News and Blog

Links Still Have Real SEO Value

Submitted by a.foley on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 12:36

Here are three simple, but unsurprising, key takeaways from the study:

  • Publish great content that is relevant to your target audience (and will naturally attract links).
  • Market your company on multiple channels (don’t just rely on organic search traffic).
  • Avoid junky tactics that will get you penalized (such as buying links).

Google has added many signals to its ranking algorithm over the years, everything from page speed, to mobile-friendliness, to RankBrain.

So if, for any odd reason, you didn’t know that links matter – or if you forgot or were led astray by other correlation reports and newer, shinier trends – now you know. Links are (still!) an essential ranking factor.

Ecommerce
Marketing
SEO

Marketing Strategies to help the Success of your online business

Submitted by a.foley on Tue, 07/19/2016 - 10:42

The internet has radically transformed how we build and promote businesses: We have access to far more resources and far more potential than ever before.
Here are some online strategies you should use:
1. Personal branding.
Branding yourself, before your company, gives you the opportunity to leverage a more trustworthy, personal image to promote your brand.
2. Content marketing.
Content marketing takes a variety of forms, and depending on how you form your strategy, could accomplish a number of different goals. For example, you could use white papers, ebooks and other long-form content to attract downloads, signups and conversions, or you could use an on-site blog to attract more inbound traffic to your site.
3. Search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is the process of making your site more visible in search engines, so you get more traffic from people searching for the products or services you offer. 
4. Conversion optimization.

Business
Ecommerce
Marketing
SEO
Social Media

How a dedicated IP address and SSL certificate affects your search engine rankings

Submitted by a.foley on Mon, 07/18/2016 - 10:23

1. How a dedicated IP address affects your search engine rankings

Every online business uses a hosting company and most of the time pay no attention to what kind of IP address was assigned to their hosting account, be it a “dedicated or shared hosting IP address.”

There are two types of IP addresses in the web hosting industry and they are:

Shared IP address: this means there are numerous websites sharing the same address. The hosting server determines which website is requested by the URL entered.
Dedicated IP address: this means a website has its own IP address. Typing in the URL of the website or its IP address would bring you to the same website.
Mind you, there are controversies around dedicated IP addresses for SEO and questions around whether a dedicated IP address would actually boost rankings.

Business
Ecommerce
SEO

10 factors that may be impacting your organic traffic

Submitted by a.foley on Fri, 07/15/2016 - 10:38

Whether you’re a seasoned SEO or someone who runs your own business, you know there are fluctuations in your organic traffic, but you may struggle to pinpoint the root cause.

Organic search, unlike its paid counterpart, comes with a unique set of challenges in diagnosing a decline in traffic and conversions. There are some obvious places you can mine for insights (Google Analytics, Google Search Console), but other factors at play can be harder to quantify.

1. Your pages aren’t indexed
Conduct a quick Google search using “site:yourwebsite.com” to make sure your pages are actually indexed. 

2. Bot filters
Are you currently excluding all known bots and spiders in Google Analytics?

Business
Ecommerce
Marketing
PPC
SEO

7 Reasons to hire a pro for SEO

Submitted by admin on Thu, 07/14/2016 - 10:19

Search engine optimization (SEO) has long been an important strategy for business success, and it’s becoming more relevant. More people are ditching desktops and laptops in favor of mobile-only devices, and conversion rates on smartphones are 15 times higher from searches than as a result of social media recommendations.
SEO can bring a lot of value, so whether you should be managing it yourself is worth some thought. Here are seven compelling reasons to hire a pro.
1. SEO is not easy.
In reality, an effective SEO strategy covers a lot of ground. There are technical considerations specific to your website, content optimization, user experience and effective backlinking. Not to mention optimization for other emerging rank factors.
2. The rules keep changing.

Business
Ecommerce
Marketing
SEO

Google rolling out major change to PLAs for broad product queries

Submitted by a.foley on Wed, 07/13/2016 - 11:26

The biggest announcement is a new ad format for broad, non-brand product searches like “women’s dresses” or “patio furniture”. Google says 40 percent of product queries are for these kinds of broad terms. Where in the past Google has often either not shown any product listing ads on broad queries or shown individual products (“patio furniture”, for example, might yield a mix of individual dining and lounge sets), going forward Google will show what it’s calling Showcase Shopping Ads. Ads appear with a main image and two smaller side images related to the product search. At the bottom of the ad is space for a promotional message or distance to the location for Local Inventory advertisers.

Business
Marketing
News
PPC

Key Improvements for an Ecommerce site relaunch

Submitted by a.foley on Tue, 07/12/2016 - 10:58

Many elements go into relaunching a site. Design and structure play a huge role, if your site doens't work properly you aren't going to get many users. Here are some key factors to consider when relaunching your ecommerce site:

Mobile Friendly

More and more users are shopping from their phones rather than desktop computers. The age of smart phones has taken mobile commerce to new heights.

Site speed

Speed matters! On average a user decides in 3-5 seconds wether to stay or move on from a site.

Social proof

A subtle pop up showing the user what customers are currently purchasing gently give a nudge for the user to check out said product.

Product Images

Do not underestimate the power of images. Product images play a key role in a customer's decision to purchase a product.

Delivery

Shoppers increasingly expect greater convience in terms of shipping options and speed.

Product details

Conversion Optimization
Design
Ecommerce

Why is UX important?

Submitted by a.foley on Wed, 07/06/2016 - 10:54

In terms of design, user experience is just as important as visual identity. Seriously. It doesn’t matter what your site or app looks like if people don’t know how to interact with it. And moreover, they need to enjoy that interaction. While UX is important for any digital product, it is even more important for certain types of digital products: complex sites or applications, retail or online sales, start-up sites and businesses, small-budget projects and projects or sites that are expected to last a long time.

UX is key for complex sites because users must be able to easily navigate the site and understand how to use it. Neglecting UX can result in a sloppy site that people will not come back to. Developing an interaction-rich experience will drive users back to a site.

Business
Design
Marketing

3 Techniques to start your Social Media Marketing Campaign

Submitted by a.foley on Tue, 07/05/2016 - 10:45

Social media is becoming one of the largest marketing platforms in the world. According to Fast Company, 93 percent of marketers use social media for business. However, many find it difficult to employ social media marketing without any prior experience. Here are three easy ways to utilize social media marketing for your start-up or small business:

1. Engage your Audience
Social media is all about the content. The best way to engage users is to post relevant and intriguing content on a regular basis. 

2. Use the Networks that Matter
There are hundreds of social media platforms out there, but there are only a few worth using. Some big players include: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Business
Marketing
Social Media

Building or Re-Designing a Website?

Submitted by a.foley on Fri, 07/01/2016 - 13:18

When building or re-deisgning a website your main goal should be to get it right the first time. That means having the correct design and development teams, and having a SEO professional all working together from the start. If you leave out a key ingredient like SEO you site will look great and function properly, but it is unlikely that many users will see it.

Your goal is to maximize sale and revenue, both require users to see and use your site. High organic search rankings can be achieved if SEO tactics are implemented early on. Trying to play catch up with SEO is a very long process - not to say that it can not be done, it just takes longer to achieve your goals.

Business
Conversion Optimization
Design
Ecommerce
Marketing
SEO
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