It might sound simple enough to do, but you’d be surprised how many companies, large and small, have fallen foul of Google. Some people accept their failings and make amends, while others take affront and try to fight the system.

The simple truth though is that Google controls the market. It isn’t quite a monopoly, but with a 90% share of the market, it might just as well be. Playing by Google’s rules won’t hurt you elsewhere either, with ethical SEO you can benefit right across the board.

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If you are not using Google Analytics to monitor your website’s traffic and user behaviour, the first thing you should do is start. Setting up Google Analytics is a straightforward process and the standard version is completely free. A quick registration and small-chunk-of-code-on-site later and you have access to one of the most powerful website tools available today.

However with so much information locked within the Analytics interface, it can be difficult to know where to start. These three reports are my top three basic reports for gaining some top-level insight into user activity. Before you dive into deeper, more advanced reports, it’s worth getting to grips with what you can learn from these sorts of reports.

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Since October 2011, there’s a good chance you’ve seen “(not provided)” reported as a keyword for organic search in Google Analytics. For many websites, (not provided) may even be the top organic search keyword.

But what causes keywords to be “(not provided)”, why is the percentage of (not provided) keywords continually increasing and what effect is this having on organic search analysis?
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Guest blogging has is a fantastic way of sharing your knowledge across the web and earning links back to your site along the way.

In fact, it’s become such a popular way to build links that many bloggers are now inundated with floods of guest post offers every day. Some of which are much more genuine than others.
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Before you go ahead and read this article, I’d recommend that you take a moment to read last week’s precursor, where I discussed how optimising your site for user experience is vital.

Following on from last Friday’s post, today I’ll be looking at how you can clear the cobwebs from your social signals and amp up your site to become a social powerhouse through a selection of simple to implement techniques.

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It finally seems as if we’re getting out of winter, the clouds are starting to clear and the sun has begun meekly shining down. Spring is well and truly here.

It’s time to put on your marigolds and dust out those cobwebs from the corners of your home, and whilst you’re at, why don’t you give your website a well-deserved spring clean as well? Read more

Earlier this week marked the 8^th birthday of what is arguably one of the most important sites on the internet.

Yes, the enormous video-sharing site YouTube celebrated eight years since its very first video. First established in 2005, and acquired by Google in 2006, the site launched with great success across nine countries, including the UK, a year later. Read more

Have you ever left a comment on a blog post; updated an article on Wikipedia; uploaded a video to YouTube or even recorded a clip for SoundCloud?

There’s a good chance that you answered yes in reference to at least one of the actions mentioned above. That’s because advances in digital technology have given us the power to effortlessly connect with each other in entirely new and exciting ways. Read more

Next time you’re in town, walk into your nearest phone store. Have a look at the wide range of mobiles on display and take note of how many of those handsets are smartphones.

Unless your particular shop is stuck a few years behind everywhere else, you should notice that even the basic entry level mobiles are now smartphones. Read more

Creating content isn’t exactly a new practice. How it’s produced, shared and perceived has changed, but at the core its purpose has always been the same; to instruct, to enlighten and to entertain.

Obviously content has come a long way since paintings on a cave wall, and things have gotten a lot more technical. We’ve imposed new rules and styles upon the content and developed flashy new ways with which to construct and digest it. Read more