In our case there are only 2 of us ‘in the office’  although as you know we work with many other companies, but in the grand scheme of things we can discuss an idea and pretty much put it into practice the next day – complete flexibility!

As Barry mentioned in his comment, us Brits are known for being a bit ‘tight’ sometimes especially when it comes to paying for something that we can’t touch i.e. SEO or Internet marketing.  So we decided to change the way we work.  The upshot of this is we are keeping our customers longer, they are actually spending more money with us, they are definitely recommending our services more and they are enjoying the freedom of complete flexibility.   So what do we now offer:

• different types of packages for smaller businesses
• no annual contract unless specifically asked for
• flexibility to ‘dip in and out of our services’ whenever the customer wishes
• a transparent pricing policy – ongoing work is ‘by the hour’ rather than a contract figure per month

Obviously there are limitations to our flexibility and quite often there has to be a compromise e.g. if we recommend a project requires 16 hours per month for 3 months to achieve the customer’s requirements and they only want to spend 8 hours for 2 months the reality is this will have a direct impact on our ability to produce the desired results – as long as the customer is aware of these consequences then there is no problem.  The absolute key to our business is absolute transparancey and ultimately an amount of flexibility that will ensure the customer is happy with the level of service for the price they are paying.

And, when Barry asked if we ‘stick to our guns’ regarding not lowering our price just to get a sale – then answer is absolutely yes.  There is no point in making a sale if it is going to harm the profitability of your business.  Who wants to work for free unless you are a dedicated volunteer?

Many of my clients query why the search results that they see do not match the results that I am sending them data on or discussing with them on the phone.  It has been mooted for a long time now that the likes of the search giant Google and social media behemoth Facebook display different search results for different people based on the history, topic, frequency, location (and much more) of their search queries – basically these sites that have become part of our everyday online lives are now filtering the results that we see based on information that we are feeding them on a daily basis.

Catching up on some reading, I came across an article that explains this scenario, the current and future state of the Internet with regards to a’personalised Internet’ much better than I ever can … thought provoking stuff.

Should we be scared of the made-to-measure internet? http://bit.ly/lMsMoh

(c) 2011 Guardian Newspapers Limited.

It seemed impossible at first, as I wanted:

• Morning coffee with a view, perhaps a loch with majestic mountains in the background.
• Easy access by rail and bus for exploring mountains, glens, and the isles of Skye.
• Maybe a hike from the town centre to a superb view of the highest mountain in the British Isles, The Great Glen, and one of the most beautiful lochs in the Highlands.
• A museum complete with a Jacobite collection and other curious and fascinating finds.
• Access to hill walking, climbing, kayaking, downhill mountainbiking.
• A distillery nearby wouldn’t come amiss.
• Of course, shops, restaurants and pubs
• And, finally, dinner with a view

The solution? Fort William!
I can already hear you groaning and see your eyebrows lift. However, truly there is no better place to base yourself for an exploration of the Western Highlands. Yes, all right, it rains a little and Ben Nevis seems to be perpetually covered in cloud. In fact, it is believed by some that the word Nevis comes from the Gaelic word for heaven or clouds, so Ben Nevis could be thought of as ‘mountain with its head in the clouds’ or ‘cloudy mountain‘. Even hidden from view it exerts a powerful pull on the imagination.
The town centre is clustered around the High Street and Cameron Square, just south west of train and bus stations and easy to get to on foot. As part of the West Highland Line, the station sees six trains in each direction per day, being four standard trains, The Jacobite (an 84 mile round trip railway journey on the same steam train used in The Harry Potter films) and the Caledonian Sleeper. Of the standard First ScotRail trains, three a day run from Glasgow via Fort William and on to Mallaig, with one running just from Fort William to Mallaig, timed to connect with the Caledonian Sleeper. The Caledonian Sleeper, which starts and terminates at Fort William, arrives early-morning from London via Edinburgh and leaves early-evening along the same route. In addition Scottish Citylink buses link Fort William with Glasgow and Edinburgh via Glencoe and Crianlarich, as well as Oban, Inverness and Portree on the Isle of Skye.
Glen Nevis and Ben Nevis are three miles north. At the foot of Ben Nevis you will find one of the oldest (established in 1825) licensed distilleries in Scotland and a ‘free wee dram’ in the Visitor Centre. There is a 7 mile hike from the town centre to Cow Hill, the summit that blocks the view of Ben Nevis from Fort William, with superb views of The Great Glen, Loch Linnhe and, of course, Ben Nevis. You can also walk a shorter 3 miles from Fort William to the scenic Glen Nevis in an hour or so. Don’t forget to take a look at the historical finds in The West Highland Museum located on Cameron Square.
Whether or not you are planning an energetic hillwalking, mountain biking, kayaking holiday or merely want to soak up the beauty and history of the the Western Highlands or maybe just a convenient point to see Skye, Glencoe, Glen Nevis or Glenfinnan, Fort William truly is the perfect base. Oh, and remember when I mentioned ‘dinner with a view’? A cable car will take you to the top of Aonach Mor ski range where you can ride the mountain gondola and enjoy a meal in the Snowgoose Mountain Restaurant at 2150ft! Or if you are wanting to keep your feet on the ground, at the old Town Pier you will find the delightful Crannog Restaurant. For incredible food, ambience and a fantastic view or a cruise down Loch Linnhe in search of the family of porpoise who live there, salmon, common and grey seals or maybe even a golden eagle, don’t let yourself pass this by.

I have no doubt that many a poet’s heart forgot to beat while breathing in the poetic grandeur, a grandeur that is primarily the by-product of an eruption of a super volcano which occurred over 420 million years ago. However, you don’t need the sensibilities of a poet or an intellect of a scientist to appreciate Glen Coe.

It is undoubtedly the most famous glen in Scotland. The mountains are truly awe inspiring, from the Buachaille Etive Mor, to the rocky ridge of Aonach Eagach and the distinct array of peaks known as the Three Sisters of Glen Coe. The western end finishes with the conical, and appropriately named, Pap of Glencoe (Sgurr na Cliché), above Glencoe village, at the point where the glen opens out to Loch Leven.

The first view of Glen Coe for most people will be the majestic peak of Buachaille Etive Mor, The Great Herdsman of Etive from across the isolated splendour that is Rannoch Moor. The main route from the south is the A82. It rises to over 1,000 feet over the great wilderness of Rannoch before slowly descending through the glen itself past deep gorges and crashing waterfalls.

Just off the A82, a few miles east of Glen Coe proper, is the Glencoe Mountain Resort, also known as the White Corries, where commercial skiing in Scotland got its start back in 1956. The centre is open all year round providing biking, hiking, climbing and archery, as well as skiing, sledging and snowboarding in the winter. One of the best ways to view the stunning scenery of the glen is by taking the chairlift which is open 7 days a week, as is the base station. They also have fabulous mountain biking trails from low levels to hard core downhill tracks accessed via the chairlift.

Around Glencoe Lochan, near the village, there are several pleasant short walks. The artificial lochan was, in fact, created by Lord Strathcona in 1895 for his homesick Canadian wife Isabella and is surrounded by a North American-style forest. While the village itself is near the site of the massacre of the MacDonalds and Hendersons by the Campbells in 1692 and for that reason is a favourite among history buffs. Within the village you’ll find a small but very good museum and several eating establishments.

To learn more about the mountains and the natural history of Glen Coe and the events that led to the infamous massacre of 1692, not to mention the view from their spectacular viewing platform, I highly recommend a visit to the National Trust for Scotland Visitor Centre along the A82. You will also find an information centre with useful advice for climbers and walkers and a shop that will quickly make you rethink your holiday budget.

Why visit Glen Coe?

• For scenery that will make you stop and pinch yourself to ensure you are not dreaming.

• The opportunity to explore flora and fauna so incredible it will make you feel like a child again.

• From easy walks to mountain walks and mountain climbing, mountain biking and snow sports there are sports activities for all ages, all shapes and sizes and all levels. An excellent opportunity to blow the cobwebs out of a brain grown stagnant by routine.

• History that spans a time from pre-history to Celtic heroes and bards through Viking marauders and their ultimate defeat, and finally a family feud whose story is so tragic that Shakespeare himself could have penned it.

And why are we so interested in Glencoe?  Because the Crianlarich Hotel is the perfect base to explore the glen from of course!

You know when you first meet with someone and you explain that all you need is a steady flow of interesting articles or anecdotes or photos etc etc and they are all enthusiastic and raring to go…. well we all know that this flow soon stops and if you are like me you end up sending out emails pleading for content to work with.

Ok, so I don’t have all the answers but I have found a trick that works – simple, effective and helps the social media shy customer or the ‘but everything is boring here’ comments.  I ask the customer once a week minimum to send me an email as if they were writing to a friend and to include such content as:

• What happened last week
• Any great guests or customers
• Any strange requests from guests or customers
• If they are a restaurant what is their recipe of the week
• Anything funny happen with you or your staff
• Is anyone within your company doing anything exciting or for charity
• What is going on in your local area in the next week

The list could go and on, but as social media is heralded as the ‘friendly’ face of a business a chatty piece of content is great to work with – well that’s what I am finding anyway – for example Boath House – a luxury Scottish hotel.  Don Matheson one of the owners can wax lyrical in a fun way about the pitfalls and joys of running a hotel – if you would like to have a look then go to their Facebook page – oh and become a fan, as it all helps!  If anyone has any other suggestions I would be interested to hear them – always looking for help in this area!

What is Google AdWords?

Advertising through Google AdWords allows an immediate and targeted reach in relation to potential customers.  The ever changing applications within AdWords allow a more defined and effective campaign to be set up, run and adjusted in response to performance. Varying methods of campaign delivery and cost application ensure a totally flexible solution to paid advertising online.

How Can We Help?

Google AdWords is a powerful, cost effective way of promoting your business online – if planned and set up correctly.  Many people who contact us already have campaigns running and are looking to improve the ROI (return on investment) – we often review their campaigns and find that in a few simple steps we can save them a considerable money and ensure that their daily budget is spent wisely.

We have extensive knowledge and experience in setting up and running Google AdWords campaigns and can assist any business, in any market, with any budget.

We review/paln any campaign by:

• Fully reviewing campaign to date (in consultation with client regarding campaign goal specifics)
• Researching new keyphrases
• Creating new AdGroups more focused to the chosen phrases
• Re-grouping phrases
• Matching phrases correctly
• Reviewing daily budget and keyphrase CPC levels
• Creating multiple, effectively optimised AdText
• Reviewing delivery methods
• Scheduling campaign effectively
• Creating campaign reports to deliver as required
• Integrating campaign performance data with online marketing reporting

We can help you get more from Google AdWords | Contact Us Today

If you would like more information relating to this post please contact me or join me online: Twitter | Facebook

• What is it?
• How does it benefit my business?
• How do I get started?
• How long do I spend per day/week?
• … and many more

Social Media (should) mean different things to different businesses – what channels to use and when, how long to spend, what type of content to put out and how to get involved in online conversations with potential customers.

Most of the answers depend on specific online business goals and a social media strategy should be planned around these, planning is everything along with monitoring and measuring the success of your efforts.

There are many companies that can help you with this but ultimately it is time and budget which drives business marketing decisions.  Being as informed as possible is the key when considering such an essential part of a  businesses online marketing – and to muddy the waters further, the face of social media marketing is constantly changing.

It is a core part of our ethos when providing SEO services to Scottish businesses that we keep our clients informed of changes to this marketing ‘landscape’ and provide information, content and links to all the key resources that will help their online marketing decisions.

With this in mind Jennifer Laycock, editor of The Search Engine Guide has recently posted a great article::
Understanding the Three Primary Goals of Social Media (highly recommended reading)

If you would like more information relating to this post please contact me or join me online: Twitter | Facebook

When you make a search within Google you will note that more often than not the top results are related to ‘local business listing’ (including location maps).  We are regularly asked by our customers how to get their businesses listed in these results and what additional value it will have in relation to their sites’ SEO – the method of listing your business is easy (you just need a Google account) and the value in terms of SEO is huge and best of all … it’s free to list!

• How does it all work?
  
• How do I claim my listing?
  
• How do I make the most of it’s features?

Google have recently combined its Local Business Centre and Place Pages into one entity, and in addition added some new features.

In order help you get listed properly and make the most of the service, Google have recently published an in depth webinar explaining all. If you looking for more information or are new to the Google Business Centre/Google Places we highly recommend that you watch this, it really is a must see:

It is widely understood that your website should become the definitive online business/product range information repository and meet the requirements of all customers, markets and occasional site users.  The functionality should facilitate and enhance any online marketing activities e.g. links to business blog, social media pages/profiles and news/press article related pages.

A business blog is a key part of  any online marketing strategy and will create a point of connection with local and regional customers  – it is an essential ‘interest generator’, creating an online buzz about your business and introducing the news, new product information and offers to the target audience.

A business blog is an effective link generator – Google has recently adjusted its search engine results pages to include additional social media filters, allowing users to filter results by type such as blogs, news, video etc.  From this transition it is now widely recognised that Google index blog posts within a very short period of time – sometimes within hours! This change is extreme beneficial when considering SEO.

If you would like more information relating to this post please contact me or join me online: Twitter | Facebook

Further Reading:

Getting Your Blog Posts Right
Blog Post Checklist: 10 Questions to Ask before you publish

Has your telephone number or email address changed as your business has grown?  Perhaps you have moved premises?  What about all the extra services you now provide and those ones that you no longer find cost effective to offer anymore?

When we first work with customers, especially accommodation providers, we urge that they search the net for all references to them and their business.  It is quite frightening to see what comes up sometimes i.e. room rates set at £25 when actually the price is now £50.  So now begins the work of tidying up and updating and in future keeping on top of it.

All a bit daunting and time consuming.  Well obviously you know that we can do it for you don’t you?  Whether it is you or us who carries out this work a good place to start is to have all your information in one place so you can copy and paste where required:

1. Business Name
2. Contact Name
3. Telephone Number
4. Email Address
5. Website Address
6. Services Provided
7. 10 / 50 / 100 / 500 word descriptions about your business

Once you have these in place then it is just a matter of trawling through every mention of you and your business, oh and a quick tip… don’t send every business listing or web link to your home page – send them to the most relevant page on your website for that particular directory or listing.  Another tip, make your first stop the Google Business Centre – absolutely imperative that this is completely up to date.