Page naming conventions for your webpages

“What’s in a name?” Juliet Capulet asked.

Now you may be surprised why I’m opening with a line from Shakespeare here, but I promise that the question is relevant to online marketing. Names, you see, are a big deal even when your goal is to get the best ranking in the search engine results pages.

As a recap, search engines gather information by crawling your website. The key to getting a high rank in the search results is to ensure that your site is crawled properly. While search engine optimisation (SEO) offers a number of strategies to achieve this end, a good start is essentially following the appropriate naming conventions for your webpages.

Search engines assume that the most important elements of your site are in your main navigation area, which is found is virtually any page in your site. As such, their rankings formulas are tuned to grant more weight to the pages that are featured there. You can take advantage of this by placing your primary keywords in the filename or URL for these pages. Search engines place the bulk of their attention on the keywords found in the title text and the content of the page, but keyword mentions in the URL do bear some weight.

As an example, all factors considered, a webpage with the URL “www.abcd.com/macbook-air-review” is likely to have a higher rank for the search term “Macbook Air reviews” than websites with the same content but have URLs like “www.wxyz.com/apple-laptop-review” or “www.wxyz.com/top-10-best-laptops” in the SERPs.

Writing the best webpage names

So how do you make good webpage titles? First, make sure that your URL is not overstuffed with keywords. Search engines are programmed to react negatively to this practice. Keep the title of your entries, as well as the URL of your pages short and descriptive. As mentioned above, mention your keyword if possible. Search engines often rank pages highly when their URL matches with the search terms used by the searchers.

CMS and blogging platforms such as WordPress allow you to use custom URLs that may be different from your entry’s title. In such cases, make sure to create good URLs. You can use the following formula: www.yourURL.com/keywords1/keywords2.php

Here are some great examples:

Title: I do not wish my screensaver to lock my computer, thank you.
URL: disable-screensaver-password

Title: Get your search fix with two videos
URL: free-search-seo-videos

Title: Protect yourself: get a free credit report
URL: free-credit-report

Title: How to back up your Gmail on Linux in four easy steps
URL: backup-gmail-in-linux-with-getmail

Title: How to stop junk mail
URL: stop-junk-mail

Title: I love my pedometer
URL: best-pedometer

Title: Crap. My Ubuntu machine won’t boot
URL: ubuntu-freeze-no-resume

Title: What are the best iPhone applications?
URL: best-iphone-application

While your webpage’s URL may not be the biggest factor in determining search rankings, ensuring that it follows the right conventions makes it easier to organise and retrieve. So what’s in a name? A lot, apparently, but having the right keywords is a good start.

Search engines: How do they work?

If you have spent enough time online, you must have heard of the likes of Google, Bing, Yahoo Search and probably AOL. They are all search engines used for one of the most popular activities in the Internet—search. They are more than just digitised encyclopaedias; most of them come integrated with an extensive array of functionalities and features and cast an influence that almost literally affects the entirety of the Internet’s surface.

If your business can’t be found within the Search Engine, you don’t get the traffic…

When we talk about “Organic” or “Natural” Search, these are the results that appear in the main body of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page), that aren’t paid for, and are determined by Google (and the other search engines in their own platforms) based on an algorithm that considers the content of your website and matches this to a consumer’s search query.

Did you know?

• 81% of internet users use search engines to find a website.
• 73% of all online transactions begin with a search engine.
• 87% of users only look at the first page of results.
• 85% of clicks are organic clicks

The Search Engine

Search Engines are online tools that scour the Internet to provide users with the information they need. The resources they allow users access to are virtually limitless, explaining their immense popularity and making them invaluable tools for any Internet surfer.    

To explain the scope of the Search Engine’s influence on modern living using a few words is practically impossible. The way they place information within any individual’s reach has affected the way we do business, communicate, study, eat, and conduct ourselves, among others. Their influence and power grows as the number of their users increase, and as Google has proven over the last few years, any changes can have dramatic effects on the Internet as a whole.

How it works

Search engines use automated robots, otherwise known as “spiders,” “bots,” “crawlers” or “indexers” to find content in websites. As the Internet is a figurative jungle made up of vast troves of information, search engines use links as pathways or guides. They follow these links in order to “spider” the sites and “index” the information in the site.

Webmasters also may also use .xml and .txt feeds as site maps of the content they want search engines to index in the directory. Ideally, these lists contain each of the URLs in the site. All indexed information is then gathered and stored in huge servers for easy retrieval at a later time. When a search is performed, search engines take indexed information matching the search query and present them as search results.

When using the robot method, search engines look at a number of factors to determine how deeply and frequently they will index your website. Some of these factors are:

• The uniqueness of the content in your site
• The uniqueness of the content in a page as compared to other pages in the site
• The uniqueness of the content in a pages versus all other pages in the Internet

To ensure that search engines find your content and index them, you need to keep an eye on one key factor—your links. Search engines determine the quality and the quantity of inbound links to your site. As a rule, it is best to ensure that your links come from high-quality sites. This will encourage search engines to index your site more frequently. It will also lead them to consider you as a high-quality source yourself and give you a better ranking in the results pages.

Obscure or “deep” search makes up a significant percentage all searches performed via search engines. As such, it is important that you pair great links with high-quality copy. Many website owners tend to think this means suffusing their web content with keywords. This may be a mistake as the practice tends to sacrifice readability. One thing you need to remember is that search engines today are focused on providing positive user experience and as such, they favour content that are easy for users to digest and understand. So when you write your copy, make sure to write for both humans and search engines.

Needless to say, the workings of a search engine may not be as simple as this post connotes, but this gives you a good idea. The extent of search engines’ influence over the net may be complex in itself, too, but remember that ultimately, they are tools for humans to use. Your focus therefore, should be the humans using them just as much as the spiders themselves.

Interested in a deeper understanding of Search Marketing for your business? Come along to our free marketing seminars at Vorian Agency. As a Google Partner and Bing Ads Professional Company, we also offer a comprehensive range of Search Marketing services. www.vorianagency.com.au

What SEO do I need in 2015?

It’s the middle of 2015. Have you begun your SEO campaign? Despite the predictions you might have read in the past year, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is still alive and kicking, and in fact, remains as one of the best ways to boost your traffic, get more from your website and raise returns for your business.

What is SEO?

Let’s do a short recap of what SEO is all about. It is the process of identifying the keyword phrases that potential customers use in search engines to find products and services. SEO helps ensure that your website faces little to no obstacles in capturing the maximum possible volume of relevant incoming traffic.

SEO revolves around the idea that by giving your website a boost, you are providing your business with distinct advantages in an Internet-driven business environment. It helps get your business found more easily. Through this, you gain more leads, better chances at conversions and greater potential to make sales, among others.

Organic traffic is a key element in search engine optimisation. It is the type of traffic that is derived from natural search engine indexes, as opposed to traffic bought through search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns such as Google Adwords. To achieve organic traffic, pages in your website have to be optimised so that they conform to search engine algorithms and as such, get ranked in the search engine results pages.

Needless to say, algorithms can vary from one search engine to another. Google’s ranking criteria may differ from that used by Bing. SEO seeks to optimise your website for any algorithm so that you are guaranteed a good ranking in any search engine. Additionally, search engine algorithm changes periodically—keeping up with the changes and ensuring the best results every time is part of the aims of SEO.

SEO for 2015

A lot of things have changed for SEO over the last couple of years alone, thanks to shifting demands and Google’s changing algorithms. That, however, does not necessarily mean that it is too late to engage in SEO. Here are a few pointers to remember for SEO this year:

·         Google’s goals remain unchanged.

Google may have gone through many algorithm shifts but their purpose has always been to provide users with the best search results. The search giant has always considered user experience a priority and as such, has consistently rolled out algorithm updates that moved towards accurate, informative search results in websites that are easy to use.

That said, your SEO campaign must have user experience as its foremost goal as well. Put yourself in the users’ shoes and imagine what would make your search easier and much more fruitful. Will you benefit from a website that loads quickly? If so, then ensure that your own site loads fast. Would you, as a user, benefit from having more pictures in a site? If so, then add more images to your own site. Obtain the assistance of experts to ensure that the steps you take are in line with current search engine standards, but putting the interest of your site visitors first is a great way to start.

·         Never underestimate content.

As it turns out, one of the best ways to provide optimal user experience is to make information readily available through content.  Blog posts and other forms of web content are now considered as key elements of most content marketing campaigns, and are religiously integrated into many businesses marketing strategies.

To maximise results, make sure that your content is high-quality. Readability and comprehensibility are huge factors for users. They can affect how they see you as a potential resource and how often they return to your site for your content. Boost your web content with SEO strategies to increase their effectiveness and their visibility.

Moreover, content is a great way to spread your links and strengthen your backlink portfolio. Users searching for resources will be more than happy to link back to your content and your website if your posts are informative enough. This is just another reason to invest in well-created content.

·         Go mobile.

Google reported that a large percentage of search queries nowadays are sent via mobile devices. Consequently, the search giant rolled out a mobile-friendly update last April. The update rewarded websites that have adopted a mobile-responsive design.

As more and more users surf the Internet through their mobile devices, it is within reason that your SEO strategy this year should prioritise mobile optimisation. A good start would be ensuring that your website is mobile-responsive. This would mean that users would be able to use it conveniently and comfortably even through the small screens of their mobile devices.

That said, you should be careful about potential errors, especially as the technology is relatively new. This should, however, not discourage you from taking the path to mobile-responsiveness as, with adequate preparation, the benefits far outweigh the potential risks.

The year 2015 is not too late for you to get started on your SEO campaign.  The Internet offers plenty of insights into the many steps you can take, as well as the many ways you can enhance your online marketing campaign. Get started now with Vorian Agency – a Google Partner, Bings Ads Professional company and a Hootsuite Solutions Partner.

Facebook and the social salesperson

Facebook has come a long way in recent years, transforming from a hub for casual users and posters (Farmville, anyone?) to a veritable social media giant. Today, businesses from all over the world take advantage of features and benefits made possible by Facebook’s ever active development team not only to bolster their online presence but also to enhance their ability to promote content to their customers.

The numbers show that Facebook beats all other social networks in terms of number of users. Surveys show that there are currently around 1.4 billion Facebook users from all over the world. A whopping 55.02% of the entire Australian population have an account. Facebook also leads in terms of monthly visitors, with 900 million unique visits from users who click, share and post status updates.

These figures give a clear indication of the extent of Facebook’s reach. This is an excellent point to remember when you design your Search Marketing Integration (SMI) strategy. These days, just creating outstanding content will not garner for you the response and traffic you anticipate—you will need a figurative courier who will deliver the content right where your intended audience can find it. The numbers suggest that Facebook is one of the best tools for this exact purpose.

The social salesperson

For this strategy to succeed, you will need to adopt a few changes. You will have to take the role of a social salesperson or if you can, hire someone else who can. A social salesperson understands or endeavours to understand your market, your product, the problems you may encounter and the solutions to said problems. This individual’s role is to maximise your SMI efforts not just by incorporating SEO techniques but also by ensuring that the right content is created for every stage of the sales funnel.

Like salespersons in brick-and-mortar institutions, the social salesperson will represent your brand. As such, it is their responsibility to create and maintain an online presence through which they can engage consumers in conversations and discussions. They will manage the creation of content and its distribution through social media. They must ensure that shared content will have a positive impact for your company.

Facebook will do a good job as the tool of choice for any social salesperson. Its features (from pages to Messenger) and its extensive reach can be used to your brand’s advantage. A social salesperson can post URLs to direct traffic, post videos and images and effectively open channels where they can interact directly with customers. Needless to say, integrating other social media platforms would improve results, but there is no denying how large the role Facebook will play in your SMI efforts.

Indeed, a large percentage of the world’s population is in Facebook today. Many of them are your customers. Learn more about using Facebook in business in Vorian Agency’s free 2015 Facebook Seminar. Register for Vorian Agency's free marketing seminars here..   

Weighing up QR codes

QR (Quick Response) codes

As a novelty, and stand out difference, with competitive marketing activities, QR codes have been around for a little while now.

I really don't consider that QR codes are substantially any improvement over the use of URLs, and in particular shortened URLs such as bit.ly. Basically a QR code is yet another means of communicating and driving a consumer from their point of interest into the online space where more detail can be provided in relation to a very precise ID associated with a product, an advertisement, or a business.

To be honest, the uptake on QR codes has been limited, and the vast majority of average consumers haven't a clue what they actually are. Maybe this is the fault of a suitable education process to inform the consumers to then drive an uptake.

However, unlike QR codes, a URL doesn't require locating an app, downloading it, installing it, and using it to photograph the code graphic. For consumers who don't have smartphones or have yet to download the appropriate app, a URL (and again I revert back to specifically convenient shortened URLs) will work better.

URLs have wider recognition and I see as preferable to using QR codes in print ads.
After an initial push from Google in an attempt to get businesses to adopt the codes and use them as decals at their places of business, Google dropped QR code support. Therefore if this had been seriously working affectively for local consumers, Google wouldn't have pulled the pin.

Similar options: Microsoft Tag Reader, Google Goggles

Customising the iPad2 for use as a Sales Tool

Apple's iPad2 is a sensational tool for sales teams for use in presenting to clients.

Right from the start of your presentation, your iPad2 can be customised to match your business brand by selecting a suitable image for the wallpaper display on the iPad:

• Set home screen background
• Set lock screen background

iPod Wallpaper design specifications:

• Image Size: 1024 x 1024px
• This will give a full screen look to the iPad even when rotated.
• The resolution of the image must be 132dpi
• Remember that portions of the image will be cut off both in landscape and portrait mode.
• Key to creating the best iPad wallpaper is to choose an image that is focused around the 768×768 portion of the image

Next, to open your company's website from the desktop (if you haven't created a customised app already!) create a favicon icon shortcut browser link on home screen desktop (set icon to iPad quality).

To do this within iPad Safari web browser; save this as an icon on the desktop, which will open the website as required. Current process will save image of front page of website... preferred option would require advanced favicon code within your website HTML (metatags), that point to a specifically optimized Apple icon.

To create favicons specifically for Apple devices such as the Apple iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad:

The recommended size is 57 x 57 pixels, with 90 degree corners. However with the more recent higher definition screens on Apple's products, Apple has their icon at 129 x 129 pixels

metatag to include in <head> code of website with Apple Formatting

<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/somepath/image.ico">

metatag to include in <head> code of website without Apple's reflective shine

<link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="/somepath/image.ico">

eMarketing platforms - capabilities and compliance

There are many different eMarketing platforms available for the online marketer to choose from varying in; capabilities, integration, reporting and social media awareness. Be sure to do your homework to select the most appropriate platform for your business needs today, and as you evolve - so ensure it can grow with your online marketing requirements and the platform itself provides access to new features in a fast changing online landscape.

Many eMarketing platforms provide best practice guides, information and eMarketing tips relevant to what the platform can deliver and to ensure that your email newsletters meet deliverability, usability, functionality and marketability! (See: ExactTarget, MailChimp, CommuniGator)

Ensuring your email marketing meets legal compliance is also an important consideration and in an international context it is important to research the current CAN-SPAM legislation and similar requirements for each country. The provision of a double opt-in is but one part of the process and a must-have. Compliance also includes the provision of Privacy Policy, one-click unsubscribes, contact details of the company along with a few other items.

Associated to this category of consideration is the funcationality of your email template and how it renders for users with disabilities and screen reader applications.

Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)

The legislation in the UK that covers the rights of disabled people – the section of the act on the provision of goods and services includes the requirement that websites should be made accessible.

UK Law

It has been a legal requirement for UK websites to be accessible since 1999. Since then all websites have been expected to make "reasonable adjustments" to ensure their websites accommodate all users regardless of ability, disability.

Is your website legal?
http://www.douceandco.co.uk/website.html

The current information relating to web sites in the UK confirm that many are illegal. They do not include even basic information such as registered company address, VAT details and web site hosting for example.

Making sure your website meets all the current key UK legal requirements is vital to prevent you receiving fines or penalties. Ensure you are up to date with the necessary UK legislation or it could prove very costly to you and your business.

Disability Discrimination Act

UK websites must comply with the Disability Discrimination Act, which states that websites must be accessible to all – including users with visual impairments or disabilities.

Responsible business practice

In today's environment corporate and social responsibility have increasingly become fundamental in building trust and reputation with the people you do business with. However, experience of closed doors on your websites can have a negative influence on the way people perceive even the most reliable companies and the strongest brands.

I would also recommend prior to any go-live activity with a new eMarketing platform that you go through a careful process of deliverability and reputation testing on the email sends to ensure everything is in place. And once your email campaigns are active within your new eMarketing platform keep a good eye out for DNSBL black lists to ensure that the integrity of your IP and sender framework is retained.

Did you know?

About the UK Companies (Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2008
http://www.douceandco.co.uk/website.html

Fines of up to £100 a day could face any registered business whose websites do not comply with these regulations, introduced in October 2008. Further information is available here:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/495/contents/made

Limited companies must include company details on all electronic communications (website AND email) and this should include:

Your full company name
Where the company is registered
The companies registered address
The Companies Registered No e.g. 123456789
Website Hosting company details: address, postcode, hosting company website
Professional Memberships should be displayed on the website or freely provided upon request
VAT Registered number