This week our newest client, Buckingham House Hotel saw a boost on Google following recent works carried out by Roodee web design, Chester.

Google Analytics

As we’ve previously discussed, Search Engine Optimisation on page and Search Engine Marketing off page are two very different techniques, that when combined can bring greater numbers of visitors, and more importantly, better qualified visitors to your web site.

Before making a start with on page and off page optimisation, it’s a good idea to know where you are today so you can set realistic goals and see how well you are doing further down the road. This means you need some traffic analytics so you know your position and more information about your performance today. You’re looking for information on the numbers of visitors, where your visitors came from, how they found your site, the keywords they use and where they enter and navigate to in your site. There are lots of tools available some free, some not. Perhaps the best known of the free ones is Google Analytics, which is pretty straight forward to set up. You’ll need a Google account, an email address and access to your websites files so you can add a little bit of tracking code.

When you’re setting goals for your website, it’s best not to think in terms of setting a vague target such as getting to number one on Google, which is very difficult in most cases and not in your control. But if you have a realistic goal, such as see an increase in enquiries or an increase in sales by 30% over 4 months, you will be able to see how your on page and off page efforts are performing by comparing your analytical data.

Domain Names

Your domain name at the time of writing this is important, with Google Caffeine giving extra weight to websites with keywords in the domain. Whether this will always be the case, who knows, as this is a technique that is being widely used now to influence search engine results.

If you offer multiple services or lots of different products this may not be an approach you want to take.

However keywords really should be in the structure of each page name. Ideally about three keywords is good and five is the maximum. Any more and the search engines don’t give your page any more weight.

Choosing Keywords

Selecting the right keywords for your site is crucial. The right keywords and use of those keywords are not just important for optimising your website for the search engines, they are also going to help you communicate to site visitors in language they choose to use themselves. The key here is to be sympathetic to search engines, but not forget that the page has got to make sense to humans too. Loading keywords onto a page is seen as ‘spammy’ and won’t do you any favours on search engines. You’ll come across some pages on websites that just don’t make any sense because they have been written for search engines, and not for humans.

To start with, make a list of keywords, not just single words and the top terms, but groups of words and phrases too. Think about your ideal customer. What words, what phrases would they use to find your website? Include them in your list. Ask colleagues, friends, family, and existing customers for ideas on words to add. Go onto competing websites. Have a look at the bottom of Google results pages for alternative suggestions. There are some tools you can use to help with keyword ideas too.

Once you have a good, long keyword list, think about how you are going to use the words. You don’t want to take a chunk of say 100 words and group them together into a paragraph that doesn’t make sense. Instead group the keywords into subject areas and write good quality content that includes them. Don’t overdo it. Your chosen keywords should only form about 3% of the text content. This is known as keyword density.

You need to use keywords in META tags. META tags are bits of your pages code that are there to help search engines understand what your pages are about. You need to use keywords in your pages body text and you need to use them in the anchor text for the links that point into your website from other websites. For example instead of having the words ‘click here’ on a clickable link, relevant keywords instead give the search engines a better idea of what the link is pointing towards and adds a bit more weight to it.

More about the content you need to be writing next time. In the meantime, if there’s any help you need with SEO, you can contact us via our website.

Disaster has struck Team Roodee ruling us out of Chester Raft Race 2010. A back injury to our skipper, Simon Davies, leaves us with no option than to quietly watch the race from the Meadows this year.

Organised by the Rotary Club of Chester, Chester Raft Race is an annual event that raises thousands of pounds for worthy causes and charities. This year, ‘Help For Heroes’ is the beneficiary of the fund raising efforts of Chester businesses taking part on Sunday 4th July 2010.

Although we won’t be able to make a splash in the water this year, we are still looking forward to being in the thick of it and look forward to meeting up with our friends and clients on the Meadows before a short walk over to Chester Racecourse for the Showjumping. If the Met Office forecast is accurate, spectators will be just as wet as the raft racers.

We are making a donation directly to the Rotary Club of Chester.

With the World Cup now in full swing, plenty of businesses are cashing in on the month long tournament.

Everywhere you look there are thousands of references to The World Cup, from shop windows to press and radio ads, to websites. Amongst all of the marketing campaigns from the official sponsorship partners that have paid FIFA handsomely for the privilege are the unofficial campaigns from businesses that that are leaving themselves open to legal action.

Of course there are isolated ambush marketing cases where perpetrators knowingly plan maximum publicity, but there are a surprising number of (mainly smaller, local) advertisers and their agents who are oblivious to the fact they are using trademarked phrases in their campaigns, whether broadcast, in print or on the web.

Here are the trademarked phrases registered by FIFA:

• FIFA World Cup South Africa
• FIFA World Cup
• FIFA World Cup
• World Cup
• 2010 World Cup
• World Cup 2010
• South Africa 2010
• 2010 South Africa
• Football world Cup
• Soccer World Cup
• and any similar derivations

Google Alerts make it easy for organisations such as FIFA to spot unofficial use of their trademarked words and images on websites and if a fine is imposed it can be quite steep.

We have worked on football ‘flavoured’ campaigns in the run up to the tournament and found lots of helpful guidance on sponsorship on the official FIFA website to ensure our client’s campaigns are compliant. We have been able to create press ads, website campaigns, radio commercials and Point Of Sale materials that are within FIFA’s guidelines.
For example general football terms, such as ‘Summer of football’ and using the England Flag instead of the FIFA logo are fine. There are lots of national retailers taking this approach, and we are advising our clients and other businesses in our market, Chester to play safe and do the same.

Our client, a brand new Mobile High Rope and Activity Provider wanted more than just a new website. We were asked to dream up a completely new logo too that will stand out in the crowd.

The brief was to create a look that was exciting and edgy. So we did our homework and spent a long time with our client before getting busy, drawing up a concept that excited our client.

The bright red branding, with hand drawn vectors, fits the new website, the flags, gazebo, t-shirts, stickers, business cards and stationery set.

Page One Of Google Already

The website is already on page one of Google for it’s target keywords and is exceeding it’s initial traffic targets already, thanks to some efficient search engine optimisation. The site has a complete content management system, a full blog and is fully integrated with Facebook and Twitter. We also produced a Youtube web video.

Visit website.

Our client is delighted with the real business this website is already bringing in as you can see in this testimonial video.

If you would like us to quote you for web design, branding, or video production, please call us on 01244 566286 or visit our quotation page.

Roodee is a Chester based marketing company specialising in web design Chester.

With millions and millions of websites, and billions and billions of pages all fighting for attention on Google, it’s no wonder you can easily get lost in the noise – no matter how great your site is, or how great your message is.

 

 How to be found on Google episode 1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Some people say having a great website that no one can find is like being lost in the desert. We disagree. We say having a great website that no one can find is like being part of a really big city, but you’re stuck on a back street that no one can find.

So if your website is stuck half way down page 1 million and you want to get nearer to page one – and even better, nearer to the top of page one, what can you do?

That’s what this series is going to be about. Just what can you do to improve your chances of being found on the search engines.

That’s where search engine optimisation comes in, or SEO.

With SEO, like with many other digital marketing activities, you need to carefully define what you want to achieve for your website, and then get the right tools together so you can hit your targets. More about these tools later.

Secondly,it’s important to measure the traffic you are sending to your website. And it’s important to stress that we’re not just interested in volume of traffic being driven to your site, but it’s the quality of that traffic that’s far more important. There are free and paid for tools that can let you see how you’re doing so you can make adjustments as and when necessary.

And thirdly, you need some creativity. A little is good, but lots is better. SEO today really does need good quality content that’s going to entertain, tell a story, be passed around, be linked to and so on.

Your content needs to be found by the search engines and there’s far more than just text that users are looking for when they search. Images, videos, maps, blogs, comments, posts can all get you in front of your prospects as they use the search engines.

The difference between organic search and paid search

There’s a key difference between paid and organic search, and it’s important to know the difference between the two. Open up your browser and go to Google. Type in any search term you like, for example ‘garden furniture wirral’ and then click ‘search’. When you see the results, all of those listings you see at the very top against a beige are labelled ‘sponsored links’. And there are more down the right hand column. These have all been paid for by advertisers, and Google charges them a fee every time someone clicks.

All of the other links are not paid for. These are known as organic results, and this is what people who are interested in SEO concentrate on. They get the most clicks, and no matter how many people click on these links, Google doesn’t charge.

Getting to the top of the organic listings, especially in a competitive niche isn’t easy and staying there can be very difficult. Today the number one result for that term is a client of ours, but as there are many variables, and competitors can pull some surprising tricks – not all playing by Googles rules – things can and do change.

But with good, unique (this is very important) content and properly built web pages, quality links pointing to your website from other websites and content that’s updated regularly, your chances of getting a good position on Google are improved.

Beware anyone who claims or guarantees a number one position, that’s an impossible promise to make. All that ethical SEO can guarantee you is an improved chance.

Now SEO usually covers what you do on your websites pages, and once you’ve optimised your pages, you need to look at the various ways you can bring people in. There are many ways you can do this. For example you can have links from other sites that are relevant, links from articles, you can have links from social websites like Facebook and Twitter. These all come from elsewhere, off-site and the process is often referred to as Search Engine Marketing or SEM.

Practicing SEO and SEM can help to get you to a good place on the search engines.

We’ll go into the nitty grity of Search Engine Optimisation next time. In the meantime, if there’s any help you need with SEO, you can contact us via our website.

Roodee is a web design company based in Chester, UK. You can find us at www.roodee.co.uk.

Today is the day Apples eagerly awaited iPad lands in the UK. The Twittersphere is full of Tweets from people from all walks of life who have added them to their wish-lists. There are some who have had iPads for some time and are letting everyone who’ll listen know how wonderful they are.

The hype spilled over to London’s LBC radio this morning, with host Nick Ferrari taking calls from listeners who will go to great lengths to get their hands on the thing. We even got to hear from an entrepreneur who managed to get on to promote his iPad screen protector films.

Thanks to Steve Jobs master marketing, everyone knows the benefits and what iPad looks like (and demand is pretty much guaranteed to outstrip supply).

What does iPad mean for web design? Our thoughts are with load speed now a major factor in Google’s results, thanks to the Caffeine release, and with iPad’s reliance on 3g and wifi connectivity, lean and compliant code is a must.

As the argument between Apple and Adobe continues to keep Flash off Apple products, jQuery’s use is booming, and alternatives to Flash delivery of video continue to be implemented.

There are over 200,000 apps already available for iPhone users, with the vast majority usuable on the iPad. Some make the transition from the small screen to the near A4 size screen better than others. There is the option to view in original size or expanded. There are already thousands of apps designed just for iPad, and the smart money is on this being a massive area of growth for designers and developers.

Last week Apple overtook Microsoft as the worlds biggest tech company. It will be interesting to look back in 12 months from now to see the effect the iPad has had on the gap.

Long-term relationships are important to us, and we were delighted to receive an endorsement from leadership coach, Michael Schofield who we have worked with for over four years on a number of projects.

The website we designed for The Coach Business got off to a flying start as you will hear in the video.

We don’t just design successful, bespoke websites. We also produce video for business, corporate videos and video for websites in-house. Want a video like this for your website? Call our office in Chester on 01244 566286.

After heated scenes in Chester on polling day, Roodee was asked to help deliver the news of who had won and lost seats in Cheshire.

We quickly deployed updates for the news sections on the radio stations for Chester and Macclesfield which included a full list of voting results and exclusive photos of Chesters outgoing MP, Christine Russell with her feet up in the cafe at the Northgate Arena after a hard day, and the first photos of newly elected Stephen Mosley as he made his speech.

With results for Ellesmere Port and Neston coming late, due to a recount, Facebook and Twitter were the perfect platforms to deliver this news.

Need to deliver news to your clients? We love communicating. We can help with blogs, Facebook, Twitter and even radio, tv and video. Our office is in Chester. Talk to us on 01244 566286.

Today we have completed a major update to the website for a Chester-based business. Our client, a window, door and conservatory company, A1 Plastics Windows And Doors commissioned us to upgrade their website and include a fully updateable blog.

As we had designed the original website and it was built in a modular fashion, it was really quick and easy for us to expanded the window and conservatory gallery sections.

To see the website click here.

To ask us about any aspect of updating a website or completely revamping your web design, get in touch. Our office is in Chester, and we can be reached on 01244 566286.