With fierce competition to get that coveted first page placing on Google, more and more people are looking to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) agencies for assistance. This can vary from seeking an SEO advisor to guide you through the set-up of your website to paying for high place listings. There are many different methods employed by SEO companies, and not all of these methods are best for your website. It is important to be aware of the difference in optimisation methods, and to ensure that you don’t spend money or time on something which has little impact on your site’s optimisation, or that could even damage its chance of being ranked by search engines.
Often, the best approach to optimisation is ‘natural’ SEO – structuring the site’s content and links in a way which helps the search engines to find it, and not employing tactics that could be penalised in search rankings. For many sites, this ‘natural’ approach is enough to get the site found by customers/visitors. However, for many businesses, the search terms their sites use can become quite competitive: for example, the search term ‘builders in Manchester’ will potentially return thousands of relevant results. This is where a little expert help and advice can come in useful.
A few simple tips when choosing who best to avoid: while many SEO consultants can get you high places on the search engines and even get you to the top, nobody can guarantee you will get the number one place on Google, and you should be wary of paying a company which offers this; while sharing links is good for your site’s SEO, paying for places on ‘link farm’ sites is penalised by search engines; Google’s method of result ranking is complex and not widely known, so companies claiming they know how to ‘cheat’ the Google algorithm are best avoided.
This is not to say that it isn’t worth investing in SEO advice or optimisation products. It is just important to be aware of what SEO help for your site is out there and what it does before you part with your cash. Plenty of optimisation methods are perfectly acceptable, like Pay Per Click adverts and using professional content writers. Whatever method you choose, make sure you research it beforehand so you can be sure it is the right choice for you and your site.
