SEO and how it can benefit you

What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?

Search Engine Optimisation is a system of methods, strategies and tools used to enhance a website's ranking in search engines' natural search results, which in turn increases the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines for targeted phrases. The process of SEO includes initial analysis, keyword research and analysis, competitor analysis, inbound link building, optimisation of on-page factors, such as using relevant keywords, choosing correct Meta data, and a whole range of other techniques. SEO strategies are constantly evolving as search engines update their algorithms.

Top search engine placement is a vital key to a company's online success. Companies can save a fortune on their traditional print media advertising costs and find a way to easily beat the competition. The internet is taking over as the primary source of products, and services delivery channel. Australia’s online leading Pre-Shop® portal, Lasoo.com.au determined that 90% of Australians are conducting pre-purchase research online and are likely or very likely to make a purchase within the next 4 weeks.

Whether you are optimising an existing web page or starting from scratch, one key thing to remember is that optimisation is an ongoing process. Search engines are constantly changing and improving, algorithms are constantly being updated and new search keywords and phrases are created at lightning speed. To keep up with these frequent changes, search engine optimisation needs to be a top priority for any business seeking a strong web presence.

The many benefits of SEO

Here are some of the benefits you may reap from an ongoing SEO campaign:

• Promotion that never sleepsImagine having your own marketing and promotions company working exclusively just for you! One that works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days every year. That's the benefit of SEO!
• Increased sales, sales leads, client loyalty, and repeat business - SEO can mean increased sales and leads of your product or service.
• Increase brand visibility - SEO can give your brand a high international profile - and for a comparatively low outlay.
• Targeted traffic - SEO can increase the number of visitors who are actively searching for your service or product.
• Increased credibility and presence - Having a
  solid presence on the internet can build trust and credibility.
• Lower Cost Per Click (CPC) - When running Google Adwords campaign, an SEO friendly target/landing page can reduce the actual Cost Per Click.
• High ROI - Dollar for dollar, SEO brings you a higher return on your investment than any comparable form of marketing. SEO is among the most
  cost-effective ways of marketing.
• Long term positioning - Once in place, a properly designed and optimised site should stay long term in the rankings compared to PPC where costs and outlay are ongoing and unpredictable.
• Increased accessibility - Observing sensible optimisation procedures can make your site more accessible to all users.
• Usability - Observing basic optimisation guidelines should mean that visitors have a more pleasant user experience.

Where do I sign?

Although SEO cannot benefit every business, the majority of businesses will benefit from implementing SEO on their website. Our ongoing Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services will help your customers, members, supporters and sponsors find you quickly and easily. We won't promise you the world, though we will help you in becoming more popular online. It is in our experience that businesses with a stronger online presence have a higher chance of success.

For more information regarding the different SEO packages Organise Internet can
provide you, please visit our SEO packages comparison page. To see why Organise Internet is the #1
SEO company on the Central Coast, please do not hesitate to contact us regarding your SEO needs. We can tailor any campaign to suit your requirements and expectations.

Google releases new indexing technology: Caffeine

Google has recently announced the public rollout of its new web indexing system, codenamed “Caffeine”.  The new indexing technology promises to provide “50 percent fresher results” compared to its previous system. The old search index consisted of several layers, some which were updated more frequently than others. Caffeine on the other hand will analyse the web in smaller portions and update Google’s search index continuously on a global scale, meaning user will be able to find fresher information than ever before.

This new indexing system is said to use a very impressive 100 million GB of storage in a single database and adds hundreds of thousands of GB of new information daily. The reason for Google's new development is to address users' higher expectations of search. Google explained, "searchers want to find the latest relevant content and publishers expect to be found the instant they publish".

Caffeine is reported to be the reason for sleep deprivation (pun intended) amongst many SEO practitioners. It’s still not clear how much impact this will have for businesses that rely heavily on being ranked on the coveted first page of Google results. As the case is with many of Google's other tweaks to their mysterious ranking formula, some business and websites may see their traffic suffer as the changes could results in them falling down the search rankings. This possibility should be taken into consideration and will undoubtedly alter the way search engine optimisation experts conducts their business. Only time will tell how SEO friendly Caffeine is.

If you have any concerns regarding this new development, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The Great Australian Firewall

History

The Federal Government has proposed a law to filter and restrict access to certain online content from all Australians. Internet filtering on a national scale is not new, but this could very well be the strictest filter ever to be implemented in a western nation. Many also have the opinion that this level of internet censorship rivals those of countries such as China, North Korea, and Iran.

The proposed filter will become mandatory and will be based on a blacklist that is to be maintained by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). The list will contain websites which are deemed to contain prohibited content, which is then encrypted and added to a filtering software that is implement at the Internet Service Providers (ISP) level.

In theory, sites containing content that is illegal to own in Australia such as child pornography, material relating to terrorism, detailed instructions promoting criminal activity, drug use and sites promoting racism will be blocked, among many others. An additional list will also be maintained to block websites whose content are deemed unsuitable for a younger audience. The idea is to help parents protect their children from being exposed to unsuitable content such as pornographic images and gambling websites. In contrast to the mandatory first list, consumers will have the ability to opt-out from the “child filter”.

Acceptance

The proposed plans have stirred many discussions and met great opposition. Recently, the US government has expressed its concerns, stating that the scope of the material that could be censored is far too wide. Whilst its intention could be admirable by restricting access to offensive material including child pornography, bestiality, terrorism, and instructional information promoting criminal activity, it could for example be applied to news agencies reporting details of a crime. The leak of a blacklist some time ago proved that false positives are very likely to occur, no system is perfect.

Even Google and Yahoo, the two largest search engine companies have entered the debate, announcing their opposition to the plan. They too think that the filter could restrict access to legal content. Google is of the opinion that a mandatory ISP-level filtering system with a scope that goes well beyond what is only absolutely necessary can raise genuine questions about restrictions on access to information and matters of free speech.
Another issue raised is the cost to implement the plan and the effects it would have on consumers. It is estimated to cost tax payers $82 million dollars to implement. It is still unclear who will have to pay for the equipment, resources, and additional traffic data once implemented. It’s very possible that part of the cost could be passed on to the end consumer. If it were the case, consumers will be forced to pay more for slower access to the internet caused by the additional traffic overheads.

Possibly the most important issue is that many parents could be under the (false) impression that the internet is then entirely safe for their children to explore. Yes the filter will block many objectionable content, yet there are numerous techniques to circumvent the filter. A person does not need to be very tech-savvy to implement some of these techniques. Many can be found easily on the internet, and are undoubtedly already known to many children across Australia. The other problem explained by Yahoo is that the filter would not block peer to peer file sharing, cyber bullying, nor prevent online predators approaching children in chat rooms, or social networking sites.

Conclusion

There is no single solution to the problem we are facing in combating objectionable and illegal content on the internet, and ensuring our children’s online safety. We are of the opinion that nothing can substitute education and parental guidance.

A program such as the one proposed by the government has its merits, but we as a society also need to take into consideration what implications it would have. The internet is not just websites, it’s a network of computer systems that have the ability to communicate with a variety of protocols, not just HTTP. It’s very possible that it would give unknowing parents a false sense of security. If this were to happen on a large scale, the result of this program would actually take us two steps backward from where we currently are.

Guide to choosing correct search phrases

Search phrases are the words that users enter into search engines when they are searching for information on the WWW. Your website's online performance depends highly on how well it is aligned with relevant search phrases that generate quality traffic onto your website. Research has shown that most users do not browse past the third search engine results page (SERP), with the majority not even venturing past the 1st page. Therefore it should be the aim of all businesses whose online presence is vital to appear on the first SERP for relevant search phrases. For many online businesses, choosing the right search phrases can make or break you. We'll explore some of the common mistakes that we have seen over the years.

Avoid single word phrases

Single word phrases are a bad idea because they can be very general and too competitive. Most of us have realised by now that single word searches will return a long list of results, most of which aren't going to be what you were looking for. Remember when you first discovered Google and searched for "car" and it returned over 37 million results? Then you added another word or two to refine your results by entering the phrase "car auctions" which returned 213,000 results. Finally you enter the phrase "car auctions Central Coast" and received 46,000 results which make the task of finding exactly what you're looking for much easier.

Most single word phrases are also almost impossible to rank well for due to the sheer volume of websites competing for that spot. From our previous example, to rank well for "car", you will be competing against over 37 million other sites, but target "car auctions Central Coast" and your competition drops to just 46,000.
The word "car" is very general. Ranking well for this word will give you bragging rights, but it could prove to be of no value when it's not ranking well for "car auctions Central Coast". Yes, ranking well for "car" will most likely generate traffic to your website, however it will most likely NOT be what your visitors are looking for. The bottom line is not how much traffic you get, it's how many potential clients/customers visit your site (qualified traffic). Receiving a single potential client surely would be more valuable to you than 1000 random surfers looking for car repairers rather than car auctions.

Avoid phrases that are too specific

With the example above, we can conclude that the more specific the search phrase, the fewer results are found, and the less the competition for the search phrase. It's easier to rank well with less competition, however there is a catch. The more specific the search is, the fewer people will actually search for it. I'm sure you'll agree that your #1 ranking for "car auctions on Mann St Gosford Central Coast" would be of very little value. To avoid choosing phrases that are too specific, one must analyse and evaluate the popularity of the search phrases.

Avoid highly competitive phrases

You might have found a phrase that is both popular and relevant to your website, but if competition is too high, your SEO investment's ROI could be extremely low. A good SEO expert will be able to determine whether it's in your best interest to aim for certain phrases after conducting a competitor analysis. Pouring money to target a search phrase that is not going to rank your website within the first 2 pages is equivalent to pouring money down the drain. Try to aim for a more specialised or niche phrases.

Concluding thoughts

The main task when choosing your search phrases is to find those that are relevant to the products or services you are offering on your website, and popular enough that the average users will be using it to search with. At the same time, you must keep in mind not to select phrases that are too competitive that your website won't be able to rank well with the budget you have.

These criteria outlined in this article are no big secret; there is an abundance of blogs and articles that point these out. The secret really lies in developing the skills to be able to determine where all of these criteria intersect. If you feel like you need some help in increasing your website's online presence, please feel free to contact us.