Google are permanently changing it’s search algorithm and this year intends to make as many as 550 changes. A direct result of a recent change has seen the Google rankings of some large websites plummet. Ezinearticles.com, Suite101.com and hubpages.com losing on average around 90% visibility.
For the small business this is a rather disconcerting figure and things are hard enough getting ranked on Google without the hassle of staying abreast of Google’s constant changes. For those publishing high-quality content that people want to share the changes should not be of concern.
Improvements by Google are a constant desire to provide high quality and relevant search results for the user. This recent change was an attempt to remove websites that are content farms, e.g. sites that are high-volume but low quality in content and those trying to play the system. After the changes a few sites got caught in the net that didn’t deserve to be there.

How to stay ahead of the game

Google’s aim is that an initial search by a user will provide the information they are looking for. To improve SEO and search engine rankings, look at you site from a users perspective and check that you are providing the best and most relevant information for a given search term. If not then change things so that it works for your user.

Content -it’s about quality not quantity. Using blogs to increase the number of pages indexed by Google achieves a higher ranking but ensure high quality content on all pages. Don’t keyword stuff, publishing text that is optimised for keywords. A blog is still a great way to rise in the search engine rankings and an efficient way to add high-quality information to a website. If you have a low ranking, check your pages and if some appear to be lacking in good content, remove them from your site and check your ranking after removal.

Again its quality over quantity but this time it’s in relation to links. Google have always liked links and by generating a high number of incoming links, which point to a specific web page, it is a way of moving a site up the ranking list. As Google aim for higher quality content in websites, links are not effective and if overdone it can be detrimental to ranking. Good news for the small website designer is the lack of a need to generate a multitude of links to sometimes substandard content they can now concentrate on providing quality instead of quantity.
Guest posts will generate high-quality links and links supported by strong keywords will benefit websites. One downside of the new Google update is that previously press releases generated good back-links but these links are not as valuable now. However, a well-written press release can be very effective if picked up by a major publication or journalist.

Social media, social, social!
Google have introduced a +1 button to join the social media,sharing and search world. It’s there for you to share with friends sites you have found interesting or useful, places you like and provides users with the ability to block sites. All the more reason to keep you content high-quality.

Let people know you are there Tell Google about yourself so that users can find you easily. With good content in place make sure that meta titles and descriptions are in line with your content . Making these parts differ widely, will hurt your rankings likewise keyword stuffing has negative results. Use the SERP (the short paragraph that shows in search results) wisely and write a clear description so people are curious to learn more.
Google’s intentions are to provide the most original and relevant results and duplicate content is not shown. Users can view omitted results but in most cases they are ignored. If your content quality is high and original this shouldn’t be of concern. Duplication of content occurs when RSS feeds are directly published from other websites and content is copied, resulting in lower rankings and removal from search results.

Advertising – Google looks at sites with too much advertising and rates them as low-quality or spammers and lowers their ranking accordingly. Too many adverts and any content you do have may appear lower on you page (where people can’t be bothered to scroll to if their attention isn’t gripped in the beginning) or the view obstructed.
Google continue to change things so that the user has the best possible experience and if your content is of quality rather than quantity and you use the tips above, you should rank well in the search engines.

Can we help? Email us or telephone Tamara on 0203 468 8594.

A virtual assistant can really help you when it comes to customer support and admin, relieving you of the worry of dealing with day-to-day jobs. They can provide customer support in many areas leaving you free to concentrate on building your business.

They can handle voicemail messages and respond to enquiries where they are able and provide you with details when necessary. When handling phone calls a VA can take notes of important items raised and pass this information on to you.

Customer support in the form of setting up billing, and scheduling appointments are easily dealt with, together with assisting with your group membership.

Support can be set up an online calendar so appointments can be scheduled with you, informing you of time, date, place and who the meeting is with. You can then be fully prepared for an appointment.

With an online calendar in place birthday cards (and any other card) can be sent out for you. Never miss that birthday or anniversary again! You can then be reminded of important dates and deadlines.

Reports of monthly sales and expenses can be correalated for you, so at a glance, you can see how the business is running.

Virtual support can put in place all manner of online systems, an online calendar, membership software and shopping cart are all within their remit, building your online presence without the need for you to learn all manner of programmes which are required to manage them.

They can offer help on how to organise document folders and your email, screen email to reduce time wasted on things that your assistant can handle, sending you only the email that you need to see and action.

A VA can set up recurring payments and pay your bills online. They can manage projects and tasks offering an all round support for your business.

Just recently I had cause to use an online plant company and thought what a grand opportunity it would have been for them to have introduced a virtual support team into the business to have helped handle customer enquiries during what is obviously a frantic time of the year for them. They only need the extra assistance for a small period of time during the year and a virtual assistant could have helped without the need to employ extra staff, and the time would have been billed accordingly. Customers need to have a response within 24 hours to any enquiry they make and not be told that the answer will take four days! One of the advantages of using virtual support, you only pay for the hours worked, reducing your wage bill considerably and keeping your customers happy with a timely response.

To find out more of how we can help in your business, email us or telephone Tamara on 0203 468 8594.

Get over the myth that you have no time for blogging. Make time for the things that matter and as blogging is a marketing tool for your business, making the time for blogging matters.

A business blog is the best tool for increasing your internet visibility and can be used in conjunction with other social media platforms to disseminate your words. Once your content is online you can leverage it in many ways to work for you 24 hours a day and on multiple platforms.

Create a calendar:

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Unfortunately even today many small businesses I meet at networking events and online believe they have to do everything themselves in their business. Many are concerned they can’t afford the cost incurred with employing others or don’t know how to manage the staff. However instead of hiring someone full or part-time, outsourcing can be time and cost effective, allowing you to work on what you do best. Outsourcing business administration tasks lets you devote time to marketing and advertising, enabling you to generate more sales, more business, talk to more clients – activities that bring more value to the business.

You should definitely consider outsourcing vs do-it-yourself when:

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