A couple of IT-related items to help raise the online visibility of your team – (1) on Sun 3rd April at 17:00 an event where you can ask questions, and (2) how and why to update your team’s profile in our Teamfinder.

Online event on Sun 3rd April

Getting to the Top of Google and Other IT Issues” – Brian Kelly – Sun 3rd April 17:00-18:30.

“How do we get to the top of Google?” is a question you might be asking, especially if you’re looking to recruit new members or you want to make it easier for event organisers to find information about your side.

We provide two different approaches which you can use (for free!) to help get information (including photos and videos) of your side to the first page of Google results – and we’ll provide evidence of the effectiveness of these approaches which, as you can see from the results of a search for “Mixed morris side near me” is working for at least two sides in the south west.

We’ll also explain how you may be able get information about your side to the first page of Google results even if you don’t have a website – this session isn’t just for IT geeks!

How to access an online event: Register for an event, and we’ll email you a Zoom link.  We are also recording most of our events, for our MF YouTube channel.

See: MF Events

Updating the MF Teamfinder – to help raise the Online Visibility of Your Side 

Morris Federation Sides’ Use of Online Services 

The Morris Federation has recently analysed the online services provided by team members. We found 330 working websites (4 websites were not operational and we’ve contacted the sides) and 377 Facebook pages.  We also noticed that, not unexpectedly, use of YouTube, Twitter and Instagram seems to have had little growth over the year (although we were impressed by the small number of sides which had significant numbers of followers and views for their accounts). 

Is Your Information Easily Found in Google? 

But how easy is it for people (perhaps potential new recruits or event organisers wish to book a side) to find information about sides? 

We analysed the number of pages indexed by Google and the Google ‘pagerank’ for Morris Federation side websites (where they have a website) and found most websites are (a) small (<10 pages) and (b) are not easily found using Google. 

Addressing the Limitations of Small Websites (or Having no Website!) 

An issue the Morris Federation has been addressing is “How do we ensure that information about our members can easily be found?” 

We’re pleased to say that (a) we now have an answer; (b) we have evidence that the approach works; (c) we have provided simple documentation on what team contacts need to do and (most importantly) (d) information can be found using Google even for sides which don’t have a website or a Facebook account! 

In brief, the Morris Federation website has a higher Google pagerank than individual sides’ websites, and so information on team profiles is more likely to be found for appropriate queries on the first page of Google results. 

We have documented the information which sides should provide which can help users find their content: some suggestions are generic (include the name of your side, location and traditions you perform and when you upload images include a meaningful description) but others will be specific to your side (perhaps you have a catchphrase or a certain je ne sais quoi which people may search for). The Rivington Morris profile provides a good example of factual information followed by a description which gives an indication of the side’s culture, as shown below!

Next Steps 

Our suggestions: 

• Have a read of the “Updating Your Morris Federation Teamfinder Profile” document. 
• Have a look at what others are doing using a Google search for “#morrisfedprofile” (include quotes and follow links at bottom of page to see all 200+ profiles. 
• Look for some specific examples by searches such as “#morrisfedprofile” #border; “#morrisfedprofile” Dorset; “#morrisfedprofile” London; etc. 
• If you think a “hashtag’ would be useful for your side, include it in your profile (e.g. #northgaterapper). 
• Update your side’s profile. 
• Wait for a week or so for Google to index your profile (Google has a lot of pages to index!) 
• Let us know how you get on. 

If you’ve any questions or comments feel free to contact Brian Kelly, the Morris Federation Comms and IT volunteer – use the Contact Us form and choose the dropdown for ‘IT Resources’.

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