Website positioning – key activities

If you want your site to appear in the deep depths of the Internet, then you need to ensure its proper SEO optimization. Every day, there are more and more website users who, through computers, smartphones and tablets, scour hundreds of websites daily, looking for information, shopping or strengthening social ties. The modern user is more and more demanding and it is more difficult to satisfy him, and thus – to stay on a given page. Competition in every internet area is growing all the time, which is why website positioning should be a priority for you if you do not want to be left behind.

That is why SEO activities are so important, which will be carried out consistently and reliably after some time. These practices should be started primarily with page optimization within on-site. Appropriate headers, friendly URL, internal linking, page loading speed, defining the group of recipients, using appropriate key phrases and of course substantive content enriched with photos. All these aspects have a positive impact on branding, website attractiveness and its value in terms of content. These actions, in effect, contribute to increasing the visibility of the site in SERP.

Google robots scan content, but they can’t see photos if they don’t have the alt and title attributes. Images on the site must be well marked and described to inform robots of their content. Well-optimized photos will be indexed and will positively affect website SEO.

What is the alt attribute?

Otherwise, an alternative image description, which can be found in the HTML of the page.

<img src = “image address” alt = “Alternative description” />

The naming of the alt attribute, which is an alternative description, is the key here. If the picture was not loaded on the page, then the completed image alt is still visible to Google robots and is subject to indexation.
Interestingly – it is the alt attribute that is read by programs that are used by people with very large vision defects or those who are blind.
All alternative descriptions on the site can be viewed with the help of the Web Developer plugin, which is installed under the browser. This way you can easily verify that the page is supplemented with alt attributes.

What content should the alt attribute contain?

Alt is read by programs for the blind as well as indexing robots. For these reasons, the alt attribute should specify the actual content of the image. However, in the era of website optimization for SEO this rule has changed slightly. The description should inform about what is on the site and what content can be obtained from it. However – like in the case of meta tags – they can not be decimal phrases, but specific queries or links containing keywords – but still refer to the image content.

What is the title attribute?

It is nothing more than the title of the picture, which is visible after moving the cursor over it (provided the picture contains an alternative description). It is also called auxiliary text and is slightly less important than the alt attribute.

<img src = “image address” alt = “Alternative description” title = “image title” />

The title of the photo can contain a description of what is in the image or a shortcut of the content of the page, for example, it can be called “Alt and title – effective optimization of SEO images”. A well-titled photo has a positive effect on the graphic positioning of the page, thanks to which it can increase the reach of the post and clicks on the page.

Optimization of images on the site

Smaller is better – follow this rule when it comes to the size of images on the page. A smaller photo is better for the page, because it will load faster. Loading your site too slowly affects the high bounce rate. The speed of the website is important for the user, but also for Google robots. According to the assumptions, the picture on the website should not be larger than 100 kb.

Content is important when optimizing the alt and title attributes. Like all available content on the site, the one in the pictures should be unique – especially within one page or subpage. The varied description for alt and title is good for Google reading pages. Such action will be reflected in higher positions in the search engine for given key phrases.

Image and iconography as an important medium of information transfer

Not only optimization, but also the “content” of the photo is important above all to the user. Images enrich the text wall, increase the attractiveness and transparency of the site. Good photos with properly described alt and title attributes – especially on shop windows – can have a decisive impact on whether a customer buys a given product.

Recently, iconographies have become very popular, which are worth using for specialist texts and on social media. Such pictures give the recipient a clear message, which is often condensed information related to the content of the page. Sometimes such a photo is a specific knowledge base for the user, which is why they quickly position themselves in Google graphics.

A properly optimized website has a chance to rank higher in the search indicators for given key phrases. From the very beginning it is worth ensuring the high quality of activities carried out on it. Website positioning is a labor-intensive and demanding discipline and consistency in activities in which you can’t forget to optimize images with the alt and title attributes.

The Google Ads panel in conjunction with Google Analytics and YouTube Analytics gives you wide possibilities of measuring campaign data. When running a video campaign on YouTube, the advertiser can monitor, among others:

– number of views,
– average cost of watching the advertisement,
– daily (or generated in another, selected time period) advertising cost,
– the number and type of conversions,
– cost of conversion,
– video playback percentage,
– activity earned, i.e. likes, shares, subscriptions, etc.

In the case of television, viewership is determined by telemetry. Telemetry surveys are statistical surveys carried out on the basis of a panel, i.e. a group of recipients representing e.g. the entire population of a given country. In order for the panel to be reliable, it must properly reflect the structure of the society it presents, and must also have the appropriate amount of data. According to Paraphrase-Online.com, telemetry tests in the world are carried out on a group of 2,000-10,000 households.

A tycoon on the television research market on its website informs that it is able to obtain data on viewers, the channels they watch, as well as on the time of watching television. As part of the available viewing rates, it provides information on:

– television audience behavior,
– demographic characteristics of recipients,
– programs watched by individual members of the household,
– programs watched jointly by all family members,
– family attributes, e.g. possession of pets, income, education and their correlation with television preferences.

Certainly, telemetry data are a very valuable source of knowledge about recipients of TV programs and commercials. However, they are statistical data, obtained on the basis of a small group of recipients, and in addition they do not present such specific details that can be obtained from online advertising. For TV ads, it’s difficult to get data on the cost of a single interaction or the number of conversions that an ad generated. By promoting their products or services on YouTube, advertisers, however, have significantly more access to data on the effectiveness of promo videos and the behavior of viewers watching videos.

Advertising on television – costs

Online advertising fees are usually based on views (CPV) or per thousand impressions (CPM), not on broadcast time (as with TV advertising). The unit costs of online advertising usually range from a few to several cents per interaction, thanks to which, even with a very limited budget, the advertiser can display their promotional video on the web.

With a limited budget, the additional advantage is the ability to target specific, small audiences and the fact that you can choose specific periods of video display.

In the case of online advertising, the viewing rates are not so dependent on the duration of the spots, and even if they increased at a certain point in time, the advertiser always has access to such data. Thanks to statistics, the advertiser has full control over the daily budget of the campaign, which allows him to decide how much exactly he wants to invest in the promotion. Additionally, it can track expenses on an ongoing basis and decide at any time whether to continue or suspend the display of its campaign.

Targeting TV and Youtube ads

Google Ads offers many types of ad targeting. Audience groups can be created based on:
– demographics
– interests,
– life plans and events,
– destinations visited by internet users,
– topics of pages, channels, mobile applications,
– keywords related to the content of pages, channels and mobile applications,
– devices used by network users.

and combine the above mentioned options.

Television advertising – due to the fact that it is tested telemetrically based on a specific panel of recipients – will never be as well tailored to a specific recipient as online advertising. Unfortunately, television does not allow to narrow down the target audience as precisely as Google Ads allows. Equally important, the television does not have the remarketing option – therefore, it will not be possible to return there with a re-advertising message only to those recipients who were thinking about buying, but resigned from it at the last moment (e.g. they left the shopping cart).

Building engagement & impact on recipients

Online advertising allows Internet users to easily and quickly interact when they are interested in a product or service being promoted. When watching an advertising spot on the web, an Internet user has several different options at their disposal:

– watching the entire advertising film,
– clicking on the call to action to go to the advertiser’s website and get more information or to convert directly,
– movie likes
– entering the advertiser’s channel and watching other available materials,
– subscribing to the advertiser’s channel,
– making the advertising film available to other people,
– temporarily pausing the ad,
– as a last resort and if you are not interested in advertising – skip it.

In the vast majority of cases, interaction with online advertising does not require the use of a device other than that on which the ad is played. Thanks to this option, at the moment of interest in a given product or service, an Internet user can immediately explore the secrets of the offer without wasting neither time nor enthusiasm to reach for a computer or telephone, turn it on and look for the page or name of the product, which in the meantime may have unintentionally disappeared from memory.

In the case of TV ads, it is not possible to interact directly on the advertising medium. To learn more, you need to use a laptop or telephone. Many of you will say that during ads they grab the phone, and therefore at any time can tap the name of the thing that he saw on the glass screen. Truth. But…

According to research carried out by Paraphrase-Online.com during television advertising blocks, 33% of people using smartphones browse social networking applications, 21% of these consumers play games, 8% of people use messengers or have traditional telephone conversations, while 6% use them from online shopping applications.

In the case of TV commercials, it is common to distract the viewer and draw his eyes away from the TV screen. Social networking, phone calls and games often win with a glass screen.

Equally important, TV commercials – in view of the fact that they are most often displayed in the form of blocks of several or several minutes, and appear in between programs or during the break of the series – often serve as a moment to move away from the receiver. I guess each of us has happened to wait for an advertisement to brew tea, quickly prepare a sandwich or go to the toilet and not lose a fragment of an interesting film.

And how many of us at the time of the advertising break “jumps” on other channels and checks whether something interesting is going on there, or what is the result of the match that did not interest us enough to watch it in its entirety?

Simple configuration and optimization

Online advertising campaigns can be built and run by virtually any user who has access to the Internet and has created free Google Ads and YouTube accounts. In addition, there are a lot of guides on the network on how to create and optimize campaigns. The surest source of knowledge, i.e. Google support is in itself a mine of knowledge, good practices and news in the field of online campaigns.

An advertiser wanting to work on his campaign is not dependent on external viewership data providers (as in the case of TV). At any time, he can log into the advertising account and check the effects of the campaign and make necessary changes to it. All statistics are visible in the account, so if there were any anomalies, it can easily catch them.

In addition, all you need to create an online video campaign is a good-quality video on your YouTube channel. In the era of such intense technological development, an advertising spot can be recorded even with a smartphone. Once you have your video ready, simply paste it into the previously created ad group and add the destination URL or ad headline and description depending on the campaign type you choose.

In the case of television advertising, only a professional film is involved, recorded at a significantly higher cost and using a film crew or computer graphic designer. The advertiser cannot optimize the advertising campaign alone, as he has no access to any tools or current data.

Ad Reach

Only a few years ago television was the leading carrier of video materials. Due to the intensive development of the Internet and YouTube, the ways of consuming all kinds of film materials are changing rapidly.

According to YouTube analyzes, the viewership of video posted online has been growing not only on mobile devices, but also TV sets. According to statistics, YouTube has a wider range among young users than traditional television. The overall reach of Google’s video service is constantly growing, and the number of website and application users is increasing from year to year. Same as watching time of available materials. Equally important, many lovers of the glass screen are moving to the online world, because there they can watch programs of their interest at the time they choose, and not when ordered by the schedule.

Accordingly, the online advertising market itself is growing at the expense of the press and television. According to analysts, in 2019 television advertising expenditure was to increase by only 0.6 percent compared to 2018, while expenditure on online advertising was to increase by as much as 11.8 percent (mainly due to the development of video advertising). What’s more, in 2020 the share of television in the global advertising market is to reach 32.6%, which means that the highest place on the podium in this field will fall to the web and its 41.8%. So, does television advertising have a future? Certainly yes, but it appears in increasingly darker colors.

What is the Nofollow update from March 1, 2020?

The change will affect the indexing of nofollow links. Earlier, Google treated nofollow links only as a mark, so these links did not crawl. In other words, they were not taken into account by the search engine algorithm. This changes on March 1, 2020. From March 1, Google will treat nofollow links as a crawl guide.

Nofollow links policy

Some website owners have used nofollow links to prevent indexing of given pages. Typical pages linked to nofollow can be links to user profiles, links to login pages, links to various sections of the website, or links to external (e.g. sponsored) pages. Using nofollow to block Google from indexing pages has never been a good practice. There are more reliable ways to prevent page indexing (e.g. by adding a meta tag noindex to your HTML).

Will the Nofollow update affect my site ranking?

It is difficult to predict how the update of nofollow link indexing will affect the ranking. This may depend on which Google pages will index. Google can configure the rules for selecting pages to be indexed and not. It has not yet been determined whether Google will decide not to index low quality pages.

How to prepare a website for nofollow update?

A. Read the Nofollow update.
Check what changes Google requires. If the rankings or traffic on your site begins to change, please report this problem to the person managing the website or the website positioning specialist.

B. Analyze the nofollow links on your website.
Incorrect implementation of nofollow can lead to unintended consequences. Check how nofollow links are used on your website and decide if it’s time to remove them and go to the noindex meta robots or to assign them the right attributes.