Google Algorithm Update Affects Business Website SEO

January 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Google just made an adjustment to their page layout algorithm that could affect your business website SEO.  This new change is designed to offer a better experience for visitors to your site which is the top priority for Google.  While it is estimated to only affect approximately 1% of websites, we suspect the number to be considerably larger.

The reason for this change is that Google has realized that sites with certain layouts get far more “bounces” than other sites.  A bounce is when someone clicks to your site from a search result and then leaves without taking any further action (clicks a link, clicks a button, watches a video, opts in, etc.).  A bounce tells Google that the website probably was not valuable for the visitor.

Why does Google care?

Google’s entire model centers around the quality of their search engine.  If the search engine isn’t delivering good results for searchers, then people will quit using it and instead go to Bing or some other search engine.  Because of this, Google is our friend, not our enemy.  Can you imagine how life would be if you couldn’t quickly search and find what you wanted online?  Chaos…

business website exampleWhat should a business website have in order to comply?

It is pretty simple – have valuable content “above-the-fold.”  Above-the-fold is a phrase used to describe the first thing someone sees when they land on a website, before they have to scroll down the page (see image to the right). Offending sites often are littered with ads and banners for other offers, making the visitor have to search around for the actual information they were searching for in the first place.  Quality sites put their content first so that a visitor can easily get to it when they land on the page.

To see the Google update by Matt Cutts visit:  http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/01/page-layout-algorithm-improvement.html

Filed Under: Internet Marketing, SEO Tagged With: , , , , ,

3 Easy Social Media Marketing Tips To Get Better Results In Search

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Does social media marketing and trying to figure out how to really make it work overwhelm you?

It used to overwhelm me until I started to really focus on clear, easy-to-use tips from the pros I knew I could commit to on a consistent basis.

I’m going to share three of those easy-to-use social media marketing tips with you now.

Social Media Marketing Tip #1

Make sure you have social media marketing buttons on your website.

It’s the easiest and one of the most effective tips to execute, but yet so many small business owners fail to do so.

Which social media marketing buttons should you have? Here’s my recommendation.

Facebook. This should be the hub of all your social media marketing activity. If it’s happening in your business and it’s newsworthy then you should be sharing it on Facebook.

Twitter. Twitter is like one of your loyal foot soldiers that goes out on the internet and sends short, compelling signals to your target market. That signal is meant to pull those who find it back to your Facebook Business Page where they can discover more about the awesome products and services you offer.

YouTube. YouTube should be the hub of all your video marketing activity. If you’ve been living under a rock for the last several years or just haven’t had time to understand the power of video marketing in your business here’s what you need to know. Video marketing is POWERFUL! So powerful, in fact, if you had to only use one social media marketing platform (good thing you don’t) it would be YouTube.

Start with those three as the core of your social media marketing plan. Then quickly get up to speed on LinkedIn and Google+ as soon as you’re ready.

Social Media Marketing Tip #2

Make sure you are including your keyword strategy as part of the social media marketing messages you are sending to your followers and fans.

Google has made it clear that social media marketing now plays an important roll in search. Just consider Google’s latest seo announcement about personal search results for your evidence.

For example. If you performed social media marketing or seo services like our company Poobah Marketing then you would want these two keywords to play a part in your keyword strategy.

In this case here’s one example of what a Facebook status update might look like.

Social media marketing now more significant than ever for search results. Are you including SEO into your social messages? Here’s why you should be [link here to your blog post]

Hopefully you can see how powerful this is for your business and how easy it is to execute.

Social Media Marketing Tip #3

Take 30 minutes out of your week to build relationships with people on social media.

Social media marketing technology has made it easier than ever for you to connect with your prospects and customers on their turf. We all know people buy from people they know like and trust.

Take the time to build relationships and develop trust with your social media followers. The trust you build can easily translate into inbound links to your website and more social media authority, which you now know is important for search. Ultimately, of course, these relationships will lead to more sales.

You’d be surprised how many relationships you can start and develop in only 30 minutes of focused time a week. I recommend more, but initally use 30 minutes as a weekly milestone to get you in the habit. Then turn it up for greater impact.

Social media marketing is critical to your business if you want to compete in the search engines where all your customers hang out when they are looking to buy. Make it a point to include these three easy tips into your social media strategy. If you need some expert advice to just get you started in the right direction or if you’ve been doing social media marketing but are ready to take it to a higher level we can help. Call us today! (303) 578-1290 

What social media marketing tips do you have? Share with us below!

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social-media-marketing-expertChris White is the Grand Poobah of Social Media at Poobah Marketing a Denver-based SEO company that helps small to medium businesses dominate online and on mobile devices.  For more information, visit PoobahMarketing.com or call (303) 578-1290.  Mention this article and get a free 20 minute business marketing consultation.

Filed Under: Local Search Marketing, SEO, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

Business Search Engine Ranking is an Ongoing Process

December 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

One of the most frequently asked questions we get regarding the search engine ranking of a business is related to how long the process takes.

A common misconception by business owners is that once they get their business ranked at the top of the search engines, they can stop using their SEO company that got them positioned there, or at least put a hold on things until needed later.

Unfortunately it does not work that way…

google caffeine search engine rankingIn June 2010 Google announced the completion of Caffeine, a web indexing system designed to provider “fresher” results in their search engine.  Before caffeine, all data was pulled from previously indexed pages on the web.  With the fast moving pace of the internet, including multimedia, social media, up-to-the-minute news, and real-time updates on more dynamically complex web pages, dated search results were no longer desired by web surfers.

Google decided to become more relevant and serve up better (more up-to-date) content and they began factoring it into their search engine results pages.  Since that time, it has become increasingly apparent that dated, static content could not maintain search engine rankings.  Instead, consistency became a requirement.

How can businesses stay “Fresh” and maintain great search engine rankings?

There are many things that can be done in order to stay current in the search engine’s eyes, including:

  • Having a blog and updating it regularly is a must – just do it
  • Engaging in social media on a consistent basis is a requirement
  • Utilizing press releases yields impressive results
  • Constantly growing diverse backlinks to your web content
  • Utilizing multimedia on your blog and your social media accounts
  • Keeping fresh coupons and offers updated (Example:  Google Places)
  • Participating in conversations online (forums, blogs, social sites, etc)
  • Much, much more….

While an industrious business owner can certainly handle some of these things, it would be nearly impossible to stay consistent and accomplish it all with great optimization and massive syndication in a way that keeps them competitive in the search engines while still trying to run their business.  That is why hiring a long-term expert SEO company is no longer an option, it is a requirement for business owners who want to win online and on mobile devices.

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Tim Berry is the Grand Poobah of Marketing at Poobah Marketing, a Denver-based SEO company that helps small to medium businesses dominate online and on mobile devices.  For more information, visit Poobah Marketing or call (303) 578-1290.  Mention this article and get a free 20 minute business marketing consultation.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing, Local Search Marketing, SEO