I am looking to set up a website for a new business that I am just starting and although I am familiar with the pc and the internet, I am struggling to find out what SEO is? Also, as costs are limited, can I do it myself?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a continuous improvement process whose chief aims are to:

- Improve the ranking of a website’s pages in the search engine results for their target keywords so that they are seen by the maximum number of people searching for those keywords

- Improve the “curb appeal” of a webpage’s appearance in the search engine results pages so that they are clicked by the maximum number of people searching for the webpage’s target keywords

SEO focuses on three factors:

- On page factors - keywords and content
- Off page factors - backlink quality and quantity
- Technical factors - search engine friendliness

There are five key rules when it comes to SEO:

- Focus on the end user
- Focus on the end user
- Focus on the end user
- Focus on the end user
- Focus on the end user

Too many people get caught up in "algorithm-chasing" and completely ignore the fact that the algorithms are constantly improving to better serve the end user.

Feel free to PM me if you want more detailed information. I'm in the process of putting the finishes touches to a SEO presentation for a webinar for real estate professionals, which I'd be happy to share with you (although it's written for the real estate industry - real estate market stats - the process itself is the same no matter what the industry is).

Cheers,

Dawson