Link building is yet another term from the long list of SEO vocabulary and is still an essential component of search engine optimisation for many internet marketing experts offering SEO services.

There are a number of people who don’t believe that link building is as effective now however; Google’s new updates simply aim to root out ‘black-hat’ link building methods. Link building is still just as important, it’s just that search engines demand that it is high-quality. Much like keyword density, it really is about quality over quantity now.

As a London search engine marketing company, our clients often ask us about this term they have heard of, so we thought that we would use this week’s blog post to explain in more detail about it, why it is still important, and the techniques.

What is link building?

This technique is basically gaining links, known as back links or inbound links, to your website on other websites. These are in a hyperlink from which will take the viewer to your own website when they click on the link. The ultimate aim of this process is to achieve a higher search engine ranking and direct more traffic towards your content. The more inbound links you have, the better your website/content’s popularity with search engines will be.

The assumptions with search engines, particularly Google, is that when a website has a high number of ‘white-hat’ back links, it must be a high-quality source with value and importance. This is because it would most likely be for this same reason that other website linked to your content in the first place; the information was high-quality.

Why is link building so important for SEO?

Link building isn’t something that can simply be done overnight meaning that you’re the top search engine result by the morning. It is a lengthy process to gain a lot of back links which are relevant to you. By stuffing links everywhere and anywhere, Google will class it as spam back links. This is why it is so important to do it properly. The last thing you want is to have your website ranked somewhere in the far depths of search engines, all because your back linking was unethical black hat link building.

Where do I begin?

As you start to plan your strategy it is important to remember that they need to be taking the viewer to high-quality content that has value. There are many techniques and different methods of link building.

• Think like a journalist and start producing online content. If it is of a high standard and is engaging then there will be more external websites that want to link to this content.

• Guest blog as well as updating your own website’s blog. Do you have contacts in the same field of work as you? Ask them if you can write a guest blog and they could guest blog for you too.

•  Set up social media sites and link them to your content.

•  Participate in forum conversations and engage with content related to your business.

These are just a few of the many examples to demonstrate just how accessible the link building process is, but there are a lot more advanced techniques that experienced search engine marketing experts like London SEO company Little Big Voice are aware of. Feel free to contact us for more information.

Before we tackle the myth of keyword density, it is important that you know exactly what SEO is.

What is SEO?

When you browse on the internet, you are most likely searching through a search engine like Google. Well, those words which you search with are the keywords that websites use to be discovered by you. Using keywords within content gets a business found in search engines, hence the term Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) keywords.

SEO isn’t just for the pretty content that you go to read on a website; it is also an important component of HTML on the website’s pages. This includes the page titles, alternative (Alt) text, the page description, Meta tags, and comments.

Why is SEO important?

Every person browsing through internet search engines is a potential customer. This is why, with the ever-increasing masses of information on the internet, SEO has become an essential marketing tool that will make a business stand out; a tool that must be mastered.

Without correct search engine optimisation, your business will not get the attention you want and most likely need. Doing it properly (i.e. using the right keywords) will also help your website content to reach the appropriate audience; search engines use keywords to index your website in the correct and relevant place on the internet.

This all might sound simple enough however, there is a trap which many SEO first-timers fall straight into and this is because of keyword density.

What is keyword density?

This term refers to the amount of keywords and their frequency which is measured as a percentage however, understanding what it means is irrelevant as this term and its importance is entirely a myth; search engines do not rank their search results based on a correct percentage of keywords that must be used. There is in fact NO ideal keyword density.

Head of Google Webspam, Matt Cutts has said: “A lot of people think there’s some one recipe and you can just follow that like, you know, baking cookies and if you follow it to the letter, you’ll rank number one and that’s just not the way it works.”

Actually, the best guide to use for establishing the amount of keywords to use is asking yourself this question: Does the content read naturally? Content that has too many keywords will become very artificial and it will sound awkward when read out loud.

Why can’t I just include the keyword in every sentence? Surely a keyword in every sentence will get my website up to page one?

Too many SEO keywords (more commonly known as keyword stuffing) are lethal for websites and content.

It is fine the first few times a word is mentioned however, if you continue to repeat keywords over again, they will lose their effect and the search engine will penalise your content for this. This is because a high density of keywords and phrases will be deemed as spam by search engines and pushed far back to the extremely poor positions on their search results. It will not matter how high-quality, interesting or entertaining the content is; too many keywords will ensure that the website or content do not get seen.

London SEO agency, Little Big Voice offer SEO services that will help you to ensure that your business will not be discarded from Google’s top search results.

Now that we have understood what it is and why it benefits businesses, it is now time to explore how to do it. Knowing how to do this marketing technique effectively will help to get you SEO keywords out into the online world in a number of different formats and create links back to your business website and social media sites.

Content marketing strategy formats

Every person responds differently to information in different forms. Some people are more engaged by visual information and others statistics.

It is very important that for content marketing and SEO, you keep this fact in mind so that your content has the capability to appeal to a larger audience.

This marketing technique uses a number of different formats that you will have come across from brands both big and small:

• News articles and newsletters
• Magazines and newspapers (internal and external)
• Blogs
• Infographics and photographs
• Whitepapers
• Video
• Social media
• Audiobooks
• E-books
• Case studies and success stories
• Public relations

How do I create content for these formats?

There are many ways to gain inspiration for content creation that is appropriate for your business. Here are some ideas:

1. With each of your company’s departments, brainstorm anything that is going to happen over the next month and think of things that have already happened over the past month. This way you can produce content in advance of events and again after. Make the most of anything that is going on in each department no matter how small. Even if it isn’t worthy of a publishing to an external audience, you might have enough potential content for a great internal magazine, newsletter, or blog.

2. Conduct customers surveys and staff surveys as these can produce very interesting findings; sometimes so interesting that they can be a good excuse for a press release.

3. Similarly, data and statistics can also be newsworthy. Perhaps your sales have dramatically increased? Use this information as inspiration for a ‘how to’ blog post, podcast, or infographic; not everything has be in a news article form.

4. Find resources of high-quality information that is relevant to your business because it is important to share excellent content as well as creating it.

5. Make sure you have an agency like Little Big Voice who offer SEO services that will help to make your content visible.

6. Incorporate your social media sites into all of your content and talk about your content on your social media sites.

Contact us for more information about how we can help your content marketing efforts.

Content marketing is basically creating content in many different forms to attract your target audience with the ultimate aim of converting them into leads.

Excellent content however, is not enough on its own. At the core of content marketing also has to be excellent SEO (search engine optimisation) implementation.

It is extremely important that any business embarking upon a content creation strategy also have an SEO strategy in place too. After all what is the point in having brilliant content which can’t even be found in the first place? The content must be optimised with keywords which will improve the chances of it being ranked higher in search engines; this is what London SEO agency Little Big Voice do.

Why should I develop a content marketing strategy?

It is often remarked that 2013 is the year for content creation where companies are likely to increase the amount of time and money they devote to the technique. Indeed it is a term that is popping up more frequently and seems to be something which both small and large businesses are starting to acknowledge. So why the rush to this method?

This marketing technique provides businesses with another method of communication with their target market in a non-sales manner. The long term goal of this strategy is that by making high-quality, relevant, and engaging content available to your target audience, they will keep returning to you. Potentially, your business can become a valuable source of relevant and interesting information in your sector.

More importantly though it is regularly suggested that in comparison with content marketing, advertising is losing its effect on consumers as it is becoming less trustworthy; advertising is significantly more expensive too.

When did this technique first begin to emerge?

Rather surprisingly it has been around for many, many years; we just didn’t realise it. Undoubtedly with the internet and the tremendous amounts of highly accessible information on there is the major difference between now and hundreds of years ago when SEO services like Little Big Voice were not around to improve the reach of content.

Who is using it?

Remember the Red Bull Stratos jump from space by Felix Baumgartner? Well the exposure which the energy drink brand, Red Bull, gained through their beginning-to-end promotion through content creation was huge.

There are endless examples from top brands who are all doing it very well; Pepsi, Coco Cola, Dulux… Maybe even the Harlem Shake counts too?

In Little Big Voice’s next blog (part 2) we will be looking at this technique in more detail and explore exactly how you can use content creation for the benefit of your brand.

Apple has over 300 stores worldwide and generates billions (yes billions) of dollars in revenue.

And if you keep an eye on mobile technology and even mainstream laptop platforms, you can see Apple’s influence everywhere! With smart phones with touch screens, snipping tools found on standard laptops for the web and even the way in which icons are displayed on your PC you will see that there is definintely a bit of Apple going on!

Apple has pretty much always opted for user-friendly interactivity by using simple and stable designs that look nice but are very practical.

Apple has done a lot to progress technology not least with…

Progressing Wi-Fi mobile connectivity and communications. Think of how advanced Apple’s iPhone was against a conventional mobile.

iTunes – Changed the entire music industry as CDs were replaced with one platform and all your music in a virtual space.

The product range – Apple effectively has revolutionised how we work. Our emails are synched to our iPhones, we can use Facetime and a host of other things at the same time and on the move.

We browse differently – With studies suggesting that the desktop PC will be in a big minority by 2015, the iPad really has changed things. In fact, there is a 20% increase in purchases online through Apple technology like this, suggesting that we don’t want to switch things on. We want quick and seamless!

Perhaps the best thing about the iPad is the fact that it is just as useful for business as it is for the individual user.

You can take photographs, do Powerpoint presentations with it, play games, watch films, make phone calls and a million other things, making it a useful piece of technology if nothing else.

However, whether this means Apple will rule the world forever remains to be seen. Like all thinks technology does have a shelf life. The main area that would put something like the iPhone into question of late is the new Samsung! It’s actually outselling the iPhone at the moment.

Does this suggest the iPhone is going to become less fashionable?

I’d say it’s unlikely because the iPad is still the most popular tablet on the market today and for any ecommerce sellers out there, now’s the time to start thinking about your website and how it works and looks on an iPad!

Personally, I am one of those Apples out there and do enjoy using each piece of technology for different reasons. I am not planning to change this in the near future, but I’ll keep you posted!

Paul

So in today’s blog, I thought it would be a good idea to give you the run down on being employed and self-employed and what the benefits and cons might be.

Being self-employed

If you are self-employed, the first thing people assume is that you are your own boss. Now while this is true on one level, you do have clients to keep happy. While they’re not your boss on paper though, does not mean you don’t need them to earn a living. So perhaps it’s better to say that you can start work at a preferred time and like me, when the SEO gets a bit much take the dogs for a walk in a London park.

There are of course advantages in things like tax as you can get relief on things like business travel, use of a home as an office and so on. But this all depends on how hard you work and what you earn.

Some businesses start off small and within a year they’re at a point where they need to register for VAT.

You must be self-motivated to work for yourself. This is to avoid over-working and for some this is a difficult task. Frequently as a self-employed person you will find you work longer hours than most other people and you can’t always switch off a the end of the day.

Even things like holidays can be a challenge as well, especially if you can’t find someone to take the calls in your absence.  I’ve heard stories of people going on life changing holidays to the Grand Canyon, only to be suddenly taking a business call as they look at the awe inspiring site of a natural wonder!

Additionally, you are always looking for new work! Unless you’re very lucky you cannot sit back and assume what is relevant today or for the next six months is not going to change. Clients move in different directions with their businesses and that could mean budget cuts or entirely new efforts being used to replace yours.

Overall being self-employed is a good thing.  I would not have spent years in my London office working in SEO if I didn’t actually enjoy it, but it does require great thought before taking a plunge.

My best advice is to get some work in before you start thinking about spending thousands of pounds on branding and a glossy website. The theory behind this is that if you have the work, you can live and invest in developing your business. If you spend all your savings from day one and don’t work on getting the work, then you’re always going to be chasing your tail!

Being an employee…

I vaguely remember employment. It’s actually a bit of a distant memory for me but the one thing it has over self-employment is security. However, in today’s recession filled economy the security that our parents enjoyed is not quite the same now.

However, overall, if you’re employed it’s reasonable to assume that you’ll get paid a wage at the end of every month and get proper holidays.

Perhaps the biggest benefit to being employed is being able to go home at the end of the day and not worry about things.

However, if you have a horrible boss or even a co-worker that makes things difficult you can end up worrying about that of an evening instead!

There’s also a different kind of pressure attached to employment. That’s targets or things your company sets you to do. If you’re self-employed you take responsibility for everything. If you’re employed, you take that responsibility at times but without the same money attached. For some people this is okay, but for others the sheer stress that it causes when a mistake is made can be terrible.

So are you one or the other?

You may already have a killer idea for a business prompted by a current employer that is just not giving you the credit you deserve, or you may be even self-employed thinking about going back to work. Whichever you are always put great thought into what you are going to do next.

The reality for both sides is that the grass can always appear greener.

But my main advice is; have lots of energy and motivation if you want to go self-employed and be ready to adapt to an ever changing market. If you want to return to work after having a bad time as a self-employed person, think very carefully before making the plunge.

There will be rules you’ve not been used to in a while and that could be a bit of a culture shock!

Paul

Anyway, one call in particular caught my attention and I am sorry to say this does happen with regularity when it comes to SEO enquiries.  Basically the caller wanted SEO done to his website BUT rather than apply a realistic approach, define a plan perhaps and take professional advice, he wanted to be on page one of Google in 24 hours!!!

Now, my clients will tell you that my SEO services are good but I’m not Merlin and no manner of skill, expertise and experience will ever get anyone’s website to page one of Google in 24 hours.   Not even Harry Potter can help!

So when I was asked for this kind of result I enquired as to why the caller needed their site on page one so quickly. Suffice to say it was a public service business for over 18′s apparently (that’s all I’m saying) and for some reason they were desperate to get it to page one as quickly as possible.

I obviously knew this tall order was impossible but somehow someone in their infinite wisdom somewhere had told this guy that it could be done.  Now, despite my many years providing SEO services in London as a profession, the caller suggested I was wrong.  And why?  Because he’d been told by another SEO company that they could get him to page one with some magic SEO beans.

Just like Jack and the Beanstalk, they could plant a tiny SEO seed and within 24 hours the presence of any website would grow to a giant page one success – presumably producing golden eggs too!

I of course questioned this claim as I know proper SEO takes hard work and longevity in its approach and suggested to the caller that perhaps the other person had been talking about Google Adwords, which if you want to pay lots of money can get you sponsored listings on Google’s search.

No! Apparently I was wrong!

A black hat SEO wizard

Now at this point I knew that if it wasn’t Adwords he was talking about, that he’d been given some very bad advice.  In other words, a black hat SEO provider had lied to the caller in order to get the business. This does happen more often than you would think too.

We all know that this kind of SEO is very bad for your website and over a long-term can do a lot of damage to your website.  It may seem like a great idea for a quick placement, but long-term you are treading on very thin ice.

I of course could not help this caller at all and if I’m honest I would not want to work with them anyway.  Anyone that wants me to use dodgy approaches is not welcome at this door. I respect my profession and only work ethically.

I told the caller this and that sadly I could not help him on this occasion. He was disappointed naturally but don’t worry, I gave him Paul Daniel’s phone number.  Maybe he can magic the SEO hat in 24 hours?   He doesn’t have any SEO experience but then again, neither did the black hat SEO company that lied to the caller so…

I guess what I’m trying to point out is that if you need SEO you should follow these simple rules…

• Black hat SEO is full of promises but is ALWAYS in breach of Google’s guidelines and will do long-term damage to your website.
• It is not possible to get a website to page one of Google in 24 hours unless you have genuinely got through to a real wizard who has miraculous powers over the web.
• There are SEO companies that are quite happy to lie to get your money. Don’t be pulled in and get mis-sold SEO services. If it seems too good to be true it most likely is.
• Bad SEO appeals to a certain type of individual.  Real business people understand that good SEO is a profession and requires constant work to achieve great results.  Don’t get caught out!

You have been warned!

Paul

It’s not like I constantly whinge about everything but this particular news item really annoyed me!

You may have recently seen that the HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) has warned people on Ebay that if they do not declare their earnings they could face very heavy fines and a lot of hassle!  Now, while those who are earning a living from these types of online selling sites on a full-time basis should be paying tax like everyone else – it got me thinking.  What if you’re just an occasional seller?   Or just selling the odd item because you want to clear up the house from clutter?

While the HMRC are claiming that they’re focusing on professional sellers – it’s hard to work out how they can define that.  For example, I could list 100 items from my home that I no longer need.  The Inland Revenue then finds me on Ebay for example, selling what appears to be a number of items – yet I’m not a professional seller by any means.  Worse still, let’s assume that what I’m selling has been purchased with earnings I have paid tax on when they were originally purchased, I am then being taxed again!  It’s an absolute disgrace!

It’s fine that the tax office has suggested that it is not looking at people selling their personal items, but it does make you wonder.

Letters have been sent!

The HMRC have apparently sent out more than 30,000 letters to people but what’s worse is that they have also contacted trading sites and have asked for information on the sellers as well, with a view to cross referencing the self-assessment data on tax payers.

It gets to a ridiculous point where the Government waste money on this rubbish and for what?

There is a real sting in the tale though

The most concerning thing is that while the HMRC have gained additional revenue to the tune of £500 million with their new tactics, they have missed on one very glaringly obvious issue, that is far more serious and affects the financials of this country and its tax.

Amazon itself avoids paying millions in Corporation Tax, yet they still manage to operate offices in the UK and retain staff.  So why bother with the £500 million in small fish when the HMRC could do their job properly and actually go after the selling sites themselves.  They get the biggest tax breaks because they have the funds to pay accountants who know where all the loops are.

It seems perfectly okay for show business people to avoid paying tax with off shore accounts and spending time out of the UK (they’ve done it for years) but some poor soul who earns £20k a year from Ebay sales is going to get stung and very heavily.

As a tax payer myself and someone who has seen councils and public sector bodies throw money down the drain with pointless bureaucratic set-ups it really shows that there are serious issues in this country that should be addressed.

So be warned, if you live next door to Jimmy Carr and you earn a living from Ebay, chances are you’ll be contacted and asked to cough up!  By the way, did Jimmy Carr end up paying the tax he’d avoided?

Paul

We previously discussed obvious things like blogs and articles, how to articles and so on, so what follows now are a few more options which may be of interest.

Video Tutorials / Video Content  – I’ve written about this before in previous blogs, but basically getting yourself on to You Tube is a great way to get links to your website and offer good quality content to users.

Now, don’t go out and book yourself a ‘promotional video’ as this is distinctly not what I’m talking about, but do consider whether video content can enhance user experience.

A large brand I have worked with have videos on their major products that covers how to put them together and how they can be used.

The generate a lot of video hits on their You Tube channel but equally this has converted to visits to their website and ultimately purchases.

So if you are an online retailer consider whether there’s anything in your product base that would benefit from a video of some kind.

You Tube sits between the second and third biggest search engine Worldwide (just underneath Google) so its power is astonishing to say the least!

History Repeats itself!  – If you remember that users look for content because they want information, then the idea of providing this kind of data may seem more logical.  For example, if you are a plumber what in pluming history has made a difference to mankind?  Perhaps the flushing toilet?

Many companies can rely on history for content.  Even in SEO there have been changes and when I look at the way the web has grown over the years, it’s astonishing to consider how things used to be done.

Even as a toy seller you can generate content based on history.  What about history of toys through the decades?  What did kids play with in the 70′s?  What was the doll of the moment in the 80′s?  These kinds of articles are fantastic traffic drivers on websites and if you know your trade, it could be one of the easiest things for you to write!

Events – If you are a business that is involved in different events or a business that has clients who want to know about industry specific events, then just by putting these on your website, you are creating a valuable source of information in Google’s eyes.

For example, perhaps you have a list of all the industry exhibitions relevant to your trade.  Do your clients potentially benefit from this knowledge?  If they do, then consider getting some kind of events page or calendar set-up on your website.  As soon as the calendar becomes useful you will find it will bring traffic to your site with ease, and of course have a positive impact on your search rankings.

Something Fun? – On occasion I write blogs that are funny.  Not because I can’t be bothered to do anything else or because they are easier, but because they provide entertainment to my readers.

Sometimes it’s good to simply write something that simply entertains.

However, it can provide valuable information and of course provide your readers with some entertainment.  If you do it enough they will of course come back regularly to see what you’re up to and it’s good to remember that humour will always encourage sharing!

So that’s it from the world of Little Big Voice on the subject of content generation.

Just remember, to be more visible you need to provide something that surpasses bland news about you but that gives your readers and website visitors something to mull over and consider.

If you manage to do this you’ll find that you will benefit in all sorts of ways!

Paul

So in this blog, we are going to look at additional ideas which will help you achieve more visibility online.

How to Guides – Everyone wants to know how to do something.  This is a core reason for Google being as popular as it is.  For a long time it has been offering guidance to website users everywhere.

So, what kinds of things could you do?

• If you sell craft products – why not offer a few ‘how tos’ on making things?  If you are selling children’s toys, what about some party game ideas?  Sometimes you simply need to think outside of the box and past the products that you’re selling.
• An online retailer can have a lot of success in this area if they are willing to put some time and effort in to helping website users.

Think of it this way, if you are on the hunt for party products and happen to stumble upon an article that is well written, helpful and maybe of use, the fact that it is on a website selling party products could be the difference between making an extra sale and not selling anything.

How to guides can be as diverse as you like to.

For example, on my blog, I cover SEO, but I also discuss ways in which you can improve your business presence.  I have writen blogs about blog writing, but I’ve also written about web browsers, as they are all relevant to clients who are operating an online business.

Solve a Problem – If you are in an industry that on occasion can help a client solve a problem, then you can add this factor into your website with great effect.  For example, if you’re a plumbing supplier, you could identify common plumbing problems for people.  It could be as simple as how to change a washer to solve a dripping tap problem, but more importantly it solves a problem.

Problem solving can extend to every industry, whether you’re a designer, a paper maker or a candle stick maker, so it just takes a bit of innovative thinking to get started.

Once you’re offering content that solves problems then you are beginning to generate content that actually matters to people!  The impact of this is natural links from other web users which equates to better rankings on Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Seasons are a Changing – Now I’m not just talking about Christmas here either.  The seasons can be a fantastic way of generating content for your website.

Content can be as simple as sun protection but could also include travel tips, household tips surrounding the weather right through to Olympic content.

Again, the main thing here is a bit of creative thinking as to how your business is seasonal and what tends to crop up at different times in the year.

If you usually start selling products for Christmas in November, that’s great, but what happens during the summer months?

Finally, another great idea is to look at statistical information.  People love statistics online as it tends to help them understand the benefits of things.

If I said that according to a study, 85% of online retailers benefit from having a blog, would that make you sit up and listen?

Whereas if I just said having a blog is a great idea it doesn’t really quantify the statement.  So think back to your business and if there are statistics that you know customers will benefit from then it’s time to get them on your website!

Don’t miss my next blog when I offer yet more tips for generating good quality content for your website to improve your SEO.

Paul

Since Google has been going through a lot of changes recently I thought it would be sensible to consider how fresh and good quality content is so important to SEO.

So what is good quality content?

Good quality content for your website is something that is original, that people will want to actually read and that is NOT simply an excuse to put a load of waffle in because you think it fills the page.

So what is bad quality content?

Bad content is something we’ve probably all experienced.  How many times have you done a search in Google only to find that the article you get up is littered with keywords, the content itself does not make sense or has no real purpose.

What is the benefit of good quality content?

By ensuring that you have good quality content on your website, you automatically help  your website stay higher in the rankings of search engines.

Users online will link to websites if there is relevant content within it. In turn, when this happens your website begins to generate natural links, which is a major aim for Google – particularly in view of recent ‘Penguin’ updates it has made.

If you have a website built for example and don’t do any SEO or add any decent content your website will simply sit there and will not do anything.

The days have gone where you could add a website to the search engines and get a ranking easily.  There is considerable competition onilne these days and more businesses are beginning to understand just how valuable good content actually is.

So in order to put yourself in a position to compete properly, you will need to make sure that you start thinking about content that will help you achieve higher placement in the search engines particularly Google.

However, you must start as you mean to go on.  So when you begin to add content in different ways you must continue to do so.  Even if it’s only once a week.  Be regular!

I want to generate good quality content.  Where do I start?

Blogs are right up there in terms of providing good quality content.  Whether it’s once a week , fortnightly or at a push once a month, good quality blogs are excellent for gaining additional traffic to your website.

Blogs can cover any aspect of your business or the needs of your clients.  To give you a general idea, you can look at this blog and see the range of content I provide.

I focus on SEO, being in London, my lilfe and of course all the things that are associated with running a business online but always try to ensure that what I am writing is of use to anyone visiting my website.

To help you, it is a good idea to come up with a content strategy.  This can be as simple or as complicated as you like, but to give you some direction, see below what I consider great ways to generate blogging content for your website:

• Consider what the top five questions are from your clients about your services.  This may extend to something simple like opening times but it could also cover the concerns that potential clients have in finding a service they require.  For example; How does your cost compare to your competitors?  I need reliability.  Can you provide that?  I need someone on hand at all times.  Are you large enough to provide that to me?

If you consider these questions you can see that it would be relatively easy to generate a blog that answers those questions.  Then when someone is looking for your service you are providing relevant content from the off.

• Keep your content lively and interesting.  I could tell you about the countless times that businesses think a press release is going to cut it as relevant content.  While a press release should be somewhere on your website, it is not really going to be great as a traffic driver.  The reason for this is that press releases are meant to paint you in the best light.  Therefore, reading an article about a company that is ‘brilliant’, offers ‘this and that’ is not always believable.  Your reader will be thinking – “well that’s what you would say”.  Instead, consider putting your press releases in a separate section of your website and make your blog more general.
• Consider guest blogs.  There is a lot of weight in making friends online.  Bloggers will often post content or link to content they like if you do the same.  So it is always worth considering what value a guest blog may have for you and your website.  If you sell products and a manufacturer offers a guest blog, think about what value you offer them but also what they offer you.  They could have thousands of people on their mailing list and the guest blog could factor in an email for example.  This means a lot of traffic to your website.
• Write regularly.  Once a week is ideal (if not more) but do not post a blog less than once a month.  It really has no value in the long-term.  So once you start, keep it going.
• Take a look at other blogs and see what people are doing.  This is really important as it will give you ideas.

Hopefully that will give you some good ideas to get started and remember to follow-up on this blog where I will be writing about other content generators that will be invaluable in your SEO on Google and the major search engines.

Years ago, we checked emails in-between the demands of the working day, but now, Facebook and other social networks like Twitter have really taken over.

Interestingly, the USA ruled that checking Facebook at work isn’t a crime – even if it’s in violation of some companies’ policies.  Of course this is in relation to the USA and laws in the UK are very different, but it does beg the question – what do you do when your employees spend as much time on the job as they do on Facebook and Twitter?

Many companies have tried to be clever and have implemented stringent rules on the use of things like Facebook during working hours.  However, a recent study in March highlighted that allowing employees to use Facebook while they work actually makes their jobs more enjoyable and increases productivity.

Of course there is a good argument for not restricting use as well.  After all, with so many smart phone and iphone users having Facebook applications on their mobiles they can just as easily update their profiles from there.  Equally they can update Twitter, take a photo for Pinterest and create a video for direct upload to You Tube.

So where do employers’ draw the line?  Should you police this activity?

There are a number of outdated social networking policies that companies have also introduced to their working contracts but how far you go with the ‘dos and don’t’ approach is largely up to you and how you feel about social use during work time.

So, how can you help yourself?

The first tip is to be realistic.  Yes employees can get addicted to social networking, but hopefully at the very least you can check their productivity during working hours.  If you suddenly see they aren’t doing anything then it’s probably time to at least speak to them about their social use.

The second approach is to view social media as more of a community tool.  However, you would need to consider what your employee is saying about you or the company.  As you may be aware, there are a number of people who have incriminated themselves via Facebook!

Have a clear policy from the start and do not give your employees mixed messages.  Try to be clear on what you are and are not happy with.

Ensure you make it clear that any private company information is never shared.  This would be in a contract where someone’s work is of a sensitive nature in the real world, so you must make sure you apply this to your social policy as well.

If you are happy to allow employees access to social networking, make it clear that this should not impact on their job responsibilities.  By doing this, you are not then completely cutting things out, but retaining more control on what people are doing.

After all, no one in the world can expect to get paid for talking to their friends all day (unless perhaps they are employed as your company social media spokesperson).

The last option is probably the most drastic.  You can facilitate a complete blockage of all social networking sites on your server.

This means you can simply block access to Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and LinkedIn but again, do not assume that because you’ve done this your employees won’t utlise their phones for the updates.

Paul

This is by far one of the biggest mistakes businesses make when it comes to their online presence and has seen many a website end up further and further down the results because of it.

The problem here is lack of understanding but also the belief that all the hard work is done and therefore paying for more SEO just isn’t worth it!

So why pay for more SEO?

From London to Scotland and beyond, rankings on the major search engines are important and it’s a very competitive environment.    Therefore, specialist SEO can help you not only gain a ranking but on-going, it means you can also stay there.

The SEO landscape is an ever changing one and new updates through major search engines like Google happen regularly (more than 300 updates in 2011), so by assuming that your current ranking will be a ‘forever’ you are actually risking all the hard work that has happened in the first place.

SEO takes time, understanding and a lot of problem solving, which cannot be put in to a nice neat package for less than a tenner.

It never ceases to amaze me when companies assume that either SEO is really easy because they’ve read an article somewhere or worst still, that they assume if once they’ve got to the front page no effort is required to stay there.

So what’s the best approach with your SEO?

If you are thinking about SEO services consider the saying “if it’s too good to be true it probably is”.  This extends not only to budget priced services that promise you the earth but delivery nothing right through to the promise of getting you to page one in less than a week.

While it’s very tempting to chase this carrot, you have to be totally realistic as to what’s achievable.

If you offer a service of any kind, you’ll know that some jobs can be done in five minutes, but others take a lot more time and skill.  They may not even be visible on the surface but you will know that you can’t simply offer your skill for free.

Well with SEO it’s exactly the same and you should most definitely not expect to get it for free, for less than a few pounds and more importantly, not in a one off flat fee for a couple of week’s work.

If you are serious about your SEO then you need to be serious about your expectations as well.  If you’re serious about your business, then you need to be serious about making it work.

No half measures will equal a better business and of course rankings in the long-term and let’s face it, if you are running a business you want it to grow and continue growing while you’re running it.

If you are based in London or beyond and require SEO services or some feedback, feel free to contact me anytime as I’m always happy to offer advice.

Paul

The streets will be buzzing, millions of people will descend on the capital and while I like people, I can honestly say that I will enjoy avoiding the crowds and have thanked my lucky stars that practicing SEO in London involves being in my office with my computer, rather than a daily commute anywhere.

This has all got me thinking to be honest.  For an SEO professional like me my life is often lived out online these days, although I do go in to London regularly of course and the fact that my SEO services are based in London does of course mean that I can’t simply ignore it altogether.  However, my online use is fairly extensive.  The amount of online shopping I do is pretty impressive, my SEO is obviously an online activity and of course everything else you’d associate with a website geek or thereabouts means being online is a way of life.

So, this small train of thought got me thinking to be honest about how many ecommerce websites I see that have ‘issues’.

Ironically they are not always in relation to SEO itself, but of the many websites I go to it never ceases to amaze me on how many ecommerce sites are obviously not checked by their owners!

In a recent case, I was merrily buying something from a website and got all the way to the checkout, only to discover that the shopping basket was broken.  For anyone who relies on ecommerce and who spends regular money on SEO services having what is a ‘broken’ website is really not a very sensible situation to be in.

It seems that for the most part, ecommerce businesses are so busy ensuring they get orders out that they often forget to check their most important asset.

So here’s my definitive list of check points worth looking at to ensure you’re getting the very best from your ecommerce website.

• At a minimum of once a week, run through a purchase on your own website.  If you don’t want too much hassle then create a 1p item and buy it.  This will allow you to check that you can accept payments and that nothing is broken in the journey.
• Throughout the year, try to get an outsider to take a look at your site.  This can often help identify issues but also highlight things that become invisible when you are looking at a site everyday.
• Check that the email system works.  There is no amount of frustration for a buyer when they want information and send an email only to discover the web form or email is rejected.  This email sent to you could be your opportunity to sell so you don’t want to miss it.
• Check the internal links on your site.  If you have a product highlighted and someone clicks through to a broken link or dead page, it will really annoy them and you could risk losing them altogether.
• With an ecommerce website it’s important that you never assume anything.  Regularly keep track of what your site is doing and where you can improve, after all your business revenue depends on it!

Now I’ve relayed that information to ecommerce site owners everywhere, I had better get back to my SEO work and use a webcam to check out the crowds in central London!

Paul

If you are wondering what it’s all about and haven’t really taken much notice, now is the time to sit-up and listen.

The EU Cookie Directive is all about recording of users behaviours online.  Or, more to the point it is designed to stop websites from recording what you’re doing and when you’re doing it.

It was decided over a year ago that use of Cookies on websites was an infringement of your personal privacy.  So, want to know why you need to listen a bit further?  Or would you prefer to be fined?

What is a Cookie?

A cookie is essentially a piece of data that is sent from a website and stored in our web browser while you are browsing a website.  Initially its use was to actually benefit users, so that they could visit a website and retrieve data on that website more quickly when visiting again.  The website would remember the state of your website and activity when you’d previously visited it.  Things that this may have included would be logging in or a record of what pages you’d visited.

However, when it comes to third-party tracking cookies and tracking cookies generally, these ended up being used to record long-term records of your browsing history, hence it became a privacy concern.  After all, why should you have information recorded about you when you visit a dictionary site?

The up-shot is that the EU decided enough was enough and brought in the EU cookie law which essentially would make website owners tell users that cookies were being used on the site, giving them the facts up-front.

Then, if a user didn’t want their activities recorded, they could simply leave the site.

However, it’s important to note that this is not an ‘option’ but a law with penalties for sites that do not comply to it.

In fact, you can actually get fined up to half a million pounds if you don’t adhere to the new law, which officially came in to effect on May 26^th 2011, but a year of grace was given to allow website owners enough time to amend their websites.

So now over a year later, the law is officially in force and you should not take it lightly.

Here is a list of site types which will most definitely require you to implement a cookie management process to your website:

• Any commerce website
• Any website that has a log-in
• Any website that utilises certain types of coding
• Any website with a contact form
• Any website that requires a sign-up

The list is very, very long and we could go on forever, but if you have any of these sites and are not currently displaying that you are using cookies, you need to act now as you are breaking the law.

If you have got cookies, as long as you tell people then you are within the law and you have quite a few options in relaying the information.

So, whether it’s a line on the front page if you’re using Google Analytics that tells people you’re using cookies and what it means,  or you think you might want something a bit more sophisticated, take a look at your site today and make sure you’re not breaking the law!

Paul

I am talking slightly in jest here though as the actual addition to the SEO team is in the shape of a rather cute 12 week old puppy called Homer.

He’s London born and bred and if I may say, is very challenging!

In a recent blog, I wrote about the benefits of having a K9 when working from home and while I sit here watching the little Andrex style pup eat a door (or at least part of it) I still think it’s a good idea.

It got me thinking about my SEO services when I set up in London many years ago.  It suddenly dawned on me, I can in fact measure my SEO career (and the years spent working within the industry) through my dogs.

Aaaaah! Homer and Dillan

My previous dog Rocky became a loyal companion for many, many years and while I cannot honestly say his SEO skills were up to much, it was great walking near our local park in London when I needed a breather and on the odd occasion having someone to talk to in the office, rather than myself.

When he sadly went to SEO heaven though, I replaced him of course with Dillan, but recently I decided the Little Big Voice crew was still spacious enough to add to.

It’s strange having two dogs to be honest, as I’ve always been used to the ‘one man and his dog approach’ and whether the addition of my Andrex puppy will provide a whole new lease of life for me remains to be seen.

I can however confirm, that for my older dog at least, the new puppy has invigorated him and he has suddenly regressed back to times past, so it’s two puppies in the office every day at the moment.

I am now in hope of a miracle of science though.  I, like a lot of other people saw Pudsey on Britain’s Got Talent and I’m now trying to train Homer to use a computer and understand keyword research.

It’s a little fact that it will take six hundred repetitions of the same word for a dog to remember it.  So imagine if I can get him to hit ‘return’ on the PC if I say SEO London?  Or better still, get him Google qualified?

I can see it now, Homer performing in front of David Walliams, Simon Cowell and judges.

The only problem is, at the moment I can’t get him to ‘hit’ return.  It’s more like he wants to ‘eat’ return, but just like SEO itself, a lot of patience and hard work will at the very least deliver me a dog that ranks well in terms of behaviour.

So, the message here is clear.  If you work from home, get a dog or even two and you’ll never have a moment’s peace, but you will enjoy the challenges it brings.

Oh and if you are in London, if you see a man running after two dogs in the park shouting “SEO London” it’ll be me and the dogs training.

Paul

One major element of understanding SEO is based on what Google is doing and the updates it continually broadcasts.

We all know that the search results are becoming more and more tied to your actual location and while there is still the necessity for businesses of a national scope to reach the entire country, there are a number of businesses that rely on local based search results for services, particularly when it comes to SEO.

Interestingly, Google does not appear to penalise people for advertising for services that are actually not related to their own location, but does allow companies to offer services outside of their own location.  Therefore, on this basis a company can be in the North of England and offer SEO London.  But in short, what sort of service can a provider outside the city provide you if location is important?

I took a brief look at the search term and was surprised to find within the results, a company that were 141 miles away, offering SEO services in London.

This then got me thinking about SEO companies outside of London and the UK and their ability to provide SEO services that actually will have a decent impact on your business.  After all, if someone is in the Far East for example, will they have the knowledge of local areas to get your SEO right?

I have always firmly believed that knowledge in SEO terms is all about who you are, where you are and what you are trying to achieve and personally have never thrown the net out aimlessly, assuming that London being the city that it is must be a good search term to rank for.

Little Big Voice of course is actually in London which helps, but I frequently hear from people who have gone outside of the city for SEO services, only to be disappointed with the results, or worse still, to be so far away from their SEO provider that upon their disappearance have no idea how to contact them.

This should serve as a bit of a warning for businesses currently on the hunt for SEO services in London.  If in doubt, check them out and if they are suggesting they can offer SEO to you, ask to see clients who are actually based in your location.

I could offer SEO in New York, but even though I’ve travelled there I do not have the geographical knowledge to fully implement an SEO programme.  It would require someone who understands the districts and of course a business in relation to those districts.

Paul

I presume these kind of SEO companies are full of Umpa Lumpas who send out thousands of emails every day, click a few keys and mostly are more concerned at earning the money for potential SEO than actually providing a service that will get anyone ranked.

Presumably they must be so happy with this and are inspired to sing all day while they sit at their desks (complete with telephone head set) with orange faces and green hair (okay I’m not sure about the latter unless it’s ‘fancy dress day’) but in essence they call you up, make false promises, take your payment and then forget all about you.

Somewhere in the building is Veruca Salt, a thoughtless and very greedy business person, who is mostly interested in getting money for nothing so she can feed her sweet habit.  She probably killed Willy Wonka long ago and as for Charlie, he was officially escorted from the building!

Of course I’m being rather light about all this but in short, if you get a telephone call or email from someone offering you cheap SEO for nothing, they probably not an Umpa Lumpa (that would just be weird) but they are working in factories selling services that are sub-standard at best.

So here are a few things you should know about SEO factories:

• They are usually relatively cheap, charging say an upfront cost of £99 and a minimum of £30 a month thereafter.  – However, for financial benefit you’d be just as well to shred your cash instead.
• When they get you ranked it’s usually for really easy keywords with little or no competition.  In short, anyone can get ranked for these kinds of keywords.
• They usually pressure sell and get a commission for every sale made.  This should automatically tell you how dangerous they are.
• They will use clever words and possibly even technical jargon you don’t understand.
• They won’t let you ask questions, preferring to interrupt you with more sales speak so you don’t see just how rubbish their services are.
• They won’t be able to give you tangible examples of companies like yours they’ve got ranked well on the major search engines.
• They’ll tell you that hundreds of companies have found them great, but again won’t be able to specifically name them.
• They’ll waste your money!

There are so many reasons that Willy Wonka like SEO factories are a waste of time and let’s not forget.  Even if you do suddenly realise they’re really ripping you off when you try and contact them?  They’ll conveniently not be available and have another set of ‘excuses’ to deal with you.

So don’t be a plonker and go for Willy Wonka!  SEO should be provided by a professional that will not dangle a carrot in front of you in the hope that you’ll buy it and not ask questions.

Be safe with your SEO!

Paul

I don’t think I’d be too cynical if I said that demand and opportunist business owners have had something to do with that.

Here at Little Big Voice SEO we do have an office in London and in fact I technically live in London, but I know that this is not always possible for everyone to gain this kind of location without denting their budget significantly.

So what are your options if you’re a small business looking to grow?

There are shared office spaces in London which can offer a professional environment, a good place to welcome clients and of course lower overheads or you may even want to look at sharing a smaller office.

Often mutually significant industries can work together.  For example, web developers may feel at home with a designer, or an accountant may find sharing an office with the business consultant works out pretty well.

Or if that’s not something you’re interested in doing then you can of course look for your own office.

Prices are quite high depending on the address to be frank, but that’s not to say you can’t get yourself somewhere reasonable within a budget.

However, reality is, any office will cost you money and increase your overheads, so where possible try and find somewhere that includes things like business rates, electricity and water as without that, you could look at adding thousands onto your bill each year.

Also, another bonus might be somewhere that includes wireless internet in the cost of the rent.  This can again be quite costly so if you’re only sending a few emails a day you can see why this can be a cost saver.

Costs you may not have thought of

Even if you get all the extras and end up with a decent enough office space – you must not forget the cost of insurance.  While the building you’re renting may be insured, this does not mean that your possessions are.  So if you have a PC, laptop, printers or in fact anything of value in your office that you’ll be leaving each night, for goodness sake get some insurance!

You can get some great deals on the Internet and while it seems like a pointless expenditure it’s definitely worth paying for.

Travel costs

Another cost when you have an office is of course travel.  Again, often forgotten about but if you’re a small business and you’ve been used to working from home, to suddenly have to travel not only costs additional money but takes more time.

On average, you can expect to travel up to an hour a day in the City of London (unless of course you’re really lucky and your office can be reached on foot in minutes).

Access to the office when you’re away

This is something else you’ll want to consider if you’ve got your own office.  If you have staff – who is going to be responsible for having a set of keys should you be away?

Obviously there are always security issues to consider, but someone having a set of keys and the alarm code does mean that they can get in to your office anytime.  So choose your key holder wisely.

Oh and on one final note.  Don’t forget you’ll need a cleaner in your new office.  This sounds ridiculous perhaps, but if you’re working there every day you’ll need someone to vacuum and keep things tidy for you.  That is unless of course you want to do it yourself!

Paul

Yes I love my work – if I didn’t I wouldn’t have dedicated the last few years of my life to providing SEO to businesses all over London and beyond, but it has to be said it can be very challenging at times.

Of course working at home does have its benefits.  For instance, I can get out of the home office when necessary to visit a client in London to discuss SEO without the need for hours of travel.  I can also set my own hours (just about), but that said it can get very lonely at times when you’ve no one at home to talk to or share the day with.

Before you think I’ve gone mad and concluded that I’m suffering from some kind of breakdown though – think again!

Dillan my faithful chocolate labrador

The sheer demand on your personal life that working from home creates deserves some practical solutions and it struck me the other day, when I looked at my dog just how valuable he is to my company.

As a nation of animal lovers –something like 23% of those are dog owners.  That’s millions of dogs throughout the UK and I’m one of that 23% with good reason.

My dog is a great office companion to be honest.  As well as being fun, he’s a great excuse to get out and take a walk and while he does not possess SEO skills himself (although there’s plenty of time for that) the fact that I can be in my London home, working away with him next to me is really positive experience.

I’ve always had dogs in my life and never let it be said by anyone that they are NOT man’s best friend.    They can be natural stress relief, good fun and unlike virtually everyone else in the world to some degree – don’t demand anything but exercise, food and water!

In fact, whether other dog owners would admit or not – I’m sure there’s plenty of home workers outside of London that enjoy being able to vent some momentary frustration or express happiness to their old faithful dog!

There has been many a day when I’ve been under stress I’ve started talking to myself (maybe even sworn a couple of times) and in a moment, had that stress completely alleviated just by looking at my K9 friend panting away at me happily.

I remember years ago that someone somewhere in the world did a study of the affects of stress with and without a dog and apparently – those people with dogs suffered less from stress related illness.  So there has to be some reason we have the lovable animals.

A word of caution however…

This may sound ridiculous but someone I know had always worked in their own office outside of the family home and due to a relocation ended up basing most of their working week from their house in London.  Amusingly perhaps – the dog didn’t like it and it actually caused quite a few issues initially.

In fact, the person I’m thinking of said how bad they felt when the dog would just sit there all day staring right at them and would never look away, but that they never had the time to take him on a proper work or give him attention.

It wasn’t until I suggested that the dog just needed a better routine under the new working day that they understood.    What I didn’t tell them though, was that a good routine applied to them AND their dog.  Both needed a bit of a stress vent.

Letting the dog out is not the same as dedicating some play time and of course walks and I know that if I didn’t take mine out for a good hour a day, I’d go insane and no doubt he would!

All home workers have challenges.  Not, withstanding the fact that it’s virtually impossible to switch off if you work from home as technically you’re always in your office – even when you should be doing something else.

So, my best advice to anyone working from home is most definitely to get a dog!  It’s the only way you stay sane, get exercise and feel that you’re still connected to the world outside!

Paul

Update: A week after writing this post my heart was telling me to get another dog as company for Dillan. So a week later without much thought I headed on a 12 hour round trip to Wales and collected my cute new 14 week old Labrador puppy Homer. I called him Homer as he was yellow just like Rocky who passed away a year ago and also because he keeps mounting Dillan  making him a Homer Sexual dog! 2 weeks into having him he’s turned my life upside down – I don’t sleep properly anymore, he chews and pees everywhere. Seriously, the dog behaviourist is arriving this afternoon to try and help me get my life back on track – I hope it all works out OK.