The practice of search engine optimisation has been described as "mainstream" by a journalist, who noted that the recession has prompted many businesses to steer away from other strategies.

In an article for the Belfast Telegraph, Ruairie McNally observed that firms are now asking search engine optimisation companies to "demystify the practice" of driving their sites to the top of the search engine results page.

He added that businesses are also increasingly asking web developers to create pages that "move with advances in search engine algorithms" so as to "allow more flexibility with content syndication".

Mr McNally went on to state that paid search can become costly as firms work at outbidding each other.

Earlier this month, it was suggested by AdAge.com that organisations are now aware of the benefits of search engine marketing, citing research by Sempo revealing that approximately 90 per cent of advertisers use organic search and 70 per cent practice paid search.

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