Posts Tagged ‘SEO’

Blogging – a key part of any online marketing strategy

Client News, SEO Scotland | Posted by Gavin
Jun 21 2010

The Importance of Your Business Blog

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

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Your details online – are they correct?

Business News, Client News | Posted by Katie
Jun 07 2010

So here is the scenario…. many moons ago when you first set up in business you took hours putting your contact information ‘out there’ on various directories, some free – some paid.  That’s it then, all done?  Well no…..

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.

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5 Tips to Get Your Google Local Listing to the Top!

Client News, SEO Scotland | Posted by Gavin
Jun 01 2010

With all the search options within the Google portfolio, it is essential that businesses utilise the Google local listings.  Local & business listings are appearing more and more in the Google’s SERP’s in relation to geographical, regional and town/city related searches and users are becoming more and more used to seeing these listings and accepting them as highly relative to their specific searches.

With Google Local listings taking the top spot in most searches, it’s critical that you claim a listing for your business. Once done it is essential that your listing is set up correctly – below we have included some guidelines to help you:

  • Claim and update your listing (and only one listing) – make sure the description is as relevant and keyword rich, in relation to your products and services, as possible. Select the correct business category and make sure you use all contact numbers complete with area codes. Include any additional content in line with other web listings to ensure continuity.
  • Upload images and videos – ensure that you have logos and images of any products in relation to your business type.  Place description tags for each but don’t overdo it and avoid ‘spammy’ labels
  • Cultivate Reviews – this is good for user recommendation – other will be more likely to buy from a previously used and endorsed source, this is your opportunity to get business via online ‘word of mouth’. Encourage your client base to use your business listing as a point to leave reviews and refer to them in additional listings and blog posts
  • “More about this place†– This section is a listing of mentions on the web that Google consider to be relevant and authoritive. It will usually list key listings, blog entries and social media profiles.  This provides the user with a point of reference to find additional information about your business.
  • User Content – this section lists additional user generated resources & mentions of your website and will list mainly sites that allow users to tag and mention additional sources such as Flickr, Google maps and Wikipedia

The Google Local listings are a very powerful (free) resource available via your Google account and we cannot stress enough the value of getting this right.  So, make time to ensure your listing is as good as it can be – and if you don’t have the time, we are happy to help you or do it for you – contact us now.

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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%

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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

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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

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