Who am I? Well, if you came to this blog direct, you will not know that I am a web designer/developer, a print designer, photographer, and writer. I specialize in small business clients who need simple solutions for their needs. I use HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, and MySQL to build websites using Adobe CS4 packages. I am currently working on a Flash tutorial for a local community group.

I live and work in Orkney: a wonderfully peaceful place with lots of wonderful scenery and great people. My overheads are very low so I can offer very competitive prices compared to other designers based in more expensive parts of the UK.

Welcome to my blog!

SEO is the act of changing the elements of your web site so that search engines will make your site visible when a potential client types in relevant keywords for your product. So that, for instance, if you are a web designer your site will appear high in the search engine listings if they use the keywords ‘web’ and ‘design’.

What does a search engine look for when it analyses your website?

There are many things that, say Google, looks at when it visits your site:
• the keywords and phrases in the text of your document
• the text in the headings and sub headings
• the ‘alt’ text of your images
• the number and prestige incoming links from other sites (the more sites link to yours, the higher your page ranking – the higher the quality of the linking site the better)
• meta keywords
• link structure

The precise ways Google and other search engines rank your site is kept secret but a few guidelines will help you to improve the ranking considerably.

Optimise your text

Craft your text so that its content is highly relevant to your desired product. So if you are trying to sell your web-design services, use the keywords ‘web’ and ‘design’ in your text a few times; as I am doing in this very article. But be aware that it is not so simple as repeating the same words over and over: the search engines will pick that up as an attempt to cheat their system and will therefore penalise you. No, you have to write meaningful content: make it relevant to your product and meaningful to the reader.

Use long-tailed optimisation

What is long-tailed optimisation? Well, the theory is that if a potential client wants something specific, they will use longer phrases in the search engine such as ‘web design in Orkney’ or ‘cheap web site design and hosting in Orkney’. Inserting such phrases – that are specifically relevant to your product – into your site is long-tailed optimisation. On my site, I’d use phrases such as ‘website hosting in Orkney’, ‘domain names in Orkney’, ‘website provider in Orkney’, etc.

Avoid metaphors and similes

If I created a heading: ‘we can help your business grow from an acorn to an oak’ it might be accurate but the search engines might classify this site as a gardening site! Even though this site’s name and web address is www.acornconcepts.com.
Optimise meaningfully but cleverly

Re-read this article and see how I have used keywords, long-tailed optimisation, relevant headings but without being irritatingly repetitive. And hopefully I’ve been a little entertaining and have given you a few tips on how to raise the ranking of your website in the search engines listings. Remember to ask yourself ‘what would one of your potential clients type into a search engine to find your products’ and write accordingly.