We caught up with David Hodson-Whittle who shared with us his top five tips on how to increase your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

1. Research your keywords

2. Title Tags

Whilst title tags are not the holy grail of SEO that they once were, they do still serve a purpose and are an important factor to get right. Tags should be no longer than 70 characters long as this is the amount Google will display on its search results pages. They should contain your keyword/s for that page, but should not look spammy.

3. Content

This really is the most important factor to get right. Content is King, and Google are rewarding good quality, original, updated content over and above anything else at the moment. No longer can you stuff your pages with keywords and expect to stay at number one. In fact, you will get penalised for this. Successful websites these days must have a good amount of well written original content. Not only that, it must be updated regularly. This can be in the form of blogs, or news articles, or perhaps just adding more content to your pages. Ensure you have a relevant keyword for each page, and make sure that it features in the titles and content, but not too much as you don’t want your site to appear spammy.

4. Links

This year, Google releases an algorithm update called Google Penguin, which penalises spammy back links to sites. This means that whereas before, a website could benefit from having thousands of links pointing to it, whether or not they were from a relevant source, this will now be penalised. All links must come from quality, relevant sites. When you start your SEO campaign, you must ascertain whether you have any bad links. If you do, you should ask the relevant webmaster to remove the links as these can, and perhaps already have had a detrimental effect on your site.

5. Social Media

In days gone by, SEO and social media were seen as two separate entities. Nowadays, they are very much part and parcel of the same thing. Make sure you have a Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn account, and link them to your website. Update them regularly as not only will they help raise your web profile, they will also show that your company is current, and they provide valuable links to your site.

By Abigail Phillips

One internet marketing tool which is paramount to increasing your business’ online visibility is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Research shows that over 80% of all online sessions start at a search engine. Not only does improving your SEO ranking bump you up to a higher Google page, it also lets you reach new customers and increase your visibility in search engines. 

But SEO isn’t just about using any words that are associated with your business. It is about improving your keywords that will help make your business stand out from the crowd.

Stephen Ewart, Marketing Manager at internet services provider Names.co.uk, said, “It’s no use making the design pretty and the words flow if they aren’t helping your searchability. Words need to become real keywords, as keywords are what help users find your website via search engines.”

SEO makes sure your website gets bumped up in the natural Google^TM, Bing or Yahoo! Results. To increase your site’s visibility, Stephen recommends focussing on the following key areas:

1) Keyword selection - SEO helps you to select the most powerful bank of keywords you should be using. Our experts will help to guide your business on the most powerful buzzwords and phrases that people searching for your type of business will be looking for.

2.) Website optimisation - After the keyword selection, your website will go through an optimisation phase, meaning that your website’s html, content, images and sitemap will be closely examined and reviewed to make sure that you include the keywords you should be using to reach the top of search engines.

3.) Monitoring and reports – It’s then important to monitor your website’s positioning and how well you are performing in the Google ranking.  Names.co.uk offers a service where their search specialists will then monitor your website’s positioning and performance on the selected keywords. You will be sent regular detailed reports so that you can track your website’s ranking over time.

By Ben Gibson, Managing Director of The Search Agency

Whether or not you are actively allocating marketing budget, you’re employing SEO.

That company blog you’ve been managing?  Those social media updates, videos, and website content you’ve been creating and scheduling? The public relations team placing your content and name all on other publications?  They are all key elements in your brand’s search engine optimisation efforts and turning you in to an online marketer.

A recent article confirms that it’s time to admit that you are already spending money for SEO efforts whether you know it or not. The next step is figuring out how to integrate a holistic SEO strategy into your already existing inbound marketing plan. With the current state of search in rapid evolution, you’ll be thankful to know that you unknowingly set yourself up for success in online inbound marketing, even if you aren’t executing a fully fledged SEO strategy yet.

Take this year for example, significant changes in the search landscape, including new Google algorithm updates, the growing popularity of passive search platforms and the unification of social search has caused a fundamental shift in SEO tactics, rendering most traditional SEO strategies ineffective and outdated.

In the past, nearly all SEO strategies were built around three key onsite components: page content, link building, and site URL structure.  The most important factors in moving your site to the top of the search results page were having sufficient amounts of keyword rich content, back links, and a ‘crawlable’ site; these tactics were never really included under the umbrella of general or inbound marketing.

With search engine algorithms becoming smarter, their criteria for determining rankings have become more rigorous, looking at factors beyond traditional elements.  SEO has outgrown this onsite exclusive optimisation structure and moved into offsite territory, activity outside of the search engine, because search is no longer just happening on search engines. These new ranking factors have blurred the lines between online and inbound marketing, causing a need for a shift in how both strategies are managed.

Blending a holistic SEO strategy into your existing inbound marketing plan will boost your brand’s relevance and authority, while allowing you to better engage with and monitor potential online traffic. Overall, you will see an increase in brand awareness, site traffic and even conversions because the right people will have a much easier time finding you.

Here are some ways to realise the online optimisation potential your current strategies hold:

PR and Social Media

No doubt your offsite PR and Social Media strategies are focused on gaining exposure, authority and credibility in your space. In today’s search world, off-site authority is established when a company/brand is recognised as a topic expert that provides searchers and search engines with reliable, relevant and valuable information.

Just like face-to-face interaction, online expertise is recognised through authentic relationships with well-known brands, companies, individuals or organisations through common interests, mentions or valuable connections. Using social media platforms to interact and build relationships with industry names will gain the trust and respect of people using your site and increase visibility within your sector.

In traditional SEO practices, the only offsite optimisation was link building. This is still very crucial, even in today’s changing search landscape. Be very sure that your social media distribution includes frequent links to credible sources, as well as your own site and social profiles. When providing guest content on an outside publication, insist on links back to your own properties.

Onsite Engagement

PR and social media will drive traffic to your site, but post-click actions are what matter most.  A user’s behaviour on your site send signals to the search engines – and other users – about whether a user’s initial search intent was satisfied by the website.  Search engines have placed increased emphasis on post-click metrics such as social sharing, authority paths and amount of time spent on page before the searcher returns to the search engine results page.

It may be as easy as including prominently placed social buttons on key pages to ensure that users can easily tell social networks – and search engines – that they find your site trustworthy, relevant and valuable.  However, it may take more thought as to how to actually keep users on the page with compelling content, clear call to actions and multimedia.

Content

Having great content is, of course, fundamental for any online marketing strategy and will play a key part in online marketing success. However, it’s not just about producing high quality content, this content also needs to be relevant.  It is up to your site to give demanding and savvy online users exactly what they want; otherwise you might as well make another notch on your bounce-rate bed post.

It is important to consider how users find your site when you are considering how to satisfy their intent. One way to help develop your online content topics is to preform keyword research; this will provide insight in to what your site is ranking for. Equally, if you are not ranking for the keywords that you would like to be, creating and posting content around those key terms should gain some momentum on the search results page.

Leverage your onsite content and blog to gain visibility to the right users at the right time and you’ll see an increase in both volume and value of organic traffic.

Analytics – Metrics that Matter

Traditionally, the number of clicks has been the primary metric to gauge SEO success, however now with the possibility for inbound marketers to gather data and analyse factors like reach, frequency, social sharing, site speed, citations, traffic volume and conversion metrics; the cross-over into inbound marketing means a much improved method of measuring and analysing optimisation efforts.

If you haven’t got an in-depth understanding of search engine optimisation it can seem intimidating to think about incorporating it into your marketing plan. That said, when you break it down and realise you’ve been optimising for search all along, it becomes clear how you can give your strategy the boost it needs to be more competitive online. Both your SEO and Inbound Marketing strategies will be stronger if they work together.

Occupy SEO brought to you byPoster by The Search Agency

Richard Baxter, Founder of SEOGadget, joined the group of experts taking to the stage at the BrightonSEO Conference as he looked at the key milestones in the development of the best SEO consultants. Richard, who founded SEOGadget in August 2010 with one member of staff to now having 14 employees, suggested that many SEOs still need to grasp the breadth and depth of it as a marketing discipline. The latest BrightonSEO Conference, organised by SiteVisibility, took place on Friday 14^th September at the Brighton Dome and welcomed over 1700 delegates making it one of Europe’s biggest SEO conferences.

Richard’s claimed his vision is to build and maintain his SEO agency and establish it as a major international business. However, he highlights that it doesn’t happen by accident and SEO business owners must have a clear vision of where they want to head.

Richard comments: “I have met so many search marketers in other countries who are passionate and motivated. We work in an industry that is one of the most exciting and expansive in the entire world. I have spent a long time thinking about the qualities of the best SEO consultants and what points in their development has made them the best.

“Firstly, it’s more than simply having knowledge about content marketing and coding. Anybody can learn that over time. The golden rule, to be the best SEO, is to decide what your goals are and if you don’t have a goal, then make one. That’s your first goal.

“I would also highly recommend finding yourself a mentor or find someone you respect and copy them. Or do both. That doesn’t have to be someone you know personally – it could be a celebrity or a well-known business person. Analyse what they have done to get where they are in their career. Don’t be happy with just ‘ok’. Always strive to improve on what you’ve achieved. And if you don’t love what you’ve just done, then it isn’t finished.

“I am often so surprised at the number of really good SEOs that still fail to pitch themselves properly. This is crucial. If you can’t pitch yourself then potential clients may fail to have trust in you to get the job done. It’s vital for you to put yourself out of your comfort zone. If you haven’t done a presentation, then do one. It will feel amazing afterwards and will open doors and create opportunities.

“No matter where you are in your career, you should always ask questions. If you fail to do so, then you fail yourself. What drives us is to understand what makes things work and I always aim to learn at least one new thing a week.

“You should also make the choice to reinvent the wheel and don’t accept that what you are doing now is the norm. Don’t let it get stagnate. Evolve and find the simplest way to achieve a goal. Remember, when you are walking into the office, you are walking on stage and whether you are having the worst day, make it feel like you are having your best day.”

“One of the most important things is to build your own website. There are no such things as an SEO without their own website. Good SEOs should also learn to sell just about anything and make people realise how much you care about what you do. Then they care about what you know. It’s good business.

BrightonSEO headline sponsors are Advanced Web Ranking & MajesticSEO, supported by premium sponsors Calltracks, Freshegg, Linkdex and Brilliant Noise. For more information and to book a place on the workshops visit http://www.brightonseo.com/workshops

Event organisers SiteVisibility brings a team of SEO, Pay per click (PPC), social media, strategy, technical and R&D boffins together to create flexible, future-proof and truly integrated digital marketing campaigns that deliver better results from sensible budgets. For more details visit www.sitevisibility.com

By Caroline Coles, Fresh Business Thinking

In today’s society an understanding and active participation in the web is paramount to a business’s success, and more importantly survival. Being able to adapt and take advantage of new technology is the best way to attract and retain customers in this information technology age.

One of the best ways to do this is to make sure your company gets to the top of the search engine results page (SERP). All businesses need to take advantage of the Internet and the relevant tools to help market themselves successfully on the web. But to do this you firstly need to understand the basics of search engine optimisation (SEO).

We’ve asked Robert Weatherhead to shed some light on SEO, its benefits and his top tips on how to reach the coveted number #1 spot on the results page.

What is SEO?

“SEO is the process of optimising your web presence for greater visibility in the search engines.  This can be your website, videos, images, map listings, or any other assets which can gain you greater share of voice and awareness when somebody uses a search engine to find the product or service you provide.  

“Historically this centred solely around you website content, and in some cases this is still the case, however in more competitive markets it is now a combination of your website, PR, content distribution, social channels, and the overall promotion of your business online.”

Is it really worth the effort?

“Absolutely.  The search engines represent an opportunity to get in front of thousands, and in some cases hundreds of thousands, or potential customers who are actively in the market for your product.  Not too many other channels provide you with the opportunity to identify exactly what a consumer is looking for and to present to them your brand.

SEO is a real commitment and not a quick fix.  Due to the different elements involved and the time delay in your efforts being recognised by the search engines it can take a few months of effort before you see reward but done properly, SEO can produce a return on investment which you will not get through any other marketing channel.”

How long will it take to get to the top of the searches?

“How long is a piece of string?  It all depends on the competitiveness of the keyword/vertical, and the amount of effort you are putting in comparative to competition.  It also comes down to how long your website has been active, the current situation, any historical tactics that have been employed and many other factors.  This is literally an impossible question to answer without a case to work with.”

What about the money, how much will it cost me?

“This all depends on where you are, where you want to get to, and also who you have doing the work for you.  In uncompetitive markets you would be looking at hundreds of pounds a month, however in anything with advanced complexity or competition you would be investing anywhere between £3,000-£15,000 per month but the returns far outweigh the investment in most instances.”