So what is SEO? SEO or search engine optimisation is the process of improving your website so that it can be read easily by a search engine. If this is done well it can make it easy for search engines to read your website. If the search engine can read your site easily it is likely to include you on its algorithm. The algorithm is the system it uses to analyse your site. The search engine will be able to read your site and pick out the most relevant information from your site and as a result will make you appear on their list of recommendations in relation to the information on your site.



Search engine optimisation has become a business for many companies. Website owners often consult SEO companies for advice on how to get their website higher on the search engine list of recommendations for a given phrase. For example a mortgage company might ask the SEO Company to make their site deliver the message that they are a relevant site if someone types in 'fixed rate mortgage'. It will then be the company's job to change the website so that it registers for this term. This involves making sure the content on the site is suitable and making sure that the way the site is built promotes the phrase they want to target.

The search engines make their business out of providing relevant searches to their users. They want to be sure that if you are looking for a 'dell computer' that you find a site that offers information on 'dell computer'. It is important to remember that they are keen to give their users the most relevant search results for each term. If a company wants to be listed for a term it needs to be sure that it tells the search engine that it is relevant.

The first method of doing this is to ensure the site has content that reflects the services or purpose it offers. The content is the term used for the words on the site. It is remarkable how many companies fail to mention the products or services they offer on their pages. If you want to be listed for the phrase 'where to buy cheap houses' then you need to include that phrase a number of times and in a number of different formats. It is this case it would be no good writing 'we sell cheap homes' because that is not the phrase you are targeting. For this reason to achieve the most traffic to your site it must be targeted toward phrases that people search for.

The search industry is becoming increasingly customer led. After all the more traffic you have visiting your site the more likely you are to make a sale. This has had a radical effect on the way companies brand themselves. In the past companies chose a name that reflected the names of the company founders. However companies now choose to use popular search phrases to name their company. For example a recruitment company would favour the name 'I need a job' over 'Smiths recruitment agency'. The domain name plays a big role in the search engine so an increasing number of companies are trying to buy up domain names that reflect a search terms.