I recently had a conversation with a colleague who has handed her notice in and hasn’t got a new job. I sat down with her and quizzed her to see if she had any ideas about what she wanted to do in the future as working in the digital industry had run its course.

Her real passion is fashion and she knows that industry inside and out, which got me thinking, if someone is passionate about a subject then why not try your hand at running your own business.

I want to propose something, I know the internet inside and out and can build simple non complicated websites that with a small amount of work rank pretty well, but more importantly have the potential with some hard work from the interested party to get traffic by lots of unique content.

So the idea is, I build a website that looks and functions well and has a news section in which you can write articles reviewing products and then potential client can buy the reviewed items.

I wouldn’t charge much for the website build depending on the industry and complexity of the design, but if you fancy the challenge then get in touch.

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Internet Marketing Seo

There are so many terms for companies who claim to be able to do SEO, I try and look at this from a different perspective, as if you claim to know how to do SEO then surely you will be able to explain the workings of Internet Marketing.

It sounds similar and should technically be the same, but SEO is so diverse nowadays, you really need a company that can cover a full range of services such as SEO, Social Media, Content Writing, Link Building and so on, as in one way or another they all contribute towards an Internet Marketing SEO strategy and combined will normally give you the SEO result you want.

For instance I was approached last week by a company that are using a so called SEO specialist; they asked me if I could offer a unique perspective into their current campaign and if anything, what could I do to help them.

They sent me a report produced by their current SEO outfit detailing work undertaken to this date, (6 months in) I won’t publish it on here as I don’t like outing other peoples businesses but to say the least the report showed no on page work, no guidance or advice and little but poor link building, I explain to the client in detail what is physically wrong with the on page work and showed her how this differed to her competitors on the first page, then unfortunately I confused the lady a little with details of different types of links that her competitors had compared to poor selection she had acquired, but she understood that things needed to change.

What I’m trying say is, if you are looking for an Internet Marketing SEO strategy then make sure you look at both on page and off page, but more importantly get someone to look at what you competition is doing as they will be ranking for a reason.

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Recently I have come across quite a few web masters who have lost their listings in Google and have followed Google’s recommendations and submitted a reconsideration request through web master tools.

They then have received the following email back from Google:

Dear site owner or webmaster of http://www.yoursite.co.uk/,

We received a request from a site owner to reconsider http://www.yoursite.co.uk/ for compliance with Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.

We reviewed your site and found no manual actions by the webspam team that might affect your site’s ranking in Google. There’s no need to file a reconsideration request for your site, because any ranking issues you may be experiencing are not related to a manual action taken by the webspam team.

Of course, there may be other issues with your site that affect your site’s ranking. Google’s computers determine the order of our search results using a series of formulas known as algorithms. We make hundreds of changes to our search algorithms each year, and we employ more than 200 different signals when ranking pages. As our algorithms change and as the web (including your site) changes, some fluctuation in ranking can happen as we make updates to present the best results to our users.

If you’ve experienced a change in ranking which you suspect may be more than a simple algorithm change, there are other things you may want to investigate as possible causes, such as a major change to your site’s content, content management system, or server architecture. For example, a site may not rank well if your server stops serving pages to Googlebot, or if you’ve changed the URLs for a large portion of your site’s pages. This article has a list of other potential reasons your site may not be doing well in search.

If you’re still unable to resolve your issue, please see our Webmaster Help Forum for support.

Sincerely,

Google Search Quality Team

 

So what do you do now?

Well its time you got in touch with an expert to give you a report and unique perspective of what is wrong or affecting your site. Even SEO legends do this and ask there geek like colleagues to take a look at sites they have worked on for years, as someone will always see something different from an SEO perspective and be able to offer a solution.

Don’t give up, as stated in the above email from Google, it’s a case of working out which bit of the algorithm you are not complying with and working on that.

You may think you have exhausted every avenue and nothing is working, but it could be something as simple as changing the how Google indexes categories or how many links you have on a page linking to internal pages, I managed to help a site quite recently that was using its URL in every title in the site, thus creating a mass number of pages with duplication problems.

If you would like me to offer a free review of your site, then get in touch.

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I know this is nothing to do with SEO but I feel like sharing some insider information about Sky and there routers.

I have had a home router from Sky for about 3 years and have had the same old problem that if I move more than 10 meters away I get no signal, this can get quite annoying being a geek and always playing with my phone or tablet, so I contacted Sky with the idea of buying a new router to put upstairs and boost the range of the signal.

I got through to technical support, and the gent explained that the only way I could have a second router is to have a phone socket next to the sky box upstairs which I don’t as it’s just an extension from the downstairs TV.

He suggested that we log into the router and see if we can boost the signal that way, by typing in your ip address to a browser you can access the router settings, in there you will find channels, and it’s as simple as taking the setting off AUTO and selecting a new channel I was recommend 1, 6 or 11 to make it unique and stop interfering with other wireless devices.

Boom, the wireless signal is now boosted by at least 5 meters and I can now get wireless hassle free. Try it yourself as I’m sure this will work with other routers.

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Since I split up with my girlfriend, I have tried to use the spare time I have to do things I enjoy, besides going out and partying, killing myself at the gym, I love reading.

I read a book a while ago by Tucker Max, called “I hope they serve beer in hell” it’s a fantastic book about a young man who can’t help himself when it comes to alcohol and women, to be honest he is a complete arse hole, but he sees how far he can push things in life, in turn this makes it a very funny read, I think the book was that funny that they made a failure of a film.

Anyway I wanted to try and buy a copy of the next book “assholes finish first” so I preceded to look for clues into where I could buy it, the Tucker Max site is an American website and all the links point to American book stores, so as I don’t trust or can’t be bothered waiting for international shipping, I got the title of the book and searched Google for local book shops to see if I could get a copy, none of the usual suspects had it in but one out of the 7 said they could order it and have it for me in a month. Pah!

I then tried to look nationally through the whole of the UK and the only UK stores which had it in were appearing on Amazon, this got me thinking, why don’t any of these stores set up their own site, as I looked at the reviews and company names to make sure they were real and not one had their own site, surely the money you would pay Amazon to appear on their search engine would be better spent building and optimising your own site, so you can then maximise profits on low priced products such as books?

If anyone is willing to look into this I think there is a massive gap in the market and lots of money to be made… Get in touch.

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Manchester SEO: I was looking through my posts last night and realised I have never written an article about my beloved city that I send 90% of my time in, living and working.

Manchester is an understated city in terms of business and is slightly overshadowed by London but when it comes to the amount of people that shop online, Manchester is right up there.

It seems the community of Manchester are well educated in online retail, this is probably because of the full time job statistics are higher compared to the likes of London and Birmingham, so customers have to shop online in the lunch or don’t feel up to trawling around the shops after a long day at work.

So are you a business in Manchester and are you missing out on an opportunity to gain valuable sales through your website as it doesn’t rank locally for the right areas?

If so take a look at who is ranking for your products in those areas and get in touch with me, I will tell you why they are above you, and how to gain positions with ethical natural SEO practises.

I have examples of client I have already done this for and are willing to share this experience.

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Who can tender for my SEO?

If you have read this website you will know that I have been working in SEO for over 6 years and I presented at to hundreds of companies who have their website out to an SEO tender.

75% of all tenders relating to the Internet are for web design, and SEO comes as a second thought when someone spends thousands on a great looking website they naturally want it to rank and be found.

This is why I’m trying to make people change the way they think and consider how they are going to market a website once its live. I personally have tendered for all levels of SEO and believe I can deal with any platform or technicality because I have the backing of a great team and access to offices in Liverpool, Manchester, London and Glasgow and would be willing to travel internationally if the tender requires.

If you would like a free website overhaul or review to gain understanding of my capabilities then get in touch, I would be happy to do this over the phone or come to your office.

I have a large portfolio of successful clients and can present them to back up the SEO process but I also enjoy showing you unique ways of making sites rank as all industries are different and require a bespoke approach.

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Working for part of a larger agency allows me to travel quite a bit and I have access to satellite office all around the UK but one of my favourite it Glasgow.

When I first visited Glasgow I was apprehensive about the locals and basically what I had seen on TV. It turns out Glaswegians are one of the nicest sets of people I have come across and would recommend to anyone thinking of a short UK break or even a full trip to Scotland to include Glasgow on there list of places to visit.

Recently I was invited to Glasgow to tender for an SEO contract and loving all things SEO I checked out the SEO community and what is happening with local companies on-line.

As Scotland falls under google.co.uk I looked up some local searches for products in major cities and I noticed one thing, there is a massive opportunity for local business and brands to capture a big chuck of lots of markets if you are looking for a new avenue.

Try it yourself, look at something like the term “shoes Glasgow” you will in the natural listing only 3 brands and the rest are local business with poorly optimised sites that rank on the first page.

It wouldn’t take allot to look up your niche and then ask me what is possible especially if you are willing to deliver or provide a service to Scotland. Get in touch and I will run a full free analysis of your industry and show you what is possible.

I could even come for a visit if required?

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Tonight will see the Rippleffect (Ripple All Stars) take to the pitch in their first 11 a side football match against Click Consult (SeoConsult).

The game will take place at Prenton Park, Tranmere Rovers home pitch, and will kick off will be 6:30. Entry is free is you want to come down and watch a group of pretend footballers running around. (Think of it as a warm up to Soccer Aid)

Early betting guides have said, as this is the first time the Ripple All Stars have played together in a competitive 11 a side game that we are the underdogs and on top of this, the latest rumours have said, Click Consult have drafted in Matt Bullas, who is an unknown entity.

Latest team news for Rippleffect has seen a switch in midfield and defence and with a late fitness test we may be down to 3 or 4 subs, so will fitness be the decider in the match? Are the rumours true and are half of the team for click consult ringers? Both ways it should be a good match and I’m sure if we win I will be doing a follow up post.

One last thought?

4-4-2? (Standard)

5-4-1? (Defence in mind)

3-4-3 (Attacking)

Or

1-10 (park the bus Chelsea VS Barcelona style)

What are your thought players and fans?

Rippleffect warming up below:

Write up by Andrew Binns @keeperbinns

Ripple 3 Click 5

A Game of Two Halves

The Ripple Allstars first outing ended in a dignified defeat which could have been so much worse when the Allstars found themselves 3-0 down after 20 minutes. The game’s first highlight was during the pre match warm up with Danny Williams’s bizarre warm up techniques leaving the near capacity crowd in hysterics. Video footage is available courtesy of Danielle Williams. With Birss’s bizarre decision to start himself in the playmaker role and hiding star player Evans on the wing backfiring horribly the Allstars went 1-0 early on with Rietdyke literally taken out by a shocking challenge that the young referee missed, allowing their striker to bear down on Williams and slot the ball away. The pace of the game was frenetic and Greenwood was called upon to make some crunching tackles. Sadly, 2-0 appeared quickly and Sanders attempts at time wasting by hiding the ball in the stands seemed a tad desperate. Very quickly Manager Burgham realised the folly of Birss’s decision and switched Evans to the centre where he could express himself and straight away he sent Hatton through but Ben dragged his shot wide. With a roll on roll off sub policy Manager Burgham was able to rotate and soon Chopper Dunford had managed to take out one of their players with a tackle straight from the MMA. As the half ended Hatton rose like a salmon and smashed a header against the cross bar and along with Connor’s cultured Beckhamesque free kick which also hit the bar Ripple could count themselves unlucky. The assured looking Williams was keeping the Ripple back four steady until Holmes forgot which way he was shooting and managed to get on the Click Consult scoresheet with a glorious OG. With Dolley screaming abuse at a 14 year old referee for 45 minutes the half ended.

Despite Rippleffect starting well the Click boys rather scarily made it 5-0 early on and then we saw an epic transformation. Woods and Williams became Terry and Rio and stopped everything and Baileys 50 yard Hoddle style pass got the crowd going. Suddenly Miller was through and bravely nodded in a goal and then Hatton whose obsession with the crossbar was becoming slightly stalkerish drilled in a half volley. Williams made a wonder save from a one on one and then things really got better for the Allstars as Birss pulled a Sol Campbell and swapped teams. Completely unrelated the Allstars started playing well and Click Consult started playing badly. A horror injury to talisman Connor who was carted off to hospital  only spurred the Allstars on and Dunford and Greenwood made some hefty challenges. Suddenly Miller and Hatton were tearing their defence apart and Charnock was gifted a tap in after great work from the Ripple strikeforce. With Price showing the great skills and composure on the ball that Villa have been crying out for all season and with the Click Consult team down to 9 men (well 10 if you include Phil) Ripple didn’t want the game to end. Which sadly it did.

All in all a good game, hard fought and a good start.

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Is running away the answer to a Google penalty?

I have been monitoring 20 or 30 sites that I’m aware have been affected or penalised by the penguin update, 3 in particular as they are attempting to sort out the loss of listings by 3 different methods. All 3 sites have had their home page de-indexed.

The first site has rewritten content, got rid of all bad links, and commenced with an all-natural link building strategy and not to my recommendation submitted re-inclusion request once the bad links had been removed. The site is still not having any success with its main keywords and the homepage is still not indexed.

The second site has removed the bad links, and then worked through the whole site correcting basic SEO on page problems that have been overlooked, such as correcting any snippets of duplicate content on pages, duplicate title tags, and creating excerpts on blog pages instead of long pages etc. They have not submitted a re-inclusion request but there site is still being updated via the news with no success of getting the home page re-indexed.

The third site in question has taken the most drastic step, they have bought a new domain and redirected all the old pages to the new URL, including rewriting the home page content and correct any on page problems. It’s too early to tell but it seems some of the home page content is now getting indexed again and because the 301 redirect was implemented correctly the previous inner page traffic has been maintained.

As soon as I find out whether the third site gets fully re-indexed I’ll let you know but it seems the most drastic measure of starting again with a clean site might be the way forward?

Have you tried any of the above and had success?

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