Promote Your Website

Why Inbound Marketing is Essential for your Business

Posted on November 28, 2012 · Leave a Comment

The web is changing all the time and even more rapidly than ever before. Although design is important, content truly is “king”, which is a saying that goes back to the roots of proper web design in the early 1990′s. These days, content is not just “king”, it is essential.

The days of loading up a website with juicy keywords is over. Recent search algorithm changes by Google, weeded out some of the “keyword stuffers” in favor of content rich, authentic websites. This also means that websites that are heavy on images and videos, rather than text will also have a tough time competing.

If your website is a bit thin on good, meaningful text then now is the time to get the job done. If you cannot write your own copy, contact us and we’ll do the web copywriting for you. If you want the search engines to take notice and keep you in the ball game, this is what you must do.

Content Marketing

People go to websites to solve problems. If a website offers compelling advanced content for download it will capture many more leads than if it just had a contact form. Relying on contact forms to generate leads is no different than someone crossing their fingers and hoping a prospect found their brochure they call a website interesting enough to give them a call.

via Web Design Companies That Endure Will Be Inbound Marketing Agencies.

Filed Under: News, Promote Your Website, Search Engines Tagged With: content marketing, Google, inbound marketing, keywords, Search Engines, websites

Beyond Cyber Monday: Effective Content Marketing

Posted on November 28, 2012 · Leave a Comment

The holiday season is once again upon us. According to Forrester and eMarketer, this year promises to see a healthy increase in online sales over last year ($224 billion worldwide and $68 billion in the U.S. respectively). For most retail and consumer brands, a successful holiday season means a successful year. It’s a great opportunity to improve relations with your existing customer base and cultivate new ones – but just like any other time of the year, marketers must think about their customers’ needs first, create content experiences that make life more enjoyable, and motivate audiences to keep coming back after the ornaments and icicle lights are safely packed away.

To do this successfully, brands must develop a content strategy that inspires, builds credibility, and helps customers solve holiday-specific pain points. Marketers who go beyond Black Friday sales, Cyber Monday deals and free shipping offers, will not only maximize the season’s revenue, but also round up a new army of long-term customers.

via Beyond Cyber Monday: Effective Content Marketing All Season Long | Social Media Today.

Filed Under: News, Promote Your Website Tagged With: content management system, cyber Monday, keywords stuffing meta-tags, Search Engines, SEO, visibility, websites

Best Designs for Restaurant Websites

Posted on November 12, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Many restaurant websites are in danger of becoming obsolete due to their outdated designs, causing frustrating user experiences. The web is in a constant pattern of change and new technologies are now available that make it easier for customers to view websites on many devices including mobile phones and tablets. The most offensive websites are the ones with Flash intros and background music. Although years ago, the standard way to display menus on a restaurant website was by using PDF’s or huge images, causing prolonged loading times. The worst restaurant websites would have no menus at all.

Here are the most important things that visitors want to see when they come to a restaurant website:

Visitors want to quickly and easily browse through the menu.
They want to know the restaurant’s location and it’s operating hours.
They want to see a few photos to get a feel for the interior dining experience.
Many Visitors want to access all of this using their mobile phones or tablets.

What is “responsive design” and why is it important for a restaurant website?

Trends indicate that more people are viewing the web via their mobile phones and tablets rather than destop computers and laptops. Websites optimized for mobile devices, utilizing responsive design, can actually re-arrange a website layout to accomodate most computers and mobile devices. That means that your website will look great on anything from a large flat screen to an iPhone. If someone finds you via a Google or Yelp search, they will be pleasantly surprised to click on your link and land at an easy to use, mobile website.

Show me the pictures!

It’s not very exciting to arrive at a restaurant website with a logo, a couple of photos and a text menu. Spice things up with a variety of photos that portray the restaurant decor and ambience, seating and outside views. Don’t forget the food! The number one reason that people come to your restaurant is the food, so don’t skimp on showing off your culinary talents. While it is not necessary to feature every menu item, a brief selection of photos or perhaps a short slideshow will make a huge difference. Many responsive design websites feature home page sliding images. Use this space to add a couple of your most enticing culinary delights.

Get social

Adding a Facebook “Like” box to your website sidebar is essential. People will share their experiences with others and will be curious to see who else “Liked” your Facebook page. Add photos and updates to your Facebook page too and actively post replies and comments. This is a great way to make your customers feel like part of the family. Add a plug-in that will also “auto Tweet” your posts to Twitter too. Make sure to add social media sharing buttons to your website, which will allow visitors to share posts, etc. on your website with their friends.

Add reviews and testimonials to your webiste as well. People like to see what others have said about your restaurant and testimonials are a valuble marketing tool.

It’s the web…use it!

Many restaurants fall short of their full potential by failing to take advantage of the Web. Online reservations and online ordering can make a HUGE difference. One of my customers has a Thai catering website that allows customers to place online orders. They select from a menu of items and options, place their order and pay by credit card. They get a call back to arrange a pick up time. When they arrive, their order is ready, they have an email receipt and time is saved. This customer also uses a blog and email newsletter to notify her customers of upcoming specials and new additions to her menus.

Have fun…

Create videos of events at your restaurant, a cooking class, etc. and add them to your own YouTube Channel. YouTube is owned by Google (and yes it will come up in a Google search!) so leverage this and add a YouTube icon to your social media icons on your website.

Filed Under: News, Promote Your Website, Your Website Tagged With: bad websites, responsive design, restaurant, restaurant website

Open Source vs Proprietary CMS (Content Management Systems)?

Posted on January 2, 2012 · Leave a Comment

With the popularity of open source content management systems (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla andd Drupal over the past few years, development costs have dropped dramatically for customers who desire a website that they can easily edit and manage themselves without programming skills. It seems that the glory days of the proprietary CMS are not as profitable as they once were, which is good news for everyone.

A proprietary CMS is a database driven, content management system website that the website owner can login to and make changes. Yahoo Store, many automotive dealer and real estate websites are a good example of this. A good CMS is easy for the novice to use and offers all the flexibility they need. The problem with a proprietary CMS is that development costs and monthly fees are much higher than an open source solution. Features may be outdated or a company may be slow to add the latest, greatest functionality (ie. “bells & whistles”). Even small changes to a proprietary CMS can be quite costly or require you to sign up for a “maintenance contract” or require a minimum hours of project work before the company will even begin to assist you. Many people who often find this out later feel locked into something that is costly and inflexible. Unfortunately, they have invested thousands of dollars and if they are not satisfied with their proprietary CMS, they lose everything when they discontinue services and must start again from scratch.

On the other hand, open source content management systems such as WordPress, Joomla and Drupal (and many others) are free to download and upgrade costing you only the development costs. Because they are open source code, you have the advantage of backing up and saving your website database and files. If you’re not happy with your web design company or they should go out of business, etc. you can simply take your database and files to another company. You cannot do this with a proprietary CMS so if you don’t use it…you lose it. Another advantage to the open source CMS is constant development and new widgets or features that are often free, very low cost and take only minutes to install. A fraction of the cost that a company offering a proprietary CMS would charge. These are the reasons that Alpine Web Media works with the open source CMS model.

To be fair, the companies who offer proprietary CMS’ will say that open source solutions are more vulnerable to viruses and hackers. Like any other popular software, that is true. However, nothing on the web is 100% safe from hackers, not even a proprietary CMS. There are a number of debates on the web about “open source vs. proprietary CMS” and it’s easy to see that the “proprietary” crowd are fighting to retain their high profits and 100% control over their customer’s websites. Their primary argument is that their systems are safer from hackers. If your open source CMS is developed properly with the correct file permission, strong passwords, file backups and vigilant updates, you really don’t have much to worry about, proprietary or not.

A number of large corporations and government organizations utilize open source content management systems. For instance, the White House website is based on Drupal. I think open source is a pretty safe bet and certainly far more flexible and cost efficient. Ultimately, the decision is up to you and your budget.

Filed Under: Promote Your Website, Technology, Your Website Tagged With: cms, content management system, Drupal, Joomla, wordpress

The Accuracy of Google Analytics…or not

Posted on November 9, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Usually one of the first things a new client will ask me about is adding Google Analytics tracking to their website. There seems to be a lot of hype about Google Analytics which doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best website statistics program to use. It’s free, so like anything else, you get what you pay for. As a matter of fact, I compared Google Analytics results head to head with the actual web server statistics from one of my client’s websites and the sever logs reported twice the amount of visitors than what Google served up. So what gives? An excerpt from an article below explains in a bit more detail:

From a mathematician’s perspective it’s not that good at all. All professional web analysts know that Google Analytics significantly underestimates traffic in the overwhelming majority of cases. Anyone who has ever compared the stats from their web server with the stats from Google Analytics knows that the two sets of numbers rarely match up.

There are several reasons why, but the most significant factor is that the GA tracking code only fires if the person loading the page has Javascript enabled. That means that search engine crawlers and other automated web crawlers don’t get picked up, which is great- for the most part, web analytics is only concerned with the activities of real people- but it also means that anyone browsing with Javascript disabled will be completely invisible.

After my own research into this, I have come to the conclusion that although Google Analytics is still a useful tool, I would not rely on it entirely for accuracy. I would, as always, tend to believe my actual website server log statistics first. Any good web hosting company will provide access to your website server statistics so why not play it safe and compare your actual server statistics with what Google provides?

Filed Under: News, Promote Your Website, Search Engines, Your Website Tagged With: analytics, Google, web statistics

What Google has to say about all those SEO “Experts”

Posted on November 9, 2011 · Leave a Comment

It seems like every day, our company which is a web design agency and offers it’s own SEO services gets calls and e-mails from so-called search engine optimization experts offering to “improve your SEO and get you a top page ranking in Google, blah, blah, blah“. Our customers are also bombarded by this junk but unfortunately most of them are unaware that most of these SEO experts are scammers (or at the very least spammers). Most of the offending companies originate from India, totally ignoring the United States “no call list” laws and regulations. However, some companies are right here in the USA and call and email their shady offerings too. I find it particularly hilarious, and apparently Google does too as you will see below, that they do not “research” your website at all. You’re simply receiving automated spam messages, designed to trick you into believing that they actually evaluated your website, which they clearly have not done.

The following is what Google itself had to say about all of the above. SEO isn’t all that difficult. Google provides a great SEO document here that explains the core process.

While SEOs can provide clients with valuable services, some unethical SEOs have given the industry a black eye through their overly aggressive marketing efforts and their attempts to manipulate search engine results in unfair ways. Practices that violate our guidelines may result in a negative adjustment of your site’s presence in Google, or even the removal of your site from our index. Here are some things to consider:

Be wary of SEO firms and web consultants or agencies that send you email out of the blue.Amazingly, we get these spam emails too:

“Dear google.com,
I visited your website and noticed that you are not listed in most of the major search engines and directories…”

Reserve the same skepticism for unsolicited email about search engines as you do for “burn fat at night” diet pills or requests to help transfer funds from deposed dictators.
No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a “special relationship” with Google, or advertise a “priority submit” to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through our Add URL page or by submitting a Sitemap and you can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever.

Filed Under: Promote Your Website, Search Engines, Your Website Tagged With: Google, Search Engines, SEO

Article Writing for SEO a Waste of Time?

Posted on September 1, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Ever since the web first became commercially viable, there have been a ton of companies advertising top rankings in the search engines. Most of these snake oil claims are backed up with quick solutions that seem to good to0 be true and are utter nonsense.
SEO is the buzzword of the past few years. It supposedly means “search engine optimization”, which is really nothing new. Professional web designers have included SEO when building proper websites since day one. I prefer to refer to SEO as “someone else’s opportunity” as there are a huge number of people out their continuing to make outrageous claims and overnight solutions.
This video below resonates well with all of us who are true web professionals. The man in the video is clearly frustrated by the stupidity and nonsense that the general public fall victim to every day, that also tarnishes our profession. If you’re ready for a dose of reality, enjoy the video below.

Filed Under: Promote Your Website, Search Engines

Why You Shouldn’t Use Free E-Mail Accounts Like GMail, Yahoo or Hotmail, etc.

Posted on August 30, 2011 · Leave a Comment

First let me start out by saying that there is nothing wrong with using free e-mail accounts. In fact they are terrific for many reasons and I have several accounts myself that I find very useful. Like anything else, used properly, free e-mail accounts are highly recommended.

On the other hand…

If you already have a registered domain name for your business you should definitely be using e-mail accounts from your own domain web hosting account such as info@yourbusiness.com. Why? Because in the first place, it promotes a positive image of your company and profession. When you think about it doesn’t info@microsoft.com seem much more professional than bill.gates@yahoo.com? Absolutely.

Forwarding Domain E-mails to Free Accounts

Here’s another thing that many people do that is unprofessional and can cause problems. They have a domain, set up and email account and proudly announce their contact e-mail as info@yourbusiness.com. But then they have those e-mails forwarded to a free e-mail address such as mrsbusybody@gmail.com, for their own convenience. When they reply to an e-mail, the person who contacts them gets a response from mrsbusybody@gmail.com instead of info@yourbusiness.com. They are probably thinking who is mrsbusybody@gmail.com and why is she sending me an e-mail? Off it goes, unread, to the junk e-mail or spam box.

Which also brings up the possibility that the person receiving your email may have spam filters set to reject e-mails as spam from free e-mail account providers. Do you really want to take the chance that your e-mails are getting filtered out as spam just because it’s easier for you to forward everything to your Gmail or Yahoo account? For anyone conducting a business, this is a lazy and surefire way to annoy your customers. Worse yet it may give them the impression that you never answered their e-mail inquiries, when in fact you did but your reply went unseen to their spam folder.

Sometimes forwarded e-mails are actually weeded out by the free e-mail account provider. In some cases, you will not even receive the forwarded e-mails due to errors on behalf of GMail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. Many companies such as AOL, Comcast, etc. that provide free e-mail addresses with their services DO NOT ALLOW e-mail forwarding from another account. If something goes wrong, don’t blame your web hosting company where info@yourbusiness.com is hosted. Nine times out of ten, the problem lies with your free e-mail provider. Good luck calling Google or Yahoo and asking them to look into the issue.

Bottom line is why would anyone want to deal with this entire situation at all when you have your own domain name and e-mail accounts? Simply use your webmail (most hosting accounts have webmail access) or configure MS Outlook or other e-mail programs on your computer to retrieve your e-mails automatically. Save yourself a lot of potential headaches in addition to providing a more professional, business like appearance with your e-mails. Use the free e-mail accounts for things like signing up for promotions, etc. to keep the spam and junk mail out of your business e-mail account.

And finally, here is the best reason for using your domain e-mail account – advertising.

If you use a free e-mail account on your website, business cards, print and other ads, what happens if your free e-mail provider switches names, etc.? For instance when Adelphia was purchased by Comcast, everyone who was using johndoe@adelphia.net had to pay a lot of money for new business cards and other changes. At that point, wouldn’t you realize that instead of changing to johndoe@comcast.net, wouldn’t it make more sense to use johndoe@yourcompany.com? As long as your domain name is paid up, you’d never have to worry about changing the e-mail address again. Simple enough?

Filed Under: Promote Your Website, Technology, Your Website

How to Avoid Being Banned by Search Engines

Posted on August 30, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Search engines will ban web sites that try to improve their rankings artificially, so it’s important not to do anything accidentally that even hints at trying to fool them. Use the checklist below to help you avoid any misunderstandings between your web site and the search engines.

Cloaking is for Romulans not Websites!
Cloaking is an artificial technique that malicious users employ to deliver to search engines content that’s not delivered to web site visitors. Some web sites try to trick search engines by delivering specific content that only the search engines will see.

Avoid Using “Doorway” Pages
Doorway pages, are web pages or domain names that are stuffed with keyphrases and submitted to search engines. Usually no meaningful content, just high value keywords meant to lure visitors into a website that may have no such relevant content. Search engines hate these tactics and so do visitors.

Stuffing is for Thanksgiving not your Website
Make sure your web site’s most important keywords are in every description, but don’t stuff too many keywords into it! Directory editors don’t like descriptions that basically read like a list of keywords.

SEO Takes Work
When it comes to optimizing your web site for search engines, there is no one single, magic solution. It takes time and patience to achieve high rankings, but you can work to boost your search engine rankings by following tips from SEO industry experts, using the checklists above, and remaining diligent about optimizing and promoting your web site. Don’t use artificial techniques.

Filed Under: Promote Your Website, Your Website