Should the Government Regulate Search Engine Algorithms?

[fisicx]

This is what we have been trying to say. You don’t need SEO. All you need to do is convert more of your existing visitors. Much cheaper and quicker to implement.

Raise your conversion rate from 2% to 4% and your income doubles.

 

[Talktime]

I welcome your recommendations on strategies to enhance conversion rates for the National Bailiff Advice website.

 

[Shopclicks]

I welcome your recommendations on strategies to enhance conversion rates for the National Bailiff Advice website.

Read through your various threads again.

 

[Talktime]

This is the first time the topic of Conversion Rate Optimisation has been raised. Therefore, reviewing the existing threads alone will not provide the necessary answers.

 

[fisicx]

I welcome your recommendations on strategies to enhance conversion rates for the National Bailiff Advice website.

You were giving lots of advice in your website review thread. Implement those and your conversions will increase.

 

[Shopclicks]

This is the first time the topic of Conversion Rate Optimisation has been raised. Therefore, reviewing the existing threads alone will not provide the necessary answers.

So you don't recall people talking about CTA's, user experience, improving your form structure, navigation, marketing plans, page structure ..... ? And a lot more.

 

[fisicx]

This is the first time the topic of Conversion Rate Optimisation has been raised. Therefore, reviewing the existing threads alone will not provide the necessary answers.

It was discussed in your website review thread - just not using those words.

Looking at that thread again and you agreed to all sorts of changes. What happened?

 

[Talktime]

I plan to integrate several of the suggested improvements into the new website design to enhance user experience, optimise conversion rates, and implement updated calls to action on relevant articles. These enhancements include a navigation menu and scripted page footers.

As a trusted source of legal advice, I must ensure that the content on the site remains accurate and up-to-date. To achieve this, I will first revise the website content and then instruct a web developer to incorporate these recommendations using the updated content.

Following this, I will engage an SEO professional, who may also be the same individual handling the web development, to ensure that the site is fully optimised for search engines to improve the visibility of its key search words, which are "bailiffs" and "enforcement agents."

I will seek SEO advice on optimising individual article titles and descriptions to include relevant keywords and improve page descriptions. This approach will help ensure that the content effectively reaches those searching for information on bailiffs and enforcement agents.

 

[fisicx]

Why do you need SEO? You are already getting traffic, you just need to convert more of your visitors.

Web developers are not normally SEO experts. Web developers do not write content: that's your job.

...key search words, which are "bailiffs" and "enforcement agents."

Those are not useful keywords. The search target is far too wide.

This approach will help ensure that the content effectively reaches those searching for information on bailiffs and enforcement agents.

Why do you want visitor seeking information? You want visitors who need help and are willing to pay for that help.

As already pointed out, your current website will be replaced with a CMS. You are unlikly to find a developer who will still work with a plain HTML site. WordPress is free and the most common choice for sites such as yours. Might be a good idea to get WordPress installed on a sub-domain and get used to the interface.

 

[NickGrogan]

I will seek SEO advice on optimising individual article titles and descriptions to include relevant keywords and improve page descriptions. This approach will help ensure that the content effectively reaches those searching for information on bailiffs and enforcement agents.

Given that Google ignores meta page descriptions and titles on a regular basis, this is going to be a waste of time and money and anyone offering to do this is probably not an SEO professional.

Same with this

Following this, I will engage an SEO professional, who may also be the same individual handling the web development, to ensure that the site is fully optimised for search engines to improve the visibility of its key search words, which are "bailiffs" and "enforcement agents."

Google will index your site based on the content of the pages, the stuff that you say you're going to right.

No amount of keyword stuffing, meta tags or optimised titles will significantly change that.

It might be worth going through some of the content about SEO that Google publishes before you start writing.

The fact that this thread started with you wanting to write a briefing document for the government on search engine algorithms and SEO is a bit scary.

 

[Talktime]

I wrote the site content with a primary focus on engaging potential clients, prioritising their perspective over solely optimising for search engines. My goal was to ensure that visitors would find the information both informative and relevant rather than just tailoring the content to please Google.

Based on your linguistic proficiency on this forum, it seems I am likely more qualified to prepare a government briefing paper.

 

[NickGrogan]

Great, so why would you pay an SEO to keyword stuff and generally destroy that content?

If you sorted out the layout/paging issues, you'd rank better and convert better. No SEO needed.

You may have a higher linguistic proficiency than me; I'll leave that for others to decide, but you don't seem to be using it here or on your website.

 

[fisicx]

I wrote the site content with a primary focus on engaging potential clients, prioritising their perspective over solely optimising for search engines. My goal was to ensure that visitors would find the information both informative and relevant rather than just tailoring the content to please Google.

The purpose of the site is to get people paying for a £35 phone call. That should be the sole focus of everything you do. Your prospective clients don't want to read a load of legal stuff, they just want to make the bailiff go away.

You don't need SEO! You just need to convert more visitors.

 

[Talktime]

Many bailiff websites choose a minimalist strategy in offering free advice, often relying on blind web forms. While this method of online marketing may be cost-effective, it often needs to be more impactful. Operators of these sites frequently face challenges like click fraud, where competitors attempt to drain their advertising budgets and bank accounts by artificially inflating clicks.

Unlike many others, I have never relied on paid search placements. Instead, I invest time in creating well-researched articles that clients can trust and rely on. This unique approach fosters confidence in my advice, leading to sales. Although this method is low-cost, it does require a significant investment of time.

My website offers more than just £35 consultations. It also provides templates for those who prefer a self-help approach. For clients seeking comprehensive support, I provide full legal representation, taking on their bailiff issues and pursuing enforcement agents and creditors at court.

While increasing customer spend is undoubtedly a key goal, I have maintained the £35 consultation fee to ensure affordability for those in debt, demonstrating my commitment to providing accessible services.

 

[fisicx]

Doesn't change the fact that you don't need SEO. You just need to increase conversions.

The £35 phone call initiates the relationship. You can then upsell other services.

This is why I said you need a new marketing plan. If your current plan was effective you wouldn't be on UKBF asking for help, you would be so busy you wouldn't time to post.

 

[Shopclicks]

Shopclicks, your interpretation of my client selectivity approach misses the mark. My websites are designed to cater to high-value clients, such as businesses and traffic debt enforcement cases, rather than lower-value cases like court fines and council tax.

While increasing customer spend is undoubtedly a key goal, I have maintained the £35 consultation fee to ensure affordability for those in debt, demonstrating my commitment to providing accessible services.

This contradiction clearly shows why you need to revisit your fictional marketing plan.

 

[Talktime]

The £35 phone call initiates the relationship. You can then upsell other services.

Already been doing that since 2009,

This is why I said you need a new marketing plan. If your current plan was effective you wouldn't be on UKBF asking for help, you would be so busy you wouldn't time to post.

Assumptions like that can hinder progress in business.

By streamlining my back-office operations, I have significantly enhanced efficiency, allowing me to process client matters more swiftly.

I can now prepare complete hearing bundles with 100% accuracy in under 30 minutes, a task that once required an entire day when using manual systems.

Embracing updated technology has not only improved my workflow but also freed up valuable time to focus on scaling the business.

This has been instrumental in driving my SEO efforts, a crucial aspect of digital marketing, ensuring that clients seeking expert advice on bailiffs and enforcement agents can easily find my services.

 

[Talktime]

This contradiction clearly shows why you need to revisit your fictional marketing plan.

My marketing plan is consistent, as it is designed to offer free online advice to those unable to afford paid services. Those have the potential to become a paying client.

For self-help clients, I provide more than just expertly drafted templates. I offer a tool for empowerment designed to be engaging and effective, enabling them to take control of their legal issues and resolve them more efficiently.

For those seeking more personalised support, I offer consultations, where clients can discuss their concerns directly with me. During these consultations, I often upsell legal representation in court. Alternatively, for clients who prefer to represent themselves, I offer a service where I professionally prepare their claims and hearing bundles for a fee.

This marketing plan has proven successful, but I am always open to constructive feedback on how it could be further enhanced. Your insights are welcomed, especially in improving services related to bailiffs and enforcement agents.

 

[fisicx]

I'm now very confused. It seems like everything is working to plan. You are ranking, you get traffic, you convert efficiently. What else do you want?

You do post exactly how a I'd expect a lawyer to write. Or even worse, a consultant. All you seem to do is oppose everything those with experience in marketing suggest and instead tell us all how well the business is doing.

The key giveaway to need to take is stop thinking about SEO and decide what you want to achieve. Top Tip: ranking for bailiff or enforcement officer is not a useful target.

Your insights are welcomed, especially in improving services related to bailiffs and enforcement agents.

Move the website to a CMS and embrace all the features this will give you and make the changes detailed in your website review.

 

[Talktime]

The possibility of migrating the website to WordPress remains under consideration.

The focus of this discussion was never intended to involve critiques or evaluations of my marketing strategy, as I have plans to address that area separately. Should I require insights, I would consult a marketing professional.

My primary concern is enhancing the SEO performance of the website, as I recognise it is currently trailing behind competitors and requires improvement. If this necessitates moving away from outdated HTML and its PHP backend, I am prepared to make that change.

 

[NickGrogan]

My primary concern is enhancing the SEO performance of the website, as I recognise it is currently trailing behind competitors and requires improvement. If this necessitates moving away from outdated HTML and its PHP backend, I am prepared to make that change.

So why havent you done it?

In the time you've spent posting here you could have made the changes yourself or hired someone to do it for you.

What is holding you back?

 

[Talktime]

The website comprises over 169 pages, making it impractical for me to address immediately. I will likely delegate the work at a later stage. However, before doing so, I must personally review each article to ensure they reflect the most current case law. This process is essential and time-consuming, but it is crucial that only I undertake this task to maintain accuracy and authority.

 

[fisicx]

The website comprises over 169 pages, making it impractical for me to address immediately.

It’s a 10 minute job. Easy for any halfway decent developer to do with a simple script.

One imported you can then review far quicker than with your current site. And you will get backups of every change so you can roll back at any time. Just on of the benefits of using CMS.

 

[NickGrogan]

install wordpress on another domain or subdomain of your current site, block all search engines.

Import the site using a plugin like this one - https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/load-html-files/

choose a very simple theme, like Astra for example, so that you can customise it easily.

Sort out the formating so it either looks like your current site or however you want it to look.

You should have running site with all your content in under an hour.

You can use this site to edit/rewrite and generally fix your site.



Once you're happy with everything, then move the whole installation to the correct domain and unblock search engines.

 

[fisicx]

All of this was offered to you by UKBF members. You could have been up and running with improved ranking and conversions months ago.

And all you need to do is add a caveat to any legal advice to cover yourself if there are any errors or omissions. No need to review every page.

 

[Talktime]

Explaining the rules surrounding the declaration of Errors and Omissions Excepted (E & OE) in legal advice provided by both professional and non-professional practitioners is beyond the scope of this discussion.

If you need clarity on this matter, consulting a legal expert who specialises in such declarations would be advisable.

 

[Talktime]

NickGrogan: Having no prior experience with WordPress and not currently hosting it on my server, I find the prospect quite appealing. It appears straightforward, so I will need to familiarise myself with WordPress.

In a different discussion group, a recommendation was made to use Yoast for SEO. However, my previous encounters with AI tools for SEO have been less than favourable to my search rankings.

What is your perspective on integrating Yoast as a plugin for SEO, especially in terms of its effectiveness?

 

[NickGrogan]

NickGrogan: Having no prior experience with WordPress and not currently hosting it on my server, I find the prospect quite appealing. It appears straightforward, so I will need to familiarise myself with WordPress.

In a different discussion group, a recommendation was made to use Yoast for SEO. However, my previous encounters with AI tools for SEO have been less than favourable to my search rankings.

What is your perspective on integrating Yoast as a plugin for SEO, especially in terms of its effectiveness?

That's why I'd set it up on a "hidden" server first, learn, make mistakes, start again, etc with no impact at all on your site.

I went from using Dreamweaver to Wordpress many years ago, 600 page website with scripts. It takes a bit of getting used to, you have to do things the way Wordpress wants rather than having complete freedom with HTML, but its worth it and I wouldn't go back.

Yoast is a very big plugin, it claims to do all sorts of things and it does them with varying degrees of success. I have used it and I removed it, it didn't help rankings and it makes doing the simplest things far more awkward.

You don't really need much from an SEO plugin to keep Google happy.

I use a plugin to create sitemaps and track redirections automatically, so when I move a page, it tells Google where to look or if I delete, it prompts me for a URL to redirect to. I also track 404 errors and set up redirects for those, too.

A lot of SEO plugins do things like add the site name to the title, but that just gives long repetitive titles, which wont boost your SEO anyway.

Schema data can be useful, but again you don't need AI and you don't really want to fully automate it.

Metadata does nothing much - if it doesn't match the content, Google ignores it. If it matches the content, it adds no value, so, Google ignores it.

Use AI for suggestions and think about what it's telling you.


Dont use any tools that say AI will fix things automatically. They'll mess you up.

 

[fisicx]

Don’t use yoast. Rankmath is far superior.

Rank Math - Best Free WordPress SEO Tools in 2024

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But…

Almost all onsite SEO activity is done without a plugin. If you are inexperienced you can make a real mess of things. Which is why you need expert help. SEO work begins before you write a single word of content.

 

[AlanJ1]

That's why I'd set it up on a "hidden" server first, learn, make mistakes, start again, etc with no impact at all on your site.

I went from using Dreamweaver to Wordpress many years ago, 600 page website with scripts. It takes a bit of getting used to, you have to do things the way Wordpress wants rather than having complete freedom with HTML, but its worth it and I wouldn't go back.

Yoast is a very big plugin, it claims to do all sorts of things and it does them with varying degrees of success. I have used it and I removed it, it didn't help rankings and it makes doing the simplest things far more awkward.

You don't really need much from an SEO plugin to keep Google happy.

I use a plugin to create sitemaps and track redirections automatically, so when I move a page, it tells Google where to look or if I delete, it prompts me for a URL to redirect to. I also track 404 errors and set up redirects for those, too.

A lot of SEO plugins do things like add the site name to the title, but that just gives long repetitive titles, which wont boost your SEO anyway.

Schema data can be useful, but again you don't need AI and you don't really want to fully automate it.

Metadata does nothing much - if it doesn't match the content, Google ignores it. If it matches the content, it adds no value, so, Google ignores it.

Use AI for suggestions and think about what it's telling you.


Dont use any tools that say AI will fix things automatically. They'll mess you up.

I want to echo this as it's a really good post.

I have stayed out of this topic, to start with I thought what was being said about regulating search engines searches laughable so I just stayed away but can see it's moved more onto a marketing conversation now.

You have 169 pages, it's not a big site, move it to WP you will see the benefits from this.

I agree with Fisicx, you don't need an SEO plan you need CRO (conversion rate optimization).

 

[Talktime]

I'm gearing up to dive into the world of WordPress, as it seems everyone and their dog sings its praises these days.

It’s a bit of a nostalgia trip for me, considering my early '90s crash-course dramas with PHP, which, let’s be honest, now seem as relevant as a floppy disk at a tech convention.

I’ll get around to migrating 'National Bailiffs' when I’ve got a moment—so stay tuned and don’t hold your breath!

 

[fisicx]

But…

You don’t need to know anything at all about code. If you come across any any html, css, php or js something has gone wrong.

 

[Shopclicks]

I'm gearing up to dive into the world of WordPress, as it seems everyone and their dog sings its praises these days.

There are good Wordpress set-ups and bad. Fast & slow. I'd suggest when you're ready to start, open a new thread and ask lot's of questions. You will need advice on themes, plugins and security. Your site is currently passing Core Web Vitals. You don't want to lose that.

 

[NickZ]

What makes you think you have a right to position well?
Many people expect to rank well forgetting that there are ten to fifty thousand of similar sites fighting for the first 10 spots. Nowadays you need also do the bywork, Being listed, being mentioned and a lot more.

 

[fisicx]

What makes you think you have a right to position well?

They already position well and are getting decent traffic. What they aren’t doing is converting as well as they could.

 

[Ivanzyt]

I see this discussion has moved on to being about the website and CMS.
But looking at the question about regulation in the OP.

The problem you have encountered does not really anything much to do with the google algorithm. The problem is that the company you employed to do SEO tried to game the algorithm. They tried to cheat and got caught and you got penalized as a result. This happens all the time, it happened to me about 8 years ago and caused me the kind of stress you are experiencing now. I was raging against the unfairness of google bu then overtime I realized that google are actually the good guys here.

The google algorithm has one job, namely, to return relevant search results to people who use it. Its job is not to generate leads or clicks for businesses, it is to give its users relevant search information. If it fails to do this then people stop using Google. If it succeeds then people continue to use Google. Google then sells advertising based on the fact that billions of people use their website to search for stuff every day. Everything that Google has built rests on the algorithm doing its job well.

The problem is that once Google became dominant businesses saw that getting to the top of the search was valuable. So they tried to work out how the algorithm worked and started to game the system. Often this meant that the search results returned were no longer what people wanted. This was bad for Google as their entire business model depended on giving good search results.

Google rapidly recognised this existential threat to their business. As such they started to update their algorithms regularly to "defeat" the tactics of SEO "experts". This has been an ongoing war ever since. SEO companies have been trying to game Google and then Google defends itself with countermeasures. No one can blame Google for this because if they didn't then Google search would rapidly become full of crapy search results that are not relevant and so everyone would stop using Google and their business would die.

What happened to you was not Google's fault they are just trying to provide the service to their customers, which BTW is not your business, and it's not even the people who use Google to search. Googles customers are the people who pay for advertising. Google ads only work if the people searching with google trust the results it gives them and so continue to use it in vast numbers. If people stop using google because it creates spammy search results then the adverts on Google no longer work so well and so the companies buying those ads don't buy them anymore.

Making the Google algorithms publicly available through legislation is a very bad idea. This would give all the dodgy "SEO experts" out there all the information they need to start scamming the system even more. Google would then need to do more updates, which would then presumably need to also be made publicly available, which would then in turn be gamed and so on and so forth. It would just accelerate the ongoing war between Google and the SEO "optimizers".

Now, all that being said, SEO is worth doing but good SEO should not be in conflict with Google. Indeed, Google tells the world exactly how to make your website work well with it. Good clear content, make it easy to navigate, make the user experience good, and then use the various systems to help Googles bots know what it is they are looking at. This is hard work but not beyond the wit of man. The problem is that it is also slow work and it takes time for google to recognise and reward your labour. And lots of other companies will be doing the same thing and so you will be competing with them.

In my experience, you can fart around with optimization and SEO till the cows come home but the best thing to do is to create good, regular, easy-to-read content that imparts information to the searcher. Then trust that the people at Google are smart enough to recognise good relevant content and will rank you for it. Google is very good at what it does but, as the internet is so large, they won't always rank the most deserving content the highest but, generally, over time if you keep plugging away this does happen. There is always a temptation to cheat with dodgy SEO but, in my experience, this is a dangerous tactic.

I feel your pain. I really do. I have felt this pain. But Google are not the villain here, they are actually the good guys.

 

[NickGrogan]

best thing to do is to create good, regular, easy-to-read content that imparts information to the searcher

which is a good definition of SEO

 

[Ivanzyt]

which is a good definition of SEO

No, that's just a definition of good copy. It just so happens that Google is trying to find good copy, so the Venn diagram of good copy and well-optimised copy do overlap considerably. But you could conceivably have good copy that is sub-optimised for search. In niche segments, good copy is almost all you need to do to get onto the front page of organic. For more competitive search terms there is a bit more work to do than just writing good copy. But, again, Google explains all of this. The only problems occur when people try and out smart Google.

 

[Talktime]

I have successfully rewritten the articles on my website, which has resulted in a significant rebound in its search ranking to pre-SEO levels.

I did not incorporate changes to WordPress, such as adding a menu or altering its appearance, as my primary focus was refreshing the content and integrating case citations from reputable sources.

Remarkably, the content updates have propelled my site back to the first page of search engine results without employing traditional SEO techniques. Consequently, I will shift my focus to other priorities as time permits.

This experience has underscored the limitations of relying solely on AI for SEO. Despite the current trend of promoting AI as a panacea for search optimisation, my results demonstrate that traditional content quality remains paramount. I will keep SEO on hold for now, as my website continues to perform effectively without it.