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

Merry Christmas!

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

Jeff Dean
LMS Website Services

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

Why Have A Website......

Why does every business need a website?

Did you know that in a recent survey by Inc. Magazine that over 75% of consumers search online for a local company to service their needs? And that other surveys put the percentage even higher than that! When was the last time you used the phone book to locate a local company? Even the phone book companies are building an online directory because they know that the days of the phone book are numbered.

Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY (maybe not grandma but everybody else), searches online these days. Either through their home computer, smart phone or tablet. If you are not online (your competitors are trust me) than you are missing out on all of that business that is looking for your type of company.

People I talk to tell me that even if a friend or relative refers a company to them they still go online and check them out. If there is no website then that company loses credibility. For some business's, credibility means everything.

Your website is your storefront. If you don't have a traditional brick and mortar store then your website becomes your only storefront. If you do have a traditional brick and mortar store then your website becomes your virtual storefront. When I used to run a retail store for a large floor covering chain we learned soon enough that the outside of the store was the "first impression" that the customers got when they approached the front doors. This "first impression" would carry over into their buying decisions when they entered the store. The same goes for your online storefront. If it looks great. If it is simple to navigate. If it shows well to the consumer then you have a great chance of getting that customer to actually call you or come to your store.

Have a website! Have a great looking website! Generate more business! Easy, huh??

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

Special Features on Websites

Okay, you've built a company website. You've researched and optimized your keywords (and put them in the right place). You've added images and have optimized those images and optimized your keywords within those images. What else?

Most high quality websites will have all of the above but will also have some special features. For example: if your company sells products then maybe you should have an e-commerce solution. Or maybe if you run a singles ministry at church, you may want an event calendar that shows all of the events that are planned for the month. That's just two  of a myriad of special features you can add to your website that will make it unique and interesting.

Contact forms are a great idea for a website. RSVP forms have their place too! Making your company website interactive is a great way to get your potential customers involved. If you own a restaurant then you could have reservation system in place so your customers can reserve a day and time for dinner. News sites could have an RSS feed that would bring in constant new content with breaking news. People could sign up for news alerts to be sent directly to their cell phone.

I have lots of customers with an email client installed onto their website. From this extension, the business owner can design (or I can design them for them) and send out email blasts to their customer base with new offers and news about whats going on. If designed correctly, they can send these emails out free of charge. This will be a huge savings going forward for these particular business owners. The pricing of email marketing has been getting very expensive. This is where having a way to send your own emails can really pay off. And you can launch these emails directly from your website!

An art gallery (or an artist themselves) can create a feature rich art gallery right on their own website. You can show off all of your newest art. You can combine a gallery with an e-commerce extension and show and sell your artwork right from your own website.

Special features on websites create excitement, function and interaction. Websites have come a long way from the original sites that just provided content. People want to get involved. Does your site create that option? This is just one way to upgrade your website.

Nuff said for now, eh?


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

Adding Images To Your Website

Okay, you have a new company website and you have researched your keywords that are relevant to your industry. You have populated your website with the relevant keywords and optimized your keyword density. Good start. Now what's next?

Pictures. No website will look appealing and draw customers interest unless you have some visual beauty on your website. Pictures will draw interest. Pictures will also show what your business is all about. In the early days of the Internet, pretty much every site was just a collection of text and content. Websites were very informational and were not very visually appealing. Now most websites will have pictures, videos, downloads, interactive content and more!

Visually appealing websites are a must these days. For the consumer and for Google. Now you will have to optimize your image content. Page speed is a big consideration with Google so you must optimize your images for faster load time. You will also need to optimize keywords in your image alternate text as Google will consider this also.

Adding images and video to your website is good but must also be aesthetically and strategically placed. Good design is important. You will need to keep these considerations in mind along with keeping your website clean, simple and easy to read. The consumer doesn't want to have to spend a lot of time trying to navigate your site. Remember, when it comes to a well constructed website, the consumer must be considered and Google also when designing your website.

In website design, the consumer looks for a visually appealing website, ease of use and content that is relevant to their search. Google on the other hand looks for relevant content, page speed, optimized images and video, fresh and new content, relevant back links and lots more......

If you thought building a company website was as easy as going to one of the many free or low cost website builders online then you were mistaken. As you can see, there are many many considerations to consider when building a high quality website. Building a website is critical for your companies success so you should build it right.

This is the third installment in this series on building a high quality website and dealing with consumer interactions and Internet marketing.



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

What's next?

Okay, so you have a website for your new company. Now what?

This is the second article in my new series on a new company's online presence and continued interaction with consumers and potential clients on Internet related services.

Having a website is a great start but where do you go from there? You need to get yourself found on the Internet. Google wants all of it's search results to be relevant to the searcher. People search for all kinds of things on the Internet and Google wants to be your preferred search engine. So it is important to Google to present relevant results when people search for things.

So Google has provided certain information to webmasters to insure that rules are followed thus insuring quality search results for their customers. Having a website is not enough. You need to be aware of what Google wants so that you can optimize your site to conform to those wants.

One important thing to remember is Google wants high quality fresh content on websites. If you are providing fresh content on your website, Google's search bots will find this when they crawl your site and rank you accordingly. This is one of the myriads of ranking factors involved when ranking your site albeit an important one. Probably the most important ranking factor!

So having unique, new and quality content is very important to where you will show up in search results (of course this also takes the most work).

Also, when writing your unique and high quality content it would be wise to know which keywords are important (and words you would like to rank for) and populate your content with these words. Google will add importance and relevancy to any content that provides a higher keyword density score (You can overdo this so be careful. Too high of a keyword density score and Google will assume you are trying to game the system and will penalize your site and thus your rankings!).

To sum up: New high quality content, keyword rich content and ever changing content is an important factor in whether you will show up in search results! This cannot be understated.

More to come......


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