Google officially declared a rank algorithm update on 24th April, 2012 which is widely recognized as Google Penguin Update. Though I have not discovered any kind of official reference about the name “Penguin” however anyway, the title is not seems too bad. The algorithm change has affected approx 3% of the English searched results as declared in their own blog. However this is basically a more intelligent version of their prior update known as Panda and the result of each of these update has changed approx 15% of the search outcomes. At present that’s a dramatic change.

Based on my research and analysis over the time, I have noticed that the update mainly affected following 5 class of SEO strategies –

1. Continuous apply of exact targeted keywords to generate inbound links.
2. So many links from the very same websites or same labeled sites.
3. Practice of developing sub-standard quality or off-the-topic links mainly via the stereotype blog feedback (also comes with username spam), forum publish signature etc. specifically only to get a link for your website.
4. Creating less relevant contextual links or content material spam as explained in their official post (I was really not aware about such type of typical spam procedure).
5. Links from a website with minimum to no unique and useful content and specifically build for link developing or more distinctively 3-way link building objectives.

We have heard couple of questions from our clients on this like –

Should we not use article marketing or press release distribution anymore as Google appears to penalize primarily these content aggregators?

Should we only use the contextual link building procedure?

Should we remove all previous links that we have made from all article and press release sites etc. and etc?

Okay, allow me first to state that I have no plan to promote any of our existing services through that post. I would be happy to guide about the real key link building strategies after that update. The mantra is “Diversify, Diversify and Diversify”.

Domain Diversification – Lots of links coming from the similar categorized sites always appear suspicious to the search engines. That was applicable even before the affect of that update – the difference is that now Google is smart enough to detect them easily. For instance, if there are say 3000 links pointing to your websites and more than 50% links are coming from the article directories that’s unnatural and your website likely to be penalized. Your website require to have links from all possible resources like social media websites, blogs, business listing sites, directories, press release sites, article sites to name a few. You must not use or prioritise only one method by ignoring all remaining link building techniques.
Next thing is that diversification among the same category link building source. For example - are you submitting your articles to the same list of article directory sites again and again? This is the most common mistake, well, don’t make it happen anymore and instead use a list of good quality aggregators strategically.

Keyword Diversification –Exact targeted keywords as anchor text was beneficial to get on top about some months ago but these days that can be the key reason of penalty. That always sounds unnatural and you know Google always loves natural links ;-). So tweak your keywords using synonyms, phrase, singular-plural forms, preposition/articles in between or by changing the keyword order. Also consider to have some links using the landing page URL i.e. without any anchor text.

Content Diversification
– Write content for users; create value etc. that what Google says. Well, what you really should do is that use quality unique articles to develop contextual links. Though it’s natural that the same article can be traversed among several content aggregators but it is safer to use an article version once only. Content spinner can be great to save your time; however I must suggest checking each spun version manually to confirm those are up to the mark.

Link Type Diversification – Now you also need to build non SEO friendly links for the sake of SEO! Yes, you should not have all “dofollow” links, that not looks real. The natural look link structure should have incoming links from the images, nofollow text links etc. from the relevant source.

URL Diversification – You must not build links particularly for the Homepage or only for some of the priority inner pages always. Your site lists other pages that might not be useful for SEO, but for visitors. So some balance should be maintained so that it all looks natural.

Hope that article will help to conceptualize what you require to do next.

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Search engines rank web pages and not websites, so you need to make every targeted page of your site search engine friendly. Every page should have its own targeted keywords and that page should be optimized for those keywords. So here are the top elements of a page where you should place your targeted keywords –

Page Title – Title tag is the single most important tag for SEO and it must contain your exact targeted keywords. Title tag has the highest influence to rank a particular page and should be unique based on the context of a page. So make sure that every targeted page of your site got unique SEO friendly title tag.

Heading – Heading tags are another important element of a page that influence your ranking. So your page headings such as H1, H2 or H3 should have meaningful description and contain your targeted keywords.

Body Content – “Content is the king” – that’s a well known quote of SEO. Relevancy of a page for some particular targeted keywords directly relates to the content of that page. Keyword weight of your body content should be 3% to 5% as a general practice. Keyword weight is calculated as – [{(Number of words in the keyword phrase x Keyword frequency) / Total words} x 100]. So make sure your content is developed by keeping SEO in mind.

Internal Links – Anchor text links among different pages within your website influence relevancy of the linked page for the linked text. For example, if we link our onpage optimization service page with the anchor “on page optimisation” – this will increase link relevancy of that page with that term and eventually increase rankability of that landing page.


Meta Description – Though Meta Description tag doesn’t have any direct impact to rank a page but it still often influences CTR (Click Through Ratio) of a page when it qualifies to rank on SERP.  If written properly, Meta description appears on SERP just below your page title. If you include the search terms or keywords in Meta Description those would be bold by search engines in SERP.

We understand there are several other onpage elements that directly or indirectly influence the performance of a page. Share your view by commenting – we would love to hear from you.

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SEO friendly website design is no rocket science. There is a methodical way to go about doing it. It is like constructing a new building with a solid foundation. While designing a site it is important to keep in mind the constituents of a professional web design. Creating a website that is appealing and search engine friendly, is perhaps one of the hardest parts about SEO web design. Though more web designers or web design companies claim to offer professional web design services for their clients few achieve success.


While designers love beautiful websites, SEOs love optimized content and code. Having a well-designed website is vital in today’s competitive business world. However, if a website design isn’t search engine friendly, it basically defeats the core objective of having a website. SEO and beautiful design elements can co-exist. All you need to do is to follow the checklist to make your website attractive as well as a money making machines:
Just avoid or use less Flash to increase page speed.


If you want to integrate a video in any page – consider placing click to play video and avoid auto playable video.
Place the important body content codes close to the <body> tag using proper <div>
Use external CSS to avoid unnecessary codes and to improve content-to-code ratio.


Don’t use frames.

The foundation of the foundation: keyword research
Use of researched keywords in URL
Use text navigation if possible or CSS drop down navigation without using Javascript or Flash;
Give your images a meaningful name related to your keywords. Avoid using names like image1, pic123 etc.

Hope these tips will help you to construct your web pages SEO friendly from the very beginning. So, stay ahead in the race in conversion rates with beautiful looking and SEO friendly website.

Want to add anything extra with that check list – please feel free to do so by commenting right here.

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If the scope of your business is limited to one or more specific geographic areas then you would probably like to target some particular areas through the location targeting option available in Google AdWords.  But fail to understand this important feature available in AdWords you risk the success of your entire local advertising campaign. In this post we are going to discuss why setting up local AdWords campaign is so difficult and needs thorough knowledge about the geo targeting black hole.

How Google Geo Targeting Works


You can target visitors mainly in 2 ways as discussed below –


1. Area Names – You can just select the countries, regions or the city names you wish to target.
2. Custom Targeting – You can target the required area you wish to cover from a particular given location. For example, if you have a restaurant you may be want to target 50 miles radius from your restaurant’s location point. Covering an area other than circle shape is also possible. You can even exclude areas within your target.
Sounds great, isn’t it? Let’s now discuss how Google determines to show the ads based on the target area specified.
1. By Domain extension – Searchers using a country specific Google domain will view the ads targeted to that country.
2. By Language – Search Keyword language that matches with the Google Preference Setting language given by the advertiser.
3. By IP address – Whenever you connect to the internet you are assigned a unique IP address assigned by your ISP. Google can track your location through your IP and show you ads targeted to that area.
4. By Query Parsing – Query that matches with your ad and targeted keywords in the campaign.


Now you understand how Google geo targeting works and how Google determines which ads to show in response to a query. But is that all you just need to know to run a successful campaign? Not at all – there are some pitfalls you may be probably unaware or not thought before. To get the best ROI from your AdWords campaign you must need to ensure that you are not getting unnecessary clicks and impressions. So what are those Geo targeting problems that can just drain your money? Let’s see -

Geo Targeting Problems


Have you ever thought that your ads can be visible to different countries other than the country name you specified in your campaign? Yes, this can happen if searchers use a Google search domain dedicated to that particular country you have targeted. For example, if you target UK, then your ads would be displayed if someone searches using google.co.uk – regardless of the searcher’s actual physical location or country.


Your ads can also be visible to the users located in different countries or areas rather than the areas you actually target depending on your target language and the searched domain used. For example, if you target France and specify French as your target language, then your ad would be displayed if someone searches using any French term you specified in your target keyword list – regardless of the searcher’s actual physical location or country.


IP address plays a major role in city or custom area targeting. For example, if you wish to target the New York City and 50 km. around the New York City – you would probably expect that you will get visitors only from that particular area, right? But eventually this is not 100% true, and there are big chances that you lose potential visitors and/or get unnecessary traffic beyond that area! Why? Because it depends on the IP address assigned by the ISPs covered a large area. So even visitors located around 200 miles away from New York can be treated as visits from that area and also visitors actually located inside that area can be treated as outsiders.


Now you can understand that how improper Adwords Campaign Management can ruin your money or how you can lose potential customers. Hope this post will help you to setup your campaign cleverly.

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Even if you're not planning on selling online, a well-crafted site is essential for any business.


Have you ever said the following: My business is very small, just me and two employees, and our product really can't be sold online. Do I really need a website?

 

That is one of the most frequently asked questions of the digital business age. Even if your business is small and sells products or services you don't think can be sold online, you should have a website!

 

Don't be too quick to dismiss your product as one that can't be sold online. Nowadays, there's very little that can't be sold over the internet. More than 20 million shoppers are now online, purchasing everything from books to computers to cars to real estate to jet airplanes to natural gas to you name it. If you can imagine it, someone will figure out how to sell it online.

 

The point to be made here is that you should at the very least have a presence on the web so that customers, potential employees, business partners and perhaps even investors can quickly and easily find out more about your business and the products or services you have to offer.

 

But, it's not enough that you just have a website. You must have a professional-looking site if you want to be taken seriously. Since many consumers now search for information online prior to making a purchase, your site may be the first chance you have at making a good impression. If your site looks like it was designed by a bunch of colour-blind monkeys, your chance at making a good first impression will be lost.

 

One of the great things about the internet is that it has levelled the playing field when it comes to competing with the big boys. As mentioned, you have one shot at making a good first impression. With a well-designed site, your little operation can project the image and professionalism of a much larger company. The inverse is also true. Many big company websites are so badly designed and hard to navigate that they completely lacked professionalism and credibility.

 

When it comes to benefiting from a website, company size does not matter. It doesn’t matter if you're a one-man show or a 10,000-employee corporate giant; if you don't have a website, you're losing business to other companies that do.

 

Here's the exception to the rule: It's better to have no website at all than to have one that makes your business look bad. Your site speaks volumes about your business.

 

Your website is an important part of your business. Make sure you treat it as such.

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THE BUSINESS PROBLEM

 

- Your current Website has grown organically over time, and while it is very useful, it is far from perfect.
- The content is out-of-date or inaccurate, it’s hard to find things, updating the site is complex, and the appearance is becoming dated.
- You have lost track of all the pages on the site, and by having all the changes made by your skilled webmaster, the updates are piling up in their in-tray.

 

BUSINESS BENEFITS

 

There are a wide range of business benefits that can be obtained by implementing a CMS, including:

 

- faster turnaround time for changes
- The ability to update and change your content anytime using a web browser
- greater consistency
- improved site navigation
- increased site flexibility
- increased security
- reduced duplication of information
- reduced site maintenance costs
- The CMS has built-in search capability
- Room to grow - Easily add forums and other community building features, set up RSS feeds for your growing content, have users subscribe to newsletters, and much more

 

Beyond these, the greatest benefit the CMS can provide is to support your business goals and strategies.

For example, the CMS can help to improve sales, increase user satisfaction, or assist in communicating with the public.

 

THE FUNCTIONALITY OF A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM CAN BE BROKEN DOWN INTO SEVERAL MAIN CATEGORIES

 

- content creation
- content management
- publishing
- presentation

 

CONTENT CREATION

 

-  A content management system is an easy-to-use authoring environment, designed to work like Word. This provides a non-technical way of creating new pages or updating content, without having to know any HTML.
- It allows you to manage the structure of the site. That is, where the pages go, and how they are linked together.
- It provides a web-based authoring environment, which further simplifies implementation, and allows content updating to be done remotely.

 

CONTENT MANAGEMENT

 

- You can keep track of all the versions of a page, and who changed what and when.
- Ensuring that each user can only change the section of the site they are responsible for.
- Integration with existing information sources and IT systems.

 

PUBLISHING

 

- Information can be published out to either the website or intranet.
- It allows the same content to be published to multiple sites.
- CMS lets the graphic designers and web developers specify the appearance that is applied by the system.
- It helps ensure that the pages are consistent across the entire site, and enable a very high standard of appearance.
- You can concentrate on writing the content, by leaving the look of the site entirely to the CMS.
- Fully automates the publishing of your site

 

PRESENTATION


 
- the CMS will build the site navigation for you,
- Supported by multiple browsers, or users with accessibility issues. The CMS can be used to make your site dynamic and interactive, thereby enhancing the site’s impact.

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Electronic Commerce or e-commerce is the trade of products and services by means of the Internet or other computer networks. E-commerce follows the same basic principles as traditional commerce that is, buyers and sellers come together to swap commodities for money.

 

But rather than conducting business in the traditional way in shopping stores or through mail order catalogs and telephone operators — in e-commerce buyers and sellers transact business over networked computers.
E-commerce offers buyers maximum convenience. They can visit the web sites of multiple vendors round the clock a day to compare prices and make purchases, without having to leave their homes or offices from around the globe. In some cases, consumers can immediately obtain a product or service, such as an electronic book, a music file, or computer software, by downloading it over the Internet.

 

For sellers, e-commerce offers a way to cut costs and expand their markets. They do not need to build, staff, or maintain a physical store or print and distribute mail order catalogs. Automated order tracking and billing systems cut additional labor costs, and if the product or service can be downloaded then e-commerce firms have no distribution costs involved. Because the products can be sold over the global Internet, sellers have the potential to market their products or services globally and are not limited by the physical location of a store. Internet technologies also permit sellers to track the interests and preferences of their customers with the customer’s permission and then use this information to build an ongoing relationship with the customer by customizing products and services to meet the customer’s needs.

 

E-commerce however has some drawbacks. Consumers are hesitant to buy some products online. Online furniture businesses, for example, have failed for the most part because customers want to test the comfort of an expensive item such as a sofa before they purchase it. Many people also consider shopping a social experience. For instance, they may enjoy going to a store or a shopping mall with friends or family, an experience that they cannot duplicate online. Consumers also need to be reassured that credit card transactions are secure and that their privacy is respected.

 

In the existence of these few disadvantages e-commerce has opened new horizons to versatile the modern age. It puts away time, energies, labor and money.

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South Africa has a wide range of ecommerce sites and with the launch of *PayPal in South Africa and more internet penetration into the market, we are likely to see a rise in ecommerce sites in the near future.

 

There are four factors that will affect the rise in ecommerce in South Africa:

 

• Launch of PayPal in South Africa:

PayPal enables South Africans to sell to PayPal’s global customer base of more than 81 million active accounts in 190 markets around the world and move the proceeds to their FNB accounts. In a nutshell, this service will allow South African based online stores to trade in their currency at ease.

 
• Rise in online retail sales:

According to AfricaOnline, “online retail sales surpassed the R1 billion mark for the first time (in 2008), according to internet researcher Arthur Goldstuck, who predicted that it will grow a further 20%” in 2009.

 

 • Internet penetration in South Africa:

“Internet usage in South Africa has exceeded the 5 million milestone or 10% penetration rate in the country” says Goldstuck (2010).

 
• Internet Speed:

“The arrival of Neotel’s Seacom submarine fibre-optic cable will increase South African broadband access a staggering 40 times, making internet access cheaper and internet shopping more comfortable”, AfricaOnline (2009).

 

All of the factors above will play a significant role in getting people exposed to online shopping. The one question that is left unanswered is how quickly the general population will accept the increase and popularity of online shopping and part with giving out their credit card details. How soon will consumers trust online shopping and the security?

 

*Paypal is an international company offering an online payment system. It is a system used on the Internet which allows you to buy directly from a website and transfer money between yourself and someone else via email or between merchant (South Africa is the 190th country to get paypal accounts).

 

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So what is a credit card payment gateway?

 

A payment gateway in essence allows you to do a credit card transaction from your website. The most common use for payment gateways are for the following types of websites:
-  Online shops / E-commerce shops
-  Subscription / Forum websites
From a technical aspect, developers such as ourselves would “integrate” or “emerge” a client’s website with the payment gateway to ensure that a credit card transaction can be processed and suitable information on the transaction is captured for future reference for both client, payment gateway and purchaser.

 

What to consider when choosing a payment gateway:

 

Merchant Account or Not?
Merchant accounts are often more likely to be available with clients who have a certain income being processed per month and the criteria for this would vary from the various banks.
Certain gateways are available for those with a merchant accounts and other gateways are available for those companies / individuals without merchants accounts e.g. small business owners, small transactional type websites, start up businesses or the individual on the street.

 

Payment Structures and Fees
Each payment gateway has their own payment / fee structure. Most have a monthly fee and then take a percentage per transaction. In some cases, once you have processed a certain amount, the transaction percentage can be decreased to make it more profitable for you, the client.
So, one of the most important things to check on, is the fee structures and workout which one will best suit your budget and needs.

 

Payment Processing & Fraud
Although not necessarily that important, it’s worth finding out how long the money is held for by the payment gateway before it gets transferred across to your bank account. This can sometime affect certain companies who need to ship things immediately.
In addition, one must check the protection you have against fraud and processing that potentially could happen. You want to know what protection you do / don’t have, so make sure to ask.

 

SSL
SSL standards for “Secure Sockets Layer” and basically ensures your data is secure when capturing your information. Most payment gateways take care of the SSL on their side and the purchasers generally have to capture their credit card details on the payment gateway’s site. In some cases though, a payment gateway may require the purchaser to capture credit card information on the client / your website therefore you will require SSL to be implemented on your website. SSL can be identified by https:// in the website address and a certificate which is usually displayed at the bottom of your browser. This also adds to the purchasers experience whereby they feel they can purchase online securely and safely.

 

Credit Cards Accepted
Make sure that the credit cards accepted by the payment gateway are the credit cards that you think / assume will be most used. If you target market, for example, are people in the United States, you want to ensure people can purchase with American Express cards. Other examples of cards to consider are The Diners Club and Discovery cards.
Make sure you look into whether additional transaction fees are incurred if accepting these particular cards.

 

Who to Use

 

There are a number of payment gateways in South Africa, listed below is the top payment gateways we recommend:

 

PayPal
Probably the most well-known of the lot, PayPal, has recently partnered up with FNB(Fist National Bank), and has launched in South Africa. Read more about Paypal in South Africa

 

Iveri
Iveri is offered by Nedbank. For this particular gateway, SSL on your website will be required as credit card capturing is done on the client’s website opposed to on Nedbank / Iveri’s side. No merchant account is required in order to use this particular gateway.
Visit http://www.iveri.co.za for more information.

 

Paygate
Paygate is very well known as it’s used by companies who have a merchant account with the banks. Paygate has been around since 1996 and is therefore being used extensively on websites around the country. Credit cards accepted include Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Diners Club. Credit card capturing takes place on Paygate’s website, therefore no SSL is specifically required on your / client’s website.
Visit http://www.paygate.co.za for more information.

 

VCS
VCS has also become increasingly popular over the last few years. You require a merchant account to use VCS and no SSL as the credit card info is captured on the VCS website. Credit cards accepted include Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Diners Club.
Visit http://www.vcs.co.za for more information.

 

Pricetag
Pricetag has been running for approximately 9 years and from our experience has been used with small business / new businesses. Depending on how one chooses to integrate with Pricetag, SSL may be required – you will need to speak to your developers to ensure you know the best way forward. No merchant account is required to use Pricetag.

 

MyGate
Another payment gateway that requires you having a merchant account is MyGate. MyGate has a few offerings that range from the standard online payment gateway facility PLUS the following features:
• Recurring Billing which can be useful for monthly and annual subscription based websites.
• Debit Card processing
• Credit card fraud detection services
Other services are currently being developed.
Visit http://www.mygate.co.za for more information.

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Bluepearl Design has been rewarded for its continuous good service and excellent quality of design by being assigned projects by major South African brands.


We are currently working with MTN Traveller, Cipla Med, Vitaderm, Western Province Motor Club and Walden House, an upmarket guest house based in Cape Town.

In every project we undertake, no matter how big the client, we always aim to please, to deliver above and beyond clients expectations and in so doing so, we have built a solid reputation.

Please have a look at our testimonials page.

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Testimonials

Hey Gary I have had opportunities to visit all your websites and pages you have designed and from that chose you to design our page, Your work is one of a kind and its really awesome to see what creative ideas you come up with, keep up the good work and your business will be a major success. Thanks for the great job Kind Regards Craig Van Rensburg Star Alarms

Dear Gary Just to say thank you for your companies quick turnaround regarding our web site. I was not only impressed with the speed, but also the way our brief was understood and brought to life on our web site. It was not easy for us to visualise exactly what we wanted, so your ability to take our vision and create the exact feel that we where after was greatly appreciated. Yours faithfully Clint Elliot Nu-Style Kitchens

Trademark Web Management is a specialist website management company who approached Blue Pearl at the beginning of 2010. We were pleasantly surprised by their efficiency, quality and innovative web development. We were most impressed by their affordable prices and fast turn around time, and from the many web developers we have used in the past, Blue Pearl certainly stands out. Blue Pearl provides excellent support throughout your web development process, turning a simple concept into a modern and creative website. We highly recommend their services to anyone wishing to own a website. Tammi Eastland Trademark Media

Very competitive prices, excellent advise and the end result is always way above expectation Zara Winterbach Dynamic Exposure

Blue Pearl Design is a fantastic, affordable web development and design entity – perfect for your small to medium business budget. Not only are they affordable but they care about the client’s understanding of the relevance and basic protocol of having web presence. They are the first web developers I have ever worked with to actually educate the client on the importance of Search Engine Optimisation and knowing your competition level on the internet. Their web designs are contemporary, edgy and functional. I won ‘t by choice work with any other developers. Kim Thompson AMP Consulting

To the staff of Blue Pearl Design, I can't tell you how much I am enjoying this and your expertise is making this so much easier. Thanks, your good honest people. Blue Pearl Design is by far the easiest designers to work with and that I've had to deal with in building my site. Thanks you Harold Jansma Jansma Consulting

Gary - Thank you!! To you and your team for the awesome new site - its perfect and just what I wanted. Rene Johnson Wadrift Nature Reserve

Hi Gary.... This is amazing. I just love it… I am now so proud of my company’s image and know that this web-site will grab the attention of all potential clients. Thanks to everyone on your side for a job well done. Johlene Lourenco Owner - Cladit

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