Searching and finding

Searching is a basic enough concept, people open up a browser, bring up www.google.com.au (as an example), type in a phrase that best describes their needs (“dog collars” for instance), hit “Search” and then will typically click on one of the first sites in the Top 10 results listed.

Google has returned the results for this term because they’ve determined that these sites are the most relevant in regards to this term. Google thinks they’re the most likely to give the user all the information they need on “dog collars”.

For the user, customer satisfaction will depend on whether or not these sites are actually providing the information on “dog collars” that they are looking for. If they’re not, the user will most likely move to the next in the list.

How did that site get to the top? Simple. Search Engine Optimisation. The site that shows up #1 for a term like “dog collars” has almost certainly utilised SEO in one form or another.

They did it so that when someone Searched, they’d be the one Found.

Didn’t we already do this?

Not really. One of the many services that Webarena offers is “Search Engine Submission”, which differs from Search Engine Optimisation in that one is simply alerting Search Engines to the fact that your site exists (by submitting it) and the other is telling the Search Engines that you are a relevant source of information for a particular phrase (by optimising for it).

So, what’s First?

First, there’s research. We study your company, your industry, your market, and your competition. Then, we decide on the keywords you should use in optimisation.

Words in the search box = Keywords

“Keywords” is the term we use to describe the words that are entered into the search box. For example, “dog collars”, is a keyword (despite it’s the “s” on the end).

Any given facet of your business and its online presence can be described in a few words. If your business sells pet supplies, with a lean towards dog and cat accessories, “dog collars” would be but one of your keywords.

Our keyword research is a bit more involved than this example. As a basic overview, we’ll find out an estimated number of times per month that people search using this term and how many other sites not only include this term (and will therefore show up in search results), but how many are actually relevant.

Keyword Analysis

Including the data provided, we use approximately 40 keywords in our final recommendations - we analyse not just the one keyword, but multiple variations of it, in both concept and usage. As an example, research for the keyword “dog collars” has now extended to “pet collars”, “dog accessories”, “dog leads”, and even “dog harness”.

Which is more likely to get your site chosen?

Our research is geared towards the highest chance of your site getting visitors from Search Engines, and if we find that more people are searching on ‘pet collars” than “dog collars”, then we will recommend including this term.

Who are you up against?

Our research isn’t just about which keyword is likely to get your site visited, it’s about who is already ranking highly for that keyword. We’ll analyse your competition and estimate how they got that high ranking, as well as how hard it’s likely to be to unseat them for one of those valuable positions in the search results.

Next, we optimise...

After we’ve established which keywords you want for optimisation, we get started by creating or editing one unique page per keyword on your site. We take these pages and make them as relevant to that specific keyword as possible, without sacrificing any part of the user experience (there’s no point in having a page that gets you lots of hits if most of them close the window almost immediately).

We’ll make changes to your website’s code, most of which aren’t immediately noticeable, and then we’ll change the page’s content. In the list of “Things to do to a page for optimisation”, one of the most important is the content. Is it relevant to the keyword? Is it readable and useful to your website’s visitors? All of these questions are considered when writing the copy for your optimised pages.

That’s it, you’re optimised!

I’m kidding, there’s heaps more. We’re not even done with your site yet, as we’ll need to go through and make links to your optimised pages on almost every page on the site.

Not exactly “click here”

After that, another of the most important steps is to get other sites to link to you as well. This is integral in telling Google that you are indeed important in regards to that keyword. For example, a popular site that sells guitars may link to your pet accessories site with “click here” or even “Your Brand Name” and this is fine. But few things will tell the Search Engines that you are an authority more than a popular pet-oriented site linking to your site with “pet collars” or “dog collars”.

How do you get these sites to link to you? Some of them already are, and can do you the added favour of using the right words in their link. We’ll help you find some others, as its all part of the process.

That’s (Not) All Folks

Though we may not have been able to tell you ALL about the varied and complex subject of SEO, we’ve covered the basics here.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us so that we can cover your more in-depth questions and discuss an SEO Package that’s perfect for you.