One of the main components that helps determine the success, or failure, of your search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign is your keyword selection. Although this may not appear much, choosing the right keyword to use for your website is one of the more gruelling parts of the entire SEO process, especially if you aim to find one that will be most effective for your site’s search engine optimisation.
When using keywords for search engine optimisation, you just need to follow a few simple steps in order to properly find the right keyword that will do the job. There are also a couple of things that you need to look out for in order to avoid any problems when trying to optimise your web page.
Make a list
The first thing that you should do if you want to be able to use keywords effectively is to start out by making a list of “key” keywords or phrases that are relevant to the content of your site, and by doing this, it can actually lead you to create or discover more keywords or phrases that may blossom from the original one that you have chosen.
Select key phrases or words
Once you’ve made a list, try to select ones that contain a “key” keyword or phrase that can help you identify your site’s content. Let’s say your site’s content is all about cars, using cars as a keyword won’t put you high up in the page ranking of search engines, especially since a lot of sites or pages have that as a keyword. Try to avoid using words or phrases that are too general, as this will not help improve your page ranking. By adding other key terms to your chosen keyword, such as “second-hand cars”, or “second-hand sports cars” will actually help improve your chances of going up higher in the page rankings. Just make sure that these are relevant to your site’s content.
Check your competition
It also helps if you took the time to search for keywords or phrases that your competition are using so that you can narrow down which ones to use, and which ones to avoid. There is no sense in using a type of keyword or phrase, such as “cars”, which a lot or most of your competition are using as well, and if their site’s are ranked high up in the search engine’s index, then you might have a difficult time going up against that.
Use your location
You can also improve your chances of getting a much better page ranking result if you incorporate your location to the keyword or phrase that you are trying to use. Let’s say your business is located somewhere in Hertfordshire, by simply adding the word “Hertfordshire” to your keyword selection (“Hertfordshire second-hand sports cars”), you can fair better in your page ranking. However, this type of method usually entails that people are planning on seeing you in person when they do searches like this, so make sure that you only utilise this technique if you are open to the idea of them visiting you in person.
Use your niche
Always try to choose the keyword that you specialise in, or at least the one that offers you with the most profit.
09 May 2011
06 May 2011
SEO Traps To Avoid
Even though SEOs have been considered as very cost-effective and useful tools for online marketing, it is important that you understand the risks and potential drawbacks. You can help your business run more efficiently by staying prepared for the possible consequences. You can also determine which approaches will work best for your target customers, thereby giving them quality service and unique content each time. Here are some proven tips.
You first have to determine your current risk level to know what more you can do to protect your business completely. First of all, you have to gauge your level of expertise and experience in using SEOs. The more experience you have, the less problems you may encounter since you may already have gone through and solved a number of common pitfalls and problems. Consider the types of SEOs that you have used in the past, then check which ones can still work for your current industry.
Black hat SEO users are putting themselves at risk for losing credibility and even getting penalised or banned. Some web sites and webmasters have been banned by search engines because of the abuse or misuse of certain techniques. There are plenty of black hatters who still believe that overstuffing keywords and using irrelevant content that boosts visibility can work for them in the long term. You are only waiting for search engine crawlers to find the site and render it useless.
White hat search engine optimisation is the ideal since these promise you long term visibility and a good reputation. Your target customers can better relate to you if you follow the guidelines and rules given by search engines to boost rankings. It will take some time before you score high on search results pages, but the wait and experience will be worth the wait.
Reward is not proportionate to the workload given. A single click may be enough for some web sites to instantly land on the first page of search engine results. The hard work of other webmasters who practice ethical methods can be trampled by unapproved techniques like spamming, content aggregating, scraping and plagiarism. Manipulating an algorithm may temporarily catapult your site into the front page, but you can face greater consequences once your actions are discovered.
Although several black hat approaches can offer you visibility instantly, the results are only temporary. People cannot refer to you or your company as reliable if you resort to unapproved techniques in trying to get their attention. You can boost your reputation and experience by following the right guidelines and patiently waiting for the right traffic to start flowing into your web site. Over time, you will find that your client base expands continually as long as you maintain good content and quality service.
Try to write good and informative articles yourself. Visit online discussion boards and listen to what other online experts have to say. Check out other ethical methods used by top web sites and learn over time how you can also become a master in your chosen industry. You can start learning more about keywords and meta tags to improve your visibility. Review how search engine crawlers work and what items and elements are needed in your site to make it easier for them to find you.
You first have to determine your current risk level to know what more you can do to protect your business completely. First of all, you have to gauge your level of expertise and experience in using SEOs. The more experience you have, the less problems you may encounter since you may already have gone through and solved a number of common pitfalls and problems. Consider the types of SEOs that you have used in the past, then check which ones can still work for your current industry.
Black hat SEO users are putting themselves at risk for losing credibility and even getting penalised or banned. Some web sites and webmasters have been banned by search engines because of the abuse or misuse of certain techniques. There are plenty of black hatters who still believe that overstuffing keywords and using irrelevant content that boosts visibility can work for them in the long term. You are only waiting for search engine crawlers to find the site and render it useless.
White hat search engine optimisation is the ideal since these promise you long term visibility and a good reputation. Your target customers can better relate to you if you follow the guidelines and rules given by search engines to boost rankings. It will take some time before you score high on search results pages, but the wait and experience will be worth the wait.
Reward is not proportionate to the workload given. A single click may be enough for some web sites to instantly land on the first page of search engine results. The hard work of other webmasters who practice ethical methods can be trampled by unapproved techniques like spamming, content aggregating, scraping and plagiarism. Manipulating an algorithm may temporarily catapult your site into the front page, but you can face greater consequences once your actions are discovered.
Although several black hat approaches can offer you visibility instantly, the results are only temporary. People cannot refer to you or your company as reliable if you resort to unapproved techniques in trying to get their attention. You can boost your reputation and experience by following the right guidelines and patiently waiting for the right traffic to start flowing into your web site. Over time, you will find that your client base expands continually as long as you maintain good content and quality service.
Try to write good and informative articles yourself. Visit online discussion boards and listen to what other online experts have to say. Check out other ethical methods used by top web sites and learn over time how you can also become a master in your chosen industry. You can start learning more about keywords and meta tags to improve your visibility. Review how search engine crawlers work and what items and elements are needed in your site to make it easier for them to find you.
08 March 2011
The 11 Critical Web Design Mistakes Costing You Money
Recently I spoke to a client of mine who had just made £250,000 from his website in the 12 months since we had designed it for him. His old website had generated approximately nothing. Zero. Was his previous site expensive? No. He wanted to keep the cost of the site down so he had it built through a friend of a friend for ‘mates rates’.
So he wasn’t losing anything, was he?
Yes, he was losing the £250,000 he could have made the previous year. In fact, in the four years before he set up his new website with a professional web designer, not having an effective website was actually costing him £1million in lost revenue and all for the sake of spending between £1-2,000 to get an effective website.
So how much did it cost to set up your website? How much do you spend on hosting and marketing the site? How much money would you be making if it was performing at its full potential? Every website is different – but there are some fundamental rules to having an effective website. If you are guilty of any of these 11 mistakes then get in touch with a professional web designer.
1) Nobody can find you. Have you ever had a set of company brochures printed that are still sat in your office somewhere? Never to see the light of day? How many businesses do this with their websites? Let me ask you a question – how many different ways do people have of finding your website?
Here are some of the most common:
• Pay per click advertising
• Search engine optimisation
• Email marketing
• General Directories (e.g. yell.com)
• Trade directories (e.g. Applegate)
• Affiliate programmes
• Article submissions
• Video submissions
• Banner advertising
These are just online strategies! What about offline?
• Business cards
• Invoices
• Packaging
• Brochures
• Direct mail
• Advertising
• Vehicle/in-store signage
How many of these are you using? If it’s not at least eight, your website is underperforming.
2) Your content is unclear, hard to read, boring - or all three. A wall of text is deadly for an interactive experience. Make sure your text is easy to read by using:
• Sub-headlines
• Bullet points
• Highlighted keywords
• Short paragraphs
• A simple writing style, and
• Speaking in your customers language – no jargon, waffle or ‘marketese’
3) You have no ‘calls to action’. One of the classic mistakes in marketing – telling your customers how great your product or service is, but not how to buy it, or how to get in touch. Make it clear and easy for your customers to buy, enquire, join your newsletter – whatever you want them to do, make it clear what the next step is. When browsing the internet people are lazy and will simply browse onto another site if you don’t get them to act on whatever interest your website has aroused in them.
So, include special offers, ‘buy now’ buttons, offer people a free brochure, tell them to call your free phone number (now!), complete your online form – but tell them to do something or you could be wasting money driving people to the site who then find it too easy to leave the site without taking any action.
Remember - your website has a conversion rate – it might be three in 100 people that visit the site, buy or enquire from you – if you increase that conversion rate by, say, 50%, you increase your website revenue by 50%! There are many ways of doing this – simply speak to a reputable website designer who will guide you with the right content.
4) You are not keeping in touch with potential customers. How many websites have you visited where you have been ‘researching’ a potential purchase or looking at something that you were interested in, but it wasn’t quite the right time to buy that product or service? Well guess what - people are doing with your website? So the question is – how do you find out who these people are – and how do you keep in touch with them?
Gather their details – people will trade their contact details for something of value. Why not offer a free guide on how to choose their purchase? A free ‘trial’ of your product or service? Maybe a subscription to a newsletter or website that will have lots of useful benefits? A ‘VIP’ Club? All they need to do is give you their name, address, phone number and email address.
You would be amazed at how many businesses have huge customer databases they do absolutely nothing with. There are two simple ways of staying in touch – the passive way is to have a section of your website you regularly update (you will need a good content management system to do this), a better way is to send direct mail either by email or by the traditional postal system. If you do, guess who these prospects will go to when it is the right time for them to buy?
If not? You could be wasting thousands of pounds driving traffic to your site, generating interest in your product or service, only to let them slip through your fingers and into the grateful arms of your competitors.
5) You have a poor website design. Have you ever clicked onto a website only to be immediately unimpressed and clicked straight off again? The choice of colour on the website is not only important for the visual appeal of the website design but also for usability of the website. Lack of contrast between the background and colour and the font colour on the website can make the font difficult to read and have a negative effect on the usability of the website. It is important to keep the colour scheme in mind when designing your web site. One of the popular principles in web design suggests that you should not use more than three colours in the design of your website.
You wouldn't send out a marketing brochure that's all words and no pictures. So why do so many companies create web pages without graphics or photos of any sort? If a single picture paints a thousand words, use a judicious number of them on your website to communicate volumes. Photos of your store or office, your products, your employees — these images make your business feel "real" to online visitors. Images give you a tangible presence and let visitors get a sense of the kind of business you run.
6) Your website is confusing to use. Jakob's Law of the Web User Experience states that "users spend most of their time on other websites." This means that they form their expectations for your site based on what's commonly done on most other sites. If you deviate, your site will be harder to use and users will leave.
Visitors to your website will use the navigation on your site to find information that is interest to them. Your own business or your web design company may have a good knowledge of your website and its structure so you may not have trouble locating information. However visitors to your website are less likely to have this knowledge and will rely purely on navigation that is available on the website.
Navigation is mostly available in the form of menus. The menu should be consistent on every page to avoid confusion. Customer behaviours and trends also need to be considered when designing the website. Studies have also shown that web surfers prefer the standard left or right side navigation over other layouts.
7) Your content is out of date. ‘Latest news – last updated 2003’… Ever seen that on a website? What about when you ring a business to enquire about a product that’s on their website and they tell you they don’t stock it anymore? The vast majority of small business owners still either can’t update their own website, or they don’t.
If they can’t it’s often because:
• They don’t have any kind of content management at all
• Their content management is difficult or complicated to use
• They have had no training
• They get no support, there’s no-one to ring to ask questions, or if there is they are held in a queue
So when hiring a web design company ask for a demonstration of the content management system, and ask how and if they will keep in touch on an ongoing basis.
8) Your website does not answer your customers’ questions. It sounds like another no-brainer, but you would be surprised at how many small business websites leave you looking at them for minutes while pondering, "What does this company actually do?"
What’s the first question most prospective customers ask you about your product/service? How much is it? One of the biggest frustrations with websites in not showing prices – it will be one of the first things they are looking for. Most business people usually say to this: ‘but I don’t want my competitors to know my prices’. They probably already do.
And am sure you know most of theirs. What other questions do your customers ask you? Have you created an FAQ’s page to answer these questions? If people can’t find the information they need on your site quickly and easily they will leave and go to someone else’s website
9) Your website does not show contact details clearly!
Your phone number should feature prominently on your website. Quite often people will read the information on your website for research but will actually phone you to ask questions. How easy is it to find the contact details on your website?
Contact information should be visible in a prominent place of the website and be clearly visible. It instills confidence in your visitors. This is particularly important for an e-commerce website that sells products on the site. It is advisable to have your contact information on every page instead of hiding it from customers who visit your web site.
10) Your website shows what you do but not why people should buy from you.
When someone searches for a product or service in a search engine they will be presented with thousands, possibly millions of websites – there is a lot of choice online. As such it’s ever more important to differentiate yourself in the market place by doing things quicker or better or in a different way – you need to define your USP. USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition – it’s what sets you apart from your competitors. Why should your customers buy from you rather than your competitors? What makes you stand out? With most businesses they either have no point of difference at all from their competitors or they differentiate themselves by being cheaper. So here’s how you can show why you are the right choice for your potential customer (how many of these are you using):
- Use of a strap line illustrating your USP (e.g. FedEx: ‘absolutely positively overnight’)
- Testimonials
- Case studies to show the quality of your work
- Before and after photos
- Logos of well known clients you have worked for (the theory being ‘well if they have worked for X then they must be a good company)
- A guarantee
- Accreditation symbols
- A benefits list
Sometimes a simple bullet point list of benefits or a testimonial from a satisfied customer can be the difference between making the sale and not making the sale. How many sales have you missed out on because your ‘why buy from us’ message is not strong enough?
11) Your website is too slow to load. Many small-business websites load far too slowly – and how many people will wait? How many people will lose patience and go elsewhere? Slow loading websites are due to images or videos that have not been compressed properly, or because of the platform the website is built with. There are a number of online tests you can take to measure the load speed of your site, if it is too slow then speak to your website provider about speeding up the process or consider setting up a new site.
So he wasn’t losing anything, was he?
Yes, he was losing the £250,000 he could have made the previous year. In fact, in the four years before he set up his new website with a professional web designer, not having an effective website was actually costing him £1million in lost revenue and all for the sake of spending between £1-2,000 to get an effective website.
So how much did it cost to set up your website? How much do you spend on hosting and marketing the site? How much money would you be making if it was performing at its full potential? Every website is different – but there are some fundamental rules to having an effective website. If you are guilty of any of these 11 mistakes then get in touch with a professional web designer.
1) Nobody can find you. Have you ever had a set of company brochures printed that are still sat in your office somewhere? Never to see the light of day? How many businesses do this with their websites? Let me ask you a question – how many different ways do people have of finding your website?
Here are some of the most common:
• Pay per click advertising
• Search engine optimisation
• Email marketing
• General Directories (e.g. yell.com)
• Trade directories (e.g. Applegate)
• Affiliate programmes
• Article submissions
• Video submissions
• Banner advertising
These are just online strategies! What about offline?
• Business cards
• Invoices
• Packaging
• Brochures
• Direct mail
• Advertising
• Vehicle/in-store signage
How many of these are you using? If it’s not at least eight, your website is underperforming.
2) Your content is unclear, hard to read, boring - or all three. A wall of text is deadly for an interactive experience. Make sure your text is easy to read by using:
• Sub-headlines
• Bullet points
• Highlighted keywords
• Short paragraphs
• A simple writing style, and
• Speaking in your customers language – no jargon, waffle or ‘marketese’
3) You have no ‘calls to action’. One of the classic mistakes in marketing – telling your customers how great your product or service is, but not how to buy it, or how to get in touch. Make it clear and easy for your customers to buy, enquire, join your newsletter – whatever you want them to do, make it clear what the next step is. When browsing the internet people are lazy and will simply browse onto another site if you don’t get them to act on whatever interest your website has aroused in them.
So, include special offers, ‘buy now’ buttons, offer people a free brochure, tell them to call your free phone number (now!), complete your online form – but tell them to do something or you could be wasting money driving people to the site who then find it too easy to leave the site without taking any action.
Remember - your website has a conversion rate – it might be three in 100 people that visit the site, buy or enquire from you – if you increase that conversion rate by, say, 50%, you increase your website revenue by 50%! There are many ways of doing this – simply speak to a reputable website designer who will guide you with the right content.
4) You are not keeping in touch with potential customers. How many websites have you visited where you have been ‘researching’ a potential purchase or looking at something that you were interested in, but it wasn’t quite the right time to buy that product or service? Well guess what - people are doing with your website? So the question is – how do you find out who these people are – and how do you keep in touch with them?
Gather their details – people will trade their contact details for something of value. Why not offer a free guide on how to choose their purchase? A free ‘trial’ of your product or service? Maybe a subscription to a newsletter or website that will have lots of useful benefits? A ‘VIP’ Club? All they need to do is give you their name, address, phone number and email address.
You would be amazed at how many businesses have huge customer databases they do absolutely nothing with. There are two simple ways of staying in touch – the passive way is to have a section of your website you regularly update (you will need a good content management system to do this), a better way is to send direct mail either by email or by the traditional postal system. If you do, guess who these prospects will go to when it is the right time for them to buy?
If not? You could be wasting thousands of pounds driving traffic to your site, generating interest in your product or service, only to let them slip through your fingers and into the grateful arms of your competitors.
5) You have a poor website design. Have you ever clicked onto a website only to be immediately unimpressed and clicked straight off again? The choice of colour on the website is not only important for the visual appeal of the website design but also for usability of the website. Lack of contrast between the background and colour and the font colour on the website can make the font difficult to read and have a negative effect on the usability of the website. It is important to keep the colour scheme in mind when designing your web site. One of the popular principles in web design suggests that you should not use more than three colours in the design of your website.
You wouldn't send out a marketing brochure that's all words and no pictures. So why do so many companies create web pages without graphics or photos of any sort? If a single picture paints a thousand words, use a judicious number of them on your website to communicate volumes. Photos of your store or office, your products, your employees — these images make your business feel "real" to online visitors. Images give you a tangible presence and let visitors get a sense of the kind of business you run.
6) Your website is confusing to use. Jakob's Law of the Web User Experience states that "users spend most of their time on other websites." This means that they form their expectations for your site based on what's commonly done on most other sites. If you deviate, your site will be harder to use and users will leave.
Visitors to your website will use the navigation on your site to find information that is interest to them. Your own business or your web design company may have a good knowledge of your website and its structure so you may not have trouble locating information. However visitors to your website are less likely to have this knowledge and will rely purely on navigation that is available on the website.
Navigation is mostly available in the form of menus. The menu should be consistent on every page to avoid confusion. Customer behaviours and trends also need to be considered when designing the website. Studies have also shown that web surfers prefer the standard left or right side navigation over other layouts.
7) Your content is out of date. ‘Latest news – last updated 2003’… Ever seen that on a website? What about when you ring a business to enquire about a product that’s on their website and they tell you they don’t stock it anymore? The vast majority of small business owners still either can’t update their own website, or they don’t.
If they can’t it’s often because:
• They don’t have any kind of content management at all
• Their content management is difficult or complicated to use
• They have had no training
• They get no support, there’s no-one to ring to ask questions, or if there is they are held in a queue
So when hiring a web design company ask for a demonstration of the content management system, and ask how and if they will keep in touch on an ongoing basis.
8) Your website does not answer your customers’ questions. It sounds like another no-brainer, but you would be surprised at how many small business websites leave you looking at them for minutes while pondering, "What does this company actually do?"
What’s the first question most prospective customers ask you about your product/service? How much is it? One of the biggest frustrations with websites in not showing prices – it will be one of the first things they are looking for. Most business people usually say to this: ‘but I don’t want my competitors to know my prices’. They probably already do.
And am sure you know most of theirs. What other questions do your customers ask you? Have you created an FAQ’s page to answer these questions? If people can’t find the information they need on your site quickly and easily they will leave and go to someone else’s website
9) Your website does not show contact details clearly!
Your phone number should feature prominently on your website. Quite often people will read the information on your website for research but will actually phone you to ask questions. How easy is it to find the contact details on your website?
Contact information should be visible in a prominent place of the website and be clearly visible. It instills confidence in your visitors. This is particularly important for an e-commerce website that sells products on the site. It is advisable to have your contact information on every page instead of hiding it from customers who visit your web site.
10) Your website shows what you do but not why people should buy from you.
When someone searches for a product or service in a search engine they will be presented with thousands, possibly millions of websites – there is a lot of choice online. As such it’s ever more important to differentiate yourself in the market place by doing things quicker or better or in a different way – you need to define your USP. USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition – it’s what sets you apart from your competitors. Why should your customers buy from you rather than your competitors? What makes you stand out? With most businesses they either have no point of difference at all from their competitors or they differentiate themselves by being cheaper. So here’s how you can show why you are the right choice for your potential customer (how many of these are you using):
- Use of a strap line illustrating your USP (e.g. FedEx: ‘absolutely positively overnight’)
- Testimonials
- Case studies to show the quality of your work
- Before and after photos
- Logos of well known clients you have worked for (the theory being ‘well if they have worked for X then they must be a good company)
- A guarantee
- Accreditation symbols
- A benefits list
Sometimes a simple bullet point list of benefits or a testimonial from a satisfied customer can be the difference between making the sale and not making the sale. How many sales have you missed out on because your ‘why buy from us’ message is not strong enough?
11) Your website is too slow to load. Many small-business websites load far too slowly – and how many people will wait? How many people will lose patience and go elsewhere? Slow loading websites are due to images or videos that have not been compressed properly, or because of the platform the website is built with. There are a number of online tests you can take to measure the load speed of your site, if it is too slow then speak to your website provider about speeding up the process or consider setting up a new site.
03 March 2011
What Can We Do For You
How can we help you?
View our video and see what we can do for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwCXvk2VIT4&feature=BF&list=ULCh_2rYF9gCQ&index=6
View our video and see what we can do for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwCXvk2VIT4&feature=BF&list=ULCh_2rYF9gCQ&index=6
See What They Say About Us
See what our clients say about us!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbeez8Ok4MA&feature=autoplay&list=ULCh_2rYF9gCQ&index=1&playnext=2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1X5YIhOG_g&feature=autoplay&list=ULCh_2rYF9gCQ&index=2&playnext=3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHzvY4E9tdg&feature=BF&list=ULCh_2rYF9gCQ&index=3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrHgvulv8bM&feature=BF&list=ULCh_2rYF9gCQ&index=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS7wzqG0YrA&feature=BF&list=ULCh_2rYF9gCQ&index=5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbeez8Ok4MA&feature=autoplay&list=ULCh_2rYF9gCQ&index=1&playnext=2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1X5YIhOG_g&feature=autoplay&list=ULCh_2rYF9gCQ&index=2&playnext=3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHzvY4E9tdg&feature=BF&list=ULCh_2rYF9gCQ&index=3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrHgvulv8bM&feature=BF&list=ULCh_2rYF9gCQ&index=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS7wzqG0YrA&feature=BF&list=ULCh_2rYF9gCQ&index=5
Website Designers Derby
Your number 1 choice in website design
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0tWhM1YVII&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0tWhM1YVII&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Getting The Most From Your Website Content
Once you have answered your questions, addressed in my previous article you are ready to compose your content, namely: what kind of people do you want to attract to your website, what are the benefits of your product or service, why should your prospective customer buy from your and what actions do you want them to take once they have read your website?
Here are a few guiding principles you should consider while composing your content and before you submit the content to your website:
1. Make sure your content is easy to read. Most people will not read huge complicated paragraphs of text online as it is all too easy to click on to another website or another page so it is vital to keep your information simple, and to break it up into bite sized chunks.
Some guidelines for the length of your content:
Headings: 8 words approximately
Sentences: 15-20 words
Paragraphs: 40-70 words
Page: 250– 200 words
2. Break up the text wherever possible. Provide a summary of your information by clearly communicating the direction of your discussion. Use informative headings and subheadings with paragraphs of four to five lines that supports them. You only have a few seconds to grab your visitor’s attention and most will simply scan for the information they are seeking, s here is how you can keep their attention:
o Use bulleted or numbered lists, boldface or coloured font to emphasise the points you wish to make.
o Include links at the end of your paragraph or within the text to direct visitors to other pages of your site for more in-depth information.
3. Write from a point of ‘You’. The most powerful word in the English language is ‘you’. As hard as it may be to swallow, let me be the first to break it to you that the people reading your website are not interested in you or your business – they are interested in themselves, and how you can help them. So your content must be written from their perspective, not yours, and must answer the question they will be asking themselves – ‘what’s in it for me?’
Your content is almost ready, just a few tweaks to make and you can go live publishing your masterpiece. Next week I cover a few more topics to help you write successful content for your website, so keep a watch out!
Here are a few guiding principles you should consider while composing your content and before you submit the content to your website:
1. Make sure your content is easy to read. Most people will not read huge complicated paragraphs of text online as it is all too easy to click on to another website or another page so it is vital to keep your information simple, and to break it up into bite sized chunks.
Some guidelines for the length of your content:
Headings: 8 words approximately
Sentences: 15-20 words
Paragraphs: 40-70 words
Page: 250– 200 words
2. Break up the text wherever possible. Provide a summary of your information by clearly communicating the direction of your discussion. Use informative headings and subheadings with paragraphs of four to five lines that supports them. You only have a few seconds to grab your visitor’s attention and most will simply scan for the information they are seeking, s here is how you can keep their attention:
o Use bulleted or numbered lists, boldface or coloured font to emphasise the points you wish to make.
o Include links at the end of your paragraph or within the text to direct visitors to other pages of your site for more in-depth information.
3. Write from a point of ‘You’. The most powerful word in the English language is ‘you’. As hard as it may be to swallow, let me be the first to break it to you that the people reading your website are not interested in you or your business – they are interested in themselves, and how you can help them. So your content must be written from their perspective, not yours, and must answer the question they will be asking themselves – ‘what’s in it for me?’
Your content is almost ready, just a few tweaks to make and you can go live publishing your masterpiece. Next week I cover a few more topics to help you write successful content for your website, so keep a watch out!
17 February 2011
Make Your Website Content More Effective
When setting up a new website, most business owners will focus on the design and the look of the new website.
So when their web designer asks them for the text they often see it as a task to get done and out of the way as quickly as possible - the idea being that if the website looks good, you will get enquiries. Having now seen many professional looking websites that get lots of hits but few new customers, however, it is important to understand what a difference writing effective web copy makes.
Many small business owners are experienced in their trade or profession but have little formal marketing experience, and as such most websites are filled with text that has been rushed by business owners so busy in the day to day activities of their businesses that they don’t get much time to sit down and really plan their content.
So if you’re reading this, you have either written your text for your website already, or are about to start, this is a simple guide which if you implement the ideas here, will improve your websites results.
Firstly, some questions to ask yourself before you start:
1. What kind of people do you want to attract through this website – who are your ideal customers (e.g. general public, small business owners, men, women, teenagers, the older generation)?
2. How can you tailor the content to those people? (For example should the language be formal or informal, should you use lots of technical detail or make it easy for the ‘layperson’ to understand, etc)
3. What are the BENEFITS of your product/service? (Most people talk about the features of their product or service but not enough about why those features are important and why they will benefit the person/organisation that uses that product or service). For example ‘Our wooden furniture is made from the finest quality hardwood timber (feature), which means that they not only look great now but will still look great in 20 years time (benefit)’.
4. Why should they buy from YOUR business, i.e. what is different about your business? Why do your existing customers use you rather than anyone else they could buy from? If you can list 3-5 good strong reasons then include these in your copy – your existing customers already know you’re a great company to work with but potential ones don’t and you needto show them exactly why you are good and what they can expect.
5. What action do you want them to take once they’ve read your website – do you want them to call you, fill out an online form, buy something online with their credit card?
Now you have answered these questions you can start to put together the content for the different pages.
So when their web designer asks them for the text they often see it as a task to get done and out of the way as quickly as possible - the idea being that if the website looks good, you will get enquiries. Having now seen many professional looking websites that get lots of hits but few new customers, however, it is important to understand what a difference writing effective web copy makes.
Many small business owners are experienced in their trade or profession but have little formal marketing experience, and as such most websites are filled with text that has been rushed by business owners so busy in the day to day activities of their businesses that they don’t get much time to sit down and really plan their content.
So if you’re reading this, you have either written your text for your website already, or are about to start, this is a simple guide which if you implement the ideas here, will improve your websites results.
Firstly, some questions to ask yourself before you start:
1. What kind of people do you want to attract through this website – who are your ideal customers (e.g. general public, small business owners, men, women, teenagers, the older generation)?
2. How can you tailor the content to those people? (For example should the language be formal or informal, should you use lots of technical detail or make it easy for the ‘layperson’ to understand, etc)
3. What are the BENEFITS of your product/service? (Most people talk about the features of their product or service but not enough about why those features are important and why they will benefit the person/organisation that uses that product or service). For example ‘Our wooden furniture is made from the finest quality hardwood timber (feature), which means that they not only look great now but will still look great in 20 years time (benefit)’.
4. Why should they buy from YOUR business, i.e. what is different about your business? Why do your existing customers use you rather than anyone else they could buy from? If you can list 3-5 good strong reasons then include these in your copy – your existing customers already know you’re a great company to work with but potential ones don’t and you needto show them exactly why you are good and what they can expect.
5. What action do you want them to take once they’ve read your website – do you want them to call you, fill out an online form, buy something online with their credit card?
Now you have answered these questions you can start to put together the content for the different pages.
14 February 2011
10 February 2011
Getting The Most From Your Website Part 2
Now your website is up and running, maximise every opportunity to drive traffic to your website. Here are a few simple offline ways you can do this:
- Add your website address to your stationery – business cards, letterheads, complement slips and email signatures
- Include your website address in all your advertising and direct marketing
- Add your website address to invoices, receipts, bags and any other customer communication
- Add your website to your signage – vehicle decals, premises and uniforms
- Give people the website address verbally – over the phone or face-to-face
- Give your address to all potential customers you come into contact with
Keep your website up to date:
Check your website at a minimum every three months to review the content and ask yourself:
- What else can be added?
- What content or images needs removing?
- How can the existing content be improved?
By keeping your content fresh and up to date, will keep clients coming back to see what is new on your website. Because the search engines like to see new and relevant content present on your site, this will help your ranking position in the search engines. From a cost saving side, refreshing your content regularly will prevent a complete overhaul two or three years down the line.
Monitor your results:
Once your website is up and running, don’t fall into the trap many site owners make in neglecting to keep track of your results. Often just a few simple tweaks can make a huge difference on your overall results. By keeping track of your performance, you will spot and correct any potential problems or issues early. How can I do this?
- Set yourself up with a stat counter. Check your website statistics regularly.
- Ask every new enquiry how they found you
- Ask current customers for feedback on your website – what they like and what they don’t like
- Set your website up on Google Analytics
- Add your website address to your stationery – business cards, letterheads, complement slips and email signatures
- Include your website address in all your advertising and direct marketing
- Add your website address to invoices, receipts, bags and any other customer communication
- Add your website to your signage – vehicle decals, premises and uniforms
- Give people the website address verbally – over the phone or face-to-face
- Give your address to all potential customers you come into contact with
Keep your website up to date:
Check your website at a minimum every three months to review the content and ask yourself:
- What else can be added?
- What content or images needs removing?
- How can the existing content be improved?
By keeping your content fresh and up to date, will keep clients coming back to see what is new on your website. Because the search engines like to see new and relevant content present on your site, this will help your ranking position in the search engines. From a cost saving side, refreshing your content regularly will prevent a complete overhaul two or three years down the line.
Monitor your results:
Once your website is up and running, don’t fall into the trap many site owners make in neglecting to keep track of your results. Often just a few simple tweaks can make a huge difference on your overall results. By keeping track of your performance, you will spot and correct any potential problems or issues early. How can I do this?
- Set yourself up with a stat counter. Check your website statistics regularly.
- Ask every new enquiry how they found you
- Ask current customers for feedback on your website – what they like and what they don’t like
- Set your website up on Google Analytics
03 February 2011
Getting the Most from Your Website through Online Advertising
Once your web designer has completed the web design on your site, you are ready to go live. New websites can take as long as two to three months to be picked up, or indexed, by the search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing). Your website position on the search engine rankings will, however, improve over time and how well websites positions rank, partly depends on your phrases or keywords you have chosen to optimise. However, there are several other ways you can promote your site online.
Add your website to Google Local. The map section you see at the top of any local search eg. ‘Plumbers Leicester’, and following their easy set of instructions.
Add your website to directories. Some online directories will charge you for a link to your website, however, there are many online directories that will list your business free of charge.
Pay Per Click advertising is offered by search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. This is a flexible way of advertising, where you only pay for the visitors who actually see your website. Costs per click can vary anywhere between 4p to £5, depending on the popularity of the keyword. You choose a budget per day, a budget per click and choose the keywords you wish to be found by.
Create links to your website. Get in touch with suppliers and friends in business, and any other organisations you are affiliated with eg. FSB, trade organisations, regulatory bodies, and ask if you can place a link to your website on their websites. It may help to offer a reciprocal link to their website on yours too.
Search engine optimisation (SEO). A SEO programme will ensure your website enjoys natural high rankings and consistent positions in all the major search engines and directories.
There are other ways of updating your content too, like writing articles and submitting them to various online magazines with links back to your website. Create social media accounts and a YouTube account so you can post updates about your business and content (used from your articles) to these accounts. The search engines will see this as a form of keeping fresh content flowing and will help your website, and sub pages through the rankings. I will be covering more on these last mediums in following articles as they justify more time in explanation.
Add your website to Google Local. The map section you see at the top of any local search eg. ‘Plumbers Leicester’, and following their easy set of instructions.
Add your website to directories. Some online directories will charge you for a link to your website, however, there are many online directories that will list your business free of charge.
Pay Per Click advertising is offered by search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. This is a flexible way of advertising, where you only pay for the visitors who actually see your website. Costs per click can vary anywhere between 4p to £5, depending on the popularity of the keyword. You choose a budget per day, a budget per click and choose the keywords you wish to be found by.
Create links to your website. Get in touch with suppliers and friends in business, and any other organisations you are affiliated with eg. FSB, trade organisations, regulatory bodies, and ask if you can place a link to your website on their websites. It may help to offer a reciprocal link to their website on yours too.
Search engine optimisation (SEO). A SEO programme will ensure your website enjoys natural high rankings and consistent positions in all the major search engines and directories.
There are other ways of updating your content too, like writing articles and submitting them to various online magazines with links back to your website. Create social media accounts and a YouTube account so you can post updates about your business and content (used from your articles) to these accounts. The search engines will see this as a form of keeping fresh content flowing and will help your website, and sub pages through the rankings. I will be covering more on these last mediums in following articles as they justify more time in explanation.
28 January 2011
Staying Visible for the Search Engines
Stay Visible
Include a site map page. Spiders cannot index your pages if these cannot be crawled. You can use a site map and the right HTML and other codes that will keep you visible to spiders. The spider will easily understand the hierarchy of your site. Make sure you have an easy-to-crawl navigation menu. You may discuss the details with a webmaster to help you improve visibility. If you have a big web site, create many site map pages. Each one should have less than 100 links. All your SEO moves should have an objective. Make use of web analytics software and other online experts to track the right methods and get rid of irrelevant and time-consuming efforts.
The URLs and file names should be friendly to SEOs. Use 2 to 3 hyphens at most to keep your file from appearing like a spam. Use hypens, not underscores, in your URLs and filenames. Hyphens are considered as "space", unlike underscores.
Relevance Matters
Always ensure that you have a relevant title and meta description on each web page. The page title is the most vital factor of on-page SEO. It is unlikely to rank very high for a primary term without the word being included in the page title. Ignore the keywords meta completely if you find that these are not relevant and only confuses visitors. Always write for visitors and users. The content of your site and articles should always be related to your industry and company.
Include a site map page. Spiders cannot index your pages if these cannot be crawled. You can use a site map and the right HTML and other codes that will keep you visible to spiders. The spider will easily understand the hierarchy of your site. Make sure you have an easy-to-crawl navigation menu. You may discuss the details with a webmaster to help you improve visibility. If you have a big web site, create many site map pages. Each one should have less than 100 links. All your SEO moves should have an objective. Make use of web analytics software and other online experts to track the right methods and get rid of irrelevant and time-consuming efforts.
The URLs and file names should be friendly to SEOs. Use 2 to 3 hyphens at most to keep your file from appearing like a spam. Use hypens, not underscores, in your URLs and filenames. Hyphens are considered as "space", unlike underscores.
Relevance Matters
Always ensure that you have a relevant title and meta description on each web page. The page title is the most vital factor of on-page SEO. It is unlikely to rank very high for a primary term without the word being included in the page title. Ignore the keywords meta completely if you find that these are not relevant and only confuses visitors. Always write for visitors and users. The content of your site and articles should always be related to your industry and company.
16 January 2011
Understanding SEO Techniques
About 65% of all web sites visited begin from a search via a search engine. Search engine optimization or SEO has become an integral part in every business owner's marketing scheme since you get to be visible to hundreds of thousands of potential buyers all over the world. You get to boost your sales by following the right methods and techniques. If you end up on the first page, you can expect higher revenues very quickly. Here's how.
Commitment to the Process
SEO needs to be consistent and requires a lot of work in your part. Search engine algorithms adjust regularly, so it is important to stay updated with the latest trends and approaches, since some of your methods may no longer work after a few months. You have to be prepared for the long term and view how your business will continue to grow through SEO. It takes a lot of discipline and patience to see results. At first, your methods may not seem to be working, but as you continue to enhance the steps and process, you can do good business and expand your client base.
Getting Information
You have to know how to ask the right questions from the right people. Ask for the specific details of your business, and learn more about the industry by talking to experts and other successful businessmen. Find out how SEO can be used to the fullest and how you can better get in touch with your target customers. One of the most effective methods is to ensure that your web site is easy to navigate. You need to always have good and fresh content. Update your blog and articles regularly.
Join online forums and discussion boards and talk to your target customers. You can place links in your signature and copy the same articles you have from your web site to boost credibility and reputation. Read other articles and visit other successful web sites. Find out which keywords will most likely be used by your target customers and use these wisely throughout your articles. You may hire ghost writers to help you make relevant and useful articles in a shorter span of time.
Natalie Eastaugh is the Internet Marketing Specialist for JDRWebsites.co.uk
If you wish to find out more on Online Marketing as well as information about JDR Websites, go to http://www.jdrwebsites.co.uk/
09 January 2011
How To Be An SEO Content Writer (Part 2)
Use keywords properly
SEO content writers should learn how to use keywords and phrases in getting their content across to the different users searching for those that are relevant to their search. Keywords play a vital role in any SEO content since this will help determine whether your created article for that particular keyword or phrase has any relevance to what users are searching for.
You need to be able to take into account the keywords or phrases that users will be using in search engines to find the relevant content that they are looking for so that you can incorporate it into the articles that you will be creating and posting on your site or page. You need to know where to place these keywords or phrases in the article, such as in the title tags and body of the articles, in order to help search engines find your content so it can get indexed in their database.
Aside from this, as a SEO content writer, you should try to avoid overusing keywords wherein you try to flood your articles with the keyword or phrase associated with it. This can only lead search engines to believe that the content that you are creating as spam.
Write quality content
The quality of your articles will also play a major and important role on how your site or page will do in the entire SEO process. Keep in mind that if you cannot offer users relevant content to their searches, they will most likely find it somewhere else, and all of your work in getting them to your site would have been in vain.
Being a SEO content writer limits you to certain rules when writing your articles. In order to avoid certain mistakes and errors, you need to follow certain guidelines that will help improve your site’s page ranking in search engines. One example of this is the use of keywords in your articles. The excessive use of such will result in getting your content tagged as spam.
You also need to not only write quality and relevant content for users, but you must also offer fresh and new content from time to time in order to be able to offer more content for your users. This can actually also help get your site recommended by other sites, thereby improving your chances of getting more traffic directed to your site.
Also, your articles should be original and engrossing for the user at the same time. Writing an article that users have read on some other site will not get you good points from them.
Examples:
Bifocals- what are they and how do they work?
Bifocals are very similar to varifocal lenses in that they have different sections- one for improving near-sightedness, one for improving far-sightedness. However, bifocals do not have a corridor like varifocals, instead, they have two separate sections with no graduation or variation in between..
Benjamin Franklin, who, like so many others, was fed up of constantly switching between his reading glasses and his distance-viewing glasses, invented bifocals. His solution was to cut his glasses lenses in half and fix the distance-viewing portion of the lens to the top of his glasses frames, and the reading portion of the lens to the bottom of his frames.
The basic idea behind the bifocal hasn’t changed since Franklin’s day, but with improvements in technology and understanding of the eye and vision correction, different types of bifocals have been developed to suit individual needs. The four most common types are round segment, semi-circular, small area and half-cut vision correction lenses. This means that the total area of the lens used for near or distance viewing differs to suit individual needs and lifestyles e.g. someone who spends more time reading or using a computer will have a larger reading vision improving section to their lenses than someone who works outdoors.
Bifocals are a great solution to having to have two pairs of glasses with you at all times. They also eliminate the nuisance of having to constantly change between one pair of glasses and the other, just so that you can see well. http://www.glassesframesandlenses.com/
Example:
Point of Sale- its true potential
A point of sale (POS) is the place where customer in a shop will go to pay for their items i.e. the till point. It is often said that the most memorable parts of a shopping trip are the arrival and the last thing the customer does in the shop- which is usually paying for their items. This is what makes the point of sale such an important part of sales.
A lot of floor space can be wasted around the till point and POS display units are a way of maximising the use of this space; this is particularly useful to small shops like convenience stores and corner shop news agents. POS displays are meant to grab customer attention and promote products.
There are several products available that serve as POS displays, but can be used elsewhere in a store e.g. entrance/ exits and at the end of aisles. Free standing display units (FSDU’s), dump bins and pallet wraps are a few examples. They are usually covered in the logo of the item being promoted and stocked with the product itself. FSDU’s can be used to display anything from make-up, to mouthwash to crisps, where dump bins are usually used for soft toys, magazines and sports equipment (e.g. footballs). Pallet wraps are more commonly used in garden centres and commercial wholesales, as they are displays that are placed over wooden pallets and can hold considerable weight and are used for e.g. bags of compost, dog food and supermarket “multi-packs”.
The other aspect of POS display is actually advertise products or specials at the till point itself e.g. till and shelf wobblers, counter display units (CDU’s) and leaflet dispensers. The most effective way of drawing customer attention is through movement, which is the main function of a till or shelf wobbler. They have two ends joined by a plastic strip, allowing them to be attached to the till or shelf on one end, leaving the other end free to bend away from the shelf or till and bob up and down, attracting attention.
The main aim of all of these devices is to sell the product they are advertising. Bold colour and clear text should be incorporated into these displays to make the most of their selling potential. http://www.clearpoint-print.com/
SEO content writers should learn how to use keywords and phrases in getting their content across to the different users searching for those that are relevant to their search. Keywords play a vital role in any SEO content since this will help determine whether your created article for that particular keyword or phrase has any relevance to what users are searching for.
You need to be able to take into account the keywords or phrases that users will be using in search engines to find the relevant content that they are looking for so that you can incorporate it into the articles that you will be creating and posting on your site or page. You need to know where to place these keywords or phrases in the article, such as in the title tags and body of the articles, in order to help search engines find your content so it can get indexed in their database.
Aside from this, as a SEO content writer, you should try to avoid overusing keywords wherein you try to flood your articles with the keyword or phrase associated with it. This can only lead search engines to believe that the content that you are creating as spam.
Write quality content
The quality of your articles will also play a major and important role on how your site or page will do in the entire SEO process. Keep in mind that if you cannot offer users relevant content to their searches, they will most likely find it somewhere else, and all of your work in getting them to your site would have been in vain.
Being a SEO content writer limits you to certain rules when writing your articles. In order to avoid certain mistakes and errors, you need to follow certain guidelines that will help improve your site’s page ranking in search engines. One example of this is the use of keywords in your articles. The excessive use of such will result in getting your content tagged as spam.
You also need to not only write quality and relevant content for users, but you must also offer fresh and new content from time to time in order to be able to offer more content for your users. This can actually also help get your site recommended by other sites, thereby improving your chances of getting more traffic directed to your site.
Also, your articles should be original and engrossing for the user at the same time. Writing an article that users have read on some other site will not get you good points from them.
Examples:
Bifocals- what are they and how do they work?
Bifocals are very similar to varifocal lenses in that they have different sections- one for improving near-sightedness, one for improving far-sightedness. However, bifocals do not have a corridor like varifocals, instead, they have two separate sections with no graduation or variation in between..
Benjamin Franklin, who, like so many others, was fed up of constantly switching between his reading glasses and his distance-viewing glasses, invented bifocals. His solution was to cut his glasses lenses in half and fix the distance-viewing portion of the lens to the top of his glasses frames, and the reading portion of the lens to the bottom of his frames.
The basic idea behind the bifocal hasn’t changed since Franklin’s day, but with improvements in technology and understanding of the eye and vision correction, different types of bifocals have been developed to suit individual needs. The four most common types are round segment, semi-circular, small area and half-cut vision correction lenses. This means that the total area of the lens used for near or distance viewing differs to suit individual needs and lifestyles e.g. someone who spends more time reading or using a computer will have a larger reading vision improving section to their lenses than someone who works outdoors.
Bifocals are a great solution to having to have two pairs of glasses with you at all times. They also eliminate the nuisance of having to constantly change between one pair of glasses and the other, just so that you can see well. http://www.glassesframesandlenses.com/
Example:
Point of Sale- its true potential
A point of sale (POS) is the place where customer in a shop will go to pay for their items i.e. the till point. It is often said that the most memorable parts of a shopping trip are the arrival and the last thing the customer does in the shop- which is usually paying for their items. This is what makes the point of sale such an important part of sales.
A lot of floor space can be wasted around the till point and POS display units are a way of maximising the use of this space; this is particularly useful to small shops like convenience stores and corner shop news agents. POS displays are meant to grab customer attention and promote products.
There are several products available that serve as POS displays, but can be used elsewhere in a store e.g. entrance/ exits and at the end of aisles. Free standing display units (FSDU’s), dump bins and pallet wraps are a few examples. They are usually covered in the logo of the item being promoted and stocked with the product itself. FSDU’s can be used to display anything from make-up, to mouthwash to crisps, where dump bins are usually used for soft toys, magazines and sports equipment (e.g. footballs). Pallet wraps are more commonly used in garden centres and commercial wholesales, as they are displays that are placed over wooden pallets and can hold considerable weight and are used for e.g. bags of compost, dog food and supermarket “multi-packs”.
The other aspect of POS display is actually advertise products or specials at the till point itself e.g. till and shelf wobblers, counter display units (CDU’s) and leaflet dispensers. The most effective way of drawing customer attention is through movement, which is the main function of a till or shelf wobbler. They have two ends joined by a plastic strip, allowing them to be attached to the till or shelf on one end, leaving the other end free to bend away from the shelf or till and bob up and down, attracting attention.
The main aim of all of these devices is to sell the product they are advertising. Bold colour and clear text should be incorporated into these displays to make the most of their selling potential. http://www.clearpoint-print.com/
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