For today’s businesses, having a website is non-negotiable. Whether you’re an online-only retailer or a bricks and mortar service provider, it’s essential to have a web presence. However, merely being visible online isn’t enough to ensure online success.
To turn your web presence into tangible results, you need to be ranking on the first page of Google’s search results.
Want proof?
Over 75% of searchers never go beyond the first page and over 67% of clicks are reserved for the first 5 organic search results.
Although reaching the second or third page of Google can be a great achievement for a new website, it isn’t going to have any noticeable impact on your business. In fact, being stuck on the second page of search results means you’re missing out on…
When your webpages are consistently featured on the first search engine results page (SERP), users become familiar with your brand. Even if they don’t click on your webpage initially, you’re putting your brand on their radar.
Most people search for similar keywords repeatedly. If your website offers tips on puppy training, for example, new dog owners will be searching for related terms for weeks, months or even years. If your webpages are on the first page for every search they undertake, your brand awareness increases exponentially.
No matter what sector you operate in, you’ll want to be known as an industry leader. Establishing your authority isn’t always easy but strategic SEO can make it happen. Users rely on Google to cherry-pick the highest quality search results for them. When your webpages are appearing on the first SERP, users automatically regard your brand as being well-respected, reliable and influential.
This perceived endorsement has a major influence on user attitudes and behaviours, which means users are more likely to interact with your brand if Google is ranking you highly.
Businesses rely on incoming leads to facilitate sales. Without incoming enquiries, you won’t increase your market share or grow your business. While some companies generate a portion of profits via outbound lead generation, it’s incoming leads and repeat business that account for the majority of your turnover.
Want to create brand awareness for your business and generate incoming leads? Find out how with our FREE 5 Step Checklist! Here, we tell you everything you need to know to get your website on page 1 of Google and achieve online success. Why wait?
Prior to making any type of online or in store purchase, 88% of consumers conduct research online. With the vast majority of your target market researching related services and products online, your content needs to be front and centre. We already know that over 75% of users don’t go further than the first page of search results, so it’s clear that this is where you need to be to generate leads.
If you’re generating some website traffic but it isn’t converting into sales, you need to find out why. Many businesses assume their SEO is working if they’re getting traffic to their site, but this isn’t necessarily the case. Effective SEO should always benefit your business. Traffic that doesn’t lead to conversions isn’t growing your business. With the right SEO, you’ll achieve an enviable ROI and online success.
It’s no secret that good SEO practices help build great websites. In fact, Google’s ranking algorithms are directly related to the structure and quality of your site content. When your webpages are ranking highly on Google and hitting the top spots, they are going to be optimising your conversion rate too. This, combined with the increased brand awareness and enhanced reputation which comes with ranking on the top SERP, means you’ll be soaring beyond your sales targets and achieving online success.
Building a user-friendly website and filling it with original, informative content is fantastic for your business but you’re missing one thing: traffic. Without consistent traffic, you aren’t going to generate sales or grow your customer base.
To generate traffic, you’re going to need to rank highly on Google for search terms that are related to your business. Google is the number one search engine and accounts for over 75% of all online search traffic. While other search engines are relevant, Google is the main player when it comes to boosting your website traffic.
Despite this, 91% of websites never get any traffic from Google. With over 1.7 billion websites registered globally, that’s over 1.5 billion that aren’t getting traffic from the world’s largest search engine. It also means there are almost 200 billion sites generating traffic that you need to compete with.
If you want to be amongst the 9% of sites that generate website traffic from Google, there’s only one way to do it: increase your rankings.
In today’s digital world, low rankings can be catastrophic for businesses. Of course, it’s hard to overcome the lack of brand awareness, reduced conversion rate and lack of inbound leads that moderate rankings offer. Fortunately, our FREE 5 Step Checklist gives you a sure-fire strategy for online success.
Despite the importance of ranking on page one of Google, very few businesses have the in-house resources to increase their SEO rankings. Currently, Google uses over 200 algorithms to rank webpages, so it takes a significant amount of expertise to secure and maintain the top spots on SERPs.
Fortunately, you don’t need your own SEO department to get the results you need to grow your business. At ClickSlice, we know what it takes to get your website to the top. From in-depth keyword research and content optimisation to online outreach and reputation management; we’ve got the experience and expertise to get your webpages on page 1 of Google.
If you want to increase brand awareness, generate traffic, optimise your conversion rate, enhance your reputation and improve inbound leads, contact us today.
Call ClickSlice now on 020 3287 3638 or email us at hello@clickslice.co.uk to find out more.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Over the years, it’s become increasingly harder to get prospects to visit a website. Given the rapid rate at which search engine algorithms change, it’s likely that this will keep on being an arduous task in the foreseeable future. Once you factor in the fact that online businesses are increasing in number, you can clearly see that competition will keep being stiff.
As you start out, be prepared to register almost zero traffic on your website. Having revealed this, you need not despair, we’re committed to helping you get more traffic to your brand new website in a couple of days. If you’re able to stay consistent, you’re likely going to see all your hard work come to fruition.
While this may seem like a no-brainer, there are still plenty of businesses today that are not active on social media.
Before you create a social media page, it’s important to first conduct proper research on your industry and your customers’ preferences. Once all this is ascertained, you’ll have a good idea on which platforms are ideal for your business and where your customers like to flock whenever they’re online. Failing to conduct proper research may see you in trouble as you’ll be operating from a point of darkness.
If you’re a B2B business, then, it’s advisable to check out LinkedIn. It all depends on the nature of your enterprise and what you’re looking to achieve.
If you’d like to become visible in a short span, then, it’s safe to play with the right set of hashtags and monitor your quick progression on platforms like Twitter. Since hashtags act just like keywords, it becomes easier for customers to spot your business as they scroll through their feed or as they’re searching for information online.
Importantly, you need to always remember that content is king. If you’re really looking to leave a good impression in the minds of readers, make sure you come up with scintillating content. With this approach, your clientele will find it easier to connect with what you’re really saying and chip in with a suggestion or two.
You can also develop backlinks as you interact with people on social networking platforms. While at it, it’s vital to remember that these platforms thrive on human interaction, so try to strike a balance between site promotion and socialisation.
Search Engine Optimisation is the way to go if you’re looking to grow your audience. At present, projections show that 51% of all website traffic originates from organic search and another 10 percent from paid search. With these numbers, it’s clear to see that you need to have a solid plan in place to really stand out in search results.
Since your audience is targeted, you’ll have a higher chance of converting them into willing buyers. As a consequence of the high number of prospects coming to your website, you’re likely going to register more returns for your investment.
Content optimisation for search engines is definitely something you need to try out. Making small tweaks to your content like the manner you arrange your image alt text can make a big difference. The same applies to add meta descriptions and creating internal links to new content.
As you go about writing and publishing content, always be on the lookout for opportunities to introduce internal links. This kind of linking can enhance your SEO strategy and provide meaningful content to users.
Reading content online is designed to be easy. That is why some of the most engaging articles have plenty of paragraphs, brief entertaining sentences, multiple sub-headings, and added GIFS to lighten the mood.
But one of the most compelling ways in which content becomes captivating to readers is the presence of images. Images not only look attractive but also create a visual imprint on the eyes of the reader.
However, for this to be executed successfully, one has to know their way around optimising images.
This simple guide will help you get started with the subtleties around image optimisation today; including how to select the best images, and how to optimise them for your content.
The first thing about image selection is that an image should always reflect the subject matter of the text. This is mainly for the reader’s visual engagement, and it helps maintain synchronicity with what they are reading.
Secondly, these images need to be of great quality, placed in the ideal aspect ratio and come in a great resolution so that they are big enough to be viewed across all devices.
A common faux pas observable in most websites is the use of stock photos. Stock photos are one of the worst deterrents of organic traffic because they simply make your website look like one big marketing gimmick.
When selecting an image, you should always proceed with caution. You might be selecting one which you initially thought was copyright free, only to discover that the image’s rights are still under the owner’s name via Shutterstock or Getty. There’s no point of being slapped with a hefty invoice of £500down the line.
As a new rule of thumb, avoid purchasing stock photos. Conversely, you should hire the services of a photographer and have him or her take authentic photos for use.
It would also be wise to create your personal visual designs, charts, and graphs for content as well.
Nevertheless, if you’re strapped for time and money to undertake such a task, you can opt for free-image resources easily accessible online.
When your searching for images online, you can narrow down your search result to free images by simply clicking on search tools, navigating to Usage Rights, and picking ‘Labeled for Reuse as your main filter option.
You might not find the best photos here, but rest assured that there are great images available that other people might have not used before.
Flickr is one of the best sources to find thousands of free images for use. These images usually come highlighted with a Creative Commons license.
It is a great alternative to copyright because what it simply means is that you can use the images as freely as you want, but you will have to give full credit to the owner of the photos as well as linking back to their personal Flickr accounts.
That being said, you should always double check the status of the photo you’re selecting on Flickr because there are some photographers who only permit their images to be used for non-commercial content
Other notable websites to look at when searching for images include Unsplash, Piktochart (mainly for creatives looking to find infographic images) and Gif Grabber.
After downloading a relevant photo, you will definitely want to resize it so that it doesn’t occupy a lot of space inside your text.
For example, most photos captured with an iPhone tend to be more than 3000 pixels wide, which is way larger than the recommended size limit.
One of the biggest folly with huge images is that they can greatly reduce page load speeds, negatively affecting your search rankings. Hence, ensure to resize them before including them in your text.
Ideally, Photoshop is the best tool to optimize your images for uploading, but there are multiple options out there including Picresize.
If you’re on a tight budget, however, simply open the Paint program on your computer and resize the image.
Before you choose for your image to go live along with the text, it is important that you assign the right file name to your image.
While this might not play any significant role when it comes to SEO, it will definitely make things easier when you need to quickly navigate to the image and change something about it.
Fortunately for block programs such as WordPress, the photo is automatically assigned the title of the file name.
This is usually done in the Alt section of content (commonly known as the Alt text).
This is what Google uses to read your image and present it when someone searches for images related to the one that you have posted.
Your alt-text should be brief, descriptive, and go straight to the point in describing what the image is all about.
In WordPress, the caption field is one of the most highlighted fields when dealing with images. Though it might not add a lot of value in terms of SEO, the caption is where content is inserted to give your image a little more life and colour.
A great caption can also keep the reader hooked, and increase the mental clarity of the image in relation to the text that is being read.
Lastly, if you photograph your own images, you might find that some people have snakingly used them on their own website without giving you proper credit as the owner.
You can reclaim your images by using an automated reverse tool such as Image Raider
All you have to do is simply add the images to the tool, and it will ping you any time someone infringes on your content and uses your images without your permission.
Once you have optimised all the images on your site is highly advise to start some link building to your website. We wrote up a really good guide explaining exactly why link building is important and should not be skipped.
Before we get all immersed in the wealth of hosting options available for your personal blog, it’s important to first separate the wheat from the chaff. You need to first look for these qualities when selecting a hosting company:
Ever since they started out, SeekaHost has improved its services massively. The hosting company is appealing even to newbies who are just starting out.
SeekAHost offers cheap web hosting packages which are convenient for those running small blog sites. With an economic plan running at $9 annually, SeekaHost is one of the very best hosting companies out there.
Having revealed this, it’s only logical for you to assume that their services aren’t that great. In truth, they offer excellent services. Users have access to unlimited bandwidth which is great if you want to manage traffic to your site. Other alternatives in the market tend to offer throttled speeds as a way of saving costs.
With SeekaHost, you have access to the real thing. Their partnership with WordPress allows you to perform auto-installation of WordPress. This is usually a great time saver and comes to the aid of those seeking to enhance their security salts and FTP protocols. In addition to all this, upgrades to WordPress software are also easy peasy.
With SeekaHost, you can rest easy knowing that your website is up and running at all times.
With a monthly payment plan of £2.00 monthly, BlueHost is a viable option if you’re looking to get maximum bang for your buck. The only time where their fees are a bit steep is when you’re transferring a website. In such situations, you have to fork out £120. This may contrast a bit with other websites who may offer such services for free.
Once on board, you’ll have access to free domain name registration an unlimited bandwidth. Once you factor in the 24/7 customer support and the fact that you’ll be able to control all your tabs from a single control panel, then BlueHost definitely looks like a bargain.
Many people running personal blogs on platforms like Joomla, WordPress, and Drupal usually prefer hosting on SiteGround. They have alluring offers like free site transfers and 24/7 customer support. Their instantaneous feedback works great especially if you happen to have an issue that’s troubling you.
The great thing about SeekaHost is that you don’t have to look far to access its wonderful features. You’ll be able to access great data about how your website is faring right from the dashboard.
Some of the leading CMS platforms like Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress actually recommend SiteGround
Users also have access to a free SSL certificate irrespective of the plan they choose to go with. If you’re looking to perform site transfer, you can freely do so using SeekaHost. Once all is set, you also have the guarantee of 99.9% uptime without taking into account the pricing plan you’ve chosen.
The one remarkable thing about their platform is that they use their in-house developed SuperCacher to increase site speed. Other than this, they have also developed innovated technology and other great features to support developers running personal blogs.
If you decide to go the SiteGround route, you also have the freedom to choose from a number of different servers around the world. The options include the UK, Singapore, Asia, and the USA.
At £2.75 monthly, you have access to a storage space of 30GB, daily auto back-ups, 99.9% uptime and issuance of a free SSL certificate.
Having shared something about reliability, it’s only right that mention Media Temple in our analysis. They are a great company that offers their clients a variety of hosting plans depending on the nature of your business, be it a website, blog, app, or platform.
The options also include things like VPS hosting, shared hosting, and a couple of more choices. By giving you the freedom to choose, they’re able to help you plan on how you want your needs to be met.
A quick look online at the company will give you a clear representation of how people enjoy their services. They have numerous rave reviews from a satisfied client base which goes to show that their services are excellent.
As a web host provider, GoDaddy has one of the most intuitive systems in place. Their services are also expansive which means that bloggers looking to something extra from a web host are certainly going to enjoy.
Their plans are also affordable because you have access to plenty of storage at low rates. To further entice users, they offer a 45-day money-back guarantee and unlimited bandwidth.
As one of the most secure hosting companies out there, GoDaddy offers 24/7 security monitoring and DDoS protection for both Windows and Linux platforms.
As the world has slowly started to go green, so have a number of hosting companies. GreenGeeks is your best bet if you’re looking to kill two birds with one stone, positively contribute to the environment and access A1 hosting services.
On their platform, they proudly state that they use 300% renewable energy to power their web hosting functions. Admittedly, it’s easy to think that there’s a downside to this i.e. lower processing quality, but, in truth, this is not the case. Not only do they guarantee a 99.9% uptime, but they also offer other perks like free SSL certificate and domain registration at a measly £3.00 monthly.
If you’re thinking about starting your very first blog, then you definitely need to consider HostGator as the way to go. As a platform loved by people just starting out, they offer excellent 24/7 support and assurance of 99.9% uptime.
To access their services, you have to part with £3.25 monthly. Given that they offer a 45-day money back guarantee, they’re a bankable option.
In our review, we’ve highlighted the top hosting companies for bloggers in the market. Having read through all of them, we trust that you’ve discovered at least one option that appeals to you.
We carefully evaluated all of them to ensure that we only post hosting companies with a fantastic reputation among bloggers. Since you want to have a dependable platform, this is one attribute that you really need to be on the lookout for. While there may be cheaper alternatives out there, it’s best to take the tried and tested route. Dividends are sure to pay out in the long term.
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