Web site search engine optimisation

This free article on web site search engine optimisation is an overview for the beginner.

• What is search engine optimisation? Search engine optimisation means making your website visible to search engines. The more important and relevant it looks, the higher up it will come on Google and other search engines.

  Search engine optimisation can be divided into on site and off site optimisation.

• What does "on site optimisation" mean? This is what you do to your website to make it search engine friendly. For example, have a look at the top bar of your browser. It says 'Web site search engine optimisation'. That's because we put that in the title tag of the website (it's in the code, you can't actually see it on this page). Putting that in the title tag tells the search engine what this page is about.

  This is one of many things that search engine optimisation professionals will do on your site.

• What does "off site optimisation" mean? Off site optimisation is trying to get other websites to link to you. The other websites must be good as well - the search engines will be able to tell if all the sites that link to you are rubbish, and you won't rank as well.

  One great way of getting good sites to link to you is through PR - having a trusted, well-visited website run your press release.

• What is "keyword research"? Keyword research tells you if people are searching for the words and phrases that your site is being optimised for. It's all well and good optimising for the phrase "Dorchester-based mail-order fair-trade clothing company" but if no-one is typing that phrase into a search engine, you might as well not bother. Better terms might be "Mail-order clothes" or "Fair trade clothes".
• How many pages of my site do I have to optimise? All of them.
• What is the most important thing in web site search engine optimisation? Opinions differ, but many search engine optimisation professionals will tell you that your web site content is the most important thing of all. As well as telling the search engines that your website has lots of relevant, regularly-updated words on it, decent content will encourage other websites to link to you.

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