This is the second in a series of blogs on how to write copy that will get Google to rank your site for your chosen set of keywords. Those last few words are however VERY important as you need to KNOW what keyword phrases you want to get found for, and that means either extensive Keyword Research, or Pay Per Click 'Reconnaissance Missions' (here you 'buy' the keywords you think may be good in phrase match mode and see how many times your ads are viewed. Done properly this is a very accurate way of determining the frequency that any term in used) or both.
Once you have the phrases though, you will have hit another problem, as fitting some of them into a sentence that reads well can be difficult if not impossible, whilst with others, yes you can fit them in once, but twice looks just too awful to the human reader.
The answer, use the 'blindness' of the Search Engine Spiders. They don't see punctuation, so you can use commas, and full stops etc, to make a sentence flow for humans whilst still getting your chosen phrase included, just as you want and need.
Some Examples:-
Phrase: - "Internet Marketing Articles"
Words on the page:-
Internet Marketing Articles
Today the interest in the online market place is hotter than ever, most businesses looking for a way to use Internet Marketing. Articles are a useful source of information here.
- In 2010, the advertising area that saw the greatest growth was you guessed it Internet Marketing. Articles on this can be found at www.forrester-research.com.
- If you are looking to increase your knowledge in the area of Internet Marketing, articles, blogs and Social Media sites provide a host of information.
- Some say, "If you want your business to thrive in 2010, you will have to embrace the area of Internet Marketing."
Articles can be found at www.serendipity-online-marketing.co.uk as well as many other trusted resources.
***************
As you can see by the bold text we have managed to string in 4 mentions of the EXACT phrase without looking too repetitive, the Search Engines simply not seeing the quotation marks, commas, full stops or even the line breaks.
More Next week
Friday, 18 December 2009
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Want Good Rankings? Then Convince Google - Part 1
Our previous posts have covered the issue about what SEO is all about. Is it trickery, all done with smoke and mirrors? Well the answer is that it should not be, and if it is, beware as Google have an army of engineers just looking for sites on the 'fiddle' and another army developing software to spot sites automatically. This should be enough to put the 'black hat' (those that practise SEO on the 'dark side') brigade off for life, but there are those who still stick to the creed, and good luck to them. But I for one am sticking to the white side of the line and am quite proud of my white hat (OK so it goes slightly grey at times).
So, having decided to stick to using only proper SEO techniques what do you have to do? For a starter, can I suggest that you look at our previous article on SEO, as this gives details of using the parts of the site in the right way. This however just tells you how to use the areas of a page, it does not give you knowledge of how to write the text in the right way, the right way of course being one that both engages the visitor and also speaks in a way that the Search Engine Spiders can understand.
When I say 'understand' I am not talking about not using javascript the wrong way or of not having all the text of a site in images (yes I have seen this done !) , but about how the words on a page are set out and used.
So How Do Search Engine Spiders Read Differently to Humans Then?
What a good question (glad I asked it) as it forms the basis of many of the 'tricks' that will be revealed over the next few days. When humans read a page, they will naturally take into account the punctuation and the layout, so when they see a line of text with a comma in it, or when a line of text is split by a line break, they will read this in the correct way, it making sense to the human brain. However, our friends the Spiders, just read the text as one long time, ignoring most if not all punctuation and line breaks.
This means you can write copy in a way that includes the keywords in the way that you want and still make it look good to human visitors (here by the way we take it that you know what keywords you are after, if not see our info on keyword research). Here is an example:-
Internet Marketing Services Hereford
SEO firms in the Midlands are much cheaper than London ones
This phrase tells the user that the page is about SEO in Hereford and that they can save money too, good for humans, but what about the spiders? They see the text as:-
Internet Marketing Services Hereford SEO firms in the Midlands are much cheaper than London ones
Which gives us the phrases:-
Internet Marketing Services Hereford
Hereford SEO firms
SEO firms in the Midlands
As you can see we get an extra phrase here 'Hereford SEO firms' being split onto to two lines as far as the human reader is concerned.
There are more ways that you can use this idea, so watch out for tomorrows tip.
So, having decided to stick to using only proper SEO techniques what do you have to do? For a starter, can I suggest that you look at our previous article on SEO, as this gives details of using the parts of the site in the right way. This however just tells you how to use the areas of a page, it does not give you knowledge of how to write the text in the right way, the right way of course being one that both engages the visitor and also speaks in a way that the Search Engine Spiders can understand.
When I say 'understand' I am not talking about not using javascript the wrong way or of not having all the text of a site in images (yes I have seen this done !) , but about how the words on a page are set out and used.
So How Do Search Engine Spiders Read Differently to Humans Then?
What a good question (glad I asked it) as it forms the basis of many of the 'tricks' that will be revealed over the next few days. When humans read a page, they will naturally take into account the punctuation and the layout, so when they see a line of text with a comma in it, or when a line of text is split by a line break, they will read this in the correct way, it making sense to the human brain. However, our friends the Spiders, just read the text as one long time, ignoring most if not all punctuation and line breaks.
This means you can write copy in a way that includes the keywords in the way that you want and still make it look good to human visitors (here by the way we take it that you know what keywords you are after, if not see our info on keyword research). Here is an example:-
Internet Marketing Services Hereford
SEO firms in the Midlands are much cheaper than London ones
This phrase tells the user that the page is about SEO in Hereford and that they can save money too, good for humans, but what about the spiders? They see the text as:-
Internet Marketing Services Hereford SEO firms in the Midlands are much cheaper than London ones
Which gives us the phrases:-
Internet Marketing Services Hereford
Hereford SEO firms
SEO firms in the Midlands
As you can see we get an extra phrase here 'Hereford SEO firms' being split onto to two lines as far as the human reader is concerned.
There are more ways that you can use this idea, so watch out for tomorrows tip.
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
SEO - Trickery? No - Convincing? Yes
There is a lot of discussion about the relationship between SEO practitioners and the Search Engines, particularly Google. Some see it as a war between the two parties, whilst the others (the wise ones in my view) see it as a matter of co-operation. True the two don't see eye to eye all the time, the Engines wanting to get the very best sites listed for any given term, while the SEO professional just wants the site they are working on, on the front page, as that is after all how they make their money.
There is however a way of pleasing both of these groups, and in reality it is quite simple. All you have to do is have something interesting to say or sell and then say it in a way that the Engines understand.
These simple goals are however not always that easy to reach, many sites in reality having little to say or to offer that is different from the masses, which of course makes it difficult to get to that first base, the most important base which is to have GOOD CONTENT.
It is however possible (with a bit of work) to achieve this goal, but it will take extra time at the copy stage, and if you are selling products, you will have to look at creating your own product related descriptions and not use an xml feed (which will make your site look exactly the same as thousands of others), at least if you want these product pages to get listed.
So, with this bit of extra work on the copy, you now have to use it and lay it out in a way that the Engines can read and understand.
Trickery? No - Convincing? Yes
This leds me back to the title of this article, you see, Search Engine Optimisation is NOT about 'Tricking' the Engines. Instead it is all about 'Convincing' them that the page is worth listing.
It is much the same process as any salesperson will do with a customer, they don't (should not) trick the person into buying their products, but instead lay out the benefits of ownership, explaining that it will meet their needs, both in a way that convinces the person to buy.
It is just this process that is required with SEO. In the case of the engines, they after all just want to list a page that meets their needs, that is a page that matches the selected search term either in 'word match' terms or in terms of 'what that page is all about' (the latter by the way is increasingly being used by the Engines these days, they are getting very clever about realising that a page all about cannines is also all about dogs - even when the word 'dog' is not even on the page - another story here).
So how to Convince the Engines
The big question is thus, "So how do I convince the Engines then?" In basic terms this means:-
1 - Use the TITLE (the one shown at the top of the Browser, the META Title) to describe what the page is all about.
2 - Back this up by using the META Description and Keywords areas. True these
are not of great use in SEO terms, but the description could well be used in any
listing and a good one can make all the difference to getting a click through or not.
3 - Ensure that the 'on Page' Titles use the old fashioned Header Tags (
4 - use the words you are want to get listed for (and words that are like those that you want to get listed for) in the body copy, the density of these being something around 2 - 4%.
5 - Interlink your pages in the site using these terms (again the engines take note of the use of links on a page and all those links too that page - whether from the same site or another one).
6 - Try to use at least 350 words on a page.
All of the above will help you convince the Engines to list your page.
Is there more to it than that? Well of course there is, the biggest area being that of Links from other sites, known as 'Off Page' optimisation. More on that later. But if you stick to these simple rules, you will get better listings, of that there is no doubt.
There is however a way of pleasing both of these groups, and in reality it is quite simple. All you have to do is have something interesting to say or sell and then say it in a way that the Engines understand.
These simple goals are however not always that easy to reach, many sites in reality having little to say or to offer that is different from the masses, which of course makes it difficult to get to that first base, the most important base which is to have GOOD CONTENT.
It is however possible (with a bit of work) to achieve this goal, but it will take extra time at the copy stage, and if you are selling products, you will have to look at creating your own product related descriptions and not use an xml feed (which will make your site look exactly the same as thousands of others), at least if you want these product pages to get listed.
So, with this bit of extra work on the copy, you now have to use it and lay it out in a way that the Engines can read and understand.
Trickery? No - Convincing? Yes
This leds me back to the title of this article, you see, Search Engine Optimisation is NOT about 'Tricking' the Engines. Instead it is all about 'Convincing' them that the page is worth listing.
It is much the same process as any salesperson will do with a customer, they don't (should not) trick the person into buying their products, but instead lay out the benefits of ownership, explaining that it will meet their needs, both in a way that convinces the person to buy.
It is just this process that is required with SEO. In the case of the engines, they after all just want to list a page that meets their needs, that is a page that matches the selected search term either in 'word match' terms or in terms of 'what that page is all about' (the latter by the way is increasingly being used by the Engines these days, they are getting very clever about realising that a page all about cannines is also all about dogs - even when the word 'dog' is not even on the page - another story here).
So how to Convince the Engines
The big question is thus, "So how do I convince the Engines then?" In basic terms this means:-
1 - Use the TITLE (the one shown at the top of the Browser, the META Title) to describe what the page is all about.
2 - Back this up by using the META Description and Keywords areas. True these
are not of great use in SEO terms, but the description could well be used in any
listing and a good one can make all the difference to getting a click through or not.
3 - Ensure that the 'on Page' Titles use the old fashioned Header Tags (
H1 - very important
through toH6 - of minor importance
) as the Engines are under the impression that these are used to highlight the important words on a page (it all goes back to the early days of Printing and 'mark up languages' - yet another story).4 - use the words you are want to get listed for (and words that are like those that you want to get listed for) in the body copy, the density of these being something around 2 - 4%.
5 - Interlink your pages in the site using these terms (again the engines take note of the use of links on a page and all those links too that page - whether from the same site or another one).
6 - Try to use at least 350 words on a page.
All of the above will help you convince the Engines to list your page.
Is there more to it than that? Well of course there is, the biggest area being that of Links from other sites, known as 'Off Page' optimisation. More on that later. But if you stick to these simple rules, you will get better listings, of that there is no doubt.
Friday, 11 December 2009
B2B Marketers Increasing Social Media Spend
There is always a lot of talk about how important Social Media is these days, but todate, most commentators thought that only the B to C (those selling to the Consumer market place) would really be interested in using Social Media to any great degree.
The figures from the USA (data & images courtesy of www.emarketer.com) tell a different story it seems, more than half of all B2B marketers expecting to increase their spend on
Social Media in 2010.
The percentage of those using SM at the moment
is also up on last year, the rise being quite consistent throught late 2008 and 2009.
What is perhaps more interesting is that in 2009, only 14% were in fact using Twitter and just 18% relied on Blogs. Podcasts were the most popular (at 20%), whilst many had already started a user community in some way (33%).
As to why they are thinking of using SM, well it is not it seems to get sales (well at least in the short term) but instead it is all about being thought of as experts in their field, so that their name springs to mind first (rather than the competition).
To me this is very useful data and shows that there could be a huge amount of growth in the use of Twitter etc in 2010 as these B2B market types start to realise the potential for establishing their brand as the top dog (or should it be the top bird now?) in their market place. This being now especially important with the implementation of Googles 'Social Media Marquee' in the main results.
What is for sure is that there is going to be a lot of change in the Social Media Arena in 2010.
The figures from the USA (data & images courtesy of www.emarketer.com) tell a different story it seems, more than half of all B2B marketers expecting to increase their spend on
Social Media in 2010.
The percentage of those using SM at the moment
is also up on last year, the rise being quite consistent throught late 2008 and 2009.What is perhaps more interesting is that in 2009, only 14% were in fact using Twitter and just 18% relied on Blogs. Podcasts were the most popular (at 20%), whilst many had already started a user community in some way (33%).
As to why they are thinking of using SM, well it is not it seems to get sales (well at least in the short term) but instead it is all about being thought of as experts in their field, so that their name springs to mind first (rather than the competition).
To me this is very useful data and shows that there could be a huge amount of growth in the use of Twitter etc in 2010 as these B2B market types start to realise the potential for establishing their brand as the top dog (or should it be the top bird now?) in their market place. This being now especially important with the implementation of Googles 'Social Media Marquee' in the main results.
What is for sure is that there is going to be a lot of change in the Social Media Arena in 2010.
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Don't do the Unexpected !
Anyone who has read the 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe' will be aware of the term 'Expect the Unexpected' which as the books points out is a contradiction in terms. Another famous expression in the book is 'Don't Panic'. Both these phrases are of use when considering how to lay out a web page as they both have lessons to tell...
The problem is that even though web users may well expect the unexpected (you come across some strange things whilst surfing) they will in most cases not like it very much. So if you go and place your navigation on the right hand side of the screen, or in extreme cases have the user chase it around the screen with their mouse, they are likely to leave. In short people on the web expect things in certain places and that is as they say that.
As to the second term, Don't Panic, I'm afraid that faced with something unexpected or 'too hard' most users will indeed panic and leave your site. You are after all always just a 'click away from disaster' (disaster being in this case the user leaving before looking / buying) so my advice is don't push your luck.
The Moral of the tale is therefore to do things in the way people expect, that way you don't shake their confidence in the site and better still, you make it easier for them to find what they want on your site and that can only be good news for sales.
More Tomorrow
The problem is that even though web users may well expect the unexpected (you come across some strange things whilst surfing) they will in most cases not like it very much. So if you go and place your navigation on the right hand side of the screen, or in extreme cases have the user chase it around the screen with their mouse, they are likely to leave. In short people on the web expect things in certain places and that is as they say that.
As to the second term, Don't Panic, I'm afraid that faced with something unexpected or 'too hard' most users will indeed panic and leave your site. You are after all always just a 'click away from disaster' (disaster being in this case the user leaving before looking / buying) so my advice is don't push your luck.
The Moral of the tale is therefore to do things in the way people expect, that way you don't shake their confidence in the site and better still, you make it easier for them to find what they want on your site and that can only be good news for sales.
More Tomorrow
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Google Adds Real Time Searches
yesterday Google rolled out a major update to the way it produces listings, these now including 'real-time search results' to all and perhaps pushing Google further ahead of the other contenders in the SERPs market place.
Content is now indexed from content provided by
services such
as Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook, presenting the results on the main search in a constantly updating marquee, see
the image on the right:-
Google say that they will apply their ranking algorithm to real-time results in the same way as it's ordinary results, with factors like the number of followers and retweets helping to determine whether results will appear on the homepage, all of which must be taking some computing power!
See for yourself by searching for your favourite TV show or sporting event . Whether it's an 'eyewitness tweet', a breaking news story or a fresh blog post, you should be able to find it on Google right after it's been published on the web
The arms race for real-time search really picked up pace in October, when Microsoft and Google both announced that they would be working to integrate Twitter's content into their search engines on the same day.
"I would say that real-time search is the natural evolution of universal search," said Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience at Google. However, Mayer added that instant search results had caught Google off guard. "I wish we'd had the foresight to see this," she admitted.
What does this mean for marketeers and those wanting to be in the spotlight (so they can sell their products or services) ?, well for sure it makes Twitter and its like more important than ever.
So keep Tweeting
More Tomorrow
Content is now indexed from content provided by
services such
as Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook, presenting the results on the main search in a constantly updating marquee, seethe image on the right:-
Google say that they will apply their ranking algorithm to real-time results in the same way as it's ordinary results, with factors like the number of followers and retweets helping to determine whether results will appear on the homepage, all of which must be taking some computing power!
See for yourself by searching for your favourite TV show or sporting event . Whether it's an 'eyewitness tweet', a breaking news story or a fresh blog post, you should be able to find it on Google right after it's been published on the web
The arms race for real-time search really picked up pace in October, when Microsoft and Google both announced that they would be working to integrate Twitter's content into their search engines on the same day.
"I would say that real-time search is the natural evolution of universal search," said Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience at Google. However, Mayer added that instant search results had caught Google off guard. "I wish we'd had the foresight to see this," she admitted.
What does this mean for marketeers and those wanting to be in the spotlight (so they can sell their products or services) ?, well for sure it makes Twitter and its like more important than ever.
So keep Tweeting
More Tomorrow
Monday, 7 December 2009
Google and 2010?
As the year nears it's end, the normal army of predictions appear on the horizon, be it the end of the world, the price of cheese is set to soar (a terrible prospect as I love cheese - another story) or some other 'crazy?' thoughts.
Sometimes however the person doing the predicting is someone that people really listen too and in the world of Search & Online Marketing, one of them is Matt Cutts of Google. On a recent interview (see it on Utube) he shared some thoughts.
In the interview, Matt, related that the processes that Google use at the moment are very complex (and not simply a 'word pattern' search - SEO 'trainees' take note) and that this is something that Google will be taking even further in 2010. They already have something called 'Google Squared'. Google Squared, in Google's words, takes a category and creates a starter 'square' of information, automatically fetching and organizing facts from across the web.
Basically it seems that 2010 is going to be about finding new sources of data to search in and to make the ways that the data is searched more efficient. Matt talked of this as determining 'what is really going on with the words in documents and in queries' rather than the words themselves. Perhaps this will be first in a line of changes that start looking at the 'quality' of the information in a source, rather than simply how many words it has in it and links it has to it (this has started already, but is far from perfected).
So 2010 is going to be all change, but that in itself is nothing new.
To sum it up just 'Hang on and enjoy the ride!'
More Tomorrow
Sometimes however the person doing the predicting is someone that people really listen too and in the world of Search & Online Marketing, one of them is Matt Cutts of Google. On a recent interview (see it on Utube) he shared some thoughts.
In the interview, Matt, related that the processes that Google use at the moment are very complex (and not simply a 'word pattern' search - SEO 'trainees' take note) and that this is something that Google will be taking even further in 2010. They already have something called 'Google Squared'. Google Squared, in Google's words, takes a category and creates a starter 'square' of information, automatically fetching and organizing facts from across the web.
Basically it seems that 2010 is going to be about finding new sources of data to search in and to make the ways that the data is searched more efficient. Matt talked of this as determining 'what is really going on with the words in documents and in queries' rather than the words themselves. Perhaps this will be first in a line of changes that start looking at the 'quality' of the information in a source, rather than simply how many words it has in it and links it has to it (this has started already, but is far from perfected).
So 2010 is going to be all change, but that in itself is nothing new.
To sum it up just 'Hang on and enjoy the ride!'
More Tomorrow
Friday, 4 December 2009
Google Adds New Features to Analytics
Google Analytics offers every website owner the chance to see what is really going on, on their site. Not only does it tell them where the traffic is coming from (which search terms or part of the marketing campaign) it also provides an insight into what the visitors 'do', what they like and dislike etc. Cleverly used, it can provide information on:-
1. What link they used to leave the site,
2. What documents they downloaded,
3. And at what stage they abandoned a critical form
However, nothing (especially on the Web) stays still for very long and thus Google have just announced some major upgrades. The major points are listed below, but for a full brief and some in depth information, visit the section of Utube dedicated to Google Analytics .
Major Upgrades
1. Analytics Intelligence & Custom Alerts
Using a rule based Intelligence engine, this part of Analytics monitors data patterns over daily, weekly and monthly periods. This brings significant changes in data trends and insights to your attention (when otherwise you may have missed them). Custom Alerts (for monitoring selections of data dimensions) can also now be set up
2. Expanded Goals
The old limit of 4 goals has been a problem for complex sites for some time now, however, the limit is now 20, much better.
3. Mobile Sites Support
Sites designed for mobile users (for the iPhone etc and when using Android mobile applications tracking) now have better support.
There is more of course and if you want the full picture you can visit:-
- Google's Analytics Help Centre
- The Conversion Room Blog
- The Analytics Help Forum
More Tomorrow
1. What link they used to leave the site,
2. What documents they downloaded,
3. And at what stage they abandoned a critical form
However, nothing (especially on the Web) stays still for very long and thus Google have just announced some major upgrades. The major points are listed below, but for a full brief and some in depth information, visit the section of Utube dedicated to Google Analytics .
Major Upgrades
1. Analytics Intelligence & Custom Alerts
Using a rule based Intelligence engine, this part of Analytics monitors data patterns over daily, weekly and monthly periods. This brings significant changes in data trends and insights to your attention (when otherwise you may have missed them). Custom Alerts (for monitoring selections of data dimensions) can also now be set up
2. Expanded Goals
The old limit of 4 goals has been a problem for complex sites for some time now, however, the limit is now 20, much better.
3. Mobile Sites Support
Sites designed for mobile users (for the iPhone etc and when using Android mobile applications tracking) now have better support.
There is more of course and if you want the full picture you can visit:-
- Google's Analytics Help Centre
- The Conversion Room Blog
- The Analytics Help Forum
More Tomorrow
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Facebook and Twitter + How We Got Them
The whole area of 'Social Networking' is still quite new and is developing all the time, some call it a fad, others say it is the shape of things to come. Whatever, it certainly has the interest of businesses, especially those who want to make a bigger impact on the web.
First a bit of history on marketing.
In the 'old days' businesses 'pushed' their way into people's lives, using Radio, TV and newspaper adverts. Then, in newer times came the Telesales boom and more recently Email Marketing.
Then when the Internet got established and the Search Engines got their act together, people started Looking [Searching] for what they wanted. Businesses had to react by first getting themselves on the web (easy) and then making sure they were found (not so easy). Thus was the Search Engine Optimisation profession born.
Now however, things are changing again. That is not to say the old forms of advertising are dead (although they are not very well) but they have been superseded, first by the Internet and it's Search Engines and now by the latest form of buyer behaviour, that of subscribing and sharing.
Subscribing and Sharing.
This new Internet is called Web 2.0 and at it's heart is the notion to share news, views and thoughts to all that are interested. Hence the birth of Utube where you can see videos, posted by all and sundry on just about anything. Facebook and its like came next, places where you could go and chat and ask each other questions. Along with this change came the ability for people to subscribe to the 'news and views' that interested them.
Buyers today can therefore Search, Subscribe and Share (info going both ways in the latter case) to find the information they need before making a purchase. This is one of the reasons that 'Review Sites' are becoming more important (yet another story).
Where we are Today.
Whether the web drove the user or the user drove the web is immaterial, but today businesses wanting to make that 'impact' on the web have little choice but to embrace Social Media and that means Twitter or Facebook (at least today).
Twitter & Facebook - The Basic Difference
The basic difference beteen Twitter and Facebook is that the former is really a platform for saying 'This is what I'm doing today, or See this interesting thing' whilst Facebook is more like that cocktail party, where you mingle with whom you choose and have 'conversations'. In other words you have to engage more with others on Facebook, rather than just 'talk at them' like you do with Twitter.
This basic difference has a huge impact though. You see, whilst you can run a Twitter account with just a few minutes a day, running a Facebook account and 'talking' to all those potential buyers could and does take hours and hours. Yes of course you can always use it in a half hearted manner, but will that do any good if people are expecting more?
Whatever, using any type of Social Media is more time consuming than the other types of Online Marketing (yes, even more time consuming than SEO and that is saying something I can tell you), so if you are one of those looking to join the party, be aware of the time you will have to put in, at least if you want to be truly successful.
More Tomorrow
First a bit of history on marketing.
In the 'old days' businesses 'pushed' their way into people's lives, using Radio, TV and newspaper adverts. Then, in newer times came the Telesales boom and more recently Email Marketing.
Then when the Internet got established and the Search Engines got their act together, people started Looking [Searching] for what they wanted. Businesses had to react by first getting themselves on the web (easy) and then making sure they were found (not so easy). Thus was the Search Engine Optimisation profession born.
Now however, things are changing again. That is not to say the old forms of advertising are dead (although they are not very well) but they have been superseded, first by the Internet and it's Search Engines and now by the latest form of buyer behaviour, that of subscribing and sharing.
Subscribing and Sharing.
This new Internet is called Web 2.0 and at it's heart is the notion to share news, views and thoughts to all that are interested. Hence the birth of Utube where you can see videos, posted by all and sundry on just about anything. Facebook and its like came next, places where you could go and chat and ask each other questions. Along with this change came the ability for people to subscribe to the 'news and views' that interested them.
Buyers today can therefore Search, Subscribe and Share (info going both ways in the latter case) to find the information they need before making a purchase. This is one of the reasons that 'Review Sites' are becoming more important (yet another story).
Where we are Today.
Whether the web drove the user or the user drove the web is immaterial, but today businesses wanting to make that 'impact' on the web have little choice but to embrace Social Media and that means Twitter or Facebook (at least today).
Twitter & Facebook - The Basic Difference
The basic difference beteen Twitter and Facebook is that the former is really a platform for saying 'This is what I'm doing today, or See this interesting thing' whilst Facebook is more like that cocktail party, where you mingle with whom you choose and have 'conversations'. In other words you have to engage more with others on Facebook, rather than just 'talk at them' like you do with Twitter.
This basic difference has a huge impact though. You see, whilst you can run a Twitter account with just a few minutes a day, running a Facebook account and 'talking' to all those potential buyers could and does take hours and hours. Yes of course you can always use it in a half hearted manner, but will that do any good if people are expecting more?
Whatever, using any type of Social Media is more time consuming than the other types of Online Marketing (yes, even more time consuming than SEO and that is saying something I can tell you), so if you are one of those looking to join the party, be aware of the time you will have to put in, at least if you want to be truly successful.
More Tomorrow
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Articles and How They Can HELP SEO
Writing articles and then getting them placed all around the web has been an SEO tactic for many years now. There has however been some talk that it's days are numbered, the word on the street being that Google has decided to treat the links in articles (when found in a an article directory) in much the same way as it treats those from FFA (Free For All) sites, ie it does not give them much credit.
I am not sure if this is true, but it is worth bearing in mind and means that you should think of trying a different tactic when posting articles.
Here are the things to bear in mind
1. Make the best of your articles and use a service like www.submityourarticle.com.
2. Post different variations of the article around the web (the site above offers an 'article leverage' service here.)
3. Find sites, other than the directories, that host articles and see if you can gt them to post your articles (they'll have to be good though.)
4. Don't forget the two greatest 'article' sites Wikipedia and Google Knol. It is well worth posting on these too.
So Article Writing & Posting is still worthwhile and taking the above into account will give your articles a fighting chance of helping your SEO efforts.
More tomorrow
I am not sure if this is true, but it is worth bearing in mind and means that you should think of trying a different tactic when posting articles.
Here are the things to bear in mind
1. Make the best of your articles and use a service like www.submityourarticle.com.
2. Post different variations of the article around the web (the site above offers an 'article leverage' service here.)
3. Find sites, other than the directories, that host articles and see if you can gt them to post your articles (they'll have to be good though.)
4. Don't forget the two greatest 'article' sites Wikipedia and Google Knol. It is well worth posting on these too.
So Article Writing & Posting is still worthwhile and taking the above into account will give your articles a fighting chance of helping your SEO efforts.
More tomorrow
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Why Do Some Pages Get Ranked on Google and Some Not?
I'm sure many people reading this will be thinking about this self same question in reference to their own site. It is as after all a very important question and the answer, if you can turn it to your advantage, one that could prove to be very valuable.
It is however, quite an easy question to answer, at least at a general level, the answer demystifying the oft said "black art" of Search Engine Optimisation. (I do however have to state again that this is a basic guide and does therefore not cover some of the more complicated issues of "keyword density", "deep linking ratio", "code to text ratio" and others, all of which have a bearing on the effectiveness of any web page).
To better illustrate the answer to this question, let me use an analogy to describe why some pages get ranked and some don't.
The Market Place Analogy
This analogy is based on an old fashioned market place, the sort when men with barrows come in and then shout out what they have on offer, you know "A pound of plums for 90p" or "Genuine leather jackets for £40", you get the picture. However, in my analogy these "market places" are set up by Google, one market for each vertical market. So you have one for boats and another for gardeners and another for houses for sale, and so on.
Now every one who wants to get into any of these market places can try regardless of what they sell, however, Google will be quite ruthless in stopping anyone it feels is not in the right market from getting in (however, just like any process this is not fool proof). This leaves countless thousands of "web pages" (not sites, but pages) that want to get in to sell their wares. Why, because to get in gives them a chance to be picked by those "Google Agents" who come into the market place looking for the best pages to list when someone searches for something to do with that market.
But getting into the Market place is only the first step, how do they get picked by the Google Agent for one of those coveted top ten positions??
The Rules of the "Google Marketplace"
To understand that, you must first know the "rules" of these Google Marketplaces.
The first and most important rule is that all web pages start at the back of the marketplace, which of course makes it very difficult for the Google Agents to "hear" them crying out their wares. As the sites to which the web pages get older, so does the web page move up the marketplace, getting nearer and nearer to the front (and thus more easily heard and picked for that top ten list).
However, there is some bad news here, as it is said by many and proved by some that Google, for reasons best known to themselves, erect a sound proof barrier in front of any very new websites page, effectively making it impossible to hear. These poor sites often have to sit behind this barrier and play in the "sandboxes" made available for up to 6 months (depending on the market place). True, there are ways of getting them noticed, but for the rest it is just a matter of time (and thus they go and pay another of Google's Agents who slip their names into the top ten list in the "sponsored listing" section, known as Google Adwords.).
For those who have served their time in the sandbox area, they at last have the chance to make themselves heard. But are they prepared, have they understood the rules of the game??
Two Types of Web Pages in the Marketplace
But what are the rules?? Well basically they are quite simple. For a start in that marketplace you will find two types of web page, one that is trying to catch the Google Agents eye for a listing place and the other, well they are saying, "go and have a look at this page, its all about x". The latter are of course "links" to pages from other sites, and because the agents listen to them they are, as you may have been told, very important. They can even get an agent to look into the sandbox area, especially if there are enough of them and or they are deemed important in their own right. The rules for these links pages are simple enough, they say "I represent XXX website and we are all about YYY. I'd like you to consider ZZZ website, they are very good at what you are looking for".
So much for these "link pages", but what of the normal webpage. What are the rules for them. This in fact is the most important part of this story, as it is these rules that make or break a webpage's chance of getting "heard" by the Google Agents.
So to the rules.
First, each webpage must only utter the words on its page, it cannot say anything else.
It first shouts out its Title (the bit in the blue bar at the top of your browser), here it can really boom out the words, which make them easier to hear. Then it continues down the page, saying the words on the pages, pausing when it comes to paragraphs etc. Whenever it comes to a Heading in a page or something in bold or italics it can say the words a bit louder, and when it comes to lists, it can pause between each phrase, all the better to make the words more effective.
It can also make it quite clear to the Agents that there are other pages in its own site that are very relevant (these being the internal links), all with the aim of trying to impress upon the agent that the webpage's website is very useful indeed and should therefore be listed.
The Unprepared Web Page / Site
So, what does the above mean to the unprepared website??
Well for many, although they have managed to get into the marketplace, they find to their horror that when it comes to shouting out their Title, they have to say "WM Cooper" and not "Plumbing Suppliers, Showers and Taps by WM Cooper", which if the agent is looking for plumbers to list is far more interesting.
Then when they come to the words on the page, they have to drivel on about "Welcome to WM Cooper website. We have been in business for 30 years and have 1000's of happy customers, come to us…", by which time the Agent has "switched off" and started looking elsewhere.
Now, if the words in the page had had a Heading of "Plumbing Supplies" and then read something like "We can supply you with taps, bathrooms, tiles, wash basins" and so on the agent would have been far more likely to listen.
Other sites have different problems, sure the webpage's exist, but they have nothing pointing to them inside their own site. Such pages are barred by Google from even getting into the marketplace, their argument being "there is no record of your existence on the website you are claiming to have come from, therefore you don't exist, please go away". Now of course such pages do exist, it is just that the "stupid" agents that Google employs cannot fill in the search boxes or use the tick boxes and press the "Search" button that it is presented with. Thus such pages fall at the very first fence…
Then again there are those unfortunate pages, that even though they are quite clearly, to the human reader anyway, all about "hotels in Portsmouth" do not actually say this on the page in any convincing way, in some cases the word "Portsmouth" may never even be on the page. Why, because the web designer knows that the only way that the page is going to be seen is when someone clicks on a link for Portsmouth hotels, so it just has to be all about "Portsmouth hotels" doesn't it? Well true, the Google agents will have noticed the link, but when it comes to that marketplace, if another thousand pages (and there could be a lot lot more) are all shouting out, in no uncertain terms, that they are about "Portsmouth hotels" who are they going to pick, do I really have to say more…
Thus it is only those web pages that have done their homework and who come into the marketplace prepared that win those coveted first page positions. Well that is true to a point, but we have forgotten those "linking" pages we spoke of earlier, just what part do they have to play in this saga? quite a lot actually, in fact it is now calculated that our friends the Google agents listen to the shouting of these "links" to such a degree that as much as 50 % of the reason they choose A over B is down to them. So that means it pays to get lots of links pointing to your site into that marketplace.
Google the Perverse
But be warned, Google, in a perverse sort of way, and knowing that people know it listens to the shouts of these links, will only listen if the website that the link is on is relevant to the site it is talking about (pointing to). In other words a site all about Florida Fish Farms will be of little use "link pressure" wise to a site selling Combine Harvesters, and vice versa. Also, just to spice the pot a bit more (as if it needs it) Google also keep an eye on the number of sites in a marketplace "shouting" about other sites, and if one site seems to get too many new sites "shouting" about over a short period of time are likely to get a wee bit suspicious. Is, heaven forbid, someone trying to make a site appear more popular than it really is….
So the market place is full of dangers, but basically it is "trick" free. If the pages of a website do their homework and make sure that they are really "saying" what they are all about, making it quite clear in the Title of the page as well as the headings on the page, have plenty of links and references to other pages in their site (and even ones outside it) and, just as importantly, get some links pointing to them and the other pages in their webpage, they WILL get listed. Do anything else though and be prepared to go on asking that question "why do some pages get listed by Google while mine do not….?"
It is however, quite an easy question to answer, at least at a general level, the answer demystifying the oft said "black art" of Search Engine Optimisation. (I do however have to state again that this is a basic guide and does therefore not cover some of the more complicated issues of "keyword density", "deep linking ratio", "code to text ratio" and others, all of which have a bearing on the effectiveness of any web page).
To better illustrate the answer to this question, let me use an analogy to describe why some pages get ranked and some don't.
The Market Place Analogy
This analogy is based on an old fashioned market place, the sort when men with barrows come in and then shout out what they have on offer, you know "A pound of plums for 90p" or "Genuine leather jackets for £40", you get the picture. However, in my analogy these "market places" are set up by Google, one market for each vertical market. So you have one for boats and another for gardeners and another for houses for sale, and so on.
Now every one who wants to get into any of these market places can try regardless of what they sell, however, Google will be quite ruthless in stopping anyone it feels is not in the right market from getting in (however, just like any process this is not fool proof). This leaves countless thousands of "web pages" (not sites, but pages) that want to get in to sell their wares. Why, because to get in gives them a chance to be picked by those "Google Agents" who come into the market place looking for the best pages to list when someone searches for something to do with that market.
But getting into the Market place is only the first step, how do they get picked by the Google Agent for one of those coveted top ten positions??
The Rules of the "Google Marketplace"
To understand that, you must first know the "rules" of these Google Marketplaces.
The first and most important rule is that all web pages start at the back of the marketplace, which of course makes it very difficult for the Google Agents to "hear" them crying out their wares. As the sites to which the web pages get older, so does the web page move up the marketplace, getting nearer and nearer to the front (and thus more easily heard and picked for that top ten list).
However, there is some bad news here, as it is said by many and proved by some that Google, for reasons best known to themselves, erect a sound proof barrier in front of any very new websites page, effectively making it impossible to hear. These poor sites often have to sit behind this barrier and play in the "sandboxes" made available for up to 6 months (depending on the market place). True, there are ways of getting them noticed, but for the rest it is just a matter of time (and thus they go and pay another of Google's Agents who slip their names into the top ten list in the "sponsored listing" section, known as Google Adwords.).
For those who have served their time in the sandbox area, they at last have the chance to make themselves heard. But are they prepared, have they understood the rules of the game??
Two Types of Web Pages in the Marketplace
But what are the rules?? Well basically they are quite simple. For a start in that marketplace you will find two types of web page, one that is trying to catch the Google Agents eye for a listing place and the other, well they are saying, "go and have a look at this page, its all about x". The latter are of course "links" to pages from other sites, and because the agents listen to them they are, as you may have been told, very important. They can even get an agent to look into the sandbox area, especially if there are enough of them and or they are deemed important in their own right. The rules for these links pages are simple enough, they say "I represent XXX website and we are all about YYY. I'd like you to consider ZZZ website, they are very good at what you are looking for".
So much for these "link pages", but what of the normal webpage. What are the rules for them. This in fact is the most important part of this story, as it is these rules that make or break a webpage's chance of getting "heard" by the Google Agents.
So to the rules.
First, each webpage must only utter the words on its page, it cannot say anything else.
It first shouts out its Title (the bit in the blue bar at the top of your browser), here it can really boom out the words, which make them easier to hear. Then it continues down the page, saying the words on the pages, pausing when it comes to paragraphs etc. Whenever it comes to a Heading in a page or something in bold or italics it can say the words a bit louder, and when it comes to lists, it can pause between each phrase, all the better to make the words more effective.
It can also make it quite clear to the Agents that there are other pages in its own site that are very relevant (these being the internal links), all with the aim of trying to impress upon the agent that the webpage's website is very useful indeed and should therefore be listed.
The Unprepared Web Page / Site
So, what does the above mean to the unprepared website??
Well for many, although they have managed to get into the marketplace, they find to their horror that when it comes to shouting out their Title, they have to say "WM Cooper" and not "Plumbing Suppliers, Showers and Taps by WM Cooper", which if the agent is looking for plumbers to list is far more interesting.
Then when they come to the words on the page, they have to drivel on about "Welcome to WM Cooper website. We have been in business for 30 years and have 1000's of happy customers, come to us…", by which time the Agent has "switched off" and started looking elsewhere.
Now, if the words in the page had had a Heading of "Plumbing Supplies" and then read something like "We can supply you with taps, bathrooms, tiles, wash basins" and so on the agent would have been far more likely to listen.
Other sites have different problems, sure the webpage's exist, but they have nothing pointing to them inside their own site. Such pages are barred by Google from even getting into the marketplace, their argument being "there is no record of your existence on the website you are claiming to have come from, therefore you don't exist, please go away". Now of course such pages do exist, it is just that the "stupid" agents that Google employs cannot fill in the search boxes or use the tick boxes and press the "Search" button that it is presented with. Thus such pages fall at the very first fence…
Then again there are those unfortunate pages, that even though they are quite clearly, to the human reader anyway, all about "hotels in Portsmouth" do not actually say this on the page in any convincing way, in some cases the word "Portsmouth" may never even be on the page. Why, because the web designer knows that the only way that the page is going to be seen is when someone clicks on a link for Portsmouth hotels, so it just has to be all about "Portsmouth hotels" doesn't it? Well true, the Google agents will have noticed the link, but when it comes to that marketplace, if another thousand pages (and there could be a lot lot more) are all shouting out, in no uncertain terms, that they are about "Portsmouth hotels" who are they going to pick, do I really have to say more…
Thus it is only those web pages that have done their homework and who come into the marketplace prepared that win those coveted first page positions. Well that is true to a point, but we have forgotten those "linking" pages we spoke of earlier, just what part do they have to play in this saga? quite a lot actually, in fact it is now calculated that our friends the Google agents listen to the shouting of these "links" to such a degree that as much as 50 % of the reason they choose A over B is down to them. So that means it pays to get lots of links pointing to your site into that marketplace.
Google the Perverse
But be warned, Google, in a perverse sort of way, and knowing that people know it listens to the shouts of these links, will only listen if the website that the link is on is relevant to the site it is talking about (pointing to). In other words a site all about Florida Fish Farms will be of little use "link pressure" wise to a site selling Combine Harvesters, and vice versa. Also, just to spice the pot a bit more (as if it needs it) Google also keep an eye on the number of sites in a marketplace "shouting" about other sites, and if one site seems to get too many new sites "shouting" about over a short period of time are likely to get a wee bit suspicious. Is, heaven forbid, someone trying to make a site appear more popular than it really is….
So the market place is full of dangers, but basically it is "trick" free. If the pages of a website do their homework and make sure that they are really "saying" what they are all about, making it quite clear in the Title of the page as well as the headings on the page, have plenty of links and references to other pages in their site (and even ones outside it) and, just as importantly, get some links pointing to them and the other pages in their webpage, they WILL get listed. Do anything else though and be prepared to go on asking that question "why do some pages get listed by Google while mine do not….?"
Monday, 30 November 2009
is your Site SHOUTING the Right words?
I penned an article way back in Nov 2007 on this subject, which is really all about 'putting the keywords into pages in the RIGHT way'. What I said then still holds true today (a fact that goes to show that the rate of change in how site's are ranked does not change as much as some would have you think.
So the question is Does your site:
1. Use the right words?
2. In the right way?
3. In the right place?
To answer the first question you need to have carried out some Keyword Research in order that you can identify the phrases that people are using, and can therefore, (bearing in mind the competition) chose which ones to target.
Once you have that list, you need to use them in the copy on the page, aiming for a density of between a 2% and 4% (percentage of time the words are used on the page), whilst, and this is important, still making the page readable.
Using them in the right way is a bit more difficult as for best effect you need to include the phrases in the order that they are used, in other words don't split up a phrase if you can avoid it. More importantly, you need to put these words on the page in the right way. To explain, imagine that you are reading a newspaper that instead of using HEADLINES to show what is important on the page, used the same size text (with no bold etc) on its pages. You can imagine how difficult it would be to see at a quick glance what the main topics were. This is exactly the problem the Search Engines will have with your site UNLESS you use the (old fashioned) HTML Header tags, H1 to H6.
HTML is a form of 'mark up language' and has it roots (interestingly enough) in the world of print, the 'mark up language' being the way of telling the print setters how to layout the page and what fonts etc to use. Thus the Header 1 tag (H1) is the MAIN header, whilst the H2 is the next most important, all the way down to H6.
So, think of the Search Engines as someone looking at your pages in the same way as those print setters, they NEED to be told what is important and THE ONLY WAY of doing this (in the page copy at least - see later) is to use the HEADER tags (and to a lesser degree the Bold, Italic and List tags). Oh and by the way, if you are worried about using the Header tags because it will compromise the look and feel of your site, don't worry, you can over ride their appearance using style sheets, ask your web designer about that one.
So, you have dealt with the copy on the page, but you have still missed the Biggest Trick and that is the TITLE of the page, not the one on the page, but the one in the Browser Header Bar (the bit in blue). This is the most important bit of real estate on a page as far as Search Engine Optimisation is concerned, as it 'tells' the Engines what the page is all about, so choose it carefully, bearing in mind:-
1. It MUST match the copy on the page
2. The first words are the most important
3. Only the first nine will be used by the Engines
That about wraps it up at the initial level. There is more of course, such as the rule on prominence, but more on all that later.
So the question is Does your site:
1. Use the right words?
2. In the right way?
3. In the right place?
To answer the first question you need to have carried out some Keyword Research in order that you can identify the phrases that people are using, and can therefore, (bearing in mind the competition) chose which ones to target.
Once you have that list, you need to use them in the copy on the page, aiming for a density of between a 2% and 4% (percentage of time the words are used on the page), whilst, and this is important, still making the page readable.
Using them in the right way is a bit more difficult as for best effect you need to include the phrases in the order that they are used, in other words don't split up a phrase if you can avoid it. More importantly, you need to put these words on the page in the right way. To explain, imagine that you are reading a newspaper that instead of using HEADLINES to show what is important on the page, used the same size text (with no bold etc) on its pages. You can imagine how difficult it would be to see at a quick glance what the main topics were. This is exactly the problem the Search Engines will have with your site UNLESS you use the (old fashioned) HTML Header tags, H1 to H6.
HTML is a form of 'mark up language' and has it roots (interestingly enough) in the world of print, the 'mark up language' being the way of telling the print setters how to layout the page and what fonts etc to use. Thus the Header 1 tag (H1) is the MAIN header, whilst the H2 is the next most important, all the way down to H6.
So, think of the Search Engines as someone looking at your pages in the same way as those print setters, they NEED to be told what is important and THE ONLY WAY of doing this (in the page copy at least - see later) is to use the HEADER tags (and to a lesser degree the Bold, Italic and List tags). Oh and by the way, if you are worried about using the Header tags because it will compromise the look and feel of your site, don't worry, you can over ride their appearance using style sheets, ask your web designer about that one.
So, you have dealt with the copy on the page, but you have still missed the Biggest Trick and that is the TITLE of the page, not the one on the page, but the one in the Browser Header Bar (the bit in blue). This is the most important bit of real estate on a page as far as Search Engine Optimisation is concerned, as it 'tells' the Engines what the page is all about, so choose it carefully, bearing in mind:-
1. It MUST match the copy on the page
2. The first words are the most important
3. Only the first nine will be used by the Engines
That about wraps it up at the initial level. There is more of course, such as the rule on prominence, but more on all that later.
Friday, 27 November 2009
Is Your Site a Black Hole?
Is your site a black hole where visitors arrive and then are never seen again? Do you know what they did there? What they liked and disliked? If they started the shopping cart (or enquiry system) and then left half way through?
Today, thanks to Google's free analytics (always worries me that, Google giving something away - but that is another story) many sites now can tell a lot about what their visitors get up to. Whether this data is used correctly is (yet) another story and we won't go down that route today, no let us concentrate on whether ALL the data that could be collected IS being collected.
The difference between a Black Hole a Grey Hole and a White Hole
As above, many sites are now using analytics and will therefore not have a black hole for a site, but they probably still have a grey one as they are not using Filters, Tagging and Event Tracking, all three of which will add a whole new dimension to the data collected and will allow you to better understand what is going on. Used correctly you can see Everything and your site becomes not black or grey, but bright white (at least data wise).
For instance, did you know that with 'Tagging' you can split your visitors into the right groups, those coming in via a Newsletter being separated from those coming in via Banner ads etc.
With 'Event Tracking' you can see if people click a 'mailto' link to send you an email, or to go to another site. Better still you can use it to see at what part of filling out a form users stop, something that could save you a lot of lost business (cause you would know what they did not like and could therefore change it).
Filters on the other hand allow you to see the data in clearer fashion by only collecting data on a particular section of visitors, plus, they can also be used to 'filter out' visitors from your own business etc.
As you can see, there is a whole lot more to Google analytics than meets the eye.
The question is, is your site a Black Hole a Grey one or one where you see it all..?
More tomorrow
Today, thanks to Google's free analytics (always worries me that, Google giving something away - but that is another story) many sites now can tell a lot about what their visitors get up to. Whether this data is used correctly is (yet) another story and we won't go down that route today, no let us concentrate on whether ALL the data that could be collected IS being collected.
The difference between a Black Hole a Grey Hole and a White Hole
As above, many sites are now using analytics and will therefore not have a black hole for a site, but they probably still have a grey one as they are not using Filters, Tagging and Event Tracking, all three of which will add a whole new dimension to the data collected and will allow you to better understand what is going on. Used correctly you can see Everything and your site becomes not black or grey, but bright white (at least data wise).
For instance, did you know that with 'Tagging' you can split your visitors into the right groups, those coming in via a Newsletter being separated from those coming in via Banner ads etc.
With 'Event Tracking' you can see if people click a 'mailto' link to send you an email, or to go to another site. Better still you can use it to see at what part of filling out a form users stop, something that could save you a lot of lost business (cause you would know what they did not like and could therefore change it).
Filters on the other hand allow you to see the data in clearer fashion by only collecting data on a particular section of visitors, plus, they can also be used to 'filter out' visitors from your own business etc.
As you can see, there is a whole lot more to Google analytics than meets the eye.
The question is, is your site a Black Hole a Grey one or one where you see it all..?
More tomorrow
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Bounce Rates and Your Home Page
If you are amongst the group of website owners (or webmasters) who use Google Analytics (or another analytic tool) one of the first things you will be looking at is the 'Bounce Rate' (the number of visitors that come to the site and leave straight away, think about it in the same way as a shopper going through the door of a store and then turning right around and leaving without looking at what was on the shelves - not something that would fill the owner with confidence if it happened a lot !).
This Bounce rate is probably the most important statistic there is as a high bounce rate means that people are just not getting the chance to see what you can do for them, which means you have lost a potential sale 'EVERY TIME someone Bounces'.
Now don't get me wrong NO site has a zero bounce rate, and the rate will vary tremendously depending on how the visitor got to the site (e.g emails sent to a list of qualified customers will (should) always result in lower bounce rates than visitors from the Search Engine results), but if you have a high bounce rate then you are in trouble, that's a fact.
So how can you improve matters?
The first thing I would do is to check the download time of your site and see if it is this that is causing you issues (these days people will often leave sites that take too long to download). Tip, if you want to be really clever you can also make changes to your home page to see if it is downloaded in full every time, quite useful to know if you are having doubts on the matter. You could also see if users with particular browser are leaving more than others (here a sign of incompatibility with the browser).
However, once you have checked all these 'technical' issues, the next step is to ask yourself three questions:-
Does your Home Page
1. Tell Visitors WHO YOU ARE?
2. Tell Visitors WHAT YOU OFFER / DO?
3. Tell Visitors WHY THEY SHOULD BUY FROM YOU?
If your site does not do these three things correctly it could well be the reason your visitors are leaving, without looking around the store, in high numbers.
So go check it out, just off to have another look at mine now too....
More tomorrow
PS If you have not got analytics of some sort on your site, get it sorted now! You are really missing a trick as you simply won't be able to tell what the important people - your potential customers - think about your site and how they are reacting to it.
This Bounce rate is probably the most important statistic there is as a high bounce rate means that people are just not getting the chance to see what you can do for them, which means you have lost a potential sale 'EVERY TIME someone Bounces'.
Now don't get me wrong NO site has a zero bounce rate, and the rate will vary tremendously depending on how the visitor got to the site (e.g emails sent to a list of qualified customers will (should) always result in lower bounce rates than visitors from the Search Engine results), but if you have a high bounce rate then you are in trouble, that's a fact.
So how can you improve matters?
The first thing I would do is to check the download time of your site and see if it is this that is causing you issues (these days people will often leave sites that take too long to download). Tip, if you want to be really clever you can also make changes to your home page to see if it is downloaded in full every time, quite useful to know if you are having doubts on the matter. You could also see if users with particular browser are leaving more than others (here a sign of incompatibility with the browser).
However, once you have checked all these 'technical' issues, the next step is to ask yourself three questions:-
Does your Home Page
1. Tell Visitors WHO YOU ARE?
2. Tell Visitors WHAT YOU OFFER / DO?
3. Tell Visitors WHY THEY SHOULD BUY FROM YOU?
If your site does not do these three things correctly it could well be the reason your visitors are leaving, without looking around the store, in high numbers.
So go check it out, just off to have another look at mine now too....
More tomorrow
PS If you have not got analytics of some sort on your site, get it sorted now! You are really missing a trick as you simply won't be able to tell what the important people - your potential customers - think about your site and how they are reacting to it.
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Don't Forget Bing When Building Your Links..
There is not a lot of 'chatter' on the SEO street about the rules that Bing uses when assessing a site for ranking, but Rick DeJarnette of Bing Webmaster Center has come up with some advice in the form of some dos and don'ts of link-building (for Bing.)
As you would expect, this advice is not a lot different to Google's, but it is always good to get news from the 'horses mouth' in areas like this (getting it wrong could be fatal).
Bing views links in a similar way to Google, placing emphasis on the 'quality' of links when determining rankings. Rick is however at pains to point out "Just don't make the mistake of believing it will result in instant gratification. Successful link building efforts require a long-term commitment, not an overnight or turnkey solution," adding, "You need to continually invest in link building efforts with creativity and time."
So What Should You NOT Do
Do any of these and there is a good chance that your site will be closely reviewed by one of Bing's 'quality engineers'. The penalties were also spelled out by Rick "When probable manipulation is detected, a spam rank factor is applied to a site, depending upon the type and severity of the infraction and if the spam rating is high, a site can be penalized with a lowered rank. If the violations are egregious, a site can be temporarily or even permanently purged from the index."
1. So don't increase your links too fast as this smacks of 'artificial' engineering. Yes, I know you can go and 'buy' a 1,000 (non paid) links in the form of blogs and forum posts, just don't do it overnight!
2. Beware of having too many inbound links from irrelevant blog comments and forums.
3. Never use hidden links in your pages
4. Avoid the paid link farms, link exchanges programes and any other "bad neighbourhoods" on the Web
5. Be careful who you link out too. Remember as this is far more easily controlled by the website owner, so a lot of mistakes here can really get you into trouble. Thus linking out to 'known' web spam sites is a no no (I always check sites to see if they are in Google's index, if they are not then they are probably 'trouble' and not worth linking too anyway.)
What You SHOULD Do
1. Develop your Brand and ensure that relevant industry experts, product reviewers, bloggers are aware of your site and it's content and encourage them to link to you.
3. Use Online Press releases
4. Publish 'expert articles' on the many online article directory sites available
5. Try to participate in as many conversations on blogs and forums that are relevant to your site, using links / your ID script to refer / link back to your site (when applicable).
6. Use the social networks in order to increase the 'footprint' of your site / brand, but here ensure you have links to your site in all your profiles.
7. Use E-newsletters and to notify all of the new content on your site and keep both the site and the E-newsletter fresh and informative.
8. Have a blog or forum on your site, or at least linked to the site.
All of this is not really news to any search marketer who has been around the block a few times, but if you are new to the game, following this advice will help your rankings on Bing and Google and that can't be bad now can it?
More Tomorrow
As you would expect, this advice is not a lot different to Google's, but it is always good to get news from the 'horses mouth' in areas like this (getting it wrong could be fatal).
Bing views links in a similar way to Google, placing emphasis on the 'quality' of links when determining rankings. Rick is however at pains to point out "Just don't make the mistake of believing it will result in instant gratification. Successful link building efforts require a long-term commitment, not an overnight or turnkey solution," adding, "You need to continually invest in link building efforts with creativity and time."
So What Should You NOT Do
Do any of these and there is a good chance that your site will be closely reviewed by one of Bing's 'quality engineers'. The penalties were also spelled out by Rick "When probable manipulation is detected, a spam rank factor is applied to a site, depending upon the type and severity of the infraction and if the spam rating is high, a site can be penalized with a lowered rank. If the violations are egregious, a site can be temporarily or even permanently purged from the index."
1. So don't increase your links too fast as this smacks of 'artificial' engineering. Yes, I know you can go and 'buy' a 1,000 (non paid) links in the form of blogs and forum posts, just don't do it overnight!
2. Beware of having too many inbound links from irrelevant blog comments and forums.
3. Never use hidden links in your pages
4. Avoid the paid link farms, link exchanges programes and any other "bad neighbourhoods" on the Web
5. Be careful who you link out too. Remember as this is far more easily controlled by the website owner, so a lot of mistakes here can really get you into trouble. Thus linking out to 'known' web spam sites is a no no (I always check sites to see if they are in Google's index, if they are not then they are probably 'trouble' and not worth linking too anyway.)
What You SHOULD Do
1. Develop your Brand and ensure that relevant industry experts, product reviewers, bloggers are aware of your site and it's content and encourage them to link to you.
3. Use Online Press releases
4. Publish 'expert articles' on the many online article directory sites available
5. Try to participate in as many conversations on blogs and forums that are relevant to your site, using links / your ID script to refer / link back to your site (when applicable).
6. Use the social networks in order to increase the 'footprint' of your site / brand, but here ensure you have links to your site in all your profiles.
7. Use E-newsletters and to notify all of the new content on your site and keep both the site and the E-newsletter fresh and informative.
8. Have a blog or forum on your site, or at least linked to the site.
All of this is not really news to any search marketer who has been around the block a few times, but if you are new to the game, following this advice will help your rankings on Bing and Google and that can't be bad now can it?
More Tomorrow
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Google's Caffeine Update & Site Speed
There is a lot of talk about the new ranking algorithm update due from Google any time now. According to Matt Cutts this update will not be rolled out in full (only one data centre will be operation) until after Christmas and even when it does it will not make that much difference.
The other thing that is on the cards, one that could really make a difference is all about the topic of site download times. Here Google's idea is that the web should be fast and that it will therefore give faster sites better rankings than slow ones. In other words slow site will be handicapped in the race (just like the favourites are in horse racing). The moral here is of course, make sure your site is fast (and not all Flash - some designers please take note) and just to help, Google have provided a set of tools for you.
Check out the video on http://videos.webpronews.com/2009/11/13/matt-cutts-interview/
For details of the speed test and other add on's for Firefox see:- http://code.google.com/speed/
More tomorrow
The other thing that is on the cards, one that could really make a difference is all about the topic of site download times. Here Google's idea is that the web should be fast and that it will therefore give faster sites better rankings than slow ones. In other words slow site will be handicapped in the race (just like the favourites are in horse racing). The moral here is of course, make sure your site is fast (and not all Flash - some designers please take note) and just to help, Google have provided a set of tools for you.
Check out the video on http://videos.webpronews.com/2009/11/13/matt-cutts-interview/
For details of the speed test and other add on's for Firefox see:- http://code.google.com/speed/
More tomorrow
Monday, 23 November 2009
Less can be More when Conversions are Wanted
You may have heard the phrase 'less can be more' before and it is true on the web too.
One of the best examples of this is having too much 'going on' on the home page of a site. This I'm afraid can just confuse people so much that they either forget why they came (distraction being the issue here) or cause them to get so fed up trying to make out what you do or what they do next, that they simply go away.
This 'simplicity' is said to be one of the reasons that Google is so popular, as unlike Yahoo it does not clutter up the screen with anything other than the important bit, the space where you type in what you are looking for. Bear this in mind when you are designing your home page. Ask yourself, 'why has someone come to my site and how do I best serve them?', crack this and you will see an increase in conversions.
The second issue on conversions is also about clutter, but this time it's about the number of products you display on each of your product pages. Tests have shown that decreasing the number of items from 9 to 6 can increase the conversion rate by as much as 6%. Why, well it is reckoned that people can (a) see the product more clearly (it has more room on the screen and thus is bigger) and (b) they are not as confused about which one to pick. Either way, sites that have employed these tactics have seen an increase in sales.
More tomorrow
One of the best examples of this is having too much 'going on' on the home page of a site. This I'm afraid can just confuse people so much that they either forget why they came (distraction being the issue here) or cause them to get so fed up trying to make out what you do or what they do next, that they simply go away.
This 'simplicity' is said to be one of the reasons that Google is so popular, as unlike Yahoo it does not clutter up the screen with anything other than the important bit, the space where you type in what you are looking for. Bear this in mind when you are designing your home page. Ask yourself, 'why has someone come to my site and how do I best serve them?', crack this and you will see an increase in conversions.
The second issue on conversions is also about clutter, but this time it's about the number of products you display on each of your product pages. Tests have shown that decreasing the number of items from 9 to 6 can increase the conversion rate by as much as 6%. Why, well it is reckoned that people can (a) see the product more clearly (it has more room on the screen and thus is bigger) and (b) they are not as confused about which one to pick. Either way, sites that have employed these tactics have seen an increase in sales.
More tomorrow
Friday, 20 November 2009
The Two Type of Visitor
When it comes right down to it, there are basically two types of visitor to any Ecommerce website, those that will look and look for what they want and those that will 'go and ask'.
This mirrors people's behaviour in the shops when you come to think of it. Many shoppers prefer to drift around a store, glancing at the directory signs to see if they can spot where they need to be (just like you do on the navigation bar of a site), looking in the different isles (on the web = pages) until either they get fed up and walk out (click to another site) or find what they want and potentially buy it. These shoppers are of the 'We'll do it ourselves' variety and can well be put off if approached by an assistant (or by an 'annoying Can I help you?' chat box appearing on the screen).
The other type of shopper will make a bee line straight for customer information or the nearest assistant and ask where what they want can be found. In the shops it is highly likely that the assistants will be able to point the shopper in the right direction, often taking them to the item themselves, all very helpful. On the web however it can be very very different. On the web the helpful shop assistant is replaced by the SEARCH box.
The first thing that the 'I will just ask' web shopper has to do is to locate the Search Box. More often than not this is on the top of the screen and is easily found and often has the word 'SEARCH' in a button by it. This is great and makes it easy to find and better still you know what to do next, click the button. Some such boxes are not however that easily found and may have a magnifying glass icon instead of a nice big button. Now I'm not saying that people don't 'get' the connection between the icon and the action, but remember not everyone is a Sherlock Holmes fan and may not therefore associate the icon with the action 'to search' so beware and keep it Simple.
The next potential pit fall on the web is the quality of the Search Results. This is totally dependent on the quality of the programming behind the search facility and in many cases the results are far from helpful, being incomplete, inaccurate, poorly laid out and in extreme cases leave the user thinking 'so what do I do now?' which in web terms is always, always a very bad idea.
So, if you have a Search Facility on your site, you MUST ensure that the results are true and accurate and that using it all is like falling off the proverbial log. If you can manage that you will have gone a long way to increasing conversions on your site, after all, we have all turned into 'I will just ask' shoppers at sometimes in our lives.
There is however one more trick that the wise website owner should know about when it comes to the Search Box, more on that in the next post.
This mirrors people's behaviour in the shops when you come to think of it. Many shoppers prefer to drift around a store, glancing at the directory signs to see if they can spot where they need to be (just like you do on the navigation bar of a site), looking in the different isles (on the web = pages) until either they get fed up and walk out (click to another site) or find what they want and potentially buy it. These shoppers are of the 'We'll do it ourselves' variety and can well be put off if approached by an assistant (or by an 'annoying Can I help you?' chat box appearing on the screen).
The other type of shopper will make a bee line straight for customer information or the nearest assistant and ask where what they want can be found. In the shops it is highly likely that the assistants will be able to point the shopper in the right direction, often taking them to the item themselves, all very helpful. On the web however it can be very very different. On the web the helpful shop assistant is replaced by the SEARCH box.
The first thing that the 'I will just ask' web shopper has to do is to locate the Search Box. More often than not this is on the top of the screen and is easily found and often has the word 'SEARCH' in a button by it. This is great and makes it easy to find and better still you know what to do next, click the button. Some such boxes are not however that easily found and may have a magnifying glass icon instead of a nice big button. Now I'm not saying that people don't 'get' the connection between the icon and the action, but remember not everyone is a Sherlock Holmes fan and may not therefore associate the icon with the action 'to search' so beware and keep it Simple.
The next potential pit fall on the web is the quality of the Search Results. This is totally dependent on the quality of the programming behind the search facility and in many cases the results are far from helpful, being incomplete, inaccurate, poorly laid out and in extreme cases leave the user thinking 'so what do I do now?' which in web terms is always, always a very bad idea.
So, if you have a Search Facility on your site, you MUST ensure that the results are true and accurate and that using it all is like falling off the proverbial log. If you can manage that you will have gone a long way to increasing conversions on your site, after all, we have all turned into 'I will just ask' shoppers at sometimes in our lives.
There is however one more trick that the wise website owner should know about when it comes to the Search Box, more on that in the next post.
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Increasing PPC Conversions
I attended an interesting Webinar yesterday run by our friends Google. It was all about how making small changes to a website can really increase conversions.
One of the most important points was that of 'Disconnection' (my term not theirs) . This refers to the fact that many adverts say one thing and then deliver the visitor to a page that says another. The example they gave was 'buy an electric drill for £88.99' and then be taken to a page that only mentions drills from £100. The 'Disconnection' here is obvious and visitors will often just leave at that point (the figures prove it).
What you HAVE to do is to ensure that things mentioned in the advert are on the 'landing page' AND THAT they are clearly visible (best to smack the user in the face with it in my opinion so they can't miss it) and not buried somewhere on a page full of other products etc.
Improving the 'Connection' between your adverts and landing page will reduce the 'Bounce' rate by as much as 20%...
If you would like some assistance with a troublesome PPC campaign, please see www.serendipity-online-marketing.com
More tomorrow...
One of the most important points was that of 'Disconnection' (my term not theirs) . This refers to the fact that many adverts say one thing and then deliver the visitor to a page that says another. The example they gave was 'buy an electric drill for £88.99' and then be taken to a page that only mentions drills from £100. The 'Disconnection' here is obvious and visitors will often just leave at that point (the figures prove it).
What you HAVE to do is to ensure that things mentioned in the advert are on the 'landing page' AND THAT they are clearly visible (best to smack the user in the face with it in my opinion so they can't miss it) and not buried somewhere on a page full of other products etc.
Improving the 'Connection' between your adverts and landing page will reduce the 'Bounce' rate by as much as 20%...
If you would like some assistance with a troublesome PPC campaign, please see www.serendipity-online-marketing.com
More tomorrow...
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Link Building using Articles
There is talk on the SEO 'street' that using Articles for links is now a process best forgotten, the buzz being that the Engines have now decided that the article engines (where most articles end up) are just another form of Free For All (FFA) links site. As you know, such sites (indeed to some degree also pages on sites that are just a list of links) have been to all intents and purposes disregarded by the Engines for some time now, so if this is true, is it worth all the effort and expense of placing articles on the web?
The fact is we don't know for sure what is in the mind of Google etc on this matter, but we can take steps to make sure that our articles work where the competitions does not, the result here being that we still get traffic and rankings and they don't.
How is this done, well it is a three stage process.
The fact is we don't know for sure what is in the mind of Google etc on this matter, but we can take steps to make sure that our articles work where the competitions does not, the result here being that we still get traffic and rankings and they don't.
How is this done, well it is a three stage process.
- Make sure that the articles you right are original and worth the time it takes to read them
- Make sure that you don't submit exact copies to a whole list of sites, cause if you do Google's 'Duplicate Filter' monster (a nasty beast) will 'get you.'
- Do some research and find sites that want articles and then contact them directly.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Link Building for SEO
There is a lot of talk at the moment about the way that link building strategies are going to have to change again now that Twitter and Facebook and other Social Media websites are in the market place and, and this is perhaps the major factor, that Google and Bing are climbing into bed with them so very readily.
Talk is that Tweets will be a part of the algorithm used by Google when deciding who to rate for what, other talk is that it will soon be all about Branding. Both of these may well be true and further examination of this critical area is needed.
If you are interested, then please see our online search engine optimistation articles.
Talk is that Tweets will be a part of the algorithm used by Google when deciding who to rate for what, other talk is that it will soon be all about Branding. Both of these may well be true and further examination of this critical area is needed.
If you are interested, then please see our online search engine optimistation articles.
Monday, 16 November 2009
Twitter and the Stock Market
It may be a funny thing to say but there are ( or could be ) similarities between Twitter and the Stock Market. Why so I say this, well, it is a fact that computer systems are used to track the fortunes of shares (are they going up and down?) and that in many cases, decisions to buy or sell these shares will either be made by a computer (or at least suggested by one). The price of shares will therefore be to some degree or another decided by computers. Now if these computers make their decisions based on the market place and this to a degree is effected by other computers you could imagine that shares could go up and down like mad things, all with little intervention from humans, a few of whom may have unwittingly 'started the rollercoaster' by the purchase or sale of a critical amount of stock.
Now I'm sure that there are safeguards about this in the Financial Sector (well OK I hope that there are) but what about Twitter...
With the automated software you can get today, you can easily 'tell it' to go and follow hundreds of accounts and they, if they are using similar software will no doubt follow you back (even if only for a short while). The outcome of all this automation will no doubt be more followers (I can prove that) but are they 'real' people or is just a computer reading the tweets?
As you can see, computers are used in both areas in big ways, let's just hope that Twitter does not suffer in the same way as the Financial sector just has..
Now I'm sure that there are safeguards about this in the Financial Sector (well OK I hope that there are) but what about Twitter...
With the automated software you can get today, you can easily 'tell it' to go and follow hundreds of accounts and they, if they are using similar software will no doubt follow you back (even if only for a short while). The outcome of all this automation will no doubt be more followers (I can prove that) but are they 'real' people or is just a computer reading the tweets?
As you can see, computers are used in both areas in big ways, let's just hope that Twitter does not suffer in the same way as the Financial sector just has..
Friday, 13 November 2009
Social Media Workshops
Seems that the number of Social Media Workshops on offer today is rising by the minute, some are free, others can cost you £600 for a two day course. The question is are they worth the money, or are they (especially the free ones) just designed to show the attendees that the job is just far too hard for them to do and they'd best leave it to the 'professionals'
Having been in the SEM world for nine years now, I know just how difficult it is for anyone trying to understand what it is all about, after their skill sets are different, so courses can be useful, but what do people really get out of them, do they follow up the time spent at the course with great Tweets and Facebook pages, or is the time wasted.
Also, how many just decide to leave it with the 'professionals' like Serendipity Online Marketing?
Love to know...
Having been in the SEM world for nine years now, I know just how difficult it is for anyone trying to understand what it is all about, after their skill sets are different, so courses can be useful, but what do people really get out of them, do they follow up the time spent at the course with great Tweets and Facebook pages, or is the time wasted.
Also, how many just decide to leave it with the 'professionals' like Serendipity Online Marketing?
Love to know...
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Silver Bullet or Not?
In the world of SEO, the search has been long for the famed 'silver bullet' the thing or method, that would enable anyone to take a site to the top of the rankings and get all the traffic (and hence sales) that they wanted.
Of course, you'll hear many people say that they have just that, but most (all?) are just after your money, their book, program or training course really being about making them money not you.
And now there is Twitter and everyone is falling over themselves to use it saying this it IT, The Way to make it happen.
So is Twitter that famed bullet?, I think that the jury is still out and it's true value won't be known until all the 'hype' dies down. Some (albeit few experts) are already talking about the 'emperors new clothes' but we will have to wait and see.
Of course, you'll hear many people say that they have just that, but most (all?) are just after your money, their book, program or training course really being about making them money not you.
And now there is Twitter and everyone is falling over themselves to use it saying this it IT, The Way to make it happen.
So is Twitter that famed bullet?, I think that the jury is still out and it's true value won't be known until all the 'hype' dies down. Some (albeit few experts) are already talking about the 'emperors new clothes' but we will have to wait and see.
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
New Source of Info on SEM & SMO
There is a lot of hype at the moment about Social Media Optimisation and as expected a whole host of information about it all, too much for most people to read, let alone assimilate.
To this end, we'll be doing our best to provide some snippets from it all, thus giving you, our reader a chance of understanding what is going on....
We'll be doing our best here, but it is not going to be easy.
The best advice we can give at the moment, is don't be sucked in by the hype until you have had a chance to consider all the factors.
Until later...
To this end, we'll be doing our best to provide some snippets from it all, thus giving you, our reader a chance of understanding what is going on....
We'll be doing our best here, but it is not going to be easy.
The best advice we can give at the moment, is don't be sucked in by the hype until you have had a chance to consider all the factors.
Until later...
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