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Is registering a .au domain a must for a business?

10/24/2012

1 Comment

 
If you are a business operating in this country then it's customary to have the .au for your website. It can only be purchased if you have an Australian Company Number (ACN) or Australian Business Number (ABN).

Doing so does confer SEO benefits. Google is left in no doubt about your region of operation, even if your hosting is based overseas. So you will tend to be listed higher in searches by people in your own country.

But it's not like you can't get good local traffic without one. This site is a standard .com. And I have a couple of others without the specific country suffix. They all do pretty well in local searches. (Actually the main reason I didn't buy a .au name for this site is because I didn't really see this as a business in itself -- even though I do have a sole trader ABN.)

That said, I think that if you are an Australian-based business then you should have one. The main reason is that it is pretty much standard practice for Aussie businesses. It makes you look established and serious about what you do. So if you don't have one it might jar a little with some people who visit your site.

Still, you don't absolutely have to register one. And there are some big and well known businesses without them -- Australian Super and Telstra Bigpond for example.
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Local newspaper coverage can benefit SEO

6/27/2012

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People are increasingly using search engines to find local information and websites. One thing that will help a locally oriented business site get more of this quality traffic is if it can get some one way links from other blogs and news sites targeting the area.

Links from news sites are particularly beneficial because they are generally well regarded by Google. Say you had a Perth based website and scored a mention in an article in the West Australian. If it were included as a dofollow link it would be gold SEO-wise. But even if just the name of it were mentioned it would help. Lots of people would find the site and have a look. As a result you'd have a good chance of scoring one or more links from local bloggers or even other news sites.

But getting that kind of free publicity would be difficult unless you had an already well known business in a niche that lent itself to such coverage such as entertainment or event management. You'd probably have better luck with smaller, local newspapers such as those published by the Community Newspaper Group. A link from one of their online editions would would be very valuable.

The trick would be to make what you do newsworthy somehow. Say you had a cafe. You could hold some sort of event in it such as a coffee appreciation class. You could teach people about different blends, and give away some freebies. That's just the kind of thing a local, community journo might find interesting.

You could just e-mail the editor to try and get the paper's interest. Or you could use Twitter. Considering how much journos love to tweet you could jot down some of their names from your local paper and search for them on the site. You'd be sure to find a few sooner or later.

After building some rapport with them you could mention or even direct message them about your idea. (But I wouldn't DM them too early. They'd probably just ignore you if they didn't know who you were.) Even if they didn't go for your first attempt, you would have made connections that may well bear fruit further down the track.
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Keywords in business domain names?

6/6/2012

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Choosing the right domain name presents certain challenges. For example, if it's for a bricks and mortar business website do you just use the name of the business, or include keywords to describe it?

Obviously if it's an established business that many people already know about, or will become aware of in a short space of time, then you should just go with the former option. People will search for the name and your site will be at the top of the results, and it will almost certainly draw some natural links from local blogs and websites as well, meaning that any disadvantage from not having keywords in the domain would be quickly overcome.

But if you have a very new and small venture that no one knows about it may well be an idea to use keywords. Say you are an accounting firm in Subiaco. Research might indicate that including the obvious keywords "accountants" and "Subiaco" in the domain name might be a good move. It could draw in a small but high quality flow of traffic very soon. Unless you really built up the business and developed a very strong brand it could work well for a long time, even indefinitely.

That said, I think in most cases the best long term strategy would be to use the business name itself. It's the obvious choice, is easier to remember, and won't ever need to be changed (unless the business name itself is changed, of course).
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Bad link removal services prospering, proliferating

5/24/2012

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You can always tell when some online problem has caused a lot of damage because you'll tend to see many websites popping up dedicated to combating the scourge.

For example, when people started realizing that there were adverse reports about them and their businesses appearing in search engines, online reputation management became a booming little industry in its own right.

And after years of reports about crimes -- sometimes as serious as murder -- committed by people who met their victims via online dating, the sites themselves started being much more rigorous about their own internal security procedures, and promoting this as an extra reason to join. Also, businesses specializing in checking people's backgrounds started to pop up.

Now, in the wake of Google's Penguin update, countless business owners are trying to have the bad links that shady -- or even just a bit careless -- SEO companies built for them located and removed. Many of them will no doubt be seeking out the bad link removal services that existed prior to that major algorithm change. And there are some entirely new ones popping up to meet the demand.

Take this website devoted exclusively to this purpose. It's got next to no backlinks itself so is clearly "hot off the presses". I suspect there'll be quite a few more sites like this appearing in coming months.
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A good Australian website building and promotion guide

10/30/2011

2 Comments

 
This site is specifically about SEO. And it's not highly structured. I just keep blogging, building and promoting websites, checking the results of my experiments, then describing the results here occasionally. So it's designed to help people who have a bit of time to browse through the posts and pages, then pick out and perhaps apply what looks suitable to them.

However, many people -- particularly those in business -- are too maxed out for this leisurely approach. They are looking for good, clear informaiton about building a website from scratch, and doing it in the quickest way possible with the best tools available.

These people might be interested in You Make The Website. It's been created by Dean Wormald, who has extensive experience in website production, SEO and other related fields.

For a small fee you get a comprehensive guide about how to start a website from scratch using Wordpress. It's all very clearly laid out. Subjects include how to set up various required accounts, choosing domain names, drawing traffic, and using Google Analytics. Membership includes access to various useful resources.

As any blogger knows, Wordpress is the best blogging platform available. But it's also a great content management system in its own right and has been designed with SEO in mind. It can be used to make a slick and professional website, and so is great for businesses.

The downside is that using Wordpress does require some comparatively involved technical steps. (Actually that's one of the reasons I haven't used it yet. I find it all a bit daunting! I've found that Blogger, Yola and Weebly meet my needs for now.) But the step by step approach in the guide will help dispel any trepidation that people have about using this platform.

In my opinion this is a good option for someone keen to build and promote his or her own professional looking, SEO friendly website quickly and efficiently.

You Make The Website
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Lots of new business directories, as well as classifieds

10/28/2010

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I have just been searching for Aussie business directories so that I can update my list of them on this site. There are quite a few new ones. And it wasn't that long ago that I last looked for them.

So, it's still an expanding market - or maybe just a volatile one! This is also true of the Australian classifieds sites I've been listing. There's never a shortage of ones I've never seen before.

Of course, some of these directories will go kaput in time. But there'll always be new ones. That's why I'd urge anyone who has a business to keep doing various keyword searches across all the major search engines and submit your site to a few from time to time. (And if you can, try to be wary of shonks. Google for reviews of sites if you have time. Unfortunately some directories are run by scammers who do charge businesses for listings they never asked for.)
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SEO companies outsourcing to India and the Philippines

10/4/2010

2 Comments

 
One thing I've noticed from looking at my stats recently is that I'm getting a lot of traffic coming from India and the Philippines. Visitors often arrive by way of various searches for Australian article, classifieds and website directories.

I suspect that many of these people are being paid by SEO companies to build links to websites, presumably in Australia. That's fine, if they get the job done. But it may be an issue for some Australian business owners who use these services.

Firstly, they may not like the idea that the work is being outsourced. Also, as much as I'd like to say otherwise, they may be disappointed by the grammatical quality of these submissions. English is an official language of both countries. However it's not the main one as it is in Australia. So citizens of those nations are generally less confident with it.

I suggest this may be something to consider if and when you decide to purchase an SEO package.
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