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The benefits of SEO to your business

Businesses and start ups face their own day to day challenges. Such as, limited time, SEO, shoestring budgets and staffing.

If one thing is clear, without online visibility and a robust SEO strategy your business may find itself facing additional difficulties. Including customers struggling to find and see your website or online ads.

We suggest you develop a strong brand and a successful online presence. Having a positive and proactive approach to your SEO will increase the amount of new customers engaging with your business. Leading to greater conversion rates. A few less things to worry about on a day to day basis!

Let’s look at some ideas on how you and your professional can help to build a winning SEO strategy that won’t bankrupt you. It’s important to mention that, a little creativity and dynamism and an acute understanding of the business- its objectives, goals, and target audience will go a long way.

Similarly, each business is different therefore, the approach you take with your SEO should reflect this. This is where your creativity should come into play.

Here are a few suggestions to consider with or without a pro:

Optimise your website

Your SEO optimised website will load faster, navigate more easily, and will display on different devices. This is paramount in a world where many people are researching, browsing and shopping on tablets and mobile phones.

Creating an online environment that is user friendly you will satisfy part of Google’s guidelines. This is because Google favours websites that offer its visitors positive experience which creates ease of use.

SEO has changed dramatically over the past decade. Therefore, it’s vital to recognise how much influence search engines like Google have on your website. Search engines can influence whether or not you have an online presence.

  • Create high quality and relevant content including blogs and articles
  • Provide appropriate and relevant on site information
  • Create an environment which is well structured and uncluttered to encourage longer visits
  • Solve your target audiences’ questions through your content… F&Q perhaps

Set up a Google My Business account

Google My Business is a free optimisation tool that will help to increase your local visibility. It will give you more control over how your business appears on searches and maps.

  • Build an account and fill out each section with relevant and appropriate information.
  • Use high quality images and videos.
  • Encourage clients to provide reviews and feedback to build credibility, trustworthiness and sales. You can reply to your customers comments, which is a great way of demonstrating how your business engages with its customers.
  • Provide office details, directions, contact numbers and operating hours.
  • Provide information about your business attributes for instance – free parking, access to wifi, wheelchair access.

Don’t fall behind stay updated

Google have implemented some huge algorithm updates over the past few years which have effected some well established websites. Similarly, they also roll out several updates on a monthly basis. The updates might not be ground breaking, but, unless you are aware of these, over time your website could become difficult to update. This why having a pro on your side will help to avoid falling behind.

  • Your website requires constant monitoring to stay up to date.
  • Be on the ball – understand major algorithm changes and how these will effect your website and its’ ranking.

Therefore, your business needs to have a long term SEO strategy in order to gain noticeable changes. It’s about ‘playing the long game’!

Conclusion

It’s really important to understand the needs of your business and how search engines influence and impact your website’s visibility. Being aware of other businesses like your own, being aware of what they are doing and how they are doing, it will help to develop and maintain a strong SEO strategy.

The more time and commitment you apply to your SEO the greater your results will be now and for the future.

for more information, contact us at:

proactivemarketing.solutions

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How Do I Get My Business To Come Up On The First Page Of Google?

If you have been wondering how to increase your visibility on Google, or why your website doesn’t show up using specific search terms which are relevant to your business…

Then this blog series will seriously help you out! This time we will cover the role social media can play in increasing your visibility on Google.

Did you know…

You probably already know about the importance that Google plays in your business leads. Otherwise you most likely would not be researching it. However, did you know that 75% of people will not click through google pages and will only take notice of the first page. Believe it or not, 93% of people who make searches do so using search engines. And this is why you can’t afford to be ranking on any Google page- only the first.

Social media and your online presence

One way to be seen on Google is to increase your social media presence. By building and maintaining your social media accounts you will be creating some useful assets that will help enhance your online presence. Looking after your social accounts is not only useful for your online presence, but they will also help to increase user engagement. Furthermore, your socials will provide a space to project content into the wider community which will help you achieve greater visibly once more.

If you feel that you are wasting time on the ‘soft stuff’ by posting on Facebook or tweeting on Twitter, when you could be chasing good old business- you aren’t. Try to remember that you ideally want to gain a presence on the first page of SERPS (search Engine Results Page). By carrying out these tasks, potential clients are more likely to find you when they make search queries in Google and other search engines.

Follow our steps

Here are a few ways you can maximise your social media accounts so people will find your business on Google more easily.

We suggest you:

  • Link all of your social media accounts to your website and business emails. Don’t just pick a few of the main accounts like Facebook or LinkedIn, include them all to pass authority on to them.
  • Optimise all of your accounts to achieve greater engagement. You can do this by, using high quality images for your branding. Ensure all the sections such as ‘about us’, ‘name’, and ‘region’ are all fully populated by quality and in-depth content.
  • Keep your accounts updated with at least one post per day. The purpose of this is so your users and potential clients don’t think your account has been abandoned. Basically, you want to have an appearance that says ‘open for business’, not ‘closed down months ago’.
  • Use hashtags (#) to increase visibility making you more easily discoverable.
  • Engage well with your users on social media, responding to feedback, reviews and comments. Demonstrate to your followers that you are interested in their interactions and what they have to say- positive or negative.
  • Show an interest in other people’s posts, by commenting on and sharing content. This will help to spread your brand and reputation.

Finally…

Follow these steps and they will help to build your online presence which will support you with greater visibility. It is really important to have no loose ends and half populated accounts. Link all of your accounts to your website and emails. Finally, try not to underestimate the role social media plays in ranking more highly in search engines. Read our blog ‘If SEO blows your mind: Read this’ for more specific advice on SEO.

For further advice or support please feel free to contact our friendly team.
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What is the Google Penguin Algorithm?

The Google Penguin Algorithm was announced by Google soon after, the Panda update had been rolled out.

Penguin’s aim is to improve the quality of its ranking websites.

Lets have a closer look at the update

The Google Penguin Algorithm has an overarching mission to clean up the search engine results page (SERPS). By penalising pages which, entertain poor practice, such as using link schemes and keyword stuffing. Whilst rewarding sites that are high in quality and working to the Webmasters Guidelines.

A small percentage of search engine requests made in English were affected upon the release of the alogorithm. Nearly half a decade and 10 ‘document’ updates later the Search engine optimisation (SEO) community recognise and understand the work that Penguin sets out to do. During 2017 Penguin became part of the core algorithm.

Penguin will identify and penalise sites which aim to deceive and manipulate Google. Examples of the kinds of sites which Penguin will penalise are ones designed not for its users. But to achieve greater ranking through finding loopholes and shortcuts.

 

What Penguin identifies as being negative

Keyword Stuffing

This is the overuse of keywords in an unnatural way. So Google believes the site has answers to search phrases.

Link Schemes

This is where a user acquires backlinks from low quality site. To create a façade of popularity to fool Google into ranking the site more favourably.

Although Penguin regards the above as deceptive it also condemns the following techniques:

  1. Hidden links and text
  2. Pages with irrelevant keywords
  3. Doorway pages
  4. Automatically generated content
  5. Unwanted redirects

Ways to get back in Penguins good books

Some leg work should be done in order to, either recover from the Penguin update, or to protect yourself from being hit by the algorithm. You should action a clean up operation involving the removal of bad and spammy links. Rewrite content which currently over uses keywords to provide quality to your visitors. Your keywords should be natural and not repetitive. Furthermore, avoid over optimization of site pages.

To conclude

Penguin favours websites that are considered safe and trustworthy. Similar to other algorithms like Panda or Hummingbird. If you can demonstrate that your site provides a useful service or is a helpful resource and you follow the Webmasters Guidelines. Then you will reduce or eradicate the negative impact of Penguin when Google next reviews your site.

For further advise or guidance on the Penguin algorithm feel free to contact our team.
www.proactivemarketing.solutions

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Understanding Google’s Algorithm update: Fred

Let’s identify who Fred is and discuss how we can protect ourselves against google’s Algorithm update

Who is Fred?

During March 2017 website owners were noticing a drop in ranking. No announcements were made about Google algorithm updates at the beginning of March, which left people confused and questioning why their rankings had been hit. However, towards the end of the Month Google put us in the picture and explained that there hadn’t been a specific algorithm update, but in fact, Google did and still do daily updates to ensure quality websites are rewarded. Moving forwards, we now refer to all the general updates that happen as Fred.

More about the Fred updates

If you noticed changes in your rankings during March 2017 you weren’t alone. If your drop in ranking was sudden and unexplained it is likely that you have been hit by these Google’s updates. Websites entertaining the idea of black hat SEO techniques are penalised for these poor practices.

If you were / are doing one of some following, your drop in ranking can most likely be linked to these updates:

  • Too many ads on your website
    The number of ads present on your website out numbers the content on your pages.
  • Thin content
    The information and blog content are of poor quality, minimal and vague. If your content is of a low standard and doesn’t compare to other websites in your industry.
  • Aggressive monetization
    Having too much focus on making money or encouraging a return using dodgy practices.
  • Mobile compatibility problems
    A website design needs to be responsive and translate well when using a mobile phone and tablets.
  • Poor user experience (UX)
    Content and website elements are disorganised, difficult to navigation, bad links and on-site errors.

Part of the Fred updates focused on tackling the above issues and from doing so informs us that Google are fighting back at websites which try to cheat the system. If your focus is on monetization rather than being a useful online resource, then your website ranking is likely to suffer. You may be unaware that these practices are questionable and if that is the case there are improvements that can be made. We can of course be proactive and ensure the above are not techniques being utilised on your website. However, if you are unsure about identifying the cause then its probably most effective if you get a professional to help you quickly identify the issue.

Let’s be proactive and work with Fred

Websites with excellent UX are favoured by Google. By making changes and working with white hat SEO techniques you will avoid penalties.

Although it can be difficult to identify general Google updates and their impact, it is generally a good idea to follow these practices. Use our check list to improve your website and it’s ranking.

  • Ensure your content and blogs are clear and relevant to the service you are providing
  • Add to or remove content that is thin
  • Regularly maintain your website, its content and ensure you have no errors
  • Remove ads or reduce the amount on your website so the ratio of content to ads is more fair
  • Check that your website is responsive and translates well to mobile and tablets
  • Don’t keyword stuff, and ensure the keywords used are relevant
  • Improve website trustworthiness
  • Give a clear indication of what your website is about
  • Build your website reputation through positive reviews, quality back links and awards

You can also use Google’s Webmaster Guidelines to cover the basics and gain a broader understanding. Alternatively contacting a professional to take your project on will help to manage the issues raised.

Last words about Fred

Ultimately, consider your visitors and users. Give then a quality story and explanation of your business/ service. Make their visit to your website one that is effortless and enjoyable – all in all a good experience. Show off your credentials and make your testimonials, reviews and awards noticeable to the world.

Finally, repeat after me… Quality, Quality, Quality

For more handy tips or expert input come and say hi at,

www.proactivemarketing.solutions

 

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What is Google Possum and is it impacting on your business?

This time we are taking a look at Google’s Possum update which was released in September 2016. It has since changed the landscape of Google’s local finder results and ranking.

The purpose of the Possum update has been to create greater diversity among local results and to reduce spam from ranking. This update has impacted on 64% of the 1,307 businesses investigated by Moz.com. As suggested by Moz, this could have been part of Possum of an alternative update. Thankfully there are a few ways of identifying whether the Possum update has influenced your business listings.

Is your business listed?

One of the main characteristics of Possum appear when business listings have disappeared. In actual fact Google has filtered them. One quick way to identify if this has happened to your business is to do a search of your business industry, such as florist or pharmacy followed by the location. If your business isn’t showing up on the 3-pack listing simply zoom in. Hopefully Google will look at the location with more detail of local businesses and identify your businesses presence.

Let’s understand this a little bit more, Google isn’t removing, giving penalties or preventing a business from ranking. It is in fact working like a filter by picking what it believes to be better quality results. It believes that you won’t want to see results that are too similar, hence the focus on diversity.

How has Possum influenced your business?

Searcher’s location

Factors to take on board is the way a user’s location influences what results are received. The results will vary if two users search the same query but one is in London and the other in Paris. This could be another reason why you can not see your business being listed.

Shared business addresses

If you have a business in an office block or business park where your address is the same as other businesses, even with a different business name, address (room, office or suite number in this case) and different phone number (NAP) Google is likely to filter most of the businesses out simply because they are at the same address. Unfortunately, for many businesses having the addition of a block, room or suite number hasn’t had any significant impact on improving address diversity. Specialist practitioners have noticed that genuine businesses have been caught up in the negative down falls of this update by being filtered out of query responses.

Registered locations

Prior to the update, businesses which were registered in a city because its included in the address. But these businesses were technically outside of the city’s borders have been suffering with ranking. Since Possum was implemented Joy Hawkins, an SEO practitioner, has noticed that some of these businesses rankings have rocketed in position. Moz.com tells us, “it has long been observed in the Local SEO industry that companies beyond city borders have little chance of earning local rankings for queries originating in those cities”.

Working with Possum to make improvements:

The Possum update seems to be harder to work with or escape compared to some of Google’s other updates like Panda and Hummingbird. However, its key to remember that Google, all in all, wants to deliver quality and relevant responses to our queries. Improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and demonstrate to Google that you are the best answer to search queries. This is likely to support your online presence.

Say hello…

We are happy to help and guide on the you issues covered in this article, so feel free to get in touch.