Search Engine Optimisation Explained

Search engine optimisation or SEO is the method of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural", "organic" or "algorithmic" search results for targeted key phrases.
 
Search engine optimisation is a two part process consisting of both “on page optimisation” and “off page optimisation”. Generally both are required to assign a web site not only the physical means for search engines to detect keywords through the correct use of HTML tags within the coding of the page, but also to give credibility and relevance to the page by linking to the site from other sites on the internet.


Search engines use what is known as an “algorithm” this is a mathematical formula developed to decide how important a search engine believes a site to be and how high in the rankings it should be placed. Algorithmic factors that affect the ranking of the web site are how many visitors the site receives, the age of the site, the number and quality of links coming into the site, key phrases contained within the link itself and context of the text surrounding the link and content of the site.

There are many further questions about aspects of SEO you may have so we have listed some below to help guide you through this complex area.

What is a 301 redirect?