WebStrategies - website optimisation and search engine optimisation (SEO) Auckland, New Zealand » Increase visitors

FAQ: What are the important factors for ranking well on Google?

Webstrategies — Thu, 20 May 2010 05:37:57 +0000

We are often asked what are the important things that Google factors in, when determining where in the search results a website is ranked, and how to improve those rankings over time. The main factors that you should attend to on an ongoing basis, in order for Google to assign your website increasing value (PageRank) are:

Age of website. The older the website the more “value” it accrues with Google. The website and business behind it is more stable, so is probably a better resource for the Google searcher (Googler).
Grow links in from other websites. Whenever you get the opportunity, ask other website owners to add a link TO your website FROM theirs. You may have to return the favour which is fine: add them to a new page called “Resources” or similar. Google measures and analyses links into your website. The more valuable the website that has the source link the better. Google sees this as a “vote” for your website.
Update your website regularly. Google will measure this and if a regular frequency of updates are recorded then your website will be assigned more value from Google. Regular updates and a growing website are an indication that the website content will be fresh and up to date and of more value to the Googler, than a site that doesn’t have these.

Of course getting the relevant keywords into each page in the correct places and density underpins all of these things. Keywords and phrases that you optimise for should be relevant to the content of the page, and from there you can develop a keyword pool for the website. If you want to optimise your website for other, additional phrases then you need to add new pages to support those.

Author: Ashley Bryan
Webstrategies
Subscribe to our RSS feed
Receive Webstrategies blog posts by Email
www.webstrategies.co.nz

CASE STUDY: Millenium Institute of Sport and Health

Webstrategies — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:37:19 +0000

About the client:

Millenium Institute of Sport and Health is Auckland’s leading sports centre, and provides:

Gym facilities
Swimming facilities and clubs
Accommodation
Nutrition and weight loss services
and much more

The task:

Webstrategies was hired to provide seo and website marketing consultancy services to the Marketing Manager.

Work undertaken:

Webstrategies undertook weekly meetings with key staff with the objective of understanding the website optimisation and performance environment of the website www.mish.org.nz, and to also tune their Google Adwords campaign.

Services utilised:

- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
- Google Adwords Management
- Analysis and testing

CASE STUDY: Skellerup Roofing

Webstrategies — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:21:51 +0000

About the client:

Skellerup Viking Roofing and Waterproofing (a Tiri group company) distributes a wide range of waterproofing and roofing products for the construction industry. Products include:

Enviroclad TPO Roofing Membrane

Butylclad Butyl Rubber Roofing Membranes

Epiclad EPDM Rubber Waterproofing Membranes

EPDM Fleeceback Waterproofing Membranes

Bituclad Modified Bitumen Waterproofing Membranes

Dec-K-ing PVC Decking Waterproofing Membranes

Peel & Stick Tanking Membranes (Tank Liners)

CertainTeed Asphalt Shingles

a vast range of roofing and waterproofing Accessories

The task:

Skellerup Roofing commissioned Webstrategies to undertake a full review of their website and provide a detailed recommendation report for the improvement of the website’s:

- higher results on Google
- increased visitor levels
- conversion of visitors to enquiries

Work undertaken:

Webstrategies undertook a full technical assessment of the website and removed a number of barriers to the effective indexing of the website by Google such as duplicate content caused by lack of canonical redirects, misuse of meta tags and image tags, and other errors identified by Google Webmaster Tools. We recommended correct keyword placement in the website to meet best practice targets for placement and density of keyphrases and wrote correct Meta tags and title tags. We undertook a content review and recommended placement of effective calls to action in pages, with an upgrade of content to include more compelling sales copy and increased intuitiveness of user navigation pathways within the website.

The results:

Skellerup Roofing actioned our recommendations and saw an increase in the volume of quality leads generated from the website.

——————–

Testimonial:

“
“Ashley recently provided a recommendation report for the optimisation of our website www.skelleruproofing.co.nz. His report was comprehensive and thorough and we are working through many of the proposed changes, which we are sure will be of benefit to our website over time. Ashley is clearly knowledgeable in the area of website optimisation and performance and I recommend his services to anyone who wants to see the success of their website improve measurably”

Jane Waddel
Skellerup Roofing
“

CASE STUDY: Corporate Cabs

Webstrategies — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:07:02 +0000

About the client:

Corporate Cabs provide premium chauffeur driven taxi services in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown.

Services:

Taxi service
Airport transfers
Limousine Hire
Wedding car hire
Corporate Tour Service

The task:

Corporate Cabs undertook a recent rebuild of their website www.corporatecabs.co.nz. Webstrategies was tasked with assisting to ensure that the new website was launched in an as optimised state as possible. A particular challenge was to ensure that the new website was optimised for phrases using the word “taxi”. The website currently performed well on Google for search phrases using “cab”, but not for “taxi”, and this was a requirement.

Work undertaken:

Webstrategies provided input at key stages of the website development cycle: design stage, content writing stage, and launch phase:

1. Design stage: advised on content placement: key features, calls to action and user pathway start points. Reviewed visitor activity of existing (old) website and factored this into new content planning
2. Content writing phase. Draft content was a reviewed and optimised for relevant keyphrases that had been identified using keyword research.
3. Launch phase. Prior to launch a full technical analysis was undertaken to ensure the website met best practice for Google friendliness.

The results:

Within 10 days of launch the website performed in the top 5 Google NZ results for searches on the phrases “book a taxi online” and “call for a taxi”. Visitor levels from Google had risen by 74% over the old website.

——————–

Testimonial:

“
Hi Ashley,

Just a quick note to say thanks for all your help with our website. Since employing the services of Webstrategies to oversee and advise us on the development and implementation of our new website we have already seen an increase in traffic. Our web developer also commented on how easy it was to work with you.

I look forward to implementing stage 2 of our programme in the near future.

Regards

Colin Samson I Chief Executive I Corporate Cabs Ltd
www.corporatecabs.co.nz
“

CASE STUDY: Top Deck Flooring

Webstrategies — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 09:18:37 +0000

About the client:

Topdeck Flooring supply wooden flooring products to the New Zealand market. Their product range includes:

The Problem:

The owner of Topdeck Flooring was frustrated by a lack of success of their website in Google search result pages: they were constantly being overpowered by their competitors who achieved page 1 rankings for relevant keywords, while their own website failed to make any real impression on Google.

The solution:

We started with our full technical analysis of the website and determined that there were several issues which needed to be remedied. Paramount among these was the fact that all pages shared a common title tag and Meta tags, which were driven from one file. While the website did have a CMS there was no meta data management facilities on a per page level and this could not be easily remedied. As the client also had other issues with the CMS we advised and he agreed that a website rebuild was in order. The website was quickly and efficiently rebuilt by Worldnz using their proprietary CMS and full keyword optimisation was undertaken.

A keyphrase pool was established for the website and these phrases were optimised into each page correctly. This was supported by in-bound link (IBL) development, internal link development and sitemap management. We also undertook a review of the content and tweaked key features, calls to action and navigation pathways.

The results:

A month after completion of the work the following results had been achieved:

Top 10 listings on Google for 23 relevent kyphrases including the following: flooring auckland # 5, bamboo flooring #10, laminate flooring auckland #6 etc
Visitor levels from Google doubled following the changes made to the content of the Topdeck website

Case Studies – pre September 09

Webstrategies — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 09:39:10 +0000

www.conservationvolunteers.org.nz	Conservation Volunteers The problem: Poor performance on Google for project listings. The solution: Modified website code to automatically feature keywords for listings. The results: Top 5 rankings on Google for Project names eg: #2 for “Karori Wildlife Sanctuary Trust” #1 for “Waitakere Regional Park Maintenance” #1 for “Aroha Island Charitable Trust” 1 for “Mana Island Planting”

www.webstarters.co.nz	Webstarters The problem: Low performance on Google for essential keyphrases. Poor conversion of visitors to business. The solution: Website page tuning to emphasise the keyphrases in the correct locations and density. Copywriting to add impact and calls to action to content. The results: #1 on Google for a search on “starting a website” #2 on Google for a search on “free website hosting” #2 on Google for a search on “website development auckland” #3 on Google for a search on “web development auckland”

www.conveyancing.co.nz	Conveyancing The problem: This directory website needed more exposure on Google. The solution: Modified directory listing to feature law firm names prominently. Modified website structure to allow Google to access all regions and listings pages The results: #1 on Google for a search on “lawfirms auckland” #2 on Google for a search on “lawfirms wellington.”

www.careeranalysts.co.nz	Career Analysts The problem: Low performance on Google for essential keyphrases The solution: Website page tuning to emphasise the keyphrases in the correct locations and density. The results: #1 on Google for a search on “career assessment” #1 on Google for a search on “career coaching” #1 on Google for a search on “free xarerr healthcheck”

www.gardenretailsuccess.com	Garden Retail Success The problem: New website, no exposure on Google at all The solution: Got website indexed on Google in 36 hours. Website content tuning to push website up Google results pages.. The results: #1 on Google for a search on “garden retail consultancy” #1 on Google for a search on “garden retail marketing” #1 on Google for a search on “garden retail manuals”

www.mtcnz.org.nz	Ministry Training College The problem: Poor performance on Google for their essential keyphrase: “Bible College”. The solution: Website page tuning to emphasise the keyphrase in the correct locations and density, supporting by inbound link development. The results: #3 on Google for a search on “Bible College” #3 on Google for a search on “certificate in christain studies”

FAQ: What is Email Marketing?

Webstrategies — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:54:52 +0000

E-mail marketing is a form of direct marketing which uses bulk electronic mail as a means of communicating commercial services, or for fundraising, by sending messages to an audience via the internet.

In its broadest sense every e-mail sent to a potential or current customer could be considered e-mail marketing but generally it means that bulk Emails are sent to current customers to enhance relationships, update them or give new information and so encourage loyalty leading to repeat business.

They can also be sent to Targeted groups with the purpose of acquiring new business. It can also be a useful Market Research tool to your targeted groups in order to gain good feedback to what your customers are looking for.

Email Newsletters can also be useful when you want to keep your customers updated on a regular basis to changes on your website or to alert them to new or changed products/services etc.

When considering this form of Marketing it pays to work out a strategy and define your target audience. It is also a good idea to tell your ISP provider what you are doing so that it is not seen as SPAM, which can lead to issues with future email broadcasts.

It pays to have your email broadcasts set up with an easy opt out of the mailing list facility as you do not want to upset your customers if they do not want this kind of contact. It is also a requirement under NZ law to have these facilities in every email newsletter that you send.

Author: Stuart Wilkerson
Webstrategies
Subscribe to our RSS feed
Receive Webstrategies blog posts by Email
www.webstrategies.co.nz

Finding best keyphrases for your website

Webstrategies — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:28:33 +0000

The first step to establishing what keyword and phrases you should optimise your website for is to establish and understand what its goals and objectives are.

This is best done before you even build your website, but is also extremely valuable for existing websites, as part of your optimisation and fine-tuning efforts. Your website’s goals could be to:

Increase enquiries from your website from level X to level Y
Increase sales from your shopping website from $X to $Y
Increase the rate at which people download your e-book or other file(s)
Increase sign-ups to your newsletter

Understanding the goals of your website leads on to the crucial task of determining the keyphrases that are relevant to your website and business.

These keyphrases need to be relevant to your target market, business, industry and location and are essential for good performance on Google. They are the foundation of what is commonly called Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

An excellent first step to determining what the keyphrases for your website should be is to do a search for your products and services on Google, just like your target market will do. Keep refining your search until you get a set of results in which you would like your website to appear, and there, you have determined one of your keyphrases. You’ll possibly see your competitors listed there.

Work your copy to be relevant to that phrase, and ensure that you have the keyphrases on the page in the right places like title tag, Meta tags and in H1 headings. And of course measure! There are plenty of free SEO tools around that will tell you your placings on Google for your keywords and phrases, and your website statistics will tell you how successful your newly identified keyphrases are at driving visitors to your website.

Author: Ashley Bryan
Webstrategies
Subscribe to our RSS feed
Receive Webstrategies blog posts by Email
www.webstrategies.co.nz

Google Adwords campaigns: the basics

Webstrategies — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:06:08 +0000

The Google Adwords system is an excellent way to start marketing a new website on the Internet quickly, especially in the early months after a launch when exposure on the “natural” listings of Google is poor (when your new website is in the theoretical Google “sandbox”).

The Google Adwords system generates the “Sponsored Links” ads that you see on the right hand side or top of the results page when you do a search on Google. They have the following benefits:

Can be managed in real time, i.e. changes are put live immediately.
Your website appears in the first page of Google, if your budget is suitable.
The ads can be targeted to specific geographic areas, and times during the day and week.
Monthly spend can be capped.
Full reporting is available, allowing you to manage the campaign properly and fine-tune as required.
The results of the campaign can provide excellent keyword success data, which can be fed back into your overall search engine marketing efforts.

For established websites, and the more savvy amongst you, Adwords also provides the opportunity for exposure on Google for keywords and phrases that your website doesn’t naturally perform well for on the Google organic results. So you can complement your success in the Google organic listings by targeting a Google Adwords campaign at the phrases your website doesn’t naturally do well with.

How does it work?

The basic model is reasonably simple. You create a campaign in the Adwords system, and are able to create variations of the campaign (called Adgroups). So if you are selling website development services (the overall campaign) you might have an Adgroup within that campaign for brochure websites and another Adgroup for shopping websites. Furthermore you can create Ad Variations within an Adgroup as well. These are what actually display on Google (ie the “Ads”) and allow you to try different variations of your ad so that you can see which ones are more successful (i.e. attract more clicks to your website).

Finally you set a pool of keywords to be associated with your Adgroups. These are essentially the phrases for which your ads will appear on Google when someone does a search. So people search with phrases, if the phrase matches one of your phrases then your ad will appear. If your ad attracts eyeballs, then the searcher may click on your ad and be taken to your website, thus driving leads to your website. You pay Google when someone clicks on your ad. (OK you experts out there, I know it’s a bit more complicated than that…)

Costs for Google Adwords:

The costs for your Google Adwords campaign depend on what keyphrases you lodge against your Ads. More generic ones are more expensive (because there is more competition for them), so you can try more targeted or niche phrases which can keep the cost lower and drive more targeted traffic to your website. Luckily Google allows you to run “predictions” about how much various phrases might cost you, before you set things live on Google, so that you can plan your budgeting. The good news is that you can cap your monthly spend to a set amount, and tell Google whether to spread your budget out over the month (and so your ad exposure is spread over the month), or to burn it up all at once.

Finally:

Many people tell me that Google Adwords campaigns just don’t work. They do! But you’ve got to manage Google Adword campaigns them properly, dig in and think about how your campaign is performing on an ongoing basis. Look regularly at the impressive amount of data that is presented to you and make informed adjustments to your campaign regularly. Do your keyword research: Google provides a free tool right there in your Adwords account for you to do that. Do this and you will see your Adwords campaign flourish, generating good quality leads with great Return On Investment.

BTW:

By the way, use that data will you? If your Adwords campaign demonstrates some really popular and relevant keywords used in searches, then feed those keywords back into your website so that it can start to perform well for those phrases in the organic listings.

Author: Ashley Bryan
Webstrategies
Subscribe to our RSS feed
Receive Webstrategies blog posts by Email
www.webstrategies.co.nz

It’s all about Performance

Webstrategies — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:25:31 +0000

Successful websites are all about performance: your target market achieving the goals that you set for your website. Your goals could be to: sell your products or services; to inform and educate, or to drive business leads. The important thing to remember is that having GOALS for your website is essential, and these are best established during the planning phase of your website build - afterall they should be in line with your business and marketing plans anyway. Goals allow you to set measurable performance targets and to plan the path to the achievement of these goals. Make sure you measure and understand the success of your plan, along with an understanding of the Return On Investment (ROI) for your efforts.

Success of your website can be attributed to several key areas:

1. It’s performance on search engines notably Google.
2. It’s success at pulling relevant and qualified visitors to your website from other sources.
3. It’s success at converting your visitors to meaningful leads or sales
4. Your ability to measure and understand what your website is doing.

All of these areas are measurable, so add Google Analytics to your website and monitor your key measures at least on a monthly basis. Use this data to refine as you go and you’ll be surpised at how much meaningful information you obtain. Also remember to undertake a technical optimisation of your website, and finally: use a copywriter!

Author: Ashley Bryan
Webstrategies
Subscribe to our RSS feed
Receive Webstrategies blog posts by Email
www.webstrategies.co.nz

WebStrategies - website optimisation and search engine optimisation (SEO) Auckland, New Zealand » Increase visitors

FAQ: What are the important factors for ranking well on Google?

Related Blog Posts

CASE STUDY: Millenium Institute of Sport and Health

Related Blog Posts

CASE STUDY: Skellerup Roofing

Related Blog Posts

CASE STUDY: Corporate Cabs

Related Blog Posts

CASE STUDY: Top Deck Flooring

About the client:

Related Blog Posts

Case Studies – pre September 09

Conservation Volunteers

Webstarters

Conveyancing

Career Analysts

Garden Retail Success

Ministry Training College

Related Blog Posts

FAQ: What is Email Marketing?

Related Blog Posts

Finding best keyphrases for your website

Related Blog Posts

Google Adwords campaigns: the basics

Related Blog Posts

It’s all about Performance

Related Blog Posts