• 5 SEO Pointers for Ranking on Google in 2017

    Stephen JamesSEO, Tools

    There are many search engines out there online, but Google remains one of the top search engines, and having a high ranking on Google is important to the success of your business. But success on Google all depends on whether you are keeping up with Google’s algorithms that often changes. Following the latest Google updates in mind, here are five helpful tips that can help you have a better ranking on the world’s largest search engine in 2017.

    What’s Brand New on Google?

    Google’s constant changes to algorithms can often leave company owners frustrated and mystified especially when it comes to internet marketing. These changes though can improve the experience of different users everywhere and can increase the quality of web content. Google’s popular SEO trends in 2017 and beyond puts emphasis on the quality of the content on the website, the overall experience, mobile response and keywords, and metadata, that reflects search queries.

    1. Go Beyond Content Marketing

    Google is looking for excellent content that gives a lot of value to the user and responds to their search queries in 2017 and beyond. Regular content marketing can still help a website’s ranking, but having more in-depth treatment topics will make your rankings hire rather than the typical website content that covers the information superficially.

    To increase Google rankings, Coronation Internet Marketing says: “You have to write unique, informative content and web pages, that responds directly to questions or terms and has a call to action that gives users a real benefit.”

    2. Aim for Better and Fewer Links

    Inbound links play an important role in raising a website’s Google ranking, but Google watches the source and numbers of those links. Google looks for quality instead of quantity and focuses on whether inbound links come from organic and trusted ranking sites. Having links from questionable resources or too many links can hurt rather than help your rankings.

    Instead of collecting average links, you should focus on building link relationships with a few sites that have a high ranking within your industry and maintain them.

    3. Make Your Website Mobile

    Google places mobile searches over desktop searches when indexing websites. Using all aspects of a mobile website for users experiences increases access and also increases ranking and visibility on Google which is a critical part of Internet marketing.

    It is important to make sure your website is responsive and optimized for screens that are mobile sized. Google now has a program called Accelerated Mobile Pages, that can help pages load faster on mobile devices.

    4. You should try Optimized Visuals for Search

    Adding relevant metadata and using keyword enriched content are part of SEO practices when you are making a web page, but it is also important to make visual content visible on search engines. Slideshows and videos take up more space on Google and in result they have more weight in Google’s rankings. SEO in Toronto Twitter tweeted out some great tweets showing how optimized visuals for search worked for them.

    To improve visibility on search engines, make sure all of the visual content includes captions, metadata, and keywords. If you post slides or videos, you should include a keyword-rich summary or transcript.

    5. Maximize the User’s Experience

    Although originality and the quality of a website‘s appearance are important, organization and navigation are now an imperative aspect of Google’s ranking algorithms. Cluttered, slow websites with links that are broken and unwanted popups can drive users away and ruin your credibility, and so do websites that have content that is not relevant to what users are looking for.

    To maximize Google rankings, take a look at your sites speed and make sure all links are working correctly. Make navigation simple and easy to use, and change the metadata and titles of your pages to Google’s search queries.

    Google is the top used search engine in the universe, and its frequent changes improve the quality of website offerings of all different kinds. With wise SEO strategies, including a user-friendly site and high-level content, companies of all sizes that do internet marketing can rank higher on Google in 2017 and beyond.

  • How To Choose The Right SEO Company To Get Top Results

    Stephen JamesSEO

    magnifying glass with a sticky that says SEO

    Businesses that use PPC advertising to generate targeted visitors are often looking for better ways of attracting potential clients. Pay per click advertising is very effective because it can put you into contact with people that will be the most interested in purchasing what you have to sell. The problem with this type of advertising is the cost which can be extremely expensive. Instead, more people than ever before are turning to search engine optimization companies that can help them rank on top of the search engines. The following information will help you choose the right SEO company to help you get the best results possible.

    How SEO Works

    “This form of advertising is very different from PPC advertising.” comments Brian Williams from The Las Vegas SEO Company.  “It requires quite a bit of work. Instead of only setting up a pay per click campaign that will start generating targeted visitors, you will have to implement several strategies that can boost your website to the top of the search engine listings, strategies that can take up hours of your day.”

    However, once you have achieved top positions, you will start to generate free traffic. People will find you at the head of the organic listings, click through to your website, and potentially purchase what you have to offer. Unlike PPC advertising, every click that you receive will not cost you money which is why so many are gravitating toward this form of marketing. Several strategies are involved including building backlinks, adding images and videos to your pages, and interlinking all of your related pages. As mentioned before, this can be a time-consuming process which many people often leave up to professional SEO companies that can achieve top rankings for their clients on autopilot.

    How To Choose The Right SEO Company

    It’s very easy to pick a company that can produce the best results. You can find reviews of different local search engine optimization companies that are in your area, or you can only pick and choose from the different packages that are offered by the services and try one to see what happens. It is recommended that you speak with people that you know that are also using SEO companies locally to see what results they have achieved. Once you have found a business that can provide excellent results, you will start to see your positioning on the search engines improve dramatically along with the number of visitors that you receive.

    Best Strategy To Use

    “Although the professional company that you hire will do everything for you, there is one strategy that they will likely implement that will produce the fast results which are an off-site backlink building strategy that specifically generates links on Facebook.” says Sondra McFarland of Search Engine Optimization Winnipeg. “The first place that the Google algorithm tends to check is Facebook and other social media platforms. If people are talking about a particular website, they will head on over to see if it should rank. The more links that you build from social media platforms, the more likely it is that your web pages will become indexed very quickly and ultimately rank higher than your competition.”

    The process of finding the best search engine optimization company might take a little bit of time unless you can find reviews on the Internet. The one that has the most positive feedback will be the one that you will want to use, a company that will likely provide you with the same positive results. Likewise, noncompetitive companies might tell you which SEO agency they are using, which can also make this process very simple. In the end, once you have all of your most profitable keywords ranking up above your competitors, you will start to make more money with your business.

  • How SEO Will Change In 2016

    Stephen JamesSEO, Social Media

    search engine optimization in 2016

    Most Phoenix internet marketers know that SEO is a game with flexible rules. Year after year they’ve seen their websites torn to pieces by unexpected search engine algorithm updates from Google. Panda and Penguin, for instance, are two names that can make many people cry when they hear them. Although based on the same principles, modern SEO is a new profession. If ten years ago it was enough to get a lot of links from web directories to improve your rankings, today this is an obsolete practice that might even harm your web properties. Nonetheless, links are still the driving engine of SEO and this isn’t going to change in 2016.

    Links rule, but obtaining the really good ones has become extremely difficult. Buying them is forbidden, link exchanges barely have any value and guest posting for linking purposes isn’t something Google agrees with. On the other hand, if you sit there and wait for authority websites to discover you and link to you for free, you might never make it to the top.

    social media for seoAs a general rule for 2016, SEO professionals are going to need to consider improving their social media activity. Social media is part of our life, most people using it to communicate with their friends and to make a statement of who they are and what they believe in. If people are on social media networks, websites need to follow. You can’t afford to remain locked in your ivory tower when everybody else has joined the party. “This means that Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram should be part of any SEO strategy that aims high.” according to SEO agency owner Jerry Harris.

    However, you should take into consideration your available resources. If you can’t cover all these networks properly, you should stick to one or two you like most. Building an active presence in social media requires a lot of time and energy. You can’t use automatic posting and hope people are going to follow you. People love interaction and communication. You have to become an active part of the groups you are a member of if you want the crowds to follow you and to recognize you as an authority. By becoming a voice in social media channels, you send out signals of authority search engines are going to pick up. This is how your Facebook or Twitter activity can help you improve your search engine rankings.

    Video is the next big thing for SEO in 2016. It is already huge, as many marketers have shifted towards producing high-quality video content. You can use video to your advantage as YouTube videos are included in the SERPs of Google for almost every search out there. In addition, ranking in an internal video search engine is easier than ranking in Google, at least for the time being. By being among the first who make video an integrated part of their SEO strategy, you can earn a bigger piece of the pie.

    On page SEO is also going to matter in 2016, so you should still make sure you have all titles, alt tags, and headings in place. They might have a lower importance, but they are still going to be relevant, so make sure you use them correctly. Additionally, you should still optimize your code in order to enable the fast loading of your web pages. Loading speed is one of the factors that influence the rankings, so you should make sure you use the most efficient programming methods and languages.

    Last but not least, consider building brands and authority websites rather than niche properties for your Phoenix business. There is a trend that favors big brands, so you should strive to become one in order to become a leader in the SERPs.

  • The Difference Between SEO and CRO

    Stephen JamesCRO, SEO

    cro vs. seo

    SEO also popularly known as search engine optimization is about techniques, tactics or strategies used for the purpose of increasing the number of people visiting a website through high-ranking placement in search engine results. SEO involves designing and developing websites that rank well in popular search engines. This is possible by understanding what visitors search for and the way search algorithms work. SEO is also referred to as SEO copywriting, since most of its tactics that are used in promoting websites deal with text.

    SEO copywriting involves writing viewable text that appears on the web page. This text must be informative to the reader and is meant to target a specific search terms. The purpose of SEO copywriting is to rank highly in major search engine results. The text also optimizes other elements in order to capture targeted search terms, which includes keyword tags, the title, subheadings, description and alternative text.

    When you search a keyword using any popular search engine, thousands of results will be displayed in its database. The website ranking is normally measured according to the position a page is displayed in the search results. In case the web page is displayed on the first position of search engine results, then we say it has the highest ranking.

    The On-Page and The Off-Page SEO Concept

    There are two major ways of optimization as explained below;

    • On-Page SEO – This includes providing good keyword selection, great content, appropriate title for each page and placing keywords in correct places.
    • Off-Page SEO – This involves search engines, link building, link exchange and increasing link popularity by using open directories.

    conversion rate optimization

    What is CRO?

    CRO which means conversion rate optimization is a modern technique that takes scientific approach to optimize the websites. This enables the businesses to convert their website visitors to customers or subscribers. CRO is an emerging marketing discipline that mostly focuses on visitors actions when they visit your website. This will help to measure and improve your website, which in turn leads to more sales or sign ups. Conversion rate optimization is not about how get more traffic into your website but rather about the action you want people to take once they click on your webpage. This will lead to more visitors taking action, which could lead to more sales and higher profits.

    Many companies are today focusing their precious energy and money on driving big traffic to their website using banner ads, social media, Adwords, and organic search (applying SEO). Well, these are valuable ways to spend money on but the challenge is that the traffic is not doing enough. Your visitors are not registering or buying or calling in to request for a quote, which is the main reason you’re sending them to your website. The most exciting thing is that it’s possible to optimize the performance of your business site by making it more appealing, clear, improve on key Calls to Action and offer a better flow. By taking systematic steps, you can easily influence your visitor’s behaviors in positive way.

    Why CRO is important for your business

    There is a room for improvement

    It doesn’t matter how well you have designed your site or how many visitors are clicking on your webpage; conversion process can make things easier and painless for your visitors – leading to exciting results for you.

    Its essentially free

    Conversion rate optimization capitalizes on the existing traffic that you already have. That means you won’t spend more to get more visitors to your website, you’re just improving the site in order to convert your visitors once they get to your site. Optimization will increase the return on your investment and convert more visitors, and also attract new ones.

    Lower the customer acquisition costs

    By doubling the conversion rate your business will reduce by half the cost-per-acquisition, or in other words the amount each new customer will cost you.

    Targets the right customers

    It’s more than just converting anyone. You’re looking for the right customers who love your product. This will be a plus for your marketing efforts since your customers will spread the word to others.

    Maximizes your profits

    Your profit is normally tied to the conversion rate. Because your business is not paying extra money to get more conversion, the profit goes right to your bottom line.

  • The best 5 tools for an effective keywords research

    Stephen JamesKeyword Research, Tools

    blogspot3

    Keyword research is the fundamental task for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing. You should know the right keywords; otherwise, you won’t generate much traffic. Keywords can be short tailed or long tailed. You can find good short tailed keywords in Google’s tools. Long tailed keywords improve search result and make the search more specific.

    It is very hard to find good long tailed keywords. Contents, which use well researched keywords, have better chance of being read by prospective customers. There are many keyword research tools available today to meet the demand of keyword. Among these, the top five keyword research tools are discussed below.

    Google Keyword Planner

    google-keyword-planner-300x154

    “Google Keyword Planner is the most common tool used in order to search for a keyword. We find we don’t need any special, paid tools for keyword research as Google’s Keyword Planner works as good or better than the others.” Mary Hunt of phoenixseoconsultants.com says.

    Adwords advertisers mostly use this information. As Google gets paid for Adwords advertising, they make sure that the best keywords are provided.

    WordStream’s Keyword Tool

    wordstream

    WordStream’s Keyword Tool is useful for researching keywords for use in both PPC and SEO. The first 30 searches are free on WordStream. It is a very good tool for finding bunch of related words.

    FreshKey Keyword Research Tool

    freshkeyLogo

    FreshKey is another keyword research tool that is gaining popularity. The unique feature of this tool is that it gives you synonyms and variations of the keywords. It will also give you the ranking of the keyword according to popularity, so you know which keyword to choose.

    Soovle Keyword Research Tool

    soovle

    Soovle, another useful tool for keyword research, gets you the most searched keywords. This tool is absolutely free to use.

    Ubersuggest Keyword Tool

    ubersuggest

    Ubersuggest, another free keyword research tool, provides an extensive list of variations of the keyword that you type in.

    Whichever tool you use to research keywords, make sure you use these keywords effectively on your content. From the vast list these tools give you, use your own knowledge and intuition to choose the right keywords for your website.

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  • Which is better – SEO or PPC?

    Stephen JamesComparison, PPC, SEO

    blogspot2

    Online marketing is all about increasing traffic in your website. If the traffic is more, the chance of revenue is better. So, marketers are constantly researching on the different tools that can be used to boost traffic on webpage. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising are the widely used traffic generating tools today.

    Both have benefits, however, it is often difficult to decide which is better – SEO or PPC?

    SEO provides sustainable results

    SEO is a technique that tries to push a particular webpage to the first page of top search engines like Google. SEO has created a buzz in the industry by generating majority of the website traffic.

    “Getting good results from SEO takes time; it’s not something that you’ll get overnight.” states Leslie Garcia of The Phoenix SEO Company. “But once you can manage to get your website on the first page of search engine results, you will stay there for a long time.”

    PPC, on the other hand, gets quick results. Once you pay for the campaign, your advertisement will be shown on the top of search results and your traffic will increase instantly.

    PPC works well for promotions

    PPC is very useful if you have a new promotional offer for your products or want to tell prospective customers about new products. Unlike SEO, PPC is paid.

    SEO can convert webpage to authority site

    SEO can turn your webpage into an authority site. Traffic gets generated quite easily for authority sites. Having good content is the key to turning your website to an authority website.

    PPC is better for websites will less content

    When your website is not rich in content, PPC is a better option for you. With PPC, you don’t need to constantly update your contents.

    SEO improves overall quality of website

    SEO improves the quality of your website. Amount of traffic, page rank, etc. are important factors that customers consider when they are visiting the website or buying their products. Good SEO increases trustworthiness of the website, making it more reliable

    PPC is better for reaching targeted audience

    For targeted traffic, PPC is a better option. You can specifically choose to reach a specific group of people depending on their demographic information. In case of promotions that are time sensitive, PPC is a better option.

    So, whether to choose SEO and PPC depends on the type of your website and the kind of result you want. Depending on your requirement, you choose the one that is suitable for you. But research says that for best results you should use both SEO and PPC for your website.

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  • Why should PPC be part of your digital marketing strategy?

    Stephen JamesPPC

    blogspot1

    Everyone is competing online to get their webpage to be ranked at the top of search engine results. In this fierce competition of getting the share of the pie, relying only on search engine optimization is not a wise decision. Pay-per-click (PPC) can be very useful for boosting your page rank if used along with search engine optimization.

    PPC guarantees return

    Big brands are now going after PPC for a number of reasons. The major reason is you pay for what you get, that is, you only pay when a user clicks on the advertisement. This is an investment that guarantees return. So, PPC is actually a safe investment than the traditional advertising methods.

    PPC makes good use of your budget

    With PPC, your marketing budget is controllable. You can set a budget depending on what you need. If you want, you can fix a maximum number of clicks that you will be accepting daily. This way you know how much you are going to spend every day. This limit is not fixed also; you can change it any time according to your varying needs.

    Targeted marketing possible with PPC

    PPC has targeted marketing option which allows you to deliver a specific advertisement when user is at a specific location during a specific period of the day.

    With so much competition around, search engine optimization alone cannot handle the pressure. Search engine optimization and PPC together can help you achieve your desired result. However, PPC is not an easy task. You need to be aware of the rules, types of advertising platforms, etc. before using PPC for your website. You should seek the advice of experts who understand PPC well, instead of experimenting all by yourself. However, you must always remember that PPC alone cannot yield any result; it must be used with other online marketing tools.