SEO (acronym for search engine optimisation) is the process through which a website gets ranked in the top page/s of the free (or ‘organic’) listings area of search engines.
Following a search, the search engines display a mix of the ‘paid’ results as well as the ‘free’ ones.
The difference between the free search engine rankings and the paid search engine rankings is that it’s possible to be on the 1st page of Google in a prominent position immediately if you are prepared to pay a fee each time someone clicks on your link to visit your website
The fee per visitor can range from one dollar right up to 15 dollars. The budget required for a realistic showing in the paid results would be between $15 to $30 a day – which is a monthly total of between $450 and $900. Many clients contract specialist companies to assist with managing their paid campaigns – and this is generally referred to as search engine marketing.
An established Perth SEO professional, Dale Carter of GTP i-Commerce, says he has seen clients spending $12 000 per month which generated $100 000 in business for the month. He said however, that businesses needed to have the capacity to handle the volume of enquiries, and should understand that the advertisements are withdrawn as soon as they aren’t paid for.
Achieving a page one ranking on Google in the free area is a much longer-term route, and the time taken to reach page one isn’t always predictable. Some websites achieve top rankings in a matter of weeks, others take between 3 and 6 months, and it can be a 6 – 18 month process for websites in highly competitive industries..
With moderate search engine optimisation top-up for the website, those high positions could be retained for months and even years, Carter added.
When it comes to achieving high page 1 rankings in the free listings area, generally the most effective strategy is to undertake a consistent link building strategy that is implemented over a fairly lengthy period of time. The search engines eg Google are far more concerned with how a website grows and attracts links over a sustained period of time, which means that adding a hundred or a thousand links all in one month with nothing thereafter can actually put a website at a disadvantage. For example, instead of adding 1 200 links in the first month with nothing thereafter, it’s far better to add 100 links every month consistently for 12 months.
It is also important to accumulate links from different sources. This is commonly called a website’s link profile – and it is far better to have links from a variety of sources such as article directories, similar websites, social networking sites such as FaceBook, blog comments, directories and blog articles.
When it comes to link building some hard work – and some smart work – is required to leverage the build-up of links. It requires the use of copywriting, good software, checklists, procedures and persistence and constant education as well as a level of patience.
Internet marketing should include a component for SEO link building, Perth professional Carter added, saying that it was also important that there was an appropriate budget to ensure the programme was implemented at the levels required for that industry.
