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.
Tags: seo consultants, seo experts, seo professionals
Top 10 Link Building Techniques
Most webmasters who are interested in promoting their sites via search engines such as Google are aware of the importance of backlinks when trying to rank for their chosen keywords.
One of the things that set Google’s patented algorithm apart from the lesser search engines was their use of link popularity to guide their SERP (search engine results page) positioning. As a result, backlinks matter - you can’t do without them if you want to rank well in the major search engines.
Regardless of which methods you choose to promote your site, you should be aware of the following general guidelines that can make or break a campaign.
Black Hat Versus White Hat – You’ll hear these terms a lot. Techniques that are considered white hat are those that the search engines endorse, while black hat techniques are those that the search engines disapprove of. If you pursue a black hat strategy you run the risk of being penalised or even banned from the search engine indexes. If you’re reading this article, that’s not a good thing.
PageRank – This is a logarithmic scale from 0-10. Sites with PageRank 10 have the highest level of importance in Google’s eyes while sites with a PageRank 0 have the least. Install the Google toolbar. Make a note of your site’s PageRank by moving your mouse over the green bar. Ideally, you want links from pages that have a higher PageRank value than your own. A site’s PageRank is determined by the number and quality of its incoming links among other factors.
Nofollow – This link attribute was introduced in 2005 by Google to thwart blog spam, whereby posts are made purely for the purposes of gaining backlinks. MSN and Yahoo also respect this attribute. Nofollow tells the search engine that the link isn’t meant to be a vote of confidence for the target page, thus eliminating its SEO value. There’s a great Firefox plugin that highlights nofollow links in pink, saving you from having to check the source code of every prospective page. Links can also bring traffic directly to your site, so if you do gain backlinks with nofollow attributes, they may still be useful, especially on high traffic/high relevancy pages.
Relevancy – A few years ago this mattered much less. Then, the quantity (PageRank) of incoming links was the most important factor in a site’s link profile. Nowadays quality (i.e. relevancy) is at least as important. So if your site is about fishing, you’ll want links from other sites about fishing, or thereabouts.
Spam – Any user generated approach to building backlinks can open the door to spam. Nobody likes spam, not the search engines, nor bloggers, nor users. Build your links for people, as well as for search engines and participate in the communities you’re targeting for promotion. This is crucial if you’re serious about your reputation.
Automation – Keep it to a minimum. This is a hard subject to generalise about, since automation could refer to sophisticated black hat php techniques or the use of relatively innocuous link management software.
Anchor Text – This is the most important thing to remember when link building. Anchor text is the text that is used to visually represent a hyperlink on a webpage. Search engine spiders use the anchor text of links to help determine the subject matter (and thus the keywords ) of the target page. Therefore, you want to use keywords that you’re trying to rank for in the links and, crucially, make sure that the keywords are on the page that you’re linking to.
It also helps to have keywords in your domain name, so that when someone links to you (without your control) using, e.g. yourkeywords.com, the search engine will use the url as the default anchor text. This is most applicable to viral/linkbait approaches but has value whenever you receive an unoptimized backlink from a third party.
1) Link Exchange
What is it? You contact another webmaster proposing that you link to them and that they link to you.
Hat Colour: Dark Grey
Pros: Large volume of links can be acquired relatively quickly. Anchor text can be arranged to suit. Exchanging links can open the door to wider affiliations between sites and has the effect of shaping web communities.
Cons: Google cracked down on reciprocal links a long time ago, so if the links are traded from site A to Site B without any triangulation, the value of the respective links goes down a great deal.
Should you do it? Use a three way liking structure if one of the potential link partners has more than one indexed domain. This makes it less likely that Google will discount the exchange (as it’s not a reciprocal link in the classic sense) but don’t expect miracles from link trades, even if a lot of PageRank is involved. Web sites with fully automated link exchange processes are close to the black hat border and so are probably not suitable for sites that have a reputation to uphold.
2) Buying Links
What is it? You contact a Webmaster directly or through a link rental network and offer money in exchange for (generally high PageRank) links from their site.
Hat Colour: Grey to black.
Pros: The advantages are potentially greater than those of exchanged links (due to their non – reciprocal nature). Many agencies (no names) use this method to quickly buy powerful backlinks for their clients.
Debate in the industry seems to reveal a consensus that there are cases where paid links are legitimate, if they’re serving a form of display advertising in their own right.
Cons: Matt Cutts, Google’s anti search engine spam guru, has written a lot about the subject and has stated that paid links are an unacceptable means of acquiring links. Several high profile sites have been penalised for selling links by having their PageRank taken away so that their outgoing links have no value, while several have even been de-listed completely from the index.
This is easily the most controversial and potentially confusing item in the list.
Should you do it? Possibly, if you’re careful. Make sure that the link is on a relevant page and in a location that won’t appear spammy if checked manually.
3) Article Marketing
What is it? You write articles and post them on article sites. The articles contain backlinks to your site.
Hat Colour: Muddy White
Pros: This is a great way of getting a high relevancy link from a page that is customised to the particular (SEO) requirements of the writer. Post your article on sites like Goarticles and link to your site in both the text (using appropriate anchor text) and boiler plate section. Makes sure your keyword variations are spread through your article once or twice per paragraph. That’s enough that Google gets the message of what the page is about and not too much to make it think that you’re trying to trick it.
If you write well and have something worth saying, people might link to it, causing it to rank well for your choice keywords and send you traffic directly through its links.
Cons: It’s quite rare that an article site does well enough to gain much PageRank itself, so individual links will not carry much weight in ultra competitive markets. Even if an article directory site has a high PageRank at the top level domain, it’s unlikely to trickle down to the page on which your article will be published.
This technique is labour intensive.
Should you do it? Almost certainly yes. Assuming you have time, this is a great way to market your site. If you’re in charge of lots of sites and don’t have the time to write yourself, it’s worth paying a copywriter to write them for you.
On the other hand, it’s possible to build many thousands of links this way and high volumes do help.
Also, articles can look very spammy if they are copies of other people’s material or are churned out without significant useful content.
Just because the top SEO agencies don’t always do it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t.
4) Blog Posting
What is it? Links are included in comments on blogs which the search engines find and count as a vote for the target site.
Hat Colour: Grey
Pros: Blogs still represent and opportunity for the link builder as long as your posts are appropriate and the blog dofollow.
Cons: When blogging became popular, SEO savvy folk jumped at the opportunity to use and abuse the comments features of blogs. The original PageRank algorithm, devised in 1997, didn’t take into account user generated content and by 2005 blogs had become a major target for spam. The nofollow attribute was introduced as a standard feature of Blogger and WordPress. This took most of the SEO value out of links posted in user comments of blogs.
Should you do it? Only after considerable research. Some bloggers remove the default nofollow attribute and if you can find a list of dofollow blogs that are relevant to your niche, you’ve found a very useful potential backlink source. Make sure that your links are relevant to specific threads and do not spam the blogs.
If your posts are good and the site you’re trying to promote through SEO as good, there’s a good chance that the links you post will act as ‘linkbait’.
5) Forum Posting/Signatures
What is it? You post on relevant forums and include links in your posts to your site. You also take advantage of the signature feature so that every one of your posts has an optimised anchor text link to your site.
Hat Colour: Light Grey
Pros: Forums don’t have nofollow in their user generated content very often. If you start a thread yourself, you can control the title and much of the content of the page your link will sit on, thus ensuring relevancy in the eyes of the search engine.
Cons: Forums have a lot of outgoing links so the link value per link is devalued greatly. Therefore, not a lot of ‘link juice’ will be passed via links from forums. Many experts in the industry are of the opinion that forum signatures are of very little SEO value but that they’re very useful for getting referral traffic, especially if from a respected poster.
Should you do it? Yes, but don’t centre your campaign on this method. Make sure you don’t spam the forum (by not participating in it and then immediately plugging your business blatantly) and be sure that its niche is relevant to yours.
6) Press Release
What is it? You release a statement on press release sites such as Technorati including a backlink to your site. People are likely to link to you if the press release is relevant, interesting or pertinent.
Hat Colour: Quite White
Pros: Google thinks highly of this kind of approach, as it involves no manipulation of the search engines and relies on other people linking to you. If your press release is good, you can get strong relevant links from people.
Cons: You need something of substance to talk about in the press release which must grab people’s attention. This isn’t always easy and depending on your niche, it could be virtually impossible.
Should you do it? As long as you’ve got something worth saying and have a strong unique selling point it’s certainly worth trying. Vary your source of distribution for maximal results.
7) Directory Submission
What is it? Google started its initial crawl of the web by using the contents of the Open Directory Project (DMOZ). Using such directories, you post a link to your site along with a short description.
Hat Colour: Beige
Pros: You often get to customise your backlink. This means you can use your own description, your own keywords and choose the category that suits your site the best. Some directories (such as DMOZ) require manual checking before a site is submitted, which means that a larger degree of trust is ascribed to links from these locations.
Cons: Many directories charge in order to send you a one way link or ask that you also link to them. Both of these clauses speak to the link exchange and paid link discussions above. By definition, directories have enormous numbers of outgoing links, which devalues each respective link. Also, as with article directories, the pages that your links will appear on won’t have the same PageRank as the top level domain.
Should you do it? It’s certainly worth submitting to DMOZ and the Yahoo Business Directory. Yahoo charge commercial sites $299 for a listing but if your site is non commercial it’s free. Make sure that the Site Title Field has keywords you want to rank for in it. Posting your site in a multitude of directories has diminishing gains.
Social Bookmarking
What is it? Sites such as Digg and Stumble Upon allow you to create pages within their domain containing links to sites that are shared with peers. A bookmarks page on Digg could become viral and the content could be compelling enough that people link to you from their sites.
Hat Colour: White
Pros: Very useful both for gaining backlinks and getting direct traffic, which, as has been discussed, stands a good chance of earning more backlinks as people link to you. If your site is good and has something unique, your backlinks could increase exponentially.
Cons: It’s not always easy to know what pages to bookmark and there’s a knack to getting people to bookmark your content. Can be spammy and can look like an unattractive marketing ploy if you’re not careful.
Should you do it? It’s not guaranteed to work but some swear by it. If you’re site’s about paint drying it may not work for you. It can’t hurt to try.
9) Widgets/Link Bait
What is is? Link bait involves getting people to link to you automatically and not necessarily because they want to endorse you. Writing a provocative or controversial article or blog post (such as the famous ‘SEO is dead’ posts, for example), could irritate people enough that they want to write about you and thus link to you. Likewise, fun, interesting widgets that spread virally can have html links included in them that link back to your site.
Hat Colour: Light Grey
Pros: Vast numbers of high quality links can be acquired in a short space of time. Linkbait methods can help sites rank well in highly competitive market places.
Cons: Like most link building techniques, a spammy approach is tempting. If an html link in a widget has nothing to do with the sites that the widget is on, or that the widget is about, Google has been known to penalise sites by de-indexing them.
Should you do it? Yes. This is one of the hardest techniques to execute effectively. There is a degree of chance involved and it helps to have great content in one form or another. Research this subject well before taking any action.
10) Word of Mouth
What is it? You speak to people every day. Tell them about your site. Sell it to them and there’s a good chance that people will want to link to you without you having to prompt them.
Hat Colour: Angelic White
Pros: This is a cheap method that allows you to get links that are utterly natural in origin. There is no more a white hat technique than this.
Cons: It’s a slow method of self promotion. You need to have good content and nice presentation in order to attract links.
Should you do it? YES. This is a harmless way of promoting your site and though it’s slow and less direct than some of the other methods, it could provide you with high quality links that are a genuine vote of confidence for your site.
There is one concept underpinning link building that has been alluded to but deserves its own section. Make sure you have great original content that people want to link to spontaneously. After all, that’s why Google introduced link popularity in the first place.
By Joe Lewis
Tags: link building
Key Questions to Ask Your Next SEO Company
Thinking of hiring an SEO company? Here are five key questions to ask them first:
- Have they worked, and had success with, a site in a similar industry to your own?
- Do they understand what “ethical” search engine optimisation is and have an approach in line with your firm’s?
- Can you meet the SEO consultants who’ll be working on your site and are they experts in this field, as opposed to just being general account managers or web designers?
- Will they make intelligent use of your web analytics data to guide your SEO strategy?
- Can they lay out a clear plan of what they will be doing to get you results?
Tags: seo company, seo questions
. 14 Jul 08 | SEO Services | Comments (0)
Custom DesktopLawyer.co.uk Google Search Engine
Here’s an example of how you can create a Custom Google Search Engine to search a specific site, such as the DIY Legal Forms Website Desktop Lawyer.
Regular:
API:
Tags: legal search engine
. 14 Jul 08 | site search | Comments (0)
Google Analytics Tag Checker
As anyone familiar with Google Analytics will know, it’s often quick and easy to install.
Occasionally, however, there’s a problem. As happened to me, yesterday.
On this occasion I’d emailed the code for a new style Analytics tag to our client’s developers who had installed the code in the website footer, as instructed.
A few days later however their reports still contained no analytics data, despite the Google Analytics’ tag status checker reporting that everything was fine!
Unsure of the exact problem, I tried out EpikOne’s free Google Analytics tag checker for the first time, which a few hours later confirmed that the tags we’re not working after all.
Finally, I decided to replace client’s GA tag code with a fresh copy, and lo and behold, when I reran the EpikOne tester, it reported that the tags are now working fine. (Which was quicker feedback, than waiting for the first data to appear in Google Analytics.) Moreover, it also told me that one page still wasn’t registering properly, presumably because it doesn’t use the same footer template as the rest of the site.
I’m not always so impressed by the usefulness of free SEO [and analytics] tools, but on this occasion I have to hand it to EpikOne.
Tags: Analytics, Google, tracking
. 08 May 08 | Google Analytics | Comments (0)
Keyword Research Mistakes - How Not to do SEO
One search engine optimisation (SEO) firm tried to do their keyword research by the book, but still ended up wasting several months chasing phrases that bought traffic, but didn’t convert into sales.
This expensive mistake could have been avoided by first testing their target phrases in Google AdWords pay-per-click (PPC) campaign.
Don’t let this happen to you!
Read their full story here: How to waste money on SEO
Tags: Google, Google AdWords, news, roi
Wanted: SEO Bloggers Seeking Free Publicity
Are you a copywriter or SEO friendly blogger looking for some extra exposure?
You can now submit articles to this site, and, if up to standard, we will post them, generating free links and publicity for you.
The minimum length is about 400 words and all articles must be written in English and proofread prior to submission.
Fancy a few moments of fame?
Send us your SEO articles!
. 28 Mar 08 | SEO Jobs | Comments (0)
SEO Sales, London - £66,000 - Internet Marketing Jobs, London, UK
Self-employed SEO Salesperson
Income (Senior sales): £66,000 OTE, presuming full-time activity (£5,500 pcm OTE)
Commission rate: 30% of first month’s invoice for each new client
Sales target (Senior level): £15,000 of new business development per month
Sales target (Mid level): £10,000 of new business development per month
Performance bonus: + £500 for each month that meets its target (Mid level)
Performance bonus: + £1,000 for each month that meets its target (Senior level)
Terms of engagement: Commission only, Self-employed, 3 month contract
Location: Home based, must live within commuting distance of NW London
Reporting to: Anthony Sharot and Steve Tyler, Joint CEOs
Job Description
Web Marketing London, a search marketing consultancy, seeks a capable and credible Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Salesperson to identify, contact and close deals local businesses interested in internet marketing services.
The ideal applicant will have experience working autonomously within new media sales. An appreciation of the business benefits associated with SEO, as well as drive, tenacity and strong communication skills, would be an advantage.
Formal qualifications and a degree are not required for this role, however, you will need to be of graduate calibre with the confidence and gravitas to engage with senior managers, business owners and CEOs.
Presenting a three to five minute sales pitch for web design, another form of internet marketing or search engine optimisation may form part of the selection process.
For the right person there is the possibility of this leading to a senior, full time role with this rapidly growing digital agency.
How to Apply
For immediate consideration for this position please email your CV and covering letter to marketappeal@gmail.com
. 09 Mar 08 | SEO Jobs | Comments (0)