Google has introduced a change to its algorithms that has been tested in the USA and launched internationally to English language Google users. This is intended to help users search results providing them with higher quality sites that are relevant to the search criteria. There are several changes that have been made, including an update to page rankings and search settings. The main intention being to provide the most relevant search results.
Firstly, the implementation of reduced page rankings of low quality sites – including sites that duplicate content from other sites. It will work as an advantage for high quality sites – with original content insuring they are found in search results. This will be a welcome change to make sure people find the high quality sites in their results.
Secondly, Google are incorporating additional controls for a user to be able to personalise search results. This is not something that is entirely new – previous examples are Search Wiki and location settings. However, there is a new way to get more specific results when searching. Google has introduced measures for users to have the ability to to block particular sites. When a user searches Google there will be a link to block sites. When a site is blocked it will not appear in future searches. The feature is intended to give users greater control over their searches.
Since the changes to the algorithms Google have found that people are getting better search results from high quality sites. In addition to these changes, users can leave site feedback which means that google can go into looking at “long tail” of low ranking sites to make sure higher ranking sites are found that may have been missed previously. The algorithm is an extremely precise way of finding out the quality and relevance of a site. As websites are constantly changing Google will keep updating to indicate theses changes.
Making sure you choose the right website design company can be very difficult. How do you decide how to find the company that is right for you? Do you go for the first result in Google, do you talk to fellow business people for recommendations or spend time online looking for something that catches your eye?
Here are a few pointers to consider when you make that all important decision choosing the right company for you.
Has the company asked you what you want to achieve from the website as a business?
It is important that the design team take the time to understand what you want from the website. Therefore it’s important to consider what type of website would best suit your business. Will it be a static website, a portfolio website or a online business that you can manage.
What experience does the company have designing websites in your industry?
Have a look at the portfolio to get an indication of the type of sites and work that the design team have done. It might also be worth ringing the company and having a chat to see how knowledgeable and approachable the team are.
How well do the existing sites work?
Make sure you look at several of the websites that have already been designed to see if they are easy to find your way around. Also look at testimonials to see what other companies have to say about the work they had done.
Is it easy to communicate with the team?
It is vital that you feel comfortable to be able to talk to the design team and that they are easily approachable. It is also important that they full understand what you want to achieve with the website and keep this in mind.
Do the design team have ideas that could be useful for the website?
It’s important that the designers understand what you want to achieve and are able to suggest ideas that could benefit you. However, what the client wants should be the main focus rather than the design team pushing for what they think is right.
If you need to share files between computers there are many ways of achieving the task. Virtual private networks (VPN’s), ftp servers, wireless networks, it really depends on your setup.
As a design agency we have tried a few methods and sometimes it’s better to just simplify things, that’s where Dropbox comes in.
In a nutshell, you simply install it on the computers / devices you want to share files between and it’s as easy as that. It creates a folder on your computer and to share files you simply drag and drop into the dropbox folder. It will automatically upload and distribute files for you and save deleted files online in case you need to retrieve them later.
Tip : If you want to delete something permanently you’ll need to go to your online account and delete the deleted files (greyed out) from your dropbox. An also, have a little common sense, dont put anything too sensitive in your dropbox unless you use encryption software on it first.
Anyway, you can download it here, tell your friends and work colleagues to check it out too.
Approximately three months ago upon completing the design and development of their new website, Extrudakerb approached our team to find the most effective avenue to not only increase the exposure of their online branding but increase traffic from the right users.
After sitting down as a team we came back with a bespoke solution aimed at generating the maximum return on investment, aptly named the ‘brand awareness proposal’.
Generating traffic to a website can be achieved in many ways, adwords, backlinks, social networking, blogging, podcasts, mobile devices the list goes on. The challenge is deciding on the right combination for each client.
How do you target the right users and keep them coming back? One of the most effective tools is the use of a blog. It was the first enhancement for the Extrudakerb site, we also installed an IPhone/IPad version challenging their competition by becoming much more accessible to prospective businesses online.
I have recently carried out a review on their monthly traffic statistics and was pleased to see over the past three months a consistent 30% increase per month. Accompanied by other brand awareness techniques they have also achieved first page rankings for their targeted keywords.
Similar patterns are emerging for our other brand awareness clients.
Without giving too much away, the secret to our success lies in targeting the relevant areas of the internet/markets specifically for each company. This is done by distributing their content across the internet. An alternative to the more common practices from our competitors who tend to run smaller scaled campaigns and never quite reach the correct online saturation points.
If you would like to learn more about how Corporate Web Solutions could increase your ROI from online marketing, raise brand awareness, synchronize offline/online campaigns and track the success, simple call our Sheffield office on 08444 145 932 or visit our site at www.corporatewebsolutions.net
This article is targeted at small to medium size business owners and will hopefully interpret the ‘social networking’ buzz word you will have no doubt heard colleagues mention in passing. Many of our clients still don’t really understand how their website can benefit from using websites such as Facebook, Digg, Google buzz, StumbleUpon, Yahoo buzz, Twitter and Linked In to their advantage.
Social networking sites What is a social networking site ? They are websites that aim to increase communication between a variety of target audiences who share similar interests.Their main focus is typically targeted at putting friends/businesses in contact, old and new, however as popularity increases a business angle seems to creep into pretty much all of them. Initially for the owners of the site to make some cash using internal advertising which later leads into generating extra revenue by encouraging its members to market themselves to the same audience.
How can I benefit from this ?
Facebook : You may already have an account, click on advertising located in the footer and follow the on screen instructions to create your own advert. Why? because it’s highly cost effective in comparison to other marketing mediums and gives its advertisers a lot of control over who the ads are visible to. You can create an advert then decide on its target audience by a range of filters, from age range, demographics, job titles, interests to pretty much anything a user has entered on their personal profile page. As a user, there are also tons of ways to market your company for free, you can create a group, create a fan page, create a business listing and invite countless people to join and read the content not to mention the ability for them to invite countless more in their contact circles. Remember the 6 degrees of separation?
You can also integrate your account with other social networking sites to update your status on the fly informing facebook users of new news without you even logging in, for example your current status updates on twitter.
Linked In: Think of a more basic facebook targeted at the business sector. Add your business profile to its network and create new contacts. You can even use the site to search for jobs in your industry and hopefully increase your annual turnover.
What all the buzz about? What are Digg, Google Buzz and Yahoo Buzz
These sites allow their users to inform other members of websites they deem interesting / worthy of reading. Once you register for an account on Digg etc, you can choose a topic, i.e design or business and see a live feed of information of what the internet is currently buzzing about.
How can I use this? Buzz about yourself and its its half worth the read other people will agree and spread the love, this will increase traffic to the site considerably and it a fantastic method of self promotion particularly if you are launching a new product or have insider news on something/one. The link itself will also act as a backlink to your website in Google’s eyes which in Google’s own words ‘acts as a positive vote from site A to B’ making you site more resourceful in the search engines eyes.
Will people ever StumbleUpon my site?
StumbleUpon is one of the internets best tools for generating legitimate traffic to your website, its also a great passtime so be careful of staff getting carried away with it at work
The way it works is, open an account, tick boxes on the topics you are interested in and then click the start stumbling button. The site will then display countless websites that are associated with the topics you ticked as interesting and expect you to either thumbs up or down the site if you like/dislike the content.
How do I use it as a business? Go to your website and be the first person to stumble it, just click on the thumbs up button on the downloadable toolbar StumbleUpon offers and write the first review, when you categorise your site and click OK you effectively throw your site into the face of users who have setup their profile stating that they are interested in viewing websites in your industry. If they like it, the number of users your site is displayed to will increase and generate regular traffic.
Can you hear the brids singing? Twit Twoo!!
Twitter has grown massively over the past few years. In its most basic form, allows users to follow other members and keep informed of their activities, this could be celebrity stalking or buddies letting each other know where they are in town, although you could probably just call them.
And as a business? Well you can create a business profile upload your logo and a background graphic then generate a following by following other members and messaging them to increase the visibility of your profile. There are also a variety of buttons you can put on your website urging your existing website visitors to follow you on twitter and keep informed of new products, sales and anything else that they might be interested in.
Your followers can also retweet your posts and spread the news to other branches/circles or contacts.
This all sounds awesome but I don’t have the time/technical knowledge/skill set to do all this! I would seriously try to find the time, it would be very rewarding if you get it right, as usual though, if marketing scripts, techy skills are not your forte just contact us and we can put together a blazing hot social networking plan for your business. It costs nothing to ask. Visit our main site here : www.corporatewebsolutions.net or phone (UK) 08444 145 932.
To all who have read this article and think its worth spreading the love amongst your contacts/internet networks please do so via the SHARE button below the post. Thanks in advance
In the next article I’m going to cover a few more marketing tricks and techniques plus a few techy tricks. To ensure you dont miss out, enter your email into the subscribe box in the top right corner of this page and I’ll make sure you receive an email when the next post goes live.
Thanks for reading, comments/suggestions are always welcome…..
