Business News & SEO in Scotland
Google’s recent ’show options’ addition to the SERP’s have provided additional search filters and I would like to continue this series of posts by looking at video.
Google Video Search Filter
We all know about YouTube, Google’s video sharing website, where users can upload and share video content. Since Google aquired YouTube in Nov 2006, it has fast become an internet phenomina in it’s own right and I recent read that it is the second most used search resource.
Google’s video filter option reinforces the value Google places on the ‘improved user experience’ and highlights the power of video to inform as well as entertain – something that text based content cannot do.
By using the video filter link, video based results are listed that best match the search query, including mini screenshots in the search results. The user then has further options that allow the results to be filtered by length, most recently upload etc.
SEO Actions – Utilising Video Search
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Part 2.0
Off Page SEO
In my last post I talked about the on page SEO factors that influence the levels and quality of traffic that your website gets. So, you have optimised your site for the search phrases that you are targeting and can now wait for some leads and sales, right? – wrong! When I started optimising websites for high search engine rankings, the on page stuff, if done correctly, would pretty much ensure that your site would rank well. Yes, you had to ‘tell’ the engines that the site was there but most of the influential ranking factors occurred on page, not off page.
Off Page Search Engine Optimisation
Off page search engine optimisation is a strategy whereby you build/raise the profile of your website via other online channels.  Getting product/service related content links and listing information placed on third party (preferably topic related) websites builds an ‘online buzz’ about your business.Â
The objective of this strategy is to build your website as:
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Most people associate off page optimisation with link building, a much used (and abused) form of generating online references and listing of websites.
Link Building or Link Popularity [a definition]
Off Page SEO - Link Building
Link Popularity refers to the number of links pointing to your site from other sites on the web. There are other terms used for Link Popularity, such as Link Building, In-Bound Links, Back Links, etc. If other high ranking and reputable sites link to your site, search engines will consider your site to be important within its subject field. If your website is constructed correctly and carries well-written, relevant and informative content, its chances of ranking well increase.
There are two types of links you can establish on the web. One type is to trade links (Link Exchange), where you give a link from the links page on your site to the partner site. The second method is to establish only “incoming links” also called One-way Links or Non-Reciprocal Links. With non-reciprocal links, you do not need to link back to them. There are several ways of developing In-bound links.
Getting it Right
Link building can be very effective if done correctly. Over time link building has been abused with many sites using ‘link farms’ or link directories and auto submit applications in order to get high numbers of inbound links. By definition, many of these link directories hold no value with search engines as they see them for what they are. Ensure that your link building is natural and above all topical – contact and speak to people that you would like to link to/from, network with other likeminded people/businesses and associated site administrators. Remember it is quality not quantity!
Link building is the first step in off page optimisation and one that all site owners and SEO’s must address when marketing any business online. However as is the nature of the Internet – ever changing, many more off page optimisation opportunities exist and I will look at these in Part 3.0 – coming soon!
visit www.aviemorebusiness.co.uk for more information
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Whenever you read or mention Google in relation to a question along the lines of – how does Google rank my site?, what SEO factors does Google consider the most important? or how do I get page 1 rankings in Google?, you will get a mutitude of answers from various sources both on and offline.
Over recent years Google has come to dominate all things search and most things search related by providing us with ’stuff’ that enhances our ‘user experience’ – these are key watchwords for the biggest success story in modern times, striving to improve the quality and relevancy of the information that we require, so that we continue to use Google as part of our everyday ‘online’ lives.
So I guess our answer to our questions above would be another question?!:
When I review my site and practices relating to SEO and online promotion, am I contributing or detracting from building a positive user experience? – and there is your answer
Google and the new Search Options
In line with Google’s whole ’user experience’  idea, they have added new features to the SERP’s, providing user driven options for filtering, adjusting and even expanding the search results that are displayed. Google have publicly stated that ‘a large portion’ of searches will be made using these options in the near future.
These new Show options … are displayed at the top left of most SERP’s and contain additional search filtering options such as:
Further filter options enable you to display by relevancy, most recent and the option to display images from the pages. Additionally and perhaps most importantly for SEO’s, there is Wonder Wheel and Timeline filter which has far reaching implications in relation to key phrase research & tageting.
So, what does all this mean and how can we ensure that ‘our house is in order’ so that as these options become more widely used, we know that we have acted and do not have to re-act?
… I will look at each option in more detail in coming posts on this blogÂ
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