Posts Tagged ‘SEO’

SEO Can Make or Break You

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

SEO (search engine optimization) has become a necessity for being found on the internet. There are estimated to be over 153,000,000 websites on the internet.  So how do you optimize your website to be found by search engines? What separates your website from the other millions of sites out there?

One of the main things, here, is to understand how users reach your site. Meaning, what terms they type in to find your website. Reviewing this information for your site and then comparing the keywords that are found on your site by search engines, like Google, can help you see if you are on the right track with getting found. It is important to see how the content you are writing on your website matches up with the words that people are searching on the internet in order to find your site.  If these two areas are not matching up then you need to adjust your keywords on your site and in your content to match the words or phrases that people are using to search for you or your product in order to be found.

Do you know your keywords?

Often people and businesses have self-proclaimed SEO experts set up their search engine optimization, which is fine, as long as it is being done correctly.  It is important to understand what the keywords are on your website and why these words were chosen.  Don’t be afraid to ask for the reasoning behind the keywords and the list of keywords that are being used for each page of your website. This is information that belongs to your website – not the website designer or developer.  You have a right to know what is on your site and how it is being accessed.  If you aren’t sure what is on your current site, and would like to know how your SEO is ranking, feel free to call Integris Marketing today at 775.322.3663 or, for a Free Website Assessment, click here.

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Posted in In-Bound Links, Local SEO, Online Advertising In Reno, Online Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Website Copywriting | No Comments »

Update Your Website Frequently the Easy Way

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Relevance in Search Results

When you use a search engine, like Google, you are looking for the match to the keywords you type in that are most relevant.  This means they may have a local aspect if you are searching for restaraunts or movie theatres, as well as a date.  Most of the time when we search for something, we want the most up to date results. If we are asking about information on movie times, we want them in a chronological order – with the most recent events first.

The Google Algorithm

Google is not only aware of this need, but they have worked out several updates to their algorithm that will impact the results returned based on the data stored about the pages – including dates.  So what does this mean and why do you care?

A Common Problem

Here at Integris Marketing, we have several inquiries each week about how to show up at the top of the search engine results page.  There are several things that can help, but we found this blog from Entrepreneur.com that covers an online strategy which we often promote ourselves as a continuing solution for keeping your website up to date and in the recent search engine results – a blog.

The Solution

Having a blog ensures that your website will be considered ‘updated’ each time you create and publish a post.  This won’t solve all your problems, because it is important to have highly searched and relevant keywords set up in the meta fields for each of your website pages, but that is simple SEO and is fairly static.  The solution with blogs is that Google will notice that you are updating and posting new information on your site, and as the blog describes, those that are not posting new content on their website will be left off the search engine results pages more and more in the future.

Additional Benefits of Blogging

This will not only give you the benefits of updating your website each time you post something, but it can also increase the engagement of your audience. You want to gain more customers, but with a good blog you can also build brand loyal customers, who trust you for pertinent information.  Blogging can be easy and is often free, depending on the platform you use, so don’t delay – start your blog today!

 

If you would like customized help with setting up a blog and even finding content for your blog, please contact us today at 775.322.3663 or toll free at 1.800.233.0239!

 

LINK: http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/220662 blog post about increased need for blogs on websites in order to be found by search engines

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Posted in In-Bound Links, Online Marketing, Social Media, Website Copywriting, WordPress | No Comments »

What is SEM and How Can it Help My Business?

Saturday, August 6th, 2011

SEM, SEO, and SERPs….Oh my! What the heck is the difference and what does it mean to you?

Here’s the low-down:

Search Engine Marketing, (SEM), according to Wikipedia, is a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) through the use of paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion.  This is different than Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which “optimizes” website content to achieve a higher ranking in search results, for example, by incorporating specific keywords or links associated with the website.

Search Engine Marketing is basically a way to pay to put your name out there in all the search engines.

Some of the SEM Tools

“SEM uses ad words, pay per call (particularly beneficial for local providers as it enables potential consumers to get in touch directly to a company with one click), article submissions, advertising and making sure SEO has been done. A keyword analysis is performed for both SEO and SEM, but not necessarily at the same time. SEM and SEO both need to be monitored and updated frequently to reflect changing usage.”

If you have questions about how SEM can specifically help your business, we’d love to help! Visit our page on SEM, or contact us for a personal review of your website!

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Posted in Online Marketing, SEO | No Comments »

In-Bound Link Building Tips to Help Local (Reno) SEO

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

The Basics for In-Bound Link-Building

Easy enough. It just takes time & planning to manage your approach.

Integris Marketing Blog PostIn-Bound Link Building is Important for SEO Success. Whether Your Business is Local (Reno), Regional or International, search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing use this seemingly simple search engine ranking parameter as an indication your website’s relative popularity. This in turn influences the search engines decision in rating your relevance for search queries and ultimately affects your search engine ranking or opportunities for first page display.

In-Bound Link Bottom Line: If you don’t have inbound links and your competitors do, then to put it bluntly,  you will not rank as well as them. (Want to learn about the top Search Engine Ranking Factors… then go here >)

Here Are 2 Things To NOT Do For Building In-Bound Links

It all makes sense if you think about it or understand the industry and the sophistication of Search Engine ranking algorhythms (Here is a link to an older March 2007 article but the thrust is a solid foundational concept for this).

It really boils down to 2 things of what not to do for inbound link building:

  1. Don’t Use Link Farms (See This Wikipedia Page for more information about Link Farms). According to Google, “a site that participates in a link farm may have its search rankings penalized”, and “Links from related sites carry more weight than those from irrelevant sites”.
  2. Try not to use Off-Topic Links (Relevant On-Topic Links build credibility in the eyes of Search Engines… And yes, they do know.)

Six Basic Strategies for In-Bound Link Building

Anyone and everyone with a website should make some effort to include these 6 Link Building strategies if you are serious about top performance for Search Engine Ranking.

  1. Make More Content! – Search Engines need content in order to deliver relevant and current results to search queries. Better results from search engines mean more people will use them. This in turn makes them a better platform for advertising dollars (This is America after all). The bottom line is search engines need the new content just as much as you need to generate it, distribute it and have it link back to you. The solution is to write articles, publish them online (on a relevant blog site or an ezine or article website – There are tons of them out there such as articlebase.com).
  2. Social Media – Serious about in-bound links? Then get serious about social media. There are lots of ways to leverage this. If you don’t know how, take a class, talk to some social media guru, or just dive in. Be conscious of the appropriate linking patterns and partners out there and be careful you don’t spend too much time doing this. It can be a real time sink. Think of it as something to adopt over time and that you will keep up with. It is better to do a little dribble consistently then do a lot and then burn out and drop off the map… especially as far as Search Engines are concerned.
  3. Relevant Online Directories – Online Directories are a great place for links. That’s what they are for… listing websites. Some are free and some are pay. Do what you can to get in them and have a budget (time and $$$) that makes sense for you. Here are the biggies: DMOZ (can take a while to get listed), Yahoo (Expensive). Some other well known online directories include: Business.com, BestOfTheWeb.com, GoGuides.com and MassiveLinks.com. There are many others that have narrow niche appeal. The best approach is to identify the best ranked ones and then submit your listing to them. Rinse and repeat.
  4. Online Video – First a quick question… Do you know what the worlds second most used search engine is? If you guessed YouTube you guessed right. So Videos can get you inbound links, visibility and some brand or service awareness. If you get it right it can even go “viral”! There are tons of video sites out there (YouTube, Viddler, Vimeo to name a few). If you do video then distribute them to different sources and watch and compare results and see which ones work best for you. And be sure to have some fun along the way. (Note: Professional Video production can be quite costly. You need to balance quality and budget to get the most bang for your video buck. And don’t forget, there is always the webcam on your local computer approach if you are on a shoestring.)
  5. Online Classifieds – Yep, this often overlooked little gem will get you inbound links. Think CraigsList.org or any of the other online classifieds (some are free and some are pay). And who knows.. besides the link you get, maybe someone will buy what you are selling!
  6. Online Press Releases – Huh? That’s right.. you can distribute your own online press releases. (But I recommend hitting your local news outlets first so they can get the “scoop” before it hits the big ol’ web. It’s a professional courtesy thing.) This is a great way to get in-bound links. You can use the paid versions such as as PRweb.com or go for the free ones such as PRlog.com. As with all things online there are lots of options so be sure to compare apples to apples when it comes to getting your press release sent out online.

Hope that helps! This is the basic approach that we offer clients as starting points for their in-bound link building campaign. And if you want to share a reciprocal link with us, just send us a note or give us a call, and we will see what we can do!

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Posted in In-Bound Links, Local SEO, Online Marketing, PR, Reno Marketing Meanderings, SEO, Social Media, Uncategorized, Website Copywriting | No Comments »

WordPress Blog Design-Help Your Reno (Local) SEO

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

Hey Reno Businesses… Want a Cool WordPress Blog Design?

Who doesn’t… but what you need to know is that having a “cool blog design” is no longer enough.

An Optimized WordPress Blog Design needs to capture visitors, show value, sell products or services, capture leads and keep up with the latest web technologies.

In the old days of the web… having a website… any website, whether a traditional static website filled with words, or a site of pretty pictures or even Flash animations was enough. It had the “wow” factor… All just because you had the site.

No more… Websites have become a very sophisticated platforms that are an important part of the promotional and marketing effort. The artifacts of yesteryear,  such as the notoriously expensive, sales-rep hyped, and ineffective Yellow Page Ads or other less-than-targeted marketing vehicles and publications are becoming increasingly less effective. This is especially true for businesses who are forward thinking in their promotional approach, or have more sophisticated audiences they need to communicate with.

What’s the solution? First let’s look at what a website needs to do and fast-forward to today’s website demands before we decide.

  1. A website needs to be able to be found by people who are searching for your product or service (Think Search Engine Optimized or Local SEO)
  2. Once they see your listing on Google (Hopefully first the page of Google or other search engine) it needs to be somewhat compelling in order for people to click on the link
  3. The website needs to be inviting once they get there and give them relevant options for interaction, sales or sign-ups
  4. Convey a sense of credibility and sophistication
  5. Provide a comfortable experience that delivers value
  6. Has ways for you to engage and track visitors

A tall order for any website no matter how big your budget is. Once you start considering the cost of website design, maintenance, updating and modification, content generation, software upgrades and you have the potential for a hornet’s nest of expense, complexity and less than optimal results.

Enter the Humble WordPress Blogging Platform

The coolest, least expensive, most powerful, and highly customizable blog design platform that any business could hope for.

WordPress levels the playing field of the World Wide Web. The technology that WordPress uses, used to cost 10′s of thousands of dollars. But thanks to the WordPress and the Open Source community that supports it, WordPress has made the old expensive web paradigm a thing of the past. The powerful technology that is built into WordPress is free! And the plug-ins that support it… they are free too or are offered at a very low or modest cost.

A well executed WordPress Blog Design is the answer for what small businesses need to succeed on the web whether the need is superior design, uber-optimized SEO, or super-charged local search engine optimization.

In short, a well executed and well designed WordPress Blog embodies what the internet was designed for… optimized search engine results through relevant content generation.

If you need more information about how a WordPress Blog Design can help your business, you can give us a call (775.322.3663). But watch out, we love WordPress, so don’t be surprised if we talk your ear off.

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Posted in Blog Design, Local SEO, SEO, Uncategorized, web design, WordPress | No Comments »

Reno Businesses Can Dominate Local Search Engine Results (Part 3 of 6)

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Part 3 of 6 – Reno SEO Expert* Shares Some Phase 1 “Secrets of Local Google Dominance”

It’s Not That Hard If You Understand a Few Basic SEO Ingredients

The 5 Most Important Tips for the Do-It-Yourself SEO-preneur or Small Business Owner

For this mini-article, we will look at 5 areas of basic SEO concepts. These are important to business who wants a local, top-performing search engine presence. By faithfully following this approach you will improve your Search Engine Rankings giving you superior Local Search Engine Results.

Tip 2 of 5) SEO Strategy:

The BEST and LOWEST COST SEO Technology for Small Businesses

In a word: WordPress. Our website is built on it (and so is this blog) and as of this writing (March 8, 2010) we are at 38 days of being live and we are quickly eclipsing several local firms who have been around for years. And if we can do this so can you! We went from no-where’s-ville to actually getting page 1 Google ranking for several primary and secondary keyword phrases… And we are just getting started.

Why WordPress? Because it works. Not only as a base package but also because there are a slew of 3rd party plugins that will Super-charge your Local SEO Performance unlike those low-cost “website builders” or “website generators” out there with all sorts of marketing hype attached to them. The problem is they all stink from the perspective of SEO (IMHO). They just under-deliver when it comes to SEO because they are not built on a strong understanding of what it takes to succeed with top-ranking SEO Performance.

But just because WordPress is “Free”, be sure to NOT use the “free WordPress themes” out there, but instead, opt for professional themes that are designed to be optimized for SEO. These are built with better code and also don’t have the built-in back-links to nefarious websites that can get you black-listed in Google (Not a good thing). Also be sure to include a solid set of 3rd party plug-ins or choose a WordPress template  that is already set up to optimize your site for the leading search engines, most notably, Google and Bing.

And remember, search engines are the friend of local businesses and should be apart of your online marketing strategy, no matter if you are in Reno, Sparks, Tahoe or New York City. Most people use the internet to find local businesses they can buy from.

So whether you are on a budget and just getting started, or if you are an established business with a strong website, WordPress, if set-up and managed consistently, can help you with your local search engine rankings. I like to think of blogs, and in particular, WordPress Blogs, as today’s digital business card for your growing enterprise.

Coming next: “Knowledge, Research & Curiosity: Learn about your competitors”. Date for next post will be March 10, 2010

*Reno SEO Expert. A paid professional who can provide measurable results and demonstrate ROI for promised SEO services and also be able to share success stories for past clients they have worked with.

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Posted in Local SEO, Online Marketing, SEO, WordPress | No Comments »

Reno Businesses Can Dominate Local Search Engine Results (Part 1 of 6)

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Reno SEO Expert* Shares Some Phase 1 “Secrets of Local Google Dominance”

It’s Not That Hard If You Understand a Few Basic SEO Ingredients

In most cities and towns around the world, including business right here in the Reno, Sparks, Tahoe area, the majority of businesses sell to the local customer base. This is of course as it should be because local business success is so vital to any regions economy. So with almost universal use of the internet to gather info about local businesses, it’s time for local businesses to to get savvy about how they can start to “show up” in front of local customers when they are looking to buy.

But it’s pretty clear that most businesses don’t have a clue about how do do this. More often than not, what I hear when I talk to prospective clients that are local Reno and Sparks businesses is the same question over and over:

“How to get to the top of Google… How, oh how, oh how?!” <insert much hand-wringing and sighing>

You have to wonder if there isn’t a straight-forward solution.

The good news is… There is! But first a little factoid for you (Source: Nielsen Online MegaPanel in October 2008):

“Though 63% of consumers and small business owners turn to the internet first for information about local companies and 82% use search engines to do so, only 44% of small businesses have a website and half spend less than 10% of their marketing budget online.”

What you need to know is that getting to the top of Google or Bing (or Bing, or MSN or Yahoo which I think will all one day be one search engine) really isn’t that hard. All it takes is some, Time, Commitment, a little Knowledge, the Right Technology, with a healthy dose of Strategy.

(Stay tuned for Part 2 coming Mar. 5, 2010 with more info about the first of the 5 core elements, Time, Commitment, Knowledge, Technology, Strategy)

*Reno SEO Expert. A paid professional who can provide measurable results and demonstrate ROI for promised SEO services and also be able to share success stories for past clients they have worked with.

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Posted in Local SEO, Online Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Tips for Professional Website SEO Copywriting

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Every Website Needs Good SEO Copywriting

Copywriting & Copy-editing for websites requires a different approach to help with visitor conversion

As all SEO experts know, the best-performing SEO efforts start with great content or copywriting. The kind of content that is made of words as opposed to pretty pictures.

Website copywriting needs to get good results for search engines
as well as for website visitors

Here at Integris Marketing we have developed a set of guidelines that have given our clients good results for search engines as well as reader interest and all important buyer “Call-To-Action”. Conceived and designed on solid SEO principles, we also take advantage of the way people scan and absorb information. The result is that we end up with content that gets the attention of search engines, but also quickly provides the information people want or helps them take some desired action (think sales!).

So for our Do-It-Yourself Copywriters out there, here are Integris Marketing’s…

Top 10 Website Copywriting Tips

  1. Simplify! This is true for print and web but we feel it is of utmost importance for the online reader. The goal is to allow the reader to get to the information they need quickly without having to really think about it.
  2. Use the Right Structure: Make the main point at the beginning or top of the page. As the page descends add additional info broken up by sub-heads to deliver additional support information. This allows readers to scan and read more when presented with a topic or point of interest.
  3. Don’t Scream, Yell or use Hyperbole: Internet users are getting more and more sophisticated. As a result they are very sensitive to overt and pressured sales overtures as well as excessive use of adjectives. Say it fast and say it straight… Be Factual, Clear, and Concise (and yes you can keep the message in your own voice and style).
  4. Support Reader Scanning: Use simple Headlines and Sub-heads in your text with key ideas and keywords. Our general guideline is to use sub-heads often. We use them every paragraph or two. We try to never go beyond three paragraphs without introducing a sub-header for our web copywriting.
  5. Keep Sentences Short: This is a hard one for me. But it is what we suggest. It’s just part of our sound-byte culture I guess. Enough said.
  6. Bold or Highlight Important Words or Phrases: The goal is to catch the scanning eye. Search Engines seem to like Bold Text for copywriting SEO ranking. Do what works for your needs and audience.
  7. Say it Plain: Don’t get too fancy with geek talk. And don’t use language that is too difficult to read or understand. Tailor the use of language so it works for the intended reader; veterinarian, plumber or bride-to-be. Get clear on your reader and their needs! Who knows, do this right and you may well become a copywriter guru of some fame (or notoriety).
  8. Use Bullet Points (Or Numbered Lists): What’s easier to scan that a headline or a sub-head? A Bullet List! As long as they aren’t too long. We like to work in groups of 3′s when we can. We never ever go beyond 7. That’s when the dreaded eyes-glazed-over syndrome begins to set in… and that’s definitely a bad thing. Only use more than 7 bullet points for Corporate Annual Reports or college text books where people are used to that sort of thing, and as likely as not, are using them as sleep-aids already.
  9. Use an Active Voice and Active Verbs: Make your writing something people can engage with mentally, and if for sales, take some action!
  10. Use Links in your Text: People see links as resources. The reason they are reading is to get information they can use. If you have links then people can get more deeply connected to the information you are presenting (assuming you don’t send them away to other sites too often). Here’s a link to: Why we decided to use WordPress to build this website >

Well there you have it. And just remember this is a process. Don’t toss out everything you have written on your website. As you move forward, just keep this in mind and you will keep more people interested in what you are saying (and keep the search engines coming back for more).

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Posted in SEO, Website Copywriting | No Comments »

It Takes a Team to Build a Website

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Building Your Own Website?

It’s not for the faint-of-heart…

I love the small business owner who wants to make their own website… So courageous! And perhaps a bit shortsighted.

But then again, we all have to start somewhere.

I must admit in the early days (with one or two days of hair-pulling way back in the exciting days of 1994-1995ish when the web was oh so young and small) I thought that I could probably learn to code a website myself…

Soon though I was asking “But why should I? I don’t really like this coding part… It never looks like what my vision is”. My brain just seemed to be wired in a different way and I realized right away I needed help.. or if you will, a team to help me.

And so began my journey into the realm of team interaction to build projects for myself, clients, friends and family.

Does anyone ever really build their own website anymore really?

Take this site.. even at first simplistic overview. This humble website has taken 7 people to make it happen and get it to the current state of soft launch.

  1. Creative Director & Designer & Writer (Yours truly, Blair O’Neil)
  2. Another writer & editor (Judith Harlan)
  3. Yet another editor, collaborator and vision holder (Jenna O’Neil)
  4. System administrators (Melissa W. & Jenna)
  5. IT & Server Manager (Ken Williams)
  6. A project manager and Google Adwords promoter and SEO-minded individual (Stephen R.).
  7. And of course the critical job of HTML coder and WordPress expert (John Schroedel).

Plus website bells and whistles – Time for research!

And even though we had the team and the vision, we still needed the right technology that fit that our needs and vision.

Enter the dreaded “Time for research” black hole.

Now we have to find, evaluate and integrate all the other software and plugins that need to installed linked and configured… Things that do email, that stop spammers, that help with SEO, that organize content, display portfolios and that are helpful for gathering information about site visitors, linking to social media and other sites… plus the various forms for questions, RFQs and Referrals. Then there are the site visitors and friends that are more than happy to give advice (thank you very much!) that allows us to evolve, have fun and still provide good value to our treasured clients.

And for lots of businesses it doesn’t stop there. You need database connections, ads, live-feed data streams, video feeds, live chat modules, e-commerce, appointment setting software integration, calendars and on and on. And it just keeps getting more and more complex as the days roll by.

I think that if you begin to total everything up you end up with a huge pool of people that are indirectly involved.. likely thousands… and we are just getting started!

So does it take a team to build a website?

Well I say “YES” if you are truly serious about the well-crafted message, the integrated design, adherence to your brand and integration with best practices for SEO.

But can you do it yourself? You bet you can. Lots of people do. It’s just that very few of them do it successfully. (But if you are a business owner why are you working on your own website instead of making sales? Do you know what your high payoff activities really are? What really brings the cash in the door? Sounds like another post in the making. For now just check out these local Reno/Sparks Sales and Business Consulting resources that might be able to help you with this… Sales Class, Sales Training Information & Consulting, Business Consulting that Actually Works!)

But if you are going to do this yourself I have one word of advice: “WordPress” (Because it will grow with you and you can grow with it. It’s not too hard, it’s a low cost item, relatively easy to deploy and gives you access to some of the best web technology on the planet… but’s that another blog post or so)

So if you think you can build a website yourself—All I can say is good luck and be sure to send me an email when you’re done.

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Posted in Design Meanderings, Website Design, WordPress | No Comments »

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