search marketing

Best Practices Search Engine Optimization The Process Web Design

Auditing Your Website for a Successful Redesign

If you’re thinking of doing a website redesign, you probably have an inkling that there is something about your current website that is not quite working for you.

Whether you’re wanting to reorganize and update current content, work to improve your search ranking through SEO or just want a fresh redesign, a website audit is a great way to begin the process of figuring out what elements are amiss and how to right the ship.

An audit is also a good way to evaluate the effectiveness of your site overall and its marketing message, while helping you set goals and analytical data points to revisit after relaunch to gauge success. Continue Reading

Search Engine Optimization Web Design

Top 5 Features Google Wants From Your Website

No doubt, you’ve heard of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) before, and you know that it’s kind of a big deal. It’s basically the process of improving your visibility via unpaid, or “organic,” search engine results to ensure customers can find you.

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The million dollar question is: What can I do to raise my Google ranking?

There are said to be approximately 200 Google ranking factors, and some of them have additional variations. The good news is that if you pay attention to several key features, you will be well on your way to increasing your ranking.

Content

Google prefers long-form content over short, especially in-depth articles. You don’t have to limit this content to the blog section of your website. Your content can be in the form of case studies, white papers, or other informational pieces.

The more often you update your content, the better. Stale, old content will sink your search engine ranking, so it’s important to have a content strategy and regular calendar of updates, when possible.

Links

Inbound links to your website from other domains is a very important factor in raising your search ranking. Although it’s not entirely in your control, this is something that you can monitor.

Leverage your connections. Grow your relationships with bloggers, business partners, and local media to have a link to your site added to their website.

Page Titles

Google uses your titles to decide what your page is all about.

As it shows only between 50-60 characters in a search result title, you probably want to keep your titles within that range, or at least make sure the most important information is within that limit. (Although Google may cut it off in display, it does still count other characters up to 80.)

Titles are also important to help grab searchers attention, so make sure they clearly define the content and help people make a decision quickly.

Mobile Responsiveness

Just as you want your website to be user friendly, so does Google. The number of searches completed on mobile devices continues to grow, and if your site is not mobile- or tablet-responsive, then you may be losing frustrated customers as well as your edge in search rankings.

Responsive, mobile-friendly design has become a must-have feature, and your rankings will reflect where your site stands in regards to this.

SSL and Security

A recent addition to how Google ranks websites, SSL’s (or security certificates) indicate trust and verification. Having an SSL certificate provides multiple benefits, from ensuring secure credit card transaction to sending trust factors to customers.

Though the Google ranking algorithm actually changes 500-600 times per year, these five features have remained near the top of the list, and most likely won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

Business News Video Production Web Design

The Five Myths Behind Your Company’s Online Presence

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Let’s face it, there’s a lot of advice out there, especially when it comes to marketing.

Everyone claims to be an expert; everyone thinks they can help you be #1 on Google. Good luck. Being found online is about more than a pretty website design. It takes strategy, thoughtfulness and, of course, eye-catching design.

So, what are the biggest pitfalls people believe about their website? Continue Reading

Content Marketing Inbound Marketing Search Engine Optimization

Top 5 Tips to Conquer Content Marketing

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It’s been pretty much drilled into the heads of anyone interested in marketing their business or organization, they must be online. But “being online” is a lot different than it use to be. Being found online is now an intricate mix of search marketing and content marketing, with the goal of creating a funnel for your customers.

Content marketing has an overall goal of attracting and retaining customers. This takes knowledge of your target audience so you can create something they see as valuable.

What are the most important things to know about content marketing before you start posting articles and videos on your website, blog and social media accounts? Read on to find out. Continue Reading

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