Opinion: How to optimise your site and get a slice of the search engine pie

Engaging, relevant, useful content is key to a successful sales proposition or advisory site, but if Google can't find that content, then neither can your (potential) customers.

Putting in place a hierarchical site map is a basic essential. Use clear URLs throughout the site so Google knows what content to expect on the page, and also so that your customers can be reassured when they look to the address bar -- which they do.

Ensure that titles and headings throughout the site emphasise the important elements of your site. As you would want to promote the key products and services to your customers, so you need to ensure that Google understands your prioritised product offering.

What do you do? What are your core products? Is this reflected in your site structure and content?

Meta tags and keywords are overrated. They are important, but there a bigger, more influential fish to fry. Get them right, ensure they are relevant to the page content, and change them to reflect content changes.

Equally, although meta data is increasingly dropping in importance, you shouldn't discount the importance of your meta description -- in most cases the description defines how your site is promoted in the listings.

Description meta tags are often overlooked but should be given the same amount of care and attention as paid search copy. Great search positions are of no value if you can't get people to click.

Relevant content and links hold much more weight and importance than meta data ever would in Google's eyes or should in your SEO strategy. You need relevant content and relevant incoming links.

Lots of relevant, readable content is the most powerful weapon in your site's arsenal -- not that we're in a battle with Google, but if your content is seen as irrelevant, or if you're repeating a keyword a little too much, you can succumb to "friendly fire", and no-one likes shooting themselves in the foot when it can be easily avoided.

A well-structured website will have plenty of pages filled with useful content and a robust strategy in place that sees the regular addition of fresh, relevant content.

The other main focus is incoming links. These will come naturally, but you can encourage them by providing engaging content to which people will naturally want to link.

Equally, you can develop online press exposure that will generate incoming links to your site from trustworthy sites such as news sites, educational establishments and advisory sites that are within your specific sector.

One of the most popular myths surrounding SEO is the belief that you can optimise the site once, add some links from time to time and it'll be fine.

Search engine optimisation is a long-term, ongoing, constantly evolving game. There are no guarantees in SEO, Google's algorithm bounces around like an idiosyncratic yo-yo and so your SEO strategy has to be fleet-footed and able to predict the next move -- it has to be done by experts.

Like Olympic cycling, if you stop pedalling, you will be passed.

And a common mistake is the "Henry from IT knows a thing or two about 'online', he can do our SEO." approach. Avoid this by writing budget for SEO into your marketing plan -- and get an agency in. In the long-term, SEO provides the greatest ROI of all online marketing.

Search is constantly evolving and the best defence is a good offence. If you ensure that your site is being updated with fresh, engaging content across multiple formats, it is well-optimised and has a clear structure, you should be ready for anything.

Proactive optimisation will ensure that you are included across multiple touchpoints -- the natural listings, news results, local listings, videos, images, all of these are ways of raising brand visibility and, crucially, engaging the user.

Tom Griffiths is business development manager at Cheeze.