Local SEO

How to avoid pitfalls and reap the rewards – a ‘how to’ guide for local websites

10th April 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

With the marriage of Twitter and Foursquare on the cards, it has, once again, thrown light on a sticky patch that many local businesses encounter, especially when creating their presence online; just HOW do you reach the local populace whilst using global online platforms? What is the point? And why, oh why, do you need a website…?

In our mooching around the Internet, as well as our growing customer base of local, national and global businesses, we have come up with 10 pitfalls in to which local, online businesses can tumble.

Flailing about in the dark is no fun, especially when everyone else on the top side is winning new customers, and seeing old ones return.

Now is the time to grasp the mettle, and understand what is undermining your online, local presence…

#1 It is not ALL about YOU…

Commissioning your website is very exciting but, it can place some businesses in a position whereby they think their online presence is only about them. Although your brand is important, but when it comes to social media, more is a distinct advantage.

Link with other businesses, blogs and the like that are in harmony with yours. If you sell sea salt, for example, look to food based social media shares and the like. Think beyond your own brand bubble!

#2 It is not just about what you sell…

Yes your products and services are the very thing that makes you a business; yup, we all need or want things in our lives, and you have one of those things. But, following on from point 1, think outside the box – who, what or how else can your product be linked to other business, news events and so on?

Take care – linking with news events is great BUT, makes sure you are not pushing the boundaries or sensitive material. It can back fire and, unless you have a suave, fast-acting PR department then you could be sunk without a trace.

#3 Not all people will know what they want…

Some businesses will tell you that people come to them when they know they want their product or service.

Mmmm… might be true but, you could be alienating a group of buyers early on in the process who are in the market for a product like yours but, they miss your site because your SEO etc. is all geared toward the ‘sure-thing-buyer’.

#4 Local signals can reap rewards

We have touched on this many times in recent blogs and, it seems we are not wrong!

Various data-crunching companies and agencies have been analysing 2014 data from various search engines and it seems that local signals are slowly beginning to emerge as the must-have search term.

If your business has a local presence, then you need this somewhere on your website, social media profiles and so forth. If not, you could be missing a trick.

#5 Local signals go beyond your website!

It pays to spend some time checking out pages such as Yell.com and other local listing sites as all these combined create a stronger force when people search for a business, product or service in a certain area.

The Google My Business page might be worth a look at too, or Bing Places for Business.

#6 Your Home Page

Go to it now. Is it really doing its job?

Just it give a clear, succinct paragraph or two about what it is you do, and why the customer needs YOUR business to do these things? Do you have a tagline that explains what it is you do?

Are you sure it is cutting the mustard?

Mini quiz; which websites are these from?

‘live a life less ordinary’
‘Think different’
‘melts in your mouth, not in your hands’

*scroll to the bottom of the page for the answers!

#7 The rest of your pages

Think value.

With this in mind, go to page that talks about your window cleaning service… does ‘call for more information’ really give the customer any value? Nope. They will navigate away to another competitor who will tell them that they “are in the area of so-and-so on Tuesday and a 3 bedroomed semi-detached costs £12 to have windows and doors cleaned”.

#8 One mention of a city, town or village is not enough…

If you determined to win the local business title online then you need to mention your location, county etc. more than once… and this just not mean putting your address on there.

Don’t go too far the other way and over stuff pages but, if your location is key to your business then this is priority information to be included on pages, metatags etc.

#9 Title tags should be 65-70 characters…

…. Or they don’t fit. So, when you search the Internet and you get the business heading, the tag line underneath falls off the end of the gap the search engine has to display results. Looks messy and people are missing key information. Guess what they do?

Yup, that’s right. They hit the next listing down.

#10 Update key information

Just like you don’t use old business card with the old phone number on, you would be amazed at the number of websites that do not have current, up-to-date contact information, addresses etc. on them. Hence, if you are a local business, then you need to ensure that they key information is right (and don’t forget all those other places where your address, phone number etc. is registered too!)

Local businesses are thriving in the global place that is the Internet – are you?

Mini-quiz answers… how many did you get right?

‘live a life less ordinary’ – Not on the High Street.com
‘Think different’ – Apple
‘melts in your mouth, not in your hands’ – M&Ms in the US, or Minstrels here in the UK

10 steps for better search results local businesses – Part 2

16th March 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

In the first instalment of optimising your website for a local audience, we looked at 5 steps: keywords, optimisation, Google Local, local business listing websites and consistency.

Get these 5 steps right and in place, and your website could feature more prominently in local search engine results, perfect if people through the door is part of your business.

Is buying local becoming more important?

Buying locally source food is something that, in recent years, has become not only trendy but also more genuine; consumers are realising that food that has not been in plastic packaging on a plane for 13 hours before it hits the supermarkets, is not the only good quality, well-priced produce on offer.

And it seems that consumers are not just looking at local food but local retailers of other items too. Finally, it seems, we are getting fed up of the ‘same old-same old’ from the hyper stores, and once again looking for the unique, quality items are a great price from local businesses.

And so yes, NOW is the time, with campaigns like ‘small business Saturday’, to trade on the local-ness of your business. You could gain more customers, more fans. more shares, more success – and we all want and need a bit of this kind of action.

Like everything, it takes effort and a smattering of know-how, this in this instalment we cover from steps 6 to 10, the remaining 5 steps that consolidate your presence online, in a local sense.

Step 6: ‘genuine’ reviews

We hinted at this with the local website listings etc. as some of these sites will be review based. However, to expand this point a little further, Google along with other major search engines have hinted in the long and distant past, that genuine reviews are welcome, forming a positive basis for some nice social signals.

However, bribery is not a good idea. On your website, simply ask people to ‘tell us what you think’ or rate it with stars. For WordPress, there are all kinds of review plug-ins and what-not that make it easy for customers to leave a review. If you think people can’t or won’t be bothered (because you can’t be when you shop!), then you really need to change this view.

We are all connected, every second of the day (or so it seems) with the online world, thus people can and do leave reviews, good ones as well as the not so good. So, ask people to rate their shopping experience etc. – if nothing else, it proves your website is alive!

Step 7: social profiles

We have talked about social media a lot, and how, if done right and used well can add value to your website. But, you need to make sure you are not only taking full advantage of them but have also created the right kind of social profile.

What can happen, is that we are faced with “yet another” profile form to fill in; bit bored of writing the same stuff, we skip a few boxes, promising that we will come back and fill them in… but we never do.

So, you know the ‘edit profile’ tab on various platforms? Go back NOW, and open it and fill it in and remember: complete the bit that says where your business is. For those that are on the high street, naming the village/town/city is an obvious one to complete.

(And don’t forget step 5 Consistency)

Step 8: start building local links

Before you scuttle off and buy links, you need to know this is no-no. It is such as a no-no, it deserves to be shouted from the tallest building in your town – do NOT do it. Search engines can spot them a mile off, sniff them as soon as they hit your pages and your website is blacklisted, doomed to the bin from which it is very, very difficult to escape.

In this sense, we are talking about building local links. A great way of doing this is to get involved in some of the local groups of social media, as well as other similar businesses.

If you have great content on your website, that you are updating regularly, and that it of interest to them, then you could have a fruitful relationship beginning to form.

Try this: type in {your location} + blog, and you will have a list of blogs all linked to your town or local area. This could be a great start to some local links…

Step 9: Go mobile!

This doesn’t mean hitching up a caravan on going on tour but, is something we have talked about many times before… and we think it is worth going over old ground. It really is that important.

There are 1 million more mobile devices activated EVERY DAY across the world than there are babies born. This may seem an unbelievable statistic and we have no idea where it came – genuinely, we found it on the internet, so it must be true – but, regardless of its authenticity, it does spell out something we have long suspected: more people are using smart phones and other mobile devices, and this figure is growing.

Whether mobile phone ownership gazumps the daily birth rate is neither here nor there. If your website is NOT mobile ready, then you are missing a huge chunk of the population…

If you are already mobile-optimised, then take another look and make sure all those local contact details are obvious; pay close attention to the ‘contact us’ page.

Step 10: get analysing

Now that you have done all this, you need to monitor, assess and review if this is having an impact and, if so, how much. Of course, being flooded with more enquiries and an increase in custom is all well and good, but as with all things internet, the effects are not always immediate or obvious.

When we are busy, the hard/boring/uninteresting stuff can be shoved aside. We all do it, with different things.

Analysing who is coming to your website and from where, along with other useful information is not too difficult to come by, providing you know what you are looking at, once you have the data in front of you. No one is an expert on everything, so if you need help, just ask.

There are various options online, as you would expect, some that you pay for and some that are free. You can also take advantage of Google Analytics, but again, it all seems a little complicated. However, once you become accustomed to it, know what you are looking at (sort of), what you are looking to see improve (sort of), Google Analytics can be quite helpful.

Paid for software can be easier to fathom, but when money is tight, you may not want an additional monthly fee.

And so there we are, 10 steps to making your website appear in local listings, near the top. For many businesses, this is important to them and, increasingly for customers, it seems that local is beginning to outweigh ‘cheapness’ too, with more people taking time to find the right product at the right price… and if it is just down the road, all the better.

Let us know how you get on… [email protected]

10 small steps to better search engine rankings for LOCAL businesses – Part 1

13th March 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Steps 1 to 5 of how to rank better in terms of being a local business (steps 6 to 10 to follow on….)

Let’s starts this two-part article with a rhetorical question –

would you like MORE customers?

(sits back, makes more tea and dunks another biscuit)

Of course you do. Anyone running their own business would like more customers because, after all, that is what makes a business. And makes it successful.

Lessons in hard work:

Running your own business is hard work
Running your website is hard work
Attracting new customers is hard work
Maintaining this attraction so customers come back, is hard work

Add in to this mix the need for your website and online presence to be constant, consistent and up to date and you can be forgiven for thinking it is simply all too much.

But you are not the only local business to be in this position. Every day seems a struggle to get everything done but, we carry on regardless because at the end of the day, we are our own boss, we make the decision and the risks are acceptable.

Keeping on top of search engine optimisation (SEO)

A bit like keep the plug hole in the sink unblocked, staying on top of SEO updates and the like, will prevent a backlog that, all of a sudden, needs a professional or a lot of YouTube-video-watching in order to rectify it. Keeping that plug hole running clear and free from blockages stops that expensive call out to a plumber.

Keeping on top of your SEO as a local business also sees you outshine your competitors online thus, we have created 10 small-ish steps to improving your search engine rankings so that local customers find your local business…

Step 1: research you keywords

HOW will people find your local business? If you are a florist in Watford then you need to say so; if you are a speciality butcher and delicatessen in Newport, South Wales, then you need to say so.

However, we need to be careful that the obvious isn’t hidden in plain sight so take a moment or two to think about how, and what language your customers will use to find you. Google search terms are becoming a little more detailed in how they interact too, hence if a place is often known by its initials such as ‘New York City’ as NYC, it is beginning to tie these two search terms together.

You would be amazed at the number of local businesses that do not list their locality or location.

Step 2: optimise your website and content

What can happen with this step is people go from the sublime to the ridiculous; in other words, from not much content, to overstuffing every page with every keyword that they think hits their business. This looks awkward to both your customer and search engines, so stop it (if you are doing it) and don’t do it (if you are thinking of doing it).

High quality content all over you website is a the way forward, along with other soft technical such as keywords in meta titles etc. along with the other background stuff.

Some experts suggest that a ‘frequently asked question’ page is also a good for both customers and search engines too thus, if it is time to upgrade or revamp your content, then why not consider and FAQ page?

Step 3: Google Local

You will no doubt have come across these rather handy location maps when you have been searching for a business, supplier, etc. and getting your business on Google Local is an external activity to your website, but will obviously link to it, but is a great way of people being able to find your local business.

Think how you use Google… only the other week we were in a place we didn’t know, fancied a nice pub lunch, typed it in to Google and hey presto!, we found a delightful pub by the canal. Ignoring the sub-zero temperatures and the gathering rain clouds, we had at least 10 minutes of sunshine by the water’s edge and quite a nice lunch… all helped by the fact the local pub was on Google Local, and so in the corner of the tablet screen, the map bobbed up and away we went. It wasn’t far off the beaten track but you would not have known it was there otherwise.

Step 4: Local business listing websites

There are many different types, and trying to make sure you are on them all can be a bit like herding cats BUT, that said, if you do manage to list your business or update some of the information that already exists, it sends ‘good signals’ to both your prospective customers and the various search engines.

We typed in some key search terms and came up with these…

Really Moving – type in your local area, and local removal firms pop up… if you are a removal firm, are you on here?

Trip Advisor – in many ways, Trip Advisor is infamous for negative reviews that some businesses say are uncalled for, unnecessary and downright lies but, many customers are still using this website. Take a moment to surf around and you will see that the vast majority of customers are leaving helpful reviews (not always positive!).

There are many more review, business listing and location type websites, some better than others but take some time to have a look what is local to you and, more importantly, what people are using… but don’t forget to keep an eye on them, and respond appropriately to both negative and positive reviews.

Step 5: Consistency

One issue (among others…) that seems to crop up for local businesses online seems to be a lack of consistency when it comes to business listings etc. When people talk about brand, this is the kind of thing they mean.

You have a business name, a logo and a tag line – e.g. Locally – strategic thinking, creative web design – boom! Job done… keep using it.

Don’t decide to change it when you list it on Yell.com (Locally – really good web design and stuff), or on a local business directory (Locally – really good at all things website and stuff).

All these ‘descriptions’ need to be the same, over and over again… this might be ‘boring’. On that Friday afternoon when you were “doing the admin”, it might have seemed fun to add or embellish your business description… but it does impact on how all the search engines look at you.

These changes and differences in descriptions and tag lines could be damaging on your online search results.

Before you head on over to part 2, why not take some time to go through these 5 steps with you local, online business?

Keeping your website alive

4th February 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

And we don’t mean the up time of servers!

We are continuing our theme that websites are live, living things that need to be fed and nurtured on a regular basis.

Websites objectives

Somewhere in the not-so-distant past, we have talked about website objectives. For all the fancy words and umpteen bullet points, extracted from your team over tea and biscuits, at some point we are sure, you will have mentioned getting traffic through to your site.

This means ‘traffic’ as people and, in many small, online business cases, websites objectives are about turning this traffic in to paying customers. Once you have attracted them the first time, you have the heady task of attracting them again… and again… and again…

On the face of it, this might not seem like too big a task but only if one of your website objectives it to ‘maintain the interest’ of the passing populace.

To maintain interest you must maintain the website, with up to date, vibrant content that, for many websites, means adding new content.

It is a story you will have heard before. Search engines constantly crawl websites looking for the juicy, new bits and so, making sure you have a plan to revamp or add new content – and sticking to it – is essential.

The worst case scenario – if you are worried about your website (it seems to be sinking without a trace), then take a walk through it.

Do the links work? (Nope).
Does it load quickly? (Nope)
Is the information current? (Nope)
Is it sleek, modern and fits your business? (Nope).

Need we go on?

Take away lesson – websites that are kept up to date, load quickly with fabulously engaging content will have a better chance of success and being ‘spotted’ by the search engines as being authoritative and trustworthy.

The basics of website upkeep

Just like we need to vacuum the office, wash the tea cups and take the tea towel home once a week, there are basic, menial website tasks that need to be done to maintain the website. You will need to assign this task to someone; we also suggest setting time at least once a month, to check out the whole website (we are not talking social media engagement here – that should be a daily occurrence).

Basic tasks:

Ensure information is up-to-date – does a product description, price or P&P rates need adjusting, for example?
Proofread the main pages and texts – is there an error that needs correcting? Could you re-write a paragraph so the message is clearer?
Graphics – these also need to be checked; are they still relevant? For example, all your Christmas graphics should be safely tucked away till next year
Accessibility – do customers know how to contact you? For many potential customers, knowing how they can contact the business (and when) is a sign of trustworthiness
Content and news – ensuring thee are kept up to date is also essential along with expansion tasks such as regular newsletters to people who have signed up to your mailing list
Announcements – do you have a feature that allows you to advertise promotions of flash sales? If so, have a plan for how to use these.

Take away lesson – although flashy bits are all well and good, if the basics of your website are either not functioning at all, or are not functioning to their full capacity, adding fancy extras will be a waste of time.

Create possibilities

Your website should be active in the sense that it can ‘read’ your business and market place, and create possibilities for people to engage and, if possible, buy from you. But once you have looked at your website and you think you are happy with it, then all is rosy in the garden… or is it?

Just as important as creating your website in the first place with professional help and services, so is keeping it alive and active.

Extend your thinking…

Step 1: The Website Review

YOU review your website in a regular basis, picking up odd bits of spelling and grammar mistakes. You have changed some graphics you no longer like or think are appropriate and you have some new content on there too.

Try shaking up this process:

If you have staff, then pass the Website Review task from one person to another; getting different perspectives can be incredibly useful but rather than going for the scattergun approach, get them to look at certain aspects
Feedback from customers is also a great way of gaining some knowledge and thoughts from those people who use your website; there are several ways you can entice people to do this, including a prize or two (makes a great news item for your website too!)
Test the findability of your website on the various search engines
Create a set of recommendations for a future plan for the website

Step 2: Prune, as well as add

New content is essential. In fact, a lot of your time should be about creating or finding new content for your website but, a rose bush will only grow to its true splendour if it is pruned back after a growth spurt. Getting rid of the weaker tendrils on your website will make the core stronger.

Adding more and more content can mean the ‘white space’, the place where the eye rests can be lost, making your pages appear cluttered and slightly chaotic. Look for duplication, as well as content that is no longer relevant.

Step 3: a re-shape, at some point

When you decorate your lounge, you wallow in the newness of it all but, in 2 years’ time, that same paint and finish can start to look tired and dated. You may also decide that now is the time to invest in new flooring, hence the space that was once shiny and new, is re-shaped… and you will need to do this at some point with your website.

But websites are expensive and so you need to get the very best out of your current one, before you go for a re-vamp

Step 4: Seek help

If your website is not working for your business, and it seems like an expensive waste of time, you may need the beady eye of a professional web designer, content writer or marketing ‘expert’ to help you out…

** With the new Growth Voucher scheme in England, you could get up to £2,000 towards the cost of digital help **

Content audit – reviewing and creating MORE success via your website content, blogs & posts

23rd January 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

New Year Resolutions – are they a failure or success?

Why stopping, reviewing and remodelling can be the most productive of exercises

According to Forbes, only 8% of people who seriously make a New Year’s resolution will stick to it. There are various reasons why we fail and succeed with the goals we set; after all, we know we should be eating a healthy salad after the deluge of cheese, bread and wine over the festive period but, somehow even the crispest of salads does not have the same satisfaction rating as a chunk of bread and mature cheese.

Perhaps cutting it out completely is not the answer; rationing and setting this as a goal, may return better results.

And of course, the biggest factor in reaching any goal successful – and surpassing it – is the ability to stop and review, making any changes necessary.

Content is one of those areas within a business that can be left to flounder; even though you are posting content daily, and bashing it ‘out there’ on the several social media platforms, when was the last time you STOPPED and reviewed what you were doing…? And what the results actually are?

A Content Audit: your objective

The content in your website is of such importance that it deserves some additional attention. As we enter the first few weeks of 2015, the goal posts for content and search engine optimisation of your website have barely changed…

Your content should be written and crafted in such a way that people want to promote it by sharing it or linking with it. The increases the trust and authority associated with your site and hence, search engines are more likely to scan your pages for keywords the next time someone searches for them via their search engine.

Does your content do that?

But, before you start ripping your site to shreds and writing a whole heap of new content, take a look what is on there. Audit it. Review it. Modify it. Recycle it.

WHERE to start with a content audit

You should have some fairly minimal stats on where visitors to your site start e.g. you assume it is your home page but actually, they may land on another first. And, when you audit your content it may be because the information on that page is better, more keyword responsive than the home page.

There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with this and there is no hard and fast rule as to where or why customers should land on the home page first; many businesses find the ‘about us’ page is the most frequently landed/visited page.

The Whole Thing

Ok. You have some bare statistics and now you need to look as The Whole Thing.

What does you website feel and look like (remember this is content audit, not a design review)? What is the tone ‘saying’? Does it fit? Do you still want this tone or has the time come to tweak this a little?

Is it too wordy? Is it formatted correctly?

Keywords do matter and so you also need to audit these too; are they still relevant to your website and business? Do you need to more/take away/ research them again?

The Nitty-Gritty Mechanics

You’ve done the easy bit, now you need to create a ‘to do list’ and this need to contain the detail of the who, what, how, when and where. In other words, you are creating work but it can pay dividends in the end.

Trust us. It does.

Step 1: Set the objectives of your Content Audit

Apart from us telling you this is quite a good idea, what is it you want to achieve from this content audit exercise?

Remember, objectives need to be SMART

Specific
Measureable
Achievable
Relevant/Realistic
Time bound

So, how about this as an objective…?

To update all blog posts posted on site in January to June 2014 (24 posts) by the end of April 2015 so that website traffic is increased by 20%, by December 2015

A delightfully SMART objective:

Specific – we know it is all blog posts and that there are 24 of them
Measureable – you have 24 blog posts on your website and you have a target of increasing traffic by 20%
Achievable – yes. With 24 blog posts that is not too many to review and the timescale seem within reason too ( you could set a target of updating so many posts per week, once you have reviewed what needs doing to what post)
Relevant/ realistic – yes (but only you know your workload)
Time bound – yes. You are set to achieve the update of keyword by the end of April, and can review your success in December or January of the following year. You could also have mini-reviews once the project to update/recycle posts etc. is complete

Step 2: Create a spreadsheet

Hop on over to Excel or Google spreadsheets (great if you are working in a team, because you can update this spreadsheet and share it via the cloud so everyone can see who has done what and when)

We suggest the following columns, but you can obviously add or delete as necessary:

Date, the page URL (address), Action required, Who? By when?

Step 3: Seeking answers to questions and deciding what must be done to achieve your SMART objectives…

So, as you go through your website, page by page (a great excuse for tea on tap and a biscuit or two), ask the following questions, noting answers and action in your spreadsheet:

Does the page content fit with your strategy? Is it floating in mid-air or is it linked with the important topics and categories if your site?
Are some the pages and content stuffed with keywords? (We all did this ‘back in the day’ so don’t feel guilt admitting this; it just needs simplifying!)
Are the images on the page correct/useful/appropriate?
What about the headline?
Does the first paragraph grab the reader’s attention?
Are there errors on the page?
Are the links working?
Can links be added that are more relevant and current?
Do you have links to other pages on your website?
Formatting – are words and phrases highlighted? Is it in neat, small paragraphs?
Do you still want/need the post? Can it be recycled/re-written/re-used?

Your To-Do list may end up looking HUGE but, after you have all this information, prioritise the list – which pages are a must do NOW, which need doing in the next batch and which can be left until last?

A content audit is not about just creating a whole heap of work; it is about looking at what you have got and what can be updated/changed/modified (and even deleted if it’s no longer relevant) and setting some goals for action.

2015 could be the year you are part of that 8% of people who do meet their New Year resolutions… just make your goals obtainable.

What changes does Google see in marketing online in 2015?

2nd January 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

(In other words, where are they looking…?)

As hard as us online businesses try not to be a slave to Google and the other major search engines, the truth of the matter is, we are.

Just like buying the cheaper supermarket own brand cereal and hiding them in a clear plastic container in a vain attempt to fool the taste buds of the cereal connoisseurs of the household does not work, trying to avoid Google and what it wants from websites is something that businesses cannot afford to do… too much.

You might think that it is OK to have the same content across all 40 pages describing your services in and around Frodsham, but Google chews it up, spits it out and says that is not building a quality website.

And so, through the fug of mince pie overload and increased cholesterol from the annual over-indulgence in local cheeses, here at Locally we spent some time sifting through the various online reports and articles about what this mammoth search engine wants from online businesses in the coming year.

The great news is that it is not complicated and the majority of online businesses are starting to swing in this direction anyway… the writing has been on the wall for some time. Following on from our post ‘your website is a live and kicking thing that needs feeding and nurturing’, we take a closer look at what you need/must/try to with your website during 2015.

Why please Google?

Because it is massive. And, its dominance shows no sign of wavering and shrinking just yet. With billions of users worldwide, why would you ignore this search engine?!

How the Internet, searches and relations between customers and businesses have changed

Cast your mind back to when there were three TV channels in the UK and having a colour TV was a novelty… actually, we jest, we don’t mean that far back but we thought it sounded dramatic and when you rewind the clock only a few years to the early days of the Internet and compare then to now, you realise the changes have been dramatic, more dramatic than the closing scenes of an EastEnders’s cliff hanger.

Back then, the run-of-the-mill Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a larger company back then was probably just shy of their 50^th birthday, had learnt their craft and art over the years, with the Internet – a recent invention – providing a platform on which business was done to a customer. The thought that a customer had any real power or opinion was not entered into.

Fast forward to January 2015, and this seems almost ludicrous; a CEO of some massive brands can be whippersnappers with a handful of GCSEs but with a natural ability and flair for seeing what a consumer wants, and giving it to them – with bells on.

The Internet is now a place of engagement. If your website is all about the sell, sell, sell then no wonder you are no higher than page 102 in Google’s search rankings. Times have changed and we all need to keep up with them (harks back to ‘your website is a live and living thing’ post…)

Put the textbook down

Some things are not in those pages and what Google sees happening in 2015 is not in there yet, so sit up and take notice.

If you learn nothing else from this post, take away this fact: Internet users (your potential customers) are looking for sophistication.

Hitting customers over the head with information and broadcasts is no longer acceptable; people want information given in a more considerate way.

Another fact: the Internet is a restless place. Just as one thing is ‘on trend’ it changes, morphs and steals away and this is something that you, and your website, must be constantly alert to. Just because you have always had that bouncing graphic on your home page and no has complained, doesn’t mean it is not damaging your online viewed reputation. Stop harking back to last year and be ready to constantly move forward and evolve.

So what IS Google predicting?

Mobile money will become the norm in 2015

We have talked about making sure your website is mobile ready in a previous post and now it seems this is more than just a must-have for aesthetic reasons. Financially, Google predicts that 40% of online spending will be via mobile devices so you need to be more than just mobile friendly; you need to be mobile active.

In terms of other financial incentives, Google reckon that coupons, vouchers, gift codes – call them what you will – will become more tailored and specific to customers. And, customers are no longer just searching for the best price, or so it seems.

Google also suggest that customers will pay a bit more, if the service they get is second-to-none. Cheap is not the name of the game, but customer service is.

If you have a high street presence as well as an online presence, be prepared for merging these two strands of your business even closer, with mobile payments – for example, using PayPal in store – possibly becoming the norm (although they also suggest PayPal may have a contender by the year’s end… is that a hint?!)

Foster community

If you website is still a one-way track, with limited or no interaction between you and your consumer, then your website will, by the end of 2015, if not before, fall into a dark place. So, if you are not harnessing the power of social media to invite comments etc., you are missing a trick; Google predicts that consumers will rely even more on this ‘social branding’ to decide if a brand is the right one for them.

The local and the personal, suggest Google, will also become a bigger influence in the search engine terms used.

Real-time is where it is at

And this means looking at the capability of your website and your online strategy for communicating with customers, quickly – if not, now (that is, real time). Emailing, tweeting or commenting on a company’s social media platform, only to have a delay of hours (or days!) is no longer acceptable. For small businesses this could present a logistical problem – how can you create the bespoke wedding dress with one eye on Twitter?) thus, outsourcing some of these powerful elements will become more important.

Take away points

Google is looking for, and predicting, continuous improvement in websites:

Search will be more location-based – so if you operate in and around a certain area, get this back on your website and optimise you content as such. Add to this real-time – scrolling news feed about your business, price, availability etc. – could see a significant return-of-investment (ROI)

Don’t be dull, boring and – dare we say it?! – predictable – do something different with your brand and let people know. If you haven’t sponsored a local event before, could this be the year you take a leap into the unknown BUT, don’t just sponsor it, stream it!

Relevant – you are a local insurance company, a client finds your website online, likes your prices and then ‘clicks to call’; your phone rings and you have a new client. This can work for so many businesses but it does take technical know-how… the great news is that there are people who can help set all this up and make it run without a hitch.

Your website needs to be working for your business – spending hundreds and thousands on creating a website is all well and god but, if it is not being accountable (working for the business as a platform for business and brand awareness) then it is wasted.

It all sounds very big and involved, possibly beyond your technical skills but, with some small, but clever tweaks in all the right places, your website could be running at full throttle by the end of 2015.