Looking for SEO success?17 February 2006
With businesses trying to gain an edge in an increasingly competitive online market, enterprises have been turning their attention to search engine optimisation (SEO). Last week SEO was in the news when German car manufacturer BMW fell foul of strict rules set by the world's largest search engine, Google.
Although Google did not reveal the exact reasons for its displeasure, BMW was handed what is referred to as a "Google death sentence", with the German language version of BMW's main site removed from Google's listings completely, with a statement issued by Google saying "we cannot tolerate websites trying to manipulate search results as we aim to provide users with relevant and objective search results."
So how do small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) increase their SEO while staying on Google's good side, with massive corporations as BMW seemingly unable to?
Back to basics
Quite simply, SEO is about companies attempting to make their websites appear higher up in search engine rankings. With over 300 million searches attempted everyday, SEO is becoming an industry upon itself, with a whole range of SEO companies and providers springing up to help SMEs rise up within search engine listings.
The first place to start is by registering your website for free on a search engine directory, the two biggest by far being the Open Directory, used by Google, and Yahoo. Once you have done this then you are ready to begin SEO.
One of the best ways for businesses to improve their SEO is for their website to be keyword heavy. For example, when a consumer is interested in buying a car, they will search for "car", or "car deals". A site in which these words feature heavily will be higher up search engine rankings.
Choosing effective keywords is therefore an integral part of SEO. Sticking with the car example, a consumer is unlikely to simply search for "car", as this will return untold millions of results. More specific searches could include "convertible cars", "second-hand cars", "new cars", "car insurance" or "car loans". Services such as Wordtracker or Google AdWords can help SMEs to choose more effective keywords.
Another important thing to remember with keywords is that their effectiveness can be maximised by being placed in key locations, with search engines deeming keywords in page titles, headings, links and even words in bold to be more relevant.
Building with links
Equally important as keywords is perhaps is a build-up of relevant links. The quality and quantity of inbound links from other websites plays a significant part in determining how high a website appears on search engine listings. While you may think that competitors would be unwilling to provide click through links to your website, link exchanges are a common mutually-beneficial practice.
As well as increasing the number of keywords to be found within their websites and by building up links, SMEs should bear in mind that providing high-quality content online also helps. By regularly updating useful and unique consumer content, not only are other companies more likely to provide links to your website and your online stature will grow. The next step would be to write your own press releases, which other websites are likely to publish.
Closing doorways
Some closing advice from Google
- Be wary of SEO companies that contact you unexpectedly (Google itself apparently receives automated emails from SEO companies!)
- SEO companies cannot guarantee that number one search ranking spots will be achieved
- Beware of SEO companies that promise results based on outlandish and lengthy keyword phrases
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