Learn all about Cardboard Box and Moving Boxes

SEO is essentially a constantly evolving study of what factors the search engines take into account when they ‘rank’ you in their natural search listings. These organic listings are what we predominantly see when we search for any keyword. They are not to be confused with the Pay per Click entries. On the major Search Engines, you’ll see a box at the top, and a column down the right hand side. These are the paid adverts. Whereas the free listings are taken from the main index. The Search Engines look at a site’s relevancy and value when establishing its position in the hierarchy.

We want to be right up there where we can be seen. Nobody will know we’re there if we’re way down on page eight! It isn’t possible to say for certain exactly which measures SE’s use to grade sites. They keep it a closely guarded secret!

So as time has gone on, a sophisticated industry has evolved to get the most from the listings. On the one side you have SE’s like Google deliberately filing technology patents in many different areas. This makes determining their ratings methods more complex. And then you have an industry built around SEO. This uses empirical testing and measuring of various factors to determine which ones are the most important.

The objective is to maximise both ‘on-page’ and ‘off-page’ optimisation. There are also ‘off-web’ factors such as demographic and geographic information – but we have no control over this area. (We’ve covered ‘Off Page’ factors in a separate article, as there wasn’t enough room here.)

Search Engine Optimisation ‘On-Page’

It’s possible to change the pages of your website to make them ‘friendly’ to the Search Engines. It’s not too complex – it just requires setting your website up the right way. Doing things such as: Keyword seeding (in the right places and the right amounts), using H1 and H2 header tags (and to some extent meta-tags) and internal linking.

Which may well sound like a foreign language to you! For the most part, although this work isn’t complicated, its effects are minimal. In truth, many argue its relevance has disappeared altogether! Previously we could make an impact with On Page configurations. That hasn’t been possible for a long time though.

The only time that ‘on-page’ becomes important is when you have taken care of ‘off-page’ and have a lot of inbound ‘back-links’. If that’s the case, internal linking and a certain amount of on-page fine-tuning can reap rewards.

Take Counsel – Avoid doing SEO on keywords that have millions of listings. Take car insurance for instance. In Britain alone you’d get seventy million sites listed. When you’re just getting going, it’s not a great idea to face such huge competition!

Nevertheless – Extend the phrase to Southampton car insurance and it’s under a third of a million. (Presuming that was my market). So a much more realistic target.

I’ve a much better chance in the rankings having added the word ‘Southampton’. In actual fact, it takes very deep pockets to get a premier listing for a term like ‘car insurance’. I would actually be competing with the insurance conglomerates! Not the best way to do things at all!

A precise description is much more valuable to us. We call them Long-tail phrases, as they’re made up of a few particularly chosen keywords. Depending on how competitive your market is, the phrases could be from 2 to 7 words long. Typically they will be 3 or 4 words long.

It’s sensible to start SEO work on terms that yield under half a million returns. (If the sites on the front page haven’t used SEO techniques, then we might go with bigger yields). Over time we’ll gain ground on the larger search terms. This will happen automatically through building back links. We can go for some of those after several months if we’ve SEO’d well. A line of attack like this makes business sense. Basically we zone in on people who are specifically searching to purchase.

You should also build back links to various different pages – and not just your website’s homepage. The SE’s respond well to this. Product Group pages are a good place for back links. It’s worth driving specific search terms to these pages – they often have links to lots of other product pages. Don’t just create back-links to your home-page. Bing, Yahoo and Google are all paying more attention to the way a website’s pages are managed and listed.

Building a swimming pool in your house or garden is a great way to have fun for yourself and indeed your entire family. It is also a great way to keep fit. However, despite that, it can also be very dangerous if you have children around. If you have the patience, you ought to wait until your kids are at least five years old or more until you put a swimming pool in your garden. On the other hand, if you already have a swimming pool, there are ways that you can protect your children.

One thing you should always remember is to never, ever, allow your children to be alone near your pool. Children tend to be attracted to water and all it takes is a slip for them to fall into the swimming pool. If you and your children are at your pool side and you need to leave the area for a second, you must always take your children with you.

To be completely safe, you should always ensure that you have plenty of safety gear around your pool at all times. Safety gear is a necessity to have on the poolside, as they could save the life of a child or in fact, anyone else who can’t swim.

You should buy a shepherd’s crook too, as you can use it to pull someone out of the pool. Having a telephone at your pool is also a good investment, as you can quickly call for help in the event of an emergency.

If you don’t already have a fence around your pool you should think about making one. A fence is a useful way to keep children from your pool. If you have a protective fence up, you won’t have to worry about small children falling in, while you are away from the pool. When you put your fence up, you should always make sure that it’s at least 6 foot high, with a locking gate. This way, no one can get into the pool without a key, which you have to keep on you at all times.

You should also learn CPR. Even though you may not ever have to use it. However, it is always good to know in the event of someone falling in your pool that is unable to swim. Whenever you have children or people you know can’t swim at your pool, you should always stay within reach of them, so you can react instantly if they fall in. A minute is all it takes to save someone’s life.

Always bear in mind that a swimming pool is for having fun in, although you should always think in terms of safety first too. Once you have finished enjoying your pool for the day, ensure that you secure the poolside well – and padlock the gate tight so no one can get in too.