When it comes to modern SEO, there are many myths surrounding the best practice methods to implement to your campaign. There are forums and sites all around the World, which give an individual perspective on the way to do things and not to do things.
One thing is for sure, SEO is an art every bit as much as a science. Some sites I look at give damning reviews about so called 'Black Hat' techniques. True, there are some big no no's when it comes to SEO, but many optimisation companies go too far when describing the rules in SEO.
Who decides what works? Which rules work better for which websites? Where is the set of laws of for SEO? Well, there is no bible for SEO, and I have found over the last 5 years that it is very much a suck it and see kind of industry. Getting the right blend of SEO techniques differs for every industry, and that's why it's such an interesting and varied method of marketing.
Monday, 27 April 2009
Saturday, 25 April 2009
Keyword density in SEO
What is keyword density and how does it help a website in the search engines? Well, it's all about the word 'theme'.
When a search engine turns up at a website to refresh the cache for the page, the thing it really wants to decide is what the page on that site is all about. Have a mix of different links and no real theme to the phrases, and the spider will struggle to keep up with what you want to get ranked for. Implement a good ratio of target key phrases into the text, anchor links and meta details, and you are half way to getting ranked higher due to a good keyword density.
When a search engine turns up at a website to refresh the cache for the page, the thing it really wants to decide is what the page on that site is all about. Have a mix of different links and no real theme to the phrases, and the spider will struggle to keep up with what you want to get ranked for. Implement a good ratio of target key phrases into the text, anchor links and meta details, and you are half way to getting ranked higher due to a good keyword density.
Thursday, 16 April 2009
SEO Sheffield
With the ecomony slowing down over the last year, many companies are looking for an alternative way to increase sales and most importantly, profitability.
It would be an easy option to throw more money into local print advertising, or to spend more on Pay Per Click to get instant website traffic. The smart way to move forward long term would be SEO- there are so many advantages and this can be considered a long term investment as appose to a short term solution.
When you cancel the print subscription, when your pay per click balance runs out, the traffic stops. The sales stop. With SEO, this doesn't happen- with the right company in place maintining basic SEO the traffic continues and grows with no extra cost.
It would be an easy option to throw more money into local print advertising, or to spend more on Pay Per Click to get instant website traffic. The smart way to move forward long term would be SEO- there are so many advantages and this can be considered a long term investment as appose to a short term solution.
When you cancel the print subscription, when your pay per click balance runs out, the traffic stops. The sales stop. With SEO, this doesn't happen- with the right company in place maintining basic SEO the traffic continues and grows with no extra cost.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
SEO Tips- Blog and Content
One thing that is sure to set you apart from non-performing websites is having fresh relevent text on your page and on other blog sites. You can set up your own site, have the blog on your existing site with a sub domain, or pay someone to write the content for you.
I find it much easier to just crack on with it yourself - locate some blogs that are SEO friendly, register and start to be invloved in the discussions. This helps lots if you end up with people finding your site free of charge, and also helps your link building for SEO.
I find it much easier to just crack on with it yourself - locate some blogs that are SEO friendly, register and start to be invloved in the discussions. This helps lots if you end up with people finding your site free of charge, and also helps your link building for SEO.
Sunday, 16 November 2008
SEO Relevant Content
Many SEO'ers come unstuck as they are not dedicated to the topic or subject matter. Let me explain....
If you out-source your website optimization then you are giving your shop and the contents to someone who probably doesn't understand your industry. If you sell flowers on your site, and ask a company to create a landing page to get up the rankings for 'flower delivery manchester', then there is a good chance the company you use would not know where to start. For this reason they would probably fill the page with a few keywords they think are relevant, then fill the rest of the page with generic rubbish. This is not good seo practice and never will be!
Think of your keyphrases, decide on the density then write some good content - you know your business better than anyone- and Google loves fresh, new, appropriate text.
If you out-source your website optimization then you are giving your shop and the contents to someone who probably doesn't understand your industry. If you sell flowers on your site, and ask a company to create a landing page to get up the rankings for 'flower delivery manchester', then there is a good chance the company you use would not know where to start. For this reason they would probably fill the page with a few keywords they think are relevant, then fill the rest of the page with generic rubbish. This is not good seo practice and never will be!
Think of your keyphrases, decide on the density then write some good content - you know your business better than anyone- and Google loves fresh, new, appropriate text.
Saturday, 1 November 2008
SEO Tip on Page size
It's a small part of SEO granted, but still important to remember that page size can be a factor in organic search engine results.
Whatever phrase you are looking to optimize, just look at the top 10 on Google and you will see the page sizes are mostly under 50kb. This is a size that I would recommend being the maximum for most landing pages.
The best way to achieve this is to have smaller pictures and a less complicated navigation, but there are many other ways to keep it down. Call if you want a quote on an SEO package to discuss how to get to the top of the search results.
Whatever phrase you are looking to optimize, just look at the top 10 on Google and you will see the page sizes are mostly under 50kb. This is a size that I would recommend being the maximum for most landing pages.
The best way to achieve this is to have smaller pictures and a less complicated navigation, but there are many other ways to keep it down. Call if you want a quote on an SEO package to discuss how to get to the top of the search results.
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Website Directories
If you are new to SEO and have seen the many adverts out there for directory submissions, it may seem very tempting. There are so many millions of directories on the internet, it's hard to know where to find the right ones for your market. Also, 1000 submissions for $200 might seem like a dead easy way to get round the process.
In my experience however, it's really important to have incoming links from quality sites that don't just spam 100's of links on badly optimised pages. An Indian company I used many years ago ended up submitting my site to over 500 directories with a page rank of '0', when all should have been a minimum of '2'. Also, the pages where my site was listed had nothing to do with my industry, it was a mix of anything and everything.
There are many free directories that I would recommend, with a few that are very important to be listed in due to their high Alexa rank and PageRank.
It may be an idea to look deeper into specialist websites that have a complete section dedicated to what you are offering. There are various techniques to do this, all of which I offer as part of an SEO package.
In my experience however, it's really important to have incoming links from quality sites that don't just spam 100's of links on badly optimised pages. An Indian company I used many years ago ended up submitting my site to over 500 directories with a page rank of '0', when all should have been a minimum of '2'. Also, the pages where my site was listed had nothing to do with my industry, it was a mix of anything and everything.
There are many free directories that I would recommend, with a few that are very important to be listed in due to their high Alexa rank and PageRank.
It may be an idea to look deeper into specialist websites that have a complete section dedicated to what you are offering. There are various techniques to do this, all of which I offer as part of an SEO package.
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Link Building
Every website needs to have a theme, and to help create a theme the site should have permanent backlinks.
Basically a backlink is a hyperlink that points to your website from another website. The text that is displayed on a hyperlink is called the 'anchor text', and this is the phrase that the search engines will associate with your website.
Here is an example. If I wanted my own website to be popular for the phrase 'kitchen appliances', I would try to get other sites to point to mine like this: kitchen appliances.
The other important thing about link exchanging, is to try to make sure the site pointing to yours is about the same subject. The link I have placed just above won't mean an awful lot to Google, as this site is about Website Optimisation in Sheffield, not Kitchen Appliances!
Basically a backlink is a hyperlink that points to your website from another website. The text that is displayed on a hyperlink is called the 'anchor text', and this is the phrase that the search engines will associate with your website.
Here is an example. If I wanted my own website to be popular for the phrase 'kitchen appliances', I would try to get other sites to point to mine like this: kitchen appliances.
The other important thing about link exchanging, is to try to make sure the site pointing to yours is about the same subject. The link I have placed just above won't mean an awful lot to Google, as this site is about Website Optimisation in Sheffield, not Kitchen Appliances!
Saturday, 27 September 2008
Keywords
It's just so important that 'Keywords' are in your thoughts when setting up your site. The engines like to see a theme on a page or whole site. Try to imagine what your customers are going to type into a search box when potentially looking for your products or services.
Depending on how many phrases you come up with, you will then need to work out how many pages to create. Try to work around the 4-6 keywords per page, unfortunately this means if you come up with 500 key phrases, then you'll need about 100 pages! But, when needs must...
Depending on how many phrases you come up with, you will then need to work out how many pages to create. Try to work around the 4-6 keywords per page, unfortunately this means if you come up with 500 key phrases, then you'll need about 100 pages! But, when needs must...
Thursday, 25 September 2008
What is SEO?
Well without spelling it out in too many words, it's simply marketing for your shop. With a high street store you need to have people either walk past your shop front, or you have to reach them through other mediums, like TV, radio or print.
With a website it's not quite the same, as potential customers cannot stumble across your site without it being around in the search engines. SEO helps your site become visible to people searching for phrases related to your industry (we will look at 'Keywords / Key Phrases' later).
So unless you want to pay a fortune on Adwords and Pay Per Click on the main search engines, then it's time to take SEO seriously...
With a website it's not quite the same, as potential customers cannot stumble across your site without it being around in the search engines. SEO helps your site become visible to people searching for phrases related to your industry (we will look at 'Keywords / Key Phrases' later).
So unless you want to pay a fortune on Adwords and Pay Per Click on the main search engines, then it's time to take SEO seriously...
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
Google optimisation
Google is still the biggest search engine, in terms 0f users, despite the others catching up a little. It has around 60% of all searches on the internet, and is the holy grail when it comes to optimisation and key phrase rankings.
The best and worst thing about Google for people wanting to succeed, is the fact that they try their very best to keep the search results pure.
It's the best reason because it stops the majority of rubbish getting to the top of the rankings by using spamming techniques. It's a bad thing because it means there is no easy fix, no rapid rankings, no magic formula to getting to number 1. That's right, pay £10,000 and ask someone to get you to number one on Google for a moderately difficult phrase and it just won't happen. Or at least it will happen for a week then you'll drop back down to number 132, and by then the cheque has cleared and it's back to square one.
Keep watching and I'll be posting some more blog on SEO later.
The best and worst thing about Google for people wanting to succeed, is the fact that they try their very best to keep the search results pure.
It's the best reason because it stops the majority of rubbish getting to the top of the rankings by using spamming techniques. It's a bad thing because it means there is no easy fix, no rapid rankings, no magic formula to getting to number 1. That's right, pay £10,000 and ask someone to get you to number one on Google for a moderately difficult phrase and it just won't happen. Or at least it will happen for a week then you'll drop back down to number 132, and by then the cheque has cleared and it's back to square one.
Keep watching and I'll be posting some more blog on SEO later.
Website Optimisation
I have been optimising websites for over 6 years now, and it really is one industry where life long learning is paramount. I am not a website designer, I just optimize and I only just manage to keep up with the ongoing changes by Google, Yahoo and the other major search engines.
As the main search engines keep updating the spiders (robots) they deploy every day, it's important to know what they like. Also, it's just as important to understand what they don't like. Either way, I keep reading and posting and interacting with other specialists in this field, and that's why I'm staying up the rankings.
As the main search engines keep updating the spiders (robots) they deploy every day, it's important to know what they like. Also, it's just as important to understand what they don't like. Either way, I keep reading and posting and interacting with other specialists in this field, and that's why I'm staying up the rankings.
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