 Google announces next phase for mobile |
| So you've made the decision to begin the process of having a website built? Before you jump in, take a while to sit down and take some notes about what you really need in a web designer. Communication: There are a lot of aspects that need to be discussed before, during and after the site build! You need to discuss the feel of the site that you want, color scheme, font selection, etc. You need to agree on how the designer will secure the images needed, will they be purchased, or will the client furnish images. There are many more things that have to be decided, so you need to have a designer that is a great communicator and is able to make themselves available when needed! If they won't return phone calls or it takes a week to answer an e-mail, you will get frustrated and more importantly, the project will not remain on schedule. Functionality: While every business wants a site that is beautiful and is an accurate representation of their business, the primary function of a website is to advertise your business and drive sales. Having a designer that knows SEO is a must. There is a lot of SEO that needs to be done during the build! Alt tags, Title tags, meta descriptions, keyword placement in the content, etc. If you hire a designer that has no clue about these things, you will have a site that will not be seen by your prospective customers, or anyone else for that matter. You will then find yourself hiring an SEO person that will have to go in and fix all of that, costing you additional money and potential sales. Knowledgeable: There are certain trends and requirements that should be know by the designer as well. For instance, they should know that ANY site built in today's market should be mobile friendly. 60% of all searches are done from a mobile device such as a tablet or mobile phone. Google has begun to give sites that are mobile friendly a higher rank in the results and this pushes non-compliant sites down in the ranks. If you designer does not know things like this, your site will be at a great disadvantage from the beginning and could cost you money to have it fixed or even require a rebuild. Time Manager: Staying on schedule for a project is crucial because you're spending money on the site and the sooner you get it launched and begin ranking it, the sooner you can get a return on that money! If your builder has no sense of urgency about getting the site done correctly and staying on schedule, you're losing money! If, at the beginning of the process, you ask to see examples of work, or ask for some other deliverable to gauge speed of deliverance, and you don't get it by the agreed upon time, it's a good indication that they lack the time management skills to keep the project on schedule! There are many variables to take into consideration, and this is by no means a comprehensive list, but it should get your mind moving in the right direction. If you have any questions about your upcoming design or SEO needs, please give Carpe DM a call, I'd be glad to help! #spartanburgwebdesign #spartanburgseo #carpedmproducts |     |
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.
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
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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. 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
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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!
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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!
#spartanburgwebdesign #seospartanburg #carpedmproducts |
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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!
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!
In my ongoing effort to bring value to my clients, future clients and provide general knowledge about web design and SEO, I would like to introduce to you Carpe DM's Blog! I will write about a variety of topics, share articles about Web Design, SEO and Internet Marketing and share tips on how to improve your business's online presence! If at any time you would like to have me share information on a specific topic related to Web Design or SEO, please feel free to fill out a contact form on any of the other pages of this site or simply comment and I will gladly do my best to comply! Thanks for supporting Carpe DM Products, and don't forget to visit us on Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn.
Mike Hall
Owner: Mike Hall
Carpe DM Products Web Designer
SEO Specialist
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