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Apr 22
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TCmarketing SEO

Brighton SEO Tips – 5 things to do to gain page 1 rankings

By SEO

Getting listed on Google’s first results page can be very difficult. There are many tools and services that promise to get your website listed. What exactly will help you to get the results that you want for your Brighton business? There are five things that will get your website on Google’s first results page. Guaranteed!!

Step 1: You have to know what you’re doing

Don’t just blindly follow the advice of gurus and self-proclaimed SEO experts. Don’t believe everything that you read on the internet or receive in your inbox either. When it comes to SEO in Brighton, make sure you listen to people with proven expertise and a good track record.

If you have the skills or the resources you can do your own tests. You could even create a website just for testing purposes and find out what works and what doesn’t. Educate yourself and keep current. That is very important because SEO changes rapidly. Keeping up to date with the ever changing SEO landscape is an essential requirement for successful SEO in Brighton

Step 2: You have to work with your web pages

Some people think that SEO is a one-off ‘on-page’ thing, or that SEO can be done on auto-pilot. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work.

If you want to succeed, you have to invest a lot of time and effort in your search engine optimisation activities. There are several things that you have to do to make sure that your website becomes a success:

  • keyword research
  • continual optimization / refresh of your page content,
  • fixing technical errors, etc.
  • responding to search engine algorithm changes

Without putting the time and work into your web pages, you won’t get the best results.

Step 3: Convince the search engines that you’re serious about it

Google wants to list high quality, relevant websites in their search results. This is the mysterious “authority” that is often mentioned in SEO articles.

To build a website for a Brighton business that has ranking authority, you have to do several things. The most important is to create web pages that have good content and present that content in an attractive way and engage with your audience.

Essentially, your website has to deliver what the web searchers want.

Step 4: Be smarter than your competitors

Every Brighton business owner wants their website to be listed on page one of Google. The website that is given most attention will get better rankings.

If your competitors invest more time or money in search engine optimisation, they will get better rankings.

It’s also important that you invest your time or money in doing the right things. A person who is working hard but on the wrong things won’t get good results.

If you work smarter than your competitors, you will get better results. If you do the right things in the right order, you will get results more quickly.

Step 5: Be patient

Successful website promotion takes time. It is possible to get some quick wins but lasting results that will deliver a steady stream of new visitors to your website can take some time depending on how good the websites of your competitors are.

It takes time to research the right keywords, it takes time to optimise your web pages, it takes time to fix the architecture of your website, etc.

Be patient, do the right things, or use the right people to do the right things for you and your website will get the rankings that it deserves.

Website promotion isn’t rocket science. The five steps above are a sure way to get in Google’s search results. If you would like to know more about our SEO services for Brighton businesses please leave a comment below or call us on 01273 328877

Mar 25
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SEO Services in Brighton

It’s Official: Google to Launch Doorway Pages Ranking Penalty

By SEO, SEO News

When was the last time you encountered a doorway pages in Google’s search results? Although this doesn’t happen very often, Google seems to think that doorway pages are still an issue. In the official Google blog, Google announced a new penalty for doorway pages. Here in the UK the term “doorway pages” might not be often used so:

What is a doorway page?

According to Google’s announcement, doorway pages are pages that are created solely to gain advantage in the search engine results:


”For example, searchers might get a list of results that all go to the same site. So if a user clicks on one result, doesn’t like it, and then tries the next result in the search results page and is taken to that same site that they didn’t like, that’s a really frustrating experience.”

How can you identify doorway pages on your website?

Google published a list of questions to help you determine if a web page could be regarded as doorway page:

  • Is the purpose to optimise for search engines and funnel visitors into the actual usable or relevant portion of your site, or are they an integral part of your site’s user experience?
  • Are the pages intended to rank on generic terms yet the content presented on the page is very specific?
  • Do the pages duplicate useful aggregations of items (locations, products, etc.) that already exist on the site for the purpose of capturing more search traffic?
  • Are these pages made solely for drawing affiliate traffic and sending users along without creating unique value in content or functionality?
  • Do these pages exist as an “island?” Are they difficult or impossible to navigate to from other parts of your site? Are links to such pages from other pages within the site or network of sites created just for search engines?

If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions for any of your website pages, the chances are that Google will think that your page is a doorway page and it could be penalised.

Will this penalty affect Google AdWords (PPC) landing pages?

Most of the things above also apply to landing pages that are used in Google AdWords (PPC) campaigns.

It has long been considered good practice to use individual landing pages for each ad group. Landing pages that have a strong connection to the ad text usually convert better than general landing pages.

Will Google penalise these landing pages?

Unfortunately, that’s not clear yet. Landing pages are good for pay per click campaigns but they are not suitable for organic search engine optimization (SEO). High rankings on Google and other search engines are the result of good on-site and off-site optimisation.

Tyler Consultants can help any Brighton or Sussex / Surrey based business succeed online – why not call us today on 01273 822755 or leave a comment below.

Mar 18
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Google to Add Mobile-Friendly Factors to it’s Ranking Algorithm

By responsive design, SEO, web design

In a post on Google’s official blog, Google announced the addition of mobile-friendly factors to their ranking algorithm. How will this change affect the rankings of your web pages and what do you have to do to benefit from this change?

What exactly has Google announced?

Starting on 21 April 2015, Google will be using mobile friendly factors in the ranking algorithm for mobile search results. The official post reads:

“Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results.

Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”

In addition, Google has started to use information from indexed apps as a factor in ranking for signed-in users who have the app installed. As a result, Google may now surface content from indexed apps more prominently in search.

What do you have to do now?

It is important to make sure that your web pages are mobile-friendly. Fortunately, Google has made this a bit easier as they have created a tool for this that is available here. Just enter the URL of your website (website address) and click the “Analyze” button. If your website passes the test, you will see something like this:

responsive test

If your website fails the test then you have to adjust the design of your web pages. Instead of creating a separate website for mobile devices, which has little to recommend it, you could use responsive web design for your web pages.

Being mobile-friendly alone is not the answer to SEO

A website that currently does not have high search rankings won’t get high rankings just because it is mobile-friendly. There are many more things that Google wants to find on your web pages, all of which we can help you with.

Call us today on 01273 328877, or leave a comment below to find out more about our responsive web design and SEO services.

Oct 13
Love1
How To Get Traffic

How to get Traffic to your site (Beginners)

By Email Marketing, Link Building, Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Website, Wordpress

Starting up a website is hard.

Thousands of people are already in your industry and have already got a strong following.

Sometimes breaking into the crowd can seem impossible.

After all you’ve checked out the leading authorities on building up traffic, they’ve all had plenty of advice to give.

Yet here you are looking for more techniques to even get started on building traffic to your site.

Nothing has worked.

You start to wonder…

Have you failed as a content writer? Is your SEO really that terrible?

“…Is my website, useless?”

Building up a following can be really tough. I mean real tough, like climbing mount Everest with banana skin shoes tough.

But it is possible, people have managed it. (Popular Blogs, not climbing Everest with banana’s. Maybe one day).

So, the question, is how?

Out of all of the building traffic techniques you’ve read about:

  • SEO
  • AMA’s
  • Social Media
  • RSS Feeds
  • Video
  • Landing Pages
  • Email Marketing
  • Marketing Automation
  • Calls to Action
  • Analytics
  • Following popular blogs

None of them work.

Most suggested traffic techniques just don’t work

Here’s the cold, hard truth.

There are only four methods which do work, for a Beginner.

“There are only four ways to get traffic to my site?

That can’t be right. Surely not.

I’ve read all of those great posts on Moz, Hubspot etc. about building traffic…

And I mean well, it all makes sense.”

So why hasn’t any of it worked?

Because the vast majority of what people are saying just isn’t effective for startups.

Think about it.

These websites are aiming their blogs at businesses which already have a somewhat popular website, who are just trying to boost their website even further.

If your just starting out and are paying close attention to your followers, then what are you doing?

You don’t even have any followers,

Yet.

You can’t waste time on lead nurturing, email campaigns etc. When you don’t have an audience.

Leading authorities don’t write about how to get traffic, they write about how to improve your traffic.

This is a massive difference and which honestly, should be made much clearer. Your not the only people who have been struggling to figure out how to get their website to take off, TCmarketing included…

How to get Traffic for a Beginner (The only Four Techniques)

…So what exactly is effective for startups?

1. Guest Blogging

If your just starting out and looking to hit your mark on the web scene. This should be your weapon of your choice. Guest blogging is extremely effective at producing unique, targeted visitors for a start up website. The best bit? There are no prerequisites, all you need to get started is a few popular bloggers in your industry.

Steps:

  • Write a Guest Post
  • Ask for a small favour of linking your guest post to related posts
  • If someone shares your post, get to know them! Chances are they will share your blog too
  • Instead of linking back to your home page, link to your email opt in. This could get you many subscribers

2. Interviews/pod-casting

Not only do a lot of people want to hear what industry experts have to say. Industry experts have a lot to say. Don’t be afraid to ask to do an interview with influential people, as long as you keep it relevant interviews are beneficial to everyone.

Steps:

  • Plan your interview
  • Get as many Bloggers involved as possible (within reason)
  • Get permission to share your findings with the world, think about putting this behind a landing page/opt-in list

3. Outreach

Generally spending the time to put out a truly fantastic and original post just does not generate the visitors to be worth while. But here is the interesting part, if you pair them with outreach and the results can be staggering. However your going to need to be prepared to face rejection. Even if your content is truly some of the best in your industry.

Steps:

  • Identify Influential Bloggers
  • Get Noticed (comments, email, social)
  • Request a share/guest post/backlink etc.
  • Build the relationship

4. Advertising

When it comes to earning traffic as a beginner, this is the real deal. Advertising greatly out paces any other technique for generating traffic to your website as a beginner. However there is one flaw with this technique, which I’m sure you’ve already cottoned on to. That’s right, money. Now I’m not going to say go and bust your life savings on advertising for your website. However if you think you are ready for that increased volume, advertising can save you months of work, that’s how effective it is.

Get on with it then!

That’s it! The four techniques you need to invest in to build up traffic to your website.

So, what are you still reading this for?

Get out there and grab that web traffic, it’s waiting for you!

 

Seriously though, I hope our guide on how to get traffic for your start-up website was useful.

I mean, I put in enough time writing this.

So give me a share! Tweet this to your friends! Recommend me to your industry leaders!

 

By Gabriel Hourigan,

Sep 03
Love0

Bing Explains How They Detect, Process and Filter Out Spam

By SEO

Bing LogoA few days ago Igor Rondel, Principal Development Manager, Bing Index Quality, published a blog post about the way Bing treats web spam.

His post explains how Bing detects, processes and filters out search spam from their search index.

Web page elements that help Bing to detect spam:

Firstly, Bing tries to understand the spammer’s motivation. As most spammers want to make money, Bing analyzes the following:

1. Quality of content

According to Igor Rondel, spammers generate content targeted at search engines and their algorithms, whereas legitimate SEOs generate content for their customers and prospects.
In most cases, spam pages have inadequate content with limited value to the user. “There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of signals used to make this assessment, ranging from simple things like number of words on the page to more complex concepts of content uniqueness and utility.”

2. Presence of ads

Presence of ads doesn’t make a page bad. Bing’s algorithms check how many ads appear on the page, the type of ads (e.g. banner, grey-overs, pop-ups), and how intrusive/disruptive they are.

3. Positional & layout information

Where is the main content located? Where are the ads located? Do the ads take up the prime real estate or are they neatly separated away from the main content (e.g. in the header/ footer or side pane)? Is it easy for users to mentally separate content from ads?

Popular spam techniques that Bing does not like

Igor Rondel listed some spam techniques that Bing does not like. For example, Bing considers the following spam:

• stuffing page body/url/anchors with keywords

• performing link manipulation via link farms, link networks, forum post abuse

• including hidden content on the page not meant for human consumption.

These are the same things that Google does not like. If you want to avoid a penalty, better avoid these methods and do ‘white hat’ SEO instead..

How spammers create content

According to Bing’s Igor Rondel, there are many content generation methods that spammers use:

• copying other’s content (either entirely or with minor tweaks)

• using programs to automatically generate page content

• using external APIs to populate their pages with non-unique content.

Bing’s algorithms try detect these and similar mechanisms. To amplify this, they also develop creative clustering algorithms (using things like page layout, ads, domain names and Whois-type information) that in a way act as force-multipliers to help identify large clusters of these mass produced pages/ sites.

Do not use spam techniques if you want to get high rankings that last. Bing and Google have big anti-spam departments and your website will be penalized if you use spam techniques.  Contact us if you need help putting an effective SEO strategy in place.

Aug 27
Love0

How will Google’s ‘Near Match’ change affect your Google Adwords Campaigns?

By Paid Search, SEO

Paid Search Marketing from Tyler ConsultantsGoogle recently announced the your ‘exact match’ and ‘phrase match’ keyword phrases in Google Adwords paid search platform will be matched with ‘variation’ or ‘near match’ keyword phrases starting in September 2014.  In this post we will look at what this means and how it will affect your Google Adwords campaigns.

So What exactly is being changed by Google?

In a recent blog post Google announced that from next month it will no longer be possible to bid on exact match and phrase match keyword phrases without including other very similar keyword phrases.

In their post, Google advised that more than 7% of all Google searches contain a misspelling.  The example they used was:

if you advertise for the exact match keyword “kid scooters”, Google will show your add for the search terms “kid scooters”, “kid’s scooter”, or “kids scooters”.

Currently ‘exact match’ means that if you had the keyword phrase ‘kid scooters’ your ad would only appear if the searcher keyed in ‘kid scooters’ and not for any variation.

So is the change good news or bad news?

As expected the official Google statement is positioning the change as great news for their advertisers as they can expect many more clicks as a result of their ad being triggered by more search phrases.  It also means more money for Google of course and as yet it is unclear whether the variation keywords will have the same conversion rate as the original keyword.

What seems clear to us is that the change is undoubtedly good news for Google but it might not be beneficial to their advertisers.

The change affects both exact match and phrase match keyword phrases

As we explained above Google will be showing your  exact match ad’s and your phrase match ad’s for more keyword phrases as a result of the change.  As an example if you were bidding a phrase match keyword phrase ‘black shoes’ then your ad will be shown in all searched containing the phrase ‘black shoes’ such as ‘buy black shoes’, ‘mens black shoes’, ‘black shoes for sale’ which is fine if you are selling black shoes but your ad will also trigger for non productive searches such as ‘my black shoes hurt’, ‘my girlfriend hit me with her black shoes’ which are still going to cost you money but are unlikely to produce any income for you.

From September when Google activates the new ‘near match’ change  your ad will be triggered by many more variations which means your click costs are likely to increased or your budget will be used up more quickly.

Unfortunately there is not much that advertisers can do about it as Google have made the decision to implement the change.  What you can do however is review your Paid Search campaign and look to see if you can change any of your current phrase match keyword phrases to exact match keyword phrases.  You can also make use of negative keywords to try and make best use of your budget.

If you would like to know more about our paid search services or any aspect of search marketing please call us on 01273 328877

Jul 29
Love0
TCmarketing SEO

Another Google Algorithm Update – Coo!

By SEO, SEO News

link building imageLast week Google released a new algorithm update to intended to provide more useful, relevant and accurate local search results that are tied more closely to their traditional web search ranking signals. The changes will be visible within the Google Maps (Google My Business) search results and Google Web search results.

Google have not yet given this latest algorithm a name but ‘Search Engine Land have called it  the “Pigeon Update”   The name Pigeon was used because this a local search update and pigeons tend to fly back home!

The core changes are behind the scenes and full details are not known, but it does impact local search results rankings and some local businesses may notice an increase or decrease in web site referrals, leads and business from the change.

Google advised that the new local search algorithm ties deeper into their web search capabilities, including the hundreds of ranking signals they use in web search along with search features such as Knowledge Graph, spelling correction, synonyms and more.

In addition, Google said that this new algorithm improves their distance and location ranking parameters.

The new algorithm is currently rolling out for US English results and aims to provide a more useful and relevant experience for searchers seeking local results. Google didn’t share any details about if and when the update would roll out more widely in other countries and languages, but it is always good to be up to date with what is happening in the world of SEO

Google has not commented on the percent of queries impacted by this algorithm update, nor if certain web spam algorithms were deployed in this update.

If you have any comments please let us know or call us on 01273 328877.

Jun 18
Love0
TCmarketing SEO

SEO Update: Another Algorithm change by Google

By SEO

SEO BrightonLast week on Twitter, Google’s Matt Cutts informed us about the release of the third version of Google’s Payday Loan algorithm. The first version of that algorithm was announced just over 12 months ago.  All well and good you might think but this latest change could affect the SEO ranking of your Brighton business too.
So, What is Google’s Payday Loan algorithm?

This is the second Payday Loan algorithm update within the past 4 weeks so those companies such as ‘Wonga’ and the like that offer high interest short term loans are very much on Google’s radar.  In May, Google announced via Matt Cutts a version 2.0 of Google’s Payday Loan algorithm update.

According to release details presented by Matt Cutts, version 2.0 of the update targeted spammy websites, whereas this new version 3.0 targets spammy queries.

Unfortunately, Google does not clarify exactly what the difference is!

The Payday Loan algorithm targets not just obvious search queries such as “payday loans” but also other popular spammy keywords such as “casinos”, “viagra” and other keywords that relate to what Google deems to be ‘unsavoury’ business types which includes the betting industry and adult sites.

How is this different from Google Panda and Google Penguin?

The Payday Loan algorithm is not related to Google’s Panda or Penguin updates.

The Panda algorithm targets websites with low quality content. For example, the Panda algorithm makes sure that web pages with automatically generated content do not achieve high rankings in Google’s search results.

The same applies to websites that contain poor quality, low value or very shallow content.  Good quality content is a fundamental requirement for your online SEO success.

The Penguin algorithm targets website that try and gain SEO advantage by building spammy or artificial links. For example, websites that are linked to fro link farms or paid link websites are very likely to be penalised by Google.

How will this affect your website’s rankings?

If your Brighton business website does not compete in a spam heavy industry  promoting drugs, gambling, adult services etc. then the chances are that likely that the rankings of your website will be unaffected by these changes.  If your company is involved in say the pharmaceutical industry however it may well find itself being unfairly penalised by this recent algorithm change.

What should be understood by all businesses however is that Google doesn’t like spam.  For that reason, your website will only gain higher SEO rankings in the search engine results if you avoid all spam methods when promoting your website. If you want to get high rankings that will last and be largely unaffected by any future algorithm changes we can help.  We only use white-hat SEO methods that play by the rules.  We also make sure that we keep up to date with the rules.  Does your current SEO provider do this?

Call us today on 01273 328877

Jun 11
Love1
TCmarketing SEO

It’s Official, “Links Mean Rankings, Rankings mean Visitors” -Google

By Link Building, SEO

After Google’s recent ‘Penguin’ Algorithm updates some so called SEO experts started to believe that back-links, links to your website from other web properties, were no longer valued by Google.  Many people actually believe links can do more harm than good but in reality that is simply not the case.  Backlinks are still the single most important factor in Google, and the other major search engines ranking algorithm and this is likely to be the case for some considerable time yet.  If you want your Brighton business website to rank highly in the search engine results in order to attract more visitors to your website then good quality, relevant backlinks are still a must.

Make absolutely no mistake – Google says back links are very important.

Earlier this year Google’s Head of Webspam, Matt Cutts confirmed that links are very important if you want to get high rankings:

Partial transcript:

“Back links are really, really big win in terms of quality for search results…..  back link relevance still really helps in making sure we return the best, most relevant , most topical set of search results”

As recently as last month this was again confirmed in a second Matt Cutt’s video:

Partial transcript:

Back links still have many, many years left in them….. for the next few years [Google] will continue to use links in order to assess the basic reputation of pages and websites”

Link Building still has to be done

If you do not do your link building in the right way your site can be penalised by Google for ‘spammy’ (low quality, irrelevant) links.  Without links your site is unlikely to feature highly in the search engine results.  Good quality, high relevant, high quality links are needed for the online success of your Brighton Business.  Link Building is a serious business, just like your own business is a serious business.

Under no circumstances should you use cheap automated link building services.  If something appears in your inbox offering link building services at unbelievably low rates do not be tempted – it will not work and can do your current rankings harm.  Cheap link building initiatives always backfire – remember what you need is link building not link spamming.  Link spamming will lead to penalties that can affect your online business for many months.  Link building however will help you achieve the desired first page position for your website.

Remember too that your web page content, no matter how good is no longer enough in itself to achieve high rankings for your site.  If your site does not feature highly in the search results nobody will see you content, no matter how good it is!

How Can You Build Good Links?

A good back link is a link from a relevant web property that delivers targeted traffic to your website.  “Real’  links are those that people actually click on to visit your website.  These will automatically increase your search engine visibility.  Building good quality links takes time and effort.  It also takes the knowledge and expertise of a professional SEO consultant to be able to identify the right web properties to seek links from.  In today’s market good quality link building services from qualified SEO Professionals will cost anything from £500 +VAT per month and up depending upon how competitive your sector is online.  For a complementary SEO audit call us today on 01273 328877

 

 

 

Jun 06
Love0
Type Writer Storytelling

Storytelling on your website

By Marketing, SEO, Website

While Storytelling has been a crucial point of web design for some time, recently it has become much more evident that through animations, user interactivity or photography you can portray true personality. The idea is quite simple really, a story which is visually enticing is going to appeal much more than blocks of text ever could.

The simple truth is simplicity always wins. Regardless of how impressive your product or service is, people are less likely to be interested if it requires effort to digest the information needed to make a decision. Great imagery will make your visitors feel, often in a way that words simply cannot illustrate and in less time too. So what media’s do we have available to us to make use of visual storytelling?

1. Video

Visual communication is king, and video is a king among kings. The process of recording and displaying moving visual images. Few mediums can match the immediacy and depth of storytelling which videos can offer on your website. A professional standard video is capable of attracting visitors through sharing as well as promoting your business’ credibility.

Unfortunately hiring a creative film crew is highly expensive. As a successful video requires a lot of planning, expensive equipment and many highly trained professionals. The budget is completely necessary as a poorly conducted video is capable of hurting your brand image rather than promoting yourself. If you do have the funds available however, video is a strong choice for high ROI.

2. Parallax Scrolling

Parallax scrolling is a prominent trend which makes use of various backgrounds cycling at different speeds while you scroll giving a sense of depth. When implemented correctly parallax scrolling can be quite mesmerising, but also a great way to introduce yourself/business/product.

The issue with Parallax scrolling is that while it has the potential to be a very powerful tool for storytelling on your site, sometimes it can be distracting and hard to navigate hurting your UX. When planned thoroughly however parallax scrolling clarifies your business as simply and enjoyably as scrolling down a page.

3. Photography

Images trigger emotion. Strong authentic images will pull that emotion and bring it together with your brand. Your visitors will associates the emotions you created using imagery with your business. Use that for storytelling on your website. Imagery can say a lot about your brand, make sure that you send the right message. Ensure your images meet your brand values and connect with your audience. With these factors in mind you can easily create a cost effective website while avoiding seemingly insurmountable blocks of text.

4. Slideshare

Slideshare is mostly overlooked and underutilised, most marketers are focusing on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. But are they missing out? Presentations offer a great way to provide storytelling for your business. They are fun, useful, get straight to the point and will get immediately rewarded for high quality content. Slideshare has over 60 million unique visitors a month, this might seem like a lot less than Facebook or Twitter. But there is significantly less competition than on the social media giants, meaning there is a gap in the market waiting for you.

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