October 2016

Oct 201626

Google to Put Mobile Results First: Don't Get Left Behind!

joel mobile optimisation

We've discussed this rumour before, and now it looks like it's really happening: Google have confirmed that they are creating a completely separate index for mobile searches, meaning you may soon see two completely different sets of results for the same Google search on your smartphone and your desktop PC.

This revelation isn't completely out of the blue, of course. Google's mobile and desktop results have been gradually looking less and less alike for quite some time now - in fact, we're already at the point where many websites rank highly for their keywords on desktop but not on mobile (or vice versa). However, all results are currently still pulled from the same Google index, and the forthcoming split could have a big impact on the SERPs when it happens.

And that's not all. Google's latest statement included the assertion that, to quote Search Engine Watch:

"This mobile index will become the primary Google index. The newly separated desktop index will not be kept as up-to-date as the mobile one."

In other words, the new mobile-specific index will take priority over the current index. This may seem surprising at first, but it actually makes perfect sense; more than half of all Google searches now come from mobile devices, so of course the company would want to ensure the quality of their mobile results above all else.

With that in mind, the question that SEO-savvy business owners should now be asking is...

How can I rank highly in Google's mobile results when the new index arrives?

Some people will be reading this because they've already got high mobile rankings and they're anxious to keep them. Others may be here because they've never had much luck in Google's mobile SERPs, and they're wondering if this new index could be their big opportunity to change that.

Whichever boat you're in, here are a few tips for making sure you don't get left behind when Google's mobile-only index eventually comes into play:

1. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly.

This is a no-brainer, but since a lot of business websites still aren't optimised for mobile users, it's worth stating anyway. The best way to ensure that your website will work well on smartphones is to plump for a responsive design that automatically adapts to fit the screen it's viewed on - more on that subject here.

Some non-responsive websites have so far managed to slip through Google's net and rank reasonably well in mobile SERPs even though they're not mobile-friendly. However, the forthcoming mobile-specific index will almost certainly put paid to that, so it's a good idea to upgrade now and use Google's own mobile-friendliness testing tool to ensure that you're giving smartphone users the best possible experience.

2. Minimise your page loading times.

If there's one thing that we all hate to see when browsing the Internet on a mobile device, it's a webpage that takes ages to load. Excessive load times discourage mobile users from interacting with your website, and if you don't speed things up, Google will quickly boot you out of their mobile rankings in favour of a site that doesn't force visitors to wait around.

In order to ensure that your website is loading as quickly as possible, test it using Google's PageSpeed Tools. This will inform you of any changes you can make to boost your site's load speed.

You may also wish to consider using AMPs (Accelerated Mobile Pages), a recent Google initiative that aims to make the web instantaneously accessible on mobile devices - learn more here.

3. Optimise for local searches.

If your mobile customers have their location services turned on, Google will serve them local results for certain queries. Here's what that looks like:

If this so-called 'local pack' shows up for your primary keywords, that's a good indicator that you need to be thinking about local SEO. You want your shop (or restaurant, office, clinic, etc.) to show up prominently in Google results when someone in the area searches for your service, and this can be achieved by:

Add your business on Google My Business. Add your opening hours and a short written description of your organisation; you may also wish to embellish the listing with images.
Ensure that your company name, address, and contact details are consistent throughout the Internet (i.e. on your website, your Google listing, your social media profiles, and any other listings you have online).
Encourage people to review your business on Google, as well as on other well-known websites that publish reviews of local businesses (e.g. Yelp, TripAdvisor, Facebook).
Ask other local businesses to link to your website (but only if they are reputable, their website is of a high quality, and the link is relevant to your business - e.g. if you own a hair salon, a link from a grocery store may not benefit you, but a link from a wedding dress shop might if they're encouraging people to visit your salon for a haircut before the big day).

4. Use Google Search Console to stay on top of potential issues.

One final piece of advice (and this applies even if you're not interested in the mobile SERPs): add all versions of your website to Google Search Console and check the dashboard frequently to ensure that everything is as it should be and nothing is going wrong on your site. Of particularly relevance to today's topic is the Mobile Usability report, which can be found under Search Traffic on the left-hand side of the console.

This blog post highlights a few other reports that it's important to check regularly once you've added your site on Search Console.

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If you want to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and fully-optimised for this upcoming Google change, Designer Websites can help! Click here to request a quote, or select one of the following services to find out more about what we can do for you:

Oct 201621

Google's New Smart Service: How Will it Impact SEO & How Can You Adapt?

andrew search engine optimisation (seo)

Thursday marked the release of Google's brand new phone - the Pixel! This phone is crammed with plenty of great features, including the highest rated smartphone camera ever, a battery that lasts all day and charges fast, and we mean fast! And It also has an unlimited storage for your photos and videos, but the one feature the stands out the most to us, is the new Google Assistant.

Google is taking on the likes of Siri and Cortana with its very own smart service called Google Assistant. Google Assistant combines all the features from Google Now and “Ok Google” with a new AI experience, to provide you with a virtual assistant that you can have an ongoing two-way dialogue; it’s basically your very own personal Google.

So with new advancements becoming available and with voice search becoming increasingly popular, we take a look at how this may affect how people search online and how you can adapt to benefit from it.

How Will Voice Search Impact SEO, & How Can You Adapt?

Voice search is becoming increasingly popular, with Google reporting that currently 55% of teens and 40% of adults use voice search every day! And it’s continuing to become a fast growing market, with the ratio of voice searches growing quicker than type search, and with Google Assistant just becoming available, voice search could become the new way of searching for content.

In order for you to benefit from voice search, various SEO techniques should be implemented to allow search engines to extract answers from your content.

Adapt Your Content

The rise of voice search has fundamentally changed the way people use search engines. People don't search the same way with their keyboards as they do using their voice. Voice search has led to people using more conversational queries when searching for something, which means the queries become less keyword based. In order to ensure that your webpage appears on the first page of Google's SERP's, it's important that you understand the consumer's conversational speech. Research what phrases and language people use, and adapt your content appropriately. You may find that consumers will be make queries that are unsuitable to have as a page title but you can use parts of it to help you create content to adapt with your consumers language.

Take advantage of Schema Markup

Schema is an add-on to the coding of a webpage, which provides the search engine with information that helps them understand the content of the webpage. This helps search engines return more informative results for consumers. Schema doesn't just inform the search engines what is in your content; it also informs them what it means. This enables the search engine to provide richer search results, making it easier for the consumer to find the relevant information. The more the search engine understands what is on your page, the better chance you have to appear for search engine queries.

Make the whole experience quicker

More than ever before, consumers want quick answers and immediate access to what they're looking for. Users are looking for direct answers to their questions, so it's vitally important that your content is optimised to allow search engines to identify quick answers from your content in order to answer the popular queries and questions.

If you're worried that your content isn't up to scratch to adapt to this incoming change, then Designer Websites are the people to call. Email info@designer-websites.co.uk or call 01446 339050 to discuss and SEO content strategy for your business.

Oct 201612

Online Booking System for Ski Holiday Specialists Travel Booker

luke client websites

Travel Booker is a UK-based company that sells ski holiday packages. The Travel Booker team have specialist knowledge of Andorra and its many popular ski locations, and they provide holidays to Arinsal, Soldeu, and several other resorts.

There are lots of different things to consider when organising a ski holiday in a foreign country. In addition to making hotel reservations and travel arrangements, skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts may also wish to book:

Lift passes
Professional ski lessons
Rental equipment (e.g. skis, boots, helmets, snowboards)
Transfers between the airport and the resort itself

Instead of leaving their customers to sort all of this out alone, Travel Booker wanted to offer an easy way to take care of all the bits and pieces online. To achieve this, they got in touch with the team here at Designer Websites.

Our experienced web developers constructed a sleek, user-friendly booking system that's perfectly tailored to the needs of Travel Booker's customers. This system has been incorporated into a number of websites owned by Travel Booker, so no matter which resort you're planning to visit, you can take care of all your extras with ease. Since the booking system has a responsive design (created by our expert web designers), you can even take care of everything on your smartphone or tablet - the user interface works equally well on all screen sizes!

Click here to visit one of Travel Booker's websites and see their new booking system for yourself. Alternatively, if you've got a web development project that you'd like to discuss with the Designer Websites team, get in touch now - no matter how complex your requirements, we're always excited to take on new projects!

Oct 201605

The Apprentice is Back on BBC One Tonight!

client websites

We're huge fans of BBC One's The Apprentice here at Designer Websites, and so we're obviously very excited for the start of show's twelfth series. Episode 1 airs tonight at 9pm - we can't wait to see who's a pretender and who's a contender this time around!

Speaking of contenders, did you know that we've worked with a couple of winning candidates over the past few years? As fans of the show will know, the winner of each series receives a £250,000 business investment from Lord Sugar, and we've designed and developed the websites for not one but two of the companies that have benefited from that cash injection - not to mention the guidance and wisdom of Britain's most successful self-made businessman.

Here's some more info about the websites we've created for Lord Sugar's business partners:

Hyper Recruitment Solutions

Recruitment company specialising in the science and technology sectors

Ricky Martin, with his biochemistry degree and years of experience in the recruitment industry, won the eighth series of The Apprentice in 2012. He used Lord Sugar's £250K investment to found Hyper Recruitment Solutions (HRS), a recruitment company that caters exclusively to the science and technology industries.

We worked closely with Ricky and the HRS team to create www.hyperec.com, a modern and professional-looking recruitment website that allows jobseekers to browse hundreds of science jobs and submit applications online. It also makes it easy for employers in the scientific sector to list vacancies online and find talented individuals to work for them.

More about this project >

Dr Leah Cosmetic Skin Clinics

Elite clinics offering rejuvenation treatments, fat reduction, hair removal and more

Ricky Martin was obviously very happy with our work on the HRS website, because he recommended our services to his successor, Dr Leah Totton. Dr Totton - a physician from Northern Ireland - became the ninth BBC Apprentice winner in 2013 and used Lord Sugar's investment to open her own cosmetic skin clinic in London. The Dr Leah Clinic proved to be a great success, and a second branch opened in Essex earlier this year.

The Dr Leah Clinics website, www.drleah.co.uk, was designed and developed by the team here at Designer Websites. We collaborated closely with Dr Totton and her team, working hard to deliver a high-calibre web solution on time and on budget. The responsive website allows users to browse the many innovative cosmetic treatments available at Leah's clinics and book appointments online with ease.

More about this project >

If you're impressed by this brace of big projects and you'd like to discuss your own online requirements with the Designer Websites team, please give us a call on 01446 339050 or click here to request a quote.

Don't forget to tune in and catch The Apprentice on BBC One at 9 o'clock tonight!

Oct 201605

Our New Meeting Room is Complete!

jason news

Built by our clients for our clients, Designer Websites' new meeting / training room is finally ready!

We've been struggling for some time with a single small meeting room, so we decided to reshuffle our premises somewhat to create a new room that's perfect for meetings, presentations, and training sessions. Work on the room is now complete, and as you can see, the results look great!

Meeting Room

Practically everything you see in the photo above was provided by one of our clients. These are businesses with whom we've worked very closely over the years, and we thought that explaining 'who did what' would make a great talking point within the meetings we'll be having in this space.

Who did what?

The first thing we did when renovating the room was install a luxury vinyl floor from Floormaker, long-time clients of ours who supply all kinds of high-quality flooring to homes and businesses throughout the UK. Here's what the stripped-back room looked like once the floor was down:

Then came the task of plastering and painting the new meeting room, which we split between ourselves. We also took care of hanging the blinds, rewiring the electrics, and sorting out the radiators.

After that, we turned to our friends at ABC Designs, signage specialists based right here in South Wales. They created a sign similar to the one in our main office, along with some entrance signs, door vinyls, and car park signs - all of which, in our opinion, looks absolutely awesome!

We also commissioned Printmet to build us a bespoke meeting room table (with a parquet insert from Floormaker, who we mentioned before) and a bespoke TV stand, which we designed specifically for the new room.

Then came the pièce de résistance: a quirky, modern-looking partition with a hidden door. This was designed by the brilliant Modelmakers Ltd, who normally specialise in architectural and exhibition models but clearly have a bright future in this sort of work! We already had an idea of what we wanted, so after a few design concepts and discussions with the guys from Modelmakers, a plan was agreed upon and they installed this unique wall in no time.

And with that, our new meeting room was finished!

Our meeting room has gone from being boring and run-of-the-mill to being exceptionally cool and contemporary, and everyone here at DW absolutely loves it. None of this could have been achieved without the help of our brilliant clients, so if you are ever looking for a superb signage company, an amazing model maker, a fantastic bespoke metal furniture supplier, or a high-calibre flooring company, you know who to call!

Google to Put Mobile Results First: Don't Get Left Behind!

How can I rank highly in Google's mobile results when the new index arrives?