| In many ways, search engine optimisation is like | | | | lots of online tools to checking keyword positions, |
| plumbing. Sure anyone can do it, its not rocket | | | | domain ages, online search engine submissions etc. |
| science, but to do a good job, you need four | | | | Again, the rule of thumb is if they appear high up |
| basic things: | | | | in Google for 'SEO Tools' then they probably |
| 1. The Knowlegde | | | | work. |
| You need to know a bit about the subject. You | | | | 3. The Experience |
| can easily find out everything you need to know | | | | The more you do something, the better you get |
| online thesedays. If you do not have the time (or | | | | at it. Writing descriptive, keyword rich page titles |
| the interest) to find out everything you need to | | | | that are attractive to human activity in search |
| know, then you can always call on the expertise | | | | engines is a fine art. Vetting partner site quality |
| of a tradesman, however calling in the experts is | | | | for link exchanges or finding good free directory |
| never a cheap option, so if you think you can do | | | | sites to submit your url to also gets easier and |
| it yourself, then you should consider DIY SEO. | | | | quicker with practice. |
| With search engine optimisation, you need to | | | | 4. The Time |
| keep updated with new developments and | | | | Lets face it, if you had a spare 4 hours a day to |
| changes in the rules about what constitutes good | | | | promote your site, research keywords, analyse |
| practice and bad practice (also referred to as | | | | web traffic and generate updated content for |
| 'white hat' seo and 'black hat' seo - a phrase | | | | your website, you would probably be on page 1 |
| derived from the old cowboy films where the | | | | of google for most of your targeted keywords, |
| goodies always wore white hats and the baddies | | | | but in the real world, most people and businesses |
| always wore black hats). For example, paying for | | | | do not have time for this, which is why some |
| links on someone else's website was seen as a | | | | companies employ SEO consultants or search |
| good business model in the early days of SEO, | | | | engine optimisation companies to do this job for |
| and a lot of people made a lot of money out of it. | | | | them. |
| These days, you can get penalised by Google for | | | | Larger companies often have experts in-house |
| paying for links. Where this puts services like | | | | to perform this function. All too often though, the |
| Yahoo directory, which is a paid-for link directory, | | | | role of SEO in larger companies is attached as a |
| I dont know, but there is good evidence to | | | | secondary roll to a technical team or web |
| suggest that inclusion in the Yahoo directory | | | | designers. Sometimes this is a good idea since |
| actually increases your site's trust rank in google. | | | | SEO for a single small scale website is not |
| (Very few spammers would fork out hundreds of | | | | generally a full time job. |
| pounds to Yahoo just to get one low converting | | | | |
| link). | | | | Should you DIY SEO? |
| To arm yourself with the right knowlege, you | | | | The answer to this question depends on whether |
| need to first know the basics of SEO - there are | | | | you have the time to do it, how much your time |
| quite a few articles online which give a good a | | | | is worth, whether you need it, and whether you |
| general background in SEO. A quick search for the | | | | think someone else would do a better job of it. In |
| phrase 'SEO introduction' or 'SEO tutorial' will allow | | | | the end, SEO is like having a plumber living in your |
| you to find them easily. | | | | house - useful for the times when you need work |
| Note: no one outside google know exactly what | | | | doing, but most of the time, you can tick along |
| factors and what weighting each factor of a | | | | nicely without them. |
| webpage determines page rank, and opinions on | | | | The best advice is: if you can do it, do it, if you |
| certain things differ - like whether div layers or | | | | can't then don't (sounds obvious doesn't it). Dont |
| tables get better rankings, or whether using | | | | believe everything an SEO company tells you, do |
| noscript tags penalise your page, so it is a good | | | | your own research, make your own judgements |
| idea to read these articles with the view that | | | | and be prepared, SEO takes months or even |
| they represent evidence based theories rather | | | | years to get high up in google for the most |
| than actual facts. | | | | competative keywords and if you are paying a |
| 2. The Tools | | | | high monthly fee for SEO then it might be better |
| In order to maximise your time, you need to | | | | to consider doing some of the work yourself or |
| make sure you are using the right tools. You | | | | employing a junior admin assistant to perform the |
| wouldn't use a sink plunger to fit a tap now would | | | | more mundane daily tasks like link exchange |
| you? Similarly, with search engine optimisation, you | | | | administration, or writing keyword rich content to |
| need to use the right tool for the job. There are | | | | put on your website. |