Simply put, Search Engine Optimisation, also known by the acronym SEO, is the process of making your website “Search Engine Friendly” so the Search Engines can find everything they need that will enable them to understand your business, your service and/or your products which enables it to put your site in front of your customers when they are looking for the things you do.
It breaks down in to 3 key elements
- Technical SEO and On-Page SEO
Technical SEO looks at the technical aspects of your site including the Hosting, your CMS (Content Management System – such as Wix or WordPress) – the speed of your site etc
On-Page SEO looks at the content and construction of your actual pages - Off site SEO looks at a variety of influencing factors that appear elsewhere on the Internet, inc. BackLinks
Why do you need SEO?
It’s actually pretty simple
- SEO is the process that you apply to your website with the goal of moving your site above your competitors in the search results, making it easier to find, which means it should attract more visits.
- When searching for something online, over 75% of us turn to a Search Engine (over 100Bn searches are carried our EVERY month)
- Only about half of us EVER make it on to Page 2 of the results
- Fewer than 10% make it on to Page 3
How does SEO Work
It sounds easy, but requires research, understanding, effort and patience. The process starts with understanding HOW people are searching the internet for your business, the services you provide or the products you sell.
Then these words and phrases need to be integrated in to your site in the places the search engines look so they can fully understand your business.
Then, all things being equal, your site will move above your competitors, so long as their sites aren’t as well optimised as yours which will lead to more visits to your site. And more visits should translate in to more opportunities to make sales..
How long does SEO take to have an impact
The real answer (which you’re not going to like) is that it depends. And it depends on the Search Engines. I’ve worked on sites that have seen improvements in a matter of days – but that’s pretty rare. The reality is that it normally takes months, and I have carried out SEO on website that has taken over 6 months to start to pay off.
What else do you need to know about SEO?
There’s nothing mystical about SEO, although there are many myths. You can read my take on 14 Common SEO Myths here. It’s a well understood process and I’ve been doing it since about 2001, you can read a little about my history with SEO here. But, it frequently changes which means I continue to learn. I do the learning so you don’t have to.
There’s a lot of jargon associated with SEO but you don’t have to understand it because I talk in plain English but if you want to understand the jargon, I’ve created an SEO Glossary of Terms for you.
Search Engine Optimisation is a part of SEM, also known as Search Engine Marketing and you can read more about SEM here.
Backlinks used to be the Holy grail of Google SEO but their importance has been diminishing over the years. You can read more about Backlinks here, what they are and, why you need them and you can read about why I think their importance is diminishing here.
How much does SEO cost
If you want to, to you learn how to do SEO yourself, and then learn how to apply it to your website. But you don’t have to. You should focus on generating income for your business and let a specialist (like me) do the SEO for you. Each project is unique and comes with its own challenges but here’s a broad overview of the SEO service I provide, along with the costs.
But a great place to start is with a FREE, 40 minute SEO Consultation which you can book here.
Alternatively just get in touch and we’ll discuss a full SEO review for your website, looking at all of these issues – and more.
Ring Me: 01793 238020 07966 547146
Email Me: andy@enterprise-oms.co.uk
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Visit Me: Bowman House, Whitehill Lane, Royal Wootton Bassett, Wilts, SN4 7DB
