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.

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.

A number of great programs now exist to help you create attractive forms to help you build your subscriber list.

Once again some simple guidelines will help you be more successful.

• Checkout www.campaignmonitor.com and www.mailchimp.com for simple to use forms.
• Ensure you follow regulations regarding privacy and provide an unsubscribe link.
• Make a genuine offer to attract subscriptions
• Only ask for a name and e-mail. Asking for telephone numbers or addresses will dramatically reduce your subscription rate.
• Follow up promptly and politely with a professional e-mail newsletter.
  

Follow these guidelines for better results.

• Use professional software like www.wordtracker.com or ww.keywordelite.com to research keywords.
• Avoid generic phrases such as "video camera" go for specific terms such as "Sony HD Video camera"
• Limit the geographical reach of your adverts to start with.
• Try for positions 4-7 on the page, you will get much cheaper "clickthroughs".
• Use groups of ads getting your keywords in the title as often as you can.
• Split-test your ads. Use two very similar ads and then replace the weakest ad after 30 hits.
• Sign up for" google adwords guru"  Perry Marshalls free adwords course at http://www.perrymarshall.com/
• Use a subscription form to capture the e-mail details of site visitors.
• Use Google Analytics to track site visitors.
  

The reason is simple, Internet Explorer 7.0 has RSS built in to its core technology.

RSS is the internet community's answer to spam e-mail, enabling users to choose to subscribe to the content updates they want using "live bookmarks" rather than e-mail.

The example above is from the BBC's site, however already businesses are using RSS to keep clients up to date without cluttering their in-boxes.

Blogs create RSS feeds automatically allowing users to subscribe to new content.

Advanced software such as Squarespace also "pings" search engines every time you add to your site. 

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. 

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.