Copyright © 2010 I-COM International 2010-03-22T12:09:21+0000 2010-03-22T12:09:21+0000 http://www.i-com.net/blog/ Leading Manchester SEO, SEM and web design agency blog. http://www.i-com.net/blog/ http://i-com.net/images/icom-net.gif http://www.i-com.net/blog/ Leading Manchester SEO, SEM and web design agency blog. I-COM International blogmaster at i-com dot net I-COM International I-COM International en SEO, SEM, Web Design, Web Development 1440 http://www.i-com.net/blog/what-is-success-325/ Whilst catching up on my reading on the weekend I came across a Poem that sums up perfectly my thoughts on what success is all about so I thought I'd share it with you!What Is Success?Its doing your work the best you can,And being just to your fellow man;Its making money, but holding friends,And staying true to your aims and ends;Its figuring how and learning why,And looking forward and thinking high,And dreaming a little and doing much;Its keeping always in closest touchWith what is finest in word and deed;Its being thorough, yet making speed;Its daring blithely the field of chanceWhile making labor a brave romance.Its going onward despite defeat,And fighting staunchly, but keeping sweet;Its being clean and its fighting fair;Its laughing lightly at Dame Despair;Its looking up to the stars above.And drinking deeply of life and love;Its struggling on with the will to win,But taking loss with a cheerful grin;Its sharing sorrow, and work, and mirth,And making better this good old earth;Its serving, striving, through strain and stress;Its doing your noblestthats success!-Author UnknownHere is to your continued success... I-COM News 2010-03-22 08:27:55 http://www.i-com.net/blog/what-is-success-325/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/google-social-search-324/ Late last year, the boffins at Google churned out another interesting little addition called Social Search. The idea of Social Search is that you sign into your Google profile and then input a search query in the form of a question and get an answer/response from your friends or personal social networks such as Twitter, Gmail, Flickr and FriendFeed. These results are then incorporated into the natural search results similar to how images, maps and video are currently included. This is Googles attempt to build upon sites like Yahoo Answers & Aardvark (now owned by Google) and assign more relevance to social media content than just from the webs larger network of websites . SEO Tips for Social Search Results John Greer of Search Engine Watch claims there are certain tips for SEOers to make the most of the addition of Google Social Search. The first is obvious to some but clearly not to others as many businesses still havent invested time in setting up a Twitter account and populating it with news and updates relevant to their industry or services. The more updates and relevant keywords included, the more likely that users searching for related terms will come across your Twitter feed, leading them to your website. However do not see it as an outlet to sell sell sell. See it as a way of building up a following by potential customers or clients for your up-to-date information and news which could then lead to capturing some new customers at different points in the buying cycle. Other social profiles need to be kept highly up to date and gain as many subscribers as possible. The more these profiles are being visited, the more Google will consider what they are talking about to be worth linking to or showing in the social search results. Facebook, LinkedIn and the notoriously flawed Google Buzz are all worth keeping updated. With the inclusion of Gmail and soon to be other email accounts, it's worth thinking about optimising your newsletters in emails. These can be posted online or found by Google Desktop Search, so ensuring newsletters arent made up of one or two large images and contain relevant targeted text could provide benefits. Potential Downside With Googles new Caffeine update to be released shortly, constant tweaks to the Google algorithm and additions like Google Social Search the foundations of SEO are fundamentally unstable. Constant and often sudden changes in trends and practices can destabilise months of work by SEO firms. Results are no longer determined by SEO consultants' attempts at optimization along with web designers' work on making sites SEO-friendly. It may become a more democratic way of searching where our friends and colleagues preferences and online activity determine our online behaviour. Personalised Search Engine Google has a history of changing the set of laws that govern its results yet with this natural progression to include personalised social results Google is clearly developing the concept of a 2search engine'. After all, Googles search engine was born on the web and is by its nature and purpose personalised. Personalisation is not just a trend online but more of a culture that constantly evolves to relate more to each individual user. Google being one of the most innovative and pioneering companies on the planet, it is determined to keep up with and include personalisation in its products. This evolution by Google may make SEO harder to implement but its a concept that I for one encourage. Search Engine Optimisation 2010-03-18 08:35:21 http://www.i-com.net/blog/google-social-search-324/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/why-should-i-bother-adding-more-content-to-my-site-323/ So you've got a page on your website about the history of your company, you've got a couple of pages describing your services and a page with contact details, that's it, right, you don't need any other content; you can sit back, relax, smoke a pipe and have a G&T? Actually, that's wrong. In the vast majority of cases, there is always more content which can be added to your website, and the benefits far outweigh the effort required to get it up there in the first place:Better User Experience First and foremost, the more content you have on your site the more specific it will be. If you are a solicitor and you populate your site with general information about claiming compensation for 'personal injuries', your clients will be left wondering if they can claim for their specific injury. It is much better therefore, to have a page which is specific to each injury, for instance head injuries, injuries during birth, accidents at work, road traffic accidents and so on. By reassuring your potential clients that they can claim for their specific injury, you are far more likely to convert a site visitor into a paying client. It is also worth remembering that information on your site needs to be broken down into manageable chunks. There's no point having all the above information on your site if it's all condensed onto one page - since when has a huge, unbroken block of text looked appealing to a reader? Break the information into sub-pages, making it easier to digest. Breaking information down into sub-pages also allows you to:Target More Keywords The more content and sub-pages you have on your site, the more keywords you can target, and thus the more customer searches you will appear for in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Treat every page like a landing page; find out what keywords are specific to the content of that page (for instance, keywords for a page about claiming compensation for an accident at work would be something like 'accident at work solicitor', 'accident at work compensation claim', etc.), and insert a call to action, and your company's expertise and contact details will be accessible to thousands more potential clients, hopefully leading to more business.Appear Knowledgeable The more information you have on your website, the more knowledgeable you appear, and thus the more likely a potential customer is to trust your business. Think about including helpful content alongside your generic sales pages, such as FAQ's, articles and blog posts about your industry.Generate More Links Including useful, helpful and engaging content on your website means you are far more likely to inspire other internet users to link to your business. If a page is particularly authoritative or covers a niche topic in a fresh and interesting manner, you may find that your website will be shared and linked to by social media users. And of course, links are still the life blood of the internet.Convinced? You should be. Adding more content to your website builds trust in your brand, helps your site to rank well in SERPs for a wide range of keywords specific to your industry, improves user-experience and, ultimately, has the potential to grow your business and brand online through the generation of high quality links. And, at the end of the day, you could have the best looking website in the world, but if your content is poorly spelt and rambles incoherently without telling the customer what they want to know, you don't stand a chance. Copywriting 2010-03-16 14:36:47 http://www.i-com.net/blog/why-should-i-bother-adding-more-content-to-my-site-323/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/how-to-feature-your-company-on-google-maps-321/ As more mobile-devices connect to the internet and GPS becomes ubiquitous, delivering search results specific to your location is the next logical step for search engines. Personalisation of search is an obvious way to provide results that are more relevant to each individual customer's needs. Google knows where a user's computer is from, IP information, details you have provided about your user account, as well as data from previous searches from your computer or device. As search becomes more personalised, it makes sense to locate your business geographically and Google has provided a useful interface - albeit with a few quirks - to make this process relatively painless and ensure that company owners have control of the information which is presented about them on Google Maps. Claiming a Listing With Google Local Business Centre Visit http://www.google.com/lbc and login using a Google account. Click "+ Add new listing" Add details - Be sure to add as much detail as possible. The following fields need special attention: Company Name - this should be the registered company name. While it is tempting to sneak in a few keywords, if a competitor complains, you could have your listing reviewed. Only write in here your company name as it appears with Companies House. Telephone Number - the main number should be a geographically located number. Non-geographic numbers (mobile, 0800, 0845, 0870) cannot be used for verification. Put any other contacts in the "additional telephone numbers" box. Categories - You have to select at least one category that fits your business, these are generally quite poor and have an American slant. For example, all legal options refer to Attorneys. Use one official Google category, more if you can, but fill in the rest of the options with categories of your own creation that explain your business processes. Claim your listing - There may be another company with similar details or someone else at your company might have claimed the listing previously. Elect to claim the existing listing or create a new one. Both will require further verification. Further details - Fill this in as thoroughly as possible. Add at least one image. Company logos are ideal, as well as photographs of the premises or from the premises representing the company. Also upload any video you have regarding your company. YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the UK and as it is owned by Google this is a great opportunity to connect your company with any video which is already online. Validate your listing - The telephone call is instant once you have clicked the button and is an automated service. Only use this method if you have agreed it with the person who answers the phone. I recommend postcard verification. Why You Should Verify Your Company Listing Once verified you'll be able to see some more information about your site: Number of times your site appears on Google Maps (known as impressions as it is in Adwords) Clicks coming through from Maps and local search. How complete your profile is and if there are any details missing. Special notices - time limited text notices about your company Keywords / top search queries Google Local Business Advanced Features Verifying accounts is a sensible way to make sure you retain control of your business (or the business you represent) but it can be a real pain. Getting staff to accept postcards and return the information on them has been going on for about three months with one of my clients so far and their six locations are still not fully registered. If your company is large enough to have ten or more outlets you can create a bulk locations file and upload it. It can take a while to go live but it is a quicker method in the end for companies with multiple locations. Search Engine Optimisation 2010-03-11 08:37:24 http://www.i-com.net/blog/how-to-feature-your-company-on-google-maps-321/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/3-steps-to-great-pay-per-click-ad-text-320/ With Google Adwords cost per click (CPC) increasing across the board, many advertisers are now placing their adverts in lower positions to reach their targeted ROI. This means that having the right ad text is key as advertisers cannot afford to either lose out on missed clicks which could have generated a sale or waste advertising spend on unsuitable visitors. The basics to good ad text are simple but all too often many advertisers get this aspect of their PPC campaigns wrong and miss out on the all important click. You can ensure you target your ad text correctly by following a very simple proces. Writing good ad text in 3 easy steps Keyword research All good ad text should focus on the most important keywords in your AdGroup. These keywords will either be the main drivers of traffic or will be the keywords that generate the most conversions or revenue. Product Research. Understanding your market and competition is key to writing adverts that target your audience and stand out. When reviewing your market to write ad text you should consider the following factors: Who is your audience? Are you targeting the quick sale with a low-value product or is yours an expensive luxury product with a long buying cycle? For example if you sell Office Chairs your target market may be price conscious small business owners. You will want price-focused, call-to-action-heavy ad text. If, however, you are targeting luxury products such as high end kitchens, a single sentence over both description lines (like in the example) may convey your advertising message more effectively. What do competitors' ads look like? Are other advertisers pushing prices or are they all focusing on free delivery? Even if you offer the same services as other companies it may not be worth mentioning them if all your competitors are doing the same thing. Making your advert standout is key to generating a good click-through rate. When looking at the search result for "office chairs" we can see that although many advertisers are offering discounts, none are pushing prices in their adverts. In this example, mentioning the price of your lowed-priced chair item in your ad text may bring better click-through rates than your competitors' ads. Where does your product sit in the market? Is it a luxury product? Is it a similar offering to your competitors? Is it the cheapest? Understanding these factors are vital when deciding on whether you can use your product's price as its USP. For example, if your product is the most expensive when compared to competitors' products then price is not a USP. Although price is a motivating factor, if your price is not the lowest and your markdown does not provide the greatest financial value, then opting to promote your product's USP may provide a better CTR. Writing your ad text. By this point you should have a good understanding of your product, market, competitors and what keywords are important in your campaign. With this information you are finally ready to write your ad text. Every ad text has 3 main components: Keywords: In point 1 we researched which keywords were driving traffic or sales. With that knowledge in mind, with few exceptions I would place that top keyword in the headline and first description line of the ad text. USP: In step 2 we sought to understand the market and where your product sits in that market. The main USP is often the price and if it is you should seek to place it in both the headline and in one of the description lines. If your product's price is not the most competitive, try to find another USP such as free delivery or product features. Remember to check if the product or service features you are emphasising are not in the ad text of your competitors; for example if every advertiser mentions free delivery in their ads, it may be of little benefit to include it in your ad text as well. CTA (Call to Action): An important part of any ad text is to give a reason to click the advert. Many advertising platforms ban the use of terms such as click here, but that does leave room for the use of other strong calls to action. If you have a few characters left at the end of your ad text include a CTA such as Buy Today or Buy Now. If you have more room, phrases such as Order Today and Get Free Delivery can often prove a strong call to action. All 3 ingredients have been used to create the Office Chair example advert below: Although there are many other factors to consider when writing good ad text, the above steps are the very basic ingredients for any ad text your write and are key to obtaining that all-important click. Search Engine Marketing 2010-03-09 15:09:01 http://www.i-com.net/blog/3-steps-to-great-pay-per-click-ad-text-320/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/rumours-of-the-death-of-google-have-been-greatly-exaggerated-319/ Last night's talk at MMU by James Hanson of MediaVest raised a number of interesting questions. Using IBM and Yahoo as examples of once all-powerful corporations who now have a vastly reduced market share, he presented a list of possible scenarios that might bring about the demise of the world's favourite search engine.Political Opposition kills Google China has already shut Google out but this will not kill them. Although China is widely regarded as next world superpower and Google has given up on them, they have not really dented the Google Empire. EU lawsuits over content hosting in Italy and France's ongoing struggle with Google Books show that there is not much political love from our continent either. However, this is still a long way from effectively killing Google. Services may be withdrawn but this will not affect the userbase.Social Media kills Google Twitter has real time search; Facebook has several million users. However, in my opinion both are limited in scope and Twitter is limited by the quality of its content. While they both have an enormous user-base, you only have to look at Friends Reunited, Friendster and Myspace to see how fickle the social media scene is. I would be surprised if Twitter and Facebook are notable platforms in 2 years time.Large Technology Firms kill Google Microsoft is still a massive power and a company with diverse interests but they seen to have come to a grudging acceptance of Google. This might change with the launch of Chrome OS although Chrome OS has more in common with Linux than Windows so Microsoft may not feel that it is a true challenger. Apple now occupies the helm of mobile internet devices and blocking Google's access to the iPhone could affect Google eventually. I consider this unlikely because although the companies have an uneasy relationship, Apple does not seem so blinkered as to shut off such an integral part of the Internet.Google kills Google Google currently has over 200 products online and has declared that they will buy at least one company per month throughout 2010. This suggests that they could spread themselves too thin. However, Google do not have a history of flogging dead horses. If a product is failing, they are unsentimental about resigning it, for example Google Answers. Google could alternatively make a massive misstep and launch a product that people hate. Buzz is an example of such a product. However, Google was quick to react and resolve the privacy issues. Also at this stage, Google do not seem out of touch with the products they are launching; compare any recent Google offering with Microsoft Songsmith. There is always the possibility that a new killer app will arrive and will cut out the need for Google Search and so undercut Google's largest revenue stream. However, with other offerings such as Google Apps, the corporation would still be able to operate without search. Additionally, Google would surely spot any killer search app and buy the company at an early stage. Conclusions After the presentation, Hanson took questions from the audience and revealed that he personally expected Google to be in an even stronger position in 10 years time. Sadly, although the talk presented a controversial title it was unable to provide any controversial opinions. I look forward to re-reading it with 2020 vision. Internet 2010-03-05 14:30:18 http://www.i-com.net/blog/rumours-of-the-death-of-google-have-been-greatly-exaggerated-319/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/first-impressions-what-is-your-website-saying-about-your-business-318/ I get to speak with a lot of people that are less than happy with their websites. Most people's stories go something like we've had a new website developed but it's still not working properly. It's not generating any more sales or enquiries than it was before. Can you tell us why?" At the risk of sounding flippant, the simple answer is that something has either not been done or has been done incorrectly. But what is it exactly? What could be causing so many websites to underperform? To understand this we first need to identify what it is that a website needs to achieve in order to perform and generate results.Essentially, a site needs to: receive good levels of relevant traffic engage visitors convert visitors into customers Addressing these elements effectively is critical for a website to be successful. Failure in any one of these areas and the sites performance will suffer - which in turn will hit the company's bottom line. Points i) and iii) I shall be looking at in later posts but today I'm going to concentrate on engaging visitors - and in particular first impressions. Converting Visitors into CustomersIf, when assessing your analytics, you see results showing high bounce rates, or low site page visits, or low time on site, then there is an issue around visitors leaving the site far too quickly. They are not engaging with the site for some reason. Identifying what the issue is can be pretty straightforward. But identifying why this is the case is what we're after. In our experience, there can be a whole number of reasons why visitors are leaving websites quickly - they might feel they are in the wrong place, they might not be sure about how to use the website - in many cases it can be simply that they do not like the look of the site. On this last point, we are all told we shouldnt judge a book by its cover and that first impressions often lie, etc., but I'm afraid I do it and I would guess that you might do it too. Many of us tend to make judgements very quickly based on the feeling we get from the overall look-and-feel of a website. Some call it the 3 second rule, others the 2 second rule, or even the 1 second rule. However many seconds it actually takes, one thing's for sure - it's not very long. In times when internet users are becoming increasingly demanding and impatient, a website has precious little time to communicate to the user. And rightly or wrongly, we all make up our minds almost immediately based upon how well the site communicates to us. Am I in the right place? Does this feel like a company I can trust to do business with? These questions are being asked by visitors landing on your site and as visual communication is the most immediate, the site's look-and-feel, it's visual message needs to be absolutely spot on.  Everything a company says or does communicates something about the quality or the values of that business, right from how the phone is answered through to the quality of company documents. All these go into making up the public image of the company. Potential customers are influenced either positively or negatively every time they come into contact with a company and will make their decisions based upon these experiences. A company's website is a crucial part of this and considering its importance in generating revenues, why then do so many companies put such little effort in getting it right? Yes, generating high levels of traffic to your site is very important, but if, on arrival, visitors are presented with a website that looks tired and out-of-date then they might well feel that, like the site, the company too is tired and out-of-date. They might question whether or not they want to do business with this the type of company. You may well have the best range of products on the web at the very best prices but present your visitors with a poorly designed site and you might put them off before they even get through the front door.  Time and effort needs to be put into making your online image communicate exactly what your company is about. Simply throwing up a website with little or no thought to the message that is being communicated can often be the difference between online success or failure.First impressions may often lie - make sure yours doesn't. Web Design 2010-03-02 09:34:33 http://www.i-com.net/blog/first-impressions-what-is-your-website-saying-about-your-business-318/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/5-reasons-blogging-is-good-for-you-and-your-business-317/ I recently advised a friend of mine to add a blog to his company's new website and, whilst it set back the go live date by a few weeks as the developer desperately tried to incorporate a blog into a vastly intricate Flash site (don't ask), I believe it will be worth it. As Social Media becomes more and more important to both SEO and the user experience, companies must ensure that their sites are in some way interactive. A website filled with dry, static content that never changes is little more than a glorified online brochure that's potentially years out of date - a website should offer users a much more interactive experience, and the easiest way to do this is through use of a blog. Blogging is good for your business because: It ensures your company website is regularly updated with fresh and interesting content about your specific niche. Blog content can be anything from company news to instructional videos, it doesn't have to be pure text; It's an opportunity to make a connection with potential customers, to showcase the personalities lurking behind that corporate facade; It gives you the chance to impart genuinely useful advice about your business or products, making you appear magnanimous and, if your advice is good enough, has the potential to make your website a destination for web users interested in your particular trade or niche; Blogs are a great way of increasing traffic to your website; if a particularly funny or interesting article proves popular, some of the visitors it gets are bound to turn into paying customers; And blogging is good for you because: It ensures you stay engaged with your niche - it forces you to stay at the forefront of your industry. If you're always on the look out for a great topic for your blog, then you're going to be trawling the latest news stories, changes in law and business legislation that may affect your business or your customers. The more authoritative your knowledge of your industry, the more likely you are to impress prospective customers. But Remember If you're going to make the most of your company blog, you must update it regularly. An infrequently updated blog can be damaging to your business, making you appear lazy, disengaged with your customers and your industry as a whole. Here are some examples of well maintained company blogs: SEOmoz, Pannone's Personal Injury Blog. Copywriting 2010-03-01 15:24:28 http://www.i-com.net/blog/5-reasons-blogging-is-good-for-you-and-your-business-317/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/why-is-website-usability-so-important-316/ So you've built your website, given it a fancy logo, maybe even written some content that will have Google hanging on your every keyword. Perhaps there is a Google analytics code uploaded in the HTML code so you can have a look at the performance of the website? You are on your way to getting 'Website Of The Year' right? Hold your horses... as my dad used to say.Having a fancy website with bells on could be the worst thing you could do if the website's usability is compromised. This is even more important for an ecommerce website that's main goal should be making the process as easy as possible for a customer, and if they aren't finding the navigation easy then they may just bounce off the site to a competitor.'Website usability is defined, making web sites easy to use for an end-user.' Let's look at some things we must remember when it comes to a user's experience:1) Where have you gone wrong?If you have built the web pages without a thought of what you are aiming to achieve from the website then this can be where you have gone wrong. Think about what you are trying to do; maybe it is to offer your services to customers, or give information to people? It is also a good idea to put yourself in the users' shoes! What are they looking for and where would they navigate to? You might be surprised what you find out.2) Draft up a simple navigation systemAsk yourself these three questions: Where am I?  Where have I been?  Where can I go? Then you will be ready to design your navigation system as if you are a user visiting the website for the first time. Go through the whole website from top level, and right through to the pages deep in the navigation. Think about how you will make these pages available to a user and a search engine.3) Brand ConsistencyA strong brand image throughout the website can show visitors that your website is a professional and high quality website. However, this can work both ways, and with inconsistent colours, typefaces, and page layout then a user can become disillusioned by the website and leave very quickly.4) Text linksAs an SEO consultant I know how important internal links are throughout a website, and using keywords as anchor text for your internal links is a good way to promote a page in major search engines. In terms of navigation and usability this is just as important. It helps a user to find his way through the website.5) SitemapLarge websites should always have a sitemap. The sitemap should contain a text link to every page on the website so that it can be accessed easily by search engines and people. If you have analytics running on your website then you can see how many people have visited the sitemap page to find their way around your website. This isn't a good sign, as people are finding it difficult to find the information naturally. Therefore revisit step 1.6) Homepage Logo, Search Box and Contact DetailsSite logos are great to link to your homepage from other pages as well. Users now often hover over them and use them to navigate around the website, this is especially true with the homepage logo on a website and the contact details. 7) FeedbackHave a page on the homepage that links to a feedback form or something similar. This should allow users to input information that can help your future development of the website. It could contain questions like 'Did you find it hard to find what you were looking for?' or 'What do you think we could improve on?'8) Simple Testing! If a user clicks on your website and then sees nothing that relates to what they entered the website for then you've done something wrong. Building your website in a way that enables users to access the information they want quickly and simply can actually be harder than you initially think, so try and keep it simple. If you test a website that is in development by asking someone who has not seen the website before to complete simple tasks locating information or making purchases and they have trouble navigating through the pages, then you have gone wrong somewhere. Remember, designs for your users, and not for yourself; remain consistent and keep things simple! Web Design 2010-02-23 09:19:42 http://www.i-com.net/blog/why-is-website-usability-so-important-316/