123-reg.co.uk

As you probably know, last week Google’s head of webspam, Matt Cutts, announced a “minor” change to Google’s algorithm. Its purpose is to reduce the number of low-quality exact match domains (EMD) in search results. EMDs are domains that include keywords that match a search query perfectly.

If you own an exact or partial-match domain, you’ll want to read this short interview with our SEO expert, Roxana. She has answered the most important questions about Google’s EMD update but if you need further clarifications, feel free to ask your questions in a comment below or join the conversation on our Facebook page.

What’s the Google EMD update about?

I believe that Matt Cutts explained it perfectly in his tweet.  EMDs used to offer a competitive advantage to those who knew how to use them. Ranking for a keyword was easier if the website domain matched that keyword, especially in the early days of search when Google’s ranking factors and algorithms were not as complex as they are today.

What types of sites were affected by this update?

Mainly websites that use keywords as their domain name and are also low quality sites.  On the other hand, there are many EMDs out there that haven’t been hit. These are quality websites that are relevant for the keywords they employ as their domain names but are not over-optimising their website for ranks.

Ok, but what defines a low-quality site?

• Keyword usage – when done aggressively, the user’s overall experience can suffer as the content is stuffed with keywords and is no longer informative or useful.
• Low authority – a website’s authority is given by the number and quality of backlinks. Having a backlink from another site means that your site is trusted. Having more links gives your site a better trust score. However, in order to increase your authority, the websites linking to you must have a high authority. Receiving trust votes from bad sites will only make your site look untrustworthy as well.
• Spammy link-building – The same as above, getting links from low quality sites will only make your website look bad in the eyes of the search engines.

Is there any way to get a site up again if it’s been hit by Google’s EMD update?

It’s too early for success stories but many webmasters that were hit are in the process of fixing their websites.

Some of the actions that will help get a website on the right path are:

• Content clean-up – Take a good look at the quality of your content. Make it relevant, stop stuffing it with keywords and ensure it’s unique and useful for your site’s visitors.
• Fix over-optimised pages – Double check to ensure your most important pages are not over-optimised. You might fall victim to another Google penalty. Start by varying internal anchor texts and use related keywords as well instead of repeating the same keyword over and over again. Give your copy some lexical richness!
• Fix pages with high bounce rates – If you do have pages with high bounce rates, it can be an indicator that your users haven’t found what they were looking for. Ensure you rank for keywords that are actually relevant for that page. Otherwise your users will search one thing and find something different on your page. That’s when they bounce to a more relevant website.
• Get associated with brands, websites and people famous in your niche – Prove you’re part of a trustworthy group of people with high authority. Engage with experts, bloggers or even clients.
• Be social – Take the time to enrich your social presence. Find ways to get people talking about your website on as many social channels as possible.

What happens if none of the above works?

It takes time to complete all of the above so have patience. If you’ve done everything and still haven’t recovered, then it’s time to think of a domain name change. Get your brand’s name this time. Make sure you redirect your old EMD domain to your new brand domain using a 301 redirect.  You don’t want to lose the benefits of all the hard work you did trying to salvage your initial website.

Prevention is key

All in all, even if your site has been affected by Google’s EMD update, there are plenty of things you can do to recover. But prevention is key so take the time to go through every page of your site and ensure you are providing your visitors with the useful information they are looking for.

Has your site been affected by Google’s EMD update?

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Launched in March 2012, Scotland based password manager my1login is making a name for itself as internet users switch onto the critical need to protect their online passwords. The company, which uses 123-reg for domain, hosting and email services, has been making serious strides in the technology sector, with CEO Michael Newman interviewed on the BBC’s online technology section after just a month in business, showcasing the brand’s password management software.

So what problem does my1login solve and why is it important? In simple terms, the business offers a solution to users having too many passwords stored in different locations. The company has experienced fantastic traction in their user numbers and is already protecting in excess of 10,000 online accounts. ‘my1login employs military grade encryption, using stronger encryption technology than many online banking platforms. Users’ keys are never stored on the servers and therefore not even my1login employees can see or access users’ data’, Newman said in a recent interview with 123-reg.

The incredible start to the business is something that 123-reg is proud to be a part of. Speaking with Newman, it is clear that my1login values the assistance that 123-reg offers his business.

‘We’ve been delighted with both the domain, hosting and email services, together with the responsive support provided when needed most’, he said.

In the security industry, reliability issues have to be considered and it is a positive endorsement of our services that such a company chooses 123-reg.
‘Any reliability issues with domain and email provision would have been an obstacle to continued use. 123-reg’s high availability services have ensured this was never an issue’, Newman said.

With this is mind, it is no surprise that when asked what services my1login valued the most, reliability was again fundamental to Newman and his team.

‘As an always-on cloud-based password manager it’s vital that my1login are continuously available for our users. The reliability of 123-reg’s email and domain services is of great value in enabling us to provide an uninterrupted service’, he stated.

123-reg prides itself on providing a service that is both price competitive but also gives users control. We are delighted that our philosophy has helped my1login and other customers grow.
‘The speed with which services can be ordered and initialised, the easy-to-use and feature-rich control panel and the competitive pricing model of 123-reg are the perfect ingredients for any business’, Newman concluded.

It is our belief that my1login will continue to be successful and we are committed to providing a service that meets the expectations of Newman and his team. It is a wonderful reward for 123-reg to be playing a small part in the success of British entrepreneurs in such challenging times for start-ups. Moreover, the success of my1login should inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.

To find out more about my1login please follow the link to their website.

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Web hosting can be at bit overwhelming at times, so we’ve compiled a short glossary of the terms which regularly confuse our customers.

If there are any words you feel we’ve missed, please leave them in the comment field and we’ll add them to the glossary.

A Record – An A record is part of the zone file. It is used to point Internet traffic to an IP address. For example, you can use an “A record” to designate abc.yourdomain.com to send traffic to your web site at IP address 209.15.32.135. You can also designate xyz.yourdomain.com to go to a separate IP address.

ASP (Active Server Pages) – ASP is Microsoft’s server-side scripting technology.  An Active Server Page has an .asp extension. ASP mixes HTML and scripting code that can be written in VBScript or Jscript

Bandwidth – Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred over your server network in a fixed amount of time. With hosting, it is usually expressed over a monthly period

Browser – Computer program that allows users to view the World Wide Web and displays the content of the webpages. Examples are Firefox, Netscape, and Internet Explorer.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) – A CSS file contains a set of design styles to be used on multiple website pages. Using an external CSS file allows for easy formatting changes without the need to make changes on every page.

CGI (Common Gateway Interface) – CGI is a standard for interfacing web servers with an executable application.  A CGI program can be written in Perl or C/C++ and it is often stored in a special directory like /cgi-bin.  CGI is often used to process data from HTML forms.

CNAME (Canonical Name) – CNAME is a record in a DNS database that indicates the true host name of any computer that its aliases are associated with. A computer hosting a Web site must have an IP address in order to be connected to the World Wide Web. The DNS resolves the computer’s domain name to its IP address, but sometimes more than one domain name resolves to the same IP address. This is where the CNAME is useful. A machine can have an unlimited number of CNAME aliases, but a separate CNAME record must be in the database for each alias.

DNS (Domain Name System) – Internet service that directs domains names (see below) into corresponding IP addresses. The DNS database is distributed and replicated among many DNS servers, so when you change your domain’s IP address, the changes take a while to change on all DNS servers.

Domain name – A Domain name is an easy to remember address that can be translated by DNS (see above) into server’s IP address. Domain’s suffix indicates which TLD (Top Level Domain) it belongs to, for example .com, .gov, .org, .net, etc.

DPA (Data Protection Act) – The Data Protection Act gives you the right to know what information is held about you. It sets out rules to make sure that this information is handled properly. Read more information about the DPA here

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) – An interface used to download and upload files between your computer and your web hosting area.

Host – Refers to a company who provides web hosting services.

IP Address (Internet Protocol Address) - A unique number used to identify all of the individual devices connected to the Internet. This number is usually shown in groups of numbers from 0 to 255, separated by periods, for example 150.32.244.117.

LOL – Laughing Out Loud

MySQL - One of the most popular database systems.

MX Records – An MX (mail exchange) record is an entry in your DNS file which selects a mail server to handle your domain email. This means that when someone sends an email to you@yourdomain.com the email will be delivered to the mail server specified in the MX record for yourdomain.com.

Perl - Open source CGI scripting programming language. Perl is one of the most popular web programming languages, due to its powerful text-manipulation facilities.

PHP – PHP is a free, open-source server-side scripting language. PHP code can be embedded in HTML.  PHP files usually have extensions like .php.

Propagation - The process of updating the DNS to DNS servers. This process usually concerns those who have just updated/bought/transferred a domain and can take up to 72 hours.

Pending Delete – This is the final stage before the domain is released back on to the domain market, this only occurs after quarantine.

Quarantine -This is the period after the redemption period of a domain name (see below). During this period, the domain is no longer available to the original owner to re-register, but is not yet available to the general public to purchase yet.

Redemption – The redemption period is a domain registry period that occurs when a domain name is deleted after having expired. Rather than deleting your domain, the existing registry keeps a hold on the domain name. During this redemption period, the original owner of the domain can retrieve the domain from deletion by contacting their registrar (in your case, this is likely to be 123-reg).

Registrar - this is who you have bought, or technically registered, your domain with. And hopefully this is 123-reg!

Spam – Spam emails are sent to a big list unsolicited, usually selling something you have no interest in!

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) - SSL encrypts data that should be protected while transferring over the internet, such as credit card numbers, by using https protocol.

TLD (Top Level Domain) - This is the domain name extension, such as .com, .org or .gov.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) – URL is the web address you type in your web browser to reach a website. The domain name you choose makes up your URL along with your TLD.

Whois – An internet service that allows obtainment of information about domain name owners.

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In our first Q&A, we asked for your questions about search engine optimisation. And we answered a couple of the most interesting ones – on password protected content and Google PageRank.

This time round, we’re bringing in a search engine advertising expert from Euston Digital to answer your questions on pay per click advertising.

Pay per click (PPC) adverts are the adverts you see displayed alongside search results in search engines like Google. We’ve written about the subject in depth before, so check out our guide if you’re new to PPC.

Send us your questions

Perhaps you already advertise your business using PPC adverts. Maybe you’re thinking of starting. Or it might be that you’re just interested in the subject.

Whatever: if you have a burning question about PPC that you want answered, just leave your question as a comment on this blog post. Like last time, we’ll pick some of the most interesting queries and get them answered.

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Last month we asked you two send us your questions about search engine optimisation. Here’s the second in our series of answers.

As before, I spoke to one of the SEO experts behind InstantTraffic, our SEO service, to get a comprehensive answer.

What is Google PageRank all about?

Ian Ripper from Wheatland Farm sent us a message asking about Google PageRank:

Something I don’t understand about Google PageRank. Am I ranked in relation to my keywords? Obviously my site is of some relevance (and hence ranking) relating to what I do (self catering holidays) but it if no relevance for widget making. Is my PR of 3 related to keywords I optimise for?

Our answer

Your Google PageRank bears no relation to your keywords at all. PageRank is simply a measure of the ‘link juice’ of each of your web pages.

Your PageRank gets boosted when other websites link to you. That’s because Google regards a link to your site as a vote for your site.

The influence each individual link has on your overall PageRank depends how Google views the website linking to you. Highly ranked, big hitting websites will likely have more of an affect on your PageRank than unknown sites which have a low PageRank themselves. Read the rest of this entry »

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A couple of weeks back I asked you to submit your questions on search engine optimisation. There was a decent response and I’ve now picked a few which we’ll answer individually over the next few days.

To make sure we’re giving out the best information we can, I spoke to one of the SEO experts behind our SEO service, InstantTraffic. They offered some great advice which I’ve included too.

We tried to pick what we thought were the most interesting questions we received, so sorry if yours didn’t make the cut this time.

Much of my content is for registered users only. How do I optimise it?

One of our readers, Claire, left a comment asking how Google deals with sites that require you to register before you can see all the content:

“How can I use SEO effectively, when the site requires registration and purchase of credits before you can view the material? For instance, there may be interesting content about the Titanic that customers can’t get to until they’ve registered and purchased.“

Our answer

It’s tricky to optimise sites which require visitors to register before they can view content, because Google can’t see anything which is contained in a members only area. Read the rest of this entry »

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As it’s 2009 (a New Year and all that) we’ve decided to introduce a new feature to the blog.

We’re going to run a regular Q&A piece, offering advice about building websites, running a business, choosing domain names … all the usual stuff we cover on here.

But this time we’re inviting you to send us your questions. Each time round we’ll pick some of the most interesting and post the answers up right here.

Between us we have an awful lot of experience of building and running websites, so it’s your chance to get your questions answered by some experts.

It could be something that’s been bugging you for months, a practical problem you encountered that day or just something you’ve been idly wondering about.

We can’t promise to answer all the questions we receive, but we’ll certainly pick a few of the most interesting and publish the best answers we can, right here. It’s sort of like ‘Dear Deirdre’ but for internet stuff.

For the first go, please send us your queries on search engine optimisation (SEO). Maybe you want to know how to decide which keywords to target, or how to measure your site’s current performance.

Whatever it is, you can pose your question right now. Just leave a comment on this post. Remember, it can be anything at all to do with SEO.

Once we’ve received a few queries, we’ll publish answers to the most interesting ones. So hit the comment link now.

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