Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Welcome to Platform Web’s SEO page. What is SEO and now that I have a website do I need SEO? SEO is the organic means by helping search engines like www.google.ie find your website under search terms and keywords that are relevant to your business. Thus if you are in the business of providing clients in Limerick with SEO services, you want to be appearing on the first page or two of Google for phrases like SEO Limerick, or SEO services Limerick or Search Engine Optimisation Limerick. So, yes, you sure do need a SEO strategy for your website because not having one is like having a wonderful shop window three streets back from the main street but without any signage telling passers-by where you are at and what you have on offer!
Your website developer or web designer would ordinarily provide this service to you, or recommend a SEO specialist to you. At Platform Web, we normally include Search Engine Optimisation as part of the sale price of a website. Our CMS Options tool is ready-geared for SEO, you can optimise by yourself, with our assistance, or have Platform Web do all the work. However we are equally pleased to offer a quotation upon request if your site was developed elsewhere.
SEO is not usually an instant success compared with other marketing media like radio advertising. Depending on the project being undertaken, the desired results can take as long as a year so patience is required. However, progress in the right direction can be measured within weeks. Like any other form of marketing, plenty of competitive forces are at play so it’s always best to be realistic with your objectives, particularly with regard to your budget.
Pay-per-click (PPC), or Ad-Word campaigns are more visibly instantaneous but research does show that most browsers will go to the first or second organically generated result ahead of sponsored ones. Using PPC does make sense in some situations like the example of advertising would-be empty hotel bed nights that the opportunity of sale can never be retrieved. It is not always a question of one over the other, sometimes a blend of SEO and PPC is ideal. Platform Web usually advocates the pursuit and exhaustion of SEO before PPC.
It is also worth remembering, particularly if you are driving your own Content Management System, that while some SEO strategies can move you in the right direction, they can have a negative effect on the quality and relevance of your content and how it reads. A good copy writer will be able to ensure your copy can read well and be optimised for search engines. PlatformWeb will work with you to develop your on-site and off-site strategies to move you up the search engine optimisation ladder. The key ingredients of a good SEO strategy change cotinually, we will keep you abreast of these.
