Search engines use logic algorithms and consider thousands of factors in determining position, but fundamentally they start with matching the search phrase keyed in with important phrases in the code and text of websites. The words used in the websites text and code are VITAL to get ranking results. This basic but significantly important stage is the foundation of all optimisation.

Everyone wants to be ranked at the top page one. But that can be very expensive to achieve for nationally competitive phrases and out of range for many small and medium sized businesses. But because user search phrase inputs differ remarkably for the same product/service, getting ranked in the first few pages for many relevant phrases can be a smart strategy.
For high volume phrases or where a high degree of consumer trust is involved, pages one and two can be targets, but three and four will yield significant results also. This is a simplistic view but it makes the point. Add the facts that search engines deploy several listings and can regionalise results to the often weird and wonderful variety of user input phrases, and what you have are a lot of high volume listing opportunities.
The profile charted below is a fairly high value, high trust product. ( pages people are prepared to search increases with trust requirement )

This particular site traffic profile is revealing because it shows the effect of re-developing an existing, failed website back in 2009, and the longevity of a well structured build with very little additional SEO work after the initial phase,except a couple of days link building in late 2010. The product was relatively high value, high volume and nationally very competitive with some big players. The website established a low percentage of high volumes creating significant trade for the business, at low cost. Also shows the significant impact of some limited link building during 2010, returning a payback which more than double the trade volumes.

An examination of how an organisations performance measurements or ktm's are not just a valuable scoreboard of progress, but also an instrument which may well affect the organisational culture. Although this should stimulate a deliberately positive change, here I focus on experiences which fostered some surprising unintended consequences, and suggest that the focused emphasis on performance measurement within the particular cultural and structural environments, enabled the unexpectedly bad organisational behaviour.

A broad overview for businesses. I look back on the development of search rankings, their conflicting aims, how they started, how they developed and improved, and where they are going in the future.
I also go through a couple of the historical 'gaming the system' methods adopted by some in the past, and explain that whilst they did get a short term benefit, search engines play "whack-a-mole" with these and will penalise websites, often very severely.
There is no reason not to adopt good practice.

A look at the subtle differences in single subject video compositions and the significant affect it can have on the audience receptiveness and perceptions. The instinctive decisions made through vision reception are remarkable, complex and largely unseen, but if the target audience is subconsciously putting up barriers, then you almost certainly got it wrong. An important part of this is understanding the relationship and pre existing perceptions between the subject and the intended audience.

Not an exercise in cognitive dissonance, but my musings on the role of the manager in a 'world class' organisation. It's not so much an aim, more a philosophy that you drive towards, a little like Just-In-Time would be to a supply chain or manufacturer. You never actually get there, but the whole organisation benefits from the direction of travel.