On SEO Pond | Web Optimization:

Latest Testimonial Received

2009-11-17T16:26:00.002Z

We like testimonials at All Things Web - they show our skill in achieving Google page one results for our customers. If you want your site ranked on Google organically on the first page why not give us a call on 01793 729326.

"SEO is quite a complex area of marketing, perpetuated by the many, truly
understood by the very few. From the lay person's point of view, marketing
geeks can easily bamboozle us with jargon and bullshit. Our SEO
optimisation plan is at a very embryonic stage, but the results thus far
have been significant. For a concise plan you need to consider using
All Things Web, even if you can get cheaper - results are everything!!!!"

S Alcock
Managing Director
Alpha Online Trophies - Supplier of Engraved Brass Plaques, Corporate Trophies & Quality Glass Awards.

Isn't it about time your website got it's act together for ranking on Google?

SEO takes time people

2009-04-20T10:57:00.002+01:00

Why oh why do some think that SEO is a short term wonder pill they just have to pop to get instantaneous results?

Yes I can get sites ranked in 3 weeks - I've seen ranking in under 13 minutes once which surprised me (courtesy of Digg) but if you ever choose a web optimisation company I'd recommend you should wait for 6 months before being able to acknowledge if it has been successful (in terms of increasing your website visitor rates to your site).

I rank for some pretty competitive phrases that sets me apart from my competitors (most who seem to think its challenging to get ranked at a local level). Not one of these took less than 9 months to achieve with research and application of that research in measured SEO doses.

Patience is key so if you're looking for a web optimisation company that achieves results try to ignore the ones that make the claims of ranking in the next, so many, hours and work with an SEO that understands the process can take longer.

As this sector hots up its going to get even more cut throat and difficult to rank so making spurious ranking claims is NOT the way forward...

Addicted to Twitter yet?

2009-03-20T08:10:00.003Z

I'm loving and loathing Twitter all at the same time, I love it as I can keep up with the herd but loathe it as it can be highly infectious and at times distract me from what I do best.

If you want to follow me on Twitter go here:

http://twitter.com/Darren_Moloney

Top 20 Free Search Engine tools

2009-02-28T20:45:00.002Z

For reference:

Top 20 free search engine tools

Good but Paid tools are sometimes better! Use at your own risk.

Volkswagen Cirencester: Making fake marketing offers like this SUCKS

2009-02-28T18:13:00.007Z

My wife plonked a letter in my lap today that she had received from Leo Lucey, Sales Manager at VW Northfield Cirencester. This is what it said (I've taken appropriate excerpts from the letter):

It starts

"We want your Golf"

Great, this has grabbed our attention as it should do. Next:

"It is not often you receive a letter that brings you good news, but that exactly what this is! We are writing to make you an offer, which you will find very hard to refuse."

I like offers like this and being from VW we were both quite excited about what was about to be offered:

"Over the past two weeks, we have received numerous enquiries for vehicles of the same specification and colour as your own."

Ok our car's in demand, we're not really sure why but its a funny old time right now so we can always find out why later but heh thats positive isn't it?

"... is great news for you as we are now in a position to offer you a very generous amount for your Golf registration number VN07 XXX against any new '09 registration or Approved Used Volkswagen."

Ok the letter's stating a "very generous amount". Perfect, we're onboard and we decide to head to the local showroom - VW Northfield Cirencester around 10 miles away to enquire about their offer. The letter continues:

"However, as demand for selected models can change at any time, we can only offer this enhanced part exchange offer until Saturday 15th March 2009, so the sooner we can discuss how you can benefit, the better for you."

Great, they want us to react quickly so give us a time limit to act upon. Exactly what I would do in any marketing campaign either online or offline. They seem to be honest talking about "discussing" rather than "selling" or "buying" which is all positive.

The letter continues:

"Should you have any outstanding finance, please remember that you are entitled to take up early settlement, saving you a considerable amount of money."

Words like "saving" and "money" always get my attention. :)

The final sentence:

"Hurry though, as I have people who want your vehicle, and it would be unfortunate for you to miss out on this opportunity to maximise the value of your current vehicle."

Brilliant. We're convinced this is a fantastic time to trade our 2 year old Golf GT in for the new version on an '09 plate. Everyone wins, sounds good, lets go head to the dealers.

On arrival we wait 15 minutes before anyone approaches us. I admit I am known by the staff already there for driving a hard bargain so I wander off outside and advise the wife to engage a salesman in conversation.

On my return I find her chatting to one sales employee and we head off to his desk to go through what this great offer is going to be.

The figures are put into the computer and we're told that not only can we get a great deal today its "only" going to cost us a £4000 deposit and the monthly payments are "only" going up by £60 a month.

My visions of VW's great offer disappears and once again I am sat here thinking why is it the general car buying public are treated with such contempt by dealers?

So we mention the fact that the letter states we've been offered "a very generous amount for your Golf" at which point the salesman scoffs and mentions the thousands of letters like that which have gone out to customers.

We're offered exactly the price in the Glasses Guide, as mentioned by the salesman for our Golf, not the "very generous amount" we were told we would be offered in the letter we received from VW Northfield Cirencester.

We were told that this was the best offer on the table and at that my wife and I both refused to take up that offer and left the VW dealership extremely disappointed.

I fully intend to pass the letter to Trading Standards and the Advertising Standards Agency and will do my utmost to bring this to the attention of VW's head office. If this is the way VW customers are tricked into VW Dealerships then VW UK needs to look long and hard at the way VW Northfield Cirencester, part of the Inchcape Group, operates.

If anyone else wishes to complain about other VW dealers behaviour then let me know, I'd be interested to hear what else is going on.

So you want to diss Twitter now do you?

2009-02-27T19:15:00.004Z

Its funny, I mention Twitter and everyone in my local business network kinda groans, moans, rolls their eyeballs skwyard or just plain old sighs.

Yes, its been hyped up out of all proportion to the point most non marketing business people are likely bored of hearing about it.

Yes Wossy and Stephen Fry are on it and no I am not interested in what they have to say.

Yes it will be a fad till the next addictive internet junkie fix for the masses comes along

BUT...

I just used twitter to put a call out for a company to be recommended to me for web hosting.

So what you say? Well let me fill you in.

I have a friend in Nevada. An electrican, a state licensed electrical contractor if you will. I've agreed to help him in his hour of need and build a simple site with optimisation.

So do I know which American web hosting company to use?
No.
Do I specifically know a Nevada based web host?
No but I do now.

I put a call out (a tweet) for a recommendation on Twitter for that type of company (yes it helps as I have Americans in my network). So potentially 130 people will see my "Tweet". Regrettably not the 6000 some Twitteraho's have...

Guess how long it took to come back from 2 different people with 2 different companies, one publicly and one via email privately? Less than 90 seconds.

Think about that for a minute.
90 seconds to get recommendations on 2 companies thousands of miles away.

Is that not powerful stuff? How useful is this to me (hint, lots)

Before "online social media" like this where would I have started? How many people would I have to go out and find to get me that information instead on Twitter they'd already found me.

(ok ok in the old days I could have asked on a forum....)

So when you hear about Twitter, think about it as a way to get recommendations, feedback, comments and likely find referrals for you or your clients businesses.... maybe its just a new way based on an old theme?

Pause on that thought.

Have a good weekend.

Local Search... oh I see what you did there...

2009-02-23T22:22:00.002Z

Looks like lots are jumping on the bandwagon talking about "Local Search" is going to be the next big thing (seems like conversions are slightly higher according to some, its highly possible).

I'm still going to suggest you also target phrases on a national or even global basis if you can cope with potential demand. Ranking for local search is easy but for some cities you may be barking up the wrong tree (especially if margins are low and demand is fierce) so make sure you cover off national search...

Thoughts on SES London 09

2009-02-23T21:50:00.004Z

I only managed one day - Thursday - at SES London. It was super to see Lyndon Antcliff, Lisa Ditlefsen and also be introduced to Will Critchlow of Distilled and meet a somewhat jetlagged Dave Synder.

I got to see some of the "experts" in session and have to admit even though the event was worth attending it wasn't what I thought it would be. I kind of thought more advanced SEO/Social Media would be discussed but that appears that was held behind closed doors in private meetings (damn I missed out on those!)

Keeping up to date with my own clients needs for SEO and online marketing leaves with me less time for "schmoozing".

This became evident at SES. I felt at times like a noob which quite frankly pissed me off a little seeing as I have been optimising websites for 7 years and been around the bushes. Just 'cause I don't appeal to big blue chip companies but still rank small/medium sized businesses for competitive keywords doesn't make me any less of a SEO!

I've decided I have 2 ways to take this... I either start blogging more and building a profile making more contacts with prominent SEO's or stick my middle finger up and get on in my own little SEO world.

I'm tempted to do the latter but that seems like quitter behaviour (which as most people know I am not a quitter, more just a stubborn sod). So here's to seeing me blog more, call more people and see if this makes a difference... I'll give it another year, we shall see...

My first Golf Course website to SEO

2009-02-16T12:52:00.002Z

I took up golf last year and spent the year cursing my way round the local Wiltshire golf courses as I consistently topped the ball around the fairways.

I also found I have a natural affinity to play into water whenever its around on a golf course, as they say if you stare too hard at it you'll play into it.

Anyway its been fun though at times annoying and now I am looking forward to getting out farther afield to play more challenging golf sites. I've found a great website that can help me find out more without having to wade through loads of search engines results pages - that website being www.want2playgolf.com

The other great thing is that they are now a client too so I am expecting great things for them in terms of ranking for their keyword phrases. What I also plan to do is to create a case study in a series of articles taking readers through what was carried out and why.

Forget Local Search, Go National!

2009-02-04T19:31:00.002Z

I meet a lot of business owners that think of Google as a directory almost in the same sense as the old offline Yellow Pages and forget the whole world is available to them not just the little piece they inhabit and operate in.

Today was one example. I met a lovely fellow who wanted to have his site optimised for local search across multiple towns and cities in the UK. I guess if he had just wanted to be found say some place once i.e. X Y Services Bristol then fine but I educated him that he was missing a far bigger search i.e one at a national level i.e. XY Services UK or even just XY Services.

We did some quick analysis on traffic and I was able to prove a point by showing Google roughly had 20 searches in one particular large UK town for his particular service. For the same XY service nationally there had been 2500+ searches.

Now it could well be that local search converts higher but I said to the client he would be better off having national coverage seeing as he was capable of servicing that demand. It's too easy for good SEO's to optimise for companies looking to be found at a local level on Google. If your SEO is any good he/she will do that AND get you ranked for searches nationally too.

I wondered if his other SEO company had provided him with the figures on local search, they had not and price wise we were both in the same ball park. Thing is they were prepared to charge money for a SEO service they could have provided at a far lower cost.

I'm just pleased I like working in a challenging SEO environment (i.e national) at a competitive rate rather then turning out no better than doorway local pages at extortionate rates!

7 quotes and 3 enquiries today....

2009-01-26T21:35:00.002Z

Not only did I make it up to London and meet a potential new client I got back to find 3 more enquiries for SEO on top of the 7 detailed quotes I have to send out. I am predicting 5 out of 7 take up my services which always puts a nice big smile on my face.

Bring it on I say!

Why be a wannabe SEO Rockstar?

2009-01-21T19:53:00.003Z

I've been optimising websites for 8 years now and I've seen many people new to the SEO and internet marketing world immediately wanting to be treated like a world class guru or SEO Rockstar by others who already have an established and fantastic profile for these types of services.

The mistake most wannabe's make is that they jump straight into forums, blogs and other types of social media stating facts that everyone's known and discussed about years ago or stating such way out comments in an attempt to attract any kind attention.

So you want to be an SEO Rockstar then wannabe?

Let me tell you something, you've really got your work cut out and I think you would be better off chasing paid SEO work from clients and making money than attempting to try and stand out in a very saturated (and becoming increasingly so) market.

If you do decide that SEO and web marketing is where you want to carve out a niche, be respected and "famous" amongst your business peers then let me suggest you start at a local level. Build up a relationship with people local to you.

Get some word of mouth advertising about your ability to get websites ranked in Google. Trust me do this right and people will talk about and recommend you.

Ensure your own website shows up organically on Google's first page for competitive targeted keyword phrases of your own, basically put your money where your mouth is when you say you can SEO.

Maybe visit SES or SMX London or turn up for drinks at London SEO parties and quietly and confidently (not arrogantly there's a fine divide) build up contacts there.

Make sure during any of your networking activities you are looking out for the other person's interests you are talking too, help them and trust me karma will come round and give you back some.

Might take a while but it will work.

But please, please don't go online straight into the nearest forum making out your the next best thing in SEO, social media or PPC when no-one has a clue who you are. Trust me do this and you'll quite simply look a) desperate b) clueless c) ignorant d) very likely all 3!

I get results for my clients by positioning them on Google. I spent years building up a loyal customer following in the city I operate in. I regularly participated in forums to do with business and SEO. I slowly got to know people in the web marketing industry. I never tried to make out I am the best in business when liasing with people in this industry who I hold in the highest respect, though that's not say I'm pretty good mind you. ;)

The common theme for a lot of us successful in SEO is that we've put the hours in and we continue to do so. We do our own research to ensure clients achieve high rankings. We formulate our own thoughts and processes for SEO tasks. We build successful businesses knowing they won't very likely take off overnight. Do this and you too can be successful in the SEO world and make a very good living. Want too much fame too soon and unless you are one of the very, very lucky ones you'll end up potentially envious, bitter and twisted of others success.

5 simple things to lift the conversion rate of your website

2009-01-20T09:27:00.002Z

Some of you may have seen this type of thing before but for others looking to CONVERT more of the traffic that reaches your website then this is for you!

People arrive at your website and in this day and age a savvy user expects more than just a basic online shop front (whether consumer focused or B2B service orientated). Having a simple brochure website, especially in a recession forcing everyone else to lift their game, may as well say "don't bother with us, we don't respect our online visitors so go look at another website that will be more use to you."

So to help here's a brief list of 5 things you really should add to your website (and other pages where possible) to take that visitor and make them believe in your business and what good you are going to do for them.

They really are real simple and can be implemented at next to no cost.

1) The Power of Calls to Action

You've sold your product or service, listing its features and benefits to enhance someone else's life so now you have to make the visitor to your site do something. What thing do you want them to do? Buy in? Download a white paper? Ask for more details from you?

You'd be surprised how many business websites let/make the user figure out where to go next, this is frustrating to some, even more so if your navigation system is awkward to use or figure out.

Some examples of calls to action:

FREE Download Here
Buy Now
Add to Basket/Cart
Contact us here for more info
Sign up here for even bigger savings
Buy Today - 50% OFF Click Here

These are great but next to useless if your site is heavily laced with text. What you'll need is to create some buttons to stand out from the page - try this free button generator here

Make sure the text leading upto the button really solidifies what it is you are trying to promote, to reinforce to the user they really should be getting ready to do something (that "thing" being in your favour and not lactually eaving the website).

2) The Power of Testimonials

I built my first ever commercial website way back in 2000 and advised the client a few testimonials would be great. He did one better and sent through 3 pages worth.

The more testimonials you can incorporate on a page, the better. I believe users buy in from third party comments, so ensure you place testimonials prominently on your website's pages. The more people see what others think of you the more they are prone to wanting in and taking up your product or service! Its really that simple.

3) The Power of the Return Visitor

You will need analytics software such as Google Analytics (its free to use and simple to deploy in a basic format) to understand how many people return to your website.

Why do you want return visitors?

Because they are easier to convert into new business, they already have visited your website so know what to expect to a degree, trust what they see and are beginning to trust you as a business with some potential integrity.

I solved a business owners website in a matter of minutes last year due to him only wishing to focus on new visitors to the website. Sure they are important but we had set up goals on analytics tracking percentage of spend and the following figures came out:

In one month £10,000 was spent online by visitors to his website.

Roughly 10,000 to 12,000 people visited his website. For ease of calculation lets be conservative and say average 10,000 visitors per month.

8000 visitors were new to the website.
2000 visitors returned to the website.

£8000 was generated by 2000 RETURN visitors to the site whereas only £2000 of sales was generated by new visitors. For months this business owner had targeted new visitors to the website, only wanting people to buy from him "without going elsewhere"... I advised he was wasting energy as his thoughts were not consistent with web usage patterns generally (i.e. comparison shopping).

By ensuring he used better calls to action (with time limits) and making regular use of offers to entice people back to the website, increased that sales figure even further. Yes, new visitors are important to your online venture but make their visit to your website a positive, memorable one. This will increase the likelihood of leading them back at some point in the future, increasing your chances of a sale or enquiry.

4) The Power of Sticky Content

How do you make sure people stick around your website when most people's attention spans are traditionally very low when surfing the web?

A few things you'll need to consider:

Is your text too small to read?
Is it too closely spaced together making it difficult to read?
Is the content suitable for your audience's reading style?
Do they want in-depth content or just an overview with the option to delve deeper into the website?

Make your content easy to read, entertaining and on topic. When required use imagery to enhance the page as this tends to slow a readers pace down. Refer back to the Calls to Action section above but do remember to place CTA's strategically in your content, though do not overdo it as this can be tiresome and annoying for a reader.

Other ways are to place offers on your web pages and keep your content updated. If possible announce that your website has new content and if you keep a list of emails to market to then let them know. You want an offer that will really get people talking. These days too many businesses seem to offer such mediocre offers that float no-one's boat so with a little creativity you will be able to stand out from the crowd.

News items are great but unless you are dedicated you soon will have a website looking out of date especially when your last news item is showing as posted over 4 months ago!

5) The Power of Social Media

Digg, Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, Stumbleupon, Delicious and more like blogs such as Wordpress and Blogger... you can waste hours or even days on these types of Social Media websites however they need to be reviewed as potentially useful tools for your website to generate interest from the online public.

It's best that you start by building a up a network of like minded folk who can help you promote your pages from a third party basis and you'll need to take care as too much self promotion is frowned upon.

If you can think of a social aspect to your business and apply leverage in the correct manner (i.e useful information pages, blogging, interesting or funny images) this can all help increase overall exposure to your website (and the number of links to it).

In Conclusion

These 5 relatively simple things you can do will all bring dividends, whether direct sales, more phone enquries or even greater brand exposure (i.e. with users spending more time on site). The principle activity your website needs to consider is monetizing every visitor to your website.

Let us know how you get on!

Optimisation doesn't always have to mean traditional SEO

2009-01-05T21:32:00.004Z

Welcome to 2009!

I've been away for Xmas in the exotic location of Peterborough enjoying the company of my in-laws and putting on the pounds even more usual. But now the festive season is over I'm back and raring to go. I've already had 3 SEO enquiries in my first day back so its not all bad, apart from the New Year diet the wife's put me on! But then again I've 2 stone to lose (28 pounds) and I'm sat here pretty much starving, which will continue until my body gets used to it or I succumb to a pint of beer and a pie.

The upside today is that one of those enquiries asking for SEO lead me to discuss with the owner of the site to consider implementing a professional visual design first BEFORE the SEO takes place. The chap was adamant he would prefer web optimisation but my professionalism lead me to advise him that just because a website is optimised doesn't always have to mean it shows up organically high on Google.

My main concern is that having a properly optimised website that only offers a poor user experience is not going to help convincing a website user that your compamy is the one to do business with.

Yes it is a numbers game but if you are receiving 30 to 50 visitors a day and getting no conversions into sales then what are your chances if you increase to 300 or 500 (or more)? I'd say it will stay at 0%.

Better then to take those 30 visitors and impress them enough visually to convert say 3?

So if you are thinking of SEO I would recommend you consider the Visual and User based aspects of your website design (i.e. optimised web design) before you spend your money on potentially expensive Web Optimisation that leads to little or no conversions.

Its not always about the traditional SEO activity that will make you the pennies you're after.

Why building a website does not mean they will come

2008-12-19T13:56:00.003Z

I'm pretty speechless. I just got off the phone from the owner of a website who wanted professional SEO Services so ther social website could be found on Google. I asked how they intended to generate an income stream or what kind of business model would they use to generate sales from this type of website and received the reply "We don't know".

I'm not fond of working with people who decide to go down the route of building a website with little thought on how it will bring them $$ (or £££) and how they will differentiate themselves and stand out from the crowd.

I'm getting "JAW ache" (Just Another Website ache) when I look at the site, its generic, looks templated and doesn't inspire me.

The industry is full of people who have these types of websites that typically have little invested in them and then go nowhere. The individual then thinks they have been taken for a ride by people in the web industry tarnishing our reputation. Sure the web designer responsible (if there was one) might have wanted to point out that building a generic website and jumping on the social networking bandwagon to hopefully make a few dollars won't likely work without careful forethought, but its not their responsibility ultimately is it?

I'm thinking I will be seeing this a lot in 2009 as people either with redundancy money or those without funds but desperate to take a chance will start coming out of the woodwork for poorly thought out websites that they think having ranked in Google's SERPS will change their lives. For most I fear they will be seriously disappointed. I am so hoping I am going to be proved wrong.

Royal Mail Automated Phone System SUCKS

2008-12-19T12:22:00.003Z

I had the postie stick a Royal Mail "while you were out" card recently through the door and thought I would phone the local office to arrange redelivery. I wasn't convinced why Royal Mail wanted me to go online and hand over personal details I didn't think they needed (i.e. my email!!)...

So I rang the number they provide on the card and spent over 15 minutes in a continuous loop - each time the automated operator stating (after some longwinded advertorial nonsense) "press 1 for redelivery over the phone".... had to admit it gets frustrating, especially when I am busy, but made worse by a stupid automated phone system that sent me loopy.

Eventually I did what anyone else would do and chose the "Press 2" option to speak about a redelivery thats been booked already which got me through to a somewhat helpful phone operator, who then tried to convince me I should be the one to go into the centre of Swindon a week before Xmas to pick up the mail cause they were so busy. No wonder I get cross.

Why does the Royal Mail hide its poor levels of service behind the "its Xmas, we're busy" facade?
Especially when all we hear is how they are struggling to compete against competitors like TNT and email and demand for their service is dropping to an unprecedented level. Seems like the directors should pull their fingers out from somewhere dark and deep and get their act together, it might just give them that valid reason to be overpaid....

I'm told to expect the packages on Monday but I'm not holding out much hope....

You're a "Cock", if its "Out of Stock"!

2008-12-16T17:54:00.005Z

Online shopping should be our saviour from ignorant and greedy crowds, exhorbitant fuel costs, crappy parking and nightmare traffic but I increasingly find it frustrating that many online retailers when they run out of a certain item to sell slap "Out of Stock" in the product description.

To a degree I also blame the search engines, they are after all supposed after all to bring us relevant results. Yet time and again whilst searching for Xmas presents I use search engines to help me find what I am looking for, see the snippet in their SERPS, hit the link and reach the online retailers website page.

I then check out the description, image and price only to find at the bottom of the page the online retailer has entered into that product's details "Out of Stock".

If that's the case then why not suspend the product in your database, delete the page so that you can allow another retailer (who actually bothered to invest in enough stock) to achieve a high listing and make a sale?

I've looked around and it seems the general feeling on the way out of this with a search engine is to list other relevant, related items you feel the user might want to see if the product is out of stock.

I disagree. I don't want to see other products, in "Andy's" immortal words "I want that one"....

Yes, yes it means that the search engine will remove your page or reduce its ranking but why should I bother with your website when your items for sale are listed as "out of stock"?

I emailed one website owner who said that he didn't plan for such demand (even in this credit crunch) and that being a small operation (likely from his garage) he didn't have the space to store everything he wanted. What, you not heard of drop shipping?

Yes its more expensive but at least the customer gets their product with the minimum of fuss. Downside of doing business with a mom and pop operation I suppose. And I always try to go out of my way to support the small retailer so it gets tiring when you consistently reach a website to find the product you want at the price shown is not available. I feel somewhat cheated.

I suggest the search engines deal with this in the following way:

If a spider crawls and spots "Out of Stock" then in some way this is used at the start of the snippet shown in the SERPS or in the Title tag if possible.

That way it might attract less clicks and perhaps reduce in ranking. Once the S/E bot returns and finds the product no longer labelled out of stock then perhaps its ranking can be increased.

Only downside of this is where a retailer then decides not to label products out of stock for fear of losing ranking....

But something's got to give... so if you're running an ecommerce website please don't have half your products as "Out of Stock", it looks unprofessional and wastes so many peoples time, including mine!

All SEO's need a little creative. breathing space

2008-12-09T18:01:00.011Z

Its that time of year again. Nope not Xmas, that's still to come (bah it just gets in the way of work!), nope, my wedding anniversary weekend, which the wife and I always head away for.

This year we were a little late - it should be back in mid November but what with the number of projects on in both of our careers we held off. Which was good as it meant we found a hotel we wanted to stay at rather than have to take the first one we found for fear of losing to someone else wanting to make a booking.

So we headed off for deepest, darkest Pembrokeshire in West Wales... as per usual I left the house with a million ideas/SEO things to do in my head and worrying about not enough time to do them all in... and this carried on all the way into Wales which left me quite tense and snappy. The wife being my only passenger bore the brunt - sorry honey!

But as we arrived at the hotel something strange happened.

I relaxed, my heart rate slowed down and all my worries were reduced, a great feeling don't you think?

Now we all like to find those great, little, romantic hideaways that we tell our friends about but never really share... and I could do this to you but that would be unfair to all you other SEO'ers maybe wanting some quality time with your partner or someone special.

So if you really want to find a luxury country hotel in Wales with gorgeous surroundings and attentive (and very hard working) owners Neil and Zoe then I recommend to you The Grove Hotel, near Narberth.

The welcome we received was positively warm, the John Pollard Seddon room we stayed in was of the highest class and the view from our bedroom window was most peaceful and serene - especially on a frosty Sunday morning, one which I regret not taking photos of for this blog. My wife also enjoyed the fresh flowers in our room and all around the hotel in fact, for me it had to be the log fires. Its the little things that always make the difference, including experiencing Calvados for the first time ;) (thanks Neil!)

We'll definitely be going back in the near future. I think we've found a hotel we'll revisit often to help soak the stresses & pains of SEO and life in general away. I thoroughly recommend it.

Enjoy the photos of Pembrokeshire below!

Hidden Text, Its Still Out There

2008-11-24T11:56:00.003Z

I started work on a potential client this morning and looking over the vast number of pages I discovered that their previous so-called SEO outfit (who had promised to get them listed on Google) had used the mystical art of hiding text on the page.... I have to admit I was highly surprised, I really cannot believe people were still using this technique to place keyword phrases.

Heres a screenshot (client details removed to avoid embarrassment):

I'm astonished that some people still think that adjusting text to a similar shade (so its not obvious) on a web page is good SEO. I thought this type of SEO Spamming went out of fashion in 2001!

Improving Acceptance Rates on Emailed Link Requests

2008-11-19T11:58:00.003Z

Everyone's at it and so am I.

Link building, for themselves or for clients.

But how many emails do you receive that you ignore because its an automated email link request or the request for a link is far more in their favour than it is in yours?

If thats the case then ask yourself how many of your email link requests are ignored because of the following:

Your Link request email is not personalised... you've emailed "to who it concerns", "webmaster" or worse not bothered at all
You did not even spend 60 seconds perusing the website you wish to have a link from so you have no clue to its quality
Your email did not provide your full contact address details
You did not specify the page you wish to have a link from (i.e. they have a links page then ask for it there, if not then why not suggest somewhere they can place your link for their website visitors benefit)

I have, over the years, figured out how to write an email requesting a link that right now is generating a 50% acceptance. It is written to demonstrate to the person I am contacting that I have viewed their website in detail, I honestly believe they offer an online resource that will be of use as a link on my (client's) website and that if they would like to link back to my site then for them to feel free to do so.

I do not assume they will link back because I "subtly threaten" to remove their link if they do not respond to my request. I detest this reciprocal link blackmail.

I am polite, courteous and respectful, I totally believe there is a person (aka the business owner) with emotions and feelings at the end of that website. Treat them in a decent, HUMANE way and they will respond and engage in a more positive manner.

Not all website owners will respond to my email, let alone link but this is just one example of an email I received this morning which shows that my request for a link via email can work:

Dear Darren,

This email makes a change from simply ditching link requests into my spam file! Thank you for the link which is appropriate and interesting. I will add your clients website to my links page.

Thank you for your courteous and practical approach.

Derek

If you are an SEO carrying out linkbuilding then remember the person you contact may well be impressed enough to actually ask you to work on their behalf for their SEO.

20 Most Hated Cliches

2008-11-17T18:38:00.002Z

Here's a link to a list of the 20 most hated and reviled cliches.

Hated Cliches

I must hear these cliches EVERY week in business and network meetings. Honestly you'd think that the fact of the matter (to be fair), we'd all be going forward with something else in the pipeline...

Its just so easy to fall into the trap of using cliches... we all need to try to be a little more original with our verbal language.

This Recession WILL hurt SEO Companies

2008-11-16T19:56:00.009Z

I've avoided using the R word these past few weeks as everyone I seem to talk to is extremely busy - could be the tidal surge before the financial storm, hard for me to answer right now on a personal level as I'm no money expert to be honest. But it is still slightly concerning.

I think, though, that we small SEO's with good and long enough experience, are in demand right now because company owners have to do something. This will continue for at least up till Xmas to help maintain business levels for clients who now realise that they HAVE to do something to keep their companies cashflow flowing.

For this reason I am being extremely careful with who I choose to work with and ensuring all deposits are paid BEFORE I start any SEO project. It's not an easy decision to come to and some business people have got a little frustrated that I am not budging (much) when in negotiation. As a businessman myself I have to ensure my time is covered and that I am not left out of pocket by some other business that is willing to take one last gamble before they go broke.

I have recently had one project go on hold due to the client having to chase a bad debt. Until that debt is paid the client is not able to invest in their SEO. I think this is going to b a recurring event in the next few months and one which is going to be a frustrating experience that's going to be a test of patience (for both mine and clients).

Redundancies are now showing in the web industry too, Yahoo, Yell and Ebay are all reporting that staff will be cut.

Yahoo Staff Cuts

Ebay to cut jobs

Yell cutting jobs

As well as those companies listed above I also fully expect to see some of the larger SEO companies letting staff go in the next few months. This will probably cause an influx of small SEO businesses to be set up, creating more competition for the likes of one man SEO bands like myself. Bummer? Maybe.

But on the upside I think that some people on being made redundant will utilise their redundancy payouts and invest in setting up their own alternative businesses. This could result in the need for more experienced SEO people to get involved at an affordable rate.

Which is where the likes of small SEO's can thrive as we can charge out at a lot less than the SEO giants, yet still achieve site rankings for businesses who want to take on the big guys in their own fields.

Hard one to call and we will have to see how it plays out. Hopefully working in this industry will still remain fun AND a challenge, rather than just a frustrating scary challenge (a place I was in when I started out all those years ago).

Guiding the Blind to a Good Landing

2008-11-07T17:30:00.004Z

This is just such an amazing piece of news:

Blinded Pilot Guided to Land by the Royal Air Force

Some of you may know I do go soaring in gliders so to read about this event is just amazing and shows the skills of the RAF team involved in bringing down the pilot who had gone blind WHILST FLYING HIS CESSNA AT 15 THOUSAND FEET.

I'm just sat here thinking I'd have been so terrified and then so mightily relieved to have had the RAF help me down to a safe landing. Good one guys.

Still its sad to see the old fella had a stroke and is seriously unwell, lets just hope he makes a significant recovery soon.

If You Can't Be Transparent, Get Out of Town

2008-11-06T10:24:00.005Z

I had need to have a repairman come to my home recently and fix an item that had stopped working. I met someone whilst business networking who said he could help and he would come round and take a look to see if it needed fixing or replacing.

It dawned on me today that he had not confirmed if there was a call out fee to come and take a look and I felt he had not mentioned it when in fact he really should have.

So I called him and asked if he was still coming this week which he said yes. I then mentioned he had not talked about a callout fee so I was under the impression he would come out, take a look and then give me a price without an initial charge for his time.

I got the opposite. I was told that indeed there was a callout fee of x amount. I asked him when did he propose to tell me that, when he was on my doorstep with me in a difficult position to say no not happy about paying a fee he had not mentioned?

He replied he had forgotten to tell me. Now how can you forget to tell a prospective client that you charge for initial assessments?

Can you imagine me saying to a prospective client I'll come round to your office and conduct a web marketing consultancy with no mention of my fee schedule until I turn up because "I forgot"?.... to me that's tantamount to blackmail.... you are at least cornering someone or ambushing them into paying for something you "forgot to mention".

If that's how this chap behaves before he gets to work what's he going to do when he's on the job?

Transparency and integrity are key in any business transaction. Forgetting about important parts of your business like charges and fees certainly shows a poor understanding of customer perception.

Thing is if he had made it clear he would charge a call out fee from the start I probably wouldn't have had a problem. Once he admitted he had forgotten about how he charges I smelt a potential rat and told him not to do anything till I got back to him. When that will be I don't yet know...

You can take this situation and easily apply it into the SEO world. If you are hiding charges and then springing them on clients then I feel thats a pretty poor way to generate business income. Might it be time you reconsidered the way you behave if you do operate in this manner?

I don't get Twitter... should I?

2008-11-03T20:12:00.002Z

I've avoided Twitter like the plague since its start, maybe I just don't get it and to be honest why should I?

Anyway curiosity finally got the better of me so I went off to have a look. I still don't get it. Why do I need to share with the world that I am cooking dinner. How mundane is that? And do others need to know what I am doing in my personal life? My work life is to me varied but to anyone else... will they be that interested?

It doesn't help that watching the video on Twitter just infuriated me even more. It didn't download quickly and the narrators fake interest and annoying voice got right on my ***s.

So its gonna be a game of patience. I really don't want to look like a twatter for not using twitter but I don't want to be a twitter who looks like a twatter (still with me?)

Monday updates you won't want to miss!

2008-11-03T12:04:00.001Z

To those who want to increase the links to their website I will reiterate the important of link building on a regular basis. A couple of websites I recommend getting listed on right now is

www.freeindex.co.uk
you'll need a link back from your home page to their site but as its not costing anything to get listed I suggest you go and do this now. Once set up you can add testimonials and reviews on others services that you've used which will allow you to rank higher on their web pages. Any questions let me know.

www.linkedin.com

This site just got useful as its now running applications - I've added it to my profile so for those of you on LinkedIn.com go take a look I know you'll find something useful. For those of you not yet on LinkedIn.com where have you been? Go register today!

SEO partially responsible for Excess Consumerism

2008-10-30T22:39:00.003Z

When we optimise websites are we partially responsible for promoting excess consumerism?

Man's impact on the world's climate and environment cannot be ignored but if we're all chasing profits are any of us actually noticing the changes we are creating?

Check out this MAJOR photo competition that focuses on the global issue of 'sustainability'...

Photos compete for the Prix Picter

Credit Crunch + Recession = Redundancy... well done Sherlock!

2008-10-30T19:43:00.006Z

With the current climate I have a client that is offering FREE Redundancy Advice to any employer that needs to be informed on making sure they get the redundancy process correct to avoid being taken to costly employment tribunal.

Lets be realistic here, not all companies will survive the current credit crunch, especially if they are competing in a difficult marketplace, with their customers going under and finding themselves in huge debt. The only thing they can grasp hold of is the hope that they can trade their way out of trouble. Might happen for some, but not for all.

As my client says "No SME employer wants to lose staff but in uncertain times it's good to know who to turn to so that you get redundancy right, maintain your employees dignity and avoid the expense of an employment tribunal".

For that reason the HR Dept gets a worthy link to their Top 7 Redundancy Rules that you'll need to know about.

Read it today and stay one step ahead of a potentially expensive employee tribunal!

Social Media Sites Can Bite You Back

2008-10-30T15:03:00.003Z

As the nation appears to be entirely interested in the fate of Monsieurs Brand and Ross I have been patiently waiting for the fallout on the young, "innocent thinking" lady who demanded their sacking.

I love this post as it outs the poor lass and and The Mail Goth Vampire Stripper Fades from MySpace
- note there is an image here which maybe NSFW though there's no nudity...

I don't particularly like Russell Brand and I can only tolerate Johnathan Ross a little but I think this type of news only bigs up their profiles even further. Not surprised at the backlash though, the British so envy others success they love to take someone down... hope Ross can survive on his millions... wouldn't want him slumming it now would we???

STOP asking the same questions on SEO!!

2008-10-30T14:13:00.006Z

I'm bored.

Bored with people who cannot be bothered to research, test and analyse their own SEO.

All I see online is "SEO-No-Mates" with 3 minutes SEO experience asking the SAME questions being asked (and fully answered) 7 years ago. He/she has not got the inclination or interest to actually test their own ideas instead asking more experienced people for the answer so they can get instant gratification, go back to their client looking like a SEO hero, saying they figured it out and then charging them big bucks for it.

I know search engines algorithms are ALWAYS changing, sheesh, yeah right give me a break will ya, if they change THAT OFTEN then wouldn't website's ranking be ALL over the place...?

The SEO guns in the web marketing industry have spent years developing techniques, honing them to perfection and are more than willing to help others... but all thats happening, in my opinion, is that they are creating a lazy generation of SEO'ers who cannot be bothered to test their own SEO out of laziness or potentially fear of failure in their clients eyes. Not saying all new SEO'ers are like this but it there seems to be a large amount out there who just want the easy route, which I disagree with.

I'm all for helping people with SEO techniques but come on quit being spoonfed SEO and start showing some graft. Lets have some new questions being asked... not the same old stuff you could put into a search engine and get the same answer from aeons ago...

I'm not saying not to ask about SEO, just please take the time to go out and do some of your own Web Optimisation research and develop your own thoughts and ideas. I'm thinking of setting up a SEO website for those who cannot be bothered to work at SEO and instead just want to follow others around, pinching their ideas and then claiming credit as their own research. Hmmmmm, maybe theres a way to monetize this? Oh damn its already been done... ;)

Funky, Fresh New Logo - Comments Please

2008-10-29T09:34:00.004Z

Here it is. After literally months of assessment and going back to the drawing board here's the new All Things Web logo. Its fresh, its funky... or is it?

Your comments please!

All I have to do now is create an attention grabbing strapline - I have one thats looking good but I'll leave you in suspense for now.

Money's Tight, Googling's Free!

2008-10-29T09:06:00.004Z

I'm an ardent fan of Google Product Search whenever I am buying stuff for the home or office.

I've recently received quotes from 2 seperate companies which I have compared against their competitors on Google's Product Search pages.

In one instance the company was attempting to charge me double and the other the company had already advised their prices were "highly competitive", so how come they had taken the RRP and THEN ADDED VAT...

Now each company has received an email from me with the link to Google Products asking which exact model I am receiving and why the companies listed there offer such a lower difference in price.... it will be interesting to see their replies (though one company has already come back with a more competitive price...)

So next time you want to purchase something I totally recommend you take the product you are interested in and pop it into Google Product Search. You may find the deal you are being offered is not as competitive as the seller is making out!

Microsoft wireless mouse with a mind of its own?

2008-10-29T08:59:00.003Z

I recently installed a wireless mouse and keyboard from Microsoft to try and cut down the number of cables around my desk.

I have to say I am highly disappointed with the mouse as it tends to have a mind of its own... its scroll wheel only seems to work half the time and reading web pages is getting to be a frustrating task. Has anyone else got a Microsoft wireless mouse that doesn't work as well that one would hope for?

My problem is that I bought it months ago and its unlikely the store I bought it from will refund me.... I'll try for a replacement but if anyone knows of a better wireless mouse or keyboard combo then do let me know.

Dominating SERPS for primary KW

2008-10-24T18:21:00.004+01:00

Not that I am bragging but I worked with a client recently and within hours I have them listed 3 times on Googles 1st SERPs page for their primary targeted keyword phrase.

How?

Google Adwords
Google Local
Google Organic results

All done ethically and above the fold. No SEO tricks allowed, not that I do them anyway... something to cheer me up as I keyword research into the night...

Its no wonder web users get frustrated...

2008-10-24T17:55:00.004+01:00

I enter the following "Audi S3 lease" into Google and the "first" result via Sponsored Links quite clearly states the search term I used.

I click on the link, thinking "Great!" just what I wanted. I then find I get dumped on the home page of a website that shows nothing on Audi's.

Guess who just wasted their budget for PPC? More importantly guess who just wasted my time?
Its Friday, the end of a long week, I'm grouchy (heh 5 a.m. starts do that to you) so I haven't got time to be messed around. I just want to be served up what I am looking for. Heh that just makes me a typical user!

So when a site then fails to IMMEDIATELY show an Audi S3 after quite clearly advertising one I lose all interest in that company and its products. Here's the site:
www.ultracar.co.uk

If anyone from the company is reading this please, please take note of my comments - serve users content that accurately relates to their search (either organically but especially via PPC) - you'll likely increase conversion rates of visitors into enquirers and stop click wastage.

There is no poorer experience in not showing the specific content on the product you are advertising or making it so hard for the web user to find what they are looking for they give up - especially at 6pm on a bloody Friday.

Slowing the User down

2008-10-23T14:31:00.002+01:00

These days we're all trying to make our websites more sticky and slow people down on our web pages to increase the chances of a conversion of visitor to buyer and have them spend some money.

Thing is we're so used to rushing around in our lives offline our local councils have made the roads more "sticky" at certain places with fixed speed cameras, raking in one helluva lot of cash as a result.

Most people hate speed cameras, having been forced to slam on the brakes to prevent themselves being incriminated for a few miles an hour over the speed limit. Well now it seems one council has seen the light as they intend to remove them from our roads.

All well and good until you realise that Wiltshire County Council stick MOBILE SPEED CAMERA VANS on bridges over the M4 to catch people speeding there instead.

So on one hand they're to be congratulated but on the other I'm thinking that will just give them the cash to go out and purchase more vans to catch innocent motorists a few miles an hour over the speed limit.

I think the whole thing's rather sinister and will watch this development carefully - my driving licence depends on it!

I hate sales people that talk through YOU

2008-10-23T11:53:00.001+01:00

Is it me or do you find over enthusiastic people on the phone totally annoying?

They are enthusiastic to the point of being rude, never slowing to listen to any questions and God forbid if you have any rejections...

I took up an offer of a service today but the guy at the other end just refused to slow down so I found it hard to keep up. It almost lost him the sale as it was quite obvious I was just a number to him...

So what do you do with annoying phone folk?

I've never seen such demand for SEO

2008-10-22T14:31:00.004+01:00

As a Web Marketing Consultant I have been providing SEO services direct to the UK marketplace for over 7 years and in the past month I have never seen such demand for my optimisation skills.

I believe its purely down to a) working hard, b) achieving significant results online for clients c) charging a fair price for my services

Right now I am working for a client in the world of IT Support and are looking to get on the map. By optimising their website last month has already shown a significant increase in ranking on Google.

So if you are looking for a professional IT company offering dedicated IT support in Bristol then check these guys out. I know you'll be pleasantly surprised.

'tis been 3 months

2008-03-06T07:22:00.003Z

Its been a long time since I posted here mostly due to demand for my SEO services but I haven't entirely forgotten you, my dear blog reader.

Plans are in place to improve the branding of All Things Web together with a whole host of exciting marketing material to generate even more work in my capacity as a dedicated SEO consultant.

Things are moving forward at a rapid rate and it is more than likely this blog will be moved to within my own domain, with its own uniquely custom design that might, just might, set the SEO world alight... ok maybe not that much but one has to be ambitious. ;)

I have also been asked to guest blog elsewhere with a prestigious web design agency in Bristol but I also intend to do likewise with other great contacts I have in the web marketing (and web development) industry to further increase my contact network sphere.

I'm looking positively into the future, things are great for me (and certainly for my clients too) - I'd like to invite you to join me on the forthcoming journey my
business is going to take in 2008!

Thanks for sticking with me.

Can you hear the tumbleweed blowing through?

2007-12-03T16:27:00.000Z

Yes I will be very shortly hearing and seeing tumbleweed as I am off to Nevada for a weeks short break, gliding and skiing up at Heavenly - hopefully there appears to be enough snow...

Also may I offer my sincerest apologies for the lack of updates (my ref to tumbleweed)... having been manic for weeks I have plenty of time on the aircraft, whilst flying over to SFO, to develop ideas I have for this blog and for other websites I will be releasing over the next few months (mostly do to with mobile phones, don't worry I've got the domains.... just need a $$$ making idea now and I have one brewing.)

Thanks for your patience and sticking with me. Its appreciated.

A little trip to London SEO...

2007-11-20T18:56:00.000Z

I checked out London SEO last week on recommendation of Lisa Ditlefsen of SEO Chicks fame and boy am I glad I visited.

I met up with some really decent people in the SEO world, down to earth yet knew their optimisation (or PPC or social media or, well just take your pick!) like the back of their hands. Like me. Of course.

Amazingly the beer was free, kindly sponsored by Ayima Internet Marketing and I must say thanks to Mike Jacobson for that - we briefly met but I never said cheers for the beers so I owe you one (or two at least).

I also got the chance to hangout with some of the team from SEO MOz outside in the pub beer garden - it seemed to be the place to be even though it was bloody cold! I swapped stories with Mr Fishkin's father and had a highly interesting and entertaining conversation with him on the subtle (and not so subtle!) differences between American English and the Queen's English! (Thats Her Majesty's English not Queens, New York! And not those kind of Queens either!)

Simon Hesletine - top bloke - go check out his blog searchenginetigers.com - had a really interesting conversation about Brand Management, SEO and life in general. Good bloke and welcome on my doorstep anytime especially if he's round these parts in Wiltshire! :)

I also met up with Lyndon Antcliff - top SEO Linkbaiter - and had a really enjoyable time over beers in the evening discussing linkbait - and, er, in the morning too over breakfast - where we were admonished by 2 respectable seniors for being too loud in our enthusiasm for SEO and linkbait... left me chuckling over the weekend thinking they missed out on all of Lyndon's red hot linkbaiting tips and tricks.

I'm definitely going again and I will say this if you've been around SEO for some time and not sure, don't sweat it, just turn up and you'll find everyone's top notch friendly!

About time! Office Managers using Facebook to bust staff!

2007-11-13T17:06:00.001Z

I get a lot of resistance from clients who say they won't blog and have banned Facebook in their office.

My response is that the young people they employ now will tomorrow mostly become managers and directors in their thirties who WILL blog, read blogs and actively use Facebook as a business/social network tool - something my clients should not forget as time moves on for their business.

And its certainly happened now - check out the intern caught out telling his boss he was not able to come in due to a family emergency and instead was partying hard at a Halloween celebration.

Staff member busted by Facebook

"Nice wand."

Love it!

.htaccess... easy when you know how....

2007-11-13T08:01:00.000Z

To some there's an air of mystery about .htaccess files, which tends to put people off utilising them on their websites.

So heres the link to 5 htaccess tricks every webmaster SHOULD know about.

With time management training this blog's back on track

2007-11-12T20:45:00.000Z

For the past few weeks I have been away, been off sick and returned to the aftermath and promptly sunk under the weight of SEO and web work I faced.

Advanced Time Management Techniques

So I bit the bullet last week and spent the day being trained in advanced time management to help myself become far more effective - and allow me to digg, stumble and blog daily again to help increase my online profile.

Even though I spent years as a gliding instructor training others how to soar at heights in excess of 20,000 feet I've always been resistant myself to any kind of self development training so I faced the time management course with some trepidation, wondering if I had anything to learn. Believe me, I did!

I needn't have worried though.

With Andrew Bramwell - a highly effective Management Trainer of Train Me Now at the helm - myself and the other course members left at the end of the day with some fantastic time management tips to manage and prioritise our time. I applied a few of those tips over the weekend and suddenly found DIY jobs around the house that I'd put off for months were getting done in virtually no time at all.... if it was that good for me personally, I am really looking forward to what its going to do for my business.

So I owe a big, big thank you to AJ, my trainer in effective time management techniques. He certainly comes VERY highly recommended. :)

Attracting clients by the bucketful using no budget or previous connections

2007-10-23T13:49:00.000+01:00

Whilst stumbling I came across this marketing blog

Pumpkin Patch Marketing

An interesting approach but let me show you one technique that works well especially for those starting out with their own businesses (this works better for those perhaps in the Business to Business arena who get around seeing clients).

It does not matter where you perform this technique. In a shop, in a bar, in a business networking event. Just ensure its used when talking with one person.

From experience this works far better when someone else engages you, though you can turn this around and engage someone else.

It costs nothing and has helped me secure new business on a regular basis in the past.

Here we go:

Other person: "Hi/hello. How are you today?"

You: "I'm really, really busy. I've never been so busy, people love what I do. I only started a little while ago and things have been absolutely manic."

Its important you DO NOT tell the other party what you do. Arouse THEIR curiosity.

Other person - who by now has to have their curiosity satisfied: "Oh, what is it that you do?"

You: "I do X. I didn't realise there was so much demand for it."

Then reel them in. Worked every time in promoting my business without forcing it on someone. I got THEM to ask the questions. Try it, it might just work well for you.

Blatant Charity Plug! Action for M.E.

2007-10-22T13:00:00.000+01:00

M.E. - a debilitating illness sometimes known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Symptoms can range but here's an excerpt that kinda just shows the damage it can do to people's lives:

"The most disabling part of my illness is mental fatigue. Even a ten-minute conversation exhausts me."

Action for ME website

Action for M.E. is a registered UK charity that seeks to help sufferers of M.E.

For this reason they are holding:

Beijing 2008 Action Adventure

To help raise much needed funds for M.E sufferers.

Action for M.E are looking to increase their profile and gained exposure on the BBC last night - check out:

The trip looks highly fascinating and is a great way to help Action for M.E.

For more details check out the AFME website here:

Support AFME

Tubes...? interweb....?

2007-10-11T17:04:00.000+01:00

Oh looks like a new "in" statement about the internet is now pathetically in fashion:

Series of tubes that is the Interweb

What muppet I wonder came up with this gem?

Gotta be the most pathetic statement so far this year...

SU... it's greatest strength is a weakness

2007-10-11T14:01:00.000+01:00

I like SU - its opened up a whole new world of websites but one thing that really grates me is that I also use it to "favourite" websites that I want to come back to... when I come to view the list weeks later I have to go through the hoops to find what I want.

If SU could generate a drap and drop capability on my profile (or even in a backend) on pages that I have stumbled that would allow me to more easily keep up to date and find websites I stumbled.

Right now I have to trawl through a very long list and I find this rather encumbersome.

Does anyone else?

So come on Stumble Upon help me out. If there is a 3rd party feature that allows me to already do this, then someone please let me know...

Well done Sherlock.... Google dominates search

2007-10-11T13:34:00.000+01:00

The BBB news site is carrying a piece on "Google dominates search".

C'mon, like we didn't already know this! Tell me something we don't know.

Ok. Interesting to note that after Yahoo the next search engine is Baidu - a Chinese search engine that, I imagine, is heavily censored giving the Chinese online population just exactly what they want. Not.

I wonder if the Chinese can make the jump and become a truly global search engine. There's a thought.

Promise with one hand, taketh away with the other...

2007-10-09T16:57:00.000+01:00

I need mobile internet access for my laptop using a data card and approached my mobile phone provider (O2) to check out details whilst in one of their retail stores in Bristol.

The store price sticker quoted the monthly price to be "Free" and "Free" to "£120" for the data card. Not bad I thought and decided to ask the young retail assistant in-store a few more questions.

She knew little about the product and went back and forth from a back office repeating my questions to a manager who did not wish to bother to show his face... the answers I got back were verbatim and left me very confused. Why? Mostly because the monthly price was not "free" AS ADVERTISED and instead was £30 a month.... and was just the "one offer"... all rather flaky really.

The retail assistant seemed satisfied she had given me an answer and skipped back to her desk to do what ever she was doing before I arrived. She never even stopped to ask why I looked confused or was there anything else she could do to help me work out what was exactly on offer.

So I checked out the O2 website and get sidetracked by O2's internet offer of:

Unlimited – so you can download exactly what you want

Yet below this is mentioned:

Fair usage policy applies.

How is this unlimited use? I have to admit I feel that this stinks, smacks of being not particularly transparent and encourages me to lose faith in 02.

I then call O2 and speak to an advisor who mentions there are various offers for the Data Card, one being free which I think this now sounds good. Then she spoils it all by saying I would have to pay the £50 for the data card, which I refused seeing as Vodafone were able to offer to me one for free plus a monthly connection for 12 months at £25-00 plus VAT for 3GB usage (which seems steep to me).

So for those of you who can remember Sean Bean's little strapline in the O2 ads:

See what O2 can do for you

Well for me, O2 quite frankly can not do much right now.

So another LARGE company that doesn't get it and then wonders why it loses customers....

So what if your website is inaccessible to the blind...

2007-10-03T15:27:00.000+01:00

Be afraid.

Target (an American DIY chainstore though correct me if I am wrong) has had a judge allow a class action to be filed against them by the National Federation of the Blind.

I heard of this before and thought it had been sorted. Turns out it might not have gone away.

"All e-commerce businesses should take note of this decision and immediately take steps to open their doors to the blind"

Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation for the Blind

I agree though common sense must prevail too.

"Target is committed to serving all of our guests and we believe that our Web site is fully accessible and complies with all applicable laws"

Target spokeswoman Carolyn Brookter

This is what muddies the water for everyone else. If a company the size of Target believes their site is accessible to the blind, what hope is there for the rest of us?

Believe me when I say this is not going to go away.

P.s. This is the 300th post on this blog!

Striking gold at Yahoo!

2007-10-03T14:44:00.000+01:00

For those always on the lookout for free keyword research tools it always pays to view some of the tools search engines provide from a slightly different viewpoint.

Yahoo's! new Search Assist - though not perfect - can significantly help provide you with other keywords that could be of extra help whilst carrying out keyword research for yourselves or clients.

Here's a screen shot:

My only criticism is that the list is not long enough. The term "accountant" only yielded 11 extra results. I'd expect 30 to 50 results might be a better figure to work from but then Yahoo! is providing Search Assist for it's user base rather than us SEO'ers...

Still it could turn out to be small SEO goldmine.

Whats going on in your SEO Kingdom?

2007-10-02T19:28:00.000+01:00

I like helping others.

Its in my nature.

I taught people to fly gliders for years and got a real buzz watching students go off on first solo. It was nice to pass those skills across.

Today was also one of those superb days.

I got an urgent call from a SEO pal of mine who needed some guidance on PPC. I couldn't directly help with the issue - a first that I had ever seen - but I did come up with a solution on how to grab Google's PPC team by the balls and get more than a standard "lame-o" response.

That seems to have worked. It was also great to talk to another SEO professional - if you're into SEO give me a call, more than happy to hear from you, telephone me on 01793 729326. I promise not to bite.

Oh but don't bother calling if you're out to pick my brains... I'm just looking to network with other highly effective people in web marketing.

The other was a design company in Bristol that I work with regularly on a consultancy basis. Their own rankings have slightly slipped for a couple of keyword phrases. By looking at the improvements that they have recently made to their site I noticed Google was having problems and listing supplemental results for their targeted keyword phrase(s).

I recommended they sort out the internal link structure of their website, adjust content on one of the offending problems, tweak a title tag and that should bring them back onto the first page. I think I turned them away from redesigning the whole site - seems like overkill, they just need to carefully work their keywords on their pages. That and some due diligence on link building should help.

I also got to speak with a marketing gentleman recommended by the fantastic Lyndon Antcliff of Cornwall SEO - that really looks like it could be prove a frutiful relationship for both parties. Thanks for the time Peter!

Finally I found the all things web.co.uk site is listed 3rd on Google for "web marketing services" (on Google.co.uk). Talk about putting a smile on my face at the end of a long day!

So whats going on in your SEO world?

:)

Please no more hot potatoes!

2007-10-02T18:35:00.001+01:00

I'm a fan of Facebook and its already generated me 3 to 4 enquiries about SEO. How cool is that? Yup its cool.

However the MOST pointless Facebook app has to be "Hot Potato". C'mon can you be so daft to let an application gain access to your Facebook data to pass on a virtual potato? Do me a favour and send it to someone else.

Next person to send me a Facebook Hot Potato gets banned. ;)

Anatomy of a Search Engine

2007-10-02T09:59:00.001+01:00

For those desperate for the holy grail - check out the anatomy of a search engine - its an oldie and for some may be heavy going but persevere - there's some real gems here.

To those who fly, the sky is home

2007-10-01T22:12:00.001+01:00

I'm somewhat distressed to find out about the passing of a friend of mine who during August was taken from us in a glider mishap in California.

What hurts more is that it was featured in on the BBC news website and I completely missed the reports.

Geoff moved from Wales to the USA over 26 years ago and during the eighties and nineties set major hang gliding records. He was a natural in the air and it was nice to hear his "voice of the valleys" across the radiowaves when soaring above the Nevadan and Californian high desert.

Geoff's glider was found on a mountainside 10,000 feet up. There is some uncertainty as to what caused the crash, in time I expect details will come out.

So to a decent Welshman I unintentionally offended at the end of an American bar back in 1998 - which lead to some good advice - let me raise a pint of the good stuff to you.

Keep on soaring Geoff.

Are Meta Tag Optimization Services still in vogue?

2007-10-01T16:08:00.000+01:00

Carrying out keyword research this afternoon I discovered that the search term "Meta Tag Optimization Services" is in reasonably high demand with an expected 180+ searches on Google a day...thing is can people still believe this is all it takes to rank on Google?

I so wish it was the case. I'm contemplating testing the market by offering a low cost service that optimises/upgrades the meta tags making them all unique to each page based on prior keyword research.

Title tags are important together with well written descriptive tags but so is ensuring your page content is structured correctly with decent links...

If this service takes off I'm sure to let you know..... haha more like I'll stay quiet... I don't think it will be too hard to rank for, its not that competitive but I'll have fun writing the page content.

Say hello to the "Brad" Pack!

2007-09-18T17:15:00.000+01:00

Its not because we're fans of Brad Pitt, it is in fact a group within my BNI chapter in Bristol: Bradman Chapter.

I'm not one for calling the group a chapter - it makes it sound like a Hells Angel meeting but thats what the greater gods of BNI deem so be it (for now).

Anyway I am now in a mini group within the chapter - as well as becoming Membership Co-ordinator and thought I would introduce the guys!

So in no apparent order:

Kevin Hurlow - Professional Mortgage Broker based near Bristol (no official website as yet)

Ian Burkitt - for reliable and pro-active IT Support Bristol

Kevin Edenborough - an exciting and dynamic (yes they DO exist!) Chartered Accountant in Bristol and Swindon

I'm looking forward to the opportunities we can provide to the rest of my BNI group.

Drunkenly stumbling onwards....

2007-09-18T14:42:00.001+01:00

Stumbleupon... since the paid link fiasco rose it's ugly head above the parapet, the disloyalty of Digg (supposedly, I've not covered Digg) and the non stop march of "social, social, social networking!" I've found that www.stumbleupon.com has stepped up to fill the breach...

I've been a member of Stumbleupon for quite a while - since late 2005 but I missed the boat on this one from the current levels of activity I seem to see there.

Now I have some catching up to do - made all the harder as there are so many Good stumblers.

I've seen the light though and now stumble upon websites and recommend them if I honestly feel they bring originality and creativity to the Internet (or quite simply make me laugh).

Google Algorithms and SEO

2007-09-18T14:11:00.001+01:00

Everyone wants to know about Google's Algorithm(s) and their secrets.... and I think it could come down to an algorithm as small as this one (but heh I am no mathematician!)

Targeted Meta Data + Targeted (Resourceful) Content + Accessibility = £££ (or $$$)

Thats the simplest formula I can give. I am missing one component of this algorithm... have you guessed what it is yet?

Some days you just can't win....

2007-09-18T14:02:00.001+01:00

It had to happen eventually.... I've been on a mega roll recently and because of my skills and experience in marketing and optimising websites AND my own it has been reasonably easy to convert new clients into business.

Until today.

I had presented to a prospective client who had seemed highly interested in allowing me to work with their designers to optimise their website and review and modify conversion rates.

After what felt like months of waiting they have chosen to go with another supplier for one reason. Price.

What I have to figure out now is how best to learn from this experience, which is made especially more difficult when the client gave off positive buying signals at every stage.

What it really comes down to - as my wife is keen to point out - is that I hate to lose...

Did you phone and leave me a message????

2007-09-10T20:43:00.000+01:00

To the lady who called me last week and left a message on my voicemail for SEO services if you read this blog would you care to call me again on 01793 729326.

Regrettably the number you gave with the code starting 01157 is not valid according to BT and I am unable to return your call. You did kindly mention your website but it is hard to make out on the voicemail and I am unable to decipher it...

Look forward to hearing from you!

Darren

Are you giving your ecommerce website some slap and tickle?

2007-09-04T18:52:00.000+01:00

Or are you just slapping it together?

I regularly read a new blog from a client of mine who are doing some excellent web design in Bristol and across the UK too.

It is still early days for their blog but they are offering some real insights into how they think and why it is they do so well for their clients.

Their latest blog post Successful Ecommerce Websites is a detailed goldmine that I think is worth recommending for those starting out on the ecommerce path to riches.

Optimising an online art gallery the right way

2007-09-04T11:56:00.000+01:00

I've been busy working on a canvas art gallery online recently - working through all their web pages, with their developers and then linkbuilding using a combination of various links on blogs and other websites to help rank the site higher on Google.

I've gone for a balance of competitive keywords and niche keywords too on the website to ensure both "tails" are captured.

SO instead of just concentrating on one keyword i.e. canvas art I carried out research to use further keywords that would make the optimisation appear more natural preferably avoiding the spam route.

Keywords I focused on were:

Canvas art
Canvas artwork
Art on canvas
Contemporary Canvas Art
Landscape Canvas Artwork
Abstract Canvas Prints
Modern abstract art on canvas print

FOr those not in the know note how the keyword phrases get longer as we progress.

...and so on.

This will help the site to rank higher against established websites in what is a highly competitive field.

Its early days but I am excited to see that traffic has begun to increase already so all the signs are promising!

Tarnishing paid links with the bad boy brush

2007-09-04T09:09:00.000+01:00

Whats all the fuss over paid links?

We've had them for years and now suddenly everyone's up in arms as Google appears to have stated it wants to see them out of action?

Paid links are (to me) a sign that someone is serious about investing in their website. Wanting free links from free directories is just chancing your arm and does not get you anywhere.

I do hope that certain individuals in the SEO world have not "tweaked Matt Cutts ear", especially if they had a strategy already mapped out if he did listen. I don't know if he did but it does make me wonder.

If Google knows which links go to bad neighbourhoods in general then why not adjust their filters to acknowledge "good" paid links and "bad neighbourhood" paid links?

Let us SEO's go figure out which ones sit where, like we don't already know!

As I've always said go for a balance of free and paid links, blog links, 3rd party corporate website links, pr links, linkbait and links via social media and you'll likely have a better spread if Google decides it does not like one certain type of link.

I'm wondering if Google in time will really clamp down on hard with those of millions of links and perhaps look for a few hundred links that really are high quality?

How to give your titles a dose of nitrous oxide!

2007-09-03T20:50:00.000+01:00

Once in a while you come across a web page that blows your mind - this one is just one of those:

Learn to write titles

How to piss off Facebook users in one easy step

2007-08-21T19:43:00.000+01:00

Cool, I'm trying to message my brother through facebook and in the form where I should reply Facebook plasters a banner ad with no remove facility.

Facebook you seriously suck if thats gonna be the way forward.... this is seriously frustrating from a user point of view and not something many would tolerate in my book.

Here's the evidence!

When is duplicate content not duplicate?

2007-08-21T09:06:00.000+01:00

If Google is capable of spotting duplicate content and penalising sites for it how then does it treat online pr websites with likely thousands of multiple duplicate content across other pr websites. Is it giving them some kind of dispensation? I known from research that they apply a dampening filter to links from online pr articles but I wonder how just do they treat the same online article across multiple websites? Do they give it very little value at all if they do not rate duplicated content?

How much should SEO cost?

2007-08-16T15:15:00.000+01:00

How much do you think SEO should cost? And why do you see it as a cost? It's a highly targeted investment if done professionally and correctly.

Figures (and services) for SEO vary wildly. Someone starting out may be selling cheap SEO for less than $500, an agency may well expect figures to be in the 6 figure region before they get interested.

I'm mid range these days based on my experience, knowledge and results. I'm happy here.
So what price do you think you would pay for good SEO?

Fetus on Facebook. Great. Friend requests. Pah! :(

2007-08-16T15:06:00.000+01:00

A fetus is already on facebook. Strange but ok I get to see why the parents are doing it.

What I find weird are the friend requests on something thats not yet been born!

I'm on Facebook stalking yurz profile....

2007-08-15T18:23:00.000+01:00

I had to admit it never really dawned on me until yesterday that Facebook might be, just might be a risky place to post information for those who are into social engineering to commit id theft and fraud...

I came across this scenario whilst on site at a clients. We were in discussion and I mentioned Facebook and the up and coming importance of social media when a female member of staff walked by and piped up "I'm on Facebook!". Like it was the greatest claim ever...

I thought you don't know who I am, what I do or where I come from but you've possibly opened a pandora's box if I was some freaky stalker.

Inside 15 seconds without knowing her name I'd found out a lot... unfortunately her profile was wide open and I'd pretty much discovered enough to contemplate phoning her to see what other information she might give up (if I was an evil social engineer). I didn't of course but I did let her boss know she might want to restrict her profile to those who were not friends as there was enough there to do some damage.

Facebook then gave me a strange experience on the way home too... but thats another story I'll blog about when I'm ready... and its a pretty random one too!

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Running web marketing consultations around Bristol

2007-08-09T13:49:00.000+01:00

I'm keen to do business in my home town of Bristol. Search Engine Marketing consultations are proving to be highly popular with businesses in the city mostly because of a highly affordable rate AND clients can quickly see the benefits of my knowledge and experience that will enhance their business online.

So if you want search engine optimsation and you're in Bristol or the surrounding area why not give me a call on 01793 729326? I can guarantee my search marketing skill will make a direct positive impact on your corporate online presence.

Apologies for the somewhat "direct sell" - I've got a point to prove. If you want to know why, then email me to find out more! :)

Locking PPC down real tight

2007-08-08T15:32:00.000+01:00

I spent this morning with a client who had, without my knowledge, began to use Google Adwords to help increase traffic to their website. All fair with that I hear you say and I agree, but I received an urgent call for help as they had received lots of traffic and little in the way of enquiries.

Probably a common complaint amongst newbies on Adwords. Before I had even reached their office I had formulated in my head what exactly was wrong and what fixes would be needed to ensure they start getting "pre-qualified" traffic from the interweb.

The client complained that their budget had been wasted so they had turned off the Google PPC campaign to prevent wasted clicks. Which is a good sign that they understand the value and power of Adwords.

I asked the client if they had sat down and planned a formula to ensure their click throughs were as high as possible and that they had spent time reading up on Google Adwords information. Both answers were a resounding no and from looking at the adwords campaign set-up, I could tell they had not done much apart from stick in a list of keywords together with some poor ads.

So a few hours were spent re-adjusting keywords in each Ad campaign, adding negative keywords, switching off the ads in the Content network and really locking down the PPC campaign to ensure clickthroughs through to the site would be as relevant as possible. I even encouraged the website owner to create seperate landing pages and make use of Google Analytics with goals set in place to ensure they can measure the value of the campaign.

I also adjusted and reduced the amount invested on Google so they should immediately see a cost reduction in their monthly bill and an increase in visitors and enquiries generated by Adwords.

So if you're SEO'ing clients websites I would say it would be a good measure of your skills to enquire of the client if they are using PPC and ask to check each Adwords Ad group to ensure they are getting value for money, with clickthroughs leading to enquiries.

Hell I did and I get decent leads as I am on Google's first page for Pay Per Click Firm.

Cheap websites != make you money

2007-08-07T20:10:00.000+01:00

I get approached by a lot of people wanting a "cheap" website - say less than £500 - in the belief I can design, build, optimise and put it on number 1 spot on Google in less than a few days. Obviously for us in the industry we know this is not feasible unless its a shoddy job - something I just don't want to get involved in.

I found an example website from last year - a corporate venue that wanted a website. I was asked to quote and provided a somewhat detailed proposal breaking down services, costs and timeframe with an expected measurable value from having the site optimised and promoted on Google using Adwords.

Due to the size of the project I called on Sophie Wegat for her Web Design Services to help me out. I'd seen Sophie's previous work and even though she is based in Australia I felt she would be the perfect designer at the time.

Unfortunately the client chose to go with a local web designer and based on her comments I felt this would be an unfortunate way to go.

Turns out it was.

I spotted the website (I won't mention here so as not to embarrass anyone). From a laymans point of view they have just that a website.

From my professional point of view the website has been built entirely of images (including content text) so has major, major issues in the following area's:

Accessibility
Usability
Web Coding Standards
Optimisation

The thing that disappoints me is that the designer involved has given them what they want - a website.

What a professional (like myself) would have given would be something that brings in traffic, that ensures it works to convert visitors into leads, keeps the bounce rate down as low as humanly possible AND provides their business with a marketing tool that makes them money.

Some people though (even after my guidance and education) just don't get it, which is a shame as this client will have to be charged more to fix what they have rather than me (with Sophie's assistance) to have created a website for them in the first place (that is if they do come back, which I doubt).

;)

..Facebook is DOWN!

2007-07-31T18:44:00.001+01:00

Well it might as well be as they state they "upgrade" their website.

Sucks. C'mon I have a Facebook addiction here and its driving me nuts especially when I am on my own time now....

Why "FREE" works for you and not for me...

2007-07-31T07:34:00.000+01:00

In the space of 5 years I have found that the SEO industry seems to be different to a lot of other businesses and industries that are out there.

I'll give you an example.

I was asked recently to visit a prospective new client to discuss an internet marketing strategy with them. It was not a fact find nor was it for me to find out about their actual business, it was a call for me to go and specifically help them put together a strategy for them to achieve higher levels of traffic on their website.

Now in my book that's called consultancy and is a chargable service.

In the clients view they wanted me to "spill the beans" on SEO/SEM on a potentially false promise of doing further work for them down the line. They did not seem to understand that my time, knowledge and skill has a value and rejected my request that I would charge (at a competitive rate) whilst on site with them. The prospective client called off the meeting, which suited me anyway due to the current workload I am under.

Now this is where I find it strange. I know people are curious and want to know about SEO but I do not go out handing out my knowledge on a free dinner plate to just about everybody. You might, but I do not as historically it does not lead to work and people think because its "free" something is being held back.

The Internet is there for those who want to know about SEO for free, not me. Google does a great job and even I have page on how to get listed in Google's SERPS - so do me a favour and go look there.

And yet I thought if I wanted someone to carry out a building job for me I wouldn't have them over on the pretext of "finding out more about them" only for me to then drop it on them and ask "how to carry out the building work" in great detail over the course of at least a few hours. I'd just ask for previous examples of previous work, experience in the field (in years), costs, timeframe, brief plan of what they think they need to do to check their competence etc... and this would be just the same if I went to see a heart surgeon - I'd ask them what would be done (and, er, survival rates!), not exactly how in detail they would do it. And in both cases I would not expect a detailed answer from either the builder or the surgeon, I'd just let them get on with the job.

Thankfully someone at the end of last week called from London and did get it that I am entitled to fairly charge for my web marketing services and consultation time. For the price they will get me on-site for the day taking them through their website, page by page, in detail on what is required and the tools for them to use to help achieve higher rankings specifically on Google.

So free web marketing may work for you but it definitely does not for me and I intend to keep it that way and actually bring added value to a website.

Major UK Flooding leads to link love....

2007-07-24T18:32:00.000+01:00

John W, a reader of this blog sent me an updated photo of the flooding to his employers business:

In sympathy I've added a little link: Middletons Car Paint and Panels and then in horror recoiled at what I found.

Still John W certainly knows someone knowledged and experienced who can help (for a suitable fee). My phone's awaiting.... but I guess you might want to clear up after the flood first... ;)

A frightening and dismal prospect....

2007-07-24T08:09:00.000+01:00

I do not normally comment on events in the world outside SEO but a blog reader sent this photo in as the road where his office is gradually flooded (along with a large portion of the UK). All I can say John I hope you have put your armbands on!

Something so simple you'll overlook it....

2007-07-18T14:16:00.000+01:00

The "Add to Cart button" - probably not worth thinking about too much, you might think... but think again!

That button is your connection to between you, your user and the £££ (or $$$) rolling in. Get it wrong and your site's users will not touch it with a bargepole so it might be wise to take a look at a huge selection of Add to Cart buttons to help you get creative:

http://www.getelastic.com/add-to-cart-buttons/

The web is good for a lot of things not just selling!

2007-07-12T10:10:00.000+01:00

I saw this morning and in all our haste and rush to make a buck (or two) online its nice to see a virtual community do this much for one of their forum members... great looking car too!

Friends restore Lotus in secret for online community member

50 Web Mistakes

2007-07-11T11:32:00.002+01:00

If you don't know, you should!

50 Common Web Mistakes

Visitor Conversion rate = 100%

2007-07-11T09:03:00.000+01:00

I get a real sense of achievement and pride when visitor conversion rates hit the 100% mark.

In testing it only seems to happen with "difficult to find" products but when I see a client's ecommerce store sell 5 of the same products to 5 website visitors using the same keyword phrase on the same day AND see this consistently on other products he stocks I like to think I have had a hand in this level of success by identifying demand for the product and advising my client to stock this item to sell online...

Either way the client is extremely happy he's making even more online sales and I'm thrilled I have another form of success to add to my portfolio.

Probably easier to achieve in B2C than B2B and the keyword is somewhat "long tail" but still another set of impressive results I can notch on my SEO Post!

Blogging to a silent audience....

2007-07-09T14:05:00.000+01:00

I occasionally hear back from clients and friends in the real world that they enjoy reading this blog.

Thats nice to hear as there have been days I've thought that no-ones listening and contemplated cutting this blog off.

So a BIG thank you to Paul of Wisbech Motor Centre - specialist in used and nearly new ford cars Cambridgeshire, John and Phil plus the others of you who I know read this blog who are still waiting to tell me how much you enjoy it!

Always feel free to leave comments on this blog... I'm always up for a bit of flaming.

Daz

Could this changes the way links are?

2007-07-05T21:31:00.000+01:00

Found this on Fark, if they win its likely to have a huge impact across the web...

http://techdirt.com/articles/20070702/193143.shtml

Handbags at Dawn....

2007-07-04T14:53:00.000+01:00

I've just received a phone call from a very pleased client of mine that I have been working with recently to help increase the ranking of his handbag related website.

My client advised me:

"Our website did well with Google PPC though struggled to be listed in the organic rankings on Google's pages which was highly infuriating.

I was referred to you by a graphic designer friend of mine who said you were the man to talk to about website optimisation. Without your help, knowledge and experience I would not now be found on the 1st page of Google for the keyword phrase "Suzy Smith handbags".

I cannot thank you enough for your efforts, they have made a real and hugely positive impact upon my online business. I will be sure to recommend you to others whose websites are not found on Google."

So if you don't think thats a testimonial worth its weight, then I suggest you meet me at dawn for a handbag showdown!

Competing effectively in a highly competitive online enviroment

2007-07-03T11:33:00.000+01:00

All Things Web recently built and deployed a website for Cartridge Wizard - a printer ink cartridge supplier in the UK.

TO give you some idea of the competitiveness of printer inkjet cartridges (including toner) the top few performing websites for the term "inkjet cartridge"

Valueshop has 4670 links according to Yahoo and its link operator

Inkjet-cartridges.co.uk has 154000 links according to Yahoo

Refreshcartridges.co.uk has (surprisingly!) 555 links to it

Google reports back that for "inkjet cartridge" there are only 3 million or so results in it SERPS. Competitive but not out of reach...

The approach to increasing the ranking/traffic for this website on Google together with online sales will be (at its most basic level) the following processes:

Linkbuilding using backlink analysis of online competitors

Online press releases (usually based around environmental ink issues and/or the high price of printer cartridges)

Increasing the number of inkjet and laser toner products on the website on a regular basis

Assess ranking of the website and check that traffic to the website increases as well as look to increase the number of conversions of visitors to sales

Assess online competitors and their websites and features/prices offered

Adjust product content ensuring it is optimised as possible

Use Google Site maps to ensure all pages are indexed

Seting up a blog and consistently blogging on inkjet cartridges - perhaps a niche would be better here - maybe printer reviews or technical specifications being discussed.

The downside to this process is that a) it's going to take time and b) it's an especially competitive market with literally hundreds of suppliers online. Still there is no reason that Cartridge Wizard - UK inkjet cartridge retailers online cannot compete given enough time, investment and money.

Your web designer MUST know something about SEO!

2007-07-03T07:01:00.000+01:00

I have been overwhelmed recently with work which is great but some breathing space would be nice!

I intend to blog before 07:30am UK GMT from now on, in a timely disciplined manner, though this will not be on a daily basis as I attend breakfast meetings once or twice a week.

Ok where are we... ah yes, being overwhelmed with enquiries for work recently has lead me to realise there are a lot of web designers out there who do not seem to adhere to even the most basic of web design best practices.

I'm not that bothered if web designers continue to use tables in design layout though they really should be learning CSS layout for their own (future) benefit.

What really gets me are some of the following situations I have discovered:

A - now new - client rang in to advise that up until last year they had a website that did quite well on Google, enough for them to risk an improvement in the look and feel of the website. This was carried out in January 2007 and since then the site has crashed out of the search engines.

So I checked out the current site - full of dropdown menus and imagery on the home page with a pretty little flash animation taking up half the page "above the fold".

Pretty animation? Yes. Useless? Absolutely!

I checked out the old site on Wayback and immediately saw that even though the design was rather uninspired there was enough good HTML content and textbased links that the search engines had gotten their teeth into. The client admitted they could not understand why they had lost rankings and their "web designer" didn't understand either. Kind of left me stunned, I would expect a web designer to know even the very basics of SEO!

A second client also came to me saying she had paid a youngster to build her website for her and she was keen to get it on a search engine's results pages (SERPS).

Ok lets make this clear now for those of you reading, you do not put your business or marketing in the hands of a youngster so why give them your website to build? My clients answer was "down to price" - turns out the client is going to have to spend more for me to fix the web page problems. I had to explain I could not compete price wise with someone at school or college.

What I did offer the potential client was experience in SEO, knowledge of marketing and a PROVEN portfolio in generating success for website owners.

Checking out her site I again saw images being used in place of HTML TEXT... don't ask, I believed the site had been built this way to save the "designer" time.... or in my opinion showed a lack of experience and control over tables and cells in HTML. The content on the home page was not targeted and did not even feature a key phrase associated with her industry so this website would stand no chance of ranking.

So now I have to charge this lady's start up business far more to improve the HTML code as well as optimise the rest of the website content and links. You can imagine my new clients annoyance at having to invest more money and time in her website when she initially set out to save money.

So please if you are setting out on the path of becoming a web designer, at least go take a look at the basics of SEO if only to give your clients the best value possible.

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Still blogging just MEGA Busy so bear with me!

2007-06-18T20:05:00.000+01:00

Yup its been a week since I last blogged but thats only because I am the busiest I have ever been.

Once things settle down I'll be back to blogging every few days at least.

Thanks for your patience and support.

In the meantime if you wish to guest blog I would be delighted to have your thoughts here!

Thanks

Darren

Sometimes just some simple SEO fixes is all thats needed

2007-06-11T17:12:00.000+01:00

I got a great testimonial, last week and out of the blue, from Henry Thomas the owner of UK Office Furniture Supplier: Desking Seating Storage

He'd called me in to sort through some of the SEO aspects of his website and its great to quickly see a client notice significant improvements in traffic - in Henry's case, over double!

"DESKING SEATING & STORAGE LTD
13 SOUNDWELL ROAD, STAPLE HILL, BRISTOL, BS16 4QG

Testimonial
June 2007

To: Darren Moloney

At Desking Seating & Storage office Furniture we had been moderately happy with the feedback we were receiving from our web site, that is until we were introduced to All Things Web.

We could not help but be impressed by the deep knowledge and understanding of web site optimisation that they have, All Things Web arranged to have a consultation with our web coordinator which was followed up by an in-depth and objective report on suggested adjustments to be made which we have implemented.

We are now very pleased and have doubled the traffic visiting our site, so many thanks to All Things Web we highly recommend them, money well spent."

Cheers Henry, I'm delighted you have sent me this testimonial and that traffic and enquries have all increased.

Yeah lets close on Wednesdays! Screw the client!

2007-06-06T13:24:00.000+01:00

Its the 21st century and I trust your company is open for business 24/7 - unbelievably a local company we are dealing with for improvements to our home CLOSE on Wednesdays but what a surprise as their website quite clearly states:

Open Monday to Saturday 9.00am to 5.00pm

I received a phone message yesterday from said company advising a problem with my payment card so I rang today (as they are supposed to be fitting tomorrow) and got no answer after 4 or 5 phone calls... not even an answerphone, no forwarding to a mobile or voicemail...

I rang their headoffice - this local company is part of a franchisee business - and explained I could not get through. I have to admit the woman hid behind a "we're a franchise company so you'll have to take it up with them" attitude.

Once she understood I was trying to contact the local company to PAY THEM she changed her tune and offered to ring the shop and pass them a message to call me.

She returned my call about 20 minutes later to say that the store was closed on Wednesdays, I replied I was surprised to see a company closing mid week in the 21st century.

Again she got quite snotty saying this time of year is quiet for fireplace companies and people are entitled to close their shops... which I disagree with mid-week!

I am right now feeling like preventing the company from doing the work and requesting my deposit back. The building work done has begun to crack in one area and I am not confident we are being sold the right product. It certainly seems we have been provided the wrong advice too prior to purchasing.

I'm really hoping this company get their act together but I really feel they have let us down and will let us down even farther with a shoddy job....

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Off the peg SEO sir? Ooooh SUITS YOU Sir! Suits you!

2007-05-31T23:05:00.000+01:00

A good colleague of mine asked me today if I had considered an "off-the-peg suits all SEO package" to help him increase potential sales of SEO to his business clients especially with increased demand coming in for these services.

In essence it seems a good idea however in a FULLY professional SEO project I believe a more individually tailored approach to a client's specific needs:

the estimated number of searches on a given keyword phrase(s)
the types of keyword phrases being used
the clients online competitors
expected conversion rates and ROI

An off the peg/shelf SEO service just boiling down to being purely client budget driven - and a low one at that I guess isn't usually going to be a worthwhile project for both myself and more importantly the client.

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Chickety chicks... sassy seo chicks online!

2007-05-31T18:00:00.000+01:00

SEO Chicks is live and they've got positive attitude!

Check out SEO Chicks here

I'm thinking this should be a good one!

Daz

Calling all Facebook users!

2007-05-29T06:06:00.000+01:00

If anyone wants to see A LOT more about me then check out my facebook profile and see what I've been upto in my world....

Darren Moloney on Facebook

Philfing... I guess it's some new sexual technique

2007-05-28T18:16:00.000+01:00

No its not something sexual... philfing is a term to describe the art of a website owner deliberately hiding something a user might look for... i.e. "extra charges such as, delivery, creditcard surcharges and insurance. "

Philfing

Of particular note (to check your sites are not carrying out philfing) are the readers comments at the end of the article...

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Google Local just ain't getting it right...

2007-05-26T11:32:00.000+01:00

My company - All Things Web - is signed up for and listed on Google Local, which is great and has resulted in enquiries for work.... however I find it strange that Google elects to change the address from Blunsdon to Hannington (which is the next village on, about 3 miles away) when the keyword search term "Swindon Web Agency" is used...

After logging in to my Google Local Account (to check I was not at fault) I find the address is correctly listed as Blunsdon so why Google do you overrule my entry and show Hannington instead?

So the next step I figure is to check out Google Local help pages, nope, no answer there so I think I should be to contact someone at Google Local... and lo' and behold there are no email contact details, which I find infuriating.... if anyone has a contact at Google Local please ask them to get in touch...

Before anyone suggests I do not wish to use Google Help Groups... I want to contact Google Local directly, something EVERYONE expects to be able to do with any company in this day and age!

I'd also be interested to know if anyone else is experiencing the same incorrect address problem that I am or knows why this is happening and what can be done to fix it... thanks in advance

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Addicted to Facebook?

2007-05-22T19:32:00.000+01:00

I admit I've been a Facebook addict recently adding in photos to show off to my buddies online... its great but a distraction (its ok I can cope during working hours!)

What I would love would be stats on my profile views and which photos were proving to be popular with other Facebook users. So c'mon Facebook help feed my addiction!

Hiding behind the anonymity of the Web

2007-05-22T08:26:00.000+01:00

Imagine you meet someone at a show/seminar/conference who asks you for your contact details to email you their monthly newsletter.

Imagine you receive this email for about a year.

Imagine an invitation email comes in addressed to you personally asking if you might be interested in a small course on offer in a few weeks time. You decide you are up for it and register online through the emailer's website.

Imagine you complete the online form and 3 days later you still have had no response as to whether you are booked in on the 2 day course.

Imagine that you email the company involved and ask "Am I booked on the course?"

Imagine your buddy (who works weekends) has booked 3 days off from work to come along too.

Imagine you email the company again and ask for confirmation and wait another 3 days with still no response.

Then you decide to phone and suddenly realise there are no telephone numbers listed on the website or in any email communications to you.

Imagine you decide not to do business with this company due to no response and the only means of communication is via email only.

IMAGINE THAT IF YOU HAD A WEBSITE YOU WOULD ENSURE YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER IS ON AT LEAST ONE PAGE!

The Meme Buck Stops here!

2007-05-14T18:28:00.000+01:00

I got meme'd - a new term for me - by Barry Welford and noted his thoughts on whether he should pass the batons on. I was honoured to be mentioned in the same list as the great Bill Slawski (thanks Barry!) but I think I'll stop this meme but only 'cause the last mags I read must have been years ago on my paper round, hiding in the back of the shop ripping open the dirty adult mags with the other lads... praying we wouldn't get caught by the store owner. We never did get caught but I think he knew we were taking a peek... kids eh...

So my meme round is now for those retired paperboys (I'm not going to link to them as they'll be highly NSFW, for all I know they might not even exist anymore!):

Playboy
Readers Wives
Hustler
Club International
Men Only

Bear in mind I was only 15! ;)

Make YOUR MILLIONS here with Facebook!

2007-05-14T12:37:00.001+01:00

Got a Facebook account? Looking to make your millions from Facebook?

Yeah me too - so send me a friend request so we can virtually connect and lets start our global domination online together... mwahahaha... ah, ahem.... I digress...

Right, so everyone's raving about Facebook, I admit I like it from a social media aspect keeping up with friends (as long as they bother to keep it updated!) via their posts and photos.

Thing is I am keen to spot a potential market for increased sales from Facebook - either for my own SEO company or for my clients (I have a couple of clients in mind). I spent time over the weekend researching articles on the subject but there isn't too much yet(though believe me that will change!)but I was pleased to have found this earlier today (see dedication and persistence pays off!):

Sell yourself on Facebook!

Let me know what you think, it might work fine for retailers, I am not so sure for B2B companies though we can see....

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Why FREE directory only linkbuilding is just plain crap....

2007-05-14T10:23:00.000+01:00

About time someone wrote the truth about directories - the fact is they are barely used when compared to social media websites....

Nice to see its been written by Cornwall SEO - sounds like a good SEO seo chap in the South West UK. Nice to see there's SEO activity outside of London...

What really peeves me is that some directories are advising top rated organic rankings when all I can see is they are using Google Adwords to buy their way in.... and that plain sucks.

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