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Time and again I get asked by business owners how they should approach Search Engine Optimization, and where is the best place to start. SEO or search engine optimization has such a vastvaried playing field that it’s understandable that newcomers find it difficult knowing where to begin. Well Search Engine Optimization is the same as anything else. You start at the beginning…

Keyword research

Keyword research is a methodical process but a vital one.

First you should write down a list of all the relevant keywords to your business. This should include the regions where you are offering your products and services, along with word variations on what your products and services are. Put yourself in the shoes of a person that might be searching for what you offer, and think of the kind of things they might type in to Google.

When you have completed your list then put the words and phrase in order of relevance, from most relevant at the top, to least relevant at the bottom. Then use as many keyword tracker tools as possible. There are quite a few available, but the main three are Wordtracker, Yahoo Overture and Google Keyword Tool. Use each of these tools and type in each of your keywords, and they will show you the popularity of each term, and also offer up alternative suggestions. Again order your list in to relevance and you should have a good idea of what to aim for.

When you have your keyword list, you can type each one in to Google and check out your competition. Have a look at your competition websites. See how many pages they have, have a look at how much content they have on each page. Your aim is to at least match, but preferably beat what your competition are doing.

Web design

Next you should ensure your website design is optimized well for your human visitors. Many SEO experts overlook the fact that getting on to the front page of Google is only half the battle. From there your website needs to convert visitors in to sales. People need to be able to clearly understand what your website is offering, and easily find their way around your pages. Your web design should look as though you’ve made an effort to make it look nice. Images aren’t good for Google as they take up memory and are unreadable to the Google robots, but to humans they convey a message far better than a bulk of text. So images should be used sparingly but effectively, and your web design should be clean, easy to navigate and have all relevant contact details in place for your HUMAN visitors first.

Website code

The code of your website does make a difference to how readable it is for Google. You should make an effort to validate your code according to WC3 guidelines and ensure it is as lightweight and clutter free as possible. This helps your page to load quicker, and therefore make it more accessible to Google.

Content

After the design and coding of your website you have laid down the foundations for your SEO, and next is the most important thing of all. Content. You should be an expert on what you are offering, and provide as much information on the subject as possible. Aim to be a comprehensive resource on your subject, and not only will search engines love you, but your visitors will trust that you know your industry well.

Link building

The final step in an SEO campaign is link building. This is a lengthy process and should be an ongoing one. Try to get listed on relevant directories and websites. Reciprocal links should be treated with caution, and you should only link to websites that are higher up the SERPs than yours. High quality, relevant one way links to your website are the key, and these take time to get. Press releases. Article submissions and social networking are all effective ways to obtain links to your website, but you need to ensure your website is worth linking to in the first place.

The steps above are the right way to approach SEO. There is no quick fix, and it is a long, time consuming process, and a full time job. But as every website owner that is on the front page of Google for their chosen keywords will tell you. Search Engine Optimization pays off, and is worth the effort. Just make sure you do it right.

This article was written by Steve Ceaton, a Search Engine Optimization expert for DeepSpaceDesign. DeepSpaceDesign are an innovative, up and coming web design and SEO company based in the UK.

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