Category Archives: Search Engine Optimisation

SEO in 2016

SEO is dead – I was informed of this in a meeting last week. It was relayed from an online marketing training course. Social media is the new recommended alternative approach to obtaining web traffic.

Just hearing the phrase ‘SEO is dead’ raised a smile I admit.

Because SEO in 2016 is highly evolved.

If you publish using WordPress, Drupal or other popular CMS systems you have access to excellent tools to help you. These are for SEO and readability.

A few months ago we looked at the new zen of search engine optimisation; the importance of creating good quality content.

But quality rules.

This is still the fundamental benchmark – original, unique, quality content.

And popularity of course.

Secondly though is how important other respected websites view this content.

So to get your content recognised and respected you have to share it with your audiences. Existing and potential.

By following the principle of ‘answer the question‘ your content will be found by people searching for the answer(s) you give.

So success in SEO in 2016 needs awareness of the potential you have. Find the right balance of copy, imagery, audio and video to get your messages heard – Loud and Clear!

You may consider creating an ‘app’ for your customers, clients, users. Apps combine with websites and social media profiles to fully immerse people in your experience. And consequently in your brand.

Google are prioritising ‘mobile search’ in recognition of the shift in users away from desktops. ‘Local search’ is also crucial for any business or local based service, artisan or other. So being able to offer a complete experience using an app is well worth evaluating.

SEO in 2016 tips.

So your full SEO strategy for 2017/18 should include things like;

make sure the ‘answer the question’ principle applies to all new content
use social media to expand, promote and interact with audiences and potential customers
use YouTube
make regular use of your mailing list – this is where the best ‘gold’ usually resides
use your analytics data to see what is working for you and maximise the return
look at creating your own app for mobiles and tablets
watch ‘search’ trends and keep a particular eye on your industry to see where you can promote your messages

Finally, don’t neglect your SEO in 2016 because somebody tells you. Everyone else at the top of the lists are working hard to make sure they stay there. Keep your focus on the best and strive to build your credibility.

Meta descriptions have a special role

It might be more appropriate to say; do meta descriptions have a role?

And yes indeed they do.

Meta descriptions serve a primary purpose.

Put simply, meta descriptions are there to generate ‘click-throughs’ to websites from search engines. In your case; click-throughs to your website.

So your carefully crafted meta description is your chance to persuade the Google user to click on your link.

The user is given a page of search results as a response to their query. The results comprise adverts, Google’s own content relevant to the search and a listing of ‘organic’ results.

Every single link on the search results page is competing for the ‘click’.

Your link needs to stand out.

In among all the listings yours has to connect with the potential visitor. When this single, elusive person reads your meta description do they then say to themselves. “I think I’ve found what I’m looking for. This looks promising.”

If the answer is yes then you’re on the right lines.

It’s worth investing the extra effort.

So you made lots of effort to make your brilliant web pages. All with great content; well written copy, excellent images etc. Or maybe its your e-commerce website with your products listed on show 24 hours a day. You now need to make each page shine in summary.

Meta descriptions in brief.

Meta descriptions need to be clear, clean, to the point.

Each web page or post needs a unique description.

Its a brief summary, including the page title, of the content on the page. It is exactly what it’s called; a ‘meta’ or ‘brief’ or ‘summary’ description.

Meta descriptions need not include every single point or piece of information but they give the potential user an overview.

Above all; they need to be compelling!

If you’re interested in getting help with sorting out your meta descriptions please contact us here >

Competitive, affordable rates are available.

Answer the question

People use the Internet to answer questions. Right?

The searches they make are always looking for answers. Looking for solutions. Ways of solving issues, problems, challenges, dilemmas and the rest.

So create your content to answer their questions.

Universal opportunities to get to the top.

The opportunity for website owners lies in thinking about the questions people ask, and creating answers.

So if your content is the best answer for a specific question, you should expect it to be at the top of Google’s search results right?

You may have noticed the huge amount of competition on Google. Sometimes millions of pages are shown as having the ‘answer’ to any particular search query.

Become the authority.

If you can make your page the ‘authority’ on the matter at hand, you really can compete on the front page. Your humble offering can be there right along with the big publishers pages.

You just have to stick to your principles and talk about what you know. From your point of view. Especially if you have a unique viewpoint, a deep personal experience or just are able to relax and communicate in simple terms.

Keep it personal.

The audience you are talking to is almost always an individual person. On their own in front of their computer. Or iPad or phone…

You are having a conversation. Where they are the listener. So try to avoid droning on. No one likes long-winded text.

Make cornerstone or foundation pages.

Create ‘cornerstone’ pages of content on your website about key words, terms and phrases that are relevant to the subject of your website.

Make sure these cornerstone pages are rich with decent content.

Then create sub-pages of additional informative content around each cornerstone page. This way you can add content and value to your website in a structured and ‘rational’ way.

Of course there is room for ‘random’ posts. But on the whole you want to stick to your subject because that is where you will become an authority.

Let time work for you.

Be patient because it can take some time to become recognised as someone to go to for answers.

But if you keep adding and keep thinking about your visitors and what they are looking for, eventually you will see your traffic increase and your sales, inquiries and newsletter sign-ups increase.

Tusler Design have over 15 years experience creating effective content. Contact us today about your website.

Think Mobile

The Internet has changed it’s user interface over the last few years. It’s gone mobile. You probably noticed.

Do you ‘think mobile’ when creating content?

Do you check your pages and newsletters on your mobile before you publish?

If you have a website, a web shop, a web presence of any kind – it needs to speak to people using mobiles.

Tablets and smart phones are the main devices used to access the Internet now.

TVs are also used increasingly. They are different though because they access specific services rather than general websites and social media platforms.

So as a content creator you need to look at your text, images, videos etc on as many devices as you can. It can be a shock to see your work, that you’ve spent hours creating, looks a mess on a iPad. Especially if many of your potential market is using an iPad to access content.

The same website working on three different screen sizes at once.

Think mobile first!

If you’re working with a developer (or team of developers) they will be telling you to think mobile first. It has become the buzz word at the moment in the online design industry.

Improves SEO.

Designing and creating for mobile first means you are automatically going to get a better SERP (search engine result position) than before.

Improves Accessibility.

Creating for mobile first means you will also be making your content accessible to everyone, regardless of device. This is very important.

Improves Design.

Designing for mobile is more challenging than for big screen so usually you have to work a bit harder to get it right.

Good for Business.

Mobile first design and development is good for business because it means your customers can access your products and services wherever they are. And whenever they like. As mentioned above it also helps search engine position which means more traffic as well.

Who knows what the future will bring but for now – think mobile!

The new zen of search engine optimisation

Things have changed for good. For the last 15 years or so there have been all sorts of tricks and dubious means of achieving decent results in search engine pages.

Now this has changed – the playing field is much more even.

There is a new zen of search engine optimisation…

it is simply, ‘quality’.

Your site should be practically overflowing with good quality content.

Quality is paramount.

Meaning – if you can create interesting, unique, relevant content about your chosen subject – your pages will appear high in the search engine result pages (SERPs).

All the algorithms of the search companies have been updated to seek out ‘fresh, relevant, unique and interesting’ content.

So all website owners and creators can now focus on quality. Without feeling any need to compromise and use negative or dis-honest tactics in their web marketing.

The focus on quality can be spread throughout websites, social media, newsletters, videos and all publications.

This presents business owners and individuals with a fantastic opportunity to make a mark on the world wide web. And they make their mark by being individual and unique in content along with applying the right general principles for online success.

Tell your story.

So search engine optimisation has become much more accessible to all of us – because all of us have a story to tell about our products and our experiences. Each story is unique because we are all unique.

Audiences love stories and have done so since time began. So learn to tell the story of your products and of your business and help your customers to connect their story with yours. Think through their needs and their questions. Then create content that addresses these questions. Make it easy to use and access.

Reward your visitors and customers with timely news and updates.

Relationships are what build long-term trust. So as business owners its up to us to connect with our audience and help them negotiate the daunting world of online marketing.

Focus on the best

In essence.

Making your website special is down to the quality not quantity of your content. If you’re able to keep your focus on the best you will notice your site performing well in searches.

Google’s algorithms no longer present ‘static’ results. The results listing may change several times a day for the same search terms. But the base principle the search is working on is looking for quality, uniqueness and how appropriate the content is to the specific search term.

Answer the question.

Beyond offering good quality you can tailor your content to answer specific questions or issues. Then Google and the other major search tools all recognise that you understand the role of your website and your content is to serve the needs of customers, consumers, users of web search engines.

Don’t follow the crowd.

‘Quick and dirty’ web publication has become an excuse for laziness.

For years the Internet industry has reflected the values of the software industry. And these values are underpinned by the computer hardware industry as well. The principle is that ‘as long as it works and it looks ok we can sell it’.

The aim of software and hardware makers for years has been to just get the products to market. Even though they wont work properly for long.

Today it is totally accepted that we buy operating systems or even small apps and they need ‘updating’ constantly. The idea that you make something that lasts is almost forgotten in the rush for new technology and enhanced lifestyles.

Be yourself, be different.

So be unique.

Give your unique voice to your text. Use your imagination to make your content interesting. And you’ll see it pay you back again and again.

Using analytics data for your decision making

Owners of websites can make huge improvements to the effectiveness of their sites by learning to understand their analytics user data.

Google’s own tracking tool ‘Google Analytics‘ is a fantastic piece of software that anyone can use to their advantage.

Adding Google’s Webmaster Tools to Google Analytics gives website owners and developers a broad and highly informative set of data tools.

All this data is there to help decision makers choose where to focus energy and investment to foster growth and expand reach and sales.

Since 2006 Tusler Design use Google Analytics along with Webmaster Tools to understand website users and how sites are attracting traffic from searches and keywords and phrases.

Tusler Design provide bespoke services in this regard to our clients. Services include full SEO and content creation based on keyword analysis and competitor analysis.

We provide training too

Tusler-Design’s services include training for business owners in using Google’s data tracking tools to their advantage. This includes using adwords to improve your site performance for both organic and paid searches.

Make it work on all devices

Modern life: means using a desktop computer, a tablet, a smart phone, a web-tv or something else.

You want your website representing you to the best it can. This means making sure your site looks good and works properly for all users, no matter what device they are using. So they can contact you easily and access your services.

It’s not always easy but we’ve got lots of experience of making it work for clients like yourself.

Modern websites need to work on many different devices.

Improve search engine ranking

Google has made it clear that they give extra weight in their search engine results pages to those websites that have been set up to work on multiple devices. Particularly mobile devices.

Get help.

Tusler Design work with our clients on a one-off basis or more regularly to help make sure everything is working properly on all devices.

We provide training, guidance, support and can do it all for you too if you like.

Contact Tusler Design today and we’ll work with you to get things right on all devices, on all platforms, all the time. So you don’t miss crucial sales calls and business opportunities.

Visitors vs Qualified Visitors

There are two main groups of visitors to your website; qualified visitors and un-qualified visitors.

Qualified visitors being those people who come to your site and proceed to interact with, and do business with your company.

Regular ‘un-qualified’ visitors are those who engage with your web site but don’t buy anything or make any commitment by joining a mailing list or following you on Facebook or Twitter.

As you know yourself, real people visit sites for different reasons. It is possible to observe information about these real people by looking at the visitor data reports for particular web sites.

As a business person you are almost certainly interested in how your web site performs in relation to your bottom-line sales figures.

As the owner of a web site you are almost certainly interested in its traffic data. Meaning you are interested to know how many people have visited and how many pages they have looked at.

Beyond these overall figures there are further sources of interest. For example which pages have visitors looked at the most? How long are they spending engaging with your content?

Are they able to grasp the messages you want them to? Do they take the ‘call-to-action’ and contact you, join the mailing list, download the file or buy something from you?

Looking at the traffic data you can see trends or busy times for your site. You can see which terms visitors have used in search engines to find you. You can see which other websites on the Internet are linked to you and which give you the most traffic.

You can even set ‘goals’ in your data tracking to see how many times someone inquires, downloads a file, buys a product. And also when they make purchases you can see how they went through the buying process and if they stop you can see which page or form they left in-complete.

Over the long term you can use your traffic data to show which subject areas or themes your visitors are most interested in. You can then create more content for them and you can also point them to further calls-to-action to deepen their relationship with your company.

7 Top Tips for Effective Social Media Marketing

Social media sites have become the main buzz in the online world.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and others have all made the Internet more relevant and connected than ever before.

As of the time of writing this article Facebook has 800 million users, 30 million in the UK.

Top tips to get it all working for you

As web site owners we want to promote our business, organisation, cause or local group to others and these are some sure-fire methods we can use on social media sites to get our message across effectively.

Tip 1 – Spread the word

Spread the word using informal networks of real people. Sometimes referred to as viral marketing. Use your Facebook and Twitter page to let your friends, followers and subscribers what the latest buzz is in your world. Fresh information is a vital part of a successful web presence.

Tip 2 – Link up your social pages

Link your Facebook, Twitter and websites together using widgets so that your messages are consistent across your family of pages. Make sure your social media profiles link to your main website and your other media pages and blogs

Tip 3 – Keep it friendly

Make the most of your friends and subscribers liking you or your brand by using social media to be friendly in return. Give messages that are useful and add to your subject and profile. Peter Kay, the funny UK entertainer has a great approach on his Facebook page. He just tells you if he’s got a gig on or at Christmas he might give one funny line i.e. “I see DFS have got a sale on Boxing Day”.

Tip 4 – Post up-to-date items

Post up to date news using Facebook and Twitter to encourage viral sharing by followers through their likes and shares, thus exposing your message to your friends friends and contacts.

Tip 5 – Choose your name carefully

Get your vanity URL at Facebook and Twitter by carefully choosing a name or phrase you want to promote online. For example Tusler Design has the URLs facebook.com/tuslerdesign and twitter.com/tuslerdesign.

Tip 6 – Promote your brands with their own pages

If you’re involved in ecommerce consider setting up specific Facebook pages for your brands, sub-brands and categories. This allows your customers to be specific about what they particularly like about you, thus promoting particular aspects of your business to their friends.

Tip 7 – Reward your friends

We all like to receive gifts from time to time so try to think of rewards for your friends and subscribers – this could be special offers or the ability to pre-order items or access to limited editions etc.

And remember – using social media in a responsible way enhances your website’s credibility with the search engines as an up to date and fresh source of information.

Marketing Your Website

There are several ways that you can market your website to the world at large.

A key marketing element is Search Engine Marketing which we’ll look at in more detail in the next article.

Use Your Analytics Data

It is important to remember that researching and monitoring your visitors and visitor statistics is essential in helping understand which of your marketing messages are working and which are not.

Social Networks

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are notable online services where you can market your business, website, products and services.

Television and Radio

National and regional television and radio are arguably the most invasive and persuasive advertising tools available today. Although the BBC don’t carry adverts, ITV and Channel 4 and Channel 5 do. As do other channels of course.

Large promotional or e-commerce sites are sometimes advertised on television and radio in an effort to attract high volumes of visitors. Television marketing in particular has a significant cost implication.

Secondary routes to obtaining radio and television coverage are available through vehicles like talk shows, breakfast TV, cable and the news networks.

Endorsements

Celebrity endorsement can be a real catalyst to bringing awareness and coverage to your site. Of course obtaining the endorsement may require a major effort but it is often worth considering as part of a thorough marketing campaign.

Newspapers and Magazines

National printed media newspapers and magazines are potentially excellent methods of reaching target markets and can also provide exposure through feature articles and timely letters and comments to the editors.

As with television, advertisements in national media can be costly and need to be properly rationalised towards achieving an appropriate return on investment.

Local media newspapers and magazines are like their national brothers and sisters in providing excellent, targeted advertising and exposure of their readers to your messages.

Posters and Leaflets

Poster campaigns can have varying levels of impact. They are useful when carrying out national campaigns to reinforce messages that are appearing on television, in the media, or even through direct marketing of some kind.

Localised poster campaigns can have impact especially when their message is simple and easily remembered.

Door to door marketing using leaflets and flyers can be remarkably effective particularly if the message is very simple and there is some reward for the person who responds to the advert. For example this reward could be a special offer code that entitles them to a discount if they buy online.

An advantage of a flyer or brochure is that people can keep them as a physical reminder of your message.

Direct Mail and Telephone

Direct marketing using printed mail can be another key element in communicating your message although this method is best utilised in a targeted manner because of the potential large cost implication. For example, one million targeted letters at a cost of 33 pence per mailing amounts to a large bill (£330k). Investors using this method need to ensure there is a realistic likely return on investment.

Direct marketing using telephone can be effective but in the UK is not popular with many people and can have a negative impact on a marketing campaign.

Email Marketing

Direct marketing using email is another powerful tool but has been misused in the past and spam resulted.

The most effective method usual nowadays is to use ‘opt-in’ mailing list management tools where people give their name and email address and permission to send them emails.

Newsletters and Forums

Website Newsletter – this is an excellent way of regularly updating your visitors with relevant and interesting information. They register their email with you so you know they are interested in what you have to say.

Website communities and user forums – depending on the nature of your site a forum or notice board can be an amazing generator of repeat visits and lateral marketing leads. Giving your visitors and customers a chance to express their views can be a powerful tool.

Affiliates

Affiliate Marketing – this has two main categories;
1. Joining as an affiliate
2. Running your own affiliate program

Joining an existing affiliate programmed can give you the opportunity to link your site with many other commercial sites that offer related products and services.

When a user clicks through from your site you sometimes get a small commission. More often when a user from your site clicks through and makes a purchase or becomes a member then you get paid a commission.

Running an affiliate marketing programmed is no small task and may require employing one of the larger affiliate marketing companies like TradeDoubler to manage your affiliate marketing function on your behalf.

Word of Mouth

Word of mouth networking is as relevant to the Internet as in any walk of life. There is no substitute for a site that is recommended by a friend or colleague.

This principle can be used favourably by asking friends and loved ones to tell all their friends about your new site!

Events

Hold an event to launch your site and then host other events throughout the year to promote your website messages.

How the search engines work

Google search box – we all know, use band love.

Each of the major search engines works in a different way to the next.

What they all share in common is the aim of delivering relevant and timely search results for their users.

Some of the search engines use software spiders and robots to crawl through content and index it. They actually copy the entire Internet onto their own hard disks.

Other search engines use real people to look at web pages and then decide whether to include them in search results. These sites have lost prominence in recent years due to the increased dominance of companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.

How do you make a site do well in search results?

Start with a good website

They key principle in making your website rise in the listing pages is to make it a relevant one.

Know your subject

You must know your subject and make your website about that subject.

When you add content; text, images, video, or audio, make it about the subject of the main website.

Keep to the point

Don’t get distracted and go off the point. Keep focused on what you’re trying to achieve.

Keep text simple

Make your text easy to read and comprehend. Avoid using long sentences and paragraphs.

Use titles and heading tags

Use titles, headings and sub-headings in the right way throughout your pages.

Meta tags too if it helps

Meta tags are useful but are secondary to what is actually on the page itself. There is no point in putting key words into meta tags that are not included on the page.

Use style sheets for layout

Where possible avoid using tables for your site layout. If you have a designer working for you make sure you point this out to them.

Know your users

Get to know your visitors and what they like and use on your site.

Use the right key words and phrases

Research and develop using the keywords people use to find your site. Also research associated key words and phrases and develop content to attract searches around these terms.

Links to you

A very important factor in determining your website’s position on the search engine results pages is how many sites are linking to you. Not just how many, but also how good or authoritative they are on a given subject.

If you have a few ‘quality’ links this can be more effective than lots of low-quality or irrelevant links.

Please drop us a line if you want to talk to someone about your website and search engine optimisation – contact us.

Favourite Browsers

Mozilla Firefox logo

Do you know which web browser your visitors are using to view your website?

You can find out easily enough by looking in your analytics reports.

If you’re using Google Analytics this information can be found in the Visitors Overview section and is part of the section called Technical Profile.

Tusler-Design’s visitors use five main browsers;

Firefox – 42%
Chrome – 21%
Internet Explorer – 18%
Safari – 15%
Opera – 2%

We can help you monitor and interpret your analytics data.

Keywords

Keywords and phrases are important in improving search engine listings

Successful websites usually have carefully thought through the key words and phrases that are important to their visitors.

Creating content to attract traffic (visitors) to websites and specific products can only be targeted through being relevant.

Keywords and phrases can be analysed in relation to worldwide and local searches.

Then content can be created to inform each subject, interlinking (via hyperlinks of course) to related pages within the website.

Thus improving natural search engine listings for our clients’ websites.

Basically it’s more targeted visitors, looking at webpages they are interested in, leading to more interaction and more sales.