​Things are not so straightforward when it comes to third-party tracking software!

A significant number of websites are using third-party marketing software solutions or even AI on their website.
These could be lead tracking applications like Lead Forensics, Leadfeeder or CANDDI.
They may be using call tracking applications like Call Tracking or Ruler Analytics.
All great tools for generating leads but be wary:
The use of these tracking applications raise some very thought provoking questions in terms of GDPR compliance, and in my opinion, its still remains a grey area. 
At first view, these applications track webusers in ways they would not expect and for which they have not granted consent.  EG., it is tracking my behaviour each time I return to the website, or view a specific page on your site, or complete specific action.
But the suppliers of these applications assure us they are GDPR compliant.
First, the suppliers like CANNDI are advising that banners stating clearly and unambiguously that cookies are being used,
the software suppliers say that the use of cookie tracking technology is in the legitimate interest of your business as a data controller, and specifically Section 47 allowing for “processing for direct marketing purposes or preventing fraud.”
CANNDI advises:
Legitimate​ ​Interest​ ​-​ ​If using the legitimate interest principle within your website tracking it is advisable to have on record during your GDPR preparation that this is the case. This should include the grounds on which you are using this.

The providers of these tools are stating that they are GDPR compliant. But if the software is doing anything illegal, then it is your business’ responsibility as the Data Controller. The real question is to identify the GDPR compliance risks in using this kind of software, and to reduce or eliminate your risks as a business owner. As a result, you need to review your contract with these software providers carefully.

As one of the top website design and SEO companies in Ireland www.cosmos.ie has years of experience in website management and search engine optimisation in Ireland.
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​6. How do I get Privacy notice and terms and conditions correct for GDPR on my website?
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The Data Protection Commission office has very kindly provided a sample privacy notice that you can use on your website.

It is succinct, transparent, and makes for easy.

You will also need to update your terms and conditions on your #website to reference #GDPR terminology.
Of course you will need to make it completely clear what you will do with the information once you’ve captured it, and how long you will keep this information both on your website and also on your systems.
Needless to say you will also need to implement the other changes in your website highlighted in my blogs over the last few weeks.
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As one of the top website design and SEO companies in Ireland www.cosmos.ie has years of experience in website management and search engine optimisation in Ireland.
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No. 5. Named parties, naming the names!

Any website forms must clearly show each party or business for which the consent is being given. It is not satisfactory to say specifically defined categories or the great cover all of third-party organisations: they must be specifically named in the form.

In this example, you can see Tesco Mobile Ireland understands the gist that we need to give named permissions for updates
​

Of course the other rule applies too in this context: opt in rather than opt out.

As one of the top website design and SEO companies in Ireland www.cosmos.ie has years of experience in website management and search engine optimisation in Ireland.
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​4. It has to be Easy to withdraw permission or opt-out.

It must be just as easy to remove consent as it was to grant it, and individuals always need to know they have the right to withdraw their consent.

In terms of your web user experience, this means unsubscribing could consist of selectively withdrawing consent to any or all forms of communication:

Or easily change the frequency of communication, or stop all communications entirely:

See images for some excellent examples of how it should be done


What is the best webdesign company ?
​So if you require help with your website design and SEO www.cosmos.ie
#websitedesign #websitedesigner #WEBSITEDESIGNS #websitedesigners #WebsiteDesigning #websitedesigncompany #GDPR #compliance
​As one of the top website design and SEO companies in Ireland www.cosmos.ie has years of experience in website management and search engine optimisation in Ireland.
#WebsiteDevelopment #websitelaunch #websitebuilder #websitedeveloper #websitetraffic #websitesGDPR ​

3. Granular Opt-In
How do I make my website GDPR compliant?

In order to make your website GDPR compliant any of your website users should be able to provide separate consent for different types of information processing of their data 

Users should be able to provide separate consent for different types of processing.

In this example, the awards company are asking for specific permission for each type of processing (post, email, telephone) and also asking permission to past details onto a third party.

Good practice..

​

What is the best webdesign company ?
​So if you require help with your website design and SEO www.cosmos.ie
#websitedesign #websitedesigner #WEBSITEDESIGNS #websitedesigners #WebsiteDesigning #websitedesigncompany #GDPR #compliance
​As one of the top website design and SEO companies in Ireland www.cosmos.ie has years of experience in website management and search engine optimisation in Ireland.
#WebsiteDevelopment #websitelaunch #websitebuilder #websitedeveloper #websitetraffic #websitesGDPR ​

2. Unbundled Opt-In

The consent you are asking for should be set out separately for accepting terms and conditions, and acceptance of consent for other ways of using data.

In this example, Tesco clearly set out the acceptance of their terms and conditions, but then fail to separately set out the active opt-in for their contact permissions: it's opt OUT by default....tut tut again

It’s a shame Tesco didn’t get the option to be more granular in terms of communication opt-in preferences (email, SMS, post)too.

POOR user experience, and must be changed. Each form of communication must be requested separately, so ask for permission separately for Phone, email etc

GDPR Opt In Fail.

Have you any examples you may have seen recently?

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What is the best webdesign company ?
​So if you require help with your website design and SEO www.cosmos.ie
#websitedesign #websitedesigner #WEBSITEDESIGNS #websitedesigners #WebsiteDesigning #websitedesigncompany #GDPR #compliance
​As one of the top website design and SEO companies in Ireland www.cosmos.ie has years of experience in website management and search engine optimisation in Ireland.
#WebsiteDevelopment #websitelaunch #websitebuilder #websitedeveloper #websitetraffic #websitesGDPR

Making your website GDPR compliant.

You will have heard at the very least all about GDPR, and most of you will have a vague idea about its essential thrust, so as the dust settles we have a clear idea of what this new protections that are afforded to data provide, and consequently its effect on digital marketing. 
We detail here how you must integrate it in to the very design of your website.(webdesign)
As website designers understanding how the 99 clauses of the 260 page directive effects your website is difficult to understand. We are going to untangle it here over the next few weeks.

Why is it so important, whats the big deal?
​
The main reason GDPR is so scary are the potential financial penalties - €20 Million or 4% of previous years annual turnover, whichever is higher.
Enough to scare most companies, whether large or small, so most are taking this seriously.
Going back to your website compliance, there are a number of rules and regulations which need to be adhered to, each falling into different areas:

• Consent. Ensuring individuals can opt in for data to be gathered
• Processing. Defining rules about the processing of personal data
• Securing data. Ensuring organisations protect an individuals privacy
• Breach notification. Informing individuals (and the authorities) about data breaches
• Right to access. Adhering to requests for access to personal information held
• Right to be forgotten. Ensuring individuals can be removed for your records
• Due process. Ensuring you have defined procedures to follow and individuals responsible for actioning them

In principle these are all quite straightforward, until you start to unpick each one, and this is where it becomes more problematic...

Sign up to updates as we unpick each area over the next few weeks.


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What is the best webdesign company kildare?
​So if you require help with your website design and SEO www.cosmos.ie
#websitedesign #websitedesigner #WEBSITEDESIGNS #websitedesigners #WebsiteDesigning #websitedesigncompany 
​As one of the top website design and SEO companies in Ireland  www.cosmos.ie has years of experience in website management and search engine optimisation in Ireland.
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Optimising for voice search: SEO for conversational searchers, top tips...

There are a few things you can specifically do to optimise for voice search.
In general the work you do on this element will help your site generally, voice search or not.

Here are my top tips:

1. Optimise for conversational keywords

Write question-and-answer pages (FAQs) or write individual blog posts answering customer questions.( my inbox is a great source of inspiration)
Add questions to product pages.
Use Answer the Public (free), Question Samurai (signup required) and StoryBase (paid) to find popular questions around your industry or business.

2. Optimise for local queries

Claim your Google My Business listing, if you haven't already done so
Add “near me” phrasing to your pages.
Write descriptions to show up in the local knowledge panel.

3. Try to get your site a featured snippet

This is the section that appears highlighted in the block of texts in Google search results
Use structured data.

4. Make your content mobile-friendly

Improve your site speed for mobile.
Use Google’s mobile-friendly testing tools: such as pagespeed insights etc

5. Make sure your site secure is secure.

https://www.cosmos.ie as opposed to http://www.cosmos.ie
Next month, Google will mark non-HTTPS sites as non-secure in Chrome browsers.
HTTPS warning in Chrome 68

6. Make your answers short and concise

7. Make your domain authoritative

8. Share your content on social media frequently​
​
What is the best social media marketing agency?
​So if you require help with social media marketing and SEO www.cosmos.ie
#socialmedia #socialmarketing #socialmediamarketing #digitalmarketing #contentmarketing 
​As one of the top social media marketing and SEO companies in Ireland  www.cosmos.ie has years of experience in social media management and search engine optimisation in Ireland
#seo #seotips #seomarketing #seoservices #seoproblems #seoexpert #seoagency #seoconsultant #seostrategy #SEOtools #seocompany ​

If you are a small business owner and you are tired of spending too much time and money on trying to compete with large multinational or big business competitors there is nothing like Local SEO to help you progress.

Local SEO works more effectively because the local algorithim works differently, local queries work on context and off location so, for example, top SEO company searched in Dublin will deliver different results to SEO company Kildare, or SEO company Wicklow.
It gives the top three results in the 'above the fold' section of the search engine results page(SERPS).
Simply put it means being better at local SEO means getting one over the bigger international or national competition.

That's all very well, but how do I go about local SEO?

1. You need to establish as many local connections as you can eg. local business directories on line, golden pages, yelp, local business associations making sure that you have listed your web address and updated your physical address. 
You must of course ensure you are fully and correctly set up on Google my Business.

2. As well as this, you’ll have a strong content marketing strategy with an emphasis on extra local relevance, ensuring you have local-specific content on your website.
e.g. Social media marketing company Kildare, best SEO company Kildare

3. Focus on Local recommendations, asking happy past customers to give you a review on Google my Business or indeed on Facebook reviews.

4. Local keyword optimisation.
Make sure you use local keywords such as Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, etc. this will help google ensure you rank better for those areas you operate in as well rank more often for a wider range of searches.
Long-tail rankings. You could also use locally relevant content to rank higher in searches below the fold of the local 3-pack. These would include posts like “The Best SEO company in Kildare.”

5. Local relevance.
Last but not least use local content to improve loyalty, don't be afraid to ask local happy clients for referrals & reviews, and ask them nicely to share your content on the web.

What Not to Do

Even though it’s important to include keywords relevant to your geographic location, be careful you don't just stick keywords into your content randomly and expect good results: this will in fact have a demoting effect as Google may consider it 'keyword stuffing' or worse still a 'black hat technique' and result in sanctions.
You've been warned!

What is the best social media marketing agency?
​So if you require help with social media marketing and SEO www.cosmos.ie
#socialmedia #socialmarketing #socialmediamarketing #digitalmarketing #contentmarketing 
​As one of the top social media marketing and SEO companies in Ireland  www.cosmos.ie has years of experience in social media management and search engine optimisation in Ireland