Hot SEO Predictions for 2014!
What can you do to stay ahead of the pack in 2014?
Ok, so January is over with. The post-festive glow has well and truly worn off, and it’s time to put into place all those big ideas you’ve been having over the last few weeks. 
When it comes to SEO, what can you do to make sure you stay ahead of the curve?
Here’s a list of some of the most popular predictions for 2014.
Google will be announcing Google Hummingbird. This most recent Google update will force marketers to write in a more conversational style. Flooding web copy with forced in keywords, in order to rise to the top of the rankings, has not worked for a while now, but Google Hummingbird is going to make sure it stays dead and buried. A more conversational style in blogs & web copy, that is much more tailored towards your reader, is going to be encouraged and rewarded. Those still trying to shoehorn unwieldy key words in, as if they were writing for a robot, will find themselves slapped with a penalty pretty quickly. This also applies to buying links and those who steal content – so be warned!
Increased Mobile Marketing. MCommerce is is outstripping eCommerce by 200% at the moment, and 63 percent of consumers say they will shop on their phone more frequently in the next few years. By the tail-end of 2013, sales made on mobile phones and tablets accounted for $4.7 billion. How can your website be tailored for the mobile market?
Location-based content marketing. Targeting consumers through their GPS-enabled smartphones is expected to become mainstream by the end of 2014. This content marketing strategy allows businesses to identify each shopper’s preferences and location. When a consumer is near the store, the system simply sends them a deal based on the stored demographic information.
Bite-sized updates. Social Media, from Twitter’s 140-character limit, to Vine’s 6-second video limit, is recognising our desire for short, sharp snippets of information. Those who are able to concentrate their message into manageable chunks will find their content much more popular. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can neglect your longer content – there’ll always be someone waiting out there to fill your place if you let your content slip.
Interact with your followers. Most businesses know now that, if they’re not interacting with their customers on Social Media, they’re going to lose popularity pretty quickly. People today aren’t shy about sharing reviews, both good and bad. If you ignore either type of post, your brand is going to come across as uncaring or inattentive, neither of which will build your reputation.
Guest blogging is on the way out. Google’s recent crusade against poor-quality content means it’s on the lookout for serial spammers. Guest bloggers who use email sites to publish their content, or flog the same content over and over again, will seriously damage a site’s SEO rank.
Further Information
If you need help creating content, finding your Social Media voice, or creating a SEO strategy, then Footprint Web Design can help. We’ve been at the forefront of SEO for years, and are well-equipped at tailoring our SEO options to businesses of all sizes.
Give us a call on 01883 372488, or email us at info@footprint.co.uk and see what we can do to get your business to the top.
Do Facebook And Twitter Help With Google Rankings?
Do Facebook and Twitter Help with Google rankings? If my account only has 3 followers, am I wasting my time posting at all?
The answer here is definitely “no”! 
Matt Cutts, Google’s head of search spam, answers a question about Google’s ability to rank pages and profiles based on their popularity on the platform at the time.
Basically, Google are sometimes restricted from searching particular areas of Facebook & Twitter. This is due to a historical blocking by the platforms themselves. However, on some occasions, it is possible for Google to search these pages (which they call “crawling”) – in these instances, a page’s success will then contribute towards its ranking.
Hear what he has to say here:
What he’s saying here is there is nothing in the ranking algorithms that put any weight on how many Facebook likes or Twitter followers a page has, at the moment.
This is mostly due to the historical blocking, mentioned above. It is also due to the personal and time sensitive nature of a page’s content. Google realise that a lot of personal content is easily accessible on Facebook and Twitter and this makes them wary of highlighting it in rankings.
Due to not being able to access some of these social platforms, there is an impression given that they don’t directly contribute to a site’s ranking. However, he does recognise that these types of social media platforms are good ways of diverting traffic through to your site, and therefore upping your ranking. Good content promotes activity! It’s also worth remembering that posting links on all your social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stumbleupon, etc.) provides legitimate backlinks that will aid your page rankings.
He concludes by postulating that, in the future, Google anticipate being able to recognise authorship in a must more proactive manner; placing a much higher import on those who write quality content and pinpointing when, and where, they are posting.
What this tells us is that, it doesn’t matter if your page doesn’t have a whole lot of followers at the moment, as it’s not being ranked on that. What you need is good content!
Further Information
Footprint Web Design have been specialising in SEO and good quality content, helping our clients climb to the top of the search engine rankings, since we started 18 years ago. We have a number of highly experienced SEO professionals who can help your business realise its full potential. We offer bespoke SEO packages to fit even the smallest company.
Call us today on 01883 372488 or email us at info@footprint.co.uk and see how we can help you.
Help Getting Your Blog Noticed
So you’re posting regularly, but how do you go about getting your blog noticed?
Writing a blog that doesn’t get high traffic numbers can be stressful and feel like a waste of time. But fear not! Here are a few pointers that will help you up the numbers of people coming across your blog.
Getting your blog noticed might seem difficult at first…
Before we go any further, however, it’s important to note that, although there are a plethora of slightly unscrupulous things you can do to increase your numbers, the real longevity of your blog will come from quality content and endorsements from real people.
So here’s a few tips to get you on your way to getting your blog noticed:
1: Learn from the best
Whose blog do you admire? Where are the success stories in your industry? Research is crucial for quality content, but it’s also useful for seeing what works in the blogosphere.
There are thousands and thousands of professional, successful bloggers out there; who are happy to impart their knowledge. Some even offering free webinars. Find one or two whose style you like and learn everything you can from them. When to they publish? What sort of language do they use? How do they structure their blogs? How do they use headlines and images to grab attention?
Remember – imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but plagiarism will get you nowhere!
2: Get opinions
There are any number of local, national and international blogging groups out there. Getting involved with people whose opinions and styles you respect will mean you have a go-to group for advice. There’ll always be some people who’ll read into your words in a different way than you intended them. By asking people to critique your style and content you’ll ensure your writing appeals to as wide a range of people as possible.
3: Practice makes perfect
It’s important to stay on top of topics and trends in blogging, in order that your own content remains fresh and relevant. You should be reading new content all the time. Set up daily Google alerts to related subjects and writers whose content and style you admire. Our own writing becomes better by reading.
Above all, you should be writing every day. Very few people are born talented writers; like anything, it takes practice to be good at it. Any opportunities you get can be used to practice writing. A 1/2 hour here and there can be used to plan structures, wording, headlines, vocab – all things that will expand your knowledge and build your writing muscles.
4: Consistency is key
Regular posting is important. As mentioned in last week’s blog, posting less frequently that once a week just isn’t going to cut it. A few times a week is great, but, remember, if you’re just posting content for the sake of it you will lose readers.
Inviting guest-blogging opportunities is a great way to get new content and readers and also can be used to improve those all important backlinks.
5: Write in a way your readers will identify with
Blogs work so much better when the language used is more informal. We’re not talking textspeak or poor grammar, but written in a style that is much more conversational. Save the business or corporate language for your website.
Readers aren’t interested in where you position a semi-colon, whether you’ve split an infinitive, or that fact you’ve legitimately managed to shoehorn the word “antidisestablishmentarianism” into your content. They’re only interested in that which is useful and appeals to them.
6: Be honest
As above, readers don’t respond to churned out sales pitches and rehashed content. They respond to reality and contact.
People want to be treated as if they matter. If your blog is honest, people will interact with it; if they do, respond to them. These readers are your potential clients, if you make them feel like their opinions are important, you’ll invoke loyalty in them.
7: Guest Posting – it really works
Getting yourself guest posting slots on other blogs will really ramp up the traffic to your own. However, it’s important that it is done right. Building strong relationships and networks with other blogs will ensure you have a steady stream of visitors to your blog.
There are a huge number of guides to guest posting out there. As above, pick the one that fits with your style and learn everything you can.
Further Information
Footprint Web Design have been at the forefront of SEO for a long time, and really understand what it takes to keep your website at the top of the search engine rankings.
Our team are experienced content and blog writers, and are committed to conveying the true voice of a business. If you are struggling to make your blog relevant and effective, then call us on 01883 372 488 and see how we can help you get your voice out there.
