Category: Creative Programs and Systems - page 20

It is so exciting to take your business online. It is hard to be unbiased when it comes to looking at the design of your online business. When evaluating your website you need to step back and ask yourself two vital questions; How long has your current site been online and How long has it been since it was last updated? It might actually throw you back a little to realize the amount of time it has been since you updated the information, design and possibly layout of your website.

It is common to have a website designed, online and functioning without paying any attention to it for years. Will it work for growing your online business or reputation? The answer is simple, NO! In order for you online presence to grow, as well as your business, you must keep up with your website. This includes keeping up with the information throughout the site and ensure that it is relevant and up-to-date.

If you current site has an outdated look it is time to update it. A full redesign should be considered as much of the information is probably just as outdated as the design. Think about it this way, when you are looking to purchase a home and the kitchen has not been update since the 80’s what is your initial reaction? I am sure most of you simply pass on the home. The thought being that if the homeowner did not take time to keep up on the design and updates of the house what else has not been kept up on. The same is true of your website design.

The next item I will bring to your attention is more subjective and according to taste. People just enjoy different things. Some people prefer plastic bracelets some prefer gold however the perception is that plastic is cheap and gold in not. The same bias holds true for your website. If your site is done by a professional web designer you should expect a complete different outcome then if you attempt it on your own or higher a high school web designer. The more professional it looks the better the perception from your potential clients.

Another thing to think about when it comes to your site is upkeep. I know I have mentioned this more than once. It is so important that when visitors come to your site they see recent blog posts along with new products, services or even just fresh information.

When it comes to your website and the design a great way to attract customers is to have your contact information visible at first glance. There is nothing more hated than outdated contact information listed that is difficult to locate on the site. A lot of website redesigns include a fresh Logo presence along with strong contact information.

Your website is to the online world as a display window is to a store front. It is how the world will see your product and your company. Keeping up to date on your website will let prospective clients know that you are serious about your business and its longevity thus proving to them that you are in it for the long haul and that they should be as well.

Everyone is looking for ways to make their website design contain the right “ingredients” to ensure top search engine rankings. Below you will find several high priority musts for your website to start on the right road for SEO.

First of all you will want to make sure that the content and text on the site are of quality.  Your site can have all the “right” keywords in the world however without quality content people will not stay on your site and believe it or not search engines will find little value in your site overall.

It is important not only that you have quality content but that it is also unique to your site. Your site should provide content that is unique to your company and the products and services that you offer.  A great way to ensure that the content is unique and relative is to create a blog and post about the industry happenings as they happen.  This will also help as adding content to your site shows search engines that your site is up to date.

Each page within your site should be optimized for a keyword or phrase. Don’t overdo one keyword or phrase for the entire site.  Come up with a combination of keywords and phrases relative to your goals and add them in to the pages of the website.  Another thing to keep in mind is that you want common keywords however it is best to avoid the most popular keywords and aim for the middle ground. It will be easier to optimize your pages.

Make sure that your site is accessible to search engine spiders and screen readers.  The more accessible the better when it comes to drawing traffic and rankings to your website.

When selecting a domain name think about the keyword phrase that best suits your business and incorporate that into the domain name you select.  It is okay to use your business name just try to incorporate the keywords into the entire domain as well.  Be sure the domain is easy to read, spell and say.

Tips are great when it comes to having a healthy website that functions well with search engines but nothing can beat experience when it comes to designing a website.  Website developers are looking at a lot of data and trends when developing a site for you. They are also well aware of META tag needs and changes as well as incorporating key elements that are needed for better results into the whole website equation. It might cost a bit more to hire a web company to design your site but consider the time you are saving and the benefit you are receiving from their knowledge.

Does your current website reflect your business?  This happens when you have had a website that has been running for years; it suddenly looks completely outdated and indeed needs a facelift.  There are many ways to evaluate your site to determine if it could use a bit of attention.

1)       How is your current site ranking within search engines?  If your search rankings are not showing up like they previously had it might be time to look at the sites design that is not visible.  Meta tag changes are just as important as the visual changes in website design.  Search engine optimization is a key element in your website design.

2)      When you pull up your website do you feel it accurately reflects your business?  If your business has grown or changed at all it is important that those changes are reflected within your website.  You want to make sure that the site is keeping up with your growing markets and that it is keeping pace with the industry.

3)      Another aspect to consider is the changes in technology that have happened since your website was programmed.  Is the site compatible with newer browsers or mobile applications?  This can be a common problem with so many people accessing information with mobile devices.  It is important to make sure your site is able to been seen when clients are using their phones and other devices.

4)      One more thing to consider is if the images on your site take longer than two seconds to load.  It is proven that web users are impatient and want instant gratification.  If it is taking forever for the images to load within your site they will close out and go elsewhere.

These are just a few of the many reasons to look into a website redesign.  Most business owners have a difficult time being impartial when it comes to marketing their business online or in print.  It is important to get several opinions on your website and the design when considering the growth of your company.  Online marketing campaigns can do a lot for your business however if your site is still missing something or lacking luster you could be losing potential clients.

Technology is moving at the speed of light. With that comes problems and the solutions that accompany it.  You can’t have faster computers without technicians for computer repair on the new machines.  The same is true when it comes to online business.  You can’t keep up with online business growth if you don’t know how to keep up with it in forms such as search engine optimization. With the growth of technology comes the growth of knowledge that enables us to move forward with it.

Computer repair is a large sector of residential business for Computers Plus Service, LLC.  We staff four full-time technicians to handle a variety of computer and networking issues and that are in constant training as technology changes.  We work to repair corporate it computers, computers for residential clients, networking, wiring and server repair.

When it comes to your website and web design our dedicated staff works to improve your professional image online with a detailed website that is optimized to bring in traffic and rank well within major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.  Search engine optimization is a process in which our staff dedicates time to build your site recognition online. The SEO process is one that is developed through time and improved upon with continual effort.

For more information on the services that CPS offers to clients you can check out our website at http://www.cpsmi.com or call the office and set up a meeting to sit down and discuss your business networking, computer repair issues and/or website needs – 810-224-5252.

There are many reasons why your average small business should look into having a website. Not only does it help them to promote themselves, but it also provides them a medium in which they can sell products, with very little labor required. Although many businesses are aware that having a website can increase their business, very few actually follow through with having a good one designed in learning about the process of promoting a website properly. It website can bring you new customers, make it easy for you to take orders, and also connect with your current customers more easily. Not only can a website increase your business, but it can also streamline things and make it quite easy as well.

New Customers

The biggest benefit of installing a website for your business is the fact that you were going to be able to bring in new customers. Perhaps you will be able to reach customers that are in your area, but did not frequent your location, per able to find your website online through Google search. The ability to attract individuals that you would not otherwise be able to bring to your physical location is a huge bonus, and allows you to reach many new customers both locally and abroad as well if you are looking to ship across the country. It can be difficult to learn how to target new customers in the beginning, but after you have a feel for you will be able to expand your business by thousands of dollars per month all by using the Website Design process.

Easy to Take Orders

Having a website also makes it very easy for you to take orders. There are many programs out there that allow you to take orders, and then utilize those orders by Jeff shipping out the product. Because there are so many excellent organizational shopping carts available online for your website, selling products online has really never been easier. These products also handle almost all of the tax considerations that you need to take into account as well, which makes an excellent for small businesses.

Connect With Customers

Having the website also makes it very easy for your business to connect with customers. Not only can they e-mail you, but there are systems that you can install that allow them to interact directly with your website. This makes it easy for you to interact and connect with customers that otherwise you would not have any way to contact.

The more time and effort that you are able to put into finding the right web designer, the better off you will be in the long run. Find some in the not only knows how to design, but knows how to design from a marketing standpoint. A website does you no good if it brings in money, but is not optimized for marketing and therefore leaving a lot of money on the table. A website can be very beneficial for small and big businesses alike.

Online businesses becoming aware that they need to have a presence to be successful in the economic business environment we are in.  The question remains how?  The answer to this question is search engine optimization.  This includes a great detail of things such as a well designed, easy to use website that directly links key words and phrases associated with your business throughout the site.

It also requires that the web designer be knowledgeable in placing quality META tags on your site.  META tags that are unique to each website page and content on the page.  SEO also encompasses getting your companies URL out and about on the web within other pages that are highly ranked and trusted by top search engines. This article will give you some basic SEO tips to get you on your way to a long last online impression.

• The first piece of advice is to commit to the SEO process.  You will not achieve the results you are looking for treating SEO like it is a onetime event.  Things online change quite a bit and so do search algorithms.  The key to success is longevity.
• Results require patience. Don’t expect to see results over night.  If you do see results overnight you are likely to soon see those results disappear as your site will quickly become blacklisted.
• If you hire a company to do SEO for you ask about the process they use.  After you meet with them go online and do some research about the techniques they use.  This will give you an idea on if the company is using ethical techniques to get your site ranked.
• Define your SEO goals before you begin.  Don’t be overzealous be realistic when deciding what you are looking for out of your SEO results and the time frame to achieve these goals.
• Again, a quality site will speak for itself when it comes to SEO and the site rankings you achieve. Quality content that is not cluttered with key words and instead is informative to the business will rank better than sites with little content and filler.
• Sitemaps are important in allowing search engines crawl your site. Make sure that your site has a sitemap set up.
• When considering URL’s watch the length.  Use relative keywords in the URL but limit the length. Anything over three hyphens appears to be spam when it comes to search engines.
• Spend advertising dollars on a PPC account. Pay per click offers more visibility, quicker to tide over business until natural search engine rankings take over.
• Create links on sites that are ranked well.  Seek links from authorities in your industry.
• Create a blog and use it.  Also participate in other industry blogs.
• Social media is another aspect to look into.  Make sure you are adding valuable content that will not be considered spam.
• Diversify the way you traffic sources to your URL.  One day it might work but when algorithms change what worked wonderfully to begin with may leave you without an online presence. Create an online following with your presence.  This will help diversify your presence enough that if the way search engines find your business changes it should be easy enough to ride the wave.

SEO is not an exact science. No matter what you are told by anybody results are not instant and take time to be achieved. Once results are achieved the balance can be overturned quickly with a change in the search algorithms so be prepared to have a long term relationship planned with your businesses SEO.

The changes that have occurred throughout Google and other prominent search engines has made many people start to question the way they are doing search engine optimization.  Again, it is one of those arenas in life where the old adages revolved around the phrase slow and steady wins the race continues to hold true.

Many search engine companies tried several different techniques to quickly rank within Google.  Many of these techniques had adverse affects on the sites they were promoting.  Some techniques Google frowned upon were using articles that had been spun into several different versions and placed throughout the internet using automated posting sites.  This was getting sites multiple links quickly but the links were not quality and ended up cluttering the web with information that was basically junk.

Two things were seen as improper by Google, spun articles and illegal posting.  The way Google wants site to go about getting recognized is by naturally building links for the site with quality links, linking quality information to your site.  Hand submitted articles to multiple sites over a period of time will get your site recognized and ranked well.  Submitting to an overabundance of sites will not work towards the goal.  Again it is important to remind search engine professionals that slow and steady is truly the best route when looking to maximize the results within Google and other prominent search engines.

Another key element when designing websites and having exceptional results within search engines is to maintain your existence within directories and forums.  This will take time.  Directories are time consuming to post company information with as you will need to seek out reputable directories in industries related to your online business.  The same is true when entering the arena of online forums and chats.  To effectively manage them it takes time.

When first building a site key elements within the back end of the site become critical when trying to maximize the results of your search engine placement.  The title, description and keywords work best when tied directly into the text on the site.  Google will rank your site higher than sites where the Meta tags are not used in conjunction with the text within each page.  This actually works for the benefit of keyword maximization within the site.  Each page can be set aside to maximize a new keyword or phrase.

Another technique that is effective in maximizing sites search ability is to build on to the site regularly.  People do this in many forms.  One way to do this is with the use of a blog page.  Properly done this is an effective way to show Google that you are constantly updating the information on your site which will make you more credible.

Another option that is along the same lines as above is maximizing the cities that you are working in with pages devoted to them.  A page focused on a particular area give a draw to the subject keyword and the focused city.  To me this is one of the best ways to grow your site and bring focus to the individual counties and or cities you wish to focus your business on.  If you are working on delivering a product or service to a national market the same notion can be achieved building pages based upon each of the fifty states.

Search engine optimization is not an internet fad.  It is something real and something that is here to stay.  Once your site has been shunned by Google or black listed your search engine work will double.  It is better to pass on the fads and stick with the basics; hard work, persistence and again a slow and steady race will be won.

The world of online marketing continues to change weekly.  Search engine optimization techniques are constantly being changed to ensure that only natural efforts are recognized.  One thing can be said to be constant and true with SEO and that is that it is constantly evolving.  You must keep up with the trends in SEO to maximize your websites online presence.  One way that can help you achieve this is taking part in the variety of social media aspects that surround our current marketing efforts.

More tips for effective SEO:

• Content Of Value:  It is important that your original website is filled with useful content and kept up to date.  Quality content is one way that helps search engine rank your site and build links.  One great way to keep the information on your site is to add quality content to an onsite blog.  This shows search engines that your site is being built upon weekly and that it is being kept fresh and the information viable.
• Title Tags:  Title tags should not be viewed as a minor element to your website.  It is important that they are effective at describing the page in ten words or less.  The most effective title tags contain small, easy to understand words that are useful in telling visitors about the site page before even clicking into the page.
• Performing Keywords:  Short keyword phrases that highlight what you hope to be known online for should be highlighted throughout the content, tags and META descriptions of your website.  The les general the term the more effective your search engine results will be.  For instance, if you are someone who specializes in handicap construction for the home a search for home improvement could send a number of visitors to your site but not seeking the specialized home improvements you specialize in.  Instead a good keyword phrase would be barrier free handicap ramps.  Anyone typing in this key phrase is looking exactly for you and not for a kitchen handyman which could come up if only using the phrase home improvements.
• Build Quality Links: The one thing you don’t want is to build the links to your site in a manner that the search engines could contrive as unnatural.  It is important that the growth and linking of your site happens naturally.  It is not wise to take part in schemes that promise to have your site ranked within weeks.  Companies promising this probably use unnatural ranking techniques that give quick results which later disappear when the site has been black listed for using unfair ranking techniques.
• Social Media:  As previously mentioned, participation in social media is not optional in today’s business world.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google plus are all musts.  It is not only important to have them but to use them and update them frequently.  Onsite blogs that are followed by other sites and people via their social media outlets also improve your search rankings.

Search engine optimization is a must for the survival and growth of your online presence.  Ranking well within top search engines will get increased traffic to your site.  The more targeted prospects are when they reach your site the more likely they are to need and want your product or service.  Keep up on target keywords to ensure you are maximizing this type of traffic while minimizing the general traffic to your site.  You want people visiting that are specifically looking for you.  With target keywords/phrases, improved content, quality title tags and social media success should be yours.