While focussing on the mechanics of your SEO strategy is all important, businesses must realise that even though metadata is a technical term, it is still all about people. Since the dawning of the Internet, the rush has always been to get to the first page. Marketing folk have told SMEs how vital it is to get in the top ten and anything outside of this will seriously devalue their online presence. There is a degree of truth in this but writing effective metadata is fundamental in not only making sure that the first page of Google is achievable but more importantly that a business can maximise their presence once they are there.

Metadata is the umbrella term for ‘data about data’ in relation to Search engine optimisation. It makes up the listing for a company in the search engine results pages. It should do a number of key tasks. In just a few lines, it should get across to the user the nature of the website, the products, services or information and advice available and above all should give people a motive to click through to the site.

In the early days of the web, writing effective metadata was seen as a way to stuff as many keywords as possible into an element of the website’s structure that is likely to be surveyed by the search engine bots. Now it acts more like a classified advert for the website itself. From a marketing perspective, it represented the idea opportunity to get across the main message or selling point. Metadata can be broken down into two main categories and should give people a snapshot of what is on offer behind that listing.

The title tag is the first thing people see in the search engine results page and is also ever present in the top of the browser when they are online. The title tag should contain target search terms but above all, it should read well. It is here where many developers forget that is it is people who will be using their site and focus on the search bots and rigorous SEO templates. Providing honest title tags will also mean your site remains trustworthy. If an SME clams to offer certain advice or information on their site and the user logs on, only to find an irrelevant sales pitch, the site will lose credibility. Title tags must read well – for people and bots, and needs to contain at least two target phrases and be an accurate representation of what the website is all about.

The meta description is now a crucial aspect of the SEO landscape. It is here where writing for people is more important than ever. Writing effective metadata that is engaging, accurate and compelling descriptions helps your site stand out from the competition. Just a couple of sentences emphasising the message, with target phrases included, followed by a concise call to action will enable any SME’s website to meet their potential on SERPs.

If one thing could be emphasised about metadata, it simply that they are all about people. Technology provides the infrastructure but it’s always people that make the decisions.

Happy New Year.  Its time to make those all important plans for the next 12 months(if they are not already done), before you do check out the below list of 25 questions you should ask yourself before deciding on your SEO strategy.

It’s time to be honest about your SEO. You may not want to hire an SEO professional but it is time you took stock of your own search engine optimisation and what direction you are heading in. Like any audit, you need to decide your websites strengths and weaknesses, what you already have and what you need to do. Answer the following 25 questions carefully and accurately. The information that comes out of this process will give you a comprehensive and independent assessment of your current SEO status.

25 may seem like a lot. Why not start today and aim to have them completed for the end of the week.  SEO is something that must be gotten to grips with. Take the first step and do your SEO audit. Start today.

A quirky way to introduce you to SEO tips & advice, from a slightly whacky Irish SEO to you.  Merry Christmas.

On the first day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me a talk on website usability

On the second day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 2 key word research tools (Google Keyword Tool & Wordtracker) and a talk on website usability

On the third day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases (SEO Tips), 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the fourth day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the fifth day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me the 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the sixth day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the seventh day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 7 tips for writing good meta data,  6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the eight day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 8 great reports in analytics to analyse,  7 tips for writing good meta data,  6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the ninth day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me  9 great tips on creating a strong brand, 8 great reports in analytics to analyse,  7 tips for writing good meta data,  6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the tenth day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 10 tips for writing for the web,  9 great tips on creating a strong brand, 8 great reports in analytics to analyse,  7 tips for writing good meta data,  6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the eleventh day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 11 great free online resources, 10 tips for writing for the web,  9 great tips on creating a strong brand, 8 great reports in analytics to analyse,  7 tips for writing good meta data,  6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the twelfth day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 12 tips to do my own SEO audit, 11 free online resources, 10 tips for writing for the web,  9 great tips on creating a strong brand, 8 great reports in analytics to analyse,  7 tips for writing good meta data,  6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

If you are listed on page one in the search engines for your target search terms, well done.  You now need to ensure that your listing gets clicked.   While statistics show that most searchers will click on the top listings there are still many listings on page 1 and you need yours to stand out. Here are some tips:

Title & Description – your page meta title and meta content description powers your search engine listing (most of the time).  This allows you to control what the search engines say about you.  It is important that your target search terms appear in both the title and description but do not stuff them in purely to get a better position.  Write titles and descriptions that are engaging and include a USP/benefit and call to action.  Keep the Title to about 72 characters and the description to about 160 to ensure all is seen in your listing.

Breadcrumb Navigation – If your website has sub pages behind core top level pages or includes a product database include breadcrumb navigation.  More and more you will see breadcrumb navigation popping up on the SERP’s .  They are there for 2 reasons – the user can easily see where they are in your site (or where they are going to if it shows in the SERP)  e.g. Home > Printers > Inkjet Printers  and the search engines can index the breadcrumb navigation and use it instead of using the url of the page e.g. http://www.domain.ie/233/11/9/canon.html  (not a real url – just a sample)

Site Links- although you don’t have control over these, you can make it easy for Google to add site links for your site. The only way to ensure your listing includes Site Links is to be seen as the most relevant page for that search and have a good structure on your website which will allow the search engines to add the links to the most relevant information. Read what Google has to say about Site Links http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=47334 

 Rich Listings - Google SERP includes rich snippets, this includes reviews from third party websites as well as their own Places listings.   Help Google enhance your listing, drive people to review sites and/or include a reviews section in your own website using somethings like www.LouderVoice.com or www.TrustPilot.co.uk.    Richer listings are bigger and give users a much better indication of how others endorse and rate your services.  Rich listings also have a higher click through rate. 

Promote Shares & Endorsements – The web is all about user generated content and endorsements.  The most important endorsement for your site is the New Google +1 button.  You can now not only endorse a page while on it but you can also endorse it from the search engine results page. If you can get visitors to +1 your page and listing then that listing will stand out from the crowd – showing users that you have quality content that others like and value.   www.google.com/+1/button/

I hope this helps, if you have any questions regarding your search engine optimisation why not call us on  062 67054 and ask your SEO questions. (and don’t worry, no heavy sales talk, just simple, easy to understand answers to your important questions)

Happy optimising

Here is a list of some useful tools that may come in handy with your online marketing, all are either free or very low cost.  There is an additional list available on a previous blog post – Some great free online tools for you to try

Sweet Captcha - ever wondered what the security code that you have to fill in when sending in a request via an online enquiry for is called? Well it’s a captcha. This means that only real humans can fill out the form and will stop spammers sending in dozens of enquiries. Sweet Captcha is a fun alternative to the usual numbers and letters.  Try it yourself on www.sweetcaptcha.com

This captcha is asking the user to drag the flower to the bouquet

RSS Include – Want to add an RSS feed to your website and don’t know how to do it, well this tool is really easy.  Simply add the feed url, customise the look and feel and bingo, it generates the code. You can use it to create a box for everything from a blog, Facebook box to a simple ticker box.  There is a Premium account which costs only $36.50 a year so very affordable.  Have a go https://www.rssinclude.com/my_rssboxes/create_new_box 

SEOmoz – Have access to all the tools you need to optimise your website, their research tools include Inbound link reporting and analysis (great to see where your competitors are getting their inbound links), a SEO toolbar,  SEO reports – generate regular reports that will detail where you appear for your target search terms and identify any issues like duplicate titles, errors seen etc I highly recommend upgrading to the pro account – starts at $99 a month.  www.seomoz.org

Yola – need a website and dont have a massive budget. Yola online CMS is a great option for you to be able to set up your own starter website and its very easy to use. Choose from loads of different templates. Includes everything you need from editable meta data, blog, widgets, editable CSS (for the more advanced user) and much more.  There are free options but I recommend upgrading to the Silver account from only $90 a year, this will allow you to point in an existing domain and gives you access to more advanced templates.  Give it a go now on www.yola.com  

Blueface – ever wondered how you can track phone calls that come from website visitors without having to ask each and every person  where they heard about you?  Well look no further, with Blueface you can rent you a new phone number for a very low cost.  Use this number on your website or on a specific campaign and every time a call is made you can see the details in the handy online reports. Costs start at a low €9.99 per month. The good news is that you can rent a number with the area code for where you are located so if you are in Cork city you can have a 021 number or in Bantry you can get an 027 number.   More information on www.blueface.ie

I hope you find these useful, if you want to achieve something online and don’t know of a tool to help, contact me now and I am sure I have the ideal tool for the task.

Every week I make note of the questions I am asked – here is a list of the top 3 questions from last week:

Q: What are the most important thing to focus on when optimising a website?
A: There are many factors taken into account by search engines when giving you a ranking. They include

• On page optimisation - that includes keyword density in page content, internal link anchor text, alt text, url’s, page names, structure, navigation etc
• Inbound links – extremely important.  The more links you have from relevant high ranking sites the better. Aim to include target key phrases in link anchor text.
• Well written, well optimised meta data
• New Google’s +1 Button

Click here for more information on Organic Search Engine Optimisation

Q: What are white hat and black hat techniques in SEO?
A: SEO experts normally categories SEO techniques into 2 categories – those that are legit and enhance the users experience and does not involve deception (white hat) and those that are what I refer to as cheats (black hat) and do not enhance the users experience and will normally get you banned in time.    There are many things that can be done that are black hat techniques, two examples are: hiding key words / phrases in the page or delivering the user and search engine different pages (cloaking).   If you cheat you will get caught and the result will not be good.

Q:How do I choose what key phrases to target?
A: There are many ways to decide on this.  Create a spreadsheet columns:

1. Web page
2. Keyphrase(s)
3. Competition

Now fill in column 1 with the list of pages in your site. For column 2 research your key phrases:  

• Talk to clients, ask them what they search(ed) for. 
• Analyse your website statistics to see what key phrases are currently generating traffic to your website. 
• Use Google itself, type in your phrase and Google instant will give you recommendations
• Use Google Keyword Tool
• Be logical, how would you search.

Identify search terms for each page, have up to 10 if needed.  

Now whittle them down to 3 per page buy checking what competition there is for these search terms online. Easiest way to do this is to go to Google and type in your search terms using ” ” and under the search box you will see how many listings there are.  Aim for ones that are attainable.  Try go for ones that you know have high search volume and low(ish) competition.

Got any more question, click here to ask Sandra and get a personal response

Sometimes it is difficult to recognise that you need professional search engine optimisation services.    You may think that you have enough visitors to your website but if everyone is finding you through your name and nothing else there is definitely work needed. Some questions to ask yourself:

- Am I being found in search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo for key search terms that will drive traffic to my website (other than your business name)?   Review your analytics to answer this one, if you don’t have website analytics rush out and get them installed now. Google analytics is the most popular and the data is very easy to analyse.

- Do you know how your actions can impact your search engine position?  If not you should at least get some SEO training so you understand how you can help your position in search engines

- Are you getting quality traffic to your wbesite?  SEO should focus on targeting the right traffic to your website

- Are your competitors getting the position you would like?  The only way to boost your position is to work on your search engine optimisation whether you manage this inhouse or contract this out

- are you thinking of redesigning your website or doing major work? Website design and SEO go hand in hand so please speak to an expert at the very early stages to ensure your site is search engine friendly

Now, whats the answer?  Need SEO services?  More information available on http://www.dynamicwebmarketing.ie/search-engine-optimisation-page.html

Even in these hard times we are investing in new websites and online marketing because it’s where our customers are , we all want to be better than our competitors and having a website that looks out of date just won’t cut it.  Here are the top 5 things you should do if you are considering redevoping your website:

1. Content and design - as your business strategy changes so should your website’s. It is important that your website is a true reflection of your business.  It should reflect the products/services as well as the ethos and personality of the business.  If you can afford it, try get customised design for your website as this will ensure it reflects your business in a true light.  Templates are a good stop gap but customised design is the way forward.

If you are considering rebranding or are creating your brand, read our previous blog post on how to create a strong impactful brand.

2. SEO – your search engine optimisation needs to be planned from the very begining.  Plan the structure of your website, once you have identified your website structure, do your keyword research to ensure that, where possible, you are using target search terms in your page names.   Never have a page called Products or Services.  This means nothing to users or search engines, your pages should be broken down into main categories of products/services and named accordingly.

3. Interactive elements – include interactive elements like video, social media feeds, blogs, customer feedback or reviews etc.  Users trust peer recommendations and allowing people to review your products or services will build trust.  If you are allowing users to interact on your website by leaving comments or reviews it is important that this is monitored and managed carefully.  

4. 301 redirects - this is extremely important. If you have an existing website you MUST request that a 301 redirect is put in place for ALL pages so that the old pages redirect to the new page.  This will also allow your ranking to be transferred to the new page.

5. Review your analytics – do not change anything until you have analysed your existing website traffic, where were they entering the site, what pages were converting the most trafic etc.  Knowing this will help you make informed decisions about where changes are needed to the layout and content.

I hope you find this information useful, if you are in the process of or are considering redeveloping your website and are unsure where to start, why not call us for a free over the phone consultation 062 67054

Google’s new +1 button is currently being rolled out on Google.com so it will be a while before we see it on Google.ie (most people’s default in Ireland).  When it comes you will be able to see the +1 beside the search engine listing, this allows people to see the content/listings you recommend but also you will be able to see what other people are recommending.   So no matter what you are looking for or selling, if people endorse it by clicking +1 it will make your listings stand out and more relevant to the user. Google have said in a recent blog post that the +1 ” will be one of many signals we use to calculate organic search ranking”.    This move is good as it will ensure that content with value gets the traffic it deserves.

To +1 listings you will have to set up a public profile and a new tab will store all the sites that you +1 making it really easy to find that great web page you were on last week.   Google are also rolling out a +1 button for your website so people can +1 the page/content while they are on it.

So what now, if you dont have content that people will want to +1 you need to start creating it.  This button will be powerful and will play a big part in people’s decision making process when choosing the listing they click on, it will also impact your search engine position so it cannot be ignored.

For more information read http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/03/1-button-adwords.html and http://www.google.com/+1/button/

On the first day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me a talk on website usability

On the second day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 2 key word research tools (Google Keyword Tool & Wordtracker) and a talk on website usability

On the third day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases (SEO Tips), 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the fourth day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the fifth day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me the 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the sixth day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the seventh day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 7 tips for writing good meta data,  6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the eight day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 8 great reports in analytics to analyse,  7 tips for writing good meta data,  6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the ninth day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me  9 great tips on creating a strong brand, 8 great reports in analytics to analyse,  7 tips for writing good meta data,  6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the tenth day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 10 tips for writing for the web,  9 great tips on creating a strong brand, 8 great reports in analytics to analyse,  7 tips for writing good meta data,  6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the eleventh day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 11 great free online resources, 10 tips for writing for the web,  9 great tips on creating a strong brand, 8 great reports in analytics to analyse,  7 tips for writing good meta data,  6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

On the twelfth day of Christmas my SEO guru gave to me 12 tips to do my own SEO audit, 11 free online resources, 10 tips for writing for the web,  9 great tips on creating a strong brand, 8 great reports in analytics to analyse,  7 tips for writing good meta data,  6 ways to increase my link popularity, 5 steps for acquiring customers online , 4 ways to optimise my meta data, 3 key areas on my website to add my key phrases, 2 key word research tools and a talk on website usability

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year