Automation Central

Get Higher Google Ranking PART TWO

mattjull — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 01:38:32 +0000

Images on your website

Google Ranking doesn't end once you've built a website - in fact this is where it starts. There are many factors contributing to where your brand sits in organic searches as far as Google Ranking goes.

. Google LOVES fast-loading websites but many web designers overlook the importance of a few key areas that effect the speed that your website loads at, particularly on mobile devices.
Ever looked something up on google using your mobile device, and it took forever to load? There are a number of factors that cause this.

Images that haven't been compressed and optimised can slow your website loading time down dramatically.
Depending on their size, some can take up to 30-seconds to load.

In this day and age people don't have the patience for slow sites to load.

Your images could be losing you a high percentage of online 'visitors' and customers!

Key-wording

There's no point in loading nice images to your website without naming them before you do so. This allows yet another avenue for potential customers to find your brand online.

Google ranking evaluators penalise sites that don't use effective key-wording on their images and pages.

When you save an image to your files before loading it to your site, it's key to "save as" and give it a relevant title. For example: a florist in Parnell wants to add a new picture of a bouquet to their site. If they "save as" and give it the title "bouquet" this isn't going to help people find their business in Google searches. Saving it as "Parnell florist" or "Auckland florist" is key-wording so when people search for Auckland florists, their website comes up in organic searches.

Google loves new content!

Adding new images, blogs, vlogs and information to your site regularly is a MUST.

Interesting material that keeps people on your website for good lengths of time is crucial. This dictates to Google web evaluators that you are an authority in your field and your material is relevant to the readers.

Topics don’t even have to be about your products or services! They could be helpful tips (so for the florist for example, “3-ways to increase the life of my bouquet” or “how to grow tulips from seed”. Again, these titles will bring your brand and website up when people google “how to increase the life of my bouquet”.

Is your website secure?

Does your website begin with http, or https?
In 2017 Google upped the stakes to https. Essentially they and Chrome have clamped down on cheap, non-secured sites so it’s enormously important to purchase an SSL certificate from them to fully secure your site. (SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer). Effectively by purchasing this certificate, it will make your website data secure.

The security of your website is a major factor with Google ranking evaluators and they will penalise you if you aren't secure.

Chrome has started putting warnings in place on websites that aren’t secure. This of course will suggest to potential visitors that they shouldn’t visit your site, causing you to lose visitors. In laymans’ terms, secure sites intentionally rank higher than non-secure sites.

Is your website mobile-responsive?

While most assume that websites will appear on mobile devices looking exactly the same, this is not correct.

The material on your website may be loaded in different sized and shaped modules with, for example, a vertical row on the right hand side for images or ads.
Converting to mobile, your website will be stacked vertically, with material stacked from left to right from your original website on your PC.

Google is now ranking websites based on how they appear on mobile devices now: so it’s crucial you take steps to ensure they layout is consistent and flows properly.

You'll see to the right, this image shows how our website appears on Desktop or PC. The below image shows how our website appears on mobile devices.

Get in touch and find out how we can help grow your leads and automate your business

The post Get Higher Google Ranking PART TWO appeared first on Automation Central.

Get Higher Google Ranking PART ONE

mattjull — Fri, 11 May 2018 00:40:05 +0000

What is Google Ranking?

Google website evaluators are teams of real people, not faceless bots!

These evaluators work with a sliding scale that allows them to rank your website.

How they rank your website affects where your website shows up on Google organic searches.

Evaluators measure your content and pages between ‘lowest’ and ‘highest’ (highest being best) based on the quality of your content in their eyes.

This scale is applied to all of your pages on your website, not just your homepage.

The more ‘highest’ ranks you get, the higher your chances are of getting a higher listing on their search engine page.

Conversely, the more ‘lowest’s you get, the further down the pages you’ll probably appear.

Real Links To Lift Your Google Ranking

First on the list here for Google evaluators is that they want to see clearly on your homepage who is responsible for the design and content on your website.

This is just to assure readers that you are a legitimate and trustable site.

Contact details are essential, and the more the better.

While some companies will only have a “submit your query here” box for contact, it’s important that readers have a variety of ways to contact you.

Phone numbers, email addresses, links to Facebook and other social media platforms and the likes are really important to Google.

The reason Google likes a lot of links is that they create more online traffic for Google to track.

Dont plagiarise!

Trust and know that Google evaluators will catch you out if you plagiarise material from other sites. The evaluators check each page on your website and look for any signs that your material is simply ‘copied and pasted’ from somewhere else. This includes images, videos, sound, copy, branding, logos, the works.

If you’ve copied any of these things from elsewhere and you are caught out you will be severely penalised by Google.

What Google wants to see is quality content from text to images and videos, that achieve your pages’ aim for readers.

They want to see material developed by you (or your marketing team). They want visitors to your website getting ALL the information they want or need easily and clearly, without being confused or frustrated.

At the end of the day these expectations from Google are all about the user (your potential customers) getting the best possible experience and service from the best sites online around the world through the best possible search engine (Google!).

Reviews & Testimonials

If you don’t have a ‘reviews’ or testimonials page this isn’t helping you with your ranking.

Good or bad, all reviews are helpful in Google ascertaining how trustworthy your website and business are.

If you have 20 good reviews and only one bad one, it’s fair to presume Google will not penalise you too badly.

If you have poor reviews on any social media platforms as well, of course, this will arouse suspicion and affect your ranking.

At the end of the day, these expectations from Google are all about the user (your potential customers) getting the best possible experience and service from the best sites online around the world through the best possible search engine (Google!).

Get in touch and find out how we can help grow your leads and automate your business

The post Get Higher Google Ranking PART ONE appeared first on Automation Central.

What Is SEO Doing For Your Website And Business?

mattjull — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 21:42:42 +0000

Many business owners are baffled by SEO and what it is... In confusion they throw up their arms and abdicate that side of their business, paying whopping monthly fee's and having no idea what they’re getting in return.

This may even be you... You’re NOT ALONE! Unfortunately we meet tonnes of people like this every year.

Even as an online marketing specialist I'm sometimes stumped by SEO jargon and Google ranking techniques... To be honest, like everyone else, I've been known to switch off when people start talking about it.

But the fact is, Google move the goal-posts constantly and SEO is an ever-evolving beast. Understandably, the everyday business person doesn't want to know about it, so they turn over the role to a specialist that’s all over Google every day.

But how do you know if they're doing their job and can be trusted to know what they’re talking about?

Unfortunately, there are some cowboys out there and recently we've caught a few out.

Some believe SEO itself to be a complete hoax because of the damage these cowboys had caused - however, what we do know is that so long as there are search-engines, there will always be a way to optimise your site to rank higher.

You may think receiving a 32-page report each month (that you may not understand) means your ‘trusted’ SEO specialist is working super-hard, optimising your Google ranking.

What you don't know is any person with an ounce of smarts can download free Google reports – and there’s a good chance that is exactly what your specialist is doing!

What you should be concerned about is the potential harm they may be causing to your website by using cow-boy tactics to try to achieve higher ranking (if they are doing anything at all.)

Too often we’ve seen clients that have engaged an SEO ‘expert’ and see no increase in traffic, only to find after some quick research that they’ve done nothing at all.

It’s really disappointing to see clients being taken advantage of like this – and it’s a costly mistake!

SOOO, we’ve put together a FREE offer for you...

We’d like to offer you a FREE 5-point website and SEO check to make sure you’re getting the most out of your SEO company (or freelancer).

It only takes minutes and it will either be completely reassuring for you to find your SEO company is doing everything they can to maximise SEO for you...

OR...

It’ll be a disappointing eye-opener as to what they haven’t done at all.

Either way, at least you'll know what's really going on behind the scenes.

Are you up for the challenge?

Simply click this button, fill out the form and one of our team will personally check out your site then send you a 5 Point Report.

If you're interested in SEO for your website you might like this article too "What's Hot In SEO 2018"

The post What Is SEO Doing For Your Website And Business? appeared first on Automation Central.

What’s Hot In 2018 With SEO

mattjull — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 23:45:09 +0000

CAVEAT: The following still applies in 2019!

What’s Hot In SEO (Search Engine Optimisation or “Optimization” For Our US Cousins) For Your Website In 2018

It’s well known that Google loves to keep us business owners on our toes, constantly shifting the goalposts and running the game to their own playbook, leaving us second-guessing their next move - or at least that’s how it feels sometimes!

For SEO, 2018 has started out no different - we’re on a new playing field compared to last year.

SEO 2018 Tip #1

Site speed seems to be Google's bugbear right now – especially mobile site speed.

90% of the time, images will be the biggest culprit to a slow loading site.

The fastest and simplest fix to increasing site speed is compressing all your images.

For WordPress sites, you could use a plugin like WP Shush for this.

On other sites, you may have to download all your images, compress them and then reload them.

Sounds like a lot of work, right?

Not as much work as having to find more customers because your website isn’t ranking on Google anymore – so well worth the effort in my opinion.

SEO 2018 Tip #1

Site speed seems to be Google's bugbear right now – especially mobile site speed.

90% of the time, images will be the biggest culprit to a slow loading site.

The fastest and simplest fix to increasing site speed is compressing all your images.

For WordPress sites, you could use a plugin like WP Shush for this.

On other sites, you may have to download all your images, compress them and then reload them.

Sounds like a lot of work, right?

Not as much work as having to find more customers because your website isn’t ranking on Google anymore – so well worth the effort in my opinion.

Basically, it’s a trust thing…

Google looks at your website and asks, “Is this website secure?”

Yes
Great let’s give a higher search rank

No
We don’t trust this website and don’t want to send our customers there so let’s give it a lower search ranking. Once your website is secure, they’ll even give you a little padlock icon for this, like a badge of honour - lol.

To add an SSL Certificate to your website, making it secure and thereby getting the HTTPS “badge of honour” padlock you’ll need to get in touch with your web hosting service provider (the people you pay a monthly host fee to)

SEO 2018 Tip #3

Content!

New, fresh content.

Let me rephrase that.

Consistently new, fresh content…

Every month, at a minimum you should be posting new content about your products or services.

A favourite way of doing this is posting blogs.

Tell stories about your products, better still, write case studies about your customers using your products or how your service improved your customer's life.

Make it relevant, make it interesting (to your audience, not you).

And, BE CONSISTENT.

Google LOVES new content?

SEO 2018 Tip #4

Everything else that worked before with SEO, still works now.

Use keywords in your headings, sub-headings, and copy.

Use keywords in the naming protocols for images, ALT text, blogs, pages and page URL's.

Use internal links from your home page to inside pages.

Use a natural backlinking strategy ( but beware of un-natural backlinks: i.e. buying 20,000 backlinks from dodgy websites).

Use meta tags for every page. This is like free advertising space to tell people why they should visit your website, it’s crazy how many website pages have the default meta tag instead of a purpose written one.

Get in touch with us if you have any questions you want answered - we'd love to help!

Get in touch and find out how we can help grow your leads and automate your business

The post What’s Hot In 2018 With SEO appeared first on Automation Central.

Blog Ideas To Grow Your Website Content

mattjull — Sun, 21 Jan 2018 13:49:28 +0000

Increase your turnover and get some Google Love from these blog ideas!

Depending on what your blog content is, it needs to be relatable and interesting. Blogs don't actually have to be about your business or product – they just need to be pleasantly readable, informative and interesting. This may sound like it doesn't make sense when the purpose you are spending time blogging on your business website is to attract new, ideal customers looking for your product or service. But think of blogs like an interesting conversation between yourself and a stranger. You’ll remember what that stranger looks like (your brand!), and the conversation you had. Every time you write a blog post, it's one more indexed page on your website, which means it's one more opportunity for you to show up in search engines, and to drive traffic to your website in organic search.

Here are some brilliant examples of blog-ideas that are the most popular and most successful for pulling new readership and potentially new ideal customers. (from quicksprout.com, US)

1. Listicles

A ‘listicle’ (list-article) is an article that contains a list of items, for example “10 best ways to get...” or “5 things you need to know about...”. Some marketers have a love/hate relationship with listicles. Listicles, like any form of content marketing, have their own pro’s and cons: but let’s face it, people love to read lists. It’s not just a trend. It’s scientifically proven! That’s why the article you’re reading right now is a listicle!

2. How to’s

People generally hate reading instruction manuals. When was the last time you snuggled up with a glass of wine and the instruction manual to your toaster? How do people figure out how to do stuff? They Google it. WikiHow became insanely popular based on how-to articles alone. You might be surprised to see the kind of things people are Googling. If you can find your niche audience, cater to their curiosities, and give them some helpful answers, you can’t help but create a popular blog.

3. Bacon

Everyone loves bacon.
Huffington Post is one of the most popular blogs online, and it has an entire archive of bacon articles - with 9 million followers.

Of course, your brand or product probably is so far away from Bacon as a topic you could think it’s utterly irrelevant and a waste of time writing about. But it can attract interested because it’s so left-field as a topic. It’s not a trend going away soon, so get creative and join this huge audience!

4. Beginner guides

Before you can convince someone that you know the advanced stuff, start with 101 beginner guides. Everyone has to start somewhere. Beginner guides are often the way bloggers build organic search traffic at the start. Subject matter experts, on the other hand, are always seeking out the most credible ultimate guides for their areas of expertise. The term “ultimate guide,” however, is a bit overused. You can use some alternate terms if you want, such as these from Business Casual Copywriting:

Essential Guide
Complete Guide
Uncensored Guide
Last Guide to ____ You’ll Ever Need

If you’re an expert on something, creating an ultimate guide is an ultimately awesome way to do some ultimately popular blogging.

5. Frequently asked questions

Be warned that posting answers to frequently asked questions online won’t stop people from asking anyway. They do, however, serve as a resource for people, and they are often featured on e-commerce websites—but overlooked on blogs. FAQs are blogging gold in any age. Google’s algorithm uses FAQs, questions, and other popular topics as part of its Knowledge Graph. If you’re lucky, you might score a top spot in this coveted place.

6. People features

Featuring select people—customers, professionals, authorities, leaders, etc.,—is a great way to add personality to your blog and create a sense of connection. One of the most popular blogs doing this today is Humans of New York.

7. Myth-debunking

Every industry has facts and fiction, which is why shows like Mythbusters got so popular. We love learning what we’ve been doing or thinking wrong this whole time, so popular bloggers debunk myths.

Get in touch and find out how we can help grow your leads and automate your business

The post Blog Ideas To Grow Your Website Content appeared first on Automation Central.

Bacon! Even Off Topic-Topics Can Create Interest

mattjull — Sun, 21 Jan 2018 13:31:32 +0000

Bacon ….so we had to write about Bacon to test the theory that it’s a totally valid blog-topic across all industries and will pull the readers in, because so many people simply love bacon!

Why would we ever write a blog about bacon when the topic has absolutely nothing to do with our brand? Well, you’re here so you’ve proved our point! Pretty much everyone loves bacon – to the point where the Huffington Post has an entire website dedicated to it and a Facebook page of almost 9-million fans.

In writing about Bacon we’re simply taking advantage of an online public mutual commonality to allow a broad audience of readers…this is key in gaining more readers or potential customers via online marketing - and getting your brand out to a wider audience.

In New Zealand Freedom Farms came about after directors Gregor and Cameron decided they wanted the freedom to buy bacon that was from free-range farms, that could prove traceability of their meat, their animal welfare and their life history.

From a small start-up company of 2, to become the most successful and recognised organic/free-range pork brand in NZ in a very short amount of time, Freedom Farms have clearly worked tirelessly to get their brand and product considered ‘mainstream’ and stocked in all major supermarkets.

With a dedicated focus on their marketing, they have an active and regularly updated website, a current Facebook page with almost 5000 fans, Twitter and Instagram. Their website spouts informative articles about animal welfare and educational pieces on the five freedoms that constitute true freedom-farming that is sustainable and ethical.

Who would have thought a bacon company could generate so much interest?

“Before we started Freedom Farms we knew that every time we went to the supermarket we simply had no choice… buy bacon from animals raised in cages and pens and usually imported from an unknown country… or go without. In our homes we sit around the kitchen table and talk about the way we farm animals for food these days… we worry about the lack of traceability and what we aren’t being told. We figure if people are given the choice they will vote with their wallets. Look what’s already happened with free range eggs.”

Freedom Farms smart, interesting online content across all of their media platforms are clearly one of the main reasons their brand is now so popular and deservedly so – their ethos is enormously respected and thoroughly appreciated. We love New Zealand’s Freedom Farms bacon (their streaky bacon is divine) - and we can devour it with a clear conscience!

Back to blog content and marketing

You've just clicked onto our blog about Bacon - and Automation Central is actually about online marketing - which proves that the content you use on your blogs and social media platforms doesn't necessarily have to be about your brand or business. Use these platforms to create relationships with broader audiences using interesting, catchy material that a mass audience would appreciate.

Think outside the square with your marketing content – it’s not just about your brand – it’s about your business culture, beliefs, interests and personality.

Get in touch and find out how we can help grow your leads and automate your business

The post Bacon! Even Off Topic-Topics Can Create Interest appeared first on Automation Central.

How Online Marketing Can Increase Your Sales

mattjull — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 00:36:55 +0000

Will marketing online increase my sales turnover? The short answer here is... absolutely!

Check out these statastics:

When you consider 3.4-million New Zealanders use the internet across a week, that’s an enormous number of Kiwis that are looking for something online. They may not be looking for your product or service, but purely that they are online allows you the opportunity to get your brand in front of them using powerful Social Media advertising platforms. While having a business website is a ‘given’ in this day and age, people now actually trust social media content over websites.

While businesses should have a website, they should be using Social Media platforms and Email Marketing to direct people to it, rather than leaving it sitting lifeless. (The bonus here is this increases your Google Ranking too.)

Increase your sales by keeping these stats in mind:

97% of internet users research online before making a significant purchase.

90% of Kiwis over 15-years use social media (Neilson)

90% of Kiwis are estimated to own Smartphones this year

56% of Kiwis access the internet via their mobile phone

2-million Kiwis shop online

2.9million Kiwis use Facebook regularly

Facebook itself is the top of the list as far as preferred and successful advertising platforms around the world – and it’s used more in New Zealand and Australia than anywhere else.

With clever Facebook advertising campaigns with relevant content, you have an audience waiting to be targeted online. Campaigns can be targeted to specific locations, age groups, genders and more so it’s certainly not a waste of time or money – you just have to pay for the privilege – and it’s not expensive compared to your ROI.

You want potential customers to think of your brand or product first and foremost when they’re considering purchasing, and using Facebook is a great way to allow them to do this by repeat-advertising.

Get in touch and find out how we can help grow your leads and automate your business

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