If, like me, you have a UK website that you spend hours of your time developing, you may also be wondering why so few people come across it. It can certainly be frustrating after the effort you invested in it. The graphics look fantastic, the menu makes sense, the text is clear and easy to read, there's plenty of content, and of course the actual product or service you're offering is good. Of course, no one expects overnight success - it takes a little time for the search engines to find you, and unless you've invested heavily in marketing and advertising using billboards, posters and so on, then obviously it will be a while before your site is even found.



But once you can see a trickle of people starting to dribble through to your website, you may wonder why it isn't a torrent. Perhaps next week? Or next month? You start seeing your creation as an investment rather than an overnight sensation that will see you retiring by the end of the month. Clearly people are starting to find you, and perhaps you have had a few comments or a few orders, but what else have you done to try to improve the popularity of your site and the overall number of visitors it receives?

One thing that you may have done is to browse through the internet and find information on how to promote your site, or tips on 'UK search engine optimizing' it. You are almost certainly aware of the fact that to be successful on the internet you really need the search engines on your side. Having your site listed by Google, MSN and Yahoo for example is going to make a big difference to your site. But, what will make a far bigger difference is the overall rank of your website.

When someone carries out a keyword search for, say 'empty egg timer' and you just happen to sell these handy devices (useful for those who don't have to worry about how long anything takes) then you will need your website to be right at the top of the list, so that people will find you easily, and come looking to buy from you. On Google alone, a keyword search for 'empty egg timer' generates nearly half a million websites! That means that there are approximately 50,000 pages of results. Incredibly, only 3% of people ever look beyond the first page of results, which means that 499,990 websites will be missed, and only 10 sites seen by 97% of visitors! You can see just how important it is to make sure you're on that first page, and preferably at the very top of the list. If your website is on page 2, it might as well be on page 49,999, since almost no one will ever find it.

So what is it that helps you get to the top of your keyword search rank? Is there a single big secret that many SEO companies are aware of, and will only tell you for a huge fee? Certainly many companies do seem to suggest that they alone have the answer, and that only by going through them will the Golden Secret be revealed to you, and suddenly your site will rocket to the top. In fact, there are three things wrong with this. Firstly, there is no single solution - it's a combination of many varied factors. Secondly, no one single company can ever offer guarantees, promises or assurances that your site will be at the top, or near the top - they can try, and almost certainly your site will rise, but this depends on other factors beyond anyone's control. This might, for example, be because your website is in a mass market, such as insurance. With hundreds of thousands of keyword competitors, getting near the top is a huge endeavour, whereas if you're selling rainbow coloured light bulbs then there is likely to be much less competition, and so more chance you'll rise more quickly, and further. The third thing is that any rise is never going to be overnight, and any progress can take weeks, if not months or even years.

So what are these factors which affect the rank of your website? There are many different ways to win over the approval of a major search engine. The big factor used to be keywords, with search engines scanning through the pages on your site and identifying the relevant keywords. Unfortunately, many people took advantage of this and simply inserted great blocks of keywords, whether they were relevant or not, just to grab the attention of the search engines. This technique is more likely to lower your rank these days. One of the biggest factors is how many websites link to yours. Obviously if several hundred sites all have a link encouraging people to visit yours, that tells the search engines that your site must be pretty good, and so increase your rank.

There are many free things available on the internet, and many good services that cost money. I rarely come across a good service that I'd recommend, which also happens to be free, but if you're a website owner like me, and are interested in knowing how your site's doing as far as the search engines are concerned,it's great to find a free service that offers interesting and valyable information on how you're website is ranked in the major search engines. As the work is done manually, the results are very thorough. Of course, they'll offer to do the work for you, but if you've already built your site, the chances are that you'll be quite happy making the changes they recommend.With so many companies out there, to get one who actually put their money 'where their mouth is' is a bonus.Actually and to be fair, they were really down to earth to deal with and explained it all in simple english.

It can often be quite obscure little changes that you wouldn't think of - such as the position of the text on the page, the number of menu links and outside links you have, the length of your sentences and so on. Knowing what you can do to help get your website noticed is a massive step toward getting up towards that golden first page. I have a number of websites, and I can't say I have always tried every single bit of advice, but even by applying a few which suit me, I have noticed that my sites are climbing higher. Don't forget, no one ever gets overnight top rank placement, and your eventual position will depend largely on the number of keyword competitors you have, but I'd certainly recommend getting your site checked out, after all, it's free!