Usability Hub

Usability Hub offers some pretty cool features…

Navflow – Improve your conversion rates by seeing how users navigate around your site.

Fivesecondtest – Fine tune your landing pages and calls to action by discovering what users see in the first 5 seconds.

ClickTest – Find out exactly where your users click when interacting with them.

Kiss Insight

Kiss Insights allows you to create custom pop-up forms so customers can provide feedback on your site if they wish.

CrazyEgg

Crazy Egg helps you to visualise user experience on your site through:

Heatmaps – Heatmaps generate a picture of where people clicked on your site. This lets you see what’s popular so you can make changes that increase conversions.

Scrollmaps – Determines how far down the page visitors scroll. Are they seeing all of your content?

Confetti – Distinguishes all the clicks on your site by referral sources, search terms, and more.

Overlay – Show the number of clicks per element on a page.

BT Buckets

BT Buckets provides free personalisation and on-site behavioural targeting  based on user segmentation data.

The post 4 Handy Website Analysis/CRO Tools appeared first on Predict Insight.

In addition to these commendable attributes WP is also very good at being search engine friendly. With a few simple steps you can optimise your WordPress site and pages for search.

Here they are….

Enable Permalinks

Permalinks are WordPress’ very own SEF (search engine friendly) URLs. An SEF URL is one that is made up of relevent keywords that search engines can relate to the content of the page.

In other words they will look like this:

http://domain.com/your-article-name/

Instead of this

http://domain.com/?page_id=24/

To enable Permalinks in WordPress:

1. Go to Settings > Permalinks
2. Choose ‘Custom Structure’ from the menu
3. Enter /%postname%/ is the input box
4. Click ‘Save Changes’

Install and Configure ‘All in One SEO Pack’

The all in one SEO plugin allows you to specify custom SEO settings for your website and allows you to create unique Page Titles and Meta descriptions for each page.

To install and configure this plugin:

1. Go to Plugins > Add New
2. Search for ‘All in One SEO Pack’
3. Click ‘Install Now’
4. Click ‘Activate Plugin’
5. Go to Settings > All in One SEO
6. Change Plugin Status to ‘Enabled’
7. Enter your Site Title, Meta Description and Meta Keywords
8. Ensure ‘Canonical URLs’ is checked
9. Leave the rest of the default settings and click ‘Update Options’

Make sure your Page/Post headings use H1 tags

Your page and post titles should be enclosed in H1 tags.

1. View your page source in your browser by clicking on View > Page Source
2. Locate your page/post title
3. Check to see if it’s contained between these tags: <h1> </h1>

If not you’ll need to edit 2 template files single.php and page.php*

1. Go to Appearance > Editor
2. Click on the either one of the above files on the right hand side
3. Locate the page/post heading and insert the <h1> and </h1> either side of <?php the_title(); ?>
4. Click ‘Save Changes’

*Back up each of these files first. If the current element has any attributes like ‘class’ or ‘id’ be careful not to delete these. If you don’t feel comfortable editing these files get someone else to do it!

Create Unique Page Titles and Meta Descriptions for each Page

If you installed the All in One SEO Pack correctly you should be able to enter custom Page Titles and Meta Descriptions for every page.

1. Go to Pages
2. Choose any of your existing pages
3. Scroll down until you see the All in One SEO Pack area
4. Enter your Page Title and Meta Description
5. Click ‘Update’

By following these steps you’ve put yourself in a strong position as far as ranking is concerned. For more information on how to optimise your site please contact us or take a look at our SEO Services.

The post Optimising your WordPress Pages for Search appeared first on Predict Insight.

Many small businesses use a Content Management System and create webpage themselves. Often they do not consider SEO or try to over else compensate making their webpages difficult to read.

It is important to strike a balance by writing for humans first and then considering the search engines. Here are some general rules (in no particular order) to follow:

1. Use a unique page title

The page title is what appears in the top left corner of the browser window. Assign a unique page title for each page you create. if you are unable to assign page titles via your CMS either install a plugin or talk to your web developer.

2. Use your primary keyword phase in your page title

When you create a page title include your primary keyword phrase for the page you are creating. Try to include a variation of this phrase also separating the two with a comma and keeping it below 66 characters.

3. Use a H1 tag for your main page heading

For the main heading on your page use a H1 tag. If you are using a Content Management System this should happen automatically when you create a webpage. Sometimes a H2 tag is used instead which is also OK but not ideal.

4. Use short sentences and paragraphs

Remember that people generally scan webpages so long sentences and paragraphs will tend to put them off.

5. Include a variation of your primary keyword phrase in your H1 tag

Make sure your main page heading differs from your Page Title by using a variation of your main keyword phrase. It is important that these are not identical as it makes the webpage seem contrived.

6. Break up your text using sub-headings

Sub headings make your content easier to digest and scan for users and search engines.

7. Use h2/h3 tags for these sub headings

Naturally you should use your secondary heading tags for your secondary headings using the correct hierarchy.

8. Include your secondary keyword phrases in you sub-headings

>Not your primary keyword phrase as this is already in your main heading. Overdo it and it will look like your are spamming.

9. Break up the text using bulleted or numbered lists where relevant

This is really only important for users but it is important to keep the text digestible if you want to keep peoples attention.

10. Use images

Images will brighten up your content so don’t be afraid to use them.

11. Use descriptive alt tags on images

You should include images and you should use alt tags. Alt tags are basically descriptions that let search engines know what is in the picture.

12. Include keywords in your alt tags

Use your keywords in your alt tags but don’t overdo it. Try to keep them relevant to the content of the picture.

13. Use your primary keyword phrase once in the first paragraph

Just once is enough, once again don’t overdo it.

14. Do not try to stuff your keywords into the text

Write the text to be clear and easily understandable. Do not try to include keyword phrases where they don’t belong.

15. Only use bold and italic where necessary

Sometimes you see keywords appear in either bold or italic text. This is fine if you want to highlight the phrase in the context of the rest of the text. If it is done solely for search engines however I think it looks spammy and has little impact on page ranking.

16. Leave the styling to the web designer

Too often I see webpage where the editor has tried to create or recreate styles using the visual editor in the Content Management System. All styles should be predefined in a separate stylesheet and should not be added through the visual editor.

17. Write for people not robots!

Create a webpage that people want to read whether it be informative, educational or entertaining. Only then should you even think about search engines.

For more information on how to optimise your site please contact us or take a look at our SEO Services.

Photo under Creative Commons licence taken by Lewis W. Hine (1874-1940)

The post 17 tips for writing a Search Engine Friendly Good Webpage appeared first on Predict Insight.

What is a 301 redirect?

Basically it is a way of telling a web browsers or search engine that a web page or site has been permanently moved to a new location.

What is a .htaccess file

According to Wikipedia:

In several web servers (most commonly Apache), .htaccess (hypertext access) is the default name of a directory-level configuration file that allows for decentralized management of web server configuration.

In English:
It’s a file placed at the root level of your website that allows you to specify things like Redirecting URLs, Rewriting URLs, Blocking users, Password protecting files etc. This post is going to focus on redirecting URLs specifically using a 301 redirect.

Why would I want to do this?

You need to do this for SEO purposes, to avoid broken links, 404 pages and duplicate content. Below are some of the circumstances where  301 redirects are often used.

• You’ve modified a filename
• You’ve moved a file to a different folder
• You’ve changed domain
• You only want to use 1 version of your domain name (www. or non www.)
• You only want to use 1 version of you homepage

How do I do this?

First things first. You’ll have to download your .htaccess file and open it up in text editor like Notepad.You should have mod_rewrite installed on your server and you should place the following lines in you .htaccess file.


Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /


This turns rewrite on and sets the base URL for per-directory rewrites.

What kind of redirect you use depends on your situation. Using the examples above I’ll show you how to perform the most common 301 redirects.

You’ve modified a filename/URL

This is the most basic example of using a 301 redirect. If you’ve changed a filename or URL you will need to rediect the old one so users don’t get a 404 when coming from search engines or refering sites. You also want to pass on PageRank to the new URL. Lets say you changed a filename from bestwebsitedeals.html to bestwebdesignoffer.htm here’s how you’d do it.

redirect 301 /bestwebsitedeals.htm/ http://www.mydomain.com/bestwebsitedeals.htm/

In english: ‘Permanently redirect this old URL to this new URL’.

You’ve moved a file to a different folder/category

What if you don’t want to remane a file but want to place it in a subfolder or move it into a different folder? See below:

redirect 301 /bestwebsitedeals.htm/ http://www.mydomain.com/web-design/bestwebsitedeals.htm/

Note: If you have a dynamic website this is the same as changing category or assigning a new parent item depeding on you URL structure.

You’ve changed domain name

Lets say you’ve changed your domain name  from joesoap.com to mynewcompanyname.com. The domain joesoap.com is indexed in search engines, it has incoming links and has built up PageRank.

What you need to do is permanantly redirect all traffic from joesoap.com to your new domain. You also want to pass on the PageRank you’ve built up throughout the years to your new address. Place the following code in your.htaccess file to achieve this:

redirect 301 / http://www.mynewcompanyname.com/

What this says is ‘Permanently redirect everything  on this site to http://www.mynewcompanyname.com/.

You only want to use 1 version of your domain name

This is what is known as a canonical redirect and either redirects the non www. version of your site to the www. version or vica versa. This is vital to avoid duplicate content issues. If you don’t believe me ask Google.

Redirect www to non-www:

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.mydomain.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://mydomain.com/$1 [L,R=301]

Redirect non-www to www:

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^mydomain.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.mydomain.com/$1 [L,R=301]

You only want to use 1 version of you homepage

Quiet often a website will have a number of different URls for it’s homepage. For example:

http://mydomain.com/

http://mydomain.com/home.htm

To avoid duplicate content issues here use a 301 redirect.

redirect 301 /home.htm/ http://www.mydomain.com/

I hope this was of some help. Please contact us to find out more about our how we can identify how 301 redirects can help you. Alternatively visit our Search Engine Optimisation Services page.

Cheers!

The post 301 Redirect with .htaccess appeared first on Predict Insight.

Why would I want to do this?

The main reason why you want to do this from an SEO standpoint is to avoid duplicate content issues. For example if you have a printer friendly page on your website you would not want this indexed because it would be competing with the main page.

How does it work?

When a search engine  robot wants to visit a  URL, for instance  http://www.mysite.com/index.php,  it firsts checks http://www.mysite.com/robots.txt, and finds the following:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /

So what does this mean? Right. The User-agent refers to the search engine and the * basically means ‘all’. The line below is telling the User-agent what to disallow, in this case / which means ‘all’ too.

So translated to English it says something like:

‘All search engines are disallowed from crawling this entire site’

Real Life Examples

You probably do not want to block all search engines from indexing your entire site unless it’s under construction or something. You may want to implement some of the examples below however.

Disallow unimportant pages

Most websites have pages like ‘Privacy’, ‘Disclaimer’, ”Terms & Conditions’ etc. You really don’t want these pages to be indexed as they’ll draw away from your other pages. This is what you do in robots.txt to disallow them:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /terms-conditions/
Disallow: /disclaimer/
Disallow: /privacy-policy/

Disallow unimportant directories

There are generally a number of folders on your web server that you will not want indexed either. These often include cgi-bin, images, tmp etc. So how do you disallow them? Pretty much the same thing as before:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /cgi-bin/
Disallow: /images/
Disallow: /tmp/
Disallow: /scripts/
Disallow: /admin/

Disallow Printer Versions

Like I said before you don’t want printer friendly versions of pages being indexed.

User-agent: *
Disallow: /*_print*.html


Disallow certain file types

You probably don’t want certain file types like .pdf and .doc files indexed either.

User-agent: *
Disallow: /*_print*.html
Disallow: /*.pdf$
Disallow: /*.doc$

The $ symbol in the above example is telling the robot to match to the end of the URL.

Disallow Session IDs

A session ID is a value assigned to a specific user for the duration of their visit to a website. Because these values are often stored in the query string they create duplicate content so you’ll want to disallow them.

User-agent: *
Disallow: /*?sessionid

If you’d like more info or would like help with SEO in general please contact us. Alternatively take a look at our SEO services.

The post What is a robots.txt file? appeared first on Predict Insight.

There are two reasons for this:

1. Search engines think you stole or just reproduced content from somewhere else
2. Your webpages are unecessarily competing with each other for rankings

Most of the time this is not intentional and many websites have duplicate content without even realising it. The main cause of this is sites making the same content available via different URLs.

Fantastic. But how do I identify and avoid it? Below are some of the main causes and solutions to this problem.

www and non-www versions of the same site

This problem occurs when search engines index two versions of the same web page.  (the www.  and the non www. versions)

For example:

http://domain.com

http://www.domain.com

The problem here is that the search engine thinks that they are different pages with the same content. This is something you want to avoid.

Solutions:

• Employ a 301 redirect in your .htaccess to point to your preffered domain
• Specify a preferred domain through Google Webmaster Tools
• Use the canonical link tag on duplicate webpages

Multiple Top Level Domains

This refers to when a website is hosted multiple times on a number of differnent top level domains like  .com,  .org and  .net. Sometimes site owners employ this tactic because they think they will get more traffic. They won’t. Search engines will penalise them for HOVING duplicate content. This is only true of top level domains however and hosting the same site on a .com and co.uk is fine.

Solution: Instead of hosting a website on multiple domains, use a 301 redirect to point one domain to another. Simple.

Session IDs in query strings

A session ID is number that a website assigns to a specific user for the duration of their visit to a website. This occurs on many websites particularly eCommerce sites.  Session IDs are often stored in the URL as part of the query string and this leads to multiple URLs displaying the same page content.

Solution: Use robots.txt to disallow URLs containing session IDs being indexed. Your webmaster or web developer will be able to help you with this.

Sort values in query strings

Another problem particular to eCommerce sites is sort values. A sort value is added to URLs to determine what order items are listed on a page. For example to sort items by price:

http://www.onlineshop.com/index.php?catid=7&sort=price

This leads to multiple URLs displaying the same page content.

Solution: This problem, like the previous one can be avoided by disallowing URls containing sort values being indexed through robots.txt.

Rewriting URLs

When you rewite a URL using a Content Management System you are creating duplicate content because search engines have probably indexed the page under the old URL, and will now re-index it under the new one. Once again this means the classic problem of multiple URLs pointing to the same content.

Solution:

• Do not rewrite URLs unless it is necessary.
• If you do rewrite a URL employ a 301 redirect in your .htaccess file to point the old URL to the new one.

Printer versions of pages

It is important to have printer friendly versions of your pages. It is more important to make sure these pages are not indexed by search engines as they are duplicates of the main pages.

Solution:

• Use robots.txt to disallow these pages being indexed
• Use a meta “no index” tag in the head section of the page
• Use a “no follow” attribute on all links to printer friendly pages

or…

• Use javascript and CSS to display a different version of the page

Blog Index Pages

This one is just for blogs. Blog index pages contain a list of the most recent articles listed in chronological order from the most recent article right back to the very first. A common problem is that many blogs show the full articles on their index page and these articles  are reproduced on the single post pages. Obviously this means that there are  duplcicates of the same page.

Solution:

• Always use a ‘read more’ link in your blog articles after only 4-5 lines

Category Archives

This one is also specifically for blogs. Blogposts are usually indexed in categories. So when you search for an article on fishing, you might click on the category sport which will list all posts in this category in the following format:

http://mysite.com/c/sport/post.html

The problem here is that the main blog index page shows the  same content.

Solution:  Use robots.txt to disallow category archives

Tag Archives

Again specifically for blogs. Articles are also indexed by tags, and just like categories they create duplicate content. For instance for our fishing example the URL generated could look something like this:

http://mysite.com/t/sporting-tips/post.html

You probably see where this is going!

Solution: Use robots.txt to disallow tag archives

Stealing Content

I said that the majority of the time duplicate content issues arise by accident. This is mostly true although the most obvious cause of duplicate content is when people intentionally lift content from other sites for their own use.

Solution: Don’t steal content!

I hope that this helps some people to avoid duplicate cotent issues. For more information please feel free to leave a comment or to find out about Predict Insight can help your business please contact us.

The post How to avoid Duplicate Content appeared first on Predict Insight.

1. Use existing partners

This sounds fairly obvious but is sometimes overlooked. Existing partners like trade organisations, members groups, suppliers, manufacturers and retailers are all a ripe source of links. The more successful you are, the more successful they will be. Depending on the relationship you may have to offer a link back. If this is the case link from within the content of a web page or article and try and get them to do the same.

2. List your website in DECENT web directories

The days where you could submit your site to 100′s of tacky directories and shoot up the rankings are gone. There is still value in listing your site in some of the better directories however particularly local and niche directories. For example if you’re based in Ireland look for Irish directories, and if you’re a restaurant list your site in food directories. This page contains a pretty good list of Irish directories.

3. Build business partnerships for inbound links

Most people have gotten that kind of spammy, automated mail asking to swap links and most have seen the kind of pointless ‘Links’ or ‘Resources’ pages with hundreds of unrelated links. This is not what I mean. What I mean is build genuine relationships where you help to promote each other’s business through a variety of channels including linking to articles, news and special offers. Not through a ‘Links’ section but through related content from within your site articles.

4. Submit to Article Directories

Submit articles to directories such as EzineArticles with links to your site. If you don’t have the time to write articles (most people don’t) use services like Text Broker. For best results submit 1 article for each directory.

5. Deep Link

This means getting links to the inner pages of your website and not just your homepage. Generally these pages will focus on more specific long-tail keywords that are easier to rank for. By building up PageRank on these pages you will rank higher, quicker.

6. Use keywords in link anchor text

Use specific keyword text when asking for links based on the page you are trying to link to. If the page is about football jerseys make sure ‘football jerseys’ is in the anchor text. Simple enough hey?

7. Use internal links

Link from within your content to other pages on your website and don’t just rely on your navigation. Users are more likely to follow text links from within content as it is more natural. Although not as half as valuable as inbound links, a link is still a link whether internal or external. Be careful not to overdo it however and don’t use the same link a load of times from the one page.

8. Add a blog to your website

This would usually be at the top of list. The only reason it’s not is because we’re focusing on quick wins and this takes some effort. It’s worth it though. Google loves new content and a blog allows you to add new content regularly. It gives people a reason to link to your content on a regular basis and gives you a platform to link from. Predict Insight provide link building services to our clients. For more information please contact us.

The post Link Building: 8 Quick Wins appeared first on Predict Insight.

We’ll be back in O’Byrne’s Beverage House on North King Street for this one from about 8 on wards. We love O’Byrnes for their selection of craft beer and their old style, laid back atmosphere.

The event itself is designed to open up the web community to more people and to generally get people talking and networking in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. There will be plenty of people from the online marketing community there so  if this is an area you’re interested in, this event is for you.

There will also be some free drink very generously provided by our sponsors Blacknight so money isn’t an excuse for this one!

Don’t be afraid to register here and bring some friends along too as the more the merrier!

The post Blogger, Twitter Whatever Meetup – April 21st appeared first on Predict Insight.

Many businesses have an online store as part of their website and selling online is a major part of their business. There are many free and commercial e-commerce solutions. Magento, osCommerce and VirtueMart are some of the free options. BigCommerce, Shopify and Volusion are some commercial options and accept monthly payments.

Businesses do not even have to set up a merchant account but can use a payment processor such as PayPal, or gateways such as Realex Payments or Sage Pay.

The Landscape is Changing

The e-commerce landscape is changing however. Retailers are expanding their online operations into the areas of m-commerce (Mobile Commerce) and more recently s-commerce (Social Commerce).

M-commerce

M-commerce inlcudes people buying on mobile devices like their iPhone or iPad. In the modern world convenience is king and for many it is just easier to shop online while sitting comfortably in their living room then it is sitting at a desk. Many are using their mobiles to compare prices before buying  when they are at home, and when they are actually out shopping.

I think almost every business should have a mobile version of their website. You should not have to change your current website much in order to implement this, sometimes it is simply a case of creating another stylesheet to load for mobile devices.

More and more people are buying online via their mobiles and even if you do not have a mobile optimised website, chances are that some of your competitors do.  The difference between shopping on a site designed for a mobile phone and one that is not is huge. Navigating a full size website on a tiny screen is a hassle that your customers are unlikely to put up if they have a choice.

S-commerce

Social Commerce is the latest  development in the online commerce world. More and companies have online stores on their Facebook pages or feature online catalogues that link back to product pages on their websites. For many of the younger generation Facebook is the Internet! It makes sense that if that’s where your audience is, you give them a seamless shopping experience without forcing them to break their browsing habits.

There are multiple social shopping carts available including Payvment and Owjo. Most commercial eCommerce solutions also offer a social store as part of their solution too. A more detailed comparison of the various solutions can be found in this article on socialmedia.ie.

I’d recommend starting off with Payvment which costs nothing to setup. If you are already using a commercial e-commerce solution like the ones listed above you should be able to use their social store/storefront as part of your monthly package.

Where does this leave e-commerce?

Although m-commerce and s-commerce are HOVING a huge impact in the world of online retail most transactions are completed through the traditional online store. It’s easy to get carried away with technology and the fear of being left behind is always there. Businesses should always be wary of hype surrounding such issues. There is a danger of neglecting your website in favour of social media.

It is important to remember that your website is far more likely to appear in search results than your Facebook page. Also keep in mind that many customers are still unprepared to make transactions on social networking sites.

By switching content from your website to Facebook page you could negatively effect the ranking of your site, either by taking the content out all together or by creating duplicate content issues. S-commerce and especially M-commerce are worth looking at, but not at the expense of your website. Food for thought anyway.

For more info and advice on e-commerce and online marketing please contact us.

Phone: +353 (0)1 485 36 49

Email: hello@predict.ie

Photo under Creative Commons licence taken from the Library of Congress

The post Where online commerce lives appeared first on Predict Insight.

This is good for local businesses as it levels the playing field and represents a huge opportunity to compete with their larger counterparts. By focusing on local search, and optimising your web pages for geographic locations, you can attract more traffic to your site.  I’ve listed some tips below that will help you to achieve this.

List your site on local directories, yellow pages and search engines

This should be your first step. By building links from authoritative local sites you will improve your ranking. Some examples are listed below.

• Yelp
• Golden Pages
• Google Local Business Centre
• Yahoo! Local

For a  list of local Irish directories this article on the Cube online marketing blog is a good place to start.

Embrace mobile

Mobile searches are huge. People search on their mobile devices when out on the move. They search for bars, cafes, hotels, restaurants, cinemas, theatres and nightclubs, not to mention comparing prices online when out shopping. If your site isn’t accessible by mobile this is something you should seriously look at.

Embrace the social web

Social search is becoming more relevant to SEO as a whole. Social networks are ranking well on search engines. Shares, likes and re-tweets are easy ways to build links and increase traffic.  Customer reviews on your website and across social networks are also becoming more and more influential on search results.

Include your address

Although this seems obvious, companies sometimes overlook including their physical address on their contact page. Include your address within the <address> tags to inform search engines of your location. Include your location on every page if possible. For example in your footer you could have “My Company – Located in Dublin, Ireland” .

Use your location name within your content

Use your location name in your article titles, page copy, internal and external links. For example in your page title say “Welcome to My Company – Cafe & Bar, Dublin”, instead of just “Welcome to My Company”.

For more information about Local Search Optimisation please contact us:

Phone: +353 (0)1 485 36 49

Email: hello@predict.ie

The post Local Search for Local Businesses appeared first on Predict Insight.