What is anchor text?

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
Anchor text is the text within a hyperlink. This is important, as the search engines analyse this. For example www.marketingcompass.co.uk  …or…  The Marketing Compass small business marketing advice. Search engines examine anchor text, in order to figure out what the destination web page is about. They are doing their best to be helpful to the searcher. Think of it this way - Google would like to know as much as possible about the subject of the page to which the link points. Therefore, inserting keywords into anchor text helps search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo to do a better job. Have you noticed how Wikipedia uses anchor text? One topic leads to another and yet another. Wikipedia is at the top page 1 for millions of items and I have no doubt that its extensive use of anchor text has helped it to get there. Here is a tip: if someone wants to link to your website, send them a pre-prepared...
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Is Google PageRank still important and are backlinks still a good idea?

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
Is Google PageRank still important and are backlinks still a good idea? This is a question that is still often asked. PageRank was the first algorithm used by Google. It is a link analysis system that gives a 0 - 10 score. It figured out the relative importance of a website, based on the number of in-bound links. The name comes from Larry Page, one of Google's founders. Google stated: "PageRank works by counting the number and quality of links to a page to determine a rough estimate of how important the website is. The underlying assumption is that more important websites are likely to receive more links from other websites." At the time of writing (May 2015) PageRank would appear to be still used by Google itself. However, the thinking behind backlinks has moved on as they are far less important than they used to be. Personally, I have always thought that backlinks are a poor indication of page quality because it is relatively...
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Content marketing and search engine rankings

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
In a digital economy, much of what you know can probably be found for free on the internet. On this basis, you may as well share a reasonable proportion of your knowledge on the web. Google will love you and so will prospective customers. For many years, it has been said that 'content is king'. This is now more true than ever - due to changes in search engine algorithms.  Content marketing and search engine rankings walk hand in hand. Therefore, the more you write, the more you sell....
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Your social media strategy

By Nigel Temple3 Comments
It is important to have a social media strategy. Otherwise, the whole thing becomes random, unpredictable and pointless. Begin with objectives Decide what your social media objectives are. To raise brand awareness? To generate more traffic to your website? To build your email marketing opt-in list? To get sales enquiries? To generate sales? Choose your platforms Then choose the social media platforms you are going to use regularly. For example: Twitter www.twitter.com/marketingcmpass Because it is quick to use and can generate virtual conversations with customers (which can turn into telephone or face to face conversations). Several of my clients have told me recently that 'Twitter is good for B2B (Business to Business) marketing." You will get more Twitter followers if you follow more people, on a regular basis. Post at least 6 Tweets and day and respond to questions and mentions quickly. Keep a close watch on @Connect ...which you will see towards the top of the Twitter screen. Scroll down for some more Twitter tips.. Facebook http://www.facebook.com/The-Marketing-Compass Particularly...
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How to make blogs easier to read

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
We're going to discuss how to make your blogs easier to read. If I had to choose one piece of advice, it would be to decrease the length of your sentences. We recently built a website for Ringrose & Co (they offer advice to companies in financial difficulties). www.ringroseandco.co.uk I was talking to their MD, Mark Smillie and we were discussing blogging. Here is the feedback I gave him, regarding a draft blog entry he wrote. Here are his draft words (IP = Insolvency Practitioner): oooooOOOOOooooo Our perspective is different to the IP who must give fair and impartial advice to all concerned with the Limited Company, we will give best advice to the client, who can benefit from over twenty years’ of experience in this area. oooooOOOOOooooo I suggested that Mark cut the sentence lengths down. This is the quickest way of increasing 'readability'. So the above could become: Our perspective is different to the IP. They must give fair and impartial advice to all concerned with...
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Google Plus quick overview

By Nigel TempleNo Comments
Currently in trial mode (July 2011), Google Plus (or Google+) looks and feels somewhat like Facebook. http://www.plus.google.com If you would like an invitation to join - just ask - via the Social Media Group. You can create a Profile and add people into 'Circles', i.e. Friends, Family, Acquaintances etc. You can then share information with some, or all of your Circles. You can drag and drop your contacts into the Circles (quite satisfying!) For the technically minded, this is achieved by using HTML5. If you are an avid Google user, have you noticed the navigation bar at the top of Google pages which allows you to jump straight to Google Mail, Calendar, Documents, Photos, Reader, Web (search), etc? You will find this within Google Plus. Within the Google Plus nav bar, you are able to view your profile and notifications - as well as instantly share content. By the way, some 10 million people are involved within the trial! Join us COMPASS membership is FREE! * Create...
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SEO strategy in 7 steps

By Nigel Temple2 Comments
Here is a 7 step SEO strategy: 1. Become your customer & think about what they are searching for. 2. Create an alphabetical list of search terms. 3. Search for 'Keyword tool' within Google and use this resource to refine your list. https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal 4. Use your keywords / phrases within your website, i.e. articles, tips and ideas, dos & don'ts lists, case studies, blog entries. 5. Use your keywords / phrases outside of your website (social media, comments within other people's blogs, article marketing etc). 6. Measure your results using Google Analytics. 7. Use the metrics to create a feedback loop into your keywords list. Ask an SEO strategy question via our SEO Group: https://www.marketingcompass.co.uk/groups/seo Join us COMPASS membership is FREE! * Create a profile & promote yourself * Hyperlink back to your website * Connect with other members * Post updates about your marketing * Join knowledge groups & find answers * Download our FREE ebook – 101 Customer Attraction Techniques * Earn money via our affiliate scheme [DKB url="https://www.marketingcompass.co.uk/register" text="Create my free account" title="Create my...
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