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

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

FAQ: Why doesn’t my Web site rank very well on Google?

Webstrategies — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:01:24 +0000

I’m often asked what the key factors are that determine the success of a website on Google. There can be a lot of reasons why your site is not ranking very well in search engines, but some of the reasons are more important than others. Here’s a quick rundown:

1. Your website is too young. Google measures the age of all websites and assigns more value (PageRank) to websites as they get older. Age is a measure of business stability, which means a more valuable result for people doing searches.

2. Your keyword placement is not right. Bottom line: your website can’t be found on Google if the search phrases used isn’t in your website. If it is there, then it has to be placed correctly in the page eg Title tag, page headings, page content, image tags. If your keyphrases are in text (i.e. not inside an image) and emphasised for your human visitors, then Google will pick them up.

3. You have a low level of quality websites linking into yours. If another website owner places a link on their website to yours, Google considers this a “vote” for your website. The more links in the better, but the better quality websites linking to yours the better.

4. Regularly updated content. Google will keep coming back to your website and re-indexing it. If a regular frequency of updates for your website is measured, then this contributes to your page rank. Websites with good, fresh, up to date content is good for people searching on Google, so Google values it.

5. Technical barriers to Google. Make sure your website is Google friendly and that there is nothing in place which is potentially stopping Google from finding all your content. Website made in Flash still do not perform well on Google.

Of course each of these gives rise to a whole area of website optimisation and management but taken as a whole, these are the key factors which influence the success of your website on Google.

Author: Ashley Bryan
Webstrategies
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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
“

What is PageRank (PR)?

Webstrategies — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:33:20 +0000

PageRank is the numerical value that Google assigns to each page on a website and is a measure of the importance or “authority” that Google places on that page. Google does not disclose exactly how the PageRank value is calculated however it is a number displayed as between 1 and 10 which is boiled down from a much larger number derived from Google’s complex algorithmic analysis of each web page. And that is important to note: EACH page on a website can be assigned a separate PageRank value, even if it is zero (some pages, especially new pages, may not have a PageRank assigned at all). PR does contribute to a page’s rankings or placings in the Google search results but while it seems that in general the higher the PageRank for a page then the higher up the Google rankings it goes, this often does not hold true as other factors come into play.

Several factors contribute to PageRank (PR) and a significant one is inbound link quantity/quality, or Link Popularity. Whenever a website links into your own website, that counts as a “vote” for your website which Google measures and this contributes to your PageRank. Now, the higher the PageRank held by the page linking to yours, then the more valuable that in-bound link is and the more it will contribute to your own page’s PageRank. So it is more important to grow quality links into your website rather than quantity, but even better is to grow the quantity of good quality links in. There are a number of ways in which inbound links can be developed:

Best practice methods:
- Request links from business partners, suppliers, customers etc
- Blog marketing
Dubious or low success methods:
- Purchase links
- Article marketing
- Directory submissions

Absolute no-no’s:
- Use of Link Farms

As well as inbound links from websites that are external to your own website counting toward your PageRank, internal links between pages within your own website are important too. In this way PageRank from high PR pages (often your home page for instance) can be distributed to internal pages on your website, thus increasing their perceived “value”.

So we can see that Google assesses each page on your website separately: analyses inbound link quality and quantity and analyses internal linkage and then in conjunction with other factors pronounces its judgment on every one of your pages by way of the PageRank value. Clearly if Google can’t find a page(s) on your website then it (they) won’t be assigned a PageRank at all and so won’t perform well in the search results pages. This where a website built with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) in mind is essential for Google success.

The building of PageRank is a slow process driven primarily by the slow process of acquiring quality inbound links. Gradual it must be: if Google sees any dramatic or sudden increases in your Link Popularity it may deem there to be “unnatural” inbound link development and penalise your website by holding back PageRank and keeping you lower in the search results.

Author: Stuart Wilkerson and Ashley Bryan
Webstrategies
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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”

New free online SEO tools

Webstrategies — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:07:17 +0000

Webstrategies is pleased to announce the launch of a range of free SEO tools, which will help with the diagnosis of search engine optimisation-related issues for your website. The tools available are:

and more..

All comments and feedback about these tools are welcome.

Author: Ashley Bryan
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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
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Opportunities for website improvement

Webstrategies — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 04:28:55 +0000

For any website, there are two key areas of opportunity for improving its success:

Areas of focus for the improvement of the success of your website related to these key areas are:

Increase visitors:

Improvement of your website’s success on Google.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Internet marketing activities.

Increase website conversions:

Improve the conversion of existing traffic into enquiries and sales.
Gain a better understanding of visitor levels and activity in your website, so that decisions can be made regarding the current quality and any remedial action that you need to take to improve this.

Essential to any improvement work for your website is the accurate measurement and analysis of its performance. Google Analytics is free and extermely powerful.

Author: Ashley Bryan
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WebStrategies - website optimisation and search engine optimisation (SEO) Auckland, New Zealand » website performance

CASE STUDY: Millenium Institute of Sport and Health

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FAQ: Why doesn’t my Web site rank very well on Google?

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CASE STUDY: Skellerup Roofing

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CASE STUDY: Corporate Cabs

Related Blog Posts

What is PageRank (PR)?

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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

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New free online SEO tools

Related Blog Posts

It’s all about Performance

Related Blog Posts

Opportunities for website improvement

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