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The Keys to the Kingdom | Search Engine Optimization If you run a web-based business, a functional and put together website is probably your number one priority. But the truth of the matter is that you could have the smoothest website out there, and your business might still suffer. Why? Because it’s getting lost in the back pages of Google.

Technology is a huge part of our world. Most everyone knows that, especially business owners. It’s a hub for sales, communication, and advertising. More often than not, customers get introduced to your business via technology, therefore many business owners concentrate on making their website the best it can possibly be. They’re not wrong to do so. Of course, your website should look amazing and be easy to navigate so the customer has both an enjoyable and productive time while browsing. But a well-functioning website isn’t all it takes to help a business succeed. You could have the best-looking site out there, the most fluid interface with zero glitches. But none of that matters if no one is experiencing what you have to offer. It’s like that old philosophical question: if a tree falls in the forest but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If your website is flawless but no one is visiting the page, is it really all that great? The truth of the matter is this: all of your hard work is pointless if your website doesn’t show up on Google. The first page of search results is the place to be; did you know that only .78% of people click on something from the second page? You don’t want to rely on odds that small. This blog post outlines the best SEO (search engine optimization) practices that assist in getting your website on potential customers’ radars, instead of flying below it. The Main Keyword is Everything You probably already know that using your main keyword multiple times is imperative. But did you know that the location of the word is important as well, along with how soon you use it? To get the best results, that word should be at the top of your page. Why? It’s simple. Google places more weight on words that are located there. Avoid Duplicate Content This means writing unique titles, descriptions, and content. Even content that is ‘near duplicate’ should be avoided – and that comes from Google itself. This relates to more than titles, descriptions, and content, too. It also pertains to: Title tags Meta description tags Ecommerce product pages Landing pages Image alt text Category pages This is probably easy to swallow if you’re a small business owner, or if you run a modest blog. But if you have a large e-commerce site or a multifaceted business, this is more difficult to not only conceptualize, but carry out. Writing unique descriptors for each and every product can be a daunting task. It is overwhelming to think about, but the end result is worth it. We promise. Title Tag is Key Google says, “it’s important to use high-quality titles on your web pages.” What you need to do is start your title tag off with your main keyword. Remember what was said about the location of said keyword? It’s everything! Search engines pay attention to the words in your title tag, and since your keyword is the word that holds the most weight, it should be front and center. Sometimes, starting off the tag with your most important keyword can look clunky and read as unnatural. Customers who come across that strange tag might be confused by it, and you need to think about how humans read your words – not just how machines do it. So, if it’s not possible to place your keyword at the very front of your title tag, that’s fine. But try to put it somewhere in the beginning. One Keyword Per Title Google is not a fan of keyword stuffing. Pare down your choices to the one keyword that is most important, and place it in. That way, it holds the most emphasis. One very relevant word packs more of a punch than ten somewhat relevant words. Pay Attention to Titles The whole point of your page is to get customers to click. That means your titles should make them want to learn more. This won’t happen if your titles are dry, bland, and boring. Customers won’t care enough to keep browsing. But if your titles are engaging and tempting, more people will click on them. More clicks means more traffic, because Google sees how well your page is doing. Loading Speed No one is patient in 2020. It’s just a fact. Especially when it comes to slow loading times; there’s almost nothing worse than watching a page come to life graphic by graphic. By the time everything finally comes up, you don’t even want to be there anymore. It’s very important to make your site load as quickly as possible. Take note of your site’s current loading speed. (If you don’t know the point at which you start, it’s hard to improve.) Here are a few methods used to speed up loading time: Compress images Large images take up the majority of a page’s size. By minimizing them, your entire site will load much faster. Use lighter themes Consider switching to a theme that is geared for speed rather than one that isn’t. Use a content delivery network (CDN) This allows your media to travel through servers that are close to your users. Track Results Use Google Search Console to track your results – a live dashboard that allows you to see progress and areas in which you can improve. The three most important aspects to check on are: Performance Coverage Enhancements Optimize Images Image optimization doesn’t only matter when it comes to Google Images, it also matters for web search. To make sure that you have the best possible images, all you have to do is put two things into place: Use descriptive file names Google technically can’t see images. It can only read descriptions that coincide with them. By naming them descriptively, you help Google understand the content of the image. Use image alt text Just how you use descriptive language for the titles, it’s necessary in the alt text as well. This all comes back to Google reading and not viewing the image. Internal Linking Internal linking refers to linking one part of your website to another. If you have other pages that are relevant to what a customer is reading about, chances are high they’ll click on that link and delve further into your page. Going overboard with the linking – random linking – is better than no links at all, but the optimal situation would be smartly-placed links in places that make sense. What works best is linking old pages to new pages. Old pages get more traction and therefore more eyes, and linking them to new pages helps get just as wide of an audience on your fresh content. Content, Content, Content Most competitive businesses use the internet today. We’re all used to it. Something that was impressive in 2001 is no longer impressive – business owners must try harder if they want to make a splash or be remembered. If you want to rank, you should invest in competent marketing skills. Marketing skills take time and money; they don’t simply arrive overnight. Creating content that stands out in 2020 takes effort, creative thinking, and critique. It also takes a lot of eyes and perspectives. Backlinks Backlinks are external where in-site links are internal. When your site is linked from someone else’s, that means your content is relevant enough to be provided and therefore that source acts as a reference for you. By supplying your site, they’re saying that your content is credible, useful, and worth a click. The more people that click on said link, the more ‘up-votes’ your site will get, which will put it higher for optimization. But not all backlinks User Experience Google can tell when a user clicks on your site only to click off. This is called ‘pogo sticking.’ When a user does this, that means they didn’t find what they were looking for, and went back to the results to look for something else. You don’t want ‘pogo sticking’ to happen to you. You prevent it by providing a quality user experience and useful information relevant to the keywords used to market your page. Creating a more user-friendly site will prompt more people to share it, and shares are always a good thing when it comes to SEO. Creating a website is the first step – the second step is getting it into the world. By following these SEO guidelines, you should be off to a great start with not only inviting people to your page, but enticing them to keep coming back.

There are many important aspects of video production. Graphics, content, and audio do a lot of the heavy lifting, but the most widely-shared and influential videos begin with a great script. There are plenty of areas in which to go wrong while writing a video script. Some are too complicated, some are chock-full of jargon, and some try to accomplish too much in a short amount of time. By following this simple guide, you’ll be able to put together scripts that make your videos shine. You’ll create content that is clear, concise, and puts across your message in a way that people will not only enjoy, but in a way that will call them to action.

Even though ecommerce sites provide many opportunities that in-person shops don’t – being open 24 hours a day, letting customers shop in their pajamas from the couch, and stocking a wide variety of items – a large number of them struggle to survive. This newsletter outlines ten important aspects to keep in mind when creating an ecommerce site – they will either make you, or break you. 1. Images and Product Descriptions At a physical store, a customer can hold a product in their hands and examine it. They’re able to ask an employee for clarification if confusion arises. Those two things aren’t available in the same way on an ecommerce site, but it’s your job to make the customer’s experience as close to in-person as possible. By using good quality images and detailed descriptions, customers won’t find themselves stumped when it comes to what you’re selling. Don’t use generic descriptions – those are boring and stale. Make sure to photograph the product from all angles, too. 2. Contact Information Like we said, in-person interaction isn’t available on an ecommerce site. But you can offer the next best thing, meaning live chats, a phone number, or email. If customers can’t find contact information on your site, it leaves a bad taste in their mouth. They’ll wonder why you don’t want to be contacted. It’s always good to be as transparent as possible. 3. Checkout Simplicity is always better than a multi-step, messy process. If a customer gets frustrated during checkout, they’re less likely to follow through. This means taking out the complication – to buy something from your site, don’t make someone register. It will deter them from completing the purchase. If anything, offer to save the details at the end of the transaction for future use. 4. Hidden Fees No one likes to be surprised by a total that skyrockets once you click ‘checkout.’ Allow customers to calculate shipping costs as they go, so by the time they’re done, they’re aware of the final price. 5. Think Mobile A lot of people shop on their phones instead of on their computers. It’s always good to make sure your site is mobile-friendly, because if it’s not, there’s no way a mobile customer will stick around to check out your wares. 6. No Guesswork Make the steps to your ecommerce site cut and dry. Customers should always know where to go next, and how to get there. If you leave a customer in the dark, the chance of them giving up and moving their business elsewhere is very high. 7. Marketing You might have the best ecommerce site around, but no one will visit if they don’t know it exists. By creating an inbound marketing funnel, you target the right traffic that leads customers to your site from places like Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. 8. Implement Social Media One of the worst things to do is ignore your customer. If you engage on social media, especially in a way that matches your brand’s tone, customers will be interested in coming to check out what you have to offer. 9. Get the Right Audience If you’re barking up the wrong tree, it won’t matter how good your sales tactics are. The people who aren’t interested in your product simply will never buy it. This is why you have to make sure you’re advertising to the correct demographic. There’s no use being generic. 10. Pricing It’s much, much easier to compare pricing online than it is in person. This is why you have to make sure your prices are absolutely correct. If you’re pricing products too high, your customers will buy them from someplace else. But if you price them too low, the customer might assume the materials are low quality. There’s a fine line between the two. There’s no better time than right now to build your ecommerce site and make it work not only for you, but for customers that utilize it. By following this simple guide, you’ll have no problem creating an online space that people will enjoy.

Ecommerce design is an aspect of web design that might not seem all too important – but it is. A lot goes into making sure a website is not only inviting, but easy to use and a bit persuasive. There’s a fine line between pushy and welcoming, and the best Ecommerce sites out there know how to toe that line.

The Keys to the Kingdom | Search Engine Optimization If you run a web-based business, a functional and put together website is probably your number one priority. But the truth of the matter is that you could have the smoothest website out there, and your business might still suffer. Why? Because it’s getting lost in the back pages of Google.

Technology is a huge part of our world. Most everyone knows that, especially business owners. It’s a hub for sales, communication, and advertising. More often than not, customers get introduced to your business via technology, therefore many business owners concentrate on making their website the best it can possibly be. They’re not wrong to do so. Of course, your website should look amazing and be easy to navigate so the customer has both an enjoyable and productive time while browsing. But a well-functioning website isn’t all it takes to help a business succeed. You could have the best-looking site out there, the most fluid interface with zero glitches. But none of that matters if no one is experiencing what you have to offer. It’s like that old philosophical question: if a tree falls in the forest but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If your website is flawless but no one is visiting the page, is it really all that great? The truth of the matter is this: all of your hard work is pointless if your website doesn’t show up on Google. The first page of search results is the place to be; did you know that only .78% of people click on something from the second page? You don’t want to rely on odds that small. This blog post outlines the best SEO (search engine optimization) practices that assist in getting your website on potential customers’ radars, instead of flying below it. The Main Keyword is Everything You probably already know that using your main keyword multiple times is imperative. But did you know that the location of the word is important as well, along with how soon you use it? To get the best results, that word should be at the top of your page. Why? It’s simple. Google places more weight on words that are located there. Avoid Duplicate Content This means writing unique titles, descriptions, and content. Even content that is ‘near duplicate’ should be avoided – and that comes from Google itself. This relates to more than titles, descriptions, and content, too. It also pertains to: Title tags Meta description tags Ecommerce product pages Landing pages Image alt text Category pages This is probably easy to swallow if you’re a small business owner, or if you run a modest blog. But if you have a large e-commerce site or a multifaceted business, this is more difficult to not only conceptualize, but carry out. Writing unique descriptors for each and every product can be a daunting task. It is overwhelming to think about, but the end result is worth it. We promise. Title Tag is Key Google says, “it’s important to use high-quality titles on your web pages.” What you need to do is start your title tag off with your main keyword. Remember what was said about the location of said keyword? It’s everything! Search engines pay attention to the words in your title tag, and since your keyword is the word that holds the most weight, it should be front and center. Sometimes, starting off the tag with your most important keyword can look clunky and read as unnatural. Customers who come across that strange tag might be confused by it, and you need to think about how humans read your words – not just how machines do it. So, if it’s not possible to place your keyword at the very front of your title tag, that’s fine. But try to put it somewhere in the beginning. One Keyword Per Title Google is not a fan of keyword stuffing. Pare down your choices to the one keyword that is most important, and place it in. That way, it holds the most emphasis. One very relevant word packs more of a punch than ten somewhat relevant words. Pay Attention to Titles The whole point of your page is to get customers to click. That means your titles should make them want to learn more. This won’t happen if your titles are dry, bland, and boring. Customers won’t care enough to keep browsing. But if your titles are engaging and tempting, more people will click on them. More clicks means more traffic, because Google sees how well your page is doing. Loading Speed No one is patient in 2020. It’s just a fact. Especially when it comes to slow loading times; there’s almost nothing worse than watching a page come to life graphic by graphic. By the time everything finally comes up, you don’t even want to be there anymore. It’s very important to make your site load as quickly as possible. Take note of your site’s current loading speed. (If you don’t know the point at which you start, it’s hard to improve.) Here are a few methods used to speed up loading time: Compress images Large images take up the majority of a page’s size. By minimizing them, your entire site will load much faster. Use lighter themes Consider switching to a theme that is geared for speed rather than one that isn’t. Use a content delivery network (CDN) This allows your media to travel through servers that are close to your users. Track Results Use Google Search Console to track your results – a live dashboard that allows you to see progress and areas in which you can improve. The three most important aspects to check on are: Performance Coverage Enhancements Optimize Images Image optimization doesn’t only matter when it comes to Google Images, it also matters for web search. To make sure that you have the best possible images, all you have to do is put two things into place: Use descriptive file names Google technically can’t see images. It can only read descriptions that coincide with them. By naming them descriptively, you help Google understand the content of the image. Use image alt text Just how you use descriptive language for the titles, it’s necessary in the alt text as well. This all comes back to Google reading and not viewing the image. Internal Linking Internal linking refers to linking one part of your website to another. If you have other pages that are relevant to what a customer is reading about, chances are high they’ll click on that link and delve further into your page. Going overboard with the linking – random linking – is better than no links at all, but the optimal situation would be smartly-placed links in places that make sense. What works best is linking old pages to new pages. Old pages get more traction and therefore more eyes, and linking them to new pages helps get just as wide of an audience on your fresh content. Content, Content, Content Most competitive businesses use the internet today. We’re all used to it. Something that was impressive in 2001 is no longer impressive – business owners must try harder if they want to make a splash or be remembered. If you want to rank, you should invest in competent marketing skills. Marketing skills take time and money; they don’t simply arrive overnight. Creating content that stands out in 2020 takes effort, creative thinking, and critique. It also takes a lot of eyes and perspectives. Backlinks Backlinks are external where in-site links are internal. When your site is linked from someone else’s, that means your content is relevant enough to be provided and therefore that source acts as a reference for you. By supplying your site, they’re saying that your content is credible, useful, and worth a click. The more people that click on said link, the more ‘up-votes’ your site will get, which will put it higher for optimization. But not all backlinks User Experience Google can tell when a user clicks on your site only to click off. This is called ‘pogo sticking.’ When a user does this, that means they didn’t find what they were looking for, and went back to the results to look for something else. You don’t want ‘pogo sticking’ to happen to you. You prevent it by providing a quality user experience and useful information relevant to the keywords used to market your page. Creating a more user-friendly site will prompt more people to share it, and shares are always a good thing when it comes to SEO. Creating a website is the first step – the second step is getting it into the world. By following these SEO guidelines, you should be off to a great start with not only inviting people to your page, but enticing them to keep coming back.

There are many important aspects of video production. Graphics, content, and audio do a lot of the heavy lifting, but the most widely-shared and influential videos begin with a great script. There are plenty of areas in which to go wrong while writing a video script. Some are too complicated, some are chock-full of jargon, and some try to accomplish too much in a short amount of time. By following this simple guide, you’ll be able to put together scripts that make your videos shine. You’ll create content that is clear, concise, and puts across your message in a way that people will not only enjoy, but in a way that will call them to action.

Even though ecommerce sites provide many opportunities that in-person shops don’t – being open 24 hours a day, letting customers shop in their pajamas from the couch, and stocking a wide variety of items – a large number of them struggle to survive. This newsletter outlines ten important aspects to keep in mind when creating an ecommerce site – they will either make you, or break you. 1. Images and Product Descriptions At a physical store, a customer can hold a product in their hands and examine it. They’re able to ask an employee for clarification if confusion arises. Those two things aren’t available in the same way on an ecommerce site, but it’s your job to make the customer’s experience as close to in-person as possible. By using good quality images and detailed descriptions, customers won’t find themselves stumped when it comes to what you’re selling. Don’t use generic descriptions – those are boring and stale. Make sure to photograph the product from all angles, too. 2. Contact Information Like we said, in-person interaction isn’t available on an ecommerce site. But you can offer the next best thing, meaning live chats, a phone number, or email. If customers can’t find contact information on your site, it leaves a bad taste in their mouth. They’ll wonder why you don’t want to be contacted. It’s always good to be as transparent as possible. 3. Checkout Simplicity is always better than a multi-step, messy process. If a customer gets frustrated during checkout, they’re less likely to follow through. This means taking out the complication – to buy something from your site, don’t make someone register. It will deter them from completing the purchase. If anything, offer to save the details at the end of the transaction for future use. 4. Hidden Fees No one likes to be surprised by a total that skyrockets once you click ‘checkout.’ Allow customers to calculate shipping costs as they go, so by the time they’re done, they’re aware of the final price. 5. Think Mobile A lot of people shop on their phones instead of on their computers. It’s always good to make sure your site is mobile-friendly, because if it’s not, there’s no way a mobile customer will stick around to check out your wares. 6. No Guesswork Make the steps to your ecommerce site cut and dry. Customers should always know where to go next, and how to get there. If you leave a customer in the dark, the chance of them giving up and moving their business elsewhere is very high. 7. Marketing You might have the best ecommerce site around, but no one will visit if they don’t know it exists. By creating an inbound marketing funnel, you target the right traffic that leads customers to your site from places like Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. 8. Implement Social Media One of the worst things to do is ignore your customer. If you engage on social media, especially in a way that matches your brand’s tone, customers will be interested in coming to check out what you have to offer. 9. Get the Right Audience If you’re barking up the wrong tree, it won’t matter how good your sales tactics are. The people who aren’t interested in your product simply will never buy it. This is why you have to make sure you’re advertising to the correct demographic. There’s no use being generic. 10. Pricing It’s much, much easier to compare pricing online than it is in person. This is why you have to make sure your prices are absolutely correct. If you’re pricing products too high, your customers will buy them from someplace else. But if you price them too low, the customer might assume the materials are low quality. There’s a fine line between the two. There’s no better time than right now to build your ecommerce site and make it work not only for you, but for customers that utilize it. By following this simple guide, you’ll have no problem creating an online space that people will enjoy.

Ecommerce design is an aspect of web design that might not seem all too important – but it is. A lot goes into making sure a website is not only inviting, but easy to use and a bit persuasive. There’s a fine line between pushy and welcoming, and the best Ecommerce sites out there know how to toe that line.