So, you put a lot of effort into creating a really great website only to find that no one can find it and Google doesn't rank your site very highly. You hear about a thing called “search engine optimization” and decide to give it a try. Before you go adding your keywords to every element of your pages and building links any way you can, take a step back and remind yourself of the old saying, “sometimes less is more”.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, or SEO, has really taken off over the last ten years as more and more fledgling webmasters have created websites, only to find that no one comes to visit. As they search around for ways to get more visitors, most of them quickly find resources on how to optimize a web page for the search engines and go right to work sprinkling keywords everywhere and building links from any place they can get them.
This causes problems for a search engine because, lets face it, you are trying to manipulate the search results and they are trying to avoid being manipulated. After all, just because YOU think your site is a great resource on a topic doesn't mean that it is. Google has already adjusted for the webmaster that is over-optimizing their website, and its called the Google “sandbox”. The sandbox is a name that disgruntled webmasters have given to the situation where a new site that should rank well for a keyword is nowhere to be found in the rankings, only to suddenly appear one day several months down the road. What is this sandbox effect and what could cause it?
One theory is that the “sandbox” is actually more of a “trustbox”, meaning that Google looks at many attributes of your site to determine if you are attempting to manipulate the search rankings. The most obvious, and the twp traps that most beginning webmasters fall into is over-optimizing on-page content and building too many low quality links too fast.
It is believed that the newer your domain is, the less tolerance Google has for over-optimization of pages, or suspiciously fast link building. Once you trip the filter, you're placed in the holding cell (“sandbox”), because Google suspects you of trying to manipulate the results. The tolerance for over-optimization may vary based on the industry, so “spammy” industries such as pharmaceutical drugs are far more sensitive to over-optimization than most. That can cause some discouragement by many who are hoping to find fast success since those industries are already competitive enough that you NEED highly optimized content and lots of links to possibly compete for top rankings, but you can't do it too quickly or you will be sandboxed.
At a recent WebmasterWorld conference, Matt Cutts from Google stated that there really wasn’t a “sandbox”, but “the algorithm might affect some sites, under some circumstances, in a way that a webmaster would perceive as being sandboxed.” This means that avoiding the sandbox is merely a matter of optimizing your site without tripping the filters in Google's algorithm.
Ask yourself these questions to avoid over-optimization penalties:
- Is your title a single target keyword phrase and nothing else?
- Is your keyword phrase found in several of the following locations: title, header, subheaders, bold or italicized words?
- Does the page read differently than you would normally speak?
- Are you in a competitive industry that is frequented by spammers?
- Have you acquired a large number of low PageRank links quickly?
- Do you have very few high PageRank (6+) links pointing to your site?
In summary, the current theory about Google's “sandbox” is that it is actually more like a holding cell where the Google “police” keep your website when it is suspected of possibly trying to manipulate the search results. As the domain ages, most sites eventually gain enough “trust” to escape the sandbox and immediately start ranking where they normally would. Remember that Google is not manually ranking every website – in the end it is simply a computer algorithm and those who are able to score well in Google's algorithm WITHOUT tripping any filters will achieve top rankings and profit the most.
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Nobody Likes Slow Websites
in Web DesignThe slower your site, the faster your visitors may leave. The infographic below highlights important stats and figures that show just how vital your website speed is and the type of impact it can have on your business.
10 Small-Business Start-Up Mistakes To Avoid
in MarketingStarting a small business is an exciting endeavor, but it's important to be aware of the potential pitfalls. Here are 10 common small-business start-up mistakes to avoid:
If you can avoid these common small-business start-up mistakes, you'll be well on your way to success.
Here are some additional tips for success:
Starting a small business is a challenging but rewarding experience. By avoiding the common mistakes listed above and following the tips provided, you can increase your chances of success.
Google Plus Introduces Giant Cover Photos
in Google, Marketing, SEOGoogle Plus introduced giant cover photos this week along with several other features in an effort to make their social network bigger and better. The new larger photos occupy nearly half the screen.
The cover photos aren't the only changes on Google Plus. The “About” tab is redesigned, and “Reviews” now compiles all of your reviews from Google Local.
These new Google Plus improvements are still rolling out, so not everyone can see them yet.
If you need help getting your cover photo ready, just contact us.
Understanding Domain Name Extensions
in Domain NamesA domain name is the text name that is corresponding to the numeric IP address of a computer on the Web. The web users access your website using your unique domain name. Domains can be registered through a number of registrars under various extensions such as .com, .org, and .net. You must check out various registrars, they may offer a wide variety of plans and prices. We recommend that you use our service at http://www.MyInternetWebsite.com.
Often, there have been scams and rip-offs in the domain registration, so you need to be very careful. You should try to find a legitimate registrar. The legitimate web providers will charge a small surcharge for covering the labor to get the domain registered and set up on their server.
Choose Your Domain Name Wisely
“.com” is short form of ‘commercial’. ‘.Com’ is the most famous extension, and is an unrestricted global domain name. Most of the businesses prefer ‘.com’ mainly because it is a well recognized business presence on the Web. The availability of ‘.com’ names have reduced, so you can also consider the other extensions.
‘.Net’ is short form of ‘network’. This is an unrestricted global domain name that is commonly used by the internet service providers and businesses, which are directly involved in the infrastructure of the Web. You can select a ‘.net’ extension for internet websites.
‘.Org’ is another global popularity winning domain name extension that is used mostly by the non-commercial web sites or non-profit organizations. ‘.Biz’ is a fairly new extension, and is short form of ‘business.’ It is mostly used by the business related websites. .Biz offers a good chance for the businesses that are unwilling for compromising their URL, when the ‘.com’ extension is already taken.
‘.Info’ is short form of “information,” and it is an unrestricted domain name. ‘.Info’ can be used for resource-based websites and brochure sites designed for reaching a customer base with the information about the business. There are other extensions such as .us, .uk, .in, .aus, etc. These types of extensions are restricted use country codes that are used by an individual or organization within their particular country.
Domain name registration is important, easy, and a strategically significant first step in establishing an online presence for your business. A well-chosen domain name can benefit your business in many ways and, I believe, plays a role in your website's ranking on search engines.
Beware of Scam Domain Renewal Notices
in Domain NamesDon't Be Fooled
You would think the higher amount would give people pause, but perhaps the higher amount makes it seem even more legitimate and urgent. Today, I received one by email which is how legitimate domain registration companies send renewals. It looked very believable. Please keep an eye out for these scams. If you receive any domain renewal notices and you aren't sure about the legitimacy, please send it to us–we'll tell you if it's real or not.
Good Web Design
in Web DesignIn today’s highly technical world, everything is online. There is nothing you cannot buy, sell, trade, research, find pictures of, or play if you have a computer and Internet connection. These days, there is a web site out there for anything you could name. This means that someone probably has a web site a lot like yours. As competition for page views grows more intense, web design more technical, and the Internet more popular, good web design becomes more important than ever before. If you have a web site, then you want visitors to view that site. Good web design is the only way to make that happen.
The average Internet cruiser is more jaded these days and harder to impress. Good web design is the only way to get repeat visitors. There are several basic key elements to good web design that we use.
Web Design Key Elements
Content. Internet search engines have grown very clever about searching content on web sites these days. Good web design is centered on your web site’s content. What keywords will people search to find your site? Once you know what your keywords are, you have to have plenty of content on your site that features those keywords. We will check your keyword content. Content is what search engines look at first, so it is here that you must make your impression.
Links. Search engines, and your visitors, love links. You want links that connect to other pages of your site, internal links, as well as external links that connect to pages outside your domain. The more links you have, the better, so use them liberally throughout your site. Links also improve the navigation of your site, which is incredibly important to good web design.
Graphics. Good colors, pictures, and interesting, appropriate fonts will make or break your web site. Graphics are going get noticed by your visitors, so you want to make an impression with the graphics on your site. Good web design is about a pleasing flow of colors, pictures, graphics, and text. We won't over clutter your pages, but make them exciting and interesting to look at.
Good web design is about learning how to balance key elements that appeal to search engines and your viewers. Your pages should flow together, your navigation should be easy, and your site filled with content. The only way to increase traffic to your site is through good web design that is updated regularly. This will ensure repeat, and new, business to your site. The more visitors you have, the better. Good web design is the only way to make that happen.
How To Get The Most Seo And Web Traffic Benefits From Blogging
in Blogging, SEOThe best way to get people and search engines (which means more people) to your website is by getting relevant inbound links.
If you have some great new gimmick on your website this may be easy as everyone will be linking to you.
However, with a basic, solid web page the process may be much more difficult and slower. How do you get people to link to you?
Blogs
Blogs can be great way to get visitors and develop a long term return. Blog posts tend to stick around for a long time. The trick here is to get people to blog about your website without forking over a bundle of your hard earned cash.
A great idea is to become a guest blogger. This would be where you write blog posts for other people’s blogs and include your link!
This puts you in the drivers seat for a couple of reasons. First you have control over exactly what is said. Secondly, if you do a good job you may have the opportunity to make regular blog posts. That will build an audience on the blogs for your writing and turn into more and higher quality traffic for your website.
The key to being a great guest blogger is to write short (3 to 6 or so paragraph) posts that are interesting, informative, humorous and relevant to the topic of the blog (and your website). Of course they should have a link to your website. Don’t over do the linking. Don’t make it sound like an advertisement or something you just cut and pasted from your website.
A few minutes to compose a couple of well thought out paragraphs could do wonders for your web traffic. Keep looking for guest blogging opportunities and never use the same post for more than one blog. One post could bring a lifetime of traffic.
This may well be your most effective way to developing quality web traffic and enhancing your the SEO for your website(s).
Contact us if you need help finding guest bloggers for your blog or if you want to write blog posts and become a guest blogger for others.
Over Optimization And The Google Sandbox
in SEOSo, you put a lot of effort into creating a really great website only to find that no one can find it and Google doesn't rank your site very highly. You hear about a thing called “search engine optimization” and decide to give it a try. Before you go adding your keywords to every element of your pages and building links any way you can, take a step back and remind yourself of the old saying, “sometimes less is more”.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, or SEO, has really taken off over the last ten years as more and more fledgling webmasters have created websites, only to find that no one comes to visit. As they search around for ways to get more visitors, most of them quickly find resources on how to optimize a web page for the search engines and go right to work sprinkling keywords everywhere and building links from any place they can get them.
This causes problems for a search engine because, lets face it, you are trying to manipulate the search results and they are trying to avoid being manipulated. After all, just because YOU think your site is a great resource on a topic doesn't mean that it is. Google has already adjusted for the webmaster that is over-optimizing their website, and its called the Google “sandbox”. The sandbox is a name that disgruntled webmasters have given to the situation where a new site that should rank well for a keyword is nowhere to be found in the rankings, only to suddenly appear one day several months down the road. What is this sandbox effect and what could cause it?
One theory is that the “sandbox” is actually more of a “trustbox”, meaning that Google looks at many attributes of your site to determine if you are attempting to manipulate the search rankings. The most obvious, and the twp traps that most beginning webmasters fall into is over-optimizing on-page content and building too many low quality links too fast.
It is believed that the newer your domain is, the less tolerance Google has for over-optimization of pages, or suspiciously fast link building. Once you trip the filter, you're placed in the holding cell (“sandbox”), because Google suspects you of trying to manipulate the results. The tolerance for over-optimization may vary based on the industry, so “spammy” industries such as pharmaceutical drugs are far more sensitive to over-optimization than most. That can cause some discouragement by many who are hoping to find fast success since those industries are already competitive enough that you NEED highly optimized content and lots of links to possibly compete for top rankings, but you can't do it too quickly or you will be sandboxed.
At a recent WebmasterWorld conference, Matt Cutts from Google stated that there really wasn’t a “sandbox”, but “the algorithm might affect some sites, under some circumstances, in a way that a webmaster would perceive as being sandboxed.” This means that avoiding the sandbox is merely a matter of optimizing your site without tripping the filters in Google's algorithm.
Ask yourself these questions to avoid over-optimization penalties:
In summary, the current theory about Google's “sandbox” is that it is actually more like a holding cell where the Google “police” keep your website when it is suspected of possibly trying to manipulate the search results. As the domain ages, most sites eventually gain enough “trust” to escape the sandbox and immediately start ranking where they normally would. Remember that Google is not manually ranking every website – in the end it is simply a computer algorithm and those who are able to score well in Google's algorithm WITHOUT tripping any filters will achieve top rankings and profit the most.
Web Design Questionnaire
in Web DesignIn order to provide you with the best service, we should fully understand your website needs. Here's a questionnaire you should review and discuss with us.
Read more
Why You Should Use a Google Ads Certified Partner
in GoogleLike many business owners, you may not have a significant amount of time to invest in learning Google Ads and managing your own advertising account. Hiring a professional can help save you time while maximizing the return on your investment. In many cases, you'll actually spend less overall using a Google Certified Partner who uses their experience to get the best results on a limited budget than if you were to manage your campaign on your own. It is just as important for a company with a small advertising budget to use a professional as it is for a large company with a huge budget.
Google Certified Partners
Google Certified Partners have invested time training and using Ads to become certified, and using their expertise may benefit your campaigns and help generate new leads and business from Google advertising programs.
In choosing a Google Certified Partner, you should consider your core advertising needs and try to match them with a professional's services. To learn more about our services, click here.