Saturday, December 26, 2015

Back Links

Stuff About Back Links

Google likes back links. The more links you have from other sites that link to your site is a vote for your site. Google sees all the links that link to your website and they see that as a vote of confidence for your site. The more "votes" your site has, the more relevant Google finds your site. The more relevant your site, the more page rank. The more page rank, the higher you go in Google's search results. And that's what we all want don't we? To be found higher and higher on Google's search results.

If you can sift through all the directories on the first page of Google, you may be able to find some of the relevant sites that pertain to your search.

In my experience, the first page of Google search results is filled with directories such as: Yelp, YP.com, Angie's List, Manta, Merchant Circle etc. And it goes on and on. So every time you search, let's say for a retail carpet store, you will be inundated with directories and probably see about 2 actual carpet company websites on the first page (that is in the organic search results).

Why is this? Because the large directories have teams of SEO (search engine optimization) people constantly working on this aspect of their online marketing campaigns. And they have lots and lots of back links that link to their site.

SEO is a constantly evolving thing. And Google's algorithms keep constantly changing (for our good they say) so it's hard to always get and keep your website on the front page of Google.

Every back link you acquire will transform to a vote of confidence to Google. So getting back links (high quality links from high quality websites) is a highly desired thing. Do not under any circumstances partner with a company that promises lots of back links for a price. These will be low quality back links and Google will see through the strategy and penalize your site (this is a very bad thing).

Back links should happen naturally.

More soon........


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

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everybody from LMS Website Services. Remember the reason for the season.

Jeff Dean
LMS Website Services

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Get Your Web Site 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 My Business (formally 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 My Business listing.....




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