I went to search for a dentist today here in Omaha, online, as part of an experiment. Seems to me that the firms who design websites are actually doing a bad job – sure they are great at making things look nice, but they have no clue when it comes to the technicalities of SEO. Then, I looked up Omaha SEO firms – these same firms advertise that they are seo experts, when the sites they have done didn’t include the basics for SEO even for the local level. If you have a web site, you need to be seen. This is why you want to involve a professional who can assist in local optimization of your business web site. At the local level SEO for your site should be fairly easy if done correctly.
November 17, 2008
November 16, 2008
Make your Site Navigation Easy – Part 1
Today I will be discussing how to make your site navigation more user friendly and, as a bonus, Search Engine friendly. This is a large subject, and I will likely have to break it down into more than one post.
Create a natural breakdown of your information and make it flow. Make it easy for users to go from general information on your site to more specific information.
Don’t:
• Make it overly complex. All your pages linking to one another isn’t always the best.
Use mostly text for navigation – Text links make the pages easier for search engines to crawl and improve accessibility. Make sure you use css standards – you can do a lot with css to make your links look attractive.
Don’t:
• Have navigation based entirely on images or flash – this slows down the page, makes it less accessible, and often adds large amounts of code (one other trick to optimization is code to content ratio – a whole other post – coming soon!)
Utilize “breadcrumbs” – These are rows of internal navigations, leading the user back to general information, from the most detailed information. It shows a hierarchy of info.
Having good navigation on your site will improve your user experience, lengthen the amount of time your user spends on the site, increases the possiblility of your user finding exactly what they need while there, and as an added bonus, you get the benefit of a potentially higher position in the search engines because you took the time to implement it.
If you need help with your navigation, or any other aspect of useability or SEO of your website, feel free to give me a call at 402-210-3283 (Steve). Factors like these are reasons you should hire an expert to develop your web site. You want to be found, you want your users to buy or contact you once they have found you!
November 13, 2008
Landing Page Blues
Many of my customers who have tried Adwords with little success question me as to why they are not successful. Usually, it is the landing page.
A Landing Page by definition is a page on your domain where you land people from your adwords campaign or from an off site advertiser like ComCast – you can then measure the effectiveness of the ad or write copy specific to what the ad talks about. This results in a higher conversion rate for your visitor. Conversions might mean different things to different marketing campaigns. It might be a sign up, a page view, or an actual sale on an e-commerce site.
If you don’t send your visitor someplace specific, you run the risk of 1. Confusing the visitor, 2. Wasting your visitor’s time, because you don’t give them the SPECIFIC information that they are searching for.
If you would like to set up an Adwords Campaign, I am available for assistance, and I can give you $50 towards your first Adwords campaign if you set up a new account. sm (@) messagedirect.info
P.S. Another benefit of a good landing page is that it actually will decrease your Adwords cost per click! Almost always my services will pay for themselves in the cost savings you receive from my expertise – plus, you won’t lose sleep at night over your Adwords!
November 9, 2008
Convergence: Technology, Marketing, and Sales
Like many small business owners, I want to succeed. I have to be nimble, and change with the times. If you are a small business owner who refuses to change their marketing plan with the times, you will be left in the cold. Technology and marketing have collided head on. The 2 together are here to stay. That is where SEMbyDesign can help – we are experts in Web Marketing, content writing, blog marketing, video for web promotion, and tailoring plans that will help you long term as your web presence grows with your brick-and-mortar business.
The thought of putting together all of this content for the web is daunting to most people, and understanding the things that you need to help you succeed on-line are often difficult. The younger generation is in tune with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube – the convergence of marketing with technology at it’s height. There is a lot of opportunity for getting your word out about your newest product, your best service, or your latest business venture. You need to include the web in your plans for communication. Let the experts at SEMbyDesign help!
In Omaha, we are only a call away: 402-210-3283 – Steve
New Web Advertising Service for Omaha
I have rolled out a package of web marketing to a few of my clients whom I thought would benefit from it the most. It includes multiple elements of article writing, blog posting, video posting, press release posting and podcasting. The main reason for these are to get backlinks, but you will also enjoy the benefits of having additional material for your off-line marketing as well. More content for your print brochures, for instance. Also, Video posting is pretty big right now, and we can have a really professional video put together and posted for you each month with this package.
If you are interested in this for promotion of your web site, or are interested in some sort of optimization for your site, feel free to email me sm (at) messagedirect.info, or give me a call at (402)210-3283. I usually like to sit down with my clients to determine need and get an understanding of their business, so this works best if you are in the Omaha area!
November 4, 2008
So, Any back link is a good link? Beware of bad neighborhoods!
I write a lot about back links in this blog, because they are vital to your ranking. However, it may surprise you that not all links are good. Google can penalize you for your link being in a “bad neighborhood”. You can actually lose page rank when you link to too many lesser ranked sites, sites with content that has little to do with your content, or even paid linking.
So, as you attempt to get those back links, be careful, do your research and then look for the links!
If you need assistance with this, we have lots and lots of creative marketing ideas for how to garner those links. Just give us a call!
October 24, 2008
Marketing for Joe the Plumber
We have all heard it – marketing is expensive. But what is the cost of not marketing – inevitably, it is failure. But you have to do market (online or offline) in a manner that can be measured against results. Lets take a Plumber, for instance. Suppose we launch an adwords campaign for Joe that consists of a $300 per month spend, and he can attribute 600 additional hits to his web site. how does this translate into business? Hopefully, he is asking the question: How did you hear about my business? This is key to tracking the profit on the service related business. It is a whole lot more apparent on an ecommerce application where you can track the click all the way to the ‘thank you for your order’ page of your site.
I specialize in marketing your web site, and I especially prefer local businesses where I can sit down and determine the best strategy with you, for your business. If you would like to see more, MessageDirect.info has a portfolio, or contact me directly at sm (at) messagedirect (.) info!
October 23, 2008
Does your firm have a Technology Use Policy?
On a regular basis, I deal with small businesses that, most of the time seem to have it all together. I do some small business consulting in the context of how to use technology, but recently get many questions on general small business issues. One such issue dealt with some inappropriate material that was found on a 3rd party site. If your firm doesn’t have a Technology Use Policy in place for the areas of the office and the web which the employees have access to, you are asking for trouble.
The Policy should include specifics about how the company equipment and email can be used, what it can store, and what actions will be taken if the Policy is broken. I once worked at a company that would not allow anything but the default Windows Xp screen saver to be displayed, so as not to have to make a decision on personal photos that may or may not be offensive. Do you allow your employees to fax personal items…maybe it is time to spell it out. Don’t wait until someone threatens a lawsuit and you don’t have the proper procedures in place.
October 21, 2008
Forums as a Marketing Tool
Do you belong to a forum or similar online community? If you have not added your website or blog to your signature, you are missing out on a great marketing opportunity. If you are a mechanic and you belong to an enthusiast site for your favorite sports car, you should, without a doubt, add your website to the signature of your profile – when you leave a comment on the forum, you are leaving a link back to your web site, something for people who are curious or who like the info you have provided to follow back to your site. This may seem like the most basic of tips, but you would be shocked at how many people miss out on this great opportunity.
In tech terms, this is a “back link” – a link from a site with relevant information to your site. Google and the search engines love back links, you should too! Make getting back links a priority.
October 13, 2008
Buy The Big O Show!
Omaha Business owners and clients – I have free tickets for you to the Buy The Big O Show on Wednesday at the Qwest Center. You can check out Omaha’s best B2B show. My friend Heather Nelson from MCC will be giving a talk on Search Engine Marketing for your business. This will be an informative talk designed to expose you to the Google Adwords concept and give you some ideas on how to market your business on line.
If you leave a comment to this post I will email you a printable ticket which you can use for your entire office.