Comments on Blogs for SEO

There are many different kinds of motivation for commenting on blogs. Even when the common motivation is SEO, there are two distinct types - specific or generic.

The BPc maintains blogs for a number of clients. Whether Blogger or WordPress, we set them up so that anyone is able to leave a comment but every comment has to be approved before publication. Yes, there are occasions when a plethora of spam comments have to be reviewed but, in general, the numbers of comments are easily managed.

Most commonly received comments are from link-building agencies and most, though not all, should be rejected. Often, if you paste this generic type of comment into Google, it may be found on several other blogs, which brings no value to your blog.

It's a rare pleasure to receive genuine comments. These are from people who have read the post and given related feedback, good or controversial. (Please, feel free to leave your comments on this blog!)

Sometimes, 'specific' comments may promote competitors. If your client base is Hertfordshire and there is a comment linking to a similar small business outside your area, it could be beneficial to you both. It's worth checking whether they have a blog for reciprocal comments.

But what if they are a direct competitor? If there is an opportunity for a reciprocal link, then it could be OK. Contact The BPc if there is a specific instance to be debated!

Benefits of Comments on Blogs for SEO:

• add to the content
• increase relevant keywords
• keep blog posts 'fresh' for search engines

Links from Images in Blogger

I've just read a blog where the blogger was frustrated because he wanted to link to another blog by clicking on an image rather than the display a larger image, the default setting in Google Blogger.

To do this isn't too painful. At the top of the post, there are two buttons: Compose & HTML. Normally, a blog is written using the Compose window. When you have finished, you will need to go to the HTML window to change the link from the image.

In the HTML code, if you have used an image url (i.e. from another internet location) you will see a paragraph something like this:

• <a href="http://www.site.co.uk/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.site.co.uk/image.jpg" />

If you have uploaded an image from your computer, the code may look like this:

• <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v8N8w/UZ9tIg/AAABMY/zuZNk/s1600/blogpic.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v8N8w/UZ9tIg/AAABMY/zuZNk/s1600/blogpic.JPG" /></a>

src= lets Blogger know where to find the image that should appear in the post and a href= is the default link to display the original size image.

Simplified, you must leave the src= (image source) intact but the link contained in "quotes" next to a href= can be replaced with the destination url/page of your choice. Sometimes you may just want to remove the /image.jpg part of the link, or you may want to replace the whole link.

Examples:

<a href="http://www.site.co.uk" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.site.co.uk/image.jpg" /> will link to the site where the original image is sourced.

<a href="http://www.anotherblog.blogspot.com" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.site.co.uk/image.jpg" /> will link to a different location, such as a blog, another website, social media account, etc.

Note that these paragraphs must remain between the < and > signs.

And finally... an example of an image that should open another blog in a new tab or window:

Google AdWords Tips for beginners

If you are new to managing a Google Adwords campaign, here are 3 tips you may find useful.

Mobile Devices
First of all, are you aware how many of your website visitors are using mobile 'phones? You can find out with Google Analytics. From the statistics used in the example below, almost a quarter of all views are from a mobile device with Apple iPhone the most popular.

You can check that your ads are already showing on mobile devices by logging into your Adwords Campaigns page, selecting the Settings tab and checking Devices. If not All, you may want to edit.

Geographic Target
If you have a limited geographical delivery or service capacity, such as a 30 mile radius from your base of operations, have you set or adjusted the regional target of your Adwords campaign? Do this by selecting the Settings tab for the Campaign and clicking the Edit option for Locations. To change the targeted location in the small pop-up box, click on it and, in the larger pop-up box, click on Radius Targeting. You will then be able to insert a core geographical target and a number of miles, shown visually, for you to adjust and save (or cancel if you change your mind). There are other options, too.

Targeting Keywords
When you create a new text ad, are you aware of the {KeyWord: Used Cars} feature? Place your default Ad heading after Keyword: within parentheses and if someone searches within your keyword selection, the search term with replace the default keyword, e.g. Used Cars may be replaced by Used BMWs or Second-hand Cars, tailoring the result to the person searching for the product or service you are advertising.

Follow The BPc on Twitter.com/BPcUK

Twitter Top Ten Tips

Twitter is easy to use but with a little more effort, it can be more rewarding. For example, most people manage to follow a few people when they first set up their twitter account and then they tweet, sometimes sporadically, sometimes frequently. Here are some tips for optimising Twitter for your business.


1. Are you tweeting as a person or a company? The two are (or should be) quite different unless, of course, you are the company. A corporate account should not compromise the company with personal views or opinions. You can, of course, set up an account for each.

2. Review your Twitter profile. Is it still accurate and is it interesting? Personal accounts are best with a head-shot image or other icons that represent your personality but please don't leave the generic starter pic on your profile.

3. Occasional promotional tweets about your products or services (with relevant links) are fine but the majority of tweets should be informative or entertaining to engage followers, e.g. links to an interesting blog post.

4. Occasional re-tweets, #FFs, responses to @others show that you interact with the Twitter community.

5. Don't just tweet links to general news* because people have probably already seen it. And don't be tempted to tweet rubbish just because you can't think of anything else! Imagine being the recipient of boring twaddle - you would soon 'unfollow'.

6. *Instead, tweet items that you found to be interesting and add a comment to explain why.

7. Give value to your followers - tweet tips or links to tips within your area of expertise.

8. Respond to questions on twitter, especially within your area of expertise. You can ask questions, too.

9. Unless you regularly do so, make an effort, perhaps once a month, to review your followers and follow some back. In addition to finding people to follow within your industry, follow local businesses too.

10. Finally, please refrain from just setting up automated tweet facilities. It's OK to have your LinkedIn and FaceBook Page posts tweeted but if you don't read tweets, you can't interact with the Twitter community and you will lose much of the value it could bring.

Company Logo Design Guide

Recently, we were asked to create a logo for a new company and asked for some information to help us establish the concept. The client told us that he had a concept and just required us to do the artwork. We were very surprised to receive a varied selection of highly complex sketches.

Tip#1. Keep it simple because logo design is not as quick and easy as some people imagine.

Tip#2. A versatile and durable logo will work well in a single colour and in greyscale.

Tip#3. A logo should be scaleable and look good as an icon. Of course, there are some exceptions, for example, if the logo includes or is comprised of a name, such as Johnson, Jackson, Jones and Partners.

Brainstorming and designs by committee can be a great idea but unless you include your professional designer, the end result will probably not be the end result. When researching, look at your competitors' and suppliers' logos because you want to be different but in a good way.

Some designers like to go straight to the computer but most will doodle, quickly sketching out multiple concepts and variations first, generally 'playing' with shapes and colours.

Consider where the logo is likely to be used: on business cards, stationery, emails, website, maybe promotional gifts, T-shirts, company vans, perhaps advertising on the web, in magazines or newspapers, on posters or even massive billboards and building wraps.

Quite often, a strapline will be used with a logo therefore attention needs to be paid to typefaces or fonts. The logo should be tested alongside various fonts as might be used on a website or brochure. Also, the logo should work well wherever it is placed (left, right, centre, top bottom) as well as on its own.

Keep it Simple and keep control of the budget.

sending a strong message yet keeping it simple

Sadly, we were not commissioned to design the above logos - here are links to more inspirational logos and examples of our clients' logos.

Continuing SEO tips / Google Webmaster Guidelines

Continuing with Google's Webmaster Guidelines, the emphasis in this post is on quality content. As Internet use grew organically, there is a plethora of deadwood and duplication that Google has taken upon itself to tidy up using the 'land fill' method. Current and future websites should abide by Google's rules or they may never find themselves.

A very good tip is to create content for users, as if you were presenting to humans. That done, the code and meta data should reflect the content accurately. In other words, if it isn't good enough for humans to see, the search engines don't want to see it either.

This includes hidden text, such as using white text on a white background. Google will find it and you will be punished.

Another bright idea that isn't worth trying is creating a number of pages with generally similar content to use keywords that didn't make it onto other pages - for example, repeating a page of content that describes a product or service and just changing a few words, such as a colour or location. Google referred to their culling of Duplicate Content as their Panda sweep which aims to downgrade 'doorway' pages or affiliate websites that contain very little original content and are created purely as a search engine promotion tool.

Establishing links to your website is a tricky business. There are several companies that offer to provide 100 or 1000 links for a fee. If you can't verify the list, think carefully about its value - Google's Penguin update downgraded websites that it deemed to have participated in low level link schemes. Google is happy to see reciprocal links that have been carefully considered and loves links from related unique blog content.

It's a tough job but we love to do it. Contact us for Continuing SEO.

Optimisation according to Google, plus legal compliance

In addition to complying with laws, directives and official standards (Companies Act, Disability Discrimination / Equality Act, EU Cookie* and Marketing / Advertising Standards) website designers should give consideration to guidelines from the leading search engine, Google.

Ultimately, the responsibility is with website owners to ensure compliance with laws and understand the basics of SEO. Search Engine Optimisation is a wide-ranging term that is generally accepted to mean optimised code and content plus link-building to raise awareness and popularity of your website.

Google is not so much King as benevolent dictator. Like it or loathe it, complying with Google's Webmaster Guidelines is the best way for sustainable results in the longer term. Some explanations relating to the design, content and technical sections this link are below:

• 'sitemap' does not refer to a site map page within the website but a file 'sitemap.xml' that is created and stored on the server, with details of your website pages for search engines to follow; 
• in addition to a navigation menu, important pages should have a text link from within the content; 
• every image should have a descriptive 'alt' tag and <title> in the code - you can see these when you hover over images - which are useful for search engines and comply with the DDA/Equality Act; 
• 'dynamic' pages are often found on database-driven sites, such as shopping sites, or websites with presentation scripts. (Ironically, Google's Webmaster Guidelines page uses a url that it warns against!) 
• unless your website is abundant with features such as Flash animations and scripts, using a Lynx browser is not common practice. However, websites should be tested in all popular browsers: Internet Explorer (IE9 & IE8 but IE7 use is declining), Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari - gaining ground as iPad use increases. Testing websites for compatibility on iPhones and Android mobile browsers covers most of the cellphone users;  
• 'robots.txt' may not be necessary for all websites, especially if yours is a static html website with no surprises, but a search engine expects to see it so it can be included as a default; 
• content management systems (CMS) such as Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal and countless proprietary offerings are designed to make it easier for non-technical users to update their own content. (This is a whole other topic!) - Make sure that your designer uses 'friendly urls'; 
• site performance speed improvement tips: resize/re-render/optimise images (in other words, make them smaller) and, if possible, load main content before animations and scripts. 

... to be continued.

*please visit ico.org.uk and search for latest info, as their page links keep changing - thanks to Anna Gryshko for pointing this out.

Meanwhile, if you'd like a well designed website or optimisation for your current website ...
(holding page for new website) Approved by Browsers