Factsheet: Search Engine Optimisation (getting noticed by Google)

This is really an addition to the factsheet 'Keywords and Search Text' but SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is such a broad subject that I will just make a couple of further comments.

Fact 1: There are literally hundreds of companies that advertise that they will optimise your website so that it ranks highly in Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines. You will perhaps look at a few of these adverts. Some will be able to do what they say, others will not. You will have great difficulty in separating the two. None will offer guarantees.

In reality, it depends largely what words or phrases you want to rank highly for. To be the first search result for the phrase 'gite in France' will not be possible for an individual gite owner. To be first for the phrase 'lovely gite with pool in the Monflanquin area' will be easier. But less useful since almost no-one will search on that specific phrase.

Fact 2: The search engines frequently change their search criteria. They don't publish their search criteria, for the simple reason that everyone would try to change their sites to fit those criteria.

If anyone claims to know a 'secret' way to improve your ranking they are not being honest.

Fact 3: Content is always the most important thing. You can focus all day on incorporating your keywords into as many places in your website as possible. It is much better to have useful and interesting content. It is this that will do you the most good in the search engine rankings wars.

The search engines can decide not to include your site anymore if they think you are trying to be too clever - known as excessive keyword saturation. So if you put the phrase 'gite in Monflanquin' in every sentence in your site you could be blacklisted - not even shown at all in the results when someone does search on 'gite in Monflanquin'

As the search engines will tell you, they are constantly changing their search criteria with the goal of eliminating the impact of SEO and bringing real interesting and useful sites up the lists.

Fact 4: At the moment incoming links to your website are rated very highly by google. Links are discussed elsewhere. Although many link-exchange schemes are likely to be excluded in due course, it remains the case that if you can convince other websites, of a related subject matter, to link to your own that will help you be ranked more highly in google.

It is often said that 1/3 of the time spent on a website should be spent on design and content, and 2/3 on publicity - asking people for links, submitting to directories and so on. Certainly if you can get 10 good links from pages with high PR - say PR2-PR4 - you will already have done better than the majority of small websites.

If you don't know about PR, search for 'google toolbar' and download it to your PC. In the middle of the toolbar is a little green bar, and if you hold your mouse pointer over it it will tell you the PR of the page you are on. Very useful and very interesting. Or download Firefox with the Google Toolbar included and really enjoy yourself - faster and easier internet browsing as well, easy to install and great to use.

For all that, there is a place for SEO (search engine optimisation) You should know what phrases you want to be found for, and include these in your text. You can avoid excessive repetition but not avoid ALL repetition. You do still want the search engines looking at your site to know what it is about.

In summary, look into Search Engine Optimisation by all means, but assess carefully what you are told or promised. Don't believe anyone who promises you miracles - if they have promised you a miracle they will have promised the same to your competitors as well...