Archive for the ‘search engine optimization denver’ Category
Are Keyword Rich Domains Worth It?
By: Cade Lee
I have read several articles and discussion on forums about “Keyword-Rich Domains” over the last several months and I though it important to mention a couple of things to be wary of when going out and spending a fortune on domains that seem like they might make sense for your business and major keywords. I should begin with what a “Keyword-Rich” domain is for those that are new to this and have never heard the term before. A “Keyword-Rich” Domain is simply a domain name containing the major keywords relevant to the site and SEO campaign that you are targeting. So as an example, in our industry many of the SEO professionals in Denver target the keyword “Denver SEO“. When you search for “Denver SEO” you will notice that www.denverseo.net is the 5th result. Digging deeper this site has a PR of 3 compared to many of it’s competitors who have earned a page rank of 4 or higher. This domain does have some age as it was created on May 03, 2006 so it is around 3 ½ years old. According to Google, there is one backlink from a web design directory, after further research we were able to determine that the domain has around 523 backlinks. When we compare this to some of the other competing websites that are ranked just below this website like www.hyperdogmedia.com, which has a PR 4, 2 backward links according to Google and according to our research this domain has well over 2085 backlinks. So how is it that a site like Hyperdog’s is ranked below DenverSeo.net? According to some SEO professionals it would be due to the “exact match bonus“. There are many other factors that go into the rankings, but this is definitely a factor as it has been discussed by many internet marketing professionals.
3 SEO Tips That Will Give Your Website The Ranking You Need
The entire process of search engine optimization and internet marketing can be very frustrating. As a Denver SEO professional, I hear from customers frequently wanting to know the progress of their project. We document all of the work that we are completing on a constant basis, and we have many tools to mark their progression through the search engines. This got me to thinking about those that do not have access to the same tools that we do, as a matter of fact many who are marketing their websites will often give up as they don’t see immediate results from the many hours they have sat in front of the computer trying to obtain a page one ranking. Read the rest of this entry »
Keywords Don’t Matter
By: Cade Lee
You might be surprised to learn that Matt Cutts, who works for the Search Quality group at Google has most recently come out with comments about meta tags or more specifically “keyword” meta tags and stated “Google does not use keyword meta tags” in their rankings. For the longest time many SEO professionals pounded the desk suggesting that keyword meta tags were critical for any SEO campaign. Read the rest of this entry »
Can alt text help your SEO?
By: Cade Lee
Can alt text really help your SEO campaign?
Often times as I read through all of the resources online for internet marketing, I read about the importance of “on-site” optimization. We have discussed it ourselves in the past (onsite optimization). Something I don’t think we had discussed was the importance of keyword use in the alt text or title tags. Granted many have disagreed with the importance of alt text or title text in the SEO community. It is important to understand that there is not a SEO professional that I have met who knows the algorithms intimately. So while there are many opinions that using alt text or title tags does not provide a benefit to your search engine campaign, I would respectfully disagree as I will prove with an example.
Hiring an SEO Consultant
Written by: Grayson Thrush
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can serve as the linchpin to your overall marketing plan for your business. Gone are the days when all you needed was an ad in the local phone book. The most efficient way to drive leads to your business is through Internet marketing. You need more than just a website, though.
A website that has not been optimized for search engine results pages (SERPs) will only serve as a digital business card. Nobody will find it unless they know about it and where to look. Your competition will quickly surpass such an outmoded approach. You need to hire a Denver SEO consultant to help get your website seen by those searching for the products and/or services that your business offers.
A competent SEO company will offer a full-service approach to Internet marketing, in order to ensure that your SEO campaign is in fact successful. You will need to start out by looking for a Denver SEO company on the Internet. Read the rest of this entry »
Enhance Your Denver SEO Campaign with a PR Strategy Online
Press Releases are a very important way to distinguish or differentiate your company in the public’s view of your company. Most companies already understand this strategy and in one way or another they have used press releases to make special announcements or they have responded to some event. Today, with the internet press releases can be used in a myriad of ways that will assist in your search engine optimization efforts.
So how can it be done? How do you compliment your Denver SEO campaign with press releases? The press release campaign online is very different than your standard press release through traditional print media sources. If I working on a press release in Denver, I would probably distribute the PR to all of the local papers of course and then issue a second wave of press releases to my local publications and neighborhood publications. None of these are really going to assist with my search engine optimization in Denver, although by making mention of my website inside the press release I would probably receive some “direct traffic” from the release. Direct traffic in this case would be short lived and not give a permanent back link into my website. So, to answer my questions in the beginning here, I would distribute my press releases online to services on the web that enable you to link the content in the press release to your website. By adding one or two useful links in the article to your website or URL’s within your website, you will be assisting your Google PageRank and overall linking strategy which will affect your keyword position in the leading search engines.
Using distribution services is important because these sources of news usually already have a high page rank. So when they release the press release, usually the article will start to show in the top of the search engines for the keyword that you targeted throughout the article. So for example, if we released a press release on “Denver Internet Marketing” and we submitted the release with this keyword to the major online PR services, our article might likely show up for this search term through the PR sites. If someone searches for this term online and finds the article before they find our site, it is likely that they will click on our site within the article or perhaps one of the hyperlinked key phrases inside the article. The nicest part of this press release is that it does not get thrown in the trash with the daily paper, it remains online pointing at our site for as long as the press release service keeps it up!
These online PR services can cost anything from $1 up to $315.00 and they all seem to offer different programs. What I mean is that some are enhanced for SEO purposes while some of the better performing services like prweb.com and prnewswire.com are a little more traditional with their services. Remember to follow Google’s guidelines when creating your press release, you will want to establish a release that has useful content and that is not stuffed with keywords. So a couple of examples of releases that might work for your business would be the announcement of a new location, a new service or product that your company is releasing or perhaps you are speaking at a tradeshow or industry event. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Steps to a Successful SEO plan
By: Cade Lee
Your Search Engine Optimization plan needs to be written down with attainable goals. Most companies that we speak with about search engine optimization in Denver do not have actual SEO plans written down. Many companies get online and have the best of intentions; all they know is that they want to get on the 1st page. They don’t know what getting on the 1st page of Google would do for them, but they know they want it. No matter what, they want to get on the 1st page. The problem with this is, they have not defined why they want to get on the 1st page, the keywords that they want to get on the 1st page for and often times they even lack the initial keyword research to make certain that the keywords they have selected are even worth focusing on.
Here are a couple of tips in developing an SEO plan that will produce results:
#1.) Set a Mission Statement: This is not huge and this plan should not take days, let’s make certain that we have a purpose though. Let’s start off with what you want to accomplish by bringing your website, blog or other property to the 1st page of Google.
#2.) Set attainable Milestones: Set attainable goals, such as “obtain a page 3 ranking for Denver SEO by week 8 of campaign” and “Obtain a page one ranking for main site www.thisisiniquitous.com for keyword Denver Internet Marketing by week 12″.
#3.) Set up a base of checklists that will help accomplish the milestones: Now you want to start planning your campaign, what steps are you going to complete in order to start advancing on the milestones you had set in the beginning. Make certain that define each action that you are to take with great detail so that there is no question what you should be working on every day, every week and month.
#4.) Actually execute the plan: A plan is a fantastic attempt in getting started and you are already ahead of 98% of your competition with a written plan. Execution is the next biggest obstacle to actually achieving the milestones set which then get you to the overall completion of your mission. We always recommend “an hour a day”, so when writing your checklist try and accommodate an hour per day for your search engine marketing campaign.
This SEO plan should only take you 2 hours maximum if you utilize the tools that we have explained in our previous posts. Once you have your SEO plan written down, the only thing left is execution. With this road map to success you are certain to actually make monumental changes to your presence online!
Do You Really Need A Website Designer?
By: Cade Lee
Most of the sites we have worked on that have been built by “website designers” are not effectively producing leads for that business. We have seen some of the most beautiful websites but without traffic and without new customers what good are they? Your online business should be another source of income and customers. If you trust the right people to work with your website designer than you might have a shot of obtaining both.
Please do not misunderstand what I am saying here. Website designers are very useful if their services are used in the correct capacity. Most web designers do not have a clue how to build a website that is developed to convert traffic or drive floods of traffic to the site; most developers that I have talked with would agree. Usually web designers are focused on aesthetics, navigation, look and feel and not placement in the search engines.
So why do you have a website?
Most business owners that I speak with have a website so that they can develop more online business. When I say this, what I mean is they are looking for more prospects or customers online. They definitely want to see some type of return from their website as most of them have spent a small fortune on developing the site to begin with. So if that is the case for you, it is probably best to make certain that the web designer you are working with owns a successful online business and knows also how to run it. They should be able to show you some successful online campaigns that they have led and give you references for their work. Simply showing you websites that they have built is not enough. I know that you want a “pretty” site
but I am certain it is more important that you are able to develop new customers from your site, right? It only stands to reason that your website designer should have the same experience that would deliver the results you are looking to achieve yourself!
Your website is your business online!
Sure it is nice to have a charming storefront, one that customers constantly compliment. Does it bring in cash flow? Is your office, store, garage or retail space built for sales?
These are the same types of questions that you should be asking yourself about your website. Your website is not there to win awards or compliments, you are building this website to make money and build customer relationships. Even if you have the lowest prices online and are providing more services than your nearest competitor, it is the website that attracts more traffic that wins more prospects and customers. Being the best at marketing your product and services is really all that matters at the end of the day. Stop reading this right now, hop on Google and check it out. Use a search term that a customer would use to find your business. If you don’t know what they would type in, go to Google’s free adwords keyword tool and locate a search term related to your business or service. (To locate Google’s free keyword tool simply search for “adwords keyword tool” in Google)
Now, after you have located a popular search term for your business, search it! Open the first “organic” result that you see (by organic, I do not mean any of the “sponsored links” or local listings next to the map), what do you think of your competition’s website? Is it the prettiest site you have seen? Is it the “coolest” site you have ever been too? If I was to place a wager on it, my guess is that it is none of the above. Probably a very average looking site at best, yet all of your prospective customers are coming here first.
Marketing online is not like you’re off-line marketing
On every website project I have ever been a part of it seems that somebody always has a problem with a font that we have chosen or an image that we had used. While branding is extremely important and the look and feel of your website is important as well, it is important to remember that all of the communication tools and techniques that you use in the real world are very different than what works online. Whatever type of marketing you are doing in the real world may be a complete and utter failure online. This is why it is so critical to work with an online marketing agency or consultant who has experience with successful websites. When I state successful, I mean websites that have a proven track record of traffic and generating leads. Usually these types of individuals know what works best for traffic conversion and online marketing. For example, online marketing absolutely requires you to know how to get your site ranked extremely high in search engines like Google and Yahoo so that you organically show up on the first page for customers that are searching for your product or services.
Most website designers and businesses do not know SEO or search engine optimization. If a business owner does know and understand how to optimize their own website; they usually do not have the time to implement all of the tactics and techniques used by a search engine optimization professional to make the campaign successful. It is imperative for any online business to have both an optimized presence as well as a strong marketing campaign online! This means that not only should the site be optimized for search engine optimization but there must be a campaign put in place for search engine marketing.
If you are looking to market online, only work with Internet marketing firms that know website and online marketing
I know it’s a simple statement but probably 97% of web design companies do not know how to create websites that actually market your products and services. Often times when we are talking with prospective customers about search engine optimization they refer to their experience with the larger corporations that have handled their pay per click campaigns and even their “search engine optimization campaigns”. You absolutely must work with people that know how to create “high traffic” websites that can “convert”. A sales representative from one of the larger advertising directories doesn’t usually have knowledge of SEO. Usually he/she can regurgitate whatever pitch their sales manager gave them that morning and sure it sounds good, but will the team behind him/her be able to deliver the product that you were promised? Usually they cannot deliver the results that were originally promised or they are able to show minimal results compared to a firm or company that is dedicated to internet marketing. Internet marketing takes a great deal of time and cannot happen overnight. You’ll need to work with a team that can make it possible for you to have an online revenue stream. These people must have real world experience as well as online experience that can combine your website into a practical functioning marketing machine for your business! The best combination would be a search engine optimization professional that has sales and marketing experience or a marketing company that has proven search engine optimization experience.
If you are attempting to perform search engine optimization or search engine marketing without a professional, that would be very similar to representing yourself in court if you are not a lawyer or building your own house if you are not a general contractor. Granted, I’m certain that you could learn any one of these trades but it is probably best if you focused on the strengths you have in your business rather than trying to focus all of your time and energy on staying up to date with Internet marketing. The most successful businesses and business leaders have developed a team of experts and surrounded themselves with experience.
Lastly, MEASURE THE RESULTS!
It doesn’t matter whether or not you are advertising in the Yellow Pages, newspapers, local trade magazines, or a bulletin board near your office! You will always, always want to measure the success of any marketing campaign to validate its effect on business. It is never a surprise for us to see a prospective client that has absolutely no idea about the amount of traffic they get on a daily, monthly, or yearly basis. Usually they do not know where they get the traffic from, how long visitors are on their website, or what keywords brought them to their site to begin with. You should always pay attention to your key performance indicators for your online strategy and if your web developer has not shown you how to monitor the results of your website, you might want to consider working with a different developer.
At the end of the day, a website developer is absolutely needed to help you with your website; however, they are usually best at working with code, graphics and overall look and feel. An internet marketing professional is what will help you take your online business to the next level. Either a professional search engine marketing firm or agency will help you establish a marketing plan for your site so that you can start to see results from your presence online.
4 Tips to Insure Your Site Does Not Get Delisted
If you’re reading this article, you obviously understand there is quite a buzz around SEO and internet marketing. Not only is it becoming a must to be on the first page of Google, you also need to have a presence on all major social networking sites, article and video repositories and directories listings. Here are some helpful tips on how to avoid getting delisted by search engines so all of your hard work doesn’t go to waste!
Watch your Keyword Density
Your keywords on your web page are very important. It lets the search engine know what your content is about and what you are trying to target with each page. Each search engine has keyword density in their algorithm for ranking sites, however, their equation for density differs from one to another meaning their lenience of density allowed before a penalty varies.
If you know anything about SEO, you understand that at least 75% of searchers are using Google – I would think this is a pretty good place to start. I have heard many SEO’s give the 3-5% rule for keyword density. In my personal experience, I’ve gotten away with 7% and had great results. The idea here is to watch you keyword density throughout your web page and never exceed 9%! If you go over this mark, you are risking a negative reaction from the search engines. I would say stick between 3-6% here and you should be fine.
Keep your Content Original
If you are running your own SEO campaign, you have and will be investing a ton of time. Do not take the short cut and use someone else’s content on your web pages – it doesn’t make sense! Search Engines love original content and in the SEO world, content is king! It is what separates your page from the next before you even begin to create backlinks. That being said, why would you want to be on a level playing field from the start with the same content? Make sure you let the search engines know what separates your page from the competition. Follow the keyword density rule above and write as much as possible!
Do not allow a search engine to disregard your content because it is a duplicate of someone else’s page.
Don’t Hide your Content
As much as we don’t want to say it, the search engines (google bots) are actually pretty smart. They know the difference between visible and invisible content. Search engines will discredit a web page if they feel you are trying to trick them with text that cannot be read. Make sure the text on your page is a completely different font and do not hide it behind images. Make sure you tag your images with keywords but do not make the text invisible. If you are smart you will have content on your Home page that leads to more content in the site.
Tip: Publish articles to your home page with “Read More” buttons and your home page will get credit for all of the content on your home page including important keywords and links.
Be Cautious of Your Affiliate Links… too many = negative ranking
Be cautious of adding hundreds of affiliate links along with product descriptions. If you have too many affiliate links on your website, Google will drop you down the listings.”
I hope this article has helped you understand exactly not what to do to a web page. An SEO Campaign involves blood, sweat and tears which we don’t want to go to waste by getting delisted. Search Engines do not like keyword stuffing, duplicate or invisible content and too many outside links.
Nick Hantge is a SEO Professional with Iniquitous, a Denver SEO Firm. Nick Specializes in organic search engine optimization, traffic analysis and conversion as well as SEO coaching in Denver (303) 999-7963.
SEO Is Just Common Sense
By: Chad Formica
There are many resources online showing individuals how to optimize their websites; all of them have value of some sort. The thing that we see over and over again is that many individuals are simply confused with all the information that is available. If we break down search engine optimization to its most basic form, it’s very similar to visiting the library and using the computer to search for books within the library. The library’s search engine is simply going to find the book that best matches either the keywords or title that you input into this search engine. Well how does the library’s search engine know which book best fits your search? Just logically speaking probably about 90% of the search based on the title of the book. Wouldn’t it then stand to reason that Google also places much emphasis on the title of the document?
The basics of your website and WebPages are the very first place to start any good SEO campaign. Start with a title tag and make sure that it has more than just your companies name and phone number, include the relevant keywords that you have researched through Google’s adwords tool or through www.keywordspy.com. Never overload the title tag because Google is only ever going to read 100 characters of the title tag to begin with so it does not make much sense to extend way beyond that. The same thing goes for the H1 tag; make use of the headlines of your page. You do want to make certain that your headlines are attractive and does catch the attention of your customer; we also want to include keywords inside the H1 tag to attract the search engines as well. The metadata should also be addressed in your campaign, many search engine optimization experts have claimed that meta-data no longer matters; however, in the search engine optimization campaigns that we manage we definitely see an impact from metadata especially inside the descriptions. Our theory on this is that if the metadata has zero effect on our campaign it’s at least gives us a theme for each page that we develop and helps keeps us organized.
I’ve seen about 1 million different advertisements for submitting your website to 1000’s of different search engines, or creating back links overnight and I can honestly tell you that while they might have some positive effect on your search engine optimization campaign nothing will replace useful content and good website optimization. Trying to fool the search engines by using tricks such as mirror sites, or duplicate content is simply a waste of time. Granted you may get a bump in the ratings for a short period of time by going around the “system” but in the long run is that really what you want? If you are attempting to develop a website that will maintain its rankings for the “long run”, and it is wise to develop content that will convert your Internet traffic as well as serve the search engines well.
In previous articles we have discussed “black hat SEO” and what to avoid when optimizing your website, as you are developing your website or optimizing make certain that you pay attention to what could hurt you. Search engines are extremely intelligent and you must provide content that is useful and original. As time goes on this is proving to be more and more difficult which requires creativity and thought.
When you’re working on your search engine optimization campaign make sure that you set aside enough time to really be creative with it, remember that organically showing up in the rankings does not cost you or your company anything but time so make sure that you do not skimp on the time you invest in this campaign. The more time you spend developing content that is useful with keywords for the search engines, the more likely it is that you will show up at the top of the searches for the demographic and target audience you want to reach.
Chad Formica is a search engine expert in Denver that specializes in Denver SEO Coaching and local Denver SEO