A lot has changed in the last ten years in the field of search engine optimisation. Back in the early days, it was relatively easily to gain decent search engine rankings by adding a generous sprinkling of keywords to a site’s Meta tags and then repeating those keywords somewhere on the page. Those were the good old days!

Of course the above was open to manipulation and sites would try and rank in the top ten for keywords that weren’t directly related to what they were offering. For example a holiday cottage web site in France might also try and rank for ‘hotels in france’ and other related but broad search terms. This attempt to get more traffic led to poor search engine results pages which reduced the experience of the visitor.

To improve the relevancy of their index, the search engines constantly update their ranking algorithms. Small changes happen regularly and much larger updates, such as the recent Google ‘Caffeine’ update happen every few years. Each time there is a big change to the way pages are ranked; a search engine optimisation company has to fine-tune their strategy to meet the new search engine requirements.

One major effort to improve results relevancy was the introduction of link popularity by Google. It is much harder to influence the content on another person’s web site and so this became an important part of search engine optimisation – building up links from other high quality web sites that are of a relevant nature. This concept was introduced a good few years ago now but continues to be an important part of what the search engines measure when deciding where to rank sites.

Another key aspect of a search engine’s algorithm is the visible text on a web site. As the search engines cannot read the content contained within images, words are what they use primarily to establish what a site is about. It is the text on your site, combined with the words used in the inbound link text that combine to tell the search engines what you should rank for.

Good quality on-page content is also very hard to fake. Sites are either content rich – making them a useful resource for visitors and therefore deserving of a high search engine ranking, or they haven’t. It is because of this, that the visible text is one of the main three things that the search engines look at when deciding where to rank your site.

So what makes good content?

It should be useful to visitor

The art to successful search engine optimisation is to integrate keywords naturally into the site, in content that is useful to visitors. The web is a place to share information – and by providing a resource for visitors, you encourage them to come back. They may also recommend your site to friends or link to you – both helping to drive new visitors your way. Thinking of ways you can add value to your visitors by providing useful information, will make your site successful in a number of different ways.

It must be unique

Good content that is going to help your search engine rankings must be unique. Whilst you are not technically penalised for publishing duplicate content on the web, Google will simply ignore your page if it has already been published somewhere else.

This is illustrated with the following example. When any search is conducted on Google, there are millions of pages within its index that contain the target key phrase. For example, a search for ’search engine optimisation’ currently brings up 39,900,000 pages.

However after browsing to results 891-898, Google displays the following message: “In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 898 already displayed. If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.”

The pages that have been omitted here are all considered duplicate content and are filtered out of the main search engine results.

It needs to contain your target keywords

A well-written piece of SEO copy is written with the target key phrase in mind. Whilst it shouldn’t be over-stuffed with repetitive keywords that don’t read well, it should be obvious what the target phrases are.

A seo copywriter’s job is to integrate your target keywords in the correct balance to both read well to visitors and meet the current search engine’s requirements.

To conclude

A well-optimised site should provide good quality unique content for visitors, that is based around the keywords you want to be found for. This helps the search engines correctly index your site – and holds visitors’ interest when they get there.

Choosing a seo agency to undertake your company’s web site marketing can be extremely challenging. In an industry that is at present unregulated, and working in a medium that is constantly changing it can be confusing to know where to begin.

The key to hiring the right search engine optimisation agency is to learn a bit about how search marketing works. You don’t need to become an expert, that is what you will be paying them for; but by understanding the basics of what Google and the other search engines look for, and getting to grips with how different agencies will meet these requirements forms the basis of any successful working relationship.

Here are a few things that all good seo agencies should have in common.

They use ethical / white hat techniques

There are many ways to trick the search engines, which can result in short term improvement in rankings. Some of these ‘black hat’ techniques include cloaking, using hidden text or buying paid links – to deliberately try and manipulate the search engine results.

You need to check with your search engine optimisation agency whether they use any dubious seo techniques – and if they do, avoid them. The search engines want good quality sites in their index – so people continue to visit them. That way they can continue to sell advertising, which is their main source of revenue. Tricking the search engines is a sure fire way to get dropped like a hot stone and end up on page 6 or worse!

It is much better to consider search engine optimisation as a long-term investment in your web site. Done using ethical, sound techniques, search engine optimisation improves your web site because it develops it into a content rich resource. This helps to engage visitors and keep them visiting for longer and also encourages others to link to you – another way of driving new traffic – as you have something that is of interest to their visitors.

They provide a reliable, regular service

Search engine optimisation isn’t something you do once and then it’s done. It is an ongoing process of analysing, optimising and measuring results – and then repeating the process again. Particularly in competitive areas, continuous monitoring and refinements needs to be applied to keep rankings high.

A good agency will send through regular position reports to keep you abreast of changes. If you are targeting high competition keywords, then you should also expect to receive a monthly update on the work that has been done to improve and maintain your rankings.

In many cases, ranking reports will be analysed along with your visitor stats to ensure both rankings and visits are increasing.

They have a proven track record

A good search engine optimisation agency will be able to show you examples of work they have done for other clients. This is the best measure of their ability to do the job – having a strong portfolio of results.

One way you can get to know more about search engine optimisation is to ask your prospective company about other projects they have worked on. Going through case studies – particularly in similar market sectors to your own will show you strong examples of how the seo has been carried out.

This will make the process of seo much clearer – as you see what keywords were targeted, the changes to the web site that were made, the copy that was written and how this was integrated into the site and how a link campaign was carried out. It will also show you the kind of timescales that are required in a similar search engine optimisation campaign.

They offer a guarantee

Many companies say that it is not possible to offer a guaranteed search engine optimisation service. Whilst it is true to say that it is not possible to guarantee to get a single keyword to a specific position, it is possible to set a general benchmark of what the campaign will achieve.

If a company does not offer any guarantee of results, then the reality is that at the end of the campaign you could be no better off than when you started. This not only wastes money, but also time.

They keep in touch

Meetings or regular phone catch-ups are key to successful search engine optimisation campaigns. Making time to review progress every few months and set new goals, keeps campaigns fresh and ensures the work continues to progress.