Top ten SEO tips for getting into the top ten rankings in 51 days

July 26, 2006 | 5 Comments

 

Many businesses pay thousands to SEO specialists to get their websites to the top of Google and Yahoo. The only alternative has been to use a quick fix of pay-per-click advertising or paid directory submissions. Both short term, expensive solutions.

Bloggers, for some time now, have been trumpeting the ‘organic’ SEO value of blogging and how it can maximise your online visibility. I am pleased to announce that The Write Words is now about to do the same following my steady progress up the search engine charts.

I started blogging 06/06/06 (51 days ago) and I now occupy rankings for the following search terms:

Yahoo UK & IE                                                  

Copywriting Oxford  =  2
Copywriting Milton Keynes  =  6
Blogging Oxford  =  8
Blogging Milton Keynes  =  1
Blogging copywriting  =  4

Google (UK sites)

Blogging copywriting Oxford  =  1
Blogging copywriting Milton Keynes  =  3
Blogging copywriting SEO  =  1
Business blogging SEO  =  1

These positions were achieved in 51 days simply by posting articles of 500 words each week on relevant topics.
Google and Yahoo’s biggest asset is their search function. If they aren’t providing the most relevant, up-to-date information of value then web users will simply move onto their competitors. This is why my website has managed to achieve the rankings it has by satisfying the demand for regularly updated, relevant content.

If you start blogging about your business then you will be able to achieve the same online visibility, whilst also marketing your business and building trust and confidence with potential customers.

Here are my top ten SEO tips for getting your website into the top ten charts:

  1. Include relevant keywords in first paragraph and title of your homepage.
  2. Use sound HTML coding practices. Your title tag should say what it is you do first and your company name after. Use keyword metatags but don’t go overboard, they might have lost their value but it won’t hurt to use them. Ensure you use different tags for each page.
  3. Design your site to maximise its accessibility to the SE spiders i.e. avoid a big flash introduction or reliance on graphics. Spiders read words not pictures.
  4. Submit to key search directories.
  5. Use tracking function of your web hosting to monitor page views and click through rates – how could you alter the layout or structure to improve your figures?
  6. Don’t use PPC or paid directories. They are not viable long-term strategies due to costs which can get out of control. Getting sustained traffic is a marathon not a sprint.
  7. Use PRweb.com for free press release distribution. One mention in your industries press can equate to thousands spent in conventional advertising.
  8. Start a blog! Writing 500 words each week will organically optimise your website for the search engines. Writing articles that are valuable, useful and full of keywords will attract readers and search engine spiders.
  9. Submit your blog to as many blog directories as possible. This will create links all over the web and maximise your visibility.
  10. Read other blogs and provide informed comments. This will not only increase your own knowledge and awareness of whats going on but will also build back-links to your site.

Follow these simple steps and watch your traffic grow. My website visits have gone from around 10 hits a day to nearly 150 unique visitors. As awareness of business blogging in the UK grows so will my traffic as more people start searching for information. More targeted visitors means more opportunities to develop the sales process.

Now where did I see that link for Adsense?
 

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under Search Engine Optimisation 

Dell finally start blogging about their business

July 20, 2006 | 2 Comments

In one of my previous posts I mentioned how Dell computers’ reputation was dented by bloggers criticising them for their poor customer service record. Dell have now taken their heads out of the sand and started talking to their customers.

Dell’s One2one blog provides them with a forum for responding to comments, and to hopefully provide an insight into the people and processes that makes the computer giant tick. They have realised that the spread of blogs and discussion forums on the web means that if they don’t provide a public forum for interaction then the conversation will simply carry on without them and without an opportunity for them to defend themselves.

The first few posts show how Dell now seem to understand and have embraced the new philosophy of marketing online being a two way conversation. If they’re clever, they will also realise how they can use the blog as a PR tool for showing their dedication to resolving customers’ problems and their passion for what they do. 

I’m sure they will receive plenty of advice to help them along the way.   

 

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under blogging 

What can we learn from John Prescott?

July 17, 2006 | 1 Comment

 

John Prescott

 

The current furore over the role of bloggers in the attacks on John Prescott has shown the growing impact of blogging in the UK. The response by journalists, such as BBC’s Nick Robinson, has also highlighted the contention and misconception between the established order and the new social media. Some journalists perhaps view bloggers as a threat to their position as the conduit for news and information. What will their role be in the future if people can do a quick search on Google for whatever they want to know? (‘Collaborative journalism’ is the new buzz word but I’ll save that for a later post).

The exposure bloggers have been able to gain also demonstrates a transition in the way news and information is delivered. Now anyone can be a knowledge and information provider. The exposure created by the attacks on John Prescott has taught us that even a single blogger can compete with national newspapers in driving a story if what they have to say is of value.

The bloggers Iain Dale and ‘Guido Fawkes’ have been responsible for breaking a number of national headlines. Cherie Blair’s ill advised signing of the Hutton report, the cash for peerages issue and Charles Kennedy’s drinking habits were all major news stories first aired on their blog pages. They are performing a role reversal by having the national media write about their stories rather than the other way around.

I think there is little doubt that they both have a political agenda to push. As Conservative party members they would love to unsettle the Labour government with Prescott’s scalp. But they are still bound by the same libel laws as everybody else. Its hypocritical of some journalists to accuse them of making unsubstantiated claims when the national media routinely use phrases such as ‘alleged’ and ‘we are led to believe’.

In the US political bloggers have wielded significant influence for a number of years.   John Kerry’s election campaign was severely crippled by the ‘Swift Boat Veterans for Truth’ and bloggers have also exposed how George Bush’s war record was based on forged documents. The damage done to Prescott’s deteriorating image by political bloggers shows how they are finally starting to make themselves heard in this country.

So how does this relate to your business? Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes have simply shown how the means to publish is no longer the sole domain of large scale corporations. They were able to gain exposure and compete with multi-million pound enterprises in the provision of news and information.

Your business can achieve the same by starting to publish about yourself and your industry. The smallest enterprise can gain the largest exposure online.

Blogging in this country is growing all the time and being talked about in the national media. Traditional press organisations are now taking notice of what is happening in the blogosphere. It won’t be long now before industry publications have to start doing the same as more businesses start talking to their marketplaces.

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under blogging 

Why aren’t more UK businesses blogging?

July 13, 2006 | Leave a Comment

The latest research figures suggest that 35 % of US large companies plan to implement corporate blogging by the end of 2006. If you couple this with the 35% already blogging, by the end of the year 70% of large US businesses will have adopted it as part of their online marketing strategy. The current lists being compiled on UK businesses show we have a lot of catching up to do.

Currently Thomson holidays and Guiness appear to be the only large scale UK businesses blogging. The rest of the group is composed of mainly Internet savvy PR, marketing consultants and a few niche businesses. So why aren’t UK businesses following the US in such as numbers?

I recently attended the Milton Keynes Chamber businesses exhibition to distribute some leaflets. Of the people I spoke to, only about half seemed to know what a blog was and none of them knew how it could be used to market their business. Once I’d explained a few points, such as the ability to develop relationships over time and the SEO value, I was able to generate some interest and a few enquiries.

Chris Lake, editor of E-Consultancy, has compiled a list of fourteen reasons why UK businesses aren’t blogging. I would agree with all his points in that it is simply due to lack of awareness and misconceptions that are holding back its growth in this country.

Many traditional marketers in large organisations are still struggling to understand the idea of a two way conversation, and perhaps don’t think the US business model applies over here. Us Brits are, after all, supposed to be a reserved lot so why would people want to leave messages on your website other than to complain and create bad publicity?

What these marketers fail to realise is that if they don’t provide a forum for feedback then disgruntled customers can simply post their comments on another site. You just have to look at the damage done to Dell computers reputation by failing to engage with bloggers to understand that putting your head in the sand isn’t going to work.

Responding to feedback should be seen as an opportunity to demonstrate good customer service practices and to engage with your customer base. The answers you post in resolving problems can be used as a resource for helping other people with technical or service orientated questions. Blogs are designed for feedback and interaction so why not use it to improve your companies’ image?

Another good point Chris makes is how businesses should be measuring the ROI of a blog. This had previously been a stumbling block, or so I thought, as although blogs such as Englishcut and Stormhoek have done wonders for their sales I can’t really promote them as typical examples.

The ROI of blogging should instead be measured in terms of SEO, relationship building and customer retention. These can all measured in terms of ROI with fixed costs. The number of more visitors you will receive from being on the first page of Google, the number of responses to an email campaign and the cost of customer retention are all facets of marketing with costs and measurable ROI. A blog can achieve all of these at once and far more cost effectively. Employing an agency to get you on the first page of Google can cost thousands, whilst a blog can achieve this for free whilst also marketing your business.

Many small businesses probably think they don’t have the time or sufficient news to feed a blog every week. Building trust and confidence with your marketplace can be achieved by discussing industry news, how you have solved a customer’s problem or how your product can be used. So long as what you write is of value, there is plenty of scope for showing your knowledge and expertise in your field.

Business blogging hasn’t taken off in the UK as it has in the US yet. The benefits it presents in marketing your business and developing online exposure means it is inevitable that its adoption will grow as awareness spreads.

Some would suggest that the tipping point when they become more widespread won’t happen for another eighteen months. This presents an opportunity in itself for the first pioneering businesses to receive the most exposure and position themselves as knowledge leaders for their field.

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under blogging 

Blogging as the new press release

July 6, 2006 | 1 Comment

Traditional marketers are already struggling, particularly in the UK, to adapt to the changes in how you sell your business online. They grew up using clever phrases and spin to sell products and services. Providing transparent information of value seems to contradict everything they stand for. The next change they need to get their heads around, and fast, is how the rules for press releases have changed.

Press releases used to be written purely for journalists and media types to give them the why, who, where, when, what and how on the latest breaking news story. They were never meant for public consumption, but were designed to be rejigged into a properly written article. This is what happened in a previous age when the means of publishing were in the hands of the few. Blogging has changed all this.

The combined tools of a blog and RSS means that anybody can now publish their own press releases, and have them distributed all over the web. Press releases now not only need to be written for journalists, but for potential customers and the search engines.

Your business has a means of promoting itself without having to rely on a journalist to pick your release from the pile and take the time to rewrite it as a formal article. You can now do this yourself.

You can not only publish it to your own site and distribute by RSS. But can also submit it to press release distribution sites such as businesswire, prweb and marketwire. They can ensure your latest news finds its way to the trade and industry sites as well as your general marketplace.

Your press releases can even get picked up by Google News and Yahoo News if you have been web savvy enough to adopt SEO tactics. A clever title might not be enough if it doesn’t include those all important key words.

Traditional marketers and PR companies will need to throw out their old rule books on writing press releases. And start writing concise, punchy articles for the millions of people with an Internet connection. Your press releases are now the actual news articles in their own right. Perhaps more importantly, your press releases are now an integrated part of driving the sales process. They are a direct marketing tool to direct buyers to your website and products and services.

Its not only the distribution of press releases that has changed, but the subject matter they can cover. You no longer need to wait for something to happen to be able to send out a marketing message. You can use press releases to discuss your industry, how your product works or how you solved a customer’s problem.

They are a direct line of communication with potential buyers and can help build the conditions for making that sale. Providing a constant stream of information of value can demonstrate your knowledge and build trust and confidence in your business.

The rules of marketing online have changed. The means of publishing have become available to anybody with an Internet connection. Your businesses news and information can now be used to market your business more effectively than ever before. Your press releases now need to be harnessed as part of your marketing mix to be distributed around the web and drive potential customers back to your website.

Traditional marketers who ignore the impact of blogging, and continue to try and get their information distributed via journalists, will simply find their exposure decreasing. Using your blog for your press releases is yet another opportunity for small business to gain an advantage over their hulking, slow paced rivals in the online marketplace.

Posted by Matt Ambrose | Filed Under blogging