I've recently learnt that Google is restricting the results of searches for web designers and (perhaps more particularly, and pointedly) for SEO experts.
SEO = Search Engine Optimization. This can sometimes mean "trying to fool the search engines to reach your site by un-google-approved means". These methods are called "black hat" and are considered "search engine spam" by Google and other search engines. Me, too. The google-acceptable method is basically to understand what the search engines are doing and, without taking your focus away from your audience, make sure the search engines find your site for appropriate search terms.
Now, what I would normally tell people who are new to using search engines to find websites, would be to ignore the definite and indefinite articles (the and a) and non-specific filler words such as pronouns; on, in, at, by, etc.
However, because of this new anti-SEO algorithm presently operated by Google, if you now search for web designer woodbridge you will find different results than if you search for web designer in woodbridge.
Whereas I would normally omit the "in" from a search, if you are looking for any business "in" a particular town, it seems like a good idea to include "in" in the search!
2 February 2010
30 January 2010
I was out, now I'm back in
If Lord Goldsmith can change his mind about the legality of going to war in Iraq, I think it's OK for me to change my mind about Twitter.
Some months ago I left Twitter because my account had been hacked and some slimeballs were sending their own scam tweets in my name. I had just left Facebook because I didn't like the extreme openness of umpteen levels of "friends" knowing about me. Not from paranoia but just because I didn't like the lack of control over who sees what. Having my Twitter account hacked meant I was primed to make the instant decision - I'm out!
Despite finding that Twitter can be time-consuming, I did miss the chat, and I did miss the obvious promotional opportunities that arise, such announcing new properties on JustSuffolk.com.
So, when a client asked how she could use the internet more to promote her website and interests, we discussed forums, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter.
Rather than try to explain how Twitter works, I decided to demo the service. I also wanted to demo the ability to track clicks from Twitter to websites - I use tr.im.
So I signed up with twitter again.
You can "follow" me through this link to twitter.
Some months ago I left Twitter because my account had been hacked and some slimeballs were sending their own scam tweets in my name. I had just left Facebook because I didn't like the extreme openness of umpteen levels of "friends" knowing about me. Not from paranoia but just because I didn't like the lack of control over who sees what. Having my Twitter account hacked meant I was primed to make the instant decision - I'm out!
Despite finding that Twitter can be time-consuming, I did miss the chat, and I did miss the obvious promotional opportunities that arise, such announcing new properties on JustSuffolk.com.
So, when a client asked how she could use the internet more to promote her website and interests, we discussed forums, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter.
Rather than try to explain how Twitter works, I decided to demo the service. I also wanted to demo the ability to track clicks from Twitter to websites - I use tr.im.
So I signed up with twitter again.
You can "follow" me through this link to twitter.
8 January 2010
Are you getting enough website visitors? Think pips!
Sometimes my website clients ask "will I get enough visitors to my website?" I think to myself "enough, compared with what?" They also ask "will I be number one on page one of Google?" On that question I think "number one out of how many similar sites?". This is not defensive thinking, it's about managing my clients' expectation to a level of reality.
As ever, "enough" depends on many things. Not least, it depends on the number of other similar websites in the same industry in the same geographical area that are attempting to attract the same audience as my client. Perhaps it should more reasonably be asked as "how am I doing compared with similar sites?"
I'll use the holiday accommodation business sector as an example, because there are extremes of website sizes. In the holiday accommodation industry, there are thousands of competing websites and, perhaps more importantly, competing web pages.
There are websites for individual bed and breakfast establishments, or a single holiday home for rent. These start from one-page sites to larger sites that don't usually extend beyond five pages or so. There are also "listing" websites such as JustSuffolk.com, which has over one hundred places to rent, so it has over one hundred pages. Then there are the agencies, with dozens, or hundreds, and sometimes thousands of properties, with a consequently huge number of pages.
It's really not reasonable to compare a five-page single-property site with a site that has hundreds or thousands of pages. It's not reasonable to compare apples with pears, let alone grapes with pomegranates (think pips!).
The bigger the website, the better they are placed for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) - just because they will have to mention the key words holiday, accommodation, bed and breakfast, self catering, etc. many times. They are not "cheating" in any way, it's just because of the number of properties they advertise. So, because of their inherent SEO advantage, they usually fare well in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
So when a client with a single property website asks if his visitor numbers, or his position in Google SERPs are good, I explain that it's really not easy (not possible, in some respects) for a single property website with just a few pages, to compete with larger, multiple-page websites.
What is more important to the website owner is that the visitor numbers on his own site are seen to grow, as the website becomes better known, and that the level of enquiries and bookings or sales are good.
Think of these simple comparative statistics for two imaginary websites:
One receives 100,000 visitors, from which the owner has 100 enquiries, which lead to 10 sales. The second receives 10,000 visitors, from which the owner receives 1,000 enquiries, which lead to 100 sales. Which website would you prefer to own?
Although high visitor numbers are a very important part of the success of a website, they are not the be all and end all. What is far more important than visitor stats, is the success of the business.
As ever, "enough" depends on many things. Not least, it depends on the number of other similar websites in the same industry in the same geographical area that are attempting to attract the same audience as my client. Perhaps it should more reasonably be asked as "how am I doing compared with similar sites?"
I'll use the holiday accommodation business sector as an example, because there are extremes of website sizes. In the holiday accommodation industry, there are thousands of competing websites and, perhaps more importantly, competing web pages.
There are websites for individual bed and breakfast establishments, or a single holiday home for rent. These start from one-page sites to larger sites that don't usually extend beyond five pages or so. There are also "listing" websites such as JustSuffolk.com, which has over one hundred places to rent, so it has over one hundred pages. Then there are the agencies, with dozens, or hundreds, and sometimes thousands of properties, with a consequently huge number of pages.
It's really not reasonable to compare a five-page single-property site with a site that has hundreds or thousands of pages. It's not reasonable to compare apples with pears, let alone grapes with pomegranates (think pips!).
The bigger the website, the better they are placed for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) - just because they will have to mention the key words holiday, accommodation, bed and breakfast, self catering, etc. many times. They are not "cheating" in any way, it's just because of the number of properties they advertise. So, because of their inherent SEO advantage, they usually fare well in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
So when a client with a single property website asks if his visitor numbers, or his position in Google SERPs are good, I explain that it's really not easy (not possible, in some respects) for a single property website with just a few pages, to compete with larger, multiple-page websites.
What is more important to the website owner is that the visitor numbers on his own site are seen to grow, as the website becomes better known, and that the level of enquiries and bookings or sales are good.
Think of these simple comparative statistics for two imaginary websites:
One receives 100,000 visitors, from which the owner has 100 enquiries, which lead to 10 sales. The second receives 10,000 visitors, from which the owner receives 1,000 enquiries, which lead to 100 sales. Which website would you prefer to own?
Although high visitor numbers are a very important part of the success of a website, they are not the be all and end all. What is far more important than visitor stats, is the success of the business.
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