What Owning a Website actually means
As a Web Developer and SEO
consultant I deal with many existing website owners who are looking to modify
or improve their website. I also deal
with many people who are looking to start their web presence with a new
website. Through both of these
interactions there is often a common theme; a misunderstanding or an attitude. I call this a misconception of reality, as
often the reality of what the Internet can actually do for the persons business
and what they think it can do differ massively.
Often it is presumed that
by simply owning a domain and having a website built and published on the Internet,
thousands of people will magically find the website, visit it and buy their products. “If you build it, they will come” should be
removed from the vocabulary as soon as possible if you are to adjust attitudes
to the underlying search technology. As
a businessman in the real World, it is obvious that it would not happen outside
of the Internet ether, so what is so different online? Maybe it was the Technology boom 10 years ago
that caused a rift in understanding or maybe the buzz that caused the meteoric
rise in the stock prices of Tech Companies, I can hear the thoughts of the
small businessman, “surely this can be replicated for my business” – in answer
I would say, “well, it is unlikely, but you should be able to achieve some
results over time”.
It is most important when
taking on a project like Search Engine Optimization for a website, to know that
it is important to be committed for the long haul. It is no small task and sufficient funds need
to be allocated to the project. Delivery
deadlines need to be correctly scoped against required changes, in order to
meet client expectations. The key points
of responsibility to the SEO project are in knowing that there are big changes
near the start and during setup but the changes do not stop after setup, there
are a continuous ongoing refinements to the design and system over time. In this regard I find it important to manage
expectations and set realistic long term goals on what a website can be
expected to achieve and in what time frames those goals hope to be met.
So what should your goal be
when you are delving into SEO for your website?
Well, everyone’s goal is exactly the same; improve page rankings,
improve page visits and hits and finally gain more sales through the website.
When it comes to SEO and
achieving these goals you have to have principles and my main principle is, “Good
websites get good ratings and bad websites get bad ratings or none at all.” As time goes on with the improvement of
search engine technology and the refinement of search engine results this
statement becomes truer and truer. I believe
in results through “white hat”(reads; “Grey Hat”) principles and methodologies.
What are “white hat”
principles? I guess I would compare it
to doing things the honest way and the right way without risk. So develop a good site, promote good linking,
have good informative content and keep working on it and then you are on the
road to good rankings through “White Hat” principles.
So, why should you do
things the “white hat” way? Well, search
engines do have some kind of understanding, an artificial intelligence. They soon catch on to websites spamming or linking
to websites with no relevance and bad cross linking. It’s about being smart, in for the long term
and wanting your business to grow organically, naturally.
So how do I go about improving my site and making it optimized for search engines naturally? Well, that’s why you’re here! So let’s run through few of the things you
should be doing in your websites from a fundamental level
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SEO & Websites Howto