Tag Archives: Google

Google’s Update Removes Keyword Data

If you’re not interested in SEO, page rank or your website’s position in Google then this article won’t interest you at all, however as most business website owners are all a little preoccupied with Google positioning I would guessed this would tweak your interest.

To the absolute horror of SEO experts around the world, Google has implemented “auto encrypted browsing” and removed Google Analytics keyword data.

In layman terms this means that if a user is logged into their Google account when they search, the keyword that they searched on will be encrypted and will no longer be available in Google Analytics for you to analyse your conversion rate against.

For example, ‘Mr Smith’ wants a new website for his business; he enters ‘web design Staffordshire ’ into the Search Engine Google, follows a link in the Search Engine Results Pages and then clicks on a buy button on the resulting website. We, as website owners, will know that we have a sale or conversion from this keyword search. In the future we will know we got the conversion from a Google search but not the keywords that gave us the conversion.

This obviously has little impact on the searcher as the only difference that they will see is the use of HTTPS protocol rather than HTTP, but from an SEO, targeted marketing point of view this could cause a few issues.

Interestingly enough this does not affect Ad Words, the paid marketing listing for Google?

This move by Google goes hand in hand with the soft (quietly done) launch of “Good to Know” … very interesting?

If you are looking to make your website more effective and convert visitors into customers then contact us now on 01785 256222 or email enquiries@rakemark.com

Search Engine Optimisation: Matt Cutts Advice Part 3

Over the last month we’ve posted a couple of times about an article by Matt Cutts. Firstly, Sarah refreshed and posted on the golden nuggets Matt gave us in a news article a while back. Later it struck me how little things have changed and I mused about the similarity of advice given then and the more recent advice Google gives us.

Today I want to talk about the one missing piece of information that Matt gave us.

Search Engine Optimisation: Don’t Over Do It!

Using the same keywords over and over again on the same page in an unnatural way is called “keyword stuffing”. It’s a big Google no-no and let’s face Google are smart enough to not fall for that.

Matt said, “After you’ve said it two or three times, Google has a pretty good idea — ‘OK, this page has something to do with this keyword’. Just think about the two or three phrases you want to be known for and weave that in naturally.”

So if you do web design in Stafford for example and you wanted Google to rank you for these keywords then you would need to have these specific words in the title, main header and first paragraph, but simply forcing the term, ‘web design in Stafford’ over and over, every second sentence is going to raise a red flag with Google.

Know before you write your article or web copy what the target keywords for this item are and then creatively weave them in a few times, but not more than three or four.

So climb the rankings with a consistent message, that offers something to the users and don’t over do it. Remember, Google is just too smart to be out smarted.

Google Page 1 Guaranteed! (SEO For Fun Only)

The second test of the summer is upon us already and according to the forecast we’re in for a good weekend, so plenty of cricket to listen to. This reminds me a bit of my Friday Fun from last year with Boycott Bingo and also that it’s time for some more Friday Fun.

I have blogged before about false Google First Page guarantees, but I came across one First Page Guarantee that really works. So if you are languishing on page 8 or 9 then get ready to instantly be on Google Page 1! [Note: If you are further back than page 9 then this method will only improve things by 90%]

I have paraphrased the instructions and made my own screen shots but credit to the original author. Also, before you get too excited about this amazing idea, note that I have posted this in the ‘Fun’ category.

Step 1: Go to www.Google.co.uk and enter a search term.

Affordable Website Design Google Search

Step 2: On the top right hand corner click the little cog and select search settings

Click on the Cog and then Click Search Settings

Step 3: Scroll down a bit to the setting section for “Number of Results”

If this is greyed out then you need to disable Google Instant, so click on ‘Do not use Google Instant. Once Google Instant is disabled then change ‘Number of Results’ from 10 to 100.

Edit Your Google Search Settings

Step 4: Click Save Preferences

Save Your Google Search Settings Changes

Save Your Changes

Now scroll down, the result that was on page 8 or 9 is now on Google Page 1. Instant Google Page 1 listing.

This Search Engine Optimisation stuff is easy!

EDIT:
I arrived home from a hard days slog to a chilled glass of wine last night. So when I should have been posting this article and finishing off a few bits I was BBQ-ing and sipping cool white wine. Hence the Saturday post.

By the way, I did tell you not to get too excited, have a good weekend.
Phil

Google & SEO: The Only Thing You Need to Know

Other blogs might give you a list of five important search engine optimisation factors or seven SEO mistakes. Some may even have ten things to remember when selecting your top search keywords. Well, I’m going to boil it down into one simple vital SEO fact.

To me, this is the essence of SEO

Google only wants to serve the most relevant search engine results pages (SERPS) for any given keyword. Therefore it follows that to get to get to the top of Google you need to create the best, most interesting, up to date website that puts interesting, unique and relevant information easily into the palms of the hands of Google searchers.

That’s it, the only thing you need to remember

Is There More than that to SEO?

SEO Companies in Stafford and across the West Midlands talk about loads more stuff than that one simple two sentence statement. They talk about the importance of keyword selection, site structure, on page optimisation, inbound links and a load of other stuff. Are they all SEO charlatans? Well, not all SEO companies in the West Midlands are.

The thing is all of those considerations will help your SEO endeavours but they should be used to help you achieve your goal of providing the best website in tune with letting Google know what a great site you have and not as a shortcut to SEO Black Hat glory.

Why Not Use SEO Shortcuts?

There are an absolute stack of SEO techniques that can help you climb the rankings on Google, Yahoo and even Bing and other search engines, so why not use SEO black hat techniques. The reason is simple and as follows
1. Google wants to provide the best, most relevant web pages for any given search term. That is why they are the biggest, because they were the first to put that goal at the heart of their business. Advertising came after that.
2. Google hire the best and the brightest minds from around the world. We are talking super bright, super nerds.
3. They ask these teams of super bright people to look for new black hat techniques and write new code into the ranking algorithm that removes them. Believe me when I tell you that your little SEO guy in Solihull, regardless of any claims or promises he may make, cannot outwit the Google web spam team long term.
4. Google is a multibillion dollar, multinational organisation. They are not stupid. Think about it, how useful would Google be as a web search tool if anyone could get to the number one spot just by putting their chosen keyword loads and loads of times on a page. Answer: Not Very.

So your clever black hat technique might work for a while, but sooner or later (and probably sooner) someone at Google will realise what you’re doing and write in a line of code and your site is gone from Google with no notice, forever.

Build Your Brilliant Website for SEO Glory

So learn the rules of how to promote your website to Google. Learn about the importance of selecting target keywords, site structure, back links and content optimisation. Learn also about black hat techniques like keyword stuffing, hidden text, doorway pages and link spam and work out how Google will spot them and why you shouldn’t use them.

But always remember the one simple self evident truth that Google wants to provide the best page for any given search term and your goal should be to provide that site.

Are You A Website Copy Writer?

Copywriters are talented people don’t get me wrong, but writing copy for the web is different than writing copy for print and using copy in your web page that has been design specifically for print could spell disaster for your online effectiveness.

In the cyber world it may seem like the programmers and designers have the ultimate control and power of either the success or the failure of our website, yet if you look closer it is the words, and placement of those words that drive user interaction. The specifically designed logo or the clever section of code that work seamlessly behind the scenes are all major parts of a successful website but it is the words that bear the weight of how we influence our users, convey our marketing messages and convert the sale.

5 Tips to Improve Your Website Copy

Use Effective Headings
Your headings should be eight words or less.
Don’t use vague headings – remember you have only a few sections to grab your user’s attention before they move on.
Include keywords in your heading text.
Remember you can use your headings as links to more information within your website.
Title, Title, Title
Don’t under estimate the power of the title tag of your web page – this is another area that you should be looking to use keyword rich phrases.
Use different titles, don’t just copy and paste, this is another opportunity to shine brighter than you competitors.
Drive, Guide & Help Your User
Drive your user to take the steps that you want them to take.
Breadcrumb incentives are a great way in influence activity on your website.
A clearly labelled activity path will increase activity along you “Customer Experience Path”.
Stay Connected
Make your pages and content naturally progressive, use links to expand on information and products
Linking to relevant content or being linked to as the source of relevant content will be beneficial to your page rank.
Know what you’re Selling
DON’T babble on about what your widget is capable of by providing a huge list of features, it’s probably of little interest and is a poor way to fill what is prime Real Estate space on your page.
DO tell your user how the widget will benefit them, how it will make them look or feel, be brutal and tap into the users “needy” side – we all have one.

This is by no means all there is to writing web copy, but maybe a few pointers in the right direction.

Word Count – 448

Google Analytics – getting started

We all know that Google is a search engine but not everyone knows that Google as a corporation has not only shown the world the power of brand, product and service but also offers us some of the most powerful tools in the web marketplace – for free.

It was a stunning stroke of genius the day that the guy’s and gal’s at Google set to offering the world professional, useful web tools for free.

Google Analytics currently has over 52% of the world’s web tracking market and this is only set to rise as Google techies provide us with more and more powerful elements.
Measuring your marketing is no new thing but by providing anyone and everyone with an easy to use tool that collates, formulates and turns the data into a visual representation of what’s working and what’s not in our online marketing mix is in my option a tool that you would just be foolish to miss out on.

We include a Google Analytics Account setup for all our new clients free of charge, but for those who don’t have it set up or could just do with a little extra help getting started:

Go to the web address http://www.google.com/analytics/sign_up.html to sign up or http://www.google.com/analytics/ and log into your Google account. If we haven’t set an account up for you or you haven’t got a Google Account you will need to set one up first and then create an Analytics account from your control panel. [Setting Up a Google Account]
Overview Page: This is where all the websites that you may be monitoring will be held, Click on the Account Name (which is a hyperlink) to look at the data on the individual websites, select ‘View Report’.

This will give you a visual view of your data:

The graph at the very top (as shown above) represents the visits to your site and breaks it down into daily figures in any one given month.
It provides you with Bounce Rate (the percentage of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance) which indicates how relevant your visitors found the entrance page, Average time your visitors spent on your site (which helps you judge content quality) and New visits (those that have visited your site for the first time)

The map overlay shows you which areas of the world (yes the world) are showing an interest in your website and the traffic overview shows you how those visitors came to find your site.

So immediately you can see the data that Google Analytics captures for you can help you track ROI, and help create a targeted and informative ‘next move’ strategy.

Totally Free and growing all the time ……

Look out for more blogs on this topic and feel free to add a request.

Beware of Those Offering a Google First Page Guarantee

The dreaded Google First Page Guarantee. I have to get into this a few times a year with different customers and occasionally with the firms offering this guarantee on behalf of a customer. We all want our website to be on the first page of Google so you can see why people get sucked into wanting to believe it. The problem of course is that with Search Engine Optimisation there are no guarantees.

It’s usually pretty easy to find out where the scam lies. It’s usually that the guarantee doesn’t actually mean anything and you only find this out after you’ve been tied in for 12 months. Sometimes the guarantee is based on really low competition keywords (like your business name or a really long tail) and sometimes it is a pay per click deal where you end up paying loads of money in clicks for your keywords (and if you wanted a Pay Per Click Campaign then surely that’s what you would have asked for). Whatever the catch is, any company offering a Google First Page Guarantee is rarely a search engine optimisation company you want to anything to do with.

A Helpful Sham

I find that the Google First Page Guarantee is such a sham that it is actually a really good way of working out the scam artists early on. If they offer you a guarantee then scratch them from your list of companies that you want to work with.

This is new but if this is the first time you’ve come across this then you can Google search ‘Google First Page Guarantee’ and you’ll find loads of articles explaining in great detail why any guarantee is basically worthless. The short version as to why the guarantee is worthless is.
Google controls the algorithm that determines which web pages are listed at the top, and no one can change that. Google’s objective is to deliver the most relevant page to the user. They make billions doing this. Why would they want your page at the top if it is not the most relevant?

Nothing New?

This is nothing new, of course, so why am I banging on about this now? Last year I had to get into this for a customer who is well versed in SEO and how it all works, but thought they had found the exception to the rule.

The Offer:
You select whichever keywords you would like and depending on the competitiveness they will give you a price. For that price they will guarantee that you will be in the first 10 listings on Google. If for any reason you fall out of the first 5 then they will set up a paid campaign to get you back on the front page. There is a contract and it is for 12 months.

How It Worked:
They would use one of the websites that they owned that had sufficient juice with Google and graft a keyword rich page onto it for you. They had clearly built up the page rank on a number of sites over time for this specific purpose. The page would look like your own site and would also have your navigation on it and this would be how visitors would go to your site.

What Happened Next:
I played along and gave in some tough keywords for the industry in question. This was nothing as hard as keywords for the insurance industry, but pretty tough. The price came back with a contract and both seemed in order and reasonable. It was frustrating me because I knew that this couldn’t work in the long term (it really was just another form of paid search) but I couldn’t get this across to the customer.

What Happened In the End:
The keywords we had selected were seasonal and so we were set to go live earlier this year. Unfortunately (or fortunately), in between the initial sales call and the go live date, the company in question lost all of their page rank for all of their sites overnight. All the companies with websites who had been made grand promises suddenly found their grafted page was nowhere to be seen, with a possible penalty for their site due to the link from the now black listed site.

The Moral of the Story

There are no guarantees. Maybe this company upheld the guarantee they gave and created hundreds of paid search campaigns using Google Adwords, but I doubt it. I continue to work for this customer promoting their website by helping them create killer content and attracting inbound links. We promote them using Social Media. We help them in their SEO and PPC. In case your wondering, I didn’t stick my tongue out and say, ‘Told ya so!’ and they know about this article and don’t mind me publishing it, hopefully to prevent anyone else chasing Google Guarantees.