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Content is Key to a Successful SEO Campaign

By Andrew Redfern @ 6th July 2011 8:20 am Content Development

Everybody wants their website to show up on the first page of an internet search but for that to be possible, you’d need one hell of a big page. Search engines are designed to present their results in order of the pages’ relevance to the search criteria and their quality, based on a number of factors.

Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, refers to a range of techniques designed to ensure that your site demands as much of the search engine’s attention as possible. Because you could offer the best product or service in your field, but if nobody can see your site, they’re unlikely to ever know it.

One of the most important facts to get your head around when trying to optimise your site is the power of the written word. They say a picture speaks a thousand words, but search engines don’t see pictures, so we’d take the thousand words every time.

Of course it’s not quite as simple as that.

If you’re selling bikes, there’s no point transcribing ‘War and Peace’ over your homepage. The key is to feature plenty of text that’s relevant to the searches you’re hoping to feature on. In this example, that would mean featuring words like ‘bike’, ‘bikes’ or ‘bicycle’ for the search engine crawlers to pick up on.

A beautiful image of a shiny, new bike might look great, but the search engines simply won’t know that it’s there.

That’s why when designing your site, it’s crucial to remember to include plenty of relevant text based information. The search engine spiders can crawl through text, but not Flash or images.

No One Twitters, Make Calls or Reads Newspapers: The Future of The Media By The Next Generation

By Andrew Redfern @ 15th July 2009 1:17 pm Content Development

No one knows exactly what the future will hold for the Internet, but Morgan Stanley the investment bank think they know. A report written by a 15 year old work experience boy has made it through the management structure and is now being digested by hedge fund managers and analysts as far away as Tokyo.

Matthew Robson was given the task of writing a report on the future of media, from the teenagers perspective. His report provided far more insight than was predicted. A damming view of Twitter “no one uses twitter”, the view that mobile phones are for texting and radio ( not calls) and that no one goes to the cinema.

““Stephen Fry is not particularly cool. Also, for the cost of one tweet you could send quite a few text messages.” As no teenagers followed each other’s profiles, tweeting was “pointless”.”

The news comes in the month that studies show twitter looks set to be stuck in the “niche” rut and looks unlikely to ever provide any real competition to facebook and myspace.

Matthews report was published and circulated to the banks clients, the response rate was 6 times that of reports written by experienced analysts.

The future of the printed paper looks in jeopardy as the next generation are used to obtain their news via online news sources, a point highlighted by the continually declining circulation figures.

Who cares about the views of one 15 year old? The answer: a great deal of those involved with investing in the industry. The wisdom of those in their 30′s analysing the future of technology looks set to be question… and the worst possible case imaginable? A room full of spotty teenagers deciding if you or I see an advert for a website or mobile phone depending on whats “cool”. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Huffington Post Leads Political Blogs During Election Season

By Andrew Redfern @ 22nd October 2008 9:58 pm Content Development

comScore (Nasdaq: SCOR) today released a study of visitation to political blogs and news sites during the 2008 presidential election season, which showed strong gains at most sites compared to year ago.

HuffingtonPost.com led among a group of selected stand-alone political blogs and news sites with 4.5 million visitors in September, up 472 percent versus year ago, while Politico.com attracted 2.4 million visitors (up 344 percent) and DrudgeReport.com saw 2.1 million visitors (up 70 percent).

“With each new election cycle, the Internet is playing a more significant role in shaping the stories of the day that are so crucial in formulating public opinion on issues and candidates,” said Andrew Lipsman, senior analyst at comScore. “That most mainstream news outlets now have their own political blogs is a testament to their increasing reach and influence.

However, several independent blogs unaffiliated with larger media outlets paved the way in this space and are really beginning to enter the mainstream public consciousness with this current election cycle.”

1) Huffingtonpost.Com
2) Politico.Com
3) Drudgereport.Com
4) Realclearpolitics.Com
5) Freerepublic.Com
6) Capitol Advantage
7) Dailykos.Com
8) Townhall.Com
9) Newsbusters.Org
10) Worldnetdaily.Com
11) Talkingpointsmemo.Com
12) Michellemalkin.Com
13) Redstate.Com
14) Crooksandliars.Com
15) Rawstory.Com
16) Pollster.Com
17) Mediamatters.Org
18) Fivethirtyeight.Com
19) Cqpolitics.Com
20) Americablog.Com

Looking at the demographic profiles for the top three sites, HuffingtonPost.com, Politico.com and DrudgeReport.com, one can conclude that visitors to these sites tend to be older, wealthier, and more likely to be male than the average U.S. Internet user.

Of the three sites, Politico.com skewed the oldest with 23 percent of its visitors age 55 and older, while DrudgeReport.com skewed wealthiest, with 40 percent of its visitors earning at least $100,000 a year, and had the highest concentration of males at 57 percent. HuffingtonPost.com, the site with the largest audience, was the most similar of the three when compared to the overall U.S. Internet audience.

Would you like to know about Content Development? If so, contact Hit Search, Search Engine Optimisation and Pay Per Click specialists, on 0845 643 9289. Remember, its a big world out there, make sure you become visible.

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