Great news from the Sunshine State, our clients Summit Advisors a leading West Coast financial consultancy have hit page one in Google with two highly competitive keywords.

Senior Partner Rafael O. Velez III e-mailed to say'  We are on Page 1 for the terms “independent financial planner” and “independent financial advisors”.

Great news and a testimony to the effort Raf and his team put in to updating their blog.

Search engines are looking for the most relevant content for their customers and for them, the newer the content the more relevant it must be.

So the ability to update your web site is essential if you want to compete for the attention of the search engines.

Until now changing site content required considerable technical skill, a series of phone calls to your web designer or reliance on "content management" software that could at best be described as flaky.

Well times have changed.

The latest Squarespace software gives you the ability to add fresh content with ease. So now adding new pages, text or pictures to your site is as easy as using Microsoft Word.

Check out these demonstration videos to see how easy it is.

Blogs or Web logs are the fastest growing phenomena on the internet. So what is all the fuss about?

The answer is blogging is easy to do. it allows you to publish with ease and the search engines love the fresh content.

A blog is an on-line journal to which you "post" information. It requires very little technical skill and is much less formal than a traditional website, so its easier to write.

Using a blog you can keep your clients, suppliers and staff up to date with your latest news, building credibility and trust.

At the same time RSS syndication automatically keeps the search engine coming back for more. 

There are more urban myths about search engine optimisation than any other internet related subject.

However, if you follow the following "golden rules' you can quickly increase your search engine rankings without spending a fortune on SEO consultancy.

• It is essential to optimise your site for search terms that are used regulary but do not have millions of competing sites. 
• Use keyword research tools such as www.wordtracker.com or www.keywordelite.com to help you decide on the search terms.
• Optimise your site by using your choosen search terms in the site title, headlines, internal links and bold text.
• Use your search terms when naming any pictures you use on your site.
• Encourage the search engines to return regulary by providing fresh content.
• Get any trade association you belong to or large supplier you use to link to your site.
• Buy links from relevant on-line trade directories.
• Use blogging to increase the credability of your site in the eyes of the search engines.