Member Article

Possible to optimise your website on a budget?

In a recent article on the Guardian Media Network, digital marketer Matt Owen asserts that search engine optimisation (SEO) is ?beyond the means of many smaller businesses,? and that ?SEO campaigns can only be justified by larger players.?

His argument is that modern SEO contains so many different technical components that it?s too ?expensive or time consuming, or both,? for small businesses without the resources of their larger brethren.

It may be true that companies with larger budgets can afford a higher level of SEO expertise and implementation than smaller businesses, as is generally the case with all other forms of advertising whether online or offline. But the fact is that many smaller companies nonetheless engage the services of SEO professionals and agencies, often dramatically improving their rankings in the search engine results pages as a result.

To further illustrate the point that it is indeed possible to carry out SEO on a tight budget, here are two quick and affordable tips for improving your site for the search engines and for visitors.

Make quality, relevant content an integral part of your site

Ideally you should engage the services of a professional copywriter to create top-notch content for your site, and this is often not as expensive as you might think. Of course if you?re strapped for cash and you know how to turn a phrase there?s nothing to stop you doing this for yourself. Just make sure your content is compelling, concise, relevant and error-free. Quality content will endear you to the search engine algorithms as much as it will to your visitors.

Make your title and meta description tags sparkle

Although many of the so-called ?meta tags? that accompany the HTML coding for a webpage have fallen out of favour and use, the title tag and the meta description tag remain essential. For the title tag, simply include a snappy and relevant title. This will then appear in the title bar of browsers pointed at that page, and will be the title given in the search results in Google and others. Similarly, in the meta description tag make sure that you provide a short, truthful description that will compel people to click through.

If you?re unsure about taking the plunge with your content or meta tags without the help of an expert, speak to a local and recommended SEO company to seek guidance and advice.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jon Celeste .