How to treat search engine optimisation as an easy-to-follow science

For many the science of search engine optimisation (SEO) and page rankings is a mystery. Yet while there are many top consultants earning thousands of pounds per day to share their knowledge, there are a number of basic things you can be doing to tweak your site and tweak your rankings, according to Thomas Vollrath, CEO of Webfusion.

“Get SEO right from the get-go and keep focused on the basics and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg to maintain.  With the rapid emergence of social media and related analytical technology, combined with tight budgets and the evolving perception of brand content, today’s websites play a vital role in lead generation. One of the benefits of leveraging SEO as a demand generation vehicle is that the investment is relatively low, especially when compared with most lead generation marketing initiatives. More and more organisations are realising that low cost combined with extensive reach make the website a fertile lead gen ground,” he added.

Here are the five golden rules that any company or organisation needs to follow to make sure they maximise the use of their website:

Don’t be Flash
Many say that Flash is a dying format. With the uptake of tablets that can’t view Flash the final nails are being driven into its coffin, and with it goes one of the other downfalls of the format: its poor Google ranking.

Thomas stated: “It is possible to rank well using a Flash site, but it takes time and a lot of expertise and most small businesses won’t know or be able to afford that expertise. Yes, Flash looks good – to those who can view it – and makes a great first impression but remember people need to find your site first, so we would advise you to ditch the Flash and watch your rankings and thus overall traffic improve.”

Keep it useful
Trendy, news-worthy content is great when it happens, but it won’t give your site longevity. Even if you feature current keywords and phrases it still makes your content and therefore your site disposable.

To keep your site attracting traffic back to your content and to increase the potential of backlinks for years to come you should be creating authoritative content that is not time-specific.

Review your profiles
Thomas continued: “Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook… your company and employees probably have profiles on all of these and more but are they all singing the same song? Take time out to check where you have profiles and at least make sure they are up to date, all carry the correct URL and link to one another. Individually these may not make a big difference but address them all and you could see a marked improvement on your rank. At the every least you can be sure the information about your company is correct.”

Go local
Google, Yahoo! and Bing all offer benefits for local businesses. You may have a global operation but many searchers will still be swayed by the opportunity to use a local company over one that is hundreds of miles away. It is well worth you securing your free local listing on each of the search giants. Many are claiming the future of search is local and with the uptake of local business profiles still low, by registering now you have a great chance of getting ahead of the competition.

Be original and then promote
Thomas continued: “OK, it may sound a bit like discovering penicillin but with a bit of thought and a lot of drive you could make your own breakthrough in the SEO world. If you are looking to buy keywords, obviously the less popular the better value for money, so what about choosing a less popular one and trying to make it popular? Find a word that sums up what you do and use that as your push for the next 12 months. Use it in tweets, blogs, emails, even adverts and you will be surprised how quickly it can fall in to common usage and more importantly be instantly recognised with your brand.”

“That’s just a few ways to improve; there are many others, search engine optimisation is a whole science (or art) in its own right. What is important is that you regularly review your own site, how it is ranking and check you have the latest relevant keywords included somewhere,” concluded Thomas.