I found an article on the web related to British SMME websites that claimed  that only 47% of websites had any Search Engine optimisation features.  The study showed a shocking lack of care for the websites by Small businesses. 1000 websites were audited.

The study was done by Thompsons Local in the UK using the premise that  to compete in business today, whether at a local, national or international level, a fully functional website is a business imperative.  Now more than ever consumers are turning to search engines like Google and Bing for help in finding the best local suppliers.

Whilst the increasing use by consumers and B2B buyers of online directories and search engines to find suppliers brings tremendous opportunities for well prepared businesses of all sizes; the spectre of increased competition from other local, national or international competitors is a serious threat to companies that have not adequately invested in establishing their internet presence.

Thomson Local and Analytics SEO were keen to establish how well the UK’s businesses were prepared for this increasingly competitive world of online competition.

Now my immediate thoughts were they are being generous as I have recently been checking local websites for optimisation and I know that less than 25% of the sites I have checked had any SEO done on them. Some industries were more pro active than others, but some industries have no presence at all.

Nelspruit Lodge : Accommodation and conference center

It is my opinion that most businesses can be optimised for local results without too much trouble. We recently took over the running of Nelspruit Lodge from a competitor. Prior to our involvement a search for Nelspruit Lodge delivered no results at all for our client. We are pleased to announce that within days of us managing the website they are now at the number one position in Google for the Lodge name, at number three for Nelspruit Conference center.  They are also climbing the ranks for other search terms like Nelspruit Accommodation.

Lowveld Mobile Crane Hire

Another recent addition to our stable is White River based Lowveld Crane Hire. I am happy to report in two weeks we have taken a brand new site from not there to the front page of Google for a few search terms. At present Lowveld Mobile Crane Hire is out ranked by our own websites used to introduce their website to Google.  A search for Mpumalanga mobile crane hire puts them at the number one spot just where we would want to see them.

Neither of the web sites has had thousands of rands or hundreds of hours spent obtaining these results, so when I see statistics like 47% of web sites have no SEO done to them,  I am not surprised when people tell me they get no results. It’s obvious that if you don’t spend a little time and care on your website, you can not expect any results.

Guy McLaren has been designing and getting results from web sites since 1996. Clients like Laeveld Bou Handelaars and HI-Q Nelspruit are getting results using our methodology.

The full report can be found at http://www.analyticsseo.com/blog/state-uk-business-websites-2010.

More on this subject

• Nelspruit web design – Search Engine Optimisation
• Search engine optimisation video
• Google Algorithm factors for Search Engine Optimisation
• SEO Nelspruit Search Engine Optimisation : Understanding Google.

Tags: Search Engine Optimisation, web sites

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