With the introduction of the Google Freshness and with strengthening of such Google algorithm, website update has become necessary. Google’s purpose in incorporating the Freshness algorithm is perhaps the search engine giants’ way to make sure that every website will not remain to be just an online brochure with stagnant and boring content. Freshness aims to rank websites that have continuous content in their website, this is why a lot of websites even e-commerce websites are incorporating blog pages in their website. This is because of the fact that blogs is an avenue to incorporate fresh contents to the website. Aside from incorporating blogs in a website there are other ways for SEO companies and SEO consultants on how one could indicate that the website is within the requirements of the freshness algorithm.

Ways you Can Ensure Website Update

1. Audit Your Links – check your onsite links and verify whether your links are broken or not. This may be a tedious task but it is a must because of the fact that links are gateways for web crawlers and an invalid or broken link would mean and error in the crawling of your website.

2. Regularly Post a Blog – as mentioned every website has already incorporated blog pages in order to include fresh content to the website entirely, however if the blog page is not regularly updated the search engines may not interpret the page as containing fresh content, this is why it is important to regularly update your blog posts it may be a daily, weekly, or monthly update as long as such is followed regularly.

3. Arrange Your Blog Post Per Category – for easy crawling of your website and blog writings as well as for easy search for particular blog posts it is important that you arrange every blog post in specific categories. The categories will ensure that search engine crawlers will also easily locate your posts and easily identify the relevance of each post.

Conclusion:

The release of the March Update in Google’s search quality highlights includes the update on Google freshness algorithm, stating that freshness will already be affecting all websites and not only the news groups where it was initially implemented. This is why it is important for every website to incorporate fresh content in order to make sure that Google will be able to tag the website as containing fresh contents and thus will “hopefully” rank the website better that those similar sites without any fresh content.

Apart from de-indexing websites that are within private blog networks where its sole purpose is to build links rather that to provide quality contents, Google is also said to be targeting websites that are considered to be over-optimised. According to Google it would be a good idea to chase after users or site visitors rather than chasing after search engine algorithms. This statement from Google may be one of its motivation in de-ranking and penalising websites that are overly optimised, for obvious reasons that over optimisation is an indication that the SEO company or SEO consultant is chasing after search engine algorithms rather than providing quality information or content for its site visitors.

Qualifying Over-Optimisation

What is over optimisation? There are several factors that may indicate that a website is over optimised among them are:

1. Keyword Stuffing – this technique is considered to be within the realms of black hat technique and it is already popularly known as a violation to search engine algorithms. However, prior to the new algorithm a lot of websites were able to get away with keyword stuffing. With the new algorithm however, Google is said to have an increased awareness on the different keyword stuffing techniques and thus would consider it not only as a cause for penalty but also a ground for considering the site to be conducting over optimisation techniques.

2. Low Quality Links – creating links from different websites using profile links, private blog networks and other low quality link building techniques is considered by Google as over optimisation. This is why it is important to build your links from high quality websites and thus the link produced would be a high quality link.

3. Site Network – some SEO companies and SEO consultants have managed to create their own network of websites which are interlinked with each other. These types of links are considered interconnected links where the content may be related and are poorly written.

4. Unnatural Link Building and Content Development – it would also fall within the definition of over-optimisation when you build your links and develop your content at an unbelievable rate. Automating your websites link building and content development efforts could hurt your SEO campaign rather than benefit from it.

Concluding on Over-Optimisation

Of course apart from those three over optimisation techniques that were presented there might be other strategies that Google may deem to be an over optimisation technique thus it would be best to build your links naturally, and should be of high quality, this also goes the same with that of developing website content.

Ever since Google was subject of protests due to the publics’ clamor for transparency in their algorithm updates the search engine giant started informing the public through their search quality highlights. For the month of March of 2012 Google was able to incorporate fifty (50) search engine algorithm updates. According to Google these regular or constant update in their search engine algorithm are necessary in order to attain the best search engine results page for the users of their search engine, trying to deliver a more accurate and relevant to their users.

Highlights in the Search Quality Highlights

The fifty algorithm updates or changes for the month of March may be too much for us to discuss in this post, what we need to understand is the fact that some of the changes are just minor tweaks to their existing algorithm feature some however, are significant changes in the search engine algorithm. The following are the highlights of the search quality highlights and those that will be discussed are what we believe to be having a large impact in the world of search engine optimisation, an information that may be very valuable for SEO Companies and SEO consultants.

1. Improvement in Determining Site Quality – according to Google among the changes in their search engine algorithm is the improvement in the process of detecting the quality of a website. The search engine giant revealed that their long time process for detecting site quality is now improved, although Google did not elaborate on what specific changes were incorporated in their algorithm that determines site quality.

2. Improvement to Google Freshness algorithm – last year Google launched the Google Freshness algorithm which focuses on detecting fresh content in a website and using such as a ranking factor. The initial focus of Google freshness was on news related topics however last March Google already rolled out the freshness algorithm for all types of queries.

3. Updated Panda Algorithm Data – this updated data for the Google Panda algorithm is focused on determining high quality and low quality websites, this was the algorithm update that affected all private blog networks and it is because of this several private blog networks offering their services have been de-indexed causing them to close down their website and discontinue offering their services.

The Search Quality Highlights Conclusion

The transparency of Google in the release of their algorithm changes through the search quality highlights would indeed give SEO companies and SEO consultants an insight on what should their SEO campaign direction should be. Such insights would indeed show how Google is trying to improve their search quality.

Creating landing pages for Pay Per Click campaigns can be a difficult and time-consuming job, especially if you’re new to the concept, and this especially applies if you’re directing your users straight to a lead generation or enquiry form.

While many consumers may be keen to jump straight in and give you their details without a moment’s hesitation, there are those who will look a little deeper at the tone and design of the form itself. It’s these kinds of consumers who are unlikely to convert, and therefore it’s these kinds of consumers who need a little more encouragement at this stage of the buying cycle.

We’ve put together eight tips for webmasters eager to draft up great-looking landing page forms that will blend seamlessly into the design of the site yet still encourage the user get in contact with your company.

1. Make the form as simple as easy to use as possible. This is often easier said than done but crucial if you’re to encourage the user to choose you company over your competitors.

1. Ensure that your form is bright, bold and eye-catching. The aesthetic appeal of the form really does matter and it should be designed to fit in with your site’s existing branding.

1. Similarly, make sure that the look and feel of the form is consistent with the rest of your website. If users land on a page that doesn’t meet their expectations, they’re not likely to stick around, and a landing page optimisation form that sticks out like a sore thumb smacks of unprofessionalism.

1. Consider your audience at all times. If you’re a high-level service provider targeting multi-national corporations then keep the style of the landing page chic and professional; if you’re a local nursery wanting to appeal to young families, design a landing page that’s bold, quirky and fun.

1. Make sure the form looks clean and uncluttered. The user won’t want to feel overwhelmed when they land on the page, so widen your side margins and use whitespace to your advantage!

1. Keep all important information and calls to action above the fold of the page at all times. Contact numbers should be displayed as prominently where possible, too.

1. Lay out the information logically and consider the visual cues that your landing page has to offer. Typically, the user’s eyes will fall in a ‘Z’ pattern down the page, searching for the information that’s most relevant to them and acting upon what they see in a matter of seconds. If in doubt about the effectiveness of your landing page, always ask colleagues or impartial individuals their opinions and get an outside perspective on what you have designed.

1. Avoid integrating pop-ups or pop-unders into your landing page. The user has already followed a promotional message to reach this point in the cycle – they don’t want to be inundated with more sales spiel.

We’ll also be publishing advice for those of you looking to optimise your PPC landing page forms fully to increase conversions, so be sure to check back to our blog next week for part two of our landing page optimisation tip sheet.

If you’re a company that’s recently been considering investing in online reputation management services, you’re likely to have suffered bad publicity on the web. This could have been as a result of unclear boundaries when it comes to usage of your company name or trademark, or you may even have been unlucky enough to fall victim to a malicious hate campaign, instigated perhaps by angry ex-employees or even a jealous competitor.

Some firms will go to great lengths to protect a reputation that has taken decades (or even centuries) to earn. A great case in point is the Speedo debacle in autumn 2011. The sportswear company challenged an Australian blogger about his misuse of the famous brand name, claiming that he was using the trademark “in vain” and jeopardising their reputation on the web. Speedo took the situation to the extreme by taking the writer to court for his actions – however, this really is a last resort, and there are a number of things you can do to challenge malicious individuals without shelling out for expensive legal representation.

SEO Positive is now able to offer comprehensive reputation management services that are completely tailored to your needs. We’re able to deal with all negative content written about you and/or your business online and push up the search engine entries that you want your potential customers to see.

However, you may be surprised to learn that reputation management is actually quite a new practice, and if we want to continue providing our clients with a top-class service, we need to adapt our methods and approaches depending on the latest developments in the industry.

We predict that 2012 is the year online reputation management gets big. Here are the five things we as an SEO agency need to bear in mind throughout the coming months if we’re to effectively manage and control those all-important online reputations of our clients

1. Google remains the market leader when it comes to SEO and, naturally, companies want to make sure that the right kinds of results are generated when potential customers are searching for their brand, products or services in the search engine. However, thanks to quick developments within the mobile search arena, we’ll be taking a look at how we can extend our services to cover different platforms.
2. Social media is a great outlet for businesses who want to actively interact with their customers – but one tactless comment at the wrong time could spell disaster for the company’s reputation. We will be exploring even more ways of incorporating social media into our reputation management packages so that we can educate our clients about the best ways to manage their accounts on an on-going basis.
3. We need to continue to research the latest SEO techniques and developments, as search engine optimisation forms the foundations of reputation management campaigns. Again, due to the changing ways in which people are using search engines, it’s an area that’s shifting rapidly.
4. Client communication is crucial. A few years ago SEO companies could simply take the reins of an online marketing campaign with little to no conversation with the company actually paying for it. As part of our commitment to providing our reputation management clients with a transparent service, we’ll continue to consult with them as regularly as possible to establish a sense of trust between both parties. After all, you need to feel in control of your own campaign at all times.
5. As an extension of the above, we also need to focus on educating our clients about the best way to protect their online identity, both now and in the future. We’re sure that we can achieve great results and knock all negative search engine entries into obscurity should companies be unhappy with how customers are perceiving their business, but ultimately, every single employee needs to be aware of the consequences of their actions online. If we ensure that our clients understand the way the web works and the footprint that they leave for customers to follow, we can provide them with a service that’s great value for money, as they are less likely to return to us for full-blown reputation management services further down the line. We offer affordable brand protection options once the initial process is complete so that we’re able to monitor the existing campaign should any issues arise.

With the war between the world’s major social networks raging on, there’s much debate amongst SEO agencies as to which site will eventually outperform its rivals to become the most popular (and most lucrative) network available, from both an individual user and business perspective. Unfortunately for early entrepreneurs Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, the original founders of Myspace, it’s often a case of ‘out with the old and in with the new’ within this particular web arena – but does the introduction of giant Google Plus and the continued development of Facebook really signal the end for the service?

According to the most recent social media report by comScore, Myspace is still generating a hefty amount of traffic on a daily basis, despite fierce competition and a dwindling reputation. Naturally, Facebook and Twitter top the list of the world’s most visited social sites, but the statistics (which document the number of unique visitors from the US the site receives) indicate that users are actually flocking to MySpace ahead of Google’s much-talked-about Plus platform.

It seems that, despite consistently being described as ‘outdated’, Myspace continues to entice back those who have enjoyed the site since it was launched way back in 2003. And who can forget Myspace’s golden days? Often considered the pioneering social network of the early noughties, this platform was once renowned for its innovative features and was even recorded as the most visited website in the US in summer 2006. It was attractive, it was fun, and above all, it was simple and accessible.

But there are a number of reasons why Myspace has experienced a steep decline in popularity of late. Many people have criticised the network for not expanding to keep up with the demand of users. Although it’s introduced a huge number of layout changes to try and chase its competitors, this has had a huge impact on the load time of its pages, many of which are easily customisable and fairly image heavy anyway. Myspace has always been heavily reliant on ad banners and as a result tends to look a lot more cluttered than Facebook – a major turnoff for those seeking a user-friendly experience!

Secondly, Myspace is lacking a broad strategy. While many users consider it an important hub of activity for the music and entertainment industry, it’s failed to continue to appeal to people outside of this niche for a long time. Simply taking a look at the newly revamped homepage says it all – users are bombarded with banners from up and coming artists and are encouraged to head over to ‘Music News’ and ‘My Music’ straightaway. It’s a great deal for the performers, who get to advertise their tours and releases free of charge, but those who once used the site for communicating with friends and family may be overwhelmed by its current direction.

Then there’s its alleged lack of commitment to web protection. The site suffered a bad rap a number of years ago for failing to produce a decent spam filter, leaving many concerned that kids were able to stumble across adult content at the click of a button. While this is nothing new for social media sites (Facebook and Twitter have all experienced bad press as a result of ropey privacy procedures and security issues), Myspace has always been designed to appeal to teens and young adults, and it’s this demographic that are considered most vulnerable.

While there’s a lot of condemning evidence of Myspace’s shortcomings here and many will still question the relevancy of the site, we’re never quick to judge a platform as a waste of time for businesses looking to advertise on the web. While your company may be eager to join the millions of firms who flock to Facebook and Twitter to sell their wares on a daily basis, ultimately your social media strategy needs to be based on your individual needs, and for many, Myspace still remains an indispensable tool that continues to attract an active audience. The site may never stage a proper comeback, but on the flip side, there’s no reason why it should be considered dead in the water if it’s working for you.

Remember, if you’d like to learn more about the potential of Myspace and social media as a whole, SEO Positive is now offering comprehensive social media management and monitoring services. Feel free to get in touch if you believe a social strategy could boost your business’ online profile.

A Roundup of Great Google Resources

Google provides an abundance of products and services that simplify owning or managing a website. In addition, they have also made available several resources for learning how to use their products to the maximum potential. I’m going to break down my favorites and why.

“Google’s mission: Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Google Analytics

There are two great resources for learning to become a Google Analytics power user, Google’s IQ Lessons and Google Analytics YouTube Channel.

Google’s IQ Lessons provide short, easy to follow videos using screen shots of the Google Analytics dashboard. It’s a comprehensive look at Analytics beginning with an introduction and moving on to more detailed features like creating admins, interpreting reports, and concluding with in-depth videos for more advanced features like advanced segments and event tracking. If you watch this complete series of training videos, you will be well on your way to being an advanced Google Analytics user.

Google Analytics YouTube Channel hosts a variety of videos ranging from 30 seconds to an hour long, including Q & A’s hosted by famed analytics guru Avinash Kaushik and Nick Mihailovski, a series of videos called ‘Analytics for Agencies’, new features and more. This is a great resource for both beginners to Google Analytics and experts.

Google Webmaster Tools

If video tutorials are how you like to learn, then you can learn all about Google Webmaster Tools here. The entire video is about 20 minutes long and it covers the basics like submitting your site, title tags and meta descriptions and also provides other resources for webmasters, this is a great place to find additional helpful Google forums, articles and more.

Google Webmaster Tools are useful for finding any errors in your website, seeing which search queries are showing your web page as results and more. Google’s Quick Start Guide breaks down what you will see when you log in to your Webmaster Tools account and offer a brief explanation and then a “Learn More” link taking you to an in-depth explanation of the chosen topic. I like how they have set this up because it is a nice refresher for those who have used Google Webmaster Tools before and it is also great for the complete beginner because you can run through the Quick Start Guide, and then go back to the beginning and go through each of the Learn More sections and gain a solid foundation in how to use Google Webmaster Tools more effectively.

Other Google Resources

Matt Cutts walks through some of the “hidden gems” of Google resources in this two minute video. He talks about where to find “Tech Talk” videos, all of Google’s Tech Talks from Google IO that have been digitized and uploaded, and “Reporter Center” which features short videos by reporters with tips on interviewing and tips on reporting of any kind.

For some insider info, subscribe to Google’s own anti-spam software engineer Matt Cutts’ blog. He maintains a blog rich with information and has also made countless helpful videos on YouTube.

Rebecca Derdoski is a search engine marketer for Internet Exposure, a Minneapolis SEO agency specializing in web development, web design and digital marketing.

Yahoo and Bing have created a search alliance together. This new found partnership enables web masters to manage their PPC campaigns on both search engines, but only from one site. This means that running a campaign on both websites is more convenient than ever.

Step Up

Google is the search giant; there is no dispute about that. However, we all know that Yahoo have been slowly declining and have been in need of a comeback. This alliance could be exactly what Yahoo needs to begin to bring back higher user activity on their site. Especially since Yahoo site explorer went down, which was a tool that displayed incoming links, this tool was heavily used by SEO ‘s around the world. Now the alliance has been formed, this could be Yahoo’s big break.

What The Bing?

The question must be raised, what is in it for Bing? Well the most obvious reason would be a higher volume of search. Although Yahoo is on a downhill slope right now so the search volume required would not be that great. I think there are other reasons for this Alliance. Possibly Yahoo’s tech heads are better with PPC or may have a more technical algorithm than Bing.

Taking On The G!

Since Google is the king of search, I believe this is an attempt for the two engines (Y! + Bing) to team up and group together their current volumes of traffic and make an attempt to beat Google, this will be tough to accomplish straight away, any search engine to take on Google will not receive an instant win. So unless an awesome advance in the industry is made by Yahoo and Bing, then it will be difficult for them to overcome Google and become the top source of information on the web.

Conclusion

It is unlikely that we will be informed the true reason for this alliance. It is most likely an attempt to combat Google but the reason why they are teaming up is much more than we know. Yahoo are most likely part of this to bring themselves back from their decline. However the reasons for Bing to be a part of this alliance are unclear.

Google Plus may be the new kid on the block, but it has everything other social networks have and maybe even more. Google have had their social network not only available to the public for a while, but now also a mobile app.

Potentially copy catting Facebook and Twitter, but the famous saying of Apple is that they have an app for that. Google cannot be blamed for jumping on the mobile band wagon, every social network should be available on a mobile device and now they are.

Features

Google Plus has five main sections to the platform (not including games). These areas are the stream, messenger, photos, profile and circles. All of these factors are available on both the web on a desktop computer, and the mobile app. Notifications are also displayed at the bottom of the screen which is great when you would like to be instantly notified.

Downside

One downside about + for mobile devices is that hangouts is not really available as there would be some compatibility issues which would just cause a bad user experience. For example, the iPhone 3GS would not be able to hangout via video because it only has a back camera available so the face would not be able to be seen so it would be pointless.

Conclusion

All features that are available on the web are also available on the Google Plus app, which makes this app an ideal tool for social media marketing which goes great with SEO campaigns and other various internet marketing activities.

A Brief Overview of YouTube:

YouTube is one of the biggest social networks online today; in fact it is the second largest search engine in the world. Although it seems like a video sharing platform it has a huge social aspect which can be overlooked. Primarily YouTube’s success for your business stems from the ability to share your video content with your target audience which in turn will bring in a huge amount of views of your content and awareness of your brand.

What To Expect From YouTube Optimisation

The quality of your video content will have a great impact the numbers of people who wish to view your video. For example, if your video was about a contest your company is running, then buzz about that contest would be generated which could turn into potential sales as curiosity would be created about the business and product.

However, if you were to create an instructional video, possibly a tutorial of SEO, one which your customers have asked about in the past, then this will help customers to feel more tended too and generate positive feedback.

Promotional videos are a hit and miss. Depending on how interesting the video is, it could go viral or just be forgotten about. If the video does go viral, them sales will not be generated instantly, they will become more of a brand awareness exercise leading to potential sales.

How We Measure Success

YouTube has its own insights available for each video which will show exactly where the videos views are coming from, this is helpful to find out what sources are the most beneficial. Regular checks of the video’s positions will be recorded for the keywords and phrases that are being targeted plus the amount of views.

Key Factors Of YouTube Optimisation

Optimising a YouTube video is very similar to a website. Title, description and tags must be filled out precisely to generate the best outcome. Views, likes and comments are also important for the videos success but these factors are down to the quality of your original Video content. Therefore it is vital to create the best video content within your budget as this will ultimately decide the success of the campaign.

Exposure Of Your Video Content

We would recommend using the share option on YouTube as this is simple way to add your video with other social network sites. This is a great way to generate further exposure for your video content. Suggested sites would include Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social bookmarking sites.

One of the important things to do is to embed this video content on your own website. This will help traffic flow from YouTube to your site and vice versa. This approach will also benefit your videos performance directly and increase the number of views

Once your video channel is in place further advanced activities for your business would be the interaction with the YouTube community. For example, by adding Video Responses to popular videos that are relevant to your content will generate further views of your own video content.