Back in the day, people used to share links on the internet because they actually thought the site being linked to might provide some value to people who read it. (Crazy concept, eh?). People would go out of their way to build up Links pages and Resource pages that included all sorts of sites the site owner had found, that they believed to provide useful information. Obviously, the fact that someone was visiting their site in the first place made…
One of the inevitable consequences of the rise of the smart phone is the increasing frequency of local searches. It stands to reason that, if you’re looking for something particular by performing a search on your mobile phone, it’s quite likely to be because you want the thing you’re looking for to be nearby (at least, nearby to where you are currently). As well as this aspect, it’s a well recognised phenomenon that there have been an increasing number of…
I was chatting with a long term client the other day and we went through my own history with promoting websites. He remarked that my own involvement must somewhat mirror the overall history of the discipline, making “my history” almost equivalent to “the history” of search engine marketing! Whilst I wouldn’t necessarily go as far as that, I do think he had a point. There aren’t many people in the UK who’ve concentrated on the same field for as long…
Having worked in internet marketing for many years, with most of that time spent studying and practicing the art of search engine optimisation, I’m very familiar with the phrase “content is king”. This was the mantra of every SEO practitioner way back in the early 2000’s, before everyone became obsessed with link building as a result of the dominance of Google. (One of Google’s main criteria for assuming a web page is relevant to a particular search query is the…
If you’re a business owner, you’ve no doubt dabbled in Google AdWords and maybe even old fashioned banner advertising. And if your experience is like most people’s, you’ve either decided it isn’t for you or slashed the amount you spend on it as you just can’t seem to make it work. (That is, if you aren’t using my PPC services, of course!). But you may not have come across the concept of Facebook advertising. And if you have, you’ve probably…
In The Times today (always a good source of blog post material – see this post on Getting Ideas for Blog Posts for more), there was a pullout Raconteur section about “Brand & Reputation”. As well as many other elements of promoting your brand and your organisation’s reputation online, the main thrust was to ensure you listen to your customers and act on what they’re saying, in order to improve your business and keep customers happy. Now, in some senses,…
Google recently announced a change to its mobile search algorithm that affects ALL websites, not just mobile sites: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/finding-more-mobile-friendly-search.html Essentially, what it means is that, from April 21st this year, Google will be downgrading sites in the search results of mobile devices (ie anyone searching Google on a mobile phone), if they are not “mobile friendly”. And, consequentially, upgrading sites in the search results of mobile devices that are “mobile friendly”. So if your site isn’t suitable – in Google’s…
One of the key issues with generating interest from your content is to ensure you write frequently. I’m not suggesting you need to post a new article everyday – though this would be a great thing to be doing, depending on quality of course – but at least once a week and preferably 2-3 times a week is a great foundation for building up content on your site. (And yes, I’m aware I don’t always follow this rule on my…
When you’re writing your blog posts or things like email newsletters, a great little tip is to “write with one person in mind”. You can approach this 2 ways: 1) Write with a specific person in mind This could be someone you know – your mum, sister, friend, boss etc – or someone you simply know of – the industry leading CEO, local supermarket manager, George Clooney etc. Just make sure you picture them reacting to what you’re saying, and…
With all the fuss about social media over the last few years, you’d think the original posterboy for the internet – email – would be languishing in poverty somewhere, cradling a bottle of gin and bleating about how good everything used to be for it in the old days. However, far from it. Email is still one of the most useful and effective means of communicating with your customers and potential customers that you can use – despite what the…