SEO Belfast

Big news, this morning I’ve noticed quite a big update to the Google My Business listings.

Web design terms are finally back for local business listings. Google stopped showing these years and years ago, so it’s strange to see them back.

From a few searches I’ve done it’s pretty obvious that Google is showing Google Business listings more prominently and frequently than before.

The listing for ‘Web Design Ni’ doesn’t even have a website and the Google Business listing page as far as I’m aware hasn’t been claimed, there are no reviews, photos, posts and video. It’s a poor listing and shouldn’t be anywhere near the first page of results. In fact I’ve seen some very poor business listings appear alot higher than some very well developed ones with no obvious reason as to why.

Google seems to be switching between 3 results and 7 packs on a desktop search.

[Update 23rd Dec 2014] Google has confirmed that their local Pigeon update, which rolled out in the U.S. on July 24, 2014 has now expanded over last week to the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

[Update 11 Jan 2015] Google seems to be sticking alot more on 3 pack listings.

Incredibily it’s been 3 years since the last SEO meet up.

So along with Barry from SearchScientist and Newtownard’s finest Jordan, we’ve decided to have another meetup for people involved in Search.

There’s no agenda, just a meet up, catchup, chance to make new friendships, few drinks and talk shop.

There’s a few things I have in mind that I’d like to pick someone’s brains about. I’ll add these to the comments at a later stage.

So if you’ve an interest in SEO, PPC, Analytics, Conversion Optimisation, Adsense or anything Search related and are thinking of coming along then please add your name below.

The date is Saturday 17th January 2015 at 5.30.

[Update] Meeting in the Eglantine Inn on the Malone Road.

*********[Further Update] It appears the Eg is getting refurbished, so the meet-up will now happen in the Botanic Inn, just across the road from the Eg.*********

At the moment I’m training a small business owner and it’s one of the most satisfying aspects of the job, so in true festive spirit I’m giving away a tailored training course for any Belfast company that wants to get to grips with SEO, PPC, Google Analytics & Email Marketing in 2015.

Just pop your name in the comments below, or send me an email.

There’ll be 8 hours custom training, tailored to your market and your website.

Winner will be picked randomly, and named on the 23rd Dec 2014.
Training will be arranged at my office, 1 to 1 training, and must be completed January / February 2014.

(Just a quick update: The winner will be picked at 5 o’clock, and I’ll email them & post their name here. Still plenty of time to enter.)

I just spotted this label in the organic SERPS while browsing on a mobile.

Notice the ‘mobile friendly’ label beside websites in the screenshot below.

Google may be increasingly turning up the dial on sites it deems mobile friendly, and this will no doubt become a stronger ranking factor.

Click thru rates on sites given the ‘mobile friendly’ label will also doubt improve.

More information can be found at Google’s blog, and there’s a testing tool with feedback on the improvements your site may need to make.

I noticed that WordPress was creating alot of attachment pages for every image that was being uploaded or inserted into a page/post.

These pages either took the format;

a) website.com/attachment_id?2734
b) website.com/category/image-name/

Google was indexing all of these attachment pages.

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If you have problems sleeping at night, and every morning are checking rankings to see if today’s the day that your business gets wiped off the face of the earth then maybe Penguin 3 has caught up with you.

This advice is probably of no value to you, as you’ll no doubt already know the devastating news.

If you’re a business owner that’s in the dark and maybe oblivious to the strategies employed by your SEO team then here’s a couple of quick ways to check.

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Check out this screenshot below, not sure I’d like Google scraping content from my sites and displaying the content as their own.

Couldn’t we have a meta element NO SCRAPING content!?

There’s a feedback button at the bottom, to allow you to add your disapproval.

[update] Here’s another one I found ‘how to delete a tweet’

How long does it take to update a meta description snippet in Google?

Google suggests that this takes usually less than 24 hours using their Fetch and Submit to Index tool provided by Google Webmaster Tools.

A recent test I did on a small buiness website took 36 hours to flush out an unwanted homepage meta description.

Removing URLs from the index took less than an hour.

This is interesting for those of us who like to study the SERPS.

For the first time Gumtree is on the first page of Google SERPS for ‘web design Belfast’. I’ve checked this over the last couple of weeks and http://www.gumtree.com/website-design-services/belfast appears at number 6 in Google (see the screenshot below).

Google stopped showing Places listings for ‘Web Design’ terms along time ago, though maybe the effect of Google Pigeon is to have boosted directories such as Gumtree in the Organic search results as well.

I’ve also noticed that one of my own directories Graphic Design Belfast is no1 in Google for ‘Graphic Design Belfast’.

Without a mobile strategy, you’ll be left behind. According to Search Engine Journal 1 in 4 searches is being made on a mobile device, though from a quick look over in analytics this varies considerably from site to site and market to market. Nevertheless, how should you capitalise on the ever increasing popularity of mobile search?

Everyone owns a mobile device nowadays, and many of you reading this will be doing so on a phone or on a tablet; for some, a tablet may be your first choice device for browsing the web, communicating, absorbing online video, reading for pleasure, or any online activity. We’ve truly gone mobile mad. Why? Convenience, practicality, and usability.

Now, 91% of everyone currently on the earth owns a mobile phone, and 72% of tablet users are making purchases online on their tablets on a regular basis (according to research by AF-Studio.pl and Super Monitoring).

Who’s doing it?

So, while mobile is booming, what is your company doing to incorporate mobile into your marketing?

If you’re still failing to integrate mobile into your marketing, you are ignoring a significant portion of the market that your competitors will be snatching up.

Almost 50% of all enterprises include defined mobile strategies as part of their marketing plan. 81% have said that mobiles have affected how they run things on a fundamental level.

Also in this study, Conducted by IBM, 90% of enterprises aim to engage with their audience, inform customers, employees, and grow their business by optimising their mobile experience as part of their overall marketing strategy.

There are no excuses to put it off any longer as there are many easy and affordable ways to optimise for mobile search, available to businesses with any marketing budget. Whether you’re already considering mobile in your strategies or not, the following tips will make sure you’re optimising effectively in the mobile environment.

Let’s go!
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