How to make your Blog more Search Engine Friendly

A webpage is not visible to the world wide web unless it is crawled by the search engine bots. The top search engine Google approximately crawls 40 billion web pages and keeps them cached. These pages are ranked in order of their relevance and quality. In order to gain a high ranking from google, websites need to make sure that SEO optimisation is done in the right way and the below mistakes are avoided.

Absence of a Sitemap

A sitemap tells the search bots where to crawl. Having a searchmap saves time, infact it makes its job ten-times faster! If there is no site map, the search bot crawls all possible places and even those parts of the site which may contain duplicate content. Unless these pages are marked as ‘ no-follow’, Google crawls the duplicate content and marks it as bad links – which is not good for SEO optimisation.

It is therefore very much necessary to have a site map for search engine submission. A site-map tells Yahoo, Ask, Bing, Google and other search engines, how to crawl your website in the first place. You need to setup Google’s Webmaster Tools and Search Console so that you will be aware of what’s happening when Google crawls your website, and rectify errors if any. For best results, make sure that search engine submission has been done for all the popular search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.

Messed-up Code

Make sure that the text to program-code ratio is 50-50. If not, it will be perceived by searchengines as spam. If you are writing the content, then make sure you speak to the developer to make sure that elaborate content is written on all required pages. Make sure that the content reflects the keywords in the right way. If there is too much code and very little text, then it is likely to be perceived as spam and excluded by google in its quest for quality content.

Be active on social media

You need to make the best use of social media. Social media updates get indexed immediately, although they disappear soon as well. Some social media updates reach viral status; these have a tendency to stay-on depending on the degree of their viral status.

Good Backlinks

You also need to make sure that our blog receives links from highly ranked sites. Websites with a high Domain Authority (D.A.) rating, need to link to your site. It can be done by submitting articles on reputed websites with high PR ratings.

You also need to submit your links to directories, but you must be very selective at that. Some directories are categorized as bad, and you don’t want to be associated with them; it is not a good idea to either ‘link to’ or get links from those sites.

Embrace Social Media

It is always a good idea to create social media profiles across channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,YouTube, Pinterest and Google plus. Posting regular updates gives search engines something to crawl about, and hence keep you on top of their results.

Social media is not exactly a sales generator, however when you search for a company, its social media profiles are also shown in the results. This means that although they don’t directly affect the Google ranking, they definitely appear in the search results and hence are a welcome source of traffic.

Social media also helps you to generate a one-to-one relationship with your online audience. They will get to know more about your product and services before trying them first hand. Online reviews on social media, help customers take better decisions before buying your services.

Link to Previous Content

Give references to previously written articles via hyperlinks. This act of linking to your previously written blogs increases your authority on the subject. Interlinking these blogs is also good for SEO. You can also channel traffic from one blog to another, thus increasing the visit-length, which again is good for SEO.

Following the above SEO tips, will keep you in good terms with search engine bots and get your website visible on the top of search engine results.

How to Get more Followers on Instagram

Creating a good number of followers in Instagram requires patience, consistency and quality content. Then you can reap the benefits of the fastest growing social network.

Having created an account on Instagram, one of the fastest growing and popular photo sharing social networks is a great feeling; especially when you realize that it is a great marketing channel with 5 million active Australian users. However, shortly after making your first posting, you may realize that your reach is limited. That is because you don’t have any Instagram followers in the first place. So, here are a few techniques to get them.

Choose a Theme for your photos

If you are a sports photographer, you may choose the best photos you have clicked in your chosen sport. You can have a hashtag for yourself where you post them. People, who follow you, will come to expect the best sports pictures from you every day; so don’t experiment by posting your personal photos once in a while. However, you could definitely post photos depicting you at work. That way, your Instagram followers will know how your company goes about its daily work, and the process involved.

Have a Great Profile

When people come across your profile on Instagram, they will immediately make a decision based on its look and feel. So make sure that your profile looks impressive; include your best photos and delete the bad ones. Pick 20-25 of your best photos to go with your profile; it’s all about quality and not quantity.

Put on your Best!

Always go back and delete the photos which look outdated, or meaningless. Make it a point, to post only your best photos on Instagram. You don’t want to lose your audience just because of a couple of randomly clicked snaps.

Use Existing Channels

In order to get your first set of 50-100 followers, you may start with existing channels like Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest and LinkedIn. You may also email all your address book contacts about your new Instagram account and the kind of photos to expect in their feed.

Connect with other Instagram Users

Once you have connected with your known contacts, it is time to connect with the rest of the world. Do not resort to short-cuts and get cheap followers for a price. It is better to live with ’10 persons you now, rather than be with 100,000 strangers, whom you don’t know. It is also futile to have 20 hashtags embedded in your tweet in order to attract different audiences.

However, you can check out the pictures posted by other Instagram users and like and comment on them. It must contain sincere appreciation. Show genuine interest and tell them what exactly you liked in their design or picture posts. Chances are that they will check out your profile and if appropriate, they will follow you in return.

Regular Engagement : the key to getting more followers on Instagram

Once you have a list of followers, you must keep them engaged. Keep posting photos regularly. Always remember that quality takes precedence over quantity. If you get some positive comments or even likes, take a note of it and remember to thank you.

Getting more followers on Instagram is all about quality and engagement; there are no shortcuts. Once that is achieved, you are ready to move onto the next step and that is Instagram marketing.

All About Google’s RankBrain Algorithm

Google's RankBrain algorithm leads to a better set of Google results, which are as accurate as one can possibly get to understanding search queries and the inquisitive human mind.

Google changed its algorithm on 26 October 2015 to a machine reading technology called RankBrain. This technology involves the use of artificial Intelligence, so as to interpret search terms entered by the users in a much more predictable way. The idea is to make it work like human intuition. In fact, colloquial terms or spoken language is interpreted in an accurate way, and ‘bang on target’.

This artificial intelligence system, capable of machine learning is ranked as the 3^rd most important factor in determining the page rank of the website, the others being (1) Quality Content and (2) Quality Back-links.

There are totally about 200 ranking factors, which determine the page rank of a website.Thus Rankbrain has an important role to play in SEO. These factors basically dictate what must be shown in the search results and definitely influence their page rank.

Thus, Google aims to eliminate websites which do not give any value with regards to their content.

Google had sent two algorithm changes before this latest one. One was given the codename Panda (in the year 2015) which targeted sites with bad quality content. 2012 saw the emergence of another algorithm, called ‘Penguin’ which eliminated fake or unnatural link profiles and got them banned. More than anything else, RankBrain is an advanced variation of Google’s earlier update called ‘Hummingbird’ which was introduced in 2013. Hummingbird carefully considered each word in a query and understood them not just as a string of words, but as a meaningful sentence in its proper context.

What changes with RankBrain?

Continuing the legacy of Hummingbird, Google’s RankBrain update not only produces results based on queries but also, ‘reads in between the lines’ and deciphers the human motives behind their typing of a particular string of words and thus, returns ideal results. Also, if a user enters a search term which the search engine doesn’t understand, then it searches for the word or phrases having a similar tone or meaning and displays the results accordingly. Thus, RankBrain is very efficient in handling unfamiliar search queries, which could otherwise lead to ‘no results’.

How can Website Owners take full advantage of this system, or rather optimise for RankBrain?

Google is now more concerned about its users; with the RankBrain, it focuses, not just on the typed keywords, but the ones that they haven’t been typed. However unfamiliar, the keywords may appear, Google uses RankBrain to make more accurate guesses about the user’s intent (behind those words) than any other human being can ever think of. Thus, the results are much more accurate.

When a website is designed, the focus should NOT be on pouring all possible keywords into the content, like it was done in the past. The focus should be on the users themselves; you need to know where they hang out and what sort of pages they visit online. You may check social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Quora is also a very good place where you find specific user queries. You may search questions related to your particular field. You will find that they are more detailed than any search queries you may find on Google. Use these search terms on Quora to get an idea about how to structure your content, for the ease of the end users. RankBrain is more about user optimization rather than usage of specific keywords. In fact, if you are following the standard SEO practises, there is certainly no need to panic at the emergence of any new Google algorithm.

The Types of Searches

The intentions behind typing queries can be broadly classified into three types:

For knowledge, research or reviews
For navigation or travel
For online shopping or product purchase

The above searches are self-explanatory; thus, importance is given to user intentions and the tone of the query to produce an exact match, even if our search string is incomplete.

How will users benefit?

RankBrain, aided by its artificial intelligence does the following conclusions

Find out how people search on Google.
Look out for local language queries, decipher them and give better quality results
Give better quality suggestions, even as the users type their queries.

Thus, RankBrain is there to benefit the users, so that they get exactly what they want. As long as you are following the standards and avoiding negative SEO techniques, you don’t have to worry about your website’s ranking.

What are the best captions for your Instagram photos?

Instagram is your best bet if you want to transform your normal-person status into that of a celebrity. All you may need is a smartphone, good photos and great captions.

Instagram as we all know, is a place where we find great photography, usually done by amateurs. It has the rare capability of making ordinary people into celebrities, by the sheer quality of photos that they share.

However, the quality of photos is not enough to skyrocket your status and make your posts go viral. You need one more ingredient, and that is ‘Great Instagram Titles’ or selfie captions. That way, people will understand what you are trying to say and identify with it. If you are a small business and want to use Instagram to connect with people at a more personal level, then great captions accompanied by good photos are a key to success.

Here are a few tips to write good Instagram captions:

Don’t rush it: Think of several selfie captions and write them down. Ask your co-workers or family members, about what they think it and how it can be improved. Make sure that your caption is great, before posting it. It is true that Instagram postings should be spontaneous and done in real time. However, as per the latest Instagram algorithm update, posts having a higher level of engagement, are the ones which will be shown on your followers’ news feed. The posts which have great titles will obviously generate more engagement and likes besides having a higher chance of going viral.
Comment on your own post: You may use your unique hashtag followed by a short caption.

Although Instagram allows for 2200 characters, don’t fill up the whole space with hashtags. They can either serve as a distraction or as a turnoff. If the hashtag doesn’t fit well with the caption, it can be put at the end. You may use a maximum of 4# hashtags.

Generate a call to action: Users usually respond to verbs that encourage them to take some sort of action. Your picture or posting may be in the form of a quiz question, prompting viewers to enter the right answer in the comments section. You may also ask fans to tag themselves and their friends by taking selfies in your retail outlet and stand a chance of winning a gift hamper. Likewise, there are many ways to encourage users to like, share and comment on your posts.

Make sure your hashtags are not too small: Load these hashtags in such a way that the visible part is enticing enough for the visitor to click on ‘more’. Do not limit yourself by attempting to make the whole Hashtag visible, by keeping it very short.

Don’t use a hashtag with every word that you type: Use relevant hashtags and get the feel of being part of the bigger picture. However, make sure your hashtag is relevant to your subject. For E.g., if you are a restaurant owner in Australia and posting food pictures on Instagram, don’t include the tag #WWE or #SummerSlam as it’s not related to food in any way (although the wrestlers don’t mind eating). You may instead, try a slightly more relevant hashtag like #Breakfast and #Food.

Get the basic grammar and capitalisation right: Avoid spelling mistakes. Good grammar is still in fashion, and my guess is that it will remain so for a 2 - 3 more aeons.

Photos without captions are OK if you are a celebrity: When you write captions, you are basically competing for attention. Make your pics have an attention grabbing caption! If you are a celebrity, however, you may skip this point.

Have a unique caption style: It should be unlike any other and consistent. Make it short, intriguing, and interesting enough, to draw a response from followers.

Is it necessary to link your photo? Ask yourself this question before linking it. You may do so if necessary. Links may be placed in the website section of your bio description, and your caption may point towards the same. The only drawback with links is that they lead the user away from the Instagram Application.

Tag people in the photograph: If it is the photographer of the picture, you may tag them and give credit; you may also tag relevant people who were part of that photo shoot.

Add Mentions to your Instagram Caption:‘Mentions’ are a way to give back to the Instagram community. You may ‘Mention’ other Instagram users, and showcase each other’s pictures to your audience and thus show your ‘Insta-love’ for each other. Instead of just tagging them, make sure you include their handle in your caption as well. This enables your followers to visit their profile too!

Have some fun, add Emoji’s: Make your posts slightly more colourful by adding Emoji’s; let your posting radiate more emotion. However do it sparingly, and just enough to make things interesting.

Instagram’s popularity is growing by the day, and it is definitely not a bad idea to use this great platform and get yourself or your small business noticed by a “small chunk” of its 400 million users! Knowing how to write good Instagram captions for your photos, can go a long way into making it a reality.

It’s time to market your business with Pokemon Go

Pokémon Go is redefining the very concept of gaming, and now, it’s time for businesses to jump on the Pokémon Bandwagon!

Pokémon Go is currently the hottest thing in the world of gaming, and whether or not, its parent company Niantic will invite sponsorship and advertising, is a different question altogether. While it is still ‘red-hot’, many businesses can take advantage and capitalise on this trend right away, before it lessens or dies.

What is Pokémon Go? And why are people going mad over it?

The game has been launched on 6^th July 2016 in Australia, New Zealand, USA and the Europe and still, it is one of the most trending topics on social media worldwide. Pikachu has become the most talked-about character. This game of the 90s has become popular among 20 to 30-year-olds, and in fact, more than 5% of the Android users in the US are playing this game on a regular basis. It has in fact overtaken Twitter and Facebook in terms of daily users.

How is the game played out?

This free mobile game (for iOS and Android), allows you to make an avatar that can capture, trade, train as well as fight Pokémon characters of the game.

What makes this game even more appealing is the fact that it uses your mobile’s camera and GPS to help track a Pokémon centre and catch Pokémon in 'reality'. This will have gamers taking long walks or perhaps go for a long drive in their respective cities, just to find Pokémon. So when you spot a Pokémon, this augmented reality game displays it with your real life surroundings as background, which makes it all the more interesting!

Marketing with Pokémon Go

The demographic reach of this game makes it interesting for business marketers. Although there aren’t any advertising or sponsorship opportunities in Pokémon-Go at present, there are still many things which can be done.

If your business is situated close to any designated Pokéstop or a Pokémon centre, then you can offer free goodies. The FREE footfall at your restaurant is always a welcome sign. You may offer free charging points, as Pokémon-Go is a bit more demanding on the battery, since it continually needs internet, GPS and camera access. Pokémon-Go gamers are human after all, and their bodies need re-charging too! To cater to their requirements, then you may need to switch to a Pokémon-Go food theme and ‘make hay while the sun shines’.

You can even have your staff wear Pokémon T-Shirts and accompany the gamers around the Pokémon stop while they search for ‘monsters’. You can give them a discount for screenshots of Pokémon spotted near your restaurant and shared on social media. You can also have Pokémon gamers in for a chat about their game, take a video and post it on social media, thus increasing the visibility of your brand. You can also tag them and encourage them to share it.

Placing of Lures

A Pokémon stop is usually located near landmarks, heritage buildings, gardens, malls and restaurants. As a restaurant, you may use this opportunity to lure ‘Pokémon Trainers’ into your property, by means of these gaming freebies, and make it a popular Pokémon hub. Lures can be purchased through the App and placed in and around your restaurant.

Setting up your Lures

Start the App and catch the Pokemon. You get a red Pokeball; Click on it at the bottom of your monitor and select "Shop". You may now scroll down and purchase a Pokecoin pack (the currency of the Pokemon world). You may buy a Lure Module based on this.

Once you have purchased this Lure, you need to go near the Pokestop to access it. Now click the PokeStop and the white oval, select the lure module and deploy it. The PokeStop will rain pink coloured paper to indicate that the lure has been deployed.

The gamers thus stand to gain freebies, while the increased footfall at your restaurant can positively affect your brand image and sales. Meanwhile, you will need to create awareness by means of social media about your new “Pokémon Stop”.

Niantic and what the future holds?

With the entire ongoing buzz about Pokémon, it would be expected of Niantic, to allow businesses to sponsor PokéStops and Pokémon balls, and help gamers collect Pokémons. Because of the geographic nature of the game, it is evident that gamers will go around the city and visit business hub spots. So if one asks ‘What is the right time for Niantic to enter into lucrative partnerships with other business and make the most of this hot trend?’ we would simply say, “NOW IS THE TIME”!!!