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Thread: SEO and CMS

  1. #11
    Email problem IMHO's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheElectrician View Post
    (The only reason they aren't on the front page yet is the domain name is under 3 months old,
    This post is then a bit premature, don't you think? If someone finds excuses for why he can not back up his claims, I already see red flags and will not look at them, even in future.
    ~Expenses will eat you alive! - My first Boss~

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  3. #12
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    Hi pmbguy,

    I was hoping to use your list of businesses that you use as a starting point to Google the big businesses that don't rank well. Just speed the process up. I will however, look into just typing in industries and looking through pages 3 and 4... I will get on it tonight after the house is quiet :P If you don't mind me asking, what industry are you in? If hypothetically you did have a website, what would people search to find you? ie. Financial Analysis Pietermaritzburg. From there I can let you know what your competitors are doing, and what you could do to. Could I also suggest registering your domain NOW. Afrihost can do it for R9.00 online (I think if you do it this week you also get 50% off). This will stop you having the problem that I have at this point in time (Domain age), and help you crawl rankings when you are ready to get clients through the interwebs.

  4. #13
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    Hi IMHO,

    Fair enough reply, I did however provide the option to check my claims through Moz.com, which is the worlds leading SEO analysis tool. Companies like Amazon revolve around the features available in those tools, so I figured it would provide me with some credibility. I did not want someone to check my websites, research my current rankings for those sites and make a claim of incompetence against me. I have however got extensive experience and results with web domains I do not own, but they were not my clients directly, but those of my previous employer (And UK based partner). I was also not directly advertising my services, but asking rather how I would, ensuring all my ducks are in a row before I engage them. I am still practicing as an electrician until I can get clients / start generating enough income from the current sites before I devout my energy fully toward it.

    I do thank you for your opinion though, and have a good one

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheElectrician View Post
    and they are the 2 most optimized sites in SA for certain key phrases. I will eat my hat if you can show me otherwise
    The more I think about this, the more I giggle. How can you make such a claim? How did you measure it?
    ~Expenses will eat you alive! - My first Boss~

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    http://moz.com/research-tools
    4 years as an international SEO analyst.

    The leading source of SEO on the planet. Both my websites have received an A grade, while my nearest competition (Any plumbing / electrical company in SA) has a B or C. Domain age is the only reason for lack of propagation.

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    Maybe I am to quick to judge. Tell me more about moz.com. I never used it and do not know what it do. What is moz telling you to make the conclusion that your keywords, phrases, is the best optimized in SA?
    ~Expenses will eat you alive! - My first Boss~

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    I know I know. The thing is I don’t retail as such. I provide a service, however it is still stupid of me not to have a website, I agree. Like I said.. next year sometime I will have a site. I am rather doff to the technicalities – but lucky for me I have some IT friends who do. I have not yet had a need for a website, too busy with machines. BUT I get it, I need one.
    It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. – Charles Darwin

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    Platinum Member pmbguy's Avatar
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    Hi TheElectrician - If you have any chance of survival you gotta give us more info about who you are and substantiate your claims, or unfortunately you will get ripped to pieces. Not by me but by the general TFSA public.
    It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. – Charles Darwin

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  11. #19
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    Hi IMHO,

    I think it is more my fault, I made the claim and assumed people would have industry specific knowledge without thinking (Silly mistake). If you are prepared for the read, I will gladly explain to you and anyone else reading this how I came to that claim. Some of it is a bit basic, so excuse me if I sound patronizing at any point, it is not my intention.

    Firstly, Google doesn't store your website. It is nothing more than a massive index with a link to your website displayed. What you are doing when you 'Google' something is checking their "library of links", and it shows what it believes is the most relevant results, with a link to the websites. Google have nearly 300 parameters in regards to what they use to give rankings, which they keep top secret. What it can basically boil down to though are 2 things, which I will explain here:

    Authority: How strong your website is in regards to other websites. Things like domain age, back links and social prevalence come into place in this category. This helps distinguish things in the same category from one another, so if you were to Google "Computers" for instance, pages from Wikipedia, Microsoft, Apple etc would all show up miles before Jonnyspc.co.za. The things they publish are deemed to be relevant and trusted as they have a high authority. This is also why if Wikipedia publish an article on your business industry for instance, it will appear a lot higher than your website (unless you Google your business name directly). This helps Google ensure that the user gets the best possible results for their search, and aren't spammed with pages that make a quick use of the next factor,

    Relevance: This is the most obvious one, but Google isn't going to show an article of a chimpanzee on Wikipedia if you are looking for a carpet cleaner in Pretoria. This is where you optimize your site for relevance. You do this by creating keyword rich text, the URL name, metadata, social engagement, image names and anchor text. There is a lot more too it, but through this process you will see why I have done the following things (I am going to use The Plumber Bro's as an example):

    -My business name has the keyword people will Google, as does my URL. I also have pages like /Johannesburg /Pretoria etc, as if someone types in 'plumber Durban', the page http://www.plumber-bros.co.za/durban will have their search directly in the URL.
    -My slogan has a keyword in it (Don't sleep with a drip, call a PLUMBER).
    -My logo is text, not an image (Besides the spanner). It is also an H1 (First heading), so Google knows it is a plumbing website, and 'plumber' is the most important thing here.
    -I have many links to social media.
    -I offer other forms of relevant and informative advice that would drive traffic from other sources http://www.plumber-bros.co.za/bro-code.
    -My content is keyword rich (The word plumber is on my home page alone more than 14 times).
    -My physical page names are all keyword rich.
    -Loads of other things I have personally discovered and done that I won't share as to not assist any competitors.

    No other website in the industry in South Africa can make these bragging rights, my only problem is that I don't have the authority yet to rank for keywords. This is to stop people registering domains, getting to the top via spamming their relevance, and when they are taken down for being spam, they can do it all over again in a few days. That is why I need to wait for the mandatory 3 months before Google accepts I am not trying to make a quick buck and am a legitimate and honest business. If you Google my business name exactly though, I will be there, but not yet for keywords. This is to allow people with websites to attract traffic through more conventional means. Where Moz tools comes into place is it sends its own version of 'Google bots' onto your page, and brings back a report to tell you how well your site is optimized and what Google will think of it. These are the most accurate forms of information a webmaster can use to see how he fares against competition, and will send a report on any website you wish (If I recall you need to register before you can check it out though?). I have used these tools, and it has come back and said I am the most optimized (maybe not the prettiest, it is very difficult to combine functionality and aesthetics for something like plumbing) plumbing and electrical website in South Africa. When I do have my authority, which is the hardest part (The wait, as well as a good link build), I will receive front page status for search terms like 'plumber Johannesburg', and the other major areas in South Africa. If you Google the actual search terms too, you will see things that aren't too relevant, as no one in SA has fully optimized the web and the power it has on the trade industry just yet (Like it does abroad). Things like the PICB and directories / job sites come up, even though trades are Googled over 40k a month in South Africa.

    Just a quick one again for your knowledge, but I explained what Google is, not how it works. What it does is starts with an x amount of websites (unknown to us civilians) that it has deemed 'the most authoritative', and sends Google bots down the pages. When it finds a link, it goes to that site, and starts the process again. Websites that return back plenty of links from high authority sites, in themselves become high authority. Ie if Microsoft wrote an awesome article on johnnyspc.co.za and linked to it, Google would know it is not a site that is full of sh1t and selling viagra etc. You must remember also Google is nothing more than coding, and very rarely does it have human interaction in regards to what the rankings are. You can also have anchor text like <a href="www.plumber-bros.co.za">Plumber</a> and <a href="www.electrician-bros.co.za">Electrician</a> (I hope admin let me keep those), which are extremely valuable, as they combine the keyword and a link, helping Google better index the site. There are so many more variable that come into play, but that is kind of the just of it. The problem with SA is that not many people know too much about it, and as such they disregard it and don't realize how big the industry is abroad (Worth billions in the states alone), and how big it will be in SA once we sort out our internet access, speeds and affordability (we are getting there). What I am trying to do is help people realize this, and that is why I opened the question to see what other things I could do to engage people on this level and get clients for the services I am able to offer. I hope you found it informative and please let me know if you changed your firstly stated opinion, and if there is anything further I could do in regards to assisting you understand the industry. If you could also be so kind as to give feedback in the vein of PMBGuy, I would love that.

    Thanks so much,

    Kyle

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    Dave A (19-Nov-13)

  13. #20
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    Absolutely fair enough, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

    I have sent quite a lengthy message, but it has links in it to validate my claims, so it is being moderated

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