How to Estimate Google PageRank
A recent post on Digital Point prompted me to write this short article on how to estimate the number and strength of links required for a given PageRank:
How can i get better page rank of my website. How should I put links in my website to get better page rank. Kindly suggest?
PageRank is determined by the quantity and quality of the links to your website. As a vaguely general rule each Rank is at least 10x harder to reach (and also 10 more valuable) than the one below.
For example, it generally takes at least 10 PR 3 links to equate to the value of one PR 4, sometimes more. Further, each of those PR 3s is on average worth at least 10 PR 2 links.
Please note that PageRank isn’t the same as the actual search engine rankings. Even a PageRank 10 site such as http://www.adobe.com/ will only rank well for relevant (in Google’s eye’s) phrases.
As such, a high PR alone is no guarantee of a ranking well for any given keyword, the site also has to be optimised for it, and ideally the link’s to it should have relevant keyword in their anchor text.
As a general rule, a pages PageRank is equal to or a level below its top tier of links.
So, for example, a site with say:
5 x PR5 links
22 x PR 4 links
44 x PR 3 links
100 x PR 2 links
350 x PR 1 links
950 x PR 0 links
1000 x unranked links
Would probably be a PR 4 site, bordering on PR 5. Adding a few PR 6 links, plus a few more PR 5s would probably bring the site up to a PR of 5.
On the other hand, it would probably take over a dozen PR 5 links to bring the page up to PR with any from PR 6 pages, but even hundreds of links PR 4 links, or thousands of links from PR 0-3 sites might make no difference.
This is because as per my earlier rule of thumb, all other things being equal, each PR 6 link is worth approximately as much as around 100 PR 4s.
English Towns for Long Tail Local Search Engine Optimisation
One of the easiest ways to start increasing up traffic and search engine rankings for competitive keywords is to take a local search approach optimising a series of pages for your “keyword in location”.
Many business directories such as my client TrustedPlaces.com do this very well. By building large sites with thousands of pages they can target a popular keyword such as “SEO Services” combined with the name of every town and city in the UK, or indeed the entire world. Many of the lesser known towns will hardly have any competition, so it should be easy to rank well for hundreds of relatively long tail phrases such as “SEO Services in Hendon”.
To save you time I’ve enclosed a list of UK towns below, courtesy of Wikipedia.
For convenience, cities have also been listed and are marked in bold.
A
Abingdon, Abridge, Accrington, Acle, Addlestone, Adlington, Adwick le Street, Alcester, Alcombe, Aldeburgh, Aldershot, Aldridge, Alford, Alfreton, Alnwick, Alsager, Alston, Alton, Altrincham, Amble, Ambleside, Amersham, Amesbury, Ampthill, Andover, Appleby-in-Westmorland, Appledore, Apsley, Arlesey, Arnold, Arundel, Ascot, Ashbourne, Ashburton, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Ashford (Kent), Ashford (Middlesex), Ashington, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Ashton-under-Lyne, Askern, Aspatria, Atherstone, Atherton, Attleborough, Audenshaw, Axbridge, Axminster, Aylesbury, Aylsham
B
Bacup, Backworth, Baildon, Bakewell, Baldock, Banbury, Banstead, Barking, Barnard Castle, Barnoldswick, Barnsley, Barnstaple, Barrow-in-Furness, Barton-upon-Humber, Basildon, Basingstoke, Bath, Batley, Battle, Bawtry, Beaconsfield, Beaminster, Bebington, Beccles, Beckenham, Bedale, Bedford, Bedlington, Bedworth, Beer, Beeston, Belper, Berkeley, Berkhamsted, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Beverley, Bewdley, Bexhill-on-Sea, Bicester, Biddulph, Bideford, Biggleswade, Billericay, Billingham, Bilston, Bingham, Bingley, Birkenhead, Birmingham, Bishop Auckland, Bishop’s Castle, Bishop’s Stortford, Bishop’s Waltham, Blackburn, Blackheath, Blackpool, Blackwater, Hampshire, Blandford Forum, Blaydon, Bletchley, Bloxwich, Blyth, Bodmin, Bognor Regis, Bollington, Bolsover, Bolton, Bootle, Bordon, Borehamwood, Boroughbridge, Boston, Bourne, Bournemouth, Bovey Tracey, Bowness-on-Windermere, Brackley, Bracknell, Bradford, Bradford on Avon, Brading, Bradley Stoke, Bradninch, Braintree, Brampton, Brandon, Brentwood, Bridgnorth, Bridgwater, Bridlington, Bridport, Brierfield, Brierley, Brierley Hill, Brigg, Brighouse, Brightlingsea, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Brixham, Broadstairs, Bromborough, Bromsgrove, Bromyard, Broseley, Brough, Broughton, Broughton-in-Furness, Brownhills, Broxbourne, Buckfastleigh, Buckhurst Hill, Buckingham, Bude, Budleigh Salterton, Bullers Green, Bulwell, Bungay, Buntingford, Burford, Burgess Hill, Burgh-le-Marsh, Burnham-on-Crouch, Burnham-on-Sea, Burnley, Burntwood, Burton Latimer, Burton upon Trent, Bury, Bury St Edmunds, Bushey, Buxton
C
Cadishead, Caister-on-Sea, Caistor, Callington, Calne, Camberley, Camborne, Cambridge, Camelford, Cannock, Canterbury, Canvey Island, Carlisle, Carnforth, Carterton, Castle Cary, Castleford, Caterham, Catterick Garrison, Chadderton, Chagford, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Chard, Charlbury, Chatham, Chatteris, Cheadle (Greater Manchester), Cheadle (Staffordshire), Chelmsford, Cheltenham,Chertsey, Chesham, Cheshunt, Chessington, Chester, Chesterfield, Chester-le-Street, Chichester, Chingford, Chippenham, Chipping Campden, Chipping Norton, Chipping Ongar, Chipping Sodbury, Chorley, Chorleywood, Christchurch, Chudleigh, Chulmleigh, Church Stretton, Cinderford, Cirencester, Clacton-on-Sea, Clare, Clayton-le-Moors, Cleator Moor, Cleckheaton, Cleethorpes, Cleobury Mortimer, Clevedon, Cleveleys, Clitheroe, Clun, Coalville, Cobham, Cockermouth, Coggeshall, Colchester, Coleford, Coleshill, Colne, Colyford, Colyton, Congleton, Conisbrough, Consett, Corbridge, Corby, Corringham, Corsham, Coseley, Cotgrave, Coulsdon, Coventry, Cowes, Cradley Heath, Cramlington, Cranbrook, Craven Arms, Crawley, Crayford, Crediton, Crewe, Crewkerne, Cricklade, Cromer, Crook, Crosby, Crowborough, Crowland, Crowle, Crowthorne, Croydon, Cullompton
D
Dagenham, Dalton-in-Furness, Darlaston, Darley Dale, Darlington, Dartford, Dartmouth, Darwen, Daventry, Dawley, Dawlish, Deal, Denholme, Denton, Derby, Dereham, Desborough, Devizes, Dewsbury, Didcot, Dinnington, Diss, Doncaster, Dorchester, Dorking, Dover, Dovercourt, Downham Market, Driffield, Droitwich Spa, Dronfield, Droylsden, Dudley, Dukinfield, Dunstable, Durham, Dursley
E
Eaglescliffe, Ealing, Earby, Earley, Earlswood, Easington, Easington Colliery, Easingwold, East Grinstead, Eastbourne, Eastham, Eastleigh, Eastwood (Essex), Eastwood (Nottinghamshire), Eccles, Eccleshall, Edenbridge, Edlington, Egham, Egremont, Elland, Ellesmere, Ellesmere Port, Ely, Emsworth, Epping, Epsom, Epworth, Esher, Eston, Eton, Evesham, Ewell, Exeter, Exmouth, Eye
F
Failsworth, Fairford, Fakenham, Falmouth, Fareham, Faringdon, Farnborough, Farnham, Farnworth, Faversham, Fazeley, Featherstone, Felixstowe, Feltham, Fenny Stratford, Ferndown, Ferryhill, Filey, Filton, Fleet, Fleetwood, Flitwick, Folkestone, Fordingbridge, Fordwich, Formby, Fowey, Framlingham, Frimley, Frinton-on-Sea, Frodsham, Frome
G
Gainsborough, Garforth, Garstang, Gateshead, Gillingham (Dorset), Gillingham (Kent), Glastonbury, Glossop, Gloucester, Godalming, Godmanchester, Golborne, Goole, Gorleston, Gosport, Grange-over-Sands, Grantham, Gravesend, Grays, Great Dunmow, Great Torrington, Great Yarmouth, Grimsby, Guildford, Guisborough, Guiseley
H
Hadfield, Hadleigh, Hailsham, Halesowen, Halesworth, Halifax, Halstead, Haltwhistle, Hanwell, Harleston, Harlow, Harpenden, Harrington, Harrogate, Harrow, Hartland, Hartlepool, Harwich, Haslemere, Haslingden, Hastings, Hatfield, Hatherleigh, Havant, Haverhill, Hawes, Haxby, Hayle, Hayes, Haywards Heath, Heanor, Heathfield, Hebburn, Hebden Bridge, Hebden Royd, Heckmondwike, Hedge End, Hednesford, Hedon, Helmsley, Helston, Hemel Hempstead, Hemsworth, Henley-in-Arden, Henley-on-Thames, Hereford, Herne Bay, Hersham, Hertford, Hessle, Heswall, Hetton-le-Hole, Hexham, Heywood, High Bentham, Higham Ferrers, Highbridge, Highcliffe, Highworth, High Wycombe, Hinckley, Hindley, Hingham, Hitchin, Hoddesdon, Holbeach, Holmfirth, Holsworthy, Holt, Honiton, Horley, Horncastle, Hornchurch, Hornsea, Horsham, Horwich, Houghton-le-Spring, Houghton Regis, Hounslow, Howden, Hoylake, Hoyland, Hucknall, Huddersfield, Hugh Town, Hungerford, Hunsdon, Hunstanton, Huntingdon, Huyton, Hyde, Hythe
I
Ibstock, Ickenham, Ilfracombe, Ilkeston, Ilkley, Ilminster, Immingham, Ingatestone, Ipswich, Irlam, Irthlingborough, Ivybridge
J
Jarrow
K
Kearsley, Keighley, Kempston, Kendal, Kenilworth, Kensham, Kesgrave, Keswick, Kettering, Keynsham, Kidderminster, Kidsgrove, Killamarsh, Killingworth, Kimberley, Kingsbridge, King’s Lynn, Kingston-upon-Hull, Kingston upon Thames, Kingswood, Kington, Kirkby, Kirkby-In-Ashfield, Kirkby Lonsdale, Kirkby Stephen, Kirkbymoorside, Kirkham, Kirton-in-Lindsey, Knaresborough, Knottingley, Knowle, Knutsford
L
Lancaster, Langport, Laindon, Langdon Hills, Langley Mill, Launceston, Leamington Spa, Leatherhead, Lechlade, Ledbury, Leeds, Leek, Lee-on-the-Solent, Leicester, Leigh, Leighton Buzzard, Leigh-on-Sea, Leiston, Leominster, Letchworth, Lewes, Leyburn, Leyland, Lichfield, Lincoln, Linslade, Liskeard, Littleborough, Littlehampton, Liverpool, Loddon, Loftus, London, Long Eaton, Long Sutton, Longbenton, Longridge, Longtown, Looe, Lostwithiel, Loughborough, Loughton, Louth, Lowestoft, Ludgershall, Ludlow, Luton, Lutterworth, Lydd, Lydney, Lyme Regis, Lymington, Lyndhurst, Lytham St Annes
M
Mablethorpe, Macclesfield, Madeley, Maghull, Maidenhead, Maidstone, Maldon, Malmesbury, Malpas, Maltby, Malton, Malvern, Manchester, Manningtree, Mansfield, Mansfield Woodhouse, Marazion, March, Margate, Market Bosworth, Market Deeping, Market Drayton, Market Harborough, Market Rasen, Market Warsop, Market Weighton, Marlborough, Marlow, Maryport, Masham, Matlock, Melbourne, Melksham, Meltham, Melton Mowbray, Mere, Mexborough, Middleham, Middlesbrough, Middleton, Middlewich, Midhurst, Midsomer Norton, Mildenhall, Millom, Milnrow, Milnthorpe, Milton Keynes, Minchinhampton, Minehead, Minster-in-Sheppey, Mirfield, Mitcheldean, Morden, Morecambe, Moretonhampstead, Moreton, Moreton-in-Marsh, Morley, Morpeth, Mossley, Much Wenlock, Mytholmroyd
N
Nailsea, Nailsworth, Nantwich, Needham Market, Nelson, Neston, Netherfield, Netherton, New Alresford, New Ferry, New Malden, New Mills, New Milton, New Romney, Newark-on-Trent, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Newbury, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newent, Newhaven, Newlyn, Newmarket, Newport (Cornwall), Newport (Isle of Wight), Newport (Shropshire), Newport Pagnell, Newquay, Newton Abbot, Newton Aycliffe, Newton-le-Willows, Normanton, Northallerton, Northam, Northampton, Northfleet, Northleach, North Hykeham, North Kenton, North Petherton, North Shields, North Tawton, North Walsham, Northwich, Norton-on-Derwent, Norwich, Nottingham, Nuneaton
O
Oadby, Oakengates, Oakham, Okehampton, Oldbury, Oldham, Ollerton, Olney, Orford, Ormskirk, Orpington, Ossett, Oswaldtwistle, Oswestry, Otley, Ottery St Mary, Oundle, Oxford, Oxted
P
Paddock Wood, Padiham, Padstow, Paignton, Painswick, Parkeston, Partington, Patchway, Pateley Bridge, Peacehaven, Pendlebury, Penistone, Penkridge, Penrith, Penryn, Penwortham, Penzance, Pershore, Peterborough, Peterlee, Petersfield, Petworth, Pickering, Pitsea, Plymouth, Pocklington, Polegate, Pontefract, Ponteland, Poole, Portishead, Portland, Portsmouth, Potters Bar, Potton, Poulton-le-Fylde, Prescot, Preston, Prestwich, Princes Risborough, Princetown, Prudhoe, Pudsey
Q
Quarry Bank, Queenborough
R
Radcliffe, Radstock, Rainham, Ramsbottom, Ramsgate, Raunds, Rawtenstall, Rayleigh, Reading, Redcar, Redditch, Redhill, Redruth, Reepham, Reeth, Reigate, Retford, Richmond (London), Richmond (North Yorkshire), Rickmansworth, Ringwood, Ripley, Ripon, Rishton, Robin Hood’s Bay, Rochdale, Rochester, Rochford, Romford, Romsey, Ross-on-Wye, Rothbury, Rotherham, Rothwell (Northamptonshire), Rothwell (West Yorkshire), Rowley Regis, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Royston (Hertfordshire), Royston (South Yorkshire), Royton, Rugby, Rugeley, Runcorn, Rushden, Ryde, Rye, Ryton
S
Saffron Walden, St Albans, St Austell, St Blazey, St Columb Major, St Helens, St Ives (Cambridgeshire), St Ives (Cornwall), St Just in Penwith, St Mawes, St Neots, Salcombe, Sale, Salford, Salisbury, Saltash, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Sandbach, Sandhurst, Sandiacre, Sandown, Sandwich, Sandy, Sawbridgeworth, Saxmundham, Scarborough, Scunthorpe, Seaford, Seaham, Seaton, Sedbergh, Sedgley, Selby, Selsey, Settle, Sevenoaks, Shaftesbury, Shanklin, Shaw & Crompton, Sheerness, Sheffield, Shefford, Shepperton, Shepshed, Shepton Mallet, Sherborne, Sheringham, Shifnal, Shildon, Shipley, Shipston-on-Stour, Shirebrook, Shoeburyness, Shoreham-by-Sea, Shrewsbury, Sidmouth, Silloth, Silsden, Sittingbourne, Skegness, Skelmersdale, Skelton-in-Cleveland, Skipton, Sleaford, Slough, Smethwick, Snaith, Snodland, Soham, Solihull, Somerton, Southam, Southampton, Southborough, South Benfleet, South Cave, South Elmsall, South Molton, South Petherton, South Shields, Southend-on-Sea, Southminster, Southport, Southsea, Southwell, Southwick, Southwold, South Woodham Ferrers, Sowerby Bridge, Spalding, Spellbrook, Spennymoor, Spilsby, Stafford, Staines, Stainforth, Stalbridge, Stalham, Stalybridge, Stamford, Stanford-le-Hope, Stanley, Stapleford, Staveley, Stevenage, Steyning, Stockport, Stocksbridge, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Stokesley, Stone, Stony Stratford, Stourbridge, Stourport-on-Severn, Stowmarket, Stow-on-the-Wold, Stratford-upon-Avon, Stratton, Stretford, Strood, Stroud, Sturminster Newton, Sudbury, Sunbury-on-Thames, Sunderland, Sutton, Sutton Coldfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Swadlincote, Swaffham, Swanage, Swanley, Swindon, Swinton (Greater Manchester), Swinton (South Yorkshire), Syston
T
Tadcaster, Tadley, Tamworth, Taunton, Tavistock, Teignmouth, Telford, Telscombe, Tenbury Wells, Tenterden, Tetbury, Tewkesbury, Thame, Thamesmead, Thatcham, Thaxted, Thetford, Thirsk, Thornaby-on-Tees, Thornbury, Thorne, Thornton, Thrapston, Tickhill, Tidworth, Tilbury, Tipton, Tisbury, Tiverton, Todmorden, Tonbridge, Topsham, Torpoint, Torquay, Totland, Totnes, Toton, Totton & Eling, Tow Law, Towcester, Tring, Trowbridge, Truro, Twickenham, Twyford, Tyldesley
U
Uckfield, Ulverston, Upholland, Upminster, Uppingham, Upton-upon-Severn, Urmston, Uttoxeter, Uxbridge
V
Ventnor, Verwood
W
Wadebridge, Wadhurst, Wakefield, Wainfleet All Saints, Walkden, Wallasey, Wallsend, Wallingford, Wallington, Walmer, Walsall, Waltham Abbey, Waltham Cross, Walthamstow, Walton, Walton-on-Thames, Walton-on-the-Naze, Wandsworth, Wantage, Ware, Wareham, Warminster, Warrington, Warwick, Washington, Watchet, Waterlooville, Watford, Wath-upon-Dearne, Watlington, Watton, Wednesbury, Wednesfield, Wellingborough, Wellington (Somerset), Wellington (Shropshire), Wells, Wells-next-the-Sea, Welwyn Garden City, Wem, Wendover, Wesham, West Bridgford, West Bromwich, West Kirby, West Malling, West Mersea, Westbury, Westerham, Westgate-on-Sea, Westhoughton, Westminster, Weston-super-Mare, Westward Ho!, Wetherby, Weybridge, Weymouth, Whaley Bridge, Whickham, Whitby, Whitchurch (Hampshire), Whitchurch (Shropshire), Whitefield, Whitehaven, Whitley Bay, Whitnash, Whitstable, Whittlesey, Whyteleafe, Wickford, Wickham, Wickwar, Widnes, Wigan, Wigston Magna, Wigton, Willenhall, Willington, Wilmslow, Wilton, Wimborne Minster, Wincanton, Winchcombe, Winchelsea, Winchester, Windermere, Windsor, Winsford, Winslow, Winterton, Wirksworth, Wisbech, Witham, Withernsea, Witney, Wiveliscombe, Wivenhoe, Woburn, Woburn Sands, Woking, Wokingham, Wolsingham, Wolverhampton, Wolverton, Wombwell, Woodbridge, Woodley, Woodstock, Wooler, Wootton Bassett, Worcester, Workington, Worksop, Worsley, Worthing, Wotton-under-Edge, Wroxham, Wymondham, Wythall
Y
Yarm, Yarmouth, Yate, Yateley, Yeadon, Yeovil, York
Tags: local search engine optimisation
Free SEO Tools and Search Engine Optimisation Software
Here is a selection of the SEO tools and Search engine optimisation software that I use on a regular basis.
Some tools, particularly those that are primarily web based have not yet been included although I plan to in a subsequent post.
Also, I’d like to add more of an explanation for newbies as to how each tools helps with SEO (even if many are pretty self explanatory), so you might like to check back frequently for updates.
Free Firefox Plugins
- SEO for FireFox: http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/seo-for-firefox.html
SEO for Firefox pulls in many useful marketing data points to make it easy get a more holistic view of the competitive landscape of a market right from the search results. In addition to pulling in useful marketing data this tool also provides links to the data sources so you can dig deeper into the data. - Search status: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/321
Display the Google PageRank, Alexa rank and Compete ranking anywhere in your browser, along with fast keyword density analyser, keyword/nofollow highlighting, backward/related links, Alexa info and more. - SEO Link Analysis: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7505
Adds display of PageRank, linktext and nofollow links to external links in Google Webmaster Tools, Yahoo! Site Explorer and Microsoft Webmaster Portal - Web Developer Toolbar: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60
Adds a menu and a toolbar with various web developer tools. Particularly useful is being able to turn off CSS and javaScript in order to see pages how the search engines do. - Fire FTP: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/684
- IE Tab: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419
- Screengrab: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1146
- StumbleUpon toolbar: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/138
- Digg toolbar: http://digg.com/tools/firefox
Free Google and Yahoo sitemap generator software
- http://gsitecrawler.com/
As well as creating assorted .xml, .html and compressed .gss sitemaps to help with indexing GSiteCrawler is also great for identifying duplicate content pages, page speed and size assessments and robots.txt generation. Unlikew many competing (and even commercial) sitemap generation tools there is no limit to the number of pages that can be indexed.Additional features allow for advanced handling of sites with session IDs, as well as automated sitemap updating via ftp.
Free AdWords editing Tool
- While not strictly speaking an SEO tool, Google’s AdWords Editor is useful enough to get a mention anyway, as it’s by far the easiest, indeed often the only efficient way to bulk edit, manage and create large Google PPC campaigns.http://www.google.com/intl/en/adwordseditor/
Free website link strength and broken link checking tool
- Xenu Link Sleuth
http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html
Free Trial SEO software
While the following SEO software isn’t free to use on a ongoing basis, it is available as a free trial, which should allow you to play with it for more than long enough to ascertain whether it will add sufficient value.
- Advanced Web Ranking (Keyword rank checking software)
http://www.advancedwebranking.com/
- SEOSpyglass (Backlink analysis software)
http://www.link-assistant.com/seo-spyglass/
Free SEO friendly blogging Software
Many people, including Google’s own Matt Cutts consider Wordpress one of the best blogging platforms for SEO. It’s free and comes in both hosted and self managed versions and is highly customisable. What follows are a selection of my preferred plugins, many of which can help with SEO.
http://www.seoautomatic.com/app/
http://www.bad-neighborhood.com/text-link-tool.htm
Feel free to Link to this page:
Here’s some sample html:
<a href=”http://www.marketappeal.co.uk/blog/a-selection-of-top-seo-tools/”>Free SEO Tools and Search Engine Optimisation Software</a>
That looks like this:
Tags: seo tools
Why SEO Experts Get Better SEO Results
Having had several discussions of late as to how SEO professional add value, I thought that I’d share some of my views, as to what gives full time SEO specialists the edge over their less dedicated competition.
- Time - this is central to many of the points in this article. Even if you are already an expert in SEO, unless it’s currently your full time occupation your day will be filled by plenty of other issues requiring your immediate attention. True SEO specialists eat, breath and sleep SEO to the near exclusion of everything else.
- Knowledge - Google, like many of the today’s leading internet companies innovates rapidly, so unless you take at least an hour a day to keep track of the latest tips and techniques there’s a fair chance that half of the knowledge that you currently take for granted is rapidly becoming old news.I have seen several clients’ sites held back by hidden text, keyword stuffing, ongoing ’search engine submissions’ and other dubious techniques that might have worked in the past, but today are more likely to get them banned than placed a the top of the first page of Google.
- Reduce risk - Whenever possible, I try out new ideas on one of my own sites before recommending them to others. That way I can be confident that they work as intended without causing any unwelcome side effects for my clients.
- Mindset - Very few company owners and senior executives directors enjoy cross referencing reams of SEO, PPC and analytics data in order to spot trends, hot spots and weaknesses that can be addressed resulting in significant improvements to their website.This may be because the skills and mindset that makes a great analyst aren’t necessarily the same as those that make a great Managing Director or CEO.
- SEO contacts - One advantage of running a search marketing company is having a business partner, with a complementary background (Journalism, PR & Project Management) also focused full time on SEO. This enables us to play to our respective strengths on each project while deploying a wider range of skills to a high standard than either could alone.Additionally, we have built up a network of seasoned SEO professionals that we speak to regularly to swap tips and tricks with to make us more effective.
- Freelancer network - In addition to SEO consultancy we have also built up a tried and tested network of freelancers, grouped according to their respective skills. For example, we have separate lists for web design, copywriting, blogging and different types of link building, such as article posting, webmaster emailing and directory listings, as few are great at everything.To build up our database we commissioned work from dozens of different freelancers (at our own expense) in order to find out which could reliably complete top quality work to a tight brief in a reasonable time frame. Having screened out 90% of the original applicants, we now have a fantastic team of professional freelancers with skills spanning several disciplines allowing us to manage even larger SEO projects with relative ease.
- Split testing - In order to come up with the optimal solution for each client take the time to consider creative solutions that will make better use of their resources.For example, when recently asked to come up with a new homepage design for a key client we gave the same assignment to two different designers (paying both of them for their time, of course) to see which design the client would prefer.Having established which designer’s initial concept was preferred by our client they were then commissioned to produce several variations on the original theme, resulting in the choosing of a fresh new look that our client might never otherwise have considered.
- SEO tools - We employ over twenty specialist SEO tools on a regular basis. Some of these tools cost money and almost all take time to run and configure correctly. Additionally, we’ve often tried out every (or at least most) of the available software for the tasks listed below, selecting the one that’s best for us to use.Sometimes, we find several different pieces of software each good at a different part of a larger task and so employ them in conjunction, cross referencing their reports for great clarity.
Areas covered include:
- Backlink analysers
- Keyword suggestion, competition and traffic estimators
- Web Analytics, tag checkers and cursor tracking and heatmap software
- Missing, weak or duplicate meta data assessors
- Rank tracking software
- sitemap generators
- DNS and http header evaluators
- Broken link and page download speed indicators
- HTML and CSS validators
- Conversion optimisation and content split-testing testing
- PPC editing and management software
- Keyword, reputation and brand name monitoring alerts
- Practical experience - By white-labelling our SEO for leading digital agencies, in addition to tending to a number of our own clients, we have gained much wider SEO exposure than the average in-house consultant. For example, many industries including finance, law, insurance, retail, recruitment, property, travel, music and, of course, SEO each have their own authority sites, highly and poorly converting keywords (irrespective of traffic), user behaviour and other quirks that make optimising for each one almost an art its own right.We know this because we have worked on clients’ projects, generally more than one, in each of the aforementioned sectors and so have first hand experience of the challenges involved and how to tackle them.
- Accountability - when all a consultant is hired to do is assist with SEO then there’s nothing else for them to hide behind, as their contract is entirely dependent on their ability to improve your search results. This cannot be said for your web designers, marketing managers, product managers or board of directors.Often the first step to great SEO results is ensuring that it’s a specific person’s responsibility.