Introduction to Search Engine Optimisation

Search Engine Marketing

There are two main aspects to marketing a website on search engines:

• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - this is the art of raising the rank of a website in the results of targeted searches without payment to the search engine.
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - this has the same goal but it is achieved by paying for a higher ranking.

This document is primarily focused on SEO.

Background to an SEO project

SEO should be treated as a project, not as a single activity. SEO is comprisedmanyactivities that are undertaken as an initial project and then as ongoing maintenance:

• Business Goals - document what the business is trying to achieve. e.g. increase sales, profit or customer numbers by X% by the end of the financial year.

• Marketing Plan - how does the online marketing team hope to achieve the Business Goals. e.g. target certain types of organisation/ demographics in particular geographies at certain times of the year, around particular events using SEO, e-mailings etc. Budget is $Y. Timeframe. Success quantifiers.

• SEO Plan - strategy around improving SEO and proving success. Read on...

• SEO Implementation - the practical steps that are undertaken by the SEO project team to achieve the goals set out in the Marketing Plan. Read on...

This document is focused on the SEO Plan & Implementation.