Benefits of the Ektron Marketing module

by Clinton September 14th, 2011 | Ektron CMS400.NEt, Online marketing, SEO | No Comments »

The benefits of the Ektron CMS400.net marketing module are very important to web marketers as they give you an incredible amount of power and flexibility based around customer choice. In essence the key aspects fall into two categories:

personalisation of content based upon visitor behaviour and search terms
data capture of customer behaviour on your site and integration with your CRM

Guide to search engine optimisation

by Clinton March 28th, 2011 | Building an online brand, Online marketing, SEO, accessibility | No Comments »

Here are the top 5 factors for successful web sites in 2007:

Note:

This article is four years old but all of these factors still hold true with regard to getting good search rankings in Google.

Success factor #1: Accessibility

Accessibility is not only good for business it is a legal requirement and necessary for search engines to be able to effectively spider and index your website. Often web developers use technology that actively impedes search engines and prevents them from accessing all of a website’s pages. The first rule of search engine optimisation is to allow a search engine to access all of your web pages.

A key secondary consideration is to ensure the HTML code of your web pages does not contain errors that prevent search engines from indexing your site.

Search engines like HTML, it allows them to assess the content of your site and determine what the content is about. If you use Flash or graphical images to portray your core text messages, it will be invisible to search engines. Ensure your core content and messages are in HTML.

Success factor #2: Site and information architecture

Site architecture is essential not only for search engines but also for your audience. A search engine needs to be able to find their way around a site effectively as do site visitors. Ensure you have a core logical HTML navigation and do not use Flash or javascript as the only method of accessing your web pages.

You also need to ensure you have a coherent website based around a common theme. Increasingly the most important search engines use a technique called latent semantic indexing in their ranking algorithms. This is to determine not only the content of the individual page but also the context of the site that is sitting within. Search engines will give higher rankings to a page that is within a website that is relevant to that page.

Success factor #3: The right keywords

Once you have ensured that a search engine can access your site and visit all of your pages you need to make sure that they know what those pages are about. This is where you need to focus upon your key phrases and ensure you find which phrases your audience are using to find websites such as yours that meet their needs.

Once you have these key phrases, ensure you place them effectively throughout your site on the most appropriate pages for those terms.

The choice and use of your key words is a crucial element in determining whether your search engine optimisation campaign will be a success. Also think about supporting key words that go with the main key phrase for that page and use them liberally within the content

Success factor #4: Content

The search engines are looking for the most appropriate pages they can find to match the search terms of their users. In order to do this they are looking for quality content. You should be aiming to create unique quality content that separates your site from your competitors.

Write about relevant topics that you know about and try and keep adding to the content on a regular basis. Google likes sites which are kept fresh with new content and also sites that are regularly updated with relevant content.

Success factor #5: Inbound links

Links are one of the key factors that determine the success of a search engine optimisation campaign, but are one of the least understood. Links are crucial, especially in a competitive marketplace, but it is not about sheer weight of numbers. RELEVANCY is far more important than numbers. Get good quality links from quality relevant sites on a regular basis and you will do far batter than buying a large number of non-relevant links.

The more targeted the link i.e. the more relevant, the more it will improve your search engine rankings for that phrase. That’s why we are creating several sector link building communities to help build quality links for sites.

So, What do you want to do now?

Contact us to help you improve your search engine results, or
find out more about working with an ethical search engine optimisation company.

Back to view other articles.

Online PR service and press release sites for SEO

by Clinton March 25th, 2011 | Building an online brand, Online marketing, SEO | No Comments »

A common question is how useful are press release sitesÂ and are they a worthwhile tool for SEO?

PR companies tend to use wire services and want to get their press releases on as many sites as possible without really understanding how Google and indeed their on-line readers react to these paper based news items ported to the web. Apart from the obvious implication of Google penalising the duplicate content there are other things to consider.

This is a useful discussion on the subject of news/press releases . It is also a great introduction to the wide wide world of HARO or www.helpareporter.com.Â This is an interesting take on news publishing as it is by request and not just waiting for people to stumble across content. This is from their site:

“Help A Reporter Out (HARO) is a social media PR and marketing company serving reporters, entrepreneurs and small businesses. Founded by entrepreneur Peter Shankman, HARO originally started as a Facebook Groups Page in late 2007, becoming a full-fledged online service in early 2008. Today, HARO is a profitable, social media phenomenon that brings nearly 30,000 bloggers, reporters and journalists, over 80,000 news sources and thousands of small businesses together to tell their stories, promote their brands and sell their products and services, every day.”

It is an ideal way for a small business to promote itself as an expert in its field and to offer its expertise to a journalist for inclusion in their article.

Another interesting site is pitchengine.com which as the site itself says:

“Skip the press release. Create a Pitchâ„¢ and share your news, announcement or promotion directly with your customers. Publish it to search engines, social networks, your website and more with PitchEngine. Itâ€™s your story: Go tell it.”

PitchEngine enables users to openly create and share their own content, while including images, videos and attachments at no cost. It is a useful place to summarise and promote a business proposition and services.

A useful article on tying traditional and online media together can be read in this triangulation article.

SEO copywriting service

by Clinton March 25th, 2011 | Online marketing, SEO | No Comments »

SEO copywriting service

SEO Copywriting is a skill that should be learnt by all webmasters with an interest in search engine optimisation. Copywriting for search engines should be written to make sense to the visitor, but a strong eye should be cast to how search engine spiders view the pages of a website. Although things like key word density are important in SEO copywriting, there is more at stake to get good results in search engines.
It is best to focus upon 3 - 4 key words per page, but also use variations of those words as well as supporting words to modify the phrase a little. Search engines are becoming more sophisticated and are becoming more adept at providing returns for related phrases as well as specific phrases.

Summary of where to include key phrases when writing copy for search engines

Title Tag

The most important part of the page, as this is what Google uses to define the content and meaning of the page. Also useful to help users identify what the page is about in search engines. HOWEVER, do not put key phrases in the title tag that are not used elsewhere on the page.

Description

In Google, the meta description does not impact upon your search positions. However, it is very useful as the text snippet that accompanies the displayed title tag in the search results and as such should be used as the hook to encourage searchers to click on your result. It is an important tool in your SEO copywriting arsenal.

Headings

The HTML structure of the page helps the search engine spiders to understand the relative importance of different parts of your copy, so use it to your advantage. Use the standard H1, H2, H3 HTML structure for example to define the relative importance of your headings. In practice this means using your key phrases within the main and sub-headings on your page. Re-inforce the importance of those key phrases by using them in your headings.

Within the copy

Many SEO “specialists” will harp on about key word density, as though there is some magic formula as to how many times you need to repeat a phrase. Not enough and you won’t get well indexed, too many and you will be penalised. In practice this is rubbish. Ensure your copy reads well and naturally includes the relevant key phrases. To re-inforce the importance of the key phrases use them as early as is practicable in the first paragraph, and if you can repeat them naturally then do so. However it is also important to use the variants of the key phrase for page in context throughout the copy of the specific page. Use variants and associated phrases on the page rather than mindlessly repeating the phrase.

In hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are essential to good SEO. Of-site links are obviously very important, but do not overlook the importance of the in-page links. You should aim to link to each of your major pages using the principle link phrase from at least one of key page in the site. These links should be as natural as possible and within the flowing copy of a page.

Elsewhere in the site

Google and the other principle search engines are moving much more towards “semantic searching”. This means that context is just as important as specific key phrases. In essence what they are looking for is not just an optimised page, but a page that has context within the site it is sitting in. therefore it is useful to use the key phrases from specific pages throughout the site to reinforce the fact that the page is not in isolation. God places to put these key phrases are in navigation where possible and also in hyperlinks within the copy of other pages.

And Finallyâ€¦

Remember, don’t just write for the search engines, however tempting it may be. If you go overboard then you can fall foul of the search engines and be penalised for spamming. In any case if it looks spammy then your visitors won’t like it and will be more inclined to go elsewhere. Ensure that it reads well, is talking about your subject and also includes the key phrases where it is appropriate to do so.

More information about search engine optimisation.

What would you like to do now?

1. contact us for help with your SEO campaign
2. get some help with your copywriting.

FAQs on SEO (search Engine Optimisation)

by Clinton March 25th, 2011 | SEO | No Comments »

We’ve compiled a few common questions and our responses to the FAQs of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

How do I gain page one rankings for our key areas of business?

1. Identify a broad range of 2, 3 and 4 word key phrases around your subject matter

2. Create a two pronged strategy of quick wins for the long tail results and a progressive strategy for the main key phrases by:

a. optimising all main pages for a range of the key phrases with concatenated phrases (phrases with key words plus supporting long-tail words) to allow quick wins for the longer phrases and gradual ranking increase for the more competitive phrase

b. focusing on:

i. Title tags for search engines

ii. Meta description to increase click throughs

iii. Effective page structure e.g. phrases in H1, H2 tags etc.

iv. Linking under key phrases throughout the pages

v. Review and advise upon copy writing on key pages

How do we ensure that our site ranks higher than our local competitors for key phrases?

1. Ensure you are effectively listed in Google places

2. Encourage clients to post reviews in Google places

3. Ensure you are listed in directories with a regional bias in directories that we know Google rates highly

Drive traffic to our blog and help to establish thought leadership for the authors

1. Provide strategy on how to write effectively for blogs targeting web traffic e.g.

2. Target key phrases as the article titles,

3. Link to pages on your site about these topics under your targeted key phrases

4. Link to other authority sites under your key phrases

5. Encourage other related blogs to link to you

How do I improve key page ranks?

1. All of the above will improve rankings and traffic. To improve further and consistently under a wide range of phrases we will generate targeted back links from other related high quality sites.

2. Create and post articles on related blogs

How do I keep my site up to date with latest SEO strategies?

Guillaume, our Search Engine Manager is always kept current by attending major SE seminars, and subscribes to paid SEM sites. We also test theories and develop our own strategies based upon what we know works. We also do not engage in poor quality techniques such as mass linking, articles publishing on low value sites, cloaking etc. This means you will not be penalised as Google develops and changes it algorithms. But by following their guidance you can only improve rankings as they de-value sites which have not been following their guidance.

Writing copy for PPC (Google Adwords) campaigns

by admin November 18th, 2010 | Online marketing, SEO | No Comments »

Writing copy for PPC campaignss needs to be carefully considered. There are two key areas that are crucial to success in a PPC or Google Adwords campaign.

Writing copy for PPC ads

Writing copy for PPC ads needs to be undertaken carefully. You need to consider the exact phrase speople will be using to search for your services or products and where they are in the decision making stages. If you encourage them to click on your add before they are ready to buy then you risk wasting a lot of your PPC budget, too late and you lose potential customers.

It’s important to identify a wide range of key phrases that are associated with your core audience and prioritise the phrases in terms of the decision making process. Then choose the phrases at the closest point to the actual decision making point. For instance, there can be little point paying poeple to comin to your site when they are reviewing products before having chosen which product to buy. Search engine optimisation would be a better option to pursue for this traffic.

Once you have identified your key phrases, it is important to bear the following points in mind:

include the key buying phrase in the ad copy
focus upon benefits and outcomes rather than features
include a positive call to action, a reason to click through on the ad

Writing copy for PPC landing pages

Healthy outlook in Search Engine Marketing Report

by admin July 6th, 2010 | News, SEO | No Comments »

UK Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Benchmark Report 2010 shows some interesting data
and trends. Guavaâ€™s Martin Dinham presented a range of these at the Online Marketing Show
last week.
Into its fourth publication year, the Report draws on responses from over 500 marketing
professionals from companies, agencies and consultancies. Here are some of the results.

Twitter up front

The bulk of companies surveyed (81%) use Twitter for marketing. This puts it in first place for the
most widely used social media website, just ahead of Facebook at 78%. Interestingly, the amount
of companies adopting Twitter as a marketing tool has risen dramatically from 49% last year.

Driving paid search

Company respondents identified their primary objective for using paid search as:

53% for direct online sales

48% for lead generation

44% for driving traffic and

30% for branding.

Measuring social media

The Report identifies the challenge of measuring success of social media as a significant barrier
to take up for some businesses.

Search and Social outlook

Prospects for search marketing and social media look much stronger than 12 months
ago, with investment increasing strongly for paid and natural search and social media
activities.

Danita Jackson.

An update on links and how they improve your Google rankings

by Lucy May 12th, 2010 | SEO, Tutorial | 1 Comment »

Links are actually quite simple, but can be seen as a dark art. The basic premise from Google is that if a site links to you then it is a vote of confidence in you. However not all links are created equal. So in principle:

Links from related content are best. Related can be by location, content type or sector

Yes, one way links from â€œstrongâ€ sites are best but can be very hard to get and effort is usually best spent in network linking.

We also advise three way linking where possible, where you get a link from site C but link to site B, who then links to site A…

But no links will harm and all should at least give a marginal degree of benefit.

Network Linking
Not necessarily a phrase in common parlance (yet) but something here at Nvisage we are very keen on. Put simply it means to link amongst people you know. Create a list of people you know who have websites. Usually smaller businesses are more likely to want to link with you especially if you are a supplier or buyer. Then, and this is the important bit, ensure the link is the phrase you want to do well for and link to the page that is optimised for the same phrase.

For example, Nvisage undertakes website design, web development and ecommerce development. So we would get a site to link to us under one of these phrases e.g. “web developmentâ€ and get this link to go to our web development page.

How to create an effective SEO campaign

by admin May 10th, 2010 | SEO | 1 Comment »

Topsail events is a Brighton-based event management company specialising in corporate and private events in London on boats. And not just any boats but the historic Thames barges in particular. They have the Unique Selling Point of being one of the few event companies able to get Tower Bridge to open on demand..

After mediocre benefit from previous SEO campaigns, they asked Nvisage to help them identify how to improve their Google rankings. The first rule that we follow is to look not just at a description of the services and products but what motivates potential customers to want the particular services.

In Topsailâ€™s case, they had traditionally targeted and profited from the corporate entertainment market in London. However, given the reason drastic economic downturn and cut backs in corporate entertainment, Topsail was forced to focus more on the consumer end of the market. We therefore created a list of phrases that we identified as having broad appeal across their target markets. A selection of results for the 4 month campaign are as follows:

Main keywords combination ranking
Keywords	7th May	4th Jan
Corporate hospitality Thames river	1st	3rd
Tall ship hire	2nd	n/a
corporate sailing events	5th	10th
Thames dinner cruises	8th	17th
Wedding reception on Thames river	10th	83rd

Guillaume has passed the Google Analytics Qualification!

by Lucy April 22nd, 2010 | News, SEO, Staff | No Comments »

Our in-house SEO Specialist and Digital Marketing Manager Guillaume Busetto has this week taken and passed the Google Analytics Individual Qualification Exam, and we’d like to wish him a big congratulations!

Guillaume has been working towards this qualification using Google Analytics IQ Lessons and passed his exam on Sunday. The questions spanned a wide range of topics including Tracking Methods, Regular Expression and Conversion Optimisation. We are really pleased with his achievement and Guillaume himself can’t wait to put some of his hard work into practice!

Guillaume will be pleased to help you achieve consistent ranking on your website through Search Engine Optimisation, and of course by ensuring you know how to monitorÂ results & website traffic closely with Google Analytics. So do not hesitate to get in touch to find out more!

NVISAGE

+44 (0) 845 094 3331 email

Displaying posts from the 'SEO' category

Benefits of the Ektron Marketing module

Guide to search engine optimisation