Sep 12, 2018 | HTML
Did you know that 93% of website visits begin in a search engine? Organic results get 70% of the clicks too. If you want a piece of that pie you better make sure your website shows up and performs well.
How?
Optimize your website with HTML text codes that the search engines love. Keep reading to learn the best SEO code to use.
HTML Text Codes: The Page Head
Meta tags are in the section of your websites HTML code. Google reads both HTML and XHTML meta tags.
They inform search engines and users what to expect from your page. But keep in mind, Google ignores tags that it doesn’t understand.
Here are the meta tags you should make sure are in every page’s HTML code.
Title Tag:
The title tag is one of the most important HTML codes for increasing your visits. The title tag shows up as the main title for your page in search engine listings and on social media shares. It’s your page’s first impression; make it count!
You should include the keywords that you’re targeting with that page in the title. Get creative with this so that it also draws the searcher in and nudges them to click it. Knowing a little psychology helps with writing title tags that work hard for your business.
Keep your title tag around 50 to 60 characters because any more than that will truncate in Google. You’ll also want every title tag to be unique.
Meta Description:
The meta description tag contains the content that’s shown in the snippet on search engine results. Keep your description to 150 to 160 characters, about two sentences. Include your target keyword again.
A well-crafted description should let consumers know that your content can answer their question. Matching search intent will get you higher click-through rates and lower your bounce rates.
Speaking of bounce rates, keep them low by making sure that your page content delivers what you’re promising in the title and description.
Content Header Tags:
People often confuse the terms that refer to the main title of a piece of content with the head tag that appears in HTML code. It’s not hard to understand why, since they’re both called header tags.
However, the H1 tag here refers to the bold, enlarged title at the top of a page containing content underneath. There is also H2 tags, H3 tags, and so on. Each descending tag ranks as less important and appears a bit smaller.
Content header tags provide visual organization of content and increase usability. Google factors usability into rankings. H1 tags also signal to search engines the most important piece of information on a page.
Image Tags:
Describe what your image is with image tags. They’re an important indicator for screen readers, increasing your accessibility factor in search engine rankings. They also help image spiders learn what the image is.
If you’d like your graphics to rank in image results, include the alt and title tag in your HTML code. Use your relevant keyword in the image tags, as well as in the image name.
Avoiding Duplicate Content:<rel=”canonical”></rel=”canonical”>
If you have pages that are similar in content, set one of them as the preferred version with a canonical tag. Doing so avoids a potential duplicate content penalty with the search engines.
A canonical URL is also used to consolidate page ranking for websites that syndicate their content.
What’s Next?
Get started going through your code page-by-page and applying the HTML text codes above. Keep track of your changes and ranking results so you can see what’s working.
If this all seems overwhelming and you’d like some expert help with it, contact us for a free SEO audit.
Sep 8, 2018 | SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is fast becoming a US$80 billion dollar industry.
Search ad revenue – the major component of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – may only be around half that amount, but $40 billion is nothing to sneeze at.
Yet despite how monumentally massive these industries are, there is still a lot of confusion around what these terms mean.
Let’s take a brief look at SEO and SEM, their differences and the definitions of each.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
SEO is a method of optimizing a webpage so that it will attract more organic traffic. By organic traffic, I’m referring to users who find a website through a search engine.
Technically, SEO caters to all search engines, including Duckduck Go, Yahoo, and Bing. In reality, however, virtually all SEO focuses on the kingpin: Google.
Google is notorious for changing their algorithms in a tireless attempt to make the searching experience as effective as possible for the end user. As a result, SEO techniques are evolving rapidly.
Two things remain constant, however: The concepts of on-page and off-page optimization.
What is On-page Optimization?
As the name suggests, on page optimization is undertaken within the website itself. Essentially, these are tricks of the trade that SEO savvy content writers and web designs use to improve the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) ranking of their article.
- Using targeted keywords in the title and headings of their article.
- Peppering secondary keywords throughout the article in a natural way.
- Achieving the highest possible page load time.
- Including photos which have been SEO optimized by way of file size, file name, and alt tags.
- User-friendly formatting with ample white space.
- Social media sharing plugins.
- Quality content that provides real value for the reader.
What is Off-page Optimization?
Off-page refers to techniques undertaken outside the website. Behind the scenes, if you will.
- Link building by obtaining inbound links (backlinks) from other reputable websites.
- Driving traffic through social media, A.K.A social signals.
What is Search Engine Marketing?
SEM is when a marketer pays a search engine (almost always Google Ad Words) to promote their product to a wider audience.
You’ve probably noticed results at the top of Google marked “[Ad].” These are an example of a pay-per-click (PPC) or cost-per-click (CPC) advertisement, which is a critical component of SEM.
SEM once referred to both SEO and PPC advertisements, although these days there is a clear distinction between the two.
Other aspects of SEM include:
- Targeted advertising campaigns.
- Advertisement groups with a focus on keyword variations.
- Writing keyword rich ad copy.
- Monitoring marketing metrics such as click-through rates and average costs per click.
SEO vs. SEM: Which is Better?
Each excels at different things.
SEO is more of a long game. The practice may not see instant results, but if done correctly, it can result in a considerable amount of organic traffic over time.
SEM, on the other hand, is capable of earning a website fast exposure which is great for short term campaigns or new companies looking to start trading with a bang.
Big online businesses incorporate both, as the two complement each other nicely.
SEO and SEM: Do I Need Them?
SEO is an essential practice for anyone looking to make money through a website. After all, if you can’t hit the front page of Google, then do you really exist?
SEM is a little more variable. If done right, it can drive massive short-term traffic to your business, but for a price.
Who Can Help Me Create an SEO/SEM Marketing Strategy?
Reno Web Design are experts at both SEO and SEM marketing. Get in touch with them today to discuss an affordable and effective online marketing plan for your business.
Sep 8, 2018 | Technology Event
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
8 am to 5 pm / 5650 Riggins Ct, Reno, NV
Vendor Meetup/Coffee and Donuts
Facebook Marketing with Leading Online Marketing Expert, Sandy Rowley
Use Big Data to Develop Quality Leads
Transform the Way You Do Business with Cloud Agent Suite
Break / Raffle
Get More Leads…
Grow Business Pipeline / Manage Client Relations
Box Lunch / Raffle
Up Your Game
Perfect Pricing with Easy, Accurate CMAs
Break / Raffle
Save Time and Generate More Showings
Using the Parcel Map for Fun & Profit
Break / Raffle
Advertising in Compliance with RED
Video Marketing Tools & Techniques
Wrap Up / Questions / Vendors Available until 6 pm
Sandy Rowley
Remine
Alice Heiman
Homesnap
Nobu Hata – Keynote Speaker
Realtors® Property Resource (RPR)
ShowingTime
CRS Data
Scott Beaudry & Jan Holle
Scott Beaudry
Conference Agenda
Time Topic Speaker/Vendor
If you have not yet registered for this Conference and would like to do so, please visit:
https://www.rsar.net/Events/100218_TechConf_Registration_editable.pdf
Makers of
W+R Studios: Cloud CMA, Streams & CMA
Sep 7, 2018 | Promotional Marketing
Believe it or not, a shockingly high number of people are reading spam emails that come into their inbox.
While some of these are opt-in emails and others are true spam, most people don’t know a promotional email from an attempt to steal their credit card number. If you understand email marketing, you might realize that there’s a way to connect with customers on a deeper level if you try email.
Here are six statistics about email marketing that might just blow your mind.
1. Crazy Growth
As of now, there are more than 3.7 billion email users all around the globe. That should grow beyond 4 billion in the next three years, which will place email usage as extending well over half of the population of the planet.
As email continues to grow, new ways to market with email will be discovered. While spam filters will develop, so will the ways that marketers find to reach out to their audience.
2. So Many Emails Sent
There are around 270 billion emails sent every day just in the world of business and consumer interests. It’s set to grow year after year by more than 4%, which means in just a few years, we’re talking 320 billion emails.
The number of emails that are set to be sent won’t be slowing down any time soon. As the number of users grows, email will evolve and find ways into all of our devices and wearables.
3. High Rolling
Email marketing has quickly become a costly affair, growing even faster than the user base. While it only accounted for about $2 billion in spending in 2014, it’s now about to grow beyond $3 billion. With this kind of growth, it’s too big of a market to ignore.
If you’re not taking advantage of email marketing, you need to grab the wheel.
4. Great ROI
Email has a higher median ROI than most forms of promotion. Marketing typically gives you an ROI of around 30-40%. With email, you can go as high as 120%. And given it’s so cheap, you’d be silly not to take advantage of it.
5. Business is Booming, Thanks to Email
Productivity is up, profits are rising, and email use is higher than ever. If you own a business, it’s more than likely that you’re using email for your business communications.
Nearly 90% of professionals claim to use it when they’re conducting business or communicating professionally.
6. It’s How You Generate Leads
While lead generation used to entail a lot of conversations, trade shows, and cold calling, much of that has dropped off thanks to promotional emails. Promotional emails allow you to interact with customers, make offers, and receive feedback all in one message.
With nearly 90% of marketers using email to generate leads, it’s a great place for you to start.
You Can Get a Lot From a Promotional Email
If you haven’t tried using promotional email as a marketing tactic for your business, you’re missing you. The potential returns you get from email marketing are too high to not take advantage of.
If you want to find more inexpensive ways to drive profits, check out this guide to taking advantage of search engines.
Sep 7, 2018 | Advertising Benefits
In 2017, 84% of businesses that used pay per click marketing (PPC) reported success, compared to just 1% who reported no valuable return.
Can you afford to not be using this high-converting, super-targeted, budget-friendly form of marketing?
If you’re still not sure whether this is the right marketing strategy for you, then check out these advertising benefits of PPC.
Advertising Benefits of PPC
Many managers will see ‘Pay Per Click’ and hear the word ‘expensive’ ringing in their ears.
However, there are many advantages to using PPC for advertising – not least that it’s actually much cheaper and more budget-friendly than you may think.
1. Immediate Visible Results
PPC campaigns deliver immediate trackable results. You can see what’s working, what isn’t working, and control your campaigns based on near real-time data.
You can set goals for your PPC campaigns to see the exact efficacy of each campaign. For example, if a campaign aims to get people to add a certain product to their basket, you can see if they do this.
2. Highly Targeted Audiences for Improved ROI
You can tailor your PPC campaign to as specific an audience as you like. This helps you to control costs, but also means that only the most relevant potential customers will see your advert.
The more targeted an audience that sees your advertisement, the higher the return on your investment. Traditional advertising, such as a billboard or commercial, is paid for regardless of who sees it. PPC advertising is only shown to those who are already looking to buy your product.
3. Higher Brand Awareness
Even if people don’t click, they’re going to see your brand advert for their related search query.
People searching for your products and services will see your brand advertised when their search results come up. This means that your brand awareness will rocket – and with the right audience, too.
4. Great Budget Control
You can switch a PPC campaign on or off at the click of a mouse. If your product promotion has ended, for example, then that campaign can be ended.
If you’re not seeing the results you need, then you can pause a campaign while you study the data to tweak and improve the targeting. You’re not spending money on advertising that you know isn’t working.
5. Create a Goldmine of Data
For every campaign that does – and doesn’t – work, you’re going to find out more about how your ideal customer ticks.
You’ll be able to see which high-performing keywords in adverts are driving your customers to your website. You can see where they go once they’re on your site – and what other products and services they look at other than the one advertised.
You can even see the time of day your advert is most successful, the audience demographic, and the PPC channels which drive the most customers.
This data will improve your offline and SEO marketing as you learn more and more about your customers.
Why PPC Needs Great Web Design
The advertising benefits of PPC means a high number of visitors will come to your website – but if your site isn’t easy to use, you might as well just burn money.
You need to make sure that your web design provides an engaging and easy user experience for anyone that visits via your PPC campaign.
Talk to us to find out more about how we can help improve your web design to improve your sales conversions.
