About This Document
This document provides evidence of Morris Federation teams which have provided information which has resulted in links to their Teamfinder profile to be listed on the first page of Google results for an appropriate query.
Executive Summary
Sides which have updated their profile in the Morris Federation’s Teamfinder service can be found in the first page of Google search results for appropriate search queries. We encourage all sides to update their profile with details of their side and photographs and videos (with suitable captions).
Aims of This Work
Our intention is to support Morris Federation sides which wish to raise their online visibility in search engines such as Google by explaining how they can use their side’s profile description in the Teamfinder service so that it can be found in the first page of Google results for an appropriate search query.
Background
Since autumn 2021 the Morris Federation has been working on enhancing the online discovery of information about member sides. This work has included:
- Carrying out a Google Coverage of Morris Federation Team Websites (which summarised how many pages are indexed by sides which have a website – and identified a small number of websites for which most pages aren’t indexed by Google ).
- Carrying out a Page Rank for Morris Federation Team Websites (which provided evidence of the challenges of relying on small websites to provide information which could be found by casual use of Google)
- Explaining best practices for Using the Google Search Console
- Describing how the Morris Federation Teamfinder service an be used for Getting Details of Your Morris Side to the Top of Google
In addition an online talk was given on Zoom on “Getting to the Top of Google (and Other IT Issues)”, a recording of the talk is available (1 hour 23 mins long). For those who would like to watch a shorter series of resources the following recordings of a rehearsal of the talk are available.
- Creating a Google Business Profile (5 mins)
- Understanding the Morris Federation Online Community (8 mins)
- Link Building Strategies for the Morris Federation Community (9 mins)
A review of the workshop session is also available.
Evidence of the Effectiveness of this Work
We have encouraged Most Federation sides to update their Teamfinder profile based on the suggestions given in the Updating Your Morris Federation Teamfinder Profile and Getting Details of Your Morris Side to the Top of Google documents.
We are now in a position to monitory the effectiveness of the updates, by looking at the results page in Google.
Note that in this survey a Incognito (also known as InPrivate) search was used, so that Google is not making use of its knowledge of my search preferences (i.e. when I search for Morris, I’m looking for a form of dance and not a make of car or a person called Morris).
Findings from Analysis of Google Search Console
The findings given in Table 1 are taken from the Google Search Console results for the top ten hits for side profile pages.
Searches based on side name
| Search query | Result | Summary |
| “Wimberry Clog“ | Wimberry Clog | Profile found in 1st place |
| “Lodestone Border Morris“ | Lodestone Border Morris | Profile found in 2nd place |
| “Clerical Error Morris Dancers“ | Clerical Error | Profile found in 2nd place |
| “Wreckers Border Morris“ | Wreckers Border Morris | Profile found in 3rd place |
| “Newcastle Kingsmen“ | Newcastle Kingsmen | Profile found in 3rd place |
| “Belle d’ Vain“ | Belle d’Vain | Profile found in 2nd place |
| “Northgate Rapper“ | Northgate Rapper | Profile found in 4th place |
| “Black Gate Morris“ | Black Gate Morris | Profile found in 2nd place |
| “Leading Lights Morris“ | Leading Lights Morris | Profile found in 2nd place |
| “Hell’s Bells Morris“ | Hell’s Bells Alternative Morris | Profile found in 2nd place |
| “Barrel Border Morris“ | Barrel Border Morris | Profile found in 2nd place |
| “Newton Bushel Morris“ | Newton Bushel Morris | Profile found in 4th place |
| “Dorset Buttons Morris“ | Dorset Buttons Morris | Profile found in 4th place |
| “Rivington Morris“ | Rivington Morris | Profile found in 4th place |
Findings From Potential Google Queries
The findings given in Tables 2-4 are taken from the potential search queries which users may reasonably be expected to ask; the findings in Tables 5-7 are results if specific hashtags are promoted by sides and Table 8 shows how images and video files which have captions can be found .
Searches based on location
| Search query | Result | Summary |
| “looking for a morris side in Dorset which welcomes new members“ | Wyld Morris | Profile found in 2nd place based on following text: “If you’re looking for a morris side in Dorset, do get in touch. Wyld Morris welcomes new dancers and musicians, both experienced and newcomers!“ |
| “looking for a mixed North West Clog team in Worthing“ | Temporary Measured | Profile found in 1st place based on following text: “Temporary Measured are a mixed North West Clog team based at Washington near Worthing in West Sussex“ |
| “Looking for a friendly mixed cotswold side team in south Devon which welcomes new members“ | Newton Bushel Morris | Profile found in 1st place based on following text: “Newton Bushel Morris are a friendly mixed Cotswold side team performing in South Devon … Welcome new members dancers and musicians” |
| “mixed Morris group in Glastonbury“ | Glastonbury Border Morris Dancers | Profile found in 1st place based on following text: “Glastonbury Border Morris Dancers is a mixed Border Morris dancing group in Glastonbury“ |
| “mixed Morris group in Somerset looking for new members“ | Glastonbury Border Morris Dancers | Profile found in 2nd place based on following text: “Glastonbury Border Morris Dancers is a mixed Border Morris dancing group in Glastonbury. We welcome new members …” |
| “Looking for mixed Cotswold side in Surrey which welcomes new members“ | Kingston Morris | Profile found in 1st place based on following text: “Mixed Cotswold side in Kingston. We welcome new members“ |
Searches based on dance characteristics
| Search query | Result | Summary |
| “vibrant Border Morris side“ | Wreckers Morris Border Side | Profile found in 1st place based on following text: “Wreckers Border Morris is a vibrant side, originating from the border between Cornwall and England“ |
| “rapper team double asymmetric somersault“ | Northgate Rapper | Profile found in 1st place based on following text: “The double asymmetric somersault went well“ |
| “Dancing with garlands & cotton-reels at Leigh Folk Festival“ | Cockleshell Clog | Picture found in 2nd place based on following text: “Dancing with garlands & cotton-reels at Leigh Folk Festival, Whitstable, Leigh Regatta, Maldon Quay an our annual charity barn-dance.“ |
| “morris side which embraces a range of musical and dancing styles and creates new dances“ | New Moon Morris | Profile found in 2nd place based on following text: “We regard ourselves as a ‘Fusion’ side, embracing a range of musical and dancing styles and creating new dances“ |
Searches based on kit
| Search query | Result | Summary |
| “men’s morris side which dance in traditional English clogs with irons fitted to their soles“ | Rose and Castle Morris | Profile found in 4th place based on following text: “A significant feature of this side is that they dance in traditional English clogs with “irons” fitted to their soles“ |
| “morris side which dances with pirate’s skull and crossbones in black with purple and a splash of gold“ | Rackaback Morris | Profile found in 2nd place based on following text: “We dance in black with purple and a splash of gold … Our Rackaback tag is based loosely on the pirate’s skull and crossbones“ |
| “Fast-paced Morris side who dance in black sleeveless waistcoats, black jeans, and bright shirts“ | Catseye Morris | Profile found in 1st place based on following text: “Fast-paced Morris dance in long-tailed, black sleeveless waistcoats, black jeans, and bright shirts“ |
| “#kit blue and red costumes, red character shoes and brightly coloured floral garlands“ | Pennyroyal Garland Dancers | Profile found in 1st place based on following text: “We make a colourful display in our #kit blue and red costumes, red character shoes and brightly coloured floral garlands“ |
Searches based on origins of a side’s name
| Search query | Result | Summary |
| “Named after the Leading Lights in Dovercourt Bay“ | Leading Lights | Profile found in 1st place based on following text: “Named after the Leading Lights in Dovercourt Bay“ |
Searches based on side’s hashtag
| Search query | Result | Summary |
| “#sallyportsword“ | Sallyport Sword | Profile found in 2nd place based on following hashtag: “#sallyportsword“ |
| “#northgaterapper“ | Northgate Rapper | Profile found in 2nd place based on following hashtag: “#northgaterapper“ |
| “#rivingtonmorris“ | Rivington Morris | Profile found in 2nd place based on following hashtag: “#rivingtonmorris“ |
| “#wyldmorris“ | Wyld Morris | Profile found in 4th place based on following hashtag: “#wyldmorris“ |
Searches based on catchphrase hashtag
| Search query | Result | Summary |
| “#mindthelights“ | Northgate Rapper | Profile found in 4th place based on following text: “#mindthelights “ |
| “Make room – these Women take no prisoners“ | Rivington Morris | Profile found in 1st place based on following text: “On-lookers have been heard to say “Rivington have that certain indefinable something that Northern teams have …” or “Make room – these Women take no prisoners”.“ |
Searches based on #newmemberswelcome hashtag
| Search query | Result | Summary |
| “#newmemberswelcome morris“ | Wyld Morris | Profile found in 2nd place based on following text: “#newmemberswelcome“ |
Searches for media resources
| Search query | Result | About |
| “Wreckers Day of Dance 2021“ | Wreckers Morris Border Side (TeamVideos) | Video found in 2nd place |
| “Wyld Morris experimenting with masked dancing“ | Wyld Morris (picture gallery) | Picture found in 2nd place |
| “Southern Star performing ‘Yorkshire Pudding’ on Poole Quay in 2019“ | Southern Star (TeamVideos) | Video found in 1st place |
| “Newton Bushel Morris dancing William and Nancy“ | Newton Bushel Morris (TeamVideos) | Video found in 3rd place |
| “Outside Capering Crew Promo video“ | Outside Capering Crew (TeamVideos) | Video found in 3rd place |
Discussion
This surveys aims to provide evidence that adding appropriate information to your side’s Morris Federation profile can help people find details about your side – ideally leading to them contacting your side if they’d like to join or book your side or simply find further information.
You may have some questions or concerns about the approaches used such as the following:
- The search queries aren’t realist! You may feel that the queries shown are not the type of query which people would use if they’re looking or your side. This may be the case – in which case you should ensure that your side’s profile contains the information which people may use in a search!
- But people won’t search for a side’s hashtag! People may well not search for a hashtag – unless you encourage them to do so! So on your publicity material, when announcing your side and when posting on social media you could promote your hashtag. Note you don’t need to register a hashtag (although you should make sure it’s not used by anyone else) – simply use it. If you use your hashtag in your Teamfinder profile, it should appear near the top of a Google search results page once the page has been indexed by Google/
- My side doesn’t have a website! Not a problem as the Morris Federation dones have a website – and pages on the Morris Federation website are found ore easily on Google than those on (smaller) team websites.
- I’ve updated my Teamfinder profile – but it’s not found using Google. Updates to pages are not indexed immediately. Currently (May 2022) Google has indexed about 60% of the Morris Federation Teamfinder profiles and appears to be indexing 10 new pages per week.
What Next?
We strongly recommend that Morris Federation sides should update their Teamfinder profile.
We also recommend that Morris Federation sides should:
- Include photographs and videos with appropriate captions in their Teamfinder profile.
- Identify a suitable hashtag for their side and use it in their Teamfinder profile.
We also recommend that Morris Federation sides which have previously updated their Teamfinder profile validate the effectiveness of their profile by (a) trying relevant search queries and (b) reading Morris Federation IT advisory documents which provide advice:
- Updating Your Morris Federation Teamfinder Profile
- Getting Details of Your Morris Side to the Top of Google
Updates to this Survey
If following updates to your side’s Teamfinder profile you find that the profile is found in the first page of search results for a suitable query, please let us know and we will update this survey accordingly.
Status of this Document
Document published: 29 Jun 2022
Licence for this Document
This document is available with a Creative Commons Sharealike (CC-BY) licence. In brief, this means you can copy and make changes to this document provided you give acknowledgements to the author/publisher. A suggested wording for acknowledgements is:
This document is based on the "Survey: Morris Side Profiles on the First Page of Google" document by Brian Kelly, Comms and IT volunteer with the Morris Federation.
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