You can make changes to your website and make other improvements which should improve its ranking so that it comes higher up on the standard search results. This is known as the “Organic” search results, and no fees are paid to Google, although SEO professionals can charge hefty fees for producing good results.

There are many techniques to improve your ranking on the standard search results. The huge value to businesses of a higher ranking have resulted in many underhand methods being used to artificially improve results. These are known as Black Hat methods, and although they may work for a short while, the major search engine companies usually deal with them and penalise the websites affected.

The best way to improve your results is to have a good website with lots of relevant and useful information that is well presented and formatted in accordance with best practice and web standards.

There are a number of specialist companies who focus on this and do not actually create websites themselves. As a first step, it may be worthwhile asking for an independent report on your website - a bit like getting an MOT for your car or survey done on a house. This should highlight any areas which need attention, and you can then arrange for your current website designer, yourself or another website provider to make the necessary changes.

We offer a website audit service which analyse and report on your current site and make recommendations to improve your search engine results. We can then make these changes for you if requested.

There are many websites and books which cover this topic, which is constantly changing. One we have found worthwhile is:

Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day

www.yourseoplan.com