What ways can I include useful content on my website, without cluttering it?

Perhaps the site that you have put together has the content that matches search engines requirements and even the visitors but not yours. So making any changes will effectively be undoing all you efforts.

You may be developing a good page rank, but there are hundreds of ways to improve a site and get it noticed. Making the site bigger is one way; putting more pages on with appropriate content will start new rankings.

Having said that, why is content so important? Google works on words, it reads them and determines the relevance of the site, and this is called indexing. So, the more information that is visible to a search engine the better, this will improve your chances to be targeting against more terms.

Each page will therefore acquire its own rank, the more pages the better the content that a search engine will recognise more.

So back to the original question – What ways can I include useful content on my website, without cluttering it?

You may have noticed that many sites have a blog or a news section. This is all about up to date content that is constantly being added. The more appropriate content that is added the better as this will improve the website and make it more receptive to an internet search.

Many sites put blogs or new updates on a fresh new webpage. This then opens the door to incorporate links across the website (ideally to what you want them to see or buy).

The blog content needs to be relevant but also varied so that it brings a wider audience. A blend of company news and industry news is a good place to start.

Another addition to a website that also promotes good ranking and content is a FAQ page. You may think that the FAQ is for visitors that may have a question; you may think that the FAQ is just to the customer so they can get an answer about delivery times or ways to pay. This is content again, that is both beneficial to the visitor and your site.

With the FAQ make sure that they have a positive outcome and always point towards the money pages of your site.

Always try and stay away from adding a page for the sake of doing so. This may deter visitors and they move away from the site altogether. Keep all the pages on your radar and keep the pages flowing. New rankings are not as beneficial as your main search terms, so don’t compromise those. Even updating the content and getting them re-indexed will improve the site performance so make sure that the site is with the trends.

Landing Page Improvement Tips.

There could be hundreds of reasons why people don’t hang around on landing pages, they click away and so don’t navigate around your website. This situation is often called the bounce rate, because the visitor bounces on and then off your website.

These reasons for bouncing could be website relevant or not but no matter what, it is impossible to get this bounce rate figure down to 0%. Not only is it annoying but it is also costly if the visitor has come through a search engine like Google.

So, what can be done to reduce this figure?

Firstly, from a user point of view there is nothing more annoying then clicking on a link or writing a URL to a website that takes an hour to load. If 5 seconds go by and there is nothing on the screen you might try it again, but it unlikely. Therefore, the visitor will go elsewhere. Make sure that the homepage or landing page is prompt.

Avoid any Popup windows early in the visitor’s experience of your site, despite what the popup says. It could be relevant but most users find them annoying. Keep the visitor focused on your main goal.

If the user searches for a particular product or service make sure that the landing page shows it. Otherwise the user may think that it’s an error and click back to the search results and may click on a competitor.

Manually check the enquiry forms or order forms work, on all browsers. Your site will need to be effective on all browses as you can’t predict what browser the visitor is using.

Keep the text on the landing page to a minimum, but make it match the search as much as possible.

Make sure that the design is engaging and try to stay away from harsh colours and bright backgrounds.

Keep the number of questions within online forms to a minimum, this will improve the conversation.

During the search process a visitor is likely to come across websites that they have never seen before. Make sure that the site has appropriate symbols and logos to develop trust. Also, design the website so that the visitor receives an email of they make an enquiry or place an order.

So, there you have it, logical really but often not recognised.

Google release their Panda update in the UK

Google have stated that the second phase of their Panda Update is now landing in all areas of the UK. Confused?

This update was rolled out in the US just over a month ago. The update was an algorithm change and it was created to help searchers find high quality websites in their results. The US launch did receive a lot of positive feedback. This feedback came from both website owners and searchers.

So, the update promotes the better website essentially and demotes the poor, possible spammy sites. A benefit for the better quality sites as their visibility and SERPs will be improved.

Google are impressed with the results initially as they are now able to highlight the sites that are poor quality.

Quality content is rewarded and might make you a King!

I have a high bounce rate, how can I reduce it?

Some of the best websites on the planet along with the worst ones will all suffer from what’s called a bounce rate. This rate is generated when visitors are directed to your website from a search engine results list and exit the site either back to the results list or elsewhere without interacting with the page or processing through the site.

There is not a magic spell that you can put on this problem that does cost money with no return. However, there are some things that you can do that will help reduce it. As with so many things, first impressions are vital. This is totally the same with websites – especially when you have not been on them before. This bounce rate is not just influenced by the landing page but the content. The style of the website needs to be consistent throughout, making sure that you have good, useful information with appropriate clear and engaging language.

Plus, if you are going to convince people that the website is credible and deserves their time, you will also need to ensure that the site is very easy to navigate, clearly designed and is compliant with all offers in the press. If these key areas are not completed and managed then the bounce rate will not improve. When all key areas are running at 100% the visitor will be assured that the website is professional. Some of the largest companies on our planet have a good reputation, but if you didn’t know them and only looked at the website you may click away.

As already mentioned, the first click or first sighting of the website is very important in reducing the bounce rate. Sometimes the most obvious errors to a visitor are not always spotted by a web developer. So be very thorough when checking images, content, miss- spelt headlines, and even HTML code, as the smallest error could cause the biggest problem.

If say, you have an ad on a PPC campaign and content does not match the landing page, and the visitor clicks ‘back’ to get to the results list to try again on another website, this counts as 2 bounces. This is a double problem, highlighting the importance of the first page and first impressions.

As a target you may think that a 10% bounce rate is acceptable, but 30% is actually very good, particularly from a PPC campaign. This rate is a very good measure of concise delivery and a logical website. A 40% rate is good and 50% is acceptable. The lower the better, but it will never get to 0%.

Is there a knack to good blogging and SEO?

People using the internet to communicate their views or experience via blogs may not understand anything about search engine optimisation (SEO). 

According to internet newspaper, The Huffington Post there are two extremes of bloggers: those who are infatuated with the subject and those who disregard it because they don’t understand it.

Kim Mance of The Huffington Post writes: “They don’t understand it and feel very overwhelmed by trying to figure it out.”

People who don’t understand would benefit from learning how SEO works so they could concentrate on the content when writing and leave topic comprehension to the professionals.

Mance even produced a short play to portray the quandary people face when choosing between producing SEO friendly content and producing quality content.

As mentioned in our previous blogs, companies need to understand that SEO is long-term investment and not something that can be achieved overnight.

SEO Strategies Need Good Online Media Coverage

Businesses that want to draw attention to themselves should focus on digital media coverage and increase their SEO efforts.

That is the advice of online magazine and network community, Creative Boom who have recently published a variety of tips for companies who employ SEO strategies.

Companies contemplating using press releases to advertise their products should thoroughly think about the content of the publication to make sure it is delivered in a succinct manner.

The first rule of producing press release documents is to ensure the subject heading is both relevant and intriguing.  It’s also essential to ensure both grammar and spelling are correct to maintain professionalism.

Businesses could even create the own favourite media lists so that each time an article is created it can go to the relevant audience.

Another useful tip discussed in a recent blog is making sure those involved in PPC and SEO services have relevant titles for their home pages.

Brace Yourself for Paid-for Newspaper Content

The Independent has moved into the paid content market, introducing an iPad version of its daily online publish, i.  This came in the same week that The Times disclosed the figures produced by its 200,000 subscribers since it started charging for online content.

The Independent has chosen to progress its digest version through a paid for app, rather than build on I online according to Zach Leonard, Evening Standard and Independent MD for digital.

“It would seem logical that we look at a subscription model [for the Independent app], if it’s delivering sufficient value,” said Leonard. “I do see a place for paid-for premium content. The critical difference is if you’re adding something really valuable. One great benefit is its portability and that I can read it when I want. The FT, Times and Wall Street Journal are doing it very well.”

At 20p, the iPad i app will cost the same as the printed edition. 

 “It was a critical strategic decision to have a common price across all platforms,” said Leonard. “But this was a bit of a challenge with Apple because it doesn’t have the 20p pricing band in the app store. So we’re bundling content into logical clusters so you can have a week’s worth. Quality journalism distributed through an app designed for iPad is absolutely worth 20p at least.”

The Times currently has 105,000 digital-only customers, along with a further 100,000 joint print/digital customers.  Of the 105,000 digital-only customers, 50,000 are monthly subscribers that include subscriptions to the iPad app, website and Kindle edition.  The remaining customers are pay-as-you-go customers.

Prior to this the firm had only been able to track online customers by their IP address.  However, the paywall has made it possible to track individuals using home and work PC’s, mobile phones and tablet devices.

Chris Duncan, News International director of group marketing services, said:  “It gives us a much more rounded view of subscribers,” he said. “We do things like link from email alerts. It lets us create much more powerful segmentation of who’s valuable.

“We’ve moved from worrying about acquiring new traffic to looking at indicators of churn,” Duncan added. “We’re thinking about how to use content as a profiling method, and that will be an opportunity to create something unique. We’re not there yet but we’re building towards this.”

As an alternative to online offerings, The Independent is keen to look at business opportunities involving apps.  Leonard said:  “One of the key issues is how you present advertising in a paid-for app,” he said. “Some companies have carried over bad habits from their websites and you don’t get a very pleasant experience in the app. Advertisers look for innovation and how they can own the space and present their message.”

Greg Hadfield (former Telegraph head of digital), Cogapp director of strategic projects indicated that even though The Times subscription numbers are unclear, there is benefits to knowing user behaviour.

Hadfield advised:  “It knows more about its users than any other newspaper website, and that’s a big step forward,” he said. “The key is in the lessons it’s learning by engaging users on multiple platforms. It now has metrics on which to base investments.”

The media utilization across devices is something that has drawn the interest of media agencies.

Google Instant Doesn’t Affect Website Content Strength

As posted earlier this month, Google launched its new search engine weapon – Google Instant.  In summary, Google Instant will present the user with results as they type the letters into the search bar.  Therefore, you stand a very good chance of seeing what you’re after before you finish typing.

Early reports suggest that Google Instant has impacted many search agencies search strategies due to keyword selection.  Initial findings hint that long-tail keywords could suffer as a result of ‘Instant’ and that the ranking of well-liked keywords will be more significant.  However, there will still be a need for fresh, appealing content.

Unique and relevant content is a champion when it comes to SEO.  Daily content is a fantastic way to further natural brand engagement as it organically targets relevant keywords, builds natural links and encourages social media interaction.