• Electrical supplies, accessories and fittings :: Melbourne, Australia
• Mattresses-r-us, quality innerspring mattress and base ensembles, Melbourne, Australia
• strategic partnerships, vendors, partners, citrix, legrand, novell, syncit
• property management, residential property, debt reduction, home consultations
• Exciting problem solving exercises to help unleash the power of your teams.
• Web Design Melbourne, Internet Design Melbourne, Graphic Design
• Whitepages.com.au – Search for Australian Postcodes, Maps, World
• Out From The Blue, Swimming Pool Design, Pool Landscaping, Landscape Design, Spa Pool, Melbourne, Australia
• MP3.com – the source for digital music!
• split system units, installation, maintenance, zoned ducted heating, panel heaters

Furthermore, when you scrolled down further, there was a blank space and then low and behold there was more! The keywords were listed again with a description underneath and a link to the company’s website.

For example: Electrical supplies, accessories and fittings :: Melbourne, Australia In this age of multi national "mega corporations" and increasing pressures on local manufacturers, it is pleasing to see an Australian owned company producing locally made products that are still widely regarded as the best on the market. ^top

At the bottom of the page in a font that is barely visible, there is text that reads, “The sites linked hereby are not endorsed by the owners of this site.” But of course they’re not. The owner of the site had no idea that this was even on her site! This company of course had keywords and a link to their site as well (using a different domain name that redirected to their website):

Web Design Melbourne, Internet Design Melbourne, Graphic Design Power Linking Strategies and Website Promotion Secrets ^top

To assist you in understanding what is going on, Google likes external links that point to your website. If you think of it in terms of people, it’s like Mr. X vouching for Mr. A stating that Mr. A really is who he says that he is. Google hold this in high regard. So for this web development company to add keywords and links on hidden pages in the websites that their clients pay them to develop is poor form and borderline unethical but they cover themselves with the virtually hidden statement at the bottom of that page that states the 'links are not endorsed by the owners of this site’. The truth of the matter is that they shouldn’t be there in the first place! There is also another page that is not listed anywhere on the menu that has the following text that links to their web developer’s site:

We are building a reputation for ourselves as being the most driven and innovative web design company in Australia. Our dynamic web design team gravitates around creativity and innovation. A web site is a waste of
We then work with you long term to evolve your web strategy based on needs, target market feed back and metrics.

It should be noted that our client paid $6000 for this company to develop her 6 page website, that's $1000/page which is a lot of money to be paying for the company to then use dodgy SEO tactics! It is a shame that seemingly reputable companies will take advantage of their own customers especially knowing that their client is unsuspecting. NOTE: We have blurred out any reference to this company in the screenshots. The aim of this article is to make readers aware, not to name and shame this particular company.

We sometimes have clients contacting us in desperation when it comes to SEO – either because they have no idea who to trust, or worse, because they’ve been ripped off by what’s know as ‘black hat’ SEO fly-by-nighters. Black hat means they are the ‘dodgy brothers’ of the SEO game and best avoided.

But how do you know who’s honest Joe? And who’s going not only rip you off, but may also get your site black banned on Google, or worse, destroy your good name and leave your online reputation in tatters?

Let’s start with how to recognize the bad guys… the ‘black hats’…

How do you know if an SEO Company is ‘Black Hat’? They will try to out-smart Google by various unethical and ‘illegal’ tricks, they…

• Send you email ‘spam’ out of the blue. Actually I never trust anyone that sends me spam – of any kind. Spam is evil, and spam must die. It usually reads like this:
  
• Won’t explain what they do – usually because they’re using illegal techniques that could get you blacklisted from Google results pages altogether. And being blacklisted from Google is bad – your site won’t show up even for your business name or URL address. The only solution being to get a new domain and website, and start all over again.
• Will promise to register you on “1,000’s of search engines” – so what? Google has almost 90% market share, so why bother?
• Will promise you ‘thousands’ of links to your site, often on poor quality sites known as ‘link farms’. These are the sites that you stumble upon that are just full of links and nothing else, these sites are known as search engine spam. Google is savvy to these sites and if you have a link on one of them, your ranking may actually suffer.
• Use ‘blog spamming’ – this means to create links by various ‘spamming’ techniques like posting your domain name to hundreds of blogs comments fields. This makes your business look REALLY BAD, and will kill your online reputation. Imagine if you had to try to clean up hundreds of spam links to your website? Where would you start? You’d be better off starting all over again with a new site. Read last month’s case study of one of our clients who had this happen to them.
• Guarantee you a number #1 organic ranking on Google, by either claiming to have ‘cracked the Google code’ or that they have some kind of ‘special relationship’ with Google. No one can truly promise you a #1 ranking because the Google algorithm is top secret, and only a handful of people actually know it. Want to know more about how Googlebot works? Check out this article on Wikipedia.

Okay, so what about the good guys? (AKA the ‘white hats’… )

A ‘white hat’ SEO plays by the rules. And they should be able to…

• Show you examples of their previous work & success stories: They should have some real-world examples to show you wherein they have improved a site’s Google ranking, and also show that this has had a positive runoff in terms of real-world sales conversions. That is, their efforts have directly improved the client’s bottom line.
• Show you real client testimonials… from real people, not made up ones!
• Display honesty and transparency – explain exactly what they do, and how it affects site rankings.
• The proof is in the pudding – their own site should rank well for top keywords and exemplify their efforts and SEO skills.
• Keep up to date with the latest developments in SEO, e.g. how Twitter or Facebook might improve your SEO efforts.
• Play by the rules and follow Google’s Webmaster Guidelines: If they play fair everyone wins out in the end. Read the Google Webmaster Guidelines.

Want to know more? Contact Meri Harli, SEO and Social Media Specialist, on 0408 369935, or email: meri@whitedoggreenfrog.com.

Your blog is very enriched. You can see my website [Company Name] Australia which is best [keyword] Shop in Melbourne, Armidale, Brunswick. It also eminent [keyword] Suppliers and [keyword] Stores as well as best [keyword] Shops in Brunswick, Melbourne, Armidale .

**Please note that we have removed the company name, website, and industry keywords Apart from the blatant grammatical mistakes and awkward language, this comment is being spammed on many (87 at last count) blogs in this particular industry – and these poor quality postings can really tarnish their professional reputation. What's worse is that most of the blogs that are being spammed with these comments are hosted on Blogger/blogspot.com, a blogging platform owned and operated by Google. This is considered "black hat SEO" which is essentially a foolhardy attempt at fooling Google. This is what will happen – there will be a spike in the client's website's ranking (which could possibly justify this SEO company promise of a listing on the 1st page of Google), but once Google tracks what is happening, our client's website will be blacklisted. When you're blacklisted on Google, you not only lose your ranking but basically will need to start at the bottom (which could be page 1,000!) and re-establish yourself all over again trying to earn back Google's trust by submitting a request reconsidering your site. Not worth it. This same SEO company had posted comments and entries on behalf of this company on sites and directories completely unrelated to the client's industry, such as the "adobe learn" site and "athiest news and views".  I rang up the company because I had to hear for myself their sales pitch: "We guarantee you'll be on the first page of Google" and "It takes 3 weeks". Disgraceful. This is what the Official Google Webmaster blog page says about spam comments. Unfortunately pleading ignorance just isn't worth the headache and negative penalty effects that your site might receive as a result. The quintessential tip-off of a dodgy company:  guaranteeing you'll appear on the first page of search results. Google does not disclose their searching algorithms. Google pays their employees very very well, provides all kinds of perks, essentially treating their team like royalty so that there aren't rogue employees who tell all of Google's deepest, darkest secrets; what is the likelihood that some random company can hold true to their promise/guarantee your business to be listed on the first page? Google provides a LOT of information on their site and in the Webmasters area. Before you pay some dodgy company $200-300/month (yes, that's what they charge!) to ruin your ranking, arm yourself with information. You don't need to be an expert, but you should walk into the meeting with some knowledge of the basics. If you're lucky and persevere, Google may be forgiving in the long run. The question you need to ask yourself is how many months will your site not appear in the search listings and how much business will you have lost as a result? Moreover, how much money will you then in turn need to pay for a legitimate SEO expert to fix your ranking, remove your site from being blacklisted, and put you back into Google's good graces? Think about that and whether it's worth it? Unfortunately, ignorance is not bliss and in this day and age, you get what you pay for. These dodgy companies prey on innocent, unsuspecting business owners and lure them in with false promises. Knowledge is key, read for yourself straight from the horse's mouth in Google's SEO Starter Guide the do's and don'ts so you aren't fooled!!

Google has just substantially changed the way they index websites. Here’s the official announcement from Google:

Our old index had several layers, some of which were refreshed at a faster rate than others; the main layer would update every couple of weeks. To refresh a layer of the old index, we would analyze the entire web, which meant there was a significant delay between when we found a page and made it available to you.

With Caffeine, we analyze the web in small portions and update our search index on a continuous basis, globally. As we find new pages, or new information on existing pages, we can add these straight to the index. That means you can find fresher information than ever before—no matter when or where it was published.

This means two things for you and I -

Firstly, it means that sites regularly publishing new content will be noticed and will list higher than sites that do not change. This makes it a lot more valuable to add a blog to your site!

Secondly, and usefully, it means that Google will index new content a lot faster. That means your searches will return more recent results much faster than they did in the past. The time between a page being crawled by Google’s internal googlebots and that updated page being made available to searches has diminished substantially (minimizing cached time).  For larger sites, or for sites updating Google when they change, new results can now be visible in less than a minute!!  This is a big change from the previous methods that used to take 2 weeks – 2 months for new updates to reach search results.

So, the bottom line?  The most important message to understand is that Google has changed the rules; and as a result the entire way sites rank has changed, and it will be a while before the dust settles.  However, at least one thing is clear -  new content will be a winner in terms of ranking.  Be aware that traditional SEO techniques are very likely to not give you the results they once did.

If you’re interested in more detail, the Mashable link below gives a really useful analysis.

Check out The Age’s article on this here which includes a short video for more information.

Click here for Google’s official announcement.

Here’s a more detailed analysis on Mashable for further reading.

Well guess what? You need to make the time, and here’s why…
Like it or not Social Media is the future and the future is already here, and your customers and competitors are already savvy. Some futurists are even saying that Social Media will eventually take over from email – in fact, it’s been shown that many Generation Y’s are not using email at all – they do all of their connecting, and eventually all of their business, over social media.

Here’s the skinny from a recent Fast Company article about why should you care about Social Media for your business:

“The Nielsen-Community Engine 2010 Social Media Business Benchmark Study released last month found a total of 63.5% respondents agree businesses should no longer ask “if” they should enter social media, and should instead be asking “how”.
- Read the rest of the article here.

Here’s how to get started in Social Media for less than 15 minutes per day:
It really doesn’t take too much time to get your Social Media groove on – about 15 minutes a day over your morning coffee. Maybe take one of the following steps per day over a 7-day period? So by the end of the week you’ll be up and running.

Step 1: What is Social Media anyway?
I’ve done the first step for you. When I want to know about something I often type it into Wikipedia to get the overall ‘big picture’ definition of it. Wikipedia is a great resource also for any other links to do with any subject. Here’s the link to read over your morning coffee.

Step 2: Facebook
Like millions of other people, you’ve probably already got a Facebook personal account. Now you’re going to open a ‘Fan Page’ for your business. Open up your normal ‘Home’ section – that’s where you read posts from your friends etc. Now go to the top right hand corner and click on ‘Account’ > ‘Help’ > ‘Pages for businesses’ > ‘Facebook pages’: ‘Creating, administering and editing your page’ – now click on ‘How can I create a page?’ and create an ‘Official Page’. If you want a shortcut, you can also click here.

Step 3: Twitter
If you’ve been living under a rock for the last 18 months and don’t know what Twitter is go here.

If you want to get started, go here, and click on the big yellow button that says ‘Join Today’. It’s super-easy, just follow the steps, but remember to put your website link into your profile, as well as some keywords relevant to your business. Then start following people in your niche. TIP: Go to ‘Find People’ and start searching for people who inspire you the most, authors, speakers and other specialists in your field.

Step 4: Linked In
Go to linkedin.com, and let’s go for a definition first, so click on the top menu: ‘What is LinkedIn?’. This section explains mostly everything, then click on the big yellow button ‘Join now’. Follow the steps and then fill in your details with as much information as possible. The power of LinkedIn really comes into play when you upload your email contacts and start connecting with people. Very powerful stuff.

Step 5: Post to all of your Social Media accounts with one click with a Social Media Management application
There are a plethora of new applications coming out that let you post to all your accounts with just the one click; they even post to your web blog or RSS Feed. Here are a few of them:

• twitterfeed.com
• sendible.com
• hootsuite.com – my favourite because it’s so easy to use!

Step 6: Explore, Play Around, and Join in Discussions and Interact
Take 10 or 15 minutes a day to just ‘play’ around on Social Media. This is the best way to learn. Take a look at other peoples’ profiles, see who they’re following, see who is following them. Make comments, interact, send messages – don’t be shy, join in the conversation. Social media is all about connecting with other human beings, and also with those lovely folk we all love – your customers.

Step 7: Follow Social Media blogs
Want to know more about how Social Media can help your business? Follow Social Media blogs, and don’t forget you can follow these same guys on your Facebook, Twitter etc. Here’s a few of my favourites:

• mashable.com
• socialtimes.com
• socialnetworking-weblog.com

Want to know more? Just Google ‘top social media blogs’, or you can contact White Dog Green Frog on 1300 760 850 and chat to our Social Media and SEO Expert Meri Harli or feel free to leave a comment below.

Well, for starters, it makes it easier for your customers to find you! You also have better control over the information ensuring that the most accurate info is being displayed in Google Search and Google Maps. And, the best reason yet, it’s FREE and takes about 5-10 minutes to register!

When users type in a localized search for a topic, Google will display the matches for businesses and groups listed in Google Places for those search terms at the top of the page. By the way, Google Places used to be known as Google “Local Business Center” until about 2 weeks ago.

For example, as an exercise, type the keywords “web hosting collingwood” into Google… What do you see?

Convinced? Here’s a quick synopsis of how set it up.

In Google Places, you’ll need to enter in your Google login info. If you don’t have a Google account (what century do you live in?), you can quickly create one. Don’t groan, it takes 2 seconds and quite frankly, you should’ve already had one by now anyway! Hotmail is so last year (see our article on professional mail)!

Once logged in you can add basic information about your business such as:

• Business name
• Address
• Phone
• Email
• Website
• Hours of operation
• Videos/photos

You will need to verify your listing (either by SMS, phone call, or snail mail). Once this is done you will have a listing that will look something like this:

Yes, that’s a pic of me and the boss chatting outside after a busy day, whilst enjoying a nice cuppa!

The benefits far outweigh the five minutes effort it takes to set it up!

• Free listings to add your business, location, and other pertinent information to Google
• Free updates to keep Google and your customers apprised of the latest information (Google despises displaying outdated information!)
• Free Reporting that shows the info such as the total number of times your listing has showed up, number of times a user has clicked for more info/url, and the top search queries

So, like Gwen Stefani says, “What you waiting for?” Register for Google Places here. If you get stuck, shoot us a comment below and we’ll nudge you in the right direction.

How many people are ‘stopped’ about getting a website because it’s too expensive … too hard … don’t have the time to think about it … not that important?? Consider how many opportunities you have lost in the past week by not having a web presence.

While it can be a little daunting it’s actually a very straight forward process. – A web address or domain name ( $20 – $50); some space on a reliable server with solid backend systems admin so it’s available to your customers all the time (from $130/yr); and coherent and engaging content on the site (priceless!).

So how to come up with that! – We always ask our customers which sites they like to visit and why. Try asking yours what questions they like to have answered before they call or come in.

Perhaps the most important aspect of your website is simplicity and beauty! Like a great work of art, the imagery must reach the ‘good-feeling-place’ of the visitor. People base their buying decisions on their feelings and especially a sense that your product or service will have them feel better than they currently do.

It’s also important to realise that your website is also like your shop front. Just as you’d never want your customers to visit a tatty old shop front with rubbish all over the pavement outside, a website that has a clean fresh feel about it is more likely to have your customers take a step or two further to investigate. A bad vibe will have them out of there in a click!  We all know about selling the benefits of our services; a good trick here is to use the common questions your customers ask as the guide to what to put on your site.

If you want people to buy your product/service, your website must pitch to them and give them an opportunity to buy right there and then! Have a buy now option or set an appointment option. Not everyone wants to talk to you first. Increasingly online visitors are seeking information to inform their buying decision and if they’re looking they’re probably already giving buying signals. Question is, is your product/service the one for them right then? Have you given them all the information they want? If not they’ll simply search the next site. Don’t be afraid to tell them how much things cost. If you want them to buy on something other than price show them the value. In the instances where there are a range of options at least give a ballpark. If they’re not in your league, neither of you want to waste each other’s time. A clear and engaging website can save a lot of dud leads.

If writing is not really your strength, engage the services of a copywriter. Most web developers can connect you to a skilled one. They can help tease out the key points and present your business in much the same way as a good photographer knows how to put you and the light together to get the best shot.

Think how much you would like a salesperson that works for you 24 hours a day 7 days a week?  That’s your website and they start from $1500! (That’s the first week’s salary of your sales rep!).

In sum, your website doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. You can have a great looking website which is of exceptional value in qualifying your leads and a silent salesperson for you when you get clear about what to say and what ‘look’ is in keeping with who you are. If you or your friends or relatives need an upgrade or you or they have a new venture happening call us, we’ll talk you through it and deliver some great options. Call us on 1300 760 850 or click the Buy Now button on our website!

Wendy works as our office manager and is also a mother and former public servant

1.  Google has what are called “robots” that periodically navigate and index sites. These robots will track your site at least once a month but often times a couple of times per month.

2.  The more unique your product is, the better chance you have of standing out from the rest of the competition

3.  Google is king? Well so are links! You must, I repeat, you MUST get links to your site to have a fighting chance for a decent ranking on Google. A 3rd party vouching for you and stating that you are who you say you are is huge. It’s one thing to claim that whitedoggreenfrog.com is a web hosting company but when others are also putting links to their site stating that White Dog Green Frog is a web hosting company, Google takes notice.

4.  Google assigns a measure called “Page ranking” which is also an important factor to consider when looking for links. It is preferable to acquire links from sites with higher page rank (eg: Microsoft has a page rank of 9, White Dog has a page rank of 5 – we used to be 3 and over the span of 2 years with minimal effort, we’ve reached 5). Some sites don’t have a page rank, you’re better off expending your energy on sites with higher ranks than those wit none at all.

5.  Google Australia takes into account those that are hosted locally (in Australia – eg: with our AU hosting packages) and those sites with .com.au domains and will generally rank these sites higher.

It is important to note that SEO is a major endeavor and certainly does not happen overnight (Google takes a while to trust changes to avoid spammers). Big companies that are serious about SEO pay $600 per month for a year as it takes a valiant effort to not only achieve a respectable Google ranking, but also to stay there! A vast injection of SEO services is a good start but there is a bit of systematic work that you will need to perform to stay there. If you’re interested in SEO services for your site, give us a call. For some businesses, SEO can make a real difference. There’s a lot more to it than we can cover here. We provide varying SEO services ranging from a status evaluation, call us for more info.