SEO Huh? Continued 2

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 CMS?

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 Looking Website VS Do it Yourself Website

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 Website Mobile Optimized?

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