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Search Engine Optimisation

This section covers the various aspects of Search Engine Optimisation (or Optimization as the Americans would say).

The aim of Search Engine Optimisation (also known as SEO) is to have your site appear as high as possible in the natural listings (see 1 below) on the Search Engine Results Pages (often refered to as SERPs)

Here is a typical Google search result page:

The red boxes have been added to show the various sections of the page.

Section 1 is the normal listings - these are known as natural or organic results. It is these listings that are of concern in Search Engine Optimisation, and is the subject of this section.

Sections 2 and 3 are Sponsored Listings - ie advertisers are paying to be featured in these positions. These sections are explained in detail in the section on Pay Per Click advertising.

The Importance of Prominent Ranking in the Search Results

The importance of being listed high in the search engine results is best illustrated by heat map studies. These studies track where a site visitor looks and clicks on a web page.

This Google search heat map shows that if your site is not listed within the top 3 results, you are missing out on most of the traffic for the search term.

From the accompanying report:
"Visibility dropped quickly with organic rankings, starting at a high of 100% for the top listing, dropping to 85% at the bottom of the "above the fold" listings, and then dropping dramatically below the fold from 50% at the top to 20% at the bottom."