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

Do You Need A Sitemap For 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

Adding Facebook To 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

SEO Huh Continued.............

SEO Huh Continued 3.....

So how do you acquire back links? Well these days you need to earn all of your back links. How do you do that?

Well, one way is to create a blog. Like this one. After all, you are the expert in your field, so who knows more about your business than you do? So you need to express yourself in a blog about your business. What do you think people would be interested in when it comes to your field of expertise? Are there things that somebody would find interesting?

People search all over the Internet for things that they find of interest. Things that they may need to learn about. I know I search Google every time I need some information about something. For example: I was looking into stand by generators. Now I really don't know much about stand by generators so I Googled it! Of the over 18 million results (really?) I of course clicked on the results that were mainly on the first page. If I didn't find what I was looking for I would head for the second page. That's about as far as I go. If I need more info, I will try a different search term and try again. So you see, it's imperative that you end up on the first page of Google's search results if you want to be found by your prospective customers.

Writing a blog about your specific business and then back linking to your site will create a couple of fresh, new back links for you. And the best SEO juice comes from when someone else finds your blog interesting and then links it to maybe their Facebook page, Pinterest Page, Twitter etc. When they link your blog or website to their Facebook page you now have a relevant and new back link! The more people that share your blog/ website, the more links your collect and the more relevant you end up to Google (and hence higher up the rankings you go). As you can see, this can balloon into a large collection of new back links for you as more and more people link you.

So you can see the importance of writing a blog. This is just one way of collecting back links. Another is when a company links your site from their website. And the more relevant the site the better. Also, if the linking company site is big in your particular industry, even better. For example: if I have a flooring site and Mohawk (a large flooring manufacturer) puts a link to my site (probably in their "find a dealer near you" area) then this creates the ideal back link. It's from a large respected company within the same field as my company. This will be a high quality back link and that's what Google is looking for more than lots of low quality back links (such as in the old days where you could buy back links to a large number of sites. Google will penalize you now for these).

Back links, high quality back links and lots of high quality back links. That's the formula for a successful SEO campaign. Nuff said for now......




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

SEO Continued Huh.........

Getting found on Google's 1st page is most business owner's main goal. Because if you are found on the 1st page then why would your prospective customer have to go any further? After all, they've found what they were looking for. Your website. Right?

So how to "earn" your way onto Google's 1st page. We've been talking recently about what it takes for Google to put your website on it's first page. Hence, being found on the Internet!

Remember, Google's algorithms are what decide who and who is not on it's first page in search results. What are Google's algorithms you ask? Well they are a complex set of "rules" (called algorithms) that Google has defined which will decide if your website has "relevant" content to the searcher's request. In other words, when a person searches on the web for something specific, let's say a plumber in a certain city in a certain state, Google decides in the blink of an eye which websites are important to show for that particular search. How does Google decide which sites to show? Well that's a highly guarded state secret (or highly regarded Google secret) but we can ascertain some things that are important by listening to Google and what they consider important. Then we tweak our sites to match their criteria. Or at least try to read between the lines and optimize our sites accordingly.

We've discussed fresh new content being added to our sites on at least a weekly basis so when Google's crawl bots crawl our sites they will find new stuff! New stuff every week. New stuff for our searchers to find when they search the Internet. New stuff that makes our website exciting, relevant and interesting. Apparently Google thinks that new stuff on a website makes it more relevant to searchers. Of course our "new stuff" must have all of the optimized keywords stuffed in there, after all, how can Google know if all of this new stuff is relevant to searchers unless the wording reflects what the searcher is searching for, eh?

So, new content, new content, new content........Need I say more?

Ok.....some more. Another way to enhance the importance of your website to Google (and hence to your prospective customers) is to acquire back links. Back links tell Google that your site is important! That your site is relevant! That other people find your site important and relevant and so Google assumes it's important and relevant. For every back link you receive, Google takes it as a vote of confidence in your website. The more votes the better. Meaning, the more back links the better.......More on back links in our next blog post.......




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

SEO Huh? Continued........

SEO has changed over time. SEO changes constantly. In fact SEO changes continually. Every month. What used to work doesn't anymore. Link exchanges can't be bought anymore (well, they can but really are worthless).

So what does Google want? Google wants to increase the quality of the user experience. They want the user to "want" to be on the web. To be surfing. In essence, to be on the web and see all of their ads which of course brings money in to Google. A little too much honesty, eh?

Well, you can't fight the Fed. Or Google for that matter. So we must play by their rules. They don't own the Internet but in reality, they own the Internet. What Google says goes.

So what does Google say? They want high quality, fresh, new content. They want people to be constantly exploring the Internet. They want business owners to "earn" their spot on the front page of their search results. No longer can you easily game the system to get on the front page of Google. Now it takes work from the business owner himself. You can't just pay a firm to do stuff to get you on the front page. You, the business owner, must supply relevant content to your own site. After all, how can an SEO firm understand your business. YOU are the expert in your field, not the SEO firm. So YOU must provide content, text and images that are relevant and new to the SEO firm who will then add them to your site.

This is very important stuff that should not be minimized or ignored by the site owner. Fresh, new and relevant information added to your site on a continuous basis. It takes commitment and time from the business owner themselves.

More to come......

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

Seo Huh?

SEO. What does that stand for?

Most people probably have never heard of SEO? I know because when I bring it up to prospective clients I get a quizzical look. They just have never heard of SEO. For those of us in the website design business, SEO means everything.

Build it and they will come?

I've had people sign up for a website design and think the whole world will march to their doors. Like just
build it and they will come. How far from the truth is that really? I've built websites for people and when we launch it, the client will go online the same day and call me and wonder why when they search for themselves, they can't be found.......(Google has no idea they even exist at this point in time!).

Building a website is just the 1st step. It's like building a store on the corner of Google and Bing and then never, ever advertise or market the store. Then time goes by and they wonder why there isn't any business to speak of. Well, the fact is, people don't have any idea that the store is there. Unless you advertise your store, market your store, very few people will know you are there. It's the same for your website.

You can't just build a website and expect people to be able to find it. For that matter, what you really want is for Google and other search engines to find it. Because if Google finds your site then they will show it to people who are searching for your particular product or brand. So the whole idea is to let Google know that you are alive and well and living on the Internet (and are worthy of them showing your site to prospective customers).

So you must market your site! Advertise your site!

How can this be done? SEO. Or search engine optimization. This means you need to optimize your site so Google and the other search engines know about you and think highly of you (your website).

There are so many ways to do this. On site optimization, off site optimization and others. Most on site optimization can be done when your website is being designed. Anybody can build a website but not just anybody can build a high quality, optimized site from the inside out. Where when Google comes a crawlin' they find your site to be of high quality, worthy of high ranking and relevant to your potential clients searches. Because we all know that when we have a website, we want to be on the front page of the Google searches.

Nuff said for now...........more to come.........

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

CMS Continued

There are a lot of different Content Management Systems out there. Joomla, Wordpress and Drupal just to name a few. Available templates, themes and extensions allow the CMS to "extend" it's capabilities.

You can install picture galleries, Image sliders, Contact Forms, Social Media buttons, E-commerce solutions, Booking solutions, Calenders etc......there are so many extensions out there that can really enhance the functionality of your website.

Many people think that you are restricted to certain styles and colors when you have a site built with a CMS. While that can be somewhat true, you can custom code any of these sites to gain the look that you want. Most changes can be accomplished for a little extra money but still save thousands of dollars off the cost of having a custom web site built from scratch.

Plus, having a Content Management System allows you (the business owner) to create your own unique content without paying the webmaster to do it for you. For example: let's say that you own a restaurant and being a good restaurant owner, you would like to promote your daily food specials. A CMS allows you to go into your site and change the daily specials everyday. Having the freedom to change the daily specials yourself can add tremendous value to the SEO of your site along with the fact that your customers can go to your site everyday and look at the daily specials and decide if they want to come up to your restaurant for lunch or dinner. A CMS gives you this flexibility. You can change your own website without knowing any coding at all.

A CMS built web site can give you huge value going forward....




Jeffrey Dean
LMS Website Services
248-804-9744

Why Content Management System....

Why CMS?

CMS stands for content management system. It is a software based system for creating a website.You can either code a website from scratch or you can use a CMS.

Coding a website from scratch can be a very arduous and expensive way of creating a website. Everything must be coded from scratch. Whereas, a CMS created website you can leverage the structure of existing templates and the software core to have a jump start on the coding. You start from a base and customize from there.

CMS has allowed the website creation companies to be able to create affordable websites for smaller companies! No longer do websites cost 10's of thousands of dollars. You can have a very creatively designed website now for just hundreds of dollars.

Remember though, having a website and having a website that is "found on the Internet" are two different things. Anybody can make a website but not everybody makes websites with on-page SEO created right into structure of the website......

Click here for an example of a CMS created website

More to come.......


Jeffrey Dean
Owner of LMS Website Services
www.lmswebsiteservices.com
248-804-9744

Professional Websites VS Do It Yourself Websites

Comparing a professionally built website with one of those "do it yourself" websites is a self serving subject. Since I create professional looking websites packed with good SEO juice, I'm probably biased!!! Well, not probably, I am biased. But for good reason....

There is a huge difference in a professionally created website. I will just give you some facts and let you decide for yourself.

In my experience, I can always tell when a "free" website was made by the owner of the company. (Free is really not always free in the end now are they?). Sites that you get "free" from like YP.com or ATT when you sign up for a listing (and here is where "free" is not really free since you are paying to be listed and your "free" website is included in there.....) are short on features. They look homemade. Kinda like when you look at someone's landscaping. You can always tell if the homeowner did it themselves or if they had a professional landscaping company with a landscape designer come out and do it for them. Same thing with a website.

Through the years I've looked at so many websites that you could tell were "home made". Now, is this really the impression you want to give your customers? Probably not......

A professional website looks professionally made. Your customers will go online and call you because your website says "professional company".

These particular types of websites (home made websites) are probably worth what was paid for....nothing!

Now some of the free online website creation services are much better than these "homemade" websites but are still, in the end, do it yourself websites. I will give them credit for appearances (which is important) but what about SEO (search engine optimization). They do have tools to use to help you in this but really, what do you know about SEO? With your limited knowledge of SEO do you really think you can get the results of a professional?

With Google constantly changing their algorithms how can you possibly know how to get yourself found on the Internet. And if you can't get found then what good is a website?

For example, there was a time that back links would give you great relevancy with Google and really kick start your ranking. The reasoning was, the more back links the higher the ranking. The higher the ranking, the higher you were found on Google (and let's be real, if you aren't on the first page of Google than you really aren't anywhere. And I know that the 2nd and 3rd pages are "good" too but most searchers don't even go that far). Well, now if you have too many "low quality" back links Google may even penalize your site and drop you completely off the radar (see my previous back link blog).

Have you ever heard of the Panda update? How about the Penguin? These are things a professional website creation company knows about and the average Joe doesn't. So there is incredible value in using a professional firm that can do the right thing for your company.

So if you are serious about getting into the 21st century with your marketing and you have a "homemade" website, you probably aren't getting the results that you anticipated. Creating a website built from the ground up with SEO in mind will be a great start towards your marketing goals.




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 

Do You Need To Market Your Website?

Website marketing. SEO. Search engine optimization.

These are terms that I was surprised to find out most of my clients didn't know what they were! I've been doing website creation and Internet marketing for so long I forgot that the average person doesn't know how to speak computer-ese. Or Internet marketing-ese. Or SEO-ese.

I start talking about this subject and eyes start glazing over. Hmm......lol. Well, having a company website is great but having a high quality website that gets "found on the Internet" is more important! Not all websites are created equal. A high quality website should have on-page SEO built into the site. Optimized meta tags, optimized title tags, optimized description tags, keyword density etc. See what I mean? Am I still speaking English....lol.

Plus, images should be optimized for faster page load. CSS should be compressed and minified. Gzip compression should be used. I could go on and on but your eyes would probably glaze over. The point is, that there is so much that goes into a high quality web site that Google will find relevant.

But this blog is about marketing your website. On-page SEO is the first step in a good marketing plan for your website. Once the on page aspect is taken care of now we need to "market" the website. Local SEO is different from national or even global SEO. Most of the websites I manage are local so I will focus on this area in this blog.

Claiming your website on Google+Local (Google My Business) is one thing you can do to market your site (the correct category listing in Google My Business is critical). Getting your site onto other directories like Yelp, Manta, Merchant Circle, just to name a few, is one step to perform. Getting citations and back links is important. These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to marketing (advertising) your website. 

If you were to put up a brick and mortar store would you then advertise your new store? If not, how is anybody going to know that the store is there? Or how will people patronize the store if they don't even know it exists?  Marketing your website is just as critical for the same reasons. SEO is the number one method of advertising your web site. It's very important to get visits and hence new business.

In conclusion, of course you need to advertise (market) your web site! How else will people know how and where to find you? One caveat. If your only reason for having a website is because you feel like you need an online presence (and really, doesn't everybody?) and don't want your company website to generate new business then I guess you don't need to market your site. Okay?

Nuff said for now, eh?


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