Search engine optimisation : make the right choice.

One Step Ahead are not the only SEO experts in the business, so why choose us?

Choosing the right search engine optimisation company for you.

SEO companies are like any other business : there are good and bad. So how do you choose? We'd love to list on this page all the rogue traders we've come across, but that's not very professional! Anyway, they should know who they are.

Here are a few tips that should help you to make a balanced decision.

Literacy!

Quite important when you entrust your web site to someone else. We see some appalling spelling errors, bad grammar and typographical mistakes when we browse through some of our competitors' web sites. If these guys can't spell, that's quite worrying. If you can't spell either, that's even more worrying! At One Step Ahead, we pride ourselves on the quality of our authoring, whether it's on the page or in the non-visible content.

Design quality.

What makes good web design (or bad web design)? To a degree, the quality of the web site design is in the eye of the beholder. We think good design is clear, crisp presentation of quality content with easy-of-use right at the top of the list. Navigation should be obvious, meaningful and clearly defined. Javascript drop-down and floating menus are quite 'cool' but do they make for easier navigation? Probably not, and they are an unnecessary overhead on script for the search engines to wade through.

Web sites that suck! Check out the daily sucker here! Vincent Flanders started this for a bit of fun and just look how his web site has grown!

We are aware of at least 30 so-called 'web site optimisation web sites' whose design is simply appalling - a disgrace and an insult to the word 'design'. Crowded with endless, repeated hyperlinks to rubbish content. They think this is 'search engine optimisation' - a big turn-off, more like! In reality, they know nothing about design, and even less about web site optimisation for search engines.

The search engines (in particular, Google) are getting very cute; they are now able to judge the quality of the page design and content far more accurately than a couple of years ago - when you could spam pages with meaningless hyperlinks to even more meaningless rubbish. So, a well-authored web page is likely to score much higher with Google et al than one that sucks. Bear this in mind when you entrust your web design to someone else!

False promises.

These grow on trees; a "guaranteed No.1 position on Google and all major search engines in just 14 days"! Yeah, right! Any self-respecting SEO expert would not make such a promise, knowing that SEO takes time and that no-one can actually guarantee such a result. Other scams include special state-of-the-art software and link systems that will bring your web site to the top of the pile. Search engines now downgrade web sites that use link farms and dubious so-called 'innovative' or 'unique' linking programs.

When One Step Ahead review your web site and carry out an appraisal, we don't make wild promises to you; we prefer our 'reasonable expectations' terminology. Clients tell us that we exceed their expectations as a result of careful and professional optimisation. No promises, just realistic straight talking.

Web Hosting.

Recent clients report that they have come across 'companies' claiming that the search engine optimisation will only work if the site is hosted with them! What rubbish! So long as your hosting company offers good, reliable web hosting your web site can be optimised by any search engine optimisation expert. Never be fooled into handing over your web site : we do not even need access to your server in order to optimise your pages. We do prefer to be granted temporary FTP access, but this is not essential and we respect your decision if you wish to safeguard your server space.

A bit more about linking schemes...

We see a growing number of web sites claiming that new innovative link strategies will increase your web site's prominence in the search engines. Not for much longer! Google is already onto this. Link exchange is probably the single most dangerous aspect of optimisation. Recent changes by Google (in particular) mean that if your web site is linked from others that have little or no relevance to your business or content, your popularity/ quality will be decreased as a result. An example of this would be:-

Your web site promotes your Spanish holiday villa which you let out in the summer months. Your site has been linked into a 'revolutionary' new multiple linking scheme. One of the other partner sites in that scheme sells sewing-machines in Kent. Ouch! Your site has just been downgraded in Google's eyes. At One Step Ahead, we can actually prevent this happening to your web site by declining incoming links from other non-relevant web sites. The best linking is done the hard way : there are no miracle fixes. Develop and encourage links with other, similar, relevant web sites. Remember the very best link of all is a one-way link to your web site from another similar content site.

W3C compliance.

W3C page validation. What is it and why is it so important?

Web pages are not written in the way that we see them! What we see on any web page is markup code that has been interpreted by a web browser. If that code contains errors, the page may well not display correctly. Even if it does, the search engines will see all the errors and may be turned away. By designing and authoring web pages to meet with W3C guidelines and standards, One Step Ahead give your web site visitors the reassurance of a well-constructed, professional web site that meets with modern day requirements. Visually-impaired visitors can adjust their page settings without loss of data or changes in design.

We trust this information has been helpful for you in deciding who to entrust with your web design and search engine optimisation work.

If you'd like One Step Ahead to help you get your web site on the first page of the big search engines, just drop us a line here.