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Many people wonder why Google seems to be so critically important to SEO strategy. I only mention this because so many of our Delaware SEO clients ask about it. Well, the fact (at least right now) is that most searches are performed on Google, not Yahoo, Bing, AOL, or anywhere else. Their share is more than two-thirds of the market which means most people go to Google first. Consumers often set Google as their home page and read reviews on Google. Why is this the case and why is Google so important to your marketing strategy?

Creating an SEO Plan

Search Engine Optimization is a plan to make a company more familiar to Google and other search engines. When Google sees your firm’s name come up over and over, this results in higher ranking for your website, so that instead of appearing on page 7 of Google search results pages, your company appears on page 1 or 2. It might even be at the very top depending on the search engine terms (keywords) a searcher uses.

We always tell our clients that it’s best to do things right: create unique, original content and install backlinks on sites that make sense. We try to create attractive landing pages that work and get social media started if that is a weak spot. You can’t fool Google and we don’t even recommend trying. A good SEO plan involves work, but once that work is set up, maintenance is relatively easy and clients can be sure they don’t get penalized by Google. Moreover, they experience the success they are paying for as consumers find these firms and spend their money.

Google Analytics and Algorithms

Genius minds at Google have created and continue to create formulae which analyze data coming onto the internet. They can tell when an article contains too much of a keyword and will classify it as spam. Their algorithms detect backlinks placed on websites that are of little value: places which let anyone post a backlink, even if that link takes consumers to a company unrelated to that host site (For example, think about a link to golf lessons on a site dedicated to nursing bras – it just makes no sense, and Google’s algorithms can see this.). Google detects copied content: writers can’t just copy a blog they wrote last month or articles from other websites and paste it on Facebook or their landing page as though it’s new content.

Google also analyzes data in a way that SEO experts can translate for our customers. We can see how many times people click on the link to a client’s company. We find out how often those clicks lead to sales (conversion rates). Software is available to track where readers and shoppers come from worldwide, to alert clients when reviews for clients’ products and services are posted, and to receive automated alerts for every time a company name is referred to online. Much of that is thanks to Google.

Google Services

Although they don’t publish their algorithms and are always updating in response to tricks by clever con artists, Google offers a lot of advice about how not to conduct an SEO campaign. Their advice leads to the same conclusion I started with: you can’t fake it in this business. Business owners have to build a strong online presence thoughtfully and ethically or Google will relegate them to the very back pages of a search if they don’t throw them out of search results entirely.

Let’s talk a little bit about some SEO tools of the trade – or, more specifically, how to track website performance, because this is a large part of what we do here at Delaware SEO.

Your website is an important part of your advertising strategy. Many consumers meet you and your product for the first time when they encounter your landing page, so it has to be up to par. How can you tell if your website is working for you? One answer is profits: are you making any? Another is hits on Twitter and Facebook. If there is chatter on these sites and people “like” you, those are good signs. If not, it’s possible your website does not come up when consumers search for your product online, which is where we come in.

Surface Tools to Track Site Performance

We have the skills to analyze how your website is performing and also to assess the quality of a site just by looking at it. Does the page load quickly enough? Are the colors appealing and is text easy to read? When we try to navigate the page, are we left confused and frustrated? Does the landing page tell us what we need to know about your company? If we type in key words related to your business, does your firm come up on page one, page two, or much even further back? Those are surface issues that don’t require background analysis.

Digging Deeper

The tools we’re talking about go deeper. We can assess the speed at which your site uploads and fix this if it isn’t loading quickly enough. Consumers won’t stick around for a slow-loading site in case it contains viruses and also because they are impatient.

We can find out how often people talk about you and your products online for better or worse in reviews, articles, and on forums. There is software which allows us to monitor all of your backlinks: to see where they are, find out if they are appropriate, and discover how much traffic those sites get too.

It’s possible to find out when key words are being used online. There are automated systems that let us know all sorts of details regarding the key word including how often it’s used and where the search generated from in the world. Paid programs tell us when your company name or product is used online too.

With these tools, we can also search for other, competing companies. We would look up their websites to assess quality and engagement but also dig into their analytics to see what you are competing with.

Analysis Tools

The most important site is Google, with Yahoo in second place. That’s why most of us SEO professionals refer to Google analytics, but we can track key words on Bing, AOL, and mobile sites specifically. We will use this tool to track your online ranking from before we work together, shortly after launching the campaign we build for you, and regularly throughout the coming weeks and months. It’s important that we regularly assess the situation in case our strategy needs tweaking. We can improve your website design, remove backlinks from ineffective locations, and write keyword-rich blogs. Results should be noticed fairly quickly, and you should experience financial growth within 6 months; maybe sooner.

Although you and I may not have yet consulted on this, it’s possible your firm has not tapped into the benefits of social media yet, thinking this is just a place to socialize. Social Media is so much more and savvy business people can’t afford to dismiss it. Whether you are talking about LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace, social media is an essential part of branding and marketing, and we at the Delaware SEO Company can help your business make the most of social media.

The Various Qualities of Social Media

In the world of SEO, we find that certain media are well suited to particular tasks. For instance, Instagram is fabulous for posting images. That makes it ideal for artists in any visual genre (oils, sculpture, clothing, or tattoos). YouTube is the ideal place to run a video campaign, a way to promote a service that hires out musical acts for weddings and exhibitions. Facebook is probably the best-known interactive site for posting pictures and comments; a place for dialogue.

How Companies Use Social Media

As you can see, the three examples above demonstrate what a company can do in the way of promotion: they can “talk” about and they can “show” their products. That’s just the start. Many large brands use social media as a way to run promotions cheaply. This saves them sending out thousands of items in the mail or running expensive television ads. They expand their profile, often attracting a new generation of consumers who consider social media a normal part of life. They use search engines to locate products and yours will turn up.

Companies use social media to engage individually with customers, picking up the threads of conversations, answering questions, starting discussions, and responding to criticism or praise. They use these media to find out what their customers want and what they are thinking; even to find inspiration for new ideas.

A search engine will find contests established on Facebook where participants have the opportunity to win lipstick, detergent, or granola bars for life. There might be a chance to win money or a holiday or to create a flavor of potato chips. Once a customer is on this page, he finds out what other people are saying about the firm and discovers there are real people behind the brand name.

How We Help You Utilize Social Media

What can we do to support your presence on social media? First, let us help you identify the best forms of social media for your business or product. Maybe you need the professional approach with LinkedIn or the community approach with Twitter. Most firms choose at least two types, sometimes more. Our Delaware SEO Services group will work with you to determine the best course of action for you.

After that’s settled, you can write your own content or we can handle that part for you with SEO-enriched content. This will help search engines find your social media pages and potentially elevate your ranking. That’s another use of social media: every short entry is taken into account when search engines go looking for content a consumer is searching for, so use this space wisely. Add key words when responding to clients or choosing slogans for contests.

Our services extend to social media maintenance. Is it difficult finding time to keep the site up to date? We’ll keep you current with relevant writing in a suitable tone.

If you have had a website for any amount of time, you may have received those colorful mailers on occasion from search engines like Google advertising their paid search options. This may have you wondering if you might need Pay Per Click marketing as part of your strategy to succeed on the Internet.

Or, you may be wondering what Pay Per Click really is.

How we usually explain this to our customers is that Pay Per Click or PPC is a form of marketing that involves quite a bit of risk for a small business but is also inexpensive if your budget is small. Advertising is always a gamble: a company pays for something that might or might not attract more customers and lead to higher profits. There are few ways to control your audience with PPC and it takes some skill to get it right. When PPC works, however, a company’s conversion rates improve (ratio of clicks to sales). Does your firm need to run a Pay Per Click campaign? We at your Delaware SEO Services have put together this quick article in order to outline the method, drawbacks, and potential benefits, so that you can make a more informed decision going forward.

How PPC Works

Okay: Here’s the basic rundown. A firm – like yours, decides to run an internet ad campaign on Google or a smaller website. The advertising department develops a catchy slogan and an offer which is easily condensed into the size of a banner or even a smaller footprint on the page. They make it website- and/or mobile-friendly. An arrangement is made with the website owner to pay a certain amount of money every time a viewer clicks on the advertisement. Rates vary from pennies to over $1 (and you would also be paying a small fee if we were to manage this on your behalf).

Risks

There is no way to ensure that only people legitimately curious about your product click on the ad. Your PPC banner might fill up a few minutes in the life of a bored commuter waiting for a train or it could be clicked by the competitor who knows how PPC works. Out of 100 viewers you might get one customer or 0. You might have set up the account so your ad disappears after 100 clicks. Maybe you decided to let it run its course for a length of time regardless of the price. Either way, this could be an expensive failure.

Rewards

It might also work: that depends on how well you choose the site where it’s posted. I wouldn’t recommend placing a PPC ad for stump grinding on a website about seniors’ care for example: they don’t make sense together. Place the stump grinding ad on a landscaping website, however, and there’s already profit potential among natural readership. If you survey customers and lots of them found you over the internet, keep plugging away at PPC and learn from your mistakes. This is potentially a good route.

Alternatives

What would I suggest the average company do; one whose clients saw their newspaper ads, heard about them on the radio or from friends, or who answered an email campaign? Is it worth running a PPC ad? Can a company survive without it? Many firms never run internet ads of this kind and are successful but their other promotional methods are skillful, well-timed, and interesting. Their SEO strategies are strong because they involve excellent key word content writing and backlink selection. Web pages are well organized, attractive, user-friendly, and load quickly. With these essential pieces in place, the Pay Per Click approach isn’t necessarily worth worrying about. Then again, it’s an affordable additional approach if your budget is tight and could be the cheapest route for a firm with very little money to start with.