Just starting the Complete SEO Guide? Start here! Next: 2. Complete SEO Guide – Off-site SEO **** First let’s understand how search engines view your website. Quite simply, they send robots that “crawls” the web and sites likes yours. When these pages are crawled, they are “indexed” on a very large database and are graded on over 200 factors. An algorithm is used to give the page a score and ranking against all the other pages based on the user query and keywords searched. On-Site SEO comprises of all the SEO work that is done within your website. This is something you have complete control over and not relying on external websites or directories linking to your website. This will include content on Keywords, Content Structure, Site Structure, Domain etc. Many SEO guides will guide you to “build for users, not for search engines”, which is half true. Of course, we want to build for our users because that is primarily what the website is for, and Google tries its best to rank websites on how useful they are for users. However, you may find that if you ignore the search engine aspect of things and build solely for the users, the search engine robots may not recognize how great your website to its users are, therefore not attain the rank you deserve. Consult with professional SEO for an onpage audit, our partners at PDX SEO can help. The Perfect on-site SEO will have the following:

• Great content that provides value to users – which in turn makes it easy to market and attain backlinks from other sites, reduces bounce rates of visitors (visitors visiting then quickly leaving your site).
• Great User Experience –A website design should be easy and intuitive for a user to browse. Site should load quickly, multi-browser compatible and visually attractive.
• Crawlable/can be accessed by bots – Use rel=canonical to focus on one main address, URL structure should be consistent, use robots.txt and a sitemap, use 301’s for permanent redirects and a code 503 for temporarily down pages.
• Keyword targeted – The target keyword for the page should be on page name, title, H1 tag, content, URL and images and image alt attributes, internal and external links, meta description, meta keywords.

Domain Name and Hosting

Keyword Research

Page-Level Optimisation

• https://www.woorank.com
• https://www.found.co.uk/seo-tool/
• https://moz.com/researchtools/on-page-grader

Page Titles

• Use target keyword preferably at start of title
• Limit to 70 characters
• Use “|” symbol to divide phrases

Page Descriptions

• Use targeted keywords
• Accurately describe the page

Headings

• Include Keyword in H1 and ideally H2.

Content

• Include the keywords at least once in the copy.
• It would be preferable to separate the content with header tags (H2, H3).
• Good content is easier to market and share to acquire backlinks.

Images

• Use a Title tag on images.
• Use Alt tag on images and ideally have the keyword on at least 1 Alt attribute tag.

• Optimise the images, reduce file size to increase site load speed.

URL

• Use dash (-) to separate words in URL structure.
• Have the keyword within the URL if it’s relevant.
• Write URL as static readable text, exclude URL parameters.
• Keep URL structure consistent, for example: If you want to keep the trailing slash ie graftene.com/ then keep it consistent throughout the site, graftene.com/About-us/.

Duplicate Content

Outbound Links

Site-level Optimisation

Site Speed

Internal Links

Schema / Rich Snippet Markup

User Engagement

• Bounce Rates – Bounce rates are when users visit your website and quickly leave. There could be a number of reasons for the users leaving quickly, site too slow, not informative, or poor UX. Whatever the reason, Google sees a high bounce rate as poor user experience and would therefore result is a lower SERP ranking. A low bounce rate on the other hand is a positive.
• Direct Traffic – It’s a positive indicator if a site receives more direct traffic.
• High click through rate – A better click through rate on the SERP is a positive indicator.
• Returning visitors – A good amount of returning visitors is a positive indicator.

Domain Trust

• Link out to High Authority Websites – Linking out won’t hurt your SEO, it can help in fact if the website you are linking to is relevant.
• Have a Privacy Policy / Terms Page – Boring pages that Google pays attention to.
• Keep bounce rate low – Improve relevancy of content, meta description and UX design of site to lower bounce rate.
• Keep domain WHOIS public – Public whois are more trusted than private.
• Get some trusted backlinks – Links from .edu or .gov or .ac.uk helps.

Mobile Optimised

• http:// http://mobiletest.me/
• https://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

Canonicalisation

• http://www.example.com/
• http://www.example.com/index.html
• http:/example.com/

• 301 redirect – This indicates that the page has move permanently. 301 redirects caries roughly 90-99% of the page worth over to the page it’s redirected to. More on 301 redirects (http://www.rackspace.com/knowledge_center/frequently-asked-question/how-can-i-do-a-301-redirect)
• Rel=”canonical” – This tag lets the search engines know to treat the page as a copy of the canonical page thus passing on the page worth. Example:

Sitemap

Robots.txt

Webmaster Tools (Search Console)

Google Analytics

• How many people visit my Website?
• Where are they from?
• How did they find you?
• What pages are the most popular?
• What is the conversion rate?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can be overwhelming. There are so many guides, blog posts, and tutorials out there, so much information to absorb. I subscribe to the 80/20 rule (Pareto principle). That is, 20% of the effort for 80% of the outcome. This guide is intended to teach you everything you need to know about SEO without overwhelming you with the minor details. I will structure the content of this guide according to the timeline of events that would take place during a Web development / SEO campaign. We will focus entirely on White-Hat techniques and quality SEO so you don’t run the risk of a penalty from Google. Google looks at over 200 factors for ranking your website, a Google top ranking could generate a lot of income for your business, alternatively, you can pay for the rankings with Google Adwords but we will save that for another article.

1. Complete SEO Guide – On-site SEO

2. Complete SEO Guide – Off-site SEO

3. Complete SEO Guide – Local SEO

4. Complete SEO Guide – Tools for SEO

What is Search Engine Optimisation?

• Have good quality content, relevant keywords on the page and a good website structure
• Get other high quality web pages relevant to your site to link back to your page.
• Update your website with fresh content.

Why Search Engine Optimisation?

Who should do Search Engine Optimisation?

1. Complete SEO Guide – On-site SEO 2. Complete SEO Guide – Off-site SEO 3. Complete SEO Guide – Local SEO 4. Complete SEO Guide – Tools for SEO

Trust me, it does sound simple…

What is SEO?

demo search result

1. Have a very good website (Great content, images, site speed, page titles, headings, URL structure, responsive etc).

2. It’s a popularity contest! Measured by the amount of pages linking to your site and how popular those sites are.

So.. What is a Good Website?

Quick Example of On-Site SEO!

On-site SEO example

My Website is Great, How do I become Popular?

‘Lex Autolease’ – backlink example

Wait, it’s also about WHO is linking to you!

How do we find out who is worth getting a link from?

How do you get Backlinks?

Content Marketing

Write a great piece of article, contact sites that would have use for that great article and ask them to link to it. Maybe they are linking to your competitor but your piece is better?

Social Media Marketing

Add and follow friends on social media such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest. If someone finds your article useful, they may use it or share it. Got a great infographic? Post it on Pinterest and ask people to credit you with a backlink if they use it.

Guest Blogging

Offer to write for authoritative blogs and increase your reputation as well as get backlinks from the articles you write. Write great content for them as you would for your own site.

Social Bookmarking

Join forums/Quora/Yahoo answers etc and leave links to your site by way of author bio or through a link in a post. Only sign up to relevant sites and only leave link if it’s relevant and useful.

Directories

Heard of Yell.com, Yelp? There are any online directories to submit your business to, check out our list on Local SEO section.

Scout Competition

Using tools like Moz Opensite Explorer we can see our competitors’ backlinks. Study them and see if you can get one too.

Good ol’ command execution

• Try entering ‘192.168.1.1’, what happens?
• Are you able to execute any other commands?
• No? Time to read the source, located at: DVWA-1.0.8/vulnerabilities/exec/source/low.php

<?php

if( isset( $_POST[ 'submit' ] ) ) {

$target = $_REQUEST[ 'ip' ];

// Determine OS and execute the ping command.
if (stristr(php_uname('s'), 'Windows NT')) {

$cmd = shell_exec( 'ping ' . $target );
$html .= '<pre>'.$cmd.'</pre>';

} else {

$cmd = shell_exec( 'ping -c 3 ' . $target );
$html .= '<pre>'.$cmd.'</pre>';

}

?>

• “127.0.0.1 & tasklist” – List the hosts current processes
• “127.0.0.1 & netstat -a”- Gives us the current ports opened on the host

• Stack Overflow Post Code Injection

Damn vulnerable what?!

DVWA (Damn Vulnerable Web App) was made by security professionals, for researchers and enthusiasts to practice and learn different types of vulnerabilities in relation to web applications which can also be used for other things such as software activation keys. Before continuing it must be stressed that the testing of DVWA should be done on an isolated host with either VMware or Virtual Box, separated by a Host-only connection. This is for your safety, not doing so could lead to the compromise of your system. You can store the files on an external hard drive or a USB drive. You can purchase USB drives online from Amazon.

• Xampp – Download
• DVWA – Download
• VMware Player – Download

• Host-Only Networking
• Difference Between NAT/Bridged/Host-Only
• Understanding NAT

• Firstly install Xampp for windows. Then continue on by opening up the Xampp Control Panel, either placed on your desktop, Program files or already started on the bottom left of the screen. Lastly, start your MySQL and Apache services.

• Extract the dvwa folder to this location C:\xampp\htdocs\dvwa. We now open our webrowser and enter ‘localhost/dvwa’ (127.0.0.1/dvwa) into the url bar. If we are presented with a mysql.error() that means the database was unable to be created, but easily fixed in step 3.

• Go on over to C:\xampp\htdocs\dvwa\config\config.inc.php and use your favourite editor to open the file, scroll down to line 20. We now enter the default PHPMyAdmin, in the db_password field, replacing the current one with nothing. Leaving it empty (no spaces)

• Jump to your browser and go to 127.0.0.1/dvwa/setup.php, and click ‘create Database’ Then go to localhost/dvwa/login.php and enter your user name ‘admin’ and password ‘password’.

So you’ve started your own business, you feel so good that you are now officially an entrepreneur and you’re convinced your business idea is so good that the money and success will come rolling in. Or maybe, on the other hand, you’ve reached a spot where those good connections have all been milked and you’re not quite sure how to get things moving. Whatever the case, one thing you MUST be aware of; neglecting social media marketing will have you going for a direct head-fall in no time. Think I’m exaggerating? Maybe, or maybe not. Read on to the end of this article and decide for yourself. I’ve spent a lot of time researching and experimenting with social media. I’ve met business owners and entrepreneurs of all sorts and I’m 100 per cent convinced that most would agree with me; deciding against a social media strategy will have you missing out on a whole lot of benefits for you small business. Stick around and let us take a look at all the great stuff you’re depriving your start-up of when not using social media marketing. Oh, and just so you know, this is not another one of those top five benefits or step by step articles to help you if you decide to implement a social media marketing strategy. This is a warning of what could and most probably will happen if you think you don’t need to use social media to market your business. So, don’t say we didn’t warn you!

You will never know what your prospective customer thinks or wants

Valuable traffic to your website will cease to exist

You’ll lose valuable data for tracking the use of your website

So you want to build your brand but you don’t want to use the social media?

Facepalm

Right, so you don’t care if you seem like a trustworthy business or not…

Whatever, so you’re saying social media marketing can help me with lead generation?

Social Media Marketing Importance

Still think your business doesn’t need a social media marketing strategy?

Ever wondered what UX Design is? You have probably heard your tech-savvy friends talking about it during a conversation – where you already have no clue what they are talking about. Not quite as confusing as IQ, PQ and OQ acronyms for the quality control industry but UX stands for User Experience. The experience of being the clueless odd one out is frustrating. Most of the time it makes you feel dumb. Continue on reading, as I’m keen to share what I know and enlighten you about the subject regardless if you’re just curious or wanting to branch out from your old discipline of design. So let me guide you through the “What”, the “Why” and the “How” of the subject. Basically the baby steps for now, because we’ll be here till the proverbial cows come home.

What is UX Design?

The spectrum of User Experience Design

Why UX Design?

How can UX be done?

Example wireframe

To ensure the highest usability and quality Google has launched their new update in their algorithm especially for mobile friendly usage all around the world. The update was over thereports/news for the last two months like a hot beverage. With being mobile friendly now a crucial part of SEO. Launched in 21st of April Google named this update “Mobilegeddon”. It even sounds exiting, doesn’t it! In any case it’s new and it’s trendy and it should matter the most right about now.

Exmaple of GOOD and BAD

MobileGeddon FAQ

Some of the key features of Mobilegeddon:

• With this update you will be able to see mobile apps in their best ranking according to app indexing. But this facility will only be allowed for  users who are signed in.
• Mobile ranking factors will completely change its ways by determining through their new algorithm website rankings according to the site’s Mobile Usability.
• According to Google, most users will get more accurate search results which is suited for their device.

mobilegeddon facts

Reasons behind Mobilegeddon

The right thing to-do:

mobile friendliness

Google said this is expanding on its mobile ranking demotion algorithm launched back in 2013.

Recently there’s been a huge buzz about the digital industry thriving in the UK, with countless of digital marketing agencies and tech startups such as self-storage comparison site like WhatStorage. Now is the most popular time for starting a digital agency in the country, especially in Bournemouth and Poole of Silicon South. Thinking of starting a digital business in Bournemouth? That seems to be the trend! Graftene, a Bournemouth based web design digital agency explain what they’ve learned while setting up their web development and digital marketing business. Bournemouth, a coastal British town, is home to a number of creative digital agencies that provide services and products such as website design, app development and digital marketing services. It is the top emerging cluster of the digital industry with 24 percent of the start-ups created within 2013 and 2014. The digital industry has played the most important role in the UK’s economic recovery with new sectors and businesses emerging continuously. The first Tech Nation report has provided amazing insights of the current and ongoing situation of the digital economy in the country.

“12.4pc of our GDP is attributed to technology and digital business, that’s the highest in the G20. We are the most digital nation in the world and it is important that government policy makes the most of this enormous potential.” -Baroness Joanna Shields, Chair, Tech City UK

What is Tech Nation?

Bouremouth statistics-1

A closer look at numbers and facts

What makes Bournemouth so special?

“Bournemouth has a vibrant network of meet-ups and events, feeding off its community of creative and app development agencies.”-Matt Desmier, Founder Silicon Beach

The top three digital industry sectors in Bournemouth:

• Marketing and advertising
• Ecommerce
• Games development and production

The top five capabilities of the Bournemouth cluster:

• UI and UX design
• Mobile and tablet development
• Visual and audio design
• Content and media production
• Digital marketing

Bouremouth statistics-2

Creative start-ups of Bournemouth

So you want to be the next digital start-up in Dorset?

The core of these steps boil down to the following actions:

• Define your idea
• Define SMART goals
• Research the market
• Plan your business
• Find sources of funding, suppliers and possible partners
• Register and set up your company

Common mistakes and things that you should be aware of when starting a business:

• Risks and failures are a part of having your own business
• You must be ready to face all kinds of challenges and obstacles
• A major part of business failures is due to lack of planning, especially financial planning
• Hiring the wrong people can often be very harmful
• Inadequate research, especially of competition

Get help and support from other organizations and initiatives:

Selling online is twice harder than putting the products in grocery store. Even if the other products in an aisle with the same function, how a product packaging design makes a huge buying decision making factor. So how does a buyer decide to buy one product vs. another? Is it the colors, logo, price or how it is placed or perfectly well-done dieline? Too many options to consider for a simple decision to do – to buy or not to buy . First ensure that product packaging content is accurate. Software such as Global Vision Quality control platform helps to eliminate any errors in packaging.

Using this cues we have listed will enable you to make necessary moves for your products to sell on your ecommerce store.

Packaging influences subconsciously

– first impressions last in business. Basically the product is a representation of the company. If the company promises quality and experience. It should be telling the customers that in the packaging itself.

Product Convenience and Keywords

– effective alignment of product name, keywords and description helps customers find the product they are looking for. Making the decision to purchase easier.

Recognizable Icons

– Icons easily captures customer’s eyes in products. When a product has a personal and emotional touch even for an icon that promotes environmental awareness it suggests straightly that they need to purchase the product. A lot of best selling products are triggered by emotional memories since most of the consumer’s decisions to buy a product are based on its needs. So what better way to utilize that advantage than getting your products selling?

Typography and Colors

– just as keeping your website clean, clear and concise and pleasing to the users. So as the products should be easily read and have direct impact to the customers. And by that means, customers should be able to read the packaging easily without the migraine of so many redundant typography and flashy distracting colors.

With careful planning and consideration of your users, customers, products and packaging design, you can easily use your product as a powerful marketing tool for your business.