Can having your own blog really help your SEO?

By danielblinman / No Comment

The online marketing times have changed considerably over the last year or two. SEO has rapidly evolved from being a game of beating Google with underhand methods to being a game of working with Google using strictly white hat techniques.

Nowadays, the only way to safely get your site to the top of Google is to adopt natural methods of improving your rankings. If you’re still using black hat techniques then you’re walking the thin line between top rankings and your site being banned by Google completely. One key element that Google’s bots keep a keen lookout for is quality, relevant content that relates to the keywords that Google users type in to their search bar. So, let’s have a look and see if a blog can help you keep Google happy.

Can blogs help with keywords?

I’ve seen too many people stressing wildly over keywords, trying to develop intricate strategies of inserting them into their website copy to attract that all-important traffic. The more keywords you try and target, the harder it is to fit them all seamlessly into your content.

If you’re having issues with using your keywords, or your content just reads like a load of keyword stuffed garble, then there’s really no need to panic. All you have to do is look for a strategic way to keep your content engaging and informative whilst having a keyword rich website.

Larger websites rarely have an issue with finding space for their keywords, but many small businesses have smaller websites, consisting of only around five or six pages. For these sites, keywords pose a problem…a problem that can be effectively dealt with simply by running a blog.

Blogs give you the freedom to write posts focused on one or two of your chosen keywords, thereby allowing you to create content that is relevant to those keywords. All of your blog content is considered your web site content by the search bots, so you’ll start ranking for keywords in your blog even if you don’t have them in the rest of your web copy.

Can they help with content?

If you’re currently spending time on your online marketing campaign then chances are you are sick of the word ‘content’. It’s the hard truth that content is the be all and end all of digital marketing. Google now places huge emphasis on the quality and relevance of content when it performs its searches. So if your site only has a few pages with little text content, then those little search bots are not going to be showing your site favourably in the SERP’s.

For smaller websites that struggle with content the blog is like the Holy Grail. It is a clear cut avenue to keep adding additional content to your website. If you update your blog regularly (weekly or fortnightly is best, but even monthly is good if you’re really strapped for time) then you’re giving those fussy bots something new to crawl when they come through.

When your blog starts building content and keywords your site will start to benefit. Google loves fresh content and relevance, and if used wisely, the blog will satisfy both of these needs.

Can they help with business?

Business owners can be so absorbed with getting their website to rank highly that they forget about how SEO is linked to their business. You want better rankings to attract more traffic, but you also want that traffic to turn into paying customers. If it doesn’t, then your SEO efforts are wasted.

So how does traffic turn into paying customers?

Well, to work this one out you need to understand what makes you a paying customer when you visit a website. For many people it is broken down into three parts:

• Whether the site has what they’re looking for
• Whether the site has the info they need
• Whether the site looks like a trustworthy, authoritative site for its products & services

If a website ticks all of these boxes, then there’s little reason for a potential customer to look anywhere else.

So how do blogs achieve this?

It’s quite elementary really. Blogs give you a platform to display your knowledge and expertise about your business niche. If you are adding high quality content to your blog that provides topics such as industry news, hints and tips, and the developments within your own business, then you are reassuring any potential customers of your authority. The knowledge you disclose in your blog can be a great way for customers to identify you as a company they can trust, and if you update your blog regularly, then these customers are going to come back to your site for the latest news.

In layman’s terms…blogging helps!

Blogging is a practice that is now commonly used by many businesses for the simple reason that it helps with SEO and it helps with business in general. Think of a blog as your online journal, but one that can be sprinkled with keywords to double up as a ranking boosting traffic magnet. Invest a little time in a blog and before too long you’ll be reaping the rewards.

Keywords seo

How to perform keyword research

By clairejarrett / No Comment

Ever wondered where to start with getting selling on Google? A good place is to identify if your target market searches for you online. The only way to do that is to find keywords that they might use, and then find out if there is enough searches per month to make the keyword worth going after. Before we start, I just need to advise you that a keyword may sometimes actually represent a keyword search phrase so may sometimes actually be 2 or more words long! I use the terms interchangeably but I mean the same thing.

The following tips are aimed at beginners and are a way to get started with Search Engine Optimisation.

Open the Google Keyword Tool
Research your keywords by starting off with something that describes you – such as “accountant Bristol”, “florist Clifton” etc. Districts are easier than towns but will have a lot less traffic. Enter the keyword in the box that is marked word or phrase, you don’t need to fill in any other fields at this stage, and click Search
Look through the list and select 3 to 10 which are closely related. If you wish you can download the list into Excel to work on by clicking Download then All. You WILL need the reverse of the keyword phrase as well as plurals and singular. This means “Bristol accountant” and “accountant Bristol” are NOT the same, as “Bristol accountant” and “Bristol accountants” are not the same either!

An example of a good, closely related keyword list is:

Accountant Bristol
Accountants Bristol
Accountants in Bristol
Bristol accountants
Chartered accountants Bristol
Bristol accountant

Top tip – to start just plan to use your homepage as it’s easier and faster to get ranked, for the purposes of this blog we will presume you use only your homepage. Later on you may wish to use other pages for other keyword phrases too

Look at the LOCAL monthly searches
Ignore the competition field as this is used to find AdWords competition
Search volumes of up to 500 are easier and faster to get on the front page for
Higher search volumes than 3,000 are competitive and mean it will take longer

Now you have your keyword list, you’re ready to move onto the next stage, competing the SEO Setup. More on this will follow next week in this SEO tutorial series!

If you have any questions or if you’re struggling, please do comment below. If you’d like to receive a quote for our SEO Services starting from £30 per month – please give us a call on 0800 3277327 or email us at [email protected]

Adwords Keywords seo

Seven ways to increase traffic to your site right now!

By clairejarrett / 12 Comments

Image via Wikipedia

“Getting targeted visitors is difficult”

“I don’t have time to increase traffic to my website”

“No-one is interested in my site – what can I do?”

Just 3 of the comments we’ve heard from potential clients recently, and of course we were quick to contradict the first 2 and answer the third – so here are our top seven ways you can increase traffic to your site TODAY:

Write a blog post
Far too much time is spent worrying about what to write, and not enough time writing! A blog post should take no more than ten minutes of your time once you’ve thought of a subject. Don’t know what to write about? Think about the last 3 things clients or potential clients asked, and write a blog post that answers those questions. That’s what we’ve done here!
Post on your Facebook wall
Whether it’s on your personal profile or your Business page, post a link to your site. In the comment below the link, make it clear what your site offers, and invite your fans / likers / contacts to pass the link on to anyone they think may be interested.
Send a link out to Twitter
As long as you’re sharing other information and having conversations, your Twitter followers won’t mind the odd link to your site. Make sure your Tweet has your main keyphrases in it so that it comes up in the search facility too! (And, if you feel comfortable, ask people to retweet your link).
Comment on someone else’s blog post (maybe even this one?)
Find blogs in your industry or niche, and make a point of commenting on them – every comment gives you the opportunity to link to your own website or blog. Make sure your comments add to the discussion though, don’t just post “Great post!” or “I agree!”
Set up a Google Adwords campaign

Simple to set up, and your ads could be live within minutes. Setting up a test campaign in Google allows you to try out keyphrases to see if they work, which you can then transfer into your SEO campaign. Keep an eye on your budget and tweak accordingly!
Buy some Facebook ads
Again, up and running in minutes, and you can target to the demographic of your choice. You can control your budget and choose whether to promote your website or your Facebook page – in our opinion it’s worth testing a mixture of the two to see which provides the best results.
Post in a business forum
People ask all sorts of questions on business forums, and the chance is that you can answer some of them! Help others out, post your own questions, join in the discussion – every post usually contains your link in the signature, and is a great way to get traffic to your site. Don’t abuse it though, by linking excessively – the signature link should be enough.

There are many other ways to generate targeted traffic to your website – but these 7 should give you a head start. How many will you do today?

Keywords seo

Is your website suitable for SEO?

By clairejarrett / No Comment

Image by aussiegall via Flickr

Does your site measure up?

It’s unfortunate that sometimes we have to turn away SEO clients simply because their websites aren’t up to scratch. It’s hard to tell a client with money in his hand that the website he has paid out good money for just can’t be optimised.

There are many reasons a website isn’t suitable – here are just a few:

IT’S ON A FREEBIE DOMAIN

Whether it’s a free wordpress blog or a free domain on your hosting company’s space, it’s really not worth optimising on a freebie domain. With domain names costing very little these days, take the time to buy either a .com or a .co.uk that suits your company – it’s worth it in the long run.

IT’S AN ALL FLASH SITE

Although there are ways around it, Google still doesn’t like all Flash sites, and we really advise against getting them designed. With web design standards so high now it’s possible to achieve a great looking site without having to hide everything in a Flash movie.

TITLE TAGS CAN’T BE CHANGED ON EACH PAGE

It’s a fact that you can’t optimise one page of a site for every phrase – in fact we recommend a handful of phrases per page. This means that if you want to optimise for 10 phrases, you’re going to need at least 5 pages that can have the title and META tags changed. Many CMSs don’t offer this option, and sadly we have to turn away these clients.

THE SITE IS DESIGNED ALL IN GRAPHICS

Yes, even in 2011 we still see sites designed in Microsoft Pulisher or other programs that render the site all in graphics. Google can’t read them, we can’t help you – sorry!

YOU’RE NOT WILLING TO CHANGE YOUR COPY

In some cases your copy will be fine, but in others we’ll ask you to change some of it, make it more keyword rich, add H1 tags etc – if you won’t or can’t do this then we can’t do our job properly and have to say no.

YOU WANT INSTANT RESULTS ON ULTRA COMPETITIVE KEYPHRASES

Although we have achieved great listings in good timeframes for our clients, we can’t guarantee that you’ll be at #1 in Google for the keyphrases of your choice within a week – no-one can. In fact Google themselves even say not to employ SEO consultants who say they can. We’re ethical and moral and won’t promise something we can’t achieve, so we’d have to turn down the job.

That all sounds a little negative doesn’t it? But rest assured that the majority of people who come to us are taken on board with a big smile – once we’ve checked the above points and made sure we can do the best job for them.

Not sure if your site meets our criteria? Drop us a line and ask 🙂

Adwords Keywords

How do keywords fit into the buying process?

By clairejarrett / No Comment

When carrying out a search, a potential visitor (let’s call them a Searcher) may use a variety of keywords that indicate how far along the buying process they have moved.

Here’s an example:

Digital Camera – Unlikely to buy at this stage as the Searcher is still undecided about the exact make of camera
Nikon Digital Camera – Searcher has now decided upon the brand of camera. Still undecided about the model
Nikon 6MP Digital Camera – Seacher has now decided on the brand and 1 key feature of the camera. May be willing to buy at this stage.
Nikon D40 camera – Searcher has now decided on brand and model and is now actively comparing prices. Now is a good time to advertise prices in your ads.
Buy Nikon D40 Camera – Searcher is definitely seeking to buy and is seeking the lowest price. Definitely place prices in your ads.

So when advertising on Google, you face a choice. The higher up the list your keywords appear in the Searcher’s thought process, the less likely they are to convert if they land upon your site. HOWEVER, if you only advertise on the latter keywords, your ads will have less visibility in their eyes, as they have been exposed to it once only or twice. Therefore you need to test what will happen if you advertise at all these stages, or just one or two of the later stages.

What keywords do your buyers use? Map out their thought processes and plan your keyword tests today!

Adwords Keywords

Using Dynamic Keyword Insertion in your AdWords advert headings

By clairejarrett / 3 Comments

Dynamic Keyword Insertion can be very useful for long lists of related, similar keywords where it is too time consuming to create an ad group for each permutation.

Instead, you can use Dynamic Keyword Insertion in the advert heading, and it will automatically prefill with the keywords the searcher has used.

For example, if you have a list of keywords such as:

chipmunks cage
cage for chipmunks
chipmunk cages for sale

and many other related very similar keywords, this option should definitely work well for you.

So – to use Dynamic Keyword Insertion, do the following:

{KeyWord:Phrase Goes Here}

Category : Keywords

Can having your own blog really help your SEO?

Can blogs help with keywords?

Can they help with content?

Can they help with business?

So how does traffic turn into paying customers?

So how do blogs achieve this?

In layman’s terms…blogging helps!

How to perform keyword research

Seven ways to increase traffic to your site right now!

Is your website suitable for SEO?

How do keywords fit into the buying process?

Using Dynamic Keyword Insertion in your AdWords advert headings

How To Use Facebook To Create Qualified Leads Ready To Buy On The First Call

How To Fill Your Coaching Programs Using Facebook Ads

How To Use Your Blogs To Bring In Leads, Sales & Create Expert Authority

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From pregnant at 16, living in a 9th floor council flat – to making £50k per month my current normal