Google has made a significant change by removing the right hand side bar of adverts which used to appear for search results. If you are paying for these adverts (Adwords) then this will be a huge change for you. It means that Google is only showing their adverts at the top and bottom of the page. They’ve indicated that they may show up to 4 adverts at the top.
So what does this mean for website owners who rely upon their listings in the organic search results? Well it means your listing may now appear further down the actual page. It won’t affect your actual ranking within the search results but it does mean that if Google chooses to display more adverts in your niche then your position will naturally be lower down the page. For those websites which appeared towards the bottom of page 1 the situation is more serious as they are likely to be pushed to wastelands of page 2.
It means that competition for the coveted first page of Google’s organic search results just got tougher. So website owners are going to need to work hard at SEO if they want their websites to appear on this page.
If you need impartial advice and help with SEO then please get in touch. > contact us
If you want to do your own SEO then you need to be sure to learn as much as you can from reliable sources and keep up to date in this fast moving world. We would also advise you to build up your traffic sources from other platforms to avoid over dependence on Google’s traffic.
If you are thinking of buying a domain name here are our 10 top tips to help to ensure you chose the right name and avoid potential pitfalls.
1. If you are buying a .co.uk using Nominet’s WHOIS search facility to see what is available rather than Google.
2. If your chosen name is purchased but not in use (put the url into the address bar to see if it is in use) then the current owner may no longer want it. If their contact details are showing in the WHOIS record then drop them a line to see if they will sell. We have bought and sold domains this way at reasonable costs. If the owner’s contact information is not displayed you can use ‘drop catching’ services (often called back ordering). These services will try to buy the expired domain on your behalf. It is definitely worth trying as the actual time and date of expiration can vary despite what it might say on the WHOIS record. We’ve used Domain Monster many times and been successful each time although there is no guarantee.
3. Your chosen domain name needs to be easy to remember, easy to spell and preferably different to your competitors. You also need a domain name which will continue to be suitable if your business expands in the future.
4. If you are setting up an online shop please purchase the matching .com and .co.uk addresses. International customers are used to seeing .com but are less inclined to shop with a .co.uk address. How do we know? Because we’ve helped so many online shops over the years and run our own that we’ve seen it happen a LOT.
5. Think carefully about any similar domain names. If your new business will be called Fantastic Cupcakes and you are going to buy www.fantasticcupcakes.co.uk we would also recommend that you buy www.fantasticcupcake.co.uk The reason behind this is that it stops any would-be competitors setting up and trying to use a similar name to you. By the way Fantastic Cupcakes is just a made up example. Those domains were purchased a long time ago. These days we often have to think hard to come up with good domain names which brings us to…
6. Struggling to think of a domain name? There are plenty of domain name generators out there which will suggest weird and wonderful names. Here are a few which can help to inspire you.
7. Chosen your name? Great. Now keep it secret! Yes until you have purchased it don’t shout it from the roof tops. Or even discuss it in coffee shops. We’ve lost count of the number of clients who had thought of a fabulous name but had lost it simply because they didn’t register it straight away. One in particular really did discuss her chosen name in Starbucks and drove home to buy it only to discover it had been purchased in the past hour. So register before telling the world.
8. This is a bit like tip 7 but we also want you to register it BEFORE setting up any social media accounts. There are people who watch who is setting up social media accounts with the aim of buying their domains before them and holding them to ransom. Again it’s happened to some of our clients.
9. Once you’ve bought your domain name then we recommend setting up accounts with the same name with all the social media platforms just to reserve the name. Keep a note of your login email of course.
10. When you buy a domain name you will be asked to provide an email account. Please make sure this is a regularly used account. If not set up email forwarding from it to your usual email address. This is because reminders to renew this domain will be sent via the email you gave them. If you don’t use that email address in the future you won’t see the renewals and you won’t renew your domain name. Again this has happened to a few of our clients over the years so please don’t let it happen to you.
We hope these top 10 tips help you. If you have any more tips to help others then please let us know via the comments box below.
One of our most popular services is providing expert marketing advice to new and established businesses. Often the business owners will tell us that they are not sure how to market their business effectively or that the world of internet marketing seems like a maze. We meet these business owners face to face at their premises or at a convenient local location. We cover the whole of South Wales including Cardiff and Swansea. We always receive great feedback from the owners.
Recently one of the business owners, Laura Fender kindly volunteered to write a testimonial. Laura is the proprietor of Belle Derma Aesthetics which is a beauty business located in Ystalyfera in the Swansea Valley. Laura has built her own website.
“I met with Rachel Case for a 1:1 session to have a look at my website. She was very friendly in manner but very knowledgeable and experienced. As a fairly new business I have found some aspects of developing a website quite overwhelming. Rachel was able to pinpoint and identify ways that I could make changes to my website to help me to get my business found online and push my website higher up in Google’s listings. I can honestly say my meeting with Rachel was the most valuable purchase towards my business so far. I cant recommend her services highly enough.”
Its Halloween and it’s that time of year when people try to out do each other with scary stories. On Wednesday YouTube joined in and managed to frighten a whole community of YouTube channel owners by launching a new service which has massive repercussions for how they will get paid. And it starts immediately. And its exactly at the time of year when most video content creators can expect their highest income.
The new changes are caused by the launch of a new service called YouTube Red. This service is now available in the US and will be available internationally shortly.
Although the details are a bit sketchy here is a run down of what’s happening and implications for us all based on the information provided so far.
What is YouTube Red?
It is a subscription service aimed at viewers who are fed up of the ads that appear across YouTube. These ads are a bit annoying and YouTube recognise this. But there are plenty of video creators and video bloggers (vloggers) who really need those ads as they have a small payment each time a viewer watches the advert. Plenty of viewers understand this and watch the adverts as a way of supporting the video creators.
Here is YouTube’s advert (ironic eh!) for Red
Subscibers will pay $9.99 per month (after a free trial month) and in return ALL adverts will disappear. There are few other benefits too.
Here is a quick summary.
Benefits to Users of Joining YouTube Red:-
No adverts
Videos can be downloaded to be viewed offline for 30 days
Videos can be listened to with the screen switched off
Videos can listened to in the background when using other apps
From 2016 video creators can create content just for YouTube Red users
Free Google Play Music membership ($10 per month)
Access to a new YouTube music app
Access to YouTube gaming
It is worth remembering that the ‘normal’ Youtube service will continue as before. So the effects of YouTube Red will depend on how many visitors will be willing to pay a subscription to get rid of the ads. It seems that YouTube’s owners Google are hoping YouTube Red will become a premium service which a significant percentage of users will sign up for to watch premium content. They have already signed up some big YouTube names such as PewDiePie who have agreed to make premium videos just for YouTube Red subscribers. Some of the planned premium content will include videos to watch with VR (virtual reality) headsets.
YouTube are offering a free month’s trial and have finally agreed to pay the video creators during this free period despite originally saying that they would not. It will be interesting to see how many people actually sign up and pay for a service which has always been free. And plenty of people who hate ads already use Adblocker anyway. So the real value may lie in the premium content that will not be available elsewhere.
What Does This Mean for Video Creators?
For many video creators this is a really serious situation. The launch of YouTube Red is really scary and it is ironic that it has been launched at Halloween. But this is not some sick Halloween prank. Actually its launch date is also an extra burden as November and December is one of the highest earning months for many You Tubers so this is a huge blow. Strange how YouYube choose this time of year…
The problem is compounded by the fact that payments are already very low. Video creators only get paid when the viewer watches an entire advert. If they press Skip then the video creator doesn’t get paid. The problem is that the payments they have been receiving have been falling over recent years. So many video channel owners have been looking to other methods to supplement their income such as sponsorship and selling products like ebooks or merchandise e.g. t shirts. Life was already getting tougher for vloggers (video bloggers) and video creators before the launch of YouTube Red. If you bear in mind that many are relying on this income. Some have quit their jobs and spent a lot of time and effort building up their channels. Other rely on their income to supplement part time jobs. So many are now really worried and there is a lot of additional worry as the details of the scheme provided so far are a bit sketchy. There is a lot of concern that YouTube Red is untested among channel owners so no one knows as yet how it will affect incomes.
As A Video Creator Do I Have To Participate with YouTube Red?
No but they have set it up so you will miss out big time if you don’t agree. If you have a YouTube channel then you can choose whether to be included in the YouTube Red scheme. (If you are in the US this is available now, for everyone else it is coming soon) But if you choose not to be included YouTube will not distribute your videos so your channel suffer. So you have a choice but not much of one.
How I Get Paid with YouTube Red?
Firstly I want to explain that details are unclear so this information could change. YouTube haven’t been very specific. But it seems that creators will get paid a percentage based on the time that the user spends on their videos. All the subscriptions are going into a large pot and then YouTube will pay out everyone based on a calculation that is very unclear. So what we can work out is that certain categories should do better such as gaming content due to the longer video lengths. But it seems unfair when there are many shorter video creators who deserve an equal pay out. Equally small YouTube channels with not many subscribers are likely to suffer. There is a massive danger this scheme will stifle up and coming talent.
The other video platforms like Vimeo will be watching these changes closely. And don’t forget that Facebook are moving into the video sector too.
Quick Tips for Video Creators
On what we know so far it looks like the longer videos will earn the most money as people will watch them for longer so creators need to think about keeping their viewers engaged for longer.
This is a reminder that it is dangerous to rely on any one platform for all of your income. ANY of them (Google, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Periscope, etc) can change the rules any time they want. We are always advising our clients to diversify to ensure that you have multiple income streams. Easier said than done of course. But this week’s Halloween scare courtesy of YouTube illustrates the importance.
If you were thinking of launching a Youtube channel don’t let this put you off. But keep a close eye on developments to see what happens.
What do you think about YouTube Red? Can you share any insight to help others? Please use the comments box below.
Google has made a significant change by removing the right hand side bar of adverts which used to appear for search results. If you are paying for these adverts (Adwords) then this will be a huge change for you. It means that Google is only showing their adverts at the top and bottom of the page. They’ve indicated that they may show up to 4 adverts at the top.
One of our most popular services is providing expert marketing advice to new and established businesses. Often the business owners will tell us that they are not sure how to market their business effectively or that the world of internet marketing seems like a maze. We meet these business owners face to face at their premises or at a convenient local location. We cover the whole of South Wales including Cardiff and Swansea. We always receive great feedback from the owners.
Its Halloween and it’s that time of year when people try to out do each other with scary stories. On Wednesday YouTube joined in and managed to frighten a whole community of YouTube channel owners by launching a new service which has massive repercussions for how they will get paid. And it starts immediately. And its exactly at the time of year when most video content creators can expect their highest income.