Jul 10

The Importance of the Google Adwords Quality Score

By Ken Liebeskind Internet News, Pay Per Click Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Website Design 8 Comments »
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It used to be whoever bid the highest for a pay per click campaign got the highest ranking, but it doesn’t work that way anymore. Google wants to display the most relevant ads for each keyword search so it introduced the Quality Score that ranks ads based on a number of factors and displays them accordingly.

Some of the Quality Score criteria includes historical click through rate – if your keyword copy has a higher historical clickthrough rate than other advertisers, it gets a higher score; if the quality of your landing page is high you’ll also get a higher Quality Score; if your ad performs well on a variety of sites the Quality Score goes up; and the relevance of your ad is also considered.

Google AdwordsYour Google Quality Score is extremely important because it determines the eligibility of your site to enter the Google ranking and the cost of your ad. You’ll pay a lower cost per click rate with a higher ranking and receive a better ad position.

Discuss your Web marketing strategy with your agency to determine how you can increase your Google Adwords Quality Score. Make sure your ads are written and designed to generate the highest ranking for the most important keywords.

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Jul 08

King James on Twitter

By Ken Liebeskind Internet News, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, Twitter 2 Comments »
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The power of Twitter is being demonstrated by Lebron James, the NBA superstar who started a page this week and has already accumulated over 220,000 followers. ESPN announced King James will appear live tonight at 9 to spill the beans on his choice of teams for the upcoming season, but there are reports that the news may be posted on Twitter first, which would be perhaps Twitter’s biggest post ever, because the whole world is waiting for Lebron’s news.

Lebron JamesYou can add Lebron to your Twitter account by going to twitter.com/kingjames or @kingjames. Currently, there are only two posts, the first to announce he’s “on board,” the second to report that “I just got up so I can head down to my B-ball Camp.”

C’mon Lebron, you can do better than that. The world would like to know where you’ll play this year and get details on how you made your decision. We also want to know how the decision will impact other free agents, many of whom are waiting until you make your announcement to set their own plans in motion.

What can marketers learn from Lebron’s Twitter experience? One thing is to use your Twitter page to report your company’s big news as it happens so everyone will know what you’re up to. Lebron actually apologized for not being on Twitter initially, which demonstrates its importance in the social marketing arena.

If you don’t have a Twitter page, check with your web marketing agency to get it started and once it’s up post regularly (and feel free to visit Lebron’s page for details on his plans).

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Jul 03

The Importance of Having Great Photography on Your Site

By Ken Liebeskind Branding, Marketing Strategies, Print Design, Search Engine Optimization, Website Design No Comments »
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Utilizing photography on your website is a key to success because pictures illuminate the copy. Websites with pictures beat text only sites hands down because they enable you to get a better sense of the products quickly. Remember, first impressions are crucial online when you sometimes only have a few seconds to grab a visitor’s attention. So do it with alluring pictures that will draw the visitor into your site and then they’ll read the content.

You can use your own digital pictures, find free photos at a range of sites or purchase stock photos for as little as $1 each. The key is to make sure they’re relevant to your product and convey the image you want to project.Photography

Once you have great photos on your site, visitors will take notice. Also, you can submit the photo pages from your site to blogs that will increase your traffic.

There are a number of ways to add photography to your site. WordPress is most popular now. You can upload photos directly from within WordPress with the file uploading utility or use other software programs, such as FlickR. You can also use Dreamweaver to add photos to your site.

Check with your website design firm to determine the best way to add photos to your site and make sure you include them to illuminate the message you want to portray that will boost your business.

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Jun 30

Bing – Shaking the SEO World

By Andy Scherer Link Building, Search Engine Optimization 8 Comments »
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Over the past year (since May of 2009), Bing has evolved into the third largest search engine on the web.  However, you are about to see significant movement in search engine market share over the next few years as Bing starts to power Yahoo! Search.  This increase of search engine queries traveling through the Bing engine will undoubtedly impact search engine optimization.  So, with Bing competing directly with Google, let’s take a look at the SEO differences between the two sites.

Bing and Google have shown in recent SEO studies that they are relatively similar when comparing on-page optimization.  This means that title tags, description tags, and body copy are evaluated and weighted in similar fashion.  So, when you create a page or post you can optimize by:

  1. Selecting unique, non-duplicate, and grabbing title tags (and title for the page/post) that directly relate to the page/post you are creating
  2. Include at least 15% but not more than 20% of your body copy as keywords, and make sure that the text is readable/understandable from a human perspective…after all, they are buying your product and services
  3. Utilize detailed and informative snippets for your description tag; these do not directly relate to search engine rankings, but they will indirectly effect the number of visits as this is what the search engines pick up to preview your site on results pages

As we look further into the analysis of Bing and Google, there are significant differences in the weighting of off-page factors.  This means that there is a difference in the number of links, quality of links, diversity of links, domain history, and anchor text.  Here are some ways that your site may rank better in Bing:

  1. Studies have shown that older domains hold a higher weight than anchor text concentration for Bing.  You don’t have as much control over this, but this also means that you do not want to change your domain name or have it redirected frequently to maximize Bing SEO.
  2. Build in-bound links through pages that directly correlate with your page.  This is something that you would do with Google as well, but Google takes a little more weighted approach when it looks at the link popularity and diversity.
  3. Utilize anchor text for the in-bound links that have your specified keywords.  Again, this isn’t something that is weighted as heavily as Google, but it is still a pertinent aspect of SEO on Bing.

The final aspect that recent studies have shown as a major difference are the linking-pages (which are…the pages that link to your page).  This takes into account where the keywords are (title and/or body), and the average rankings of the pages that are linking to you.  Here is how you can help Bing recognize your site through the linking pages:

  1. Increase the number of sites that link to you and have your keywords in the title tags
  2. Launch a link-building campaign that has your long-tail keywords in the body
  3. Gain in-bound links from higher ranking, older domain sites

Overall, all of these tips can help with all of the search engines out there, but this is where the Bing world is taking us (more linking pages that have your keywords in their title tags, older sites ranking higher, and improving the percentage and use of keywords in your copy.  However, if you need help with your search engine optimization or have additions to this post please contact Impact or leave comments below.

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Jun 29

The Benefits of Testimonials

By Ken Liebeskind Company Analysis, Customer Analysis, Search Engine Optimization, Website Design 6 Comments »
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If you’re selling a product on your website, customer testimonials can be a key content element because they are unbiased comments that prompt visitors to buy. By using testimonials in text, audio or video formats on your site you introduce content that will promote your product in convincing fashion.

Testimonials work because they aren’t strong sales pitches, they come across in an unbiased voice and establish trust.

A key to using testimonials is to choose the ones that work best. Instead of direct recommendations of your product (“I think it’s great!”), find testiomonials that provide product details that explain how the product satisifies a consumer need. Testimonials that provide specific product benefits will induce sales.

Check with your web designer to determine the best way to add testimonials to your site. You might try a web application that allows you to set up a testimonial page or a plug in that will allow you to post different testimonials on each page of your site. There are a number of possibilities here so determine what works best and incorporate testimonials into your site to boost business.

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May 24

10 Minutes To Better Local SEO

By Andy Scherer Search Engine Optimization 7 Comments »
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The applied science of search engine optimization (SEO) has become an increasingly difficult art to master, but has remained an unspeakably important aspect of owning a website.  Along with this, the answer to the question “How do I get my website ranked in the top 10 for my keywords” changes all too frequently.  Aside from the basic tips like constructing internal links and seeking out external links, there are a few quick steps that you can follow that have stayed constant in helping your local SEO rankings.

First and foremost, make sure that your website is accurate, up to date, and does not have any technical errors that could hinder your visitors’ experiences.  One of the easiest and most basic ways to ensure the validity of your site is to go through each and every page of content.  But wait…who has time for all of that when Google has their own tool to help you (Google Webmaster).  It’s as easy as copying a simple code and pasting it to your sites html, and let Google analyze any errors (or lack thereof).

After you solidify your site’s functionality, make sure that you clearly define your target audience.  This will help you select specific (and localized) keywords as you can start to identify potential visitors and what they will be searching for on the web (and, consequently, how they will find your site).  Remember, when you select keywords to aid your SEO quest that you keep them within a reasonable number.

The next step is for you to add a blog to your site.  A web log will help you with hammer down your keywords as well as communicate directly and efficiently with potential clientele/visitors.  To further the impact of a blog, utilize a pinging service (i.e. ping-o-matic) to drive search engines to index your site more frequently.  However, prior to starting a blog make sure that you have a great plan in place to manage your blog.

Finally, fine tune your page and post titles.  As you create content through your blog and as you modify the current page titles on your site make sure that you try to utilize keywords in a user-friendly manner.  Try to keep your titles short and sweet as well as include the locality of your target audience.  Lastly, remember that the titles of your pages and posts want to be catchy and meant to grab somebody’s proverbial arm to make them listen.

Of course, if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment below, or contact us for help.  Until then, we hope you enjoyed the last 10 minutes and we will see you at the top of your local searches soon!

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Dec 14

Why isn’t anyone going to my website?

By Bob Ruffolo Pay Per Click Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing 5 Comments »
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Why isn't anyone going to my website?

Why isn't anyone going to my website?

You’ve just invested in designing a website and you think business is going to increase. You created a website to expand your exposure. Your competition has a website and it works for them, yet you are seeing poor results. Why?

Many business owners are under the impression that their entire target market is going to swarm to their website and the phone is going to ring off the hook. That won’t happen.

With hundreds of millions of websites, business owners must understand that a new website starts at the bottom of the list. No doubt – a website can produce tremendous sales results – it takes time and financial investment however.

The world will not magically know your web address, and they will not visit your site unless you have told them about it. Just because you have a new website, it doesn’t mean that online users are going to be looking for it. Without a properly planned out strategy for visitors to find your site, your website will certainly remain lost in the mix.

I have been developing websites for over five years and worked with many clients in various industries. Never has anyone disagreed with me when I told them that they needed a website and rarely has anyone disputed that even a basic custom website costs at least $1000. But when I tell them that it’s critical that they invest in optimizing their website, they sometimes find that to be an unnecessary cost. I really have to explain why this is so valuable. When I check in with clients who choose not to optimize a few months later, they ask me the same question: Why isn’t anyone going to my website?

How do you help potential customers find your website? Here are the basics:

1. Is your website interesting?

This is the first thing I look at when helping clients generate traffic. What comprises your content? Is it unique to the internet? Is it different from your competition? Does it make you look competitive? Does it engage the visitor? If someone looked at your website for five seconds, would they want to read on or would they want to hit the back button?

The more interesting your website, the more likely that a visitor will understand your business, spend time visiting the different pages on your site, and share your website with their friends and other online users. It’s critical to develop unique content and provide visitors with information they may not find anywhere else on the web.

2. Is your website easy to navigate?

Another very important aspect is that the user can navigate throughout your website with ease. Plan out where a visitor will start, where you want them to go, what do you want them to see, and where do you want them to exit. Most small businesses want them to exit the website after they have made some sort of contact. Does your website encourage interaction?

3. Does your website have any search engine road blocks?

Most of your website traffic will come from search engines. Like a library does with books, search engines will review the content of your website and categorize it. Search Engines will then present your website in its results if it believes it accurately matches the keyword term for which the user was searching. Is there anything on your website preventing search engines from accessing and indexing your website correctly?

You can review our post: Top 9 Search Engine Ranking Road Blocks that Many People Experience, to test your website for major issues that will block your website from search engine results.

4. Have you promoted your website?

OK, so your website is interesting and search engine friendly. Now it’s time to “open the curtains” and let the world know about your site. There are many things you can do to promote your website including link building, pay per click advertising, mass-email marketing, social media marketing, and offline website promotion. These are all popular and proven methods to generate traffic.

Pay Per Click Advertising:

You may recognize pay per click (PPC) advertising as those results that appear in search engines next to and sometimes above the true search results. Most PPC programs also show ads on affiliated websites such as “Ads by Google.” Popular PPC programs include Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing. The pay per click means exactly what is says – you pay when the user clicks the link and follows through to your website. These clicks generally cost between a dime to a dollar, based on how many competitors there are. A PPC advertiser sets a daily budget for how much they are willing to spend on clicks.

The benefits of PPC are that it can be set up quickly and start generating traffic immediately. Depending on your needs and your reach, however, this could be costly. But until your website starts climbing in the ranks of the search engines, this is a great way to get started.

Link Building:

Link building is the single most important thing you can do to improve your ranking in modern search engines. The downside is that it’s time-consuming. The upside? Search engines count how many links are pointing to your website and modify their rankings accordingly. The more links the better. Even more important than the number of links is the quality of links. A link from the New York Times is a lot better than a link from your kid’s blog, so keep that in mind.

A great way to get started with link building is through directory submission. I recommend spending at least $2000 on directory submission for a new website. Certainly you will want to submit your site to the top-tier directories including DMOZ and Yahoo Directory. I would also seriously consider Business.com, Best of the Web, Joe Ant, CannyLink, Gimpsy, GoGuides, America’s Best, Rubberstamped, Uncover The Net, Starting Point, and Linkopedia. Along with these paid directories, there are also many good free directories, such as Jayde.

Beyond directories, I recommend:
• Swapping links with your customers and vendors (if possible).
• Asking your chamber of commerce and other associations to link to you.
• Participating in forums, blogs, and question/answer sites (including your link in your signature).
• Searching for what sites are linking to your competition and request that they link to your website.

Mass E-Mails:

Or as we like to call them, blast e-mails. A great way to generate some quick traffic to your website as well as a message to your target market.

Social Media Marketing:

No joke, Facebook and Twitter are for real – and hyper popular. Businesses are discovering the possibilities of finding contacts, building relationships, sharing interests, and ultimately, driving sales. Make sure you take advantage of the power of social media, it’s where the internet is going.

Offline Marketing:

And of course, make sure you are promoting your web address on everything possible, including business cards, brochures, flyers, promotional items, vans and trucks, television and radio commercials, sponsorships, and just about everywhere else your company name may be found.
Another quick tip: make sure everyone at your company knows your web address.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below or contact us directly.

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Nov 22

Why does my Website need to be Optimized for Keywords?

By Bob Ruffolo Keyword Analysis, Search Engine Optimization No Comments »
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Search engines use keywords to categorize your website.

A keyword is 1-5 words that describes a topic. When someone uses a search engine to find what they are looking for, the type their request in the search engine search bar. What they are really doing is providing the search engine with a keyword to go through their database, or list of websites that they know about, and return the most appropriate results. One major factor in the way a search engine categorizes a website to fetch the most accurate results is by analyzing the content of your website and recording what keywords appear. Search Engines will then make the assumption of what your website is all about.

How to pick keywords.

You have to put yourself in the position of the search engine user, or more realistically, your potential customers. What are they searching for when they are looking for a company like yours? Once you have created this small list, you then can utilize some of the many keyword selection tools available online to better optimize your keyword selections.

How can I use Keyword Management to get to #1 on Google?

It is critical that all keyword optimization techniques are implemented. A high keyword density will help achieve higher search engine positions. Keywords should be included in the image alt tags, title tags, header tags, links, meta tags, and content. It is also important that you vary your keyword term and use complementary terms. Use plural versions and similar terms. Writing keyword rich content is one of the most important things you can do in order to reach that overall goal, a high ranking in Google.

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Sep 21

Top 9 Search Engine Ranking Road Blocks that Many People Experience.

By Bob Ruffolo Search Engine Optimization 4 Comments »
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  1. Flash Websites – Unless done properly (which most are not), flash websites can not be read by the search engines. Flash is not too much more than graphically pleasing images. Any text in a flash website is part of the flash image, and not part of the site. A simple check to see if this is the road block for your site is to view the site source (Right click > View Source) and see if you can make out any of the same text in the code as you see. If you can’t make it out, neither can the search engines.
  2. Clunky HTML Websites – Search engines read the HTML code of a website to find text and links. Basically, if a search engine spider goes through your code and had to read clunky html (lots of tables, unnecessary tags, invalid code, css in the html, etc.), it has a hard time collecting the information it needs and may even give up and move on.
  3. Poor Keyword Management – First, it’s important to know what keywords your customers are searching to find you. Once you know that, then they have to be included in your website, and often. Places to include your keywords are title tags, meta descriptions, image alt tags, image names, urls, link titles, header tags, lists, etc.
  4. Poor Website Navigation – Often many designers will use JavaScript for navigation bars. Although it will look nice, your navigation will not be visible to the search engines. And since search engines index websites by crawling from page to page, it’s important that you have a navigation system that the search engine can see and can access any page on your site within 2 clicks from the homepage.
  5. Lack of Links – Without links, your site has no importance. To see how many links you have and who is linking to you, go to Yahoo and search your site url with “link;” before it (ex. link:http://www.example.com).
  6. Ignoring the Title Tag – Many websites ignore the title tag on a website. This is one of the most important places to put your company name and / or keywords. The site title is the link you click on in most search engine results, including Google. A title tag that says “Welcome” or “Site Title” does nothing for your site in the search ranking. To see if this is hurting your ranking, check the top of your browser (above file, edit, view etc.) and see what is written in the top bar. Are your keywords there? Is your company name?
  7. Poor URLS – Simply put, a url of http://www.example.com/wallingford-real-estate.html is better than http://www.example.com/homes.html or http://www.example.com/index.php?option=com_content&sectionid=4
  8. No use of H1, H2, H3 tags – These are your page header tags. Imagine a newspaper without headlines. To see if your site is using header tags, check your code (View Source) and search for <h1>Example</h1> or <h2>This is a Header 2 example.</h2>
  9. Poor META website descriptions – Like the title tag before, this is often ignored, but extremely important to search engine optimization. This is the text that shows up in a search result below the page title. To make sure your Meta Description is correct, check your code and look for a line like: <meta name=”description” content=”Keyword loaded description of a website with around 50-70 characters of text.”
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