SEO Tips For Internet Marketers

Posted by megan on November, 10th 2011

Experience Nottinghamshire is the official tourism board for the county. They regularly promote upcoming events, inform people about the best places to visit and provide information about Nottinghamshire’s historical past, including tales of the legendary Robin Hood. We have been working with the company for the past nine months to improve their SEO and increase traffic levels to their main website.

Although we weren’t responsible for designing Experience Nottinghamshire’s website, our experts did make specific recommendations that would help to make the website more search engine, and user friendly. The tourism board’s previous website ‘Visit Nottingham’ featured URL links that did not describe what the page was. A key recommendation of ours was to structure URL links so that they featured the page names, as this is really vital to ranking well in search engines like Google. We also made suggestions about how the content should be laid out on the site, and recommended that it should feature internal links to subpages, as this again boosts SEO. We have recently implemented bright yellow ‘Download a Brochure’ buttons throughout the site, to make them more visible to users who want to quickly download information to their computer in a PDF format, as opposed to sending off for a brochure.

Experience Nottinghamshire’s website traffic levels have increased by a total of 44% since their new website was launched.

As well as a website, the company also has a Nottinghamshire blog, which was created by our very own web design team. The blog is a great SEO tool as it is regularly updated with high quality, unique content featuring upcoming events, top places to visit, and small news related features.

The Real Web SEO team are continuing to work on improving Experience Nottinghamshire’s SEO by producing high quality content and generating external links, in hope to drive even more traffic to the main site.

Union Square – Construction Management Software

We’re pleased to announce that Union Square, known for their award winning Construction Management Software ‘Workspace’ are enlisting our SEO services to increase traffic levels and conversion rates on their website. Union Square is the company behind the UK market leading, knowledge management platform, Workspace, which is used by more than 30,000 construction industry professionals [...]

SEO Success – Nottingham Restaurants

Real Web SEO put Go dine to #1 for Nottingham Restaurants on Google Through a range of SEO techniques and after a lot of positive work on the site we are pleased to say that Go dine is now number one on Google for Nottingham Restaurants, which for many years has been occupied by the [...]

Sunglasses Save gain a higher ranking on Google

We are pleased to announce that our clients Sunglasses Save have reached the number 2 spot on Google for the keyword ‘Sunglasses,’ with the help of the Real Web SEO team. Sunglasses Save are known for selling 100% authentic designer sunglasses, including well-known brands like Ray-Ban, Nike and Oakley. They sell these designer glasses at [...]

Find out more about Juno Blinds
Remote control and electric blinds by Controliss

Labels: Experience, Improving, Nottinghamshires

By Jill Whalen

To go along with this week's article on Rel=Author, I asked my social media followers:

Have you implemented Rel=Author on your content yet? If yes, does it show in Google results?

Here's how they responded:

Twitter

SEOChemist: Yes, yes and no. I have it working on some sites and not others. Yet to figure out what is going wrong.

Realicity: Yes, I've implemented & not showing in search results. Wondering if it's a high school'esque popularity content for Google :(

Marie_Haynes: Yes, I implemented it months ago and it started showing 2 weeks ago.  Seeing dramatic CTR increases!

Google+

Steven Weldler: Not yet.

Tamra Hamblin: Yes and not yet.

David Wallace: Yes about 2 to 3 weeks ago and still has not taken effect. Not sure if I did it correctly but haven't heard anything back from Google so uncertain. I heard it is still a manual process and can take some time.

Gil Reich: Yes, implemented it. No, it doesn't show up.

Sean Carlos: Yes, yes.

Dianna Huff: Not yet but it's on the to-do list.

Ken Horst: Not yet :(

Wissam Dandan: Yes and Yes.

David Sottimano: Yes and No.

Jill's Comment: Judging by these replies, it looks like my article providing 5 reasons why you need to implement Rel=Author ASAP has come out just in time!

Want to participate in the High Rankings Question of the Week?

Follow @JillWhalen on Twitter
Like High Rankings on Facebook
Circle Jill Whalen on Google+

Jill Whalen is the CEO of High Rankings, an SEO Services company in the Boston, MA area since 1995. Follow her on Twitter @JillWhalen

If you learned from this article, be sure to sign up for the High Rankings Advisor SEO Newsletter so you can be the first to receive similar articles in the future!

Labels: Question, Rankings

Posted by megan on November, 3rd 2011

Graham and Green started their business selling designer furniture and glamorous home accessories in Notting Hill, back in 1974. They now have two shops, publish four catalogues a year and have a stunning, stylish website, where their customers can purchase life-enhancing products. Graham and Green’s products are inspired by travel, as well as past eras including the 30s, 40s and 50s. If you’re looking to add style to your home, you can be sure that Graham and Green have everything you need.

One of their most popular ranges is their highly fashionable, shabby chic furniture. This distressed looking furniture is desired by many and has a certain charm to it. It’s all about getting the balance right with this design, you really only want a key piece or two to achieve the look. Graham and Green stock rustic wooden cabinets, perfect for any room in the house and are available in sea green, pink and cream colours. If you’re looking to add just a touch of the shabby chic look to a room you can purchase smaller accessories such as wooden door knobs and coat hooks available in the same colour range. Although its currently very popular, shabby chic isn’t for everyone, so for those of you into slightly more contemporary, minimalist designs, Graham and Green stock a stunning range of Venetian mirrored furniture. As well as looking super stylish this furniture is great for smaller rooms as it catches the light and makes a room appear bigger.

Sometimes you don’t even need to make big changes to transform the look of a room. Simple alterations such as changing the door knobs on your doors, wardrobes or cabinets can change a room from looking dull and boring, to fashionable and stylish. Graham and Green stock a beautiful range of glass door knobs, perfect if you’re looking to add a little colour to your room. Choose from a variety of colours including green, pink or blue, to match your the colour scheme of your room, or dare to be different by contrasting the colours.

Since hiring our services, Graham and Green’s SEO has vastly improved and they are now the number one result on Google for the keywords ‘Home Accessories.’ We have been working on other keywords related to their product pages and are quickly gaining first page positions for the majority of them.

Search engine improvements for Graham and Green

The Real Web SEO team have been working closely with Graham and Green, known for their contemporary furniture and stylish home accessories, to improve their search engine listing results. To do this we targeted specific keywords, chosen by Graham and Green, which were directly related to the products they sell. When we first started working [...]

Shabby Chic Furniture and other amazing products from Graham and Green

We’re pleased to announce that Graham and Green, known for their inspirational contemporary furniture and fabulous home accessories are enlisting our SEO services to improve sales and brand awareness. Working around the clock with the development team from Juno, we settled on an information architecture that satisfied customers, search engines and Graham and Green themselves.  [...]

What’s the deal with Google Sitelinks?

If you use Google a lot for searching the internet, you may have noticed some changes in recent weeks. When you search for a brand e.g. “Graham and Green”, you will see that the majority of the first page of Google has changed. This is because Google have recently made some changes to how they [...]

Find out more about Juno Blinds
Remote control and electric blinds by Controliss

Labels: Designer, furniture, Graham, Green

By Jill Whalen

To go along with this week's article on Rel=Author, I asked my social media followers:

Have you implemented Rel=Author on your content yet? If yes, does it show in Google results?

Here's how they responded:

Twitter

SEOChemist: Yes, yes and no. I have it working on some sites and not others. Yet to figure out what is going wrong.

Realicity: Yes, I've implemented & not showing in search results. Wondering if it's a high school'esque popularity content for Google :(

Marie_Haynes: Yes, I implemented it months ago and it started showing 2 weeks ago.  Seeing dramatic CTR increases!

Google+

Steven Weldler: Not yet.

Tamra Hamblin: Yes and not yet.

David Wallace: Yes about 2 to 3 weeks ago and still has not taken effect. Not sure if I did it correctly but haven't heard anything back from Google so uncertain. I heard it is still a manual process and can take some time.

Gil Reich: Yes, implemented it. No, it doesn't show up.

Sean Carlos: Yes, yes.

Dianna Huff: Not yet but it's on the to-do list.

Ken Horst: Not yet :(

Wissam Dandan: Yes and Yes.

David Sottimano: Yes and No.

Jill's Comment: Judging by these replies, it looks like my article providing 5 reasons why you need to implement Rel=Author ASAP has come out just in time!

Want to participate in the High Rankings Question of the Week?

Follow @JillWhalen on Twitter
Like High Rankings on Facebook
Circle Jill Whalen on Google+

Jill Whalen is the CEO of High Rankings, an SEO Services company in the Boston, MA area since 1995. Follow her on Twitter @JillWhalen

If you learned from this article, be sure to sign up for the High Rankings Advisor SEO Newsletter so you can be the first to receive similar articles in the future!

Labels: Question, Rankings

Posted by megan on December, 5th 2011

When you think of Google and how it ranks websites for keywords, you tend to think of high tech computerised systems that judge websites on their quality, relevance and authenticity. This of course is something that does happen, however Google do employ actual human beings, known as ‘Google Search Quality Raters’, to check websites that are ranking highly for specific popular keywords. These raters are employed by external companies and must study information and take a two part exam before being accepted. They have a set of guidelines to follow to ensure they know how to rate websites for their quality and relevance, as well as how to judge whether or not a website should be classed as spam. A leaked version of this handbook recently came to light, enabling people to gain an insight on what the raters look for.

You may be wondering who these people are and the answer simply is ‘normal people’ like you and me. They’re not marketing experts or particularly knowledgeable of SEO. The point of having raters is to make sure that Google is meeting the needs of its users, when it comes to delivering search results, hence the need for real people to have an input. They work from home and are paid on an hourly basis. Their performance is judged on how many URLS are checked per hour. What is a concern of many website owners is that if the raters’ performance is judged on how many URLS are checked, they may not check them properly, and simply judge on first glance of a website. This means it’s essential that you design your website to give a good first impression.

Raters have three types of search queries to study: navigational, which is searches for particular websites, informational, where people are searching for information and finally transactional, which is when people are searching to buy particular products. The scale of quality ratings goes from vital, the top rating, which is usually given to official sites, for navigational searches, all the way down to ‘off topic’ which is given to websites that are completely irrelevant to the keyword they rank for. Raters are also taught to look at whether or not a website is ‘spammy.’ This can be judged on irrelevant content, excess banners, buttons and advertisements.

Human raters are not a new thing for Google, however we have only recently learnt more about them and what they are trained to do. First impressions of a website are particularly important, as you as a consumer yourself know just how quickly you can judge a website. With this in mind it’s essential that you design a website that you, yourself, would be happy to use. In terms of SEO, Meta descriptions are particularly important, as if rankers are simply just looking at URLS that come up on search results, they will judge to see if the description you’ve given is relevant to the keywords. Google raters are ordinary people judging search results and websites, so the best thing you can do is look at your website as a consumer, rather than the creator.

Google Sitemaps – What To Look Out For

When looking at your Webmaster Tools which features do you normally look at? The lazy SEO’er will just click through the links on the left hand side of the page, hoping that nothing stands out as odd or wrong. If you’re new to Webmaster Tools or just find it a little daunting, one thing you [...]

How to get Google Sitelinks

The Holy Grail of SEO is where your site is powerful enough that “Google Sitelinks” appear in the search results for your site’s listing. Recently our highly talented SEO team managed to get their 5th Site links appearance for one of our new clients University of Whatever: University of Whatever (UOW) sell fantastic Uni-style clothing [...]

SEO Myth – Google’s Maximum Keyword Density Percentage

What is Google’s Maximum Keyword Density? The simple answer is that there isn’t one! So why is there so much fuss over keyword densities online? The answer lies within past spammy SEO techniques… When Yahoo were the top search engine you could rank highly by simply adding every keyword you could think of within the [...]

What’s the deal with Google Sitelinks?

If you use Google a lot for searching the internet, you may have noticed some changes in recent weeks. When you search for a brand e.g. “Graham and Green”, you will see that the majority of the first page of Google has changed. This is because Google have recently made some changes to how they [...]

Google Trends – Seasonal and Yearly Changes in Online Searches

Seasonal Changes Fur Coats in Summer?!  Google trends allows you to see the trend of online searches whether it be a monthly change or a yearly change. Let’s say you were starting up a brand new site and wanted to maximise your SEO efforts.  Any new domain takes at least 2/3 months to rank highly [...]

Find out more about Juno Blinds
Remote control and electric blinds by Controliss

Labels: Google, raters

Posted by megan on November, 24th 2011

One of our latest projects has been to design a website and work on the SEO for a new blinds company called Juno Blinds. Whilst the web design team have been busy designing and creating a sleek and stylish website, our SEO experts have been identifying specific keywords related to the products sold on Juno Blinds, and have been looking at ways to improve their ranking in search engines.

Juno Blinds stock a wide range of high quality blinds, in a variety of different styles, including warming wood blinds, which are great for the cold winter period, and iconic roman blinds that will never go out of fashion. Each blind is made to measure, ensuring that you get the perfect fit. They are affordably priced and available as electric blinds, providing you will luxury and convenient control. Whether you’re looking for a roller blind with a quirky print, or a suede effect vertical blind, with such a large rang for sale, there’s guaranteed to be something to suit your home.

The website itself has quite a classy, contemporary feel to it, reflecting that of the products they stock. The fonts are all simple and easy to read, in grey and white on a black background. Each product category page features a unique description of the type of blind, along with details regarding how they are powered. Below each product image is the title of the individual blind, along with the price.

Our SEO team have chosen to focus on keywords related to the types of blinds sold on the website, for example ‘curtain tracks’ and ‘venetian blinds.’ Using external link generation and blogging, the team are hoping to improve the company’s search result rankings on Google, as this will drive more traffic to the main website. The web design team have created a blog using word press, which is updated with new posts on a regular basis. The topic of these posts is usually about interior design, or other niche subjects related to blinds and homes. These high-quality written posts feature unique content, as well as keywords linking to product pages. This helps to improve the company’s SEO as Google will begin to recognise the website as being knowledgeable about blinds and will boost its search ranking position.

We are continuing to work on the company’s SEO and hope to improve its rankings and achieve top positions on its keyword searches in the near future.

Controliss Blinds Marketing Campaign

We are currently working to improve the search engine position of a new remote control blinds brand called Controliss. We are undertaking a combined SEO company strategy and targeted PR and Marketing Campaign to activate a market and generate greater pull through for online sales and trade sales. We are developing the brand image as [...]

SEO improvements for Controliss

We have been working closely with the remote control blinds retailer, Controliss, to improve their brand design and increase awareness. This has been achieved through implementing specific internet marketing strategies, relating to the company’s SEO, branding and advertising.  Our web design experts firstly re-designed their website, changing it from being noisy and bright, which didn’t [...]

Sunglasses Save gain a higher ranking on Google

We are pleased to announce that our clients Sunglasses Save have reached the number 2 spot on Google for the keyword ‘Sunglasses,’ with the help of the Real Web SEO team. Sunglasses Save are known for selling 100% authentic designer sunglasses, including well-known brands like Ray-Ban, Nike and Oakley. They sell these designer glasses at [...]

New keywords for GOGO Padlocks

GOGO Padlocks are one of the most recent companies to enlist the services of the Real Web SEO team. We will be looking to increase the traffic to their website and improve their conversion rates, by enhancing the visibility of their site on search engines like Google.  GOGO Padlocks stock the largest range of high quality padlocks from [...]

QPaints – Car Priming and Painting ecommerce store

Real Web SEO are taking on an ever growing client base, the latest being a Juno designed car styling website called QPaints.co.uk. QPaints supply every tool you can think of when it comes to looking after the bodywork of your car whether it be repairing a damage or adding primers, paints or polishes.  The site [...]

Find out more about Juno Blinds
Remote control and electric blinds by Controliss

Labels: affordable, blinds, Contemporary, fashionable, price

January 11, 2012Forum member Michael Martinez provides us with the results of his experiment -- he shows that when you have an iframe embedded on a page, Google follows and indexes the resulting iframe URL.

Read about it and share your comments here:

Confirmed: Google Passed Value From an iframed Link

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Labels: Advanced, Forum, Thread

February 8, 2012That's all for today! We're heading out tomorrow for our Hawaiian vacation and the PubCon conference, so I'd better get packing!

Catch you in 2 weeks! ? Jill

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Labels: Wrapup

Posted by megan on November, 9th 2011

The Real Web SEO team have been working with finance experts, Select Factoring to increase traffic to their website and improve conversion rates. Select Factoring offer a number of services to their clients including Factoring, Selective Factoring and Invoice Discounting.

If you own a large business you will understand just how stressful it can be trying to get your clients to pay you on time, after you have sent out an invoice. This is particularly true to the construction industry where a business will take on a job, invoice the customer and then not receive payment on time, meaning they have to find the funds elsewhere to pay for materials, staffing costs and taxes. This can often leave businesses with cash flow problems, as they simply don’t have the funds available to pay their creditors, as their debtors owe them payment. Select Factoring offer a factoring service, where they will chase up a company’s debtors once invoices have been sent out to clients and details have been passed on to them. Once the client’s invoicing details have been given to Select Factoring, they will release 90% of the funds owed to the company, who can then use that to pay for materials, staff and any taxes owed. The remaining funds will be released to the company, minus a small fee for Select Factoring’s service, to the company, once the invoices have been paid.

Using a factoring service bares many advantages to a large company, and helps to straighten out previous cash flow problems. Select Factoring will take care of all of your invoices, minimising paper work, and saving on excessive admin costs. This service is really a quick and simple solution to invoicing issues and will enable a business to operate much more efficiently.

Select Factoring’s website was designed by the Juno web design team, who developed a good structure for SEO. Our team of SEO experts have been focusing on improving search engine results for keywords relating to the services that Select Factoring offer. We are pleased to announce that Select Factoring are already ranking as the first result for the key words ‘Selective Factoring.’

The SEO Eagle

It took a while, but finally – the SEO eagle has landed! How our Search Engine Optimisation company came about Quite simply we felt that in order to best service our existing websites and after starting a string of online business, that the passion we have will surely ensure that the best SEO company we [...]

Union Square – Construction Management Software

We’re pleased to announce that Union Square, known for their award winning Construction Management Software ‘Workspace’ are enlisting our SEO services to increase traffic levels and conversion rates on their website. Union Square is the company behind the UK market leading, knowledge management platform, Workspace, which is used by more than 30,000 construction industry professionals [...]

Find out more about Juno Blinds
Remote control and electric blinds by Controliss

Labels: Factoring, invoicing, issues, Resolve, Select

Posted by admin on February, 14th 2012

On researching the Republican presidential hopefuls Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney, you might be surprised with some of the top search engine results. With over half of the clicks on Google going to the top ten websites, these anomalous results have given their past indiscretions an incredibly public airing.

In 2003, Santorum’s hostile anti-gay comments drove columnist Dan Savage to found the ‘Spreading Santorum’ site which redefined his name as ‘the frothy mixture of lube and faecal matter that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex.’ The site rocketed up the Google rankings, at one point even topping the list. Now that Santorum is a potential U.S. presidential candidate, this site has even outranked his own campaign pages.
Romney’s equivalent site sprang up in early 2012, and has ranked consistently on the first page of Google. Referencing an incident in 1983 where Romney left his dog in a rooftop carrier for a twelve hour drive, the site defines his name as ‘to defecate in terror’; presumably the dog’s reaction to this treatment.
There have been similar past instances of this. In 2003, a ‘Google Bomb’ manipulated the search engine’s algorithms and caused President George Bush’s biography to be the top result for ‘miserable failure.’ This was removed by Google, but with Romney and Santorum there are different considerations. In particular, the Santorum page is relevant to the candidate, even if it’s an opposition site.
Google has encountered criticism for leaving the Romney and Santorum sites up; are these pages really as relevant to the candidates as their official campaign pages? Though the answer is probably no, there are the inevitable first amendment arguments which are always tricky for search engines to deal with.
Even if the comments made by Santorum are nearing decade old, they are proving impossible to bury for the presidential hopeful. However, Spreading Santorum founder Savage has offered him a deal; ‘If Rick Santorum wants to make a $5 million donation to [the gay marriage group] Freedom to Marry, I will take it down. Interest starts accruing now.’
Perhaps this is something he should consider.

PHP Developer Job Opportunity – Nottingham

Juno Web Design are expanding and are looking for a PHP Developer based in Nottingham. They are looking for a solid PHP developer that has a portfolio of his/her skill-set. The Juno team will train the candidate with insider knowledge of WordPress and Magento systems which are mainly used on ecommerce sites. Two PHP developers [...]

Blog Commenting Guide

Commenting on other people’s blogs is a great way to promote your site; you get another valuable backlink to your website and even perhaps more traffic too. Commenting on a blog in the same niche as your website make the backlinks even more powerful – anyone doing SEO should consider doing this if the blog [...]

Find out more about Juno Blinds
Remote control and electric blinds by Controliss

Labels: Results, Santorum, Search

February 8, 2012By Jill Whalen

You're likely sick of hearing about the importance of having great blog post content. But you know you need it in order to have something to promote via social media. And you know that great blog posts can bring in lots of long-tail search engine visitors.

What you may have trouble with is what to write about in your blog.

With that in mind, I've brainstormed 67 blog ideas to get your creative juices flowing. What you write about in your blog will of course depend on your type of blog, your industry, whether you're selling products or services, whether you have a local walk-in establishment, and a number of other factors.

When you browse through this list, remember that most blogs should have a wide variety of blog post types rather than always sticking with the same ones. While it's fine to announce a new product or service on your blog, if that's all you do, it could get pretty boring.

I've put the types of information into a few different categories to make it easier for you to scan for the type that might interest you. So without further ado, I give you 67 ideas for blog topics that could interest your target audience:

Upcoming events:

1. Classes, seminars, conferences, webinars (and why you should attend).
2. Special events (wine tastings, 5-course dinners, open houses, etc.)
3. Introduction to new products or services.
4. Important company announcements (as long as this isn't all you do).
5. Free stuff you're giving away.
6. Special offers, discounts, coupons.
7. Gift ideas.

Contests or other promotions:

8. Photo caption contest.
9. Holiday theme contest.
10. Product naming contest.
11. Logo design contest.
12. Send in a video contest.

Tutorials, product support and how-to guides (in the form of text, videos, or infographics):

13. How to set up your products.
14. How to choose your products or services.
15. How to use your products.
16. How to fix your products.
17. How to assemble your products.
18. How to clean your products.
19. How to protect your products.
20. How to know if you need a particular product or service.
21. How to get the most out of your product or service.
22. Explain the subtle differences between your products (and/or those of your competitors).
23. Answer reader and customer questions.
24. Conference session summaries.

Show your expertise:

25. Do it yourself: For example, how to create a Title tag, how to unclog a toilet, how to file your taxes.
26. Provide your thoughts on industry news.
27. Take an opposite stand on an important industry topic.
28. How to avoid making mistakes (in whatever it is you do).
29. Industry myths.
30. Show both sides of an industry debate and provide your opinion.
31. Discuss industry trends.
32. Discuss the results of tests you've performed relating to your industry.
33. How to be a better...whatever.
34. How to avoid?whatever.
35. How to protect yourself from?whatever.
36. How to survive a?whatever.
37. How to recover from a?whatever.
38. How to become a?whatever.
39. How to create a?whatever.
40. How to change your?whatever.
41. How to calculate your?whatever.
42. How to beat?whatever.
43. How to improve your?whatever.
44. How to make your?whatever?easier.
45. How to save money on?whatever.
46. How to be seen as?whatever.
47. How to have the?whatever?you always wanted.
48. How to stop doing?whatever.
49. How to justify?whatever.
50. The problems with?whatever.
51. The importance of?whatever.
52. What caused?whatever?
53. How to understanding the subtleties of?whatever.
54. What not to do with?whatever.

Interviews (in the form of writing, videos, audio, or a combination):

55. Interviews with industry experts.
56. Interviews with people who work at your company.
57. Interviews with people who've used your products or services.

Miscellaneous:

58. Best posts of the year.
59. Breaking industry news.
60. Industry predictions for the future.
61. Provide an analogy between what you do and something in life that people can relate to.
62. Satirize your industry or products (could be via a comic):
63. Reader polls and the results.
64. Industry awards.
65. Product and service reviews and recommendations.
66. Quizzes or tests.
67. Expose bad things that are happening in your industry.

What did I miss? Add it in the comments!

Jill

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Labels: Ideas, Topics