Small businesses ´should get professional help when thinking about SEO´

Small businesses can take advantage of search engine optimisation (SEO) by ensuring they build appropriate websites, an industry expert has said.

Jack Wallington, a project manager at the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), said that paid search optimisation can be of limited value for small businesses operating in competitive sectors.

However, Mr Wallington added that it was important that small businesses use "best practice at every step" when trying to use SEO to boast website performance. This meant including keywords, ensuring copy is of a high quality and creating a link network.

Mr Wallington pointed out that it was probably sensible for small businesses to seek professional help when looking to improve SEO.

"Even if someone knows a lot about search engine marketing, it is unlikely they will know everything," he explained.

"The danger with optimisation - as with many areas of online - is that there is a lot of free advice available on the internet and it is not always possible to know what is correct and what isn´t.

"A quick meeting with a professional company with experience working on different campaigns will always benefit an SME, particularly because search engine marketing changes constantly and continues to increase in competitiveness."