Archive for the ‘Search Engine Optimization’ Category
Are Your Getting The Right Visitors?
- Are your visitors the kind that just look through your “medicine cabinet”? Maybe you are inviting the wrong guests to your website?
By: Cade Lee
All too often I hear feedback from website owners and business owners about getting the “wrong kind of lead” from their website. In otherwords, the visitors they are getting to the site are not their “ideal” prospect or customer. I would take this a step further and probably guess that their conversion rate is very low and that they are getting the “shoppers” that are browsing every site known to man for their particular search. While “shoppers” are important to every business it is definitely not the ideal customer any business longs for. So how do you bring the kind of visitors that you want?
Although things are changing in the search algorithms and the major search engines are providing more relevant results than ever before, there are still irrelevant results on the 1st page of search engine results for thousands of searches. This is not because Google, Bing or Yahoo do not have excellent algorithms or fantastic results for the searches being performed through their search engines. This is simply because they cannot read the thoughts or intentions of those inputting the keywords into their search engines. So, for that person who is looking for a local plumber in Denver, if they were to search for “plumber” odds are pretty good that the only relevant sites they will find will be in the pay per click or “sp
onsored links” section. They will not find too many “local” results in the search engine results or the organic listings. The searcher will find national companies or even a Wikipedia article, but they will not find a local company for their plumbing needs.
Google is already attempting to change this by providing results according to IP or the searchers location, but you can imagine what a chore it is to have to differentiate those search terms that would be more likely to engage with local business versus those that do not.
So in the meantime, what will you do with your internet marketing campaign? How can you attract those visitors that are looking for your services and products? The answer is to go for more specific key word phrases in your search engine optimization campaign. So for example, let’s take a printing business in Denver. This printer is putting together an internet marketing campaign in Denver as this is their primary target audience for business. Since I am using a real Read the rest of this entry »
How Important Is Your Blog?
Blogging is an integral part of your SEO Campaign
By: Cade Lee
It seems that every time the topic of blogging comes up, customers ask us, “Why is a Blog important?” If I were to ask them if they wanted to originate business online, they would undoubtedly answer “Yes”. If I asked any prospective customer if they wanted to be on the first page of Google, I know I would get the same positive response. Everyone would like to attract attention online which is exactly why it makes it that much more difficult for anyone to draw a crowd online. There are several strategies of course to bring in the crowds; some of them are not the most ethical or considerate to say the least.
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 »
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.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – An Overview
Written by: Grayson Thrush
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) entails a maelstrom of techniques and tactics with the end goal being to improve the ranking of a particular website in the search results of major search engines. Denver SEO can be broken down into two main categories, on site SEO and off site SEO.
On site SEO relies upon excellent content first and foremost. Content must be on topic, relevant, and contain a 5% – 8% keyword (words or phrases) density. This means that for every 100 words of content, five to eight keywords should be used. The keywords that will be used must be carefully researched using tools such as the free Google AdWords keyword tool. When choosing keywords, it is important to remember to think like the customer. What will they be searching for? These same keywords should also be embedded into the website source code via Meta, Title and Heading tags. This will help ensure a high page ranking for these search terms.
Also, the website should be organized with a clear hierarchical structure. Creating a site map will significantly enhance site structure and ability to be scanned by search engines. This will allow search engines to more efficiently scan the target website. The most important information on a given website should be placed at or near the top of the page. This will make it easier for search engines to find the content that you want them to find. Use text instead of images; search engines can only scan text, so all important information must be included in text. This should be done even if the message(s) being conveyed are duplicated in images, banners, etc.
Of even greater importance is off site SEO. This includes back linking to highly ranked sites. For example, you can submit articles to free online repositories with links to your target website embedded in the text. The Google search engine will interpret a page with many back links to highly ranked pages as being of greater importance, and will therefore increase its page ranking. Another tactic is to submit entries to a highly ranked online blog, with excellent content, important keywords and back links where possible. Furthermore, you can join appropriate, and highly ranked, online forums and post useful content with a signature containing a back link to the target website. You should submit your website to the major search engines’ web indices. This will speed up and enhance the optimization process greatly.
SEO is a multifaceted endeavor, and requires ongoing maintenance and tuning. There are many competent companies that are dedicated to carrying out SEO campaigns. If page ranking is extremely important to you, consider outsourcing the project to a professional Denver SEO company.
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 »
Keyword Research and Its Importance
When a search engine scans your website, you want to be certain that specific keywords and keyword phrases are easily detected. This lets the search engine know what your website is about, and helps users find your website. In order to know what keywords a user might search for, you must be able to think like the customer. You also must perform an exhaustive keyword research process, as is done by Denver SEO.
Keyword research often relies heavily upon online tools such as Google Analytics. In doing so, you enter a word or phrase that describes what your site has to offer, and the research tool returns a list of words or phrases related to that description, in descending order of search popularity.
This research will let you know exactly what keywords you should be using in your meta tags, titles, headers, footers, etc. Don’t entirely ignore search terms that do not rank at the top of your research findings. Since Google will scan up to 500 characters in keyword tags, you should plan on using all 500 characters for best results. If the top terms only require 350 characters, for example, you should work your way down the list and fit as many terms into your tags as possible.
This delves into what some call “long-tail” keywords. The name is derived from how and where the terms would fall if plotted on a normal curve. The lower-ranked terms would form a “long-tail” along the descending curve. Typically, terms that fall beyond the second standard deviation will not be used, simply because the aforementioned 500 characters will be exhausted first.
As important as tags, alt-text, etc. are, diligent keyword research is at least as important. There is no useful purpose in adding random keywords to your website. You might get lucky once in a while and choose a popular one, but you will obtain results that are orders of magnitude more effective if you perform keyword research as described herein.
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!
Your Website Is Not for You, Neither is the SEO
By: Cade Lee
It is almost impossible to not throw yourself into the design of your new website. When we were designing our brand-new website, we made some of the very same mistakes that we see clients make on an ongoing basis. We included aspects or features to the website that we really liked, and we forgot for a moment that our demographic or audience is business owners and business professionals. For us we are going to have to go back to the drawing board and redesign a completely brand-new website that focuses strictly on professionals, and their pain or needs for Internet marketing versus making it more fun and personal for us. I think it’s very easy to forget who you are designing a website for.
The same goes for search engine optimization, it is so often that we see customers suggest key phrases and keywords that definitely apply to their business; however, “John Q. Public” will probably not use the key phrases and keywords originally selected by the business owner. For example let’s take my industry, I am a professional search engine optimization expert in Denver, and I think that probably one of the most used search terms for customers that are looking for our services would be “Denver SEO“. When we talk with customers about how they found us online, we find that they very rarely come to us using that exact search term. For us the search term Denver SEO makes the most sense as we are in the business, and search engine optimization is most often referred to as “SEO”, so would that make the most sense that companies and marketing professionals in the Denver area would type in “Denver SEO”?
The fact is that most of these companies or individuals that are searching for search engine optimization and Denver do not use the keyword “Denver SEO”. When I look at the analytics for our project, most of the searchers that do come to our website are finding us through the search term “Denver SEO”, yet when I speak with customers that have found our website online and called us they have usually used a different key term or keyword phrase. Perhaps “Denver SEO” is so popular because it is our competitors that use this term, or maybe it is industry professionals that are involved in internet marketing. My point here is that the customers that are calling usually type in something much different like “Denver Interent Marketing Companies“. So although we are getting much traffic from obtaining a first page ranking for the keyword “Denver SEO”, we also have to consider other extrapolations of that keyword such as “Denver Seo company, Denver Seo firm, Denver Seo professional, Denver search engine Optimization Company, search engine optimization Denver, etc.”
The extrapolations or longer keyword phrases are usually much easier to obtain a page-one ranking than a one-word or two word key phrase. Using these variations of search terms in setting up your website will help you to avoid stuffing your pages with the same keywords and give you the ability to produce more content that is actually “useful”. Ultimately at the end of the day you are not producing the website for yourself or for Google, you are producing the website for the end-user. By developing content that is useful and has relevant keywords sprinkled throughout the content piece, you will obtain a lower bounce rate and a higher conversion rate from the website.
The video that I’ve included in this post is a short example of how to use keywords and keyword phrases throughout your blogging campaign that will complement your search engine optimization campaign.