Monthly Archives

June 2016

Jun 15
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SEO violations to avoid

6 SEO Violations to AVOID

By | Blog

There are some SEO violations that are best avoided if you want to evade Google’s harsh penalties. These desecrations are quite difficult to perform without prior intention, so don’t panic if you feel that you may have stepped on a few toes! In fact, a search engine will consider a number of signals before deciding to smack you with a penalty.

But to stay on the safe side, check out these 6 most common SEO violations to AVOID:

 

1. Cloaking

When it comes to SEO, it’s best to keep Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility in Hogwarts. Cloaking refers to the process of tampering with the presentation of your website. Usually this involves showing humans and search engines two entirely different versions. Since accidental cloaking is close to impossible, search engines will view it as intentional.

 

2. Thin Content

Google’s Panda update targets thin content with no foreseeable backbone or structure. It’s lack of substance makes it unattractive in the eyes of search engines. Use content that search engines approve of and consider to be both useful and valuable.

 

3. Stuffing Keywords

You may assume that filling your content with keywords will make search engines take notice. And you’re right, search engines WILL notice, but not in the way that you perhaps hoped. Instead of awarding you for your genius efforts, you will be penalised for it.

 

4. Invisible Text

The tactic of hiding text by blending it with the same coloured background of the web page is referred to as “hidden text”. This is often carried out after stuffing keywords and is one of the most commonly used SEO violations to avoid. Unfortunately, search engines are not so easily fooled. They will treat it as spam and you could be penalised for it.

 

5. Too Many Ads

There is a specific algorithm that deals with sites containing too many ads. This is referred to as the Page Layout Algorithm, otherwise known as Top Heavy Layout. A site containing way too many ads is incredibly frustrating for the user and search engines alike. This is because search engines such as Google strive to give users the best possible user experience. Websites containing too many ads will not meet these high expectations, which is why they will be targeted by the Page Layout Algorithm.

 

6. Copied Content

A Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) take-down request should be addressed as soon as possible. Google are coming down hard on sites that have breached the copyright law. This is referred to as the Pirate update. It is present to ensure that nobody has stolen work or content etc. belonging to someone else.

 

So there you have it, the top 6 SEO violations to AVOID.

Our team of digital marketing experts and web design Belfast and web design Newry teams can help with any digital marketing, adwords, video production, social media, SEO Belfast, Magento or web design questions you may have.

 

Jun 13
0
SEO newry

Using Simple HTML to Achieve SEO Success

By | Blog

Web pages are created using a fundamental HTML code. This is a type of mark-up language referred to as a “Hyper Text Mark-up Language”. In other words, it is a “machine readable” language. HTML tags describe a specific document of content. They allow users to organize, change and link text with various data online.

There are certain HTML elements that can help you to display your site better on search engines. Perfecting these HTML factors can even improve your ranking position on SERP’s.

 

Title Tag

Search engines use HTML title tags to find out what the web page is all about. The <title> tag is extremely important for SEO because it defines the essence of the page. Search engines use this HTML signal to decide if your web page is relevant to a specific search query. If your HTML title tags are not descriptive enough, Google will edit them.

A good HTML title tag will describe what the specific web page is about. Think about it this way: what do you hope each of your pages will be found for? For example, if one of your web page’s sell children’s books and another sells fantasy novels, your HTML title tags should reflect this.

Each title tag should be different and unique to the content included on the page. Use keyword research to gain insights that will help you to write informative title tags.

 

Meta Description Tags

A meta description tag is a 160-character snippet of information used to describe the content of a web page. When you search for a specific term, your search results feature a meta description underneath the main title and page link. This allows users to find out what the web page contains before they click.

Keep in mind that your meta description will not directly affect your SEO. However, SEO experts often refer to meta description tags as “display factors”. If your search keyword appears in the meta description, it will appear as bold text. This grabs the user’s attention and helps the user decide if the web page is relevant to them or not.

The meta description tag must convince the user to click onto your site – so put on your thinking cap and get to work! Don’t forget to make sure that each page contains a unique HTML meta description.

 

Structured Data and Rich Snippets

Structured Data is highly organised information using mark-up codes. These HTML codes are written specifically for search engines to read. It reveals important details about both the content and structure of web pages.

More often than not, this structured data translates to what we know as a “rich snippet”. Rich snippets can be added to existing HTML’s. Adding rich snippets allow search engines to better understand what a web page contains. This information is then presented in an appealing and useful way to users. For example, common rich snippets include site reviews and ratings.

If your webpage contains a rich snippet, it is more likely to get more clicks than a webpage without rich snippets.

 

Header Tags

Included in the HTML coding of a web page are Heading tags, which are defined by number. For example, H1 tag refers to the lead heading of a page and the rest are usually sub-headings (such as H2). These usually range from H1 to H6 tags.

Search engines use header tags to identify web page sections. If you include your desired keywords in header tags, it is more likely that your page will show up when user’s search for those exact keywords.

Whilst these HTML factors are not defined as ranking elements, they WILL help improve your SEO efforts. Using simple HTML factors such as those mentioned above will make your site easier to find and more “clickable”.

 

Our team of digital marketing experts and web design Belfast and web design Newry teams can help with any digital marketing, adwords, video production, social media, SEO Belfast, Magento or web design questions you may have.

Jun 02
0
ipad website version

5 Creative Web Design Trends to Watch in 2016

By | Blog

Web design seems to go through just as many trends as the fashion industry. Whilst some of these trends are nothing more than quick flashes in the pan, others stick around for the long haul. The main purpose of each new trend is to give internet users a more polished user experience. But since this is an ever-changing medium, keeping tabs on the best trends can prove to be quite a challenge.

To help you decipher the “best from the rest”, we have combined a list of five of this year’s most influential web design trends of 2016:

1. Hover Animations

Animations of all kinds have been “bang on trend” this year, but perhaps none more so than the classic “hover animation”. Have you ever moved your cursor over a certain element on a site only to have it jump to life right before your eyes? This innovative and lively trend provides immediate feedback. It’s also a great way to stir up interest in your brand and reach out to potential customers using simple but effective graphic and animated techniques.

2. Artistic Typography

Who doesn’t love mixing up their typography patterns every once in a while? Web designers can’t seem to get enough of artistic fonts. Branching off from traditional styles gives sites a creative boost and helps to set them apart from their competition. Eye-catching typography will grab user’s attention and make your site more memorable.

3. Long Scroll Navigation

Internet users desire FULL CONTROL of scroll navigation. They tend to get fed up with websites that don’t allow them to control the scrolling option at their own pace. Enter long scroll navigation, a simple scrolling option that enables users to navigate as they please in a smooth, easy and uninterrupted format.

4. Hero Styled Imagery

A hero image is an eye-catching photograph or piece of content that will instantly capture the user’s attention and urge them to find out more. This trend is particularly popular with visual based sites such as photography pages or even hotel booking pages etc. Use HD quality images to get the best results and don’t forget to include a relevant call to action!

5. Background Videos

YouTube is currently the second largest search engine online. It is owned by Google, which is conveniently the first largest search engine. It makes sense then, that video would make it onto this list. Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of background videos and animations included on web pages. It’s important to get this done right. You don’t want to irritate or distract the viewer. Instead, your videos should drive engagement and interaction. It’s a great way to increase your site’s visibility on SERP’s as well, since Google tends to favour sites that include video!

Our team of digital marketing experts and web design Belfast and web design Newry teams can help with any digital marketing, adwords, video production, social media, SEO Belfast, Magento or web design questions you may have.