Updated 17/07/2023
You’re good at what you do, and you’re a specialist in your field. You know how to use a search engine to look things up and you’ve probably clicked (pun!) that the closer to the top of the rankings on Google, Bing, Yahoo or even the beautifully British Ask Jeeves a site is, the more likely it is to be viewed – which, in the long run, leads to new customers and clients. Naturally, you want your company website to do well in the ratings, especially in the new 2018. This means that you’ll need to find someone to help you with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and you want to find the best Internet Marketing firm in London to help you.
Does Your SEO Company Wear A White Hat?
The first question you need to ask in your search for a search engine optimisation pro is whether or not the company wears a white hat. Or, to put it in less colourful terms, does the company in question use ethical above-board techniques to boost search page rankings? Those that do this use white hat SEO; those that are a bit on the dodgy side are referred to as black hat SEO companies (think of the old cowboy movies where the good guys wore the white hats and those sporting black ten-gallons were the baddies).
Some of the tools used by a white hat SEO agency will be smart web design (did you realise how important having a proper URL is?), using the right keywords and savvy social media use – among other more technical ruses such as monitoring what users are doing on your site, how long they stay there, what they click and so on (yes, there’s software that can track this sort of thing – and it’s legit). A good white hat SEO company will also know where to put strategic and appropriate links where they do more than get up people’s noses. For example, if you manufacture environmentally friendly cleaning products, it’s a brilliant idea to pop a link to your site in a sensible discussion or comment section on a forum about, say, sustainable living. Just to add to the above, we have a huge amount of experience ranking cleaning companies’ websites in Google. Our main SEO strategist, Nick Vassilev, has been doing this since 2000 and his websites continue to earn millions of pounds per year. Would you like to take your cleaning business to the next level?
A reputable digital agency will know all the ins and outs of ethical ways to boost rankings on Google. What’s more, they won’t use any of the “black hat” techniques such as duplicated content (such as nicking the official manufacturer’s product descriptions), link stuffing, comment spamming (where some muggins is paid to make some trivial comment on articles on other sites and include a link back to your site) and the like. Blackhat SEO focuses entirely on manipulating the algorithms and the software to get up the rankings but has no consideration for the humans actually reading the content and trying to find out something useful or look for a product.
SEO That Makes Friends With The Panda
SEO has changed a lot since the old days – if “old days” can be used about events about 10 years ago (guess that’s a long time in the world of telecommunications). Back when people first discovered SEO, Google rankings and the importance of getting higher up the list, all sorts of cheap and nasty practices went on. Originally, if your site had lots of links leading to it and tons of the right search terms, it went up the ranking. This meant that plenty of SEO companies found it best to create “link farms” which more or less existed to generate links rather than to connect with clients and provide the information, entertainment and other aspects of good quality content and websites. SEO gurus also arranged for “content” that was mostly made up of the keywords and not much else, usually written on the cheap by people with dubious written English skills.
Users of the web – and SEO experts who knew the value of good content – were rescued by the Panda algorithm (named after the guy who developed it). This algorithm weeded out boring sites that mostly consisted of links, ads, and keywords, but rewarded sites where the SEO company creating them had taken the trouble to provide something that people would like to, you know, actually read!
You possibly remember how annoying it was to punch in your search term, click the first site in the search, then find yourself wallowing through a lot of verbal diarrhoea that barely made sense but contained all the keywords. Did this leave you with a favourable impression of the site? Definitely not. Did you find the information you were looking for? Probably not. Had the SEO company who created that site actually done their clients any favours? No way!
If you’re trying to decide who’s the best London SEO agency, then you need to find someone who’s made friends with the Panda algorithm. We have recently joined forces with one of the best search engine optimisation experts London SEO Guy, who are out of this world in their practical ranking knowledge. Now, Google has got some helpful guidelines for reputable companies who want to create good SEO content and who want to earn their ranking. For example, a pure SEO whizz will make sure that the articles in your blog or “about” pages cover a variety of topics – with the keywords in them, sure – but not multiple versions of the same thing with slightly different wording (e.g. “What You Need To Know About X” plus “Everything You Need To Know About X”). Good quality SEO will also contain content that someone would like to read – the sort of thing you’d encounter in a magazine or a book. Good SEO is also spelled correctly and has decent grammar!
In short, if you want to get the good rankings on Google, which, of course, you do, you want to make sure that the Search Engine Optimisation agency managing your project knows how to deliver good content and knows how to make friends with the Panda (and the Panda’s sibling, the Penguin).
SEO Means More Than Words
A good internet marketing specialist will indeed know how to pick the right keywords and create interesting and intriguing content for your website. However, don’t limit your thinking about content to just having a first-class blog post or nine. Pictures, memes, and infographics travel a long, long way around the web, and often give you some great organic links that boost your search engine rankings in the way that the Panda and the Penguin like. The funnier your content is, the better, as few things get shared as widely as a good joke (and this has the added advantage of building an active connection with potential clients and customers as well as driving up your rankings).
Also, having a site that’s well set up and easy to navigate for visitors is another key SEO strategy. Don’t overlook the importance of using a good font, a good background colour, and text size. If you’ve ever been irritated by a site that has the hyperlinks in an impossible to read colour, you’ll know what I mean. You also need to ensure that your site’s architecture and setup is smartphone-friendly.
What applies to static images like photos, memes, infographics, cartoons and the like also applies to video content. Video content is just as important for SEO strategy as written content, no matter what your business involves. The video also can go on social media platforms where text content can never go, such as Instagram and Snapchat – which aren’t to be sneezed at if you particularly want to target a younger audience with your product or service.
Speaking of social media, you are using it, aren’t you? If your SEO consultant doesn’t give at least a few social media strategies when planning the campaign to boost your business’s online profile. At the very least, your site should have a handful of sharing buttons on your blog page or article archive to allow readers to share that funny or thought-provoking article with others on Facebook. This is such a simple step, and it really shouldn’t be overlooked – although it’s surprising how often this strategy is ignored or forgotten.
Needing Help With Your SEO? We Can Rank You Anywhere in the UK
Creating good SEO can be overwhelming and complicated, as it’s a big issue as well as an important one. This is why we’re here to help you, so if you want to know more about how Search Engine Optimisation works, what the juicy keywords are and other great strategies, please get in touch with us.