Search Engine Optimisation

Improve your ranking with our search optimisation services

Search engine optimisation or SEO is designed to make your web site content more search engine friendly in order to make it rank higher. iSource will research your keywords and optimise your site based on the most searched keywords in your industry in order to drive relevant traffic to your site via the major search engines and directories. This however is just the beginning..

Site Optimisation

The process of search optimisation is multi-faceted. It is a combination of many factors and to most is still very much a black art, however, there are several key areas which we concentrate on when optimising your web site:

Valid Markup

It's a fact that the majority of web sites on the Internet are poorly written and coded. if you were to validate the HTML or XHTML markup they use you will find most sites are riddled with errors. You can validate your site at http://validator.w3.org. Try this site and see what it says about us.

Redundant Information

The market is flooded with WYSIWYG HTML editors and web authoring software and whilst this makes the job of producing web sites a lot easier, it also has a negative side-effect of producing irrelevant, unnecessary, and often badly formatted markup. iSource optimise all code by hand and in many cases re-write it. This not only makes the code clean but also makes it more lightweight so there's less data to download. As a result the performance of your web site will improve by allowing web browsers to load the information quicker. Clean, optimised code is more visible to search engines and will have greater relevance.

Meta Data

In the past meta data (information about the contents of your web site) has been viewed as being highly significant to search engine bots and spiders and although it is still valuable we believe that today it plays a less crucial role. That said, certain aspects such as titles and keyword sequences need to be carefully thought out in order to maximise your ranking potential.

Static URLs

Certain search engines do not like dynamic URLs and whilst this may become less of an issue as search algorithms improve over time it is something that should be addressed. If you have a dynamic web site, for example with a Content Management System or eCommerce Web Site, the URLs used will be dynamically generated. iSource has URL replacement techniques to ensure that all pages are accessible via static URLs thereby increasing your exposure to all search engines.

External Links and Google Page Rank

It's important to have a healthy number of incoming links from quality web sites. Not only does this give you more visibility out on the Internet but also adds to the credibility of the information on your site and therefore provides you with a better page rank.

Avoid Dirty Tricks

There are some well publicised SEO techniques which are to be totally avoided. For example page cloaking which attempts to deliver different markup to the bot or spider than is actually delivered to the browser. Make no mistake about it that search engine algorithms get smarter and smarter and if you are caught trying to deceive them your web site will suffer. We know what works and what doesn't work where optimisation is concerned. We have spent significant time testing ideas and theories and have produced some amazing results.

What else should I be aware of with SEO?

Search engine optimisaton is not just a one-off activity; it's a continual battle. Methods change as search engines become more and more sophisticated. As Google themselves state on their web site, results can never be guaranteed (excluding pay per click, in which case it's costing you to be there). Any company telling you this should be avoided. Free or "natural listings" as they are known change position frequently so just because you are ranking well today does not guarantee you will rank well tomorrow.

Can you optimise my web site?

Initally iSource will give you a free consultation with some recommendations. If we don't believe we can increase your search engine ranking we will not waste your time or money, however, if we believe there are some areas for improvement we'll advise you on how we can help and the associated costs in doing so and these can be defined by measured results, we are that confident.

For further information about our search engine optimisation services please contact us.

How Does it Work

When a company decides to establish an on-line presence and set up a website, be it to serve existing clients better or extend its services to the on-line masses, the site could have the best look and feel ever developed with tens of thousands of dollars spent on perfecting the functionality and the flow, but without proper preparation, site organization, coding and marketing exposure, the site may never be seen by more than an handful of people who have stumbled on it or been pointed to it via word of mouth.

Search Engine Optimization, is "the buzz word" these days because the reach that a company can achieve via traditional methods is dwarfed by the sheer size an depth achieved through the internet, but the caveat is that people have to find you on the internet, and find is what a search engines do, they enable potential clients, customers and partners to find relevant search results, this is where optimization comes into view, SEO will help your site with the following:

• Raise the sites Ranking (Google Ranking and others), the higher a site is ranked, the better placement the site will achieve.
• Improve the site placement by focusing on narrowing the scope of the search terms you want your site to tag.
• Improve the position of your site on the results page, 80% of the clicks on search results are achieved on the first page of results, with 12% on the second and then the remaining 8% is distributed among the following 3 dozen result pages. We are always aiming for a hit on specific terms within the upper boundary of the first page.

When you're choosing the service that best fits your needs, remember that any SEO Service that promises "Immediate Results" or a "100% Guarantee" is exaggerating at best, be aware of what seems to be too good to be true, it normally is.

Search engine optimization involves case by case research and analysis, there is no generic solution that would fit all sites, each page represents an opportunity to be noticed and differentiated from other sites that may offer similar solutions, the choice of a perspective client may rest upon being found "first", according to research most users will rarely continue their search beyond finding one or two options of what they are looking for, once again you may have the best offering, but never have a chance to showcase it.

Search engine optimization does not rest upon complicated software packages or heavy alterations to what you already have, the changes will not affect the visual representations of your site, or alter your corporate identity, these are surgical changes done with great care, because as mentioned earlier, getting it right the first time makes the optimization effort more effective on the long term.

Some of our research directions involved include:

• Keyword density research.
• Natural/Organic SEO (page by page)
• Pay Per Click Management:
      Google Ad Words
      Overture
• Section 508 HTML attributes.
• HTML coding (page by page)
• Monitoring search engine submissions.
• Keyword submission and page/keyword ratio integration.
• Site navigation re-organization for spider/bot pick-up.
• Manual site submission to web directories.
• Media advertising through Flip Media partner sites.
• Selected keyword saturation research

We do not believe in non-ethical optimization techniques, there are some ways by which certain sites try to fool Google and other search engines into thinking that they are popular sites, the penalty for getting caught is a full ban from the search engine, at this point you might as well take your site offline, so be aware of what goes onto your site.

Packages

Search engine optimisation is one of the primary ways that a website can maximise visitor traffic from the web at a potentially low cost. In fact, we believe that every business website should include search engine optimisation within its design and structure, integrated throughout its content and focused in the title tag and metatags used on each page.

Your site may be competing in a broad market with high volume search term usage that makes it very difficult to achieve top ranking positions for the best terms, but good volumes can still be achieved from optimisation.

Alternatively you could be operating in a focused niche sector or regional market where a high ranking position can be achieved more easily and you will attract low volume but highly relevant visits. Again, search engine optimisation will be one of your best investments when marketing your site.

Either way, your website can attract visits from prospective customers through the use of effective search engine optimisation. The search market may be more concentrated now through a few core search tools, but established as well as new sites must adopt a search engine strategy as a core online marketing principle.

Considerations for SEO

When embarking on a search engine optimisation programme to support the ranking on your website, you will need to consider a number of issues, including:

• Which search terms will give you the best results immediately and in the long-term?
• How well can your site be indexed by the main search engines and is it also listed on the most popular search directories?
• Will the optimisation of your page content and metatags be working together as effectively as possible?
• Does your site have a link building strategy to support your link popularity?
• What advantages can be gained from developing a search engine optimisation strategy alongside pay-per-click advertising?

Why iSource

We have specialists in Internet Marketing with many years proven experience in implementing search engine optimisation campaigns for a wide range of business websites in the UK and overseas, we can advise you about the opportunities your site may currently have and what you should be working towards. We can also:

• research the most appropriate search terms for your market that can give your site the best ranking opportunities, then develop the search engine optimisation on your site, retaining the current look and feel as much as possible
• submit your site where necessary and then track your ranking performance as your site becomes more established on the top search tools
• support your search engine optimisation strategy by developing the link popularity of your site, or your search marketing through the supplementary use of pay-per-click advertising.

If you would like to discuss the search engine ranking opportunities for your website, please contact us now for more information.