As part of the Artemis rebrand we’re excited to launch in October – coinciding with moving into our new, additional offices – we have given our social media platforms a new lick of paint.
A lot has been going on behind the scenes here at Artemis, with sponsorship of Wickwoods, Hurstpierpoint FC and more – and we’re delighted to share some of those new branding visuals across our social media pages.
Check them out here:
Brand new page: YouTube
You won’t be shocked to learn that online business reviews are one of the most influencing factors during a consumer’s journey. Consumers are actively researching about products and services on Google, with 3.5 billion searches per day you need to make sure your business has a fair chance of being found. Reviews on Google could be the first point of contact consumers have with your business, so it’s important to ask, are your reviews ready to spark a sale?
Let’s clarify a few terms:
Google’s Local Pack will display the most relevant businesses to match your search query and the location specified or what’s near you. See below how a search for ‘restaurants in London’ shows where the restaurants are located and important details such category, opening times and of course reviews.
Google’s Knowledge Panel provides a brief description of a business, photos, and all the important details. It often includes interesting information that Google has collected such as popular times to visit. You will find a business’s Knowledge Panel when searching for the business name but only if they are verified on Google Plus.
Getting your business on Google
One of the first steps to getting reviews on Google is to set up a verified business profile on Google My Business. Fill your profile with images and get active on Google Plus by sharing posts.
As Google continues to innovate local search, the sooner you start working on your Google Local Profile the better. You could soon find your business featuring in Google’s Local Pack, giving potential customers a quick insight to your business vs your competitors. You will also see your own Knowledge Panel on Google providing consumers with important information before they even visit your website.
Next step, get your reviews
Make getting reviews part of your after-sales strategy. Include calls to action on your website, customer emails, newsletters and if you have a shopfront then make a sign. However, there is no better way of obtaining reviews than personally requesting them.
Your customers can leave a review via your Knowledge Panel, Google Maps Listing or Google Plus Profile. Just look for the little box ‘Write A Review’.
Keep in mind the following:
Positive reviews are essential to your local SEO but there are many other factors that influence your position within the Google Local Pack. If you are concerned about your ranking position we offer a free initial consultation to discuss your concerns. Call today on 01444 645018.
There could well be an extra gift under our Christmas tree this winter from a certain major search engine, with the next Google Penguin Update likely to arrive within the next two months. The new real-time Penguin algorithm version 4.0 is due for release at the end of this year. We’ve been expecting it and we’re going by news from Gary Illyes, the Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google, who said it would be released in 2015.
What we are expecting of the next algorithm update is that it will be a real-time version, which means that the algorithm will update continuously in real time. The upcoming release is Penguin 4.0 and we’ve been told about these updates on many occasions in the past but until now we haven’t had a continuous update that won’t include any specific release dates. Instead of this, any detections of spammy links detected will be acted upon by Penguin.
When spammy links are removed once they are detected and the Google indexer is aware of this, the sites will stop being impacted by Penguin. The news on Penguin 4.0 is very brief at this stage but it’s intriguing to discover that it will indeed arrive before the end of 2015. So what is Real-time Penguin all about?
There’s not much information on the real-time algorithm update just yet but what we do know is that as soon as Google discovers that a link has been removed, the Penguin algorithm will do exactly what it says on the tin – process this in real time. You would therefore be able to recover from any penalty issued by Penguin pretty quickly, although you could also end up with a penalty just as quickly.
Here at Artemis we stay up-to-date with all the latest happenings at Google to ensure our clients’ websites benefit and traffic continues to increase. Get in touch with us today to find out more.
An effective SEO strategy that is solid and reliable is absolutely essential if any e-commerce site is to be successful in the long term. Whether your company is a miniature start-up or a global firm, SEO is what maximises the profitability of an e-commerce website.
The following reasons for SEO’s importance I the world of e-commerce come from a background of hard data rather than intuition, so you should take note of them when preparing your future SEO strategies…
Your efforts will always be more cost-effective when you are marketing strategy and sales are based around market and competition, thorough analysis of your situation and a tailored plan that complies with available resources and strengths.
The most competitive industries you may be forced to buy costly banner ads but with effective SEO you are less dependent on this traffic. While you still have the option of buying ads, effective SEO is a reliable way of ensuring your sales and profit continue to run smoothly. Traffic from organic search is free and that’s why SEO is so popular these days.
The successful e-commerce sites of this world take advantage of SEO and combine it with stuff like content marketing and social media marketing and various other marketing activities. Ultimately, you’ll achieve more by spending a lot less.
If you look at your analytics tool and identify where most of your traffic, sales and conversions come from, you’ll find that organic search is usually a top source of revenue. Profit-producing traffic is primarily driven by Google and if this isn’t the case for you, you are almost certainly making some mistakes down the line.
Nearly 90% of consumers now rely on search engines to clarify their purchase choices and if you don’t have an effective SEO strategy at your disposal, you’re probably invisible to a plethora of potential buyers.
It’s tempting to sit pretty on the organic search you get from Google but e-commerce sites can go so much further with a top quality SEO strategy that expands sales and revenue tenfold.
SEO is the main provider of results that are cost-effective, targeted and measureable, as well as long-lasting. You can’t stop SEO in its tracks – it doesn’t quite work like that.
Paid advertising may give you the idea that pulling the plug results in a dramatic drop in traffic. SEO on the other hand just keeps on rolling. An effective SEO strategy improves itself year on year, so there’s no clean slate and starting from scratch.
You can use what you did last year to improve consistently and ultimately dominate or even own your particular niche.
Artemis Marketing has over 10 years experience delivering unrivalled SEO results for clients that include global e-commerce sites through to local campaigns for small businesses.
Get in touch today to find out how we can help your e-commerce site take the next step to achieving more revenue.
Last Sunday, in what proved to be rather unfortunate weather conditions, we took to our road bikes and competed in the annual Greater Haywards Heath Bike Ride in aid of Kangaroos, a non-profit organisation that provides a wide range of recreational and leisure activities for children and young adults with severe learning disabilities.
The Greater Haywards Heath Bike Ride is the largest cycling event in Sussex and we all thoroughly enjoyed taking part.
We were overwhelmed by the support we received and are absolutely delighted to announce that we managed to raise considerably more for Kangaroos than our original target. The £1,468.42 we raised will certainly do a great deal for what is an incredibly positive, hard-working and inspirational organisation.
We would like to thank everyone who supported our effort through their contributions and wish Kangaroos all the best as they continue to provide a wonderful service to disabled children and young adults in Mid Sussex.
To find out how we can transform your website through expert SEO services and techniques to generate more for your business, contact Artemis Marketing today.
Quality content is now a top priority, but what exactly do we need to look out for when separating the very best content from the rest? Quality content is now one of Google’s biggest ranking factors, so it’s essential that we’re able to identify what it is that makes content stand out.
To give you a better idea of what Google are after, here’s a list of characteristics every piece of content you write from now on should include.
Google introduced some clever algorithm updates that search for authoritative content through keyword synonyms and other related phrases, so stuffing your content full of keywords has essentially become a major backwards step.
You can make it easier for search engines to understand your content by structuring your keywords effectively across the page.
We rarely shy away from an opportunity to demonstrate our creative skills through clever headings and subtitles, so it’s a shame when you realise that readers don’t have time to work them out. Your titles need to be strong, clear, relatable and a realistic length.
Do your best to write for your audience rather than your peers, in which case you should be thinking about what your audience wants to read.
Avoid lots of technical jargon if you know they aren’t all that familiar with complex industry terms and avoid talking down to an audience primarily made up of industry professionals.
Content needs to be built around plenty of share value, so it helps to consider whether or not your social media followers would have an interest in it. Try reading your content back as a consumer to see whether or not it talks to you.
A ranking factors study from Searchmetrics suggested that the ideal word count for a page of content was 1000 words. However, there’s no strict set of rules you need to follow as far as word counts go, although Google does seem to favour longer, heavier content pages.
It’s quite easy to miss typos; no matter how much experience you have proofreading content.
You could lose significant credibility as a writer for constantly failing to pick up on your mistakes. It’s not always a bad idea to let someone else read your work before sending it out.
You should only ever link to reputable, high quality sources and this is something any experienced SEO will be aware of.
However, your links should also come from natural phrases within the text, so not just standard terms such as “click here” for instance.
Bulky text isn’t a good look, so use every ounce of creativity you’ve got to design a content page that’s well structured and appealing to the eye.
Avoid long paragraphs and throw in a few additional headers and bullet points, especially when listing. The most imposing images are best placed at the top of a content page.
There’s plenty of additional changes you could make to your content writing style in order to improve your ranking capabilities, but the characteristics mentioned above are certainly some of the most important when trying to get the upper hand with Google.
If you’re looking for unrivalled SEO results from a company that’s always up-to-date with the latest algorithm changes at Google, get in touch with Artemis today.
Small businesses are currently going through a phase of focusing on their brands instead of trying desperately to build more links as they look to succeed further in the world of search marketing.
The days where you could build a selection of target keywords and start ranking have long gone, with social media presence, pay-per-click advertising, user-friendly web design and SEO all essential parts of the process.
It’s now all down to how much you can impress Google, so a brand that’s well constructed is far more likely to rank well. Unfortunately, small businesses don’t necessarily have the resources other businesses have and may well have to carry out the entire branding process themselves.
It’s not uncommon for small businesses to build their own brands though, so all it takes is a little bit of hard work and dedication before you’ve got a brand that’s capable of success. Here’s what you need to prioritise:
There’s no better way to assert yourself as an industry leader and showcase your expertise than through social media. Joining a community of industry experts gives you the chance to tell everyone what your brand is about and lets you engage with potential followers, clients and customers.
64% of marketers are integrating social media into their marketing plans today, while 65% of marketers witnessed an improvement in search rankings after investing a minimum of 6 hours per week in social media, so it’s important that you jump on the bandwagon as quickly as possible before you get left behind.
You won’t get anywhere with a brand unless there’s something your followers can recognise you by. Logos have always been a crucial part of branding as they demonstrate what your business is all about. People don’t have the attention span in the modern day to focus on something that’s not going to be instantly recognisable.
Your logo will feature on everything that’s associated with your business, from your website and promotional materials to your business cards. Consistency is essential when branding as clients can easily lose faith if you aren’t coping with basic aesthetics.
Adults in the UK donated a staggering £10.4 billion in 2012/13, so it’s no surprise that charitable events are regarded as one of the best ways to build a brand within a community.
So much is donated to worthy causes because they help small businesses as well as those who need it most. As a brand you’ll get plenty of exposure and your business will gain huge amounts of awareness as a result of your participation. Don’t forget that people are attracted to the prospect of working with small businesses who like to help others.
We have over 10 years of experience delivery unrivalled SEO results here at Artemis, so be sure to get in touch with us if you’re hoping to push the success of your brand even further.
Artemis would like to wish every one of our clients a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It’s been a pleasure working with you all over the last 12 months and the entire office was certainly very grateful for the wonderfully festive gifts we received over the last couple of weeks. We look forward to a highly productive 2015 that is devoted to achieving the very best for your online business. See you all in the New Year!
We’re getting ever closer to the big day and for many online businesses the process of drawing in customers this month has been the predominant goal.
Online shopping has been a hugely popular choice for many consumers this year and business owners have done everything they can to take full advantage of the festive season through heavily planned and thoroughly scrutinised SEO campaigns.
Online retailers are always looking forward to introducing their own unique SEO campaign to entice a wider audience.
We’ve seen a hugely competitive retail market this year whereby many of John Lewis’ rivals have stepped up their game and introduced many a heart-melting advertisement.
With the popularity of the festive season growing every year since the first Coca-Cola advert in 1943, we’ve looked at three specifics associated with a successful Christmas SEO campaign.
Keeping your social accounts up to date with Christmassy-themed posts and putting a festive twist on your social media advertising is a great way of supporting your new SEO strategy.
The more social media accounts you use to spread the word the better, so make sure you take to more than just Twitter when introducing your products to the world.
Unfortunately, it’s no good coming up with a Christmas strategy at this stage in the year, so any last minute plans you might have to make your products a little more festive are going to have to be brief.
The biggest retailers make the most of 6 months worth of planning from the research phase all the way through to executing their new strategy. You simply won’t have the effect your hoping for if you start too late.
Not all your products will have the same effect as others over the Christmas period, so it’s important that you prioritise certain products that are more likely to sell.
John Lewis were hugely successful in selling plushy Penguins this year as a result of their latest advertisement, so you need to consider what products of yours are more likely to attract the attention of your consumers.
Christmas can prove to be the most productive of times for many online businesses and we know exactly what it takes to adjust any SEO campaign to meet the demands of your clients.
If you’re interested to find out more, call us today and our friendly team will be happy to help.
For three years Google has attempted to implement Google Authorship into articles by linking an Author’s ‘digital signature’ through their Google+ account. The aim of this was to allow authors to build a reputation as a credited blogger or journalist, thus giving their articles more credibility. This would in turn generate more traffic for the websites and articles associated with credited bloggers.
With Google constantly pushing their Google+ social platform, it did not come as much of a surprise that Google Authorship was linked to your Google+ account, however it still hasn’t helped Google+ gain any popularity and Google has even recently announced that Authorship has not affected website traffic in the way that they had predicted.
In fact latest updates suggest that Authorship has had little to no effect in increasing traffic to pages, so after a three year long experiment, Google has finally announced that Authorship will be entirely removed from search results.
Bloggers soon took to Twitter to suggest that Google had used authorship as a sinister bait to entice people to use their social network as it struggled to compete with the ‘social media big boys’ such as Facebook.
Google on Authorship. pic.twitter.com/v9A9ivNWDF
— Stacey MacNaught (@staceycav) August 29, 2014
“Unfortunately, we’ve also observed that this information isn’t as useful to our users as we’d hoped, and can even distract from those results. With this in mind, we’ve made the difficult decision to stop showing authorship in search results.”
Google analyst John Mueller concluded that the complete removal of author information did not seem to reduce traffic to websites and as such the decision has been made to implement it indefinitely.
This is just another example of how Google can change their rules over night and why we need to constantly stay updated of everything that’s going on in the SEO world.
