Search Engine Optimization
How SEO Impacts Your Web Presence
Search Engine Optimization refers to the customization of a website content to the specific needs of search engine alorythms and is essential for achieving good ranking in a search result page. Search engine optimization is a continuous process and builds credibility over time. A site must maintain fresh content, identify keyword relevance, implement the proper use of meta descriptions and overall maintain design and functionality. Once this is implemented correctly it will have a long lasting affect.
SEM (Search Engine Marketing) or SEA (Search Engine Advertising) involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results (SERPs) primarily through paid advertising campaigns. These promotional campaigns, which are indicated on a results page by the subtle "Ad" tag placed to the left of the link, are a great way to boost traffic to your site. Promotional SEM campaigns should always link to a dedicated web page (landing page) that is relevant to the promotion. Your content must match the paid search query it’s looking for or you will be penalized with a lower ranking. SEA Campaigns are Ad Words based. SEM and SEA campaign can achieve top ranking and their benefits can be seen during the length of the campaign but these campaigns will ad a continuous advertising expense to your budget and can be blocked by ad blockers.
Another important clarification, SEM campaigns incorporate the existing SEO on the site to achieve a higher ranking and to enhance your pay per click (PPC) listings. Therefore the money spent on SEM campaigns will yield a higher return if your websites SEO is implemented correctly and maintained.
Below are just some of the factors that are important to your SEO Score:
Content and Links:
Keep viewers engaged, provide quality, organized, relevant content. Create a hierarchy within the content and remember to use keywords appropriately. Allow the user to engage with the content and share it across social media platforms.
Within your content create a linking structure. This refers to your "link juice" the help establish a site acrchitect. Idealy the site architecture should look like a pyramid where the top is the homepage and the content and linking structure fans out below.
Mobile Friendly Website:
In 2015 mobile devices overtook desktops as the primary device used to access the internet. The following are three key stats from Google’s promotional materials that clearly illustrate the importance of mobile optimization:
• Today, more people search on mobile phones than computers.
• People are five times more likely to leave a site if it isn’t mobile-friendly.
• Over half of mobile users will leave a website if it takes longer than three seconds to load.
Below are the key technical elements that Google is looking for when rating your mobile friendly score.
1. Flash usage — Most mobile browsers do not render Flash and, as such, you will want to use more modern technologies.
2. Viewport not configured — The viewport meta tag aids browsers in scaling a page to suit a specific device.
3. Fixed-width viewport — This problem attempts to circumvent mobile design with fixed width pages and is best shelved when a responsive design is adopted.
3. Content not sized to viewport — Here the page content does not fit the window, and a user has to scroll. This can be fixed with relative rather than fixed widths.
4. Small font size — This is a scaling issue and requires users to pinch the screen to zoom in.
5. Touch elements too close — This is a common usability issue where it is too hard to tap a given element without also hitting the neighboring element.
6. Interstitial/ POP-up usage — A full-screen pop-up often represents poor user experience on a mobile device and is something that Google is looking to crack down on in 2017.
Based on these statistic, if your site is not mobile friendly, you will loose potential customers. Below are 3 sources you can use to test your sites mobile optimization:
Google's Mobile Resources:
Mobile-Friendly Websites
Mobile-Friendly Test
Mobile Usability Report
Site Design & FunctionalityHaving a sleek, beautifully designed website is not enough; it must be technically sound as well. You can spend money on SEM campaignes and email lists to drive traffic to your site, but if it's not technically sound as well it will not matter.
Keep these questions in mind when reviewing the design of your existing site:
What is the purpose of my website and is the design accomplishing this?
Does the website’s style align with the brand in terms of color, graphics, feel, etc.?
Who is the target audience and how does the design take this into consideration?
What should the audience do and is this design encouraging them to take that action?
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Other areas to look at: Proper Coding:
H1 tags
Meta descriptions
Image alt texts
Sitemaps
Links
Duplicate content
URL structure
Encryption - SSL Certificate
When installed on a web server, an SSL certificate activates the padlock and the https protocol and allows secure connections from a web server to a browser. Secure websites can protect a user's connection by securing information in three layers. Authentication protects against attacks and builds user trust.
In January 2017 Google started marking “HTTP pages that collect passwords or credit cards as non-secure.” To the right is what that change will look like on Google Chrome:
Are you in need of an SSL Certificate? Contact beMORRR Multimedia Designs LLC and we can help you determine which type of SSL certificate will serve your needs.
Contact beMORR Multimedia Design for a Complete Website Audit
Are you in beed for updates to an existing website, or do you need to start from scratch? Contact us today and see how we can help!
