SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION SEO COMPANY

It’s not everyday Google admits they need to improve their own SEO skills.
However - the day (and report) has arrived!

Google recently conducted an audit on its own website’s (including the Google home page) and it seems not even the Search Engine giant can master their own algorithm.

One of the biggest issues identified was Google’s current title tag. For those of you without an expert SEO company on board to explain what a title tag is, it is the blue line that appears on the top of every web page.

So, what did Google learn from this - they need to use more more descrptive words and phrases in their title tags.

Google even had images that led to “404 pages” (For those out of the loop, these are error pages that exist once the URL is obsolete).

Solution - any page that no longer exists should be redirected to its new location.

Now, let’s not get carried away with being too harsh on the Google’s SEO team though!

They scored well in regards to their internal linking structure, both from an SEO and usability perspective.

What can we learn about this?
Now that we have a bit more of an understanding in regards to the metrics Google used to give themselves this “improvement needed” evaluation - we needto be sure our website fulfills the criteria.

Google is often criticised of being a Big Brother of sorts. This criticism is not completely unwarranted as every time you use Google (or one of their services) you are providing the search engine with information about your online behaviour.
In order to alleviate some of the concern user’s may have Google is launching a “Privacy Dashboard”. This will provide each user with all the information that Google has accumulated in regards to their online user patterns.

So how exactly does this new service work and what can it do for you?

The new dashboard covers more than twenty of Google’s services including Gmail and YouTube. Depending on how many Google services you utilise, you may be surprised at the level and type of information you have given away without being completely aware of!

Having used the Privacy Dashboard myself, I must admit I was a little underwhelmed. Despite Google’s claim that the “scale and level of detail of the Dashboard is unprecedented,” most of the information Google claims that you can now access is actually already available. The true benefit of this new service lies in the fact that you can review your private information stored by Google all in the one place and so this will work to maximise your time.

So what is Google doing to protect your privacy?

This asked in light of Google’s own admission that “Google reads your Gmail account once in a while.” Further, it’s also important to remember that by giving Google our data in the first place, we also give them our permission to do as they see fit with it.

However, this blogger believes that this new service is only letting the user know what information Google already has about their behaviour. This is no cause for alarm as many of Google’s new service offerings and updates have only happened as a result of the data they have collected. Further, if Google’s data collection helps to aid their search function – which in turn will serve users – then the benefits will definitely out way any perceived negativity.

What do you think?

With all the talk surrounding Bing in the last few months (and this blog has certainly been a part of continuing the hype) Google is still King when it comes to search.
ComScore conducted some research comparing user loyalty between Yahoo, Google and Microsoft users - and it was shown that Google’s users are most loyal to that search engine above all others.

This certainly poses a threat to Google’s challenges, as users who search with Google are 70% more likely to return to that search engine.
Further, Google searchers conduct an average of 54.5 searches a month, double the number of searches that Yahoo! and Microsoft users conduct combined.
Currently, Google’s overall search share is at 84%, whilst Yahoo and Microsoft are currently at 73%.

So, what is the challenge for these other engines?
Well it seems that they would have to create such a compelling user experience that will enable them to convert these lighter searchers into repeat visitors. Without providing their users with something new and different, it seems that these search engines will always be second best when compared to Google.
At this stage, with Google’s algorithm being as sophisticated as it is and the quality of results being so good - it is no surprise that Google users are sticking to the search engine like glue.

In the world of content, a blog is really the easiest way to add pages to your site (from an SEO perspective) whilst also adding value to your website. How you ask? If a user finds your post in the search engine results page and comes to your website as result of this - then the more informative and relative your post is to this visitors query the more credible a source your website will seem.

So how can your business benefit from blogging?

The first question to address is whether a blog is really the right avenue to take for your business’ website.
You will need someone on staff to maintain the blog by adding the posts and monitoring any comments made by visitors.
Remember your company’s reputation is on the line so make sure you have the correct measures in place to make the blog as successful as possible.

A blog can help you reach your target audience in an immediate and direct fashion. It can also help current and potential visitors connect in regards to their mutual interest - your business!

This will not only help increase awareness of your brand, but also give your company invaluable insight into the markets thought’s on your offering’s. Best of all this is free.

If not handled correctly, blogging can have a negative effect on your business.
The reason why? This conversation with your market if not maintained correctly could adversely affect your business. If your comments and reply’s to your market’s comments are below par – then this may reflect on your business.

The key – If you are intending to implement a blog, plan first and then you will be set the reap the benefits of your efforts.

When it comes to determining how effective specific landing pages on your website are, it’s important to remember that conversion success can be dramatically increased when needless alternatives and disruptions are removed from the equation.

What does this mean? If a visitor lands on one of the pages of your site and is bombarded with too many alternatives and options the likelihood that they will actually enquire/buy will significantly decrease. It’s essential to remember that the design of the page should highlight the call the action you want your potential clients to take – make it simple and clear.

Ensure each page has one purpose
What is the particular objective of this page? Once you can define this, you can then drive your traffic to this page and with a clear message outlined – lift your conversion rate.

Remove distracting objects that may stop visitors completing your objective
Ensure each element on the page, such as images and photos lead visitors to complete your desired actions. If this is the case – then remove these elements as they will hinder visitors to your site from potentially converting.

What’s your call to action?
Highlight this, make it clear and test what works. If something doesn’t work for your visitors – then it’s time to try something new.

What about pop-us?
These can either work for you or against you. If you require users to fill out information or personal details taking them off-site to a new window or launching a pop-up can disrupt the visitor. Too many clicks can lead a potential client to abandoning their trail of thought and can lead them to disengage with your message.

Bing continues to build on the buzz it has created since its inception into the search market world last month. Now within Bing’s search engine results page Twitter tweets from prominent Twitter users will now be displayed.

How will this work?

When, for example, a user types in “Ashton Kutcher Twitter” or “@aplusk” in the Bing search box the number one result generated will be the most recent Tweet from the the celebrity.
This new offering doesnt mean that if you type in “@averagetwitteruser” that their tweets will be shown. Bing’s creator (Microsoft) stated that it had picked a few thousand Twitter accounts based on their number of followers and the volume of tweets they produce.
Every minute Bing will update the Twitter results they produce from these Twitter users.

Currently, the search engines do index Twitter profiles - however Bing is the first to actually merge its search engine results with actual tweets.

It seems this Bing is continuing their assault on the search market.
Keep your eyes peeled for more Bing news.

Every business should look at the alternatives available to them in order to continually build hype and excitement about their brand.
Let’s face it, with so many brands competing for the market’s limited dollar – what can your business do to get potential and current clients talking about you.

One way in which this is possible, is through online contests in which you can work to get clients excited about your brand and keep them buzzing about the end offer – which is of course a prize. The key is to align this prize with your brand’s message to make the impact even greater.
The trick is to ensure that the contest you plan to run stands out from the rest. This means the right preparation.

Creating the right idea
It’s all in the planning stage and the first step is that you need to figure out what you want from your contest. The question to ask yourself is what can your contest offer that will lead to your objective be it brand awareness, or enticing visitors to sign-up for a newsletter.
Then let the fun begin! What crazy (yet manageable) ideas can you and your team come up with? Think of your target market and think outside the box. You will get points for being different rather than imitating something that has already been done.
The idea is to relate your brand name with something innovative and exciting.

Time Frame Involved
In regards to the timeframe involved how long is the entire process going to run for? This includes the idea generation stage up until the time when a winner is announced.
The types of contests that are most successful are the ones that give people the right amount of time to do what you intend. When you decide what you want the users to do (create and post a video or create a blog post) it’s essential that you have the resources to handle it. It’s also important to find the balance between keeping the contestants in the loop without annoying them until the contest ends.

Contest Promotion
What’s the point of creating a contest if no-one hears about it! This is where social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook can help generate the buzz to get people excited about your contest. The benefit of this is that these marketing outlets will give you the opportunity to get a whole new market excited about your brand. Sure, most people’s primal interest will be in the prize however take this opportunity to be bold and try new things.

And the winner is…
So how does it all end? You have drawn people to your site and they are excited about what you have to offer – so how will you ensure that the final announcement packs the biggest punch? It’s important to remember that all of this new found attention (and potential new customer base) needs to be fostered to reap the contest’s long term benefit.

How do you market a search engine? This is one of the most difficult conundrums facing those who are trying to gain their share of the search market.

Interactions between a search engine and its users tend to be much more frequent than most businesses as visitors are constantly coming back on multiple occasions. The interesting thing about this is that 25% of the time search engines are right on the money, in that they return the type of search results that user’s are looking for.

On the flip side of this, 25% of search results returned were not at all what the user was after.  The reason for this was that the results returned either ceased to exist or simply were not available on the web.

So why is it so difficult to market a search engine? Well the reason is that it’s more difficult to market this type of direct experience – especially if the search result returned is not what the user was after. For new search engines, the aim of the game is to take away some of Google’s traffic and direct it those search engines. This is of course a great challenge for new search engines as users who currently are satisfied with one search engine (think Google) are probably less likely to look at using something new.

There are of course recent scenarios where this may not be the case – but whether this will actually lead to some type of longevity remains to be seen. For example, Microsoft’s new search engine baby Bing has received a lot of hype since its launch which has no doubt lead to a significant number of user’s trialing this new engine. However, will a user permanently make the move to Bing if their search results are not significantly better quality than those of Google’s?

Keep your eyes peeled for an update on the success of Bing in a few months. We will have a clearer indication at that stage whether anyone even remembers what Bing is!

As the world reels from the Global Financial Crisis (insert panicked scream here), those in the know are aware of the benefits that investing in online marketing can bring to their business’ bottom line.
When researching products and tossing up between options - the internet is the most used resource (particularly search engines and company websites).

Given this, there is the opportunity for business’ to boost their bottom line by engaging with search market users - as this audience can be highly targeted and ready to buy! Given this, the ROI on search engine marketing is just so effective. According to Google, 77% of decision makers in the IT market found the vendor, as opposed to the vendor finding them.

The audience is out there; it is now time for business’ to harness the power of search marketing to tap in to the millions of users using this resource. So what is the greatest challenge for marketers; it seems to be recognising and making the most of the endless potential that the web has to offer.
The key is to ensure that as a business you collect all the data you can on your target market – and then use this information to better serve their interests.

Many businesses’ are falling behind as their data collection methods are flawed or lack sophistication.
However, most businesses realise that in order to succeed there will need to be continual innovation, trial and error as well as the on-going passion to better serve their customers.

When watching TV, how often do you flick through the ad’s - just waiting for your favourite TV program to come back.
Well I hardly think I’m alone in doing this, because lets face it, it’s just plain annoying.

The time has now come for these types of ad’s to infiltrate the online world - and David Payne is leading the way, hoping to alter not only the way online ad’s look but also how they are sold.

I’m sure you have come across pop-ad’s during your online surfing time, so whats so different about this type of online ad?

This time, the advertisments will be full screen and deliberately intrusive. They will last for approximatetly 15-30 seconds and will load in-between web pages as you browse through your favourite websites.

So why is this method being touted as the next big thing in online advertising?
Well according to David Payne:

The reason we need change is that brands are not treating in-page display ads as brand vehicles. Payne believes that its time to adopt a bigger, bolder creative and less sensitive approach to the user experience when it comes to online advertising.

So how will you feel about short video adverts rolling whilst you are on the web?
According to some experts in the industry

Companies have tried things like this before with mixed results, but we may be reaching a stage in the growth of our industry that tolerance for this type of video advertising is higher.

For this web user, I must disagree as I feel the primary reason people turn to the web is because they are time poor. Will it make sense for brands to forcefully expose web users to this type of advertisment? What’s your opinion on the matter and with all online ideas - watch this space!