Search Engine Optimisation or SEO, is one of the most commonly used terminologies in discussions surrounding web design and development.
What is SEO? Search Engine Optimisation can be defined as the process of maximising the visibility of a website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of ‘natural’ or unpaid results returned by a search engine.
This process is important as it allows users to search for your website on popular search engines such as Google, Bing, Ask, Yahoo etc. Once your website is optimised properly, it should appear in the top 10 rankings in search engines.
Search engines use various techniques to rank websites. Google, for instance, uses a patented PageRank™ algorithm that considers over 500 million variables.
Here are some elements search engine algorithms consider:
- XML Sitemaps
- Meta Elements
- Domain Names
- URLs
- Inbound Links
- Keywords
- Content
The most important and inexpensive way to get to that top position is to write SEO-friendly content.
How to write SEO friendly content
Writing for the web is definitely not the same as print because online users do not read every single word on a website. Users usually scan through (browse) to find what they are looking for or they use search engines to simplify their search.
The content on a website needs to be conversational as web users search in a conversational manner. For example, when searching, a user may ask a question like: “Where can I find the best flower shop in St. Lucia.” The content on the website should contain a phrase like: “At stluciaflowershop.com we offer the best flowers in St. Lucia”.
Writing on a website must be done in such a way so that:
- It can be easily scanned
- The writing style must be in the right tone so that it can appeal to its target audience
- Be of assistance to the users.
Once these steps are followed, your website should be able to obtain a high ranking in the popular search engines.
