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Time and time again we are asked by prospective clients "How do I get my website to rank well?". The answer to that is long and complex, but here it is in a nutshell.

SEO. Little word with a lot of power!

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, and basically means how well your site is optimised so that search engines like Google and Yahoo can trawl through it, adding your site's content to their database. There are many hundreds of things which contribute to a well optimised site. For example, labelling of images, use of header tags, use of keywords and keyword density within the page text and also in the page titles, layout of the page, use of css, number of inward links, use of flash & javascript etc. It is the combination of all of these things which contribute to a site that ranks well. Having said that, what is the combination? That is an ever-changing goal post, as Google changes its algorithims weekly - even daily!

Not all sites are created equal !

The competition is fierce!
The nature of your business will also affect how easy it is to get your site to rank well. If you are selling eg. copper garden ornaments you are likely to have less competition than say somebody selling TVs, or online dating services. This means that it will be easier to get your website to rank in the first page or couple of pages of search results.

What's all this about keywords?
Keywords are the words people will use to search for your product or service. Remember that is not just keywords, but keyword phrases that your site needs to be optimised for, and worse still, it is not just keyword phrases, but keyword density too! What does all this mean? You need to repeat your keywords and keyword phrases where ever you can throughout your site - this will increase the density and therefore make your site a more relevant match to those keyword searches. One good tip is to see what search phrases your top competitors are ranking well for and consider including these in your own site.

Where does WebCoast stand with SEO ?
SEO is a very specialised field. With the algorithms changing weekly & daily it is a full time job just keeping up. For this reason WebCoast applies recent SEO fundamentals to our sites but we do not profess to be SEO experts or offer any level of SEO other than the basics which we build into all of our customised sites. We can however engage the services of local colleagues who DO specialise in SEO and implement this advanced level of SEO while building your customised site. And the cost isn't huge, it can even be tailored to meet your budget.

That's it for now....
Nicola
Monday, April 21, 2008
Why is it that some sites rank really well and others don't? The answer to that may lie in the build of the site. Some DIY templates do not allow access to important SEO areas. Or perhaps they do but the user doesn't realise the importance of using them correctly. In our opinion you are better off getting a purpose built site, one that is custom built for you, which matches your existing marketing material and has been specifically built around your keywords. And yes they cost more, but you may be surprised at how little that extra cost is - especially when weighed up with good search engine rankings. If you want a budget DIY template then you will probably get what you pay for... a nice looking site which doesn't rank particularly well, especially in competitive areas.