Unsworth Sugden Group

So yesterday, 22^nd of May saw the release of the anticipated algorithm update Penguin 2.0. This is not just a refresh, but an update to the Penguin algorithm. It had been referred to internally as Penguin 2.0 and has now been officially launched and rolled out across all languages. It is now worth having a look at what the original algorithm update aimed to do as we assess the impact of this update in the coming weeks.

It was suggested that Penguin 1.0 was primarily concerned with low quality links such as link/blog networks. We expected penalties to be applied where this seemed to be the case, in an effort to ensure these low quality links were of no benefit to the website, and instead guide people towards higher quality and more relevant links to benefit the user. It also superceded previous efforts to combat keyword stuffing and other on-page efforts of manipulation as well as exact match keyword anchor text.

The update to 2.0 is expected to enable Google to assess websites deeper and gain a better overall view of any unnatural links and techniques. This suggests that Google are able to take a more comprehensive look at product and service pages. More specifically, Matt Cutts says that Advertorials should not pass page rank. This illustrates his point that there should be a clear distinction between paid advertising towards a specific product and how a website performs organically, so that paid efforts should not support SEO.

Some of these things we already knew and as mentioned in my previous post, we should concentrate on making our websites a concise and happy experience for our users. Google are trying to reward good quality content that deserves to EARN links, rather than pay for them. Content that is valuable enough to develop a following and be shared directly and socially. You can see the full video from Matt Cutts here.

Much time has passed now since the Panda and Penguin updates that were responsible for a shake-up in the SEO industry. When trying to optimise a website, we have been forced to think about what we are doing much more carefully. Gone are the days of building exact match links, use of online directories and quick results. I would like to look at some of the changes we have made to the way we execute SEO campaigns and prioritise what we work on.

It has since been thought that content is the most important ranking factor, whether we are talking about the content of our website or some external content we have published such as a guest blog. This however, is incomplete and we have missed a vital element. Content is crucial but it is more specifically ‘relevant’ content that holds the most power. We can look at this in terms of internal content and external content.

Internal content previously would mention our keywords, services and locations a set number of times within the page copy. Ranking for those terms could be difficult if we just insert keywords, we should be looking to offer something more about that term. We need to be describing the service, the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ will answer a user’s questions and engage with them to keep reading. This is what Google is likely to be looking for. Let our content be for the benefit of our visitors and not for search engines.

External content has become the preferred method of link building with in content (contextual) links being deemed the most natural. The logic is that a page of fresh unique content with a contextual link on a high authority domain is more natural and powerful that a banner on the homepage of a high page rank website. Again, we have forgotten the most fundamental filter – Relevancy. A blog post on a high page rank blog is most likely going to have less authority than a post on a site with slightly lower authority but is much more relevant.

We have been thinking too much about the kind of links that sit well with search engines and we have actually forgotten the real reason for doing them. To bring relevant people to our site and what we offer that would be of use to them. The link is meant to be clicked! It is supposed to send traffic to a site that is of interest to them. We have forgotten that links are for users to find what they are potentially looking for, not to show search engines what we want to rank well for.

So what have we learnt from our recent behaviour? We may have rushed to increase the amount of content on our website but that is of no use unless it is relevant content. We may also have started to guest blog as much as possible because we think that is what we should be doing. However, it would be far more effective to blog less but on more relevant websites. We can publish as much as we like but if it does not have something valuable and interesting to offer, there is no value to our users and they are not going to visit our site. Users are interested in facts, FAQ’s and explanations not promotion of your business. So offer something interesting that they might want to know more about. Your users will be more likely to share, recommend, follow and subscribe.

I’ve just added a video courtesy of YouTube to our sister site USdigital on the subject of search engine optimisation.

We wanted something that in a nutshell would demistify (slightly) the complex world of search engine optimisation, or SEO for short. Matt Cutts who currently works at Google HQ as head of the spam team does a great job of running through the preliminary basics of SEO, to give fledgling companies a good start on the SEO road.

Click on this link to view the video - http://www.usdigital.co.uk/search_engine_optimisation.php

September was a hectic month for the agency.

The recruitment advertising team gained the Servoca Nurses and Care account, while the PR department added the property developer and investment company Raynsway to its ever growing list of retained clients.

Our web division, usdigital, has been appointed by Midland Handling Equipment, the conveyor chain specialists, to design their new company website and Battery Direct has signed up for usdigital’s monthly SEO package.

We did however manage to fit in the annual mid year (slightly late) agency outing, to celebrate everyone’s hard work this year.  After all we can’t have all work and no play!

Only a couple of years ago SEO seemed to be a mysterious form of ‘black magic’. It was believed, somewhere out there, existed powers which would help to position your website within Google and other search engines. People realised SEO existed, but paid little attention to it.Now things have changed! SEO is the new marketing meeting buzz word. We can no longer go to a client marketing meeting without mentioning Search Engine Optimisation. Everyone wants to know more about SEO.

• Why is my website not on the first page of Google?
• My competitor’s website is on the first page?
• How do I get my site onto the first Page of Google?

Question: Why are people now paying more attention to SEO?
Answer: Because they can’t afford not too?

With over 38 million people in the UK using the internet (over 60% of the UK population), and with 80% of these people using search engines to find the service or product they need, companies can no longer ignore SEO. A company’s website must feature highly in the Search Engines - especially Google.

Company directors and marketing managers are now spending less time worrying about web design and more time worrying whether their website is being built in a search engine friendly manner.

Statistics taken from Hitwise and Nielsen/Net Ratings

Web design is crucial; no one wants a 2nd rate, pedestrian looking website. However, there is little point in having an all singing, all dancing website if no one is accessing it.

Without a method of directing traffic to your site, it will achieve nothing. No matter how informative the website is, or how great the design looks, your website will be unlikely to generate new business or sales enquiries.

Website Traffic can be generated in 6 main ways:

1. Search Engine Optimisation
2. Online advertising
3. Press Advertising and PR stories
4. Pay per Click Advertising
5. Email Marketing
6. Internet Users directly accessing your website

Search Engine Optimisation is considered by many as the most important method in getting traffic to your website. To maintain an effective SEO strategy, it must be performed on an ongoing basis.

While press advertising is seeing a decline, online advertising is proving more popular. Web banners and skyscrapers are important digital marketing tools in getting the internet user to jump onto your website.
If you are looking to get your website onto the first page of Google and generate instant traffic to your site then Pay Per Click Advertising is often a good answer - however this can prove expensive in the long run!

Email marketing is good at getting repeat visitors to your website. Emailing your database and directing people onto your website from their inbox, often through special promotions is an excellent way of generating site traffic.

Remember people won’t just stumble across your website. You must actively market it.

Web design is important. But so is website traffic!!!