Latest posts
SEO red flags: five signs you might be getting ripped off
I’ve been talking to a lot of small businesses lately about their SEO. Many of them are paying – typically – hundreds of dollars a month but aren’t clear on what they’re getting for it. I’ve also taken a look at some of their websites with an SEO eye, and I’m honestly quite horrified at how little some agencies are doing for their money. There are a number of SEO red flags that I can spot with just a few…
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We’re now Flax Digital
It’s a rite of passage. At some point, a solo consultant needs to grow up and get a real business name, and for Flax Digital that time is now. Alex Bayley started offering WordPress, digital strategy and SEO services to local and international businesses in October 2016. A year later, the business is well established and provides world-class services to businesses from Ballarat to Silicon Valley. If you’re one of our existing clients, you’ll start to see communication coming from…
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Domain Authority tips from Eat Local Ballarat
On June 1st this year, I launched Eat Local Ballarat, a non-commercial advocacy blog covering locally produced food in the Ballarat region. I set out to make a website that would rank among the best in town. Before I launched, I did some research into Ballarat’s top websites as judged by their Domain Authority. Among the top ranks were Federation University, the City of Ballarat, Sovereign Hill, and Ballarat Health Services. I also catalogued around 40+ other local sites that…
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Don’t let your website migration break your links
Lately I’ve been noticing a lot of local businesses going through website migrations – upgrades, redesigns, or moving to a new platform – then winding up with broken links all over their site. It’s depressing to see.
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Why a new site shows “There is no data for this set of filters” in Google Search Console
The problem: missing data in Search Console On a new website with very low traffic, Google Search Console shows a small number of clicks in the graph on the front page, but when you click through to the more detailed analytics reports, it says “There is no data for this set of filters.” In my case, my site had page views in the low 100s, because it was nothing more than a simple “coming soon” placeholder. Still, if it’s getting…
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How to Track Instagram as Social Traffic in Google Analytics
Although I spend most of my work time at my laptop, I love paper notebooks. I’m a fan of the bullet journal technique, and when I started to get back online again I was inspired by Kara of Boho Berry, a popular bullet journal blogger, to set up a blog journal like hers. It’s a pleasant, grounding way for me to keep track of all the tasks I have to do, and to celebrate achievements as they happen. When I…
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Using keyword research for concept validation
Today I want to write about using basic SEO keyword research techniques to validate my early ideas about Eat Local Ballarat and get a sense of whether it was a workable opportunity. First, the background: I’m planning to create a comprehensive, informative, up-to-date site on the subject of local food in the Ballarat region. To meet its goals it needs to perform well in search engine results, build a strong following on social media, and generate plenty of visitors and…
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Ballarat’s Best Websites: Rankings for 40+ Local Sites
I’ve set myself a bunch of audacious goals for Eat Local Ballarat, and one of them is to be among Ballarat’s best websites. But how can I tell if I’ve made it? To start with, I’m going to have to figure out the best websites Ballarat currently has to offer. Measuring Website Quality The first part is easy enough: Moz’s Domain Authority (DA) is a measure of how well a site will rank in search engines. Since search engines are…
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