The White Paper will explain the complete Managed SEO concept, something that is much needed in the industry.  Watch this space!

In SEO terms, Meta Tags have been dead for sometime. Google hasn’t taken in to account Meta tags, when rating a web page’s importance, since 2005.

So is there any point in even bothering with them then?

Yes, definitely. Meta Tags can provide relevant information regarding a web page and it is simply good practise and housekeeping to ensure your Meta tags are correct.

One key Meta Tag that should not be ignored is the Meta Description Tag.

Although Google doesn’t rate your Meta description text when compiling the importance of a web page, they will take the first 25 words (approx.) of the description and display them in your listing on a search results page. If you haven’t bothered filling in the description, Google will then go to DMOZ, and take your description from there. Not listed on DMOZ… ok then… Google will simply take a bit of random text from your website.

Therefore, your listing may then read something like….

Welcome to ABC Widgets Ltd
ABC Widgets · Home | About Us | Services | Contact | Help | Sitemap · << Back. ABC Widgets…
abcwidgets.co.uk/about.html - 17k -

Well, that certainly is enlightening to all potential visitors! I can’t really see anyone beating a path to ABC Widgets door anytime soon.

You can therefore see that the Meta description is an important way of getting information about your company across to people.

However, you should also be able to see how the Meta description could actually be put to work for you as a promotional tool - not with Google but with potential customers. Use words and phrases that a visitor will use to search for a business like yours and write text that will simply shout for people to click on your listing rather than someone else’s.

Your description could include any current promotions you may be running, discounts provided, specialised services you offer, etc. Why not put in your contact telephone number? And a call for action - ‘call us today for all your widget needs’? But remember to make it relevant and current, you don’t want to disappoint your visitors when they arrive at your website - your bounce rate my go up rather sharply!

Take note of other companies’ descriptions when you are searching the net for information, this will give you a good idea of how others are utilising this resource to promote their online business. Then go and search your own keywords and see what your competitors are up to! I suspect you may then want to take a bit more notice of your own Meta description…

“Emotional Intelligence (EI), often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), describes an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups. It is a relatively new area of psychological research. The definition of EI is constantly changing”. (Wikepedia)

As a professional SEO I always wondered if there can be a link between a website and a websites’ visitor on the said level of emotional intelligence. This is something I have been discussing with an expert on the subject, Sarah Cartwright, an Effective Communication Consultant and a Facilitator . Sarah and I have briefly explored various avenues of approaching this concept and we both feel that there is a possibility of communication using some of the principles of emotional intelligence on SEO.

Our clients would have a great benefit from the Emotional Intelligence implemented in their website as we will try to get engaged with the visitors to the sites at an emotional level. We would try to understand them and help them choose the product or service they want in a very cost effective way. A website should be able to a communicate with all visitors at all levels. A website should give the visitor a better and more enjoyable experience and hopefully that will make them a returning client. From our point of view as SEO experts, we are always looking for a better, more effective, newer way to communicate with a website visitor.

We would like to investigate the possibility of tapping into visitors’ feelings.

Emotional Intelligence is a subject I have only recently come across and I would like to investigate it possibilities further. There is a lot to learn and research. so watch this space…

You are online, you are surfing the world wide web looking for a good SEO company to boost your online business presence - and there are hundreds of SEO companies all shouting to get your attention.

Company ABC SEO Ltd is offering:

Guaranteed Low Costs!
Guaranteed Quick Results!
Guaranteed Number One in Google or your money back!

Wow, sounds brilliant!

Company XYZ SEO Ltd is offering:

- In-depth analysis of online business
- No quick fixes
- Realistic prices
- Ethical practice
- Long term investment
- Solid organic growth

Oh.. doesn’t sound quite as exciting or sexy.  Get me ABC SEO Ltd on the phone immediately!

Put that phone down. NOW.

Should your decision to go with an SEO company be based upon the long list of things they guarantee they can do for you

or….

Should you decide not to go with an SEO company based upon the long list of things they guarantee they can do for you.

Does this make sense? Yes, because one thing that an SEO can’t give are guarantees.  Nothing is guaranteed in life (apart from death and taxes as the saying goes) and there are no guarantees in the world of Search Engine Optimisation either.  The search engines are continually changing their algorithms and they don’t want you to know what, when or why.

So where does that leave you?  You have an online business and you want it optimised. I am not suggesting you go with XYZ SEO Ltd - they are not very good at marketing themselves after all - but do think carefully and do your research. Simply surfing the net for SEO Selection Tips will throw up some great advice. Don’t just take it from us.

It’s ironic that SEO experts, whose very profession only arose on the back of the Internet, tried so hard and for so long to retain that mythical status we once gave to doctors. “It’s a complicated business”, they claimed. “It takes years of study, and only the truly intelligent can understand it.” They, better than anyone else, working with the Internet every day, ought to have known that there’s no such thing as an inaccessible art any more.

Because, have no doubt – SEO knowledge is there for the taking. Many sites will explain it in layman’s terms. Or you’ll find it dissected and discussed in rarefied chat-rooms where Google’s every move is examined in minute detail. You can even find automated sites where you input your URL, press a button, and wait for an SEO assessment, and all for free. In fact, these days, your average bloke propping up a bar can talk knowledgeably about meta-data and inbound links.

That being the case, why shell out for managed SEO and Internet marketing services? Well, because, accessible though this information is, it takes time. Time to learn, time to implement, and time to keep on top of. The Internet is still new, and developing at a great pace. Every new development, from the up-rise of social media to minute shifts in Google’s algorithm can have an effect on the way you should be optimising your website.

That’s the crux of the matter. If you have a retail site, you have enough to do without keeping abreast of the latest SEO requirements. It makes sense to outsource to people whose very business is to immerse themselves in the SEO culture. Because SEO works, but in the time you’ve been learning how to make it work hard for you, you could have been making sales.

At Notting Hill Internet Services, we don’t keep our knowledge to ourselves. In fact, we’re happy to chat about page ranks and keywords and ALT tags for as long as we think you’re listening. All our knowledge is there for you to share (take a look around our website, and you’ll see that’s so) – because what we sell is time, and effort. And there’s no mystery about that.

Read more about our Managed SEO service here. Not sure what we can do for you? Then why not try our 6-month package?

Next time your boss arches an inquisitive eyebrow towards your screen and asks what you’re doing on Facebook, you have a legitimate excuse. Just whisper the hallowed words “Social Marketing”.

Companies big and small are opening their eyes to the marketing possibilities of sites like MySpace, LinkedIn, Del.icio.us, and that well-known scourge of office productivity, Facebook itself.

After all, it makes sense that these sites, heaving with users (70 million on Facebook at the last count*), are a resource worth tapping. Unfortunately, there’s a little more to it than the methodology you learned in SEO school.

These days almost everyone knows about the power of inbound links and metadata – but can these methods be used in Social Networking?

Well, forget any ideas you have about harnessing Facebook’s power with a mighty inbound link to your site. Facebook is a registration zone, and its links will never be found by Google’s crawlers.

Your campaigns have to rely on more subtle means. One obvious route is to develop a plug-in that is so irresistible, so delightful, or so downright preposterous, that not only does it spread like a rash through Facebook, but it provides enticing content for blogs or, if you’re lucky, newspapers. Those reports are sure to provide a link direct to your site.

If you have a limited budget, time is your best resource. It costs nothing to develop a wonderful Facebook page, garner fans, and reward them with rich content: photos, exclusive news, or a personalised relationship. It’s not a quick SEO fix – but goodwill has a knock-on effect, and slowly but surely your name will become known.

If that all sounds like hard work, don’t even think about going down the blogging route. Blogs are a natural arena for the swapping of links (in posts, comments or Blogrolls), but to really leverage their power, you need to post regularly. Google rewards frequent updates. Other sites will reward you too, if your content is interesting enough, with inbound links galore.

As with Facebook, nurturing relationships counts for a lot in the blogosphere. Blogging for SEO is a long-term strategy, and one that will have many other positive side-effects, but a hit-and-run approach won’t work. Woo your commenters; favour them with personal replies. Remember too, that if you’re blogging on-topic, every post, reply and comment is a keyword-heavy piece of SEO gold-dust.

If your boss still can’t see the value of blogs or social networks, bookmarking sites like Digg or Del.icio.us might be an easier sell. After all, they are based on the precept of sharing URLs, and though inbound links from Del.icio.us are fairly weak collateral, they count for something. Plus, as all Digg users are aware, one killer story can flood your site with visitors.

In short, social networks can work hard for your site’s SEO, but they’re not a quick fix. Either your boss is going to have to get used to your surfing habits, or it’s time to suggest he outsources your Social Marketing.

* Source: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/press/info.php?factsheet