SEO Blog

The battle of the SERPs continues. This time Google has expanded its flights information, providing details on a number of worldwide routes.

Bing of course has been offering its American users details on the latest flights and prices within its results for a number of months. So in many ways, this represents Google’s riposte. However, that might be slightly unfair on it as a standalone service and unique update.

So let’s take a closer look at exactly what this update entails.
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Becoming an authority on any subject or within an industry offers huge benefits at every level of your business. Why would you want your customers or clients going elsewhere? Just as importantly, why wouldn’t you want them to recommend your services?

Sometimes though, even your most loyal affiliates won’t quite know how best to recommend your services; therefore they may need a little cajoling. This can be achieved in a number of ways and can result in a wide range of benefits.
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Optimising for your local region is a great way to attract targeted traffic. However, not all local search services are all that they appear.

This morning, State of Search revealed a new scam being perpetrated in the United States. Involving blackmail and subterfuge, it could easily be confused with a cold war era spy novel, however it is an altogether far simpler scam.

Essentially businesses have been busy signing up for some form of local search service. This has basically involved the creation of a Google Places profile and, one would assume, very little else. Unfortunately, as well as paying for a free profile, they have then had those accounts threatened with closure unless they can come up with some additional funds.
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I warn people regularly about the dangers of using unscrupulous SEO agencies and the damage that they can do. However, how are you supposed to know that they are taking you for a ride in the first place, especially if you don’t have the first clue about genuine optimisation?

Well, it probably sounds pretty straightforward; however, for many it poses a massive issue. For instance, if you’re not getting regular or accurate reporting, it might not actually be clear that something is awry. Unfortunately, the only real advice is that you have to use your common sense and watch out for telltale signs, including the following:
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Online marketing is made up of a huge variety of different disciplines. Whilst you might view the top two as Search Engine Optimisation and Pay Per Click advertising, there are numerous sub-sections and other channels that can be explored.

Whilst variety may be the spice of life in some scenarios, it’s not quite the same when you’ve got limited resources and the success of your business is riding on making the right decision. Many online companies face the same dilemma. What should you target first, what can be ignored entirely, what needs to be include within a blended strategy? It’s not easy making these decisions.

Let’s take a look at one particular branch of SEO that is easy to overlook, but certainly shouldn’t be: local search.
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Yahoo have started negotiations with Alibaba and other shareholders over being ‘appropriately compensated’ for the sale of Alipay, the payment system owned and used by the internet retailer.

Two weeks ago, the Chinese e-commerce giant shifted the ownership of Alipay to another company, incidentally also owned by Jack Ma, the Chief Executive of Alibaba. It has been suggested this was due to a change in Chinese regulations that stated ownership of payment groups, such as Alipay, must be based in China. Bad news for Yahoo then.

The initial news sparked fear from analysts and investors that this could seriously devalue Yahoo’s stake in Alibaba, especially as Alipay was so far out of reach for them. Two weeks ago their shares fell 7%, which increased to a drop of nearly 13% yesterday. In monetary terms, that’s a drop of $2 billion off the internet company’s valuation.
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If you’ve been sweating about the impending ruling on the use of cookies within your site, then you can breathe a sigh of relief (as long as you’re in the UK). British businesses have been given a stay of education on the eve of the EU law coming in to force, with the government announcing that sites will have another year to comply.

For anybody that hasn’t heard of the ruling the first place (don’t worry, I’m sure you’re far from being alone), essentially has been created to stop sites ‘secretly’ accessing stored information through cookies. Essentially visitors will need to be given the option to opt-in or out. A good example of where this is currently being used, and what you may need to emulate in 12 months time, is the Information Commissioner’s Office website.
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This sounds like a pretty obvious title. Of course content needs to be text, why wouldn’t it be?

Well, you’d be surprised. For instance, how many time have you visited a site and been met with a flash presentation containing the only text on the whole page? In fact, you may have visited some sites and not even realised that the content was actually within an image, rather than an HTML format.

It’s not always obvious, certainly from a visitor’s point of view; however, the damage this could do to a site and its visibility can be significant. Nobody needs to be reminded that content is important and that it helps to build relevance for a page and its target keyword(s). But it’s no good having content that is only visible to human visitors. Yes, they’ll get the message, but you could be throwing away the opportunity to rank for anything.
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French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been on a collision course with Internet giants for months, if not years. Recently it has been Google that has attracted his ire; however at today’s G8 conference he was able to address other online leaders including representatives from Facebook and Microsoft.

Taxation has been a bone of contention for governments around the world. Whilst advertising platforms, including those on the AdWords, AdSense and Facebook networks, pocket millions of dollars on foreign soil, this rarely finds its way into the local government’s coffers. Today Sarkozy fired a direct challenge to all attendees:

“Do not forget that it is in the commitment of your companies to contribute fairly to national ecosystems that the sincerity of your promise will be assessed.”
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Content is important. It might not be ‘king’ per se, but nobody can argue that it has a significant effect on the SEO and user-perception of a page. By failing to get it right for both or either of these, you are missing a huge opportunity.

In the ecommerce sector, you need to get it right first time. If your visitors are uninterested in what you have to offer or the search engines don’t fancy featuring you higher than the second page then it’s a wasted effort. You’ll never sell your products and the site will become a costly burden, rather than a goldmine.

It’s really not rocket science; in fact it is pretty basic marketing. What are your customers looking for?
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