What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and is defined as:
“Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a set of methods aimed at improving the number and quality of visitors to a web site from “natural” or “organic” search engine listings.”…….

But in deeper complexity.....All search engines use complex mathematical equations to “rank” websites for relevance and importance to certain terms and keywords. These mathematical equations are known as “algorithms”. SEO describes the techniques used to slightly alter the content and HTML coding of a website so that it better adheres to the “algorithms”. So using the knowledge of how search engines work, and the factors that they rate as important, we can manipulate a website so that the search engines see it as more relevant/important. This causes an increase in rankings for the desired keywords and therefore increases visitor traffic, sales and or sign ups.

How do search engines work?

Search engines use robots called “spiders” that crawl the web making copies of web pages that they come across. The “spiders” begin at a few “seed” sites, read all the information on the website and visit all links internally and to external sites. Using this technique they crawl the web jumping from web site to website making copies of the web pages they come across. These web pages are then stored in a database called an “index” where, using a complex mathematical formula they are ranked for importance and relevance to the keywords which they are about.

Why is my website not on search engines?

Just having a website online is not enough to be found by search engines. All too often owners of websites expect to type in a keyword about their business and expect to see their website up there in the first pages of results. Sadly however it is not that easy Every business owner would like to be #1 in Google for their main keyword. To achieve this you will need to market your website through SEO or through Pay Per Click Advertising. To see if the search engines actually know that your website exists, and have indexed your website type the url (www.yourdomain.co.uk) into the search engine. If they have indexed your website you will probably need to optimise your website to increase visibility across the engines for important keywords. If the search engines have not indexed your website you will need to get indexed- Either manually submit your website to the search engines or build up inbound links that will cause the “spiders” to come across your website while “crawling” the web.

What is “black hat" and "white hat" SEO?

“White hat SEO” describes methods of optimisation that are approved by search engines, such as building content and improving site quality.
“Black hat SEO” are methods of optimisation such as invisible text or cloaking which ultimately trick the search engines into ranking a website highly. SEO Europe only
participate in “white hat” techniques as tricking the search engines can often get a site penalised or even banned from their index completely.

Can SEO companies guarantee top placement in search engines?

The short answer is yes- but often when a SEO company does this they refer to top placement for a keyword that is non-competitive such as a company name. The question should really be “Should SEO companies guarantee top placement in search engines?” The answer is no. For instance a business wishing to be ranked top for a keyword such as “accommodation” should not be promised top placement on the search engines. The reason being:
a) The top ranked website for this keyword has thousands of pages indexed by the search engines and also has hundreds of thousands of inbound links. To compete with this #1 ranked website is virtually impossible, would take years to compete with this and take many, many hours of work and link building.
b) SEO companies have no control over the policies of search engines. To guarantee a top placement is impossible because ultimately the SEO company has no control over how search engines index websites and no control over changes in the search engines algorithms.

How long before I see results from SEO?

The effects of search engine optimisation are certainly not instant. This is due to the nature of how search engines work. If your website is already indexed then the effects of “on page” optimisation should be seen anywhere between 4-8 weeks.
If your site is new or not indexed by the major search engines and directories then the wait can be much longer- for instance some websites will wait up to 18 months to appear in the Open Directory (www.dmoz.org) after submission. And the “Google Sandbox” effect is a filter that Google applies to new domains and prevents new websites from ranking for main keywords. This can last between 1-12 months depending on the competitiveness of the keywords.
“Off page” optimisation such as link building may take up to 3 months before the fruits of the labour are seen.

What is the most used search engine?

Google is the worlds most popular search engine. The UK version of Google is found at www.google.co.uk. Google handles over 300 million searches every day! It also provides results for other search engines Yahoo, AOL, the BBC, iWon and Netscape.

Does every page of my website need to be optimised?

No. Many websites (for instance e-commerce) have hundreds or thousands of pages. These pages are often full of photos and very little content. Sadly these pages will very rarely achieve high rankings, as search engines love content on pages. You should make a selection of web pages that once optimised will increase in search engine positioning. This will be enough to cause other pages to become indexed if they are not already.