Five top tips to improve Google ranking from an SEO expert

Alison in action at a conference

I first heard of Alison Rothwell through the blog network British Mummy Bloggers (recently rebranded as Britmums). She set up a free SEO group and taught us lots of tips. Nowadays she is a very busy, successful lady indeed and I hope she doesn't mind if I post this "oldish" article - on the web  everything goes at the speed of light. I feel it's still relevant and it shows up her great coaching skills. 


Improving your Google PageRank will, of course, have a knock-on effect on your position within the natural search results. But don't make the mistake of concentrating solely on PageRank. Improving PageRank should be a part of a well-organized SEO strategy. With that in mind here are five top tips to help you improve your Google PageRank.

1. Create a Google site map

Google has a great number of free tools you can use. So if you don't already have one, head on over to Google.com and create a free account, then follow the instructions to create a sitemap. While you are there, take a look at some of the other free tools they offer.

2. Get good back links

It's common knowledge that the more links you have, the better it is for your PageRank. But while it's common knowledge, it's not entirely correct. It's not so much the quantity of links you have, but the quality. All links should be from relevant sites, preferably with a high PageRank themselves. A good way of getting quality back links is to post in relevant forums. Answer any questions that may have been posted and include a link back to your site offering more information. DO NOT spam these websites with links,  though, or you'll be banned.

3. Mind your spelling

Sorry, but Google doesn't like spelling mistakes. So always make sure your content and titles are spelled correctly. It was once common practice to optimise sites with misspelled words for popular search terms to try and fool the engines. Those days are over, if your site has misspelled words on it, your PageRank will be penalized accordingly.

4. Check out what your competitors are up to

Do a search in Google for the search term you want to rank for. The people at the top of the list are doing something right, so let's take a look at what they are up to. Type the following search string into Google "link:competitor.com", replace competitor.com with the url of the top ranking site. You will now see a list of sites that are linking to that particular webpage. Make a note of the links and try to get them to link to your site as well.

5. Don't forget the rest of your site

PageRank, like the name suggests, is an indication of the quality of the page you're on, not of the website as a whole. A common mistake is to concentrate on increasing the PageRank of your homepage, thinking that it will filter down to the other pages on your site. Well no it won't, try to get links into the whole of your site, for a number of different keywords. Do all this correctly and soon you'll start to see the fruits of your labours.

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 Alison Rothwell is an online marketing expert who prides herself on helping small businesses achieve their full potential. Whatever the size of your business, visit www.alisonrothwell.com to find out more about her SEO workshops and social media expertise. 

Social media for dummies (including my old self)

Simone Castello on Facebook

Simone Castello on Twitter

Simone Castello on LinkedIn

Social media is the buzzword doing the rounds in several media forums, alongside the likes of SEO copywriting. But what does the term social media actually stand for? Wikipedia defines it as “media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses web-based technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogues.”

This is a good way of putting it, but why are media pros mesmerised by it? Again Wikipedia’s entry is spot on: “One of the key components in successful social media marketing implementation is building ‘social authority’. Social authority is developed when an individual or organization establishes themselves as an ‘expert’ in their given field or area, thereby becoming an ‘influencer’ in that field or area.”

This explains why PR and marketing professionals are getting hot under the collar about it. But what are the tools and channels for building social authority? Wikipedia offers several examples – they are so widespread that even a technophobe with a dial-up internet access might, at some point, have been involved with at least one of them. Among the communication tools, we have blogging, microblogging (ie Twitter), social networking (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc), event groups (Meetup.com) and online fundraising (justgiving comes to my mind for the UK). Moving on, there are collaboration projects and authority building sites such as Wikis - Wikileaks is topical right now in the political arena. Then there is social bookmarking and social news, which include StumbleUpon, delicious, digg... And more categories involving photography, art, video, broadcasting, music and even product and business reviews. And let’s not forget the brand monitoring brigade with their Statsit... The more I read about social media, the more I realise that it’s like quicksand gobbling us all up. 

I have certainly come a long way from my virtual girl blog posted in March. Since then I have been thrown into the deep end of social media through SEO copywriting, my involvement with PR and marketing forums (where social media marketing strategies are discussed on a daily basis) and through my blogs, which carry affiliate marketing links. And let's not forget my personal interests and passions, all lavishly catered for by a plethora of websites. It's really sink or swim, so excuse me while I grab my virtual board and learn to surf this big tidal wave called social media...

How I became a home worker

When I started maternity leave in January 2007 I planned to take a year off and resume my career as inhouse freelance subeditor. I had been doing it for over a decade, so it seemed like the easy option - I had lots of contacts in the industry and knew there would be work for me provided I could find reliable childcare for my child. Mind you, I envied freelancers who could work from home but knew that in my sector opportunities were rare, plus you needed expensive equipment and software. Despite using MACs at work, I had a modest PC at home and no fancy design software.

I soon realised I was missing work so jumped at the chance of using my skills for the NCT, which is the leading parenting charity in the UK. I had become a member before doing their antenatal classes and heard that they were looking for a volunteer to help the newsletter editor at the East London branch. I ended up coediting various newsletters, churning out articles and designing my half with zero budget (we had only money for printing costs). I was lucky to secure a free copy of QuarkXpress by buying a PC magazine so I could use the professional software I was accustomed to. I did enjoy both the writing and the design side. One year later, I was not ready to go back to work. I was enjoying a busy life as charity volunteer, doing some editing work from home (not much though) and training as a breastfeeding helper with the Breastfeeding Network. I started to volunteer for this second charity by assisting my tutor who ran a breastfeeding drop-in in East London. In summer 2008, just before the credit crunch hit the country, I moved to Rugby, where I became involved with the NCT, became newsletter designer and editor of the local newsletter and got involved with the Rugby Breastfeeding Cafe as a volunteer.

Not being in London meant a longer commute if I wanted to resume my career as subeditor. The recession also meant less freelance work so although I had set up my writing and editing business (and created a website to plug it), I was mostly giving Italian lessons and even taught an evening class at a local institute. Then I heard of a new parenting website that needed product testers and I sent my CV. I started writing product reviews, while running two blogs (this one about parenting and one about eco-friendly thrifting) and volunteering for my charities.

In November 2009 we moved to Cambridge, where I joined the local NCT branch and became involved with the newsletter and started volunteering at breastfeeding drop-ins. Soon after our move I got an email from an advertising agency who wanted me to write breastfeeding and baby care copy. It turned out to be a big project so I left tutoring behind and became a fully-fledged online copywriter, contributing to parenting websites whenever I could. I have recently started indexing academic journals, which is regular work and makes me feel that my degree in Political Sciences is of some use.

So far I have produced several NCT newsletters for various branches and learnt a lot about design, commissioning, advertising and the printing process. As a subeditor for major national magazines I was part of a big team, so I was only involved in editing, rewriting, writing the odd feature, fact-checking and perhaps a bit of design but didn’t have to concern myself with production processes, distribution, overall costs and advertising revenue. I kept in touch with the media industry through moderating a group called subsuk (from 2006 till practically yesterday) but have given this up as I am now a copywriter more than a journalist. I’m not the only one, most people I know from journo forums have moved into PR, advertising, corporate writing and more lucrative fields. Aside writing and indexing I volunteer for my two charities and have started to get involved in my daughter’s preschool activities.

So this is the story so far. The picture at the top is my office, basically an antique kitchen table (there is nice wooden top under the plastic cloth) full of useful junk. Below it’s my filing unit, which is a pine dresser my father made bespoke for the kitchen of my previous house. Inside there are backup DVDs and office supplies, on the shelves you can see my reference library and various odds and ends belonging to my child, including her red book and craft materials. More stationery is parked on top of the blue chest of drawers, one of my ‘revamp junk furniture’ projects.

There is a spare room upstairs which has been kitted out as an office but it’s not practical as I need to keep an eye on my daughter when she is at home. She goes to preschool three hours every afternoon and unless my partner is at home, she is around while I toil away. If I need total silence I work after she has gone to bed or wake up really early in the morning.

Now over to you! If you work from home, feel free to link up relevant blog posts and leave comments. I confess I do miss social interaction but not the commuting to different workplaces every week (unless I got a long-term gig) nor the office politics, from which an inhouse freelancer is not totally immune.

From virtual to real world - the face of social media

My mobile has been made redundant

To paraphrase a famous Madonna song, I'm a virtual girl living in a virtual world. I haven't had a face-to-face business meeting for over a year and a total of four business telephone calls in the past three months. All communications are through email. So while I check my hotmail and gmail accounts on a daily basis and several times a day on weekdays, the mobile phone languishes in my handbag for emergency use. I'm not sorry about my phone's early retirement, I bought it after being pestered by clients when I was working inhouse, only for those clients to (perversely) continue booking me via email.

Addicted to the world wide web

As many homeworkers I'm addicted to the internet and linked to several business and social groups with hundreds of virtual friends. Some networks are great for keeping in touch with what is going on in the media/PR sector (LinkedIn, Journalism.co.uk, Gorkana, ukPress...), others provide information on my specialist interests and then there are accounts one must have (like Twitter) and websites one must be a member of (like Facebook). All networks provide virtual water cooler moments, although malicious gossip is discouraged for fear of libel.

Fish out of water at the Only Marketing Jobs’ Cambridge Link-up

Having been entrenched in virtual networking forums for months, it was quite unnerving to attend a networking event with real people. When I arrived at the Only Marketing Jobs’Cambridge Link-up just before 6.30pm, the venue was filling up, mostly with men, which was a change as I have been working in female-dominated offices for years.

I arrived a bit later than expected and with a bandaged thumb as I had sliced off the top with a scalpel while cutting my business cards. In my virtual word I have never needed cards because a website link will always do, so I left it a bit late for a printer to sort them out and had to do the job myself while trying to cobble together an outfit for the evening. Since I’ve become a homeworker I stopped wearing suits or casual chic outfits and there have been days when I’ve sat in my PJs typing away to meet a tight deadline.

And there I was, standing in a busy bar in central Cambridge, surrounded by networkers and job seekers, my name on my badge and a drink in my hand. It wasn’t long before somebody approached me so we started talking and it was surprisingly easy and good fun. I’m at my most articulate when I write and of course I get reactions when people hear my accent and realise I’m not British. I had a short discussion about accents with a Scottish woman at the event and she reckons that if you have an accent people tell you more. This could be true as I did quite well in market research at the start of my career, although sometimes people raised their voices when speaking to me, which I now know is the British Way of dealing with foreigners.

Talking to strangers is not rocket science

During the rest of the evening, I sidled up to men or women on their own, which is a neat party trick when faced with a room of strangers. Tackling groups requires huge confidence and the lack of intimacy is not conducive to getting to know individuals - people behave very differently in group situations.

So I quite enjoyed the speed networking upstairs, an area that was less crowded and full of eager networkers. Among the photos of the event there is one of myself speaking to the lucky lady who later in the evening won the champagne raffle.

Overall, I spoke to heaps of people, all with different and intriguing jobs. I even met somebody who used to work for some of my London magazine clients and there were a few discussions on SEO, which somebody defined as a dark art. Having spent hours reading about it while trying to switch from print to web writing, I haven’t seen much hocus pocus. SEO is a mix of dull html stuff and challenging writing rules for somebody who has been paid to churn sensational headlines, witty puns and word games. It’s back to basics with character counting, judicious use of keywords and a balancing act between accessible content and quality output.

Calling all Cambrige homeworkers

While working the rooms, I found other homeworkers who relished talking shop away from their computer screen. There was some talk of setting up a group and organise a few local outings. I started a conversation in the Marketing Lounge, so click here if you’d like to be involved. Amazingly, I stayed till around 9.15, then walked home with my small loot of business cards.