As you already know, how your website appears to a search engine is vital and there are many factors which affect this, and by extension, your website's ranking.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a difficult art to master, mainly because the search engines don't want you to know how they rank you. Traditional methods are fast becoming outdated as the search engines constantly improve, but there are still some basic factors which will always influence how your site is ranked.

Information is King
As the internet is essentially an information medium then it follows that the key ingredient to a successful website is the quality of information it provides. The increasing population of the web means that sites like Google are becoming ever more discerning about who they choose to top their results pages. So the content on your website and its relevance to potential users should be your main concern.

So the main points to consider are: What am I offering? Is it relevant to potential searchers? Is the information well presented, and is it easy to find?

Factors Which Influence Your Rankings
Taking into account some of the points above here are a few basic things which you can take into account when designing/re-designing your site.

• Keyword Prominence - Your primary search terms should take precedence in the 'Title' of your page (the blue bar at the very top of your browser window). As well as this they should appear as early as possible in the main text of your website.
  
• Keyword Weight - Your keywords should be prominent throughout the site as much as possible, whilst still remaining relevant to the content. This is a fine balancing act since mentioning it too many times means you run the risk of being treated as a spammer by the search engines.
  
• Link Popularity - Search engines appreciate other people linking to your site. They see this as a sign that your site is providing useful, pertinent information. So the more people you have linking to you the better.

At Netdata we have extensive experience in showing businesses exactly how they can make the most of these and other factors to improve their sites rankings. For more information on our Search Engine services simply call us on +44 (0)1343 812000 or email:info@netdata.co.uk.