But, SEO in Australia has come a long way since the days of cramming a few keywords into your copy and hoping for the best. There are many business owners who get confused with what determines good SEO and how to prepare and organise their SEO priorities. That’s where an SEO checklist can help.

One way you can begin your SEO checklist is by separating your checklist. SEO can be easily divided into three, easy-to-manage sections – external SEO, technical SEO and on-page SEO. If you’re able to manage these three types of SEO properly, you will be able to manage your SEO properly altogether.

External SEO covers all of the stuff that you’re not entirely able to control, and it relates to how Google views and validates your website. If external SEO ends up working for you, Google will see you as an authority on your subject matter, and you and your website will benefit from this validation. Aspects of external SEO include an active social media presence, appropriate backlinking and accurate contact details (otherwise known as NAP data).

Technical SEO is the type of SEO that you should begin with, and it relates to getting your website initially indexed and noticed by Google. Technical SEO focuses on things such as the development of sitemaps and acquiring domains for your website. However, before you begin working on technical SEO, make sure you have an analytics platform so that you can receive data on how well your technical SEO is going.

On-page SEO is possibly the easiest type of SEO for many business owners to gain an understanding of, and it’s the type of SEO that most people think of when thinking about SEO. Initially, on-page SEO consisted of cramming keywords into the copy and hoping for the best. But, Google has become more advanced and responsive with on-page SEO, and now search engines demand a lot more work relating to context, competitors and the frequency of keyword placement.

Even though these types of SEO may seem daunting to some business owners, there are many online forums and tools that you’ll be able to use to assist you in your SEO journey. However, if you find the task of organising and operating either too daunting or too time-consuming, FX Web Studio are here to help. FX Web Studio are one of Sydney’s leaders in all types of SEO services in Sydney and will tailor SEO solutions to you and your business. If you’d like to know more about our SEO strategies can help you, give us a call today on 1300 090 401.

The post Your complete SEO checklist appeared first on FX Marketing.

Sometimes, web design and content marketing will clash, and you’ll need to determine what is truly important for the online presence of your business – the aesthetics that make good first impressions for potential customers, or the content that will inform and educate your customers. Here are some instances where good content marketing is sacrificed for good web design in Sydney.

Comprehension and readability

The copy is one of the most important aspects of any website – it’s what will educate and inform potential customers about your services or products. However, there are very few instances where text has been more aesthetically pleasing than the visual aids that accompany them. As a result, you need to make sure that your copy is packed with enough information so that it educates your potential customers, but not dense and difficult to the point that it bores your potential customers.

When setting up the copy for your website, make sure that all of the fonts are consistent and neat, so that your website looks both professional and easy to understand. Also make sure that the font that you pick is a font that can be easily read, otherwise your potential customers are going to be struggling to understand your message. Before setting up the copy for your website, a good practice to do is to look at other websites for inspiration. Look at the copy on websites similar to your own and see how their copy is written and figure out how it sells.

User experience

When designing a website, one of the things that you should always have on your mind is user experience. User experience relates to how people interact with your website, and covers aesthetics, information and ease of access. Although you need to place importance on both web design and content marketing, you shouldn’t place priority on a particular one. An example can be found when you have a lot of information to place into your website. If you place this information into multiple pages, your page can become difficult to navigate. When designing your website, use menus in order to make your website easy to navigate and the information easy to access.

Another way you can make web design and content marketing coexist is to maintain the theme of your website. In particular, this relates to when you’re writing copy, make sure that your fonts stay consistent throughout the pages and that they match the look of the rest of your website.

These are just a couple of the things that you need to consider when trying to keep both website design and content marketing in mind when designing your website. If you’re looking for someone to help you with incorporating web design and content marketing into your website, talk to FX Web Studio. We offer high-quality web design and up-to-date content marketing. If you’d like to know more, give us a call on 1300 090 401.

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Google’s updates are either major or minor when it comes to their search algorithms, as we’ve mentioned in the past. What’s being called the Google Birthday up  date – for obvious reasons – is quite a significant update, so you may have seen some changes in your rankings. It’s very rare for Google to have two major updates only weeks apart, but this is the case with the August broad core update and the Google Birthday update.

When the August broad core update occurred, little information was available so it was difficult knowing what move to make if rankings were affected. Some of our clients were affected by the August update, but by keeping a close eye on Google’s updated search guidelines, we were able to remedy this problem.

The Google Birthday update is similar to the August one, in that it is very broad, so pinpointing the exact factor that may have led to decreases in rankings is very difficult at this stage. With that said, here’s what you should know about the Google Birthday update.

It’s similar to the August update

It’s very likely that the Google Birthday update is related to the August broad core update in some way. Adjustments and reversals are quite common when it comes to updates, and they more often than not lead to increases or decreases in site rankings, so it could very well be the case that the Google Birthday update is an adjustment or reversal of the August update.

As it is a broad core update, figuring out what may have caused fluctuations in rankings is quite difficult at this stage. For this reason, we need to keep an eye on Google’s search guidelines, so we can continue to adopt the best SEO practices.

Updates to image searching

This more than likely won’t affect you, but it’s important to note that this was a key part of this update. Image rankings now factor in page authority a lot more than they have in the past, as well as how prominent the image is on the page. The design of image searching has also updated to better match the mobile version, which is a nice touch.

Affected? Here’s what to do

As mentioned earlier, these broad core updates are very difficult to understand in the early stages. As time goes on, we will have more information about how resolve decreases in rankings affected by the latest update.

It’s important to review your on-page structure, backlinks, content and user experience. Google is always trying to weed out poor practices and promote good ones. At the end of the day, it’s about providing the most relevant content with a great user experience.

Find out more

For any information on SEO or questions regarding this update, feel free to give us a call on 1300 090 401.

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Instagram Insights

First of all, make sure your account is set to a business profile. This means that you can see data about posts, stories and promotions you’ve made in the past. Once your profile has reached 100 followers, you can access demographic metrics like age, gender and location of your audience that can help you create more targeted and engaging content.

Hashtags

Initially, hashtags were used to get a particular story or event “trending” on social media networks. You could then track these hashtags to follow information or opinions shared about this topic. In the world of Instagram, hashtags are used to attract specific users to your posts and profile. For instance, a shoe brand will use popular shoe hashtags to attract people who are interested in buying a particular style of shoe or like to follow footwear brands online. This is one of the most effective ways of building up an authentic online following.

Encourage your customers to post

List your online profiles at the bottom of menus, receipts and at the point of sale to encourage your customers to follow your business or post about their experience. It’s important that real customers engage with your business online to provide social proof. This shows potential customers that your business can be trusted. It’s also useful to provide an incentive for your customers such as a $5 discount for customers that tag you in an Instagram story or post. This can expose your brand to their following, giving you another opportunity to increase your own audience.

Engage with your audience

If your customers are engaging with your profile, make sure you respond! It’s especially important to do this when the contact is negative as you can try to resolve the issue and prove to other customers that you value feedback and the opportunity to improve your service. Users can see when people they follow engage with other profiles, regardless of whether they follow them or not. Consistent contact with your followers will give you a better chance of attracting the people that you are yet to reach.

If you’re interested in utilising your Instagram profile to get more customers for your business, we have the skills to make that happen. At FX Web Studio we understand how important social media throughout Parramatta is when it comes to finding new customers. Call us on 1300 090 401 to meet up for a chat about  your online presence and the future of your business.

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The beginning of August saw Google rolling out a new major update to its search algorithms. While Google updates its algorithms daily, these changes are generally quite small that they make a huge difference in rankings. But this update is different. It’s called a broad core update – a major update that only happens a few times a year.

Major updates generally mean you may see a sharp increase or decrease in the rankings for your web pages. This is good news for some, but obviously, not for everyone.

Google algorithm updates can be specific and is used to fix a certain problem; it can also be broad, which involves making significant changes. The broad core updates can take time to understand and therefore it can be tough knowing why your rankings may have dropped back.

We’ve previously spoken about some of the major specific updates like Maccabees, Penguin, Panda, Pigeon, and Fred, all of which aimed to fix individual problems, like penalising link spamming, unnatural and excessive use of keywords, poor user experience and so forth. With these kinds of updates, it’s not as difficult to get your solid ranking back as you know exactly what you need to fix your website.

Broad updates tend to impact Google’s ranking factors. With hundreds of ranking factors, it’s therefore quite difficult to pinpoint the reason a website’s ranking may increase or decrease.

So, how do we move forward? We need to understand Google’s updated search guidelines. Obviously, this is something we’re always keeping an eye on.

A website with great content that matches the users’ intent whilst providing a great user experience will always do well. Quality website content is no longer about using an abundance of keywords, but more about meaningful and relevant information that visitors will positively respond to.

Broadening your key phrase portfolio through long-tail key phrases (i.e. four or more words) is a great place to start. While these key phrases may not get as much traffic as one or two-word phrases, they have a much higher conversion rate and are much better when it comes to producing natural, meaningful and informative content.

So with this in mind, it’s important not to worry if you have seen a change in your Google ranking. As there is currently no specific fix for this update. We must continue to enrich your website with great content and an excellent user experience – the key ranking factors in Google’s eyes.

If you have any questions about search engine optimisation or would like to know more about the latest algorithm updates, please call us on 1300 090 401.

The post Google has just released a major update – what does this mean for your rankings? appeared first on FX Marketing.

Reach more customers

Social networking sites are one of the fastest growing industries with billions of active users worldwide. No matter how small your business is, many of your customers are likely to be active on some of these platforms. With the number of consumers and businesses active on social media, it’s not surprising that a third of customers claim it is how they discover new products, services and brands. With an active presence on the platforms your potential customers are using, you can generate more leads for your business.

It’s great for targeting and engagement

With social media you can not only reach new customers but ensure that you’re targeting the right ones. Not all people you reach online will be genuinely interested in your business but by using hashtags, location tagging and tailored content you’re more likely to engage the kind of customers you want. The use of engaging content has the potential to both attract new customers and improve brand loyalty amongst existing ones. Beyond sharing quality content on your business profiles, paid advertisements can be highly targeted to ensure that you only reach the users you plan on targeting.

Stay competitive

Social media in Parramatta presents businesses with a way to interact with and understand their customers. Those utilising business profiles across social networking sites have a considerable advantage over those that don’t. The customer experiences shared on these websites provide the social proof your customers need to see to validate your brand. Without real feedback from real people, building trust with your target market can be difficult. Facebook and Instagram present numerous opportunities to show your audience what your business is capable of and publicly resolve any issues customers have had in the past.

In 2018, every small business needs a powerful online presence, complete with strong branding across a range of social media websites. At FX Web Studio, we can help you understand what works for your target market and develop a comprehensive campaign to help take your business to the next level. Give us a call on 1300 090 401 today and organise your obligation free meeting with our social media team.

The post How social media can help your business appeared first on FX Marketing.

What is involved?

There are a lot of variables that come into play with SEO. Your baseline traffic, website design, domain age, meta descriptions, geographic location, competition and target market are some of the main influences that determine how long it takes for you to start seeing results. There is no one size fits all model when it comes to an effective SEO strategy. The processes used to get results must be tailored to your business and specific to your industry if they are going to work. There is no amount of money that can make you climb the rankings faster, but it can get you more quality content that Google will use to determine your rank in the future. It’s also important to keep up with SEO trends as technology changes the way it works. Previously, it was enough for several commonly searched keywords to be targeted but with the introduction of voice recognition systems such as Siri or Google Now, long-tail searches asking specific questions must also be considered.

When can I expect to see results?

Generally, a website can start to see results around the 6-month point. These results will improve after time, but consistency is key. Even if you aren’t seeing results after a few months, it’s important to stick to the plan because time and commitment to an effective strategy will get you where you need to be. If you have a new website with a new domain name and fresh content, Google will take more time to recognise and rank it appropriately. Success rarely occurs in the first few months, but once Google has indexed your website and you’re producing a steady flow of fresh and relevant content for your audience, search engines will reward you with higher rankings.

What can I do in the meantime?

If you’re looking for immediate results while waiting for your SEO efforts to take effect, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising could be the answer. PPC advertising gets you straight to the top of the Google search results but it can’t get you the same quality, organic traffic as SEO. However, as a short-term solution, it will get the job done. Most importantly, you need to trust the system. SEO is an investment that can deliver consistent quality traffic to your website and generate leads that are more likely to convert.

At FX Web Studio, our SEO experts understand how to develop a tailored SEO strategy that is specific to your market. Give us a call on 1300 090 401 to find out what we can do for your business.

The post Why does SEO take so long? appeared first on FX Marketing.

What is it?

Mobile-first indexing means that Google will prioritise mobile websites over standard desktop websites when determining your ranking. The Google algorithm has been checking mobile websites for years, however, it was not until 2018 that the search engine giant recognised it as the dominant platform. Remember that mobile-first does not mean mobile-only as websites without mobile versions will still be indexed by Google.

How does it work?

Google crawls your website to work out how relevant and useful your content is for search engine users. Historically, desktop websites have been the primary platform for indexing, meaning that Googlebots would check the desktop website before looking at the mobile version. However, with the introduction of mobile-first indexing, the mobile website will be crawled before desktop. If you don’t have a mobile website, Google will still index the desktop version, but it is likely to have an adverse impact on your rankings.

Why is it important?

The efficiency and performance of your mobile website has become essential to an effective SEO strategy. Previously, the desktop versions of websites have been targeted for SEO in the Hills District because they were Google’s priority. This means that in many cases, more effort was devoted to a desktop website to ensure that it was optimised for indexing, leaving the mobile version light on content and quality. With Google making these changes, mobile websites must be just as comprehensive and responsive as the desktop version. Extra steps should be taken to ensure that all content, structural and dynamic elements are optimised for the mobile experience.

At FX Web Studio we understand what your website needs to rank on page 1 of Google. We can develop a responsive, comprehensive and effective mobile website for your business and develop a tailored SEO strategy that works in your market. Give us a call on 1300 090 401 to learn more about our web design services in Sydney and how we can help your business get ahead of the competition.

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What is SSL?

It is your responsibility to protect customer information by securing your website from cyber threats. A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encrypts data to safeguard it from interception and is a critical element of your website security. Data that is transmitted between browsers, servers or devices can be accessed by a third party if the necessary security precautions are not taken. Once you have obtained the SSL certificate for your website in Sydney, you will be given a HTTPS address. The ‘S’ stands for security, showing all users that your website provides a more secure platform than the standard HTTP sites.

What could happen?

Your business has a legal and ethical obligation to manage sensitive customer information securely and there can be consequences if you fail to do so. If a third party is able to gain control of your website, they can delete, manipulate and post unsavoury content. If these issues are not resolved quickly it can diminish your credibility and brand perception. These changes won’t go unnoticed by search engines either, your rank is likely to change dramatically and could take up to six months to recover if it’s not managed appropriately.

What needs to be done?

Find a service provider that prioritises security. Large service providers that host too many websites require greater flexibility on their servers. However, with this flexibility comes an increased security risk. At FX Web Studio our servers are very restricted using a robust firewall to secure all data, hosting ONLY our clients and ONLY accessed by our team. We take a proactive approach to website security working to prevent potential cyber attacks and minimise down time in the event of a security breach. FX Web Studio offers free SSL certificates for websites hosted with us that works across most devices. However, clients managing sensitive information are advised to let the team organise the paid SSL certificate to ensure greater security.

Comprehensive web security measures should be taken to avoid a third party taking control of your website and some web companies are better equipped to do so. At FX Web Studio, we prioritise the security of your website to protect your business and your customers. Call us on 1300 090 401 today to organise a free security audit for your website!

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Quality is key

Ten years ago, keyword stuffing was the focus in blogging for SEO. This tactic meant that a lot of blog content was difficult to read and unhelpful to customers. Since the days of keyword stuffing, Google has consistently developed and improved their algorithm to recognise the quality content that users want to find. In 2018, search engines understand content better than ever, and if the quality isn’t up to scratch it could do more harm than good for your business. However, if you continually produce valuable content for users, Google will rank your business higher in the search results, driving more traffic to your website.

Stay relevant

Google favours websites that are regularly updated. Not all pages on a website require frequent updates as company information or product lists often won’t change. Blogging is the easiest way to consistently produce fresh content for your website and show both search engines and users alike, that your business stays up to date.

Answer your audience

Creating a blog for your website gives you a lot of flexibility in topic selection. Creating articles based on long-tail searches that your customers are making can bring more potential customers to your website and give you a chance to gain their business and their trust. Another factor Google considers is how long users spend on your website. If your blog can answer the search queries of your customers, they will stay on the page for longer showing Google that this content is helpful and engaging.

Cover all bases

Each blog post that you upload to your website gives search engines another page to rank. By writing more posts designed to help your customers with different areas, your website can rank for more keywords or phrases that are being searched. If there is an opportunity to improve customer understanding or help answer specific questions, it can be used to drive more traffic to your website and get your business onto the first page of Google results.

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