One of the most important things you can carry out on your website before you embark on search engine optimisation is to carry out a thorough website analysis. This is an essential part of the planning process when starting your SEO and should not be overlooked. It will give you a good idea about how much work is needed to get your site running optimally for the search engines and your visitors. It will also highlight the assets you have on the site already helping you to prioritise the areas that require most attention.

You can find many search engine optimisation tools online that can help you to carry out your analysis but often your SEO company will offer this type of service also and will be happy to help you interpret the results - they may even have their own. A basic analysis of the site can be carried out quickly without the aid of an SEO professional but SEO tools can offer a wealth of information and you may find it quicker and more fruitful to carry out the exercise with an SEO professional.

Also take time to look at your website wearing your SEO glasses so to speak. When looking over your website from an SEO point of view you may be pleasantly surprised to find you already have many advantages. You may see that there are some keywords that are naturally coming up on the web pages and some elements of the navigation that can be worked to benefit you. SEO tools such as keyword density checkers can be used to make sure you have enough keywords and highlight where more keyword research needs to be done. You will also spot many things that need tweaking. You need to immerse yourself in your website to become familiar with the nuances of the site and you should start to become acquainted with the key elements of search engine optimisation before you set about analysing the site. If you put on your ‘SEO glasses’ before you start the analysis you will be able to see the website more clearly.

When looking at the site here are some of the key areas you need to focus on: Content - content must be short, concise and relevant. You must write content to a high standard and keep the material original. Always research around your subject to find content that will inspire your readers. Keywords can always be added in to content at a later date but bad writing is irreparable.

Layout - Are users able to navigate the site quickly and easily? If you have a low bounce rate then you probably have a user-friendly website. This is crucial for effective SEO. Existing placement - If you are looking at developing your SEO strategy then the first port of call is to look at your existing rankings. There may be some keywords that rank higher on your site than others. Use SEO tools to analyse the best keywords to use. At SearchEngineOptimization.co.uk we can develop a winning SEO strategy for your site.