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Hi and welcome to this weeks SEO video blog, today we’re going to discuss organic SEO timescales and whether an SEO consultant can successfully predict an accurate timescale for a client or a website to perform.

The first thing to consider when assessing the potential success of a website is the domain name. There are several factors that are well worth checking.

Domain age: If the domain has been around for a long time then it will probably hold some authority in Google or other search engines.

Domain content: This can link in with the domain age, if your website has had related content on the domain for a period of time, it contributes to a smooth optimization process.

Domain Authority or Page Rank: Google assigns each web page with a page rank, Page rank is a link analysis algorithm that depends on the incoming and outgoing links on a website or web page. I you are unfamiliar with PageRank, we’ve included a Wikipedia link on our supporting blog post.

Domain Choice: If the domain name contains a keyword, this again contributes towards helping organic listings. You can of course, get to page one without one, but it all helps.

The importance of domains can be overlooked, but if you are optimizing a brand new domain name, you run this risk of Google easily spotting your eager SEO activity and potentially getting sand-boxed as a result. All SEO activity must be natural.

Secondly have a look at the content throughout the site, if it already mentions the chosen keywords then this will help the site to perform. Remember the SEO saying: ‘Content is king’.

Current performance is another important factor, If your web site appears for its phrases already, raising the phrases is easier than ranking them from scratch.

Next is Backward link analysis: If your website has a Page Rank, then it will more than likely have links pointing to it from other websites. An SEO consultant should analyze these incoming links and asses whether they could be manipulated to better reflect the keywords and content on the target website.

If an SEO consultant correctly analyses these variables – it can help them to predict the success and timescales of a new keyword campaign.

Thanks for watching, we hope this has been helpful. If you have any questions of comments please leave them on our YouTube Channel or supporting blog post.

New Ideas and New Strategies Can Make For A Better Campaign

Heard something through the grapevine within the last few weeks about an item called the IPad? If not, it’s another revolutionary product from the ever imaginative Apple guys who have bought us the IMac, IPod and IPhone.

The way Apple cause major hype whenever there is a whiff of a new product being drawn up or a new idea being thought about, the media love it and people are instantly intrigued. This may be difficult to see how this links with SEO, but it’s more directly associated with how your website works more than you realise.

With your campaign, how often do you change techniques or look at strategies? How often have you ‘reinvented’ your website or written and distributed thrilling content?

If it’s been longer than 3 months, it’s definitely time for a shake up and as scary as that sounds, it could do your website and online exposure the world of difference.

The Internet is always changing and Search Engines, especially Google, look out for those websites who are improving their online presence and earning their rightful position. For those businesses keeping in with trends or becoming one step ahead of the SEO game, they are rewarded by higher positioning and, of course, mass exposure.

Web Design has come a long way, with video integration and more interaction being introduced. Colours, text and flash have also come a long way within the past year and with more ways  to enhance SEO such as Twitter and Facebook, now is the time to review your campaign.

Apple are great examples of how to keep people on their toes and interested in a brand. People become bored easily and reinventing, whether it be the same product, ensures that consumers and Search Engines alike, keep you as Number One.

During the Summer Google made an announcement about a new project they are rolling out, they call it ‘Caffeine’. Caffeine is described as a re-write of the current search architecture, Matt Cutts suggested that many searches would stay the same but be faster.

At the time of this announcement, Matt Cutts discussed this new update with WebProNews. He suggested that it is very similar to the “Big daddy Update” from 2005, and consists of changes to the way Google crawls and then indexes sites.

Before Christmas, Google were kind enough to reassure everyone that Caffeine wouldn’t be rolled out until after the festivities. This was a very considerate thing of Google to do, especially as the Christmas period is often the busiest time of year for many businesses.

In November Google told us all about their intentions at PubCon. A few days ago Matt Cutts posted a video of his presentation at this event on his blog. It is well worth watching – if you want to skip ahead to the Caffeine bit though, it starts at around 22.10.

How will Caffeine affect your SEO

If you use white hat SEO techniques, and make sure your site is excellent for the end user (ie people) then you can’t really go wrong. Don’t forget to make sure your content is regularly updated, your coding is clean and tidy, and you link build using ethical and thoughtful techniques you can’t go wrong. The basic rules of SEO still apply!

Want A Presence Online: Integrate A Variety Of Techniques

If you have been browsing the Creare Communications SEO website you may have noticed that there are a few new additions. You can now browse pages dedicated to social media, e-marketing and internet marketing.

These new additions highlight the importance of using a variety of techniques for an SEO campaign. Gone are the days of writing the odd article and building some links, now there are a whole host of methods that SEO consultants and business owners can use to enhance a business’s presence online.

So what are these other techniques and what is the purpose of implementing them?

Social Media:

You may think that these websites are the realm of teenagers and Ashton Kutcher. In fact many businesses can now be found on these sites. They are a perfect way for companies to network with others in the industry, communicate with consumers and discuss the very latest products, services and promotions.

As a recent blog post ‘Social Media Marketing For SEO’ discussed, social media may not be right for every single business but by choosing the correct sites to appear on and implementing suitable activity on these websites, it could be a technique that is used by businesses of all sizes.

Social media activity does not just have to be reserved to Facebook and Twitter. Some businesses may find that YouTube is a good choice for them. This is particularly ideal for those that regularly produce videos related to their skills and practice.

As an example, if a flooring company sells laminate flooring online, many customers may be put off by the prospect of laying the floor themselves with little or no support. By producing a video showing the best way to do this and broadcasting it on YouTube, the company will be able to point their clients to the video, enhancing their customer service. The video could also be viewed by others planning to lay their own flooring, this puts the company in the position of appearing as an authority in their industry.

E-mail Marketing:

Although not directly related to SEO practice, e-mail marketing is another way that businesses can regularly update their existing consumers, re-enforcing their brand and their presence online.

Sending monthly or quarterly e-mails to a consumer offers a variety of benefits. It is a key brand building and promotional tool that is a quick and efficient means of communicating with consumers, without having to spend hour’s cold calling and without having to spend large quantities of money on advertising campaigns.

So back to the original question, how important is it to use an assortment of techniques for your SEO campaign? Well we think it is really important, by being present in a wide selection of places online there is more of an opportunity for consumers to access your brand.

Importance of quality content in an SEO strategy

With SEO becoming such an increasingly populated industry and more commonly used method of promoting a business, theories abound as to how to win the search engine war.

Whilst it may provide a professional yet fun image of a company, we all know that an all-singing and dancing website simply isn’t enough these days – it is akin to having the best weapons at your disposal but no ammunition. To achieve that crucial page one position, key word rich and relevant & informative content is an essential component of your SEO battle plan.

Firstly, the actual text contained within the site can provide a firm foundation for building an optimising strategy around. This content can be informative and entertaining, and must incorporate those key phrases and locations that you are looking to optimise for.

As outlined in my colleague Jenny’s blog post the introduction and further use of key words is more complex than you might imagine. Simply ‘shoehorning’ in these phrases is considered another way of spamming, and will be treated accordingly by the search engines.

As with any competitive industry, those that take things for granted do so at their peril. Merely creating ‘static’ website content is unlikely to produce favourable long-term results. New methods of   adding text need to be identified, and areas such as article distribution, press release writing and blogging are an excellent way of doing so.

Articles and press releases in isolation are used as a tool for promoting a business’s services and products. But if distributed externally and socially bookmarked – and any subsequent linking is done effectively - this natural and organic method of link building will conform to the standards set by Google, and becomes another content-based method of redirecting traffic to your website.

Internal blogging via Wordpress and RSS feeds should also be utilised to achieve maximum search engine performance.  Google and the like love sites that provide a fresh and regularly updated flow of new content, and these will be indexed more frequently as a result. If well-written and not used purely as a way of key-word cramming, they can also stimulate debate among your audience.

Quality content that is used effectively is central to staying one step ahead of the game in SEO, and ensure you’re not left waving the white flag of surrender in the lower reaches of Google.