Websites – Can One Size Really Fit All?
When there is a choice with two alternatives which path do you follow? When selecting between an SEO Package and the more expensive route of custom SEO Services the basic premise must include the long term objective of optimum rankings.
SEO Packages
Although the majority of websites may appear to be generic, in many instances they are completely original. Every website has its content which will be, wherever possible, unique. It will have its own linguistics, together with its associated references which will undulate during the development stage.
Before looking too closely into this, there is still the decision regarding the level of complexity required to satisfy the brief. How extensive is the requirement for the SEO Package or SEO Service?
Quality or Quantity?
There are many varied steps and basic actions required during every stage of SEO which can accelerate lasting influence to the fledging website. Quality and quantity are both assets which are required at different times during the growth of the website from foundation to completion.
Another question to be considered is whether a new website to be built from scratch is really required or whether an older, pre-existing website can be remodelled satisfactorily. It may be that with some expertise from an experienced SEO developer a new site can be created from the ashes of a previous site. This option, if it is possible, will be considerably more cost effective, providing that the developer confirms that they are comfortable with taking this route.
It is important to achieve the best results for ranking, bearing in mind that there is the necessity to balance the various books whether these are for investment, time or money. Every decision must be based on acceptance by all of the relevant parties.
The Current Position of Your Website
Any website is able to improve its current position by adopting a different tone. If the site has been left to stagger along without strong leadership then there shouldn’t be any surprise that it has a low ranking. The purpose of SEO is to promote domain power which will increase over a period of time; however, the time required will also depend on other variables including keywords, any on page features, competition from other sites, the current market and the level of growth essential to achieve the highest possible ranking.
There is a process to follow before any page will rank for keywords. Until that time nothing will improve and taking shortcuts won’t achieve the desired result. The page and site requirements must be adhered to, and only when the standard is higher than similar websites with comparable features of significance can there be ranking which is placed for those specific keywords.
This all takes time and energy and a commitment to process the information when it is available. If everything is accomplished correctly then the process should achieve an increase in the rankings which will come both from your own efforts in addition to external links from other websites.
Again, the importance is the amount of influence gained in order to leapfrog other pages and sites to get within the top 10 results. Although this is an objective to be attained before completion all efforts from the beginning need to be directed towards this being achieved.
Websites and Routes to SEO
Further re-iterating the comments from earlier regarding whether a new site is required, or whether a pre-existing site can be re-energised which has just languished due to inactivity really depends on the capabilities of the site builder together with the amount of money and time available. Although each option has its merits it may come down to the necessity for speed, or cash constraints. Whatever the reason is, there is always a way to beat the various odds.
The Benefits of a New Website
The advantage of setting up a completely new website gives the opportunity of making sure that everything is correctly organised from the beginning. In this way SEO can be implemented without the necessity of undoing work previously carried out. The process of setting out the landing pages, proofreading and editing the content pages can take a considerable amount of time. Then there is the need to ensure that internal links together with any external links all satisfactorily fuse, yet again maintaining continuity.
Pre-Existing Websites
Where there has been a website in existence for some time it may be decided to try to re-use some content and blend it with new information. Before any new work can be undertaken it is important to assess the old site and check whether anything is relevant to the upgraded site. There can be considerable difficulties in trying to match the style of the older site but it may be possible to rework the pages. Some pages may not be appropriate as the content may be out-dated.
It may take a considerable period of time of adjusting information and content in order to achieve the required end result. The website will need to be gradually promoted through various sectors. New pages of content will need adding into the site whilst the old content will still be necessary for promotion purposes. There is a need for links to the articles, RSS feeds and social media marketing.
It is important to check that the speed by which the links are lost and gained are maintained, also to ensure that content on the pages isn’t duplicated and always of a high quality and that focus is maintained on the required market. There also need to be links from multiple websites.
The object of SEO is to be an influencing factor so that when anyone is wanting good information, your site is acknowledged as having high quality content. This is the way to ensure a superior ranking. In other words – if the work is carried out carefully, and the content of the website provides the reader with quality information then you will maintain a good ranking.
Large Websites
There are some very large websites which include those which sell products across a huge number of pages. The items which they sell can be similar to a department store, only with more variety of choice. As websites aren’t ranked, only the pages it is imperative that each page provides ranking for a keyword or contributes to another page.
This type of site can be aided by a sitemap (xml, ror or html) as these will aid with indexing, and assist towards pages being ranked. Other helpful information can be by adding sub folders and subdomains. A strong inbound link system and navigation blocks will also benefit the site.
It is important to reduce duplication across the various categories and it is helpful to remove parameters from the URL string. Also check that all broken links are removed. The load time is also important as a slow site has a negative bearing on rankings. Content which is based around an interesting and newsworthy theme can also escalate the relevance score of the site and its footprint.
The larger a website grows so does the importance of maintaining the structure of a staged direction finding chart which pushes the flow of traffic further within the website. As each page becomes stronger, the more opportunity there is for ranking it.
Any sites which don’t have landing pages or categories have the possibility of all of its pages being ignored by the search engines unless there is an implementation of hierarchy through links, references or content.
This specific type of site won’t be available via a package and will need to be custom built; however, the basics and a few keywords can be set in order to help with ranking.
Custom Websites
For the largest type of site as discussed above, there isn’t a package to deal with the complex issues which arise almost as a matter of course. This type of site will require the attention of an in-house team who will be available to monitor and react to situations which will occur on a very regular basis.
There can be steps taken to start promotion towards a higher level of optimisation and these can include some or all of the following – Social media integration, and links from themed websites, RSS Aggregators and Keyword Research.
It will require the website to be built and only after this stage when the structure is in place can the hard work begin on improving the resources to achieve the optimum results. Once it has been started, then it is a case of getting on with it and applying patience and perseverance in order for the site to settle down whilst the in-house team press on regardless.
Anything worthwhile takes time and effort – it also is enjoyable. The influence created by a website with a good ranking, should give considerable satisfaction to everyone who has helped towards achieving the optimum results.