Six Ranking Signals

Google has been constantly changing its algorithm to continuously provide reliable information to people. Most internet marketers have been frustrated with the ever-changing algorithms of Google and have given up. Most of them also tried some SEO techniques that others have thought to be long dead like web 2.0 postings, profile links and article directory submission. The truth is there are only few factors that determine the ranking of a website in Google and here are the six critical ranking signals that we think describe them the most.

           

            Age or Time

The age of a domain or the amount of time that the site is live is one of the ranking signals. Google gives priority to those sites that have been continuously providing high information for some time. Meaning, the older your site is the better but having an older site does not necessarily mean you will rank first, it’s just one of the things your site should have.

            Users or Visitors

Another ranking signal is your site’s visitors or users. The more people coming to your site in search for more information, the more Google views your site as an important site that deserves to be ranked. Most people will use automated methods just to drive traffic to their sites, this is not advisable since Google can easily detect if the visitors are legit or just coming from software or a robot.

            On-Page SEO

How your site is optimized also determines its ranking. Over optimized sites and less optimized sites usually falls in the bottom place. Doing some On-Page SEO can either make or break your site’s ranking. Make sure your site is optimized enough to rank and not too much to lose your rank.

            Keywords

Finding the right keyword will give you a chance to be on top despite how many competitors you have. Just be sure to diversify your keywords since Google now looks into how diverse your keywords are. Instead of using the keyword “Ranking Signals” as your anchor text or main keyword, you should also consider using some other semantic keywords like “Ranking Factors”, “Ranking Signs” and “Ranking Basis”.

            Social Media

Social media are playing an important role in determining the ranking of your site. Social media is now being used as a form of SEO especially in disseminating information that can be found on your site. In Google’s point of view, websites that receive a lot of social media attention is important and therefore should be ranked higher.  Too much social media to your site can get your site flagged by Google as a spam site. Exercise extreme caution when using social media as a form of SEO.

                       

           

              Backlinks

Another key factor in determining a site’s ranking is backlinks. Backlinks can easily be created with profile links, article directories, web 2.0 sites, social bookmarking and site directories. Though it is very easy to create backlinks, it is quite difficult to find a high quality and relevant backlink. Based on the recent Google updates (especially Penguin), Google now wants high quality and relevant backlinks rather than volume. Sites that have 100 backlinks to their sites might be ranked lower than a site that has 20 high quality and relevant backlinks.

                       

Though these are the six ranking signals that Google is looking for, an excess or lack of one of the signals can affect your site’s ranking. Just make sure to balance all of the six signals and you will be seeing your site rank as number one on Google.

Ranking your site can be quite hard without the proper SEO techniques. Keep in mind that SEO unlike in previous years is harder than ever. You must work hard to achieve great ranking.

How to Build the Perfect Website

For most, building a website is the single biggest and most significant thing you can do for your business, brand, product, or book. So therefore it is important to get it right and for it to be really effective it is important to understand the principles that go into creating it.  This is more than just design as there needs to be an understanding of who the end user is and how your website can satisfy their needs.  To do this you need to consider the following components, which are essential to create the perfect site:

Homepage: This is the single most important page as it is the entry point to the site and if you get this page wrong, it can be catastrophic and could cause visitors to leave as quickly as they arrived. This page needs to capture your visitor’s attention and clearly communicate what your business offers. For example if you are a motivational author and you write books, give lectures, and have a newsletter and all of it is about motivation, this must feature on your Homepage.

What do you want the website to do and why? When asked this question most people will say "sell something" but the problem is before you get to the sell, the site needs to convince the visitor that it is credible and genuine – people are not going to buy from someone they don’t trust.  So your site needs to educate, inform and give visitors a pleasurable experience whilst on line, they will then gain the confidence in you to actually buy.

Know your promise: We all promise people something when they come to our websites. The thing you need to ask yourself is what are you promising? Whatever it is, this promise needs to be reflected on every page. Whether your site is about saving money or making people laugh, make sure your promise is consistent on each page.

Who is your market? You need to be able to answer this question before you start building your website. It's more than just knowing the basics: female, ages 35 to 55. In order to create a site that will truly sell or do what you need it to, you must know much more about your target market. Being able to answer questions like: Where does your customer live? What groups might they belong to? What do they do on their time off? Where do they hang out online? What's their age? Married? Do they watch TV? Listen to radio? Read magazines/newspapers?, will really help you to go deeper into your site design and really create an experience that is keenly focused on your end user. Without this data, your website is less likely to produce the results you'd hoped it would.

Think Billboards: A billboard needs to deliver its message very quickly through words and images and passers by know exactly what they are offering. Think of your website as a billboard, with people racing past it at high speeds because that's what the online experience is like. You have less than a second to get someone's attention so it is vital that the message is clear, crisp and concise. Think billboard.

Bad book covers: A fantastic message can often be lost in a terrible design. Consumers won't take the time to try and figure out bad navigation or lukewarm website copy, not to mention a poor design, they'll just leave and likely their next stop will be your competitor.

Things no website should be without: While every website is different, there are certain elements that are important to have on any website :

.    Strong call to action: Tell your visitors what you want them to do, otherwise they will leave without taking action

.    Contact points:  Make it easy for someone to contact you, either through a phone number, contact form, direct email, or a combination of these three.

.    Secure shopping: In an age of identity theft and online scams, it is imperative to have a secure shopping cart.

.    Easy Navigation: Too many options and too many choices can confuse your visitor, remember the anachronism KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid.

.    Focus:  Remember it's not about you, it's about your end-user. Your customer, visitor, or potential new client.

.    Testimonials: People like what other people like so be sure to add testimonials, reviews, and endorsements to your website. If you have a lot of them get a page just for testimonials and it is also worth considering adding at least one to your homepage.

.    Signup: Most visitors won't make a decision to buy the first time they land on your site so getting folks to sign up for your blog, newsletter, or announcement list is a way to stay on their radar screen (permission marketing) and getting them back to your site again and again. By doing this, you'll deliver the sale. Otherwise people will visit your site and though they may bookmark, if you don't give them a compelling reason to return, they likely won't.

.    Blog: In an age of almost monthly Google algorithm changes, a blog is no longer an option if you're trying to get some visibility for your site. It's a must as is updating it.

Remember you get what you pay for: We all love free, but free has a price, especially when it comes to website design. Free websites are limited, won't let you do e-commerce and most will never get you any search engine ranking. Forget free -- in the long run it could cost you in lost revenue and business opportunities.

So, you want a lovely website....?

It’s all very well deciding that you want a website, with all the bells and whistles, links, videos and widgets. Lovely as these are, they are just the garnish - you really need to stick to some basic principles that will draw people in and get them to hang around.

No 1 - The user

Websites are there to serve the person who has chosen to take a look - and should be functional, memorable and, above all, frustration free, so that the user can get the information they want both quickly and easily by removing diversions and focusing on the core message.

No 2 - The client

The client knows their business - the web designer knows theirs. So the partnership between the two is of paramount importance.

The client knows what their customers want, and so it is down to a web designer to make their online presence match that need. So they need to talk, talk, talk to make it work. 

No 3 - The design

In a word, it has to be simple. Even the most intelligent web user has a short attention span, so it has to grab them and hold on to them.

Web designers who have a track record of success know how to do this - making sure there are no distractions on the page, using imaginative layout and making sure that clever graphics are not used at the expense of important information.

No 4 - The content

Research has found that average internet users only read 28% of the text on a webpage - they scan for the main points and then move on.

Therefore, content must be clear, concise and to the point. Using the right words (making sure they are SEO’d), and not too many of them, is key. 

No 5 - The finished article

A website that is easy to use, gets a clear message across and helps your business grow.

Visit our website if you want to know more - www.southwaleswebsolutions.co.uk

Five reasons why your website needs good SEO

THERE are a number of ways to attract visitors to your website - offline marketing, social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, and blogging.

While these can help, getting your search engine optimisation working properly is of crucial importance.

And there are a number of reasons why.

It helps to build  brand awareness –  If your website has a high ranking, it means more people see your name and become familiar with what you do and what you sell, even if they haven’t made a purchase.

It’s targeted  –  Good SEO brings paying customers to you. Using the right keywords, matched to what the customer is searching for, will improve your ranking on search engines such as Google.

It has a long-term cost benefit – unlike pay-per-click adverts, once you have a good ranking for a specific keyword searches, you will not pay for the traffic it generates.  Although it can cost more initially, it is more cost effective in the long term.

Credibility – People trust brands they find organically, rather than one that has paid to be at the top of search results. They are more likely to bookmark your site, spend more time on your site and come back. 

Competitors – Keeping ahead of your competition in the organic search results can help boost the perceived position of your company in your marketplace.

If you want to know how SEO, social media and blogging can help your business - drop us a line at South Wales Web Solutions

SEO? It's just like the gears in your car

SO, you’ve got a lovely new website for your business and you’re on the web - but why aren’t people clicking in their thousands to see what you have on offer?

The simple reason is that your search engine optimisation (SEO) isn’t up to scratch. You can think of SEO as the gears in your nice new car - you can turn it on and sit there admiring its beauty, but until you put it into gear and start driving, no one’s going to see it.

If you have a website, you need to be able to tell people about it. Your site needs to be search engine friendly as well as attractive. 

There are billions of websites on the web, so you have to assume that your competitors will be working hard so that they stay ahead of you in the search engine rankings for the keywords that your potential consumers will be searching for. 

Anyone looking for a product rarely gets past the first couple of pages on Google and, if they find a company online they like, they may never get to see what you have on offer. 

While SEO can cost you nothing - many people can learn and apply SEO themselves - it’s best to hire a professional who knows what they are doing and has experience and success in making it work for businesses. 

Which brings us back to the motoring comparison - you might know how your car works, but wouldn’t you rather have a professional mechanic keeping it on the road, rather than doing a poor repair job that could cost you more in the long run? It’s the same with SEO.

An investment in SEO could benefit your company for years to come. Contact South Wales Web Solutions to find out why. 

Why is SEO so important?

Have you ever wondered why search engine optimisation (SEO) is so important? 

You might have heard lots of people talking about page rank, link building and copywriting, while you do not understand what it’s all for and why your website needs it.

Well, there’s three important reasons.

• The first page of Google gains 94% of clicks. The first position receives more than a third. That means if you’re not on the first page of Google you only have a chance of receiving traffic from that 6% of left over traffic.
• SEO will bring relevant traffic to your site. This is more likely to convert and therefore, more likely to lead to sales.
• SEO will benefit your other internet marketing campaigns. It will help you focus your marketing campaign towards a specific market so you won’t be wasting resources. Furthermore, SEO has a positive effect on other areas of internet marketing including social media and pay-per-click, so by doing one, you’ll be helping the other.

Knowing that, it’s important for anyone having a website to get their SEO right.

Give us a call if you want to know more - www.southwaleswebsolutions.co.uk

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