Long-Tail vs. Conversational Keywords: How to Optimise Your Content for Voice Search and AI
Remember when SEO was about stuffing your content with two-word phrases and hoping Google would pay attention? Those days are gone. And honestly? Good riddance. The way people search has evolved a lot over the last few years.
We’re no longer typing “best pizza Perth” into Google—we’re asking Siri, “Where can I grab a decent margherita near me right now?” That’s an entirely different ball game, and if your site doesn’t keep pace, you’re essentially invisible to a large segment of potential clients.
We at SEO Perth Experts have seen this adaptation unfold in real time. It's the businesses that learn or adjust to the language and type of conversation that are successful. The ones that don't?
Why Your Google Business Profile is the #1 Ranking Factor in the AI Era
Remember the days of keyword stuffing? Yes, those were the days.
We are now in an era where artificial intelligence is fundamentally rewriting the rules of search. ChatGPT, Google's AI overviews, and various generative AI tools have become the new starting points for answers. Here is something most Perth business owners do not realise: Your Google Business Profile has suddenly shot to critical importance.
Is AI Killing SEO? No, but it’s demanding generative engine optimisation (GEO).
It has been one of the most frequently discussed topics over and above traditional SEO methods. So if that’s got you worried, don’t be. Pal, it’s live. It’s just different. Yet, most Perth businesses do not realise how fast things are changing.
What sorcery is this, really? People still use basic search methods to find information online, so we have to consider where we need to have our content show. Next up: generative engine optimisation, or, as we all call it plain and simple, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
This might be that one enters ChatGPT or Google’s AI Overview and questions through it; he surfs to a page via a link, or the AI gives a response itself, which is interaction as per them.
Shopify SEO: Complete Guide for Perth Ecommerce
So you have your Shopify store up and running. Fantastic. You’ve got your products, you’ve got your payment gateway, and now you are ready to take Perth’s ecommerce world by storm! There is just one problem: when people go to Google, they cannot find you.
Sound familiar?
Here’s the thing about Shopify. It’s ideal for getting an online store set up in a hurry but will not make customers magically appear. Solid Shopify SEO plays a crucial role in this situation, and the good news is that it doesn't have to be complicated. The vast majority of Perth businesses are doing it wrong.
SEO vs PPC Budget Allocation: Perth Market Analysis
Let’s get straight to it. You’ve got a marketing budget. Maybe it’s not massive; maybe it is.
In any case, you're likely grappling with the most frequently asked question among Perth businesses: how much of their advertising budget should they allocate to SEO and how much to PPC?
It’s not a simple answer. Anyone who says there's a magic ratio for eating is trying to sell you something you don't need.
The truth? How much you need to spend on digital marketing in Perth will depend on many factors related to your business, the industry, and what you’re trying to do. But that doesn’t mean we can’t segment the information for maximum comprehension.
The Perth Business Directory Guide: Where to List Your Business for SEO
Are you conducting business in Perth without having accurate listings? It's similar to telling someone to open a business but failing to post a sign. Your potential customers are looking for you, but they can't find you in their search results.
Local business directories are no longer just digital phonebooks. Now they are compelling SEO weapons that can lift or destroy your online visibility in a bustling Perth market. And guess what – most entrepreneurs are doing it wrong.
Perth’s Top 10 Most Competitive Industries for SEO in 2026
It’s a digital battlefield here in Perth. What were once relatively easy keyword battles have become full-on wars over the top rankings on Google. If you are a West Australian business owner and have ever said those words to yourself, odds are you’re competing in one of Perth’s toughest SEO battlefields.
The reality is, some industries are simply more challenging to break through than others as far as search rankings go. It’s not that you can’t win — it’s just that you need to know what you are fighting. Here’s where hiring for a professional SEO audit is going to be very important if you want to know how well you stack up to your competition.
Having analysed thousands of Perth businesses and their search performances, we were able to pinpoint the industries for which the Perth SEO competition in 2026 will be truly brutal. They’re not just competitive – they are literally cutthroat when it comes to competing for those oh-so-valuable first-page spots.
Google My Business Perth: Your Gateway to Local Pack Domination
Picture it: Someone in Fremantle urgently in need of a plumber at 9 PM on a Sunday night.
Their kitchen’s underwater, and they need help quickly. Where do they look?
Obviously, Google. The local pack appears first in their search results, ahead of any substantive results.
Three businesses that Google believes are deserving of some prime real estate.
If a business in Perth is not one of those three, it may as well have never existed.
And that’s where Google My Business optimisation comes in. In Perth's competitive market, this term can make or break your business.
Quality local SEO services may help you claim that place in the most coveted local pack and grab customers at a time when they need you most.
Why Local Reviews Are SEO Gold
So let's get started. If you're a business owner in Perth and you're not actively gathering local reviews, you might as well be flinging cash into the air from a street corner.
This is not just any money; it refers to cash from customers who are ready to buy, with their credit cards already in hand for whatever you are selling.
Google star ratings are more than just a convenient feature. They are ranking factors. Real ones.
These factors can significantly enhance your visibility when prospective clients search for services throughout Western Australia.
SEO Myths Perth Businesses Still Believe
Let’s face it. Doing SEO is like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube blindfolded.
For a moment, you may believe you've grasped the solution, but suddenly, Google changes its algorithm and you find yourself back at the beginning.
Therefore, it's not surprising that a significant number of Perth businesses adhere to antiquated SEO concepts that actually cause more harm than good. After working with hundreds of businesses, we have pretty much heard every myth going around concerning SEO.
Seasonal SEO Tips for Perth Businesses
Running a business in Perth means you’re dealing with some pretty distinct seasonal patterns that your competitors might not be thinking about.
While many companies set their SEO strategy once and forget about it, the astute ones understand that seasonal SEO can significantly impact their annual performance.
The thing is – people search differently throughout the year. What someone’s looking for in the scorching Perth summer isn’t the same as what they need during those chilly winter months.
If your local SEO strategy doesn't adjust to these seasonal variations, you're essentially losing out on potential revenue.
Core Web Vitals: Improve Rankings via UX
Potential customers might be ditching your website right now, and you might not even realise it.
Every second of delay, every unresponsive button click and every fiddly page shift costs you real money in terms of lost sales and credibility.
While you worry about keyword density and backlinks to improve your search engine optimisation standings,
Google has gradually introduced something called Core Web Vitals. This isn’t just another buzzword to be bandied about at networking events; these figures are fundamentally altering the dynamics of search engines and who gets to sit at the top of page one. More importantly, they are affecting the conversion rates of visitors after they arrive on your site.
AI Content & Google’s 2025 Updates: The New Rules for SEO Success (and Avoiding Penalties)
If you are a business owner, content creator or work in marketing, chances are Google’s recent algorithm changes concerning AI generated content are making you feel a little nervous. The March and June 2025 updates have sent many websites into a panic with some seeing traffic drop by up to 70% whilst others have watched their profits plummet by 75%.
So here’s the burning question; should you use AI for your website content and blog posts?
The answer isn’t a simple yes or no. Google isn’t starting a war against all content that has used AI to write it, they are going after lazy and manipulative content practices. Google’s focus is firmly on quality, helpfulness and user intent, regardless of how the content was made.
In this post we’ll break down what Google’s latest updates actually mean for AI content, discuss the real data behind the penalties and give you a clear roadmap for using AI without risking your search rankings.
Whether you already use AI in your daily life or you're just getting started, we’ll walk you through some strategies to make sure your content wont negatively impact your site.
Why Perth eCommerce Stores Can’t Afford to Ignore SEO in 2025
Are you operating an online store in Perth? Here’s something that might surprise you – 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine, yet most eCommerce businesses are practically invisible when potential customers search for their products.
This condition represents not only a squandered opportunity but also a daily loss of revenue.
The thing is, eCommerce SEO Perth strategies aren’t the same as what works for service-based businesses. Online stores face completely different challenges that many business owners don't even realise exist until it's too late.
Content Pruning to Boost Rankings: Why Less Really Can Be More
Have you ever walked into a cluttered garage and thought to yourself, “Where should I start?” Picture Google doing the same thing, only with a website that has been accumulating random content for years.
You know exactly what I mean by that – old blog posts from 2018 that nobody reads any more, product pages of items no longer available and duplicate content which causes more harm than good
Content pruning isn't just a way to make your website look better. It's an SEO strategy that can fix your search rankings while you sleep and make them work all night, without having to wake up.
SEO That Works for Lawyers, Accountants & Consultants
You know what can be frustrating? Watching the competition snag all of the growth, though tending to what little business it does bring in means your phone rings as much as David Beckham’s agent’s.
And what’s even more frustrating in most cases?
This is especially frustrating when a less qualified person down the street is fully booked into January simply because he ranks higher on Google.
If you're a lawyer in Perth, an accountant, or a consultant, this situation likely resonates with you. In the past, professional services have been conducted by introduction and recommendation.
In the past, professional services were facilitated by introductions and recommendations, allowing you to establish a strong relationship with someone who could then spread the word to his friends. However, this is no longer the case.
Zero-Click Searches: Winning Featured Snippets in Australia’s Competitive Digital Landscape
Consider this: you spent months optimising your website, creating original content, and scrambling up the Google rankings. But then comes the shock: no traffic like before.
Does that sound familiar at all?
You’re in excellent company. Just last year, over 65% of global Google search results had no click, and if using a smartphone, even more than 75%.
During times like these, nearly everyone gets what they want without visiting a website.
Small Business SEO Guide: Where to Start When Budget is Tight
Let’s get real—when it comes to small business ventures, every single cent counts.
Whereas big businesses can afford to throw thousands at SEO month in, month out, you need a slightly smarter thought process when it comes to how you utilise your resources.
That said, here’s where to focus those efforts for the maximum impact without breaking the bank.
Is SEO Worth It in 2025? A Data-Driven ROI Analysis from 25+ Years in the Field
Is SEO Worth It in 2025? A Data-Driven ROI Analysis from 25+ Years in the Field
In 1998, the SEO business was really different - Alta Vista was still a major player, and Google wasn't even born yet.
As technology and digital marketing strategies continue to evolve, one constant remains: companies must be found in the places where their customers are searching.
Today I divide my time between Perth and Bali, providing a perspective that is truly international and local in turn.
Choosing the Best SEO Company in Perth
Finding and choosing the SEO Company in Perth that your business needs is a big decision, not to be made lightly.
It is a choice that could affect your business for a long time, potentially years to come.
Instead of simply providing you with a list of companies, let’s learn the best criteria to select and evaluate the SEO partner that best fits your needs.
Key insights to understanding the Perth SEO market
Within the Perth SEO market you can find a wide variety of agencies that offer a range of services. The local market offers an interesting mix that includes
What’s Better: SEO or Google Ads? An Honest Comparison
Most business owners come to me wanting a simple answer to this question.
But we all wish it were that simple.
After years managing both SEO and Google Ads campaigns for a myriad of different businesses working in various industries, I can say one thing with absolute confidence:
Both SEO and Google Ads have their own unique placement in a robust digital marketing strategy.
We’re now going to dive in and attempt to provide a complete answer on why you may end up choosing one approach out of the two — or why you might have to explore a combination of both to get the results you want.
WordPress SEO Guide 2025: Essential Steps for Better Rankings
So, to put it simply, if you get PHP right, it can be a powerful tool closely related to SEO.
Through hundreds of WordPress sites, I will teach you how to make your PHP site the best it can be for search engines from 2025.
Key Initial Steps
The first step with any PHP site is to do these core things. Once that is out of the way, we can begin making minor tweaks to optimise for speed and SEO.
How Long Does SEO Take to Work? Real Data & Timeline Explained
SEO is complex, and it takes a while to deliver real results. Businesses want to put in the work because they know it’s good. But everyone wants to know: “how long will it take?”
When you’re investing time, effort, and money into your website’s growth, you want to know when the rewards will start pouring in. While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, I can give you a realistic timeline based on actual results.
SEO Timelines — What to Expect
Let me be clear right from the start: SEO is not a quick fix. Anyone promising you first-page rankings in a few weeks is either being dishonest, or implementing risky techniques that could harm your site in the long run. Real, sustainable SEO takes time — there’s no way around it, and no shortcuts.
Pro Rank Tracker: Real Talk About Rank Tracking
Pro Rank Tracker: Real Talk About Rank Tracking
Setting up lists and verifying rankings typically invited tons of issues if the checked number isn't the same each time you do so.
After I'd spent countless hours on what seemed like straightforward fluctuations in rankings only to have clients annoyed, I started using Pro Rank Tracker for good.
Take my word for it: I've tried all of them, and while no tool will ever be perfect in SEO, this one ranks highest on reliability so far.
The Real Deal About Pro Rank Tracker
I’m not going to sell you some life-changing pitch. Now, I want to be absolutely upfront with you here: Pro Rank Tracker costs more than a couple of other alternatives.
But there’s a reason for it.
When I was refreshing my ranking data (C’mon, we all do it, own it!) last month during a major algorithm update, while all the other tools out there were fluctuating like crazy, Pro Rank Tracker just kept spitting out accurate, stable data.
LiteSpeed Cache: A Practical Guide to WordPress Speed & Performance
After testing a plethora of WordPress caching plugins, LiteSpeed Cache is high up on the list, particularly if you are on a LiteSpeed web server.
But this is how you use this powerful plugin to the maximum! Picture-laden tutorials can walk you through each step of the way. In my opinion, the best thing about LiteSpeed Cache is that it is 100% free to use while other premium plugins are asking for it.
Why Consider LiteSpeed Cache
Another thing you should know immediately: If it works nicely on any server, the performance will be the best on a LiteSpeed web server.
WP Rocket
I’ve spent years optimising WordPress sites, and I will confidently say that WP Rocket is my favourite caching plugin.
Although not the cheapest choice out there, its functionality and user-friendliness make it worth every penny.
So, here is everything you need to know about this very powerful tool.
Why I Choose WP Rocket
The best part of WP Rocket is that it simply works.
WP Rocket also doesn’t bombard you with a wide set of complicated settings like many other caching plugins; instead, it works as soon as it’s activated.
You need not be a technical expert to witness speed improvements instantly.
How Can I Optimize My Website for Mobile SEO?
Success With Mobile SEO: Real Results Say It All
If there’s one thing I’ve learned while helping Perth Businesses thrive and succeed online, it’s that mobile SEO is no longer an optional step.
In this day and age, mobile SEO is what drives business success.
I’ve compiled a list of actual real-life mobile SEO strategies that brought my clients phenomenal results.
Want to master mobile SEO? It might be a great idea to read on.
The WordPress SEO Plugins I Actually Use: A Real-World Guide
After a decade of optimizing WordPress sites, I've tested virtually every SEO plugin available.
But when it comes to my own projects and client sites, I stick to a carefully curated stack of plugins that deliver real results without bloating the site or creating conflicts.
Here's my personal toolkit, along with detailed insights on why I chose each one and how I use them to maximize SEO performance.
Rank Math SEO: My Primary SEO Framework
When people ask me which SEO plugin I recommend, Rank Math is consistently my go-to choice.
I switched from Yoast to Rank Math about four years ago, and I haven't looked back since. Here's why it's become my foundation for WordPress SEO:
Why I Chose Rank Math
- Modular Design: Unlike other plugins that force you to load features you'll never use, I love how Rank Math lets me enable only the modules I need. On most sites, I activate just 4-5 core modules, keeping things lean and efficient.
- Schema Implementation: The structured data options are simply outstanding. I regularly use their Article, FAQ, and Product schema markup with zero coding required. The ability to nest schema types has been particularly valuable for my eCommerce clients.
- Built-in Features: I used to need separate plugins for redirects and 404 monitoring, but Rank Math handles these tasks beautifully. This consolidation has helped me reduce plugin conflicts and improve site speed.
How Can Local Businesses Improve Their Google Rankings in Perth?
As someone who's spent years helping Perth businesses climb the Google rankings ladder, I've seen firsthand what works and what doesn't. Today, I want to share some proven strategies that have helped my clients achieve remarkable results.
The Perth Success Stories That Shaped My Approach
Let me start with a real story that perfectly shows what's possible. When Principal Pools + Landscapes first came to us, their website barely made it past page two on Google. Fast forward to today, and they've seen a 409% increase in organic traffic. How did we do it? Through careful attention to what actually matters for local rankings.
"Our ranking has always been very good and Peter and his team have worked diligently in the background to ensure our website is first class, functional and has a good presence online," shares Cullen Long, Director at Principal Pools + Landscapes.
Site Architecture for SEO: How We Restructured Perth Websites for Maximum Impact
Businesses are in a constant battle to be at the top of search engine rankings. After years of experience helping Perth businesses drive incredible results, I learned that most make a crucial mistake.
Underestimating the power of website architecture in effective SEO.
That's right. Well-strategised website architecture can truly change the game for your online performance.
So what’s the winning approach that delivered my clients top rankings on search engine results pages?
Let’s find out.
Traffic Acquisition: The Key to Understanding Your Website’s Performance
While rolling out the monthly traffic figure in Google Analytics, clients often ask: “To track the website marketing efforts, should I track User acquisition or Traffic acquisition?”
Understanding Google Analytics 4 can be as challenging and confusing as a labyrinth, especially if you are a website owner whose primary focus is to simply run your company.
Why is NAP important for Google?
You're in the right place if you've been scratching your head about NAP and its importance for Google and SEO.
What is NAP?
Let's clarify what NAP means. NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone number. It's the basic contact information for your business that you see all over the internet.
What’s the Difference Between On-Page and Off-Page SEO?
When I help businesses grow their SEO, it's common for people to ask me this question:
“So, what's the difference between on-page and off-page SEO?”
Onwards to a quick blog that provides some examples of what has been done to my clients in Perth!
Seasons Bali are the latest clients who came to us in December 2023 for both a total overhaul of on-page and another altogether in off-page itself.
With this kind of traffic from search engines alone, they're at 182% compared to the previous month! How did we manage that? Read on for more.
Rank Math SEO
A guide based on my personal experience with Rank Math.
Want to find out what really matters when using Rank Math?
Over the last several years, I’ve worked with WordPress SEO plugins so frequently, I've got it all at my fingertips. Rank Math has become my go-to for WordPress sites — and for good reason. Since you’re reading this, I bet you’re considering having a go at it.
WP 404 Auto Redirect
Automatically redirect 404 errors on your WordPress site with WP 404 Auto Redirect.
Improve user experience, reduce bounce rates, and retain SEO value by guiding users to relevant pages effortlessly.
Quick setup and fully customizable redirects!
WP 404 Auto Redirect: A Coffee-Fuelled Guide to Saving Lost Visitors
Let me tell you about the day I realized how important 404 redirects really are. I was reviewing Principal Pools + Landscapes' analytics, thinking everything was perfect. Their traffic had grown 409% - I was feeling pretty good about myself. Then Julie from their office called.
"Pete, we've got a problem," she said. "A customer just called complaining they can't find our pool design gallery. Says all they get is some error page." My stomach dropped. Their most valuable content was throwing 404 errors, and I hadn't even noticed.
My Real-World Experience with Google Site Kit
I still remember the day I broke my first Site Kit installation. It was a Tuesday morning in 2019, and I was at my desk, feeling fairly confident about this new Google plugin everyone was buzzing about.
Three cups of coffee and a few hours of banging my head against the wall later, it hit me — I had neglected to first connect Search Console. Now I laugh about it with new clients when I’m installing their analytics.
Learning the Hard Way
A month ago, Tom from One Shade rang me in a frenzy. “Pete, you can’t be right about this data,” he said, ominously.
“We’re getting a lot more calls than this indicates.” I took a quick look and was able to identify the problem — we had never set up phone click tracking.
You’d think that the simple things, the things we’ve done so many times before, would be the easiest, but it’s funny how they trip us up even after years of experience.
How Important Are Citations For SEO?
Any citation seems a simple reference, but for SEO, especially in the position of local search, that is vital.
After all, firms seeking their own little bit of fame in the digital world can't afford not to pay attention to citations.
This is why citations are such an important part of a successful SEO strategy; they can either make you or break you.
What Are Citations?
An SEO citation is any mention of your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) on the internet. This information should be uniform across all platforms, ranging from local listings to social networking sites and even other websites.
Consider citations as trust signals for search engines like Google.
On-Page SEO, Content & Internal Linking Strategies
On-Page SEO Services
With on-page optimisation you have much greater control, for the simple reason that you own the website.
This provides for greater flexibility with respect to the SEO services that we can perform on your website, but nevertheless, each of them must, and will, conform with the standards and rules which Google sets out.
This sets SEO Perth Experts further apart from some agencies who might try to cut corners and as such compromise the longer-term rankings of the client’s website in the hope that they can secure short-term results.
Remember, Google can detect when black hat SEO is being implemented, so anything which tries to game their system in an underhand way is putting a website at risk of being delisted from the search engines completely.
How To Turn Visitors To Your Dental Website Into Clients
One of the most important, and sometimes most difficult tasks you have concerning your dental practice’s website is getting visitors to it.
Whether you choose to go the organic route and invest in a highly effective SEO strategy, or you choose to invest in paid advertising such as Google Ads, or even both, you are taking a huge step forward in securing the success of your online marketing.
Having a steady stream of visitors, regardless of what online channel they come from, is highly laudable for any business, including your dental practice. It puts you well ahead of most similar businesses in your sector that do not try or do not know how to maximise the online traffic they acquire.
However, before you celebrate too much about that achievement, we may have to temper it slightly because you might be in the situation that many dental website owners find themselves in, and that is having plenty of website traffic but not seeing any discernible difference or advantage to your business.
Core Google Algorithm Update June 2021
On June 2nd, 2021, Google released the first of a two-part broad core update, unimaginatively entitled the ‘June 2021 Core Google Algorithm Update’. Those who follow SEO and Google updates will know that they are often a time where webmasters, marketers and SEO consultants wait with bated breath to discover whether or not it helps, hinders, or in some cases, destroys their online ranking strategy.
This trepidation comes as a result of previous, and we dare say, infamous updates that literally ended many business models overnight, as Google sought to improve the search results of those who use their search engine.
So, what do we know about the June 2021 Core Google Algorithm Update? Let us start with some of the basics, and the first of these is that it is a global rollout. This means it will apply to searches in all countries and in all languages.
How To Get Backlinks From Authority Websites
Within SEO circles we increasingly speak about E-A-T, and why websites that have or display expertise, authority, and trustworthiness are going to get preferential treatment from Google when it comes to ranking.
With the ever-increasing ranking power that these high authority sites have, it means that the backlinks from them will pass some of that power to the websites they link to. That provides an excellent opportunity for website owners to harness that power by getting the authority sites to link to their own website.
Before everyone goes rushing off to write emails asking for a backlink from a huge website, it does not work like, although admittedly SEO would be a lot easier if it did. Instead, we need to take a more subtle approach, because otherwise, we are just going to look like spammers, trying to ride on their coattails.
7 Local SEO Ranking Factors That Every Local Business Must Optimise
Unless you are trying to rank a website for a business that operates purely online, or if it’s a business that competes on a national or international scale, the ability to rank your business website for local search terms is vitally important. If you are a local business and not focusing on SEO that helps you appear on page one of Google for local searches, then you are losing lots of customers to local business competitors who are.
There are several actions you can take which will ensure that your local business’s website can compete with, and ideally, outrank your competitors, provided they are done correctly.
Below we have 7 of the most important ranking factors which Google look for when assessing local websites in its search engine results. Many of these can be implemented quickly and easily, while some may take a bit more time and effort.
How to Set Up Internal Linking on Your Website to Boost Its SEO
Lots of website owners trying to improve their SEO heed the advice that backlinks are important and then put 100% of their efforts into creating those links from every website and social media platform they can find. They overlook that the links they have within their website and how they are structured are also important for SEO, and they play a role in helping visitors who visit that site too.
An internal link acts in much the same way an external link does in that when it is clicked; it will take the person who clicked it to a different location.
Whereas an external link will take them to a different website, an internal link will either take them to another page within the website or to another part of the page, or it could be used to allow the visitor to download something, such as a document file.
How To Optimise Content For The Questions People Ask On Google
If you have been following developments in SEO, and in particular what direction Google has been heading in determining the rankings of websites, you will have seen that ‘user experience’ has become one of the primary factors they apply.
For Google, it is no longer enough for a website just to have good information; it also needs to meet the needs of and provide a better experience for those who have searched and then landed on that website.
There are lots of complex solutions as to how a website might achieve these aims, however, there is one simple, and highly effective, method you can try, and that is to answer questions.
What Is Mobile-First Indexing?
In recent times, Google has made a number of announcements about mobile-first indexing. It had planned to roll out mobile-first indexing for the entire worldwide web in September 2020 but at the time of writing that has now been postponed until March 2021.
No doubt, it brought a collective sigh of relief for those who have no idea what mobile indexing is and, therefore, no clue how to prepare for it. The other group who may be relieved are those who knew what to do but hadn’t bothered to take any action yet.
In truth, mobile-first indexing is nothing to be alarmed about, although if you have no idea what it is, it might serve us well if we explain it to you.
How Do I Know If My SEO Is Working?
The fact is that even if you know absolutely nothing about the SEO process, the means should be in place for you to be able to measure the success of any SEO campaign created for you. If not, then alarm bells should be ringing.
From the outset, if you ever come across an SEO agency or consultant that does not give you any way to check what they’ve done is working, be very, very wary of working with them. After all, if they were that good, would they not be putting their results front and centre for you once their SEO campaign has been implemented?
Let us assume you have employed an SEO agency whose previous results and testimonials indicate they can get you results, how are those results going to manifest themselves, in terms of measuring success?
Google’s Top 10 Ranking Factors In 2020
It is hardly surprising that many website owners who do their own SEO often feel like their head is spinning trying to keep up with Google’s ranking factors. Truth be told, many seasoned SEO experts often feel the same way.
Hopefully, we will not make you feel too dizzy as we highlight Google’s top 10 ranking factors for 2020.
#1 Content still rules as Google continues to reward websites that publish quality content over those that produce sub-standard content.
#2 Mobile over desktop is how the world has moved in terms of consuming online content and that is why Google now indexes mobile sites first. That means if your website is not mobile optimised its ranking is going to continually drop.
How To E-A-T Your Way to The Top Of The Search Engines
Hopefully, you will have already realised we are not talking about eating food to help your SEO, much as that might appeal to us all. Instead, the acronym E-A-T stands for Expertise - Authority - Trustworthiness. Given that E-A-T is something that Google's algorithms are focused on, it is something every website owner needs to understand.
Those three words mean that Google has moved on from just looking for quality content. A quick point to make here is that does not mean that you should let your standards drop and stop producing quality content. That requirement has not been abandoned, however, Google are taking things a step further.
How to Keep Visitors on Your Website Longer
Here are 5 Ways To Ensure Your Website Visitors Stay Longer.
Within the SEO and online business communities, a lot has been written about Google’s continuing mission to make its search engine results exactly match the intent of the person entering the search. In fact, a lot of what has been written has come from Google itself.
They have moved from simply ranking websites based on how relevant they are to the search term to them giving higher rankings to websites where the evidence is that user experiences will be greater than on other websites.
As it is impossible for Google to survey every single person to ask them about their experience, Google instead tries to establish it using data it receives back from the destination website.
Using Video As An Integral Part of Your Marketing and SEO
If you own a local business and you are looking for ways to gain a marketing advantage over your competitors, then you must consider using video. Video, and its ability to give SEO for your website a huge boost is something that most businesses are completely unaware of.
The truth is Google absolutely loves video and given it owns the biggest video website on the planet, YouTube, it is little wonder that videos rank very highly in their search results. But it is not just for Google's benefit and your website's rankings that you should be using video, it is due to the fact that your customers and potential customers love video too.
How To Increase Visitor Activity and Sales Conversions On Your Website
No matter how much you have spent on your website, and regardless of how awesome your website looks, one thing you must remember is, it is nothing more than a bauble if it doesn’t help to generate revenue for your business.
Now it’s true that some websites are not built specifically for selling and are seen merely as a corporate hub designed to promote the company’s brand. There is nothing wrong with this, especially for large corporations and multi-national organisations; however, for local businesses, websites serve a much different purpose, which, sadly, they often fail to fulfil for a variety of reasons.
Funnels and Why They Are So Effective
If you keep a keen eye on online marketing, SEO, and website development, you must surely have come across the term 'funnel' in a blog post, article, or even an online ad.
If you have never heard the term, we'll explain what they are compared to normal websites. For those who have come across funnels, we will explain further why they are going to play an ever-increasing role for local businesses as part of their online marketing strategies.
How SEO Can Help Small Businesses Compete on Google Search
It is an obvious fact that small businesses do not have the financial resources of large national and international companies and that means that their marketing budgets are going to be much smaller too. This might suggest that the chances of smaller businesses being able to compete on Google for search traffic are slim, but thanks to SEO, that is not the case.
The first fact we need to outline is that when it comes to Google's ranking algorithms it does not know how big a company is, how much profit it makes or how big its marketing budget is. When crawling that company's website and analysing everything else that contributes to ranking the currency isn't cents and dollars, it is links and optimisation.
Why Your SEO Must Include Google’s Keyword Order of Importance
If you have researched SEO in any way, you will have undoubtedly discovered a lot of discussions about keywords. Keywords and their importance to SEO have had many business owners scratching their heads, wondering how they work.
Even to those with a modicum of marketing knowledge, keywords can be a source of huge frustration as they try to work out which ones to optimise for and where to have those keywords positioned on their website or on other websites in links back to theirs.
5 Ways To Make Your Content SEO Friendly
If there is one aspect of SEO upon which more content is written than any other, then, ironically, it is content. Ironically is probably the wrong word to use as ‘Justifiably’ would have been more appropriate, given how important content is to SEO and helping websites rank.
One reason so much is written about content is because it is a very effective way, and in most cases, a straightforward way, of enhancing a website’s SEO, especially in the eyes of Google.
However, its perceived easiness is the main reason why so many business owners get it entirely wrong when they create or purchase content for their websites.
Do I Need To Optimise My WordPress Site For Voice Search?
Google Voice search is one of the fastest-growing web technologies at the moment. It involves people asking their phone a question and receiving one single answer, rather than the traditional list of results that are presented on a normal search engine results page.
One of the main reasons for the increase in the popularity of voice search is the rapidly improving ability of artificial intelligence to recognise human speech and infer meaning. And since speaking is a lot easier than typing, people have begun to adopt the technology. With this in mind, voice search optimisation has become a key feature of most experienced web developers’ toolkits.
Which Is Better For SEO HTML Or WordPress?
There are certain comparisons that are made where the evidence provided by data, does not match what the majority of those with an opinion will tell you. A classic example is when people ask whether HTML or WordPress is better for SEO. Let us say from the outset that most of the empirical data and statistics indicate that neither HTML nor WordPress has an advantage over the other when it comes to SEO.
Now we must clarify what we mean by an advantage. What we are talking about here is whether sites built using WordPress, for example, will rank higher than a site built with HTML, when all other factors are equal. The fact of the matter is that Google doesn't place any great emphasis on what a website is built from when it comes to ranking them.
To confirm this, do a random search on Google and click through to each of the top ten websites. For each one, if you then press CTRL+U on your keyboard the source code will appear. Using the find function in your browser type in 'wp-content'. If the search finds that in the code it is a WordPress site, and if not then it could be either a HTML site or one built using another less popular Content Management System (CMS).
Does Hiding Your WHOIS Details Hurt Your Website’s SEO Ranking?
Whenever you register a domain name, details such as your name and address and the date of registration are held by an organisation called ICANN. If someone wants to determine who owns a website, they conduct a WHOIS search which will tell them. For privacy reasons, many web owners hide these details, but this raises the question as to whether this will negatively impact your SEO rankings.
To address this, we need to understand what Google’s entire ranking algorithm is designed to achieve. Google can only survive if web users continue to use it as a search engine. This means that the results that Google presents for any given search term need to be relevant and show websites that the user would be happy to visit.
The degree to which Google establishes whether any single website is worthy of showing up in its results is established by taking multiple factors in to consideration. For each of these, Google’s algorithms then apply a score to that site based on what it considers to be a positive or negative indicator.
When it comes to your WHOIS details there may be many valid reasons why you would want to keep your details private. It could be that you want to avoid your employer discovering that you are running a website. Another might be to avoid strangers knowing your home address. Whilst these are perfectly reasonable, unfortunately, Google knows private WHOIS registration is something that potential spammers use, and this is where it could impact your ranking.
What are Long Tail Keywords?
What are Long Tail Keywords and how can you use them for your SEO?
If you have been looking for information on SEO and SEO companies, you may have come across the term ‘Long Tail Keywords’ and wondered what it meant. Well, long-tail is nothing to do with furry animals but is in fact, an SEO technique that, if used correctly, can help to generate increased traffic to websites and other online properties.
At the core of long-tail SEO are Long Tail Keywords, which are keywords that contain more than two words. You won’t be surprised to know that keywords with only one or two words are called short-tail keywords. Examples of short-tail keywords in the dog niche would be ‘kennel’ and ‘dog grooming’, and in the technology niche, ‘laptop’ and ‘computer keyboard’.
If a website owner were to try and rank for any of those keywords, they would be competing against tens of thousands of other websites, and many of them will be websites owned by some of the biggest online companies in the world. It is safe to say that most local marketing budgets are not going to be able to compete with the likes of companies whose SEO budget is almost unlimited.
So, how can you compete online and get traffic to your website? Well, the answer is long-tail SEO, and employing any number of Long Tail Keywords that you can rank for. A key point to note is that your competition online isn’t the Amazon of this world, it is the websites owned by other companies operating in your niche or market, and who do so within your local area.
Is Wix Or WordPress Better For SEO?
Regardless of what technologies, apps, or software there exist on the internet, there are always going to be competitors. Often this leads fans of each to sing their praises, and then those who wish to know more, asking which they should use. This leads invariably to articles such as this where we try to determine which is best. The difference here is that we are comparing Wix and WordPress within a very specific criterion, and that is SEO.
It may help many of you if we briefly explain what Wix and WordPress are and what they are primarily designed to do. If we start with Wix, it is an all-in-one website builder, and it is especially popular with newbies and those for whom website code brings them out in a cold sweat. With Wix you can have your website built very quickly using its pre-designed website temples, it has built-in security, and important for many, it has its own in-house support staff.
WordPress is an open-source content management system which can be used to create hosted websites. It has a bigger learning curve than Wix, but this also means it has much greater scope for flexibility. This means websites can be built with a raft of customisations and thousands of plugins to add greater functionality in both the front end and back end of sites built using WordPress.
When it comes to SEO there is one thing which Wix and WordPress both have in common, and that is their great reliance on third-party software. This will be apps in the case of Wix, and plugins for WordPress. There are several apps which Wix uses for SEO, with one of the most popular called 'Site Booster'. Site Booster has both a free and premium version and as with most SEO apps it is only the paid one which gives you all the functions that you need to boost your website's SEO
Ways to Boost the Domain Authority of Your Website
Domain Authority falls under the category of Off-page SEO metrics.
It's a predictive ranking score developed by Moz that estimates how likely a website is to rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).
While not an official Google ranking factor, it's considered part of off-page SEO because it primarily measures external factors like:
- The quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to your domain
- The authority of the sites linking to you
- The overall link profile of your website
Unlike on-page SEO factors (which focus on content optimization and technical elements within your website), Domain Authority looks at external signals that indicate your site's reputation and trustworthiness across the broader internet ecosystem.
7 Tips For Choosing a Domain That Will Help Your SEO
The number of factors that affect the SEO of websites not only increases on a regular basis, they also change frequently. Some are complicated, and others are straightforward. One factor that you might think has little or no impact is the domain name of your website, however, it does play an important part. Here are 7 tips which can help to improve your SEO efforts and your Google ranking when choosing your domain name correctly.
Keep Your Domain Name Length To 15 Characters Or Less.
If you were to analyse the domain names of the top 100,000 ranked websites on Google, you will find that their average length is 9 characters or less. Shorter domains names are much easier to remember and share in terms of people passing on or recommending your website. For example, compare www thebusinessandinvestmenttoptipswebsite.com to www.biztips.com. and it is clear the latter is far more desirable.
Check To See If Your Domain Is Available On All Your Social Media Channels.
Choosing the right domain name with the huge and ever-increasing importance of social media, it is no surprise that it plays a role in Google rankings. The authority of sites such as Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram, means that having a presence on them and other social media sites can boost your SEO efforts.
For this reason, you should first check to see if any of the domain names you are considering are also available on social media platforms. A great tool for this is ‘knowem.com’ where you can enter a name and it will check hundreds of social media sites to see if it is still available or not.
Is Wix Bad For SEO?
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Wix let us briefly explain what it is. Wix is a cloud-based, open-source, all-in-one website builder that is particularly liked by beginners and those who have no idea how to code HTML. It has flexible designs that allow for a reasonable level of personalisation and is suited for building small to medium-sized websites. It is also popular due to the excellent customer service provided by their in-house support team who are known to be extremely responsive and very professional.
Hopefully, that all sounds positive so far, which brings us to something where Wix's reputation is not as high, and that is regarding SEO. This most likely stemmed from Wix's early days where it quickly became known for many issues which were hindering webmasters and SEO experts from optimising websites built with it.
Some of these issues included being unable to optimise title tags and meta descriptions for blog posts, a URL structure that would generate weird characters and add them to URLs, being unable to add alt attributes to media such as images, and the use of Flash technology which was seen as detrimental to a website's rankings.
It is not surprising that with all these issues in play, Wix's reputation hit rock bottom amongst SEO professionals. Even today, there are still many articles and comments online which suggest Wix should be given a wide berth if you are considering building a website with it and want to use SEO to help it rank.
How To Optimize Your Website Images For SEO
It should be safe to assume that your business website contains images; if it doesn’t, then the question has to be, ‘Why not?’. Images are a great way to engage with, inform and entertain customers, but what many website owners don’t realize is that images can also play a role in onsite SEO. More importantly, there are some simple steps you can take about the images on your website that can boost your site’s ranking in the eyes of Google.
In hindsight, using the term ‘eyes of Google’ might be a tad misleading because, despite all their top-level programming and sophisticated algorithm updates, Google cannot see the images on a website as human eyes see them. Their spiders which crawl the internet and analyse websites, can only recognise text. This means that no matter how colourful, large, exciting, or high-quality any website image is, Google will not see that.
This means that for Google to know that your images are relevant to your website's content and subject matter, you need to add something called ‘alt text’.
For example, if you had a website selling sports shoe products, one of those products was Nike Air Jordan 14 Retro, you would likely have a page for this product and an image of them. When you upload the image, you will enter alt text such as ‘Air Jordan 14 Retro Sports Shoes’. Now, when Google’s spiders come calling, they will be able to read that text, and therefore the page gets more ranking juice for that keyword phrase.
4 Steps To Fix A Drop In Your Rankings
As soon as they sense a drop in their ranking many business owners panic and think that they are on the slippery slope to page 5 of Google. Thankfully, in most cases the situation is temporary, and even if the drop is sustained, there will be an explanation for it.
What it will mean is carrying out some simple checks to determine why the ranking drop happened. Some of those checks will involve using SEO research tools so it might mean you need to employ a SEO consultancy or agency to carry them out.
Here is a guide to 4 of those checks that can be made in order to find the culprit and reverse the drop.
#1 Is Your Website In Full Working Order?
It is astonishing that many business owners do not look in on their website on a regular basis, and so if anything happens to go wrong on it, they do not become aware of this until their rankings start going south.
There are some really basic things you need to check such as the expiry dates of your domain registration or your hosting. Yes, it does happen that a website disappears from rankings because the business owner forgot to renew their hosting service or their domain.
Also, check if your hosting company is having any problems or outages. While most hosting services will be up well over 99.5% of the time, it could be that 0.5% downtime that is the issue.
Simple Keyword Strategies To Outrank Your Competition
The internet has billions of web pages, and many of them are competing to be noticed by Google in order to move up the search rankings for that coveted page one of results. There are lots of SEO tactics and strategies that will help achieve this, and one of the most important is optimizing the page for the keywords you want to rank for. Here are some very simple ways to ensure that any, and all web pages on your website have the best chance of improving their ranking with the use of keywords.
Researching Keywords
The mystique surrounding keywords, and how best to optimize for them has led to countless theories and complicated strategies about how it should be done. In reality, optimizing a page for keywords is not that difficult, and only requires some very straightforward actions.
Keywords for SEO
The first of these is to do proper keyword research to establish which keywords and keyword phrases you need to target to be able to challenge those sites which currently occupy the first page of results within your niche. There are numerous keyword research tools available, with the most obvious one being the free AdWords keyword tool that Google offers.
If you really want to dig deep, to the extent that you know what keywords your competitors are targeting, how highly they rank for those keywords, and where they are getting backlinks from, paid tools such as Ahrefs can give you all that information. It cannot be stressed enough how important this sort of keyword research is. It can mean the difference between knowing exactly what keywords to target and then creating the content to match versus aimlessly creating content that achieves nothing.
The Correct Ways to Use Anchor Text to Improve Your SEO
Whenever you create a backlink you can either have it be displayed as the URL that is pointing to or you can use anchor text which effectively cloaks the link. Using both methods will help your SEO, but anchor text links can have a greater impact in terms of letting Google know which keywords the page the link is pointing to, should be ranked for.
While this is a great way to help your SEO, the danger exists that you could overdo it by using the same exact match keyword every time, and instead of your anchor text links helping your ranking, they hamper it, as Google thinks you’re using spam tactics.
One of the ways to avoid any issues with Google is to mix up the way in which you use anchor text. There are several types of anchor text you can use for links, as you are about to find out.
Exact Match Keyword: Although we have already mentioned you should not overdo it with exact match keywords, it doesn’t mean you should avoid using them. The best way to use this strategy is for each page of content you have on your website targeting more than one keyword phrase. This means that when you are using anchor text in a link, you have more than more exact match keyword you can use when setting up the link back to the page in question.
Naked URL: We mentioned this is in the intro, but we need to emphasize that using the basic URL of the page you are linking to should happen occasionally. Google is far less suspicious of websites that have raw URL links than those which have only anchor text. The obvious benefit of this is higher rankings because you are not thought of as a site that is spamming.
3 Things Designers Need to Know About SEO
When it comes to relevance and visibility of content, every person who is looking to build a good online presence for their company knows the importance of good SEO practices. That being said, a lot of them fail to realize the importance of SEO practices when it comes to the design aspect.
There are some key concepts of SEO which experts are not exactly able to communicate with their designers well enough. That can leave a lot of problems because even if a website looks visually appealing, it might lack the crucial oversight of good SEO practices. That can affect the rankings significantly.
Here is a list of things that designers need to know about SEO in 2018 so that they can bridge the gap between excellent design and good SEO practices.
Mobile First
First things first, Google has made it quite clear for everyone out there that there is a need for optimizing websites for mobile phone usage with responsive design. The number of people using the internet through their mobile devices is more than those using it through their computers and that change in demographic needs to be catered to. Website designers need to make sure that the design of a website should not just be visually good for desktop computers, it can be equally well done but it will be more effective if it is optimized for mobile phone usage as a priority.
Organic Visibility
SEO experts are of the opinion that the website pages should be designed in a way that they are more accessible to search engines. This means the content organization for the website layout has to be on point.
Do Google Ads Improve Your SEO
It is often baffling to see experienced webmasters or website owners who use both SEO and paid advertising (Google Ads), but who never realise they complement each other in so many ways. They are blissfully unaware that by combining both strategies and using some of the data that Google Ads marketing can generate, they could enhance their SEO and rankings further than they already have.
From the outset, we must appreciate that each business’s ability to implement a Google Ads campaign will be tempered by the resources they have, not least of which will be their budget. However, even if you only have the means to set up a few small campaigns, you should do so, for the advantages in relation to your SEO which are set out below.
#1 Gaining Visibility for Keywords at The Top of The SERPs
Whenever you do search on Google at the top of the results you will see three of four listings with a little yellow box that has the word ‘Ad’ in it. This indicates that those listings have used Google Ads to appear there. Apart from the obvious benefit of having a 63% chance of your website link being clicked, being at the top of the paid results can help your organic rankings in the longer run.
Assuming your website is optimised, users who click through will spend time on your site and be clicking through pages, which is seen by Google as a positive. You also gain more authority and trust when you have a paid ad appearing on Google’s results. The goal is to get to the point where you appear at the top of both the organic and paid results. That is when you can really claim to be established.
What Factors Can Impact Google Rankings?
One of the biggest mistakes many website owners make is failing to measure the impact that their SEO activities have made. This is akin to following a diet and exercise program, and then not bothering to check your weight.
There are two specific SEO metrics which Google looks at very closely to see if the visitors they send to a website via their search results are having a good experience. These are ‘Page Views‘, and ‘Session Time’.
If you have a business with an online presence, it is not enough to have people visit your website; you want them to engage with the website and the content therein. The more that they read articles, watch videos and click through multiple sections of your website the better.
The level of engagement that a visitor has with your site, is measured by a metric called ‘page views’. A high number of page views tells you that visitors are taking an active interest in your website, whereas a low number suggests they are disinterested in looking through it.
This data is measured by Google, and if they see that visitors are clicking through to lots of pages on a website they will increase the ranking of that site. The reason for this is that they want their search engine results to show sites that encourage activity. One way this is achieved is with great content that users find interesting.
Compare this scenario to a site which has little or poor content and as a result, visitors very rarely click through to other pages. The page views metric will be low, therefore, Google reduces the ranking of that site.
How Can I Improve My WordPress Website Speed?
There are a lot of things to think about when you’re building a new WordPress website. You need to get the design right, you need to add the right plugins, and you need to make sure that your content remains up to scratch.
However, you also need to make sure that your website’s technical side doesn’t suffer while you focus on improving your design and functionality. Maintaining low load times is essential when it comes to both the user experience and SEO, and you need to make sure that your WordPress website is as fast as possible.
With this in mind, I’ve put together a list of a few easy ways to improve your WordPress website’s speed. They include:
Optimise Image Size
The first thing you should do is make sure that your images are relatively small. Never try and upload high resolution pictures to your WordPress website, because it’s simply not necessary. They will take extra server space and a long time to load, slowing your site down.
If you do have large images, the best thing to do is to compress them before you upload them. If your website is already up and running with a range of large picture files, then you should consider installing a plugin to minimise them.