Finding a search engine optimisation expert may be one of the greatest blessings you will look back on regarding any kind of personal success online. There is so much more to successful Internet Marketing than simply taking a simplistic approach of ‘build it and they will come’ mentality. Finding what people are looking for and providing useful, relevant content is what separates those that consistently make money and those that remain writing for only friends and family.

It is that important, and will make that great a difference. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is an ever-changing beast. With one tweak in any of the search engine algorithms, much of the work done over a period of months can become virtually worthless to you. Woe to those that are employing what is commonly known as “Black Hat” techniques. Their efforts will sooner or later cause more grief than any advantage that may be attained.

That may be the single greatest benefit of finding an expert experienced with search engine operations and who keeps up with the industry. Staying ahead of the curve, and following sound tactics, will always pay off in the long run. It will also help you prevent being hurt in your traffic generation when adjustments are made.

Another very important factor in making search optimisation work for you is getting a full understanding about how keywords work. Then you need to learn how to go about finding the most appropriate ones to build your website around. That entails learning how to use them most effectively, and not possibly being penalized.

After you have mastered at least the basics involved with finding and using effective keywords, you will then need to move on to what is technically described as Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI). This is basically using semantically related words in the body of your postings and web content to further enhance the relevant value of your website in the eyes of the search engines. This will include using long-tail keywords in your marketing as well.

Most consider SEO as an essential tool to get your website properties high listings in the search-page results. When someone types in a word or term in a search box, you want yours to be one of the top ten links, or on the first couple of pages, at least. These are the ones that the search engines believe are the most specific for the search terms and will provide the best content for their users.

You can see that learning just these basics could easily occupy many hours to get a proper understanding of how best to use them for SEO. When you add in any number of other factors, some very complicated algorithms, and insider information known only to the engineers, you can quickly see that getting anything wrong can hurt your rankings.

A search engine optimisation expert can help lead you safely through the numerous changes that have, and will, affect search results. They will be able to lay a solid foundation for you to build upon. A knowledgeable expert may prevent you from the risk of making serious mistakes that could cause irreparable damage to your marketing efforts. Getting started with one as soon as possible might make all the difference on where you will be in the next few months and beyond.

First of all, what is a Search Engine Optimisation Expert? Well basically it’s a person who specializes in internet marketing and uses a variety of strategies and tactics to rank websites in the major search engines. An example of a search engine is Google.com who are the dominant player at present. If this is done correctly, New Zealand business owners will experience increased traffic to your website and better rankings. SEO prices can vary dramatically depending on a number of factors so do your research before committing to an SEO Expert.
Keyword selection is critical when it comes to ranking a web page. Have you heard the term, “riches are in the niches”. We’ll that’s stands true when it comes to keyword research. It’s important you look for the long tail keyword or phrase. These are much more specific so you have a better idea of what the visitor is looking for and 9 times out of 10 the keyword phrase is a lot easier to rank for. Stay away from short, highly competitive keywords as these are very difficult to rank for and nowhere as specific as the longer phrases. There are also free keyword tools that can assist with this research. I would recommend the Google external keyword tool and Google analytics. These tools are fantastic and will supply all the information you need to select suitable keywords. Some on the information that is obtainable is  search volume, competing pages, local search volumes, PPC stats and so much more..
The next step is set out your website structure and content so its search engine friendly. Having relevant content centered on the targeted key words will greatly enhance search engine rankings. Keep your homepage simple and to the point. There’s nothing worse than a cluttered page with information over load. This can lead to a confused visitor and will quickly hit the dreaded back button never to return again. Simple and to the point is key.
I like to always include a blog where content can be continually added on a regular basis. Google loves fresh quality content not to mention the visitor. The advantage of this is three fold, Better rankings, returning visitors and other sites will be more inclined to link to your site.
The structure is important also. Keep the site navigation simple so visitors can easily find their way around. This is also important for the search engines. A site map is always good to include, this ensures all your pages are linked and can be accessed by the search engine spiders.
Duplicate content within your website is another no go zone and if attempted, adverse results as in lower rankings are more than likely. Page description and keyword meta tags need to be carefully considered. The Description is a summary of the page and will be displayed in the search results. This needs to be compelling so the searcher will click on your link. It should also include the keyword the page is ranking for. It is also important to ensure your Keyword and Description Meta tags are different from page to page; if not, the search engine will see these other pages as less important.
Finally, it is absolutely critical to track your sites SEO performance. Once again there are free tool out there to achieve this. I recommend Google Webmaster tool, or ‘Google Analytics’. These tools will enable you to check your sites rankings over time and make the necessary changes as.

Back in the day, the majority of SEO web masters or should I say, the web masters that new what they were doing as far as search engine optimization in concerned, didn’t really take into consideration the visitor’s experience. It’s was all about keyword stuffing, jamming the targeted keyword into the page as many times as possible just enough to out do the competition. Did these shady tactic actually work you ask? Well, believe it or not, they actually did. Today however it’s a whole new ball game and things have changed considerably and with search engines becoming a lot smarter.
When Google came onto the seen, they were determined to give the customer a better quality of service with relevant search results and quality website content. What did this mean for the SEO Consulting Services? Well, it meant that there was going to be a huge learning curb to try and figure out what the bots were actually looking for to rank sites.
On page factors weren’t so important anymore and keyword stuffing was a thing of the past. In fact, if you try that tactic today, it’s almost guaranteed your site will get black listed and de-indexed. A lot of the focus today is on off page factors or the quality and number of back links to your web site. Imagine creating your website without the search engines in mind so, what a pleasure.

Like I said, in the past, much of the focus was on creating a site that is built to be “search engine friendly” that sometimes it’s forgotten that while search engines may bring traffic, it’s still a human who is reading and consuming the content on your site.

Creating original and unique content is can now be achieved through a vast array of content delivery through RSS feeds, Podcasts, Video, PDF’s, Articles, and Blogs are all thought up and created with minimal strategic placement required -
Remember, it’s the human reader who decides if your website is worth bookmarking, tagging or coming back again to see new updates.
That’s why Google continues to be the 600 pound gorilla in the room. Google is customer focused, delivering high quality, and relevant search results to searches.

If you satisfy the simple need of educating or entertaining the reader, you will enjoy the best of worlds, top rankings and a website your readers will enjoy and book mark, or even better, tell their friends about your site.

So, always build your site with the reader in mind and concentrate on the off page factors for top rankings.

Garry Lee
SEO Consulting Services, New Zealand.

With thousands of new business owners looking to the internet as another way of advertising. SEO Consulting Services are becoming an extremely valuable resource. In saying that, there are also a lot of so called cowboys out there, so before you settle on who you hire as your Search Engine Optimisation Expert, ensure you do your home work first.
Essentially, there are two methods of optimizing a website, the right way and the wrong way. The wrong way is referred to as Black Hat, and the right way being, yes you guessed it, White Hat. Some say that there is nothing wrong with Black hat methods and that it’s not illegal, and yes, they are right. But there is a high risk of the website being black listed.
People attempting to do SEO will invariably push the limits when trying to get their website to rank high in the search engines. This article will briefly explain what to do and what not to do.
White Hat SEO – Obviously this is working within the guide lines of the search engines you are trying to rank in. By working within these boundaries, your site will be safe from being de-indexed or banned. Basically, all you need to do is build keyword rich quality content for your website and ensure you get all the on page factor right for the given keyword you are trying to rank for. Continue adding quality content to your site on a consistent basis. Then start the off page factors which is basically building quality back links to your site from well establish websites relevant to your niche market. Keep doing this, and eventually you get there.
Now for Black Hat SEO. Black Hat like we said is working outside the boundaries of the Search Engines guidelines. There are many points of views and grey area’s with SEO but sometime, we  know instinctively what is acceptable and what isn’t. Here are a few things to defiantly stay clear of. The first one is hiding your text within your page by colouring it the same as your back ground. This may have worked a few years ago, but the search engines are a lot smarter now, so don’t even go there.
There is also keyword stuffing which is basically stuffing the keywords you are trying to rank for into picture descriptions and Meta Tags. You will definitely want to put your key words in these areas, but be careful not to overdo it.
Copying content from other websites, this is another no no. If you’re not one for article writing, outsource it and hire a copy writer. You’ll be surprised how cheap this can be.
Link Farms – Basically this is where thousands of unrelated sites link to one another just for the sake of establishing links. Like I said earlier, ensure you links are quality links from well established websites with a nice healthy page rank.

SEO Consulting Services pride themselves as being up front white hat search engine optimisation experts. Contact our SEO Consultant for more information.