A lot of hype has been made about Demand Media and it’s IPO since it’s launch. One question everyone has been asking is can they sustain their business model? Personally I think so…they generate content from freelance writers and resell it to websites. If they are producing good, quality, and compelling content than it should be a solid revenue stream. Web owners know that keep up to date fresh content for your demographic can be difficult. So I do not think Google is looking to target anyone company specifically, they want to provide the best result for your search query.

Now Google’s lates algo change dubbed the “Farmer Update” has changes ranking’s for about 12% (11.8%) of websites in Google’s index. The name originated from the idea that Google is targeting content farms. I don’t think they mind you farming good content that is placed appropriately on the web but some notable sites were uprooted in the process. We’ll get to those sites in a moment but one must remember…Google tracks what happens after users click on a result and that information is kept and used as part of google algorithm. They HATE it when users don’t find what they are looking for on the first result. Now have you ever Googled something and landed on one of the following sites?

How did you feel about the information on those websites? Well those are some of the top losers in Google latest algorithmic change. Thanks to Sistrix for providing the chart above. There is only one reason site owners are going to spent time and money to get a a site to rank with shallow content. They want pageviews and clicks for advertisements. So the first clear signal change is in advertising and placement on the website. I have always been against display ads on websites but here is some validation. Second factors that have been looked at in this change is user data like bounce rate and time on site. Lastly authentic user generated social media content seems to play a factor as well. Nothing to new but I would assume this data also is weighted differently based on the query as well.

http://www.idwebdesigntampa.com/images/goseogo.jpg

Still a long way to go to the top!

It has been four long months since I last wrote the last part in this 5 piece series. Incept design is committed to helping business owners make the most of their website. One of these ways we are honoring our commitment is through helpful series such as this one. We work at Incept Design to improve the reputation of our industry. I would also like to extend my appreciation to everone taking the time to read our blog. Incept Design’s blog is maintained personally by our founder and lead web developer Alex Adekola.

This will be well worth the wait as I take time to inform business owners on ways to improve their search engine rankings. One of the more important factors affecting your rankings with search engines that may be out of your control… Who is linking into your website, and with what anchor text. Anchor text are the words that are used to link to you. It has been pretty common for a while to anchor text such as “click here”. Ideal anchor text would include keywords that you are attempting to market your business for. Another important factor in search engine optimization is the rank of the site that is linking to your website. The higher the ranking of a website linking into you, the better for your site. I strongly caution business owners against participating in link schemes or link farms. These type of practices can diminish or negatively impact you rankings. If your interested in improving your websites rankings call Incept Design at 813-401-7395 for a free phone consultation. Look out for part 4.

Are you unsure about how to go about creating a great website most business owners are!

Most Professionals (consultants, coaches, trainers, writers, designers, financial and employment professionals, etc.) want a better web site – a web site that actually helps attract more clients. But they have no idea how to do this. They don’t know where to start, what to do and how to make their web site truly effective.

A great website will pull in business and in the process you will build a solid marketing communication foundation for your business that will generate revenue for years to come.

Where do you start? Here are some important elements of a successful web site:

Quality Content – Users quickly scan headings when they browse a website. They DO NOT read every word. Do you have your content broken up logically? Are you headings descriptive and captivating?

Functional Design – Potential customers form their first impression of your business based on your website. You need a design that looks better than your competitors! It also shouldn’t distract from the content or make navigation cumbersome. Don’t leave the design up to your cousin. How many customers can you afford to lose?

Navigation – Don’t make your users guess or think. They will quickly get annoyed and go to a competitors site. Clear, Easy, Intuitive navigation is key.

Call for Action – When people visit your site you want them to pick up the phone, fill out a form, send you an email, or buy something! In order to get them to do so you need a stylish, creditable, and informative site. Then you need to make a call to action.

Free Information – Offering complimentary information to potential clients at no charge is a great way to build a list of emails to use later when you begin your online marketing campaign. It can be a simple PDF related to your industry. But remember to keep the information relevant and useful. DO NOT make it another sales pitch!

Generate Traffic – Search engine optimization is a great way to build traffic. But it may not be cost effective for everyone. To make it more cost effective find your niche market! Don’t compete for rankings amongst broad keywords unless you have the marketing budget of Microsoft!

PART 2 of 5
In the last post I ended by saying there are some things you should never do to optimize a website. Let me clarify by saying optimize your website for the long run. There are two types of techniques used in the SEO world. White hat SEO and black hat SEO. White hat SEO is the only kind of SEO we will discuss. Black hat SEO involves tricking search engines into ranking you higher. Eventually the search engine figures out your spam and then your site is banned from appearing. Most businesses are interested in the long term profitability, at least the successful ones are.

Optimization starts with content. You want to provide the content that people are actually looking for when they entered their search terms into a search engine. Relevancy is key and we always need to keep the searcher in mind. Once they land on your site the two main goals are impress them with the design, and provide the content they are looking for.

Attractive design is key element that is overlooked. Design includes functionality and hierarchy as well as an attractive color scheme, with depth, gradients, balance, and shadows. For more on design see this post on web redesign. People scan web pages a lot faster than print.

When thinking of content for your website think in terms of an outline:
Global Warming is affecting the Planet.

Polar Bears are Endangered.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne made the announcement in Washington on Wednesday, saying the decision was based on findings that bears’ Arctic sea ice habitat has dramatically melted in recent decades.

Arctic Ice is melting ‘faster than predicted’.

The pace at which both the Arctic sea ice and the Greenland ice sheet is melting has “severely accelerated” and could bring about rapid and unstoppable change in natural systems across the world.
Search engines can see which words are in a larger font. They also can tell if a word is in bold font. Words in a larger or bold font are considered more important. It is also important to make sure all content is relevant. Search engines compare your content and the words surrounding your content to other web pages with similar content. If there is consistency between your words an whats on the web it will help you some. To demonstrate what I mean look at our example. You can find content on the internet that talk about Polar Bears and Arctic Ice, or stories about Global Warming and Arctic Ice. Or Global Warming and Polar Bears, or Arctic Ice and Polar Bears. All your content should be somewhat interdependent.
SEO HOMEWORK FOR BUSINESS OWNERS.

1. Ask your clients what search terms they would use to find your service or product on the internet
2. Buy a domain name containing at least two of the most popular keywords.

Remember that the age of your domain is also considered by search engines so this will not immediately improve your search rankings. We are in this for the long term so this will eventually become less and less of a factor. In the next post I will be detailing more factors that affect your websites ranking.

PART 1 of 5

The buzz that everyone seems to be talking about is SEO. In other words Search Engine Optimization. What is SEO? SEO is the process of making a website the #1 result on Google for a certain search term. Why would you want your website at the number one spot? It’s a sure fire way to boost traffic to your website.

Is SEO for everyone? In my opinion Yes, but only if it’s cost effective.

It is also the final piece in a website.

If your cousin made your website when you first open up back in 2002, maybe you should consider a re-design first. And make sure that developer is creating a web site that is WC3 compliant, with NO Tables. Incept Design will be happy to check your website for you! Email your link to alex [at] inceptdesign.com.

After you site is aesthetically pleasing with nice gradients, shadows, and colors & the code is clean, you are now ready to take the next step.

Ready to decide if SEO is a good choice for your business.

Lets say you own a health SPA. Right now you are nowhere to be found on Google. Your in a back alley of the internet, tucked away.

Now say your average client spends $350.00 per visit.

If your website were in the top 5 results from Google for “Tampa Health Spa”, Chances are during the course of the month you will gain at least at least 2 clients per month due to the increased traffic to your website from people finding you on Google. And with that second client you can more than cover the cost of the SEO process. And any additional clients are increased revenue.

Some other things to consider. You will not jump from nowhere on the web to the first page of Google with a month. It will take anywhere from 2-6 months for the SEO process to begin increasing your rankings. Don’t spend an arm and a leg on SEO either. 95% of all “known” factors involved in Search Engine Optimization are available on the Internet and can be found by anyone who spends some time researching it. How the developer applies these known techniques is what greatly affects rankings.

The experts in this field do NOT agree 100% on which factors affect rankings or how much each factor affect rankings. Honestly the only entity that could know for certain would be Google and the individuals that write the actual search algorithm. And lastly anyone who promises you the #1 spot on Google in a week for any keyword is going to get your site banned from all the search engines. There are some things that you cannot do to search engine optimize your website.

To be continued….

Alex A