SEO Blog

In SEO it is important that you are able to monitor the progress of your site. Whatever your metric of success is, without some measure of growth it is difficult to determine the effectiveness of your SEO efforts to date.

So what should you measure and how should you gain those statistics? Well, one obvious way of charting how your SEO work has affected the website is through the number of visitors it achieves. Okay, this isn’t a foolproof method and there are variables that can affect traffic flow that will have very little to do with your optimisation, including seasonal trends. But ultimately you want to become more visible online and the best way of indicating whether that is working is through traffic.
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Many of us are inclined to prioritise our work. This is particularly true when we are snowed under with work and don’t have the time or resources to cope. A situation that many website owners find themselves in at one time or another.

So where does everything fit in then? What should be first and what can wait? You’ve got to plan time for designing the architecture of the site as well as the on-site aesthetics. You have to consider marketing your site, perhaps with SEO, PPC, social media or a combination of the three. You also have to fill the pages with content at some point. But which of these is most important? Well, there isn’t one simple answer sadly.

Each component is essential. You can’t have a great design and no architecture to base it one for example. But I’m here to make the case for content.
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Meta descriptions are one of those things that can be easily glossed over. They don’t have any bearing on the appearance of your page and their influence on your overall ranking could be called into question. But the fact is it does have an effect and it will help you draw in visitors.

You see, rather than simply adding to your keywords, a Meta description will also appear for that particular page within the search engine results pages.

Whenever you search for something on a search engine you’ll get a list of results. These are usually made up of a title and a short two line description. It is the short description that appears directly beneath the title that we are talking about. This is that page’s Meta description.
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You might have notice that I’ve already rather unsubtly provided an example of how you can better improve your site’s strength in your immediate locality. There are examples of this all over the Internet, most of which are a little more subtle and better phrased than the title of this post. A website doesn’t need to just be recognised in its field of expertise, it has to be visible in its geographical location.

By including SEO Hampshire within the title of this blog post, it is more likely to get indexed for that phrase in search engines. That could in turn bring in people who are interested in finding out more about SEO services in Hampshire.

When optimising any website, the two key components that will add the most strength are content and links. Within the realms of content, one of the most important aspects is the title. This is the phrase that the search engine will pick up on and ordinarily assign most weight to. A page should only have one H1 heading, as this ought to be used to only get across the main message of that page – including keywords of course. Any other headings should only be given a H2 tag or lower, so as not to confuse search engines and ruin the strength of the page.
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There’s an old adage that you get what you pay for.  So if you pay top dollar, you can expect the very best, whilst of course the opposite is true of anything that costs next to nothing. However, is it really possible to get cheap SEO without sacrificing quality?

There are pros and cons when you look to cut corners, that’s inevitable. So here are a few things to look out for when it comes to saving a few pounds on cheap SEO:

1. Don’t believe unrealistic promises

If somebody is offering cheap SEO, don’t get lured in by the promise of untold fortunes and a guaranteed top ranking in Google. Search engine optimisation, when done properly, will take time. If they are providing an ethically run service, then they will struggle to achieve such lofty positions in a short period of time.
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SEO isn’t like so many other tasks. There isn’t a clear, linear path for it to take. There isn’t even a definable endpoint to target. It is, by its very nature, a continuous project.

Even when you get to the top of Google for every keyword you have targeted (really?!), your work still isn’t complete. Yes, you’re on top of the heap, but how are you going to stay there? How can you expand to attract new search engine rankings for more varied terms?

Your competitors aren’t going to stop just because you’re at the top. There isn’t a lifetime pass that Google hands out to lucky websites. The whole point of SEO is that it is a process of continuous improvements. You have to remember how you got to your elevated position in the first place and be aware that there will be plenty of others out there with the same hunger and all new ways of deposing those who are above them.
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It might sound painfully simple, but signing up for Google Maps (as well as the Bing and Yahoo equivalents) can be hugely beneficial for your site. Not only will you gain a valuable link back to your site, but you can also ensure that you appear at the top of the SERPs for related searches in your surrounding area.

Local search is a very large part of SEO, particularly now with the mobilisation of the Internet. People aren’t just searching for products and services from sites all over the world these days, they want something local, they want a site that they can visit in person. Google Maps will play a huge part in ensuring that you are able to meet these requirements.
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SEO is far from black and white. There are so many nuances and subtle tweaks that can make all the difference. There are also those techniques that are slightly risqué; not black hat, but certainly not white hat either. In short, there is a lot to learn about SEO other than what is immediately on the surface.

Let’s look at reciprocal linking. It is frowned upon by search engines, especially when it is done with the passing of money or other benefits. A site owner with numerous domains should certainly think twice about linking them all together, especially if they are hosted on the same server, under the same name. Search engines aren’t stupid and this kind of activity will lead to penalties.

But what about where it is a little less cut and dry? Is it possible to gain from reciprocal linking? Well, as we know, links are the lifeblood of search engines. They need them to navigate the maze of websites and to effectively index each page they encounter. So we know that having a strong link from a relevant source will bring authority with it.
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We all know that you can’t buy your way to the top of a search engine, or at least that is the perceived wisdom at any rate. You have to be prepared to work for your place and really earn the right to gain a ranking. There really is no such thing as a free lunch, even in SEO.

So you’re setting a website. What domain are you going to get? Google will rank a website higher if the keyword that they’re targeting is in the domain. That said, most of the major ones have now been purchased, plus you need to find something that really fits your brand – most likely the name of your company.

If you’re a UK company, get a .co.uk domain. Whilst you might lose out on some global traffic, you will at least have the opportunity to highlight where you are to the search engines. These domains are cheaper and you don’t need to go out and buy dozens either. Just get one and develop that.
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Time and time again you find people publishing, and republishing the same nonsense. If you write one good article, don’t ruin its strength and effectiveness by distributing to thousands of weak sites. Perceived wisdom is that you want to get as many links as possible, true. But it is the quality links that will ultimately provide most value, not the masses of worthless trackbacks.

You might be thinking that this flies in the face of convention and what I’ve said previously on the matter, but hear me out. Firstly, article distribution is a good way to build a link profile, particularly for new or older sites without any authority. The idea is that you get many links coming in and hope to goodness that a few are very strong and so will provide added value. As it is, the many low quality links will still have a slight benefit.
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