Our first unashamed plug of Fresh Look Web Design! If you're looking for a few tips to enhance your website, please read a different article because this one is not for you! :)
Here are the top 10 reasons why you should get a website with Fresh Look Web Design:
1. We do good work.
We do great work! Our websites are beautiful, user friendly, and are found on search engines. You can check out our portfolio right here to check out some of our websites. Want to see more? Contact us and we will give you more to look at.
2. We are reasonably priced.
Other than doing good work this is the most important thing to look for right? We can cater to any budget and the amount of website that you get for your dollar is better than anything else we've ever seen. Do cheaper websites exist? Sure, but they aren't effective. Are there slicker, fancier websites out there? Sure, but say goodbye to a whole lot of dead presidents.
3. We understand how search engines work.
Creating a website is half the battle. Making it appear well in the search engines is the other half. You want someone on your side who knows how to make both parts work together.
4. We do updates in half hour increments.
Most web development companies charge by the hour when it comes to updating your website. We charge by the half hour. It usually takes around half an hour anyway for most updates, so why charge for work we're not doing?
5. We're here to stay.
The NUMBER ONE complaint we hear from people about other web developers is that their web developer disappeared and they can't contact them anymore to update the website. Whether they were a freelancer, or a company that went out of business; they're gone and now no one can access the website.
You don't have to worry about that with us! We're extremely accessible and have no plans of dropping the ball on anyone.
6. We make quick updates when you need us.
Any time you need a change to your website it's usually hours, sometimes minutes before we get it done, not days.
7. We can do weekend updates.
Got an emergency that needs to go on the website Saturday evening? We can do it...although a heads up during the week will make us like you more :)
8. We're local (to Virginia)
Ideally you want to be able to sit down and meet with your web designer. We do a few long distance projects when necessary, but meet with 95% of our clients at some point during the process. It just works better that way.
9. Our goal is to help your business succeed both long term and short term.
We want our clients to stay with us, and the best way to do that is help them any way we can. A client is a much better revenue source over 10 years of good pricing versus 1 year of being over charged. We really want your business to grow and succeed.
10. We have very good English
There's no language barrier here when you need to call us for technical support. If you need help on your website, it's nice to have someone who you can understand!
Please contact us if you want to talk about how we can help you with your website!
Showing posts with label seo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seo. Show all posts
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Friday, September 10, 2010
The Importance of Article Writing
A very helpful tip for improving your online presence that we are highlighting this week is article writing. Article writing can be a chore and it's difficult to make the time for it, but it's extremely helpful and we strongly recommend everyone use it as part of their online strategy.
Help Before You Sell
The first reason we recommend that you engage in article writing (some people prefer the term "blogging") is that it gives you credibility. With article writing, you can achieve "expert status" in the eyes of your potential consumers. That may be enough to distinguish you from the competition. Help your potential customers first, and they will be more willing to trust you with their hard earned cash.
Content is King
The second reason articles are so helpful is that search engines LOVE good content, which they will find in your articles. There isn't a better way to help your website rise in the search engine rankings than supplying great content to your website. In many markets, it's very possible to be ranked #1 in Google simply from having a Search Engine friendly website and a steady supply of unique articles.
Goals in Article Writing
As we alluded to in our web content writing guide, there are different goals in writing web content for your website. Primarily your goals in article writing are educational. Like we mentioned, you also want to write for search engines, but it's very likely that your articles will just naturally have good keywords in them without you having to intentionally put them in.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you want to keep promotional writing to a minimum. In other words, don't just talk about how great your business is and why your readers should hire you. That's not the purpose of the article. It's recommended that no more than once per article you inform your users of your services. The way you do it is also important...we suggest saying something like "oh by the way, if you want help in this area we can help you, so click here". Don't make your services the focus - keep the focus on helping your readers by educating them. Your readers are looking for helpful information, not a sales pitch.
What to Write About
Here are some ideas on topics for your articles:
We recommend that at a minimum you're posting new, helpful information at least once every 2 months. Ideally it will be much more often than that, but this is a good starting point for most people. We post two articles every month. Figure out what your goal is, what works for you, and stick to it.
Once you publish your article on your website, it's a good idea to announce it to the world. We recommend at a minimum that you post a link to your new articles on Facebook, Twitter, etc. We also suggest that you post them on article directories such as ezinearticles.com. This will help give you more exposure as well as bring incoming links to your website (good for SEO). It is a little time consuming to ensure that your articles get posted correctly in online directories but it's not difficult if you can put forth the extra effort.
The last thing to remember is have fun with it! No one is critiquing your grammar on the internet and as long as you're providing helpful information without ramming your own services in their face you should be successful. We plan on writing an article in the near future about the dynamics of a good article and what it takes to make each article successful. Stay tuned and happy writing!
Help Before You Sell
The first reason we recommend that you engage in article writing (some people prefer the term "blogging") is that it gives you credibility. With article writing, you can achieve "expert status" in the eyes of your potential consumers. That may be enough to distinguish you from the competition. Help your potential customers first, and they will be more willing to trust you with their hard earned cash.
Content is King
The second reason articles are so helpful is that search engines LOVE good content, which they will find in your articles. There isn't a better way to help your website rise in the search engine rankings than supplying great content to your website. In many markets, it's very possible to be ranked #1 in Google simply from having a Search Engine friendly website and a steady supply of unique articles.
Goals in Article Writing
As we alluded to in our web content writing guide, there are different goals in writing web content for your website. Primarily your goals in article writing are educational. Like we mentioned, you also want to write for search engines, but it's very likely that your articles will just naturally have good keywords in them without you having to intentionally put them in.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you want to keep promotional writing to a minimum. In other words, don't just talk about how great your business is and why your readers should hire you. That's not the purpose of the article. It's recommended that no more than once per article you inform your users of your services. The way you do it is also important...we suggest saying something like "oh by the way, if you want help in this area we can help you, so click here". Don't make your services the focus - keep the focus on helping your readers by educating them. Your readers are looking for helpful information, not a sales pitch.
What to Write About
Here are some ideas on topics for your articles:
- Do-it-yourself tips
- Product reviews
- Industry news
- Helpful tips and ideas for your customers
- Client of the Month feature
- Interview style article of industry expert
- How-to training article
We recommend that at a minimum you're posting new, helpful information at least once every 2 months. Ideally it will be much more often than that, but this is a good starting point for most people. We post two articles every month. Figure out what your goal is, what works for you, and stick to it.
Once you publish your article on your website, it's a good idea to announce it to the world. We recommend at a minimum that you post a link to your new articles on Facebook, Twitter, etc. We also suggest that you post them on article directories such as ezinearticles.com. This will help give you more exposure as well as bring incoming links to your website (good for SEO). It is a little time consuming to ensure that your articles get posted correctly in online directories but it's not difficult if you can put forth the extra effort.
The last thing to remember is have fun with it! No one is critiquing your grammar on the internet and as long as you're providing helpful information without ramming your own services in their face you should be successful. We plan on writing an article in the near future about the dynamics of a good article and what it takes to make each article successful. Stay tuned and happy writing!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Harness the Power of Google Local
What is Google Local Business Center?
Results from italian restaurant chicago
The best way to explain Google Local is by using it. If you Google "italian restaurant chicago" you'll see at the top the 10 local businesses that fit your search phrase. These are results not from the regular Google database, but rather a separate one - the Google Local Business directory. Best of all - they always appear at the very top, and they're FREE.
Note that not all search terms will give you search results in Google Local. For example if you were to Google "italian restaurant hampton" you won't see any Local results. That's simply because the traffic isn't high enough to warrant any listings.
We highly recommend adding your organization to Google Local, even if you don't see any Local results when you search. The reason we still recommend it is because Google Local is tied to Google Maps. If you go to Google Maps and search for "italian restaurant hampton" then you'll see results. So go ahead and add your organization.
How to get listed?
It's easy to get listed - just go to Google.com/LocalBusinessCenter and submit your information. All you need is a Google account. You will get a call or postcard from Google verifying your information but it's fairly straightforward.
I submitted my business. How do I get listed on the first page?
There are several things you can do to help your listing rank higher. Of course there's no guarantee that you will be on the first page. No one is really sure of the exact formula that Google uses, but here are some suggestions that will most likely help.
1. Include a good keyword in your organization name. Example: Say you're targeting the search phrase "chicago children's books". Don't tell Google your organization is "Paul's Bookstore", tell Google that your business is "Paul's Bookstore Children's Books". It doesn't matter if that's not your legal business name. By adding that key phrase, you're helping Google find your listing.
2. Include good keywords in your description. Same as above, but apply it to the description of your organization. Remember that you are writing for humans AND search engines. So don't just list keywords, but also make sure you include them in your writing.
3. Put your address and phone number on every page of your website. This is helpful both for users on your website as well as Google Local. Make sure you use your local number, not just your 800 number. Also a P.O. Box does not help, use your physical street address. Here's an example of a website that does this.
4. Have a Directions/Locations page on your website. This is helpful, unless of course you are a home based business and cannot have foot traffic. Give directions in plain English, with good descriptions. Again, this will help your regular search engine traffic as well as the search engine crawlers.
By the way...don't have a website? See our web design services, including help with submitting your site to Google Local.
5. Upload a few photos. Google seems to place higher ranking on business listings that include photos. At the very least upload your logo and a couple pictures of your building or products. There is no guarantee that this will help, but it can't hurt. At the very least it will look nice to real users.
6. Create a page on your website where you list your areas served. Like several of the suggestions I've mentioned, this will be helpful for real users also. In fact this might even help your organic search results.
Hopefully these steps will get you started with Google Local. Don't forget to check it occasionally once you submit your business to see where you fall in the rankings. And if you need any help with Google, your website optimization, or any other internet marketing services, come visit us at Fresh Look Web Design and we'll be glad to give you some help.
Results from italian restaurant chicago
Note that not all search terms will give you search results in Google Local. For example if you were to Google "italian restaurant hampton" you won't see any Local results. That's simply because the traffic isn't high enough to warrant any listings.
We highly recommend adding your organization to Google Local, even if you don't see any Local results when you search. The reason we still recommend it is because Google Local is tied to Google Maps. If you go to Google Maps and search for "italian restaurant hampton" then you'll see results. So go ahead and add your organization.
How to get listed?
It's easy to get listed - just go to Google.com/LocalBusinessCenter and submit your information. All you need is a Google account. You will get a call or postcard from Google verifying your information but it's fairly straightforward.
I submitted my business. How do I get listed on the first page?
There are several things you can do to help your listing rank higher. Of course there's no guarantee that you will be on the first page. No one is really sure of the exact formula that Google uses, but here are some suggestions that will most likely help.
1. Include a good keyword in your organization name. Example: Say you're targeting the search phrase "chicago children's books". Don't tell Google your organization is "Paul's Bookstore", tell Google that your business is "Paul's Bookstore Children's Books". It doesn't matter if that's not your legal business name. By adding that key phrase, you're helping Google find your listing.
2. Include good keywords in your description. Same as above, but apply it to the description of your organization. Remember that you are writing for humans AND search engines. So don't just list keywords, but also make sure you include them in your writing.
3. Put your address and phone number on every page of your website. This is helpful both for users on your website as well as Google Local. Make sure you use your local number, not just your 800 number. Also a P.O. Box does not help, use your physical street address. Here's an example of a website that does this.
4. Have a Directions/Locations page on your website. This is helpful, unless of course you are a home based business and cannot have foot traffic. Give directions in plain English, with good descriptions. Again, this will help your regular search engine traffic as well as the search engine crawlers.
By the way...don't have a website? See our web design services, including help with submitting your site to Google Local.
5. Upload a few photos. Google seems to place higher ranking on business listings that include photos. At the very least upload your logo and a couple pictures of your building or products. There is no guarantee that this will help, but it can't hurt. At the very least it will look nice to real users.
6. Create a page on your website where you list your areas served. Like several of the suggestions I've mentioned, this will be helpful for real users also. In fact this might even help your organic search results.
Hopefully these steps will get you started with Google Local. Don't forget to check it occasionally once you submit your business to see where you fall in the rankings. And if you need any help with Google, your website optimization, or any other internet marketing services, come visit us at Fresh Look Web Design and we'll be glad to give you some help.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Finding the Perfect Domain Name
How to get started with your website
A common question people have is "what do I need to design a website?" Well the first step is purchasing a domain name. A domain name is simply your website address - www.mywebsite.com where mywebsite.com is your domain name.
Check if the domain you want for your website is available
Before you put too much thought into a name you like, determine if it is even available. A good resource to use is Network Solutions - all you do is type in the domain name you want, and if it's available, it will tell you. If someone already owns it, it will give whatever information is available on that person or organization.
What about .org, .net, .info, etc?
Sometimes the .com extension is taken, but the .org and .net are available. It's ideal to use .com if possible, but if you really love the domain name there's nothing wrong with using .org or .net. It is very common for a non-profit to use .org for their website. We don't recommend using any extensions other than the main 3 - .com, .net, and .org.
Make it easy to spell and remember
This is super important. You want to make it as easy as possible. To test this, try telling a friend what you're planning on using for a domain name one day. (hopefully they won't take that opportunity to buy it before you do). Then a couple days later, ask them if they remember it, and ask them to write it down. If they get it right (including spelling), you've found a really great domain name...at least in terms of simplicity.
Of course this will often depend on your company name, but if your company name is hard to spell then get creative. Try using abbreviations...or use a call to action as your domain name. For example if your company is "Medodie's Bagel Shoppe" and you find that people always use a 'y' instead of 'ie' in 'Melodie' then try www.getbagelsnow.com. It's not your company name, but it's still a good domain name, and it could even turn into a slogan.
Does your domain name include a good keyword?
This is overlooked probably 99% of the time. Most people don't know that Google and other search engines put a lot of importance on what your domain name is. So you want your domain name to have a important keyword, if possible...especially if you're building a small business or non-profit website and could use the free advertising from Google.
Here's an example.
At Fresh Look, our domain name is www.freshlookwebdesign.com. So when people Google "fresh look web design" we are near the top, for the sole reason that our domain name is the same as the search term. It also helps us because the term "web design" is part of our domain name and an important keyword.
There's give and take to this strategy. For example, www.freshlook.com might be a better domain name than www.freshlookwebdesign.com because it's much shorter. However from a search engine's perspective it lacks the keywords "web design". So just keep that in mind - if the domain name you want is taken, you might be able to include a good keyword in there that will help your search engine rankings.
How much does it cost?
A domain name is the smallest part of the cost of a website. At GoDaddy.com you can pay around $15 for a domain name. Just remember it is a yearly fee, and the more years you buy at one time the cheaper it gets.
Keep control of your domain name
A pitfall that many non-profits and small businesses fall into is that they don't realize that their web developer has control of their domain name, not them. In other words, they don't really own their own website. To avoid this problem, make sure that you purchase your own domain name, or if you have someone purchase it for you, ask for the user name and password to manage it.
Conclusion
Sometimes finding a domain name that is available and you like can be challenging. It takes creativity sometimes, but don't get discouraged. Keep brainstorming ideas and one of them is bound to be available.
A common question people have is "what do I need to design a website?" Well the first step is purchasing a domain name. A domain name is simply your website address - www.mywebsite.com where mywebsite.com is your domain name.
Check if the domain you want for your website is available
Before you put too much thought into a name you like, determine if it is even available. A good resource to use is Network Solutions - all you do is type in the domain name you want, and if it's available, it will tell you. If someone already owns it, it will give whatever information is available on that person or organization.
What about .org, .net, .info, etc?
Sometimes the .com extension is taken, but the .org and .net are available. It's ideal to use .com if possible, but if you really love the domain name there's nothing wrong with using .org or .net. It is very common for a non-profit to use .org for their website. We don't recommend using any extensions other than the main 3 - .com, .net, and .org.
Make it easy to spell and remember
This is super important. You want to make it as easy as possible. To test this, try telling a friend what you're planning on using for a domain name one day. (hopefully they won't take that opportunity to buy it before you do). Then a couple days later, ask them if they remember it, and ask them to write it down. If they get it right (including spelling), you've found a really great domain name...at least in terms of simplicity.
Of course this will often depend on your company name, but if your company name is hard to spell then get creative. Try using abbreviations...or use a call to action as your domain name. For example if your company is "Medodie's Bagel Shoppe" and you find that people always use a 'y' instead of 'ie' in 'Melodie' then try www.getbagelsnow.com. It's not your company name, but it's still a good domain name, and it could even turn into a slogan.
Does your domain name include a good keyword?
This is overlooked probably 99% of the time. Most people don't know that Google and other search engines put a lot of importance on what your domain name is. So you want your domain name to have a important keyword, if possible...especially if you're building a small business or non-profit website and could use the free advertising from Google.
Here's an example.
At Fresh Look, our domain name is www.freshlookwebdesign.com. So when people Google "fresh look web design" we are near the top, for the sole reason that our domain name is the same as the search term. It also helps us because the term "web design" is part of our domain name and an important keyword.
There's give and take to this strategy. For example, www.freshlook.com might be a better domain name than www.freshlookwebdesign.com because it's much shorter. However from a search engine's perspective it lacks the keywords "web design". So just keep that in mind - if the domain name you want is taken, you might be able to include a good keyword in there that will help your search engine rankings.
How much does it cost?
A domain name is the smallest part of the cost of a website. At GoDaddy.com you can pay around $15 for a domain name. Just remember it is a yearly fee, and the more years you buy at one time the cheaper it gets.
Keep control of your domain name
A pitfall that many non-profits and small businesses fall into is that they don't realize that their web developer has control of their domain name, not them. In other words, they don't really own their own website. To avoid this problem, make sure that you purchase your own domain name, or if you have someone purchase it for you, ask for the user name and password to manage it.
Conclusion
Sometimes finding a domain name that is available and you like can be challenging. It takes creativity sometimes, but don't get discouraged. Keep brainstorming ideas and one of them is bound to be available.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
I have a website, why do I need a blog?
A website is a great tool to have, however while I believe it is the most important tool of your online marketing, it should not stand alone. Social media, and specifically a blog should be used in conjunction with your website.
What does a blog do that a website doesn't? Well for one it's much easier to update. Not everyone has the time or money or content management system in place to easily update their website. Anyone can update a blog.
Also, Google and other search engines LOVE blogs. Especially if you include links to your website from your blog. It all becomes part of SEO.
It gets your users involved. The greatest part about a blog is the comment section below. Your users can add their comments, ask questions, interact with both you and other users. The possibilities are tremendous.
Here is a great little powerpoint presentation I ran across that gives some really nice tips on blogging. Really I think the best way to become a good blogger is just to do it, which I have to learn myself, being more of a website guy.
The point is, your business needs a blog. There are lots of options out there, and actually I've read some things recommending not using Google's Blogger.com which is what I currently use. Meh - it's free.
What does a blog do that a website doesn't? Well for one it's much easier to update. Not everyone has the time or money or content management system in place to easily update their website. Anyone can update a blog.
Also, Google and other search engines LOVE blogs. Especially if you include links to your website from your blog. It all becomes part of SEO.
It gets your users involved. The greatest part about a blog is the comment section below. Your users can add their comments, ask questions, interact with both you and other users. The possibilities are tremendous.
Here is a great little powerpoint presentation I ran across that gives some really nice tips on blogging. Really I think the best way to become a good blogger is just to do it, which I have to learn myself, being more of a website guy.
The point is, your business needs a blog. There are lots of options out there, and actually I've read some things recommending not using Google's Blogger.com which is what I currently use. Meh - it's free.
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