Google

The SEO trap

It is well known that most traffic on the internet comes via search, mostly Google, and that nobody looks past the first page of search results, so ensuring your site is optimised for search is vital right? Absolutely! But if you are a business-to-business company, operating in niche markets such as the water, energy, utility, infrastructure or local government sectors, then taking some mainstream advice on SEO can actually backfire and undermine your reputation. How B2B is different To understand this dilemma, first we need to look at some of the main ways that business-to-business (B2B) differs from Business-to-Consumer (B2C). B2C sales are often large-scale and transactional, the target market is large, the decision-making process is quick, and decisions are usually made by individuals. For example, someone might be looking for a new pair of shoes, they’ll search online, click some of the top results, [...]

Making your website Google-friendly will increase traffic

There’s an art to writing for an online audience these days. Not only do you need to produce content that is engaging and interesting to your intended audience, but you need to know the latest SEO trends and at least be aware of Google algorithms to ensure your well-written content is actually found. The folks at Google are pretty transparent with how the search engine works but that doesn’t mean creating optimised copy is easy. In fact, keeping Google happy without making your article confusing to humans can be quite a challenge. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): This refers to any activity used to improve search engine rankings for a website. The aim is to improve organic (unpaid) results. How does Google actually decide what sites are delivered to searchers? Phase 1: Crawlers analyse your site This is far less creepy [...]

You’ll lose customers if your site is not mobile responsive

We’ve known for a while that people are using their phones to view websites, but as of March 2018 Google cares more about how your mobile site looks than the desktop version. If your website is not mobile responsive you’ll be turning away both customers and search engines. It has never been more important to get your mobile site right. What does ‘mobile responsive’ mean? A mobile responsive website changes (or responds) based on the size of the screen on which it is being viewed. Imagine your website has three columns of information, perhaps with some images and text that flows lengthways down the page. This probably looks great on a desktop screen with enough space to see each section clearly. If this webpage was not mobile responsive, it would simply show a smaller version of the site on the mobile screen. Imagine trying to [...]

5 ways to make your images SEO friendly

Images are a great way to enhance your online articles and help you get your point across. People love images, but a picture alone tells search engines nothing about your page which has a negative impact on your search engine results. The good news is there are a few things you can do to stop images hurting your page without removing them completely. Before your site shows up in online searches, crawlers analyse the content to determine what it’s about. The crawlers look for words that allow them to index the site. The indexing then allows search engines such as Google to present your site when people search for related terms. Images alone don’t tell the crawlers anything, they can also slow the loading time of your site which negatively impacts the result. Does this mean we should limit images on websites? Definitely not! Images [...]

Can you outsmart Google with SEO tricks?

Google’s main job is to deliver search results that are relevant to the searcher. If you want your content to be found, it’s up to you to make sure it’s valuable to the reader. Good content is half the battle, but can your ranking be enhanced with search engine optimisation (SEO) methods? There was a time when any pimply-faced teenager could tell you roughly how Google found and displayed websites. We had an explosion of “SEO experts” who promised to improve your rankings without actually improving the content. For a while, things like additional links and big blocks of keywords in text worked, but these don’t cut it anymore. The best way for Google to love you? Posting high quality, relevant content. Let me explain... Google is smart, much smarter than most of these so-called SEO experts, and it didn’t take long for it to [...]

Is content marketing worth the investment?

In today’s world of competing priorities, it’s no surprise that the marketing budget of most companies is being pulled in different directions. Content marketing is gaining popularity as a tool to increase business. When done well, it is a valuable use of advertising dollars. Successful businesses know that before a customer parts with their hard-earned cash they need to know something about what they are buying. Traditionally, businesses would build a customer base through advertising in print, radio or TV. This was great to enhance brand recognition, but customers began to want more information before making a purchase. This need for information helped pave the way for content marketing to make a splash. Many businesses are reducing their traditional advertising budget and opting to put time and money into content marketing. This relatively new style of marketing is tipped by many to be the main [...]

Can Google AdWords improve your business?

Google is a complicated little creature. Most of us know that it somehow reads and indexes our sites in order to deliver results when people search for certain topics. Google is also big business – and has tools available for purchase to increase your chance of being found. Today, we delve into the complex world of AdWords. Increased traffic to your website may increase sales, but only if that increased traffic is from the right avenues and are genuinely interested customers. If the goal is to increase business, there is little point attracting views from people who are not interested in your products or services. Great content on your site should always be your first priority, but Google offers a number of ways to improve visits to your site or increase your page ranking. Many businesses shy away from using these tools and miss out [...]