SEO - What is it?

SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is one of the ways in which website owners can drive traffic. It is defined as:

"The term used to describe the marketing technique of preparing a website to enhance its chances of being ranked in the top results of a search engine once a relevant search is undertaken. A number of factors are important when optimising a website, including the content and structure of the website's copy and page layout, the HTML meta-tags and the submission process." (www.websearchworkshop.co.uk/glossary.htm)

Some aspects are design-related i.e. when building a site they should be included from the beginning. Other as pects are things that are done once the site is complete or can be added to continually e.g. when a site is first completed it needs submitting to search engines etc. and also regular updates can help the site look well maintained.

The whole art is very unpredictable. Hours of optimising might do nothing at all whereas just hitting lucky with a particular technique that is picked up on can have a massive effect.

Basically, the optimiser is looking to make sure that when bots (also known as spiders) index the site for inclusion in web search results, the best impression of the site is presented to the search engines so that the rank and frequency of appearances improves.