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​Web Design & SEO Blog

Why Your Website May Not Be Ranking

2/28/2018

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So, you've had a website for a while! Your website builder may or may not have mentioned that, for your prospective customers to see it, it has to be ranked on Google (and other search engines)! You may have already used an SEO company that promised you first page ranking, but after months and months your site is still not found! SEO is Search Engine Optimization and not doing it or having someone that doesn't do it right or completely will leave you with frustration over lost funds and an un-ranked website.

So, if your website is not ranked, check the following things or ask your SEO person what they are doing to improve these crucial items! Most of these you can check yourself and I'll give you the resources to do so!

Website Responsiveness

​1. Is your website responsive? A responsive website will adjust to the size of the screen the user is viewing it on. Google has begun to push non-responsive sites down in the rankings and that means lost revenue if your site was ranking and now it's not. if it's not responsive, you'll need to either have it updated, or rebuild it. Check your Website here- www.responsivedesignchecker.com
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Informative Content

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​2. Do you have enough content (information) about what your product, service or website is about on your website? A LOT of sites have very little content. Google's main objective for search is to provide information. If your website doesn't have content with keywords to tell Google what it's about, it will be deemed irrelevant to the search and won't rank it. The recommended amount of content is 1000-1500 words on the home page, 500 on service/product pages & the about page.

Google Business Listing

3. Have you registered your business info with Google? One of the best ways to let Google know about your business is to submit a Google business listing (Google My Business or GMB). Be sure to make sure everything is accurate, completely filled out thoroughly! Just log in to your G-mail account or create one, then once logged in, type into the Google search bar Google My Business. ​
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Listing Your Site With Directories.

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​4. Now that Google knows about your business, you need to let the rest of the internet know. Citations are directory sites (kind of like the old phonebook) that have your business information in their database. Some of these will show up in search if the keyword searched is found in your citation. There are more than 350 citation sites (many you know about - Homeadvisor, Thumbtack, Yelp). The more times Google finds your business while crawling the internet, the more trust your website receives from Google and the better your rank. To check how many citations are done on your business, visit 
https://whitespark.ca/local-citation-finder/

Backlink Building

​5. Finally, and this is largely ignored by most SEO people because they simply don't understand the impact or they want to get the most amount of money for the least work, is back-links! Back-links are links on other websites that point to your website. Now you will get some back-links when doing citations, but most of these are not powerful and don't do anything to help your site. Think of it like this- If you're a builder, and you have a link from a brand new site that Joe the Builder just launched, probably not much help. But if you got a link from Home Depot or Lowes, that's a feather in your websites cap, Google see the link to a highly trusted entity, and boosts your site. Back-link building takes time and if you don't know what your doing, can be very frustrating! To check how many back-links are linking to your site, go to https://majestic.com/
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If I've described what you've been going through with your website, and you want somebody that takes your success personally, call us at Carpe DM Products. We want to build a long term business relationship with our clients. You'll talk to us personally, the people actually doing the work. We can tell you exactly where we are in the process after we get started, send you updates and give you ranking reports to show progress. Again, Carpe DM Products 864-621-8068 or visit www.sptbgwebdesign.com to check us out and then call!
Best SEO Companies & Top SEO Services - OnToplist.com
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Why SEO Is More Important Than EVER!

12/31/2017

1 Comment

 
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So did you see that Walmart is quietly changing their name? Yep, it is known formally as Walmart Stores, and they are dropping the 'stores' from their name! Why? Because they are the largest company in the world in terms of sales and they want to stay that way! Amazon just jumped into the grocery business, so Walmart wants to increase their online sales because they know the buying online trend is not going away! All the traditional department stores are going more and more to online sales. Once big names like Macy's, Sears, etc., are closing brick & mortar stores and moving to online sales. Malls are quickly becoming a thing of the past, with anchor stores shutting down!

Why does this matter? Why am I telling you this? I am proving that, as more and more consumers and more and more companies are competing for the NEW top location (not the corner lot at the busy intersection), the Google ranking is going to become even more important than ever. But you won't get there by accident!

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89% of consumers now search online before making a purchase of a product or service! That means that only 11 people out of every 100 will pick up the phone and call without searching. If you don't have a website or have one that is not ranking on page one, your business is probably not doing very well. Not only that, but when was the last time you saw a phone book? Even if they are looking for a phone number, they are going to do a search. Here's another shocker, 96% of searchers never go beyond page one of the results page! That means if you're on page 2, you're not getting a lot of visits to your website.

The NEW CORNER lot I mentioned earlier is the top spot in the Google map! 33% of consumers pick the business that is in the number 1 spot. If that's you, you're getting 33 calls or visits for every 100 searches. Big DEAL? #2 gets 18%, #3 about 11%. If you take the 4% away that will continue on to page 2, you're left with 34% distributed among the rest of page 1. But there's more, of that 34%, most will have picked their company before they get to the middle of the page, which is about the 5th or 6th listing!
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I promise you ONE thing, most of the time, the company at the number 1 spot in the map, has an SEO person or company optimizing their online presence! They understand that SEO is the bill that pays the bills. Generally, one or 2 sales a month will pay for their SEO costs. SEO is not a one and done activity, this is a dog eat dog world and if you become the #1 business on page 1, you knocked somebody out of that position and they WILL see a hit to their sales. You become the target, so your SEO person or company will have to fight to keep that position! Just as you have a manager for a brick & mortar business, so too do you need a person or company to manage your online presence. That's SEO!
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Tips to Help You Benefit from SEO

8/21/2017

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​These days, online businesses struggle to compete for new customers. Without properly utilizing search engine optimization, or SEO, a business is more likely to fail in their efforts. Search engine optimization may seem complicated to many business owners, so below we have provided some tips to help you get started with your Spartanburg SEO strategies. Following these guidelines will help you increase your exposure and potential profits.

With SEO, content is a very important factor. To attract visitors to your website, you must use well-written content that is unique and relevant. It is important to use keywords throughout the content as well. Good content is imperative to effective link building since it keeps your readers engaged and coming back regularly for more information.
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​If you are using a blog to promote a business, enable comments. Many businesses leave their comments turned off to avoid spam. If you allow site visitors to leave comments on your articles within your blog, though, it provides new content for your blog that is unique and free. Since search engines love content that is unique, the comment section can help your search engine rankings increase on your blog.

When creating the URL for your website, use a keyword phrase. Search engines will place more value on your URL when searches are done for those keywords. By using a keyword phrase that is popular, your URL will show up more frequently in the search engines.
​Though it may be tempting, never republish one of your articles on a different link within your site. When Google ranks pages, it looks at quality. When you have articles with similar content linked multiple times, Google sees that is a low-quality link.
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Search engine optimization can look like a huge obstacle to anyone not tech savvy. There is no reason to lose customers to your competitors with more technical experience, though. Instead, simply follow the advice you read above to help boost your business and search engine rankings. This will bring in more traffic to your website and increase your sales over time.
Blogs Directory
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Using SEO to Increase Traffic

7/13/2017

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Any website owner can benefit from the process of search engine optimization, or SEO. For your business to thrive, your website needs traffic. Making your website search engine friendly to bring in traffic takes some effort. In this post, we will help you learn more about optimizing your website to make it search engine friendly and bring in more traffic.

When working on the meta-tag section of your webpage, do a little research on your keywords so you can include every variation and misspelling on your list. This will increase your visibility as the search engine bots analyze your meta-tags and include them on your website.
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Even though there are several search engines available, your focus should be on the big ones. Google is the main search engine available, with Yahoo and Bing following behind. As you optimize your website, research what these three search engines look for and customize your site to get their attention. It’s not worth your time and money to optimize your site for MSN or Ask, or any of the other smaller search engines.

Using inbound links is one of the best ways you can optimize your website. Talk with your friends and family members about using links from their websites, or consider joining an online link sharing group. Don’t use just any link, though, because quality varies on backlinks. It is best to use ones that are from highly rated sites.
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Look over every page of your website to ensure it has a META description. If not, you will need to add one by editing the page. Since the description of the page typically shows up on the search engine, use attention grabbing statements to grab the interest of the searcher. Use strong keywords in this area as well. It is best to keep the number of characters under 155 in the description.
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Search engine optimization is imperative for any website. In fact, SEO can make or break your website. Use the advice you have read here to get your website optimized for search engines with just a little time and effort. Once you learn to optimize your website for search engines, your website will be on the path to success.

To learn mor about our SEO services visit our home page!

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Is Your Website At Risk?

7/9/2017

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Google announces next phase for mobile
​friendly website ranking!

For about the last 2 years Google has been silently changing the way have been ranking sites. Well, silent to the majority of the worlds' population, but if you're in Web Design or SEO and you don't know about it, you're living under a rock! With the increased use of smartphones and tablets came the increase of Google searches from these devices. This, couple with the fact that more searches are now done from mobile than desktop PC's, Google decided to rethink it's ranking practices. Google is just like every other smart company, they are constantly trying to improve the experience for their consumer, and adapting their core product in order to do so! Who is Google's consumer? Well there are many Google products, but mainly their Search Engine. Google processes 40,000 searches per second, 3.5 BILLION per day, and 1.2 TRILLION a year. So, with that many customers, you want to make sure your product gives them the best experience possible.   

So why the change?

The answer to that question should be pretty obvious! If you have 40,000 searches per second, and now close to 60% (about 24,000) of those are from a mobile device, you gotta make a change! So they started giving websites that are mobile friendly a higher ranking. This is a nice way of saying that if your site is not mobile friendly you got pushed down the ranks. This has been dubbed in the SEO space as Mobilegeddon!

So now, the next phase of Mobilegeddon! Google is call this phase "mobile-first indexing." With this update, they will be using a mobile versions of sites first, which is obvious why they named it as such. Currently they are still using desktop versions of sites to rank sites and supplementing it with mobile versions found and bumping them up accordingly!  

Don't believe me?  I get it, I mean who am I? To read all about it check out the full article from Forbes magazine by clicking here, or click on the image below this post! 

One thing is clear, if you don't know if your site is mobile friendly, you can test it yourself! Click on this link Google Mobile Friendly Test, enter your sites URL (example: yoursitename.com) and click the "Run Test" button! Typically, if your site was built before 2010, chances are it is not mobile friendly, but more importantly, even if it is, before this coming update you should have an SEO professional make sure your site is ready. Dropping in rank means losing sales, and we know how much business owners hate losing sales. 

Thanks for reading, and if you need SEO or Web Design, make sure you go to any page and fill out the contact form or call 864-621-8068.
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SEO In Spartanburg- What To Look For & What To Stay Away From!

7/7/2017

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I hear it all the time when speaking to new prospective clients! They are leery of hiring an SEO company because they have been burned in the past. You know what I mean? They promise you page 1 ranking, take your money every month, but you may see minimal movement in your ranks! You call them and ask them to add or change something, but you never get to speak with the person doing the work, and it takes days or weeks to see the changes! I had a large SEO company call me once, before I learned SEO, He told me he would get me page 1 ranking, I was sold! I paid that company for almost an entire year, and never got page 1! When I called and told them I was cancelling the service,the conversation went like this:

ME: You told me you'd get me page 1 ranking!

THEM: No we didn't!

ME: Excuse me? Yes you did, that's why I bought! 

THEM: We would never promise you page 1!

ME: Well you did, you said whatever would get you the sale! I'm done! Cancel me effective immediately!

THEM: Well, we can give you a discounted rate for 3 months if you stay!

ME: Why would I stay with a company that just told me a bold faced lie? Cancel it now!

Sound Familiar? So how do you avoid this same situation? I'm going to give you a few pointers on what to look for and what to stay away from!



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TIPS

  • Look for an SEO company that is relatively small, but still knows what they're are doing! This will keep the relationship to a more personal business relationship, you won't be a number lost in the crowd.
  • Go to their website, Google their business, do some due diligence to see if you can find evidence that backs up what they tell you!
  • Look for someone that is willing to take the time to educate you on the process and why they do each task. If they can educate you on the process, it will help you determine if they know what they are talking about! So, even if it bores the daylights out of you, go along, it will help you in the long run. 
  • Look at where they rank in their market. I mean if they know SEO, shouldn't they be ranking?
  • Be very cautious if they PROMISE #1 in the map! Granted this can be done, but they don't own Google, and they can't control what Google does! 
  • Be very cautious if they give you a short time-frame for ranking! SEO is not a fast process! There are black hat SEO methods that tend to have short term results or could get you penalized by Google, but will boost you rather quickly, and there are white hat SEO methods that tend to have long term results! A good rule of thumb is a 3-6 month window to see results. Depending on different variables such as niche, amount of competition, population of the market, etc., you may not be #1 in the map, but you should see consistent forward progress. Remember, slow & steady wins the race. I know as a business owner, you want that ROI (return on investment), but when it comes to SEO, patience is a virtue.
  • Be cautious if they are a fast talker, are rushing you off the phone or are just anxious to get the credit card information.
  • Finally, be cautious if the company or the person representing the company offers a very low price for service. The things that need to be done incur expenses! If they are offering you SEO service for $150-$250/mo., they either don't know what they are doing, or they will not get you the results! Expect a realistic price of $750+/mo. Remember, you get what you pay for!
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So, I hope this post was helpful! If you need SEO or Web Design for you business in Spartanburg or anywhere for that matter, call Carpe DM Products, you'll be glad you did!
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Are you an SEO Hopper?

5/12/2017

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I see it all the time! Some business owners are so hungry for business that they won't get out of their own way and stick with a plan, or worse, are reluctant to move forward. They just know that they have to do something and the flight or fight reaction kicks in. Look, I get it, you have to have money coming in so that you can stay in business. If the person doing your SEO promised you page 1 immediately or ever, they did themselves and more importantly, you a great disservice! If you have someone that knows SEO well, you could very well get on page 1, but in very few instances will it be quickly! This is what creates the SEO hopper! They want the ranking NOW, and they will move from company to company trying to make that happen! This results in very little movement, and a LOT of wasted money, and time!

One of the biggest mistakes an SEO company can do is NOT set realistic expectations for their prospective client. This is because they are focused on one thing, closing the deal! If closing the deal means promising that you'll have customers lined up to the moon, that's what their promising you! Personally, I would rather be up front with you and ensure you that what I do works, but in a lot of cases, and due to a lot of variables, it likely will take 3 to 6 months to rank your site.  Now, with that being said, if the SEO company gets right to work, you should see some movement in your ranking in a few weeks. 

Results Based SEO

It is my firm belief that results will ensure your client retention. As I said earlier in this post, setting realistic expectations up front will also help with client retention.  But alas, inevitably you will have the antsy client that, although you told them it would take time, they want faster results.

It is because of this that if I have a client that has used several SEO companies in the past, I will propose a results based plan. I start them out at one rate, then as their site ranks for a keyword or phrase, the rate goes up to the next pre-defined rate, then again with the next keyword, and so forth until we reach the final pre-determined rate. This does a couple of things. It helps to ensure the client that you're going to work harder to get to the next level of income. It helps boost the clients confidence that you know what you're doing because you wouldn't make the offer if you didn't think you could deliver. And it incentivizes the SEO company to actually perform. 
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Now this plan, in all honesty, is completely tilted in the clients favor. Most of the work and expense of SEO is done on the front end of the campaign, which is why I don't do this all the time ( I gotta eat)! But, I will propose this to a prospective client that is on the fence or reluctant to believe that I will deliver. 
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If You Are A Hopper

​This paragraph it directed to you, the Hopper! When you are shopping for an SEO company, please make sure you find one that will educate you on the process. Not the technical stuff that will bore you to sleep, but a step by step plan for ranking your site. If they can't give you or won't give you some details as to what they plan to do, beware! If they promise you page 1 in a couple of weeks, beware! We cannot control Google, and some niche businesses take more time to rank than others.  If they set the expectations and give you a reasonable gameplan, and you make a deal, give them time to deliver. 
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Hop To It!

If you like what I've said in this article and you want to hire your LAST SEO person, hop on over to any page on my website and fill out the form, or better yet, call 864-621-8068. I would love to chat with you about what you're trying to accomplish for your business! I look for clients that are serious about building and maintaining growth and I want to be their SEO person! Long term results come from long term business relationships!
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#spartanburgwebdesign
#seospartanburg
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Google gods: What Does Google Want In Regards to SEO?

5/8/2017

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When figuring out what it takes to rank a website, you have to take into consideration who is the standard. Everybody knows that Google is the search king! So when you want to rank a site, you have to ask yourself what is Google's ultimate goal? Google's goal is to satisfy their customers, just like every business. 
Who is their customer? Well, anybody that has ever conducted a search using Google! Pretty close to everybody on the planet!
 
So, what's their plan? Google wants to give searchers (their customers) what every other business wants to give their customers; the best experience possible! The way they do that is to give them the absolute best information on the internet for the search topic. 

How do they do that? Glad you asked! They constantly crawl the internet for information. They use that information to form the search results. They put the best results at the top of the list, which in Google's case is in the map section and on page one of the organic listings (listngs below the map).
So now ask yourself, what gets you to the top of that list? 

Well, we said Google wants information! So, if you have the most information in your field, who do you think will be at the top?
But information is not enough. The information has to be relevant to the topic searched. Luckily people won't search for underwater basket weaving if they need a plumber, so that makes it a little easier. 

What does Google look at?

Google looks at hundreds of criteria when ranking a site. But, there are 3 main things that business owners and SEO analysts need to consider.
1. Content - The best way to become relevant is to show Google you are the authority on your topic. The more informative your site is, the higher it will rank. If your competitor has little content on their site, this is an easy fix. If not, keep adding content until you have more!
2. Citations - This is simply putting your business information on directories throughout the internet. The more times Google finds your business info, the more relevant your site becomes.
3. Backlinks - Backlinks are like votes for your website. However, you need to be careful and make sure the backlink comes from a relevant site and the more noteable the site, the better. (for example, if your site is for home construction, you'll want links from sites that have to do with this topic. A backlink from a bakery site has no relevance to home construction). Now, all links don't have the same power! Think about this, if you're running for some local office, and you get endorsed by Jim Bob, nobody cares. However, if you get endorsed by the mayor, suddenly eyes start looking at you! Backlinks are the same way, if you get a backlink on Home Depot's site and you're a home builder, how powerful is that? This was just used as an example, so don't go running to Home Depot asking for a link, they'll send you to the fence department or they'll just look at you funny!

This is just a few of the things and a big over-simplification of the SEO process, but it should give you a better understanding of why your website is not ranking or what to work on if you're a budding SEO person. 

Make sure to share this if you found the information helpful! 
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    Mike Hall

    Owner: Mike Hall
    Carpe DM Products Web Designer
    SEO Specialist

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