Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) in Perth
Website Marketing & Promotion in Perth
We believe that SEO can often be the most critical aspect of web development. Unless you are advertising your website on TV, radio, billboards or elsewhere, how are potential clients going to find your business?
The most attractive website on the net would not be worth a cent if the people who are looking for it, can not find it.
At Perth Sites we always aim for the best result possible. We don’t talk about getting you on the “top 3 pages”, we talk about getting you to #1! We have been doing SEO for over 20 years and were getting websites ranking at the top of Google and other major Search Engines even before the phrase Search Engine Optimisation was even coined. While other web development companies focussed on creating fancy websites with bells & whistles, it seemed logical to us that we needed to concentrate more on SEO. Since 2001, we have focussed on creating professional looking websites that rank well and get literally millions of visitors per year.
What the Heck is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)!?
SEO is an interesting field of expertise that came about in the 90s as the internet started to become mainstream. It is reasonably self-explanitory and in quite simple terms it is optimising of a website so it will rank better on Search Engines. Not only the website itself needs to be optimised but just as important, the internet’s perception of your website needs to optimised so Google can trust your website and business as providing legitimate services or products. We consider it an art form although it also involved a considerable amount of maths, logic and lateral thinking.
Perhaps an outdated statistic but back in 2005, around 85% of all online business conducted was the direct result of a keyword search from a search engine such as Google.
"Organic" (Free) Search Results vs Paid Advertising
Search Engine Optimisation refers to getting websites ranking well in what is known as the “organic” or “natural” listings on Search Engines. These search listings are completely free and are separate to any paid search results which on typically take up the top few spots and are marked ADs, albeit discreetly sometimes. Paid listings on Google are a different field and known as Pay Per Click advertising (PPC) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Paid advertising on Google can be incredibly cost-effective however most people searching ignore the advertisements and the ADs account for less than 3% percent of clicks.
Unlike paid advertising, SEO can have a long lasting effect with efforts made today still having an impact for years to come despite perhaps only an initial investment (monetary or time). At Perth Sites we can assist your business with PPC/SEM however our main expertise is with getting you ranking well on the organic listings on the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).
How to Monitor SEO Results & Effectiveness?
Several SEO tools are available to help SEO experts and often their clients to monitor how effect the SEO strategy is going. At Perth Sites, we primarily use both the Google Search Console and Google Analytics. However, the world does not revolve around Google and we also use several other tools including link slueth software, backlink checkers and specialist SEO software from the industry experts.
Google Search Console
Formerly known as “Webmaster Tools”, the Google Search Console contains incredibly detailed data on how a website is being indexed and ranked on Google. The data in here can show how, over time, a website is ranking for particular search terms, how often it appears in SERPS, clicks and click through ratios. The tools allow Webmasters (Website Managers, SEO Techs etc) to interact with Google by specifying sitemaps (list of pages you want indexed), domain name changes, page removals and you can also see if any manual actions such as spam penalties have occured for your website.
Google Analytics – Website Statistics
Analytics is by far the most popular website stats software and it provides more information that you could possibly ever use. At Perth Sites, We recommend every website owner use Analytics by getting their Web Developer to add the tiny snipped of code to their website. It can be quite important to see detailed statistics and dempgraphics of your users such as where they are from (location) and what exactly they are searching for. We typically send regular data and graphs from Google Analytics to our clients so they can see quite clearly that the SEO work we are doing is having a substantial impact on their visitor levels.
Perth Sites Experience with SEO
Mike ‘Akerz’ Akerman from Perth Sites has spent over 20 years studying the complexity of algorithms used by major search engines such as Google to rank websites. Contrary to many unwise opinions, there is considerably more to SEO than just placing a few keywords here and there and hoping for the best. Google for example, now has over 200 factors in their secretive and highly complicated website ranking algorithm. It is also always evolving with Google engineers, particularly in their spam department, constantly tweaking and improving their search ranking algorithm to provide the most relevant results to its billions of regular users.
Our own website has generated over 8 million visitors since we put it live in 2001. We originally spent a fortune (over $40,000) advertising in the yellow pages books (remember those?) where we secured the top spots in our categories. Despite that huge investment, our free listings on Google generated much, much more business. In fact, back in the early 2000s, we were #1 on every search engine AND #1 in the yellow pages so were often the first firm people rang if they wanted a website. Within a year of starting our business, we had to knock back more work than we could take on despite having a busy office with 8 staff. Our rankings on Search Engines were not flukes, they are the direct result of our unique SEO strategy. Our Web Design & SEO services have essentially been booked out since 2004 so we have not been too concerned about letting our own search engine rankings slip quite considerably. The amount of online competition for Search Engine Optimisation in Perth is now ridiculously competitive with hundreds of companies all claiming to be experts in this field.
Our SEO strategy on our own network of websites was so successful that Mike was a retired millionaire in his 20s and was able to spend years travelling Australia in a motorhome and then spent almost 10 years travelling the world (Mike is now back working almost full-time at Perth Sites, although often works remotely).
Choosing an SEO Specialist
Be very, very careful when deciding to use the services of a self-proclaimed SEO specialist. Many amateurs use tactics that are designed to trick the search engine robots and is considered cheating (spamming) or known as “Black Hat SEO” or “Grey Hat”. By employing these tactics, you risk the possibility of being pulled from the Search Engine’s index altogether.
Certainly ignore any spam emails offering SEO services. Why would someone who is profficient at SEO need to send illegal (and incredibly annoying) spam begging for work!? Someone who is exceptional at SEO will be earning a fortune by working on their own websites and/or assisting their SEO clients.
Engaging Perth Sites to Get Your Website Ranking Better on Search Engines
Our SEO services are mostly by referral only, however, we are always happy to at least take a look at your website to see if we could possibly assist. We prefer to work on websites that are properly coded or ideally, websites that we have properly coded ourselves. Almost all of our clients are small-medium businesses based in Perth or Darwin. A considerable portion of the website management and SEO work we do is on websites for Psychologists & Counsellors or related fields.
Please be aware that we have over 20 years of knowledge, experience and trade secrets that we are quite reluctant to share. We can not give you a detailed list of recommendations to improve the Search Engine visibility of your website.
If you are interested in getting us to have a look at your website to see if we can assist in getting it rankings better on Google, please contact us today.