Posts Tagged ‘SEO in Scotland’

Communication is the key – how to go on holiday when self employed

Business News | Posted by Katie
Nov 28 2011

We’ve just been on our first ever two week holiday and we closed the business during that time!  I know, it sounds crazy yes?

Don’t get me wrong, we have come back to overflowing in-boxes and more than one telephone message, but the to do list makes it all manageable but what I am really blogging about is that how just a little bit of communication really has made all the difference to our state of mind and our customer’s expectations.

Everyone needs a holiday, if you are to work effectively with renewed vigor it really is worth recharging those batteries, but as I have blogged before, being self employed doesn’t lend itself to holidays, especially not when you work with your other half!

So what did we do differently this time that enabled us to get away for such a long time?  We let our customers know when we would be away and what to do in an emergency – not that Internet marketing or SEO is ever life or death you understand!  How did we do this…. well I used Mailchimp to set up an above board, fully legal mail out to our address list.  I then added in subsections to our database and emailed out specific information to specific groups of customers informing them of what to do and who to contact if their website went down or their email stopped working.

And do you know what – no one had an emergency after all and by letting everyone know that we were out of the country and that we weren’t turning our mobiles on they didn’t get in touch even though they knew we were away.  Having had time off in the past when people still thought it acceptable to ring at 10pm on a Sunday night, these two weeks have been a revelation.

Having taken the time to work with Mailchimp and find out all the wonderful things it can do, we are going to be offering newsletter set up and management out to customers so do let us know if you are interested and when we are ready to offer a package we will be in touch.

So, now we are back from our travels (NYC and a wee cruise on the QM2) we are raring to go, fully recharged and extremely happy with our self serving customers ;-)

 

Popularity: 4% [?]

Tags: , , ,
No Comments »

Personalised Internet, or just letting us see what ‘they’ want us to see?

Business News, Client News, SEO Scotland, Technology | Posted by Gavin
Jun 20 2011

During the course of my daily SEO work I spend a lot of time analysing organic search results, links, search engine results page (SERP’s) extensions etc.  As many people know search engines (Google for example) now display many different types of results within the SERP’s e.g. map/business results, products, images etc. along with paid ads and indented site links – all is getting rather complicated to explain to clients and armchair ‘quizzers’ alike!

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.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

Get More From Your Google AdWords Campaign

Business News, Client News, SEO Scotland | Posted by Gavin
Jul 22 2010

We are contacted regularly by businesses who are running, or are planning to run Google AdWords campaigns.

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

Popularity: 12% [?]

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

Hotels & Accommodation Providers | tracking the return on marketing spend

Business News, Client News, SEO Scotland | Posted by Gavin
Apr 14 2010

Part 1

The Early Years – offline marketing

Tracking the return on marketing spend

Tracking the return on marketing spend

Before I started my own SEO & Internet marketing company I worked in the hotel business for over 20 years and latterly up until 2003 in the marketing of hotels.  One of my tasks was to source associations, organisations and companies such as Visit Scotland, the AA, Best Loved Hotels – that would work to raise the profile of the hotel whilst generating enquiries that would create bookings.

In order to merit the annual fees these sources had to generate business and it was a difficult task ensuring that each enquiry/booking could be attributed to a referring source. The correct processes and procedures had to be in place in order to ensure that all enquiries were sourced correctly – and human error played it’s part to muddy the waters!

In the early years most of the associative marketing activities were done offline but as time has gone on this has changed and online marketing has become the key business driver of any hotel or accommodation provider – gone too are the days of large budgets available to hotels in an ever more competitive market.

Online Marketing – taking control

online marketing - hotels and accommodation providers

online marketing - hotels and accommodation providers

Most (if not all!) hotels and accommodation providers have websites and many have taken control of their own online marketing.  Arguably cheaper and more effective than offline (traditional marketing) many have sought the help of companies like ours who understand their industry and can provide effective SEO (search engine optimisation) in order to achieve good search engine rankings and stay competitive within their market sector.

Whatever the activity, whoever provides the service and whoever your business is listed with online – all must be able to be measured in terms of what business through enquiries and bookings is being generated.

Many of the services purchased in the pursuit of effective online marketing are ‘untried’, you will have only heard about their ability and effectiveness to generate business – whether through recommendation or word of mouth.

Measuring Online Success – ROI (return on investment)

You must be in a position whereby you can make an informed decision as to the ongoing validity of continuing to use a particular online marketing service and for this you must be able to measure its success – each must pay its way!

If I pay company £X /year to be listed on company Y’s website and it generates £Z in business, my ROI is ABC%

————————————–

In part 2 | How to – measure your online marketing efforts

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

Popularity: 17% [?]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

New Google Ad Innovations – PPC with a twist

Business News, Client News, SEO Scotland, Technology | Posted by Gavin
Apr 01 2010
Google Ad Innovations

Google Ad Innovations

Google are currently testing a new type of paid advertising, specifically geared towards e-commerce websites.  Much the same as traditional AdWords, the new innovation will incorporate a CPA (cost per action), whereby the advertiser only pays for the ‘click’ when the user click on the ad and completes a purchase on the website.

This new type of PPC, called Google Ad Innovations, integrates with the Google Merchant Centre account and is still only in early Beta testing – only a few advertisers have been given access to it’s developing functionality, but more will follow over time until it is rolled out within the Google service portfolio.

This could be major development in how many and how often e-commerce businesses utilise Google products for selling products online.

More information at http://bit.ly/dbJ4cc | More about SEO and Internet Market at www.aviemorebusiness.co.uk

Popularity: 9% [?]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »