First Page Google Search Results Getting Squeezed.....

It's getting harder and harder for your local website to be found on the first page of Google search results. That's by design (by Google). Google makes money by people paying them for pay per click advertising. Google doesn't make a penny when your website is found on their first page organically. So of course Google is trying to minify the effects of local SEO.

The first page of Google is broken up into 3 distinct category areas. The top is reserved for people who pay for their ads to show (pay per click or Adwords advertising). The middle section is reserved for local listings and the last part is reserved for organic listings. At least that's how it used to be.

What Google has done is shrink the local listings and shrink the organic listings. Google local listings used to have 7 offerings with a link to open a larger local listings page. Now Google has shrunk that down to 3 local listings. So it's important to optimize your Google my Business page so you can hopefully show in these top three listings and show on the front page. There is also talk of shrinking this again to 2 local listings. Geez.

Organic search results have also been shrunk. In the old (and I mean old) days you would show up on the front page of Google as long as you were in the top 10 or so in your field. Now when you search for a local company you will find the search results are crammed with links to other links. For example, let's say you want to find a plumber in Leonard, MI. I actually have a plumbing site I've designed for a plumber in Leonard MI. Addison Plumbing of Leonard MI. When you do a search you will find Addison Plumbing but you will also find (cluttering up the page, I might add) listings for Yp.com, Angies list, Service Magic (Now Home Advisor.......and look for all of the complaints there, geez) and a bunch of other directories. So, instead of showing you a whole page of plumbers that service the Leonard, MI area you might get two plumbing sites and everything else will be directories and the like. So now you must be in the top two or three search results to even show up on the first page of Google search results.

Also, Google is showing ads on the right side of the first page and, if you can believe it, they are showing MORE pay per click ads/sites on the bottom of the page now too. Unbelievable.

I have found that I can do most everything I need to do to show up first in organic results (and most of the websites I manage do show up on the first page of Google multiple times) but still not show ahead of websites that really aren't as relevant to the search inquiry.....

Google provides a great service to people in that they show search results for your inquiry but they don't make any money from organic or local listings so of course Google is going to start shrinking those areas and increasing the amount of space given to "paid" listings. This makes economic sense for them but does not service the Internet community as a whole.

Now, if Google could just strip away all of the directories that are listed on the first page and mainly show websites that are most relevant to a local search then the results would still be good quality. But with all of the ads and directories that show up on the first page of Google, it makes it almost (and I do mean almost, not entirely) useless. (Useless might be a strong term, maybe just low quality.....). Just my informed opinion.





Jeffrey Dean
LMS Website Services
http://lmswebsiteservices.com 

Is Your Company Website Mobile Ready?

Mobile friendly websites........is your website Mobile friendly?  Because if not then your missing out on a very important aspect of Internet marketing.

First of all, Google wants your site mobile friendly.....need I say more? If Google wants your site mobile friendly then you should make your website mobile friendly. With so many people these days searching the web for just about everything, your website should show well on mobile devices.

People that search on the go (people on the road) want their information fast. They want convenience and speed. If your website loads slow or is not optimized for mobile then these people will go somewhere else. They want simple and fast (did I already say fast??). They don't want to have to search your website on a small screen that is hard to navigate on their mobile. Google knows this and is rewarding sites that are optimized for mobile (so they can enhance their users experience) and penalizing sites that are not mobile friendly.

Two ways to make your site mobile friendly. Either have a separate mobile site that links to your main site or have a responsive website design.

A separate site can be a simplified version of your main site. Something easily navigated with a link to your main site so people can go there if they want to.

A responsive website "responds" to the device used to find your site. If a tablet, then the website will adjust its size and rearrange its components to fit the screen size. If a mobile device, same thing. Your site will appear differently on a desktop, tablet or mobile but it will still be your main site. Google prefers this method. They want (as of now) responsive sites.

Ok, nuff said about mobile optimized sites for now......



Jeffrey Dean
LMS Website Services
http://lmswebsiteservices.com 

Why Don't People Think They Need a Website When They Have a Business?

Don't Need A Website Huh?

It always amazes me when I run across somebody who has a small business or a local contractor and they feel like they have no need for a website. In this day and age, everybody is on the Internet for everything. Even they look on the web when they need something but still feel that they don't need a website.

Acquiring Customers

I have one local contractors who we built a website for and performed some basic SEO. He has told me that he gets approximately 2 or 3 calls per week from his site (and he hasn't even had his site for a year yet!) and is booked out over 4 months. He's looking to get a business loan so he can expand his business. He also told me that his site has paid for itself 50 times over.

Another customer of ours has told me that she has doubled her business in the first year that she had her website. Doubled!!

With these types of success stories, I am truly astounded when I run across somebody without a website and they have no interest in getting one. Don't they know that everybody that needs their services or products is buying from somebody that does have a website.

Nuff said.......

Jeffrey Dean
LMS Website Services
http://www.lmswebsiteservices.com

You Should Have a Site Map on Your Website

Having a site map for your website is a great idea.

There are two main reasons to have a site map. First, a site map helps visitors navigate around your website. They can pull up a static site map that is on your website and find where they want to go very easily. A static site map should be comprised of every area that is on your website so visitors can see the structure of your whole site on one page, right in front of them. Of course, the site map should be linked so the visitors can just click on the area that interests them and go right to the page.

Secondly, a site map that is a great way for Google and the other search engines to be able to index your site. Submitting a site map to Google will get you indexed faster. You won't have to wait for Google to stumble upon your site because you are letting Google know that you are there.

Site maps are a great idea and should be used for just about every site.






Jeffrey Dean
LMS Website Services
http://www.lmswebsiteservices.com

Integrating a Facebook Feed Into Your Website

Adding a Facebook feed to your home page of your website is a good idea.

When you add a live Facebook feed to your home page you are creating fresh content for your website homepage every time you write on your wall on Facebook.

Facebook Integration is Good!

As you engage your fans and friends on Facebook you will be building your brand. As you build your brand, future customers will gravitate to your Facebook page and in turn will link to your Website. As you write content on your Facebook wall these will automatically feed into your website homepage. This creates a reciprocal back link that has good value. As people navigate from your Facebook page to your website and then navigate from your website to your Facebook page an invaluable give and take is created that hopefully will generate good traffic that Google will value. Google likes traffic flows so the more traffic that flows through your website and Facebook page the better.

Creating a Facebook feed on your homepage is creating a conduit for all of this Internet traffic. So consider the Facebook feed as a road well traveled between your website and your Facebook page.

Nuff said.....


Jeffrey Dean
LMS Website Services
http://www/lmswebsiteservices.com

Being Found Locally

Have you ever searched for a local company and get confused by the myriad of search results that show up? There was a time when you could search online and your results would generate local business's for you to contact.

Now, when  you search, the first page of Google may only have 1 or 2 local business websites that will show up. The large online directories have been dominating search results in a way that can be annoying when you are just trying to find a local company to do business with.

A typical page in Google's search results will yield three main areas. The top area (and side area) is the paid ad area, then the main content area and within the main content area you will have the third area which is Google+ Local.

Typically, the top and side paid area will be shaded slightly so that you can tell that it's the paid area (even though it can be hard to see sometimes. You really have to look close to see it). This is Google's way of generating money for itself by selling these placement ads that will insure that your website is at the top of Google. This can be a relatively inexpensive way to be found up high on Google but the costs can add up quickly if you don't monitor your activity. (Google does allow you to set your daily spending limits but sometimes just one click can use up your daily allowance which means you are done for that day and your website will not show up again until the next day). This is one way to be found on the first page of Google but not the best way! People tend to distrust those paid ads (since they are paid after all and haven't worked or earned their way to the front page of Google by their relevancy!!).

So, being found organically is by far the best way (and normally the cheapest way in the long run). SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the term used for the work that is done to increase your website's relevancy which will in turn get it climbing up the search result's ladder. The main content area will be the organic search results (I will speak more on this at a later date).

Today we focus on Google+ Local. The local search result area. Google will find your website and display it here if the address for your company is physically located in the city which was searched for. For example: if someone searches for "website creation company highland mi". Then hopefully every website creation company that has their physical address in Highland Michigan will be listed in the "Local" area in the search results that are displayed.

Ideally you would like to get listed first in this partitioned area. Good optimization of your Google+Local listing will get you listed first or at least up high on this list (it is not alphabetical). There are a number of things you can do to optimize your Google+Local area.

Next Blog: Some simple things you can do to optimize you Google+Local listing.....

Jeff Dean
Owner of LMS Website Services LLC
http://lmswebsiteservices.com

So You Really Don't Need A Website??

Don't Need A Website Huh?

It always amazes me when I run across somebody who has a small business or a local contractor and they feel like they have no need for a website. In this day and age, everybody is on the Internet for everything. Even they look on the web when they need something but still feel that they don't need a website.

Acquiring Customers

I have one local contractors who we built a website for and performed some basic SEO. He has told me that he gets approximately 2 or 3 calls per week from his site (and he hasn't even had his site for a year yet!) and is booked out over 4 months. He's looking to get a business loan so he can expand his business. He also told me that his site has paid for itself 50 times over.

Another customer of ours has told me that she has doubled her business in the first year that she had her website. Doubled!!

With these types of success stories, I am truly astounded when I run across somebody without a website and they have no interest in getting one. Don't they know that everybody that needs their services or products is buying from somebody that does have a website.

Nuff said.......

Jeffrey Dean
LMS Website Services
http://www.lmswebsiteservices.com