SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, can seem like a confusing and time consuming process. If you are looking to get your website or business ranked in the search engines then there are various SEO services out there that can help you with your long term goals. It is ignorant to think you can get to the top spot for a competitive keyword like “cars” and any company that claims they can do that are pulling the wool over your eyes, but there are ways to get a steady stream of traffic that can convert into customers for your products or services.
SEO services include a wide range of methods & strategies to help you rank higher, increase targeted traffic and improve conversions. Usually the best companies are the ones that offer comprehensive packages. But if you are confident in doing some of it yourself, or do not have the money for a complete package then there are several types of SEO services to look out for.
On-Page Optimisation
This involves the restructuring and often re-writing of your website content to target your keywords and display the page in the most search engine accessible way. For example a website full of Flash animations, videos and pictures cannot be read very well by search engine spiders, and therefore may have difficulty ranking well. Having plenty of cleanly written content, with your keywords in headlines, Meta tags, links and makes a big difference.
Also, the interlinking structure of your site is important. For example “page one” and “Page 2” linking to “1.html” and “2.html” is not an effective use of your internal linking. A better option would be “fast cars” and “modern cars” linking to “fast-cars.html” and “modern-cars.html.”
Off-Page Optimisation
If you feel your site is valuable as it is then off-page optimisation is the next best service. This involves getting backlinks (other sites linking to you) with your keyword as the anchor. This can range from link exchanges (although the value for this is diminishing), to using social bookmarking sites, to submitting to high ranked directories, to article marketing.
Keyword Research
You may have a firm idea of what keyword you want your website to target, but you’d be amazed the amount of people that get this wrong. If your website is about selling cars, then the term cars is not only too broad, but too competitive to rank far. Good SEO services will be experienced in keyword research and will be able to compile a list of low competition, but targeted words that you can rank for. Something like “buy used cars in Sydney” is a lot more effective because it narrows down the target audience to those already wanting to buy and lengthens the term for easier ranking.
Article Writing and Marketing
This is a common service where you can have your on-page content written with the search engines and keywords specifically in mind, as well as keyword rich content written for marketing purposes. These articles can be submitted to article directories, blogs and lenses with a link back to your own site, giving you an instant relevant backlink.
There are many other SEO services offered by companies; some are more complex and some combining several methods listed above. The most reputable companies will offer all of these services and more, often in one complete package. SEO is an ongoing process and should be continually updated to remain competitive.
