How Important Are Citations For SEO?

By Peter Brittain on June 27, 2023 in SEO

Introduction

Citations might seem like a simple reference, but they play a crucial role in boosting SEO, particularly in local search rankings. In today’s competitive digital environment, businesses vying for local dominance cannot afford to overlook the significance of citations.

Let’s break down why citations are so pivotal in a successful SEO strategy, and how they can make or break your online visibility.

What Are Citations?

A citation in SEO refers to any mention of your business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) online. These details should be consistent across all platforms, whether it’s a local directory, social media, or even another website.

Think of citations as trust signals for search engines like Google.

The more consistent and widespread your citations are, the more trustworthy your business appears, which can result in better local search rankings.

Local Citations vs. Structured Citations

Citations can be categorized into two main types: local and structured.

Local Citations: These occur when your business is mentioned on a website like a local business directory or in a local blog. Even mentions in an online newspaper count. Local citations are essential for building a connection with the community and making your business visible in local searches.

Structured Citations: These are listings in business directories or on social media platforms. Sites like Google My Business, Bing, Yelp, and Yellow Pages are classic examples of where your NAP can be listed in a structured manner.

On-Page SEO, Content & Internal Linking Strategies

By Peter Brittain on December 15, 2022 in Internal Linking, On-Page SEO, Website Content

On-Page SEO Services

With on-page optimisation you have much greater control, for the simple reason that you own the website. This provides for greater flexibility with respect to the SEO services that we can perform on your website, but nevertheless, each of them must, and will, conform with the standards and rules which Google sets out.

This sets SEO Perth Experts further apart from some agencies who might try to cut corners and as such compromise the longer-term rankings of the client’s website in the hope that they can secure short-term results. Remember, Google can detect when black hat SEO is being implemented, so anything which tries to game their system in an underhand way is putting a website at risk of being delisted from the search engines completely.

On-page SEO might be somewhat easier to implement as it is done on a website we have complete access to, but that does not give us the green light to actions that neither provide long-term results nor could jeopardize a website completely. We have the skills, ability, and experience to rank your website the correct way and in a way that Google welcomes rather than seeks to punish. Below are some of those individual on-page SEO services that we offer.

Optimisation Of Metadata

We have been mentioning Google a lot with respect to ranking factors, and a group of optimisations which helps Google to identify what a website is trying to rank for is its metadata. Metadata is the word used to describe specific elements of a website’s coding and it acts as a form of signposting throughout that website, with some metadata hidden from view, and other metadata visible to anyone who visits the site.

Core Google Algorithm Update June 2021

By Peter Brittain on July 2, 2021 in SEO

On June 2nd, 2021, Google released the first of a two-part broad core update, unimaginatively entitled the ‘June 2021 Core Google Algorithm Update’. Those who follow SEO and Google updates will know that they are often a time where webmasters, marketers and SEO consultants wait with bated breath to discover whether or not it helps, hinders, or in some cases, destroys their online ranking strategy.

This trepidation comes as a result of previous, and we dare say, infamous updates that literally ended many business models overnight, as Google sought to improve the search results of those who use their search engine.

So, what do we know about the June 2021 Core Google Algorithm Update? Let us start with some of the basics, and the first of these is that it is a global rollout. This means it will apply to searches in all countries and in all languages.

The update is one of two being released in June, with the other being an update relating to ‘Page Experience’. The number of changes in this core update is so large, that Google is actually releasing the update in two parts; the first part in June, and the second part in July, so just like London buses, you wait for one update, and then several come along, one after the other!

Obvious there may be concern amongst those with vested interests in their website’s ranking that two updates, across 2 consecutive months, might cause a great deal of volatility, but Google has given assurances that most websites will not feel or see any significant impact to their rankings.

How To Get Backlinks From Authority Websites

By Peter Brittain on June 9, 2021 in SEO Strategies

Within SEO circles we increasingly speak about E-A-T, and why websites that have or display expertise, authority, and trustworthiness are going to get preferential treatment from Google when it comes to ranking.

With the ever-increasing ranking power that these high authority sites have, it means that the backlinks from them will pass some of that power to the websites they link to. That provides an excellent opportunity for website owners to harness that power by getting the authority sites to link to their own website.

Before everyone goes rushing off to write emails asking for a backlink from a huge website, it does not work like, although admittedly SEO would be a lot easier if it did. Instead, we need to take a more subtle approach, because otherwise, we are just going to look like spammers, trying to ride on their coattails.

That is not to say large website will not entertain backlinks to smaller websites. In fact, that helps their SEO too, given that linking out is a ranking signal to Google. So, we can get backlinks from them, and here are some ideas on how.

Give Them A Testimonial

Even the biggest of companies cannot resist receiving positive reviews and testimonials. You can take advantage of this by researching larger websites to see where they allow reviews, case studies or testimonials, and if they also permit a link within them. Obviously, you do not just copy and paste the same testimonial on each website, and even if you only can get one or two posted with backlinks, it is still worth it.

7 Local SEO Ranking Factors That Every Local Business Must Optimise

By Peter Brittain on March 7, 2021 in Local SEO

Unless you are trying to rank a website for a business that operates purely online, or if it’s a business that competes on a national or international scale, the ability to rank your business website for local search terms is vitally important. If you are a local business and not focusing on SEO that helps you appear on page one of Google for local searches, then you are losing lots of customers to local business competitors who are.

There are several actions you can take which will ensure that your local business’s website can compete with, and ideally, outrank your competitors, provided they are done correctly.

Below we have 7 of the most important ranking factors which Google look for when assessing local websites in its search engine results. Many of these can be implemented quickly and easily, while some may take a bit more time and effort.

Google My Business: Normally abbreviated to ‘GMB‘ this is arguably the most important ranking factor that exists for local businesses. It is essentially set up to let Google know what your local business is about. You need to include the business category, your business address, highly relevant keywords in the title, and even having your opening hours is a plus.

Linking: With backlinks, it is important that you focus on the type and quality of the backlinks rather than simply trying to amass as many as possible. By all means, try for high numbers of links, but make them quality links. Link signals which are especially influential in local ranking are the anchor text used and the authority of the websites that the backlinks are coming from.