We get asked all sorts of weird and wonderful questions here at Front Page SEO – like “Does dwell time on your site help improve your Google ranking?” or “Does social media affect SEO (search engine optimisation)”?

It’s the latter question that we’re going to look at today.

While at Front Page SEO we do encourage our clients to create an account for their brand on the various social media platforms (and include their URL in their profile) – the simple answer is: not directly.

According to Matt Cutts when he worked for Google, the search engine giant treats Facebook and Twitter the same as any other webpage. Your popularity (ie number of followers) on social media is not a ranking factor.

Indirectly however is another story – which is why you will now find Front Page SEO on Instagram, as well as Facebook (click the links to follow us on social media!).

How Social Media and SEO Work Together

If you want to boost your business online, a combination of social media and SEO offers some great advantages:

• Promote your content. Sharing your latest blog post on your Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter account is a great way to drive traffic to your website. And the more visits to your site – the more Google sees that people like the content you have there, which is a ranking signal for SEO.

• Dominate the front page of search engine results. These days, if you search for a name or organisation, Google is likely to show not just their website, but the links to their social media profiles as well. Imagine your business dominating the front page of search results! Not only could your website appear on the front page of Google, but also your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube, Linked In and other social media accounts … leaving little room for the competition.

Don’t forget too that some social media platforms – like Pinterest, Youtube, and Linked In – are also search engines!

At the end of the day, both social media and SEO are great ways to boost your business online – and like any collaboration, there is much to be gained from working together.

At Front Page SEO, we find it extremely rewarding to help small businesses with their Search Engine Optimisation, while our good friends at Brisbane social media agency, Jayne Media, can help you to launch, establish and grow your social media platforms. Contact us today to find out more.

If you are looking for small business SEO training, please get in touch – we’d love to chat with you!

When you talk to an SEO consultant or agency, one of the first things they will do is check your website’s Domain Authority (DA).

This “DA” is a number from 1 to 100, with 100 being the best. Sites with a DA  of 100 are practically non-existent – even hugely popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia rank around the 95 mark.

Every website URL starts out with a Domain Authority of just 1.

Why is Domain Authority Important?

Domain Authority is the best predictor we have, of how well a website is likely to perform in the search engines.

So a site with a DA of 45 is much more likely to be on the front page of search engine results for a keyword (search term), than a site with a DA of 25.

It’s not linear either; the higher your Domain Authority, the harder it is to get to the next level.

If you want to find out your site’s Domain Authority, head to the Moz website and enter your URL for a free domain analysis. You might be asked to set up an account, but don’t worry – there’s a free version.

And if you’re really intrigued, you can download the Moz Bar extension from the Google Chrome store so you can see the Domain Authority of each and every site you visit!

What Sort of Domain Authority Do We Need?

A few years ago I attended a workshop conducted by Sharon from Digital Nomad Wannabe, where she suggested that a DA over 30 is when things really start to happen – ie your site starts getting a good flow of traffic from Google and other search engines. She was mostly referring to “niche” or “affiliate” sites – websites that were created to target a very specific niche, and then generate income from sales they refer to their advertisers.

With almost a decade of SEO experience, I can say with confidence that it doesn’t have to be that high, particularly here in Australia. Of course it depends very much on the industry, but I’ve seen great results from sites with a DA of 10 or over.

Back in the day, Moz updated Domain Authority scores only once every month or so, and those in the SEO or blogging industries would await the results anxiously; nowadays, it is constantly updated.

Case Study: Our Own Domain Authority?

The Domain Authority of this website was 24, when this article was first published back in 2016.

At the moment it’s a lot lower than that, mainly as a consequence of re-branding from Front Page SEO to Front Page SEO at the beginning of 2021 (the joys of change!). Although we knew this would happen, it was a case of doing it strategically so we can recover our DA as soon as possible.

The good news however is that we’re off the starting blocks, and have jumped from a Domain Authority of 1, to 3 in just one month … watch this space!

There are many ways to improve your DA, and your chances of ranking in Google.

However it’s important to remember that the goal of SEO is NOT boosting your Domain Authority. Rather, it’s about:

• making sure your website ranks for relevant keywords;
• preferably on the front page of search results because 99% of users will click through to a website listed there;
• so you get website traffic that is interested in what you have to offer!

Knowing your Domain Authority is a great place to start when assessing your site’s SEO; the next step is to contact us to arrange your free SEO Snapshot (audit) and complimentary Zoom session!

“I’m changing web hosts / my website design / business location – will this affect my SEO?!”

At this time of year in particular, businesses across the country are taking stock – and often, improvements to their virtual or physical locations are high on the priority list.

Here at Front Page SEO we understand – after all, we’re in the process of changing our business name to one that more accurately reflects our services:

Front Page SEO! 

Businesses change, as our own example proves.

They move or add a new location, or have their website redesigned, or redefine their target market.

Some of the most common questions we get asked here at Front Page SEO revolve around changes to the business – for example, a new website design, website hosting, or even their physical address – and whether they will have a negative impact on their visibility in search engine results. Will they lose those precious clicks and clients?!

How Is Change Likely to Affect your SEO?

So let’s look at each of these common scenarios in turn.

I’m changing website hosts – will this affect my SEO?

As a general rule, no, it won’t.

However having said that, some website hosts do make your site load speed a lot faster – and it’s not just people that vastly prefer a speedy website, Google does too. So if you’re changing to a faster provider, it could actually even help to improve your site’s ranking in the search engines!

I’m getting a new website / changing the design of my website – will this have a negative impact on my SEO?

It could – so approach these changes with caution and get specific advice from an SEO specialist for your particular situation.

The main thing to be careful of is to try and keep the same URLs (link addresses) for each page, or at the very least forward redundant ones to your home page. Otherwise you will lose all the history and hard work associated with that URL, which can be quite valuable – including the backlinks that particular webpage has received in the past.

If you do choose to use new URLs, make sure each old one is redirected to the new one so that visitors to your website don’t arrive on that dreaded 404 error message – a dead end. However, it’s much better if you don’t change the URLs in the first place, as redirects can slow down website speed and get confusing, neither of which is great for your SEO.

My business has moved – or we’ve added a new location – how’s that going to affect my SEO?

There will be some impact, but there are things you can do to minimise the disruption to your rankings that can occur with a new location/physical address.

While you will likely remember to update your website, email signature and printed stationery with your new address, it’s absolutely critical that you also update your Google My Business listing and any other online listings for your business.

Apart from anything else, it just makes sense!

If  you are relocating from Sydney to Brisbane, and only provide products and services to your local area, you won’t WANT to get found by Sydney internet searchers anymore. You’ll want to come up for Brisbane browsers instead, and your SEO strategy needs to be updated (with appropriate keyword research), to reflect that.

Top Tip: Search online for every mention of your business NAP (name, address, phone number) and politely ask if they can be changed to your new contact details.

The copy on our website is terrible and we are getting it redone – will that affect our SEO?

While quality copy is definitely perceived more favourably by Google (and your website visitors), again, approach a project like this with caution or you could lose the website traffic that’s been coming your way via the search engines.

By working with an SEO copywriter or an SEO specialist, you can ensure that important keywords are still an integral part of your new website copy.

In summary – if you are considering changes to your business address, website hosting, or website design, it’s worth taking into account the potential impacts on your SEO, so you can minimise any disruption to your visibility in the search engines.

Worried about how a change to your business might affect the flow of clicks and clients to your website? Book your free SEO chat online now! 

If you’ve ever wondered: Why does SEO take so long?! – take heart, you’re not alone!

After all, these days we can nuke a meal in the microwave in a couple of minutes; take a photo and see it instantly on our smartphones; and send an email across the globe with a reply pinging back in seconds! As a society, we are used to things happening straight away, so it can seem hard to understand why SEO can be a bit of a slow-burn.

6 Reasons SEO can be Slow

Wonder no more, here are just a few reasons why!

1. The search engine “spiders” have to find and crawl any new web content before they can index it. It’s only once it’s been added to their “library” that they can retrieve it, to display to internet users in their search results. You can speed things up a little if it’s your own site (through Google Search Console for example), but if you have content on another site, you’ll just have to be patient.

   And according to one study by Ahrefs, only 5% of newly published pages will make it to the top 10 (or “front page”) of Google within a year.

2. If you have a new website, many SEO specialists have a theory that they are placed in a “sandbox” for the first couple of months, before Google is willing to list them in search engine results. It’s not confirmed, but we think the best way around this is to get stuck into building your backlinks quickly – the more pointing back to your newbie site, the more quickly Google will sit up and take notice. This is one of the reasons we offer one-off boost packages, not just monthly arrangements.
3. How quickly other sites are linking to your site. Some free internet directories, for example, can take months to check your listing and publish it.
4. Longevity is a ranking factor. As a general rule, the longer your site/content has been around, the more likely it is to rank well in search engine results (the main exception is for more time-critical content eg news or current affairs items).
5. Your website is not optimised. We have seen many sites that have a healthy Domain Authority and by rights, should be ranking well in search engine results – but they’re not. Upon closer investigation, it’s because they haven’t done the foundation work of researching and optimising their website for any (or the right) keywords.
6. Even once you are appearing in search engine results, your ranking can bounce around a bit until Google can work out exactly the best place to put your site. I’ve seen some webpages ranking on the front page of Google within a couple of weeks of being published. They may not stay there though; other times, they start life ranking at #96 but over time they make their way up to page 1.

While SEO is a long term strategy (with long term results), one thing we know is that with one of our SEO Starter Packages you should see results within three months – which is why we provide a complementary SEO review  at that time. It’s incredibly rewarding and gratifying to show our clients just what we’ve been able to achieve, even in this comparatively short space of time.

Get in touch today to request your free SEO Snapshot (review) from Australia’s #1 SEO specialists, and take the first step towards putting your website to work. Remember, the sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll see results!

If you have a website, sooner or later you are going to hear the term “keyword” bandied around – especially if the discussion is about getting more visitors onto your site. 

So what is a keyword? And why is it so important?

For starters, you may be surprised to learn that a keyword is rarely just one word; usually, it is a phrase.

It is the phrase that a person might enter into a search engine like Google, when they are looking for something online. Often it will include the location. For example:

• “psychologist Gold Coast“
• “Redlands podiatry clinic”;
• “mechanic Capalaba“
• “pilates Redlands“.

For those more familiar with social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, think of keywords as being the SEO version of hashtags.

Important Note: Keywords are also used in Google Ad campaigns (otherwise known as Search Engine Marketing or SEM, in contrast to Search Engine Optimisation or SEO). However the keywords used may be completely different to the ones you target for SEO. While both are chosen based on what search terms your customers are likely to use, that’s where the similarity ends.

It’s also worth remembering that in this day and age many people use voice search, so keywords might come in formats like questions, eg:

• “What are manuka honey eye drops used for?“;
• “Do colour blind glasses really work?”;
• “Is podiatry covered by Medicare?”.

Another Name for a Keyword

You might also come across another piece of jargon called a “search term” – but don’t panic, it can be used interchangeably with “keyword”.

There are quite a few things to consider when selecting which keyword or keywords you should be using on your website, with the main one being: What keywords are your customers likely to use, when looking for a business like yours?

Choose Keywords that your Audience Will Use

It’s important to put yourself in your potential customer’s shoes, and think of what search terms THEY are likely to use. For example, most psychologists dislike the term “split personality”. It’s outdated and incorrect. Yet what keyword is a person from a non-psychology background likely to use? Yup, split personality. Which is why you will still find plenty of web content optimised for this search term.

There are a lot of other factors which come into play when doing keyword research, including:

• What keywords are your competitors using?
• How difficult will it be for you to rank for your chosen keywords?

In the video below, Front Page Founder Janet Camilleri covers all of these points and more, to help get you started with choosing the right keywords …

Of course there is a lot more to keyword research than what we’ve highlighted in this blog post.

While it’s something you can try to do yourself, the advantage of using an SEO professional is that we have access to highly specialised tools and software such as Keysearch and SEMRush to conduct in-depth keyword research. There are limited and/or free trial access available with both of these, if you’re interested in seeing more of what’s involved when you’re on the hunt for great keywords.

If you’ve come to this page because you had no idea what a keyword is, contact us to discuss optimising your website with the right keyword/s. Keywords are an integral part of any SEO Strategy!

Once people learn that we are  SEO Consultants and copywriters, they will often ask us for the insider secrets on adding keywords to a webpage.

There are a number of ways you can signal to Google (or Bing and all the other search engines), just what your webpage is about – and that’s through the strategic use of keywords.

Tips for Adding Keywords to a Webpage

Let us share the process with you, using this exact webpage as an example to show you the best places for adding keywords.

• Is your keyword (remember, a keyword is usually more than one word!) in the page title? For instance, after careful research, we decided that the phrase we wanted to target in this post was “adding keywords to a webpage” – and that’s how we came up with the title.
• Is it in the URL? Take a look in the address bar at the top of this page and you will see that the URL is: https://frontpageseo.com.au/adding-keywords-to-a-webpage. (CAUTION: This tip only applies if it is a brand new webpage. If it’s already been published, leave it alone!)
• Have you used your keyword in a heading on your webpage? Take a look at the heading above these dot points. See what we did there?!
• Does your keyword appear at least once in the actual text? As a general rule, it’s best to make sure your keyword appears close to the start of your webpage, rather than burying it down the bottom. But – and here’s the catch – can you do it in a way that looks natural?! Oh, and don’t over-use your keyword either! That’s a technique called “keyword stuffing” which might have worked once upon a time, but not any more. (For those on WordPress using the Yoast SEO plugin – don’t obsess over getting all those traffic lights to go green, as this strays into keyword stuffing territory!)
• Would it make sense to bold your keyword? (Not essential, but worth considering – I’ve included my keyword in the first sentence, which is bolded in accordance to my style manual).
• Is your keyword in the meta title?
• Have you used the keyword in the alternative text section on any images you have used? (The alternative text is what comes up on the webpage if for some reason the actual image cannot be retrieved). If you right click on the image in this post, and then click “save as”, you should be able to see the alternative text we have used (but don’t save it – it’s copyright!).

However, adding keywords to your webpage is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to search engine optimisation.

There is a lot more that can be done to help boost your website in the search engine results. For example:

• it’s a good idea to research your potential keyword, to find out how often people actually search for it – and how much competition there is (what other pages already ranking for it), or if another keyword would be a better choice.
• improving the load speed of your website.
• making sure it is easy to navigate.
• getting backlinks from other sites.

If all this talk of keywords seems too much, then you are best off getting an SEO expert to take care of it for you. Of course, we’re hoping you’ll come to us for help 😉 – and we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by our affordable SEO packages, that will bring you long term results.

Contact us today, to find out more or check out some of my SEO success stories!

I’ve decided that Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a lot like fishing.

Both require a lot of patience and perseverance, but it goes deeper than that (see what I did there?!).

How to Get Results

I’ve been known to go camping and fishing a time or two, and here’s the lowdown: if you are a serious fishing enthusiast you will know that there are a lot of factors to consider if you want to actually catch something. For example:

• Where are you going fishing? Will you be casting your line into a pond or river, or maybe you prefer surf fishing or reef fishing?
• What sort of fish do you want to catch? Are you happy with any nibbles? Does it matter if you’re reeling in a puffer fish or would you rather a bream or whiting?
• What bait or lure are you going to use? Of course, that will probably depend on the sort of fish you want to catch.
• What are the winds and tides doing? (I’m told that fishing on an incoming tide is best, not that I’m any authority!)

When it comes to catching fish – especially if you are after a particular fish – using the right bait in the right place at the right time is key.

Sure you can chuck a line in anywhere and hope for the best, but you’ll probably return home empty-handed.

Your SEO Strategy

It’s the same with SEO – for best results, you need to know what you’re doing. The following information will help you work out a suitable strategy:

• Are you aiming to rank well in local SEO, or internationally?
• What sort of people are you aiming to attract? (The great thing about SEO is that if done well, instead of just bringing any old nibble, it brings you qualified leads!)
• What bait are you going to use? What keywords are your potential customers going to search for when they need your goods or services?
• What’s the environment like – what are your competitors doing?

When it comes to fishing – if you love it, you’ll go often. If you don’t, you won’t – which if your family relies on fish for their dinner, means that they are going to suffer.

Can you see where I’m going with this? If you love it (like I do), you’ll constantly immerse yourself in it, even in your spare time – books, websites, workshops, experiments, talking to others.

And if you don’t? You’ll most likely neglect it, and your business will suffer as a result.

So if you are a business owner, annoyed that you haven’t gotten to grips with this SEO thing, that’s okay. I’m not much chop at fishing. But my team and I can definitely help you with SEO!

Interested in finding out more? Get in touch to book your free SEO consultation today!

SEO is scary.

The cat’s out of the bag!

Although we are SEO Consultants, we are the first to acknowledge that Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can be quite scary for your average business owner.

The Mechanics of SEO

It’s a bit like taking your car to the mechanic. While some of us may not know how cars work, we can appreciate that for optimal results they need to be serviced regularly. (A funny story for the more mechanically minded: When the brakes on Front Page SEO Founder Janet’s car started squealing, she asked her husband if they needed oiling …  yes really …! )

As the customer, we are trusting the mechanic with a valuable asset (our cars), and hoping that they will do the right thing.

However:

• They could literally do nothing, and we are often none the wiser.
• They could use inferior or shoddy products.
• They could charge pretty much whatever they wanted, and even with an itemised bill, we wouldn’t know enough to query it.

Just as there are some dodgy mechanics out there, unfortunately, not every SEO consultant or agency has your best interests at heart.

There is currently a lack of regulation in the Australian SEO industry, which means that fraudsters can flourish.

Working in the industry for the last seven years, we have come across some real SEO horror stories – from business owners paying a fortune for what essentially amounts to “nothing”; to others who are blissfully unaware of what is being done to their site AND their business’ reputation, all in the name of SEO.

Parasite Hosting

One practice that we’ve come across is called “parasite hosting”. It’s where extra pages are set up on the website, without the business owner’s knowledge. These extra pages have nothing to do with the actual business; they have been added by the SEO agency for their own nefarious purposes.

There was the women’s accessories website, where we have noticed their top ranking keyword was along the lines of “viagra and cialis in powdered form”.

Or the health clinic site which hosted several pages of content relating to gambling, and linked to various gaming sites.

Bogus Backlinks

If you are considering outsourcing your SEO, make sure that you are kept informed of the backlinks being built on your behalf. Do you really want your business linked to sites offering Russian mail order brides, or with explicit content or images like this one (which we have cropped but you get the gist!).

There are also some agencies still using “black hat” SEO techniques. They might get your site ranking faster but it’s only a matter of time before Google finds out, and punishes you – by taking your site off their search engine results pages altogether!

Haunted by Dodgy SEO

Even if you terminate a contract with a dodgy SEO, the experience can haunt you for months or even years to come. We have heard of some disreputable companies which have:

• locked a business owner out of their own website;
• removed all the links they’d built for a client, when the business owner switched to a new SEO agency;
• set up the website on “their” platform, meaning that if the client left, they had the inconvenience and expense of building a new website.

The moral of all these SEO horror stories is clear: let the buyer beware.

Find a Decent SEO Consultant

Here are three tips to help you find a decent SEO consultant:

1. Does your potential SEO consultant or agency share their expertise via workshops, newsletters, social media, blog posts, or e-books?
2. Are you able to contact or talk with some of their current or former clients?
3. Make sure their own website has a Domain Authority that is higher than 1!

The world of SEO can be dark and murky, but it’s worth facing your fear as it can be a valuable source of leads and customers for your business.

We invite you to book a free 30 minute Zoom consult with one of our SEO specialists – or check out our next free webinar – we’d love to introduce you to the wonders of SEO (when done right)!