I know that you want, right now, to hear about some meta tags, some source code optimisation techniques, the need to create link-bait, how you need to have optimised web pages that have been thoroughly put through a Taguchi Testor run through some multi-variate test matrix and then fine-tuned with A/B split testing and how to create search engine bait that really works.

Sadly I am not going to cover any of this right now. The reason is that all of this, and more, is aimed at doing one thing and one thing only: driving highly relevant, traffic to your website that’s motivated enough to stand an above-average chance to be converted into paying customers and for that you don’t need just a well-optimised website, but a website whose layout, design and content follow the same offline logic you expect to see in the display of your favourite department store.

The danger of working online and thinking in highly technical jargon is that, at some point, we get so close to the wood that we can’t see the trees. Everything that is applied to your website is done so that it can help you make headway against the competition, it can be indexed correctly and it provides the type of search engine results you need in order to make money. None of it however is going to work its SEO magic if you have not got your online store arranged correctly in the first place.

If you are really serious about making money online take a step back from all the technical fanfare, think about the type of site you would be happy to purchase from and try to emulate that type of layout, look, feel and service with yours.

By projecting yourself in the shoes of your clients you are (to get a little technical) carrying out a 360-degree-analysis which will only benefit your website. Then the SEO and SEM efforts you additionally put in place will best help it increase its traffic (and your sales) rather than start to take a sinking site near the top of your industry tree.