Saturday, May 21, 2011

Easy SEO Checklist

One of the most often asked questions is on the subject of SEO or "Search Engine Optimization". Simply put - how can my website get found on the search engines?

There are a lot of ways to improve your search engine ranking...more than we can put in one little blog post. But here is a helpful little guide for beginners so that you can have the basics down.

1. Use your words

Search engines love content. The more words you have on the page, the more likely the search engines will like your page. This has to be balanced with keeping your website succinct and easy to read for your users, but make sure you have good content on each page describing your products, services, etc.

2. Have a good title tag

Look at the very top of this page - see where it says "Fresh Look Web Design | Easy SEO Checklist"? That is the title tag.

Essentially what you want to do in your Title Tag is put the name of your business, and a very brief description of what you do.

So for example, a fictitious auto mechanic shop in Chicago called Joe's Professional Auto would have a Title Tag something like this:

"Chicago auto mechanic and car repair shop - Joe's Professional Auto"

That way if someone looking for a mechanic in Chicago types "Chicago car repair" into Google...well what do you know, Joe has that exact phrase in his Title Tag.

"Chicago auto mechanic and car repair shop - Joe's Professional Auto"

3. Use text instead of images for links when possible

Search engines can't read what an image says. If possible, use text on a background image instead of just an image. It requires more work and expertise to create that type of link, but in the long run the search engines will thank you.

4. Put physical address on every page

There are indications that Google puts more trust in your site if you include your physical address on every page. It also helps build trust with your customers if they know where you're actually located.

A couple good places to put your address on each page is at the top (http://tidewaterrcd.org/) on a menu on the side (http://www.chincoteaguechamber.com/) or at the bottom (http://www.cross-associates.com/).

5. Link your social media to your website

Every business should at a bare minimum have a Facebook business page. Whether you have just Facebook, or a large number of social media presences, make sure they have a link to your website.

6. Write a good meta description

The meta description tag is a bit of HTML code in the head section of the document. You'll sometimes see the meta description tag in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

What you put in the meta description tag is simply a brief description of your business and maybe some specific information about the page it's on.

Do your best to include a couple good keywords, but make sure it's readable and helpful to your potential visitors. Here's what our meta description says:

Fresh Look Web Design is a full service graphic design and web development company serving Hampton Roads and all of Virginia.

Notice that we not only describe our business, but include some good keywords as well.

7. Put good keywords in your h1 tag

Each page should have a header at the top identifying the page. Search engines specifically look for the h1 tag on your page. It should appear one time and include a keyword if possible.

It's not enough to just have larger, bold text at the top. It specifically needs to be an h1 tag.

8. Use a readable URL

Sometimes when a website is setup in a CMS, the URL's for each page are not search engine friendly. Here's an example of what they might look like:

http://freshlookwebdesign.com/index.cfml?productid=3&categoryid=5 to go/productid/3/categoryid/5

Not very search engine friendly. Instead, it should say something like http://freshlookwebdesign.com/services/small-business-web-design.php

You want to include a good keyword in the URL if possible as well.

Using these tips will go a very long way in making your website search engine friendly. Even if you can't implement all of them, even just a few should improve your position in the search engines and bring more visitors to your website.

Friday, May 20, 2011

5 things web designers don't want you to know

OK Let's be honest...if you have had a not-so-good experience with a web designer at one point in time you are not alone. We talk to folks all the time who are very wary of being burned again. It's very unfortunate.

Today we want to share a few facts which will hopefully enlighten some of you and give you the insight you need to make smart business decisions. Here are the top 5 things that web designers don't want you to know (but we're going to tell you anyway).

1. Most maintenance updates take less than 30 minutes

If a website is constructed correctly, then 90% of maintenance updates are a piece of cake. Even creating new pages of brand new content is not a time consuming process for a professional.

Some things will take longer of course, but the important thing to take away here is that if you're being billed hourly, there are a couple things you can do to reduce that hourly rate.
  • Combine your updates into one single update. Rather than sending five separate small updates over five separate days, send them all at once. It's possible that your developer can do all of them in an hour, which will make your invoice an hour worth of work instead of five hours
  • Try to hire a web developer that bills in half hour increments. For small updates, this will reduce your cost in half
Another thing to know is that your developer should be able to make your changes very quickly. It really should never take longer than 3 or 4 days. We try to do our updates within 24 hours.

2. Hosting is not very expensive

Hosting is pretty cheap...especially for a fairly small static website of less than 50 pages.

So what does this mean? If you don't ask your web developer to change your website very often, then really you shouldn't be paying him a whole lot. Most of our small business websites pay us between $400 - $700 a year for hosting AND 5 hours of maintenance.

3. It's possible to update your own website

This fact is more well known now than it was 4 or 5 years ago. But one way to drastically cut down on expenses is just to update your website yourself through a "Content Management System" or CMS.

A CMS is simply a tool that lets you manage the content of your website. You can add new pages, update your information, add pictures, etc.

Now of course you need the time to do it, which a lot of people simply don't have. But if possible hire an intern or get some help. If you're making updates to your website on a regular basis, it pays to have a CMS.

4. Your website needs to be constructed correctly to get found on search engines

It seems like half the websites online are not search engine friendly. Whether it's because the person who created it didn't know the right way to do it, or they were lazy when they created it; so many websites today are not suited for search engine crawlers.

Make sure your website is constructed correctly. As any SEO firm will tell you, there are many different things to check. Here's a free article which will answer the question is my website search engine friendly - it's our Easy SEO Checklist, mainly for beginners.

5. Your web designer might not be an actual web designer

Say what? A web designer is someone who is an expert in graphic design, SEO, HTML, CSS, and website usability (at a minimum).

Most "web designers" are people who may know how to do one or two of these things, not all of them. Just because you know HTML doesn't mean you can create an effective small business website.

When talking to a web designer, make sure they don't just know how to make a website, but how to make it look good, and how to make it work.

We recommend that you ask to see their portfolio, and then ask them to show you some real life examples of businesses they've helped. Then talk to those businesses as a reference and see what they say.

Hopefully these facts will help give you the knowledge you need to make smart business decisions. Don't forget to contact us if you need a free consultation. Good luck!