Search engine optimisation for SMEs

18 July 2006

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a technique that can result in your website being near the top of any search engine results page when a particular key term has been searched for. In a public relations context, Search Engine Optimisation can benefit brand building strategies and sales targets by driving quality traffic to your site.

The role of search engines as a tool for driving traffic to ecommerce sites is well documented as is their application for digging out information on a particular company or topic. But increasingly, search engines are emerging as a media channel in their own right.

The shelf life of a radio or TV interview is typically hours; daily print media, maybe a day or two; and weekly and monthly magazines may be filed, but are typically discarded after a month or so.

However, search engines provide a mechanism to dig out online content years after it was published. They provide a focussed window on content on the web whether it is a blog, online media or traditional print media where an archive is maintained online.

In a PR context, the opportunity for an agency is, not only to generate a positive profile but increasingly, to optimise written materials with search engines in mind.

Advertising on the internet

The Internet Advertising Bureau, in conjunction with PricewaterhouseCoopers, estimated that in 2005, the online advertising market was worth ₤1.4 billion in UK. Of this, ₤768.4m was spent on search engine marketing alone, which put it above the advertising spend on radio (₤614m) and is poised to take over newspapers by the end of 2006. Three quarters of web users use search engines regularly and 64 per cent use search engines as the primary method of finding specific websites.

Search engine optimisation

The term search engine optimisation was first used around 1997 and, at its most basic, consists of designing or modifying a website so that it will rank highly in a search engine’s results pages.

There are two basic types of search results: paid search or organic (sometimes known as natural) search. Paid searches are when an advertiser bids for key words and is charged according to how often the site is accessed. Organic results are web pages which the search engine deems most relevant to the reader. SEO concerns achieving a higher organic ranking on a search engine results page (SERP), which can prove difficult, but is worth the effort. A good analogy is that of PR and advertising: a PR campaign is perceived as a headline and story, with editorial approval, whilst advertising is read as a company message. Much like a consumer is more likely to be persuaded by third party endorsement, they are also more likely to visit a website for the same reasons. There is more credibility in achieving a high ranking in organic searches and it also results in better click-through rates.

Search engines

In the early stages of the internet, search engines were reliant on web page designers for words that would be used to identify web pages for searches. However, due to some webmasters realising that they could rank higher in SERPs with false keywords, search engine rankings are now based on a variety of complicated equations known as algorithms to work out which site would be most relevant to the user. The information used to work out the search engine ranking is compiled by ‘spiders’ which crawl the web through links collecting keywords and other data. In order to keep one step ahead of some webmasters, algorithms are kept secret and are constantly changed, Google itself is said to take into account over 100 factors which constantly change.

Black Hat and White Hat techniques

There are two categories of search engine optimisation: ‘Black Hat’ and ‘White Hat’. Black Hat techniques are deemed deceptive by search engines, such as the use of irrelevant key words and use of link farms. White Hat methods consist of designing a website that targets an audience and provides them with relevant information. Using Black Hat techniques can result in a website being delisted from the search engine, the highest profile example of this being the website of BMW Germany’s expulsion from Google for unwittingly utilising Black Hat methods. When up to 85 per cent of all searches online are via search engines and, the fact that search engines can deliver up to 70 per cent of business, the consequences of being delisted are far reaching.

Situational analysis

When beginning any SEO campaign (assuming you already have a website up and running), the first step, as in any PR campaign, is a situational analysis – where the organisation must analyse what the website currently does and what you want it to achieve, whether it is to provide information, sell products and services, or encourage communication. Examining your website’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) and any political, economical, social and technological (PEST) factors that may impact on your website or business would help evaluate your position thoroughly.

For a page to be searched for it must firstly be indexed. Using the Rainier PR website as an example, a simple method of finding out how many pages of your website are indexed is to type “site:rainierpr.co.uk” which will bring a list of all sites that are indexed by that particular search engine. Take note of the pages that are not indexed and make sure these are linked within your site.
 
After a SWOT and PEST analysis have been completed there are two other factors to consider before changes to website can begin: the competition and the target audience.
 
Analysing your competitors will allow you to find out what keywords they are using and how highly they rank in search listings. To analyse your competitors, type in words relevant to your web page into a search engine and make note of the keywords where your competitors rank highly.

The analysis of the target audience is critical at this stage of the situation analysis. Obviously you will have general idea of your target audience but characteristics that you may not have considered previously should be taken into account: what the audience want from your website (information, purchase, communication, etc); how your website satisfies their needs; and their techniques for searching for websites (i.e. are they web savvy?). For instance, some web users input keywords and only search for the first couple of pages before inputting another keyword in order to narrow down the results, whilst others will be happy to input specific keywords at an earlier stage of search.

Selecting your keywords

A large part of White Hat SEO is making full use of keywords and keyword phrases. The situational analysis will determine what keywords your target audience will search for and how they would search for it and can also help determine what keywords your competitors are using. For instance, you can find out what keyword brings up most competitors’ websites and what keywords are rarely utilised. Finding the right keywords is a case of balancing between popularity (if it is too popular than it will be harder to rank highly but it is also the term that the target audience is likely to use the most) and preciseness (less people will search for the term but it will be easier to rank). IBM’s Jeanette Banks recommends 2-3 keywords per page, which means that there will be few keywords to search for, but they will rank highly if they are used properly.

To find out which of your competitors’ websites use a key term that you may be considering type into any search engine: “allintitle: search term A B C etc”. For instance, if you type in “allintitle: tech PR”, you will get all the websites that use ‘tech’ and ‘PR’ as keywords.

Optimising your keywords

Having chosen the keywords, the next step is to incorporate them into the web page so that they rank highly on SERPs. Each web page can have different keywords depending on the subject and each page should be optimised. I.e. ‘radio’ and ‘PR’ and ‘white paper’ would come up with the Rainier PR Radio PR whitepaper webpage specifically.

The title tag will be the first words a spider encounters, therefore placing key words in their position is imperative for a high ranking. Headings and subheadings also have emphasis placed on them and making full use of this will make for an effective campaign. However,  it should also be noted that using too many keywords in titles will mean that the spider will place less importance on each one than if there were fewer keywords. As with much of SEO, it is a delicate balancing act.  

Any headings, titles and subtitles should also be in text format as opposed to gif or jpegs, as spiders find these difficult to read and may not register them as keywords.

Top left down approach

Spiders read pages much like western language – they start from the top left and read down - and keywords should be placed to take full advantage of this, ideally towards the top left of the page. Any introduction at the beginning of the page should be full of keywords: the first twenty-five words or so are vital.

Incoming links as approvals

Another effective White Hat technique is to have your site well linked. Encouraging links from other sites should help your search rating. Search engines also take into account the quality of the link (those coming from other highly ranked sites) as well as the quantity. This is because external links cannot be controlled and search engines view them as an approval to the quality and relevance of your own site. To check which pages are currently linked to yours type ‘link:www.domainname.com’ into a search engine. You can also use this technique to find out which sites link to your competitors.

Re-evaluating your search engine optimisation strategy.

After you have made your amendments to the page you should regularly check the rankings. Rainier PR’s managing director, Stephen Waddington, recommends at least once a week, as search terms often change and competitors are continuingly utilising new methods of achieving a high ranking. “Checking your progress should include monitoring your own web pages and regularly updating information in order to keep ahead of your competitors, and if need be, changing your chosen keywords and readjusting your targets. Search Engine Optimisation should be seen as a long term goal slowly building consumer trust and recognition to the brand rather than hitting short term sales targets.”

Conclusion

Strong SEO can be very advantageous to an organisation, research has shown how SEO techniques can be responsible for a large amount of traffic and generate bottom line sales. The key to effective SEO is to have a very good understanding of your target audience and their needs. However, good writing, content and style are the most important factors as this encourages links from other websites and are ultimately, the crucial factor in keeping the audience coming back to the site.  

Five steps to SEO success:

• Understand how search engines gather informationA thorough analysis of your situation will help planning

• Choose your keywords carefully as these are imperative to your SEO campaign

• Encourage links from other sites

• Make sure your site is up to date, well written and full of relevant content

Bibliography:

• Marketing Week, Optimising the Search Mix, 20 April 2006

• The Revolution Search Engine Marketing Report, sponsored by Yahoo!: Ethical Dilemma, 19 May 2006

• Revolution, Online Promotion: PR Goes Digital, 19 May 2006

• www.ibm.com

• www.bytestart.co.uk