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Founder's blog: About SEOs, Google Tag Manager and Google Accelerated Mobile Pages

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Here is a summary of what I learnt about SEOs, Google Tag Manager(GTM) and Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) from Matt Anderson (Montage Communications) and Sean Clark at the Suffolk Internet Marketing Specialists event organised by Sam Parnell and Max Shelley (Measure Brilliance) on 27 October 2015.

 

Key takeaways

  • SEO
    • To get good SEOs, you need great content! There is no shortcut!
    • To produce great content, you need to understand your consumer
    • You also need to make it more friendly to search engines e.g. have good URLs, page title, H1, meta description, Schema.org make up and canonical tag
    • Must have at least 350+ words. Reads well. Preferred structure title, text, graphics/video, text etc...
    • To bootstrap the ranking, get your friends and your audience to see the page and ask them to share it. Guest blogging with influencers is also a good way to drive traffic
    • Don't forget to always measure your website
  • Google Tag Manager (GTM)
    • Google Analytics on steroid with on the fly customisation, give marketing to the hands of marketeers, remove the need for the developer to make constant changes. So faster, less risk and less cost. It is free. Benefits: multiple users, granular permissions, multiple sites, less coding, version control, testing, faster implementation
    • If you have an Google Analytics account, setup is quick.
  • Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) - enables you to make your content load faster and rank higher.
  • Use SIMS to connect each other and lift each others up!

 

Introduction to Google Tag Manager by Google

 

Notes

Thank you Ipswich Borough Council for sponsoring the SIMS.

 

Matt Anderson (Montage communications) on SEO

@mrmattanderson

www.montagecomms.com

Matt Anderson

 

Rule number 1: Must get measurement in place

Is SEO dead?

The problem is that people try to cheat Google to get high ranking, which threaten Google's business.

 

Changes in Penguin to tackle

  • keyword stuffing
  • over optimise title text
  • cloaking
  • spam links (best to have a spread of links e.g. Yell, PR, press, local news) (? guest blogs)
  • ...


Do:

  • Write natural content that reads well - flesh score
  • less is more for optimisation - if you are tempted stop!
  • check your site for spam links - MOZ tool bar
  • Try to ask for links to removed 1st before 'Disavow' tool
  • Build a natural spread of links

 

Changes in Panda to tackle

  • Scrapers & content farms (so make sure you add value to your audience otherwise you could get penalise)
  • Duplicate content, no one likes copycat!
  • Poor 'Thin' content - What's thin content? If you visually look at the content & realise it look absolutely no time or effort to create it, that's thin content! (350 words or above is good content)

 

Do:

  • check your site structure for duplicate content
  • redirect or 'no follow' duplicates
  • Be careful when scraping content (RSS)
  • Write longer content 350+ words
  • Write original content

 

Changes in Pigeon to tacklet

  • is local SEO dead?
  • Google business and location based on Android phones
  • Tagging multiple locations -'doors' e.g. ipswich builders, suffolk builders,

 

Do:

  • don't try to rank for locations that you are not working in
  • Create google business listings for each office
  • Use Google+
  • ...

 

Are keywords dead?

  • Voice search?

 

Do: (How to defeat hummingbird and friends)

  • quality content: original with authority e.g, going to talks, doing guest blogs
  • silo content: hub, type (building authority on a certain area of expertise, bring content relates to what you are selling. Selling bin bags, bring content about bins and recycling)
  • contextual content: mobile, on page, time, you need to understand your customer, where are they, what are their interest

 

Semantic Analysis

  • what keyword people uses
  • Contextual search

 

Don't forget mobile search! Don't forget to optimise the user experience for mobile from landing page to make a purchase

 

So SEO is alive but like a Frankenstein

 

Good practice:

  • URL e.g store/123 vs store/store-name
  • Page title
  • H1
  • Meta description
  • Schema.org make up
  • canonical tag (use param at the back to help google understand the items are different e.g ?color=blue&size=large

 

*Understand your consumer

*To survive you need great content! There is no shortcut!

*Bootstrap your content:

  • Free: contact content the authorities e.g. 10 people, and email them about your content; use out reach, email your users or customers to see your content.
  • Costly: use search ads or Facebook ads
  • Also: Internal links. Add links to your popular pages?

 

*Don't forget to always measure your websites

 

use SIMS to connect each other and lift each others up! On social media.

 

 

 

Sean Clark on Google tag manager (GTM)

www.seanclark.com

Sean Clark

 

 

Google Tag Manager allows you to do more data driven marketing

 

Why GTM?

  • Multiple users
  • Granilar permissions
  • Multiple sites
  • Less coding
  • Version control
  • Testing
  • Faster implementation

 

Architecture

My GTM Account
client account
website blog
 tags  trigger  variables  tags  trigger  variables

 

There is a recent Activity list, so you are absolutely in control.

 

To get started:

  • go to Google Tag Manager tool
  • create web container
  • get the container code
  • put the code on the website, in place of google analytics code

 

Tags:

  • e.g. google analytics, google adwords, linkedin etc….
  • Can also do custom HTML to do pop ups, overlays or text on the side

Triggers:

  • e.g. for google analytics, you want page view
  • sometimes you want to track clicks or forms
  • even Javascript Errors!

Variables:

  • Look at certain thing in a page
  • ...

 

Get started

  • Choose product: Google Analytics
  • Choose a tag type: Universal Analytics
  • Configure tag: use your tracking id and track type is Page view
  • Fire on: All pages
  • Then just create tags

 

If you want to track specific pages e.g. purchase

  • Create a special tag for the purchase
  • some pages
  • need to replace eCommerce tracking code with "data layer code" from the Google Tag Manager and modify. Must be on the confirmation page.

 

There is a preview mode too! So you can see what it looks like for real! Test whether it is working or not.

 

Google Tag manager can mark up our site e.g. have your own search bar for your own website. No need to do any coding

Also do social profile. You can configure this to Google Tag Manager. It can do logos too!

So it gives the tools to the marketeers and reduce the load  on developers to make all these changes

It can do user behaviour tracking e.g. where the mouse is.

Warning: It is still up to Google to display any of these info.

 

Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

It is still under development, but very powerful.

"The faster they can use your service, the more likely they will buy from you"

They make mobile content load faster

try demo.g.co/amp

It is important, as it is a fast track to get listed on top of the search results

A plug in for Wordpress is coming soon

Otherwise need developers to do it.

  • g.co/ampdemo
  • github.com/ampproject

 

News round up by Max

  • Twitter now provide a buy now button on tweet. US only at the moment.
  • User on board by Sam - he sign up to different website to find how easy or hard to use.
  • Educational resources: an app called Prima (SIMS on your pocket), bite size lessons on online marketing by Google.
  • Instagram released another app called Boomerang. Make boring pictures look less boring.
  • Youtube red is here - paid/subscribe version of Youtube. There will be an impact to video advertising as subscribers will not see the ads
  • Facebook search - a new search, everything public has been indexed and make it easier to search. So try to use the search. Most effort on the mobile app side.
  • Micro data / schema.org - searchenginelab.com, a run down on how your content will appear on search engine
  • Wix.com - A website that help you build website. Google lost all Wix websites.
  • Google Maps user interface has changed - do go and look for yourself. Rich snippet. They can even show when the restaurant is busy using location information on Google phone.
  • Google care a lot about mobile. They look at speed. AMP.
  • Google Mail App enable email blocking now.
  • Google My business has a make over again
  • iOS has a new feature that you can do video in a video.

 

Announcement

Next talk: Podcast

bring your business online competition

IMEX - local SEO next Tuesday at Pump and Grind pub

Atrium Studio (Marcel) - co working space (27 November, all day). Starting a Jelly, networking meeting other people who are freelance, SME,  work from home etc… there will be experts there. there is a Facebook page

Karen from ITStraining.co.uk is giving out old office furniture

 

 

Image source:

http://richthediabetic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/offsite-1.jpg

https://www.drupal.org/project/commerce_google_tag_manager

 

#SEO #GoogleTagManager #GTM #Accelerated Mobile Pages #AMP #GoogleAnalytics

 

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