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Overview

• Search Engines rank Pages not Websites.
• Ranking takes time - the age of a page is a very important factor.
• Effective Search Engine Optimisation is an ongoing process.

It's all about Keywords!

• A 'keyword' is what summarises and describes the content of a web page.
• A 'Keyword' isn't just a word, it also refers to a short phrase.
• Each page should only target a single keyword / phrase.
• It should reflect what real people type into a search engine when looking for information on something.

The Process:

Search engines have programmes called 'crawlers' which search through the internet, cataloguing pages and the relevant keywords for each page. This information is stored in a database and each page is given a notional score based on it's relevance to the keywords. If the page is not optimised for specific keywords relevant to its content - the crawler will attempt to make an assumption based on what it finds in the page.

Then when a potential visitor to your website enters keyword(s) in a search engine, its database displays the list of pages it has stored for that keyword. The order in which the pages are displayed by the search engine is what we are trying to influence. We want our page as near to the top of the list as possible.The formulas that the search engines use to assign page ranking are closely guarded secrets - don't believe anyone who tells you they know the exact system!

But there are many aspects of the formulas that are proven to influence the page rank that is allocated by the search engine. Since Google is head and shoulders above the rest in popularity, it is usually this search engine that is targeted and it can reasonably be assumed that the effect of your SEO will then also apply across the remainder of search engines.

SEO Tasks - Overview:

• Carry out a detailed analysis of search terms used by people seeking the subject matter that you offer, in order to determine the potential traffic volumes and assess the competition for each potential keyword.
• Create high quality page content that is clearly optimised for the targeted keywords. This page is an example of highly on-page optimised content for the keyword 'Andrew Larholt', and is the sort of article that would rank highly especially with the campaign actions below applied to it. In this instance, we have published on July 3rd 2011 purely as an exercise, and will track its progress on Google with no further off-site SEO work done - check back for progress reports!
• Implement a process of creating 'backlinks' from elsewhere in the internet back to your page. This is single most important ongoing process of effective SEO and must be carried out with two important factors in mind:
  1. The quality of the location of the link
  2. How the link is constructed and worded
• Identifying new keywords that are entered regularly by visitors in search engines, but that return few enough results for your page to be ranked highly. These 'niche' keywords can be gold dust in attracting visitors to your website!
• Finally, once we have a flow of visitors to the page we have achieved a good ranking on, we need to make it easy and attractive for them to look over the rest of your website.

So the work of the Search Engine Optimisation expert is to carry out all the necessary initial and ongoing tasks, both on and off your website, to try to improve your page rankings.

Documentation:

Listed below are some useful documents detailed our SEO service specifications and a sample keywords analysis report:

• SEO Specification For A NEW Website - this explains what the initial and ongoing process entails if you are considering a brand new website based on SEO at the outset.

• SEO Specification For An EXISTING Website - this explains what the initial and ongoing process entails if you already have a website which now needs SEO.

• Sample SEO Keywords Analysis– this is an example of the detailed SEO analysis that you would receive. Of course, you would retain yours, whether or not you elect to proceed with an ongoing campaign.

• Explanatory Notes – this is sent out to accompany the above SEO Keywords Analysis, explaining the report and offering guidance on ‘next steps’ should you elect to proceed with an ongoing SEO campaign.

Our Fees:

Our fees for these services are as follows:

• To review your SEO requirements and supply a detailed analysis as specified above - £597.

• To carry out an ongoing campaign of SEO activities - £79.50 per month. Note: there is no minimum term for this service, so it can be cancelled at any time without further fees.

It's an inexact science so specific results can never be guaranteed - be suspicious of anyone who tells you otherwise - but in general a well-crafted and executed Search Engine Optimisation project can make a significant impact on you visitor numbers!