6 five minute SEO guides for business websites

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Optimizing your business website for the search engines might seem like a daunting task. Either you do it yourself, or you pay someone. Sometimes, doing SEO work yourself might end up costing you more than hiring a professional like me. So here’s a collection of 5 minute SEO guides for business websites.

The following are a collection of articles originally published on the Blah, Blah! Technology blog, taken from my instant SEO article:

5 minute SEO primer for beginners — “In SEO, it’s often the simple stuff that works the best. But time and again, people ask: “How do I get to the front page of Google?” — we start with the basics of Search Engine Optimization…”

SEO for URLs and externally linked files on websites & ‘blogs — “Google is a reader of websites who’s best kept happy with sensible structure and strong content. Google will read almost anything — or should I say almost any file…”

Search Engine Optimization: the art of ti… — “Titles maketh the article. Without a concise title, enriched with meaty keyword chunks, an article is just so many bytes of miscellaneous data. So I just thought I’d touch upon my thoughts on quick, easy SEO tips again, with an example. It’s the simplest principles of Search Engine Optimization that do the most good. But it’s the simple things that often get overlooked .. even by the big guys…”

2-4-1 keyword listing on Google SERP — “Ever curious as to the circuitous route some of the visitors to my ‘blog take en route, I’m often left in various states of mind…”

SEO tips for websites — “Here are my top Search Engine Optimization tips for giving your web pages a lift, making your website that little bit more friendly to the search engines and your visitors alike!”

What search engines really, really want from your website! — “The similarities between the web, the way the web functions and real life are much closer than you’d think.”

Feeling empowered? Hopefully, I’ve armed you with enough SEO know-how to at least give your business website a boost…

Will your business survive the hardening economy?

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Do you innovate or sit and wait? Work smarter, not harder, with Octane

In the current economic climate, it’s essential your business cuts costs, raises productivity and efficiency while still providing an excellent service.

As a business, Octane has been around since 1999, providing web design, development and consultation nationwide. I can help your business succeed at a time when your competitors might struggle.

Did you think the web was just websites? It’s now also about sharing data & information instantly with colleagues and clients anywhere in the world.

And because I, as Octane, have clients in the manufacturing, engineering and healthcare industries, offering their products & services globally, I’m confident that I can help your business meet your present and future needs — personally.

  1. Cut costs and raise productivity by being more efficient.
  2. I’m a designer, a consultant and a programmer — 3 people for the price of 1.
  3. Fully managed web hosting, email and support.

A sample of your FREE website critique

  • In addition to the list of completed projects, why not add Case Studies and Testimonials?
  • Add in CTAs (Calls to Action), to prompt visitors to call you, or complete your response form.
  • By improving the way your website is built, you’ll improve the chances of being found on Google.

To arrange your free consultation call Wayne on: 0870 755 0004, or send me a message right away…

Don’t make ’em think?

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Sometimes, thinking can be a bad thing. Don’t get me wrong, I like thinking, but there’s the right kind and the wrong kind when it comes to business — and especially web design.

Yesterday, I went to the cinema with my girlfriend. Afterwards, just before the drive home, I needed the little boys room. As we both went down the corridor to our respective rooms, I stopped next to the sign marked with a little blue guy. I paused, looked at the sign on the wall, but couldn’t figure out which door the sign related two, since there were two.

Why not just put the sign on the door like everyone else? For a split second, I felt indecisive, which really is not Wayne Smallman at all! Trust me on that one.

When websites work well

And then I was reminded of a book I bought a while back called “Don’t Make Me Think!” by Steve Krug, which is a common-sense approach to web usability. And a lot of the advice really is just that — common sense.

The overarching theme is to not make people think when they’re using your website. It’s a wise policy, too. There are a number of constants to designing a website which, as a web designer, it’s as well to stick to.

Examples abound, such as the use of images within a web page. More often than not, the default action of the visitor is to click on the image. Not meeting people’s expectations can leave them feeling frustrated and confused. It’s at that moment that their thoughts turn to your competitors website.

I’m also reminded of a quote from the excellent action crime thriller Ronin. In this particular scene, Sam (played by Robert De Niro) says something like: “If there’s any doubt, there is no doubt.” And he’s absolutely right.

Once there are doubts, those doubts dissolve what initial trust there might have been between your visitor and your website. After all, building trust is amazing hard with a website, especially for small businesses with a small brand.

Being taught the wrong kind of lessons in business

As is often the case, clients rarely have a full appreciation of the amount of time involved in what you do. When these expectations get too high, I invite a client to the office for the day to go through a set of changes and / or amends. At the end of the day, they’re usually a little tired and a good deal more educated about what I have to do when they want that blue widget to be red.

Similarly, I get to see more of their decision making process, which gives me the mental tools I need to ask the right questions and when to ask them.

All good, yes? Not always.

The great thing about clients is they often have a very clear idea of what they want. They don’t know what’s involved in making their ideas happen, nor do they care, unless it’s likely to cost a lot of money!

But if they’ve asked for similar in the past, and sat through an entire day with you while you do the work, this knowledge of how I do things can sometimes stymie the naked ideas behind their less naked ambitions.

And the moral of this story? Think before you make others think, or you might just be the last thing on their mind…

Know your business through “Organic Knowledge”

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So you think you know all about yourself and your business, right? Wrong! I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve helped a business owner rediscover what I call their “Organic Knowledge”.

As the years roll by, your business matures and your successes are as a direct result of your experiences, be they good or bad. Thing is, as much as you rely on this know-how and experience, chances are, if I asked you to name all the reasons I should choose your company over someone else’s, you’d struggle.

Some of you are probably shaking your heads very hard, reeling off one key benefit and USP after another.

No, I’m talking about the kind of stuff you’d put in your CV or resume. And as a business owner, being totally unemployable after all these years, you’ve probably forgotten all of those really clever things you’ve learned, even though you make use of some of them every single day.

Rediscovering all of these choice morsels of business know-how is essential, this “Organic Knowledge” gets learned then cast to the back of your mind, because we do these things as a matter of course, mostly without thought, mechanically, almost.

The reason I call this “Organic Knowledge” is because it’s the stuff we learn naturally as we progress through our professional lives. Well, it’s time to recycle that business knowledge and make it all work for you!

The trick is writing them all down and then, as if they were dots on a sheet of paper, joining them together in new and innovative ways. By finding new ways of doing old things, you could very well re-energize your business.

It’s not hard to do, you just have to be aware of the things you do on a daily basis, think about how you started out, where you learned those things and then add them to the list!

If there’s a team of you, this can very well be a process of discovery — uncovering things about each other you never new. As an added bonus, there are some very serious considerations for your future marketing efforts, too.

The more you know about yourself, the more you know about your business and what you and your business can offer to your clients…

5 simple ways to improve your business website

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Most business websites are under performing, and the reasons are all too common. Thankfully, most websites can be improved without too much effort.

Here’s a list of 5 easy methods to improving your business website:

  1. Prompt the visitor to act — by adding in a “Call to Action” at the end of a web page; such as your sales telephone number, or a button to place an order, or to contact support or sales, you’re preventing your product / service pages from becoming dead ends.
  2. Making contact — speaking of getting your visitors to contact you, just listing your email address is neither professional or sensible. Firstly, if you have a proper contact form, your visitors will have much more confidence in you. Secondly, by listing your email address on your website, you’re essentially inviting people to send you junk email. As well as giving your potential customers a way to contact you, also list your main telephone numbers and postal address, too.
  3. The write stuff — bad grammar and poor spelling are a turn-off. Most businesses have a copy of Microsoft Word, so make sure you use it! Also, when writing about your company or your products and services, think about your audience and write with their needs in mind. You’re not out to win any literary awards, but you don’t want to bore them, either. Be concise, descriptive, informative and use words and phrases appropriate to your product / service, and avoid jargon.
  4. Image is everything — you don’t have to be a professional to take professional-looking photographs of your products. A lot of websites have very poor photos, which do more harm than good and don’t give a good impression of either their products or the company itself.
  5. Broken links — possibly one of the most heinous of website design crimes is the broken link. Finding them is both frustrating and unprofessional. Periodically check your website for broken links and fix them!

Think your business website is suffering from some of these problems, but don’t know how to fix them? Well I do, so contact me straight away and let’s get that website of yours earning you money!