With the announcement of Bing Social last year and now with the recent launch of the Google +1 button to challenge the famous Facebook ‘Like’ button, it is crystal clear that Social and SEO are on the same course.
With Google’s +1 button users will be able to vote up search results, and pretty soon search results will be recommended to you based on whether any of your contacts have +1ed a webpage. Admin will show Activity stats such as who has +1′d your site as well as age and sex and location.
Facebook’s social tools such as commenting, like buttons and the recent addition of Share buttons are quickly spreading across the web.
So do they have an effect on your SEO? Well not in Google, as they cannot read Facebook data, therefore cannot see how many ‘likes’ your webpage has, for example. But Bing can thanks to their exclusive deal with Facebook.
Both Google and Bing have confirmed that Tweets now impact rankings. Twitter should certainly now be considered part of your SEO strategy.
However the real impact will be when you actually get Tweeted and Retweeted by “influencers” on Twitter. Both search engines look at the social authority of the person Tweeting, so someone with a lot more followers than they follow themselves carry a lot more weight.
Whilst traditional SEO methods aren’t suddenly disappearing – going Social should be top of your list. Posts Tagged ‘Google’
Getting Social with SEO
Friday, May 13th, 2011With the announcement of Bing Social last year and now with the recent launch of the Google +1 button to challenge the famous Facebook ‘Like’ button, it is crystal clear that Social and SEO are on the same course.
With Google’s +1 button users will be able to vote up search results, and pretty soon search results will be recommended to you based on whether any of your contacts have +1ed a webpage. Admin will show Activity stats such as who has +1′d your site as well as age and sex and location.
Facebook’s social tools such as commenting, like buttons and the recent addition of Share buttons are quickly spreading across the web.
So do they have an effect on your SEO? Well not in Google, as they cannot read Facebook data, therefore cannot see how many ‘likes’ your webpage has, for example. But Bing can thanks to their exclusive deal with Facebook.
Both Google and Bing have confirmed that Tweets now impact rankings. Twitter should certainly now be considered part of your SEO strategy.
However the real impact will be when you actually get Tweeted and Retweeted by “influencers” on Twitter. Both search engines look at the social authority of the person Tweeting, so someone with a lot more followers than they follow themselves carry a lot more weight.
Whilst traditional SEO methods aren’t suddenly disappearing – going Social should be top of your list. Improving your Basic SEO
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011If your website is not ranking as high as you’d like it for your targeted keywords it might be a case of just re-looking at the SEO basics of your website. Firstly you need to sure there is a solid foundation in place that capitalises on any external links that are directed to your pages. If pages or posts are not properly optimised then this can have a dilution effect on any external SEO work, which is ultimately the big juice factor in ranking your site. 
There are 3 stages to assessing the SEO of an existing or new website
Stage 1 – Keyword Research Keyword research is all about understanding the competitiveness of the keywords you are trying to rank for.
If your target keyword phrase is highly competitive then it may take months of concerted effort and work to rank, so assessing this early on is highly recommended. Phrase matching your keyword phrase in “quotation marks” in Google will give you an indication of time needed to rank – so for example a phrase that delivers 30,000 competing pages may be possible to rank on page 1 within a few months or sooner.
Up to 100,000 then a ballpark might be up to 6 months and so on. Unfortunately SEO is not an exact science, as there are so many different factors involved, but this hopefully gives a few pointers. It is also vital to know the traffic potential of a keyword phrase. Working hard to rank #1 could be a waste of time if there are very few searches for that phrase (unless of course it’s a highly focused high value niche).
Stage 2 – On Page or Local SEO A big ranking factor is including the keyword phrase within the domain name or URL. If your website name is generic then name the pages /your-keyword-phrase.html Meta data. Although meta data isn’t a major factor in ranking by a long shot anymore, the meta title and descriptions are still displayed in search results, therefore still considered essential. In your web pages you’ll want to make sure the titles or H tags reflect the keyword phrases you are targeting. Some other SEO checks:
- Ensure keyword phrase is in the tags of a post if your site is blog based.
- Keywords should appear in the first paragraph of content, be in bold, italicised or underlined.
- Keyword phrase is used as the anchor text of a link within the page or post
- Phrase is the alt text and title tag as well as the image name within the page.
Stage 3 – External or Off-page SEO If your web project is completely new, than this would be part of stage 1. Firstly you’ll want to assess the backlink network size of your competition to see how yours compare. It’s a simple matter of having more quality backlinks to your pages than your competitors if everything else is in place. Links pointing to your website from another with a higher page rank (PR measured 0-10) will carry a lot more weight and hence the Google juice will rub off on your site.
So any links from ‘authority’ sites such as high ranking business directories and other search engines, .org or .gov domains or any site that is popular in your marketplace will be beneficial for you. When you provide incoming links you want the anchor text to be the keyword phrase that you are targeting.
For example in the html code it would look like this: <a href=”http://www.yourwebsite.com”>Your Keyword Phrase (Anchor Text) </a> Backlinks from websites on .org, .gov, .edu domains (which generally are a higher PR) will carry a lot more weight in the eyes of the search engines, so are well worth pursuing.
For a SEO consultation and assessment please contact us or phone me directly: Jerry Holliday (Marketing Director) on 0750 248 6012
7 ways to use Google Places for Local Marketing
Thursday, December 16th, 2010Google Places, previously Google local, displays a listing for businesses with a physical location featuring maps, directions and other information for geographically influenced searches.
In the Google search engine results pages (SERPs) seven places are currently displayed along with a map on the right hand side.
With 20% of all searches for specific locations or businesses and Comscore estimating that 66%+ of local customers find businesses using local search – Google Places an ideal tool for local marketing to tap into.
• Local Map highlighting places now above sponsored ads on the right hand side
• Places appear above the organic listings and appear a lot bigger
• G Places is a more social offering with reviews and recommendations linking in with Google HotPot
Here’s 7 quick tips to using Google Places:
Claim Your Place
Google can automatically create places for businesses from information online directories, social networks and maps, so don’t be surprised if yours appears and be sure to claim it.
Business Information
Make sure you input correct consistent information such as your ‘official’ business name, business address, telephone number, website, operating hours and so forth. If your real business name is a bit obscure then add a keyword to help prospects understand what you do.
Take care over writing descriptions and keep the end user in mind as well as
Use all available media.
Places give you the option to add video and images. Use all the slots available if you can.
Categories
Use all the category options and several of the ones Google suggests. You have an opportunity to create your own keyword rich ones as well.
Coupons and Discounts
Why not use coupons and discounts to provide value and an incentive to visitors.
Citations
Citations are sources from outside of Google that provide information and details about your business.
Create your own citations by submitting to other local directories. The more of these you have, the more credibility your business has on a local marketing level.
Encourage reviews
Get as many as you can. Google aggregates reviews from many sites across the Internet. If customers aren’t biting then provide some kind of incentive or discount so they will review your business. It’s that important.
It is worth investing a bit of time in Google Places as this will yield dividends in terms of searches and enquiries for your business.
If you would like help optimising your Google Place feel free to Contact Us
Google Places, previously Google local, displays a listing for businesses with a physical location featuring maps, directions and other information for geographically influenced searches.
In the Google search engine results pages (SERPs) seven places are currently displayed along with a map on the right hand side.
20% of all searches on Google by users are for specific locations or businesses and Comscore estimating that 66%+ of local customers find businesses using local search – Google Places an ideal tool for local marketing to tap into.
• Local Map highlighting places now above sponsored ads on the right hand side
• Places appear above the organic listings and appear a lot bigger
• Google Places is a more social offering with reviews and recommendations linking in with Google HotPot
Here’s 7 quick tips to using Google Places:
Claim Your Place
Google can automatically create places for businesses from information online directories, social networks and maps, so don’t be surprised if yours appears and be sure to claim it.
Business Information
Make sure you input correct consistent information such as your ‘official’ business name, business address, telephone number, website, operating hours and so forth. If your real business name is a bit obscure then add a keyword to help prospects understand what you do.
Take care over writing descriptions and keep the end user in mind as well as
Use all available media.
Places give you the option to add video and images. Use all the slots available if you can.
Categories
Use all the category options and several of the ones Google suggests. You have an opportunity to create your own keyword rich ones as well.
Coupons and Discounts
Why not use coupons and discounts to provide value and an incentive to visitors.
Citations
Citations are sources from outside of Google that provide information and details about your business.
Create your own citations by submitting to other local directories. The more of these you have, the more credibility your business has on a local marketing level.
Encourage reviews
Get as many as you can. Google aggregates reviews from many sites across the Internet. If customers aren’t biting then provide some kind of incentive or discount so they will review your business. It’s that important.
It is worth investing a bit of time in Google Places as this will yield dividends in terms of searches and enquiries for your business.
If you would like help optimising your Google Place feel free to Contact Us The Changing Face of Online Search and SEO
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
The world of Internet search is changing fast, especially the world of Google search.
You may have noticed when doing searches that there are a lot real-time results such as Twitter, Facebook and other social network content, although Google can only index status updates from Facebook Pages – which are “for organisations, businesses, celebrities, and bands to broadcast great information to fans in an official, public manner.”
Bing have a deal in place with Facebook that goes further, indexing individuals’ status updates which have been set to public and Yahoo! have also started to integrate Tweet content.
- Geo-graphic factors (local top-level domain, IP address and query analysis)
- Technical factors such as browser, OS capabilities, cookies and toolbars)
- Time of day, time of year and other historical data
- Behavioural query history, interaction with search engine result pages and interactions with advertising and surfing habits).
- Get to know and research your audience and give them the (great) content they want
- Titles and Snippets that are compelling will attract a better click through rate which will in turn help these sites/pages rank better
- Make social bookmarking available and easy to do on your website
- Google Analytics will help in measuring both paid and organic traffic flows
- A logical navigation and architecture for a quality end user experience
Google Local Search can Boost Your Business
Monday, October 26th, 2009
Trying to get your business heard amongst the online noise?
It is still really tight out there for many small and mid-sized businesses and they need to find new customers fast!
It’s a common problem for many local businesses when it comes to online search, especially on Google and with so many people now searching for services and products using the Google search engine. So it is vital to have as wide a presence on the big ‘G’ as you possibly can.
Google loves content, so the more of that you have online the better, preferably well written, optimised with your target keywords and well.
Code 9 are specialists in working with you to gain greater exposure in the organic natural search results through search engine marketing, as well as sponsored methods.
We’ve helped many of our clients crowd out the competition using a variety of web properties that appear in results such as press releases, online blogs, videos as well as focusing on boosting and cementing your main website up to higher rankings.
Think about it. If your prospect is searching on Google and you keep coming up time and time again they will begin to recognise you as the authority in your market and feel more comfortable about making contact with you.
If you want to have a no obligation chat about how your business can properly use Google and increase results through our integrated design, digital and marketing expertise call Jerry Now on 0750 248 6012 or Contact Us
We’ve helped many of our clients crowd out the competition using a variety of web properties that appear in results such as press releases, online blogs, videos as well as focusing on boosting and cementing your main website up to higher rankings.
Think about it. If your prospect is searching on Google and you keep coming up time and time again they will begin to recognise you as the authority in your market and feel more comfortable about making contact with you.
If you want to have a no obligation chat about how your business can properly use Google and increase results through our integrated design, digital and marketing expertise call Jerry Now on 0750 248 6012 or Contact Us
How does your Website Convert?
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
Is your website actually doing its’ job? And what is its’ job?
These are questions that business owners with websites could focus on more when it comes to getting more leads, enquiries and sales.
Firstly, it may sound obvious but asking yourself what the main function of your website is can clarify how it is designed. In the past some clients have specified that they just want enquiries by phone or email to follow up on, some are selling an actual product and some just want a online presence, a brochure site.
Whether it is lead generation or actual sales, converting your visitors is a key part of the process, after all your website is a marketing tool.
Taking the example of 100 visitors a day, with 1 sale/lead gives a 1% conversion rate. You want to increase conversions to 2%, so based on this which is easier:
Increasing traffic/visitors to 200 a day? … or increasing conversion to 2%? (We’d vote for the latter)
A great tool for increasing your conversions is available from Google (who else?). Google website optimiser enables you to do split tests on your webpage.
So something as simple as your welcoming headline can be run through a A/B switch test where half your visitors are shown headline A and the other half headline B
For example, if we were testing our marketing page we might also change some of the elements below as well as buttons, offers, text or anything else.
This will tell you what page elements brought in new customers!
Sometimes just changing a few words can bring unexpected results. If you can double your website conversion, your cost-per-acquisition (the cost of getting every new customer) would halve!
Google Analytics is another powerful tool giving you full tracking of your site visitors and can be used in conjunction with the website optimiser.
For example, if we were testing our marketing page we might also change some of the elements below as well as buttons, offers, text or anything else.
This will tell you what page elements brought in new customers!
Sometimes just changing a few words can bring unexpected results. If you can double your website conversion, your cost-per-acquisition (the cost of getting every new customer) would halve!
Google Analytics is another powerful tool giving you full tracking of your site visitors and can be used in conjunction with the website optimiser. 