Cardiff Media

Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is the process of improving the ranking of your website in Google, Bing, or other search engines for particular keywords. The goal is to attract more users to your site by having it show up at the top of the list when they perform a search. SEO can be done by making changes to your website content since Google’s algorithm considers web content when assessing rankings. Another way to improve your ranking is to have links from other sites point to yours.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or webpage in search engine results pages (SERPs). There are many tactics that can be employed to achieve this, including content creation, link building, keyword research, and backlinking.

A successful SEO campaign will focus on developing high-quality content for users through extensive keyword research and analysis.

How long is a piece of string? SEO has many factors to consider:

SEO is not a guaranteed science because there are so many factors to take into account. Also Search engines change the rules and the results on a regular basis so as to keep content fair, up to date and relevent.

Factors to consider

How good is the Competition

How difficult are the keywords you want to target

How big is your website

What is your budget and timescale

Is your target market an industry saturated by big business ie Holidays

Or is it a fairly easy market to rank for

Do you already have a good product,service and reputation

Good SEO practice generally produces early results depending on the competition, and keyword difficulty after a few months.

Taking in all the factors shown above, 3-6 months is a reasonbaly good result with growth generally showing after this time for several other keywords and pages.

Organic search results are probably one of the most important forms of interest for your business.

Potential customers who find your business through organic search are normally buying customers, they intentionally looked for your services with the view to purchase.

Customers who find your business through social media and other links arrive generally through advertising, curiosity or a triggered interest.

Attract more targeted customers by understanding their search habits and targeting them accordingly.

Study and "copy" your Competitors by providing similar/ better content.

Create a brand that stands out.

Optimise your keywords and find long tail keywords.

Optimize Your Website by improving current and adding New Content.

Build a strong internal and external link web.

Use social media to drive traffic and interest.

Build a strong reputation and review plan.

Ensure your website is attractive to visitors, informative & useful.

Use Google search console and analytics to research performance and results.

Make sure the website is easy to navigate.

Maximise your conversions by adding contect and call to action where possible

Depending on the type of business, find a way to maximise retention.

Use video where possible internally and externally.

Get the website mobile friendly.

Speed up the loading of the website by optimising correctly.

Understand the importance and improve the performance of your Google my business page.

If SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is about ranking at the top of a search results page, AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is about being the definitive answer that an AI provides directly to a user.

As search engines evolve into "answer engines"—think Google’s AI Overviews, Perplexity, or ChatGPT—the goal has shifted. It’s no longer just about driving clicks to a website; it’s about ensuring your content is the factual source that the AI synthesises and cites.

Why AEO Matters Right Now

Traditional search is transactional and navigational. AEO, however, targets informational intent. With the rise of voice search and AI-driven chat interfaces, users are asking complex questions and expecting a single, accurate response rather than a list of links.

The Core Pillars of AEO

To win in an AEO-driven landscape, your content must satisfy three specific criteria:

1. Authority & Trust: AI models prioritise sources with high E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).

2. Structured Data: Using Schema.org markup helps engines understand the context of your data (e.g., prices, FAQs, or reviews) without "guessing."

3. Directness: Content must be formatted to answer questions immediately. If a user asks "What is AEO?", the first sentence of your response should define it.

AEO vs. SEO: What’s the Difference?