Anthony Shapley

1. On-site
2. The way SEO used to be
3. How SEO is changing
4. What should I do?
5. Do we still need an SEO?

On-Site SEO

This is the first thing most websites should do and I don’t see any massive change happening here. Every website still needs “unique”, “interesting” and “well written” content which is rich in the right “keywords”. Of course your site should also have a relative “Title” and “Meta Description”. Other things like Domain name, filenames etc are also still important. I won’t go on, my point is I don’t see any massive change in this.

The way SEO used to be

To date SEO use to be a very easy thing to conquer by either link baiting or link buying, depending on whether your Black or White Hat. This would massively manipulate the Search Results providing it was done well and with the correct anchor text. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this doesn’t work anymore. I’m just saying I see it becoming less and less important in the future.

How SEO is Changing

So now your wondering why? Well the reason its changing is of course to provide more relative results and reduce web spam. The importants of backlinks is being reduced and of course other things are picking up the slack. These are:

• RSS Subscriptions: Google recently purchased the website Feedburner, which holds the largest market share in RSS Syndication/Subscription tracking etc. Google also placed a patent on the idea of ranking websites in Search Engine Result Pages based on the amount of RSS Subscribers. This was their first very clever move.
• Digg & other content voting sites are also being used to rank content. A site with more Diggs or the equivalent will get a boost in the Search Results Pages.
• The nofollow is still being counted as links to your site. Specifing the relationship in your Hyperlinks is what Google wants you to do, so do it! Your only helping yourself.
• Data is being taken from Analytics and the Google Toolbar.

This really is just a few of many changes that are being made.

What should I do?

Go with the flow! Sign up with feedburner, that using the rel=”" tag, start digging. Providing your site is good, you’ll stay at the top of the SERP’s.

Do we still need an SEO?

Of course! There is potential to manipulate absolutely everything I’ve written above and link are still very* important. Whilst the importance of inbound links is gradually being reduced they are still vital and will remain to be for the foreseeable future.

I keep seeing these “Adverts” for Berocca, which is four people dancing on Treadmills in synchronization. Which I loved, I’m not much of a consumer but this advert caught me. What does trouble me about it is the cut down version I’ve seen actually gives no indication of what the heck it is, or does, or anything. Which is actually the exact thing that made me go to my computer and look it up. So well done guys you caught my attention which isn’t easy. Read the rest of this entry »

Adwords asked me to fill in a survey a few months ago and have sent me a Free Google Gym Bag woo!

Aren’t I lucky, interesting choice though. I wonder how many Search Engine Marketers go to the gym?

I’m sure they have our best interests at heart

Today I have removed my Rants about certain individuals, groups and companies who act unprofessionally or have upset me in one way or another.

The main reason for this is that it was drawing unnecessary attention to my site. Mainly attention of people who I had upset Some of them deserved it and I think perhaps others didn’t None the less it was causing my grief I didn’t want.

In the permission based world we now live in the best sales opportunity and cheapest lead is now the inbound telephone call.

If someone happens to be calling your business up then you already have their attention, focus on what they want and most importantly their permission.

Unfortunately as I previously wrote most big businesses see inbound calls as a problem and have the least experienced, least well paid people answering them. Frequently hearing phrases like “We’re experiencing high volumes of calls at the moment” and “Please hold” just to name a few.

Most of the phone calls I make I make usually about my Mobile Phones end up with me feeling unsatisfied. I’m fairly certain they should be trying to uphold their image, upgrade my contracts and take more of my money rather than just get me off the phone

Here are the 10 most important things I consider when doing SEO:

• A good strategy in place, highlighting key phrases. Without this no one knows what they’re doing
   
• Links - I’m not suggesting you buy them, but they are the key to any successful relationship with the Search Engines. Its even written in the Google Webmaster Guidelines.
   
• Meta Description and Meta Keywords, they may not count towards delivery but I’m fairly certain they’re used in an overall page Quality Score.
   
• Unique and Interesting Content
   
• Well laid out website which is easy to navigate, for your users and the spiders!
   
• Established Domain Name, the longer your domain name has been around the better it will perform.
   
• In bound links should be from different Class C IP Blocks and not from bad neighborhoods.  
   
• Good Web Hosting with high up time and maybe even a dedicated IP Address if its your main website.
   
• Use Headings like H1, H2, H3 etc. These should be structured in the same way as any written document. So the top of the page is a H1, then multiple h2’s and h3’s you get my drift
   
• Page Titles seem to be extremely important at the moment! Make sure yours are not too long but very relevant.

Think I’ve got one wrong? Let me know!

Featured in a local paper at the age of 16. This is a Scan.

You may of course be wondering who David is? Well he’s training as a graphics designer and also helps with my web projects.

RAA the Recruitment Advertising company in Bristol have joined up with myself in-order to ensure their clients get the best possible Search Engine Rankings. This kind of care is going to give RAA Clients a very competitive edge over competitors with less knowledge of how to manipulate Search Engine Rankings.RAA’s understanding of how back linkage will benefit them means  that I have been able to place them on the 1st page of Google for very competitive searches.With such a healthy relationship growing RAA and its clients are virtually guaranteed to have online success. 

Ok so a man reaches the point where seeing “Calculating time” for an hour before it actually does anything becomes frustrated. So after much consideration I decided my home office needed sorting out. No more stupid problems…

After a day of installations and migrating, only problem is the usual one. Moving files from Vista  .. arrrrrrh!