search engine optimisation

Without too much of a fanfare, Google has been quietly changing the way it decides which websites to boost and demote on its results pages. The change aimed to lower the rank of “low-quality sites” or “thin sites” and return higher-quality sites near the top of the search results This lead to an initial surge in the rankings of news websites and social networking sites, and a drop in rankings for sites containing large amounts of advertising. The update is called Google Panda (named after their engineer Navneet Panda) and was refined by human quality testers who rated thousands of websites based on measures of quality, including design, trustworthiness, speed and whether or not they would return to the website. These qualities are now built into Google’s search algorithm and used to decide where to place a website in search results pages.

The Google algorithm is a closely guarded secret, however Google do drop hints and often clearly state what they favour and why. One key issue is links back to your website and their quality:

The best way to get other sites to create relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community….It is not only the number of links you have pointing to your site that matters, but also the quality and relevance of those links.

Links Schemes, Google Webmaster Tools Help

The last update to Google Panda was in July / August 2012. Those playing the long game of building quality content, updating their website regularly, gaining relevant links from good quality sites and using social media wisely should find their website rise up the search engine rankings.

Talk to Dinesh on 01788 844014 about improving your website ranking or fill out our Contact Form.

Social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linked In, You Tube and the rest are now too important to ignore. Used wisely, social media can enhance your business by driving visitors to your websites, generating brand loyalty and providing another medium for informing people about your products and services. 

This doesn’t mean, however, that you can ignore your main business website or Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for that website. Your website should be designed and setup properly with clear calls to action working hand in hand with an SEO strategy that puts your website on the first page of Google for key words or phrases.

Too often businesses neglect one or the other but that means missed opportunities to grow your business. Talk to us about integrating your approach to SEO, website design and social media, making it all work together and grow your business on 01788 844014 or email dinesh@webgrowth.co.uk

After reviewing a random sample of 50 websites of businesses based in Rugby, we discovered several common issues that mean they are missing out on the best ranking on Google and other search engines. These include problems with web design, page meta tags and layout, along with issues relating to how often the website is updated and the best use of social media.

Our half-day seminar on Friday 12 November will help solve these problems and give people a real plan of action to help boost the ranking of their website on Google.

Click this link for booking details and more information: 6 steps to a better Google ranking.

While no credible SEO (search engine optimization) consultant can ever honestly guarantee any particular position, we`re delighted to report the no 1 ranking for one our recent websites for a holiday cottage in East Mayo, Ireland (Mick`s place http://www.tighmhic.com/) (more…)

Microsoft`s new Bing search engine (don`t ask) at http://www.bing.com/ was launched earlier this year in a direct challenge to Google`s current market dominance. While Bing has been generally well received, it still (more…)