Are you Google Fit For Business?

Are You Google Fit For Business?

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Are You Google Fit For Business?

Are You Google Fit For Business? I am sure everyone reading this article who is responsible for their website and where it appears in Search Engine’s has asked themselves this very question. How do you know you have set up everything correctly for Google?Can Google to crawl your website and rank it favourably?

Relton Associates has devised the ‘Are You Google Fit For Business?’ report that assesses Google’s Top 50 Key Ranking criteria. Letting you know whether you are Google Fit For Business. Every report is supported with a phone call  or face-to-face meeting. We take you through the report and explain what you need to do to become ‘Google Fit For Business’.

The report is easy to understand and uses a traffic light system on what needs addressing first. It is also delivered in a list format of tasks that need to be addressed. Naturally the report can be shared with your whole team, each member given the task to implement which they’re responsible for. Making your website search engine ready.

We have focused on Google as a search engine simply because in the UK it accounts for 85% of the total market share according to Statista. These stats are similar for the US as well. If you are interested in the UK search stats here they are: Bing takes 2nd place with 11%, Yahoo! 3rd spot with 3% followed by MSN (0.5%) and DuckDuckGo (0.3%). The other search engines algorithms work in similar ways, so if you are Fit For Google, you’ll highly be fit for the others (even with the Russian search engine Yandex).

Google’s Top 50 Key Search Criteria

Your report is broken down in to certain key areas Google focuses on and we have listed some of them below. The aim of the report is to inform you of where you need to carry out work to compete on search engines.

The good news for you is, out of the many reports we’ve done so far, there’s always room for improvement. This means your competitors are highly likely to be in the same situation.

By addressing the points raised from the Are You Google Fit For Business report, you will give yourself the advantage over your competitors. Here are 4 of the key areas we check, there are plenty more we check but we just wanted to give you a taste…

 

Warning message for non secure (HTTP) sites

Google Chrome will punish non-secure sites with warning messages after July 2018

  1. HTTPS versus HTTP – Is your site secure?

Online security is becoming extremely important and your website needs to be HTTPS. The additional ‘S’ on HTTP stands for Secure and is just one of the tests we carry out. Currently web browsers like Google Chrome reward sites for being secure in the Search Engine Ranking Positions (SERPs). This is going to become even more important come July 2018 when Google Chrome will punish non-secure sites with warning messages (see image).

 

  1. Website Speed

Your website speed is another key search criteria and crucial to your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) efforts. Poor speed will result in poor SERP. We test your website in the same way Google tests your site: which includes 3G & 4G testing, mobile testing, desktop testing, when your visitors use WiFi and many more scenarios. Interestingly, Google does not use the best tools to test speed, there are better tools then Google’s, so we use those as well.

 

  1. Google Website Tools

By using Google’s website tools such as Google Analytics you’re sending the correct signals to Google by presenting yourself as a more bona fide company…not to mention the rich data benefits! Even having a Google Adwords account will boost your chances of being seen by Google as a bona fide company; because you upload bank details. Many will tell you this should not affect your SEO, but we have seen the differences having correctly set up all of Google’s tool kit can bring.

Equally important, is setting these tools up so you the business owner, has control. No one ever wants to be held ransom by an agency or face the challenges of claiming ownership through Google. This is an admin nightmare you don’t need. We check all the above is in place and set up in the correct manner.

 

  1. Content

We check a vast array of your content structure. Most importantly we give you very specific examples of what you need to update. We look at whether things like Page Titles are the correct length, are duplicated (definitely frowned upon by Google), and are again presented in the correct manner.

 

Are You Google Fit For Business Summary

Without being set up correctly you are in danger of any SEO work you do being a waste of time, money and resources. The Google Fit For Business Report enables you to either address the areas which need addressing. In the very rare event that you are Google Fit For Business the report gives you peace of mind. Either way, once addressed you can go all out with SEO in the knowledge it will have a positive effect on your business’ SERP in search engines. Get your easy to read Google Fit For Business Report now for just £595!

If you would like to watch the Are You Google Fit For Business? interview on Business Connections Live for more information click here.

Head of UK Sales for Google Analytics 360 Richard Morris speaking about Digital Channel Attribution

Google and NMPi’s first ever Big Debate at Kings Cross

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Google and NMPi’s first ever Big Debate at Kings Cross

Last Friday was Google and NMPi’s first ever Big Debate held at Google’s new offices in Kings Cross. With Google’s very own Richard Morris, Head of UK Sales for Google Analytics 360 (AKA: GA360), discussing and debating the pros and cons of Digital Channel Attribution with other industry professionals. It was insightful and we’re looking forward to the next one. Here’s some of the highlights…

Google’s newest offices in Kings Cross, London

The new and very innovative Google Offices in Kings Cross image

Inside the Google Offices in Kings Cross. Are they slides or stairs?

It really would be remiss of me not to comment on Google’s offices. Having visited Google’s offices near Tottenham Court Road I was intrigued to see the set up here. I didn’t see as much as I would have liked, but what I did see absolutely impressed me – another very slick operation with excellent conferencing facilities.

The image to the right is of the centre of the building, an impressive sight when you look upwards. Elevators on the side and stairs (or possibly slides as you can never be too sure with Google) rising across centre.

 

The Digital Topics discussed

The reason we were all there…well most of us anyway. There was a number of topics discussed and a number of speakers offering some valuable and succinct snapshots on how they felt the future of digital would unravel. Nothing ground breaking, but very well presented. Here’s a snapshot of my favourites:

“Is this the death of Digital Marketing?“

Presented by Nicola Hollow; she confesses it is an attention grabbing headline, but not without cause. Of course, digital marketing is not dead, but the days of the digital team working in the attic or basement silo’d off from the rest of the business are soon coming to an end, and rightly so. Digital will have to be integrated in to almost every team within your business to varying degrees.

Nicola also raised the challenge of digital teams needing to be ‘creative’. Often digital teams are made up of data driven logically minded geniuses who’s strengths do not lie in being creative – I have to agree here too. You could argue it’s a level playing field online without creativity. This is why emotive branding is vital to differentiate your brand from competitors.

Head of UK Sales for Google Analytics 360 Richard Morris speaking about Digital Channel Attribution

Discussing the pros and cons of Digital Channel Attribution during the Big Debate

“How to swim when you are drowning in Data”

Presented by Kate Jervis; Kate’s outlook on the power of data was simplistic and mirrored my own feelings about digital in general. Data and digital are constantly changing. So there will never be the perfect time to roll out data processes or campaigns, you will always be something missing from the process. Digital is constantly changing, so don’t let ‘excellent get in the way of good’, you create excellence later, best get started first.

“Failure is, in fact, an option”

Presented by Sarah Ward; another grabbing headline which really resonates with me. Digital is all about testing and measuring. The beauty of digital is you can often test and measure everything and rather easily too. So be prepared to test, test and test again and never treat something that is not an instant success as a failure, it’s just part of the journey to success. Naturally, you can significantly negate failure and focus your testing through bringing in experts, like Relton Associates (again, it would be rather remiss of me not to drop this in).

The cause – Médecins Sans frontières

MSF logo - Doctors Without Borders

Médecins Sans Frontières | Doctors Without Borders

As it happens, a cause very close to my heart. Also known as Doctors Without Borders. The Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Les Médecins Sans Frontiers takes medicines and doctors to those who really need it. From war torn territories to natural disaster zones. You will tend to find them in places around the World where no other NGO goes or that country’s government ignores, like: Syria, Iraq, Myanmar (Burma) and alike. To donate (and please do if you can afford to) click here.

Summary

So, will I be attending the NMPi Big Debate again? Yes, I found it to be insightful, interesting and innovative in its delivery.

NMPi are specialists in Cost Per Acquisition digital media guaranteeing you a Return On Investment. If you would like to know more about how we work with them then get in touch. We can set you up with an online marketing campaign that really adds to your bottom line. Get in touch

 

3D technology without glasses

3D Screen Technology without Glasses

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3D Screen Technology without Glasses – Give yourself the Advantage

Imagine you’re at the World Trade show for your industry and trying to stand out from the crowd. How do you differentiate from all the other stands? How do you grab attention? How do you project your brand as Cutting Edge above your competitors? What do you have the other brands don’t have? We can provide the answer… 3D Screen Technology without Glasses.

Now your audience cannot pass without noticing your brand. It is quite literally ‘eye-catching’.

Imagine an action shot here in 3D

Imagine an action shot here in 3D – Give yourself the Advantage

About the 3D product of the future

Relton Associates has access to some very new technology that would suit Stand-out High End brands. We have the ability to show film in 3D, without the need for 3D glasses. The technology is in the Screens (mobile phones to big/multiple screens for concerts & shows), the Software that supports it and knowledge & expertise on how to use this technology to produce film. But it doesn’t end there, we have access to drones strong enough to pull a water skier through the waves, to silent running motorbikes to film the perfect smooth moving super car gliding round the mountain passes in 3D.

Where do we see this 3D Screen Technology?
Imagine being given a Coca-Cola in 3D

Imagine being given a Coca-Cola in 3D

We know this technology is sought after in the luxury car market, especially for World shows such as The Geneva International Motor Show or The Salon Privé Supercar Show.

There are other potential markets like; Concerts and Events, Corporate World Sports Events, Military hardware events/shows and Premium Marketing Agencies looking to acquire an advantage for their clients. All seeking to make a real impression on their desired Target Audience.

Relton Associates can give your brand this advantage. We will deliver from start to finish 3D technology and production without the need for glasses. Delivering storyboarding, scripting, shooting, editing, final cut, monitors & video walls, full installation with complete back up support to anywhere in the World.

However, each bespoke delivery is exactly that, completely bespoke. For example; you may wish your own producer/team to deliver the story boarding, script and to manage the production and just use the glasses free 3D technology with its professional team in support. We can make this happen and deliver the elements of expertise that you need. Allowing you to plug-in just what you require, complementing your team’s set up.

Amplify your brand image with Cutting Edge Technology

Gesturing to control 3D screen

Bespoke also means branded hardware in your desired livery, touch screen or even being able to influence what is shown on screen through ‘gesturing’. This amplifies and re-enforces your brands cutting edge up-to-date technological outlook. Adding even further value to the proposition of glasses free 3D technology in your hands.

Based in the Home Counties and London, delivering Globally. If you are looking for your Brand or a client’s brand to stand out from the crowd and make a truly eye-catching impression then get in touch immediately. Exclusivity is an option, subject to availability.

Relton Asscociates delivers Brand Awesomeness – Give yourself the Advantage.

Get in touch now, complete our contact form or call us on +44 (0)20 3745 2505.

Update  – The Evidence is Clear – 30% more Sales due to 3D tech

3D glasses free technology in action

3D glasses free technology in action

…And in addition to the above blog here’s an update. We now have some

conclusive evidence confirming 3D glasses free technology is making a significant impact. In Solna Business Park, Stockholm featured a wooden Chiquita branded stand selling bananas with a 3D Glasses Free auto-stereo screen.

After 6 months Chiquita reported an impressive increase in sales of 30%. This evidence supports the University of Tilberg’s research, partnered with Red Bull  who tested 3 scenarios in stores; no screen, a 2D screen and a Glasses Free 3D screen.

The research data confirmed customers on average looked at the 3D screen 3 seconds longer then the 2D screen, translating to 45% increase in attention and a 75% increase compared to no screen at all.

The real breakthrough for Red Bull was an increase in sales in petrol stations by another impressive 8.5%

3D technology without glasses

Imagine the future – 3D world seen with your own eyes

 

Top 5% of Amazon UK Sellers - 5 Ways to Remove Negative Customer Feedback

Top 5% Amazon UK Sellers – 5 Ways to Remove Negative Feedback

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By pure accident a colleague & friend stumbled across a market place article written by Market Place Pulse whilst on their lunch break. The article highlighted one of Relton Associates clients as being in the top 5% of Amazon UK sellers. In fact, they’re probably in the top 2%, and as you can imagine we were very pleased!

The article based it’s findings on a tool which ranks on two main factors; Sales Volume and Customer Feedback. You can read more about how we achieved sales volume in the case study: ‘From Zero to e-commerce Hero’. But if you want to find out how we manage the customer feedback then read on…

5 Ways to Remove Negative Customer Feedback

Amazon Best Seller - Top 5%

Amazon Best Seller – Top 5%

Naturally giving excellent and speedy customer service is key, but many of the negative company reviews can be removed from Amazon, if you know how. Better still, many of them can be removed within 3 clicks. Here are the top 5 Ways to Remove Negative Customer Feedback (or neutral):

  1. A review is about a ‘product’ and not your ‘service’
  2. The review is relating to price and not your service
  3. The review is only one word
  4. Reviews that make no sense
  5. The review incorporates a link or contact information

There are more examples but you’ll get the point. Just as importantly they are often dealt with swiftly by Amazon. I know, Amazon and swiftly don’t always go together! In this case however, it’s simply about knowing their systems and how to use them to ‘your’ best advantage.

At one time, when our customer feedback was as low as 92% for our amazon.fr (France) store, we turned it around to 100%. We turned this around within a week. This shows how important it is to address negative feedback and not to ignore it or think it’s too bad to turn around. You can turn it around.

In a blog article last year titled ‘The 3 click Amazon Feedback Secret that all top performing stores share’ we highlighted 80% of stores feedback that was languishing beloe 95% could be rectified.

If you would like to discuss your Amazon account with Relton Associates us the Contact Us page to get in touch…speak to you soon.

 

From Zero to e-commerce Hero case study

From Zero to e-commerce Hero case study

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In a recent case study, ‘From Zero to e-commerce Hero’, Relton Associates highlights the e-commerce success of one of its top clients. Projected to comfortably achieve an impressive annual turnover of over £1m from just £11Kpa from it’s online web portfolio this year.

The case study walks you through how it was achieved and some of the strategy behind the success. It includes European expansion, Market Places like Amazon & eBay, and some innovative postal solutions to streamline internal warehouse processes.

Automation is another key contributor within the case study. Ensuring the web portfolio is efficient and free from human error as possible.

And….There was no large cash injection either. Find out more by reading the From Zero to e-commerce Hero case study here

Paid for Social Media Analysis Tools Picture

Top 3 Paid Social Media Monitoring Tools

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Top 3 Paid Social Media Monitoring Tools

If you are thinking about investing in a social media monitoring tool, it can be hard to determine which is best for you. Below in our Top 3 Paid Social Media Monitoring Tools article we’ve listed three different types of paid-for tools that could help you maximise your social media status. This is the sequel to our 6 Free Social Media Monitoring Tools article. They all offer a free demo so you can try before you buy.

Sysomos

Sysomos prides itself on being an all-inclusive social media analytics tool, breaking it down into 5 key areas: research, listen, curate, engage and analyse. They claim to be “The world’s largest independent social intelligence platform” and have a broad client base including Porsche, NBC Universal and Heineken.

Now they don’t offer a price list on the website and so you need to speak to them with your budget in mind before you know how much you’ll pay. They do have multiple tools within their offering so depending on your needs, you may not have to pay for the whole package.

Sysomos MAP is their research platform, where you can view analytics for Boolean search queries relevant to your business from across the web.

Sysomos Heartbeat is their social media listening platform, where you can view mentions across multiple social media networks as well as forums, blogs and news sites.

Sysomos Expion is their social campaign manager, where you can schedule content calendars and engage with your audience directly.

Sysomos Analytics is their paid marketing analytics tool. This tool monitors the success of paid ad campaigns in real-time across multiple networks.

Sysomos Scout is their specific Facebook insights platform, pulling in all the data you need from your Facebook pages and managing it all under one roof.

Lastly, Sysomos Gaze is their visual marketing tool, pulling in analytics from images and video content.

Sysomos has a lot to offer and multiple tools to pick and choose from. All these tools certainly have their uses, and those with a big budget may like to have everything in one place. However, for those with lighter pockets, you might like to combine some of the Sysomos tools with some other free ones.

What we like: Analyses and gives insight into almost everything on the web which is relevant to your brand. Having everything in one place makes it very easy from a workflow perspective.

What is missing: Some social monitoring options are available elsewhere, some even for free. For example, Facebook insights vs Sysomos Scout and Hootsuite vs Sysomos Expion.

Sysomos Social Media Monitoring Tool

Sysomos Social Media Monitoring Tool

(Image courtesy of https://sysomos.com/products/heartbeat)

Brandwatch

Second place on the list of Top 3 Paid Social Media Monitoring Tools out there is Brandwatch. Brandwatch does not have the plethora of services that Sysomos offer, instead it focuses on two main areas of social monitoring: social listening and finding your target audience. This is certainly not a one-stop-shop platform for social media monitoring and you will need to use other tools in conjunction with it. Similarly to Sysomos, Brandwatch does not offer a price list but they have three tiers of plans with varying data access rights. The plans are based on number of mentions starting with 10,000 then jumping to 1 million and finally unlimited. Their current client list includes top brands British Airways, Sky and ASOS.

Brandwatch Analytics can track social media campaigns, offer competitor benchmarking, influencer identification and outreach, market research and reputation management. They seem to place most emphasis on finding influencers and reputation management which is great if you are a controversial or highly talked about brand. Their reputation management tool allows you to set up queries to pick up on important topics and you will be sent alerts immediately so that you don’t miss anything important.

Brandwatch doesn’t offer much in the way of scheduling or engagement from the platform, so another tool will be required to manage the day-to-day social media conversation as well as campaigns.

What we like: Uncomplicated and visual reports which are great for sharing with the wider business, one of Twitter’s official partners with access to the Firehose, historical data.

What is missing: No ability to manage social platforms from within the tool, no data for forums, blogs or news sites.

Brandwatch Social Media Monitoring Tool

Brandwatch Social Media Monitoring Tool

(Image courtesy of https://www.brandwatch.com/brandwatch-analytics/)

 

Hootsuite

And…Number three on the list of Top 3 Paid Social Media Monitoring Tools  is Hootsuite. Featured in our Free Social Media Monitoring Tools blog post, Hootsuite is a social media monitoring and engagement platform where you can manage all your social media accounts from one dashboard. As with Brandwatch, you will need to use other tools to discover deeper data about your social media presence.

The free plan has it’s limits so venturing into the paid plans unlocks a lot of other features. The plans are split into four and are priced based on the size of your business.

Professional £7.99 per month (1 user)

The professional plan offers users 10 social profiles to monitor on the system, along with content scheduling, content suggestions and real-time analytics.

Team £27.99 per month per user (1-5 users)

The team plan includes everything in the professional plan, bulk scheduling, customised analytics, a little bit of training and up to 20 social profiles.

Business £69.99 per month per user (5-10 users)

The business plan includes everything in the team plan as well as analytics exports, priority support, more training and up to 50 social profiles.

Enterprise Contact for pricing (10+ users)

Hootsuite say “Hootsuite Enterprise empowers large teams, departments and regions to drive results by safely and securely scaling social media across their entire organisation”. It seems you need to give them a ring to find out what this actually means in terms of features.

What we like: As with the free option, we like the ability to manage all your social media accounts in one place. Data exports are great, but only available on the more expensive plans.

What is missing: Hootsuite isn’t offering the vast volumes of data the other tools can provide.

Hootsuite Social Media Monitoring Tools

Hootsuite Social Media Monitoring Tools

(Image courtesy of http://signuptoday.hootsuite.com/pro-gbr-eng-br-pplans/)

 

If you would recommend any other paid social media monitoring tools, let us know in the comments!

Digital Recruitment for Corporates

5 Reasons why large corporate business struggle in digital world

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5 Reasons why large corporate businesses struggle in the digital world The digital world is a funny old place that attracts a funny old bunch who enjoy working in it (and I include myself in that). Those funny people I would argue love playing, testing, creating and…failing, only to get up, brush themselves off and […]

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Find out more about 6 Social Monitoring Tools

6 Free Social Media Monitoring Tools

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6 Free Social Media Monitoring Tools. The internet is awash with social media monitoring tools but most of them are quite costly. The paid tools do give a much more in-depth view of your social media standing than the free versions, but the free tools have some good insights to offer too. When measuring your social media success, engagement is your key KPI. This includes likes, follows, shares, mentions, video views and clicks, to name but a few. Depending on your goals, you may have other non-social KPIs such as traffic referrals, conversions and page views which will be available through analytics tools, such as Google Analytics. Here is a list of our favourite free social media monitoring tools that can be used alongside your website analytics to give you a rounded view of how well your social media is performing.

1. Facebook Analytics

Facebook Insight gives you useful information about your fans, engagement and reach.

Facebook Analytics

Facebook insights have come on leaps and bounds over the years and is now full of useful information about your fans, engagement and reach. You can only view data from the last 28 days on Facebook but there is a handy export button where you can view the raw data for the last six months.

What we like: Export function, post engagement information, fan demographics

What is missing: More detailed information on your fans and what they like, most engaged users

2. Twitter Analytics

Twitter doesn’t seem to shout about its analytics offering but it does contain some useful information. Along with the standard engagement and reach metrics, it also shows you who your most influential followers are. This is really helpful when building your outreach programme.

What we like: Top tweets, conversion tracking, Influential followers, export function

What is missing: data beyond the last 28 days, more information on followers

3. Hootsuite

Manage social media much more efficient with Hootsuite

Add all your social media accounts to one dashboard and manage them from one place.

Hootsuite has been around for a long time and there is a good reason for that. The primary benefit of using Hootsuite is that you can add all your social media accounts to one dashboard and manage them from one place. This makes managing social media much more efficient as not only can you monitor the accounts but you can engage with them from one place too.

What we like: One destination for all your social media accounts, monitors social media mentions, generate reports from social analytics and export them as PDFs

What is missing: A lot of the options are only available if you upgrade to a paid account so you can only get basic monitoring for free.

4. Tweetdeck

Tweetdeck - free tool for Twitter management

Manage your Twitter account for free with Tweetdeck.

As the name suggests, this free tool is for Twitter management only. It is very similar to Hootsuite in its layout, with a dashboard to pull in your streams where you can view your notifications, messages and activity all in one place. You can also use this for scheduling tweets.

What we like: Simple to use, easy to view all activity in one place, create streams for trending topics

What is missing: No insights

5. Mention

Mention - great for when you’re running a big PR campaign

Show you social mentions, web, forum and news mentions – great when running a big PR campaign

Similar to Google Alerts, you set up your account using your brand name and it will pull in all the information relating to your brand. Not only will this show you social mentions but will also show you web, forum and news mentions – great for when you’re running a big PR campaign. The caveat is that it’s only free for 14 days.

What we like: Influencers ranked by authority score, mentions from across the web not just social

What is missing: only free for 14 days

Image from Mention

6. Simply Measured

Simply Measured - your tool for Facebook, Twitter and Google+

The reports cover a range of platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

Technically this isn’t a free tool, however they do have free downloadable reports. The reports cover a range of platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Google+. If you are interested in the other services that Simply Measured has to offer, you can request a free demo.

What we like: Free in-depth reports

What is missing: Nothing missing but it is a bit of a long-winded, data capture fuelled process to download your free report.

Image from Simply Measured 

 

If you would recommend additional tools for our 6 free social media monitoring tools, then we would love to hear from you and your comments!

Top 10 areas tahat every Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) report should cover

10 areas every Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) report should cover

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10 areas every Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) report should cover.

There are 10 areas every Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) report should cover. If you’re engaging with an agency or consultancy like Relton Associates the list below will act as a guide as to what you should expect. Everyone will have a different way of presenting information, but the list below can be used as a quick reference to ensure no crucial areas have been missed.

1. Executive Summary

For senior directors, business owners or chief digital/technical officers, or similar. They will not want to read through 20-50 pages of an SEO report, nor probably have the time. Hence the Executive Summary offering up a snapshot of what needs to be done and the main priorities.

2. Understanding

Confirming back to the client you have understood the brief is critical and stops you missing important areas, which are of particular interest to the client. The consultancy/agency should be sensor checking this from the very outset ensuring they’re on track. The client may have a particular interest in foreign search engines or Social Media.

3. A Plan/Methodology

An explanation of how the SEO report has been conducted and the methodology used. This adds credence to the report as it shows you have gone about the research in an appropriate manner and used the correct tools to draw the correct data required to make sound recommendations.

4. Content

On-page Content addresses the text and the structure of articles and will always make reference to keywords and keyphrases. Additionally, the report should highlight any areas of the website containing duplicate content and recommendations for how to eradicate this. Page titles and image size should be covered amongst many other areas.

Off-page Content addresses the structure of the on-page content and how it is supported behind the scenes. Particular reference will be paid to H tags and META data, it’s structure and how it holistically amplifies your on-page SEO.

5. Technical

Looks at how well your Google Accounts are set up and whether you are adhering to the relevant Search Engines ‘check lists’. It’s important to remember it’s not just about Google (although largely it is in the UK) but also Bing (USA), Yandex (Russia) and other search engines in other territories. Site speed, page load times and responsive design are among many other areas, which should be looked at.

6. Linking

A full SEO report will always assess how easy a website is for users and search engines to navigate. Therefore, it should include a review of the number of internal links within your site and highlight if there are any broken links. It will also look for the number and quality of backlinks coming to your site, which has always been an extremely strong external indicator to search engines of how relevant your content is to the outside World.

7. Recommendations

Each and every section should be followed with a recommendation. A way to address the issues you have and in simple terms that are easy to understand. If you are under performing in an area of SEO then the recommendation should clearly layout what you need to do to go and fix it.

8. KPI’s

If your going to work on SEO you need to measure the success you’re having. How else will you know how successful you are and whether the changes you are making are having a positive and desired effect. A set of KPI’s will support you in doing this

9. Additional Resources

This is one of the most important elements of a report as it provides the ‘tools’ to be able to assist in implementing the SEO recommendations you’ve been given. You can expect a list of priorities so you know which recommendations to tackle first. You can also expect checklists and examples where relevant

10. Appendices

And finally, often formed of reports that have been run across your site and a plethora of xlxs spreadsheets. It can also contain screenshots and reports run that were not relevant enough for the report itself.

If you would like to find out more about SEO reporting then why not Contact Us here. If you have found the above article useful or if you feel something could be added then please feel free to comment below too

Lecturing at University College London about the power of Social Media

Lecturing at University College London & power of Social Media

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Lecturing at University College London (UCL) and the power of Social Media

I recently had the pleasure of lecturing at University College London (UCL) and the power of social media was again at the forefront of discussion.  When I asked these simple questions:

  1. 1) ‘who here trusts what they see & read on social media’, no one raised their hand.

I then followed this up with:

  1. 2) ‘how many of you get your news from social media’, almost all of them raised their hand.

With the recent Trump campaign for the US Presidency and the equally feisty BREXIT campaign, we should be under no illusion how influential social media channels have become. Facebook has even stated it will try and weed out fake news which, in my view, is a near impossible task. However, I am pleased to see them acknowledging and addressing it.

BREXIT produced a sensational amount of false news and scaremongering from both sides. Some of the apparent ‘explainer’ videos I saw were literally shocking and President Obama was absolutely right to hold students accountable for finding out the truth and ‘digging deeper’ in one of his many speeches. We are accountable and responsible for finding out the truth, as best we can.

I appreciate one lecture room of 20 students is not the biggest nor most conclusive survey by any stretch. Perhaps more research is needed. However, you cannot dispute that it is a definitive indicator and, from what most of us have seen, probably true of most similar age groups.

We do, after all, tend to believe what we want to believe. If this statement is true, it suggests that if we’re fed news we want to believe, we are more likely to trust it, share it and unwittingly peddle it (sometimes even before we read and fully understood it).

To state what I deem is the obvious: we can create stories online which people want to believe are true and are inline with our brands mission and vision. We can then positively or negatively influence opinion.

Lastly, a brand is not exclusive to just businesses; it is also Nations, Religions and Political Parties.

What do you think?