We’ve uploaded my presentation for the Brighton SEO conference to SlideShare where it’s currently featured on the homepage. A big thank you to Kelvin Newman for organising the event.
Taken from my presentation at the latest Brighton SEO conference.
As we move from an industrial civilisation to an information civilisation we are spoilt with choice, but with the multitude of options that the proliferation of digital technologies has presented to us are we still being restricted by omniscient authors we often don’t even consider.
Let’s reflect on the links that many of us are in the practice of building. Inbound hyperlinks are important as a vote of confidence, and this isn’t going to change any time soon. In fact, they will only become more important and the actual quality of the link will become ever more prevalent too. At the start of any SEO campaign we perform some extensive keyword research, which we then refine down to a limited number of recommended keywords to target for that client. No pun intended but the key words in that sentence being ‘limited number’ – optimizing your clients’ landing page is the first phase in restricting other users’ semantic understanding of the terms.
From a journalistic point of view, search marketers can come under a lot of lexicographical fire when it comes to writing copy. However, I strongly believe producing keyword rich content does not have to come at the sacrifice of quality prose.
Writing is a craft, as is optimising content to perform well in the search engines and it’s fully possible to have the two working in perfect harmony. Just before I started an SEO internship through Wired Sussex all those fateful years ago, I was doing some research and came across an article on search marketing written by Charlie Brooker. Now I don’t want to join a cult but if Charlie started one just show me where to sign. In his article the self-confessed ‘miserablist’ warned against prose manipulated for Google and the dangers these new trends posed for quality reportage. And although his points had a faint whiff of truth, anyone in the industry knows that it’s quite possible to write content that not only is picked up by the search engines, but it also enjoyable and informative to read.
When working with a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) agency it’s important that the relationship is smooth for your campaign to be successful. Here are ten factors worth knowing when you work with an SEO agency that will facilitate the relationship and result in a successful campaign.
1. Expectations; having realistic expectations that are related to your budget are vital if the campaign is to go well. If you want your site to be top for highly competitive generic phrases such as ‘life insurance’ or ‘houses for sale’ then you’re going to need a large budget, it’s probably going to (more…)
The Gym Group signs over 20,000 new members with online campaign from White Hat Media
The Gym Group, the UK’s first low-cost chain of health clubs, has attracted more than 20,000 new members with a website and online campaign created by White Hat Media.
The Gym Group, which has five gyms in Surrey, London, Liverpool and Manchester, has been widely covered in the press due to its new approach to facilities, membership costs and contracts. The gym is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and membership costs are between £9.99 and £14.99 per month. There are no contracts and customers are free to leave at any point. (more…)
Background – do some research with Google Analytics to discover where the visitors of your video are coming from as well as what percentage of your video traffic is arriving from search engines and what percentage of your traffic is coming from referring sites such as video sharing services. These matrices inform your decision of whether to host your video content or to share it. Hosting it puts you in control of the keywords, metadata and monetization of the content, however sharing is an easy technique to get maximum views.
Video content is a great way of generating interest from the online community, whether it’s for driving direct traffic to your site or gaining those all important inbound links, however the search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing are still not quite able to read video content. But fear not, because below are some quick and easy techniques you can employ in order to successfully optimise your video material.
Title Tags and Meta Data: Google, Yahoo and Bing can’t yet read video content therefore you must inform them what it is via the title tags and meta data. Ensure your in-file metadata is keyword rich as well as including the word ‘video’ in it – this will tell the search engines what the content actually is and so makes it far more likely that it’ll be picked up by their algorithm. Create video sitemaps so that the search engines can easily find the content, and thoroughly optimise your video landing pages including all your targeted keywords.
This month three new members have joined the SEO department at White Hat Media.
Zac Colbert, already an active contributor to our blog, graduated from Brighton University in Digital Media. He has been working in the SEO industry for a few years. He is also a freelance journalist, with an interest in music and digital culture.
Karen Piper has been working in the marketing and publishing industries for 3 years. She graduated in Media Studies and has personal interest in Latin History and walking in the South Downs!
Both are talented writers and accomplished digital marketers. They will strive to implement the best SEO tactics for the success of our clients.
Matt Parle has just joined as our new SEO manager, and he will drive the activity of the SEO team. Matt is a senior SEO specialist with many years of experience in the industry (agency side). He has worked on brands including Kontraband, the 7th Chamber and Friends Reunited. When Matt does not devise killing SEO campaigns, he may be seen flying his paraglider over the South Downs.
1) Get me to the top of Google
The seven words every optimizer hates. Fortunately at White Hat Media we have very understanding clients who listen well when we inform them about the basic practices of SEO. However, anyone in the industry can tell you that some clients think it’s as easy as pie to get to the top of Google’s results page for any number of keywords. Of course this is not the case, no matter how many meta tags you perfect or how much link building you execute there’s no way of guaranteeing first page top rankings. Depending on the sector your client’s in, it is very likely that their competitors also employ an SEO agency and the two of you are battling it out – which is where much of the fun comes from.
2) SEO’s a one time thing
Many people are under the impression that once the site is optimised and you’ve submitted a few articles, you can sit back and reap the… impressions. Unfortunately this is not the case. Search engine optimisation is a long and on going process, it’s not necessarily arduous but it does require hard work and patience. Clients are keen to see swift results, which frequently you can give them, however to steadily move up the search engine’s results page and maintain a top position requires constant onsite maintenance and regular link building activity. As soon as you relax you’ll see that traffic ebb away and your conversion rates start decrease as your competitors creep ever closer to your coveted number one spot.
Getting The Most From Your Search, hosted by CIM in Reading, will be presented by Jeremy Spiller on October 6th.
Covering the principles of SEO and current best practices, this seminar will help the audience understand the potential of their sites for search and how to get the best results.
To view the full program and register, visit: http://www.cim.co.uk/Events/EventDetail.aspx?ObjectID=28862
This seminar counts for 3.5 Hours in the Chartered CPD Program.
Tactical SEO is often overlooked by both search engine optimisation (SEO) agencies and internal marketing teams. What is tactical search engine optimisation and how can you use it to drive more traffic to your website?
Tactical SEO is making use of search opportunities by dynamically, targeting key phrases, often short term for higher relevant traffic. When looking at SEO, many people often only consider strategic search, that’s to say the words they want to be top for on a long term basis and how to achieve those top positions. However tactical or short term SEO can be used very effectively to attract more relevant and targeted traffic to your website. (more…)
