Myths of Search Engine Optimization – SEO Tips by Gervais Group

There’s much that is misunderstood regarding search engine optimization including some myths that have been dispelled but seem to carry on anyway. Here are a few of them:

1) New content always helps improve rankings on search engine results pages – New content might increase the frequency of spiders returning to a site but it’s not going to do much for rankings if it’s not relevant. Optimized new content that isn’t stuffed with keywords will help, especially if done consistently.

2) Meta tags must be rich with keywords to help with rankings – One of the early black hat techniques stuffed irrelevant keywords into meta tags. Once the search engines figured it out, they classified the tags as spam and don’t give points for it anymore. Meta titles and descriptions do help with rankings

3)  For SEO to be effective it must be submitted to the search engines repeatedly – Not true, the spiders are what count now. Search engine optimization, when properly executed and marketed, is very effective regardless of submissions.

4) Flash kills search engine optimization – Flash doesn’t kill SEO; it just doesn’t score with the search engines. Where flash hurts is when it is relied on exclusively. The spiders don’t read it so if there’s nothing to index there’s a problem. That being said, a little flash never hurt anyone.

5) A site that isn’t getting much traffic doesn’t need search engine optimization or marketing – Well, it may not be getting any visitors because it’s doing neither of these activities to drive traffic to the website in the first place.

6) Buying links will get a site banned – Black hat techniques used to manipulate the rankings can get a site banned but buying links isn’t considered to be one of those practices. If crawlers determine the link is paid, it won’t count the votes from that link but that’s a lot better than being banned.

7) Search engine optimization has failed if the site doesn’t rank as a number one – For search engine optimization to be effective, it must deliver a return on investment. That return can be wiped out if optimization isn’t cost effective, which can be the case in going after number one rankings. Due to the drop-off from page one to page two on all search engines, a page one ranking is important, but a cost effective ranking in the seventh spot is much better than budget busting number one ranking.

The one thing that will always be true about search engine optimization is that it is constantly evolving. The algorithms and the general environment can change so quickly that what might be true today could end up on someone else’s “list of myths” tomorrow. The other possibility is that the myths written about today become truths at some point in the future, so stay tuned

Marketing Your Website Effectively – SEO Tips by Gervais Group

Developing a quality Internet marketing program involves so many elements that doing it all in-house is near impossible.  Having a highly skilled team of experts handling your search engine marketing, online reputation management, website design and other aspects is one of the keys to maximizing your return on investment (ROI).

Here are some key aspects of effectively marketing yourself on the Internet:

SEO – Search engine optimization (SEO) was once something of a mystery to most companies, but now is recognized as the great equalizer.  Quality SEO can get a small company the kinds of search engine results that you’d expect from Microsoft or some other large corporation.  Specifically, SEO is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a website from search engines through natural (also called organic) search results.  To boil that down, when a house wife in Tulsa goes onto Google to search for milk delivery services, quality SEO will help you become one of the top five to ten results Google pulls up.

ORM – Online reputation management (ORM) is one of the areas that effective SEO can impact.  Online reputation management is the process of tracking the actions and opinions of others.  In this case, it could mean tracking what messages bloggers are writing about you, how your company or product is being discussed in opinion forums, or whether or not there are pro/con websites in existence targeted towards you.  Not all opinions floating around cyber space are negative, but ORM is vital to every company or business person.  If your SEO is effective, it can assure you positive results on the Web, and it can also be targeted towards developing quality branding.  You can target blogs with negative comments, use SEO to improve what terms come up in relation to your company/product/service and much more.

Web Design – Many people don’t understand this, but every element of your website is important for your online marketing program.  Even the HTML coding you use can increase or decrease the quality of your SEO, ORM and general online marketing.  There’s the obvious impact of website design, which is that if your site is designed poorly, or if it takes a long time to load on the average person’s computer, people will choose not to utilize your site.  However, HTML plays a large part in how search engines rank websites, and only a qualified Web marketing team, like the Gervais Group, will keep that in mind when designing your total online marketing program.

SEM – Search Engine Marketing uses many of these factors, SEO, ORM, web design, keywords and more to advertise, market and promote your company.  Search engine marketing relies heavily on SEO, because that’s the primary mode of impacting your Google ranking and results for other search engine results.

If you have a product or service to market online, you need a quality online marketing team like the Gervais Group to help make that happen.  Their successful track record of marketing the services of other organizations is unparalleled in the industry.  Contact the Gervais Group today at 770-529-2262.

Grabbing Visitors with Content – SEO Tips by Gervais Group

Gervais Group – Web Design and SEO Tips by Gervais Group

The Problem
So you’ve optimized your site for the search engines and have a marketing plan in place that’s giving you great rankings on the results pages. The traffic to your site is on the increase and you’re feeling pretty good about things. Conversions haven’t started kicking in yet but you know that it’s just a matter of time.
Time passes, and those conversions still aren’t happening. You’ve been so happy with the traffic numbers that you haven’t looked any deeper to see what’s really happening when visitors get to the site. A quick look at your analytics shows a big problem; your visitors are certainly arriving but they’re bouncing out just as quickly. Another piece of data shows that they’re not coming back, either. What you have is a lot of new visitors hanging around for a handful of seconds and then leaving, never to return. Taking a look at the various landing pages gives you some solace because, at first glance, they look great. You’re still happy with the design and layout with your pages, they’re loading quickly and they really pop when they open. So far, so good.
It’s only after reading the text on the pages that you see the problem, and it’s horrible. Your content, even though it’s optimized with your keywords, is disjointed, unorganized, and gives the appearance of being written by a third grader. It’s no wonder visitors are bouncing. It’s also not a surprise that they aren’t returning. Whatever credibility your site is establishing with its first impression, it’s losing that and more as soon as a visitor takes a look at what is written on each page.

The Fix
People are no longer impressed just to be cruising around the internet. The “Been there, done that” mentality of searchers on the web means that content must now offer much more than just keywords and phrases in terms of keeping visitors on your site and motivating them to return in the future. Content that is well-written and compels visitors toward conversion is now one of the most important facets of your website. Delivering what your visitors are looking for will keep them coming back to both visit and make purchases from your site. Here’s what they’re looking for:

* Fresh content – Original content with your own personal spin will give your site some character and differentiate it from your competition. Keeping it fresh will both help with your rankings on search engine results pages and keep visitors coming back to see what’s new on your site.
* Related content – Make sure your content is related to what your visitors are searching for. Being all over the board with your content can confuse and alienate your visitors.
* Timed content – Tying current events to your content extends both credibility and relevance of your site, products, and services.
* Targeted content – Direct your content at your target market. Don’t be afraid to offer specific and/or technical content. Expertise in an area requires thorough knowledge and conveying that will build credibility and trust.
* Directional content – You want your content to guide your visitor through the conversion process in as simple a manner as possible. Content that helps your visitor buy what you’re offering works better than selling to them.

Providing your site visitors with a dynamic and informative experience, related to what they’re searching for will motivate them to return to your site, stay on it, and increase the odds that they will buy from you. But the fight for rankings, visitors, and conversions, is more than just a function of search engine optimization and marketing. It’s a fight for trust and credibility, which begins – and ends – with high quality content.

Is it Time to Go Back to the Drawing Board? – SEO Tips by Gervais Group

SEO Tips by Gervais Group

So you hired a designer to build a site, even going as far as stretching your budget a little for that super-cool flash intro. It’s beautiful, functional, and it’s not generating a penny in sales. What happened? Well, there are countless ways for a site to be dysfunctional. The following are just a few issues that may require a trip back to the drawing board:  

* The site is more of an on-line brochure than an e-commerce site – Search engine optimization (SEO) is only half of the battle. Your site needs to search engine marketed as well. Without it, the only way anyone is going to find it is if they see it on your business card. It’s still a common mistake to assume that “If you build it, they will come”. With 600 million websites out there you’re going to have to market the site to push it into, at minimum, the top twenty rankings on the search engines. Why the top twenty? The traffic on page three isn’t much different than the traffic on page 300.

* Stats show that you have somewhere between three and seven seconds before a visitor clicks “back” and bounces off the site. Clearly displaying that you have what that visitor is searching for, and backing it up with compelling content is the best way to keep visitors on your site and increase the odds of conversion. A free e-book or white paper can enhance your site’s credibility and get visitors to leave their contact information for future marketing efforts. Conversely, a confusing first impression and/or listless content will send your visitors off to the next site.

* It’s amazing how many sites that are intended to sell things don’t do any selling. The lack of a call to action and easy navigation can deter even the visitors that were likely to make a purchase.

* While lots of un-targeted traffic is much better than no traffic at all, it’s still a sign that marketing, specifically the optimized keywords, needs to be narrowed. Analysis and testing of keywords can go a long way toward delivering targeted visitors that know what they want and are coming to your site to get it.

* If you have targeted your traffic but they are still bouncing off of your site without purchasing or leaving information, it could be a sign that there are navigation problems or that there are issues with your shopping cart. With the prevalence of identity theft, consumers don’t want to see that your cart isn’t secure. The best you can hope for in that situation is that they will pick up the phone to place an order, but you will inevitably lose sales by making consumers take that extra step. Consider adding a secure socket layer (SSL) which encrypts the consumer’s information.    

               
These are just a few of the dysfunctionalities that may be affecting the performance of your website. The good news is that they are all fixable by taking it back to the drawing board.

 

Alexa Chung, Ricky Gervais & Twitter on POPTUB

I’m Maria Sansone and I do not approve this message. Check out the videos we’re featuring today: Twatif? (zeeeemoga) www.youtube.com Karl Pilkington reviews The Invention of Lying – Part One (scotthanson2008) www.youtube.com Hot Chick Scared in Bed by Head (jessewelle) www.youtube.com World’s Longest Basketball Shot – “Dude Perfect” – 3rd DECK (corycotton) www.youtube.com COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis (2 times loop) (notblu) www.youtube.com Episode 22: Roasted Marshmallow Shooter (stupidinventions) www.youtube.com Fat Kids Get Hurt While I Play Unfitting Music (llamapot) www.youtube.com Frasier Theme Song Backwards – HILARIOUS! (myfunnythings) www.youtube.com PEPSI REFRESH Cross Country Timelapse (physiciandirectory) www.youtube.com Fun With Pork (rathergoodstuff) www.youtube.com Circusreel – 3d animated music video (theruppel) www.youtube.com Worst CG Explosion and Greenscreen Ever (worstclips) www.youtube.com Poison – Every Rose Has Its Thron [Ukulele] (ukuledoj) www.youtube.com NYLON TV – FASHION WEEK / ALEXA CHUNG (nylonmagazinetv) www.youtube.com POPTUB: We make youtube videos about youtube videos on youtube. It’s not that complicated.

Alexa Chung, Ricky Gervais & Twitter on POPTUB

I’m Maria Sansone and I do not approve this message. Check out the videos we’re featuring today: Twatif? (zeeeemoga) www.youtube.com Karl Pilkington reviews The Invention of Lying – Part One (scotthanson2008) www.youtube.com Hot Chick Scared in Bed by Head (jessewelle) www.youtube.com World’s Longest Basketball Shot – “Dude Perfect” – 3rd DECK (corycotton) www.youtube.com COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis (2 times loop) (notblu) www.youtube.com Episode 22: Roasted Marshmallow Shooter (stupidinventions) www.youtube.com Fat Kids Get Hurt While I Play Unfitting Music (llamapot) www.youtube.com Frasier Theme Song Backwards – HILARIOUS! (myfunnythings) www.youtube.com PEPSI REFRESH Cross Country Timelapse (physiciandirectory) www.youtube.com Fun With Pork (rathergoodstuff) www.youtube.com Circusreel – 3d animated music video (theruppel) www.youtube.com Worst CG Explosion and Greenscreen Ever (worstclips) www.youtube.com Poison – Every Rose Has Its Thron [Ukulele] (ukuledoj) www.youtube.com NYLON TV – FASHION WEEK / ALEXA CHUNG (nylonmagazinetv) www.youtube.com POPTUB: We make youtube videos about youtube videos on youtube. It’s not that complicated.