One of the first steps in the SEO process (and I always check the code before I meet in person with a customer here in Omaha) is to make the code as SEO friendly as possible. A quick checklist:
- Is there lots of flash code?
- Is the site built in Frames?
- Is there a lot of javascript, especially for the navigation
Those are the big 3. If Fireworks or Dreamweaver was used to construct the navigation, it is readily apparent, and very unfriendly to the search engines. Additionally, lots of graphic designers don’t know the difference between CSS menus and ones constructed from tables/javascript swap images – now, I am getting a little technical here, but these are important questions to ask your designer – it means the difference between a site that looks like a million bucks but gets no traffic, and one that can actually be indexed by Google efficiently.
If you have a web designer who is more designer than technical, that’s where I usually come in. I can fix some (but not usually all) without a major overhaul. Some issues require much more work, so I like to prioritize your changes, give some options, and work with the web or graphic designer to remedy the problems.
In my next post, I will address some other important code issues that should be addressed in the on-site SEO process.
I am an Omaha SEO professional who loves helping small businesses locally, give me a call if you would like to learn more about either do-it-yourself SEO or help with an SEO plan for your business.
I have been working with several businesses in Omaha who have hired me for my online marketing expertise, either in the PPC arena, or for SEO services. Several things amaze me when I speak to new clients – usually, they don’t understand the value of the SEO process, since oftentimes it involves changes to their website. The average business owner does not understand the on or off site processes.
On site processes to SEO:
- Tags, Titles and code changes
- Content, copy and key words
- links and urls
Off site Processes for SEO:
- Backlinks
- Directory Listings
- Blog comments
These processes should both have attention paid to them as they are important to the overall site optimization.
All of these, of course, take time and energy to accomplish, and I always say you should put at least half of your online budget towards some form of SEO. It takes time and skill to get your site found on the net. Please call me if I can be of assistance in your SEO program. Steve 402-210-3283
Ever got an email or phone call from a telemarketer that “Guarantees they can make you number one in Google”? Hopefully you are internet savvy enough to recognize that this is most likely a bad business decision at best and a scam at worst. I have seen too many people who are desparate to optimize their site who fall for this.
Bad SEO companies use black hat techniques that could get your site banned from the major search engines.
Good SEO companies: All I can say is choose one who can sit down with you locally, they are not doing black hat techniques on your site and they can do the appropriate research to help you. If you choose someone local, they can sit down with you and explain their methodology.
Yes, SEO is worth paying for, involve a local professional! I am in Omaha and willing to help! Steve 402-210-3283
If you are looking for a technology consultant in Lincoln, Nebraska, be sure to look up David Hefley at Meridian Consulting.
As the saying goes: ‘The money is in the list.’ The opt-in list is an excellent way for you to stay in touch with your customers, and here are a handful of ways you can build this list:
- Contest – have a contest and draw a lucky winner from the list.
- Free -Offer a free ebook, video, whitepaper or other information to new list members
- Coupon – percent off or $ off purchase at your eCommerce or Brick and Mortar store
- Free software – if you are a developer, offer a free utility or Wordpress skin
Build that list! Once you gain a subscriber’s confidence, you can turn them into a loyal customer with subsequent email campaigns.
Check out my reviews of the email management companies if you need to get one set up for your web site – all of them include a method to add a form for signing up customers on your site – if you have trouble I am available for consultation!
Steve – 402.210.3283 in Omaha
Hope you all had a great year on, and off the web! If you have not already stopped to reflect on 2008 and ponder some goals for 2009, it’s not too late. You should write a quick plan for each web site you own and plan to dedicate time to seeing the plan through. I am doing it today, even though I have significant work that needs to be completed for clients. I feel that this activity is an important part of my online success for the year. Also, I want to put many of the things I have learned, and the ideas that Chris – a colleague of mine at CGMTechnologies.com – have come up with, to work. We are truly motivated to lose the day job, and help others along the way do the same thing.
If you are an internet marketer, or you have a brick and mortar store, setting these goals is good – they help you evaluate where you wish to focus your resources.
If you have a desire to learn Adwords, need someone to help you implement an SEO strategy or need consulting to help make any of your goals happen, I am in Omaha, and happy to help. As you think about your marketing for 2009, think of a a few outside the box strategies – here are a few that I am thinking of for the new year:
- Opt-in Text Messaging.
- YouTube videos – I can help you produce these and place them on video submission sites.
- Content Writing for SEO for local businesses.
- Directory submission for local businesses.
Call me if you would like info on how any of these strategies can work for you – on or off the web. Steve 402-210-3283
PPC is not new to most internet marketers, but it is a new concept to many small business owners I work with here in Omaha. I’ll give you a quick run down of how it works.
PPC or Pay Per Click is best demonstrated in a Google search. Typically the left hand side of the page is the natural results of your search, while the right hand positions are the paid positions – advertisers can place a small, 4 line text ad there – and they only get charged if someone clicks on the ad.
The nuance to this is that the advertiser has to bid on how much they are willing to pay for their ad to appear.
These ads are highly effective if done properly because they target the exact items and keywords that your customers are searching for. Also, you can see immediate results in traffic, and hopefully sales on your site.
Am an Adwords Certified Individual, helping businesses in Omaha, Nebraska, if you would like to learn more, please give me a call at 402-210-3283. If you become a customer, I have currently, a $100 credit to your new Google account waiting for you.
Many times I get asked what the best way to get links from other sites. Do Follow comments provide some of the best links back into your site if done properly. Here’s a quick rundown:
Find some blogs or forums with high page rank that are do-follow (meaning the code is written such that the search engines will follow the link to your site)
Leave a comment or post with a link to your site, preferably in anchor text.
Things to do to ensure effective backlinks:
Leave valuable comments – there is NOTHING a webmaster hates more than spammy comments.
Comment on relevant posts to the content on your site.
Build slowly – Google looks at backlinks over time, if you all of a sudden have 500 in one day it looks fishy-spread them out over time.
How to find these links – I have launched a brand new site called SEMAddict.com – we have a free instructional video outlining a method on how to find the best pages for backlinking.
Ok…lots of people wonder how to better market their web site. Today’s post is a quick and easy one – 5 quick and cheap marketing tips:
Put your web site address in your e-mail signature.
Join and become active in a forum related to your industry.
Post a comment in your favorite blog a few times a week.
Contact 3 websites related to yours and ask for a link exchange.
Write an article and submit it to several article submission services.
Bonus Tip – make sure you have installed Google Analytics or another traffic measurement system so that you can see the key words and origin of your traffic. In the future, this will help you focus your efforts on the best traffic sources.
Facebook has an advertising system similar to that of Google Adwords, but with a twist. You can target your demographic using keywords that they have used to describe themselves, for instance, you could target a college educated crowd or a users from a certain city. Another cool feature is that you can actually use a picture in your ad – which makes this ad more effective. I actually have used this on a couple of my own sites, and found that this method of advertising is very effective. You still have to bid on keywords for placement, but I have seen this actually deliver a better return on investment than Google Adwords in some cases. If you have questions or are interested in this type of marketing, I would be happy to help you get it going. Just give me a call! 402-210-3283 Steve or email sm (at) messagedirect.info.
To many, SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is quite mysterious. Well, some of it is common sense, some of it is a science. Most of the process is technical and you need to hire someone with a good understanding of the big picture. I have studied for a long time, and had a few successes, but it was not until I got some training did the whole picture fit. Many people try to do one or 2 of the things but not the whole plan and expect it to work.
You really need to involve someone who knows SEO from the beginning of your project. It is a whole lot less expensive to build it in to your site from the beginning than it is to go back and try to fit it in after the fact. Your SEO program will be much more effective.