Today I was asked to look at boosting the performance of two specific keywords that are quite important to a customer. Firstly, I started by looking at the SERP for these terms in incognito mode. This gave me a good idea of what the pages that are performing well are doing.

Putting the keyword first in meta data

I noticed that the main pages for each of these terms didn’t contain a phrase match for the specific keywords in the meta data, so that’s an easy win updating the Title tag and putting the keyword at the start.

Keyword anchor text

There were also no internal links on these pages using the keyword as anchor text. This helps imply more importance to a word or phrase to Google. I also looked for these terms used throughout the site to add more internal links pointing back to the main pages.

I recommended some supplementary content be created based on “People also ask” questions on the SERPs to help support the site’s overall importance on this topic, increasing the internal authority of the term with more internal links.

You can also use tools like SEMRush Keyword Magic Tool to get ideas on what questions people are asking.

Simple updates that we’ll monitor over the coming weeks and report back to the client on any improvements using our Google Data Studio report.

Today’s daily SEO Tip is all about keeping your URLs simple. I was working on a large UK fashion retailer, optimising their Google My Business and Bing Places listings. I choose to bulk upload these updates as they have hundreds of locations.

I was updating UTM tracking in Bing Places and noticed that some of the URLs had “%20” in them, this indicates that they’ve been published with a space in between words. Best practise is to use a dash (-) in between words in a URL.

URLs with spaces were causing issues in Bing Places as they were failing validation and not being approved.

Further investigating the URLs, there were versions indexed with a dash however Google seemed to favour the URLs with spaces in. We made further recommendations to canonicalise the URLs with spaces to the URLs with dashes, only indexing one and not cannibalising SERPs.

To sum it all up, keep it simple when it comes to URLs, use dashes, don’t use spaces, keep it short.

This guide is intended to show you how to automatically share your Google Data Studio report if you’re looking for a bit of help setting one up you can check out this guide and free template.

Step 1 – Check your share settings

I wrote this little guide on making sure your GDS report is visible to anyone receiving the link when sharing it. You can check it out for more detail but you need to make sure your report is set up so that Link Sharing is On and “Anyone with a link can view“.

Step 2 – Schedule email delivery

Scheduling automatic email delivery is very simple to do and is great and ensuring the great performance you’re achieving is being shared.

You’re going to want to click the drop-down on the button “Share” and select “Schedule email delivery”.

Here you can set the following:

• Recipents email adresses
• Custom Subject & Message
• Preview pages which are attached as JPG images
• The first delivery time and date
• And also the repeating schedule

The report is also sent as a PDF document, which loses its interactivity but can be useful for backing up your reports as proof of its existence.

I’ll leave you to decide what you include in your email, the important part of the delivery is ensuring it’s sent every month.

Here are the settings I use, but the principle is to set the first delivery for the 1st of the following month and I choose to send the reports in the morning.

You can adjust this to suit your needs accordingly, for example, if you wanted the report to be sent bi-weekly adjust the “Every” option like so.

Let me know if you have any questions about this, leave a comment or get in contact!

Step 1 – Create the report

Make sure you’ve got a report to share, if you’ve somehow landed here but haven’t created a report yet, you can check out this free template.

Step 2 – Enabling sharing

You need to make sure you’ve got sharing enabled so that anyone with a link can view the report. I feel it’s important to do this so that if the person you’ve shared the report with wants to share it with someone else, potentially this is for a client so they want management or C-level board member, etc to see it, for example, they will have no issues viewing the report and sentiment towards you is increased.

To enable this you’re going to want to click the “Share” button in the top right corner. Make sure to click the button itself and not the drop-down.

Here you can then share it with a specific person and only they alone, as well as yourself, will be able to view the report. Make sure you click the text “Add people” before you hit send otherwise it won’t register what you’re trying to do. This is one of the annoying nuances of sharing Google Data Studio Reports.

To make sure the report is visible to anyone with a link you need to select the “Manage access” tab. By default, the report Link sharing is “Off – only specific people can access“.

You need to update this to suit your needs, I tend to play it safe with “Anyone with the link can view“.

Step 3 – Sharing the report

Then the finally the last step is getting a share-friendly URL to send to the intended recipient.

Back to the “Share” button but this time, you’ll need to select the drop-down arrow to pull up different options. We’re going to select “Get report link”.

Then all you need to do is simply copy and paste the link provided.

If you have any more questions about sharing your Google Data Studio report or GDS in general, just get in contact or leave a comment below!

I’ve been working with Google Data Studio, sometimes referred too as GDS, for over a year now and I think it’s a fantastic tool to help freelancers, agencies and anyone working in the digital work to help showcase the work you’re doing for clients or your boss.

It can be daunting when starting out with Data Studio on knowing where to begin, how everything works, etc. This isn’t a how to set up Google Data studio report guide specifically but it will cover some fundamentals on getting started using my template! Here’s a quick introduction to GDS if you’re not too sure what it is.

Introduction to Google Data Studio

How to use my Google Data Studio template

Template Link : https://datastudio.google.com/s/oYAQHcBWldc

Step 1: Data Sources

The first thing you’ll need to do, after you’ve agreed to the T&C’s, https://datastudio.google.com/overview, we need to create the data sources. To do this you’ll need access to the site’s Google Analytics reporting view and Google Search Console property.

Create a new data source for the following:

• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console – URL
• Google Search Console – Site

How to create a new data source in Google Data Studio

In the top left corner of GDS, click the “Create” button.

Then Select “Data source”.

Name your data source and Select your connector. In this example, we’ll set a new Google Analytics connection.

Top tip! Make sure the name is unique, this makes it easier when building and creating your reports.

Authorize your connector and then select the view you want to use. Select Connect in the top right corner once you’ve found the view.

If you’re not using my template, then that’s it – you’ve created your first data source!

But if you want to use my template you’ll need to set up some additional fields in your connectors. Let’s keep going with the Google Analytics connector as an example, but you’ll need to create Google Search Console connectors for both “Site Impression” and “Url Impression” to continue with this guide a little further down.

Creating a Calculated Field in Google Data Studio

For my report to work as intended, we need to create Calculated Fields. If you’re following along from above, you should see a list of fields in front of you, select “Add Field” in the top right corner.

If not, you’ll need to find the data source you want to edit, simply click the data source and you’ll see the list of fields.

Calculated Fields allow you to do many amazing things but we’re just going to be using some simple CASE functions, you can check out a full list of functions here.

For Google Analytics we only need to create one Calculated Field for my report template called “Themes”.

Google Analytics Calculated Fields

Themes

CASE
WHEN REGEXP_MATCH(Landing Page, ".*/example/.*") THEN "Example"
WHEN REGEXP_MATCH(Landing Page, ".*/test/.*") THEN "Test"
END

Google Search Console Site Calculated Fields

Keyword Type

CASE
WHEN REGEXP_MATCH(Query, ".*brand.*name.*") THEN "Brand"
ELSE "Non-brand"
END

Themes

CASE
WHEN REGEXP_MATCH(Query, ".*example.*") THEN "Example"
WHEN REGEXP_MATCH(Query, ".*test.*") THEN "Test"
END

SERP

CONCAT("https://www.google.com/search?q=", Query)

Note: You can update the local of the SERPs by changing the Google domain.

SERP Link

HYPERLINK(SERP, IMAGE("https://grwst.one/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/search.png"))

Google Search Console URL Calculated Fields

Themes

CASE
WHEN REGEXP_MATCH(Landing Page, ".*/example/.*") THEN "Example"
WHEN REGEXP_MATCH(Landing Page, ".*/test/.*") THEN "Test"
END

URL Link

HYPERLINK(Landing Page, IMAGE("https://grwst.one/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/search.png"))

Creating a Google My Business Connector

For this, we’re going to be using Jepto’s Google My Business Connector, which is free to use! Follow their instructions and you’ll be good to go!

Step 2: Creating your report

Once your data sources have been created, in order, we can now look at setting up your first report by copying my template.

Open up my report template https://datastudio.google.com/s/oYAQHcBWldc and you’re going to want to make a copy.

The next step is to line up your data sources with mine. Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out how to make these visible to you, if anyone can share any light on this that would be much appreciated, here are the current share settings on these data sources.

In the pop-up the order is as follows.

• Google Analytics connector
• GSC Site connector
• GSC URL connector
• Jepto GMB connector

Once you’re happy, click “Copy Report”.

Now there are only a few steps to ensure the report is fully working, this is where the Calculated Fields come into play.

Word Visibility

On Page 5. Word Visibility you’ll notice some broken charts and filters, here’s what you need to do.

For the broken filters, you’ll need to assign the dimensions “Keyword Type” and “Themes”.

In the main chart, replace the Invalid Dimension with “SERP Link” and rename it to “-” for display purposes.

Page visibility

On Page 6. Page Visibility you’ll notice some more broken charts and filters, here’s what you need to do.

For the filter, assign it the Dimension “Themes” and for the chart repeat the process above but adding “URL Link” instead.

Traffic

On page 9. Traffic, you only need to update one filter, assigning the Dimension “Themes”.

You can use the search function in the data tab to make finding the right dimension easier.

Step 3: How to share your Data Studio report

The final step is ensuring your new GDS report can be seen by your clients! You need to make sure that the following settings have been updated.

Click the “Share” button in the top right-hand corner, not the drop down, just the button.

Select the tab “Manage access” and change the drop-down to “Anyone with the link can view”.

Click Save. This means that when you get a share-friendly URL, anyone will be able to view your amazing work!

Report Test: https://datastudio.google.com/s/mACOMCR0R0I

If you’ve got any questions, leave a comment or get in contact. Also if you have any suggestions for streamlining the process above please let me know!

If you’re interested in SEO services, please get in contact with Vertical Leap

Chrome extensions

SEO Meta in 1 Click

My favourite all in one SEO tool, SEO Meta in 1 Click simply displays a site’s metadata and main SEO information including title, description, headers, and information on images and links on the page. A very handy, lightweight chrome extension!

SEO Minion

SEO Minion helps you in your daily SEO tasks such as On-Page SEO analysis, Broken Link Checking, SERP Preview and more. I like it because it’s really simple to use, easy to navigate and tells you what you need to know, quickly. Well deserving of a space on your chrome extensions tool bar.

Tag Assistant

Tag Assistant chrome extension helps to troubleshoot the installation of various Google tags including Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and more. Using the favourites option, by ticking the star in the top right corner makes it easier to check on the sites you manage quicker.

SEO Review Tools for Chrome

SEO Review Tools for Chrome is an extension which allows you to quickly check the URL your visiting with one of their 30 free SEO Tools, or in addition, they’ve included quick links to 6 free Google Tools;

• PageSpeed Insights
• Structured Data Testing Tool
• Mobile Friendly Testing Tool
• Google Search Console
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Trends

Wappalyzer

Wappalyzer is a cross-platform utility that uncovers the technologies used on websites. It detects content management systems, e-commerce platforms, web frameworks, server software, analytics tools and many more. It’s great for quickly identifying client CMS pre-sale. They also offer a Firefox extension too.

Lighthouse

Page speed, the speed at which your web pages load and can be interacted with are a massive topic of conversations within the SEO community. Lighthouse is Google’s in-depth developer tool that tells you what you need to do to improve your scores. Lighthouse is an open-source, automated tool for improving the performance, quality, and correctness of your web apps.

Web developer

The Web Developer extension adds a toolbar button to the browser with various web developer tools. It is also available for Firefox & Opera browsers.

SEO Word Count & Keyword Density

add to chrome

SEO Word Count & Keyword Density helps visualise how Google perceives the value of certain keywords on your page. It can mean the difference between a top 3 position to a second-page ranking! Getting the right balance of your keyword and variants is key to a successful page.

Websites & Tools

Metatags.io

You can put any live URL in the search box and metatags.io will help you visualize, edit and optimize the meta tags code so you can update them. You can also add this to your WordPress site.

Wayback Machine

A Library of Internet sites and other cultural artefacts in digital form. A must use for all SEO experts. It’s free to use and there’s also a Chrome extension available which enables you to submit snapshots of your pages.

Not my first

I have previously purchased domains for which I thought presented a good opportunity to get some traffic and most importantly for me to learn on and improve my digital skills. I’d tried a few different niches but I was constantly starting projects and never finishing them. You can check out my portfolio to see what I’m talking about. This time I have a goal.

Why fried eggs?

Well, I’m actually allergic to eggs. The comedy value is not lost on me, in fact, it’s the main reason I purchased the domain in the first place. But aside from the now obvious irony, friedegg.co.uk offers a clear direction on what the site should be about, Fried Eggs of course!

The objective

The objective is to build an easy to manage, lightweight site and compete with Jamie Oliver for position zero (Featured Snippet) on Google for the term “How to fry an egg?” in 4 easy steps.

4 steps to fried egg SEO success

• Buy the domain & host.
• Build the site.
• Created “How to fry an egg” content.
• Optimise & rule the world!

Coming soon

Basically, I’ve only completed step 1 of the above, so stay tuned for the rest of the great battle between friedegg.co.uk & Jamie Oliver.

Jamie Oliver couldn’t hold on

As the site is coming along nicely I thought I’d check in and see what the SERP is looking like for the “how to fry an egg?” search term. Well, Jamie Oliver has been de-throned and replaced with a video.

This video is from 2009 and it has a maximum video quality of 240p. How has this video toppled a well explained, high authority recipe?

Looking at SocialBlade stats this video is the channels 2nd most viewed video of all time with 654.9k views, that doesn’t explain why Google’s algorithm has decided to show this video but an interesting stat, looking briefly at the YouTube channel egg recipes seem to feature heavily.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this SERP whilst the site is still under development and posting any updates.

This is a test to see whether the Lazy Loading improves the site speed, using Google Page Speed Insights, which now uses their Lighthouse tool, to measure.

Level of expertise

I am attempting this with little to no knowledge on how to implement Lazy loading in an efficient way by adding scripts and/or functions to my site. My initial thought was to use a super small script I found called [be]Lazy.js. My technical knowledge meant that I resorted to using a WordPress plugin instead.

The top plugin by rating on Word Press is a3 Lazy Load. It took me 5 minutes to install, change some settings and test. The image below should now load as you scroll down the page!

The laziest loading pugs

Before adding the script

The following screenshots are from Google Page Speed Insights before adding the Lazy loading plugin to the site. As you can see there’s some work to be done.

The second opportunity recommendation in the list is to “Defer offscreen images”, basically try lazy loading.

After adding Lazy loading plugin

There was only a small increase in the overall speed and the plugin script is now showing as a render-blocking resource, a web developer could probably fix this by implementing lazy loading in a far superior and efficient way.

My speed score increased to 71 and a noticeable increase in FCP & FMP.

Passed audits

But the aim of this task was to tackle the opportunities concerning the images and whether adding Lazy loading would help my site pass those audits. The answer is, it does! (I choose not to lazy load my gravatar) All audits concerning images, for this page, passed!

In conclusion, adding lazy loading to your site can save you some valuable seconds which can help improve your page ranking.