Archive for the ‘WNW Staff Blogs’ Category

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Why You Should Be Paying Attention To Google’s New PlusOne Button

Jun
01
2011

Google has now made several attempts to create its own social network (Google Buzz, Google Wave) and failed, for the most part. Not that this failure can really dent its huge grasp on the internet, it’s merely a matter of time before the Search Engine giant finds the right way to bring everyone who searches with them together in an organised way.

Google +1 ButtonToday they released an experimental +1 button. This is essentially the ‘Like’ button from Facebook, but it links up with your Public Google Profile. (If you have a Google account you can create one, mine is here for example: https://profiles.google.com/camillawnw )

The +1 button can be clicked to indicate you like a website, and if you choose to make your +1 selections public then they will be shown to your Google Profile friends and connections, and if not they will simply be shown to all browsers as an anonymous number of +1 clicks. The +1 clicks are managed and recorded by Google, giving them a map of the internet and the most PlusOne’d and least PlusOne’d websites.

Now I wouldn’t normally write a blog post for every little beta Google brought out, but this one is different. Search Engine Optimisation (getting your website top of the search engines for your chosen phrases) is about your website is accessible, clear, usable, understood and respected by the Search Engines. One of the many ways Google, for instance, assesses your website’s worth is by checking how many people have linked to it. They consider a link in like a vote of worth from an internet user (after all, for the most part you would link to sites to show friends or colleagues their content, making them useful in some way).
So suddenly we have a brand new way of Google seeing how many people think your website is worthwhile – how many people have clicked your +1 button.

It’s not panic stations of course, but this isn’t one to ignore. Google are giving us a direct way to demonstrate how many people like our sites and consider the content worth sharing, and that’s something to encourage. Added to this, social networks are built on sharing, and the +1 button is something that turns the relatively inactive Google Profile into something that can share and bookmark, and do all the things that encourage web users to communicate.

They are rolling out the +1 button gradually, and if you don’t already have it as a tab in your profile you can sign up here: http://www.google.com/experimental/

To add the +1 button to your site (which you can do without a Profile), code and instructions can be found on this page: http://www.google.com/webmasters/+1/button/index.html. (Contact us if you want to do this but need help)

It may not take off, especially as many Google users are not familiar with Google Profiles and may not be interested in one if they already have their established social networks. But if it does take off, you’re going to want to be on board.

About The Author: Camilla Todd manages Search Engine Optimisation, social media campaigns and brand awareness for WNW Design SEO clients. You can follow her on Twitter @camilla_wnw, email her at camilla@wnwdesign.co.uk or phone on 01395 542569. You can also follow WNW Design on Facebook here.

Posted in Blogs By Camilla T., Google, SEO, Social Media, WNW Staff Blogs | Comments Off

Google Adwords Rules

Jun
01
2011

It has slipped the attention of many Google Adwords users that Google have updated their guidelines on landing pages that capture visitor information. Typically this would include registering for downloads, extra content or seminars, webinars or site access.

For most users trading in an honest and upfront way this change should have zero direct impact, however it’s worth being aware of the change and making sure your pages are clearly following the guidelines.

One of the driving forces behind this is to ensure transparency, as Google puts it, “In order to build trust with users, your site should be explicit in three primary areas: the nature of your business; how your site interacts with a visitor’s computer; and how you intend to use a visitor’s personal information, if you request it.”

In order to ensure your website page provides transparency, Google offers advice including

• Openly share info about your business and clearly define what your business is or does.
• Honour the deals and offers that you promote in your ad.
• Deliver products and services as promised.
• Only charge users for the products and services that they order and successfully receive.
• Distinguish sponsored links from the rest of your site content.
• Ensure prices or billing methods are easily located on the website and are obvious to users.*
• In cases of recurrent billing or subscription situation, the price and billing interval must be present in a clear and obvious location on the page where the user provides their information, and a mandatory opt-in box must be present.*

*Providing prices and billing information in very small print on the webpage is not considered “obvious” to the user.

Most of us would consider these guidelines as pretty fundamental to running a legitimate business but the fact Google feels required to provide them is a sign that may be not all websites follow those basic principles.

They also are tightening up on abuses of personal information and insisting websites give greater control to users on how their information is gathered and used. Again most of this is common sense and largely already covered by existing legislation, certainly this side of the Atlantic.

Guidelines include:

• Unless necessary for the product or service that you’re offering, don’t request personal information.
• If you do request personal information, provide a privacy policy that discloses how the information will be used.
• Give options to limit the use of a user’s personal information, such as the ability to opt out of receiving newsletters.
• Allow users to access your site’s content without requiring them to register. Or, provide a preview of what users will get by registering.

To read the guidelines in full visit http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=46675

About The Author: Nigel Wilkinson is the Managing Director of WNW Design Ltd. In addition to his business interests, Nigel is married to Movement teacher Michelle, the father of teenage twins, an avid Networker, a Social Media commentator, a keen golfer and football supporter. He is also an active member of Exmouth Chamber of Commerce, being Chairman from 2009 – 2011.You can follow him on Twitter @nigelwnw, or telephone on 01395 542569. You can also find WNW Design on Facebook here.

Posted in Blogs By Nigel W., Google, Internet Marketing, Law!, Pay Per Click, WNW Staff Blogs | Comments Off

Take Control of Your Social Media Time Management

Apr
15
2011

One of Social Media’s big attractions is its immediacy – updates and responses are fast and live, the stream of information is non-stop. That attraction can also be your downfall if you allow it to break your concentration on its own terms, and time mangement (or complete lack thereof) is a big issue for new and seasoned users alike.

I certainly could not manage one account let alone several without a structure time management plan to work from, and I thought I’d outline the basics of how to create one for any Social Media beginners or those struggling to cope with the constant barrage of information on any Social Media platform. I’m not going to mention software in this post, just go over what you need to do – I may post a blog recommending the tools you can use to accomplish this later.

On any Social Media platform, you are going to be doing one of three things: Creating, Reading or Reacting.

CREATING

Tweeting on Twitter, posting a status update on Facebook, posting a video on YouTube… you get the idea – anything you produce from scratch to share or engage with others.

~ Set aside specific times. Deciding on an exact time of the week or time of the day (depending on your update frequency) during which you sit down and create content, means you can focus completely.

~ Schedule content. Depending on how often you intend to create content, scheduling it ahead of time can be very time-effective. Plenty of Twitter and Facebook clients will allow you to schedule updates ahead of time, so you can plan a whole week or updates based on when you can spread information (if you know a new product will be available on a specific day for example, or a promotion is coming up) and then just leave it to do its thing.

When deciding when you’re going to set aside time to schedule or create content, bear in mind when your business might present inspiration. If you run a shop that takes deliveries over the weekend, scheduling your creation/scheduling time on Monday morning would make sense as you will have all the new products available to work into your updates.

READING

This will be more important for you if you intend to use Social Media as a networking tool, and less important if you are using it to make yourself available to customers – either way it’s important to set aside time to read the updates from your peers and customers.

~ Set aside specific times. This is another thing worth scheduling, like creating. Set aside a time when you can read through latest updates and forward on (‘RT’ on Twitter, ‘Share’ on Facebook) or respond to any information posted.

~ Prioritise. You can also make this a lot easier by utilising things like Hootsuite’s ability to group Twitter-friends into columns – meaning you can have a column for people you know you want to check every day and leave the rest for a less regimented read-through weekly, for example.

REACTING

This is the perilous bit – watching for responses and messages from your peers and customers can waste a whole day away, but ignoring them can lead to you losing custom.

~ Set up alerts. On whatever platform you are using, ensure that anything directed at you specifically, or a response to anything you post, sends you email alerts. Every single platform will offer these, and if it doesn’t then software developed for it will.
Your type of business and messages received will dictate how often you monitor these alerts and fast you respond, so that can be flexible, the main thing is to set up one central email that receives all alerts and gets checked by someone, so that messages directed at you are being seen and responded to.

~ Set aside specific times. It’s a good idea to schedule specific times during the day to read alerts and respond to them, rather than responding to each individually as they come through.

Remember that unlike email, Social Meda conversations are public. When I visit your company Facebook Page I can see if you have responded to a customer’s recent request for information, or if you haven’t.

Taking control of when you give attention to Social Media can make a huge difference in the quality of attention you can devote too – when you’re working in a scheduled window of time you can relax and focus fully, rather than worrying about all the other things you feel you should be doing instead!

Initially you may not need a plan quite as detailed as this, so you could start without and re-assess as you go, introducing ideas as you need them.

About The Author: Camilla Todd manages Search Engine Optimisation, social media campaigns and brand awareness for WNW Design SEO clients. You can follow her on Twitter @camilla_wnw, email her at camilla@wnwdesign.co.uk or phone on 01395 542569. You can also follow WNW Design on Facebook here.

Posted in Blogs By Camilla T., Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media, Twitter, WNW Staff Blogs | Comments Off

Etiquette when contacting sites for a reciprocal link

Mar
17
2011

In one of my previous blogs I wrote about link building and its value for the search engine optimisation of a website. Relevant links are a very important part of the search engine optimisation as they bring inbound links to the website.

Once we have found a valuable link and added it to our links page, it’s time to contact the website administrator and ask for a reciprocal link.

There are a few things to remember before doing that.

First of all, find the correct contact details. The obvious place to go is the contact page. In the case of link building though, check the website’s links page first. Some websites place contact details for getting in touch about the links exchange in here and your email will reach the addressee faster if you consult the links page first.

If those details are not to be found on there, go to the contact page then. And again, try to find the most relevant contact. Some websites put more than one email address depending on the nature of the enquiry. Always choose the one that’s the most relevant.

Once the contact details are found, put the right title of your enquiry. Do not change it if the title appears automatically but never leave it blank. Depending on the content of the email, you might want to put “We have linked to…”, “Links exchange reminder” or “Your link will be removed shortly” in the subject field.

In the first case, place the name of the company. The addressee of the message will see that the email hasn’t been sent automatically, that it was a human being who found their details and contacted them. This is very important as most automated messages are deleted without being read.

Place the “Links exchange reminder” title in the second email you send later to the same company (if they do not respond to the first). You may wish to send a third reminder, but be wary of pestering.

The content of the message plays a crucial role in the links exchange process. Make sure it’s not too long as people get discouraged by seeing long chunk of text and simply won’t read it. Your message should be relatively short but still contain all the important information.

The best thing to do is to make a plan of what you want to say. Explain briefly the reason for the email. Explain that the links exchange will benefit both companies by building inbound links. It is also worth mentioning that your company offers related products/services but is not competitive. It’s handy to place the link to your site’s links page so that the addressee can click on it and check their link is actually there. Always include your linking details: title, description & URL. If this is the second or third email, mention that you emailed about the links swap some time before but didn’t get a reply.

At the end of the message ask for a reply, whether they will be reciprocating the link or not. If you’re emailing for the final time, say you will remove the link if it is not reciprocated, and always give a deadline.
Try to keep the links exchange emails simple, short and always use professional and courteous language.
It’s worth keeping all link communication in relevant client folders for future reference.

About The Author: Agnieszka Wach is the administrator and receptionist for WNW Design, and also assists the SEO team with website optimisation. You can email her at agnieszka@wnwdesign.co.uk or phone her on 01395 542569. You can also follow WNW Design on Facebook.

Posted in Blogs By Agnieszka W., WNW Staff Blogs | 2 Comments »

Happy Holidays From WNW Design

Dec
24
2010

We’d like to wish a Happy Holiday (Christmas, Solstice, or whatever else you choose to celebrate) to all our clients, suppliers and partner companies. Thanks for helping to make 2010 a great year! We’ve expanded the team again this year, with Glenn joining the sales team at the beginning of the year and Jack joining the development team more recently.

We also celebrated WNW Design’s tenth birthday in 2010, and as part of that we gave £100 to the ‘West of England School for the Blind’ for every new hosting client we took on during the year. We are really proud to have raised something in excess of £2000 for the school.

We endured quite a few months of noise and disruption as the Exmouth town centre developments laboured on, and meanwhile inside the office we utilised the wall space to completely remap our work process and input this into our management software. We took the time to revise our Disaster Recovery Plan, and put Social Media Guidelines into place for members of staff.

Not only did we continue to develop our eCommerce software ‘Mazurka’ with new modules and integration functionality (recently including eBay and Amazon) but we also redesigned and rebuilt our own website in same, and made efforts to become more Green and efficient by moving to email invoicing.

Our blog posts of note from 2010 include:

5 Ways To Increase Productivity & Focus: Plan It, Time It, Isolate, Enjoy, & Flex!
Learning Lessons From Business Mistakes
Are You Optimising Your Images For The Search Engines?
Facebook Group vs Page – Which Is Better?
Does Your Website Comply With Legal Accessibility Requirements?
Don’t sabotage your Search Engine Optimisation: How best to use URL shortening
Recruiting Excellent Staff
Pay Per Click – It’s The Quality That Counts!
Managing the Numbers
Why You Should Optimise Your Places Listing For Prime Position in Google
How (or Why) do you use Hashtags on Twitter?

We have great plans for 2011, and are looking forward to expanding and developing with the same success we have enjoyed in 2010!

We are finishing today at 1pm, and will be back in the office on January 4th. Over the Christmas period you can email us in an emergency here.

Have a great break, and we look forward to seeing you all in 2011!

~ The WNW Design Team

Posted in Blogs By Camilla T., WNW Staff Blogs | Comments Off

How (or Why) do you use Hashtags on Twitter?

Oct
12
2010

It’s always interesting to watch how systems set up by a platform (hashtags on Twitter in this case) are taken up by the communities using it and evolve with their requirements [Mags makes a useful correction below in the comments to point out that in fact the Twitter community introduced hashtags and Twitter later picked up on it, thanks Mags]. Hashtags were, I imagine, set up with a view to organising conversions so that people could join groups discussing certain topics. For SEO this means getting your message heard or just lifting your profile is easier when using hashtags to join conversational groups and meet new people.

But hashtags are used in all kinds of other ways, (like many others we even use ours as a trigger for our website to pull in a Tweet to the homepage) and I’ve noticed a growing trend in my fellow Tweeps of using a hashtag more as a short snappy full-stop to a message, rather than a tag they actually expect others to be using or to take on.

So, I’m interested, when you use hashtags in your Tweets, what is your intention? Do you give it conscious thought, are you trying to join other conversations, are you doing it just for fun?

Comment here in reply, or you can Tweet your reply to my account: @camilla_wnw and I’ll copy them into the comments, so everyone can see the answers.

Posted in Blogs By Camilla T., Social Media, Twitter, WNW Staff Blogs | 16 Comments »

Managing the Numbers

Aug
23
2010

In the early, exciting stages of starting and running a business it’s often a case of head down and just doing stuff, marketing, selling, manufacturing, accounting etc. and you pretty much know where the business is because you are the one doing everything.

Monitoring Key Performance Indicators (KPI) seems pointless at this stage. However, often as the business grows this lack of information continues and management rely on “gut feeling” or a sense that “I started my business and I know how it works” to make decisions.
But perception and reality can be deceiving. What can seem rewarding and profitable can, when subjected to analysis, prove an expensive waste of time. For example a client who is fun to work with, who calls you regularly for advice and pleasant chats may appear to be your best client. When you track the hours spent against money received, often with late payments, your “best client” can rapidly drop to the bottom of the list!

The best time to develop systems for tracking the KPI is right at the very beginning, what is important in your business? Typical numbers on the sales and marketing side include Cost Per Lead, Cost per Sale, number of 1st and 2nd appointments, number of sales, value of sales, average sales value and Lifetime Value of a Client. Depending on your business you should be tracking some, all or variations on this theme on a regular basis.

I would even go so far as to argue that the more often and the more accurately you track these KPI the more successful your sales and marketing will be. For example, I used to take a stand at a high profile local exhibition. Each year we returned with a big pile of contacts, many who had expressed interest in our services. We always ended up making sales. Fantastic!

Of course we tracked the number of leads each year, monitored the source of appointments and always logged where sales came from. The exhibition was a huge success each year, generating leads, sales activity and new clients.

After a few years I did a closer examination of the cost of the stand, including the cost of manning the stand, the leads we collected and the number of sales we achieved. Then we looked at the Lifetime Value of the Clients we had obtained. This is where the reality and perception collided.

The Cost Per Lead and the Cost of Sale were higher than other marketing methods and the Lifetime Value of the Client from that particular exhibition was much lower than average. Not a bit lower, much lower. With the odd exception the quality was very poor. Suffice to say we have not exhibited there since.

So track all your KPI as soon as you start your business and track it in detail. You may not spot trends immediately but the fact you have that information means that eventually patterns will arise and decisions can be made on hard empirical evidence.

I have focused on sales and marketing in this article but does not mean it is not important to track KPI in other areas of the business, all areas should be under the microscope all the time. As the business grows this becomes the single most important factor in running a successful enterprise. So spend time to work out what your KPI are, track them religiously and watch your profits grow.

About The Author: Nigel Wilkinson is Managing Director at WNW Design and has recently launched a new business www.nican.co.uk . In addition to his business interests, Nigel is married to Yoga Dance teacher Michelle, the father of teenage twins, Chairman of Exmouth Chamber of Commerce, an avid Networker, a Social Media commentator, a keen golfer and football supporter. You can follow him on Twitter @nigelwnw, or telephone on 01395 542569. You can also find WNW Design on Facebook here.

Posted in Blogs By Nigel W., Business Development, Sales & Marketing, WNW Staff Blogs | Comments Off

Better Google Places Reputation Management

Aug
10
2010

The Search Engine has rolled out a small but important change to Google Places, even since we blogged about the Places functions a few days ago. In a step to increase the influence that companies have on their reputation, Google Places now allows businesses to repond to reviews that users post on their Place Page.

Optimising and monitoring your Place Page is even more important now, because not only will you be forewarned if there are any bad reviews posted, but you can have your say and get the chance to turn the situation around. Businesses that takes steps to apologise and work to regain customers’ trust online do notoriously well in social media circles, and therefore in search too, so keeping an eye on what is being said about your business online is crucial.

In order to respond to a review on your Places Page, you first need to claim your listing and verify your ownership. You will then be able to log in and post a reply to reviews. See our previous blog on why you should be claiming your Places Page.

Posted in Google, WNW Staff Blogs | Comments Off

Why You Should Optimise Your Places Listing For Prime Position in Google

Aug
05
2010

Google Places allows you to adjust your business Maps listing marker, add a short description for your business (and this can be crucial for listing you top of the list amongst your competitors), choose some categories for your business, add opening hours and images and a web address, etc. It is the area of Google responsible for choosing whose business gets listed at the top of the page with the map next to it, like this:

A local Google Places listing

So whether you are just concerned with listing for your company name, or you want to list top of that list of local businesses for keywords and a location, you need to claim and adjust your Places listing.

From a very basic brand management perspective, when someone clicks on your Place Page they see this:

Example of a Google Places Page

… a page containing information on your business, reviews others have posted for your business, plus below that an area listing other businesses Google thinks you might be interested in. Meaning, basically, that even on your own Places page you are competiting against your competition. Sure, someone has clicked to view your Page, but if you have no helpful or appealing information in there they may well see something they like the look of better in that ‘Nearby places you might like’ section.

From a more general Search Engine Optimisation perspective, the words you use in your Places Page will actually influence how far up the list you appear when Google decides to list several businesses next to that map at the top of the results page. How well you list is based on a mix of your location (ie: how close you are to the area the person searched for) and the keywords in your categories, description and company name. So you need to carefully optimise the text you specify (while ensuring it reads well, of course, and is not spammy).

So go to http://places.google.com and start by either logging in to your Google account or creating one. You then need to find your business listing, by searching for your company name in Web or Maps search, clicking through to the Places Page and then clicking the ‘Business Owner?’ link at the top right. Google will then take you through the steps for claiming your listing (which will involve proving you own the business or represent it, by having a phonecall come through to your business number of a postcard sent to your business address).

Once you have access to your listing you can adjust and re-adjust (if needs be), so add as much helpful information as you can, encourage customers with Google accounts to give you reviews, make the Places page relevant and take advantage of the chance to list top for offering services in your specific area.

About The Author: Camilla Todd manages Search Engine Optimisation, social media campaigns and brand awareness for WNW Design SEO clients. You can follow her on Twitter @camilla_wnw, email her at camilla@wnwdesign.co.uk or phone on 01395 542569. You can also follow WNW Design on Facebook here.

Posted in Blogs By Camilla T., Google, SEO, WNW Staff Blogs | 1 Comment »

Are You Optimising Your Images For The Search Engines?

Aug
03
2010

You may have noticed that Google recently rolled out a new Image Search format, with a sleeker and slightly more dynamic appearance. And much like Google Places listings (Maps and Local Business now combined), Google Videos and Google Products, the Image Search will often show selected results at the top of the main Google Web search for whatever keywords you have entered. The other search engines also feature image searches, and although they are not as popular or prominent as Google’s, they should not be forgotten about. So optimising your images is another path to increased visiblity, and for the little effort it takes it is also very much worth it.

There are two tags you should be adding to your image code:

Alt Tag: This is displayed for users that have chosen to turn off images and is also read aloud by aural browsers (used primarily by the blind). Google has also confirmed that they focus on this tag to understand what an image shows (because a search engine cannot ‘see’ an image as we can). The Alt Tag, therefore, should be a short and relevant description of the image in question. If it’s a product image showing some trainers, your description should mention the brand and product name and item, something like this: “White Nike Air trainers with red stripe”
This means that the search engines know that particular product is represented in that image and may well list your image for people searching for those shoes, plus aural browsers and users with photos turned off know what the image contained and may (in the case of those with images turned off) decide to view. Do try and get your important keywords into your Alt Tag, but write primarily for the visitor and do not cram loads of irrelevant keywords in there. Make your Alt Tags short and to the point.

Title Tag: This has less importance for the search engines, but is still text that they will read, and is best used for the purpose of supplying more information to the visitor. You do not always have to fill in this field, and may not find it appropriate all the time. For example, an Alt Tag for a company logo would be “Company logo” where as a title might be “Our company offers this service and this service” (where company and service are substituted for those things, obviously) because the logo itself can be thought to represent the company and therefore the Title expands on what that means. Again, get some keywords in there, but only if it makes sense – and keep it short and relevant.

If you take the time to optimise these tags on your images, and also ensure that images are relevant to the rest of the content on the page, you will stand a better change of having your site images appear in the Google Image search and possible at the top of the Web Search for your chosen keywords or products, adding another level to your increased visibility online.

About The Author: Camilla Todd manages Search Engine Optimisation, social media campaigns and brand awareness for WNW Design SEO clients. You can follow her on Twitter @camilla_wnw, email her at camilla@wnwdesign.co.uk or phone on 01395 542569. You can also follow WNW Design on Facebook here.

Posted in Blogs By Camilla T., General SEO, Google, WNW Staff Blogs | 1 Comment »

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