Okay, so you have decided to commission a web site to be built. Maybe this is a 'brochure' type website to compliment your existing business, or it could be an ecommerce website which is an entirely new business. You have spent some time looking for a web design company that can meet your requirements (and budget) and have planned the site down to the very last detail.
You may have spent hundreds or thousands of pounds on the design, photos, hosting, and you may end up with the best looking website of the Internet, but if you have not taken into account search engine optimization then it will most likely spell disaster for you and your business.
Search engine optimization is, in our opinion, one of (if not the most) important consideration when creating a new web site. In our experience it usually the part that most people neglect too!
The logic behind this statement is quite simple. What is the point of having an amazing website, selling / advertising your amazing products if nobody knows about it and can not find it?
How many times have you searched for something on the Internet and found websites in the top listings on search engines that look like they were designed by an amateur? It happens all the time, however you can be certain that these are the websites that are making money on the Internet.
The principle of making money through a website on the Internet is simple really:
Have a good product at a competitive price
Have a website that is easy for customers to make a purchase through
Attract as many potential customers to the site as you can
If we assume the first 2 points have been taken care of, the next step is attracting potential customers / clients. Anybody who has run a business before will tell you that traditional marketing methods are extremely expensive. Magazine adverts can cost hundreds of pounds with no guarantee of anything back, and let's not even talk about TV advertising costs.
The potential number of clients you can attract to your website from good search engine positioning can be massive if you target the right 'search terms', add into the equation that these website visitors are actively searching for something that is related to your site, and you can easily see how this form of marketing is vital for any new, or already established business.
One final point. If your web design company offer SEO as part of their service check for evidence of their results.