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SEO Trends You Need To Be Using In 2020
December 31, 2019by Joshua GeorgeSEO

SEO Trends You Need To Be Using In 2020

SEO is an ever-changing field. As search engines modify their algorithms, your SEO strategy needs to change too. To achieve the best rankings, it’s important to keep up to date with the latest SEO innovations.

Remember – rankings aren’t static. Achieving the top spot on a results page is just half the battle. To ensure you stay on top, you’ll need to up your SEO game and implement bespoke SEO campaigns.

To give you a head start, we’ve put together our top five SEO trends to watch out for in 2020. If you want to dominate the results pages for your chosen keywords, take a look at the trends you need to be using…

1. Voice Searching

The way users search for content is changing. As more people embrace Alexa, Siri, Cortana and Google Assistant, voice searches are becoming increasingly popular. However, voice searching doesn’t just alter the method of looking for content.

When people search for content audibly, the terms they use differ too. This means your existing SEO strategy is unlikely to be as effective. To ensure your content ranks highly for both voice and text search, you’ll need to adapt your campaign.

As well as optimising your new content for voice searches, be sure to analyse your existing site structure and content. Tweaking your website to ensure it’s fully optimised for all types of searching will help you to obtain the best rankings.

2. Evergreen Content

A major element of successful SEO is updating your site with fresh, new content. However, topical content may not be the subject of searches for very long. To maximise your ROI, make sure evergreen content is included in your SEO campaign.

Evergreen content is designed to last the test of time – just like evergreen trees which keep their leaves all year round. With consistent search volumes, evergreen content will remain relevant in the weeks and months to come.

This means that users will continue to search for related keywords and your webpage will continue to be at the top of the rankings. With reliable traffic volumes, search engines will continue to rank your site highly. Furthermore, the use of evergreen content and the subsequent traffic you’ll receive will help to establish your authority and credibility.

3. Search Intentions

Keywords and terms have been a critical way to deliver relevant content to searchers. By optimising your content for keywords that are relevant to your brand, you can get your links in front of people who are actively looked for related content. However, search engines are becoming smarter.

In a bid to enhance user experience, Google is beginning to analyse searcher intention. Rather than taking what a user types or says at face value, search engines look behind the terminology used and analyse their search intention instead.

If you can optimise your content to reflect this, you’ll be on to something special. Fortunately, we can do just that. As intent matching becomes more prevalent throughout 2020, you’ll want to be using this cutting-edge SEO tactic to boost your rankings and generate website traffic.

4. Video Marketing

Video content is extremely popular. In fact, it’s the most popular form of content on social media. What’s more, all demographics use video to influence purchases. If you’re a retail business, don’t overlook the importance of video marketing in 2020.

Dedicated video platforms, like YouTube, receive an exceptional number of hits. Currently, over 1 billion of hours of video are watched on YouTube each day. With an additional 8 billion video views on Facebook each week, it’s easy to see just how popular video content is.

For businesses, the potential to use video marketing to increase sales is too valuable to overlook. Smart Insights report that video content offers a higher ROI on social media platforms than any other type of content. Furthermore, 72% of people maintain they would prefer to learn about a product via video, rather than text or images.

Creating video content gives you the opportunity to be an innovative as you like. When using video content for SEO purposes, however, it’s vital that it’s fully optimised. Whether you’re creating video content in-house or using a specialist production team, do make sure it will drive your rankings.

5. Topical Content

Think your topical content can’t be planned in advance? Think again. When structuring your SEO content, it’s important to incorporate topical issues and high-profile newsworthy features. While many businesses attempt to do this, the perceived unexpectedness of big news stories can make it difficult.

In many cases, however, it is possible to predict which stories will be high profile. Using a mix of planned editorial, planned reactive editorial and reactive editorial, you can ensure you’re covering topical events throughout the year.

Both planned editorial and planned reactive editorial content can be scheduled in advance, because we know these topics are going to be covered. Entertainment sites can plan coverage for the finale of major shows, for example, even though they don’t know who will be crowned the winner.

While reactive editorial can’t be planned in advance, both planned relative editorial and planned editorial content can a key part of your strategic and topical SEO.

SEO Success in 2020 with ClickSlice

As well as embracing new SEO trends in 2020, it’s important to keep up with existing ones. From keyword research and image optimisation to link building and PPC ads; there are numerous areas to cover if you want to achieve high rankings.

If you want to achieve SEO success in 2020, get in touch with ClickSlice now. Our SEO specialists are on hand to devise bespoke campaigns for your brand. Using a combination of innovative tactics and in-depth research, we’ll ensure you achieve maximum results.

To find out more now, contact ClickSlice today on 020 3287 3638.

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How Will Voice-Activated Searches Affect Your SEO?
December 3, 2019by Joshua GeorgeSEO

How Will Voice-Activated Searches Affect Your SEO?

The number of voice-activated searches is increasing all the time, and it’s expected to skyrocket in 2020. As users change the way they use search engines, it’s essential to update your optimisation techniques too.

When users make an audible, or voice-activated, query, the way they search for information changes. A text search may be made up of a few keywords, for example, whereas a voice-activated search is typically longer. Compare these two examples:

Text-based Google search:

‘Best Mexican restaurant London’

Voice-activated Google search:

‘Assistant, where’s the best Mexican restaurant in London?’

Although the user wants to access the same information, the data they’re inputting is different. As you can see, the way users search for information varies depending on what methods they use.

Of course, Google and other search engines are modifying their algorithms accordingly. This inevitably means you’ll need to adapt the way you’re optimising your webpages. If you want to maintain or increase your rankings, it’s vital you recognise this shift in search behaviour.

Incorporating voice-activated searches into your SEO

As user behaviours evolve, SEO follows. We’ve already adapted to encompass mobile device usage and location-based searches. Now it’s time to include voice activated searches in our repertoire. To this, you’ll need to know what factors search engines a prioritising in relation to voice-activated searches.

Once you know the ranking criteria or algorithms used, you can ensure your web pages rank highly for voice-based searches. So, what matters when it comes to audible searching?

Unsurprisingly, the jury’s still out on all the ranking factors for voice-activated searches. Google and other search engines are notoriously secretive when it comes to releasing their ranking factors, which makes it trickier for websites to secure the top spots on search engine results pages (SERPs). However, we do know some of the critical factors that will affect your rankings for audible searches. When you’re optimising your webpages for voice-activated searching, you’ll want to consider the following:

Amp up content marketing

As well as appealing to text-based searches, your content is going to have to rank highly for word-based queries too. Understanding how these two types of searches vary will, naturally, impact how you word your content.

As well as ranking highly for ‘Best Mexican restaurant London’, for example, you’ll need to ensure your content features for ‘Where’s the best Mexican restaurant in London?’, too. Achieving this will require a change in your content marketing strategy.

You’ll need to modify your existing content to ensure it facilitates voice-activated searches and produce new content to ensure both forms of searching are catered for. Going forward, you’ll want to use content that it capable of making your webpages rank highly across multiple types of searches.

Enhance Featured snippets

A well-crafted featured snippet gives you the opportunity to answer voice-activated queries. Use a featured snipped to summarise the answer your webpage provides and you’ll rank more highly for voice-based searches.

The average voice-activated search result in 29 words long. To maximise the effect, keep your featured snippet below this word count and ensure it’s above the fold. You’ll need to make sure you long-tail keyword is included in your featured snippet, as this will certainly affect your rankings.

However, your featured snippet doesn’t have to be a block of text. Google likes H-tags, bullet points and lists, so add these to your featured snippets where you can. A comprehensive featured snipped confirms the quality and relevance of your content in Google’s eyes. As a result, the search engine will offer your content to users when they search for related terms. In other words, your featured snipped can enable you to rank more highly on SERPs, particularly when it comes to voice-activated searches.

Focus on location

Almost a quarter of voice-activated searches look for location-based content. The rise of ‘near me’ searching has affected text-based queries but it’s showing real dominance in relation to audible searches.

When you’re optimising your content to rank more highly for voice-activated searches, be sure to make ‘near me’ searching and location-based content your first priorities. For bricks and mortar businesses, in particular, the use of ‘near me’ searching is a fantastic way to grab custom and increase your market share.

The increased accuracy of location-relevant searches means that users are using this method of searching more frequently. As AI continues to evolve, the data available for location-related queries will only increase. This means users will be able to access even more accurate data via this type of voice-activated search.

By incorporating ‘near me’ searching and local content into your webpages, you can satisfy user demands and meet Google’s expectations. In short, optimising your webpages for audible ‘near me’ searching will get you to the top of the rankings.

Monitoring voice-activated search rankings

We already know that monitoring and analysing your website’s performance is the key to enhancing your SEO. By researching trends, keywords and ranking statistics, you can successfully improve your campaign’s results. So, the same should be true for voice-activated searches, right?

Well, yes and no. Of course, analysing the data produced by voice-activated search results will give you critical insights into ranking algorithms, performance and marketing ROI. However, the tools to analyse voice-activated searches aren’t readily available to users just yet.

Whilst you can access some voice-based search analytics, these are nowhere near as comprehensive or detailed as the data available for text-based searching. Fortunately, help is at hand. With experienced SEO experts monitoring, analysing and enhancing your campaigns, you can use the latest industry programs to access the data you need.

With the information, SEO specialists will craft innovative and effective campaigns. The result? Bespoke marketing activity which makes you stand out from the crowd. Satisfying users and search engines, your search engine optimisation will successfully boost your profile in relation to text and voice-activated searches.

To find out more about optimising your site for voice-activated searches in 2020, contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638.

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5 Things Every Successful Entrepreneur Needs
November 19, 2019by Joshua GeorgeBrandingBusinesses

5 Things Every Successful Entrepreneur Needs

Today’s entrepreneurs have the world at their fingertips, literally. The internet has made it possible for anyone to become a successful entrepreneur, but that doesn’t mean everybody does. Despite the illusion of fast-tracked success and adoration, being a successful entrepreneur takes more than a bit of hard work.

In fact, the life of an entrepreneur is less glamorous than you might imagine, particularly when you’re starting out. Of course, if you’re willing to put the effort in, you the rewards are spectacular. Want to be your own boss and make it on your own terms? Take a look at the five must-have things every successful entrepreneur needs…

1. Determination

Contrary to popular belief, success doesn’t happen overnight. If you’re looking for a fast-tracked way to make it to the top, entrepreneurship probably isn’t for you. Every ‘overnight success’ you encounter has spent years toiling away behind the scenes to get to where they are now. Furthermore, the path to success is rarely easy.

Whether you’re inventing a new product, launching a new business or creating an innovative social enterprise, you’ll hit stumbling blocks along the way. To be successful, however, you’ll need to find a way to get around them, through them or over them.

2. Attention to Detail

When you start out as an entrepreneur, chances are you’ll be working on your own a lot of the time. Budding entrepreneurs rarely have the budget for staff, fancy offices or vast amounts of equipment. In fact, a coffee machine is probably pushing it. Instead, you’ll be flitting from one job to another as you try to get your organisation off the ground.

Fortunately, the staff, equipment and fancy offices for come along, providing you stick at it long enough to be successful. Entrepreneurs are known for their precision and attention to detail, so if you’re detailed-oriented and organised, you’re already on the right track.

Every element of your product, service or brand is going to be scrutinised. Investors, competitors, customers and clients will be queuing up to assess what you’ve got to offer, so it’s essential that every detail is covered. If you’ve got the tenacity to cover the seemingly minor details, as well as the major ones, it will stand you in good stead for life as an entrepreneur.

3. Work/Life Balance

Entrepreneurs are known for their hard work and you will certainly need to put the hours in if you want to be successful. However, working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week isn’t sustainable in the long term. Many entrepreneurs who devote too much time to their work end up burning out before they can enjoy their success.

If you want to build an entrepreneurial career, you need to find a way to balance your long hours with some form of relaxation. Whether that’s time with family, socialising with friends, hitting the gym or practising a hobby is up to you.

Of course, being an entrepreneur isn’t the right choice for someone who wants to clock out everyday at 5pm or enjoys working part-time. Being your own boss may sound attractive but, in reality, it’s a hard slog with limited downtime.

The trick to building a sustainable career is an entrepreneur is factoring in that downtime and making it a priority. If you can do this, you’ll be able to build long-lasting success in your industry, rather than fleeting fame.

4. Self-Awareness

As entrepreneurs tend to work alone when they’re starting out, it can be hard to let go. When things start moving forward, however, it becomes impossible to undertake every task without assistance. Entrepreneurs have a tendency to micro-manage, which is frustrating for everyone involved.

The best entrepreneurs are self-aware enough to recognise their own strengths and weaknesses. What’s more – the know when to call in help. If you’re launching a social enterprise and you’re not a tech wizard, for example, there’s no point spending hours trying to troubleshoot your network when issues arise.

By hiring staff and outsourcing to companies, subcontractors and freelancers, you can build a reliable professional network. This will give you the resources you need, whenever you need them. Furthermore, outsourcing your needs to specialists means you can access their expertise in the most cost-effective way. By doing so, you’re freeing up more of your time, which you can dedicate to your core business activities.

5. Publicity

If you’re going to be a successful entrepreneur, you’ll need some form of publicity. Whether you want to be a recognisable face, or you want your brand to become a household name, marketing and promotion is critically important.

In today’s digital landscape, the internet is the most effective way to build a profile and establish a new product or service. No matter what sector you operate in, it’s vital to have a positive online web presence.

Anyone can setup a website, but this doesn’t mean that people will automatically know where to find you. Instead, you’ll need to invest time in promoting your brand online and attracting clients to your content.

Search engine optimisation, content marketing and PPC are all effective ways of doing this. As well as providing long-term results, you’ll find that building an online profile brings immediate rewards too. With the right expertise, you can promote your online profile and see your traffic spike within hours.

There’s a lot that goes into making a product, service or brand successful but publicity is always a key factor. However good your USP is, it won’t sell if people don’t know about. To generate interest, you’ll need the right tools build your profile and engage your target audience.

Launching Your Career as an Entrepreneur

If you’ve got what it takes to become the next successful entrepreneur, ClickSlice can help. Our SEO services are guaranteed to increase your search engine rankings and generate increased website traffic. Want to build your profile and gain maximum publicity? Contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638.

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How Important Is CTR For SEO?
November 3, 2019by Joshua GeorgeMarketingSEO

How Important Is CTR For SEO?

Your click-through rate is one of the most important metrics to monitor. In fact, many people see their CTR as the most important measure of their online marketing campaigns. But what impact does your CTR have on your SEO? Conversely, how does your SEO affect your click-through rate?

With so many aspects to consider, we take a look at the relationship between click-throughs and SEO success. Read on to find out how to enhance your SEO and increase your CTR…

What is CTR?

Your click-through rate, or CTR, tells you how many people have clicked on a link to your website. If 100 people see your advert and 10 people click on it, for example, you would have a click-through rate of 10%.

A well-executed marketing campaign includes persuading users to visit your website or landing page. The first step is getting your advert in front of your target market. A high number of views or ‘impressions’ means that your adverts are being displayed in a good position.

The second element involves increasing the number of people who actually click on your link. With well-written adverts, for example, you can enhance your CTR and see an increase in your traffic.

Increasing your click-through rate means that more people are clicking on links and, therefore, visiting your site. Furthermore, high click-through rates are linked to better rates of conversions too. As well as sending more traffic to your site, a higher CTR should mean that your sales increase accordingly.

Ultimately, a healthy CTR indicates that your online marketing campaigns are working. By hooking prospective customers with your marketing content, you’re enticing them to visit your site. At this point, you can deliver substantially more content and persuade them to engage with your brand.

Does SEO affect click-through rates?

Absolutely. Search engine optimisation determines where your webpages rank for specific keywords. If you’re the first result when people search for ‘bakeries in London’, for example, more people are going to see your advert. When compared to ranking on the third or fourth page, for example, the number of impressions you will receive is dramatically different.

When your adverts receive fewer impressions or views, less people will be clicking on your links too. On one hand, this isn’t too problematic. Consider the following example:

Advert on page 1 of Google receives 10,000 impressions and 1,000 clicks = 10% CTR

Advert on page 4 of Google receives 10 impressions and 1 click = 10% CTR

Statistically, your CTR remains the same in both instances. This means your content is working well and is persuading 10% of users who see your ad to click on it. In reality, however, there is a significant difference between getting one click and getting 1,000!

By increasing your impressions, you can, therefore, increase your CTR too. To achieve this, you’ll need to enhance your SEO and improve your rankings.

Fine-tuning your marketing content will, of course, have an impact on your click-through rate but, if no-one is seeing your ad, then they can’t click on it. By using SEO to rank highly for relevant keywords, you can increase your organic CTR. As a result, your web traffic will increase, as will the potential rate of conversions.

Does CTR affect search engine optimisation?

This one is a little bit trickier but bear with us and we’ll explain. Google is notoriously secretive when it comes to their ranking algorithms. We know that some factors, such as the quality of your content, undoubtedly affect your SEO rankings.

However, Google has been reluctant to confirm or deny all the factors they take into account when ranking sites. This has led to differing opinions over what really matters when it comes to SEO. Despite this, most SEO experts now agree that your click-through rate does have an impact on your rankings.

Search engines set a baseline of how they expect a webpage to perform in terms of CTR. If your ad is current halfway down page two of the search results, for example, Google might expect you to have a click-through rate of 3%.

If your advert starts over-performing and your CTR soars to 15%, for example, Google is going to start wondering why. Furthermore, it will be keen to capitalise on your success and should, therefore, rank your webpage more highly.

Conversely, if Google expects your advert to have a CTR of 3% and you’re only achieving 1.1%, this could send you further down the rankings.

Whilst this hasn’t been confirmed by Google itself, the latest data does appear to show that your CTR will impact on your SEO rankings. Due to this, it’s important to keep your CEO to the baseline level or above it.

Increasing your CTR

In essence, SEO and CTR have a symbiotic relationship. They are innately linked and typically perform best when they are both fully optimised. Due to this, it’s important to implement effective SEO strategies. Similarly, you’ll want to monitor your CTR to determine how successful your SEO campaigns are.

Whilst the relationship between CTR and SEO is important, don’t lose sight of the value of CTR as a single entity. When people are clicking on your links, it means they’re visiting your site. This is the main aim of any SEO activity, so a high CTR should always be welcomed.

To achieve consistently high CTRs, however, you’ll need to put the effort in with your SEO. Fortunately, help is at hand. If you want to learn more about improving your SEO performance, why not get in touch with us?

With in-house SEO experts ready to answer your burning questions, we can provide all the info you need when it comes to enhancing your SEO, boosting your CTR and increasing your ROI! To talk to a member of the team, contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638.

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How important is it to have a responsive website?
October 21, 2019by Joshua GeorgeLanding PageSEO

How important is it to have a responsive website?

A functional website is essential for any business, but how do you ensure your site delivers a great customer experience? Whilst the aesthetic of your site is critical, its development is, perhaps, even more important.

The setup or development of your website is, essentially, the building blocks upon which your online presence rests. A poorly developed site will inevitably result in a poor user experience, or UX. When users can’t access quality content easily, they will deviate to alternative sites.

In fact, it’s estimated that your website has less than four seconds to impress users. If it doesn’t, they’ll be off to a competitor site before your homepage has even finished loading. However, it isn’t just the initial loading times which have a bearing on how long a user will stay on your site. If there is a lag at any stage of their journey, users will disappear from your site as quickly as they arrived.

Assessing website functionality

As users place such a high importance on page loading speeds, it’s become an important factor in determining website credibility. Now part of Google’s SEO algorithms, your site won’t rank highly for any keywords if it’s marred by slow speeds.

Of course, it isn’t just loading speed which has an impact on SEO rankings or user experience. To satisfy users, your content will also need to be easily accessible. However quickly your pages load, they won’t be any use to your audience if they can’t view, engage and navigate around your site.

So, how can you ensure your site delivers a great UX when users are visiting from an endless range of devices? With mobile internet users now overtaking desktop users in every demographic, there are no set display parameters to work with. Instead, your website will need to cater for users visiting on screens ranging from 5” on smartphones to 50” Smart TVs.

Designing an innovative and engaging website can be tricky at the best of times but it’s even more difficult when you consider the variables you need to take into account. Fortunately, there is an effective way to ensure your website caters to every visitor.

A responsive website ensures that your webpages are displayed optimally, regardless of what device a visitor is using. Whether they’re browsing from a smartphone, tablet, laptop or TV, a responsive site delivers your site in the most user-friendly way. Quite simply, it responds to the user’s individual display demands.

Boosting SEO with a responsive website

It’s clear that a responsive website improves the user experience. Capable of displaying your site perfectly to every user, visitors will find it easy to read or view content. Furthermore, navigating around your site will be easy and straightforward, which will reduce your bounce rate.

However, responsive websites bring important SEO benefits too. We already know that UX is critical to high SEO rankings. As a responsive website improves UX, you can gain credibility with Google based on this alone.

In addition, a responsive website helps you to satisfy Google’s newly introduced mobile-first indexing. As Google is using this indexing method to facilitate ranking websites, it’s vital that you adhere to it, and a responsive website will enable you to do so.

Prioritise mobile users with a responsive website

In response to changing user behaviour, Google introduced mobile-first indexing in 2018. Recognising that more people were surfing the net on mobile devices than on laptops or desktops, Google gives priority to websites which are mobile-friendly. In terms of indexing, Google will look at the mobile version of a website before it reverts to a desktop version.

Whilst site owners traditionally ran two different websites to facilitate functional mobile use, this is no longer the case. A responsive website negates the need for a separate mobile version of your site completely.

As a responsive website recognises the user’s display parameters and adjusts your site accordingly, there is no need to develop a second site at all. For site operators, this is welcome news. By switching to a responsive site, you can essentially halve your work. Instead of having to update two websites, a responsive website means you can focus your efforts on one site, whilst improving UX at the same time.

Furthermore, you won’t be penalised under Google’s new mobile-first indexing policy. The search engine understands the flexibility of responsive websites and judges them accordingly. With a responsive website, you’ll meet the criteria of their mobile-first indexing strategy and climb the rankings accordingly.

Creating a responsive website

Choosing to have a responsive website is beneficial for site owners in a variety of ways. Due to this, it’s important to update your existing site to a responsive version as quickly as possible. By doing so, you will enhance UX, reduce your workload and find it easier to satisfy Google’s algorithms. As a result, your rankings will improve, and you’ll find it easier to attract visitors to your site.

Crucially, the enhanced UX delivered by a responsive website means you’ll find it easier to retain site visitors too. With a reduced bounce rate, users will remain on your site for longer periods of time and be more motivated to engage with your content. In short, switching to a responsive website can have a dramatic impact on your conversion rates and, ultimately, your profits.

Your site design and development are the foundations to your online success, so it’s important to get it right. Once your responsive website is up and running, you can begin to implement effective SEO strategies.

To learn more about the SEO benefits associated with responsive web design, contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638.

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Backlinks: Quality or Quantity? Boost Your SEO Rankings Now
October 6, 2019by Joshua GeorgeLink BuildingSEO

Backlinks: Quality or Quantity? Boost Your SEO Rankings Now

Backlinks have been the mainstay of search engine optimisation for years, but in a changing digital landscape are they still relevant? With routine algorithm changes and SEO methodologies, how much should you be relying on backlinks to get you to the top of the rankings? More importantly, should you modify your backlink strategy to increase its efficacy?

What are backlinks and why are they important?

Backlinks are simply links which connect your website to other sites online, but they’re extremely important when it comes to search engine optimisation. Your backlinks help search engines to determine how important, influential and reliable your website is, and this can boost your rankings.

Traditionally, websites benefitted from having lots of backlinks because this helped to establish the site and its content. In basic terms, the more backlinks you had, the more significant your site was. As a result, high numbers of backlinks were a good way to increase your SEO rankings.

Are backlinks still relevant to SEO?

Absolutely. Backlinks still help to establish your website’s authority, and they still play a considerable role in determining your rankings and how search engines view your site. As a form of off-page SEO, backlinks are still extremely important. However, the way backlinks are perceived by search engines has changed in recent years.

The number of backlinks on your site is no longer seen as an indicator of your website’s importance or authenticity. Whilst a healthy number of backlinks may be advantageous when it comes to your rankings, search engines, such as Google, now assess the quality of your backlinks as well.

What is a high-quality backlink?

High-quality backlinks are links high authority domains. Well-known, secure and popular websites are typically deemed high-quality, and they’re often recognisable names. Well-known sites, such as, Facebook, Forbes YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram are all examples of high authority domains, and creating a link between your site and any of these websites would be extremely beneficial for your SEO rankings.

Conversely, lower quality backlinks are connections to websites which don’t necessarily have a high authority domain. These sites may not be as well-established or well-known, and they won’t automatically boost your rankings on search engines either. However, that doesn’t mean you should avoid lower quality backlinks in their entirety.

Should you choose high-quality backlinks for SEO success?

The quality of your backlinks is crucial to your SEO success, but it’s important to remember that content matters too. If you want to link to a website which doesn’t have a particularly high domain authority but has original, informative and relevant content, then it could be worthwhile. Whilst you may not gain much from this type of link building in terms of SEO, connecting your users to content fresh and interesting content has its own rewards.

However, it is important to avoid low-quality backlinks, as these could actually have a negative impact on your SEO rankings. Traditionally, quantity reigned when it came to backlinks, and this lead to some unscrupulous tactics. With people eager to boost their rankings, sites were created simply to serve as backlink connections, rather than delivering relevant content.

To prevent falsely inflated rankings, search engines started to pay more attention to where your backlinks were going. Instead of focusing solely on the number of backlinks on your site, Google cares about their value. As a result, the quality of your backlinks became increasingly important, whilst the quantity of your backlinks became less influential.

Does it matter how many backlinks you have?

Yes. Quantity still matters when it comes to backlinks, but not necessarily in the way you might think. Hundreds of backlinks may have ranked you more highly on a SERP (search engine results page) in the past. Now, however, it could do just the opposite.

Having hundreds of backlinks won’t necessarily improve your SERP position. Furthermore, hundreds of low-quality will actually put you lower down on SERPs and damage your SEO strategy. Whilst a decent number of backlinks can be beneficial for your website and its rankings, quality matters. Backlinks will only have a positive impact if they’re high-quality. Of course, backlinks of moderate quality can be valuable too, providing they link to relevant and worthwhile content.

Most users want to know whether high quantity or high-quality backlinks will benefit their site, but it isn’t quite as simple as that. Whilst high-quality backlinks will place your site higher on SERPs, a high quantity of backlinks could actually lower your rankings, depending on their quality.

Like most digital marketing and SEO concepts, the use of backlinks has changed over time. Whereas quantity once reigned supreme, high quantities of backlinks are now only beneficial if they’re also high-quality. As low-quality backlinks could have a negative impact, it’s important to look at the value of each potential link. In fact, focusing on quality before quantity is essential if you want to use backlinks to boost your SEO rankings.

To learn more or to enhance your backlinks today, contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638.

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‘Near Me’ search phrases are the future of Local SEO
September 16, 2019by Joshua GeorgeLocal Seo

‘Near Me’ search phrases are the future of Local SEO

Local SEO has increased in prominence recently, with ‘near me’ or ‘nearby’ searches rising almost month-on-month. For bricks and mortar businesses, this trend highlights a shift in the way people are looking for services. In response, companies must incorporate ‘near me’ searching into their SEO strategy.

Users have always relied on search engines to find shops, restaurants and amenities in their area. In this respect, local SEO is nothing new. However, the way users are searching for local services is changing. Traditionally, users would add particular location to specify the geographical area in which they wanted to search. This shift towards ‘near me’ searching has removed the need for users to pinpoint their locale. As a result, it increases convenience and UX when it comes to searching for nearby businesses and services.

What is ‘near me’ searching?

Quite simply, users add the words ‘near me’ to key terms when they’re using a search engine, such as Google. In doing so, they expect to see SERPs showing relevant businesses or services in the current area. If you’re out and about and what to stop for an impromptu lunch, for example, you might enter ‘restaurants near me’ or ‘cafes near me’ to find a selection of eateries nearby.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the increase in ‘nearby’ searches has correlated with the rise of mobile devices. With cheaper data, more functionality and faster response times, mobile device usage has risen across every demographic in recent years, culminating in more people using mobile devices than laptops or desktops.

Currently, almost 90% of ‘near me’ searches come from mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. With the ability to find local services in any area, adding ‘near me’ to a keyword or key term ensures efficiency for the user, so delivers a better UX.

Why are ‘near me’ searches so popular?

The way we use technology evolves over time, and the shift towards mobile devices and voice automation been a significant factor in the rise of ‘near me’ searches. We’ve become used to increasingly intelligent indexing and highly-relevant SERPs, despite providing less detailed search terms and keywords.

‘Near me’ searches are easy for users, and they provide good results. Instead of having to specify an area or maximum distance, users can simply add ‘near me’ to whatever they’re looking for and rely on Google to do the rest.

Furthermore, ‘nearby’ searches are ideal if you’re looking for amenities, products or services in an area you’re unfamiliar with. Whether you’re in a new town, city or country, adding ‘near me’ to your search will give you more information about your immediate area and the amenities available.

Location tracking and ‘near me’ searches

Search engines have sought to track and identify a user’s location for years, although more advanced location tracking has been controversial. Originally using IP addresses to determine your location, search engines now use a range of tracking methodologies to isolate your geographical location. With location tracking more accurate than ever before, the quality of ‘near me’ SERPs has increased, and it’s become a mainstay of local SEO.

In fact, more accurate location tracking has put ‘nearby’ searches on a par with location-included searches. In contrast, ‘near me’ queries offer more convenience and faster searching. As a result, users have embraced this new way of searching for local services.

Local SEO and voice searches

Voice searches and the use voice-activated tech has exploded over the past couple of years. Smart home devices becoming increasingly popular in residential environments is just one example of the trend. Whilst mobile device personal assistants have been around for some time, the improved results delivered by Cortana and Siri have ensured their continued usage.

However, when we use voice-activated tech, we look for things differently. You don’t necessarily type how you speak, so it makes sense that these two search mediums operate differently. To offer accurate SERPs, Google has invested heavily in AI. This technology determines exactly what users are searching for, and which results are likely to be most relevant to them.

Search engines now have a greater understanding of what users mean when they add ‘near me’ to a search. Combined with their ability to pinpoint our real-time location, the results from these searches are increasingly accurate. As a result, users have continued to use ‘near me’ searching at a prolific rate. To date, this particular search trend is showing no signs of slowing down.

What does this mean for local SEO?

Businesses who want to attract local clientele to their premises must engage in effective local SEO, and ‘near me’ searches are a critical component. Whilst search engines can accurately identify user location, they have yet to establish an effective way of determining what geographical areas a website is targeting.

For digital marketers, this means your SEO strategy should still incorporate locations which are relevant to your clients. It won’t take long for Google to find a way to determine what locations websites are targeting, but it’s not there yet.

In the meantime, your content and your page title should still contain the locations you want to reach. This will enable search engines to match your content to users in the relevant area.

However, the change in location searches provides us with crucial information about user behaviour. The improved accessibility and accuracy of ‘near me’ searches increased convenience and enhanced UX even further than before. Now, users can provide less information but receive more tailored and relevant SERPs. Indicative of the move towards more intelligent indexing and results, ‘near me’ searching is just the beginning.

The rise in ‘near me’ searches is underway but it’s not too late to benefit from this new user behaviour. As users continue to search for amenities and services close by, it will be websites and businesses which respond to ‘near me’ searches that will attract users and custom – both online and offline.

To incorporate ‘near me’ searches into your local SEO strategy, contact ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638 or say hello@clickslice.co.uk

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6 SEO Myths To Avoid In 2019
August 31, 2019by Joshua GeorgeSEO

6 SEO Myths To Avoid In 2019

Most website owners know a little about SEO, but separating the myths from the facts can be tricky. With so much information about there, finding genuine techniques to increase your SEO rankings isn’t always easy. If you want to improve your rankings and avoid the misconceptions surrounding search engine optimisation, take a look at our top 10 SEO myths now…

1. You need to submit your site

It’s a common misconception that you need to submit your URL in order to be featured on their SERPs. In fact, Google can pick up domains and websites within minutes of them being registered or going live.

Whilst it can be advantageous to submit a URL to Google if you’ve recently updated your site with great content, this isn’t usually necessary. Generally, search engines will pick up new content quickly, so it won’t take long for changes to take effect.

2. SEO is optional

You don’t have to engage in SEO, but your website won’t get many visitors without it. Studies show that users visit websites by searching for keywords or site names via search engines. Even if a user is actively looking for your site and knows your URL, they won’t necessarily use it. Research confirms that users are more likely to search for you via Google, even if they’ve visited your site before.

If your SEO isn’t up to scratch, you’ll miss out on the top spot in the rankings. As a result, your competitors will take your place. When you’ve already persuaded someone to find you online, don’t waste your efforts by sending them directly to a competitor.

As many users will look for your services or products by searching for relevant key terms, you’ll need to ensure you rank more highly than your competitors in order to attract more users. SEO is the only way to achieve this, so ignore it at your peril.

3. Content is more important than SEO

Content is certainly important when it comes to increasing your rankings and engaging users, but that doesn’t mean it’s more critical than your SEO. You can fill your website with original, insightful and powerful content, but it won’t have an impact if no-one knows about it. Similarly, you can get high-quality backlinks and enhance your SEO rankings, but users won’t engage with your site or spend long visiting if it doesn’t feature fresh, original content.

You’ll hear the expression, ‘content is king’ thrown around, but, in reality, it’s the combination of great content and effective SEO that truly pushes your site to the top of the rankings and keeps users coming back.

4. Social media has replaced SEO

Although social media can be a great way to promote your brand, it definitely hasn’t replaced SEO. In fact, the relationship between the two is evolving all the time. When you promote content via social media, it can lead to people linking to your site, which can be beneficial for your rankings. However, for most website owners, the impact from social media-inspired links simply won’t be enough to make a significant different to your position on SERPS.

Furthermore, Google doesn’t look at how many likes, tweets or posts your social media content gets, so a Facebook post which is liked by 150,000 users won’t directly enhance your rankings either. Despite this, social signals are starting to have more of an impact on SEO. Your collective shares, likes and retweets, as well as your overall social media presence, make up your social signals, and Google does take this into account when indexing your site.

Social media can increase the number of links to your site, which is advantagous. Furthermore, a powerful social media presence can have a positive, if minimal, impact on your rankings. Whilst this is beneficial, neither of these factors is enough to replace search engine optimisation. As a way to promote your company, showcase your corporate personality and engage with users, social media is fantastic tool. To feature highly on SERPs, however, you’ll still need to work on your SEO.

5. The more keywords, the better

Keyword stuffing used to be a common way of trying to improve SEO rankings, but it’s likely to do more harm than good. Using relevant keywords and key terms can be beneficial, as it helps to show that your website content is relevant to the user. However, using the same keywords or terms too many times will result in SEO penalties.

Simply repeating the same keyword over and over again tells Google that you’re only focused on getting users to your site. Instead, you want Google to know that you’re delivering useful and relevant content. Keyword stuffing often leads to nonsensical and hard to decipher content, which is exactly what search engines want to avoid.

Whilst keywords and key terms should be at the forefront of your mind when you’re planning your content marketing strategy, don’t let them detract from your content. With an emphasis on quality and relevance, Google values original and useful content, far more than the same words being used repetitively.

6. SEO is a one-time task

If you think SEO is only for new websites or relaunches, think again. Effective SEO requires regular, if not constant, effort. From creating innovative strategies, employing a range of methodologies and monitoring quantifiable results, SEO is a full-time endeavour.

It doesn’t take long for content to become outdated, links to fail and algorithms to change. This means you need to be updating your SEO frequently. If you don’t add new content, replace broken links and respond to new indexing methods, your SEO rankings will plummet.

For on-going success and online visibility, search engine needs to be an on-going part of your business. Getting on the first SERPs for relevant keywords doesn’t guarantee you’ll stay there. Instead of wasting the effort you’ve put in, maintain your ranking with on-going optimisation. However, maintaining your rankings can be just as tough as reaching the top. You’ll need new strategies, fresh content, updated links and algorithm-friendly updates to ensure you’re getting the most from your SEO strategies, and we can help.

To find out more, contact us on 020 3287 3638 or say hello@clickslice.co.uk

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What Does Mobile First Indexing Really Mean?
August 23, 2019by Joshua GeorgeSEO

What Does Mobile First Indexing Really Mean?

First rolled out in 2018, mobile first indexing is a new way for Google to crawl, index and rank websites. In order to provide users with relevant results, Google needs to find out more about your webpages. To do this, Googlebot ‘crawls’ through various site information, including data from past crawls, sitemaps, dead links and new content. With this information, Google can then index and rank websites in order to provide users with relevant SERPs.

Prior to mobile first indexing (MFI), search engines relied predominantly on the desktop version of a web page for crawling, indexing and searching. This means that the desktop version of your site was the main factor when it came to your SEO rankings.

Since the introduction of MFI, however, Google places more importance on the mobile version of webpages. Due to this, it’s the mobile version of your site which will have the most impact on your rankings.

Why is mobile first indexing important?

The introduction of mobile first indexing is a major change in the way Google prioritises the data it gathers. Based on this, the way that it ranks sites has been changed significantly. As a result, you may need to modify your website and SEO strategy to ensure you maintain and improve your rankings.

Digital marketers are constantly having to respond to algorithm changes and new methodologies. However, MFI is designed to enhance UX, and is being welcomed across the industry. More searches are now conducted on mobile devices than desktops, so it makes sense for Google to prioritise mobile-friendly sites.

Prior to MFI, the majority of users were searching via mobile devices, but getting results based on data from desktop webpages. If webpages weren’t functional or not optimised for use on mobile devices the user wouldn’t receive useful or relevant results. By switching to mobile first indexing, Google is catering to the masses and ensuring that searches on mobile devices return functional, informative and relevant content.

For website owners, business managers and digital marketers, the introduction of MFI is an important change to the way Googlebot operates, and it’s something you’ll need to act upon.

What does MFI mean for your website?

The impact mobile first indexing will have on your site will depend on what type of website you’re running. If you have a mobile version of your desktop site, it will be the mobile, or mdot URL that Google uses when indexing your site. For AMP and non-AMP sites, Google will prioritise the mobile version of the non-AMP URL. Finally, Google will use mobile optimised content from dynamic sites to index them.

In cases of responsive websites, they’ll be no change to the way your site ranks, because your mobile version is the same as your desktop website. Similarly, the mobile version of Canonical AMP websites is the same as the desktop site, so they’ll be no change to the way your site is indexed.

If you don’t have a mobile version of your website, it doesn’t mean that your website will disappear from SERPs. Google still only uses a single index, so desktop-only sites will still feature. Essentially, a desktop website will appear on a mobile device when there isn’t a dedicated mobile version available. Due to this, Google will still index and rank your desktop website, despite the introduction of MFI.

Should you create a mobile version of your website?

If you only have a desktop version of your website, you could be missing out. Failing to optimise your content for mobile users is often a costly mistake, regardless of mobile first indexing. With the majority of users relying on mobile devices to browse the web, having site content which is optimised for mobile usage ensures functionality, speed and accessibility.

Typically, users spend less than five seconds on a website if they can’t navigate it easily or if it takes too long to load. If mobile users aren’t getting the speed or functionality they expect from your site, they’ll simply switch to a competitor instead.

Whilst MFI is a valid reason to switch to mobile optimised content, user experience is a significant factor too. Although Google will still index desktop-only sites, users may not be so forgiving. If your site doesn’t perform well on mobile devices, you should expect to see a drop in visitors.

However, you don’t have to create a separate mobile version of your website to appease Googlebot or satisfy your users. Responsive web design (RWD) is one of the easiest ways to cater to a range of users. With RWD, you won’t need to create or manage various versions of your site. Instead, your site responds to the user’s behaviour and adapts accordingly. Essentially, your site will be optimised for usage on a laptop screen, a 46” SMART TV, a 5.5” smartphone screen or any other device.

As well as enhancing UX, having a responsive website also ensures that you’re satisfying Google’s new approach to indexing. With a responsive website, the mobile ‘version’ of your site is the same as the desktop one. As a result, you won’t miss out when it comes to indexing or rankings.

What does mobile first indexing mean for the future?

Users of all ages are using mobile devices more often that desktops or laptops, according to the latest statistics. The move towards mobile browsing highlights the advancement of tech and evolving user behaviour. As IoT becomes ubiquitious, the use of mobile devices is inevitably going to increase.

Google’s approach to MFI simply mirrors the change in user behaviour already taking place, and responds accordingly. If you don’t currently have a responsive or mobile version of your site, the introduction of MFI is a great reason to get one. However, enhanced UX, increased speed and seamless functionality are, perhaps, even more important when it comes to embracing mobile users.

Get your site ready for mobile first indexing now. To find out more, contact ClickSlice on 020 3287 3638 or email us at hello@clickslice.co.uk

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What’s the Difference between On-page SEO and Off-page SEO?
July 31, 2019by Joshua GeorgeSEO

What’s the Difference between On-page SEO and Off-page SEO?

Your search engine optimisation efforts can be divided into on-page SEO and off-page SEO.

  • On-page SEO reviews what your website is all about. It deals with factors like URL structure, keywords, alt text, title tags, and meta descriptions
  • Off-page SEO deals with just how authoritative and popular your website is. It involves factors like social promotion, domain authority, and backlinks

On-Page SEO

This refers to the practice of optimising different parts of your website in order to bolster your search engine ranking. Since you can control aspects of your page, it means that you have full control over how you structure content. Here’s a review of the different factors at play when it comes to on-page SEO:

Title Tags

It’s great to incorporate targeted keywords in the title tag section of your site. As the HTML element that specifies the title of your website, you need to come up with a catchy line that enhances the probability of people clicking on your website in search engine results pages (SERPs). Ideally, you want the title tag to be concise and provide an accurate description of the content contained therein.

Headings (H1)

Search engines take a special interest with headings than other content on your page. In light of this, it’s a great idea to try and squeeze in a couple of keywords whenever you’re composing your headings.

URL structure

Incorporating keywords in your URLs helps boost your brand visibility. That said, you should not start changing all the URLs on your page just for the sake of ensuring that they have keywords in them. Importantly, you should never touch old URLs since you stand a chance of losing out on a section your readers who have access to the old links. The only time that is allowed is if you have a strategy in place to redirect such people to your new links.

Alt Text for Images

There are a number of different content management systems in place which allows website managers to add an alt text section on all images shared on the website. While this kind of text is not in full display to people visiting your website, it’s what guides screen reader software aid blind internet users gain a comprehension of what the content share is all about.

In addition to this, search engine algorithms are wired in a similar way. Therefore, it would be great if you can inject some relevant keywords while describing what the images are all about.

Page Load Speed

Search engines like Google are committed to enhancing user experience. By optimising your pages to load faster, you’re likely going to find yourself in good books with them and benefit from ranking higher in search results.

Page Content

You need to strive to provide value to people with every post you make. The goal is to ensure that when people search for content that relates to what you do, they should be able to spot your page. It’s also necessary to ensure that they stick around long enough after opening your page. You can achieve this by tailoring the content to be easy to read and provide real value to end users.

Internal Linking

Internal linking is not only important to visitors on your page, but it also helps you much more visible in search engine results.

As you work on developing your content, always try to ensure that it can be used to link to other pages. A good way to achieve this to note all the times your text mentions another segment of your website. You can use such opportunities to insert keyword rich internal links without overdoing it. Keeping things all natural is a sure fire way to attract audiences organically.

Off-Page SEO

This approach focuses on enhancing the profile of your domain by getting links from other websites. The most important off-page SEO factor is the quantity and quality of the backlinks to your website. Here’s a couple of ways you can build links to your website:

  • Come up with great content that inspires people to link back to it because it provides real value
  • Make good use of outreach emails to influencers in your trade that will link back to you
  • Guest blogging on sites in the same niche as you. As you share your guest posts, be sure to introduce a couple of links back to your platform

It’s essential to always remember that link quality is much more important than link quantity. Therefore, you need to avoid being spammy as you focus on improving your off-page SEO.

Also, do not buy links for the sole purpose of link building. This is because Google usually penalises websites for trying to manipulate how they rank on search engine results.

Which One Came Out on Top?

While there a distinct difference between on-page SEO and off-page SEO, you don’t really have to pick sides. This is because they are both necessary to have in your SEO strategy for long term success. Their complementary nature is great as they can help you cement your place in your industry of operation.

Striking a balance between the two is something you need to strive towards because you’ll have the mass appeal necessary to connect. End users will know what you’re really talking about and search engine robots will have a good idea of what your page entails. Once this happens, you’re certainly going to notice a spike in your rankings.

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