary's Website) I am an Internet marketing consultant living in South Africa, I have a great wife and two amazing kids. I have been doing website marketing for clients for the past six years and enjoy every minute of it. Our website is www.hitechmarketing.co.za - SEO tips and tactics.

Gary is a Bronze author on EvanCarmichael.com
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