Posts Tagged ‘keyword research’

Google – important changes that will effect search rankings

SEO Scotland, Technology | Posted by Gavin
Jul 17 2009

google-searchWhenever 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:

  • Videos
  • Forums
  • Reviews

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 blog 

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Transmission specialist in Scotland ideal for your Audi, BMW or Mercedes – now online

Business News, Client News | Posted by Katie
Jul 14 2009

autotransWe are pleased to announce the new website for Autotrans is live.   Autotrans specialise in gearbox repair, build and replacement and are leading transmission specialists.  Where other garages have failed Autotrans can usually come to your rescue.  We are delighted to bring them on board as a new customer for the search engine optimisation and Internet marketing of the new site.  The website itself was designed and built by Severn Internet Services as we like to work with their content managed systems.  David Harrison and his team can provide a CMS that is easy to use, can be added to when the customer wants new things such as newsletter sign up or image galleries and it is always a good idea to work with a company you can rely on and trust!

Good luck to Ewan and Ren with their new business and if you would like more information on our Internet marketing services then why not get in touch

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The Burning Question – ‘How do I drive web traffic to my website?’ Pt1

SEO Scotland | Posted by Gavin
Jul 13 2009

Part 1.0

How to drive traffic to your website

How to drive traffic to your website

So you have your new website and now you need to get visitors to it and generate sales.  Assuming that you have identified your online competitors and evaluated the phrases that you wish to target (see my recent article on keyword research), Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the starting point for getting web traffic to your site.

SEO is the process by which a website is ‘made ready’ for both search engines and the human visitors alike.  

SEO for search engines

The subject of your site generally and site pages specifically must be clearly communicated, whilst focusing on your targeted key phrases – a search engine must be able to ‘read’ the different attributes of your pages clearly and concisely so that it may effectively index the site.

Some key SEO attributes

  • Meta tags
  • Text based navigation
  • Page/Content headings
  • Contextual linking
  • Text style attributes
  • Image naming/alt tagging

SEO for site visitors

The content of your website must be well constructed, engaging and relevant to your target user group(s), answering questions that they have in relation to the products and services that you are offering. Ensure that you give the user plenty of opportunity to contact you or find out more information – add some value to your content:

  • Run a special offer
  • Discount a product
  • Run an online competition
  • Always ensure that your content is up to date
  • Encourage feedback

Good, content will make people want to re-visit your site and create a platform of recommendation to others requiring the same type of products and services.

All the points covered in this brief article relate to what occurs on the pages of your site – I will begin to look at what influences traffic driven to your site by other websites, search and content networks in part 2.0 – coming soon!

visit www.aviemorebusiness.co.uk for more information

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Social Media lead generation can help with SEO in Scotland

Business News, SEO Scotland | Posted by Katie
Jul 10 2009

hubspot-logo-300x114Yesterday I watched a free webinar from Hubspot called Social Media Lead Generation.  It was a very down to earth and basic introduction into the world of social media and I cant say I learnt anything new, however, it is quite good to take 1/2 hour out sometimes and just refresh your knowledge.  We have been delving into the depths of social media and you can get a bit lost and very sidetracked so having someone just spell out the obvious every now and again is quite refreshing.  Hubspot has been a rare find for us and their webinars are always informative….. just remember the time difference if you are in the UK – it has been known in this household for expletives to be used when ‘we’ have realised that we missed the live event by a couple of hours.  Anyway, they always post the webinar after the event so you can view at your leisure and I would recommend you take a look.  When you have done that and you would like us to help you set up something for your own business then you know you just have to contact us and we will gladly talk Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn with you!

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Research is the ABC of SEO

SEO Scotland | Posted by Gavin
Jun 20 2009

Following on from my recent post about competitor and online market research, when selecting the phrases to target for search engine optimisation – I’d like to throw out a few further ideas. 

It is essential that you know who, what and where your competitors are – both on and offline, in order to make informed decisions regarding the online marketing of your website. You will have an idea of the ‘primary’ key phrase that relates most accurately to what your site is about, this may or may not be the best phrase to target  (but I’d like to cover that in a later post), however for the purposes of this post just go with one that springs to mind.

Your Competitors

Who – You will have an idea of who you think your competitors are, but are they competing for the phrase that you want to tartget? Make a search for the keyphrase that you have chosen – which site is in position 1 in Google (the gods of search)?, is it the site that you thought would be there?

What – What is the site ’selling’? is it the same products/services or similar to yours? and what sets you apart in terms of unique selling points? What levels of functionality does the site have, in order to engage the user? and what call to action, offers and other ‘communication’ methods are on the site?

Where – is the business local to you or is it a national company? maybe is isn’t even a business in Scotland! Consider whether your target markets would use this site to buy something that you can provide.

With all these things considered, you can then begin to look at the competitivenes of that phrase (there are various tools availabe to help you here) and whether your budget and SEO skills allow you to compete in this ’search space’.  If so, begin to look at what value that top site has, domain age, number of inbound links, how the on page optimisation has been performed etc., then you will know whether:

  • a) this is the right search phrase to target
  • b) what your site must include and how much work is involved to rank for the phrase
  •  c) the potential return (in £’s) for a page 1, position 1 ranking

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