Search Engine Optimisation

Guide to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

At a minimum, your web design company will normally ensure (but you should still check) that your website is registered with all of the main search engines such as Google, Yahoo & MSN.

This means that these search engines will at least look at (trawl) your website in response to searches that are requested by visitors to the search engine websites.

Most businesses will want their site to feature as high as possible for search terms that are relevant to the business. Given the value placed on being in one of these ‘prized’ positions there can be competition amongst businesses, particularly in lucrative business sectors to have their websites properly optimised.

SEO is normally dealt with in two stages, firstly when the website is initially designed and secondly on an ongoing basis. At the initial design stage, an experienced web designer or design company will assess your SEO requirements. This will usually involve analysing certain key words and phrases that likely customers might use if searching for a product or service provided by your company. These key words and phrases will in turn have key words that are associated with them. The combination of this together will other variables will influence the design of the website.

For some businesses, the first stage has already passed and it is only possible to look at the second stage that involves the ongoing tweaking of the site content and its layout. Again the variables mentioned are assessed and this can lead to changes being made to the website. These changes are then assessed in terms of whether they have improved the ranking of the website on the search engines being targeted. Further changes are then made and so on.

SEO Examples

The requirement for SEO investment also varies greatly from business to business. Here are two examples showing two different businesses and their specific SEO needs:

Example 1:

Boutique in Navan selling Maternity wear
Customers mainly within 15-mile radius.
Only one competitor has a website.
Likely search terms: “maternity wear navan”, “maternity shop navan”, “maternity boutique”

Assessment: Even a reasonably well designed website will ensure that this business appears on the first page of search engine results. There is a low level of competition and the geographic target area is relatively small.

Example 2:

Mortgage broker in Dublin
Targeting customers throughout the City
Lucrative business sector with many competitors
Likely search terms: “mortgage quotes dublin”, “mortgage advice dublin”, “mortgage broker dublin”, “mortgages dublin”

Assessment: To appear in the top page of results, the website will need to be highly optimised. It will also need to be continually tweaked to retain and advance its position. There is a high level of competition with the value of a lead being seen as being quite high. The geographic area is also relatively wide.

Check Out Our Other Guides

Below is a list of other guides that you may be interested in reading: