Over at WebProNews they have reported that there is a ’70% chance’ that Apple will build a search engine in the next 5 years. The article goes on to say that Apple will be in a unique position to utilise data harvested from it’s App Store to create a mobile search engine. Interesting stuff methinks…

I am beginning to realise that the next big change (well it’s already happening, perhaps acceleration is a more apt word?) in SEO will be the mobile market. This is definitely the way forward for SEO, there is a whole new market emerging that is just waiting to be utilised. Mobile search may be a small section of the current market, but I can foresee (in my crystal ball, no less) that this is set to grow, and grow, and grow.

How can an SEO move into the mobile market?

• The first thing to consider is that location is a big factor in mobile search. People on the move looking for products and services. So, get your Google Maps profile up to date.
• Make sure your code validates. When I was a web designer it was a pride issue more than anything else that my code validated, but there still seems to be a lot of sites out there that don’t validate.
• Follow Accessibility best practices. This makes sense for SEO anyway. Watch my (somewhat embarrassing) Video, SEO vs Accessibility, I did with Nick last year for more info…
• Use ‘traditional’ SEO on-site techniques – Keywords in headings, easy navigation, internal linking etc etc.

So, even if Apple don’t set up their own mobile search engine it’s well worth dipping into this market now before the inevitable explosion happens – that way you’re at the top before it gets difficult to be there.

Defining The Many Online Marketing Terms

There are so many different terms that communicate marketing on the web – from online and internet marketing to search engine optimisation. This can all become very confusing for an individual that is not well acquainted with the industry. So, what are the differences between an internet marketing service and SEO?

I am going to first explain what I believe the two terms to mean – feel free to comment below if you have any differing ideas;

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – the practice of improving a websites search engine rankings. With the aim of ensuring that the business holds position one on page one, for their chosen key phrases.

Internet Marketing – an umbrella term that encompasses a range of practices related to improving a business’s presence online. This could include e-mail marketing, social media and other such techniques.

Although not entirely comprehensive, I think that these short explanations communicate the main differences – SEO is focussed upon having a presence within the search engines whilst internet marketing is related to appearing across the web as a whole.

Just some of the techniques that an SEO consultant may use include article marketing, press release writing and distribution, directory submissions and link building. Whereas an individual that is offering an internet marketing service may offer search engine optimisation, plus e-mail marketing and social media marketing.

Essentially, internet marketing ensures that a business covers all of its bases online. This is extremely important as making a profit is the most important outcome for a business owner. By investing in combined SEO and internet marketing, businesses can ensure that they have a presence in the search engines, in their clients’ inboxes and on their networking profiles.

Of course, many companies that would traditionally just offer SEO understand this and have developed somewhat over recent years. Many now combine SEO with the above internet marketing services.

What would you consider to be the main differences between an internet marketing service and SEO? Do you think that having a presence elsewhere on the web is as important as featuring highly in the search engines?

A newcomer’s perspective on copy caught in the SEO web

If you’re new to the industry or idea of SEO, the minefield of terms and techniques can be treacherous to navigate. Content writing in particular can seem like a futile endeavour to those who don’t quite understand how it works, so here are a few of my first impressions as a relative newcomer myself.

When I was interviewed for my first content writing job, I was informed of a matter that I soon found to be true; ‘Writing creatively, and writing for SEO are completely different things.’ As newbies, content writers quickly find themselves walking a tightrope in their work – and if they fall, so do their clients search rankings. Good quality content has to please both eager web searchers looking for the best product, and watchful search engines. My first impression is that it’s an art in itself.

Like the vast majority of web users, the first time I came into contact with successful SEO I didn’t even realise it. It was only when I began searching for jobs in the industry that I really became aware of writing for SEO – because good content looks like normal, natural copy. Effective SEO (when optimising a well designed website) facilitates every step of the consumer experience without many even knowing what it is – it raises a website’s profile rather than being highly visible in itself. This can be a difficult thing to achieve for new writers used to giving space to their own abounding creativity.

But this doesn’t mean that subtle content shouldn’t have something to say. Excellent content must be engaging rather than simply keyword rich waffle. Nobody trawls through endless product reviews for fun – readers need concise, detailed articles that are stimulating. One useful technique that I’ve found when writing content is to review it and imagine that it’s not written for SEO. What does it have to offer readers? Is it useful to them? Does it gain anything? These questions can help new writers keep their work fresh while still optimising as desired.

A final tip from this beginner is this; don’t begin writing until you have an angle, and don’t abandon the natural creativity you had when you entered the industry. Make sure you have a solid idea of the article’s creative direction, else you’ll invariably create something that doesn’t know where it’s going – and after all, SEO is all about telling web users where to go.

Welcome to this weeks SEO video blog, We are going to return to canonicalisation and how to correctly implement the canonical link element.

The principle behind canonicalisation link elements is to normalise your URL’s, this then helps search engines decide which of your pages is the authority for a particular piece of information and also allows Google to direct any link juice to the correct URL helping you search engine positions.

These can be important for content management systems and eCommerce website that generate identical pages with different URL’s. We have previously done a more in depth video on canonicalisation and webmaster tools blog also have an excellent video with Matt Cutts from Google explaining the principles, both of these are linked from the supporting blog post.

We have created a simple piece of php code which allows your to canonicalise your website quickly and easily, this weeks tutorial will show the installation and you can get the code from the blog post.

The implementation on this dynamic canonical link element is for php apache servers, it will allow you to tell Google which page is the authority for the content displayed.

The code does this in 2 ways, firstly It shows the full domain ie. www.domain.co.uk, so you have no issue with Google treating domain.co.uk as the primary source of content. You can also specify this in webmaster tools or use a .htaccess file to re-direct.

Secondly, if you have folder on your server,  for example /downloads/canonical/ and you want this folder to be classed as the authority, you can use the code supplied.

<link rel=”canonical” href=”http://www.seo-creare.co.uk<?php echo str_replace(“index.php”, “”, preg_replace(“/\?[\w&\-\_\=]+/”,”",$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']));?>” />

I have set an example on creare communications.

so we can see i have added the code to the header in my index.php file. Now when I upload the file and view the source of the index.php page, it displays within the canonical link element the URL /downloads/canonical/ and not /downloads/canonical/index.php, This means if Google finds this page it will automatically know that I want the origin of the pages content to lie with / and not index.php

We hope this helps you inform Google of your primary content and exclude any duplicate content issues, along with that it will help natural back links that are currently linked to the wrong URL to be re-directed to the canonical URL.

Thanks for watching if you have any questions or comment please leave them on the Youtube channel or supporting blog post.

http://www.seo-creare.co.uk/downloads/canonical/

Do you know when to stop before it’s too late?

It’s a question that many ponder, and something that even SEO Consultants can sometimes find hard to answer; how much is too much?

Every website wants to be in the top position within a Search Engine and those within the profession can ensure this for any business regardless of size, location or budget. Determination and commitment are all necessary when working with the web due to the goal posts constantly moving and the standards frequently adapting, so it’s essential to keep on top of trends.

Many of us have heard of white hat techniques and the ‘natural’ way to link build. But of course the people that abuse this are punished by Search Engines and therefore their website can disappear altogether.

But the question is what does it take for this to occur and how can you avoid being seen to practice black hat techniques?

Link Building:

Internal Linking is commonly the first place many websites begin their SEO due to the importance of having pages indexed. Whilst there are ways that people can link build naturally, some people may see their website as the perfect breeding ground to stuff with links.

Of course, some people may be unaware of the detrimental effect this will have on an SEO campaign, but may be unaware of what is actually classed as ‘natural’ link building. Linking to relevant pages via keywords is what makes a successful website, but linking every key phrase will not only look unappealing but hamper the websites success within a search engine.

Content writing is crucial to SEO, and creates an ideal opportunity to create keyword rich content that can then be distributed to various places on the web. ‘Key word stuffing’ is a common practice that occurs when creating content, and even those that understand SEO think it will go unnoticed. Search Engines like honesty and knowing when there are too many keywords within one piece of copy will be obvious.

When devising any content, write for your reader not for the search engine. Writing frequently to get exposure for key phrases will provide better results than writing one piece of copy stuffed with keywords in every line.

Of course, many black hat techniques are practiced when people panic that their listings have dropped. Amelia Vargo recently wrote about the issue of sandboxing – SEO Headaches: The Sandbox, when a website falls back when the search engine suspects that illegitimate techniques have been used.

Amelia reassures readers not to panic as many people cause more harm than good. It is best to continue with techniques that are natural and approved rather than ‘black hat’ to boost listings; this will only result in falling back further.

So, back to the original question of how much is too much? No one can say exactly, but with common sense and using a variety of techniques to help your SEO campaign, you can’t go far wrong and your phrases will soon soar to the top.