Marketing Blog and Marketing Infographics
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What is clickbait and how to use it as a business?
Clickbait has become something of a dirty word, with strong associations of unscrupulous websites using sensational headlines to entice internet users to click. Once these said users have fallen into the “trap”, they will be met with content that is a far cry from what its headline suggests. How, then, can a reputable business possibly use clickbait to drive traffic to their site in order to generate sales? What is clickbait? Have you ever seen an engaging headline or thumbnail, found... -
15 steps to successful international SEO
With the world becoming increasingly globalized, companies have a great opportunity to expand into new countries. However, it's easy to make mistakes when you're not familiar with the local markets. SEO is the process of optimising a website and increasing its online presence in order to rank well with Google, drive traffic, and generate sales. International SEO strategy has all the same challenges as SEO in a single language, but also comes with additional technical, logistical and translation... -
Mastering On-Page SEO Strategy
6 Steps to Boost Your Google Ranking Are you worried about how much traffic is heading to your site? Perhaps you know your on-page SEO is lacking but don’t know what steps to take to improve it? Google used to be relatively easy to second guess. Nowadays it considers a much wider, more nuanced range of factors before ‘deciding’ how highly your page will appear in its rankings. And let’s face it, this is important. If you’re an online business, it doesn’t matter how exceptional your website is,... -
How to write a content marketing plan for lasting success
Everyone knows the importance of planning and when it comes to marketing or finance, chances are you have plans and goals thought through. But do you have a content plan? The benefits to organising your content before it has been written or commissioned are enormous – and maximise its success potential. Let’s find out why you need one. Content planning in digital marketing Free SEO content plan templates Different types of content on your website Listings / Categories Products Blogs Guest... -
How to write guest posts for SEO
Guest posts form an important component in any SEO campaign. Mastering how to write them properly saves time – and crucially, it promotes your chances of success. This article will explore the 7 key elements of a well-written guest post, including how to meet the needs of the blog host, the reader and, of course, your SEO requirements. What is a guest post? Plan, plan, plan Organise your writing Stand out from the crowd Focus your energies in the right places Make your blog post relevant Write... -
How to master multilingual keyword research
A crucial step for any international SEO or PPC campaign is multilingual keyword research. This gives you the edge over your competitors. It allows you to target keywords that plenty of people search for in your target country that are relatively easy to rank for. In this article we explain how to do keyword research and use it for SEO translations or when creating new content. Would you rather we created a keyword report for you? For free? Then just fill in the form below. Contents Keyword... -
42 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writing Prompts
Science fiction and fantasy provide incredible opportunities to exercise your imagination. You are not limited to one planet, one advanced species, or the limited powers we have available to us. You can explore other worlds, races, technology and magic. That said, good sci-fi and fantasy writing has many elements in common with writing from other genres – dynamic characters, an unpredictable yet convincing plot, world building and a myriad of other elements. We've divided these 42 creative... -
50 European memes + Using memes in marketing
Funny or inspiring memes or ‘quotagraphics’ are a great way to market your website on Facebook and other social media sites and to improve the SEO on your site in a completely organic way. What is a meme? Simply speaking a meme is an image that captures a funny or meaningful moment that's relevant to the current culture. Memes often taken the form of a quotagraphic - an image with a quote from a celebrity. Scroll down for examples of our European memes in a range of languages, or discover how...
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Guide to SEO in Germany
Anyone who has studied German in school or later on in life will know that it is a language that can be difficult to grasp. We see those difficulties replicated in SEO. Not only is this a subject that takes a thorough understanding of the language to grasp its many detailed nuances fully, but the risk of getting it wrong is also often underestimated. Suppose you and your company are looking at expanding to Europe and you want to take advantage of one of the largest language groups in Europe. In... -
Dutch SEO - Why it's unique and how to do it
Why does it matter? Getting your SEO strategy right in Holland is important because even though around 90% of Dutch speakers speak English, over 90% of Google searches for eCommerce products are in the local language. Seventeen million people live in the Netherlands: so that’s a lot of searches! Many companies that plan to operate in Holland only take into consideration the number of English speakers and will say: "The Dutch all speak English; we should not focus on Dutch SEO." We will explore... -
Marketing to the European culture
Europe is a continent that has a rich and diverse cultural history. From the music of Austrian composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the paintings of Italian artist Leonardo Da Vinci to the more modern work of Pablo Picasso in Spain, the plays of William Shakespeare in England, or the inspirational philosophy of Simone de Beauvoir in France, every country has contributed to this incredible diversity. Different countries also have their own cultural personalities. Some of these are easily... -
85 Creative Writing Prompts for Adults
"If you want to write and you want to get ideas, you have to be alert and open to everything. Everything you read. Everything you listen to. You have to allow these things to inspire you." R.L. Stine Fun creative writing prompts to inspire and educate These 79 creative writing prompts for adults and teens are designed as story starters to inspire you. They will also help you write on specific topics and develop important skills you need as an author. A good writing prompt will jump-start... -
Submit URL to Google and quickly index your site
Google crawls the net constantly and it takes between 4 days and 4 weeks on average for them to index, or reindex each page. If you've just launched a new website, or even a new blog post, waiting to be indexed can be frustratingly slow. How can you speed up this process? There are 4 ways to force Google to quickly index your site for free. The first and second of these will require you to create a Google account (if you've already got a gmail account, that'll do fine). Submit URL to Google... -
European vs. Canadian French Translations
Translating different versions of the same language With developments in communications technology and transportation, potential customers for products or services are increasingly located all over the globe. Providing your clients with information they can understand is therefore essential. On one hand, that means translating content into universal languages, like English, French and Spanish. On the other, it means creating localised versions of content: translating to lesser-known languages... -
Writing website content that converts
Do you want to grab your readers' attention and keep it? Would you like visitors to make a purchase, or subscribe to your newsletter? We're a content marketing agency with 16 years' experience and have helped numerous customers to hugely increase their website traffic and sales. This article gives you a proven strategy to engage readers and convert them to customers. Remember - a website is not like a novel. Readers can arrive at any page, therefore every page must grab and holds the readers'... -
Anchor text ratio for optimal SEO
The anchor text is the clickable part of a link on a web page and is one of the factors used by search engines to determine what keywords a specific page is about. In the html code, it looks like this: <a href="http://www.example.com">anchor text</a>This article looks specifically at backlinks from other websites. When linking to another page on the same site, we recommend that you use relevant or keyword rich anchor text, which ever you think will create the best user-experience... -
Multilingual link building
Why build multilingual links? Why do international brands need more than just a multilingual site? A recent study of a million search results in Google showed that the number one factor that correlates with position is backlinks to the page. Google's RankBrain algorithm can also easily tell which language backlinks come from and it's therefore essential that backlinks are in the same language as the page being linked to. A site with hundreds of quality English links, but no French or German... -
43 Creative Writing Exercises
This page contains a selection of fun creative writing exercises that can be completed solo, or with a group. Some are prompts to help inspire you to come up with story ideas, others focus on learning specific writing skills. The sections are as follows: A note on running exercises remotely Intro Exercises: A Letter From Your Character To You The Opening Sentence Make your protagonist act! Overcoming writer's block Writing Character Arcs Sewing Seeds in Your Writing Cat Chat I remember Giving... -
How to translate a WordPress website
WordPress started off as a tool for bloggers, but over the last few years has developed into a fully functional CMS that is highly adaptable and is now used to create all manner of sites, from news portals, ecommerce websites (using WooCommerce) to community forums. Indeed, in 2018 one in four websites were designed in WordPress. What is the best translation plugin? There are a range of translation plugins available to help create a multilingual WordPress site and we looked for one that:... -
How to translate a website to English
Contents Free online tools to translate any website How to translate your own site Choosing sub-domains or separate sites How to approach different types of content Why avoid automatic translations? Convert idioms to their local language Translate keywords Take your local audience into account Free online tools to translate any website Skip straight to the section on how to translate your own website into English, or another language. For those wishing to simply visit a foreign language... -
Unveiling the Google Owl Update
On Tuesday, 25 April 2017, Google introduced its latest update called the Project Owl for curbing fake news and combating hate speech which tends to pollute its search results. Project Owl presents two innovative ways to consumers for reporting the perceived issues in Google search results. Google has also sought professional assistance from humans in an endeavor to come up with more effective and reliable information. Why is Google making these changes? Google has lately been blamed and... -
Google Translate Funny Fails
Do you need an experienced translator or can you use Google Translate (GG Trad) on your website / brochure / signs? In 2017 we put it to the test, resulting in some hilarious fails like the ones below! Spanish translation fail "A woman riding her motorbike in leathers stopped to give a light to a boy in overalls carrying a jack and a milling cutter". If you enter the Spanish and then translate it the other way, this gives: "A woman riding a motorcycle in leathers stopped to give birth to a... -
Basic Principles Every Web Designer Needs to Know
Basic Principles Every Web Designer Needs to Know When building an effective website, the design may be the single most important factor, considering that it determines usability, functionality, and, in the long run, popularity. Poorly designed websites are websites that perform poorly. Fortunately, enough people have been in the business for long enough now to know what it takes to design a website properly. Below, you can find some of the basic web design principles you should follow for a... -
SEO & Google Panda
Introduction Last updated: 15 February 2017 The Google Panda algorithm aims to reward sites with quality content over those with poor or thin content. It was first introduced on 23 February 2011 and the initial algorithm impacted 11% of websites. Between 2011 and 17 July 2015 there were a series of Panda updates as Google refined the algorithm and increased its importance. Since then, the updates have been implemented more gradually as part of a continuous change, therefore websites won't... -
English to German Translation Service
Hallo Deutschland If you’re targeting customers in a different country, then is it necessary to translate your website and marketing material? If so, how do you create a German SEO translation that will rank well with Google and appeal to a local audience, so you gain the best return on investment? For details of our German to English and English to German translation service, completed by a team of experienced native speaking translators educated to degree level or higher, please see our... -
How to write a blog for a company
Why write a business blog? 93% of companies use a blog and 74% say a blog will be most critical to their content marketing success. Source: Content Marketing in the UK Content Marketing Institute When done properly, your business blog will drive traffic to your website, increase sales, establish you as an authority in your field, improve your SEO and give you access to new markets. “Yes”, I hear you say, “but I have limited time and I don’t know what to say – how do I write a business blog that... -
Multilingual SEO Best Practices
The world's your oyster The internet is a game changer, allowing small business owners to reach a global audience and offering opportunities that have never previously been possible. This SEO article helps guide business owners or marketing experts on how to create and market a website to reach an international or multilingual audience. We review the best practice on how to set up your site (or sites), do keyword research and complete successful multilingual link building campaigns. We... -
What is the best SEO Strategy?
Oscar Wilde once said “Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months”. Anyone following SEO advice in the 20 or so years since search engines were first invented may have similar feelings about SEO; indeed Google doesn’t just update their algorithm every six month, but over 500 times a year! So, how can you adopt an approach to SEO that works? How can you appear on the first page in Google for the most important keywords? And importantly, how can you... -
Understand how Google rank websites
Over the last 10 years the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has changed considerably and Indigoextra with it. With the ever increasing importance of algorithms like Penguin and Panda and the more recent introduction of Artificial Intelligence to their algorithm in the form of Google RankBrain, SEO is changing every day and anything you read about SEO 5 years ago needs to be re-examined. Some things you read last year might also need to be re-examined! A few people have asked us for a... -
How to optimize your website for Google RankBrain
Artificial Intelligence is no longer science fiction. Every time you enter a search in Google there’s a high probability that your query will be processed by Google’s AI system known as RankBrain. How is Google using AI ? In an interview with Bloomberg, Greg Corrado, a senior research scientist at Google discussed what RankBrain, Google’s AI SEO system does: "All of the other hundreds of signals that are used are designed by Google's own engineers, whereas RankBrain is a learning system, it... -
A History of the Internet on Leap Days
As it’s 29 February 2016, we thought we’d look back on the internet over each 29 February since it all began! 29 February 1992 IBM had developed a prototype smartphone, but didn’t have a lot to put on it and CERN had recently invented the World Wide Web and launched their first site and it was taking the world by storm … or at least, it was causing small ripples amongst a handful of university-based science departments who were putting servers online. Only six 29 February’s ago there were less... -
How Google defines quality content
Google SEO Guide In November 2015 Google published an SEO guide used by their manual reviewers to evaluate subjectively quality (and award ratings) when assessing websites. The many Google algorithms also aim mathematically to duplicate these assessments. There are nine ratings in total, ranging from Lowest to Highest and the 160 page document at http://www.google.com/insidesearch/howsearchworks/assets/searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf gives some real insight into just what is important to... -
Choosing domains or sub-domains for SEO
If you’re launching a multilingual website then one of the first choices is how to structure your website to show all the different languages. The most common way to structure the different languages is by using separate domains, sub-domains or sub-folders for each language and we will explore the pros and cons of each, taking into account international targeting, the complexity of the web development process, link building, SEO, branding and user-experience. First, a quick mention of two ways... -
How to write ALT Tags for SEO
Introduction to ALT Tags When creating a website, an often overlooked attribute is the ALT tag. It appears in the html of a page and is used in 2 main ways: To help blind or partially sighted people who are using a screen-reader to know what each image on a page is. For SEO, as an addition to the file name, to tell search engines what the image is. ALT tags appear in the code as follows: <img src="example.jpg" alt="Description of the example image" /> The conflict between SEO and... -
Web Redesign Process Checklist
There are many good reasons to redesign a website, whether to switch to a different Content Management System (CMS), make your site responsive and mobile friendly, improve the SEO beyond the limitations of your existing site or for the actual web redesign itself – to improve the visual appearance of your site. The majority of our clients already have an existing website and therefore most projects we undertake are redesigns, normally for one or more of the above reasons, so we have plenty of... -
Educational and Creative Digital Marketing Strategies
Why educate your customers? We all know that our own education is important and in this fast-paced world not only is technology constantly changing, but so is our understanding of how to use it and of how we communicate with each other; therefore education is important not just as a child or young person, but as a philosophy to embrace throughout life. But why is educating your customers important from a digital marketing perspective? It builds your credibility, proves your expertise and... -
How to create a great logo design for a small business
There are many considerations when first establishing a small business and we are frequently asked to assist companies with their logo design, whether for a new company or as part of a rebranding. Why is your logo so important? A well-designed logo is the equivalent of a signature tune for a popular television programme. It is instantly recognisable and, as part of a creative marketing campaign, will be associated with the image of both your company and its activities that you want to project...
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International content marketing strategies
Multilingual SEO in Europe Millions of companies now trade internationally and the starting point is their websites. Internet marketing is therefore a key component of any marketing strategy. For SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) to work effectively, it has to address both the on-page SEO and high quality content marketing to make your website appear as high as possible on search engines, particularly Google which around 90% of Europeans use to search the net. Whilst this is true for every... -
Title and Description Metatag Generator and SEO Tips
What are Metatags? Metatags appear in the <head> section of a page on a website and tell Google and other search engines important information about your website, though they are not visible in the website itself. The following html code shows your Metatag Title and Description: <title>The Title Of Your Page</title> <meta name="description" content="The description of your page" />As in the example below: Metatags are unique to each page of your site and are also used... -
What’s the difference between domain names and website hosting?
Introduction We’re regularly asked what the difference is between a domain name and website hosting and this article gives an overview in layman's terms to this difference, as well as explaining the difference between files and a database, using a Drupal or Wordpress CMS as an example. Domain Name A telephone directory has your name, address and telephone number, so that people can contact you. A domain name is the internet equivalent of a phone number. Instead of calling a number, internet...
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Successful online marketing without advertising
Online customers are intelligent, sophisticated people It is an obvious fact of life that businesses want (and need) to sell their products and services. Customers, however, want to have an informed choice over what they buy, so are frequently quite irritated when they are inundated with blatant advertising on websites they visit. This is so much the case that some enterprising software companies have developed apps that block unwanted pop-up adverts from appearing. Their right to market... -
Search Analytics on Google Webmaster Tools
Google Webmaster Tools Blog Google Webmaster Tools provides a useful way to monitor how well your site is performing in search engines and to track a range of statistics. It’s a useful tool to show whether an SEO campaign is effective and which content on your site draws the most attention. It can also be used to measure the click-through rate (CTR) which can help identify whether your metatags could be improved. This blog introduces you to the new Search Analytics Tool and provides some tips... -
Google's new mobile algorithm
Update: On 17 March 2016 Google announced: "Today we’re announcing that beginning in May, we’ll start rolling out an update to mobile search results that increases the effect of the ranking signal to help our users find even more pages that are relevant and mobile-friendly." This suggests that from May 2016 responsive sites will see an extra boost in the search results and that there may be other mobile updates further into the future. Is it really Mobilegeddon? The impact of Google algorithms... -
Getting a good ROI with your SEO campaign
Good Business Practice With any business expenditure it is essential to know what you might expect in return for your investment. If you buy a new computer, for instance, then you might expect larger storage capacity, speedier operation of common functions or access to new applications which will help your business in some way. For some business investments there are formulae that can be applied to quantify the return you can expect. When it comes to marketing techniques in general, and SEO...
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Will Google’s next algorithm target mobile web design?
Can we anticipate Google’s next algorithm? UPDATE - Since we wrote this article in January Google have announced that "Starting April 21 (2015), we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results." There has been a huge increase in the use of mobile devices for internet use, such as smartphones and tablets. This has had a knock-on effect on the need...
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What is a hashtag?
Many people reading this blog will already have a pretty fair idea of what the hashtag is and be looking for a more detailed guide on how to use it for #marketing and #fun, but for the sake of those new to social media who may be wondering why people have suddenly started adding #’s all over the place, let me explain. At its simplest, a hashtag is the symbol “#” followed by a string of characters with no spaces. Thus, #liverpoolfootballclub is a hashtag, or #londonchristmasmarkets is a...
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E-commerce SEO for Christmas
Checking your SEO Christmas list As the busiest time of year for many e-commerce companies, Christmas SEO really does need some extra thought and attention, if you are to make the most of the online spending spree that seems to grip the Western world. Writing a wish list and “posting” it up the chimney to Santa is not the only possible solution, so here are a few other suggestions! Bring Christmas best sellers to the forefront Ideally, the planning for your e-commerce Christmas SEO campaign... -
Google Algorithm Updates & SEO
Everything you need to know for SEO The information shown below is a text version of the SEO infographic shown above. According to Google their mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. To achieve this they update their search algorithm over 500 times a year (more than once a day). As a content writer, webmaster or SEO expert it’s impossible to follow every update, however there are key trends in these updates that stand out telling you what...
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Home Page Web Design
How to design your home page “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is a common English saying and is good advice whether it refers to a book or a person. The challenge with designing the home page of a website is that it’s not really a cover – it’s the cover, table of contents, introduction and conclusion all merged into one and just like with books, visitors will judge your site based on the home page. There are several priorities when designing your home page, so we’ll start with these: Don’t... -
The benefits of a Drupal CMS
What is a Drupal CMS? When you have a website you need a CMS (Content Management System) to amend any details, add pages or images, or delete out of date material. There’s nothing worse, is there, than finding a website that is obviously years old, with outdated references. If you want customers to have confidence in your website, and in you, then it needs to be up-to-date, attractive and easily navigable. That’s where a Drupal CMS comes in. Drupal is a free, open source content management... -
Is SEO a priority for your website?
Is SEO your top priority? Regardless of whether you have a small or large website, deciding what to do next or where to start with SEO is always a challenge. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is about creating your site and building links to it in order to appear high with Google, Bing and other search engines. For most websites increasing traffic is a priority, as more traffic leads to more sales, or means that you’re reaching a larger audience with your message, however it’s not always the... -
Google Pigeon and Local SEO
Google's New Local Algorithm Update Last weekend Google released a new algorithm update that primarily affects local SEO (searches targeting a specific geographic area like a city or region, e.g. “London restaurant”). They didn’t give it a name, however Search Engine Land noticed that it’s a major algorithm update and decided to call it “Pigeon”. The name’s already being used in SEO forums and it looks like it will stick. What is the Pigeon Update? Pigeon is designed to improve Google’s... -
How to choose colours for your website
What do different colours mean? We all learn about the colours of the rainbow as very small children, together with that elusive pot of gold to be found at the end of the beautiful arch in the sky, but there are, in fact, many more colours than the seven listed as constituting the rainbow colours of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. This, of course, makes choosing the colours for a new or revamped website very difficult. Marketing experts will tell us that different colours... -
.UK Domain Names
How to register a .uk name As of 8am on 10th June 2014, Nominet (the non-profit organisation who has administered UK domain names since 1996) has launched a new domain name extension .uk. This provides a short alternative to the existing .co.uk and is likely to gain increasing popularity with time. A lot of domain name registrars are currently raising false hopes and allowing people to go through the motions of registering the domain, only to then refuse the registration and refund the money. ... -
Why bulk link building no longer works
As an SEO company, you may be surprised to hear us say: “Bulk link building no longer works for SEO!” For over a decade, this statement has been true and with every algorithm update Google and other search engines make, this statement only becomes stronger. This article explains why bulk link building is no longer a valid SEO strategy and what alternatives there are. When researching this article we’ve taken into account the following: Google’s guidelines Google algorithm updates (...
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Images in Social Media Marketing
We live in a fast-paced world and people using social media sites are more likely than ever to be skimming content, waiting for something interesting to leap out at them. Writing great content certainly helps, but it’s a challenge to write a persuasive argument in 140 characters, which is all Twitter allows! How important are original images in articles or in social media posts? Here are some statistics that answer this question: Pages with at least one image appear significantly higher in...
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International Domain Name Infographic
Three infographics on choosing a domain name: Your domain name is your baby Choosing an international domain name for SEO Map of domain names in Europe (for both cities and countries) We've used two different styles of infographic to help you decide how to name your new website, while demonstrating different illustrative styles that might be used to communicate information visually. Over the last few years, a new swathe of domain names (.london, .photography, .club, .estate, etc.) have been... -
How to report a scraper site to Google
If someone has taken a fake copy of your site, how do you report it to Google? What are scraper sites and how to report them and take action against them? Even if you have a high profile site with lots of links going to it and a good reputation, it’s still possible for someone to copy it and for Google to then show the fake site in its search results instead of your real site. Google have got better and better at identifying these sites and removing them from their results, however it does...
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Choosing PPC or SEO
SEO and PPC are the two most common and most wide reaching online marketing strategies, however they have very different mechanisms and require a different approach to be successful. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) when completed successfully helps you to appear high in the organic search results on Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines without needing to pay the search engines a penny. It is a great medium to long-term strategy which gives you repeat sales and can also be useful for... -
Business Cards - International Etiquette
If you travel frequently you'll be aware that different cultures have different etiquettes for all manner of things and while the design and size of a business card is fairly standard across different countries, the etiquette varies considerably. This infographic gives details of business card etiquette in USA, Europe, Australia, Japan, China and India, as well as a brief history and some guides as to the standard dimensions of a business card. Some interesting facts and figures: People are...
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What is PPC?
How multilingual PPC can make your business more profitable Pay Per Click (PPC), sometimes referred to as cost per click, advertising is often used as a method of guiding internet traffic to a particular website. Usually, advertisers pay website owners when their link is clicked. Unlike other forms of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), PPC can also be used as a way of achieving goals (sales, sign-ups or other targets) directly. This is because PPC ads can be targeted, using keywords and... -
Google Hummingbird Infographic
Google Zoo Infographic What we can expect from Google Zoo now we've been given the bird. (A text version of the infographic is shown below). Indigoextra's predictions for Google algorithm updates after Hummingbird Our tongue-in-cheek predictions for future Google updates after Hummingbird. Peacock - Beautiful design Google will use thousands of human reviews to create algorithms that can identify beautiful and original graphic design. With Peacock, human feedback on design will also become an...
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What was Google PageRank?
In March 2016 - Google officially declared PageRank to be extinct. Domain Authority and Trust Flow are the new measures of a website's quality. Google are still likely to use a similar measure to PageRank in-house, they're just not updating the little green bar. PageRank not updated since 5 February 2013 Google used to updates the visible PageRank it shows people once every 2-3 months or so. Since 5 February 2013 there hasn't been a single PageRank update and in March 2016 Google announced...
