SEO: Website Architecture Matters

July 12th, 2011 by Rory

Search Engine Optimization is not directly a science, but it does include many technical components. If SEO services do not get these things right then it is the case that a site will not perform well. Site performance is best measured in targeted traffic and sales rather than raw rankings in the search engine results pages. Site architecture, for example, can be important in that it has the potential to have a negative impact if this aspect of design is not examined or addressed.

At Searchengineoptimization.co.uk we deliver campaigns that make a great deal of difference to the sites we manage. This is the case whether our work starts when a site is being set up or if we intervene some time later down the track. Our organic SEO techniques may take a little time to generate momentum and we never guarantee specific outcomes within particular timeframes, but our efforts gradually build up site quality. This improvement is greeted warmly by users and search engines alike.

When it comes to looking at the architecture of a site, there are some general principles to be borne in mind. There may be the odd exception, but generally the aim of the design should be to enable a user to click from the home page to the other pages with the minimum of clicks and fuss.

Moving around a site should be enabled by handy prompts and a sitemap is often a useful addition to a site. In addition, internal links may need a little work for optimum results to begin to be attained.

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SEO for Local Businesses

July 7th, 2011 by Rory

Although many large companies utilise search engine optimization very effectively, smaller firms which focus largely on local markets can do well in the world of search. By using conventional SEO and social media together, such enterprises can prosper. Their campaigns must be devised and implemented with care, but if the likes of Facebook and Twitter are exploited adequately then the results can be impressive. The precise needs of individual sites may differ, but nonetheless some important points can be made.

At Searchengineoptimization.co.uk we understand the value coordinated campaigns can deliver to organisations which do the bulk of their transactions in their local area. We are experts in joining up orthodox optimization with work on the networking sites. This gives us an advantage when it comes to making sure that sites make the very most out of the targeted traffic they receive and the information which is gathered.

Using the social networks commercially is not as easy as one might assume after spending time on the social media for social purposes. The profile of a business must be planned shrewdly. Small businesses should usually stress their local orientation in some fashion. Updates must be regular to satisfy users. The quality of content must be very good and it must be sustained. All efforts must be targeted with care.

It is pivotal that the campaign involves plenty of interaction with users. Local specialist knowledge and general awareness of local issues can both help with this task. Users will also share valuable information about their tastes and interests as part of these processes.

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Secure pages: an SEO Guide

July 5th, 2011 by Rory

Webmasters can be wary of applying search engine optimization to secure pages. They have a reputation for being tricky in terms of SEO. Talking to your SEO agency, though, you should learn that HTTPS is just as easy to SEO as HTTP.

Secure pages do differ from normal pages, obviously, but only in small ways:
-They tend to be heavier on downloads
-There tends to be mix-ups between the HTTPS and HTTP versions of pages
-Search engines have in the past had a little trouble crawling these pages.

As you can guess, it’s really not difficult to work around these issues, particularly if you’re accessing professional search engine optimization services. You can talk to us at SearchEngineOptimization.com about this. When optimizing your HTTPS, keep these things in mind:

1. Keep your certificates valid. It’s no use getting a top ranking if you haemorrhage traffic when your certificates expire.

2. Bear the umbrella in mind. Secure protocol acts like an umbrella. You need to make sure everything on the page sits under that protection. Site owners often forget to place robots.txt files, images and Sitemaps under the protocol, causing confusion for both search engines and internet users.

3. Invest in performance: The main way secure pages differ from non-secure pages is that they are heavier on downloads. Remedy this by improving your server.

4. Tick all the boxes. Obviate the risk of search engines not fully crawling pages by making everything clear and simple. Ensure you have all of the SEO boxes ticked, and you should be fine.

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Potential Complications of Search Engine Optimization

June 21st, 2011 by Rory

Search engine optimization services have a complex set of tasks to perform these days. The average site owner does not have to comprehend all the detail, but it can benefit anyone to have a good appreciation of the general picture. The complexity comes from different sources such as increasing competition in the search world, the evolution of mobile search and the development of the immensely popular social media networking sites. Each optimisation campaign has to cope with change and has to be tailored specifically to the site concerned.

At Searchengineoptimization.co.uk we pursue campaigns that manage to cope with the growing complexity of the sphere of search. Our collective experience and expertise mean that it is possible for us to keep up with the pace of change. The campaigns we implement are flexible and this means that adaptation is always a possibility when circumstances indicate that it may be advisable.

Optimization is neither an art nor a science. This means that it is a great idea not to pursue optimization independently. Some of the tasks which superficially seem straightforward, such as content provision, are actually quite complicated. Content is best provided by skilled copywriters that tick all the necessary boxes. A specialist content management system can also be handy.

Further complication stems from the obviously technical aspects of optimization. Subtle social-media campaigns on the likes of Facebook and Twitter can deliver a lot of users to a site. It is necessary to pursue conversion rate optimization to make the most of the traffic and this is a tricky process.

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3 Easy ways to Increase Site Speed

June 16th, 2011 by Rory

One of the simplest things to do to improve rankings as part of an organic search engine optimization plan is to speed up your site downloads. When you’re really stuck for download time, you have no option but to do one of the following three things:

1. Design smarter. Images and Flash take up valuable load time. You don’t have to get rid of them, but think about reducing their file size wherever you can. Instead of having whole pages in Flash, use just a tiny chunk. Instead of resizing high-res images in your code, do them in the file, allowing for some deterioration when you can get away with it. You can discuss the effect of site appearance on SEO with us at SearchEngineOptimization.co.uk.

2. Get your code straight. Code can be daunting, and there are many shortcuts site owners can use to make things easier for themselves. To make things easy for the search engines, however, your code should be as neat and brief as possible. Good code is one of the best search engine optimization tools there is. Learning how to use CSS, HTML and JavaScript can shave time off your download, and improve your relationship with the search engines in general. Everybody wins.

3. Consider beefing up your server. This is listed last not because it’s a bad idea, but because it requires investment. A good server can save you in the long run. If you can’t code and you need high-end design, upgrading your server is your best solution.

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What are Link Spikes?

April 28th, 2011 by admin

In relation to website optimization, SEO link building is essential to every campaign. Within the internet world, high quality links are a much debated and extremely significant element to web marketing. It is true that gradually the number of links that point to a website will rise and develop. As with all marketing results it is sensible to monitor the level of links as they grow. This can help you to identify quickly anything that look unusual such as a link spike.

Link spikes are exactly that – it demonstrates a huge rise in the level of backlinks to a website within a short timeframe. If you were to chart the amount of links acquired over time a link spike would be represented by a physical spike on the chart. Link spikes will show up on the search engine radar like a beacon. This type of SEO link building can indicate black hat techniques as it is unusual in website optimization to get this level of link influx. However, there are instances where the link spike is genuine. Seasonal trends can create link spikes – for example a company selling Christmas hampers will see a huge rise in links relating to this product line in the run up to Christmas. Handling these types of issues are best done by SEO link building experts as they can lead to penalties from search engines which can affect your future rankings and website’s success.

At www.searchengineoptimization.co.uk we provide SEO link building expertise throughout the UK.

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Make SEO Marketing Work for you

April 21st, 2011 by admin

SEO marketing should not take up your time 24/7. It should, in fact, enable you to make money whilst you’re on your coffee break. You may at this point be somewhat incredulous, but here are some great ideas for how you can ensure SEO marketing works for you without you giving your life to it:

1. Let your audience to the work for you

Your readers can do a lot of your work for you. Rather than getting embroiled in spending all your time writing content, create a site that encourages user generated content. This will ensure that your site starts to take care of itself providing you plenty of content.

2. Use SEO marketing experts

There are certain tasks that can’t be done by your audience; however, your time is better employed creating winning strategies. To make the most of your time and money employ someone else to do the nitty gritty.

3. Link building the easy way

Link building is notoriously time consuming and your budget will soon disappear if you pay for links. Let your links self-build. By creating high quality content, using Google News and a range of internet tools you can achieve links naturally.

4 Use images and videos

Use other methods to add content in addition to writing. Content writing takes time so also mix it with mediums such as video, PDF and images. Funny and attention grabbing media helps with link building and will attract new traffic.

At www.searchengineoptimization.co.uk we provide advice an all aspects of SEO marketing.

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Bing Puts its Faith in Image Optimisation

January 26th, 2011 by John

Bing has rolled out a new image search function, which we have to admit looks decidedly delicious when compared to Google’s offering. So what are the new features Bing has introduced? Well, the page itself has experience something of an overhaul, probably to differentiate itself between its own and Google’s image search service.

Colourful and bright, it also displays tiled images of what the general public are searching for most, and the most popular terms at the time. “Whether it’s introducing completely new ways to browse pictures with things like image collage or helping you filter images by color and composition, delivering a more intuitive and visual image search experience is a critical focus area for us,” says Bing on their official blog.

We're big fans of the new Bing image search

And why not? From what we can see of it, it looks fantastic (the new image search is only available in the US at the moment). The visuals look a lot cleaner than Google’s current design, which we feel can be cluttered and frustrating at times. “The landing page assembles the top images in full fidelity so you can get a quick snap-shot of some of the most popular image searches on Bing,” comments the blog.

Which, to us, suggests that Bing are going to be throwing all their weight behind providing the ultimate image search. We’ve always implicitly stressed the importance of optimising your images properly for SEO via alt tags and descriptions – it looks like those SEO services will pay off for those who optimise predominantly for Bing in the coming months.

Bing realise that the search experience is to offer as much to users as quickly and efficiently as possible. What could be better than large, high-quality images of the most popular topics that people can’t help but click on? If you haven’t started optimising your images for the web, SMO and more then we suggest you hurry up and get in on the action sooner rather than later. Who knows, Bing’s template might become standard search engine procedure one day…

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Good SEO is about accepting complexity

December 3rd, 2010 by Susie

Search engine optimization is certainly a complicated field. This means that it is not good practice to forget that formulaic approaches do not yield positive outcomes. The discipline is about tailoring techniques to fit the needs of sites. However, difficulties are compounded by the fact that many of the techniques have a limited shelf-life in a rapidly changing world of search. Generally, the aim is to please users and the major search engines, but the emergence of the new social media has opened up new frontiers of opportunity.

At Searchengineoptimization.co.uk we respect the fact that the field we work in cannot be reduced to a few tips. We recognise that it is inappropriate to provide guarantees to site owners which are unrealistic. Furthermore, it is the case that following rules is essential but it is also true that it is necessary to do many things to deliver a campaign which provides a site with sustainable success.

The complexity of the topic, then, cannot be hidden from. It is thus important to move forward while recognising that the path towards success is never straightforward. While certain aspects of the discipline can be regarded as ‘basics’ because they have to be performed on most sites even these tasks are quite problematic in practice. This underlines the fact that most site owners necessarily need assistance if they wish to get the results they seek.

The optimization basics are subject to change and getting them right over a sustained period takes some skills. The following basics confirm this point:

• Content provision is much more complicated than newcomers to the field might appreciate. Sites are greedy for fresh pieces of unique content. This means that content has to be mass-produced. This requires constant idea generation. It is also true that the content must not dip in quality if the interest of users is to be sustained. Nor can the content stray off the topic if it is to be valuable to users

• The insertion of keywords demands subtlety. It should not be obvious to users what the keywords are because they should feature in the text in a natural manner. Keyword density has to be watched to avoid potential trouble with the search engines. Furthermore, long tail keywords are now needed because users are frequently putting in longer queries than they used to do. A long tail keyword is essentially a longer phrase and this can be harder to incorporate into content in a way which appears natural

• Complications are also involved when it comes to the acquisition of inbound links. Several years ago, links could be purchased in bulk, but this practice distorted the rankings and has been outlawed by the search engines. This means that links are now searched for in a diversity of ways. It is really vital to perceive that only relevant links from sites of decent quality are worth possessing

It is very clear then that the search engines do not reward simplistic approaches and that practitioners of SEO have to be prepared to alter tactics over time.

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Starting out with SEO

November 10th, 2010 by Nick

Search engine optimisation has the potential to transform the fortunes of a firm. There are no guarantees, but if the process is designed and implemented effectively the rewards can be impressive. That is not to say that the rewards will flow swiftly; patience is needed. When a new SME is starting out it can be important for it to get some specialist assistance with regard to optimisation because it is not a straightforward process. The subject is not only complex but also in perpetual flux. One key point is that it can be a big mistake to wait for six months or a year before launching a campaign.

At Searchengineoptimization.co.uk we work hard to give new and older firms a significant boost through our tailored and multifaceted campaigns. We perceive that the most effective campaigns are usually based on collaboration between the specialist firm and the company it represents.

There is a multiplicity of reasons why SEO should be invested in at an early stage of a firm’s development. Unless the firm does not want to have any kind of web presence, SEO can be a very good idea. The following list may be of some use:

• There can be a conflict between attractive site design and SEO. If the latter is not considered, it is possible that the site will make much less progress. A visually attractive site can be a boon, but it is not much use if it is suffering from a lack of visibility. Every day that passes with too few visitors frequenting a site is a day precious opportunities are being missed

• If the optimization of a site is not considered initially, it may be that the site will have features put on it which actually detract from its future performance. For instance, too much Flash may be used on the site. This can mean that the major search engines have a little difficulty in perceiving the merit of the site

• Similarly, there may be problems with regard to the use of video. While users often find video highly attractive, too many videos featured on a site may adversely impact on a site’s loading time. Neither users nor search engines appreciate sites which take a lot of time to load. With so much choice available on the net, it is foolish to take a chance with the loading time of a site

• Without the advice of a SEO consultant being heeded at the very beginning, it may be that a site is not properly provided with high grade content. Sloppily written content can be strewn all over the site, alienating users, diminishing trust and preventing sales

• Sites which are designed without an eye to optimization are often hard for users and search engine web crawlers to get around. Navigation has to be sorted out so that users can gain access to the information, goods and services that they desire with a minimum of fuss. It is vital that users are given pointers to steer them in the right directions as they travel around the various pages of a site.

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