Search engine optimisation (SEO) refers to the process of improving the position of your website when it appears in the results by search engines such as Google. Sites that appear higher on the search results get more traffic to their page and potentially, more business. If you are patient and follow a few basic principles, your website stands a chance of getting listed, at least, on the first page of the search results.

Ensure the use of key words in your content

Search engines such as Google and Bing (Microsoft) make use of tools known as “spiders”, a software that crawls the web in a certain structured manner. They browse websites to identify key words and phrases, which in turn determines the relevance of your website. As such, you need to consider the search habits of your customers and ensure that the key words are used to search for your business. Ensure that these key words are found both in the heading and body of the website.

Stay fresh

How frequently you change the content of your website will determine the rate which the search engine “spiders” crawl your site. This means that you have to ensure that your text, images or pages are regularly updated to allow optimisation of the search on your website.

Be up-to-date with SEO

The system and processes used by major search engines are the result of constant tweaks and improvements. This will ensure that search engines yield the most up-to-date and accurate results in their listings. It certainly pays to be aware of current developments in SEO to ensure that your website uses the latest technology. That being said, the basics of SEO are not going to change as they are the key elements that will provide your website’s ranking.

Getting to the top of online search results is not the main objective nor does it happen overnight. Just by following some of these simple points, you are taking small but important steps each day to optimising your website’s presence on the Internet.