Search Engine Optimisation

Here's how it works:

The Targets: Keywords  

Before we do any optimisation work, we need to find out what to optimise the site for.  That is why we always start with a keyword analysis.  We search for keywords related to your business and come up with 50 - 100 different options, with details and stats about how many times people search for those keywords.  We discuss those keywords with you and try to narrow the options down to 10 - 20 which will form the basis for further work.

Once we know which keywords to target, we will analyse the current site to find out which pages to optimise.  Not all keywords will fit the home page.  By default, we search for keywords in Google UK but we can research Google in other countries if necessary.

Competitor Analysis

Once we know where we want to be in regard to the search engines, we will compare the current site with the people who are there already:  the current Number One.  We don't need a like-for-like match, but comparing their data with your present site is helpful to our team and we will then know what needs to be done in order to get the results.

Occasionally, we may need to revise the targets if the competition is too strong; for example, we once came across a site that had a million links pointing to it. 

On-Site optimisation 

Starting with the list of keywords and pages, we will start optimising each of these pages with keyword phrases.  This involves a detailed analysis of things like headers, content, alt-text and other details.  We run through a checklist, improving details and adding content as we go along, until the scans we run, give us the A star rating.  After that, the only thing left is off-site optimisation and occasional tweaks to keep content current.

Off-Site optimisation

Off-site optimisation involves vital factors for optimisation which are not on the site itself.  A lot of the off-site optimisation is about getting and maintaining links, but that is by no means the whole story.   The end result is about improving the overall importance of the site and our job is to make sure that all bases are covered.  Our expertise includes supporting and/or managing social media campaigns.  

Social media marketing has become a very important part of the overall SEO strategy because Google rank sites with active media campaigns much more highly than they used to.  In order to help people improve searches for their website, we recommend they have an active Facebook account for their business.

If run correctly, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media can generate more clients or maintain a relationship with existing clients with relatively little effort.

Monitoring

We actively monitor the progress and ongoing ranking targets.  Some sites are checked weekly and some monthly.  We receive a weekly update for sites we are still working on which have not yet achieved the targets.  Other sites are monitored on a monthly basis.

Either way, we read these updates with a great deal of interest.  We will instantly see which sites have gone up and which have gone down in the rankings.  We act when required to bring the dropped sites back up.

Optimisation is a very important part of what we do; we take it very seriously and keep abreast of the latest developments in the search engines.  Over the years, we have become pro-active rather than reactive to the development with the result that your site will stay ahead of the competition.