Search Engine Optimization FAQ
Search engine is an online software tool that search for (and index) an information on the internet for a specific keyword. When a user searches for a particular keyword, the search engine results pages (SERPs) show snippets of those web pages which have most relevancy with that keyword/s. SERPs can consist of web pages, images, videos, infographics and any data taken from other online directories or databases. Search engines determine which information is shown on the first page using algorithms and human input to decide accurate relevancy.
Spiders are intelligent software programmes that search engines use to visit, crawl and index millions of web pages on internet. Web pages are then stored within large search engine “data centers”, ready to be presented within SERPs when users enter a keyword related to that webpage. Your website can get fully indexed and crawled by search engines if it is developed using clean validated coding – not fancy Flash or juicy JavaScript!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website for particular keywords or key phrases related to your products or services so that it is ranked high in ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ search engine results pages. Ranking highly on the 1st page of Google is where you wish your business website to be positioned. You’ll get a higher share of click-through to your website and if your website engages visitors (using web usability strategies and techniques) you stand a far higher chance of converting them into action takers too!
Search Engine Marketing (or SEM) is a collective industry term for all techniques and strategies involved in promoting and marketing websites on search engines and includes organic methods like search engine optimization as well as ‘paid” methods such as Google Adwords Pay-Per-Click.
Keywords are one of the most important ways that Google connects online visitors with content. The concept is simple enough; having users’ common search terms in your content helps to ensure that they find your website.
Keywords should be included at a natural frequency in your site’s content. They shouldn’t be “stuffed” as to appear forced, but they should be regular enough that it’s clear what you want to be found for. Consider “long tail” keywords as a supplement to the obvious ones: A combination of many lower traffic keywords can often bring you more traffic than a few high traffic keywords.
When visitors land on your website, you have up to 8 seconds to convince them to stay on the website and take action. How long do you stay on websites that are boring and hard to navigate or use? Regardless of how highly your website is ranked in search engines, it must be engaging, communicate with users and convert them from visitors to customers.
Search engine optimization is of two types: on-page and off-page. Search engines give importance to both quality and quantity of links pointing to a website. For businesses wishing to rank highly in search engines, strategic link building is important. A smart and effective way to attract webmasters to build links to your website is by publishing fresh, useful and unique content.
Google Places Local Search is an effective, inexpensive way to advertise your products and services to potential customers online who are looking for what you offer in your local town or county. Although Google Places has become a key ingredient in achieving local search engine domination, many businesses have yet to claim their free listing. For those that have, many have not optimized their entry to appear at the top of local search listings.
The answer is simple – white-hat (or ethical) search engine optimization uses techniques and methods recommended by all the major search engines to gain high rankings and online visibility. Black-hat practices are condemned by all major search engines and the use of them can result in websites being heavily penalized (resulting in low rankings), or complete deletion from the search engine indexes. Gain valuable insight into why you should choose PROS as your Full Internet Marketing Partner.
Keyword stuffing or spamming are the same thing – a technique used in the 1980’s and 1990’s to manipulate and trick search engines into ranking websites highly. Today, to protect user experience, search engines have become far more intelligent and now heavily penalize websites that attempt these black-hat methods – in some cases dropping websites from their index altogether. The proper use of keywords (as part of an SEO strategy) can transform your business website into a lead-generating, marketing machine, attracting online visitors who are looking for what you offer. Find out more about our Keyword Research Service.
Landing pages are single-purpose web pages designed to entice visitors to take immediate action by downloading, requesting, subscribing or purchasing something. The term ‘call to action’ refers to a method used to entices website visitors to perform specific actions: subscribing to your online newsletter, contacting you, submitting an inquiry form, requesting a quote or downloading useful information (such as white papers etc). Landing page optimization and ‘call to action’ implementation are crucial to getting visitors to take action on your website. If you website is not converting visitors to leads or sales, our Website Usability Testing & Audit service could be the best investment you make.
Pay Per Click advertising lets small business owners promote their products, goods and services through text adverts within search engine sponsored listings –found at the top and right of organic (or natural) search engine results listings. Advertisers set a daily limit on what they are prepared to spend and are then charged every time their advert is clicked. The actual cost per click is determined by the position of their advert, the cost of the keyword that triggered their advert to appear and the search engine’s quality score of their click-through-ratio (CTR). In business terms, this is the fastest, most cost-effective way for your company to attract new customers online. If you’re a little confused, why not get in touch – our Google Adwords Services are competitively priced for the small to medium business sector and focus on achieving a high return of investment. We also offer Pay Per Click health-checks and training.
Social media has taken the world by storm over the last 2 to 3 years. Everyone has a Facebook account and many businesses have a Twitter or Linked-In account. Promoting your business online through social media marketing should be seen as a vital part of your online marketing mix. From an SEO perspective, Twitter and Facebook Pages regularly show up on search engine results pages while Linked-In is the largest business networking platform online. If you’re looking to take your first steps on promoting your business through social media or if you need help optimizing your existing accounts, simply contact us to discuss our SEO Link Building Service – we’re only a phone call away!
Business Questions
There could be a number of reasons why your website isn’t generating inquiries, leads or sales: lack of keyword optimization, low search engine ranking, website technical problems, lack of indexed content for search engines to crawl, non-friendly website navigation or structure, lack of conversion strategy – the list is virtually endless. Our SEO Evaluation Reports & Analysis and Website Usability Testing & Audit services will provide you with a complete health-check of your website performance and bring to your attention potential problems that could be holding it back. Also, these services will provide suggestions on how to rectify problems using proven internet marketing, search engine optimization and website usability techniques.
All the major search engines suggest regularly adding new and fresh website content. From an SEO perspective, indexed fresh content can boost your rankings, especially when internal linking is included. From a user perspective, fresh, interesting content shows your website is growing and evolving and therefore builds confidence, trust and credibility. Finding the time to write creative, optimized, useful content can be a challenge for many businesses, especially writing just the right copy that perfectly fits their target audience profile. Our SEO copy-writing Service addresses this challenge, while letting you build your business.
Highly ranked websites have certain things in common – they have unique, interesting content, their website content has been optimized for search engines using popular keywords and they have good-quality inbound links from relevant, trusted and respected websites. Our Search Engine Ranking Service address all these internet marketing methods.
Unfortunately, one of the major myths of website design is that once a new business website goes live, online visitors will find it and inquiries will pour in – unfortunately this doesn’t happen. To get fast results, Small Business Website Design & Development should follow a website marketing strategy that focuses on search engine optimization, great website usability and conversion principles from the start. This means getting the fundamentals right before designing it.
Would you like to know how your online competitors achieve their search engine rankings and what internet marketing, search engine optimization or SEO link building tactics they’re using? Our “online competition” SEO Evaluation Reports & Analysis service will provide the knowledge and market intelligence needed to compete against them and rank higher.
Contact Us for a friendly chat about what you’re after or book an appointment to discuss the steps you need to take to implement a Website Marketing Strategy. We also provide SEO Training Services, should you wish to learn how to optimize your own website.
We offer a number of services aimed at increasing the conversion of website visitors into leads or sales. Our SEO copy-writing service focuses on creating fresh, keyword-optimized website content that tempts, engages and entices visitors to take action. Our Website Usability Testing & Audit service offers best-practice and industry-related suggestions to improve your website usability, increase your conversion ratio and increase positive visitor behavior.
What sets us apart from most internet marketing companies is that we not only focus on getting high search engine rankings for websites, we also focus on improving your website visitor experience and conversion ratio. Being top of Google search results is great, but if visitors aren’t converting, you’re leaving money on the table! Our website usability testing and Website Visitor Reporting & Analytics services will identify and monitor visitor behavior and gain insight into problem areas or road-blocks that should be addressed to improve overall website usability.
Low conversion rates could be the result of many different factors: wrong keyword targeting, no calls to action, low quality score or incorrect bidding strategies, to name a few. With ROI-focused campaign management, pay-per-click advertising can be the fastest way to attract potential customers to your website. Our Google Adwords Services include new campaign setup, existing campaign optimization and pay per click training.
Not necessarily – and this is one of the great myths of the web design world. Designing business websites and marketing them effectively require two specific skills sets: design and marketing. Website design focuses on coding, programming, software development and aesthetics. Marketing websites focuses on promotion, link building, on-page / off-page search engine optimization, advertising and overall user experience. To succeed online, professional Business Website Design needs both. As your Full Internet Marketing Partner, we’ll help make your website a success and guide you every step of the way.
In a word – NO! The practice of automating search engine submission is known as spamming and can earn penalties from search engines and online directories alike. Internet marketing success is based on quality not quantity.
There are many ways that the internet can be used to promote and advertise your small business online – some are more expensive than others. If you need a website designed by professionals, our small business website design and search engine optimization services will help you create an effective, visible online identity. If you already have a website that needs updating, fine-tuning or optimizing for search engines, give us a call – we’re here to help.
Ranking highly in search engines (if your business depends on attracting new customers) should be your priority and form part of your Website Marketing Strategy. To rank highly, your website must be optimized and search engine friendly and be able to attract quality, in-bound links from relevant, trusted websites and directories.
If you’re looking to re-design your website, the most important questions to ask yourself are “why”, “what” and “when”. Answering these will help you form an overall strategy and project timescale with realistic stepping stones and deadlines. We have vast experience of helping clients redesign their websites. We will advise of the common pitfalls to avoid and follow a structured process that includes discovery, wire-framing, customer profiling and online market research (via keyword analysis).
