Web Design Services - SEO
Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) is the broad term used to describe efforts made to improve on or otherwise control the appearance and ranking of a given website in search results (mostly Google - though there are other search engines out there, Google is far and away the most dominant).
The best way to be sure your site shows up in Google with (hopefully) good ranking in the organic search results (not pay-per-click) is to have a properly designed and built website. Delaney Design will design and build your website to be search engine friendly right out of the gate, and will be sure that Google knows about your site. But to be clear, there is no way to guarantee any particular ranking of your site's pages in organic search results. Anyone claiming they can guarantee any given ranking, is not being honest with you. Google and other search engines use complex algorythms to determine site rankings in search results, and those algorythms are tightly guarded secrets to be sure. Also, depending upon your industry, you are likely to be competing with hundreds or thousands of other websites. What you DO have control over is your own website, and making sure you have a search engine friendly site is the best way to get good results. Essentially, you want Google to LIKE your website. Here are the key elements of a search engine friendly site:
- Clean, error-free, properly structured HTML content
- All styles (CSS) should be separate from your structured content whenever possible
- Mobile-friendly design - website should adjust automatically to small mobile screen sizes and be readable on those small screens
- Good solid information about what you offer. Content is king, as they say, and search engines want good content. If you think your site should show up for any given search phrase, then that phrase needs to be used in your content
How you tackle your search engine optimization efforts will be unique to you and your website. If you are computer and web savvy, and you have the time and energy, you can work on much of it yourself (here and there in your spare time, OR you could easily make it a fulltime job). You could also pay an expert to improve your rankings. There are companies that specialize in SEO, and most will charge in the thousands to work for you. How much time, energy, and money you put into SEO is up to you. Some people will be happy to do nothing at all, while at the other end of the extreme, some people will spend many thousands of dollars chasing after good rankings.
Delaney Design can create or make your site search engine friendly, and can work with you to hone your content with various search keywords or phrases in mind. Upon request, you will also be set up with access to Google Analytics, which will enable you to track the traffic to your website and give you the information you need to analyze how visitors found you and thus how you might improve things. If you feel you need more than these basics, it is recommended that you seek the assistance of an SEO specialist.
The stance taken by Delaney Design is that if you have a search engine friendly website full of good information that uses the right keywords, you can let Google do their thing while you instead concentrate your efforts on other ways to drive qualified traffice to your site - such as various social media efforts, advertising, direct marketing (email or mail), and of course the best of all - word of mouth.
Please contact Delaney Design for more information or questions about search engine optimization or any other services offered.