Client Portfolio
Page Title Changes In Search Results
February 7th, 2012
Your page title is one of the most important parts of any web page; it is the first impression of your site that a searcher will see in search engine results. From a user perspective, your page title and description might be the sole reason that a searcher will click through to your site, so making sure it is relevant to what you are selling or writing about is imperative.
Why does this happen?
Over time, you may have noticed that some of your web page’s titles change slightly in Google SERPs, this isn’t new, and isn’t used often – but it can leave website owners feeling confused and has probably prompted many a call to their web developer or SEO company. Google Webmaster analyst, Pierre Far says that these title changes in search results are intentional, and are done to give the searcher a title more relevant to their query.
The reasoning for this is that while a website might rank highly for its valuable keywords, the title tags may not have been updated to reflect a new page or new product and may have been simply copied across from a similar page. By offering an alternative title, Google is assisting the searcher by showing a title more relevant to both the search query and the page. This is seen more often on webpages whose title is “Home” or “About” – generic words that mean nothing to the searcher.
Pierre states in his Google Webmaster blog “Our algorithms generate three alternative titles so that your page is no longer constrained with having just the one title for all the different queries your page ranks for” he also says that in doing so, it encourages more click throughs than if your site had the one static title tag. Source: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2012/01/better-page-titles-in-search-results.html
If you don’t like the way Google does this, you can let them know though your Webmaster Tools account, the help centre there will also direct you to information on how you can write better titles and descriptions – see the diagnostics section for this.
As this algorithm is there to help both the searcher and the website owner, it seems that it is mostly altruistic – it doesn’t mess with your rankings, but merely makes a decision regarding your title based on the keyword used to find you. It will be interesting to see if Google integrates a report about this in Analytics, as it would be a great way to see which titles are attracting more click-throughs and conversions on your site.
Posted in SERPs |
Is Your Shopping Cart A Conversion Killer?
January 30th, 2012
Few things will annoy users on your website more than a cluttered shopping cart. If your cart or download section requires registration, and information you wouldn’t tell your doctor, then you may be turning away customers; customers you fought long and hard to acquire through SEO and internet marketing. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Website Marketing |
Using the AIDA Principle to cut Adwords costs
January 18th, 2012
At any given time, Google will only display 11 ads at most on their search results pages (SERPS). If you want to be seen here amongst your competitors, you’ve got to be prepared to part with the dollars. But what if we could reach new customers while paying a fraction of the cost? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Google Adwords |
Voice Activated Search On Your Mobile
January 5th, 2012
Voice activation on a mobile phone is nothing new, however if you can remember the pain of trying to initiate a call, or send a text with the inbuilt voice activation in various handsets, you are bound to be sceptical of all the new products out there claiming to be almost flawless. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Mobile Search |
Does your site look trustworthy?
December 14th, 2011
If your website is no stranger to SEO, you will already know the importance of building your site’s reputation through online marketing. While it’s very true that attracting links and having a high visibility in search engines are a big part of your website’s popularity, some on page factors may send your potential clients elsewhere, even if you do rank number one for your most valued search term.
How do your customers make the decision to buy from your or trust your advice? It would seem straightforward that the best would rank number one or two for the search terms that people enter, but does that logic hold once they visit your site? There are a few on page factors that might be SEO compliant, however may scare off potential customers.
Web design.
If your current design is years old, hastily put together and has an unprofessional logo or font, then compared to a more modern up-to-date site, the customer may decide that the modern looking one is more suitable for their needs. This is a psychographic based decision and may have no bearing on the quality of your goods and services, but is based on opinion and personality.
Don’t rush to change your website without doing a little customer and market research – some customers will be the opposite, instead trusting a site that looks a little more battle scarred. Think about what type of customer you are targeting and then do your research and plans accordingly.
No social sharing.
If you site contains informative content that is changed or added to regularly, then it makes sense to allow others to share it easily. This doesn’t mean you have to look after 10 different social platforms; just by adding a share button from Facebook or Google + to your pages, people are able to share it on their own social network page – thus showing their appreciation for the content. A ticker of how many ‘likes’ and +1’s will show your customers that this info or page was helpful to others, and put your name in front of their friends. If you have a commenting feature that is not utilised, consider disabling it as zero comments will act the same way as an empty restaurant, people will move on without giving it a chance.
Nowadays, word of mouth has spread to the internet, and with a plethora of social networks to use, it’s important not to over do it – stick to social networks that your customers would use.
Bad content.
Make sure that your content is easy to read. This may be a no brainer, but bad grammar and copy will cause some to consider whether your business is qualified to assist them! These days, bad spelling and grammar are everywhere, spell checkers have made people lazy about learning, so make sure you double check and even consult a copywriter for advice.
Having the same content across multiple pages is not only confusing for SEO purposes, but will make your website look hasty and disorganised. Your SEO company should be able to point you in the right direction with your menu system, simplicity is the key to useability. If you aren’t running a blog or any other type of regular content changes, then it can be a good idea to add recent reviews or industry news, so that your customers have an indication that your site is indeed, up to date.
Most modern internet users will search using dozens of keywords before awarding that all special click-through to a site. Once you have earned that position and gained that click, the process of converting a searcher into a customer has only just begun. Make sure your site is ready to receive guests and that the information and products you are offering are easy to search, read and purchase. And importantly, don’t forget to have clear contact details so that they know where to find you.
Posted in Website Marketing |
Google Maps On Your Android – Floor Plans
December 6th, 2011
If you’ve ever become frustrated with the quality of maps and info stations in airports, malls and city centres, you’ll be pleased to know that it may soon be all in the past. Google Maps has introduced indoor mapping and floor plans to it’s already information rich maps application. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Google Places |
The Top 5 ‘No-Nos’ of SEO
November 16th, 2011
There is a lot of information out there with advice on what to do for SEO, keyword research and link building, but what are the things that you or your SEO company should be avoiding? As we discussed in a previous post “Are you sabotaging your SEO?” there are activities that SEO beginners might get involved in that might not be in the best interest of your website, and some can even get you penalised in Google or de listed! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Search Engine Optimisation |