Search Engine Optimisation - (SEO) is the art form of getting a website on the 1st page of Google for relevant search terms potential customers might be searching for.  The sole purpose of undertaking SEO activities is to increase the number of visitors to your website who are looking for your type of product or service.  In otherwords - its all about driving qualified traffic to your website.

Google says:" No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a "special relationship" with Google, or advertise a "priority submit" . There is no priority submit for Google. "

Furthermore it is easy to optimise a site for Key Words that no one is searching for ie. achieving a high ranking in this regard does not serve the business as no one is looking! 

The key factors in achieving good search engine results are:

1. The technology used in building your website
2. Where your site is hosted
3. Your domain name and age
4. The quality of your copy
5. The number of sites that link to your own

There is no special magic or tricks - the reality is that by addressing each of the above areas, step by step, your business will achieve better results in search engine results.

A key contributor to SEO is writing good copy that will rank well in search engines. Good copy needs to contain well-researched and varied keywords and concepts based on a web page's topic. It is important that it accurately reflects the site's content and is strategically placed throughout each page.

The rules are: write for the humans first and integrate key words secondly.  Don't forget that you can also add key words to the Alt tags on your images to give them a boost also.

Technology is very important  - poorly written sites, templates, sites more than 18 months old, sites which do not have an XML site map will seriously undermine search engine results.

SEO may involve improving the site's coding, presentation and structure. It may also require fixing problems that could prevent search engines indexing the site properly.

In New Zealand, the most common domain types are:

* .co.nz – for commercial entities and purposes
* .org.nz – for non-profit organisations
* .net.nz – for Internet-related organisations
* .gen.nz – for personal domains, and other purposes not covered elsewhere

However, there is no longer the strict division between the domain types that there used to be. You can register domains with the above endings even if it doesn’t fit the type of activity you or your organisation does.

Kiwis are very comfortable searching for .co.nz therefore it makes sense for companies to stick with that unless you have good grounds for using another extensions

Other New Zealand domain types you are likely to come across include:

* .ac.nz – for tertiary academic institutions
* .school.nz – for primary and secondary schools
* .geek.nz – for computer buffs
* .maori.nz – for Maori and related organisations and purposes
* .iwi.nz – for Maori and related organisations and purposes only
* .govt.nz - for government use only
* .mil.nz – for NZ military use only
* .cri.nz – for Crown research institutions only