A couple of weeks ago I was honoured to be asked to judge and present the overall winner of the DevelopHER Awards 2018. There are a number of categories in the awards, including TechStar which I also judged, and the overall winner is chosen from the winners of the other categories. I believe that the best developers start writing code at an early age and continue throughout their lives and on through their careers. As well as learning all they can, all the time, they give back to community around them and help other people develop as well. Federica Freddi, who also won the Emerging Talent award, is clearly passionate about software development and is fully deserving of the DevelopHER award and I couldn’t have been more delighted to be able to present her with it on the night. Federica told me “It is fantastic to see so many women recognised for their contribution to our industry. It is a huge honour for me to be able to represent so many talented people that are making the difference in tech. As an Emerging Talent, I still have a long way ahead and I don’t know what awaits for me in the future, however I am sure I will never forget to stop along the way to give back to people and help the next generations of tech stars to grow too.” I am hoping we’ll see Federica back in Norwich very soon.
Here at Chatsbrook, we support businesses through our bespoke finance packages. We whole-heartedly believe that nothing should stand in the way of your business ambitions.
At the beginning of consultations, we attentively listen to your requirements, so we can consistently deliver tailor made funding solutions that transcend all expectations.
Asset finance is useful for when you need to free up cash flow, or if you want to expand areas of your business. For instance, you may be interested to know that we could offer finance for materials that you already buy in bulk. Our expertise of asset finance has nurtured hundreds of businesses by providing a means to become more efficient and sustainable.
Our clients Richard Pike Associates financed new software and hardware to help with their building, design and planning processes. The benefits reaped by new equipment is exponential as not only does it modernize their business, but it helps to provide a flexible and efficient service to customers.
Keeping up with the changing markets and technological progression can allow you to maintain a competitive edge. If you decide to work with us, you will be consistently supported from the offset. It is important that our clients not only continually receive the most competitive rates on the market, but the best service too. Our competency serves to advise you on ways to make strong, financial decisions so that your business can continue to grow.
Having financed a range of assets for many businesses, we not only have a wealth of knowledge, but our vast panel of lenders means that we provide finance perfectly suited to your industry. Our client The honey b company were able to finance a new Ford Ranger to help with the day-to-day running’s of their business- sometimes a new vehicle is all you need to improve overall efficiency.
We always go the extra mile for our clients. This can even involve sourcing, supplying and financing vehicles in certain cases. Our ethos of honesty and transparency means that we offer businesses a stress-free, seamless and attentive service whilst they still remain in control.
Smarter solutions are just around the corner, all you need to do is get in touch with our experts today call Chatsbrook now on 01603 733500 or email info@chatsbrook.co.uk.
Making Tax Digital can be simple to set up and will have positive effects on businesses in terms of time and cost savings, according to a leading firm of chartered accountants in the region.
Martin Bugg, of Larking Gowen, says businesses need to act now if they haven’t already started the process of moving their VAT returns onto software.
“Larking Gowen is Making Tax Digital ready and fully accredited for two of the leading software packages, QuickBooks and Xero,” says Martin.
“As a Platinum Partner with QuickBooks, we have an excellent working relationship with them and first-rate support for all our clients,” he continues.
“This includes providing our clients with the newly released Welcome Hub for QuickBooks online, which delivers free up to date training and support on the software, together with an email series of training material.
“Larking Gowen is one of a small number of firms in the UK to offer this support free of charge to its QuickBook clients,” says Martin.
By 1 April 2019, most VAT registered businesses in the UK must submit VAT digitally, and by 1 April 2020, other businesses need to get on board.
“With our help, getting the software and transferring your company data onto it can be a straightforward process,” says Martin.
“We start with a conversation to find out where any difficult issues are, and where efficiencies can be made. We can then recommend the software package that is most appropriate to your business,” he says.
In a ‘one-stop shop’ service, Larking Gowen can then convert their client’s data into the software.
Once set up, the client can receive ongoing support and checks, if they need it, to make sure they are using the correct VAT codes in each part of their return.
“Making Tax Digital is something all businesses have to come to terms with, but it delivers a number of positives which make the process worthwhile.
“By using MTD, you are in effect buying your time back. The time savings you make can be used to generate more income for your business.
“In addition to this, you have the benefit of seeing your business in the here-and-now rather than historically, which is a great benefit to decision-making. You can get your accounting data on the move, either on a phone or tablet.
“My clients can see the impact of any business decision much more quickly, and can follow up or reverse it as necessary,” explains Martin.
As well as the main packages, Larking Gowen can provide a number of ‘bolt-on’ packages, such as Chaser (automated credit control system) and Receipt Bank (which manages your receipts) which can bring further automation and therefore more efficiencies to a business.
“We have also found bringing these services to our clients and talking about efficiencies, connects well with our business advisory offering, which can have a tangible effect on growth and profits.”
For more information, please call Martin Bugg on 01603 624121 or visit www.larking-gowen.co.uk
Have you got a final salary pension? If you do, you should consider yourself very lucky! Just 19 companies on the FTSE 100 stock exchange still offer them so they are a bit of a rarity these days.
Recently, lots of people have been rushing to cash in their final salary pension but why is that?
What is a final salary pension
Just in case you didn’t already know. A final salary, or defined benefit, pays a guaranteed retirement income for life, based on how much you earned and how long you worked at the company for. Pay outs can be generous, and it’s certainly a more reliable prospect than the alternative defined contribution schemes which rely on stock market returns to fund your retirement.
But a final salary pension generally doesn’t offer the flexibility of a defined contribution plan. And that’s tempting people to cash them in.
In 2017, the amount transferred from final salary pensions to defined contribution plans rocketed up from £7.9bn to £20.8bn. That’s 92,000 transfers at an average of £250,000 each.
What does cashing a final salary pension in mean?
Essentially, you’re transferring money out of your company plan and into a personal pension pot. You can then invest it wherever you like. Or, if you’re over 55, you can simply withdraw cash from the new pot and spend it on whatever you like.
Why are more people cashing in now?
In 2015 pension freedoms were introduced by the government. It gives those over the age of 55 the flexibility to take their pensions as cash instead of an annuity. An attractive option for people who do not want to be tied down to an annual income.
In addition, transfer values being offered on defined benefit pensions have been at record highs. A combination of low interest rates and low gilt yields has caused this rise in transfer values. When interest rates fall, it can become more expensive for companies to buy the investments which pay pensioners their guaranteed incomes. So bosses are keen for workers to cash in, and offer bigger incentives to get them to do so.
People are being offered sums far above their annual pension to transfer, making it an appealing offer.
However, yields have begun to rise from these historical lows, and we’ve seen the first interest rate rise for a few years. The impact may be that schemes begin to reduce the amount they offer people to transfer. So now could be the right time to take advantage of the offers, before they start to drop.
But just because you can doesn’t mean you should!
When might it be a good idea to cash in a final salary pension?
Immediate access to a lump sum of money might be too tempting for some people to resist. But that alone is a very poor reason to make the leap, particularly if you don’t have any other guaranteed incomes.
However, there are some circumstances which may mean this is something to consider.
If you have children(or other beneficiaries), they stand to receive nothing under a defined benefit scheme. They can, however, inherit funds under a defined contribution scheme tax-free if you die before you’re 75. If you die after 75, the fund will still pass on, but will be subject to tax.
If you’re sick,a lifetime income isn’t much use to you if you’re not going to live long enough to receive it. A transfer might be a better option if you’re a heavy smoker with a family history of heart disease!
If you’re worried about the scheme collapsing. Pensions schemes are costing companies as much as 40% of payroll, three times more than 30 years ago. This has led to lots of pension schemes in the red. If an employer goes bust, the Pension Protection Fund steps in to compensate, but pay outs are likely to amount to less than they would have done. As BHS employees, and more recently Carillion employees, found out to their detriment.
If you need more flexibility. Under a defined contribution scheme you can spread withdrawals and reduce your tax bill. But you are also responsible for making sure you don’t run out of money.
If you need access before you’re 65 (the age at which most final salary schemes will start to pay out) – with most defined contribution schemes, you can access funds at 55.
Why might you be better off sticking with your final salary pension?
With no guaranteed income for life, you put yourself at risk of running out of money before you die.
With a defined contribution scheme, you’re at the mercy of the stock market. The value of your fund could fall, leaving you with less to live on. A final salary pension doesn’t have this risk.
With final salary pensions, pay outs rise with the cost of living, so you have some protection from inflation.
If you have a spouse (particularly one who’s younger and fitter with no retirement income of their own), a final salary scheme may hold value for them too, typically 50% – 75% of the original value.
There’s no going back! Once you’ve transferred out, you can’t transfer back in, so it’s not a decision to be taken lightly!
If you’re offered more than £1.03 million to transfer, this will push you over the lifetime pension limit and you’ll be charged 55% tax on anything over that value – something to bear in mind.
What next?
The best thing to do it get some advice! The FCA has made this a condition of being able to transfer a fund worth more than £30k. Transferring from a defined benefit scheme to a defined contribution is irreversible, so it’s worth it no matter what the size of the fund to avoid making a mistake you will later regret.
Everyone’s circumstances are different. Getting advice means you can be confident you’re doing the right thing for you and your family.
Sync The City is an annual event that brings together budding entrepreneurs and developers to pitch and build a start-up in just 54 hours. This year our Director Paul Grenyer was a mentor for one of the teams and they had great success with their idea ‘Seren’, taking home one of the prizes! Paul says “John Fagan has asked me to be involved with every Sync the City since it started five years ago, but this is the first time I’ve been in a position to commit to the 2.5 day event. Originally I was providing technical support via nor(DEV): but Sync the City were short of mentors so I was embedded into team Seren. I had to put my work for Naked Element on hold but I was more than happy to do so to be part of the event. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to do it sooner!” Lily Beel, a trainee solicitor at Leathes Prior, explains the idea behind her winning pitch, saying “the general idea was to connect those beginning to suffer from mental health conditions with those who have recovered/are in recovery. The waiting time to be seen through the NHS is 9 months for mild/moderate conditions – which means that people are likely to get worse during that period. If they had someone to talk to, who had been through similar mental health issues, it might stop them from reaching a crisis point and harming themselves or worse.” “I pitched it by providing figures received from different organisations about mental health and how long it takes to be seen. I explained that it would be good to have venues which allow people to connect and chat (whether about their mental health directly or about other subjects)” Lily and the team of eight worked together under Paul’s mentorship, to build the business start-up, but the process was not without its obstacles. “It was particularly difficult to work out how to reach those suffering and how to fund the charity. We overcame this hurdle using research and speaking to people. Contacts are invaluable – as you are limited to 54 hours, you need all the help you can get!” But this wasn’t the hardest part of the process, as Lily had never taken part in Sync the City before, let alone made a business pitch, she found the idea of doing this in front of everyone a daunting prospect. “I wanted to make sure I got the point across as I feel really passionately about mental health and feel that more needs to be done – it was hard to keep my emotions in check when I was pitching. We had a performance workshop beforehand and my team were incredibly supportive, which really helped.” “When we came out of the workshop with the performance coach” Paul adds, “I was really pumped up, as I knew Lily had something special and the drive and talent she exhibited had the potential to go a long way.” Between Lily, her amazing team and the support of Paul and all the other mentors and experts, team Seren took home the People’s Choice prize and £1000 between them! Paul says “I put winning down to the amazing drive and determination of Lily BeeI and to listening to the other mentors and following their advice.” “Sync The City is so important to Norwich and the tech community for so many reasons, but mostly because it helps get new ideas off the ground and is great for the tech community, especially the collaboration with the UEA which brings so many business and computer science students to the event.”
Even if you don’t realise it, you have come across display advertising. You have seen it on web pages, in newspapers and in magazines. It’s everywhere, once you start to look, and there are plenty of companies out there who are already doing it well. So how do you get display advertising to work for your business? Let’s begin by asking ‘Just what is display advertising meant to do?’ Display is an often misunderstood ad format, it has changed significantly, even in the last 10 years and has gone from being the jack of all trades to being a powerful but more specialised tool. Let me explain… We are in a time when you can show your display ads to a pretty specific audience… big circulation figures and high viewer figures aren’t the be all and end all now. Modern marketing techniques allow display to be targeted, by context, geography and data to entirely relevant audiences. The content of display ads is also changing – remember display is being shown (in the main) to people who aren’t researching, comparing or buying yet. A modern display audience is relevant but mainly passive, so hammering them with an offer or loads of product detail is unlikely to be effective, modern display needs to clearly tell the passive audience ‘We are awesome at that thing you love… our name is x, remember us.’ So the long and short of it is that modern display’s greatest strength is building awareness in a target market… and this is what your display is meant to do. With that in mind your business needs to use its display advertising to deliver interesting, engaging and (importantly) memorable content. At Local Impact we have been doing this for our readers for over 165 years – we get display. We can also help you measure just how effective your display is and show you how your brand strength is driving your sales. We really are display advertising black belts. Get in touch now and get the benefit of all our brightest sparks.
SEO, or ‘search engine optimisation’ is fast becoming one of the most important marketing and lead generation channels for businesses across the UK and the wider world. With more and more businesses recognising the power of the likes of Google, Bing, Yahoo and increasingly, the Chinese equivalent, Baidu, generating leads by way of online search engines in more powerful than ever.
There are more than a few benefits to both marketing your brand or business online via SEO, as well as pushing and optimising your website for products and services you offer and sell online via this incredibly powerful channel. Whether you are selling Juice Cleanses in the UK, furniture or something else, absolutely anything and every service and product has a place online in the world of SEO and search engine marketing.
Targeting What Works
Unlike many forms of traditional advertising, such as TV, Radio and Billboard advertising, featuring your offering, be it a service or product online and via search engines allows you to hone in on your ideal and target audiences. For example, if you are selling car insurance, you will want relevant people, your captive audience to see your offering by way of your website. Hence, you will target keywords and search terms relating to cars, driving and vehicles.
However, not only can you target your intended audience, but you can (to an extent) tailor what the search engine in question actually presents to them. For example, a particular type of product is likely to have its own dedicated ‘landing page,’ which is a page designed to rank for specific terms, targeting precisely who you are looking to present your website’s offering to.
Lower Costs and Greater Return on Investment
It is no secret that advertising in a primetime TV or radio advertising slot can cost you many thousands, sometimes even tens or hundreds of thousands of Pounds. However, when it comes to SEO and search engine marketing, the costs are significantly cheaper. Even in competitive industries such as loans, mortgages and insurance, you will spend far less than you would for an equivalent campaign via another traditional channel. With SEO, you are only likely to need to pay for:
An SEO consultant (usually charged by the hour)
Website hosting
Website design (unless you can do this yourself)
Any required website development
Moreover, when it comes to SEO, because you are targeting almost precisely who you want to and because you have paid far less to expose yourself to these audiences, your return on investment (ROI) will be much less than for other channels. This in turn means that your cost per acquisition (CPA) per client is significantly lower.
Anyone Can Do It
Unlike many other marketing channels, there is no exclusivity with SEO. This is because who ranks and is found where, is determined by algorithms rather than decision making people in offices. This means that a new business in reality has as much chance of succeeding online with the right work, as a multi-million Pound corporation does.
We were approached by Litigation Backing to help launch their new site, focused on litigation finance and helping individuals and companies finance their court fees to win a potential compensation. Our role as SEO consultants also transcends to web design and maximising conversions and below we explain some of the key points we implemented to deliver a strong finished product.
Web Design
Understanding the clients’ target customers was key. Whilst there are lots of claims and disputes out there for accidents that were not your fault and the wave of injuries lawyers etc, the core customers for Litigation Backing are in fact large corporates or people who are looking to pursue large corporates. As a result, we designed the site to target those in the corporate sphere, specifically use dark burgundy red which is a strong, trustworthy colour and also using more corporate language and stock images of London to give that corporate feel.
Other popular ways to improve trust are through trust logos of their partners and a detailed FAQs section to answer any key questions.
Conversion Optimisation
We always believe that the site’s user should be able to make an enquiry just one click away or within ‘touching distance.’ This was achieved through a strong form and data capture on the homepage, above the fold. Also, we added an essential call us and phone number on the header, above the main navigation and throughout the content, have included internal links to the contact us page and places where they can submit a enquiry.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO is the at the forefront of what we do – which refers to using techinques to get companies to the top of Google. Fortunately, we have started the site from scratch which means that it has no previous errors or things holding it back such as spammy content or links.
We ensured that the site was optimised in the meta data and a strong h1 heading at the top of each page, which regularly included the target keywords of that page.
We have included a number of key landing pages to target a specific product, also placing forms and call-to-action buttons where possible.
Finally, we are working on acquiring a lot of natural links to the site through business, legal and news sites – something that will build up the domain and help the site rank successfully.
It is still early days for the client but we are confident in delivering page one for results for a number of keywords relating to litigation finance within the 6 month benchmark.
Lead generation is a popular marketing term refering to generating enquiries or ‘leads’ to a website. This is not just about visits to a website, it has to physically be an enquiry where people submit their details.
As a company that specialises in SEO (search engine optimisation), we are practically a lead generation company, but the concept of lead generation is an occupation and career in itself. If you sell services or products online, you need to look at the full marketing spectrum and apply lead generation from a variety of places. Below, we look at some of the main types of lead generation:
Word of mouth: A word of mouth referral is technically a type of lead generation, provided that it turns into a sale. This is in fact the best quality of lead generation you can typically find. Taking the recommendation of one person you trust should reduce risk for you as a consumer and mean that the product is suitable. There are methods to engage in more word of mouth marketing, by encouraging people to refer friends and receive incentives for doing so – such as discounts, nectar points, bonuses etc. Or simply providing a product that is unbeatable should generate natural word of mouth.
Print: Advertising in newspapers, magazines and billboards falls under print. This is typically less popular compared to 20 years ago as a result of the fast-moving Internet. Sometimes generating leads from these campaigns is harder to measure and quanity, since you don’t know if someone saw your billboard and contacted you as a result. Ways to measure your lead generation through print including adding discount codes or specific URLs that you can verify with a particular campaign. You can also run campaigns in insolation, so if you get enquiries, you know it was specifically from a magazine campaign etc.
Broadcast: TV and radio is one of the most respected and established forms of lead generation. The cost of producing and running the adverts is not always the cheapest, but as respected mediums, it can provide you with strong branding exposure for your company.
Digital: Online brought about new paradigms of lead generation, notably through search engines such as Google. This includes pay-per-click advertising (PPC), search engine optimisation (SEO), email marketing, text message marketing and social media marketing (both paid and organic). There are specialists that offer these services or agencies that can provide all services in one package. Your language, tone and brand messaging should be consistent throughout all communications.
Tips for maximising lead generation
Quality over quantity: Getting leads is a good thing but being able to assess the quality over quanity is always key. Can being on TV bring you a lot of enquiries? Yes, most likely, but will the quality be better through word of mouth and cost you less?
Cost per acquisition: Good marketers are able to quanitfy the cost-per-acquisition of a lead. Something in insurance or loans is usually around £50 for a good enquiry but for gambling this can be £100. To know which is your most effective source, you should consider what your lowest CPA is and what yields the greatest return.
Retention: Once you have got the customer and acquired them, consider carefully how you are going to keep them. Is this through follow up emails, future incentinves and discounts?
Understanding warm or cold leads: If you are dealing with hundreds and thousands of leads daily, which is common for a call centre, you need systems in place to analyse your warm vs cold leads. This includes who you spend the most time pursuing, how often you follow up and what you can do to close the deal.
Engage in affiliate programmes: Good companies can offer incentives to other brokers, comparison sites and directories for making introductions. Known as affiliate marketing, this type of lead generation should reward introducers with commission and better margins based on hitting bonuses.
Routine eye tests can help identify any problems that develop as your child gets older.
Children may not realise they have a vision problem, so without routine tests there is a risk that any problems could go undiagnosed for months or years. Up to 80% of a child’s learning is visual, so it’s very important they have the best vision possible to give them the best chance at development. There is a direct link between poor eye sight and poor learning behaviour, when a child can’t see correctly (such as seeing the white board clearly from the back of the class) they can quickly become bored and their learning can suffer.
It’s important for eye problems to be identified as early as possible, because they can have a significant impact on a child’s development and education. In the same way you shouldn’t wait to see a dentist until your child has tooth ache, you shouldn’t wait to see an optician before they develop an eye problem.
Eye problems are often much easier to treat if detected while a child’s vision is still developing (usually up to about seven or eight years of age). An early diagnosis will help to ensure that you and your child have access to any special support services you may need.
When will my child’s eyes be checked?
Your child’s eyes may be checked:
within 72 hours of birth -this is known as the new born physical examination and it can be used to check for obvious physical problems
between six and eight weeks old – this is a follow-up physical examination to check for any obvious problems that weren’t detected soon after birth
at around one year old or between two and two-and-a-half years old – you may be asked whether you have any concerns about your child’s eyesight as part of a review of your child’s health and development; eye tests can be arranged, if necessary
at around four or five years old – some children will have an eye health check by a nurse when they start school, although this varies, depending on where you live and is not an eye test.
It’s recommended that children have regular eye tests at least once every year. These tests can be done at a high street opticians and are free for all children under 16 years old (and those under 19 years old in full-time education).
Causes of eye problems in babies and children
There are a number of different eye problems affecting babies and children that can be detected during eye tests, including:
childhood cataracts – cloudy patches in the lens of the eye that are present from birth
Although your child should have regular eye tests as they grow up, it’s still important to look out for signs of any problems and seek advice if you have any concerns.
There are many industries whose advertising and promotion is regulated and sometimes even restricted. This means that you are less likely to see associated products and services advertised on TV, radio, billboards and otherwise. Such industries, who are restricted with regards to what they can promote ‘offline’ traditionally include:
Loans and Short Term Finance
Gambling and Casinos
Smoking
Mortgages and Equity Release
Credit Cards
Although loans and short term finance as well as gambling and casino products are advertised, they are heavily regulated and strictly monitored by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK Gambling Commission and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Smoking has been banned from advertising in the UK for many years. Additionally, taxes and levies on the smoking industry are being increased each year by the government in a bid to reduce the number of people taking up and continuing smoking. This is in order to improve public health and reduce the burden on the UK’s National Health Service (NHS.)
For loans and short term finance, conditions are strict in order to ensure that the messaging of each brand or company is clear, honest and doesn’t lead customers into financial hardship. In past times and prior to the FCA introducing sweeping legislation and regulations to the short term lending market, many people who took out short term loans such as payday loans found themselves with unpayable levels of debt.
Hence, those offering and advertising payday loans or other forms of these types of finance are required to refer customers to the Money Advice Service and also to provide representative examples for total clarity. Very similar rules and regulations apply to credit cards.
Betting, Gambling and Casinos
Whilst betting companies and providers are indeed allowed to advertise and promote their offerings, there are strict limits and regulations in place to ensure everything remains in the interest of prospective players and customers. For example, a casino provider offering a ‘No Deposit Bonus‘ has to be clear about the terms and conditions as well as the limitations of their offer. This is so that prospective players understand when and how they are able to take advantage of such offers.
Any advert or promotion which is seen as misleading could land the company being promoted in hot water with financial penalties, strict impositions and even court action possible.
Mortgages and Equity Release
Both mortgages and equity release are well-known and well understood by most people. Hence, they are allowed to be promoted anywhere and online there is additional freedom. However, customers and applicants need to be made aware of any credit checks that lenders or brokers may carry out and lenders (assuming they are ‘status’ lenders) must be regulated and authorised by the FCA. Companies must also provide representative examples where relevant and remind customers and applicants that failure to keep up with the required repayments may lead to repossession of their property.
SEO, short for ‘search engine optimisation’ is the process by which websites achieve what re commonly referred to as ‘organic’ rankings on search engines. Although Google is by far the most dominant online search engine, with more than 80% of search traffic being via Google Search, others do exist and they should be paid due attention. These include the likes of Yahoo, Bing and Chinese search engine Baidu.
The main focus of SEO is to get websites further up the rankings on search engines for target keywords and search terms relating to the website in question. There are a number of widely accepted SEO practices which are deemed to be best practice, including one of the starting points of any SEO campaign, the keyword research to identify what to target in the first place. Strategies for targeting what are known as ‘long tail’ or ‘short tail’ terms form the very basis of any SEO work.
An example of a long tail search term in a niche area would include ‘how can I spread straw across my field?’ whereas the equivalent short tail search term may be ‘straw spreading’ (source: Straw Spreader).
Meta Data
Meta data, which includes the meta title and meta description of each individual page are fundamental to a website’s rankings. It is the meta data, along with the page URL which Google and other search engines pay initial and very strong attention to when deciding where to rank a page. It is therefore very important that a website’s meta data (however many pages the site has in total) is one of the first aspects optimised as part of any SEO campaign.
When it comes to the meta data, there should be attention paid to the target keywords of each page to ensure it is clear, but not spammy and over-emphasised for search engines to understand what the page in question is focusing upon.
Backlinks
Backlinks are one of the most important aspects of website SEO. Backlinks refer to the links which point towards the site in question; the stronger the site referring users to yours, the better the backlink. For example, a link from the BBC or CNN to your website will be a great deal stronger and more effective than one from a small blog in another country.
Backlinks are seen as a trust signal for search engines; if strong and authoritative websites reference a particular website, it is more likely that website deserves a great deal more exposure than it is already getting, so search engines push it higher up. It should be noted though, that backlinks should not be paid for. Rather, you should earn and naturally accrue these through high quality content others link to.
Website Performance
Ultimately, if users come to you site but do not engage or simply cannot engage, the entire premise of SEO is useless. Hence, search engines pay attention t the performance and responsiveness of websites. Those that perform faster and more efficiently are afforded better positions as they serve users much better. Other performance factors may include: