Webtistic is growing and we require the services of a full-time, permanent PHP developer to join our talented team in Derby.

About the job:

As well as being infatuated with internet marketing, we run a number of internal projects including web applications, affiliate websites, proprietory tools, mini-sites, etc.

The role of the incoming person would be to work with the marketing team on conceptualising, developing and managing core projects across a wide range of sectors.

Required Skills:

• extensive knowledge of PHP, HTML, and CSS programming
• understanding of API
• understanding of XML, jQuery
• desire to remain current with new cutting-edge programming technologies
• a full understanding of start-to-finish project management and the development process
• strong communication skills
• the ability to work as a part of a busy team

I’ve pulled together a few of our favourite tools that we have found to improve efficiency within our team over the past 6 months. Some of these tools have enabled us to save many man hours that we would usually be lost from day to day, most of these tools are free to use with some having limitations dependant on the type of use.

Toggl, The Online Time Tracking Tool

Dave, the MD at Webtistic discovered Toggl a few months ago and we have found it to be a fab tool for tracking the time spent of designated tasks and for improving the overall effiency of the team. We downloaded and installed the Toggl Desktop software free version but there are paid plans available with more advanced features.

In a busy, thriving office environment where you’re multitasking it’s difficult to recall exactly how long you spent on a specific task such as taking telephone calls or answering an urgent email but with Toggl you are able to create individual tasks and switch easily between them, thus enabling the ability to track everything with a single click. You can then view various charts online and interpret the data in the ways you wish. We have found to be very useful in informing our weekly meetings

We have found it a great tool for tracking the time spent on SEO milestones. This enables us to accurately and confidently invoice SEO clients on a monthly basis thus eleveating the worry that wasted time or interruptions don’t become part of the client’s invoice.

Through Toggl, all the time spent on various daily tasks are monitored. This should then provide the basis for improved productivity as you can go on to analyse exactly where time is being spent and where you can allocate time more efficiently.

Toggl is also available as an application on smart phones such as Android and iPhones downloadable from the iTunes store or Android Market Place. It’s also available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Ease of use 8/10
Time saving 9/10
Making efficient use of your team 10/10

Dropbox, Simple Tool To Share, Store And Sync Files Online

Dropbox has been installed on our desktops as a way for us to easily share and update files that are used within our office on a daily basis. The contents of the Dropbox folder automatically synchronises between everyone in the office. This eradicates the mundane task of emailing files to each other for updating and checking and allows for a single copy to be stored that can be edited, accessed and saved by everyone remotely on the Dropbox server. You might be thinking, ‘What if I delete a file by accident?’. Well, you can undelete files by logging in to the Dropbox site where you can also view changes to documents that have previously been edited.

For us Dropbox has cut out the need for sending documents internally via email and the fact we can can all edit the one document stored on the Dropbox server is proving to be a great efficient tool for us. I’m pretty sure the standard free 2 GB storage allowance is adequate for the majority of smaller set-ups but this obviously depends on the file types that are being stored on the server. Dropbox runs in the background on your desktop and simply works like any other folder saved.

Ease of use 8/10
Time saving 7/10
Making efficient use of your team 8/10

TeamViewer

TeamViewer simply allows you to take control of another computer so it enables you to remotely control a client’s computer to give them a tutorial, presentation or to assist with a technical enquiry.

Taking control of another PC is straight forward as no software installation is required as long as you run the application on both sides. We also had no problem with firewalls blocking the application unlike other similar applications.

In addition you can transfer files using the drag and drop functionality. Dragging a file to a partner’s screen during a remote support session will automatically initiate a file transfer, placing the file on the user’s desktop.

TeamViewer is available on Windows, Mac, Linux and as a Mobile Application and we are currently trialling this free for personal use to decide if it will enhance the support we offer our clients. The early signs are that this could potentially save an incredible amount of time with regards to solving client’s technical problems.

Ease of use 8/10
Time saving 10/10
Making efficient use of your team 6/10

Google Calendar

Google calendar is available for free and enables you to set up a calendar for your business and can be shared with each member of the team. This enables you to keep track of meetings, deadlines, scheduled telephone calls and various other events. You are able to assign different colours to staff so that you can differentiate who is responsible for carrying out a specific event or task at any given time.

If you’re organising a special event, the calendar enables you to invite colleagues to a function and they can reply even though they don’t use Google calendar. Google calendar will then track accepted invitations.

You can get event reminders sent directly to your mobile phone or sent straight to your inbox and the calendar is easily accessed from the Google homepage but in order to use this you must sign up with a Google account.

We have found Google Calendar really useful when setting deadlines for clients and is a great way to see exactly who is in the office on any given day in terms of staff holidays etc…

Ease of use 8/10
Time saving 8/10
Making efficient use of your team 8/10

Skype and MSN

Both of these are web-based internet applications that are widely used and are better known than the other tools mentioned above but with our business being based in Derby, UK we have many clients and partners whom are London based so the video chat functionality is very useful. Both of these tools allow file sharing but in my opinion is that Dropbox offers a more simplistic answer.

Using Skype you can have a video conference and we find it’s a great alternative to business trips, helping you work together and make decisions while spending more time being productive in the office. Both tools are cost effective as the only outgoing are your internet costs providing you make your call through the connection using the webcam, microphone and speakers.

Both of these tools allow you efficiently to make quick contact with people. We also use it for communicating with staff working outside of the office. Furthermore you can leave staff messages which they can retrieve the next time they login.

I’m a big fan of both these tools and this is why we have awarded them nearly 5 stars.

Ease of use 9/10
Time saving 8/10
Making efficient use of your team 9/10

I would like to open with asking you all to give a very warm welcome to the newest member of the webtistic team here in Derby…. Nisha.

Nisha Kaushal has come to us from a University background where

she completed a degree in Marketing Management. Perfect for us as she is

becoming a solid part of our SEO team.

Before she started with us here, she worked on customer service with Severn Trent Water… I think we’ll all agree this is a step up.

So to give her a proper Webtistic welcome we have decided to give her some space on the blog here and give all you eager readers a bit of an insight into our newest team member..

So without further ado, we commence with the interrog…. interview.

So Nisha, lets give the blog readers a little bit of an insight into you as the latest member of the team.

Can you describe yourself for us in just 5 words?
Caring, funny, creative, happy and honest

Thanks for that, nice choice, you’ve been here a week now, so we’ll come back to these questions in a few months, see if we all still agree.

Moving on, can you tell us about the most interesting trip you have ever taken, and just a little bit about what made it so good?
Hmmm I’ve not been many places, but one place I have been that was interesting, and a great experience was Malaysia.
I went there with a charity to do volunteer work for 10 weeks, this was very challenging and a big step for me, I went on my own without any friends or family and I came back having learnt so much about myself.

Wow, that sounds fantastic. I’m sure that was quite daunting, having to be out there on your own.

If you had a million dollars how would you spend it?
So … what to do with a million pounds . . . hmm I think I would of course give some money to my parents and family, and close friends and then I would, invest! Finally, I would like to go on a world tour and see everything I’ve dreamt of.

How about, 5 random facts about yourself? Things that we would never find out.
I once got my finger caught in my mums sewing machine, it was very painful!
I use to be in a dance group when I was younger and I went around the midlands performing
I love beetroot and cheese sandwiches!
Me and my brother were born on the same day, but 4 years apart
The first song I ever brought was a cassette by Baz Luhrmann, Sunscreen (yes embarrassing I know!)

What is your Favourite Colour?
Blue

If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?
I would be a bird. The thought of being free, overlooking everything and traveling anywhere and everywhere would be a great feeling.

On a scale of 1-10, how Weird are you?
6
Only a 6? I’m sure a minimum of 8 is required to work here.. Might need to look into this.

On a scale of 1-10 how Happy are you?
7
You’ve only been here a week, give it time, we’ll have you at a 10.

Well, now we know just about everything about you, We are looking forward to having you as an integral part of the team here.

You’re currently training with Alex at the moment, so it won’t be long before we see you getting out into the wide world of SEO.

So welcome To Webtistic, we all look forward to having you on the team.

Quora is the phenomenon that is appearing on everyones lips when they talk about microblogging and FAQ’s.
We’re going to take a short look at the new phenomenon that is Quora and while I take you through it we will look at it’s potential for link building.

What is Quora?
Quora is a relatively new concept in the question and answer niche of social media that was developed by 2 former facebookers. It is unique in that it allows users to submit questions in a very simple, twitter-esque manner which the Quora community as a whole can then offer answers to.
Once an answer has been submitted, the general Quora populace can then rank answers by way of a simple up and down arrow to determine an answers accuracy, relevance to the question asked and usefulness.

The beauty of Quora is it’s simplicity, if you’ve got a question you really need an answer to it is really just a matter of a few moments to log in and type your question into the ‘unibox’ at the top of the site, and while this seems pretty simple and straightforward, Quora has another trick up its sleeve.

When you enter a question, Quora doesn’t immediately ask that question to the community, first thing it does is search for anyone who may have already submitted your question, or a similar question. This way you might be able to get an answer straight away, and by removing that annoying wait as the community ponders your question Quora suddenly becomes much more useful, and it’s branding as a take on the quick and easy world of microblogging comes into it’s own.

Ok. You’re convinced, Quora is useful, but why use it?

Why not? There are lots of ways to use Quora to your benefit, and, even though quora ‘no-follows’ any links within answers and on profiles, you can still use it, it just takes a little bit more imagination:

Quora is the perfect place to be helpful, if you have an outgoing personality and you enjoy solving peoples problems for them, get yourself on there now.
By offering useful and good quality content you can position yourself in your chosen market and you instantly become an expert in that field, especially as anything you write is visible on your profile, your target audience is, by definition reading your answers and if you put site links and other social media links in your profile you will invariably build traffic.

I have already mentioned that your target audience is already there, and it’s never been more true. Quora allows you to attach your Facebook and Twitter accounts to Quora and link to your contacts already on the service. It forces the social media onto you, making you utilise the networking aspects that Quora has built into it’s structure. As with any social media site, remember to be a human being. There’s nothing worse than having all these networking tools at your fingertips and ignoring them.

The Rules:
The rules of Quora are controlled by the populace, there is nothing that can’t be posted provided it adds value to the site and to the question you’re answering. You can not only vote on content as I discussed earlier, but you can edit it as well, making a not so relevant answer much more relevant and claiming the credit for it.

Make sure you take the time to learn the etiquette however, there is nothing worse than jumping in head first and permanently ruining whatever personal brand you are trying to set up.

Summing up.
So to close, if you’re looking to build links, Quora’s strict policy on nofollowing any external link makes it’s direct link building potential limited, however, connecting with communities builds links in itself and for the purpose of traffic building, Quora can be extremely useful.

Don’t post useless content, and don’t rehash the same data over and over as all this sits on your profile for the world to see.

Do get involved, show the world that you have something interesting to add and you will build your reputation as an authority in addition to traffic to your sites as people look to learn more about you.

My top tip for Quora: Stop reading this blog and get yourself an account.

Start reading and finding your way around and before you know it you’ll be networking and building traffic.

Update: As we suspected yesterday, there has been an update to the Google pagerank toolbar. This is the first update to the publically displayed pagerank in nearly a year. Webtistic were the first to broadcast this update so keep an eye on this blog to stay ahead in the future.

Here at the Webtistic offices we have noticed early indicators that a pagerank toolbar update by Google may well be taking place as I type this.

We have recently noticed a change to the pagerank of our own site has over the past few hours and it may well show that a full update of the pagerank toolbar may well be underway.

Pagerank is the method with which Google determines how valuable a page is to the web community. There has been talk for some time over whether or not pagerank will be scrapped by Google as a reporting system, in favour of other methods of determining a page’s value.

If this is a major update to the system it shows that Google is interested in publicly displaying the pagerank structure at least for the time being.

We will offer a further update confirming our suspicions as we learn more.

Well, as you may or may not have noticed, blog posting on the site here has picked up rather a lot of late.
That’s because our almighty leader Dave decided it would be a good idea for us all to do a post here each week. Which is all well and good, but trying to find interesting content to write about… well that’s a bit harder. So I thought I’d step away from the world of SEO for a week and give you all an insight into what it’s like working for Webtistic, seeing as I’m the resident newbie at the moment.

Before I talk about Webtistic itself, a little bit about me;  I’ve been working here for just over a month now, but I’ve been involved in the industry for some time, having previously managed my own web based business and including a portion of SEO to developing that in the past.
My primary interest before joining the team here was in the design phase of the internet, and I have worked on design for my County Council as well as other local government sites.

So onto more serious matters of starting with the company.
It’s been a steep learning curve to get used to the systems that I’m going to be using on a daily basis, a note to everyone, starting a new job with a busy company just after the summer break is not the best idea in the world. I managed to come to the company just as business started to get back into full swing.
So yes, it’s been hectic, can’t say it’s not been fun so far as well though, being one of the smaller companies doing this gives us a much closer knit workforce and makes things a lot less formal, our regular Monday morning meetings are always good fun and there’s nothing like a bit of banter to start each week off on a good note.

One thing those of you who keep up with the company will know is that we moved into a new office a couple of weeks ago, I’ve attached a picture so you can all see the lovely new office. I know I’ve only been with the company for a few short weeks but I’m still getting used to the office here, it’s comfortable, quite spacious, and we have a huge window so there’s plenty of light.

My desk is in between Dave and James so my sanity is at risk on a daily basis. I’m keeping it in check at the moment but I don’t know how long I’ll last before I succumb to their insanity.

I think one of the key advantages of being part of a smaller company is the freedom it gives all of us to suggest ideas and new ‘projects’ at any time. Which is great, but I do blame some of the current workload on the fact that the ideas do flow quite freely, we’re lucky that the team is so imaginative, but the ambition might not be such a good thing.

So anyway, I’m really getting stuck into picking up the advanced SEO techniques we use here at Webtistic, and we’re currently investigating how we can improve our use of social media. We’re all very familiar with blogs and forums, but some of the more specific access routes such as Twitter and Facebook definitely need improvement. So watch this space.

I know I’ve not spoken much about specifics, but then, I don’t think you all want to know my daily schedule. Suffice to say this screen occupies my eyes most of the day, as you would expect, and the netbook you see in the image above is my secondary machine which we use for most of our article writing and submissions, makes everything much easier having it all on a separate machine.

So there you have it, a little insight into what it’s like working for Webtistic, expect updates to this on a fairly regular basis.

See you next week.

So, you want to get your video onto the first page of a Google search but  how do you actually do it?

Video SEO is an emerging art form and many more people are realising the benefit of video to promote products and services.

Video marketing however, is a whole different kettle of fish and that’s something we’re not going to consider with this entry.

Video SEO requires you to put a lot more emphasis on the text that you have surrounding your video rather than the video itself. Because a video file contains so much data, the search engine spiders that crawl through the web can’t analyse the video itself, so if you’re going to get your video ranking on Google, you’re going to have to think a little bit outside the box.

As video quality doesn’t matter to the spiders it’s important to make sure that your text surrounding the video is of a high quality, this ranges from the title you choose, to the description you give your video, to the tags or meta elements you assign to the video when it is published.

As with anything search ranking related, we don’t really know how Google ranks videos in its engine, this is something we can only speculate about and we consider factors of both on page and off page traditional SEO when we look at how to rank a video.

Starting with on page techniques, as we mentioned previously, the title and description sections of the video must be of a high relevancy, and you need to make sure that they are keyword rich, and this can be matched up with any tags you have assigned to the video in question. These elements all add up to note the relevance of the video and in turn the video will  have an increased likelihood of being ranked within Gooogle’s blended results.

The rating the video has been given added to the number of views the video has received also appear to play a big part in how a video is ranked.

Search engines primarily work to give the user what they are looking for. So if you have 2 video’s and one is 10 minutes long, has a rating of 3 out of 5 and 500,000 views  and another, with a rating of 5, but it’s half an hour long and only 5 views. Google is more likely to rank the first video, purely because it seems to be more of what the user is looking for.

Another tactic that is becoming more and more predominant in the world of video SEO is the addition of transcriptions to videos published online.

We already know that the content of the video itself isn’t able to be processed by the serch engine spiders, but, a transcription of the video content IS able to be processed and that in itself, provided the transcription is relevant to the rest of the indexed content.

So when you’re starting out with SEO on your videos make sure you make the most of the on page options you’re given. Ensure that keywords are optimised for your content and that you consider the 4 factors of: Title, Description, Rating and Views.  By using all these factors and optimising for them as much as you can, you will have the best chance of having your video rated on the top search engines.

***EDIT – This is of course an April Fool on behalf of our client Shinyshack.com! I know none of you super-smart readers fell for it anyway… right? We will be adding a summary of the exposure, traffic, and links generated by this (slightly controversial) idea.

Online gift retailer ShinyShack are causing quite a stir with a very unusual gift idea; their new ‘Perpetual Puppy’ product, as seen here: Unusual Gifts

The basic premise is that you buy a real, living, wagging, woofing puppy aged 3-months, and then, when it reaches 9 months old, the purchaser has the option of trading the puppy in for a replacement 3-month old puppy. Customers are even rewarded with loyalty savings should they decide to opt for a replacement.

When asked, Tamer Shafik (MD of ShinyShack) defended the ‘product’ with the folowing quote:

“The real attraction of the Perpetual Puppy is that once the dog becomes too large, it can easily be replaced with another easily-manageable puppy. We believe this will help to lower the numbers of unwanted dogs in society due to people losing interest in their dogs, or due to an inability to handle the commitment that larger dogs require.”

Customers currently have the option of three breeds, the Yorkshire Terrier, the Basset Hound and the Chocolate Labrador, but the question remains as to how the reurned pooch’s will be re-homed.

This is certainly likely to continue to be controversial, and so I will be keeping a close eye on the fallout it is bound to create.

Whatever next!?

Related Post: 10 Gift Ideas That Will Make Your Friends Hate You

One of the most frequent complaints fired at professional SEO companies is the lack of client communication, interaction and a lack of useful project reporting.

So, us Webtistic types have made absolutely sure that we satisfy all of these factors with the launch of our new ‘SEO Client Reporting Suite‘.

All of our clients now have real-time access to a wealth of live project features including time-logs, milestones, strategy calendars, file uploads, results, progress reports, and private discussion facilities.

Clients can be involved as much, or as little as they like.

Here are a few screenies from a demo project:

Client Home Page:

Project Time-Logs:

Milestones/Tasks/Strategy Calendar:

Want to hear more about our super-dooper SEO services? Contact us.

I was quite sorry to hear that Latitude, the UK online marketing company were placed into administration recently.

I have a couple of good friends over at Latitude including one who has ‘forced’ me to consume too much alcohol on more than one occasion and so I just hope that their jobs are safe. It seems that Vitruvian, its private equity owner have already negotiated a pre-packaged buy-back of the positive assets, so I doubt little will change in real terms, but I thought it very interesting nevertheless.

I would imagine that the new sleeker (and less debt-burden) Latitude will continue to be a force, but it goes to show that being a small company (4 people and 2 dachshunds), as we are, is not always a bad thing.

Moving on, I thought I would see, in this world of brand protection, how Google’s new turbo-charged news feeds would see it, and only one word can describe it….OUCH!

As you can see, when you enter the brand term ‘Latitude’ the first position on the Google SERPS is broadcasting to the world (courtesy of the Telegraph) how they have gone bust! For a massive SEO company, there is an irony there, and not a particularly pleasant one.

Couple that with the fantastic news (via the Adwords ad) that Latitude have recenty announced funding to ‘accelerate growth’ and you can see what a calamity looks like!

Anyway, enough on this. I hope the guys over there sort this out, and that as many jobs as possible can be saved.