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8 SEO tips for 2018 in simple terms

January 6, 2018 By Lisa Vassallo 2 Comments

In the ever changing world of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), we wanted to share some SEO tips to consider if you are thinking about your website rankings in 2018:

1. Optimising for voice search
Google reports that 20% of mobile queries are now voice searches.  As it becomes the norm for our children to ask Siri and Alexa all varieties of questions, voice search is set to grow at an incredible speed in 2018.  So think about providing answers to specific questions, with your business audience in mind.

Create a piece of content that directly answers a question e.g. “How do I share a post from one Facebook business page to another business page?” Make sure to include the question itself, and a direct answer to it. This is all about content and providing answers to questions that may attract a new audience.

2. Featured Snippets / Quick Answers
SEO tips
A featured snippet — also known as a “rich answer” or “direct answer” or “quick answer” — is a summary answer to a searcher’s question that Google shows in a special block at the top of the page. It usually comes with a link back to your site, which has great traffic-attracting potential.

To try and rank for this rich snippet box, you need to identify queries and the intent behind your user’s search queries when performing your keyword research. You can do this through ‘how’, ‘what’ and ‘why’ search terms. You should then aim to directly answer these within your content, simply and easily. A great way to do this is through a Q&A page on your website.  You can provide the user with a quick answer, rather than scrolling through lengthy articles.

 

3. Longtail keywords
With the increase in voice searches, there will be more of a need to focus on on more long-tail search keywords and a natural language that matches the user’s conversational tone. Longtail keywords are basically a phrase rather than a single keyword. If I’m searching for “shoes” I’m just browsing. If I’m searching for “Where can I buy black patent shoes with a kitten heel, size 5” this is a longtail keyword phrase and I’m ready to make a purchase.

I always tell our clients it is better to attract fewer visitors to your website who are likely to convert into customers, than thousands of visitors who only spend a few seconds on the site.

Think about more specific keyword searches, related to you and your business to attract the right kind of visitors to your site. If you only want to work in a certain area or are offering events or training courses in a certain place, then geographic keywords are a must.

4. AMP – Accelerated Mobile Pages
Speed is going to be an important factor in 2018. Accelerated Mobile Pages project (AMP) is a Google initiative to build a better, more user friendly mobile Web by introducing a new “standard” for building web content for mobile devices. Accelerated Mobile Pages load instantly and improve the end user experience. Ever since its launch in search results in February 2016, AMP has been in the SEO news. In simple terms, pages that load quickly are going to be a must-have in the future.

Mobile friendly sites have been big news for a while now (see my blog post from 2015) and of course this will continue to be the case for 2018. As more and more users access websites from their smart phones or tablets, the importance of mobile friendly websites has never been more important.  Think mobile friendly and speed for your websites in 2018.

5. Blogs and backlinks
Content continues to be king on the Internet and you should aim to keep your website updated with fresh, interesting content. This is something we’ve always told our clients. If you share good content, people are likely to link to it.

If content is King then engagement is Queen! Encourage debate, ask questions and allow your audience to engage with your posts.

Blogs are a great way to keep adding new content to your website, but you should consider your keywords within the blog and also ensure your posts are a decent length.  However, don’t become too preoccupied with the word count, instead focus on the needs of your reader. If you have a lot of content to share in one post that’s great, but sometimes you only need to share a short, sharp burst of information (again considering voice search and quick answers).

Furthermore, ensure you are making the most of your blogs, by considering which keywords you would like to be found for and ensuring you update the meta title and meta description PER blog post. Remember that the meta title should be between 50-70 characters and the meta description should be no longer than 156 characters (including spaces and punctuation). Having the keywords in the title and the first paragraph will also help your case with SEO.

If you generate good, interesting, relevant content, people will link back to your site and backlinks will continue to play a role in SEO in 2018.  The best advice here is to grow your links organically.

6. End User Experience
The end user experience continues to be of upmost importance. Encourage your users to stay on your site for longer and reduce your bounce rate. The trick is once you capture an audience, to keep them on the site, so if you are attracting your audience through your blog, ensure you have links to other relevant pages to your website from your blog.

Remember to use Google Analytics to track your bounce rate and the time spent on your site. You can also use Google Analytics to work out which pages of your site are turning your clients off and where they are leaving your site.

7. Make the most of Google’s free tools
Talking of Google Analytics, we tell all of our client to ensure they are making the most of all of the free Google tools on offer.

Use Google Analytics to track the performance of your website and find out about visitor information: www.google.co.uk/analytics.

Use Google’s Webmaster Tools to verify your site with Google, submit your sitemap, check on any problems on the site: www.google.co.uk/webmasters/tools.

Doe your website pass Google’s mobile friendly test? www.search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly.

Use Google’s free keyword tool when planning which keywords are important for your website.

Every local business should have a Google My Business listing, which leads me nicely onto:

8. Relevance of local search
Everybody who has worked with me will know the importance I place on local search, and as more and more websites are flooding the Internet and with the increase in mobile sites, I think this will be an area of growing importance in 2018. Think about the areas where your clients are based and where you want to work.

Also remember the importance of an up-to-date Google My Business listing. Reviews are really important and encourage your clients to leave reviews on your Google My Business listing and be sure to reply to these reviews.  You can now add posts to Google My Business listings and as Google collects more and more data on each listing, I believe this is an area to watch in 2018.  You can read my blog here. You can feature on the first page of local searches on Google with a Google My Business listing, without working on your website at all. Google My Business is adding new functionality all of the time and from the start of 2018, you can now add short videos to your listing too.

I wrote a blog at the start of 2017 with my predictions for that year and many of these points still stand, including the importance of secure sites.  You can read this blog here.

If you have any questions or have anything to add to this post, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you believe there is there anything else that will rock the SEO world in 2018?

By Lisa VassalloJanuary 6, 2018

Google My Business – The place to be!

October 13, 2017 By Lisa Vassallo 4 Comments

We’ve been advising our clients for years to create a free Google My Business listing (previously known as Google Maps and Google Places).  Why?  Because you can appear on the first page of Google for local searches, without doing any work to your website whatsoever!  It is also a fantastic free tool that helps you to raise your profile online. Now you can add even more information to your listing by adding posts <read our blog about Google My Business posts>.  In this blog we’d like to share the importance of collecting reviews against your Google My Business listing and how to do this easily.

It takes just a few minutes to create a listing.  Go to https://www.google.co.uk/business/go/ and follow the step-by-step instructions.  Please ensure that your listing is 100% complete and that you include some photos.  Reviews are also really important as they will help to raise your profile and they will also tell other potential clients what to expect from your services.

It’s even easier to ask your clients for a review, simply send them a shortened link, straight through to your listing.  Here’s how:

** Update Sept 2019 – Please note the below steps can be overridden by creating a short name for your Google My Business listing, which in turn generates a link which you can send to your clients for a review e.g. https://g.page/OneToThree_Marketing_Berkshire/review. **

To create a link, you’ll need to get the Place ID for your business. To get your Place ID:

  1. Go to the Google Places API.
  2. Enter your business information in the “Enter a location” field at the top of the map.
  3. Click your business name in the list that appears.
  4. Your Place ID will appear on the map, beneath your business name.

Add your Place ID to the following URL to create your link:

  • https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=<place_id>

Using our listing as an example, the URL with the Place ID added would be:

  • https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=ChIJj61dQgK6j4AR4GeTYWZsKWw

Now just shorten this URL, so you can easily send this out to clients. Hootsuite has a URL shortening tool built in which is very handy. You can also use the websites tinyurl.com and bit.ly for free. The above link, now becomes: http://ow.ly/KcL930fQYtv. Once you have reviews, ensure you respond to each review (whether it’s good or bad).  If you want to remove a review, the best thing to do is ask the person who wrote the review to remove it.  You can now click on this link and write a review for One to Three Marketing Solutions!

As Google collects more and more information on Google My Business listings, we really think this is one to watch for 2018.  So don’t miss out!  Ensure you have a listing, make it as complete as possible and start asking for reviews. Please note that you need to have a Google account in order to add reviews.

 

 

By Lisa VassalloOctober 13, 2017

7 SEO trends to consider for 2017 in simple terms

February 8, 2017 By Lisa Vassallo 1 Comment

At a recent marketing mastermind group, I was asked to provide an update on the latest industry SEO news and things to look out for in the year ahead. Here’s what I shared and some points to consider if you are thinking about your website rankings in 2017:

1. HTTPS V HTTP

Google and many others want the web to be more secure, which has to be a good thing. This tweet in particular caught our attention:

Put simply, Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is the secure version of HTTP, the protocol over which data is sent between your browser and the website that you are connected to. The ‘S’ at the end of HTTPS stands for ‘Secure’. It means all communications between your browser and the website are encrypted. Traditionally ecommerce sites and any sites where you enter payment details or personal details have been HTTPS sites. However, there is now a move towards secure sites across the web.

Since June 2014, when Google called for “HTTPS Everywhere”, SEO specialists have been arguing about the pros and cons of HTTPS sites when it comes to Google rankings.

More recently, Thao Tran from Google said in October 2016, “HTTPS and making sure your site is secure is an imperative at this point… Google will start marking things non-secure…The future of the web is a secure one, and so make sure people in your organization understand HTTPS, and it should be on the road map” for 2017. Basically, a small part of your search rankings will be based on the security of your website.

At the moment, this only impacts a very small percentage of global queries. However, I definitely think this is one to watch in 2017 and if you are starting your site from scratch, get a secure site. If you wish to move to HTTPS, please speak to your web developer and the host of your website.

2. Long form content

Content continues to be king on the Internet and you should aim to keep your website updated with fresh, interesting content.

If content is King then engagement is Queen! Encourage debate, ask questions and allow your audience to engage with your posts. Long form content has various definitions, but most people agree anything between 1,200 – 2,000 words is long form content for a blog post.

Blogs are a great way to keep adding new content to your website, but you should consider your keywords within the blog and also ensure your posts are a decent length.  However, don’t become too preoccupied with the word count, instead focus on the needs of your reader. If you have a lot of content to share in one post that’s great, but sometimes you only need to share a short, sharp burst of information. To give you an idea, this blog post is just over 1,200 words long.

Furthermore, ensure you are making the most of your blogs, by considering which keywords you would like to be found for and ensuring you update the meta title and meta description PER blog post. Remember that the meta title should be between 50-70 characters and the meta description should be no longer than 156 characters (including spaces and punctuation). Having the keywords in the title and the first paragraph will also help your case with SEO.

If you generate good, interesting, relevant content, people will link back to your site and backlinks will continue to play a role in SEO.  The best advice here is to grow your links organically.

3. AMP – Accelerated Mobile Pages

Speed is going to be an important factor in 2017. Accelerated Mobile Pages project (AMP) is a relatively new Google initiative to build a better, more user friendly mobile Web by introducing a new “standard” for building web content for mobile devices. Accelerated Mobile Pages load instantly and improve the end user experience. Ever since its launch in search results in February 2016, AMP has been in the SEO news. In simple terms, pages that load quickly are going to be a must-have in the future.

Mobile friendly sites have been big news for a while now (see my blog post from 2015) and of course this will continue to be the case for 2017. Think mobile friendly and speed for your websites in 2017.

4. End User Experience

The end user experience continues to be of upmost importance. Encourage your users to stay on your site for longer and reduce your bounce rate. The trick is once you capture an audience, to keep them on the site, so if you are attracting your audience through your blog, ensure you have links to other relevant pages to your website from your blog.

Remember to use Google Analytics to track your bounce rate and the time spent on your site. You can also use Google Analytics to work out which pages of your site are turning your clients off and where they are leaving your site.

5. Optimising for voice search

Voice search is growing at an incredible speed, so think about providing answers to specific questions.

A featured snippet — also known as a “rich answer” or “direct answer” — is a summary answer to a searcher’s question that Google shows in a special block at the top of the page. It usually comes with a link back to your site, which has great traffic-attracting potential.

Create a piece of content that directly answers a question e.g. “How do I share a post from one Facebook business page to another business page?” Make sure to include the question itself, and a direct answer to it. Again, this is all about content and providing answers to questions that may attract a new audience.

6. Relevance of local search

Everybody who has worked with me will know the importance I place on local search, and as more and more websites are flooding the Internet and with the increase in mobile sites, I think this will be an area of growing importance in 2017. Think about the areas where your clients are based and where you want to work.

Also remember the importance of an up-to-date Google My Business listing. Reviews are really important and encourage your clients to leave reviews on your Google My Business listing and be sure to reply to these reviews.

7. Longtail keywords

Longtail keywords are basically a phrase rather than a single keyword. If I’m searching for “shoes” I’m just browsing. If I’m searching for “Black patent shoes with a kitten heel, size 5” this is a longtail keyword phrase and I’m ready to make a purchase.

I always tell our clients it is better to attract fewer visitors to your website who are likely to convert into customers, than thousands of visitors who only spend a few seconds on the site.

Think about more specific keyword searches, related to you and your business to attract the right kind of visitors to your site. If you only want to work in a certain area or are offering events or training courses in a certain place, then geographic keywords are a must.

If you have any questions or have anything to add to this post, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Is there anything else that will rock the SEO world in 2017?

By Lisa VassalloFebruary 8, 2017

From 21st April, expect a drop in your Google rankings if your website is NOT mobile friendly.

March 12, 2015 By Lisa Vassallo 4 Comments

Is your website mobile friendly? Does it work on ipads / ipods and other mobile devices? If not, this could significantly impact your search results next month.

Google has announced that from the 21st April, there will be an algorithm update which will have a ‘significant impact’ on mobile search results in all languages worldwide.  Google does not usually give advance warning of algorithm changes so this tells us that it is an important change.

In a nutshell, get your site mobile friendly by April 21st 2015 or expect a drop in Google search results.

You can read Google’s official statement here:

Find out if your website is mobile friendly, be entering your website address here:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

Hopefully you will get a result that looks like this:

Mobile snip

However, if not there could be a number of reasons such as:

  • The text is too small to read
  • Links are too close together
  • Mobile viewport not set

We advise all of our clients to make the most of Google’s free tools, so make you sure you have a free Google account and sign up to the Webmaster Tools, where you can also perform further checks: www.google.co.uk/webmastertools

If you have any concerns or would like to know more, then please get in touch.

By Lisa VassalloMarch 12, 2015

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Hetal Patel
Hetal Patel
23:52 14 Nov 19
I attended an event where Lisa helped me and a group of ladies navigate through Google My Business and optimise listings. Lisa explained eveything so clearly and her knowledge is very impressive. Such a valuable session and I am very thankful to the lovely Lisa for opening my eyes to the power of Google My Business as a tool to market myself more effectively. I would highly recommend Lisa's services. Thank youread more
Karen Rapley
Karen Rapley
12:45 26 Sep 19
Thank you, Lisa for a very well planned and informative session. I had no idea you could find out so much information from the clicks made on your website! Some great snippets and tips, too, for building up our internet presence. Looking forward to working more closely with you in the future.read more
A Google User
A Google User
12:58 11 Sep 19
We have worked his Lisa for a number of years and, since she took over our Facebook page, we have engaged with more clients than ever before. Always planning ahead, open to new ideas and quick to respond to any queries. I can’t recommend her enough.read more
Tracy Clements
Tracy Clements
06:43 24 Aug 19
The team at One to Three Marketing Solutions are amazing, friendly and very knowledgeable. I wouldn’t go anywhere else for my marketing solutions. Business has increased along with traffic and client interaction to my business pages. Can not wait for my next appointment for new marketing campaigns, strategies and creative ways to increase exposure to potential clients. Thank you so much for doing a great job!read more
Neil Walker
Neil Walker
14:04 23 Aug 19
Previously the marketing for my business lacked focus. Lisa has given me clear objectives with achievable results. Seeing our work together making a difference to the success of my business is really motivating. Lisa is extremely professional, very easy to work with and has a passion for analysing what will take a business in the right direction.read more
Heidi Strickland-Clark
Heidi Strickland-Clark
11:18 23 Aug 19
I've been working with Lisa at One to Three Marketing Solutions since January 2018. In that time we have seen web page visits double, engagement increase month on month and a thriving Google My Business page that brings people to our site. Lisa is patient and practical. She knows what a business needs and is quick to understand the market place that you are working in. She's a stickler for 'getting it done' and loves to wag her pen when appropriate :) Working with Lisa has shown me the value of multiple platforms, but not all of them. Different approaches, but not too many changes too quickly and to learn to wait for the results to filter through. They have and it's been encouraging to see the impact these changes have made. I value her insight and am delighted with the progress that we have seen at Fit Camp since using their services.read more
Lorraine Sellwood
Lorraine Sellwood
11:01 23 Aug 19
Lisa has supported my business over the last 7 years. We work closely together on a social media strategy and maintaining my company presence online. She is very knowledgeable, pro active and on the ball with a subject I am not an expert in. I would always recommend working with Lisa as she has been brilliant for my business.read more
Lucie Hughes
Lucie Hughes
19:31 22 Aug 19
Do you struggle with SEO, not enough likes on your page, lacking knowledge about boost post and statistics? Lisa and Claire are supporting my business for last 4 years and I can’t thank them enough. My visibility is high and customers are calling because I got the right support. They are friendly, fun and professional. Thank you ladies for ongoing support!read more
Lee Avery
Lee Avery
11:28 17 Aug 19
Lisa was extremely knowleadgeable, helpful and enabled me to understand how to move forward with my business. Would thoroughly recommend Epsom her and looking forward to our next meetingread more
Marissa Holden
Marissa Holden
08:32 24 Jan 19
Lisa is great - and this was a fantastic workshop, full of really important content on SEO and how to use google to help ensure you are easily found. I’d highly recommend One to Three marketing.read more
NJ AH
NJ AH
18:04 23 Jan 19
Informative and detailed SEO / Google workshop today. Thanks Lisa. Lots of fabulous tips for a new startup to implement to help make our website more visible. All very well explained and easy to understand. Highly recommend.read more
Sarah Rolfe
Sarah Rolfe
14:43 26 Nov 18
After hours and hours of trying to teach myself SEO and understand how a website should work efficiently, I decided I needed an expert. Lisa was able to efficiently and patiently explain to me how my website can work better for my business. I highly recommend her!read more
Orchard Accounting
Orchard Accounting
14:15 24 Oct 18
Having attended events where Claire was a speaker, I knew One to Three Marketing Solutions would be the right company to ask for training tailored to my business. They provided a two hour training session on Instagram, which I knew I needed to start using. It was extremely useful, and very good value. Claire is able to explain and give wonderful examples of how to use social marketing to capture interest. I can highly recommend Claireread more
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