Search Engine Optimization Archives - AdverGroup Web Design and Digital Marketing

Published: 30 December 2020

Written by Local Chicago Area Web Designer

No comments

Categories: Industry News, Search Engine Optimization

Published on: Dec 30, 2020

All business owners and entrepreneurs have the same goal: That is to be found on page #1 of Google Search Engine. That single objective requires most conventional businesses to travel along the same path. As a Creative Director based in the Chicago area, I have worked with countless clients over the years, these clients span countless industries. We work for old companies and start-ups, many of these clients even within the same industry, many of who are often even competitors.

In any case, to become relevant in any industry or niche, the path these business owners must travel today, is not like the days of old. They are not buying advertisements in the yellow pages or in newspapers (do either of those even still exist). Client’s seeking success in today’s modern world of business are all looking to conquer search engines.

Therefore, you can imagine the “ground day” conversations that web design and SEO specialists and firms have over and over again when talking to clients who all have the same goal. They all want to be found on page 1 of search engines like Google, Yahoo & Bing! Though this article often refers to Google Search more than Yahoo or Bing, is because (as of the date of this article 12/30/20) Alexa’s top website list holds Google as the number #1 site on the planet. Yahoo (owned by Amazon) is listed at the 12th top site, with Bing (owned by Microsoft) being listed 36th top website on the world wide web. Therefore, I view Google as the premiere search engine. This does not mean that I discount Yahoo Search or Alexa Analytics. I just strive to conquer the greater market.

The Path to Conquering SEO

With all of your competitors seeking the same objective. What will you do to set your business or product apart from the rest of the crowd? Along the path to achieve your desires, you will come across SEO gurus and firms who will sell you pipe dreams. Stay away from those guys. The fact is, nobody can promise you page one status on search engine result pages (SERP’s). Google even states in their guidelines that nobody can guarantee page one results on SERP’s. This is because they know their own algorithms and rules are constantly changing, or better to say “evolving”. Their rules change because their users behaviors change. Their rules evolve because Google and other search engines have goals themselves. Aside from Google Search being the planet’s largest ad agency, their “search engine” is tool or frame to deliver “advertisements” and then …quality “organic” search engine results. The “ads” they control, and for the “Organic” results, their goal is to provide quality search engine results to their consumers, who are “the searchers”. Click here to read: “How Google delivers reliable information in Search” by Google.

With the rules constantly changing, how do you hit a moving target?
The answer is tricky, that is if you ask a trickster.

Some business owners fall victim to hiring SEO clowns that may actually hurt their standings by implementing black hat techniques. This can lead to having your website BLACKLISTED by Google. Google themselves will even warn you against hiring the wrong people. Bad SEO tactics are known as “BLACK HAT SEO”. Good SEO tactics that are inline with Google Guidelines are known as “WHITE HAT SEO”. When I think of “BLACK HAT SEO” I think of the character Barnaby from Disney’s Babe’s in Toy Land.

(You are) The answer to conquering SEO

As an SEO Coach I must tell you the answer to SEO is in you! It is time to roll up your sleeves and learn the nuts and bolts of what it takes to conquer SEO in todays modern world of Search Engines. I know this may sound scary to a busy business owner or entrepreneur, but if you wish to become, or remain a success in your industry or niche, then you must realize that tools are there for you to learn about SEO. I am not saying that you must become your own SEO slave. I am saying become an informed “website owner”. Once you fully understand and embrace a the nuts and bolts of a “Total SEO Strategy”. You can then delegate certain duties (like content creation and social media activity) to a staff member or subcontractor. You may find you can manage the workload internally, or you may realize the true cost of hiring a knowledgable SEO professional.

A Great SEO Coach Shows You the Ropes!

I could never sum up a “Total SEO Strategy” in one article. Nor will I pretend to be the all knowing SEO genius on some soap box preaching the gospel of Google. What I will do, is share the same resources that I use to research to become a better student of Google and I will also share some of my strategies that I implement to become a better player in the game. Here is one simple secret: don’t take it from me, listen to what Google has to stay about operating within their Guidelines. Did you know that Google publishes guidelines on how to best satisfy their own criteria for being indexed in their search engine database? For example check out this webpage published by Google titled “Do I need SEO“. As a good SEO Coach and Web Designer, I do not pretend to be the great and powerful OZ behind the curtain. We teach our clients to become GREAT content managers and informed website owners, so that they can hold the keys to their own success. In that regard, I implore to you to view this video published by Google which is relative to the subject of this article. In fact, watching this video actually inspired me to author this article.

**VIDEO BY GOOGLE**

I will now bombard you with a few checklists and resources of my own, so that you may realize how to become a better student on the path to conquering SEO.

The Nuts & Bolts of Conquering SEO

1. Your website is home base: What is a man without a home? The answer is Nothing. Your own website is the number one, most important denominator when it comes to the success of your business or product. Your websites content, it’s health, it’s traffic are all number one before any social media profile or account. Below is a quick website check list to make sure your home base is in order.

Review of your website content and overall structure: Is it mobile device friendly? Is it easy to navigate.
Technical Review and Professional Advice on Website Development: for example, hosting, resolve redirects and error pages. Use of JavaScript in code? Is your website fast or slow? Google cares very much about your webpage speed, if your site is slow. Off the list you go. Don’t fret. Test your webpages site speed here using Googles Speed Insight Tool. Is your set able to be crawled by Googles robots? Google has settings for their robots which are embedded into your sites code. You may need to consult with a pro web developer for some of the technical aspects on this list.
Implement a Content Development Plan: Google values depth of content. If you do not have fresh and intelligently titled articles being released on a somewhat regular basis. Google will find your website less relevant than a website that is brimming with new content that is visited frequently by unique visitors.

2. A “Total SEO Strategy”: There is no silver bullet to conquering search engines. Even Google recommends “Management of (multiple) online business development campaigns”. This requires keyword research and proper SEO training. Just like the days of old, like the old “Mad Men” advertisers…. you must gain expertise in your specific market and geography and by being everywhere at the same time!

That being said, (follow me through this long sentence please) since the devaluation of back-linking by Google (which is a good example of Google evolving when they realized back-linking was being abused by directories charging for visibility) in my experience I have observed a direct correlation with what I describe as positive social signals, resulting in better placement on SERP’s. This means the more that people find your content by way of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linked-In) the more valuable Google finds you. This is because you can check all the boxes, you can achieve unique visitors, you can achieve traffic that is geographically nearby, you can achieve social referrals as tracked in Google Analytics.

To satisfy that hungry social media beast, this requires being active on various social media platforms and targeted groups or lists relevant to your specific markets and geographies. Again you should do this personally so that when the time comes to hire someone or delegate these duties, you know how to train them and you will be wise enough to enough the tasks are completed.

In closing, think of your website as a living breathing thing, let us call it your pet. SEO is like a “food” for pet. You don’t feed your pet once and for all, you must feed it everyday (or at least every week or month).

I realize this article was long. Though I hope you found it useful. If you are an owner of a website, I am hoping you noted some actions to take, think of it as SEO homework. I also realize that readers of this article possess varying degrees of technical abilities. If you must hire a professional Search Engine Optimizer I suggest that you first review Google’s recommendations on selecting an SEO.

I myself, and my staff here at AdverGroup Web Design can also assist you with learning how to optimize your website for search engine success. We offer a free SEO audit of your website and search engine visibility. This audit will help us take inventory of your digital assets (content) and website software. After reviewing your website. we will provide a report documenting our findings and a peak into some recommendations. You can then decide if you wish to hire us to assist with optimizing your website and business for success.

Contact us today to discuss the specifics regarding your company services, products and website objectives.

Published: 12 January 2014

Written by Sal Guccione

No comments

Categories: Industry News, Search Engine Optimization

Published on: Jan 12, 2014 (Still Relevant in 2025)

In order to conquer meta elements and metadata, one must first understand what they are. Meta elements are an HTML or XHTML element used to provide structured metadata about a Web page. Metadata can be used to specify page description and keywords. These meta elements provide information about the web page, which can be used by search engines to help categorize the page correctly.

Early versions of search engine algorithms relied heavily on webmaster provided information such as the keyword meta tag, or index files in engines. As meta data and meta tags provide a guide to each page’s content. While having properly orchestrated meta data is certainly a fundamental of search engine optimization, one should realize that each search engine possesses and implements their own set of search algorithms that are continuously changing. Though other factors such as social media activity and backlinking may add value to your website’s “Search Engine Results Page” standings. One thing that will never change is if you wish to conquer SEO, you must still accomplish the fundamentals, the most important being “properly coded metadata”!

Meta tags remains to be the way webmasters communicate to search engines information about their sites. Many popular content management systems provide easy to use tools for you to enter in this metadata.

Article Title
Meta Description
Keywords

These meta elements or metadata will always be important to search engine optimization because the Article Title and Meta Description is exactly what is shown to search engine users within their search engine results. The data is equally relevant to how Google will index this data.

SEO Metadata Trick#1: Relevancy and Harmony

The trick is to author your metadata to be in harmony with your articles content. Additionally, your article should be titled and written utilizing words or phrases that are likely to be search by your target audience. This requires some thought. The content which you author for your website should be valuable, accurate and most importantly original. Once you nail down these words and phrases, weave them into your articles content as frequently as possible (with out making it evident to a human reader that you are also targeting search spiders). This requires some tact. The more often you write, the better you will get at orchestrating the harmony which will result in copy write which is truly search engine optimized!

SEO Metadata Trick#2: Scoring your relevancy is not a guessing game!

As you author your articles content and metadata, you can systematically check your articles content versus metadata relevancy. The meta tag analyzing tool provided in this article will also offer suggestions of keywords and phrases based on your articles content. The goal is to achieve a 100% relevancy score so that Google and other search engines may find your content more valuable as it contains content and meta data that is truly in harmony. The image below is what an A+ score should look like.

Published: 12 July 2013

Written by manager

No comments

Categories: Industry News, Search Engine Optimization, Web Design Tutorials

Is your Business located on Google Maps and Google Places for Business? GOOGLE MAPS Icon If not, it should be! Despite the simple fact that search engines such as Google and Yahoo have replaced the stone aged telephone books, both of these search engine titans also possess business listing services. Google has Google+ Places and Zagat, while Yahoo has Yelp. All which utilize map based business listings. These map based business listings assist consumers in finding business near their physical locations. This is even more relevant in today’s age of mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets. For instance, as a consumer is driving on the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago. A person in this vehicle is seeking a coffee shop nearby. They grab their iphone, open their web search and enter coffee shops. Their mobile device will provide map results, prior to providing web page results because the search engine has detected that they are mobile. Will your business show up if a smart phone or tablet user searches for your business type? If your business is not listed on Google Places for Business or Google+ Local then the answer is no!

On July 11, 2013, Google announced a new Google Map Application for smart phones and tablets. This new mobile application provides a new mapping experience that makes exploring the world and getting to the places that matter to users faster and easier. The new mobile app is first being released globally in Google Play and will be available soon in the iTunes App Store in the very near future. This newest version of the Google Map Application for mobile devices builds on the design Google initially released for iPhone last December and offers improvements such as a modified search function and enhanced navigation features. Other new features included in the new Google Map App include Google reviews, Zagat and special offers provided by local businesses.

Why is it important that your business is found on Google Maps and Google Places for Business?

Aside from the fact that mobile user statistics are rising, Google has and 82.7% market share in the world of search engines. This means that there is a large amount of desktop users that utilize Google as their selection to search the web. Being the goliath that Google is, Google is sharing data across their many platforms and tools. This means that Google is also sending traffic to their own resources before sending them elsewhere for information. Just as we have seen with Google+, when searching Google, search engine results pages often provides users with results that exist on Google+, Google Maps and so on! This is more relevant today than ever before, as the ever expanding movement of web users to mobile devices has resulted in a push to localize advertisement revenue and resulting from mobile web traffic.

Back in 2011, Google’s VP, of Local, Maps and Location Services stated that “Zagat will be a cornerstone of our local offering and delighting people with their impressive array of reviews, ratings and insights.” Studying Google’s recent history of acquisitions such as Zagat, Waze (GPS Navigation Software) and more recently a plethora of companies that develop Mobile Applications including Sparrow and Clever Sense; all of which are likely strategic acquisitions to assist Google in maintaining their firm grasp on the search engine market while the world moves away from desktop computing and onto mobile devices. In doing so Google will be able to compliment their many established web services such as Google Search, Google Maps and Google Adwords to monopolize the world’s local markets!

Another reason why is it important that your business is found on Google Maps and Google Places for Business is that, in addition to achieving greater visibility to both desk top users and mobile users, you will able to provide potential customers the right information about your business by updating your contact information, hours and more. You can post images, video and other information. Additionally, your business will be able to connect with your customers by reviewing feedback and being able to respond to reviews as the official business owner.

So now that you are aware of the importance of having your business and business website listed on Google Maps/Google Places for Business, how do you actually get your business listed? Go to https://www.google.com/business/placesforbusiness/ Signing up is quick, easy and free. Simply log-in with your Google Account and verify that you are the owner. If you are not sure how to do this, then contact AdverGroup Web Design, as we include set up and configuration of your “Google Places for Business Account” with all websites that are developed by AdverGroup Web Design!

Published: 13 June 2013

Written by manager

No comments

Categories: Industry News, Search Engine Optimization

Published on: Jun 13, 2013. (BUT STILL RELEVANT!)

Equally important as understanding the basic mechanics behind search engines, is realizing who the players are in the game?

The list below provides the most used search engines as reflected on Alexa.com as of June 13, 2013.

Google (listed #2 on Alexa.com) Enables users to search the world’s information, including web-pages, images, and videos. Offers… More unique features and search technology.
Yahoo (listed #4 on Alexa.com) A major Internet portal and service provider offering search results, customizable content, free e-mail, and clubs.
Windows Live (listed #8 on Alexa.com) Search engine from Microsoft.
MSN (listed#21 on Alexa.com) Portal for shopping, news and money, e-mail, search, and chat.
Bing (listed#16 on Alexa.com) Search engine developed by Microsoft. Features web, image, video, local, news, and product search.

SEO Search Engine Optimization Secrets:

Search Engine Secret #5: There is no single SEO secret, SEO is a multifaceted approach!

Search engine optimization is often about making small modifications to parts of your website. When viewed individually, these changes might seem like incremental improvements, but when combined with other optimizations, they could have a noticeable impact on your site’s user experience and performance in organic search results.

In closing search engine secret #5, the bottom line is to make sure your site is built in an easy to use content management system that will allow keeping the site fresh and up to date.

Search Engine Secret #4: Make sure you implement the fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization.

The fundamentals of SEO must be thought out and implemented into the core structure of your website. This means mapping out your site’s menu structure. It is very important to SEO, that this is done within the development stage. Below is a list of the fundamentals that relate to the structure of your site.

Create unique, accurate page titles
Keep menu titles that are telling of your most valuable content close to the root. For example, if I where a web designer (as I am) I would have a menu structure that would result in a URL such as http://advergroup.com/web-design/search-engine-optimization
Make use of the “description meta tag” (As this appears on Google as snap shot text)
Make use of the “description” meta tag
Think out the structure of your URLs for the sake of SEO as well as for allowing easy navigation for front end users and crawls. This relates to menu structure For example, on the AdverGroup website I structured the Web Design Page as the homepage with children existing in that menu such as ADA Compliant Web Design, Web Design Services, Web Design Portfolio, E Commerce Web design etc…..

Early versions of search algorithms relied on webmaster provided information such as the keyword meta tag, or index files in engines. Meta tags provide a guide to each page’s content. Though Meta data is still relevant today, using meta data as the sole criteria for indexing pages was found to be less than reliable, because savvy web content providers and web designers have exploited it using black hat techniques to rank well in search engines. Being that keyword density is exclusively within a webmaster’s control, early search engines suffered from abuse and ranking manipulation. As a result of such, in addition to this young and evolving technology, one should realize that each search engine possesses and implements their own set of search algorithms that are continuously changing.

Search Engine Secret #3: Content Quality | Writing Copy for Search Engine Optimization Holds Great Value

One of the most heavily weighed criteria by all search engines is your actual page content. Your site content must be written so that it relates to your page title, meta description and keywords. Most importantly your sites content must be prepared in format that allows it to be read easily by humans as well as by search engines. What I mean by this is, when writing copy for a search engine it is important to hit all the keywords as frequent as possible, while maintaining an easy read for your human viewers. Repeating the same keywords or phrases over and over again will certainly turn off any human users. The trick is creating website content that achieves both!

*Here is a juicy tidbit: Do not guess if your “website copy” is accurate in relating to your page title, meta description and keywords. You can check your current sites content by using various tools that check your text content against your page titles, meta descriptions and keywords. The below sites will actually provide a grade for each of criteria, while also providing insights as to the frequency of words provided in your articles content.

Analyzing your sites content using these tools allows you to add certain keywords or phrases into your meta data that is revealed specifically from your articles content. For more about copy write for SEO read my article “Website Copywrite | How it Impacts Search Engine Optimization”

Search Engine Secret #2: Read Google’s Guide on SEO

Google provides a Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide to help assist web developers understand exactly what google desires in regards to SEO. This document first began as an effort to help teams within Google, but Google thought it’d be just as useful to webmasters that are new to the topic of search engine optimization and wish to improve their sites’ interaction with both users and search engines. Although this guide won’t tell you any secrets that’ll automatically rank your site first for queries in Google (sorry!), following the best practices outlined with in Google’s SEO Guide will make it easier for search engines to crawl, index and understand your content.

Search Engine Secret #1: Hire a Web Designer who has verifiable proof of Experience.

The most important secret to search engine optimization is hiring a web designer that truly understands SEO! In reading this article it may become clear to most readers that there is much to consider when addressing Search Engine Optimization for your website. Hiring a professional who is privy to the constantly changing search engine algorithms is recommended.

Though budget is often a concern when it comes to redeveloping or building your website, it is important to realize that going with a least expensive web designer, or a “do it yourself” web building solution may actually cost you more money in the long run due to lost revenue. Many business owners ask, “Why do I need to pay a web designer to create a web site, when there are so many Free Solutions?” The answer is very simple. You get what you pay for. A free web site may be quick and easy (cutting many corners in regards to SEO), while a professional web designer will not only provide a professional design, they would also ensure your site has been SEO Optimized. This includes more than just adding keywords and meta-tag descriptions. A site that is optimized for SEO, has many other facets that only a professional web designer is privy to.

In closing, implementing the five secrets of SEO that are provided in this article will certainly give you an upperhand in conquering Search Engine result pages organically. Many of these secrets can be implemented on your own and/or must be implemented in the continous maintenance of your sites content.

AdverGroup Web Design provides various web development packages that result in a professional website built in a Content Management System with Search Engine Optimization included! Contact us today to discuss how we can assist you in the building a website that will make your phone ring!

Published: 9 October 2012

Written by manager

No comments

Categories: Industry News, Search Engine Optimization

Are free website builders bad for SEO? ie Wix, GoDaddy Website Builder, Zenfolio Many business owners ask, “Why do I need to pay a web designer to create a web site, when there are so many Free Solutions?” The answer is very simple. You get what you pay for. A free web site may be quick and easy (cutting many corners in regards to SEO), while a professional web designer will not only provide a professional design, they would also ensure your site has been SEO Optimized. This includes more than just adding keywords and meta-tag descriptions. A site that is optimized for SEO, has many other facets that only a professional web designer is privy to.

With all due respect, if you are a Plumber or even a Dentist looking to build a website for your company, will you develop a more attractive and effective website than a professional web designer? The Free Web Builder may help you in the “Attractive Department”, but what about the “Effective Department”? Will your phone ring as a result of your SEO? Probably not!

I must say that my perspective in this article not only knocks the idea of using a Free Website Builder, it also stresses the importance of using a professional web designer to develop your CMS infrastructure. It is likely a professional is a bit more hip to the industry than the average small business owner attempting to set up their own website. Remember your competition may very well employ a professional to develop their website. Do you know about web design and SEO to compete? I do not mean to discourage the “do it yourself” mentality. I actually encourage it with the use of a content management system that is configured correctly for SEO.

Web Builders are Bad for SEO. Hire a pro search engine optimization professional The result of building your website using a free website builder provided by a Hosting Company is this:

Only people that you have made aware of your sites actual domain will find your site.
Nobody will find your site “organically” using any search engine. (Unless of course if they enter your company name, and if they already know your company name, searching for you in a search engine is not relevant to SEO.)

Testing SEO for FREE Website Building Solutions offered by Hosting Companies.

I implore you to test the SEO of any Free Website Building Solution. For Example, if you are business who has built your website using any of the free web site building solutions provided by . Google your Industry + town, you will see where you come up on the Search Engines. Keep looking, keep looking…………keep looking! I can guarantee that you will not find any websites on 1^st page Search Engine results that use Hosting Company Web Builders.

Another great tool to test your site’s SEO is this Meta-Tag Analyzer. SeoCentro designed this Meta Tag analysis tool to help webmasters analyze their web pages. This search engine optimization tool analyze not only the Meta Tags but try to use the same spider technology as the search engines spiders them self.

In closing, here is a quick run down of some Hosting Companies that provide Free Website Building Solutions. Many of their deliverables appear attractive and desirable. However it is what they do not list that is the most important items that you need, Search Engine Optimization and Expand Ability.

*** I must precede this next section of this article with this statement: I strongly advise against the use of any of the following solutions for a business website. If you wish to implement a “Do it Yourself Solution” I would suggest WordPress or Joomla. There are many FREE online tutorials that can assist you in configuring these same Open Source Solutions that all professional web designers are using.

_____________________________________________

WIX They provide 100’s of customizable templates. Wix advertises that they have everything you need to create HTML 5 and Flash Websites with no web design experience required.

Put your business online! Get a $5.99 .COM/.NET from GoDaddy!

GoDaddy.com Website Builder boasts that you can get online in minutes with our new and improved “Do it Yourself” Website Builder, featuring hundreds of stunning drag-&-drop templates. They list what is included in there services.

Getting back to the word “Free”, it is not a bad word, as even professional web developers utilize free open source solutions such as WordPress and Joomla (which both provide “Quick Install” features on most major hosting companies). The difference from Open Source tools and Free Web Building Solutions offered by hosting companies is that all “Free Web Builder Solutions” are all the same in regards to targeting customers that lack sufficient knowledge in HTML language to code their websites. Open Source tools require a little more “know how” to set up and configure correctly, how ever they also provide easy to use content management tools and much more abilities to expand in regards to function abilities.

AdverGroup Web Design provides various web development packages that result in a professional website built in a Content Management System with Search Engine Optimization included! Contact us today to discuss how we can assist you in the building a website that will make your phone ring!