All you really need to know about internet marketing for beginners.

Part 2

If you missed part one you can find it by clicking here.
We previously compared internet marketing to a can of drink. We previously covered off the ‘looking good’ element of the analogy, so this section is on the ‘taste good’ element.

So what do we mean by ‘taste good’? Well this has to do with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). This is the process of optimising your website to affect its visibility within search engine results, essentially making your webpage appear higher/or more frequently in the page results. SEO can affect different areas of a search engine from image search, local search, academic search, video search and so on. There are now a lot more areas to consider than just traditional text searching.
As you can imagine, SEO is an incredibly important pillar in the Internet marketing scaffold, and therefore has to be dealt with if you want to get the best out of your internet marketing. The amount of time it can take to deal with SEO can sometimes be extensive and requires you to keep up to date with the process to ensure you are not left behind on important changes.

SEO involves everything from the technical optimisation of a site to link building and driving visitors. When trying to get to the top of search engine results you need to consider what keywords you should be aiming for. These keywords can be anything but some rules have to be considered:

Service or product - This might be quite obvious but what you need to do is consider what your business does. For example if you have an estate agents you want to be considering particular keywords which someone will search for in Google like “selling property, residential property, buying residential property” etc.

Location – Identify your business location and the area you wish to aim for to produce business. This is because identifying a specific locations (or locations) allows the ability to gain page ranking slightly more quickly than generic terms.  If you search for keywords like “Clothing”, “Shopping” and wide ranging keywords you will find that massive companies, firms and king retailers will appear in the highest ranking slots of a search engine. The technique we suggest you use is localised keywords that help filter other businesses from having the high rankings.

Example:
Competitors – A great way to identify what keywords you want is to look at a competitor’s site and identify what they are aiming for. This allows you to compete against them and identify what you need to do to gain higher rankings. Looking at competitors keywords allows you to adapt them and find others that may cover additional market space.

Amount – This needs to be taken into account how many keywords do you want to cover? Having too many keywords won’t allow you to focus on them enough, and this will affect the overall outcome of the page results, meaning it takes longer to generate results. This isn’t the end of the world, but needs to be considered when setting your expectations.

There are even more parts of a website that get the best out of SEO, like Link Building which is the process of creating links to the site via particular techniques. Once these techniques have been implemented then there should be a steady stream of visitors coming to the site from other areas of the web which are related to your business. Link Building is technical and has to be constantly monitored and maintained. This is a crucial part of the process and is unfortunately fairly time consuming, so time needs to be set aside for this purpose.

We produced an article about ways to gain links and we fully recommend checking it out as an aside to this article:
http://redcowmediaseo.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/other-ways-to-create-links.html

The world of SEO can take a lot of time and effort, and this can affect other parts of the business, that also need maintaining, which is why specialist SEO agencies are often engaged to carry out the process on your behalf.

There’s a lot more to learn about SEO, but hopefully this article has helped you identify simple strategies in getting the most out of your SEO.

Who are we?
We are Red Cow Media, an online marketing agency specialising in SEO, WebDesign and Social Media marketing. We provide services to enhance your online presence, getting people to connect with you and helping to spread your message and drive revenue. For more information you can talk to one of our friendly team or visit the website by clicking here.

All you really need to know about internet marketing for beginners.

All you really need to know about internet marketing for beginners.
Part 1

New to Internet marketing?  This article will go through the basics of what internet marketing does for your business and the different areas it involves. We will also identify the good and the bad aspects of different forums of Internet marketing to give you a general idea of what services you may be receiving from other SEO companies, and where this can be expanded on.

There are many parts of internet marketing but the three main parts which most companies consider are:

Web Design
SEO
Social Media

These parts influence the amount of people who visit your site and could potentially invest in your services or products later on, this is why you should ensure you are getting the most out of your internet marketing. A great way to look at online marketing is to imagining your site as a signature drink - what your drink needs to do is look good, taste good and have people talking about it.

How does this relate to internet marketing?

Well each individual part is similar to what your signature drink needs to have. For example, the website should look good; you need a site that is easy on the eye and allows visitors to navigate through different pages easily.

Web Design is a key factor in creating influence in your business; it’s a front cover for your business and needs to influence a customer and inspire confidence in your brand.

Website design and User Experience factors are a key part of internet marketing and need to be at a high grade to perform the best it can and maximise business brought in through your online presence.

What should you consider when creating a website?

You want your site relatable to the business and this means multiple things have to be considered, from colours to style, text and website type. There are so many options and things to consider, which is why most business employ a web designer to take on the task. This is usually the best course of action as a good designer will take into account your preferences and produce some designs which are suitable for you to choose from.

What are the different types of websites?

Dynamic websites – Dynamic websites, unlike static, allow advanced interactions and allow the ability to use databases to deliver certain content for an individual page. This kind of interaction allows the website to formulate catalogues, photographs, videos and series of data. One of the good parts of a dynamic website is allowing the ability to stop users accessing different parts of the site and can include password restricted areas and other user permissions to get through the site - such as member areas etc. The down side is that it is much harder to implement different SEO techniques into this kind of site, meaning some potential visibility in search engines may be lost.

Flash websites – Flash can implement unachievable levels of interaction that other web types can’t do and can be stunning and eye catching with animations and graphics. But all this is often outweighed by the inability to implement any form of meaningful SEO on to a flash site. Therefore if you’re wanting to get a site to page one of the rankings, flash sites aren’t the option for you. These are best utilised as portfolio sites to showcase work which doesn’t necessarily need to be searched for.

Static websites – One of the simplest forms of website in which the site’s content may include graphics and animation and may have JavaScript features. Static sites are principally for brochures sites. The down sides/limitations being that they’re not very complex and lack in user interactivity, this is because they cannot gather information for a user or serve content which is dependent on user actions.

Content managed websites – These are a Further refinement of a database driven dynamic site. A content management system provides a user login system to protect the interface. This allows the user to add, edit and remove the content from the site and is particularly useful if the business needs a large site which has numerous contributors.

eCommerce websites – These are dynamic websites which have the functionality to implement financial transaction gateways e.g. PayPal. Most eCommerce sites also include a content management system so that all product details can be added and updated, and some include advanced features such as automated stock control.

Part 2

So what do we mean by taste good? Well this has to do with SEO (Search engine Optimisation)…

Coming soon…


Who are we?

We are Red Cow Media, and online marketing agency that specialise in SEO, WebDesign and Social Media marketing. We provide a social media service which helps enhance your social media presence, getting people to connect and spreading your business message. For more information you can talk to one of our friendly team or visit the website by clicking here. 


References:  http://www.thememagazine.com/
http://www.buystockswithus.com/
http://www.optillion.co.uk/web-development/website-types.asp

Long Term Effects of Blackhat SEO

In a previous article we covered if businesses should prepare for the effects of targeted negative
SEO, but never got into the potential long term effects of negative practices.

This article is going to go through the long term effects of using black hat SEO techniques, how
it can affect your business site and prevent you from recovering the SEO of your site.

What is Black hat SEO?

The Reliable SEO Metro defines Negative SEO as “a black hat technique that uses bad text
links with negative connotations linking back to a competitor’s site, linking competitors to link
farms and free-for-all sites, etc.” It can also include hackers or malware that has infiltrated the
site to change or shut it down. When these techniques are used they act as a barrier, harming
the visibility of the site and causing it to be demoted by Google and the SERP (Search Engine
Ranking Positions) to be lowered.

Although in the past this form of SEO would have helped increase the ranking of your site, it
now only serves as a hindrance and prevents the site from gaining positions on a results page.
This was as a direct effect of numerous algorithm changes brought into play by Google, the most
notable of which was the Penguin update of May 2012.

Would using Black Hat SEO provide fast results in half that time?

To put it bluntly the answer is NO! Although it used to create fast results and costs less, it
doesn’t work that way now. Google have put into place a number of tactics to prevent the
unethical practice of Black Hat SEO. The key one of these is the development of a number
of complex algorithms that prevent any kind of black hat SEO from working. This has left a
number of unreliable SEO companies unable to offer their previously exceedingly cheap deals
for places on Google.

What are the long term effects of Black Hat SEO?

What some people don’t know is the continued damaging effects black hat SEO has on a website
even though the program may have been stopped. Each individual link is logged in the back of
the website and gives the site a form of portfolio. This portfolio is vital in influencing where the
site is placed in a search engine. Black hat SEO produces an influx of poor and irreverent links
at once to this portfolio which act as a black marker each time the site is reviewed and can push
it down the rankings. This will continue to act against a website until the offending links are
removed.

What can be done to resolve it?

The long term effects of this are that a large number of the links become irremovable and have
a persistent harmful affect on your SEO. To combat and these issues and recover the site takes
a long time and a considerable amount of effort. Such quick fixes like Google’s disavow tool
shouldn’t be the first port of call. The emphasis should be placed on trying to remove theses links
manually, to learn more about the approach for resolving negative links click here.

Many people go for cheap SEO thinking they are buying a quick and easy way to help their
website, this is not the case and many businesses that go for this option are in fact purchasing
the long term damaging effects of black hat SEO. We here at Red Cow Media provide a cost
effective and long term service that will help get the most out of your website.

For more information or if you’re interested in joining us, visit our website by clicking here

Benefits of Google+

What is Google+?

Google+ is a social networking platform to rival both Facebook and Twitter; it was created by Google to participate in the current social media buzz. Google has made many previous attempts with social media services such as Google Wave and Google Buzz that have never really caught on, but it has invested a lot of time and money into making Google+ a massive competitor against Facebook.

Google has integrated their services in to Google+ to expand the social media world. Some of their most famous services such as Google maps, Picasa, Gmail are all incorporated into G+. It has a lot of features which allow people to talk over any platform as they have a mobile and tablet app, so you don't have to be on a desktop or laptop computer to access your G+ page.

They have also implemented different ways to stay in touch with people by adding in new and innovative ways of interaction. For example, Google has integrated a system called Circles in which you add someone into your circle if you know them or just want to see what they are up to, allowing you to always stay in touch with different groups of people, as well as with individuals similarly to Facebook. Another system they have added in is Hangouts which allow people to communicate through video chat with a group of people, this is brand new and not many competitors have this sort of system. Instead of Hangout there is a program called Huddle that allows you to talk directly to one group of people though an instant chat. These sorts of programs are excellent for business and allow a group to communicate though this media directly, as well as allowing you to project your brand message to multiple people at once.

Why should you make a business profile on Google+?

You may be thinking that your business is already covered with social media because you tweet and use Facebook constantly. Or maybe you’re thinking that all social media integration doesn’t work or isn’t needed.

Well social media as a whole can help build your business and help attract new customers as well as communicating effectively with your existing customers. Some businesses only use social media to gain customers and clients and work their whole business through social media. However, the way social media should be thought of is a means of communication, that is with new, existing and potential future customers, so integrating your business into social media helps the business to interact with these people and isn't restricted to one particular group.

The best time to get on Google+ is now as it is still new, and makes it easier for you interact, rather than having every business in your area competing to be top dog. The business world is constantly competitive, so getting ahead of the curve will serve you well for the future.

Helpful Features Related to Google+

A great feature for business is that G+ creates a listing on Google Maps. Google Maps listing allows for your business to appear on the Google maps lists options on left side of the page when someone conducts a search related to your business. When adding G+ the listing is given a more attractive profile with pictures and reviews. What this does is influence potential customers and business partners with a professional looking profile, prompting them to choose you over competitors.

G+ increases your online presence by just having an account. It gives you more of online presence which allows customers to find you more easily, and also lends itself well to SEO. Not only does G+ help increase presence, it also allows a business to integrate their marketing approach on to their account. If you sell products online you can link your G+ account to Google Shopping to influence potential customers and show them other products.

Getting the most out of Google+

Google+ is one of the newest major social media set-ups, but is already dominating as an SEO titan on search results. The reason for this is Facebook and Twitter are essential to marketing efforts, and therefore stop Google from accessing much of their data, in turn limiting their SEO effectiveness. Although all social media is good for generating back links, Google ultimately decide SEO rankings within Google.co.uk and Google.com, and therefore place more importance on sites linked to their own social media.

The effects of Google+ can be easily measured, if you have a Twitter, Facebook and Google+ and then search yourself within the 100 search results, Google+ will be the most common social media.

Link your site to Google+

A great advantage to G+ is you can optimise it to your site, this helps get the most out of optimisation of your website. Even including a G+ icon on your business' site or a blog may help influence more traffic to your site and to you G+ page.



You can also profile link your G+ to your website using keywords to help build links between the G+ page and the website.

Having a link on a Google+ page is all dependant on the authority of both the page and the domain. You can influence this by raising your visibility by getting people to engage with you, share your posts, or link directly to your profile.

What can be done with posting?

When using G+ you can add title tags which can help you rank for certain keywords. If you use an attractive and eye catching title tag you can help increase the click and view rate for your profile, making a good title tag can help influence people to share and interact with your post.

Having a widely shared post with an attractive title tag can increase the chances of the post ranking for the keywords; this then helps generate more views and people following your profile.

Another technique when using G+ would be to embed links into posts, if high authority profiles re-share the post then the value of the link will go up. What +1 does to a post is allows more people to see the post increase the chance of it becoming more viral, this in turn helps the contents of the post have more value and helps to rank the content higher.

Now when you share brand new content on G+ it will be indexed on Google instantly, this allows you to share your new content on G+, and on another social networks with quick indexing. Is a sense it’s trying to render twitter obsolete as you can instantly get feedback and updates in a matter of seconds, allowing any new content you share on G+ to be indexed instantly.


For more information on anything online marketing related, visit our website by clicking here.