Category: Marketing

When creating a website, it is important to spend some time making sure that people will actually visit it, and that they are impressed when they get there.

SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is a process that can help to raise a website closer to the top of the list of search engine results. It is a vital part of website creation, but one that is not always carried out by web design companies. For this reason, it is important to be aware of the process yourself so that you can make sure that your site is as efficient and high-profile as possible. As 75% of people will not scroll past the first page of search results, the higher up the list your link appears has a massive impact on how many people will visit it.

The SEO process focuses on organic (non-paid or natural) search results, as research has shown that approximately 70-80% of web users will ignore sponsored links and skip straight to the first of the non-paid links.

There are two key types of SEO; onsite and offsite. Both are necessary to maximise the benefits of the process, can be tweaked to suit you and complement each other to create a comprehensive Search Engine Optimisation package that works for you and your business.

Onsite SEO

The first type of SEO service is known as onsite. This term refers to a process in which your website is tweaked to increase its appeal to search engines, as well as your human visitors. Obviously, a search engine cannot examine your site subjectively in the same way that a person can – rather than reading your content and evaluating how your site looks, a search engine will simply judge it mechanically on a purely technical basis.

This is where onsite SEO comes in. There are a number of things that need to be considered in order to move your website further up the search results list. Onsite SEO includes tasks such as checking for and fixing broken links, making sure each page has a good, descriptive title, adding relevant keywords to titles, alt tags and meta tags, and streamlining the site navigation. These are just a few examples of important onsite SEO tasks. A more complete list can be found here: http://www.seomark.co.uk/on-site-optimisation/.

Offsite SEO (the second stage of the process) will not necessarily be particularly effective without first considering and fixing any issues with your site itself, so it is highly recommended that you focus on onsite tasks first.

Offsite SEO

The second type of SEO process is known as offsite. This is an umbrella term used to describe the tasks required to promote your website across the internet. There are a number of ways that you can raise the profile of your website, and of your brand itself. Successful marketing strategies can include insightful, knowledgeable forum posts or comments on sites relevant to your industry, press releases, viral videos (posted on sites such as YouTube and branded to link back to your site) and banner advertisements. You could also establish your brand on social networks such as Twitter or Facebook, and encourage people to ‘like’, ‘share’ and ‘retweet’ your content.

There are three key tips to keep in mind when planning your offsite SEO strategy. The first is to remember that whenever you post a message or comment on something online under your professional name, you are representing yourself and your brand. Always make sure that anything you post is of a high quality, informative, knowledgeable and written in a professional tone.

Next, consider carefully any sites that you decide to pair up with, for example with link swapping or networking. Only enter into agreements with websites or networks that will suit your purpose, and of a high standard. Partnership with irrelevant sites can look sloppy and unprofessional, and pairing up with poor sites can colour a visitor’s perception of your own brand negatively.

Finally, keep in mind that offsite SEO is not a one-off process. Your marketing plan should evolve alongside your industry, the internet and even factors such as the economy. Be prepared to re-visit your offsite SEO on a reasonably regular basis in order to help maintain the reputation you have built up online.

Sources (all accessed on 26/04/2013):
http://www.seomark.co.uk/on-site-optimisation/
http://www.seomark.co.uk/off-site-optimisation/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/24-eye-popping-seo-statistics/42665/ (figures used in introduction)

Penguin 2.0: What it means

The new google algorithm, named Penguin, has ensured that new content is free from spam and pages are more relevant to search results. This is not only good for webmasters but also for users, since much of the content they searched for before was not relevant to what they were looking for. This resulted in lots of “spammy” content, such as pages which were quickly typed up solely with SEO and keywords in mind and without thinking about the quality of the content much.

The announcement from Matt Cutts, head of the Webspam team, was that the current Penguin algorithm has further improved the previous version. The emphasis, as previously mentioned, is still on high-quality content with natural and fluent language instead of convoluted language for purposes of SEO.

Somewhat before the current Penguin update, Mr Cutts made a video which was displayed on the official Google Youtub channel. This video instructed users on the most important changes which would take place with the incoming google algo. These changes include identifying bogus searches or queries, keyword stuffing, odd links and generally unethical content. By unethical, shady black-hat SEO practices are implied.

Matt explained in the video that the current update will further streamline searches and provide users exactly what they are looking for; this content will be well written and natural, and also provide accurate information which pertain to the searches.

Other Major Changes

Penguin 2.0 is also concentrating on targeting users who try and manipulate page rank with the very techniques indicated above. These are not only in the form of keyword stuffing, but also inbound linking and text placed in the anchor which is used specifically to obtain a favourable rank within search engine results. While these practices will always find some kind of weakness in the algo, and therefore cannot be stopped completely, the new algorithm should put a considerable stop on shady matters and suspicious web code.

Avertorial spam is also being heavily targeted, and while not many users or even web masters may be aware of it it takes place a lot. This practice is also a black-hat technique and entails writing content which isn’t designed to help users or provide information, but has the sole purpose of re-directing users to content which isn’t at all related to the original query. The purpose of this is to boost ad revenue and also the page ranks of the site itself. Hopefully, with the current improved state of Penguin this is a practice which will be stopped completetly.

Overall, the new algo will make sure that users can find what they are specifically looking for, without having to waste time cirmunavigating to information which does not pertain to the original search. This can waste considerable time, particularly for businesses which rely on information obtained from the web. These can be individuals working for offices or even educational establishments which heavily rely on daily web searches and the quality of information obtained in this manner.

What This Means for Content Providers

Hence, web masters will now be aware of what the new algorithm does and how they can recover in case of a major disaster (in terms of page ranking). The key word here is “quality;” as long as web masters and content providers are able to give quality to their user base, there is no need to worry.

Lastly, make sure these points and the new changes are understood so that the recovery process is as smooth as possible. Remember: as long as keywords are naturally integrated, content is informative and quality is high the page rank will eventually rise all on its own.

In April 2012, Google rolled out an extensive algorithm update. Code-named Google Penguin, the update targeted websites which violated the Google Webmaster Guidelines in an effort to boost their page rankings. Websites which were participating in link schemes and using SEO techniques like content duplication and keyword stuffing were identified by Penguin and had their page rankings dropped. Penguin was part of Google’s on-going effort to provide the most relevant, high quality and content rich websites to its users. Although Google is yet to announce when its next big algorithm update will be unleashed on unsuspecting webmasters, speculation as to what changes the search engine will be making has set the technology world abuzz.

Merchant Quality

Speaking at SXSW, senior Google engineer Matt Cutts hinted that the next update might focus on the quality of merchants that are retrieved in its search results. Google currently collect information about e-commerce stores via its Google Trusted Stores programme, but the new algorithm could factor in other ratings and rankings to assess the quality of online merchants. This could be good news for consumers who are looking for trusted websites to purchase goods from and it may make it easier to find products and services. However, small niche businesses could suffer from such an update if big consumers are given preference in the search results.

It’s All About the Content

Google strives to create the best user experience for browsing the web. The service Google provides relies on the quality of websites it retrieves in its search engine results. Before Google refined its algorithms, dubious webmasters could repeat keywords and duplicate content to boost their rankings. When Google Panda (Penguin’s predecessor) hit in 2011, Google specifically targeted websites with thin content. Nearly 12 per centof all website rankings were affected by Panda. Penguin made similar tweaks to Google’s algorithms by targeting low quality content, so it wouldn’t be surprising if their next big update has similar ramifications. Content strategy is more important now than ever, and webmasters must have a steady and quality stream of content if they want to prove the quality of their website to Google.

Social Media Tidy Up

Link participation and referral schemes have long been labelled as ‘black hat’ SEO techniques, but it seems like some websites are employing similar tactics with social media. The amount of ‘Likes’ and ‘Followers’ a website has should be a reflection of its quality and an indication of how active its community is and how much content they generate. However, while social media can help boost a website’s traffic, webmasters who pursue this sort of social activity may find themselves on the back-end of a Google algorithm update. Google could start weighing disproportionate social media activity against the worth and content of the website and affect its page ranking accordingly.

Link Profiles

In October 2012, Google launched a disavow link tool. When ranking a website, Google checks to see what kind of links it receives from other sites. These incoming links determine the quality of a website because link schemes and paid links violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Google sees these low quality links as being spammy and artificial and they reflect badly on the website they are linking to, ultimately affecting its ranking and link profile. Using the disavow tool, webmasters are able to flag third-party, low quality links and ask Google not to take them into consideration when ranking their website. As Google have made link profiles a focus point in this way, the next algorithm update could up the search engine’s efforts of weeding out spammy backlinkers.

Poorly Formatted Websites

A website’s user experience isn’t just defined by its content. Users must be able to intuitively navigate websites to find the content they want. Google already penalises websites which have broken links, so it may turn its attention to those that are poorly optimised and suffer from slow performance. Websites that take too long to load pages, have buggy code or invalid page elements could be the focus of the next algorithm update. Also, with the rise of smartphone and tablet browsing, Google may take a look at the coding of websites which offer mobile optimised navigation.

We are all aware that a product or service is only as good as the amount of correct exposure it receives. In the past, traditional marketing methods would have included mail shots, newspaper advertisements and perhaps the odd television commercial or two. However, with the advent of the IT revolution, the landscape of marketing has been forever altered. Now, proper implementation of SEO is key to the continued exposure and success of a company’s ongoing business operations. Even static webpages have now been overtaken by the potency of online rankings, the integration of social media and the need to comprehensively update blog posts. Articles like this clearly illustrate how such power can be leveraged. While the necessity of such vehicles cannot be overstated, why has proper SEO become so expensive? Let us look at a few key factors that can shed some light on this important question.

The Cost of Establishing a Brand Online

First of all, it must be understood that providing a new brand with the beneficial exposure it needs is no easy task. Indeed, this was the same scenario we used to witness in the days of traditional marketing. However, as the internet is “virtual” advertising space, many believe that the price of efficient marketing should be lower. This is simply not the case, for an extensive amount of demographic research needs to be done to clearly establish which keywords need to be used and what niche market is the best to target. As the internet represents a much wider client pool than a regionally-limited strategy, expenses can run high should a business wish to employ a reputable service. As can be seen here, there is much to consider.

Expertise Costs Money

Simply stated, you get what you pay for. There are some small businesses who believe that cutting corners on SEO is a viable option and instead allocate their funds into the product itself. However, paying for a less-than-optimum SEO specialist can profoundly hinder a publicity campaign. As this post explains, quality is key to success. Without this expertise, rankings will be lower, a website will experience less inbound traffic and conversion rates may suffer as a result. This can be especially devastating to newer websites that have little or no SEO from the onset.

SEO is About Quality Content

While rankings use algorithms, SEO content requires writers who have a distinct expertise in their respective fields. Not surprisingly, these writers can come with a hefty price tag. However, this can be likened to using a first-rate marketing agency to create a unique and innovative television commercial or magazine ad campaign. The results are just as tangible, and the long-term rewards will quickly exceed the short-term liquid outlay. It must always be remembered that simply stuffing a blog post or a homepage with hastily thrown together keywords is horribly inefficient. At best, the text will read robotic and absurd, at worst it will sound too much like a sales pitch and potential customers may shy away from such an approach. Rather, quality SEO writing is more of an art form than a marketing campaign. The writer must present a palpable melange of both content and eye-catching statements. He or she must find a balance between the hard sell and the personable approach that will keep visitors coming back.

Planning Takes Time

Proper implementation of SEO takes time, and time is money in any business. While many businesses only see the end product, they must realise that hours and even days can go into a successful campaign. Furthermore, adaptation also may be required. The simple fact is that a good SEO professional will spend 10 to 20% of the time actually writing the material. The remainder will be spent on developing the correct strategy to have the literature reach the correct market and to increase search engine rankings. This “behind the scenes” work is just as important as the end result.

These are a few of the primary reasons why SEO can appear expensive. Nonetheless, it should always be remembered that should a successful strategy be found, the benefits can make a short-term investment well worth it. As the online community represents a virtually unlimited arena for growth, SEO needs to be an integral part of any online operation.

Does this title sound more like a maniacal scheme by a government to infect upper management with a new form of social disease? Well, although such phrases as “viral dissemination” may sound a bit worrisome, they are simply defined as distributing content that is popular and engaging to the relevant people to help increase the exposure of a product or service. Social media managers happen to be the most receptive, and therefore it makes the most sense to grab their attention whenever possible. The “viral” aspect can be attributed to the fact that social media platforms have become one of the widely-used and powerful platforms that companies can employ to effectively reach their target audience. So, it proves wise to understand what content can be considered viral and a few of the best ways to distribute this information to the right social media managers.

What is “Viral”?

The term “viral” came about in the latter part of the 20th century and is defined as any media which attracts a large amount of attention within a short period of time. Most larger advertising agencies will attempt to use viral advertising to “hook” a certain demographic. With the power of social media the reach of viral media has never been greater. A video may be posted and shared that achieves millions of hits within a few days. Similarly, a simple picture or phrase may become the slogan for an entire movement. Indeed, this was seen during the recent Arab Spring uprisings when millions copied and pasted viral videos and pictures which spread like electronic wildfire across the web. So, simply stated, a “viral” piece of media tends to be catchy, memorable, amusing and sometimes even shocking. Either way, it will draw an audience’s attention and will spread mainly through public forums and social media platforms. A more comprehensive definition of “viral” can be found here.

The Unparallelled Reach of Social Media

Although many of us many not realise it, the word “viral” had little place in our modern lexicon before the rise of social media networks. As a viral piece of media is one which can be shared an indefinite amount of times, social media sites have provided the fuel for such exposure. Reputable news sources have indeed picked up on this phenomenon, such as seen on this site. What is even of greater benefit to a company is that social media relates to little or no financial outlay, thus advertising expenses can be drastically reduced or even eliminated altogether. All that is needed is a witty statement, a catchy video or a picture that captures the immediate, albeit perhaps short-lived attention of an audience. Social media provides the perfect framework for such a spread.

It is Called the Web for Good Reason

Let us not forget that astute social media managers are keenly aware that although social media is extremely important in a marketing campaign, a large part of the viral nature of certain content relies on the fact that this information is linked to numerous other media sites, blog repositories and standalone homepages. Thus, while social media managers may view social platforms as the “hub” of a marketing campaign, they also recognise the power that the web can provide to link media to other locations; therefore increasing the likelihood of it going viral, as stated here.

It is obvious that the main point of initiating a viral campaign is to get the attention of social media managers who are aware of the potency it can provide. Therefore, a properly implemented social media plan needs a few things to produce viable results:

• A catchy theme that is easily recognised and can be replicated
• Exposure across multiple social platforms
• Links to a homepage or other “hub”

By following these guidelines, what may one day be an interesting topic for a few individuals may soon spread like wildfire; becoming the next million-hit internet wonder. As intuitive social media managers grow in numbers, they will be further drawn to such strategies and the company that appreciates such exposure may very well find itself on the crest of the next great wave of success on the internet.

Almost as soon as internet chat rooms, social media sites and forums arrived, the darker side of the internet made itself known. This gave rise to what is now known as trolling, the process of leaving provocative, or controversial statements on chat threads, with the express aim of derailing conversations and getting the thread to go off topic, or even to inflame the tempers of other users and to incite a flood of angry replies.

<h2> How Far is Too Far? </h2>

As with many things, some trolls take it too far, leaving threatening messages, or making cruel statements such as that left by troll Sean Duffy on a page set up to commemorate the life of Natasha McBryde who was killed on a railway track. He was gaoled for 18 weeks after he left several heartless comments, such as ‘I fell asleep on the track lolz.’ causing more grief and unnecessary suffering to her family. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14898564

<h2> The Authorities are Catching Up with Trolls</h2>

The authorities are working with representatives from the large internet service providers and social networking management to try to ease out the ability to remain anonymous when posting on websites. There are ways that even anonymous users can be tracked down, but the general feeling is that if someone is posting under their own real name, perhaps even with a photograph of themselves attached, they will become more aware that they are visible and traceable; not a ghostlike figure that can vanish into the ether on a whim. When trolls feel invisible they often feel that they can get away with unacceptable behaviour, because they are safe at home, possibly tucked up in bed, and they feel invulnerable and untouchable.

<h2>Can Trolling Ever Be a Good Thing? </h2>

However, it is a fact that there is no debate without opposing views and some clever marketers and bloggers have been using the art of trolling to make a loud, declarative statement that is completely controversial on threads, always ensuring that they leave clear links to their own website, social media page or blog. This is where trolling can, perhaps, be seen as useful; if everyone agreed all the time there would be little scope for lively discussion and energetic verbal parrying. For example ‘The sky is blue.’ is an inoffensive, usually true statement, which will get little response other than ‘Yes, and?’ or ‘I agree.’ – whereas making a bold and outrageous statement like ‘I have always thought the sky was more green than blue, it just looks blue because of the ocean reflecting up at it, check out my theory on xyz.com!’ is sure to get a huge response, from people who think you are rather daft, to earnest scientists who will explain the truth about the colour of the sky, to those who realise that your statement was all in fun! A few cynics might even tumble to your ploy and ‘out’ you, giving you an excellent chance to put in a strong plug for your site again!

<h2>What Harm is There? </h2>

However, for the above method to properly be considered ‘trolling’ it would require actually angering the target audience in the hope of attracting traffic to your blog or website, and this practise is beginning to lose whatever marginal entertainment value it ever had. Blogs and web hosts are cracking down on trolls, quickly deleting comments and links and requiring posters to adhere to clearly laid out terms and conditions of use, as well as providing real names and contact information. http://www.momeomagazine.com/trolling-for-traffic-is-it-worth-tarnishing-your-brand-for-clicks/

If this is a policy that you currently use to drive traffic to your site, or even if you are thinking about doing it, consider this: Information stays on the Internet FOREVER! In a world where a home video can be viewed by millions of people all over the world in mere days, it is highly advisable that you keep your Internet footprint clean and something that you can be proud of. Add to that, the fact that scientists have now found that trolling makes you stupid, and suddenly it does not seem to be such a clever idea, after all! http://liberalconspiracy.org/2013/01/10/actual-evidence-shows-trolling-makes-you-stupid/

To summarise; while the thought of attracting a lot of traffic to your site in a very short time might be a tempting prospect this process must be used only with caution, and perhaps it would be better to present a humorous and caring approach rather than a spiteful and small-minded one.

Content marketing has become important to companies in recent years. But, in 2013, there are content marketing wars taking place on two fronts.

THE TWO BATTLES

Firstly, there’s the battle between companies trying to capture hearts and minds by aiming to be THE definitive source of news and information, and, ultimately, product and services. The second battle is that of the actual content producers. Some content is produced in a traditional, manual way by teams of copywriters, photographers, editors and producers. The other way content is produced is by automatic means, and through robots.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BELIEVABLE CONTENT

Companies have realised more and more the importance of good content, as it’s a subtle way of grabbing the attention of a prospective customer. The likes of Amazon picked up on this very quickly. It’s one thing to have lots of good products, but how do you sell it without beating people over the head? The answer is to provide lots of good content, and use customer reviews, which are freely provided. The content then becomes believable by being an honest appraisal of a product. This also reflects well on the company, because even very negative reviews are included. Companies that actively encourage feedback can then utilize that feedback to create relevant and interesting content. As the public normally appreciate their opinions being sought, this becomes doubly beneficial to companies.

GOOD CONTENT CREATES A FAVOURABLE IMPRESSION

Any prospective customer who feels that he or she has been given interesting information, and in an entertaining way, will often have a favourable impression of the company – and before they’ve even purchased anything. Though selling a product or service is obviously the goal, companies are increasingly aware that potential customers are not going to be so swayed by the hard sell as they were in the past.

CONTENT INFORMATION WARS ARE INTENSIFYING

Content marketing wars are intensifying, with personalized messages tailored to our likes being fired at us from all directions. But, business is business. We have been listened to, and we are only being given information about stuff we have said that we’re interested in. So, companies attempt to outdo each other competing for our attention with great content.

THE SHIFT FROM SEO

Google’s Panda has also put pressure on website owners and bloggers to come up with unique and good content. Previously, SEO had been king, which often irked, ironically, some good content producers. So, companies now need to provide good and new content to appear high on Google – or risk losing out to competitors they may have been previously comfortably outselling.

ROBOT v HUMAN

Content is also being produced automatically by robots, as people’s likes are becoming recognised, and then similar material is offered mirroring individual tastes. Using robots, with an ability to produce content very quickly and with a specific target audience in mind, will appeal to many companies. Using humans only to create content may be a slower process, but it will result in being able to create content that is truly individual.

SOCIAL MEDIA A KEY BATTLEGROUND

There are many ways that a company can engage prospective customers with its content. Recently, infographics have been one way of doing so, as they provide illuminating information in a way that is easy to digest. Video is an effective medium when it comes to grabbing attention, and social media is a good way of getting information out to a massive amount of people very quickly. Using video and social media can be particularly effective, and gaining favour with social media users is a key battleground when it comes to content marketing wars.

HOW GOOD CONTENT IMPROVES CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The definition of good content for any company is content that is both impactive and relevant. If an audience feels that it can relate to the content, then the chances of sales are greatly enhanced. Good customer experience will also help to develop a sense of loyalty between brand and customer.