Matt Cutts has repeatedly said that quality content is key to Google rankings, and Bing’s Duane Forrester reminded marketers that “all SEO ranking signals revolve around content of some kind” at SMX Advanced 2011. High-quality, search-friendly content allows businesses to populate their sites with keywords and valuable information for visitors (and both are important to search success).

Brafton’s infographic, Why Content For SEO, explores how content is key to search engine visibility.

Via: Brafton

To find out more about Chichester Design’s web content services, including SEO services, contact Michelle on +44 (0) 1243 787542 or info@chichesterdesign.co.uk.

Just as important as having a business website properly designed and built is ensuring that the content is properly advertised. And when I mean properly advertised, I mean making sure that it is targeted at the correct audience. No one wants to waste their money, using Google AdWords or any other means, on mis-targeted online advertising. This is where Google Ad Planner comes in.

It is a clever invention from Google. Google Ad Planner allows business website owners to better advertise their content, giving them the opportunity to identify their core audience and achieve greater exposure among this group.

Ad Planner provides a range of data, from tracking other sites that visitors frequent and commonly used search keywords within the core audience group to information on demographics, interests, income and gender, which helps generate a clearer picture of where to advertise.

For example, when planning a car-related business website, Google Ad Planner could be used to collect data on audiences for websites such as Top Gear, Jalopnik, Piston Heads, etc. to attain an understanding of the new site’s target audience. For a food-related business website, it could be Jamie Oliver, the British Larder or thefoodpeople.

Google Ad Planner also has the capacity to create a list of key websites, which is part of an analytical tools package that ensures the focus of an online marketing and sales campaign remains in the right place. In a very competitive online commercial environment, Ad Planner can help business websites build a powerful online profile.

To find out more about Chichester Design’s web design and development services, including Google advertising services, contact Michelle on +44 (0) 1243 787542 or info@chichesterdesign.co.uk.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I like to keep an eye on all things Google when I get a spare minute or two at my Chichester Design desk and I think the value of
Google Verbatim for business websites is well worth highlighting. It allows business website owners to see how well their site is truly ranking.

Google Verbatim is a search mode in Google that allows users to perform searches that are affected only by the keyword entered. You thought that was what happened anyway? The truth is very different – Google corrects any errors you may make, such as spelling and grammar. It also uses factors such as location, plus 1s and your search history when choosing which search results to return.

Google Verbatim strips all this back. The search mode is kind of new and kind of not. Traditionally you could make verbatim searches using + in the search bar. However, this service was quietly withdrawn earlier this year, which I assume was because of the launch of Google+. So, Google Verbatim is the replacement.

Google Verbatim does not tailor search results and, because of the forensic results it provides, business website owners can get an insight into just how good (or bad) their online profile is. At a time when the focus seems to be strongly on the boom in
mobile browsing, mobile website optimisation (MWO) and social media optimisation (SMO), Google Verbatim is a reminder of the importance of search engine optimisation (SEO) in the online business world.

To find out more about Chichester Design’s web design and development services, including SEO, SMO and MWO, contact Michelle on +44 (0) 1243 787542 or info@chichesterdesign.co.uk.

This move comes as no surprise (the only surprise perhaps being that it hadn’t happened sooner) as Google continues in its attempt to create a social network on the scale of Facebook. The extension of Google+ Pages to include business pages sees the search engine giant expand its battle with its rival.

And why wouldn’t Google want to replicate the success of Facebook business pages, which have become an integral part of online marketing strategies across the business sector spectrum and a major revenue stream for Mr Zuckerberg. According to a recent webinar, one Facebook fan generates an additional 20 visits to a business website over a year, with advertisers expected to spend an estimated US$1.3 billion on Facebook in 2011.

Just like Facebook business pages, there is a local business page option on Google+ Business Pages, which is the product that most SMEs are likely to take up. This local business page option allows business to input location-based data, although at present, there is no link up between Google+ Pages and Google Places. Google+ Business Pages also offers heightened search
engine visibility via its Direct Connect in Google Search.

All in all, despite the fact that Google+ Business Pages seems a work in progress for Google, it’s a wise (if perhaps overdue) move. Whether this service and Google+ will succeed on the scale of Facebook remains to be seen, with opinion very much split, but what is clearer is the fact that it underlines the importance of social media optimisation for business websites.

Social media accounts for almost a quarter of all internet use in the UK, with nearly half of this time spent on Facebook, which has over 26 million users in this country (equal to over three times the population of Greater London). That’s a lot of potential customers.

To find out more about Chichester Design’s web design and development services, including social media optimisation, contact Michelle on +44 (0) 1243 787542 or info@chichesterdesign.co.uk.

This was a great project to work on, not least because we worked with a very nice people at the Oakman Inn Group. The company has spent a lot of time and effort refurbishing this pub, turning it into a very desirable destination, as you can see from the photos on the site, and they wanted to update their website to match this feel.

Our web and graphic designers created a smart, fresh-feeling business website that is easy to navigate and shows off everything about the bar and restaurant that makes it that little bit special. Visitors to the website can get an immediate flavour of the pub and what it offers.

Social media optimisation was another part of the project and we integrated Facebook and Twitter accounts into the website, which also features a blog and a gallery that enables the pub to keep regulars and newcomers (and everyone in between) up to date with what’s going on. In addition, the Old Post Office’s Trip Advisor profile is integrated into the site, with a link on the homepage.

The Oakman Inn Group comprises a number of other bars and restaurants and we’re working on those at the moment as well. I’ll post an update when those go live at a later date. But right now, it’s cheers to the Old Post Office in Wallingford.

To find out more about Chichester Design’s web design and development services, contact Michelle on +44 (0) 1243 787542 or info@chichesterdesign.co.uk.

With Google Analytics Real-Time plugged into a business website, the impact of any piece of digital marketing, whether it’s the uploading of a business blog or a web video, social media activity, or the hosting of a live event, such as a webinar, can be instantly tracked.

I think this immediate tracking capacity will be used most, initially at least, to measure the impact of social media. Not only will
businesses be able to instantly see how blog posts or posts on Facebook or Twitter are performing, but when the same information is put out across different media, they will also be able to see which one is driving the most traffic to their website.

In addition, by being able to instantly measure the performance of social media activity in terms of depth and duration, a business will also be able to see more accurately when it needs to re-engage with its customers (a benefit that also applies to general digital marketing campaigns). Businesses will be able to better apply social media optimisation and better plan the use of web videos, webinars, etc., creating more efficient and effective overall online marketing strategies.

The data generated by Google Analytics Real-Time is incredibly valuable for businesses as the supervision it allows provides a
previously unattainable capacity for making improvements in a short time frame. I think that Google Analytics Real-Time permits the kind of fine tuning that is vital to sales growth.

To find out more about Chichester Design’s web design and development services, contact Michelle on +44 (0) 1243 787542 or info@chichesterdesign.co.uk.

Facebook’s subscribe button is a clever response to Google+ Circle and a shot across the bow of Twitter – it allows a user to follow anybody’s or any company’s public updates regardless of whether they are Facebook friends. I think this opens another social media optimisation opportunity for businesses.

Companies already use Facebook local business pages and targeted advertising to market to the 750 million plus people that use the social network and the subscribe button presents a new avenue of development. Expect subscribe-related marketing
campaigns to spring up soon.

Mentioning Zuckerberg’s latest update also lets me demonstrate the power of social media for businesses. We build and run social media marketing campaigns at Chichester Design and the tweeting by Lily Allen of a recipe by our client The British Larder caused a huge spike in attention for the foodie company and has helped increase the number of visitors that their
website receives.

Getting more visitors to your website is a sure-fire way to generate business, which is what social media optimisation is all about. We’re able to track all this information thanks to a tool called Tynt Insight – I talked about it in a post last year. It’s ingenious and, when attached to a site, helps to increase web traffic, achieve stronger search engine optimisation, measure visitor engagement and improve online brand profile.
To find out more about Chichester Design’s web design and development services, contact Michelle on +44 (0) 1243 787542 or info@chichesterdesign.co.uk.

That’s the big question. Can it give the mighty Zuckerberg creation a run for its money or will it be another damp squib like Google Buzz or Google Orkut? Google are claiming that its 12-week invitation-only trial attracted more than 20 million souls, which is a tidy amount. However, given its track record, I don’t think anybody is betting the house on it succeeding.

You can certainly understand why Google is chucking the kitchen sink and millions of dollars at creating its own social network. Just look at the power of Facebook – almost 800 million people use it across the world, including 26 million in the UK.

It is estimated that US$1.3 billion will be spent worldwide on Facebook advertising by businesses in 2011. Why? Well, in the UK, one in ten visits to a website originates from the social network, while  business intelligence company Experian Hitwise claims that one Facebook fan equals 20 additional visits to a website. It’s easy to understand why companies are investing in social media optimisation and social media marketing.

It is also easy to see why Google wants a slice of this pie. It clearly means business – new features are going up on Google+ all the time –but only time will tell if Plus becomes a credit to the search engine-istas or another mark in the negative column.

To find out more about Chichester Design’s web design and development services, including social media optimisation, contact Michelle on +44 (0) 1243 787542 or info@chichesterdesign.co.uk.

I’ve mentioned before that mobile browsing is fast growing in popularity – it is forecast by some to overtake PC browsing in the next five years – and I think that Google’s acquisition of Motorola will help drive this growth and maybe even accelerate it. It also makes mobile website optimisation increasingly important for online businesses when it comes to designing or redesigning their websites.

Motorola will enable Google to better develop its Android mobile device product, not least because of the large number of patents the manufacturer holds. In short, it lets Google do hardware – to date it has remained software-focused.

This investment should help it enormously in its fight with Microsoft and, more importantly, with Apple in the mobile device arena. How long before we see a Google mobile device to really take on the iPhone and iPad? Apple’s huge profits should certainly be a major incentive.

A player of Google’s profile and resources in the mobile device marketplace will not fail to make waves and businesses should be aware of the likely impact. Having an online presence that is not only compatible with but is able to exploit a rising amount of mobile browsing will be crucial.

By supercharging its mobile device profile with the acquisition of Motorola, we can expect to be using the likes of Google
Wallet (mobile payment) and Google Places (location-based loyalty schemes) a lot more and businesses will have to be ready for this.

To find out more about Chichester Design’s web design and development services, including mobile website optimisation, contact Michelle on +44 (0) 1243 787542 or info@chichesterdesign.co.uk.