Effective SEO Solutions Made In Scotland

What Is Search Engine Optimisation?

It’s reasonably safe to assume that, as consumers, most of us have used search engines at some time or another to actively research products and services that we intend to buy. The information required to make an informed buying decision is readily at hand, all you have to do is ‘Google’ it. Whether it is to purchase a flight ticket for an upcoming business meeting or locate the nearest Indian Restaurant in order to satisfy your Chicken Tikka habit, it really doesn’t matter. From your desktop in the office, your laptop at home or your mobile phone while on the move, just ask the question.

Conversely, if you have a commercial website that answers these questions objectively and holds first page rankings on the major search engines, your marketing message has the potential to be seen and acted upon by thousands of targeted customers every day. Search Engine Optimisation is therefore a key component in the overall marketing campaign of any commercial website. The goal is to introduce your products or services at the exact moment a potential customer will be the most receptive i.e. while they are actively searching.

In essence SEO raises the visibility of your web pages so that potential customers (those who are asking pertinent questions about the products or services you provide) can easily find your web pages and buy your products.

Push and Pull Marketing

TV, radio and printed advertising are increasingly being viewed as intrusive; they attempt to interrupt the viewer, listener or reader just long enough to take notice of a marketing message. This type of marketing is known as Push marketing. Here the marketing message, along with the how, where and when it’s delivered, are pretty much controlled by the advertiser. 

The internet reverses this process, internet users turn to search engines in order to receive the information they want at a time and place that suits them.  Prior to search engines, printed business directories like Yellow Pages provided the only way to locate a service. In the same way that someone using Yellow Pages to locate a plumber is likely to be looking for someone to fix a leak, someone using a search engine to research and locate the products or services you provide is in all probability in the market for those products or services. This is called Pull marketing sometimes referred to as ‘reverse broadcasting’ when referring solely to the internet.

None of this is suggesting that traditional marketing no longer works, simply that someone who arrives at your site via a search engine is proactively seeking information about your company, services and products. The chances are they already know what they want and have already decided to buy; the question is will they buy from you?  This type of visitor is not looking for advertising or sales hype, they want clear information, and they want it to be complete, accessible and user friendly. If you can provide this they will thank you in increased numbers via their credit card.

What has Usability and Accessibility to do with SEO?

Failing to consider accessibility or usability is failing to consider your visitors. At the end of the day SEO is rather more than simply obtaining search engine positions, it must in some way produce a return on investment. More sales, more leads or more opt-ins is what SEO is really about. Sure, search engine visibility plays a big part but remember this, no one ever buys from a search engine!

Accessibility

The fact is, many accessibility techniques could be considered SEO and vice versa. For example:

• Using CSS to separating style from content.
• Reducing on-page JavaScript.
• Using valid, standards compliant code.

These simple steps will allow search engines to spider, index, categorise and rank web pages much easier. Furthermore, pages will download faster, be accessible to a wider range of browsers, older technologies and assistive devices such as screen readers.  Also, one should not forget there is now a legal responsibility in the UK to provide websites that are accessible to all.

Usability

Good usability enhances the visitor experience and encourages visitors to stay on your site longer.  A great visitor experience rarely happens by chance; rather, it stems from an intimate understanding of your visitors and their immediate and long term goals and by addressing any questions or concerns they might have:

• Identify the different personas or groups of people who visit your website
• Evaluate the range of goals they have
• Structure information into logical paths
• Help visitors achieve their goals in the minimum number of clicks

In Summary

SEO in the purest sense is about gaining search engine positions  But what will happen when a visitor lands on one of your pages, is the navigation intuitive, does the website think like them, do your pages render quickly in their browser of choice, do they project trust, will it make a sale?