The Importance of Good Content & SEO

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We have many clients come to us who want to be on page one after a website is launched. When I review the site, I see a great looking site, lots of great images, really good navigation, but no significant written content … and this can be a problem in terms of SEO.

Google does not review your site using the human eye; instead, it uses a complex computer algorithm to crawl your site to determine what it’s about and where it should be placed. While an image-intensive site may look great, Google finds it hard to work out the site’s purpose; images on it are mostly black holes in content. Take a look at your site; if you take away the images, can you tell what your site is about? If not, how do you expect Google to?

When working out what content you need, there are some simple rules you should consider when optimising your site’s content…

  •  Front Page Content – The front page is the gateway to your site and it is imperative you make a great first impression for visitors to the site; the same can be said for Google bots.  You have to provide enough content so Google can determine what the site is about, but also not too much that it detracts or hampers the human user’s use of the site.
  • Unique Content -All content on your site should be unique to the site. Google aims with its organic search results to provide good relevant search results from a variety of sources; not to simply list the same thing over and over again. Content obviously gets copied and rather than listing all results, Google will aim to list only the most relevant and ignore the rest. What this means is, if you have copied content on your site from other sources, Google will ignore the content affecting your site’s authority overall and thus its ranks.Duplicate content also applies to internal pages. If you have many pages with essentially the same content, Google will simply ignore the extra content as not being relevant, so if you want your whole site to be indexed properly, ensure all content is unique across your site as well.
  • Updated Content – Many website owners fall into the trap of “set and forget” when it comes to content. Your content might be great at launch, but if nothing is added to the site it becomes stale and thus could affect ranks. The way Google looks at it, if you do not care about your site why should they?
    Content across all pages should be periodically (every 4-6 months) rewritten and freshened to keep the site up to date. In addition to this, you should have a blog or news section updated weekly with unique relevant posts, which not only increases the content available on the site thus increasing authority, but also shows the site is active which Google will notice.

Content of a website is just as important as the design and useability. It is an important factor for Google determining the website purpose and how important it is in relation to it, which obviously affects ranks.  At SEOcycle, we employ the best content writers to help our clients’ websites achieve the ranks they desire. Contact us for a website review and advice on how your website can be improved.

SEO specialist Sydney

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Google “SEO specialist Sydney” and you will see many companies who claim to be specialists and who say they offer the best service; how can you be sure?
SEOcycle is a Sydney-based company that specialises in one thing, Search Engine Optimisation, with our aim being to deliver the very best possible service to our clients at an affordable price.

We take a holistic approach with all of our clients, with the first step being understanding the client’s goals and business aims. This is important as we need to work closely with our clients to determine that our SEO goals are the same as the theirs. Too many SEO companies will ignore this important step, and try to dazzle prospective customers with high search volume keywords and promises of lots of traffic. In the unlikely event that they actually get top page ranking for those keywords, they are even more unlikely to convert anyway, as it is not targeted. In addition to that, the rank will be short lived as Google would notice the low conversion/interaction of the visitors, and drop the ranks accordingly as not being of merit.

When developing an online marketing plan, research is key, and at SEOcycle we offer a free website and keyword analysis to determine whether we can help the client, which is our ultimate aim. We give honest feedback as to a website’s prospect of ranking, whether goals are realistic, and, if SEO is warranted, we give estimated time frames for ranking to occur. We work simply on a month to month basis, no contracts, so our customers know we are working hard each day to ensure they get the best possible results. Many SEO companies try and sign you up for a fixed contract deal of 6 – 12 months, and before signing such a contract, ask yourself this: “If they are so confident in their service, why the need for a lock in contract, when results should drive the ongoing commitment anyway?”

Once we start work, we are in constant contact with our clients. We provide weekly reports, and are always available for a chat. Phone, email, or Skype with your own dedicated SEO manager, who works with you to achieve your goal and get great results. SEO is not just a matter of link building, it requires a comprehensive approach to promoting your website offsite while optimising the way it performs and looks to Google onsite. This is an ongoing process so you need a dedicated manager to be involved in this process the whole way.

So if you have just launched your website or feel you are not getting the level of service or results from your current SEO provider, contact us for a free keyword and website analysis today.

The Game Google Plays

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Google burst onto the scene in 2000, and users gravitated towards the simple interface it offered. At the time, the search market was dominated by extensive portals that offered up-to-date news and various applications, all on the one page sharing the search function. Google’s simple page design of logo and search box, which we all still see today, allowed it to quickly gain dominance as the go-to search portal for most users.

While the front page for Google is still simple, its offering it is now more a gateway Google uses to entice users to its myriad of available products. While it started out as a Stanford University project, it has now become a multi-billion dollar listed company and, like all listed companies, its sole aim is to make profits for its share holders. Google is constantly using its market dominance to gain more users as well as to maximise profits, which can be a tricky tight-rope for it to walk. Many big companies that had market dominance have lost it, with poorly calculated changes that alienated its users, with the end result in them losing market share.

Google now has many businesses apart from its search engine, but its search engine still forms an integral part of its overall marketing strategy. While most end users see Google as free, it in actual fact makes huge amounts of money selling advertising. Google’s challenge is to stay relevant with its search results, while trying to get users to gravitate towards its paid ads as much as possible.

Google ranks sites using a complex algorithm, measuring hundreds of factors to determine a site’s worth. Every time a user searches via its portal, it ranks sites according to this factor to help it determine the most relevant websites for the search result, and lists them accordingly on page one , two,three, etc. As the site gained dominance, website owners realised that, to be successful, they needed to be on page one for relevant results pertaining to their service or products. Google soon realised that being an algorithm (or simply a computer program), unscrupulous companies could find ways to trick it, to get sites ranking at number one. To combat this, the algorithm is in constant development to thwart these loopholes and, in theory, to provide the most relevant results.

It is estimated that, this year alone, Google will make up to three hundred changes to its algorithm; several significant changes, plus smaller tweaks that can play havoc with a website’s positioning. Today’s website owners need to stay on top of current changes and proposed future changes in order to be successful. Google will not list the changes it makes to the algorithm, but just give general guidelines as to what it is looking for. To discover what works best, you need a stable of websites to get a full picture of what Google is doing and how it affects ranks. Hiring a reputable SEO company can help you to navigate these changes, so your site continues to flourish and adapt to whatever algorithm Google updates throws at it.

SEO expert Sydney

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Sydney is a large sprawling city, covering a large geographical region, which presents challenges when trying to target a specific market or niche within the region. This is particularly the case for service-based or related services who only work in a specific area within the Greater Sydney region. An SEO expert Sydney based provider, such as SEOcycle, can help you devise the best ways to promote your site online so it is viewed by legitimate end-users who will use your services.

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Unlike traditional ecommerce promotion, where an online store is targeting a large region, service-based providers often just need to target a specific region, as that is their true customer base. In an area the size of Sydney, trying to promote your website to a wide Sydney audience when you only service a particular region within Sydney should be avoided. By focusing down your geographical SEO target, you should be able to lower competition so you site rank highly more quickly, saving you time and money, and getting return on your SEO investment earlier. An added benefit is that the visitors you attract are more than likely needing your services in an area in which you operate, meaning you will generate better quality leads, resulting in more real customers.

SEOcycle is a local SEO company based in Sydney. Sydney is our home town,  thus we know Sydney and how best to target your website within the Greater Sydney region for the best results. So whether you are a Plumber based in Blacktown, a Chippy in Bondi,  or a Fitness Gym on the North Shore, contact us for a free website analysis and advice on how best to market your website.

Reputation Management & SEO

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The internet has allowed businesses to connect with more people and to increase interaction with their client base. This increased interaction can come at a cost should a client/customer become dissatisfied with your service. Now more than ever, a disgruntled customer, with a few clicks of a button, may leave a scathing review online that can affect your bottom line for years to come. All is not lost, however, as it can be managed.

Every successful business strives to make each connection a successful one, but as the saying goes, you cannot please everyone all the time. Occasionally something will go awry, and a client/customer will not get the best possible service from your company; some may seek “payback” via various online means. This can be done in a myriad of ways, and below is the best way to deal with them should they occur.

1/ Social Media Feedback

It is no secret that social media allows customers and businesses to interact with each other like never before, but this can backfire if you get a disgruntled customer and the situation is not handled correctly. Often they will post a bad review via your social media account, and your first reaction might be to delete it if possible; this, however, is often not the best course of action. Use the negative review as feedback, work out where you went wrong, and work through the issues with the client to resolve the situation. The client has used a public domain to voice a complaint, so use the same domain to resolve the issue. Most people understand that mistakes happen, and if you are actively showing that you are willing to work through issues with clients, it actually gives more strength to all of your positive reviews,  as you are showing that you are transparent and up front. Social Media Management isn’t just about posting content, but managing interaction quickly and efficiently.

2/ Reviews on Third Party Sites

Third  party sites that allow customers to review businesses and services are in the most part an excellent way to get verification and trust for your online business;  the downside is, it’s also easy for customers to place bad reviews should they become disgruntled. The main issue is that these sites often rank highly and can impact in your SERP result when people are searching for your services. Like social media, your first step should be to engage with the customer to resolve the issue. If a customer sees a bad review and it’s noted that you resolved the issue, it can actually work to your benefit.

Of course not every situation can be resolved, and the review needs to be managed  through Reputation Management SEO. The aim is to promote positive reviews over any negative reviews, to push the bad reviews off the front page of search results;  you can’t make them disappear completely, but you can manage it so it as little to no effect on your ongoing business.  Hiring an SEO consultant, to advise and implement such a campaign, means you need not fear your customers should things not go according to plan.