Rich snippets are an effective means of differentiating your website from your competitors. These are extra lines of text that are displayed under a search result, giving users more details about your pages. Implementing rich snippets can have a huge impact on how your pages perform in the search engines. To understand how it works, it helps to look at an example. Typing in SEO Company ” delivers the following results: Which page do you think is more likely to draw clicks? The image next to the results is an example of how rich snippets can be used to: Google currently supports rich snippet for the following content types: Additional options are available through Rich snippets can also be implemented to display relevant business information such as address information and phone numbers. Here's an example of how this looks when typing in airport” in Google. Displaying these details allow users to quickly get the information they need at a glance without clicking through to the page. Local businesses in and surrounding areas can easily implement this to encourage potential customers to place a call or even make a visit in person. Registering your website with Local Business Center can also allow your customers to leave reviews for your business. If you sell products online, you can even have ratings display for each product page which is a great display of social proof. Rich snippets do more than display additional lines of text. The first step to getting started is to select the format you want to use which requires a basic knowledge of HTML. The following formats are available: Then mark up your content with the right appropriate snippets. If you own a local business, it makes sense to start with the rich snippets for organisations Likewise, if you sell products online then start with the rich snippets for products. Adding rich snippets to your content will likely not boost your rankings overnight but it can still have a profound impact on how your pages perform. Displaying business information, including product ratings, and even adding author images can really make your pages stand out in the search results and increase click through rates. If you would like to have The SEO Co. implement rich snippets, contact us today.

If not you don't have much time left. That's because Google will implement a new algorithm that incorporates mobile usability as a ranking factor. This shouldn't be surprising though given the growing dominance of mobile usage. More people are accessing the Internet using smartphones and tablets so it makes sense for Google to adapt to these patterns. In a Webmaster Central blog post , Google made the following statement: According to data from ComScore, there are now more users on mobile dees accessing the Internet than on desktops: This represents a major shift in the digital landscape. It means that consumers now rely on mobile dees more than ever to research and purchase products. A key finding from a survey found that nearly half of users started on search engines for mobile research. Because it means your business could be losing potential sales for having a non-mobile friendly site. And now it means your site will see a negative impact in search visibility if it isn't optimised for mobile dees by the April 21 deadline. This can mean a significant drop in revenue especially if your business depends on online searches. The good news is that Google has made the announcement early. This is to ensure webmasters have sufficient time to prepare. Remember that the update is designed to provide the most relevant results and a positive user experience. Google has already implemented a change that adds a mobile friendly label to the mobile search results. The purpose of the label is to make it easier for visitors to find sites that are friendly for their dee: Sites that meet the following criteria are eligible to receive this label: The first step is to run your site through Google's own mobile friendly test The tool will take a moment to analyse your site to determine if your site is optimised for mobile dees. If you see the following, your site is already mobile friendly: Responsive design provides an optimal browsing experience as it dynamically adjusts to fit all screen sizes from smartphones to tablets, without needing a separate mobile site. This is Google's recommended configuration for several reasons: If your site uses WordPress or other third-party software, there are numerous templates available to make your site responsive. Another alternative is to work with a developer to ensure that all mobile requirements are met. Google Webmaster Tools provides a comprehensive picture of your site. The Mobile Usability Report highlights major usability issues across your whole site. Here is an example: A mobile friendly site makes it easy for visitors to browse your pages on their dee. Google has recently announced a new algorithm change that makes mobile usability a ranking factor. The deadline is set for April 21 which is only a few weeks from now. Check your site using the mobile friendly test and take steps to ensure your site is optimised. Otherwise you could be losing sales due to lower rankings when the update launches. Then use the Mobile Usability Report found in Google Webmaster Tools to check and fix any mobile errors on your pages. Working with a developer will help to streamline the process. You could lose search engine traffic when the new algorithm update rolls out. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with our team. We take steps to ensure that your site is mobile friendly just in time for the update.

The ‘game' of SEO is getting tougher these days. With everyone now aware on how SEO can greatly increase their ranking in Google search engine, many are already asking SEO experts to get them their high ranks. But with the hope that they get high ranks in Google, some people would just do all sorts of techniques based on what they think would help their SEO campaign without appropriate information. Doing your SEO activities without an idea whether they are effective or may even bring more complications for you than the good results you expect. That is why; you must know what strategies and techniques can bring you best results with your SEO campaigns before you even try them. Here are some SEO tips that can help you get a high rank in the search engine of Google. These tips will not only your SERP but also your Page Rank. Find yourself a good niche. However small your niche might be, it would still be more beneficial to be an expert in something than just be someone who is considered with some knowledge like many others in a common niche. It is important that you also make your site SEO friendly. Your website also needs to be plan in terms of its design and structure. It helps to have a sitemap to make navigation easier for the Google crawlers and your visitors as well. Do your research. Before you go all out with your SEO, it is important to gather as much information about your preferred or chosen niche, your competitors in that niche, and anything related to your niche. Keyword research is important. You do your research too when you are trying to figure out your keyword. Your keyword is going to help you with your SEO campaign. It will give you some sort of direction with your SEO. Content will always be king. However great the contents of your site are, if they not original or at least not copied from someone else's site or blog then you will lose credibility. Let people know that your site exist by submitting your site to different directories out there. This will eventually gain you some popularity. Aside from submitting your site to directories, you can also write articles and submit them to article directories. Make sure that you already know your guidelines when it comes to optimizing your articles before you submit them. Regularly update your site. However great your contents are yet you don't update your site with more of them then you can't expect them to gain you good ranks with the search engines. Never disregard promoting your site online and offline. Don't just focus on your online promotion of your site. Offline promotion is also important. Learn more about SEO. Even if you already have some strategies set up for your SEO, it is never bad to learn more stuff about SEO. SEO is very important for your website if you want more traffic to go your way and get high ranks with search engines like Google.

What does your link profile currently look like? What is the ratio of high quality to low quality links that are pointing to your pages? Most webmasters rarely perform link audits and often pay the price for it. Google has made it increasingly clear that building backlinks with the intention to manipulate rankings could lead to ranking penalties. This means building low quality links or using other questionable tactics can potentially hurt your rankings. Webmasters would do better to focus on developing a high quality site. Links continue to be a factor in terms of rankings but this also creates potential problems as it means that your competitors can create thousands of questionable links to your pages. This is why conducting a link audit matters. There are several tools available where you can check your backlinks for free. These include: Webmasters can also view their backlinks using Google Webmaster Tools Registering for an account allows you to see invaluable information about your website including: But one of the most useful features is being able to view backlinks to your website. Under Search Traffic click Links to Your Site for a list. Then click Download latest links and you will be given an option to have the links downloaded to a CSV spreadsheet or Google Docs. This shows you your links in more detail including the exact page where they came from. One thing to keep in mind is that Google only displays a small portion of links to your pages. Links may be indexed to your pages but you may not necessarily be able to see them right away using this tool. Identifying a bad link is challenging as there are no set rules that determines a bad link from a good link. In other words, it's difficult to know for sure whether a particular link is helping or penalizing your site. Backlink audits are better performed manually. Here are things to look for: The next step is to carefully review the spreadsheet and mark each link with a rating based on a quality. You could also categorize them accordingly (i.e. blog comments, guest posts, etc.). Spammy links from irrelevant sources might be marked as a 1 while links from authority pages might be marked as a 5. Then simply sort your list of links according to their ratings. You should now have a list of your backlinks. You should also have sorted them according to their quality rating. So what do you do now? You can choose to ignore the bad links but these could be affecting your links in a negative way. A better option is to have them removed. Even if your site is ranking well for relevant keywords, it's still a good idea to remove bad links. The best option is to contact webmasters directly of that particular site. Simply do a Whois check for contact information. Simply send a quick email explaining the situation and that you want a certain link removed. Some will comply while others may not respond at all. Another option is to use the Disavow Tool inside Google Webmaster Tools. More details and instructions are available on the help page All you need to do is to create a text file of URLs you want to disavow and follow the instructions on the Disavow Tool page. This tool should only be used with caution. Here is what Google has to say about the tool: This is an advanced feature and should only be used with caution. If used incorrectly, this feature can potentially harm your site's performance in Google's search results. We recommend that you disavow backlinks only if you believe you have a considerable number of spammy, artificial, or low-quality links pointing to your site, and if you are confident that the links are causing issues for you. If your website is penalized and not ranking well in the search engines, a link audit is necessary. Links from questionable sources need to be addressed accordingly. An audit of the link profile to your websites should ideally be performed at least once a month but twice would be even better. It can be easy to focus solely on having these links removed but it can also distract you from building quality links. If the proportion of bad links to good links is relatively low, chances are that those links are not affecting your site as much as you think.

Having a website is a valuable asset for your business. No longer is your business limited to a specific region as you can leverage search and social media platforms to reach a worldwide audience. Consider the following social media statistics: And these are just statistics from social media networks. Google alone processes billions of searches each day with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. These traffic figures are the same reason why more companies around the world are increasing their digital marketing budgets. A recent study shows that a significant majority of Fortune 500 companies now maintain social media accounts and are active on Twitter and Facebook. What's most surprising is the growth of these companies that now blog compared to five years ago. According to previous reports, only 16 percent of Fortune 500 companies were blogging five years ago. Now, 171 companies on the Fortune 500 list publish a corporate blog, with 79 percent of the corporate blogs showing fresh content, taking comments and offering RSS feeds and subscriptions. More companies are starting to catch on that blogs are a marketing tool to attract and acquire customers. But successful online marketing starts with content. Consumers are increasingly influenced by search and social media. Leveraging these mediums through content marketing provides numerous opportunities to increase brand awareness and attract new customers. Small businesses can also benefit by leveraging the following tactics into an SEO and social media campaign. There is a reason why a large number of some of the biggest companies in the world have a blog. They allow businesses to directly engage with their visitors and attract targeted traffic from the search engines. Valuable content is also more likely to be shared across social media networks, resulting in even more exposure. Blog topics can focus on anything from frequently asked questions to concerns that customers may have. One way to identify what your potential customers are searching for is with keyword research. This can easily be done using the Google AdWords Keyword Tool by analysing keywords that are relevant to your industry. Monitoring social media networks is also a good way to identify topics to write about. The advantage of blogging is threefold: Providing valuable content is easily one of the best ways to engage with your audience and attract new customers. Offering a newsletter for your visitors and customers to sign up builds even more trust with your audience. Newsletters can be used to: Your website should have a newsletter form that encourages readers to sign up for new updates. Having a strong presence online involves more than having a blog. Being mentioned by local publications or well known sites in your industry further cements your credibility and increases brand awareness. Making this happen involves the following steps: This requires a significant amount of effort but it also potentially means acquiring more customers. Websites that provide comprehensive resources are in a much more advantageous position compared to those with little content. Providing useful content is an effective way to build your authority in the search engines and become a trusted source of information. Resources can be in the form of blog posts, case studies, tutorials, guides and videos. These resources should be easily accessible online and be keyword optimised to attract search engine traffic. Combined with social media sharing icons, these pages can get even more exposure online with the right audience. Implementing the above is likely more than what your competitors are probably doing. But to really take it a step further, you need to be active on social media networks. Sharing valuable content and interacting with your audience gives you even more of a competitive advantage over those who simply ignore these platforms. Is all of this required to succeed online? Not necessarily. But those companies that implement content marketing are often more successful than those who do not. The key is to just start and to always be on the lookout for new opportunities to market your business.

The difference between a successful company and one that barely earns enough to cover overhead costs lies in marketing. Business owners stand to benefit tremendously by continuing to invest revenue into attracting customers. The only challenge is knowing which marketing medium to focus on. There are numerous ways to market a business from airing a commercial on television to purchasing advertising space in a relevant industry magazine. But there is one medium that absolutely cannot be ignored: Search. Search engines represent a golden opportunity for business owners to acquire more customers. Companies with high search engine visibility stand to benefit tremendously from a strong online presence compared to those who put in a minimal investment. Consumers rely on search engines such as Google to find information from product reviews to local business details. Ranking for relevant keywords means being visible in front of your target market with the potential to convert visitors into paying customers. One global study found that 89% of consumers surveyed relied on search engines to make a purchasing decision. Another study found that 85% of consumers use online reviews for local businesses before shopping. These numbers demonstrate the need for a strong SEO (search engine optimisation) strategy. It is not an exaggeration to say that companies with a strong marketing strategy are much more likely to be successful in the long term compared to those without one. SEO is not just for large corporations or store owners. Even real estate agents can benefit by having a strong online presence. Prospective home buyers rely on search engines for comprehensive research from choosing a location to finding financing information. And also to find the right agent to work with. Whether you are involved in real estate or the financial industry, the following is how ranking for relevant keywords and investing in SEO can bring in more clients who are looking for your seres. SEO is primarily focused on optimising your pages to rank well in the search results. Ranking number one for your primary keywords means more opportunities to get targeted traffic to your business. A large majority of people rarely click past the first page This is why an investment in SEO is valuable as ranking on any other pages will produce poor results. If you are a real estate agent, what are some keywords that could bring in more clients? Open house in real estate for sale These types of keywords are extremely valuable. People who are searching for these terms are looking for something very specific. Ranking for these keywords can help you find targeted leads. SEO focuses on more than just rankings, it also focuses on improving your website for better usability. A website that is fast makes it easy for users to find exactly what they are looking for whether it is pricing details for certain homes or mortgage information. Studies also show that usability has an impact on search engine rankings Implementing solid on-page SEO techniques help your pages rank better and it easy for users to navigate your website. If users are quickly leaving, this signals to Google that your page may not be the most relevant result. SEO increases rankings and also improves your website. The problem with most marketing mediums is the lack of detailed reporting. Tracking SEO results is easy with the right tools easy meaning that you can know exactly: This type of information is valuable as it can then be used to measure and improve conversion rates. Consumers rely on search engines for research. Ranking on the first page instantly creates credibility with your audience as Google has already generated trust with its users. Being visible for different keywords also establishes your business as an authority in the industry. This helps to build trust with your audience even before they visit your website. SEO remains one of the most effective ways to generate measurable results for your business. It also works well for any industry as consumers increasingly rely on search engines to find products and seres before making a purchase. Whether you are a business owner or work for a financing company as a sales representative, investing in SEO could very well be one of the best investments you make to start off the new year. Contact us today to get in touch with one of our marketing consultants for more details on how SEO can grow your business.

Long Tail Keywords and How To Increase Traffic Ranking a website for profitable keywords is at the heart of search engine optimisation (SEO) and remains one of the best ways to attract targeted traffic. The only issue is the increasing competitiveness of the online landscape. Ranking for competitive keywords is often an arduous process that [...]

Competition for online traffic is fierce. The need to distinguish your company has never been more important. Without an effective marketing strategy your reach is severely limited. And your business risks being left behind by more savvy competitors. Enter content marketing. Providing valuable content builds trust. It engages with its target audience. It goes viral through social media platforms. And it brings in targeted traffic. But most importantly it delivers measurable results that are impossible to ignore. Content marketing offers clear benefits and more organizations are making it a top priority in their marketing efforts. It gives a significant competitive advantage online with the following benefits. Improves SEO: Engaging content connects with the right audience but it also improves search engine rankings for relevant keywords. The result is more targeted traffic from the search engines. Builds trust: Consumers are more inclined to trust companies that provide value. Producing great content establishes your brand as a leader in your industry and increases your reach. Increases engagement: Content forms the basis of a solid social media strategy. Without the right content people have no reason to engage with your brand and your social profiles are essentially worthless. Generates leads: Content has the potential to deliver excellent return on investment (ROI) in the form of new business leads and paying customers. Content marketing cannot be ignored. It's an investment that continues to pay handsome dividends for years. But a strategy also needs to be implemented to get the best results. One of the biggest challenges most companies face is producing content. Not just any kind of content though. Content that engages with its audience and brings in new business leads. Which is why proper planning is crucial. Who are your target prospects? What keywords are your prospects searching for? How can you provide content that delivers value? What distribution channels will you use? How are your competitors putting content together? After careful data analysis the next step is creation. Content can be created and consumed in numerous formats including blog posts, reports, video and podcasts. But the content you create must be phenomenal to deliver measurable results. The kind that stirs emotion and connects with its audience. This is why initial market research is so crucial. It helps identify content needs of target prospects so a highly effective strategy can be developed. And the process easily lends itself to improvements in SEO through targeted traffic and natural back links Leveraging other formats requires more effort but it also strengthens your online presence. Unless your business already has a passionate following, content must be promoted to reach the right audience. Sharing through social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter is a great start. But connecting with key influencers in your industry is even more effective. It increases your reach by leveraging the authority of an existing brand. And this can easily be done by guest posting to other authority websites, interviewing experts or hosting events. Not every published blog post or report will have the same results. Some may deliver conversions and others may be a complete failure. Which is why analytics is crucial to assess content performance. Important metrics include measuring traffic figures, social shares, newsletter signups and conversions. Content marketing is a continuous process to learn from. To determine what type of content works well. To understand what your audience ultimately wants. And delivering it. Producing content systematically becomes easier with each iteration. But quality should never be sacrificed at any point simply to produce it. It must continue to adhere to high standards to deliver results. The SEO Company uses Content Marketing to improve your rankings, click here for more about our SEO Packages

But reaching them becomes next to impossible without the right marketing strategy. The success of your business ultimately depends on your marketing and search engines are one medium that simply cannot be ignored. Google alone accounts for a significant portion of online traffic, processing billions of search queries every day. Ranking for just a handful of relevant keywords can do more for your business than other traditional forms of marketing. Being visible for competitive keywords is not as simple as building a website and hoping for the best. A search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy needs to be implemented. And it can mean the difference between visible online or getting lost in a sea of competing websites. Ranking well depends on the implementation of a solid strategy. One that brings together great content, social media engagement and quality inbound links. Each of these three aspects play crucial roles to build the authority of your business and increase your reach across new channels. The following is a closer look at each one. It presents a clear offer, engages visitors, and makes conversions. It also attracts traffic from the search engines. But the quality matters. Write for visitors: Content that is overly optimised may gain search engine traffic but at the risk of sounding unnatural. A better approach is to produce content for visitors and to have it optimised afterwards. Social media is more than a place to share your thoughts and interact with friends. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are invaluable platforms to build an active following. New research even shows that social signals have a direct impact on rankings in the search engines. Differentiation: Starting on social media without a strategy is likely to fail from the start. The first step is to think about what makes your business unique and how you plan to convey that message. Social interaction: The best way to build an audience and gain followers is to start interacting with other members. Always focus on sharing great content and engaging with other individuals. Branding: Branding matters for your business as it helps build a strong presence. Everything from the colors to description and logos should be carefully thought out ahead of time. Links remain an important ranking factor in the search engines. Credible links from from relevant sources builds trust and authority of those pages in the search engines. This naturally causes pages to rank higher, driving even more traffic. But the days of building hordes of links from irrelevant sources are over. Guest blog: Posting content on authority sites related to your site is one of the best ways to build your authority and increase your reach. But it also requires consistent effort to be successful. Press release distribution: This involves writing something newsworthy about your business and having it syndicated. This is a great way to build links and increase brand awareness. Repurposing content: Content can be consumed in more than one format. Repurposing existing content into videos, infographics or even social media content increases your reach even more. The SEO landscape is riddled with complexity. Taking shortcuts in the process builds a shaky foundation. A holistic approach that incorporates great content, social engagement and inbound links is necessary to secure high rankings.

A website that is properly positioned in front of its target market has the potential to generate new leads and bring in additional revenue for your business. There are numerous marketing strategies that work to improve traffic including search engine optimisation (SEO) and social media marketing. But one area that is often overlooked is conversion rate optimisation. This is the process of improving landing pages to maximise conversions. Changing the copy on your websites or even reconfiguring certain design aspects can have a significant impact on your bottom line. Without increasing traffic. Spending money on marketing campaigns may work but you could also be wasting money if conversions are low. Depending on your industry, converting just one extra customer a day could easily result in thousands of dollars in revenue each month. And possibly even more. To get started, follow the five steps to increase the conversion rate on your website. The first step is to implement some type of tracking on your website. The most popular - and free - is Google Analytics, an invaluable marketing tool. Implementing tracking is essential so you have a better idea of which pages are already converting and which pages need more attention. The features go beyond knowing how many visits your pages had today. Advanced features include being able to: Setting up tracking on your website is also important for another reason. It lets you establish baselines and determine your current conversion rate. Conversion rates vary depending on the industry. A market research report from Marketing Sherpa found that certain industries such as financial seres enjoy a 10% conversion rate while e-commerce only converts at 3%. Calculating this number is easy. Simply look at how much traffic it takes before a conversion is made. If only 1 visitor converts on average for every 100 visitors, your conversion rate is 1%. But if 5 visitors convert, your average conversion rate is 5%. This is also another reason why implementing tracking is essential so you can easily calculate this number. A conversion is often defined as a purchase but it ultimately depends on your business objectives. If you sell financial seres to a local area, a conversion can be defined as a new lead for your business. If your business model lies in generating revenue from advertising in a newsletter, a conversion might be when a visitor subscribes. And if you work for a non-profit organisation, a conversion could be any time a donation is made. Understanding what your objectives are is invaluable so you know exactly what you are optimising. Then click Set up goals and you will see the following page: If you have just recently established a new Goal in Google Analytics, you may need to wait a few days until sufficient data is collected. Improving conversions starts with A/B testing. This process involves creating multiple variations of a page, splitting the traffic, and measuring the conversions. The page that performs better stays while the other gets dropped. A/B testing requires a lot of work but can maximise conversions for your business. To get started in Google Analytics, click on Content then Experiments. You will then see the following page: You may consider: Changing too many things can make it next to impossible to determine what caused an increase in conversions. After uploading the new landing page, the next step is to monitor the results and repeat. One important thing to remember is that not every page will produce positive results. Some pages will completely tank but you would never know without testing. This is why setting up conversion optimisation campaigns is so crucial. Otherwise, you could be losing out on potential sales. Even after a page has proven itself with higher conversions, the process starts all over again with new landing pages and careful tracking. Most business owners think the best way to produce results for their website is to focus on increasing traffic. But this is not always effective and could, in fact, prove to be a costly decision. A better approach is to focus on improving conversions. Doubling or even tripling conversions means that your marketing dollars go much further. Improving conversions on your website could very well be one of them.