February 14th is just around the corner, and with this momentous day millions, in fact billions of us will be heading out to the shops to buy gifts for the special ones in our lives.

Although its origins are fairly unknown it’s a tradition that has grown across the world and with 1 billion cards sent annually it has become the 2nd most popular card selling holiday after Christmas.

As we all get loved up and think of ways in which we can show our true love you should consider ways to love your SEO campaign to keep it fresh and exciting.

Find Me

An age old tradition at Valentine’s Day is to leave your chosen card anonymous instead choosing to sign it with the simple words “From your Valentine”; this is perfect as a romantic gesture and will leave the object of your affection in wonder trying to work out who their secret admirer is.

Anonymity isn’t something you want in an SEO campaign; the main purpose of any campaign is to ensure that when your customers boost up a search engine your business is the first one to be delivered in the results.

If you want to be number 1, let’s be honest who wouldn’t, you need to be careful in your keyword selection. Think about what your customers will be trying to find and use places like Google Adwords or analytics to find out the highest search terms in your area.

Trust Me

Over the Valentine’s Day period there will be hordes of men heading into shops rushing to find that perfect present; do you trust that your partner won’t bring back a bunch of flowers from the local petrol station? There’s a shocking statistic that says 53% of women will dump their partners on Valentine’s Day if they don’t buy them a present! And who says love is dead??

Trust is an important aspect in any relationship whether it’s with your loved one or with the customers of your business. With this in mind why not consider ways you can reach out and increase your brand image with some handy SEO techniques. Social signals such as Twitter and Facebook have become valuable tools for a campaign; not only will you benefit by getting your name out there it will also make your business more personal to your customers, therefore increasing the trust they have in your business.

Fax Me/Email Me/Page Me

The sugary treats Love Hearts made famous by the Swizzel company are a Valentine’s favourite for many because of the individual messages applied to each one, apparently you won’t find more than 3 repeats in each packet of 20, pretty impressive stuff. They strive to constantly add new messages to keep their sweets relevant to the world we are living in and with a few simple words they can create a long lasting personal message.

This is something you should take on board with your SEO campaign, keep an eye on the changing times and trends. Google often update their algorithms and so will rank websites differently according to various factors. You SEO consultant will have the knowledge to understand these changes so it’s worthwhile taking on board any advice or guidance they offer.

As Valentine’s Day approaches put some love back into your SEO campaign, with the help of a professional SEO company the success of your business is in your hands.

So I leave you with this poignant poem:

Roses are red, violets are blue, your SEO campaign begins and ends with you.

As the title of this post suggests, the Content Team here at Creare are recruiting and we want to know whether you have what it takes to join our creative, dynamic group of writers. We’re a friendly bunch and are currently on the lookout for new members to become a part of our team. From writing and distributing articles for businesses in a plethora of industries through to taking part in the random discussions down here in Content Corner, we aim to ensure you look forward to coming into work each and every day!

If you have a love of writing, you certainly won’t be disappointed as in the Content Crew you will get to write about almost every business imaginable- within reason of course!! On a serious note, fresh and regular content plays a huge role in the success of a business’ SEO campaign and as a member of the content team you will of course be playing a pivotal role.

With a writing background and English-based degrees, whether they be in English, Creative Writing or Journalism, our current team is made up of friendly, light-hearted individuals who simply love to write. It is no secret that we also love a good laugh so a good sense of humour and the ability to literally talk about anything, from the serious to the downright ridiculous, is a must!

The Content Team is set to grow and grow over the coming months as content continues to play an increasingly important role in an SEO campaign. Alongside adding informative articles to a client’s website, we also write guest posts on a regular basis which gives you the opportunity to unleash your creativeness and get your written word out on an even larger scale.

So, have you got what it takes to become a member of the Content Crew? If you have a passion for writing, an English based degree and love to be part of a friendly team, the answer is most certainly yes!! For the opportunity to join our crew, simply send your CV through to jenny@creare.co.uk.

We can’t wait to hear from you soon!!

The SEO department here at Creare is made up of a variety of people working in a range of different roles. Each team is a vital cog in the well-oiled machine of SEO, but what part does the Content Team play in Creare’s SEO success? Read on to learn a few of our secrets as we reveal the inner workings of Article Marketing.

Who Are We?

From the Content Team, to Article Marketing, to “those guys in the corner”, we go by many names. But who are the Content Team? Our current team members have a mixture of English-based degrees – from Film and Television Screenwriting, to Journalism and Creative Writing – but one thing that we do share (besides our love of cake and Rugby FM) is a passion for writing.

We may have all started out with a burning ambition to become the next big thing in the world of literature or journalism, but through a variety of different routes we have all found ourselves here at Creare writing high-quality content for SEO. Our work allows us to stretch our writing muscles and get creative, whilst working with a group of fellow writers means that it is easy to gain some inspiration when writer’s block strikes.

What Do We Do?

So what can a group of frustrated novelists, poets and journalists bring to SEO? Using our writing skills we can help to create search engine-friendly content which includes those all-important keywords. It can be a tricky balancing act to write an article which incorporates the correct search terms in a natural, readable way, and it is often difficult to write interesting content which also works for SEO, but these challenges are what keep us on our toes.

Guest Blogging

As well as writing regular articles for a wide range of clients, we also turn our hand to Guest Blogging. Guest Blogging is a great way to reach new audiences with our content and generate more traffic to a website.

From industry-specific blogs for our clients, to SEO-based posts which we use to spread the word about Creare, Guest Blogging is an important and ever-growing aspect of what we do here in the Content Team.

Social Media

If you ever visit us here in the Content Team and spot us on Facebook or Twitter, then don’t think that we’re slacking. Social media is a big part of SEO, and an increasingly big focus for the Article Marketing department. Gayle is our resident expert in all things social, and it is her job to maintain the social media accounts of our clients. By posting regular updates, we can ensure that followers always have fresh content to enjoy, which in turn encourages more people to network with our clients.

We also Tweet every article we distribute via our very own Creare Content account (@CreareContent). As social signals become ever more important, this can help to give a client’s SEO a boost and drive traffic to their website: pretty impressive for 140 characters.

A Team of Many Talents

As well as all of the above, there are a few other strings to the Content Team bow. From writing some fresh site text to give an SEO campaign an added boost, to creating Press Releases to spread the word about a new development for one of our clients or Creare, if it involves writing, the Content Team have it covered.

Our next project will see us take on the responsibility of editing the Creare Communicator; our quarterly company newsletter. This is another great opportunity for us to get creative and share our words of wisdom with the whole company. This new venture, along with many other developments, means that this is an exciting time to be part of the Article Marketing department.

If you like the sound of what we get up to here in the Creare Content Team, then why not get in touch? As an ever-expanding department, we always have room for new writing talent. Read Holly’s post to learn more about what we are looking for, and if you think you’d like to join us here in Content Corner, email your CV to jenny@creare.co.uk.

With famous faces such as Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver and even Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand opening restaurants across the country, what does it take to create the perfect menu?

It’s a difficult task with so many delicious foods to choose from and it’s the same in SEO; let’s see if we can create the perfect SEO menu to boost your campaign.

Starter

This part of the meal is all about setting the scene, so think carefully about presentation as it allows your diners to create an early impression of what you are trying to achieve.

There’s no such thing as the perfect starter as everyone is individual and will like different things. However, one way to play it safe is a fresh fruit salad packed full of delicious flavours; using ingredients sourced from across the world, you can inject a host of tastes into your dish to set your diners’ taste buds alight.

Your website is the first impression your customer will get of your business and just like a starter, it should portray the right message. Should you suffer from bad web design, users won’t stay on your site for long and instead will head to your competitors.

Main Course

The main course should be a wholesome dish full of fresh and seasonal ingredients. You can show off your skills and add flair with creative cooking but don’t go crazy as sometimes less is more, so keep it simple. Whether you are cooking a British favourite like stew or an Italian pasta dish, you should ensure that you are prepared and have a well-stocked kitchen before starting.

Google changes their algorithms regularly and this is where you need to keep up to date with the changes in search engine optimisation. One aspect of SEO that Google is putting a higher priority on recently is Social Media signals; this is where you can get creative by managing Facebook or Twitter accounts for your business and increase your brand image with your customers.

Dessert

This is the last dish your diners will taste so you need to make it memorable and make sure it is in keeping with the rest of your menu. If you have a theme, don’t be lead astray because you want to create your favourite chocolate dessert. If you’re sticking traditional and making a delicious cake, make sure you try it out before putting it on your menu to ensure the ingredients infuse well together. Most importantly you need to create a strong dessert to end your meal on a good note.

As you would test and try ingredients to create the perfect cake, consider using specific programmes to determine the best keywords to optimise for in your campaign. By having a strong end to your meal, you will make your message clear and concise just as you would ensure your call to action is clear. Furthermore, don’t go mad adding lots of different ingredients; instead, give each page of your site a clear focus and optimise for just a few specific keywords instead of several that won’t bring in the amount of traffic you are hoping for.

Whether creating an SEO menu or venturing into the world of food, you should have a clear understanding of who your audience is and what they will find appealing. Finally, and most importantly, keep up to date with the latest trends in both industries to ensure the best results at all times!

My desk is cluttered with pens, glasses and emergency snacks and I’ve made it onto the tea run so I feel I’m pretty well settled in and comfortable in my new role as a content writer. Although I’m well initiated into the team (my song choices making it onto the playlists!) it’s hard to believe it’s only been two months since I first took my baby steps into SEO.

Now as talk around the office buzzes about the upcoming Christmas party and the well-deserved break that we get over the festive period, it seems only appropriate to look back over these past few months. As many people will reflect over the break in a bid to set resolutions that, lets be truthful, most of us won’t keep, I thought it was a perfect time to reflect over my early days and with my new found knowledge I’ll attempt to explain how it compares to a good SEO campaign.

Link Building

Like your first day at school, it takes you a few weeks to get comfortable and relax with your new work colleagues, and with an office of around 100 people it was quite a daunting task to begin with. Now, I am nowhere near to knowing everyone’s names and who they are but I have successfully managed to put names to most faces and with the nice touch of the Friday evening quiz, it makes it a lot easier not just to sneakily learn people’s names but also to socialise with others that I wouldn’t get a chance to speak to in a day.

This works on a similar level to link building for an SEO campaign; if done correctly it will have huge benefits for your campaign. By gaining good quality links, you will benefit from having a reciprocal link back to your site. Just like making a friend who then introduces you to someone else in the team!

Lasting Impressions

Whilst I’m hoping I made a good impression in the interview stages (can’t have been all bad they gave me a job after all!) it’s important to ensure the first impression people get of you is a good one. If I had started my first day and came across as difficult to work with or annoying, people would definitely remember me, but for all the wrong reasons.

Making an impression is important with your SEO campaign too as you could have the best campaign in the world but if you have a poor web design, people will bounce straight off your site. So taking advantage of a good web designer that can create a website that leaves your customers with a lasting impression of your business will only enhance your campaign.

As the famous but controversial Jeremy Clarkson says “On that bombshell” I’m hoping that in my first few months I’ve managed to combat my new job like you would a successful SEO campaign.