Let’s start with the disclaimer. I am not in favour of a single company, service, product, whatever, dominating the scene.

Now to the ‘but’.

But Google is a very good search engine. I don’t like the fact that it inflates my rankings if I search whilst logged on to my Google account, but I love the fact that this post will appear on Google almost immediately. I realise that part of that process is due to WordPress and its plugins, but quite simply it suits my needs and my customers’ too.

Sarah Treble’s New Website

Exeter’s Design Credo have recently created a website for Sarah Treble, the renowned wedding dress designer now based in the South West. Whilst Sarah already had a website it wasn’t performing well particularly with search engines,

“I can’t even find myself unless I put my name in.”

Well, we are both extremely pleased with the results. Almost overnight Sarah’s ranking for key search terms improved with key phrases such as “bespoke dresses devon” putting Sarah at position two on the front page of Google. Removing Devon from the search string “bespoke dresses” still delivers a respectable third page Google result.

Somewhat surprisingly (for me anyway) “treble” returns a position two result on the front page of Google.

So how do we know this?

Firstly we make an educated guess about what terms people might use to search. We then reverse search and see how we do.

However Google provides some pretty good free tools help to collect and analyse useful SEO data. These tools not unsurprisingly are known as Webmaster Tools.

What these tools do is to allow us to see what keywords people may be using to search for our site. Sometimes there are some surprises such as ‘treble’. More surprisingly the observant may have noticed that ‘trebble’ appears on the list and searching for ‘trebble’ Google prompts us for a miss-spell.

The webmaster tools goes beyond simple keyword analysis though. It enables us to check the site’s HTML and allows us to see whether the SEO aids such as meta descriptions and page titles are all correctly added.

This is all free, you can do it yourself, but at DesignCredo it is very much all part of the Website Design Package that we offer to our customers

I know, I think it is some sort of hip ’60s place for cool guys to live in, probably split level and open plan. Maybe Chelsea or possibly off Wardour St. Yes, on occasions an iPad would be a great place to crash out but who needs a home when there is a life to be had?

Well I’ve just been to the Apple shop in Exeter, you know, the place with the impromptu Post Office style queuing area outside? All the more incongruous for it’s lack of waiting people other than the gaggle of previously imprinted pensioners with their paperwork at the ready.

A sudden moment of awkwardness as I attempt to enter the shop, is it invitation only? Oh god, the public shame of not being invited again. From the door, in spite of the “T-shirted One’s” interjection, I could see my quarry, the iPad. There was one free, it was mine to iNvestigate.
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Exeter graphic design company Design Credo have produced new signage to advertise commercial office space in Marsh Barton, Exeter.

Working on behalf of Turner-Locker the Exeter based commercial property agency, Design Credo have used a strong visual impact to promote the office space at Merriot House in Hennock Road Central.

The sign was created using both digital output and vinyl graphics allowing it to be re-purposed at a later date.

Exeter graphic design company Design Credo have produced a new brochure for the Podium @ Renslade House, the commercial office facility near Exe Bridges at the heart of Exeter.

Working on behalf of Turner-Locker the Exeter based commercial property agency, Alder King and Urbina the project has so far included photography, branding and graphic design.

Renslade House offers a prime office location with excellent location and varied transport options. the building has benefitted from recent refurbishments and offers great possibilities for a wide range of organisations. Renslade House already has a number of high profile occupants.
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Geeks Get Funny

An overview of PubSubHubbub, a simple, open, web-hook-based pubsub protocol & open source reference implementation. Brett Slatkin and Brad Fitzpatrick demonstrate what PubSubHubbub is and how it works. For more information, visit pubsubhubbub.googlecode.com.

This is a genuinely amusing video explaining some incredibly useful technology.

PS: OK, cut to the chase. I have published this article 4 minutes ago and I can reverse search it on Google…nuff said?

PubSubHubbub What it is, how it works | Design Credo’s WordPress …

23:2210 Apr 2010 …

An overview of PubSubHubbub, a simple, open, web-hook-based pubsub protocol & open source reference implementation.

designcredo.co.uk/…/what-is-pubsubhubbub/?…pubsubhubbub – 6 minutes ago

(It took two minutes to write this)

PPS: In addition if I Google ‘PubSubHubbub + exeter’ Design Credo is numero-uno. This is hopefully getting the point across that Google rank and organic search engine marketing is far from static. The background conditions are constantly changing, the challenge is to make best advantage of it.

This is a development of the reply that I made the other day about getting a good Google response to your blog.

Search Engine Marketing is a must if you are to going to get people to view any website. Nowadays everyone seems to be an SEO specialist, at least they do in Exeter and Devon, I imagine it is the same throughout he UK.

I am more aware of the abilities of WordPress than other blogging platforms so this is what I will use as my reference point. I have to say that I am totally enamoured with WordPress, I think it is great, but first a bit of general knowledge.

WordPress comes in two distinct flavours

1. .com Most people start with a free WordPress blog which you can start straight away and I would recommend you to go and sign up. If you blog a for a while and chose to migrate to self-hosted this can be easily done.
2. .org If you have access to hosting then self-hosted blogs open up a world of possibilities. You will need hosting with a database which is necessary to store all of the posts, images, comments and information about the site. My hosting supplier now throws one in with even the starter hosting package. You don’t really need to understand about databases (MySQL) but it can be quite interesting looking around, seeing how all of the data and information is organised.

WordPress can be thought of as a modular entity.

1. Core
   The site itself, everything that is needed to make it work. This includes a user friendly interface that will allow you to update the site without knowing about web deign.
2. Themes
   There are a huge number of available themes that make the basic WP blog look different (1 column, 2 column, colours styling etc.)
3. Plugins
   These add to the functionality of the blog, they make it do more things, (display images in galleries, add contact forms, etc. )

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Share this is great but could anyone answer this?

In this WordPress blog I use the “Share This” plugin on. However I have noticed that if I put SEO in the blog title the Share This button doesn’t work, see;

http://designcredo.co.uk/sites/wordpress/2010/03/06/seo-test/ (SEO in the title),

and

http://designcredo.co.uk/sites/wordpress/2010/03/06/abs-test/ (Exactly the same post with ABS replacing SEO in the title)

Is there an innocent reason for this?

Exeter SEO company masscommunication company say;

Search engine optimisation will make your website work for you by improving your Google search page position and rank.

If you are in Exeter or Devon call us, we get great first page results.

We at Design Credo say, happy new logo…

‘Plasma cutting education’ or ‘Plasma cutter education’ is getting great Google results within a couple of weeks of their new website being uploaded by Design Credo. Subsitute school for education and the results will be similar, Techserv is tops on the UK Google search.

This plasma cutter is a great machine, an ideal way to deliver ICT Control education as well as being an ideal Technology department tool and is finding its way into many schools as well as FE and HE facilities.

Yorkshire based Techserv looked to Design Credo to update their website. As well as updating the site-design we have looked at the search-ability of the site in particular the way that keywords are employed throughout the site.

Further to this we have taken an overview of the existing online activities that Techserv are involved in and are looking at ways that this can be united and improved.

Techserv Twitter

Techserv are also using social networking on their website. This allows rapid updates and exchanges of information, within hours of the site being uploaded Techserv was being followed by people with CNC interests

As if that isn’t enough good news we are pleased to hear that they have received a quote request for a plasma cutting machine through the website form, within a week of the site being uploaded

Search Engine Optimisation or SEO brings Beyoncé to Exeter? Yep if you’ve been following so far, “Beyoncé to help in light household duties” now seems to rank in the top three of a Googlé search.

Update – “Beyoncé Exeter” now position 2
Update – Now position 1

Further to this I am eagerly expecting people to fulfil my desires for a Leica M9 and a Colnago Mexico due to similarly high rankings for search strings.

So what’s this all about?

It started as a bit of a joke, I noticed that cigar smoking football players seemed to rank highly as search strings for The Design Credo WordPress blog (this is not a group that I have previously had an interest in). So checking it out, this was in fact true (by accident) as explained in my earlier post.
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