What is SEO?

The successful execution of a search engine optimisation project requires skills in the
areas of analysis, research, planning, copy writing and communication. A comprehensive
search engine optimisation project is divided into four interrelated phases.
1. Pre-site activities – The research and planning activities undertaken before an
existing or new site or page is actually touched or built.
 Understanding your organisation’s online business strategy
 Researching your market category, customers and competitors
 Keyword research and selection
2. On-site activities – The activities directly involved in the content and design of
web pages.
 Writing the title, description and keyword meta tags
 Writing content – Body copy, titles, image tags, outbound links that reflect and
enhance keywords.
 Building internal links – Helping the search engines navigate the site
 Site design and construction - Ensuring the web page utilises design and code that
can be properly crawled and indexed by the search engines.
3. Off-site activities – Building a portfolio of quality inbound links to your web site.
4. Post –site activities – Analysing and responding to site traffic and user feedback
once a web site has been optimised. Effective SEO is a continuous activity.