Search engines are the interfaces we use in order to find websites and information on the internet. The World Wide Web is huge now, bigger than can easily be comprehended, and that’s a lot of information. Without search engines we would find it almost impossible to quickly and easily navigate through all that data!

A search engine will respond to your search enquiry with results that best meet your needs, or answer your question. This is where SEO comes in. Whether it is for commercial reasons, or for social reasons, all website owners want people to find their site, and see their content. Search Engine Optimisation is how we boost our rankings and increase the visibility of a website.

As 2014 approaches, we thought it would be a good time to recap and consider what the search engines are looking for. Use this list to help you develop your activities for the coming year.

The search bots are looking for:

Great content – as always, content is the key to successfully attracting the bots. Good content will increase your readership and following, and traffic on your website is like a beacon to a search bot.

Make sure you are firing on all cylinders! – Is your website working properly? Give it a good MOT and ensure it is loading quickly and that all the pages and links work properly.

Promote yourself – Author rank is a big part of making yourself and your brand visible to the bots. Whether you use your brand name or your own name, you should ensure your content is properly authored at all times.

Think about your customers – Every aspect of SEO is influenced by your customers. It is the visitors to your site that create the traffic. Do what you can to ensure the customer’s experience is engaging. It’s referred to as the user experience. Put simply, keep your customers happy.

It’s also worth remembering what the search bots will ignore too –

Don’t cheat! – The search bots will not take kindly to tactics which resemble spam or employ any Black Hat methods. At the very least they will ignore your website, at worst you could be banned which could cause long term damage to your brand’s reputation.

Keep the keywords to a minimum – No keywords stuffing! It’s not cool, it renders your content boring and difficult to read, and the search bots will go out for their way to ignore it.

Above all, keep your website and content as natural as possible. Build your brand and content for your customers, not the search engines. You’ll find that doing this will actually attract the bots even more.

Learn more about SEO factors

Why Bother With Keyword Analysis?
What Are The Benefits Of A Website Audit?