Make your website Google-friendly

Search Engine Optimisation is one of the world's fastest growing industries. So what is it?

In simple terms, SEO describes ways of tweaking websites to make them more Google-friendly, thus boosting their traffic.

A recent study of Google users found that 53% click on the site that appears either 1st or 2nd on the results page. Clearly, it pays to be ranked highly.

One way to do this is to pay for sponsored links. But these are getting increasingly expensive. SEO offers a "natural" alternative - and a better return on investment.

Search Engine Optimisation isn’t a magic wand. Think of it as a set of tools that will boost the performance of your site, making it more attractive both to search engines and human visitors.

A variety of techniques are used. Good copywriting is essential, to let search engines know the content of your pages, and to capture the attention of visitors.

To attract the right visitors, you need to know what terms people are using on search engines. So keyword research is a vital part of the SEO process.

The "architecture" of a site is important: how users navigate around and find what you want them to find.

Don't forget inbound links. Not only will links bring you more visitors, they are also used by Google to establish the authority of your site.

Is SEO something you can do yourself? Yes - but it will be a large drain on your time. You'll need to learn and practise the techniques, and keep yourself updated on the latest ideas.

Because most people who run businesses have better things to do, it makes sense to employ an SEO professional.

Finding the right person isn't easy. You can Google the phrase “search engine optimisation” but, inevitably, this turns up more than a million results.