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SEO & Web Design: A Combined Effort To Dominant Search Engines

SEO & Web Design Should Occupy The Same Conversation

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a complicated subject when it comes to business owners.  There are so many elements and pieces to the puzzle of getting your business website to page one of Google that it is daunting for SEO experts to explain every step of the way to search engine domination.

SEO Work Is Subtle

SEO is not exactly straight forward as to what you are paying for.  Many SEO agencies supply end of the month reports, but it still remains a mystery as to the daily work that went into the results shown.  In the end, if the business owners see their website ranking page one of Google for their desired search terms, then they are happy.  However, as most SEO experts know, the magic does not happen overnight.

Web Design Is More Frontend

Web design, on the other hand, is more of an aesthetic project where the end result is a good looking website that the business owner can “touch” and “feel”.  If things don’t look exactly right, they have the power to dictate changes and add/remove certain elements.  The work is on the frontend and more in the business owners hands.

Should We Combine The Two?

When an SEO expert is introduced to a new project, one of the tasks is to establish how the website is set up.  Judging the graphical design of the site is not really the task, but rather analyzing the platform and structure of the website.  Elements such as the structure of the content, and whether the site is indexed by Google are extremely important when starting SEO.When an SEO company such as KKP Golden Connection takes on a new client, the first suggestion is to move their website to an SEO friendly platform such as Wordpress.  “Some clients may have a pre-established aversion to moving to Wordpress, but in reality, Wordpress has become more than just a blogging platform, and is by far the most SEO friendly environment to work with.” Explains Pete Currington, Web Designer of KKP.

The Most Common Problems With Website Designs and SEO

The first issue with most web designs is that designers and business owners only focus on the “beauty” aspect of the homepage.  While it is important for your site to reflect the look of your business, there are other important elements of a homepage.  Having a decent amount of content relating to your field of business is very important.  Underneath all your fancy slogans there should be rich content about what services you provide.  This content should be SEO friendly, meaning it should reflect what search terms you are trying to attract.  Google is reading your website.  Without rich content, the Google bots will be confused as to exactly what your business is really about.  Don’t be afraid to be straightforward is telling, in layman’s terms, what your business is offering.  Those 300 plus words will significantly increase your SEO standings.The next issue with heavy web design is that it can tend to be very image heavy.  There was a time when web designers built websites entirely with Photoshop.  This means that every word was actually part of an image.  Google can’t read words within images. Google can, however, read image filenames and tags.  While having images on your site is important, only using them in the correct way can help your SEO.  Too many images can lead to slow page loading times, a big “NO” for Google rankings.See This Article on Common Wordpress Website Mistakes

How Should I Start My Business Website?

Most businesses are so eager to get their site up and running that they get desperate and either try to do it themselves or they find a web designer to throw something up.  While this gets you a spot in the infinite space of the Internet, it does not get your website exposure.  You can compare it to getting your business cards made at Staples, but just letting them collect dust on your desk.Before you even have your website made, you should consult with an SEO specialist to get a broad overview of the goals and objectives of your website.  Rather than let the aesthetic design aspect lead the way, allow the business initiative to lead.  This will give you a better idea of what elements your website will need.  It will also save you, or the SEO team, the hassle of having to completely redesign your website to be compatible for SEO.  This will save you a lot of time, money, and headaches.

Tips On Following Good Web Design Practice For SEO

1. Get on Wordpress Yes, many web techies out there will cringe at this, but you should insist that your website be built on a Wordpress platform.  Some will argue that it’s not secure, or it’s this and that.  Experience shows that Wordpress is the ultimate SEO platform, period.
2. Be prepared for a massive amount of content. In the world of SEO, content is king.  The more content and SEO specialist has to work with, the faster the web ranking domination happens.  No one knows your business like you do.  Don’t rely on the SEO specialist to write your content.  It will be expensive and it may not be your company’s voice.
3. Have Images Ready While stock images can be ok filler, it’s always best to have your own images.  Having unique images is actually a huge bonus for SEO and web design.
4. Website Ownership Always remember that you own your website.  Make sure the company you are working with remembers this as well.  You should always have access to your website.  With a platform like Wordpress, you should be able to log in and edit your content anytime you want.
5. Responsive Always make sure your website is responsive on all devices.  This is a commonly overlooked aspect by graphic designers.

In conclusion, it is apparent that SEO & Web Design belong in the same discussion.  In fact, SEO should be the first topic as within the SEO strategy is the entire online business strategy.  The website design will fall into this strategy and be a tool to reaching the business goals.Related Posts:http://www.kkpgoldenconnection.com/responsive-design-updates/http://www.kkpgoldenconnection.com/watch-out-google-is-changing-and-what-to-do-about-it/http://www.kkpgoldenconnection.com/local-directory-list/ 

The article SEO & Web Design: A Combined Effort To Dominant Search Engines is courtesy of http://www.kkpgoldenconnection.com

A Note To Google About Their Latest Updates

Google, what are you thinking?

We know, you are a profit machine that has share holders to report to and that is why you just made, what you would consider, a brilliant change to the search results.1) No more sidebar ads. 2) Four ads on top of a natural search. 3) Reduced ads on page one from 11 to 7.So in one fell swoop, you have pushed natural search down the page even further (so users will click on the paid advertisements that make you money) all the while making those top 4 (instead of 3) ad positions THE MOST coveted spots on the page, thus INCREASING the ad spend of those small businesses that rely on PPC for customers acquisition (again, making you more money).No doubt you are patting yourself on the back for the layout change that will shovel in more profits for you (and by the way my Adsense portfolio) but..You say you are “for” small business, but, you continually make it more expensive for PPC users, and harder for SEO to get their pages “seen.”And then...A Google spokesperson told The SEM Post “We’ll continue to make tweaks, but this is designed for highly commercial queries where the layout is able to provide more relevant results for people searching and better performance for advertisers.”So are you saying, if we “pay” you to be on top, that makes us more relevant?Are you saying that your natural search algorithm isn’t good enough to provide the most relevant listings?Hmmm…We’re just saying.p.s. For more on Google changes, here is a pretty good article that explains in detail what they did.Click Here To Read Article.Also, make sure to watch Josh's Ted Talk!Image Credit: http://www.thesempost.com/updates-on-googles-4-adwords-ads-no-sidebar-ads-change/

A Note To Google About Their Latest Updates Find more on: www.kkpgoldenconnection.com

Local SEO and National SEO: What’s the Difference?

Is Your SEO Strategy Targeting The Right Audience?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) basically refers to how well your business shows up across the web. Whether it be your website or other web properties, your SEO score is determined by where your business stands when words relevant to your business are searched for in Google, or any other search engine.When discussing SEO strategies, conversations can start as broad as talking about a website ranking on page one of Google, to as specific as discussing setting up Web 2.0 properties. The first topic needed to cover is whether the overall SEO strategy is focusing on local searches, or national/global searches.

Local SEO

The term local SEO means targeting searches that primarily come from a specific geographic area surrounding your business, most commonly your city. Search terms that include your city name in them are typically considered local searches. For example, if someone searches 'Sacramento restaurants', this is an obvious alert to Google that they should only provide results relating to Sacramento, and of course, restaurants.Another important aspect to consider about local seo is the fact that Google displays different results across different geographic areas. They do this by manipulation the results depending on your IP address, since IP address are localized. When someone in New York googles the term 'restaurant', they will see different results than a search done in Sacramento. Also, the Google Ads that display on the top will be different since these ads are targeted to specific geographic areas as well.

Is Local SEO Very Competitive?

The answer to this depends on what location we are referring to. For a city like New York, local SEO is going to be very competitive since there are many businesses similar to yours with extremely high budgets put into their SEO strategies. A city such as Carson City, Nevada, may not have as much competition since it is a smaller city and the businesses tend to be more local with lower budgets for their SEO and online marketing.Local SEO is much less competitive when compared with national, or global, SEO. Ranking for a search term such as 'SEO' is extremely difficult at this time. However, for a local SEO agency, ranking locally in a place such as Carson City is not as difficult. If the goal of your business is really to provide the local community with services, then you will be better off focusing your resources at targeting local customers.

What Does It Take To Rank Locally?

Ranking locally can come in many different forms. By doing a search with your business search terms can give you a good idea of what Google is thinking. For example, searching a term such as 'Carson City plumber' will bring results starting with Google Ads, then they will display a few Google Business properties. You may also notice Yelp showing up high in the ranks. This shows us that Google is not necessarily considering and plumber website to be the most relevant, but rather other highly ranked sites such as Yelp which display your business. If your business is not listed on Yelp or is lacking reviews on Yelp, this would be an area to strategically improve upon."The first aspect of any business we, at KKP Golden Connection, focus on is the why a business has their Google properties setup. If set up improperly according to Google, this could be detrimental to your entire SEO strategy", says Kat Hood of KKP Golden Connection.One of the most important aspects of any SEO strategy, local or global, is having things set up correctly. This could be the difference between ranking on page one or having your business blacklisted from Google. There are many Black Hat tricks that companies have used in their SEO campaigns that have gotten them de-indexed with Google, meaning their business is nowhere to be found anymore through online searches. Always make sure you are practicing White Hat strategies that are approved and verified by Google. In order to do this, you will need a significant amount of knowledge of SEO and will have to keep up with that latest SEO Google trends. This is the reason many companies turn to an SEO Company such as KKP Golden Connection.

So What Is The Main Difference Between Local SEO and National SEO?

For local SEO, you will be targeting keyword terms that contain local terms such as the city name. For National, or Global, SEO you will be targeting more general keyword terms. Global keyword terms tend to be much more difficult to rank for. SEO companies tend to charge a lot more to help you target these terms. Your Google Ads will be more expensive as well. You can target less competitive keywords in order to stay within a tighter budget.Local SEO tends to be a bit more affordable since the market and competition research proves to be easier, and you will be targeting less competitive keywords. In most cases, it takes less effort and time to rank locally, allowing local businesses to stay within a reasonable budget for their SEO and SEM.

Is SEO worth it for my business?

In general, without SEO, you will be missing out on a big opportunity to expand your business to a broader audience. Whether you do commerce online or only offline, your brand awareness is vital to your company’s success.

Local SEO and National SEO: What’s the Difference? was originally published to http://kkpgoldenconnection.com