Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results.
In general, the earlier (or higher on the page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users. Search engine optimisation may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, academic search, news search and industry-specific vertical search engines.
In the main, there are three UK search engines which are Google (90%+ market share), Yahoo, (6% market share) and Bing (3% market share). In differing territories the market share changes with other search engines entering the list.
White hat advice is generally summed up as creating content for users, not for search engines, and then making that content easily accessible to the spiders, rather than attempting to game the algorithm. White hat search engine optimisation is in many ways similar to web development that promotes accessibility, although the two are not identical. White hat search engine optimisation is merely effective marketing, making efforts to deliver quality content to an audience that has requested the quality content. Traditional marketing means have allowed this through transparency and exposure. A search engine's algorithm takes this into account, such as Google's PageRank. Lexiconnect recommends the "white hat" method for all client search engine optimisation projects.
Black hat search engine optimisation attempts to improve rankings in ways that are disapproved of by the search engines, or involve deception. One black hat technique uses text that is hidden, either as text coloured similar to the background, in an invisible component, or positioned off screen. Another method gives a different page depending on whether the page is being requested by a human visitor or a search engine, a technique known as cloaking. Search engines may penalise sites they discover using black hat methods, either by reducing their rankings or eliminating their listings from their databases altogether. Such penalties can be applied either automatically by the search engines' algorithms, or by a manual site review. Lexiconnect does NOT recommend Black Hat methods for search engine optimisation.
All activities are supported by our unique Internet Key Performance Indicator system, which monitors financial metrics and your return on investment. An ongoing relationship model is also deployed which means we would work together for a minimum of 12 months as joint owners of the Internet Strategy. For more information please contact us for a discussion by telephone or email, our full contact details are listed here.