When you’re looking for a local business – from restaurants to florists, auto mechanics to dentists – where do you turn? Most of us pick up an electronic device and enter key words into a search engine. Therefore it is vital for local businesses to have online listings that are current, accurate and easy to find. Tools such as “Google My Business” are helpful for managing your online listings. Here are some basic guidelines to get the most mileage from your listings:
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Local Google Search Marketing Do’s & Don’ts
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SEO Success: 7 Elements That Help Search Engines Work for You
Anyone creating a business website has probably wondered: If I build it, will ‘they’ come? (like the question made famous in the movie Field of Dreams). Getting targeted traffic to your site is an essential for success of any online endeavor — and SEO (search engine optimization) is a primary means of accomplishing it.
According to the Wikipedia entry for SEO, the concept has been around since the mid-1990s. (The history of SEO on this page makes an interesting read!) Over the years, both website development and SEO have increased in complexity. But the goal of search engines and the process that drives them remain the same: to provide the most relevant and useful results to a searcher’s query.
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Google Search Update: Penalties for Using Pop-Ups
If you, like many others, are aggravated when you visit a website and are greeted with a pop-up window, Google’s latest announcement is sure to make you smile.
Google will be penalizing those mobile sites that have intrusive full-page ads and interstitial ads, by making them appear lower in search engine results.
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6 Dangers of “Do It Yourself” Websites
Gone are the days when building a website required knowing or learning HTML code. Now there are options galore including Content Management System (CMS) choices such as WordPress and Joomla and free ‘builders’ such as Squarespace, Weebly and Wix.
Given this landscape, when creating a new site, how do you decide between ‘do it yourself’ (DIY) options and hiring a professional? Both are valid methods that should be weighed based on your particular situation and budget. When deciding, consider these dangers of the DIY route:
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Looking Ahead to 2016: 5 Web Design Trends to Consider for the New Year
Fall is here, along with pumpkin spice everything and thoughts of a new calendar year. Have you started considering what your web presence should look like in 2016? We’ve scanned website trend predictions for 2016 and compiled this post for your consideration and planning.
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More Mobile-Friendly Google Search Coming April 21
Have you typed a term into Google search on your phone recently? If so, you’re in good company – as some estimates say more than six out of every 10 Google searches are mobile. If you’ve been in the six or seven, did you find what you were looking for? Did your search results provide a link to a relevant, mobile-friendly site, one that could be viewed easily on your phone?
Google wants to ensure its mobile users are getting “friendly” results. Consequently, in 10 days the company will institute a significant change in how it ranks pages in mobile searches.
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WordPress SEO Plugin Critical Security Update
The WordPress SEO Plugin by Yoast is a very powerful and popular plugin for WordPress. It’s used on more than a million websites. Recently it was announced that there is a serious security vulnerability in the plugin. An update is already available, but you must update the plugin in your WordPress dashboard to correct the problem. Read more about it here. -
Operating a WebStore? Here’s an Online Holiday Shopping Checklist
Is your website ready for holiday shoppers? Earlier this month, Shop.org released its 2014 online holiday sales forecast. The National Retail Federation’s digital retail division predicted an increase in November and December of 8 to 11 percent over last year – anticipating up to $105 billion in e-commerce transactions this holiday season.
With this optimistic forecast in mind, those who operate online stores have only a couple of weeks to finalize preparations for the shopping rush. Here is a checklist to determine your readiness:
