SearchEngineOptimisation.com, only one way up

It might seem obvious, but one of the most important skills search engine optimisation services have to develop is the ability to interpret news accurately. The search sector produces a large volume of news about itself. There is a lot of comment out there and a diversity of perspectives. If a site owner selects a consultancy which cannot act effectively in a fluid environment, the performance of the site will suffer over the medium term. Looking at the site content of a consultancy is a clue to whether it can provide affordable SEO services.

At Searchengineoptimisation.co.uk we work hard to maintain campaigns that tick all the necessary boxes. Our multifaceted and flexible campaigns are only possible because we make concerted efforts to research the changing sphere of search. By identifying emergent threats and opportunities, we can craft tailored tactics to promote site performance.

Often news about organic SEO is somewhat ambiguous. There are several areas of uncertainty where judgement is required. The changing and complex relationship between the search engines and the social media networking sites is a very good example of this. There has been some collaboration between Google and Twitter, but relationships between Google and Facebook seem increasingly competitive. Understanding these relationships is useful when running joined-up campaigns.

A specific item of news that has spurred debate is the advent of Google’s +1 button. This button will have an influence on the way in which the rankings are composed, but it is also part of Google’s efforts to get in on ‘the social’ act. Consultants have to weigh up the significance of the development in terms of how much it is likely to change things and then they have to act accordingly.

Interpreting how well consultancies interpret the news has to involve crosschecking sources and checking dates of article publication. Some caution is needed, but if it is done properly the rewards can be significant.

Search engine optimisation is a highly technical discipline. Unless a consultant can manipulate the right tools and make the correct measurements, the prospects of a SEO campaign enjoying continued success are limited indeed. Nevertheless, formulaic techniques cannot reap significant rewards and creativity is an essential ingredient of SEO. This is true of conventional optimisation and social media optimisation.

At Searchengineoptimisation.co.uk we perceive that each site needs its own distinctive recipe of optimisation techniques. We recognise that skill and persistence are needed to make the most of every campaign. At the same time, we appreciate the competitive nature of the sphere of search and ensure that creativity flavours all our work.

Creativity arguably begins with content production. Uninspired content simply will not travel far enough around the networking sites. Users need incentives to read the material and to deem it worth their while to pass it on. While some content may have to be of an informational nature, every effort must be made to generate content which has zest. Such content will travel and should spark debate.

It is also the case that creativity can be built into link acquisition. A variety of methods can be used to obtain the right kind of inbound links. Using the likes of Facebook and Twitter can be a boon in this vital area. Nonetheless, careful thought is needed so that these networking sites are used in innovative ways. It is important to adhere to the informal etiquette that governs behaviour, but it is imperative to stand out from the crowd in terms of the quality on offer.

With the complex range of internet technologies available, there is no reason to view your website as a centralised entity. While the traditional website has been hosted on a single server, with a single domain taking care of all the pages, there have long since been a range of other options available. A lot of these can help your organic search engine optimisation plans along by speeding up your download times, namely by hosting clunky graphics and videos on another site.

Here are a couple of ways to save time for your site’s download:

1. Hosting video content on YouTube. This is a method used by seasoned SEOs, for many reasons. Not only does hosting through YouTube lighten your download, it can get your video noticed. Many businesses are looking to YouTube as part of social media management, and you can discuss your options in this area with our experts at SearchEngineOptimisation.co.uk.

2. Hosting images on another domain. There are a number of services which allow image hosting. These load images to your pages for you. This move means that your pages will download faster. This is a major pro, as images are the main cause of download slowdown, one often dealt with during professional SEO services. However, images are becoming a possible way to attract search engine attention, with many a search engine marketing blog investigating image optimisation as a side-road to search attention.

Outside resources can be a real boon for your site during SEO. Research the reliability of your options first.

Google have recently announced they are now independently supporting a new attribute that supports the concept of authorship markup.  This allows websites with large quantities of content from many different authors to identify their writers across the site, and also across the internet.

The markup specifically connects authors to content.  So, for example, the content I’ve written for www.searchengineoptimisation.co.uk would be linked up to my name and can be used to find all the stories I’ve written.  This will enable the search engines to acknowledge that certain pieces of content were all written by the same author.  This raises the possibility of increasing the influence of AuthorRank, with more prolific writers gaining more authority.  It is also another way that Google is looking to improve the quality of Search Results by recognising the work of more authoritative writers and using that to influence the SERPs.

Because it uses the ‘rel’ attribute, it is very simple to implement.  All that is required is to add the rel=”author” tag to the authors hyperlink on the article page.  So, if I had written many articles for ‘http://example.com ‘, this is how I would implement the tag.

Written By <a rel=”author” href=”http://example.com/authors/Rory”>Rory</a>

As you can see, the authorship markup is implemented in the hyperlink to the author’s page.  This would then be replicated across all the other articles I have written, so, the next time the search engine come to crawl my site, they will acknowledge the fact that all the articles with the tag have been written by one author.

This is supported by the rel=”me” tag, which is used on hyperlinks from one page about an author to other pages about that same person.  So, for example, say I’m a regular contributor to “http://forinstance.com” and I also maintain a personal blog at “http://roryblog.com”.  I would create a link from my “forinstance” author page to my personal site.  It would look like this.

<a rel=”me” href=”http://roryblog.com”>Read more about Rory</a>

I would also reciprocate this by linking back to the “forinstance.com” author page from my personal site.  That link might look like this.

Rory also writes <a rel=”me” href=”http://forinstance.com/contributors/rory”>lots of good examples</a>

The reciprocal rel=”me” tag will inform Google that profiles at the personal site and at “http://forinstance.com/contributors/rory” are representative of one author, again possibly contributing to AuthorRank.

Let me leave you with a quote from the Google Webmaster blog – hopefully summarising the importance of this tag and the role it might play in the future.  “We know that great content comes from great authors, and we’re looking closely at ways this markup could help us highlight authors and rank search results.”

Search engine optimisation which is not organic is never likely to prosper. In today’s crowded and competitive search world, only organic techniques give sites a good chance of achieving sustained success. The best approach is frequently to gradually build a site into an authority in its sector. To that end, a supply of high grade content is often essential. However, to get the best results a social media campaign can be used to highlight this content.

At Searchengineoptimisation.co.uk we pursue multifaceted social media management campaigns that are adapted to the particular needs of individual sites. We only use organic methods because the aim is to achieve long term success. Our experience and expertise enable us to exploit the opportunities available, including those on the popular social networking sites.

Once content has been produced that is able to please users from the target audience and the web crawlers from the search engines, it is crucial to get as much attention for it as possible. The likes of Facebook and Twitter are ideal for drawing attention to high quality blog content. It is important to intersperse status updates and tweets which relate to content with outward-focused activity. If this is not done, users will feel less disposed to pay attention.

Campaigns on Facebook and Twitter have to be adjusted periodically to ensure that the best possible results are achieved. This means that the same skill which is used to take advantage of optimisation opportunities must be developed in order to make the most of social networking sites.

No matter what industry or skill you’re talking about, newcomers always make mistakes. It’s something to be expected. If you’re a smart newcomer entering into SEO, though, there are a few mistakes you can learn about and watch out for. The following are the three mistakes that have hounded newcomers since the beginning of search engine optimisation:

*Rankings as the sole focus of SEO. It doesn’t take long around the world of SEO to understand that rankings are far from the be-all and end-all of the process. Rankings are, in fact, just a sign of some of the improvements a site has experienced.

*Top results in top time. It doesn’t seem like an unreasonable expectation to get swift results from a marketing project, even when that project is SEO. The nature of search and SEO, however, make this an unreasonable expectation. The methods you use to get top results in top time are not the same methods used for quality SEO. If you’re desperate for a change, it is possible to get things started swiftly, but it’s important to remember to look into the long term as well. Two streams of search engine optimisation might be needed.

*Choosing the wrong form of SEO services. Websites need individually tailored optimisation plans, but not everyone will provide this for you. Sometimes, newcomers to SEO either try to optimise their own site using a hodgepodge of what they’ve learned, or they’ll approach cheap SEO companies who give cookie-cutter services. Really analyse the needs of your site, and work accordingly.

If you’re new to SEO, research is your friend. Read as much as you can, particularly on the various search engine optimisation blogs that the top SEO companies produce. Speak up in forums and approach SEO consultants with your questions. Here at Searchengineoptimisation.co.uk, we’re always happy to offer help and advice online or by phone.

When a firm is searching for a reputable SEO agency, it is important that it does some research. There are firms which are worth avoiding because they use counterproductive and unethical strategies. Even if these firms are eliminated from consideration, it is handy to distinguish between the average SEO firms and the highly effective ones. While contacting them for a brief discussion is always a great idea, there are arguably some things which should be done in advance. It is a sensible notion to evaluate the site of an SEO company. Investigating the content is more prudent than being impressed by a flashy website design.

At Searchengineoptimisation.co.uk we work very hard to achieve the goals of our clients. In addition to delivering up-to-date SEO and social media campaigns, we share good practice via our article and blog content. This is made as easy as possible for novices to understand because we believe that the SEO community, like other business sectors, has occasionally been guilty of not being transparent enough about what it actually does. This is evidenced by the use of unexplained acronyms.

An SEO site should feature a diversity of content. Excessive repetition shows that a site is not being properly cared for. There needs to be a variety of content. It should not all be industry news. On the other hand, it should not all be SEO tips either. In addition, it should be displayed in disparate forms. This means that there should be some variation to the content, such as including lists. An excessive number of lists can be very dull to read, but the list has proven popular with blog readers over the years.

When it comes to the way in which an SEO site covers the news, it is obviously important that the facts should be correct. It is often possible to compare notes with other sources. However, it is not just factual accuracy which matters. It is vital that the items are of relevance to the sector and to its applications. For example, a feature on the consequences for mobile search of a new mobile device will only be appropriate if the device is a very popular one. It is relevancy which marks out the best blogs from those which adopt a clumsy catchall approach. If an SEO firm can not make its own site relevant, why would you trust it with your site?

It is also worth considering comment. Just like in traditional journalism, facts cannot speak for themselves. They have to be surrounded with words which bring them to life. Knowing the number of Facebook users is interesting, but it does not tell you anything about what an appropriate response to the vast audience could be. Commentary, then, matters when assessing the quality of a blog.

Nothing should be conveyed on a site in a colourless manner, so style counts. Even the driest technical data should be provided in a well-written way. This is because content that is featured on websites of all kinds simply has to engage. It may be an error to use an SEO service that does not adhere to this rule.

There are some companies who choose to use more than one domain as hosts for their websites in an attempt to increase online traffic and offer more opportunity for ranking within SERPs. Whilst this can work in some instances, it is not only a lot of effort but if done too often may also have a negative effect on your indexing if the search engines pick up on the fact that they are being used by the same company. The reason for this is that a lot of spam sites frequently change their domains so that if they are blocked from any areas of the web they can get back in there again. New domains also have the added issue of being placed in the Google Sandbox for the first months of its life, and are therefore not always a speedy option.

One way to achieve the effect of multiple domains but in a much easier way is to use sub-domains. Basically, with every domain you have, you are able to create additional sub-domains at no extra cost. This can be a very positive thing for any company and has multiple benefits. If you are considering setting up sub-domains and are a bit unsure then you can use professional SEO services to assist and guide you, as they will know what to include to make them work best for your website. Sub-domains are beneficial for SEO purposes as search engines do perceive them as separate websites which means that they will also be ranked separately to your main domain. This is particularly useful for companies who perhaps have multiple service or product offerings or different divisions within the company. Even if your company does not, a lot of businesses use this facility to create a separate domain for areas of their business which require more information, such as customer service pages or final ordering and delivery.

To create the most effective sub-domains, they should be focused on specific keywords that are extremely relevant to that particular sub-domain. This makes them show up more within search engines and enables a company to concentrate more on one particular keyword or phrase as opposed to a larger amount. Other benefits of using sub-domains are that you can create as many links as you like to other sub-domains or your main homepage, which as we all know will be counted as backlinks. This will not only help drive traffic to your website it will also contribute towards the indexing of your website.

As with all SEO strategies it is important to use a professional search engine optimisation or link building company, as the many rules of search apply. Relevance, as always, is crucial and it is not a good idea to create sub-domains that bear no resemblance to the main domain. If it is a sub division of a company then great, however if there is no direct link between the two then it may not be the best idea. It may take a few attempts and tweaks to get it right, but will be worth it in the long run.

Not one for the purists I know, but these are some common mistakes made by professional optimisers and consultants. Feel free to add to the list:

1. Over Linking – Link building is a core method of search engine optimisation and possibly the most crucial, but Google is too clever to let you go and get 500 high pagerank links, your link profile must appear natural. High authority links are good if they add value to the page where the link to your site is to be situated. If the link appears on a page with tonnes of other external links this will stand out a mile to the crawlers and limit your opportunity for organic success.

2. Keyword Heavy Content – Many people are convinced Google works to a set keyword density, this has always been a guide for keyword repetition and many other factors influence the way Google discovers what your page is about. The best advice is to put yourself in the shoes of a searcher of your target keyword, then write it from what you think they would be looking for and don’t even be concerned with keyword density.

3. Duplicate/Old Content – A good way to find out if your content is still relevant is by searching a complete paragraph in Google, if you rank top then the content and page are being crawled perfect, if you don’t appear the chances are your copy has been duplicated by another site or become stale due to lack of changes. This is the time for a complete rewrite.

4. JavaScript/Flash navigation – The navigation on your website should be considered the spine of the site. Flash navigation, and to some degree JavaScript navigation will stop this from functioning. The web is built around links and this kind of navigation will therefore be road blocking your site. Convert to HTML and the search engines will at least be able to read the pages on your site, even if they don’t rank them.

5. Hosting/Domain Extension Targeting – If your target search engine is specific to a country then this should be reflected in the hosting and domain extension. Google takes a lot of bearing from this information in order to provide the most relevant local results, so a webmaster should do so accordingly.

Hope these go some way to identifying some of your potential ranking problems.

Here at SearchEngineOptimisation.co.uk we know the importance of landing pages. Once upon a time it was quite easy to create a strong and solid landing page. All that was required was some good content, a strong keyword and some detailed tags and you were off. The search engines would pick quality sites up fairly easily and the job of driving traffic to your preferred landing pages was done. Nowadays however, the world of online has come on leaps and bounds. Web designers are becoming more creative and clued up, search engines are becoming more sophisticated and the overall result of this is that it is getting harder and harder for websites to create strong landing pages.

Of course, some of the standard advice given from professional SEO services should still stand. After all, there are some tried and tested methods which never change. The main area of concern should be your competition as the quality of landing pages out there now is so exceptional that you really need to be pulling out all the stops to get ahead of the game.

Expanding on your keywords is a good place to start. Traditionally people tended to pick one keyword and repeat this a couple of times on their landing page. Whilst we all know that keyword stuffing is a no-no, online audiences are becoming much more diverse and it is important that website create keywords to match this diversity. Whilst your main keywords are important, incorporating alternative search phrases and even long tail keywords can help from both an audience point of view and a search engine point of view.

Any keywords chosen should be truly relevant to your content. Quality is always much more important than quantity and in the world of keywords this could not be more true. A lot of websites think that having dense keywords will show up as a positive aspect to search engines, however over use of them could be seen as a black hat technique.

Ensure any graphics are loaded properly. Images and videos are fast becoming a popular element of online content and with people searching specifically for these items in their searches they can put you ahead of the game. It is important however, not to let the thing that could differentiate you be your downfall. A slow loading image or broken video link will have the complete opposite effect to effective graphic content, so be sure to make it search friendly.

Lastly, in a world which is cluttered with good content it cannot hurt to steer search engines in the right direction by telling them what elements of your landing page are better. Using inter-page links and anchor text to highlight the most crucial and relevant areas of your landing pages can help search engines pick up on these sections. This is a particularly useful technique used by SEO experts for pages with quite a lot of content, as they provide a kind of synopsis of what the rest of the page, and website, has to offer.