Posts Tagged ‘SEO’
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
by our guest blogger Justin McGill, SEORCHERS
Eight of 10 people go online when looking for products and services, according to the latest studies from Marketing Sherpa. If you haven’t figured it out already, building your web presence should be your primary marketing focus in the months to come.
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the art of putting your website higher in search engine results so that your business is in front of targeted potential customers who are looking for what you offer. SEO will continue to head the list of online marketing strategies in 2010.
Some of the new and interesting aspects include personalization and greater relevance. That means that as you develop your SEO strategy, dedicate some of your resources to developing content that targets niche audiences. If you are a wine company for example, consider having content devoted solely to wine tasting.
Fresh Content
You’ll also want to keep your web content fresh and up-to-date since search engines will begin factoring publication dates, geo-locations and social media content into their relevancy algorithms. This is also why it’s such a great idea to incorporate a blog into your business website. Blogs are an easy way for you to update your website and keep search engines coming back looking for fresh content. It’s no longer sufficient to just maintain your website and social media profiles such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. You should be updating the content as often as possible—keeping it fresh for search engines—as well as be promoting the profiles via blogging and e-mail newsletters, YouTube, and other social media resources. Creating a cross-promoting strategy with all these tools will go a long way.
For instance, videos that appear on your website but nowhere else online will fail to reach a large portion of your target audience. Web users have a tendency to search one centralized site, such as YouTube, for any content on a given topic. If your video doesn’t appear on YouTube, then for that viewer it may as well not exist. The same thing can be said about your website. If a potential customer performs a search query on Google and your website doesn’t show up, then your company might as well not exist to that potential customer.
Learn the SEO Basics
You owe it to yourself and your business to learn the basics of SEO. This allows you to communicate with your SEO provider or employee performing the SEO. It also helps to ensure you are protecting yourself against the numerous SEO related scams that are in the marketplace today.
So what are some things you can do on your own? Keyword research for one! SEO is a delicate marketing platform that’s easy to lose track of … and ultimately fail with. Your campaign must start with the right keyword focus in mind—this is of paramount importance. Most business owners believe they know those keywords they want to rank well for them. For example, if you sell promotional products and someone Googles the keywords “promotional items,” your company will rank high on the results list. However, you should be considering elements outside of your industry knowledge. Ranking well for a keyword that no one searches for will do nothing for you. That’s why it’s crucial to find the right keywords. And you might have to keep playing with them based on your initial results.
How to Develop Keywords
First and foremost, you want to make sure people are going online and searching for your products or services. So, how much search volume is there for your ideal keywords? You can help identify search volumes by utilizing Google’s Keyword Tool: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.
Though these search volume numbers are not 100 percent accurate, they will point you in the right direction and provide a decent baseline for your campaign.
Once you’ve compiled a list of keywords that are relevant to your business and offer high enough search volumes, you’ll need to delve deeper into your research. Perform a Google search for your list of keywords. You can see how many results there are for each keyword at the top right of the search results page. The lower that number is, the lower your competition will be.
This is a very simplified measuring stick for you to use as a baseline. This step in your SEO campaign is all too important. I would always suggest you have a professional consultation with an SEO expert that has access to much more robust reporting tools.
Once you have your keywords, it’s what you do with them that makes the difference. You need to have content on your website that is targeted to those keywords. Search engines like Google are successful because their results are relevant to the user’s query. Therefore, they are looking to see what your website is about before giving the results. If you’re targeting a keyword such as “Antique dorm furniture,” then you want this keyword phrase to be a topic of your web page’s content.
Link Building
Another important element of your SEO campaign is link building. This is essentially when another website links to yours. Search engines calculate how many websites link to you when they’re giving their results.
Think of each link pointing at your website as a vote. In general, the more “votes” you get, the higher your search engine rankings will be. This is easier said than done, but you can start by requesting links back from friends, family and other business associate websites. Not only might potential customers come across those links, but you’re building up search engine credibility at the same time.
Converting Visitors
We discussed having content relevant to your keywords. While your content needs to relate to the search query, it also should answer two very important questions:
• What do you do?
• Why should I choose you to do it instead of your competition?
This is part of another online marketing consideration called Conversion Rate Optimization, or CRO. Improving your website’s conversion rate can net you the money you were previously leaving on the table. If you get 100 visitors to your website every day and are converting 1 percent of them, then you have one new customer.
However, if you did nothing else to increase traffic to your website but focus on better conversion, that alone could increase your revenues greatly. In fact, just by improving your conversion rate to 3 percent, you have three times as many customers through your website. That’s without increasing the traffic. Now, imagine a better converting website that’s also attaining more targeted traffic. Nice.
Using your advertising dollars effectively means putting them toward the venues that will produce the most return on your investment. When done correctly, SEO has proven to be a platform in which businesses can generate long-term ROI.
Justin McGill is the founder and CEO of SEORCHERS, a local web-marketing firm specializing in organic search engine optimization with a focus on converting visitors into clients. In the late 1990s, McGill developed a fascination with web design and what became known as SEO. In early 2008, he invested his wealth of technical knowledge in founding a full-service internet marketing company. More: 1-877-736-5673; www.SEORCHERS.com.
Tags: content, Conversion Rate Optimization, Keywords, link building, ROI, SEO
Posted in SEO | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
I haven’t talked much about Search Engine Optimization on this blog, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important. If you have spent any time on the web, you probably know at least that it has something to do with the Search Engines and you are certainly on the right track. In very basic terms, it means using different techniques and strategies to help improve your website’s rankings on the major search engines so that potential customers can find you. Now a few years ago, this sort of thing really wasn’t necessary because there weren’t that many websites, now that Google has indexed over 1 TRILLION websites, it’s become a bit of a necessity.
Of course, with any “new” industry, there will be a shallow knowledge base to begin with and always the slick character out to make a buck on the backs of innocent, trusting businesses. There are two “types” of SEO, one of which is called ‘Black hat’ and the other ‘White hat’. I am sure I don’t have to tell you which one you want to avoid. But what exactly is the difference? If you don’t know much about SEO, you aren’t going to know the difference. We have been in TOO many meetings with clients who have been blindsided by one of these slick characters that promise ‘to get you on the 1st page of Google’. If you have someone making outrageous promises like this, don’t walk, RUN in the other direction! They may be able to get you on the first page of one of the big ole’ search engines, but it won’t last long and the search engines will ban your site from their pages, making it virtually IMPOSSIBLE for potential clients to find you.
In this world of instant gratification it can be VERY tempting to believe these fly-by-nights, but for the sake of your business’s growth, DON’T!!!!!!
The following is a list with brief explanations of some techniques black hat establishments use in their campaigns, click on the titles for further explanations ~
Keyword stuffing - just as the title suggests, your pages are stuffed with the keywords people search for throughout your page, this includes meta tags and ‘invisible’ text placed throughout the page.
Doorway pages- these pages, which spam the search engines with certain phrases or keywords that are likely to be searched, are only used to direct visitors to an entirely different page and specifically for the purpose of increasing rankings. They muddy up the search results and cause LOTS of frustration!
Article Spinning- is the act of using existing articles and rewriting all or portions of them. They also involve using ‘pirated’ content from other sites.
Link Farms- this involves a group of websites that all link back to each other, typically through automated programs to spam the search engines and raise their ranks. They are used to ‘increase the link popularity’ of a site.
These are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of black hat tricks in the world of SEO. I would highly encourage you to investigate further on what NOT to do when building an effective SEO campaign. Here are some other resources you can check out -
I love wikipedia
About.com has some great information
Neil Patel of Quick Sprout has some great tips for SEO
And there are plenty more out there. If you are overwhelmed and need help with your campaign, please let us know, we are happy to get you on the right track!
Tags: Black Hat, effective seo campaign, link building, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, Website, White hat
Posted in SEO | 2 Comments »
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
By Isa Jones ~ Goddess Unleashed
1. He is VERY RESPONSIVE.
Communication was easy. He replied to emails,
phone calls, txt messages in a time sensitive way. He acknowledged
all communication I sent his way. I can trust that he’ll respond to my needs.
He’s a very good listener.
2. He is INCREDIBLY TALENTED.
He has a beautiful website himself.
His own website is optimized for easy search engine visibility.
He has years of experience and he is networked with everyone
necessary to make my website successful.
3. He is capable of sharing my VISION.
He has a long term vision of my business.
He conveyed understanding and support for helping me achieve both my
short term and long term goals.
4. He’s EASY to do business with.
He asked what works for me.
He’s open and flexible. I am completely confident in his abilities
which frees me up to focus on my business
(I don’t need to worry about the website).
5. He’s REASONABLY PRICED.
His pricing is competitive.
I believe I will get a greater value with him because of his
eagerness to please & commitment to customer service.
6. He is ENTHUSIASTIC about design, web development, &optimization.
I want to work with people who are passionate about what they do.
It’s no fun working with someone who isn’t happy or
excited about their chosen profession.
7. He has a keen DESIGN AESTHETIC as well as TECHNICAL
SKILLS necessary to design and OPTIMIZE my website.
Great combination of skills: both right brain and left brain.
He’s creative enough to figure out how to do things.
8. He positions himself as a PARTNER.
Working with him, feels more like a
partnership, than a “project.”
9. He’s RELIABLE, trustworthy.
Integrity means everything to me.
I expect that if you say you are going to do something,
that you do it – or if something changes, you
contact me to modify the expectations.
Chris did everything he said he was going to do
when he said he would do it!
10.He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done
and provide EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE!
He instills confidence. I trust that if he runs into a problem,
he’ll use his creative genius to figure out a solution.
I trust that he cares about my needs and will do everything he can to exceed
my expectations.
Tags: eCommerce, SEO, Web Design
Posted in Customer Testimonials | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
I know that question seems pretty rudimentary, we are in business right? But I am astonished at how many small businesses that don’t REALLY know the answer.
Because we work on the web, we can’t help but look at websites . . . ALL day. And what we’ve been noticing is that while some of these websites are graphically fantastic, their content is truly lacking; lacking in pulling us in; lacking in seducing us and making us feel as if “I HAVE TO HAVE IT”!
Who are you marketing to? What is your solution to MY problem and WHY should I buy from you? How is what you are doing any better than the next Joe? These are questions that we as business owners have to ask ourselves frequently. Why? Why would anybody want to buy from me? What is it that makes MY PRODUCT stand out? And HOW on earth do I convey that to people searching for what I’ve got?
You start by asking the people . . . then REALLY listening to the answers. Find out what they love, what gets under their skin and use that information in your approach. Give the people what they want and they will come back for more!
You can have the best looking site on the web; get yourself out there with social media; have your website optimized and what’s that gonna get ya? A bit of business, perhaps, but more likely a huge headache as you beat your head against the wall trying to figure out what went wrong?
For some reason, people focus all their attention on the visual appeal, and don’t get me wrong, that’s a great start. . . but if you don’t have the “killer content” they ARE NOT going to stay or BUY!
In case you haven’t heard, we are in the INFORMATION AGE, we are bombarded with crap every time we get on the internet. The last thing we want to read is MORE CRAP. We want something that grabs us, pulls us in, and doesn’t let go; we want a connection. We want to be left with a FEELING, people a FEELING. Got it?
Good . . . now get going!
Tags: content writing, graphic design, SEO, Website
Posted in Web Site Information | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
What is Web 2.0? What is the difference between Social Media and a Social Network? What is SEO? I’ve heard the terms thrown around, but what do they mean? A Webinar, are you kidding me? Why do I even need to know any of this?
If you are like a lot of people using the internet, you are using many of these “things” but don’t really have a good grasp of what they mean. Or, if you haven’t been using them, could you possibly be missing the boat? Our goal is to help you better understand these “things”, what they are, why you aren’t going to stop hearing about them anytime soon and most importantly, how using them could affect your bottom line.
What is Web 2.0? Sounds like an upgrade to the internet, doesn’t it? Web 2.0 refers to the technologies used on the internet to connect with other users, tools and applications. The following is the Wikipedia definition, “Web 2.0 refers to web development and web design that facilitates interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with other users or to change website content, in contrast to non-interactive websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information that is provided to them.”
Our next term, “Social Media”, is defined in the Social Media Bible as “activities, practices and behaviors among communities of people who gather online to share information, knowledge and opinions using conversational media.” Wikipedia states, “It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.” Basically, it is the marriage of traditional media with social interaction formatted for the internet.
Now, how is Social Media different from a Social Network? A Social Network, just as you would use it ‘offline’ refers to the network of people in a community. For online purposes, it really just means that people are interacting with each other through newsletters, blogs, comments, e-mail, etc. for social, professional and educational purposes.
Clear as mud, right? Let’s put together what we have so far. Web 2.0 consists of the technologies and interactive tools consumers use that allow users to actively participate in media within their network of friends, colleagues and clients.
Let’s move on to SEO and we’ll come back to more of the social aspect in just a minute. SEO spelled out is Search Engine Optimization. Most people understand what a search engine is. In fact, recent statistics on Google claim that over 2 million searches a day are performed on Google alone. That is a lot of users looking for something!
Back to Wikipedia, Search Engine Optimization “is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines via “natural” (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Typically, the earlier (or higher) a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of searches, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. This gives a website web presence.”
Simply put, when you go to Google and put in the keyword of the item you are looking for, Google pulls up a list of websites that match your keyword. Google’s ‘crawlers’ go through and index these sites according to relevant keywords and phrases that are used in the creation, as well as the content, of the pages. Search engine optimizers (people who do this for a living) determine what keywords to target to help websites move up in the search engine rankings.
Most people will only look through the first couple of pages to find what they are looking for; they typically don’t have the patience for any more than that. If they don’t find what they are looking for in those first couple of pages, they will either give up or type in a different keyword. There are over 1 trillion URL’s, or web addresses, indexed on Google right now. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want, nor do I have the time, to weed through all of those sites to find the information I need.
Our final definition of the day is “Webinar”. You may have already figured this one out, but webinar is web + seminar, like a “go to” seminar where you travel to a central location and listen to a speaker on a topic in which you’re interested. A webinar uses the same principles, only you don’t have to leave wherever you are to participate. You can just log into the webinar and participate while in your PJ’s, interacting over telephone lines or over web audio technology. If you happen to miss the “live version”, you can often experience the information through pre-recorded files, as well.
Now, that’s a lot of information we have covered and you must be wondering how it all fits together for you and your business? What it boils down to is this—the ‘old’ ways of communicating and advertising are phasing out as the internet grows and morphs. People are using the internet as a means of gathering information and purchasing products and services. Couple this with the fact that, with the introduction of devices such as TiVo, people are watching less and less TV commercials. Subscriptions to newspapers and magazines are declining, as more and more, the internet is providing all the information people want or need.
It is cheaper, easier and more time-efficient than a TV commercial or magazine ad to go to your social network or search engine and punch in a keyword to find a plethora of information and reviews from peers on what works and what doesn’t. After all, what do most people do after seeing an ad or watching a commercial? They go to the internet to look it up!
Social Media is rapidly becoming a viable, cheap and very profitable means of advertising and smart businesses are taking full advantage of these opportunities. Now that you have a better understanding, are you ready to join them?
Tags: Blog, Newsletters, Organic Searches, SEO, Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0
Posted in Social Media | 5 Comments »
