An Important Update on how Google Ranks
the Authority of Your Website

Google always likes to keep Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) companies like us, on our toes when it comes to changes to their algorythm.

Over the past week or so, updates and been finalised to enhance the way in which authority is given for websites.

There have been some minor tweaks that do not affect any of the websites that we manage or run SEO campaigns for, and none of the changes have affected current rankings.

However, there are two things that will affect things moving forward – for everyone. These will have more of an impact on SEO than they did before:

1. The first is is the impact of regularly updated content, such as a blog or news page. This has always been seen as a good thing for a website to have, but this will now be playing a more important role in your search engine rankings.
2. The second is the importance of having social network buttons on your site, such as a Facebook Like button, Twitter retweet button and a Google +1 button (just like the ones at the top and bottom of this page). These buttons, when pressed, are now seen more of a vote of authority to the site.

Whilst these two changes do not necessarily increase your rankings for a specific keyword, they do help raise the profile of your website in Googles eyes, and therefore will be beneficial in your overall ranking and authority in the search engines.

Talk to your web team today about this update, request them to add a blog and the social networking buttons to your website. Failing this, if we can help, please get in touch with the office on 08432 894 402 or use the contact form on the top right hand side of this page.

Please also check out our Social Media and Professional Blogging Packages here.

Everyone’s doing it …. social media, that is. You may think that it’s a passing fad, or just something that kids use, but that’s just not true. The world’s leading brands have discovered the power of social media as a marketing tool. There are so many benefits to using social media to market your business – for example, it raises your company’s profile and is a great way to engage with your customers. In this article we explore what exactly social media is.

You may have heard about blogging and how using keywords can be a really useful tool to boost your website in the search engines. That’s because when someone searches for a phrase – known as a “keyword”, though it may be more than just one word – the search engine looks through its directory of web pages and pulls out all those pages (and blog posts count as pages) that feature the keyword. It ranks those pages according to a number of factors and then displays the results to you. However, it’s important to understand how to use keywords in blogs, because it’s easy to get this wrong.

One of the factors Google uses is the number of occurrences of the keyword within the page.

In the old days, the calculation was simple – the more times the keyword was used, the more relevant Google thought the article must be and the higher it would display that page in its rankings. However, people got wise to that and would start spamming their web pages with lots and lots of keywords that were regularly searched for but quite often they actually had no relevance to the subject matter! So now Google still looks for keywords within the article – but it’s much fussier about how many times a keyword is used, and also where the keyword is used.

How to use keywords in blogs

When you want to optimise your website for search engines, the trick of  how to use keywords in blogs is to choose one highly relevant keyword and use it strategically. Keywords act as signifiers to the content of the post, so choose a phrase that people are likely to search for that sums up what your post is about.

You then need to use your keyword in specific places within the blog post to let Google know what your post is about. The first two places to include your keyword are:

• The URL of the page (so your URL for the post might be www.mywebsite.co.uk/blog/keyword)
• The page title

You can actually set up most blogging platforms to automatically use the title of the blog post as the URL.

Next you need to think about where to use your keyword within the content of the post. Don’t overdo it … use it maybe three or four times within the body of the post. If you spam your post with the keyword Google will know, and you’ll actually lose out when your page is ranked.

Somewhere in your post, place an H2 header that includes your keywords.

Many businesses struggle to understand how to present themselves as credible experts online.

Two of the many barriers are

1. People think that their knowledge or expertise is just not good enough to share and do not value it highly enough themselves
2. They produce content that is of no real value because they have a fear of giving too much away

It’s time to start sharing your knowledge with the world. Watch this quick video from our MD Ant Hodges, for some starter tips on how to position yourself as an expert.

Pay Per Click (PPC) has long been seen as a cost-effective way of advertising on the internet. In a PPC campaign, adverts promoting (mainly) websites are displayed on search engines, are triggered when someone searches for a specific keyword – Google, for example, currently shows PPC ads above the organic search results, and down the right hand side of the page. There is no charge for the adverts to be displayed, but advertisers pay for every click on the advert. Webmasters can also choose to display PPC ads on their websites, in exchange for part of the Pay Per Click fee.

Google announced this week  that they are going to run a test by stopping the display of Pay Per Click adverts down the side of the search results page.

After monitoring how the positioning of PPC ads affects the number of clicks they receive, Google will now display these “sponsored” adverts at the bottom of the organic search results. According to Google, “In many cases, we have found that displaying ads below search results fits better into the user’s flow as they scan the page from top to bottom. On average, this placement performed better than side ads in terms of click-through rate in our tests.”

The trouble with Pay Per Click

Blogging is a fantastic way to drive traffic to your website but sometimes the inspiration runs dry – and an outdated blog is almost worse than not having a blog at all. Variety is definitely the spice of life when it comes to blogging – here are some great ideas to get you blogging creatively.

Case studies

Have you completed an interesting project recently? Case studies can make really interesting blog posts – not only do they demonstrate your knowledge but they involve issues that potential customers can relate to. So long as your client is happy for you to mention them, write about the problem your client had and the steps you took to solve it. Include a link to your client’s website, and then you both get to benefit from increased traffic, as your readers are bound to want to find out more about the businesses you work with.

Q&A time

Start making a note of the questions that customers ask you about your products and services. Every one of those questions can form the basis of a blog post – and if one customer asked it, the answer is bound to be relevant to other people. Alternatively, ask around at networking meetings and find out what misconceptions people have about your industry –and then address them via your blog.

Photo Stories

Photo stories are really easy to create, and are especially useful if you run a hands-on type of business. Simply take half a dozen photos during your working day and post them on the blog. You don’t even have to add captions, because people will read their own story from the pictures. For example, you could take photos of a building project in progress; baking and decorating a wedding cake; beauty therapy session; plumbing in a washing machine; or changing the wheel on a car. I’m sure there are lots of photos you could take to show off your business!

Write a series of posts around one topic

Demonstrate your expertise in a series of posts that will keep your readers coming back for more. Think of a topic, brainstorm the issues around it and then post once a week on that topic. Here are some examples to get you thinking:

• A step by step guide to dog grooming
• How to build a website in 4 weeks
• What to do in the garden, month by month
• A recipe every week, using seasonal produce
• A six part guide to understanding the legal aid system
• Weekly SEO tips

Talk to the camera

Video blogs – or vlogs – are really easy to make and you don’t need any expensive equipment – your web cam or the video camera on most mobile phones will do the job. Think about a topic you are knowledgeable about, make some notes, turn the camera on and just talk! Don’t worry about making mistakes – once you get going you’ll probably find it quite easy to just speak your thoughts – and you can always edit the film at the end (just Google for “free video editing software”). You could even use a whiteboard to help illustrate your ideas – have a look at the video we made to see how simple yet effective a vlog can be!

If you haven’t yet discovered how effective blogging is as a marketing tool, and would like to know more, call the team on +44(0)8432 894 402 or use our contact form.

If you struggle to keep in regular contact with past, present and potential customers, using autoresponders will make the job much more manageable.

Basically, autoresponders are emails that are sent out automatically, to a timed schedule. Once someone is placed in your autoresponder system – maybe because you add them to a database, or they fill in a sign-up form on your website – they receive a series of emails from you at time periods you specify. It could be that you send them an email once a week, or every three days, or once a month over the course of a year. Autoresponders give you complete flexibility to set up the series of emails to suit your needs.

So how could you use autoresponders to enhance the relationship between you and your customer, or to increase sales? Here are three reasons to use autoresponders.

Use autoresponders to build a relationship with your customers

It’s a well known fact that we need to be made aware of a product up to 7 times before we’ll consider buying it. If someone expresses an interest in your product or service it’s often difficult to find the time to follow up with them once, never mind seven times! You can use an autoresponder to send your warm leads a series of emails that will build a relationship and keep your product at the forefront of their mind. When the time is right for them to buy, they’ll come to you – because they already have a relationship with you.

You can also use autoresponders to maintain the relationship with existing customers – and to upsell.  For example, if you sell widgets then you could set up a series of emails with: a message thanking them for their purchase; tips on how to get the most out of their new widget; a voucher for money off future purchases; news of a new product launch or an upgraded widget. Make the emails useful and of benefit to the customer and they’ll keep coming back for more.

Gain valuable data with autoresponders

Traditional methods of marketing are useful, but it’s not always easy to monitor how effective they are. You can’t tell how many people noticed your newspaper advert or were interested in that flyer, or whether the direct mail letter you sent was read or recycled. Unless you ask all your customers how they discovered your company, you’ll never really know which bits of your marketing are working.

With autoresponders, however, you get access to a wealth of data that will show you what people are interested in, and you can use that information to tailor your marketing for maximum impact. When you send out emails via autoresponder you can see instantly who has opened your email. If you’ve attracted their attention enough for them to read what you’ve got to say, you know they’re a warm lead! And if they click on one of the links to get more information, you know they’re really interested! You can then tailor the emails you send to give them exactly the info they want – which will make the sale that much easier to achieve.

Use autoresponders to showcase what you do

You know your business inside out; you’re an expert in your field. But how do your customers know that?

Demonstrate your knowledge by using an autoresponder to send a series of weekly hints and tips to people who sign up on your website. For example, accountants could send weekly tax tips and reminders of important tax return dates. A gardener could send regular emails with recommendations on what to do in the garden each month. A food supplier’s customers would love to receive recipes every week. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in, there’s plenty of information you can share. Showcase what you do and when people need what you offer, you’ll be the person they go to.

These are just three reasons to use autoresponders. How could you use autoresponders in your business?

If you would like to find out more about how autoresponders can benefit your business, please call HodgesNet on +44(0)8432 894 402 or use the contact form on the top of this page to get in touch.

At a networking event this week, boss man and MD Ant Hodges, was chatting to a couple of business owners that had some preconceived ideas about Internet marketing and how they were writing it off almost immediately. After spending over an hour with them, it seems that their eyes were opened somewhat and we have agreed a trial period of combined offline and Internet marketing for their businesses. During this trial we will measure the effectiveness of Internet marketing and implement other items to help the get even more from the Internet in the future too.

On coming back into the office “Morning all! Time to get the camera out” was the first thing that Ant said to us. Watch the video below that we put together to address some of the issues that were talked about. If you think that Internet marketing is not for you and your business, if you haven’t got the time or knowledge to do it, or even the budget to outsource it, listen to Ant’s responses to exactly these thoughts for using Internet marketing in business.

If you would like to know any more, or would like to grab a coffee with us, visit www.hodgesnet.co.uk/coffee or call 08432 894 402 and we can get a date in the diary to meet up.

Affiliate marketing is a huge part of the Internet marketing puzzle. Essentially, it is all about marketing other people’s products or services for a commission – Not selling.

Literally 1,000′s of businesses (merchants) enlist the services of bloggers, social-media-ites, pay per click marketers and many more (affiliates) to promote their products and services in return for a commission of the sale.

Affiliate marketing – a cost effective way of marketing

Over the years affiliate marketing has proved to be a cost effective and highly measurable method of delivering long-term results. Many people who want to make some extra cash, dive into affiliate marketing. Every day there are new sign up’s for many different affiliate campaigns, but in most cases these new affiliates do not fully understand how to make it work for them properly in the affiliate world – some even make costly mistakes.

On the flip side, many merchants don’t understand what work is involved to keep affiliates motivated to keep promoting their products and services.

The biggest and most common misconception that is associated with affiliate marketing is that of ‘selling’ – though selling is an important activity of affiliate marketing and the central function of a business operation, an affiliate does not sell on behalf of the merchant. All the affiliate is tasked with doing is sending interested people to the merchant’s website for a commission of any lead, sale or transaction that will then follow. Different merchants pay out in different ways:

• A percentage of the initial sale
• A recurring commission for the lifetime of the customers subscription
• A fixed commission for a lead generation form to be filled in

A quick run down on how affiliate marketing works

We have taken a slide out of our affiliate marketing training day and will walk you through this to give you an idea on how it all works.

1. Firstly the Affiliate, after deciding what they want to promote, will join an affiliate System to look for merchants who sell that product or service.
2. After building a website with relevant content, they will apply to joing an affiliate scheme through the system of their chosen merchants.
3. The affiliate then uses graphics and content produced by the merchant to add to their website.
4. Using SEO, social media, email marketing or PPC (internet marketing methods) the affiliate will promoted their website to targeted people on the internet.
5. After this work takes ground in the search engines, potential customers will come to the affiliate site and read the content.
6. Hopefully they will then click on an affiliate link or advert to go to the merchant’s website.
7. If the customer makes a purchase, the source of that customer is tracked and then the merchant pays the affiliate system.
8. After clearance, the Affiliate system will then pay the affiliate the commission as promised.

There is a bit more to it, that’s why we spend a day looking at all of this with client and those wanting to earn money as an affiliate, but that is it in a nutshell.

Making affiliate marketing work for you

Affiliate marketing is a great way if using Internet marketing to help earn an extra income, but also for merchants to create a team of commission only sales people for their products and services.

Making it work for both the affiliate and the merchant can be a tricky balancing act though. We can help you get that balance right.

To make things really work, affiliates need to understand:

• SEO and Web Marketing Techniques
• How to build sites that visitors take action on
• How to continue to communicate without looking like you are spamming people with affiliate links all the time
• Where to find the right merchants to sign up to

Every merchant needs to understand:

• Affiliates want you to do the hard work to create content and graphics to use
• Tiny percentages don’t work… otherwise they wont bother marketing your products
• How to promote your super affiliates and encourage the smaller guys
• Where to get your affiliate marketing system set up to protect you from scam artists

If you would like to know more about how you can get a team of commission only sales people to be marketing your products for you, or indeed if you want to learn from our team about how you can generate an extra income online, please call HodgesNet on +44(0)8432 894 402 or use the contact form on the top of this page to get in touch.

Many businesses today still don’t really understand what Internet Marketing is all about. They might see some new ‘expert’ pop up on the Internet promising to make them rich beyond their wildest dreams, all for buying one $17 ebook or a $97 system that will enable them to do this with just a couple of clicks of the mouse.

Some of these work – most of them don’t.

The team here at HodgesNet have been working in the Internet marketing industry for some time now. We have all been helping these product launch marketers with getting their product to market, helping them to build a list of interested subscribers to send daily emails to and helped with the design and set up of membership websites.

We have seen the good, the bad, the ugly and the ones that border on immoral – these are the ones that are seen as scam artists (the immoral ones not the ugly ones…).

Some of the businesses that we work with have been asking the question “What if I get tarred with the same brush? I want to protect my reputation.”

This comes from a fear of being seen as the same as those guys that are just trying to trick people into buying some push-button solution to make oodles of cash overnight.

You don’t have to be the same as them if you operate from a point of credibility and as a true expert, then you treat your subscribers and customers EXACTLY how they want to be treated… like kings and queens. But the one thing you can do that is the same… use the same tactics and methods they use.

Internet marketing for the traditional business

Using the same techniques used by the Internet marketing ‘gurus’ of the world, you too could make more profit for your business on the Internet. You can use these tactics to:

• Build lists of targeted, opt-in subscribers to communicate with about your products or services.
• Engage on a real level to help solve problems that your customers and prospects might have.
• Make money online without having to think about it.
• And ultimately, use a much more profitable form of marketing to win new business and retain existing contracts.

Internet marketing is no longer reserved for the ‘make a million bucks overnight’ scam artists, use the tactics they implement to attract people interested in your business, provide them with theinformation about how you can help, sell them your product or services and keep them as life long customers.

Do you want this kind of a strategy in your business?

If we can help, please call +44(0)8432 894 402 or use the contact form on the right hand side of this page to send a message directly to our team of Internet marketing specialists.