SEO TIP: Blogging

Posted on April 28, 2013 by razorwebdesign

Remember, Content is King. The quickest and most efficient way to add content to your website is to blog. But why Blog? The more pages you have on your website the better. When you write a blog post, that adds 1 more page to your site, so if you do it often (10-20 times a month), you could have a huge website in no time with lots of useful information!

 

Setting up a Blog

If you don’t have a blog, you can easily get one setup for free through wordpress.com or blogger.com. These are two of the most popular implementations, and they are free! The only time they will charge you is when you want to point the blog to your own website (we will cover this a little later), and even then its only $12 a year.

 

How to Blog

Blogging should come naturally. You should already be an expert about the things you write about because they relate to your business. Think of things that people would want to know or learn from you about your company or the products of services you sell. You could right informational pieces or quick little tips about things people would like to learn. The point is to get people interested enough to read what you have to say. You posts could be short, or long, as long a they get to the point and accomplish a goal.

 

How to Make your Blog SEO Friendly

Here are a few ways to make your blog more optimized when you start writing posts.

1. Make sure the blog is hosted on your domain.  If you have the blog on you own domain name, your website will get more credit for it from Google and all the pages you create with content will count towards your site instead of someone elses.  The other reason you want to do this is that it Looks more credible to someone who is reading. Anyone can have a free blog at wordpress.com but an established company should have one at their own website.

GOOD:  http://blog.razorwebdesign.com

BAD: http://razorwebdesign.wordpress.com

 

2. Another Important thing to remember is to always put links to your website in the content of your posts. Each post, as you write it should already relate to some aspect of your business, whether it be a service, product, or history of the business. So when you write posts, add links to other pages on your site so users can jump to them and ideally get more information about that product or service  and maybe even purchase it.

 

 

So if you are not blogging now, it’s never too late to start. Break out those grade school skills and get writing. And stop by Razor Web Design if you need help getting one setup on your website. We would love to help.

 

Posted in SEO Tips

SEO Tip: Meta Tags

Posted on April 20, 2013 by razorwebdesign

What are Meta Tags?

Meta tags are information inserted in to each page of your website that tells Google and other search engines what your page is about. There are three different types of Meta Tags:

  1. Title Tag
  2. Meta Description
  3. Meta Keywords

 

Title Tag 

A meta title shows the name of a web page. The title is displayed by the browser, usually at the top of your computer screen (usually in the tab of the page you are one), and tells a reader what page they are on. Meta titles are “read” by search engine robots and seen by site visitors.

The metal title is very important for helping the page rank higher in search engine returns and should be written to cater to google bots  first, and to site visitors second. Meta titles should make sense to the reader, but the wording should be based on keyword you want to be found for and relevance to the rest of the web page.

Title Tags should typically be 9 Words or less.

An Important thing to remember is that the title tag is what appears as the link users will click on in Search Results on Google and other search engines.

 

Example:   Mint Baseball Card Collections, Rare Old Baseball Cards

 

Meta Description

The Meta Description is basically a short summary paragraph that describes what the page is about with a sales sounding flair. For the Google to understand what your page is about, you need to write a good description.

The meta description is the summary paragraph underneath the link ( which is the meta title ) in the search results. So it needs to accurately describe the page but also entice the user to click on your listing instead of someone elses.

 

Example:    Our company offers Mint condition Baseball cards from some of the most wanted collections. Browse hundreds of pristine collection worthy cards and buy now with confidence.

 

Meta Keywords

The keyword meta tag has been ignored by search engines for many years now. It carries NO weight when it comes to search engine optimization. So there is no reason to waste your time with this meta tag. Some say it does, but experts say that you should ignore it too.

Keywords for your site are not determined by the meta keywords anymore. Rather google will read all the content on your page and pick out the most frequently used words and count those as your keywords.

 

If you need help with SEO or just want us to manage it for you, stop by out site today and get a quote.

 

 

Posted in SEO Tips

How Important Is Domain Name Age for SEO?

Posted on April 16, 2013 by razorwebdesign — Leave a comment ↓

One of the many factors in Google’s search engine algorithm is the age of a domain name. In a small way, the age of a domain gives the appearance of longevity and therefore a higher relevancy score in Google.

The age of the website is built up of how long the content has been actually on the web, how long the site has been in promotion, and even the last time content was updated. The length of time a domain has been registered is measured by not only the actual date the domain was registered, but also how long it is registered for. Some domains only register for a year at a time, while others are registered for two, five, or even ten years. We know its a couple extra bucks, but secure your website address for more than a year at a time. Google wants to see that you aren’t going anywhere and every little bit helps.

One of the ways Google uses to minimize search engine spam is by giving new websites a waiting period of three to four months before giving it any kind of PageRank. So dont be alarmed if your new site is not ranking on the first page of Google right out of the gate.

But dont worry, there are some things you can do while waiting for Google to rank your site, such as concentrating on your backlink strategies, promoting your site through Pay-per-click, social media, blogging, or in other ways. If you do all these thing while you are waiting for Google to properly assess your site, you will most likely be much better off than if you didnt.

So in short, the longer you’ve been around the better. We can’t really say what works or how much effect something has on your page rank. But if you know it might have an effect, why not go the extra mile? After all, SEO is all patience and going the distance.

Check out what Razor Web Design can do today to help your SEO.

Posted in SEO Tips

Landing Page Websites for Business Explained

Posted on April 13, 2013 by razorwebdesign — Leave a comment ↓

Every organization starts with a website to describe its operations and provide information. Over time, content and functionality are added as the purpose of the site evolves to accommodate more business objectives. As long as it can successfully meet everyone’s needs, the single website works well.

Eventually, a website gets so much information that visitors bounce around and get lost in all the information. To remedy this type of behavior, Razor Web Design now offers Landing Page websites that we can build to get visitors back on track and accomplishing goals that you set for them.

What is a Landing Page?
A Landing Page is a website that businesses can use to offer information about a specific service, product or product group. Landing pages and squeeze pages are a single, long page that focuses 100% on a certain item. This one page website contains all the information necessary about the product or service to meet the objectives and allows you to capture visitor information through a contact form.

The way to use a Landing Page for a business is to set it up with a lot of great content on your service or product. The benefit here is that because this entire site is devoted to a specific target market, your keyword density (SEO Term) will be much higher.

What does a Landing Page talk about?
The landing page should consist of only information that will help a prospective visitor make the decision to enter their information to contact you. I recently saw a Boise car dealer using a landing page to capture leads from a craigslist ad. They had created a listing on craigslist for a vehicle, and when you clicked on a link to the post that said “learn more about this vehicle , it went to a one page website that had that vehicle on it, phone numbers, logo, and information about the car. This is a PERFECT example of how to use a landing page. If I were in the market for a new car, and I was interested in a that make and model, this would be the easiest way to get information about the car.

Will this help with search engines?
With a keyword focused landing page website, your business can potentially attract higher levels of traffic from new sources. Additionally, as other websites you may have grow, you can create links between your sites and the landing pages which Google and other search engines will count as “back links” thereby improving each others search engine ranking. This easy process will also help search engines find both sites faster if not previously indexed.

Are there any other benefits?
If your business uses marketing methods like direct mail, you can send potential customers to a landing page instead of your other website and better gauge the success of each campaign.

Landing Pages can be used to announce the launch of new products, giving your new product or service an identity of its own.

And, probably the greatest benefit of all, is the fact that statistically most web visitors only look at the home page of your site and then leave. A Landing Page, geared specifically to these visitors and their needs, will have a greater retention rate than your main website.

Ultimately, whether or not a Landing Page makes sense for a business will depend on your business. Do you have a lot of services or products? Or, do you cover multiple geographic regions or vertical markets? If it would be helpful to present each of those target customers with a custom message and information, then a Landing Page may be just the marketing solution that you need.

The best part: with Razor Web Design, a Landing Page Website is only $9.. No that’s not a Typo, nine bucks. So stop by today and get started. We can have your Landing Page setup in the same day you sign up!

Posted in Landing Pages, Websites

5 Reasons You Need A Mobile Website

Posted on April 6, 2013 by razorwebdesign — Leave a comment ↓

Below are just a few basic, yet profound reasons that anyone with a website also needs a mobile website.

1.  3 out of 4 of mobile users are looking for a local location or business hours
2.  1 out of 2 people admit they will use websites less if they’re not mobile-friendly (Source: Google)
3.  67% of users are more likely to buy from mobile-friendly sites
4.  78% of mobile website users want to find information within 1 or 2 clicks
5.  61% of mobile web users want click-to-call functionality

 
With a Razor Web Design Mobile Website You Can:

1.  Advertise your Addess and Business Hours
2.  Create and Manage your own pages
3.  Capture Leads
4.  List Products

Come check us out today and get started with your own FREE Mobile Website.

Posted in Mobile

10 Things Every Website Should Have

Posted on April 2, 2013 by razorwebdesign — Leave a comment ↓

1. Good Visual Design
First things first… Visual design. I don’t know about you, but if I go to a web site that is not visually pleasing, it is a quick turn off.
That’s not to say that every top website needs an incredible visual design, but if a site looks like it hasn’t been updated since 1994, it’s just not going to be associated with other great websites.
A clean and simple design is usually all you need. Bells and whistles are nice, but I’m one who tends to go with the “less is more” theory. You don’t want your design to be over crowded. You just want it to look good so it can stand out from your competitor(s) in the minds of your potential clients.
First impressions are key. Although good design alone will not keep someone on your site — an eye-catching design will, at the very least, grab their attention long enough to take a look around.

2. Thoughtful User Interface
Along with good design comes a good user interface. The user interface is the foundation of any good functional web site. When designing a site, you’ll need to take into consideration your average user. Who is going to be visiting your web site — who is your ideal customer? Are they tech-savy? Are they computer illiterate?
It’s helpful to create an image of your ideal visitor and have them in mind when planning out the design for your site. Be sure you offer everything on your site that they would want to find before buying from you or becoming a subscriber.
You’ll want to be sure that your navigation is easy to spot and consistent throughout the entire web site. Make it obvious where the user should click both in terms of your primary navigation, as well as for links within your content areas.

3. Primary Navigation Above The Fold
Part of having an easy to navigate web site is ensuring that the primary means of navigation — links to the key areas of your site — are kept above the fold. With today’s large computer monitors and growing screen resolutions “above the fold” is generally considered to be within the top 500-600 pixels of your site design.
Elements to include here are your logo (which should link back to your home page), as well as links to the main sections of your site. If you can link to sub-pages here that is great, but in most cases that will over-clutter your design.
For example put “Home | About | Services | FAQ | Contact” in a very easy to find location at the top of your site. You can place sub-links such as About-Bio / About-Resume somewhere else, such as in your sidebar or as sub-links under the main page title of that section, etc.
Consistency is key here — be sure to place both your primary and sub-navigational links in the same spot throughout the various pages of your web site.

4. Repeat Navigation In The Footer
If you use images (or even flash) for your main navigation, it’s especially important to offer a duplicate set of navigation links in your footer. Even if you use text links at the top, the duplication is still helpful. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to find the content they are looking for on your site.
Often times the footer will link to additional information — such as Terms of Service — as well. Things that should be easy to find, but not necessarily something you want taking up real estate on the primary navigation area of the site.

5. Meaningful Content
You know the saying… “Content is King” — you might have a pretty web site which will catch someone’s eye, but if the content is no good, you can be willing to bet that they aren’t going to stick around.
When writing the copy for your web site, it’s important to provide helpful, knowledgeable information about your company, products, services, etc. If you’re running a blog, informative articles related to your area of expertise are incredibly helpful as well.
While it’s important to sell yourself or your company, you also don’t want to oversell, either. Particularly in a blog setting — people reading a blog don’t want to hear all about “me me me” — they want to know how you can help them.

6. A Solid About Page
Among the top 10 most popular pages of my own site (after the home page, blog, 3 specific blog posts and my portfolio) is the About page. I have more clicks to my about page than to my services or portfolio pages, if you can believe that!
It’s simply because people are curious. They want to know who is behind a company or a blog. I was personally quite shy about including a photo on my own bio page, but finally did it a few months ago. It’s amazing what the sense of curiosity does — I myself am always clicking on about pages too, trying to find out more about the designer or writer, etc.
Include information on your background and how it pertains to your own business and expertise, etc. The about page gives potential clients a little bit more information about you and can often help create a more personal bond. If they are reading your writing and know a bit more about you, they’ll have a better sense of connection and better be able to relate to you on another level.
More often than not, a potential client will select the company with a “real” person behind it, rather than the faceless organization that refuses to get even a little bit personal.

7. Contact Information
Nothing can turn off a prospective client more than not being able to find a way to contact you. If they’re interested in your services, and can’t find a simple contact page with a way to get in touch and hire you they’re going to end up going over to the competition.
Ideally you’ll want to give more than one method of contact. At the very least an email address and contact form. To make you more “real” though you should try to include a phone number (and if possible a mailing address) as well. I know many freelancers work from a home office – as do I. A quick solution is to get a separate phone line for business calls, as well as either a PO Box or other mailing service address.
Keep in mind that these are tax deductible expenses and makes you look that much more professional than someone who only includes an email address. To other home business owners in the same boat, it might not make a difference. But if you work with any larger or corporate clients, they’ll see a public phone number and address as an added sign of stability and that could play a small part in them choosing you over someone else.

8. Search
If you have a large web site or blog, having a search field is incredibly helpful, as well. There’s nothing like wading through hundreds of pages to find specific content without a search feature. If a potential customer can’t find something easily on your site, but Joe Designer over there does… odds are they are going to go with Joe whose content is easy to search through.
You can often use a Google Search on your site, or if you have WordPress (or another blogging platform or CMS / Content Management System) this will be fairly easy to accomplish. It’s not quite as easy to set this up with a static html site, but there are still services out there that will let you incorporate a functional search box onto your site.

9. Sign-Up / Subscribe
If your web site offers content on a consistent basis — such as with a blog — you’ll want to make it as easy as possible for people to sign up for updates.
This is something else that’s extremely easy to add if you have a WordPress blog. By default they’ll provide you with a feed address. But if you want to step it up a notch, you’ll want to sign up for a free account with FeedBurner. Better yet, you might consider using the FeedBurner FeedSmith plugin that will help re-direct all feeds through your FeedBurner account for easy tracking of your subscribers.
If you don’t have a blog, but still want to offer subscriptions to an email newsletter, for example, there are many companies that will let you setup and manage a mailing list. They will provide you code for your site to enable your web site visitors to sign up for updates using their email address. (FeedBurner allows you to collect email addresses too, btw). In some ways this is better than an RSS subscription because you are able to collect email addresses of potential prospects. While you can keep track of subscription numbers and other generic statistics, RSS subscribers get your updates via feed reader and have no need to provide an email address.

10. Sitemap
There are two kinds of sitemaps – one for humans and one for the search engines. An html (or php, etc.) sitemap meant for visitors to your site can be an invaluable tool for finding just what they are looking for.
Creating a sitemap – a structured list of all pages of a web site – is especially useful if you are unable to add a search feature to your site. A link to the sitemap is another item that is helpful to place down in the footer of your site, as well. A good sitemap will list out every page of your site in a hierarchial format – clearly showing the relationship of pages in terms of primary pages with sub-pages and sub-sub-pages, etc.

With that being said, every website we build has all of these things plus more ways to help your business succeed. So come see how we can help you with your next site and get a free quote today.

Posted in Websites

Do You need a mobile website if you are a business?

Posted on March 23, 2013 by razorwebdesign — Leave a comment ↓

This is a question that many small business owners are beginning to ask. They wonder if having a mobile presence is a must when they first get their website setup. The answer is a resounding “Yes!”

According to Google, 40 percent of all searches are currently being done on mobile devices. People are buying smart phones and Internet enabled devices, such as tablets, at an increasing rate. Mobile search is becoming a powerful tool that consumers use to make buying decisions. Many shoppers compare prices and read reviews on items even while shopping at a brick and mortar store. Statistically, 70 percent of the people searching for a product or service using a mobile device will buy in the near future. This exceeds the buying probability of desktop and laptop users, who often do more research than active buying.

So the answer is “Yes.” To meet this search demand, most businesses could benefit from having a mobile website that is designed correctly and loads fast. However, it is best to seek mobile website experts to ensure you get the best bang for your buck.

What information should a mobile website have?
Information such as Phone Number and Location Info are two of the must-have features for any good mobile website. These make it easy for local consumers to call or find you, which is a vast majority of all mobile searches. Another key feature that is nice especially for service-based businesses is Click-to-Email. Again this allows for easy and convenient communication.

Mobile users are also looking for a site that loads quickly and properly. Slow-load mobile sites are often abandoned and the consumer will go on to the next site.

Mobile website content needs to be quick and to the point. Mobile users normally want fast information to use in a buying decision. Therefore, having a straight forward site is usually the best practice. Other users may need directions to your place or need to call for quick questions or perhaps make a reservation.

The bottom line
Pricing for mobile website design can get kind of spendy and typically starts around $350. With Razor Web Design, Boise’s Premiere Web Design Company, We give you a Mobile website FREE with any website purchase.

So stop by and check out our websites and mobile websites today!

Posted in Mobile
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