What is S.E.O.?

Search Engine Optimisation is the process of improving the volume or quality of visitors to your website from search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo etc. by re-formatting site code, content and site structure. 

A major component of the search engine is a robot or spider, which is software that gathers information about your site and brings it back to be analysed by a powerful central 'engine'. This activity is referred to as crawling or spidering. The robot stores the text in the search engine database. Thousands and thousands of robots are exploring and gathering simultaneously all over the internet. Keeping the robots happy is one of the biggest priorities!

Do I need S.E.O.?

Yes .. if you want to differentiate your website from the millions of others out there on the internet.  Who could be a more perfect target audience than someone who is already looking for your company, your product or service, or just the sort of information you have on your website?  If your website arrives on page 6 of a web search chances are it won’t be found.  The earlier (or higher) a site appears in the search list, the more visitors it will attract.

Knowing your target audience is a key factor in S.E.O. It will help with important decisions such as keyword choices and  directory site submissions and also help you segment the site for each audience which can improve sales or other goals* as well as usability.

*example goals: 

• Sell a product
• Give information
• Sell a service
• Attract more volunteers
• Attract more donations

These goals would turn into ‘conversions’ if:-

• A product is purchased
• Someone finds the information they are looking for
• Client booking for your service
• Someone enquires about volunteering
• A donation is received

For your site, you can define a ‘conversion’ however you want!