'Social Search': The last 2 weeks have seen significant changes to the Google search algorithm, as described on the official Google blog. In simple terms, this means they've changed the results on a typical Google search page. So if you haven't already, it's worth checking if and how your business rankings have been affected.

The message from Google is loud and clear: search results are now influenced more heavily than ever by social media. If your business doesn't yet have a social media presence, now is really the time to consider whether you should take that plunge.

When we're looking for information on the web, Google's job is to provide 'relevance'. Relevance can mean many things, but one of the key indicators of relevance is fresh, up to date content. It's no great surprise then Google is incoporating material from blogs, twitter, and other social networking sites into the search results, in an effort to provide its users with a richer, more rewarding search experience.  Google calls it a new emphasis on 'relationships'.

These 'Social Search' results are only available when you're logged into your Google account (i.e. when your browser knows who you are, it can provide content from within your own personal network). This is another step in the relentless process of the personalisation of Google search, where no two users get the same results.

Is your business publishing content on the web, via a blog, regular website updates or social media channels? Given the confirmed importance in Google's eyes, now is certainly a good time to think about it...

An update on our little experiment...

It's less than 72 hours since I made the original blog post to see whether I could get ranked in Google for the search term 'Smartest Man in Britain'.

Well, I'm delighted to say our little experiment has worked - we've done it.  Not only are we ranked on the first page of Google, we're holding the number 1 spot!  (And if you look carefully, the number 3 spot also...)  I've attached the screenshots from Google Chrome and Internet Explorer, taken just after 9 o'clock this morning. (I posted the original on Sunday evening at around 9pm).

(And yes - you can get different results using the different web browsers, and by chaging the regional settings & preferences, but I'm not getting too pedantic here - I just used my normal, everyday settings and haven't changed anything.)

So what of this little game?  Well, we've only picked a relatively low-competition search term, and it certainly won't bring us any business, but it does illustrate how it's possible to send out the right signals to Google in order to get your web page ranked (quickly) in the search engines.

Smartest Man in Britain?

OK - first of all, I'm not the smartest man in Britain, let's just make that clear.  So what's going on then?  Well, call it a little experiment, but I'm just in the middle of a little challenge to see whether I can convince Google that I am actually the smartest man in Britain, by getting ranked in a Google search result for the term "smartest man in Britain".

Ultimately it's up to Google to see whether it thinks I'm worthy of the that result, although of course in reality there are thousands/millions of people in Britain who are smarter than me!  But as an internet marketing consultancy, it's our job to help get other companies ranked in the search engines for their particular products and keywords.  This is the essential foundation of SEO (or Search Engine Optimisation).

So, I'm definitely not the smartest man in Britain, but I'd love to see whether I can get ranked on the first page of Google for that term, ideally near the top of the page!  There are many factors Google looks at when deciding where to show various websites in its results, but we'll come back in the next few days (weeks? months?!) to see if we've managed to get ranked for smartest man in Britain!

Top 10 Tips for Local SEO
 
Google have recently changed the game with how local SEO works.  The Google SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) have been overhauled, resulting in a fantastic opportunity for all businesses across Lancashire and the Northwest.

Local search results were previously consigned to the small map in the corner, but they now dominate the first page of many Google searches - try it for yourself.

The benefit to small businesses is that they can now appear above their much larger rivals who are relegated to the last few results on page 1 of Google.

Don't miss out on local search results; they're your next customers. Here's 10 tips to help you capture them:

1. Claim your Google Places listing - it's easy to do and if one doesn't exist for your business then you can quickly and simply create one. What is it? A Google Places listing is effectively a profile attached to Google's local search results. It is important because Google ranks these profiles above all others in their new first page local search results.

2. Add pictures to your Google Places listing. The effectiveness of your Google places listing is impacted by its completeness. Images will not only flesh out your listing, but when they appear in the search results, besides your Google Places listing, they are eye-catching and attractive which will increase clicks.

3. Gather citations - citations are instances on the web where your business is mentioned, Google uses the consistency of the information it finds and the authority of the referring site to boost your rank in local search engine results. The quality as well as volume of citations is an important factor in local search engine optimisation.

4. Include your locality in on-page optimisation - revisit your META and Title Tags to ensure your town is included wherever possible. Make sure your address appears on every page and that you have a contact page.

5. Submit your site to local directories including Yell.com, Qype.co.uk, Hotfrog.co.uk, local Chamber of Commerce and business directories. Local directories will have greater relevance in local search as it narrows your field of operation for Google to a localised area.

6. Manage your online exposure - make sure the information distributed across the web that pertains to your business is managed carefully. Trawl local directories and existing listings, double-check that your details are correct and that they match both your Google Places contact information as well as your websites contact page.

7. Get your reviews and testimonials on the web - no doubt you will already have testimonials collected from customers, these need to go online as well as in other marketing materials. Put a process in place of asking satisfied customers to review you online if at all possible. Pen a short email with instructions of where and how you would like the review left and send this to all satisfied customers.

8. Use a local phone number instead of a 0800, 0845 or 0870 - this again refines your location making it easier for search engines to place you within a specific region.

9. Target local keywords - when link building make sure you target some local variations on your keywords in the anchor text of your links.

10. Use your supply network - think about local search as being similar to networking. No doubt you will already have a network of local contacts, associates and suppliers who all allow your business to thrive. Simply transfer this network online by linking to each other.

Local search is set to dominate first page results for all local search terms. Small, local businesses should take advantage of this by implementing some or all of the tips above which will allow them to compete with much larger businesses who have until now monopolised the first page results by investing in aggressive SEO campaigns.

Discuss your SEO Preston strategy with the experts at WSI - call us today on 01772 286460.

In one fell swoop, Google Places has quietly revolutionised the way our businesses are displayed on page 1 of the Google results.

So what is Google Places?

Google Places is the new name for what used to be called Google Local Business Centre and more recently Google Maps.  It's the section in the search results where a few local businesses were displayed on a small map.  It's been a feature on the Google results for a long time, but until now has been restricted to a small dusty corner of the results page, which many people didn't even acknowledge, let alone use.

Some forward thinking businesses did claim their Google Maps profiles and by doing so they created an extra opportunity to be found on page 1.

But now, Google Places is far more powerful than the old Google Maps.  There is space for much more information about your business and as a result it takes up far more room on the page.  In many cases, the Google Places can actually take up the whole of the page, which means the organic (or natural) results (i.e. the results of all your SEO - Search Engine Optimisation) get pushed down below the scroll.

This has fundamental implications for the visibility of your business.  A search such as "Blackpool Hotels" for example is now dominated by a few key Hotels in Blackpool in the Google Places section.  Even more insulting is that the PPC (Pay Per Click) ads are covered up by the map, even when you scroll down the page.

So, the impact of Google Places is huge.  It changes the way businesses are found and shown on page 1 of Google, and it changes the way businesses need to approach their online marketing strategy.

For more information, contact WSI now to get to grips with Google Places and maximise the opportunity to increase the exposure of your business.

Last week Google laucnhed Instant Preview.  This function a Google user the ability to see a website in the serach results (SERPS) beofre actually clicking on it and going through to that page.

What does Google Instant mean for me?

For users of Google search, this latest innovation from the Google stable is designed to make our search a more immediate and informative experience.  The ability to see the actual page we will be taken to allows us to make a decision there and then whether it's the right website for us.

How does Google Instant work?

It's quite simple - there is a small magnifying glass symbol next to each line in the searches results.  By clicking on the magnifying glass, a new window is opened next to the results, allowing the user to see the website (or at least the specific landing page) they will be taken to.

What is the Point of Google Instant?

The idea is to give us a more coplete search experience, and to reduce the time we take to find a relevant website.  In theory, all of our decisions can be taken right there on the results page, without having to click through to each website and click back again.

What are the Downsides to Google Instant?

So far, there are 2 major downsides that we have seen.  Firstly, the preview window actually opens up right in front of the PPC (Google Adwords) window.  This means any PPC that are unfortunate enough to be next to that particular line in the results page becomes obscured.  This cannot be a particularly good result for PPC advertisers.  Secondly, the implication for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - companies will now have to place greater reliance on their page design, or at least the readability of their website in this little preview window.  This may create a slight change of emphasis towards "visual SEO".

Google Adwords is powerful - it can even find you a Job!

A great story.  In the news today, the story of Alec Browstein, a New York job hunter looking for work in the advertising industry.

Alec decided that finding a job in the current climate was pretty tough, so he stumbled across the idea of setting up a paid search program, using top advertising executives' names as the keywords.

So, based on the theory that everybody has a big ego, particularly in the media game, when any of these 5 top execs Googled their own names, Alec's ad would pop up.

A smart idea.  Alec figured out that the big names in the New York ad industry were Gerry Graf, David Droga, Tony Granger, Ian Reichenthal and Scott Vitrone, so he set up his Google Adwords account, ran the campaign, and just sat back and waited for them to Google their names and see the ads.

What they saw was "Googling yourself is a lot of fun. Hiring me is fun too."

What they did was give him a job interview.  He subsequently got a job at Y&R, New York.

And the total cost of this job hunting exercise?

$6

At WSI Internet Marketing, we can't promise to find you your next job, but we can certainly run a highly effective Google Adwords campaign to get people to find you and come to your business!

"Google Local Business Centre" is now "Google Places"

Google announced yesterday (April 20th) that it is changing the name of the Local Business Centre.  With immediate effect it is called Google Places.  The announcement was made in the Google Blog.

According to Google there are over 4 million businesses already registered with Local Business Centre (Google Places), and that number is set to rise.  It's a useful supplement to a company's Search Engine Optimisation efforts, as it provides another opportunity to appear in the Google search results.

According to Google, the service remains exactly the same but the new name "will simplify the connection with Place Pages.  This reflects our ongoing commitment to providing business owners with powerful yet easy-to-use tools."  (Place Pages was a feature added to Google Maps in September 2009, as a way of providing rich content related to a particular area, such as photos, videos, reviews, etc, to enhance user experience).

If you aren't yet registered with Google Local Business Centre (Google Places), do so now - it's free and easy to do, and will ensure your business has greater presence in the search results.

Get Your Business Found in your Local Area

Google Local Business Centre is a free service provided by Google.  It simple to use and gives your potential audience yet another way of finding you online.  Once you've signed up, you can include a whole series of information about your business, including:

• address
• opening hours
• company logo
• payment methods
• pictures of your shop (& other images)

You may have noticed that sometimes when you perform a specific geographical term (e.g. Italian Restaurant in Preston), you are presented with a map in addition to the usual search results.  The map contains the locations of a number of businesses that match your search.  Hopefully yours is one of them.

(Another way of searching for local businesses using Google Maps is simply by pressing the "Maps" button on the Google search page.)

To give yourself a better chance of being listed on the map (for example in a situation where you have lots of competitors) you need to make sure you optimise your profile using the basic principles of SEO (or Search Engine Optimisation).  For example, if you are an Italian Restaurant in Preston, you need to make sure these words feature in the title and decription of you business listing.

Adding your business to Local Business Centre is simple and free, and is another powerful way of directing traffic to your particular website.

Does your website load fast enough?

As of this month, Google has confirmed that it now uses page speed in its ranking algorithm.  In plain speak, this means that Google rewards websites that load quickly, and penalises those that load slowly.

So if your website is full of large images or multimedia objects that take more than a couple of seconds to load, you will start to find yourself sliding down the Google rankings.  Google themselves have confirmed this, saying:

“Faster sites create happy users and we’ve seen in our internal studies that when a site responds slowly, visitors spend less time there"

So page speed now becomes one of the 200 or so different parameters that Google uses in deciding how to rank each website in its search results.  Google prides itself on relevance, and some of the well established factors are keyword matching, link popularity, and content (quality/quantity).

If you are a site owner concerned about your page speed, or you just want to see how page speed works, here are some useful tools:

• Page Speed, an open source Firefox/Firebug add-on that evaluates the performance of web pages and gives suggestions for improvement.
• YSlow, a free tool from Yahoo! that suggests ways to improve website speed.
• WebPagetest shows a waterfall view of your pages' load performance plus an optimization checklist.
• In Webmaster Tools, Labs > Site Performance shows the speed of your website as experienced by users around the world as in the chart below. We've also blogged about site performance.
• Many other tools on code.google.com/speed.

Example graph of Page Speed: