SEO Blog

Search Engine Optimisation is polarised, both as an industry and a practice.  There are those that stick rigidly to the rules and look for new ways to develop sites without incurring the wrath of angry search engines – white hats. Then there are those who do the exact opposite – black hats.

In recent weeks this debate has stepped up a little. In fact just about everybody is having their say on which is right and which is wrong. The basic truth is that both work, however one is entirely safe whilst the other certainly is not.

Black hat largely relies on underhanded techniques designed to slip under the radar. These tactics are far from accidental and are in fact incredibly clever – and effective. Despite the huge risks, black hat SEO survives thanks to the huge potential rewards.
(more…)

Many people still swear by the power of paid links. There’s no doubting that many are very difficult to trace and therefore can’t be penalised. However, as a promoter of ethical SEO and a believer in long-term strategies (rather than short-term gains), it’s impossible to condone it as a practice for client sites.

The reasoning for these reservations is is simple enough – it contravenes Google’s rules. If you decide to go up against the most powerful search engine, then there’s a good chance you’ll get burnt. Of course you can pull the wool over its eyes, but eventually you may be found out and when you do it could be disastrous. However, does that mean that you should just get rid of them all and start again?

Let’s take an example we see time and time again. A client has a site full of paid links and has seen a slight drop for one term but others remain strong, what do you do?
(more…)

Generally speaking blackhat techniques will be picked up by the search engines and the perpetrators punished. However, this isn’t always the case. There are still occasions where you can get a huge benefit from bending the search engines rules, for as long as you remain undetected.

Let’s take link buying as a primary example. Whilst many would class this as more of a grey area, it is against Google’s usage policy and therefore it certainly couldn’t be construed as ethical. Link buying is still hugely popular though; this is in no small part due to the fact that it is often difficult to trace whether a link is natural or not.
(more…)

Whether you’ve spent weeks or years developing your website, it is a valuable part of your identity and your business. Therefore you want to be sure that you are in safe hands, particularly when it comes to outsourcing your SEO.

There are so many horror stories and online scaremongers to sow seeds of doubt in your mind. This isn’t an entirely bad thing. Vigilance is a useful ally to have. SEO does have its fair share of sharks, so you have to be sure that you aren’t going to be their next victim.

So what should you be asking to avoid falling prey to these circling predators?
(more…)

As I’ve said many times before, there is no hidden trick to SEO. What most people lack when they come to procure SEO services is either the time to do the work themselves or the ability to pinpoint why exactly it isn’t succeeding.

An SEO professional will of course be able to provide a more focussed analysis of a website. They’ll use their knowledge, review the current content, linking structure and performance, before making a number of suggestions where improvements can be made. But there’s no reason you can’t do all the ground work yourself.
(more…)

There are many people who would question the value of SEO. Some see it as a dark art that is slowly undermining the way in which search engines rank web pages; others see it as common sense that shouldn’t require expert assistance.

However, without SEO, how is your website going to be found? Your website is the product, SEO is the marketing tool that helps it get seen; so if you have a fantastic website, brilliant design but zero SEO awareness, will it still get picked up?
(more…)