Search Engine Optimization - Where to begin?
Written by Jason Poeffel 6-14-11
SEO -- it’s all the buzz these days, at least when it comes to searching for your website online. But what is it? SEO is short for “Search Engine Optimization” and the bottom line is this, getting your website to show up near the top of the search results for Google, Yahoo or Bing is obviously advantageous for your business. Most people are not going to search through five pages of search results to find us, so we have to “optimize” our sites to increase our chances of being seen.
So how is it done? Strategically, it is a two fold plan - what I do and what you do.
My Part -- Part of my service to my customer is to help them thing through descriptive words for all menu items and titles. A simple thing like, changing your “home” title to the name of your company really does makes a difference. I also work with my customers to come up with a very clear and concise summary of their business called a “meta description” and also an extensive list of “meta keywords”. I also implement “alt” tags for all images, which gives the Search Engine “bots” some text that describes all images and the ability to catalog that information. Links are also key to bringing your site up the list. That is why, not only do I put a link to Sprout’s webpage from your site, but I also link to your site from my website. Lastly, I submit a site map to Google, Yahoo and Bing to help them catalog the structure of your site.
Your Part -- This is something that you can continually work on. First off, I have found that getting my site name linked everywhere I can really helps. I started by getting my business listed on Google Places, Yahoo Local, and Bing’s Business Portal. There are others search engines out there, but these are big boys. Next I would list my business in networks like Merchant Circle, Linkedin or a local site like ishopthetri.com. Every little bit helps. Lastly, there is Social networking. Creating a Facebook Fan Page or a Twitter Account for your business is a great way to network and communicate with your customers in addition to raising you SEO rating.
Well, that’s the short story of SEO and hopefully this article will point you in the right direction. As always, please feel free to contact me with any other questions or needs you may have.
Jason Poeffel
owner/designer of Sprout Web Design |
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Not all Browsers are created equal - for now |
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Written by Jason Poeffel
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"You mean to tell me that websites look different on Firefox, Chrome or Safari? I've been using Internet Explorer from day 1". Maybe you have thought the same thing? It's the truth and for many, rather shocking. So what's different?
The most noticeable thing is rounded corners and drop shadows, or the lack of them in IE 8. Right now when someone builds a website they can use programming code to create these modern rounded corners (and drop shadows) on boxes, containers and slideshows. So why is this important? The bottom line is speed. By using code and not using images with rounded corners and drop shadows to create this look, sites simply load faster. This is a good thing, since most people don't wait around a long time for a website to load. The goal is to get potential customers to your site quickly, so that they stay as long as possible.
The second thing you might notice is spacing. For some reason IE8 doesn't always put images and menus in the right place without creating separate code for just IE. In a world where Safari, Chrome and Safari don't struggle with this and for some reason IE does, many designers draw the line here.
My recommendation. Download Firefox, Safari or Chrome. The bottom line is.. .they are faster, more secure and render websites more consistently than IE8 is capable of doing. The other nice thing is these browsers auto-update when a new version comes out, leaving you with the latest and greatest version. That is not the case with IE8 and the reason that many are using even older versions of IE and risking their at home information.
Jason |
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What is a Content Management System |
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Why have a slideshow on your website and how do I create one? |
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