Is it art or science?

Search engines (Google, Yahoo!, MSN and others) act as large central portals that store and manage all the information available on the Internet. Search engines are the initial resource (used over 75% of the time) for online users seeking information, products or services.

Search Engine Optimisation is the art and science of altering web site content, web site structures, web pages and links to web sites and pages to improve visibility, rank (order of priority) and relevance in search engine results.

There are over 2 billion search engine searched per month and searchers, on average, read the first 2.8 pages of results (RedSheriff, March 2005). This means that unless you are in the first 3 pages of results (top 30 rankings), then your site has a very low chance of being found by end users and producing revenues and conversions.

The search engine optimisation process involves:

• Analysis of consumer search patterns (and competitor web sites) to identify search terms used to find your product or service
• Design of a web site structure, directory structure and navigation system that provides an ideal environment for maximising the visibility of your site with the major search engines
• Write / edit on page copy or content that is optimised for the identified keywords
• Development of meta titles, meta tags, meta descriptions, alt tags, keyword inclusion and keyword density in text on key pages
• Registration of your web site with the major search engines Google, Yahoo, About, AskJeeves, Lycos, Joeant, DMOZ, Exactseek, Metaweb and other search engines, directories
• Development of an inbound link strategy, partnering with other websites to raise your site's visibility and page-rank
• Monitor performance over at least an initial period and amend/edit or fine tune content to maximise results.