We can do a search to see who’s at the top of the search engines – anyone can do that. But why are they there? What do they have in common? That requires more work. Google looks at 200+ variables when determining where to put your website. Some of these may include the use of titles, or quantity of text on a page, images, or maybe video content… We don’t know what they are. Only Google knows that.

Having said that, no website is perfect. That’s great news for the small business looking to do well on Google. So this means that your website just has to be less imperfect than the others out there to do do better on Google.

So step 1 to our approach is to analyze the top sites. See what they are all doing the same to rank highly on Google – then do the same. Then areas where they differ, we can determine where we can improve. Once we’ve made our site better, then we should do well.

Sounds easy, right. Well it’s not! There are several external factors in determining the website positions. This includes in a big part the links to your website. Developing Links is not a simple task and takes work. It requires writing of articles, getting people to like your articles and as a courtesy link back to you. The more links, and the better the page ranks, the better you’ll do.

Step 2 is to build links back to your site – involve you and contribute to creating these links including for social media, blog articles, press releases. It’s a tailored program for each company…

This is just a simplified view of the main steps of our search engine optimization program. Give us a call for more information.

Please read on…

Make SEO Tracking & Reporting Easy with AWR
Websites today have to do more than look good. Website ranking success is comprised of specific, critical components that ensure the site is found by the right people during relevant organic searches. We have made it a priority to educate ourselves and stay at the forefront of cutting edge website and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies, opportunities and tools. Advanced Web Ranking is SEO Software helping us do just this.

As an SEO and Website company, SEO work can often seem a bit nebulous to clients. The challenge is then placed on the company to provide measurable results to indicate the success of their client’s SEO Internet Campaign. Often this entails manually generating reports, pulling data from multiple sources. This is time consuming and often does not allow for an optimal, professional presentation. And most clients today are relying on their SEO Company to deliver results. They don’t have much time for website management and are leaving it to the experts to deliver the results – they don’t want to have to pore through numbers to figure out if those results were delivered.

Advanced Web Ranking provides the resources to deliver timely, detail rich, professional looking reports to your clients. It also provides SEO companies with tools and information to make intelligent adjustments to their client’s SEO campaigns and websites. Some of the features AWR offers include: The ability to import your existing Keyword list, as well as a Keyword Research and Analysis tools. Identifying the words used most often in searches for your business type ensure the best chance of being found during search engine searches.

Once you have collected the data through auto generated dates, you have the flexibility to Export, Upload through Ftp or Print Reports. You can even set up auto emails to generate for each client.
Along with results for all the major search engines, AWR offers the ability to track Google Maps and Yahoo Local search engines, allowing you to see results specific to a city or region.
In addition to capturing and reporting SEO information, AWR offers Project Management. This is an especially handy way to track all relevant job information in one location. You can set up proxy projects for clients in different regions so you can view the same results they see in their local browser. This enhances your ability to accurately serve clients you may have out of your immediate area.

Often I have clients that the entire purpose of their website is to do better than a particular competitor. AWR allows you to track all the results for your competitor as well. Then you can graph the results and prove you are the SEO master.

For the complex options and data AWR provides, you would think it might be complex to manage. This is not the case. AWR has great online tutorials and help database that make it easy to begin successfully using their product. And if you get stuck, their support team is ready to help.

So this sounds a bit like a shameless plug, but when I like something, I talk it up. Check it out at http://www.advancedwebranking.com/

AWR offers a Free trial. This gives you a chance to see for yourself why your clients will benefit from the information and resources provided by Advanced Web Ranking.

Huh? What is a mini-site?

There are variations on the concept of what a mini-site and why use them. My definition of a mini-site is a website that supplements your main site, but focuses on a single topic – whether it be a product or service you offer or other single concept. I would recommend more than one page for this – 5 content pages if you can.

Why Use a Mini-Site or Multiple Mini-sites?

Well, the website community needs more money. That’s true, but us web people need to justify the existence of these extra websites. Here are the reasons why the use of mini-sites are beneficial to you as the customer (or if you are a web developer, the reasons why you should talk your clients into using mini-sites).

1) More Information on a Product
With a mini-site you can promote your single product or service without worrying about diluting the emphasis of your main website. For instance, if you come out with a new widget, you may want to get the word out, producing lots of info on this widget on multiple pages, but don’t want people coming to your main site thinking you only sell this new item.

2) More Exposure on Google
Google looks for websites with a focus. If you supply 5 different services, it may be a good idea to have a separate site, really nailing down one (or more) services you’d like to promote. Chances are your single service will do better on Google than your main site. And… It means you will have two links to your service for people to click (and one less competitor). I have clients who receive more hits on their mini-sites than their main site.

3) Higher Conversion Rates
If I’m a potential customer looking for service A, I want someone who’s really good at it. Going to a company’s main site, who has 10 different services, it looks like they don’t specialize in what I’m looking for – so I move on. If I find a website where a company only supplies service A, then I’m giving them a call. This has been proven time and time again.

4) Eggs in multiple baskets
An example for this point. I have a client that has several mini-sites who has all his marketing online. He provides many services to clients. One day my client updates his site with some content Google doesn’t like and his website rankings tank. Luckily, his mini-sites maintain the traffic until we determine and fixed the issue.

5) Safer to Try New Ideas
A mini-site allows you to change things up, to create something fun, or something more edgy. You wouldn’t want your corporate site to test your newest advertising concept – because if it fails, you’ve taken a big bite out of your bottom line. Use a mini-site to do this. If it fails, your corporate image isn’t ruined.

6) Speed & Flexibility
This is more for the larger corporate sites, but there are some principle that apply to smaller companies. If you are a big company and have a traditional corporate site lined with red tape, the chances of getting a new ad live quickly are between slim and none. Mini-sites allow you to be nimble with content creation and editing. And if you need to pull down the site, you don’t have to call your boss’s boss to get the process expedited before you get fired.

Wrap Up
Well there’s 6 reasons to give your client as to why they need to do a mini-site (or multiple mini-sites). If you have a list of services, they can all use the same template to save money. If it’s the newest advertising campaign, you may want to change things up according to current trends and what you are selling. Good luck.

My answer to this is “yes” (but within reason).

Is it to impress your clients, to show them that you have a better computer than them, that you are smarter, or that your skill level for web design is so high that you require the best? No. Is it because it makes you feel better that you have the newest software and therefore your designs will be better? Maybe, but that’s only a marginal reason to have the latest and greatest.

The best, most logical reason to have a newer computer, or newer software, or a bigger monitor for your website design business is financial. Take a monitor for instance. I purchased a 27″ monitor that I’ve coupled with my laptop monitor. The monitor cost me about $375. I used to own a 21″ monitor. The amount on the new screen is significantly more than the older screen. I can see more of my website designs, layout, or web programming than before. There is less moving windows around. I figure maybe I save 3 minutes a day. Doesn’t sound like much, but do the math. If I have a charge out rate of say $75 / hr, I am saving $3.75 per day. In 100 days (about 4.5 months) my monitored is paid for. Any longer I keep my monitor, I am saving cash.

The same argument can be said for having a faster computer or an updated version of your favourite design software. If it saves you time, it saves you money. Do the math. If you find it will save you money, then it’s worth it.

Besides, it’s all a write-off so the savings are even more.

Running a business is all about efficiency. The more efficient you are, the more business you can do and the more successful you can be. Just make sure to justify the cost.

A potential client will come to you for information on designing a website, doing some artwork, or technical work.

Treat each and every person with complete respect. It will generally be reciprocated and will pay out in the future.

I try to generally follow these guidelines when first speaking with a potential client:

1. Hear them out as to what service they seem to want from you.
2. While they are speaking, quickly assess their level of web-based expertise. This will allow you to know at what level to speak with them. The worst thing you can do is speak over someone’s head. If they don’t understand what you are saying, you likely won’t get the job.
3. Ask them about their business – and be interested. If you don’t care about their business, they will sense that and will move on.
4. During your conversation, ask any questions about their general goals of what they are looking for – is it just a website? Do they need ongoing SEO? How about brochures? In today’s web-based climate, often people could use the extra services you may offer.
5. Once you’ve determined what they need, you have the ability to either give a ballpark quote, or have set the table for asking them more details in an email, or face-to-face conversation before quoting on the project.

OK, you got the project, great! Now, you must be sure to communicate with the client throughout the entire process. Even if you haven’t made much progress for whatever reason, the client will be more accommodating if you let him/her know where you are at. (but be careful not to get them too involved, which may hurt productivity).

BE SOMEWHAT FLEXIBLE IN YOUR SCOPE OF WORK. Even the most organized projects change scope. By nickel and diming the client for more money every time you have to do something different, you will create resentment. Build this flexibility in your quotes. Assess the client as to who may require more “flexibility”. On the other side of the coin, don’t get taken advantage of. Set the limits of how far you are willing to “bend”.

Once the project is done, ask for feedback, both good and bad – you will learn what you did well and where to improve. Keep on good terms with the client. If you haven’t found out already, the majority of your clients will refer you to someone else.

Good luck.

Why does that matter? Well people are generally lazy. If they need to find information on a topic, they will do a search. Well at the top of the Facebook page there is a search. This search will find Facebook pages for sure, but there is also a web component. And guess what company is used for the web search? Yes, it’s Bing.

Well so what – what does this mean to me? How is Google different than Bing? There are generally fairly subtle differences in the algorithm for getting found by Google Versus Bing. I believe I have read rumors that Bing has tried to determine the Google algorithms for themselves.

There is one very big difference where you can do well with Bing, but not Google. That is with keyword specific URLS (eg websitedesignersurrey.com). Bing rates the keywords in the URL extremely high. So how do you use this? If you have a website URL that is not keyword rich, you may want to think about making satellite sites that are very keyword-centric. This has worked for me.

Go ahead – do a search for website designer surrey in Google and then in Bing. My little one pager “websitedesignersurrey.com” is ahead of my “citylinewebsites.com” in Bing. Google has a much different ranking.

So for those of you in Facebook doing a search for a “website designer in surrey” will likely find my satellite site (which links to my main site).

So the moral of the story is…
If you have the ability, then create a content rich URL, even if it’s a one-pager. It will help you get found on Facebook.

Here’s my answer…

If the client has the budget for a copy writer, one that knows how Google looks at articles, cares about keyword density, location of key phrases, understands the topic and at the same time knows how to write for the reader, then absolutely I recommend a professional to write all the copy for the website. In fact I encourage my clients to head this direction. However, too often the client does not have the budget, due to them being a startup, small business, or suffering due to the slow economy. These are often the individuals that with a bit of coaching can create a website that gets found by Google.

Why I tell my clients how to write their own copy
As a website designer and Search Engine Optimization company, I care about both how my website looks, and how my websites place on Google. The better my client does in these two areas, the better I look, the happier the client, and the more referrals I receive. Poor, sloppy copy that does not contain the key words for Google will not get found. I don’t want this for my clients. With some coaching, and with help editing, we can create a great product. A better product = more links to the company = more links back to me and my company = more business = more $.

It’s a win-win situation.

What I tell my clients
Well if you were my client, I would tell you how to write for the web. Basically you have to focus on a key phrase or two, write sufficient content containing this phrase in the right quantities. Headings, bold text, should contain your key words. It’s all about creating a theme revolving around your key phrase. More to come in a future blog.

What to do if your client can’t write?
If your client cannot write, but doesn’t have the budget to hire a copy writer to start from scratch, there is often a compromise. What I tell my clients is that I need point form notes, or their best attempt. We can then write / rewrite what they have done. This can save some money, but still produce a top quality site.

The stats…

From the Facebook site itself I present the following statistics:

• More than 500 million active users
• 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
• Average user has 130 friends
• People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook

So doing the math, people average about 40 minutes a day on Facebook. Facebook becomes an area of comfort where they interact with good friends, and check out old friends. Now enter you and your business. If you have a small business (eg a website design business) and have a Facebook page, you can interact with those who “like” you. Talk your friends into liking your page.

Why get your friends to like your business Facebook page?

It’s not your friends you care about. If they are your friends, they will buy from you. It’s the friends of the friends you want to bring into the mix. When people are looking up your Facebook “likers” they will see your posts (which go on their wall), and they’ll see that they like you. So if you have 100 people liking your page, and the average number of friends is 130, you are reaching out to 100×130 or 13,000. Every new person you get to like you is another 130 potential customers.

Other advantages of Facebook Pages

If you are somewhat active with your Facebook Page, you will get complete strangers liking your business. Maybe they are a competitor, maybe they like your product. Who cares, that’s more people to see what you do. So if you can post at least once a week, that’s fine… If you can post more, better, if you post less, then not as good. But you should have a Facebook page. When people are in their happy place on Facebook, they’ll do a search for you business. If they find you and you have some good stuff for them to look at, then you’re getting a potential client. If you are not there, then Facebook will find a competitor they can check out instead.

Conclusions

So even if you set something up and can’t do too much to it, you are better off than not having anything at all. Ideally, you canvas your friends to like your page, and then keep current. You’ll get what you put into it and more.

Offer an incentive. Maybe it is a discount, maybe a free draw for sports tickets or to an event in town.
Post a tweet or two on Twitter advertising the incentive (eg draw for professional hockey tickets). State in your tweet that the lucky winner will have to like your Facebook page. Make sure to supply a link to your Facebook page. This gives you the client as both a Twitter follower and a Facebook “liker”.

Now look for Twitter people who could be both your client and would get use of your incentive (eg people who follow the hockey team and would love to win tickets). Start following these people, but be careful – you cannot follow too many at once (currently 1000 per day, 2000 maximum depending on the number that follow you back). If the incentive is good enough, they will follow – first on Twitter and then on Facebook.

This gives you a head start on marketing to a potentially great target audience. Now it’s your job to make them your client. Tweet wisely and post useful information on Facebook or you’ll lose these people.

Good Luck.

Simplicity

A busy website makes it difficult to determine what is trying to be said. A good website should be well designed with enough, but not too much, information so that you dont lose the “forest through the trees.”
Content is good for search engine optimization (SEO), however, you must be able to present the website in a way that you can attract business, not scare business away.

Good Programming

It isn’t only web design that makes a good website, your site needs good programming too. Many websites will only display correctly with the most up to date browsers and plug-ins. If a user is using an older version, what is seen on the screen may be incorrect, potentially losing a customer. It is essential that your programmer must take into consideration Internet Explorer (still used by 50%), Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari.  Generally I find that the later 3 are pretty similar, with generally only Internet Explorer doing different things.

Also your website programmer should consider smart phones and ipads.  These are more and more important.  You don’t necessarily need a new site for the iphones, Blackberries and such, but it should at least be considered in the design.

Less Bells and Whistles

We feel less is more.  Too many animations, sounds and an overload of detailed pictures will slow down the loading of the website. Google has stated that one of the factors in its ranking algorithm is speed. Your website design needs enough to be attractive without being distractive.  Your users need to be “funneled” to the goal – whether it be a phone call, purchase, or email.  If they can’t focus, they can’t be funneled.

Steps to a Good Website

1. Plan ahead
   Start by figuring out what you want out of a website. What is it’s purpose? It may be just information about the company, or it can be a complete on-line e-commerce masterpiece. Are your customers local, or international?
2. Register a domain name
   This can be done on-line or by any website company. There are a wide variety of prices and services. Sometimes the company who will be hosting your website will register it for you as part of the setup fee. Look into it first.
3. Draw up a Flowsheet
   Draw up on paper a quick layout of the page content and how you want them linked together.
4. Determine Page Details
   Determine the detailed content of each web page and the general design / layout of the website. Figure out design issues like your desired colour-schemes, locations of your links and ideas of backgrounds and pictures. Take a look at other websites to get an idea of what works for you. If your mind draws a blank, ask someone for his / her opinion. Or have a website designer do your web design and layout for you.
5. Design the Site
   I am of the opinion that a well designed website will get you far, but isn’t the entire answer. Find yourself a web designer with a website portfolio that you like. Make sure that the prices you can handle. You can get a design for free (eg some WordPress themes) to thousands for a high-end website designer. Often your designer will not be the same as your programmer. Be careful using a programmer as your designer. It’s rare to have the same person that can design and program both. Other things to consider in the design is interactive content.  Polls, videos, images, blogs are all good – and Google likes them too.  Anything to get people coming back is great for a design.
6. Program the Website
   If you can’t program yourself, there are a couple options.
   • Purchase Software such as Adobe’s Dreamweaver to help convert designs to websites. These however, take some time to learn how to use and are costly for the recreational programmer.
   • WordPress (www.wordpress.org) is a good free tool for creating a site if you are “design-challenged.” It is also a very common platform for web programmers and designers as it can be done by those who do not know programming or want the clients to be able to change their own site.
   • Find someone who can program. This is recommended because a good programmer will make sure there are keywords in the code to get noticed by search engines. Also a good programmer will make the website easy to change. There are several ways to do this that are beyond the scope of this site. You can do a web search under “website programming”.
7. Find a Website Provider
   There are thousands of businesses that will host websites. And again, there is a balance between cost and service. You can host your site on your own computer, but this is not recommended unless you know what you are doing and reliability of your business website is not too important. There are a tremendous number of hosting companies that are generally about $10 / month for a shared hosting plan. My favourite hosting company is Dreamhost.
8. Upload to your Website Host
   Generally the person who programs your website will be the one to do the uploading. This requires the company that registered your name to know who is hosting for you. They will point the name to the host location. This “pointing” is part of the yearly name registration fee. Uploading requires a program which can be downloaded off the internet (there are free FTP products out there such as FireZilla). Once uploaded, your business is “on the Net”. Good luck!

Search Engine Optimization

Once you are done your website, you are number one on Google and you can sit back and watch the visitors come and you start making the money, right?  Well, probably not.  Often you can get close to what works with a first go around.  If you’ve created some great content, including headings and titles, then you are ahead of most, but you should do more. Ensure you have some sort of analytics program on your site, so you can monitor the traffic and see what works and what doesn’t.  Then tweak your content to optimize. There are also many other things you can do to have great success with your website including signing up on free online directories, create Facebook and Twitter accounts, make sure your Google Places description is done well.  Contribute to blogs… Make a video and post to You Tube.  There are many other things you can do to get found.  Much of this is best left to the professional SEO people – they know the tricks and can probably in the end do it better for less.