3 SEO Headaches Solved

There are many SEO headaches which I come across on a daily basis, I won't list them all here as I've also a job to do, so where do I start:

1. Products Pages with 2 URLs

Having product pages with '2' different URLs is really quite regular and Magento sites, or should I say developers who don't understand the intricacies of Magento sites, haven't helped the issue, for example these two pages contain the exact same content - Google would most likely call this duplicate content:

http://www.yourwebsite.com/widgets/large-widgets/blue/

and

http://www.yourwebsite.com/large-widgets/blue/

Keywords - What are They?

What is Keyword Research
Keyword research is the process you use to find the keywords and key-phrases that are relevant to your website and will enable it to rank well in the search engines. Meaning, these keywords or key-phrases are the ones that your potential customers will use to type into the search engines to find products and services that you supply.

Why is Keyword Research so Important

Irrelevant to whether you’re a large company with a huge website or a small company with a niche website, without targeting the correct keywords and key-phrases you won’t get any visitors, or at least you won’t get many! This isn’t only relevant to natural ‘organic’ search; it’s also relevant to paid ‘PPC’ marketing. So if you’re not using carefully crafted keywords and key-phrases in you’re: Titles, Meta attributes headings and body – you’re likely to be short of visitors from the search engines.

Website Consultancy: ensuring your website operates at its optimum with website management, usability assessment, optimisation and paid advertising.

Top Search Queries - Google Webmaster

The new look 'top search queries' in Google's Webmaster Tools seems fresh off the press and it's a treat.

It not only gives you the previous information of how many times your site generated impressions and clicks in Google SERPs, it also gives you a good dissection of these details.

Before when you thought, well my site has generated 6,600 impressions (please see above), you'd have believed at least a few of these would have generated a click - but no. For some keywords it's pretty painful, but for others an impressive 44% (also see above).

That's naturally not all, you now get to see where a particular keyword is ranking in SERPs, and this is the surprising bit, because in the previous layout you got the information that someone had clicked through to your site and you wondered how, because you weren't on the 1st page of Google; now you find out that people do actually find you on the 3rd page of Google and click through to your site.

The graph is also a boon, even if I originally thought I'd mistakenly logged in to Analytics.

The countries option and date option will help when you want to test any campaigns or try out some new keywords on the site. Once more the job of SEO is becoming more transparent, nothing to hide behind; that is of course of you show your clients the report!

Notice of Right to Cancel

It seems even if you have a small SEO company and offer work from your home, which can be referred to as 'Doorstep Selling', you may need the legal documentation of a 'Notice of Right to Cancel'.

Seems a little extreme, but I have it on good grounds.

What does this entail, well it means instead of offering your services and carrying out the work and then wishing to be paid; somewhere in the middle of all that you should have got your new client to sign a Notice of Right to Cancel. Otherwise you could be leaving yourself open to firstly, none payment and secondly legal action if your new client is so inclined.

It's not the end of the world though as a simple form like this could solve all your problems and allow you to sleep soundly at night.












If you're interested in the subject or just want to find out a little more, here's a site full to the brim with information on Doorstep Selling.

Excessive JavaScript and Computer Meltdown

Home users are the people that really suffer when your website has an excessive amount of JavaScript include files, this is when it is internally called: i.e. client side loading.

Is there a solution to halting this meltdown of someone’s computer as it staggeringly attempts to take in all those lovely new media APIs.

Yes, of course there is, but alas there aren’t many designers either willing to or able to implement the changes.

So what do you need to do? Simply convert as many of the include JavaScript files to externally called JavaScript files, this will solve a lot of the meltdown, but it definitely won’t solve all of it.

Next step, you need to condense these externally called JavaScript files into as few amounts of fetches as possible. This is the tricky bit, but below I will offer some code you can experiment with.

Basically what I say to explain this in simple terms is: imagine you’re out for a walk with your dog and you’ve a great big bag of sticks, if you make the dog collect every stick individually, after you’ve thrown them, well, it could take some while and the dog’s going to get mighty tired, but, if you were to put so many sticks into, say two or three bags and throw them for the dog, well, the bags may individually take a little longer to fetch, but I can assure you, no way near as long as gathering them all when thrown individually.

So wrap up your 21 files of JavaScript into a few neat packages and improve your potential customers’ experience of your website, and who knows you may even get a few more sales or sign-ups.

Okay here’s the test code, but do remember it is test code, so use with care and tell me how you get on.

And credit where credit is due, this isn’t my code it's from a clever chap called Niels Leenheer, he calls it the ‘CSS and Javascript Combinator 0.5’ and it was copyrighted in 2006.

CODE:

$cache = true;
$cachedir = dirname(__FILE__) . '/cache';
$cssdir = dirname(__FILE__) . '/css';
$jsdir = dirname(__FILE__) . '/javascript';

// Determine the directory and type we should use
switch ($_GET['type']) {
case 'css':
$base = realpath($cssdir);
break;
case 'javascript':
$base = realpath($jsdir);
break;
default:
header ("HTTP/1.0 503 Not Implemented");
exit;
};

$type = $_GET['type'];
$elements = explode(',', $_GET['files']);

// Determine last modification date of the files
$lastmodified = 0;
while (list(,$element) = each($elements)) {
$path = realpath($base . '/' . $element);

if (($type == 'javascript' && substr($path, -3) != '.js') ||
($type == 'css' && substr($path, -4) != '.css')) {
header ("HTTP/1.0 403 Forbidden");
exit;
}

if (substr($path, 0, strlen($base)) != $base || !file_exists($path)) {
header ("HTTP/1.0 404 Not Found");
exit;
}

$lastmodified = max($lastmodified, filemtime($path));
}

// Send Etag hash
$hash = $lastmodified . '-' . md5($_GET['files']);
header ("Etag: \"" . $hash . "\"");

if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_IF_NONE_MATCH']) &&
stripslashes($_SERVER['HTTP_IF_NONE_MATCH']) == '"' . $hash . '"')
{
// Return visit and no modifications, so do not send anything
header ("HTTP/1.0 304 Not Modified");
header ('Content-Length: 0');
}
else
{
// First time visit or files were modified
if ($cache)
{
// Determine supported compression method
$gzip = strstr($_SERVER['HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING'], 'gzip');
$deflate = strstr($_SERVER['HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING'], 'deflate');

// Determine used compression method
$encoding = $gzip ? 'gzip' : ($deflate ? 'deflate' : 'none');

// Check for buggy versions of Internet Explorer
if (!strstr($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'Opera') &&
preg_match('/^Mozilla\/4\.0 \(compatible; MSIE ([0-9]\.[0-9])/i', $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], $matches)) {
$version = floatval($matches[1]);

if ($version < 6)
$encoding = 'none';

if ($version == 6 && !strstr($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'EV1'))
$encoding = 'none';
}

// Try the cache first to see if the combined files were already generated
$cachefile = 'cache-' . $hash . '.' . $type . ($encoding != 'none' ? '.' . $encoding : '');

if (file_exists($cachedir . '/' . $cachefile)) {
if ($fp = fopen($cachedir . '/' . $cachefile, 'rb')) {

if ($encoding != 'none') {
header ("Content-Encoding: " . $encoding);
}

header ("Content-Type: text/" . $type);
header ("Content-Length: " . filesize($cachedir . '/' . $cachefile));

fpassthru($fp);
fclose($fp);
exit;
}
}
}

// Get contents of the files
$contents = '';
reset($elements);
while (list(,$element) = each($elements)) {
$path = realpath($base . '/' . $element);
$contents .= "\n\n" . file_get_contents($path);
}

// Send Content-Type
header ("Content-Type: text/" . $type);

if (isset($encoding) && $encoding != 'none')
{
// Send compressed contents
$contents = gzencode($contents, 9, $gzip ? FORCE_GZIP : FORCE_DEFLATE);
header ("Content-Encoding: " . $encoding);
header ('Content-Length: ' . strlen($contents));
echo $contents;
}
else
{
// Send regular contents
header ('Content-Length: ' . strlen($contents));
echo $contents;
}

// Store cache
if ($cache) {
if ($fp = fopen($cachedir . '/' . $cachefile, 'wb')) {
fwrite($fp, $contents);
fclose($fp);
}
}
}

There you go then, all done.

When You should Fire Your Website Designer

I had to add this article to the Blog, its not mine, but it covers a lot of what I think about websites...

Your online business is not a wild crazy idea, but a source of your income. Trust the right people to design your website. Your 17 year old nephew may be able to create your website or you can get a free one from several services…they might even be kind of pretty. In my research and experience, less than 2% of businesses that have websites have planted the seeds to online success. Many of them are your competitors.

The problem is web designer’s focus on the technical aspects of the site. They don’t have a clue how to build a website that makes you a ton of money, drives floods of traffic, and gets you top placement on search engines.

Why Do You Have a Website?

The reason you have a website for your business, no matter what business you are in, is you want to rake in bundles of cash. May be not now but definitely later it should be bringing returns on the investment. .

Your Website is Like Your Business.

Make sure that your web designer owes a successful online business and knows about how to run it.

Your sole purpose in having a website should be to use it as a marketing and communications tool. It is not there to be pretty. It should not be there to win awards. It is there to make you money. Even if you have a better product or service than your competition, the one who attracts more prospects and customers - wins! Being the best at marketing is all that matters.

Online Marketing Is Completely Different Than Marketing Offline

All of the tools, techniques, communication, etc. in the online world are different than those offline. A very common mistake is to think because it works offline you can just put it on the website! It’s important to realize the reader of offline thinks and processes information in a different way than someone reading online copy. What works offline may be a complete flop online.

They are two different worlds. For example, online marketing REQUIRES you to know how to get your site ranked high, very high, in the search engines like Google and Yahoo….so you routinely appear on the first page for the optimal search terms for your business.

Of course, this assumes you know how to find the optimal words for your business, your marketplace, your niche, etc. Just so you know, the “include all words” strategy has proven to be a total failure.

And, most designers and businesses do not know that SEO (search engine optimization) is not SEM (search engine marketing). If you do one and not the other you will probably be very disappointed with your results.

Studies have shown that you need to be on the first page of search engine results to get enough people coming to your site. SEO and SEM are not optional for online success - they are mandatory!

Increase your ROI: Only Work with People Who Know Website and Online Marketing.

When you are planning your financial future, you hire a financial planner or an attorney who specializes in that area of law. When you want plastic surgery you don’t go to a podiatrist, unless you want to end up with your nose looking like a foot.

Did you know that 99% of web design companies don’t know how to devise online sites that actually market your products or services?

You need people who can help you with how to create “hot” products or services that your customers really want.

You need people who make it possible for you to have a “money tree” business. People who can produce money like it grow on trees. People who have the communication skills you need to capture the attention and “cash the order” with your customers. Online or offline. (That means using multiple marketing channels and starting with the lowest cost = online!)

You need people with real world experience as well as online experience that can combine the two for the benefit of…YOU.

No one has the time to learn everything about their business, the internet, marketing, copywriting, finances and so on. That is why…

“The price of ignorance is paid forever!”

Successful entrepreneurs value all the real-world experience they can get. Where do they get it? By surrounding themselves to a team of experts, who can provide the knowledge, guidance and successful experience for a wide variety of businesses.

Always Remember Your Website is your Marketing Machine

It is all about driving people to your website. This is more than “being found” for the right search terms. This is about having a comprehensive strategy that links your offline and online marketing together to create leverage for your business and get maximum results.

You need to be sure your online partner can:

* Create a site that entices visitors to convert from information seekers to paying customers
* Generate a stream of online and offline leads
* Show you what functions of your business can be automated to save you money…and put that savings to good use…getting more customers
* Show you the secrets of capturing information and how to utilize it for easy access and follow up
* Show you how to make more sales with your existing customers
* Help you set up marketing campaigns that get real results and build customer loyalty
* Help you use email marketing ethically and effectively

Seriously, if your web designer/dungeon master/graphic Zulu cannot do ALL of these things and more, FIRE them now. You are wasting time and money! And time is often worth more than money!

Test, Test, and Test Some More & Collaborate Results and Changes

If you really want online success, or even offline success, then you must understand the importance of successful marketing testing. It is Crucial.

Businesses that are wildly successful with their offline and online strategies are always rabid about testing and knowing how and what to test.

Track and Measure…Correctly

You want to know everything that is happening on your website, or not happening. All of that testing will do you no good if you are not measuring and tracking all of the data associated with it.

Here are some of the tracking measures you should be talking to your web designer/builder about. In fact, they should be talking to you about these things. If you have to bring them up you are already in trouble, with a capital T.

* How many visitors are coming to the site
* How many of the visitors aren’t visitors (i.e. spiders, crawlers, etc. from search engines)
* How many visitors are new vs. old
* How long does each visitor stay on your site
* What does each visitor look at
* What graphics, words, pictures, etc are generating the most responses
* Which search engines are getting you the best prospects
* Where else are your customers coming from
* How many pages does the visitor look at
* What are your website rankings
* How much money have you made from the average visitor
* Who are your biggest money-making customers
* If you use PPC is it working and paying for itself
* Which links are bringing your visitors and are they converting to customers
* And so on

This is not a comprehensive listing, rather, it gives you an idea of how many things you could or should be tracking when it comes to your online marketing.

If you are like most people, you are thinking “there is no way I could remember all of that, much less do it.” You would be right. Remember, that is why we all need a team of experts around us to do the things we either don’t know or don’t have time for.

But, if you use these kinds of tools and tracking you will join the 1-2% of successful online businesses. You do want to make money with your website, right?

It is simple; your website should bring in more money than it costs to maintain it!

Some Final Thoughts

Today, you must be ONLINE with a WEBSITE to be successful. Research has shown that people are abandoning the yellow pages and many other ‘traditional’ forms of advertising. The internet is the #1 SOURCE for information on virtually every topic or subject you can imagine…and still growing rapidly.

It is as it has always been - survival of the fittest. Those businesses which combine their offline and online strategies to maximize their effectiveness are going to survive and thrive. The others will die. And in these times there will be more deaths than usual. You see it, the ‘for lease’ signs appearing everywhere, the ‘announcement’ each week of another big business failure, the empty spaces in office buildings.

The key to lasting success is to create lasting value. Turn transactions into relationships. In fact, the last sentence may be the most important and valuable one you read.

Article Source:
Ajay Prasad is founder of Global Marketing Resources LLC a Orange County Website Design company that aims to develop an overall website strategy for your site.

There's more to Optimisation than Just SEO

What surprises me with the relentless pursuit of SEO is that everyone seems to believe it is the be all and end all of a website's presence, it is very important, but it is definitely not all there is to running a successful website.

The whole gamut of skills required to run a website are acquired through years of learning and then putting that learning into practice. There is of course the basic SEO that is in books, or handy tips on-line including many versions of top ten essential SEO tips. These are all very well and good, but, don't answer all the nitty-gritty day to day questions: reliable hosting, quality of content on the page, quality of products to sell or to sign-up for, ease of navigation &c.

An SEO agency will often write a long-winded optimisation report, which the client, on the whole, won’t understand, this report will be in minutia detail about the technical optimising of the website, this is great of course for those with rather large pockets of money. If there is the cash to spend on completely rebuilding a site from the bottom up, there is a good chance you will reach the first page of Google, because naturally the agency will have sold you a linking package as well.

The problem arises when your site does reach the pinnacle of Google's search, if it still possesses all that terrible original content, then it will just develop a bad case of bounce rate, Google will notice this and then slowly but surely allow your lovely, newly developed site to slide back down the rankings, this is partly due to most agencies not having the time of day for usability, if you read Jacob Nielsen you will know all about the importance of usability.

What am I saying; well basically websites are not compartmentalised, for SEO to work, then a site needs to meet high usability standards, the content has to be useful, not necessarily for everyone, but at least for those people who have an interest in its field.

I suppose what really surprises is that someone believes they can optimise a website without having the slightest nonce of business acumen, so for the next seo job, don't just concentrate on the Webmaster accounts, which by the way are incredibly important (how else will you know when the sitemaps done a bunk or someone's accidentally updated a page with incorrect URLs), but also take a look at the site your going to work on, check out what they really want to do and apply your trade towards that.

Latent Semantic Indexing

This is a strange one; there has been a lot of talk lately in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) circles regarding Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI). This is nothing new, there is always something new to talk about. But what I’m concerned about is the almost contradictory elements involved in the whole process. A very brief summing up of LSI - it is a technique of analysing the occurrence of terms in a document – in my field of work the document means the page of a Website.

Ok that seems quite simple, and in this indexing of terms (language-semantics) we find out that the terms or words are broken down to their basic (lowest denominator word) element; so for instance the word ‘edited’ or ‘editor’ would be broken down to the word ‘edit’. This is where it becomes a little tricky because as we know the words ‘edited’ and ‘editor’ mean quite different things to us (one is the final accomplishment of the other).

So how are we meant to integrate this form of semantics into our ‘content’ within our Website; many SEO agencies will inform you that across each page of your Website you should vary your keywords: i.e. flower, flowers, flowering, flowery (I didn’t know if that one would spell right), but I ask why? If the search engines are busily breaking down our words to their basic elements what is the point of spending heinous hours studying the art of the verbose.