The Business Exchange Bath & Somerset Issue 4: Summer 2017 | Page 28

TECHNOLOGY Infinity Nation’s top tips for effective SEO Digital marketing agency Infinity Nation works across the South West helping businesses grow online. Here they give us the findings of their latest research. If your ecommerce website is the lifeblood of your business, you’re doing things right - the majority of well-known retailers either trade or market online. With the development of the digital market and the growing competition in consumer industries, the race to the top (in this case Google) is fierce, and only the strongest players will survive. We have conducted extensive research and discovered that over 70% of large “big brand” e-commerce websites have technical issues. We’ve put together a list of the five most common technical errors on e-commerce websites that can affect SEO in 2017. We have included one of these in the following tips: DUPLICATE CONTENT In 2017 duplicate content should be obsolete, however we still see many websites that have not dealt with tackling that problem. This is usually unintentional - many brand owners/SEO teams are simply unaware of it. The main culprits for duplicate content are as follows: • Metadata (page titles, meta descriptions, page copy) • Filter and search pages • Using manufacturers’ copy • Product variants We’ve noted that over 70% of e-commerce websites we’ve analysed have all had duplicate content in some form, relating to the above. In most cases, these can be easily addressed with best practice canonicalisation, meta level NOINDEX directives, and robots.txt crawl blocking. QUICK TIP WHY If you are using manufacturers’ copy, or suspect your content may be duplicate, the easiest way to check is to highlight the passage of text on your website, and carry out a Google search to see if it appears anywhere else. You can also use online plagiarism checkers, a great tool to try is Copyscape & Siteliner. Eliminating duplicate content meets Google’s criteria and provides your site with targeted traffic through your optimised pages matching searcher intent. It also ensures you avoid any future Google penalties. For more help and advice on technical SEO for e-commerce websites, a full copy of our top 5 tips or for further insight on how to go about checking your site for technical quick win areas, please feel free to contact us. For more info: www.infinitynation.co.uk @toinfinity NO NONSENSE TELECOMS... THERE’S A WORLD OF CHANGE... occurring across the telecoms industry right now. Technology is moving at such a pace that it’s tough for any busy business owner to keep up with – let alone fully understand it all. Fundamentally though, if you use landline telephones within your business, you’re going to want some basics in place. Reliability, cost efficiency, practicality, simplicity and no-nonsense, rapid, customer service when the unexpected happens- which of course it occasionally does. Fluid Network Solutions (Wessex) is the first franchised office of its successful head office namesake telecoms company, based in Shropshire. Fluid, founded in 2003 has developed a true specialism within the marketplace by offering telephony solutions to clients for whom reliability of service is an absolute must. With more competitive pricing alongside a personalised UK based customer service team, they have a proven history of maintaining long standing client relationships. Ethical business ethos Will Job, who has 20 years experience in the industry, along with his partner Carol, who together purchased the franchise covering Wiltshire and Somerset territories said, “I was very impressed by Fluid Network Solutions, particularly with the ethos of its founder, Rob Tolley. He has developed an honest and ethical company in a market sector where many of the operators often work to very low standards, tying clients up in punitive contracts, or with extortionate out of contract tariffs.” “We operate a far more relaxed approach to prospective clients, taking time to carry out a free, no obligation audit of their current telecoms spending in the first instance - simply to establish how or indeed if, we can help.” Great savings “On average, Fluid generates savings of around 30% on lines and calls when a client transfers. We supply directly through the BT network to ensure delivery of the highest quality products and simply avoid tying clients into long, unfair agreements. Our standard product is in fact just a 30 day rolling contract – such is our faith in what we offer. We’ve also passed on 11 tariff reductions in the last 3 years too.” Alongside a whole range of clients, from single- line users to large multi-sites companies, Fluid also works with over 100 NHS medical and dental surgeries across the UK providing critical resources and telephony solutions. Contact Will on 0333 222 0066 or email [email protected] for a chat or to arrange a visit and free audit. www.fluidnetworksolutions.co.uk | Follow us: @fluidnetwork_WS 28 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017