SEO Blog

Results in search engine optimisation are rarely immediate. If you want instant results, you should probably consider Pay per Click (PPC) advertising instead. However, despite this lack of immediacy, SEO is still very much the forerunner when it comes to Internet marketing.

If you are just setting out on your voyage of SEO discovery, then you have to be prepared for the trials and tribulations that lie ahead. There will be times where nothing seems to be working, but you have to learn to ride these out. SEO, despite what you may hear elsewhere, isn’t an exact science. It is made up of a series of educated guesses based on the successes and failures of the wider community’s efforts over the years.

The only people who know exactly what it takes to get a website to the top of the search engine are the people who developed their algorithms. This is a select band indeed and one that isn’t all that keen on sharing its innermost secrets, unsurprisingly really. So unless you’re at the very top of the Google pyramid, you’re unlikely to be privy to the exact information required to get to the top.

So, SEO issues aside, the fundamentals are already widely acknowledged and have worked for millions of sites. First you need keywords, then you need to implement them throughout the website’s content (although not too rigorously), you also need plenty of relevant inbound links and a navigation that is easy to follow. That is basically it.

Once you have the basics in place your website will be stronger for it. The only issue you might then have is working out why it still isn’t ranking for those handpicked key phrases? Well the simple answer is that it takes time. Your website needs to be crawled by the search engine’s spiders, they will then process the information they found before mathematically assigning you a ranking in their engine. The ranking is often based on a number of factors, but is most notably determined by your perceived strength and the closeness with which it matches the search term used.

Strength is built over time. The older your domain, the better your weighting when it comes to ranking. If you’ve just bought a domain don’t be deterred if it takes time to get to the top, particularly for more competitive terms. This is why it is often better to target long tail keywords and develop your content accordingly.

The whole optimisation process takes time. In fact, for most successful websites it never actually stops. Getting links from directories, distributing articles and sending out enquiries all takes time, as does writing content for your site. That time is all an investment in your future success, even if it doesn’t bear any fruit initially. Always keep the faith and never stop optimising.

As with most things in life you have to take the rough with the smooth. Without a clear blueprint of exactly what is needed to succeed you have to rely on the advice and news emanating from elsewhere. Be positive with your SEO, be ethical and don’t be drowned by overburdening pessimism.