• SEO Definition: Search engine optimization (SEO) is a methodology of strategies, techniques and tactics used to increase the amount of visitors to a website by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search results page of a search engine (SERP) — including Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines. src: webopedia

You may well have heard horror stories whereby someone spent hundreds of hours and/or thousands of pounds on a SEO campaign and received little sales or relevant interest. The whole online marketing game can be a real headache, especially with crowded markets and everyone seemingly competing using the same methods and tactics as each other. But it doesn’t have to be a headache…

The truth is, Organic SEO is a superb way of getting your business noticed online. It’s just a question of choosing the correct SEO marketing strategy for your business model, (one that will compete with your competition effectively) and then executing it in the right way. SEO is not a “dark art” as some suggest, nor should it be a collection of tactics to fool Google into thinking your website is more relevant to a search than it really is. Correctly realised, SEO is superb and it can be completely FREE.

Organic SEO – it’s not a dark art…

Using SEO methods, the aim is to ensure Google shows your website when people search for your services. Good SEO starts not with building links to your website, but with the site’s content itself. Do you have headings, page descriptions, text, image titles and alt tags that contain your keyword phrase? If not – why not? Google needs to know your website is relevant to a particular search. The only way it knows this is if you tell it via your website content itself. The key here is to keep things nice and niche. Don’t go for broad keyword expressions which will have thousands of national, well-established companies competing with you. You might start with “[your service] + [Your Village / Town]” as a keyword and go from there.

SEO just takes a little patience, being realistic and not trying dirty techniques….

  • Write quality, relevant content. Include ‘keywords’ in your website wherever suitable to ensure google shows your website when someone types those ‘keywords’.
  • Keep those keywords specific: For example, say you sell Gardening Tools in Sleaford, UK. Don’t just write “Gardening Tools” on your website, type “Gardening Tools Sleaford”.
  • Make sure your website is professional and understandable & if possible, is a technical marvel. (See our website design services page 😉 )
  • Then you can start non-spammy link-building on social media, on blog sites, forums, partner sites and so on to publicise it even more.
  • Tell your friends about your website! Ask them to promote it, share links and write reviews.
  • Make sure your business is on Google Places (Google maps).
  • Be patient – Google won’t rank you highly overnight, but keep plugging away at it, read lots of articles on SEO (or hire a professional) and you’ll find lots of work to do in the meantime!
  • Add a blog page onto your website and write about your services regularly, include a portfolio or a latest news page.
  • Don’t try dirty tactics! Spammy links and keyword-stuffing don’t get you far at all.

In conclusion, SEO is often executed poorly, resulting in poor results, frustration and sometimes even demotion on Google. When done right, it’s a FREE, let’s just repeat that word…. FREE way of promoting your business online, and can make Google the primary referral source for your business. In fact, currently, while writing this post, our web design business (despite stiff competition) is thriving by utilising only SEO – no paid-for ad campaigns, just a bit of hard work.

Big Sky Web can manage an SEO campaign for you – or simply just get you started and point you in the right direction for the future. It’s simple, highly effective and absolutely worth it. Contact us for more info.

Boston web design

Boston web design

Web Designer, born and raised in Lincolnshire, England.