Net Sixty Six’s Street Smart Signage Solution

Net Sixty Six’s new signage stands head and shoulders above the rest

NetSixtySix signage
An artist’s impression of the swish Net Sixty Six signage that will be displayed in the front window.

If you’re familiar with Central Manchester or have found us via Google Maps, you would know that Net Sixty Six SEO’s base is slap bang in the middle of our city. Unless you know where we are physically, it is a case of ‘blink and you miss it’ if you miss our HQ at 40 – 42, John Dalton Street. You may have seen our offices through the window of a Bolton-bound 37, or a Leigh-bound Vantage V1 bus. From this month, spending the best part of half an hour trying to find Net Sixty Six Towers will be over. One of our first floor windows will be adorned with Net Sixty Six’s spiffy signage. Continue reading “Net Sixty Six’s Street Smart Signage Solution”

Matt Cutts Cuts Ties With Google

Matt Cutts officially resigns from search engine and media behemoth

The Pentagon, Matt Cutts' new workplace. Image by David B. Gleason (Creative Commons License: Attribution-Share Alike).
The Pentagon, Matt Cutts’ new workplace. Image by David B. Gleason (Creative Commons License: Attribution-Share Alike).

An end of an era for Google was marked this week by a high profile departure. That of Matt Cutts, one time head of Google’s Webspam team. Today, he is now the Director of Engineering at USDS (US Digital Service). Before taking on his new role, he joined Google in 2000 where he became part of the furniture.

On the 31 December 2016, Matt Cutts handed in his resignation to the search engine and media behemoth in Stanford. A few months before then, he took a leave of absence to work for the US Digital Service. He enjoyed his brief stint and has decided to stay there. On his blog, he said:

“When I joined the US Digital Service, I only planned to stay for three months. That quickly turned into six months after I saw the impact of the USDS. In the last month, I made a big decision. On December 31, 2016, I resigned from Google.” Continue reading “Matt Cutts Cuts Ties With Google”

Now We Are Thirteen: On Friday the 13th!

Net Sixty Six at thirteen years old

Birthday Cake: Net Sixty Six at Thirteen. Image by VictoriaSky1 (via Shutterstock).
Tasty, though sadly not the birthday cake for celebrating our thirteen years in business (on Friday The 13th). This creation was photographed by VictoriaSky1 (via Shutterstock).

So to misquote our previous female Prime Minister, we have become a teenager. Yes, Net Sixty Six is thirteen years old. By rights, this means we should be sulking in our bedrooms if something goes wrong. This means we should be out chasing members of the opposite or same sex for a future significant other in later years. Or we should be fretting about our GCSEs or Key Stage 3 SATs. Continue reading “Now We Are Thirteen: On Friday the 13th!”

The Ten Commandments of Ethical Social Media Posting

Ten tips on how to make effective social media posts without offending or alienating your audience

Social Media Ten Commandments image by Kues (via Shutterstock).
Think Before You Link Or Before You Post: one ill-thought out post could be ruinous to your professional or personal reputation. Image by Kues (via Shutterstock).

You may have come across this familiar phrase in your time. The author of this piece most certainly has: “Engage Brain Before Putting Mouth into Gear”. One of his ex-teachers had the sign above the chalkboard. He would have said to any pupil (about to put his or her foot in it): “Read the sign, Boy (or Girl).” Imagine if Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, et al had this sign at the top of their pages. There could be fewer libellous tweets or salacious memes. There’s no way that any social media related sites from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe would do this. There would be cries of ‘censorship’ from Aberdeen to Zennor. Continue reading “The Ten Commandments of Ethical Social Media Posting”

Good vs. Bad SEO Key Differences

seo

There has always been a battle in the Marketing industry between good and bad SEO, white-hat vs. black-hat techniques, ethical vs. non-ethical etc. Google and the many Search Engines have constantly evolved their algorithms to deter people from deliberately manipulating their websites in an attempt to gain higher rankings. Following Google’s Webmaster Guidelines will help their ‘spiders’ to find, index, and rank your site. Continue reading “Good vs. Bad SEO Key Differences”

How Search Works – An Infographic

Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes at Google every time somebody clicks that search button? Here at Net Sixty Six SEO we have put together an infographic which outlines the steps taken by Google to deliver relevant search results in lightning quick times. From the algorithms to the search results, we give a breakdown of each point and have even included a couple of interesting facts along the way.  Continue reading “How Search Works – An Infographic”

Investigatory Powers Bill Granted Royal Assent

How the Investigatory Powers Bill could affect the way we browse and do business

Investigatory powers Big Ben image by Richard Waters (via Shutterstock).
Snooper’s Charter Succeeds: The Investigatory Powers Bill will become law on the 01 March 2017. Image by Richard Waters (via Shutterstock).

It’s December 2017. Imagine you’re buying Christmas presents online, a rather innocent pursuit. You have also got YouTube on in the background and you’re listening to a rather outspoken rock group. Then you check your smartphone and find somebody has sent you a risque picture on Snapchat. Normally, you would think nobody is watching you. But from March 2017 (several months before this scenario), this could happen, thanks to the Investigatory Powers Bill.

Continue reading “Investigatory Powers Bill Granted Royal Assent”

Have you noticed ghost spam in Your Google Analytics data?

LinksFighting spam has always been a hard-fought, epic battle which has still yet to be conquered successfully. Google Analytics is one of the leading tools available for gathering and analysing data about your website but unfortunately, its data been compromised in the past through various hackers. This has left many website owners frustrated and confused about how to interpret their reports, since it was not known whether their statistics were not a true reflection of actual website traffic.

Back in 2014, several bots (website crawlers used by Search Engines) were hacked to visit websites and leave fake referral data within the Analytics reporting. Since then, there have been many similar instances from various sources including fake organic search terms or fake events being reported. Whilst Google’s spam defences are always improving, the fight is a tough one for  them. By not discussing their tactics and strategies to overcome this problem, they are keeping their security systems private, away from the hackers prying ears. Continue reading “Have you noticed ghost spam in Your Google Analytics data?”

The Impact of Voice Search for SEO

There has been a sharp increase in voice search queries being carried out instead of the traditional typed search queries. Voice search is now the fastest growing search technique for users, since it has many benefits for people. It is quicker, easier and more natural to speak to your mobile rather than having to manually type in the keyword(s) you require. Continue reading “The Impact of Voice Search for SEO”

Seven Shopping Days Till Manchester’s Christmas Markets

Highly popular Christmas Markets only a week away

Manchester Christmas Markets image, Albert Square.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, after Christmas: the iconic Manchester Christmas Markets. Image by Andrew Stawarz (Creative Commons License: Some Rights Reserved-No Derivatives).

On the 10 November, Manchester’s popular Christmas Markets will be back, and the team at Net Sixty Six SEO cannot wait! For many people, it is the curtain raiser to many a Christmas celebration. At this very moment, the market’s distinctive wooden stalls are being assembled on Brazenose Street. Continue reading “Seven Shopping Days Till Manchester’s Christmas Markets”

Manchester Welcomes Oktoberfest

Meanwhile, the team at Net Sixty Six SEO Towers yearn to wear lederhosen and carry beer steins in Albert Square

Oktoberfest food and drink image by Timolina.
Traditional German food and drink: thanks to Manchester’s Oktoberfest, traditional Bavarian delights are a short bus, train, or tram ride away to Albert Square. Image by Timolina (via Shutterstock).

Only days after the Heroes Parade, Net Sixty Six are once at the heart of all the action in Manchester. Since Wednesday, some of our team have fancied donning the lederhosen, schunkeln, and imbibing some of Munich’s finest exports. Yes, after the triumphant success of the Heroes Parade which took part in Manchester City Centre earlier this week, another event is coming to our home city.

Continue reading “Manchester Welcomes Oktoberfest”

Penguin 4.0 Goes for Real Time Updates

How Google’s Penguin 4.0 update differs from its predecessors

Four penguins (well, for a piece on Penguin 4.0, it is appropriate).
Search engine results, as it happens: Penguin 4.0 is set to create drastic changes to the way in which Google indexes our websites. Image by Fieldwork (via Shutterstock).

Ladies and Gentlemen: it gives us great pleasure to announce that the days of big bang Google updates are over. Long live the Penguin. Woah, stop there…! Before you reach for the champagne, Prosecco or fizzy Vimto, we at Net Sixty Six SEO would like to tell you about a new kind of Google update. Let us introduce you to Penguin 4.0. Continue reading “Penguin 4.0 Goes for Real Time Updates”

Mobilegeddon 2: Attack of the Mobile Ads

January 2017 return of mobilegeddon sees blitz on intrusive mobile adverts

Mobilegeddon 2 Blog Post Image
Stand By For Action: the much-vaunted Mobilegeddon 2 will deliver an improved user experience by early-2017. Image by Vasabii (via Shutterstock).

Monday, 10 January 2017 is set to be an important date for web developers all over the world. From that day forward, Google is about to unleash its second most significant algorithm update since April 2015. April 2015’s update – dubbed as Mobilegeddon – was the first Google update to up the ante on websites that use responsive web design. Continue reading “Mobilegeddon 2: Attack of the Mobile Ads”

SEO After Brexit: Techniques and Trends

How Britain post-Brexit could have an effect on search engine optimisation, its trends, techniques, and the industry itself

Brexit map by Nikola93
Living on an Island: how Brexit is set to pose a challenge for search engine optimisation techniques and the state of the industry. Image by Nikola93 (via Shutterstock).

What interesting times we are living in right now. Firstly, Thursday’s EU Referendum returned a narrow victory for leaving the EU (Leave 52%, Remain 48%). Secondly, at this time of writing, we have seen two high profile resignations. One being the Prime Minister, David Cameron, and England manager Roy Hodgson (for his unexpected result in the bagging area). Though Brexit seems inevitable, Cameron has left the job of confirming this to his successor. So for now, Britain is an EU Member State. Furthermore, a referendum isn’t as legally binding as a General Election, so the results could be void. Continue reading “SEO After Brexit: Techniques and Trends”

Dr. Google’s Casebook: Google Symptom Search

Could Google’s symptom search be the right prescription for authoritative medical sources?

Waiting Room (Google symptom search image).
Handy: Google’s symptom search aims to make possible diagnoses easier. Image of waiting room by Toey Toey (via Shutterstock).

The internet, besides being a fine place for buying and selling, dating, travel planning, and cat pictures, is a popular source for looking at medical conditions. Anyone searching for details on a given condition or symptom would find themselves bombarded with several sources. In the UK we have the NHS’ own sources. We also have WebMD, an American site with a British version (promoted by Boots The Chemist). Hypochondriacs needn’t consult the Pears Medical Encyclopaedia, nor go to the reference library. Continue reading “Dr. Google’s Casebook: Google Symptom Search”

Google Ads Go Green – and Purple

Google Ads tabs change from yellow to green, whilst purple map advertising pins are introduced

Google Ads blog post image
Lost in the online supermarket? The new-look Google Ads tags will be easier to pick out than the previous colour. Image by Tzido Sun (via Shutterstock).

After a successful trial, Google Ads tabs are set to go green for good. Google Ads tabs have been part of the search engine’s results since 2013 when they were originally yellow (with “ad” in black text). In April of this year, Google experimented with green tabs and white text. Continue reading “Google Ads Go Green – and Purple”

Yoast Boost Sees Grammar Rule the Roost

Update to popular WordPress plugin sees greater emphasis on spelling, punctuation, and grammar as well as SEO techniques

Yoast Grammar image by Luna2631.
Good grammar is next to godliness: the latest additions by Yoast sees good grammar at the forefront. Image by Luna2631 (via Shutterstock).

The Yoast SEO plugin has received a major update this week. Version 3.3 sees the addition of spelling, punctuation, and grammar features to its plugin. Till the release of 3.3, Yoast could calculate the Flesch Reading Ease score of your post or page. From 3.3 onwards, content creators can see how the Flesch score is calculated. For all languages, Yoast 3.3 is able to check: Continue reading “Yoast Boost Sees Grammar Rule the Roost”