Many companies look at Search Engine Optimisation as a way of bringing in more enquiries / sales for their business. It is widely known that search trends suggest that anything page two or beyond on the search listings hold very little value, and the ideal place for any business is the top 5 positions on the first page.
But are you targetting the right audiences, or are you missing a trick. As the WWW provides companies with global reach, its sometimes easy to forget your local clients. This is where localised search can help.
More and more, people are using search engines for local services. How is this done? Just by adding a town or city into the search phrase!
So if you are a London based courier company, you should absolutely be considering SEO for key search terms like London Courier, and the chances of you getting good listing are much higher than simply optimising for Courier!
Still not convinced? We have just launched our 6 month localised SEO package so why not get in touch us (info@esoftware-solutions.com) to find out more about localised search.
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Optimising your keywords and phrases in the Title Tag of your web page
Choosing the right keywords for any SEO Campaign is absolutely essential. The keywords create a foundation on which the entire project is built.
But once you have your keywords what do you do with them?
The Title text of your web page is what you see in your Web Browsers address bar. This should be a short, concise description of your web page and should be no more than 100 characters in length. Many SEO’s beleive that the Title tag is THE most important part of the page in terms of web page optimisation, although that could be disputed.
You should always ensure that you are using your keywords in your Title tag, and that you have formatted it correctly. Where possible seperate your keywords using a comma or pipe ( | ) symbol. This creates a definite break in the Title tag text so that the search engines know its the end of the word or phrase. For example:
Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing and Web Design
Is not a good way to format your Title Tag, where as
Search Engine Optimisation | Internet Marketing | Web Design
Is the optimised way to format your Title Tags.
You will see that the optimised way to format your Title Tag removes any unnecessary words - how easy is that!
A well optimised page can see your (established) web site shoot up the rankings by hundreds of places in a space of 48 hours. For new builds or immature domains you may find this takes longer as Google builds up a trust relationship with your site.
But once you have your keywords what do you do with them?
The Title text of your web page is what you see in your Web Browsers address bar. This should be a short, concise description of your web page and should be no more than 100 characters in length. Many SEO’s beleive that the Title tag is THE most important part of the page in terms of web page optimisation, although that could be disputed.
You should always ensure that you are using your keywords in your Title tag, and that you have formatted it correctly. Where possible seperate your keywords using a comma or pipe ( | ) symbol. This creates a definite break in the Title tag text so that the search engines know its the end of the word or phrase. For example:
Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing and Web Design
Is not a good way to format your Title Tag, where as
Search Engine Optimisation | Internet Marketing | Web Design
Is the optimised way to format your Title Tags.
You will see that the optimised way to format your Title Tag removes any unnecessary words - how easy is that!
A well optimised page can see your (established) web site shoot up the rankings by hundreds of places in a space of 48 hours. For new builds or immature domains you may find this takes longer as Google builds up a trust relationship with your site.
Monday, 6 April 2009
Now I make it no secret that I am not a big fan of Pay Per Click marketing - not only because I believe it is open to abuse but I also don’t believe in people forcing web sites to the top of the search engine listings via payment. For me it defeats the object of the search engines providing results that are relevant to the search string.
What is Organic Search?
Organic Search results are presented in the main left hand area of the search engine results page and are generally ordered by relevance and popularity as seen fit by the search engine provider. It should be every web site owners aim to get listed, at least on the front page, of the organic listings and it can be very rewarding. In 1998 Google was born, and through providing good quality, relevant organic search results it quickly become the search engine to use. To this day, people often say that if you aren’t listed in Google then your web site effectively is invisible. The beauty of organic search results is that no company can buy the top listing, it’s purely the determination of Google which sites appear first for any given search term. This is, in fact, the core of Google’s business. If they ever stop providing good relevant search results, internet searchers will go somewhere else to search.
What are the advantages of Organic Search?
You don’t pay per site visitor – Visitors that find you through organic search results are totally free, so there’s a very high return on investment those clicks.
More Click throughs – More searchers click in the organic search results than the Pay Per Click adverts, so a #1 ranking in organic will bring you more targeted traffic.
More Trust – Most searchers trust Google, therefore a number one organic ranking is the ultimate trust mark for your web site.
Less Long Term Investment – The initial investment in an organic search campaign depends greatly on the competitiveness in your industry. It’s important to think of it as a long term investment. You won’t see immediate results, but by investing a little time and money each month, you can gradually build your site up to attract loads of free targeted traffic.
Disadvantages of Organic Search
Ranking can take time –You may start seeing noticeable traffic increases within a few weeks to a few months. It all depends on the competitiveness of your industry.
Requires Investment in Your Website – Getting a result in the organic search listings can require a large investment in your time in preparing content and working with your Search Engine Optimisation Company. You may also find that you need to invest in the layout and design of your web site to create call to actions on your pages and make the most of your enhanced search result positions.
What is Pay Per Click?
In the Autumn (fall) of 2000, Google announced their AdWords, do-it-yourself pay-per-click advertising system. The system revolves around bidding for keywords in an attempt to show at the top of the Pay Per Click sponsored listings. This method of Internet Marketing relies on budget and is often open to abuse.
Advantages of Pay Per Click
Whilst not a fan of Pay Per Click, we concede that this method of Internet marketing can bring near instant results.
Disadvantages of Pay Per Click
It can be expensive - If you are in a competitive industry you can find that your costs start to spiral upwards at an alarming rate.
Once the funds stop the listing dissapears - If you decide to stop funding the advertising it is removed instantly, as opposed to the organic listing which would have a longer shelf life.
What is Organic Search?
Organic Search results are presented in the main left hand area of the search engine results page and are generally ordered by relevance and popularity as seen fit by the search engine provider. It should be every web site owners aim to get listed, at least on the front page, of the organic listings and it can be very rewarding. In 1998 Google was born, and through providing good quality, relevant organic search results it quickly become the search engine to use. To this day, people often say that if you aren’t listed in Google then your web site effectively is invisible. The beauty of organic search results is that no company can buy the top listing, it’s purely the determination of Google which sites appear first for any given search term. This is, in fact, the core of Google’s business. If they ever stop providing good relevant search results, internet searchers will go somewhere else to search.
What are the advantages of Organic Search?
You don’t pay per site visitor – Visitors that find you through organic search results are totally free, so there’s a very high return on investment those clicks.
More Click throughs – More searchers click in the organic search results than the Pay Per Click adverts, so a #1 ranking in organic will bring you more targeted traffic.
More Trust – Most searchers trust Google, therefore a number one organic ranking is the ultimate trust mark for your web site.
Less Long Term Investment – The initial investment in an organic search campaign depends greatly on the competitiveness in your industry. It’s important to think of it as a long term investment. You won’t see immediate results, but by investing a little time and money each month, you can gradually build your site up to attract loads of free targeted traffic.
Disadvantages of Organic Search
Ranking can take time –You may start seeing noticeable traffic increases within a few weeks to a few months. It all depends on the competitiveness of your industry.
Requires Investment in Your Website – Getting a result in the organic search listings can require a large investment in your time in preparing content and working with your Search Engine Optimisation Company. You may also find that you need to invest in the layout and design of your web site to create call to actions on your pages and make the most of your enhanced search result positions.
What is Pay Per Click?
In the Autumn (fall) of 2000, Google announced their AdWords, do-it-yourself pay-per-click advertising system. The system revolves around bidding for keywords in an attempt to show at the top of the Pay Per Click sponsored listings. This method of Internet Marketing relies on budget and is often open to abuse.
Advantages of Pay Per Click
Whilst not a fan of Pay Per Click, we concede that this method of Internet marketing can bring near instant results.
Disadvantages of Pay Per Click
It can be expensive - If you are in a competitive industry you can find that your costs start to spiral upwards at an alarming rate.
Once the funds stop the listing dissapears - If you decide to stop funding the advertising it is removed instantly, as opposed to the organic listing which would have a longer shelf life.
SEO - The value of a good web host
You may not realise, or even think about the value of having a good, reliable company hosting your web site when it comes to Search Engine Optimisation.
However, consider this.
If your web site is frequently down due to hardware or connection problems, and the search engines try to crawl your site whilst it is down, think about what damage that is doing to your rankings. Why would the search engines want to point searchers to a web site that is more often down than not?
When choosing a web hosting company consider the following:
* Your Budget
* Their reputation
* The quality of their hardware
* Their SLA (Service Level Agreement)
* The quality and speed of their connection to the Internet
* The volume of bandwidth they allow per month
Choosing a good quality host is important in terms of SEO, but also in terms of the quality of the experience that your site visitors have when on your site.
When it comes to web hosting we personally wouldn’t touch anyone other than Rackspace. You pay a little bit more but the support and service is a million miles better than anyone else out there!
However, consider this.
If your web site is frequently down due to hardware or connection problems, and the search engines try to crawl your site whilst it is down, think about what damage that is doing to your rankings. Why would the search engines want to point searchers to a web site that is more often down than not?
When choosing a web hosting company consider the following:
* Your Budget
* Their reputation
* The quality of their hardware
* Their SLA (Service Level Agreement)
* The quality and speed of their connection to the Internet
* The volume of bandwidth they allow per month
Choosing a good quality host is important in terms of SEO, but also in terms of the quality of the experience that your site visitors have when on your site.
When it comes to web hosting we personally wouldn’t touch anyone other than Rackspace. You pay a little bit more but the support and service is a million miles better than anyone else out there!
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