Boston WordPress Developers, Custom WordPress Designers in Boston, Boston Website Designers Boston… all keyword phrases that may have brought you here today.
UPDATED DECEMBER 26, 2017
Do you trust your SEO to one size fits all, do it yourself firms? SEO evolves constantly. Sure, in the old days SEO was easy. You set it up, you put the site into the search engines, and title/meta tags carried you away. Your text was extremely important, and everyone still wanted to be on the first page, right at the top. None of that has outright changed.
What has changed is what you need to do to get there. Meta Description tags aren’t going to do as much for you. They have been doubled in character count, just not in how important they aren’t for SEO purposes. For the user looking at search results though, they are imperative. That description could make or break you.
Your title tags, still at 70 characters, are STILL an important part.
Your text is still king. Today’s websites quite often are more about aesthetics than about content. People are so reluctant to move away from how a site looks to make it search engine friendly by writing a book. Makes sense, right? Until you complain you aren’t ranking high in the search engines. lol
It’s knowing how to use they keyword phrases so your site doesn’t look like a book, but it is optimized so people can find you. It’s about building the SEO into the site’s design, not something you add into the site as an afterthought once it looks all pretty.
Coming up with the keyword phrase schemes hasn’t changed, just how they are implemented so people will still find your site. People skim, search engines read every character of what is written.
Meta Properties, using Social Media (yes, extra work) and linking to them, and they to you (i.e. link-back). Relevant information on each site, having your branding tied into your site, social media and metas. One method done again and again and again, but keyword phrases adjusted to the topic of the page. Consistency is key, but the right kind of consistency.
Google Posts, a way to broadcast an event or something special that has come your way. Another great tool to use as they come up in your listings when you search by your name. They last for 1 week, or longer if you are planning an event that is off in the future. Here is an example of BWD’s:
Click to view
From January to March of last year there were FOUR major changes to Google’s search algorithm. According to MOZ, Google changes their algorithm 500-600 times a year. While most are minor, the major ones can knock you out of your ranking. For 2017 it was Fred that had the biggest impact.
How is a cookie cutter, one size fits all, do it yourself company going to stay on top of these changes quickly, explain to you what page(s) need to be updated to 10’s of thousands of Borg-like sites? Is it long after you discovered they can not be about helping you specifically because it would involve rewriting standardized code for 10’s of thousands, training their employees on what the updates mean, and then have them get the info out to you? By the time you realize it, how far has your site fallen and how long will it take to get back up the charts? Your web designer or SEO firm will walk you through the steps, explain why changes are needed. If they ain’t talking English, then make them before you hand money over to them.
In short, today’s search engines, led by Google for accuracy of search results, change all of the time. If you put your trust into the companies who match up everyone the same way, how will that help your specific company? Don’t blindly put your trust into a web design company or SEO firm, make them show you results. Without it, how are they any different than a cookie cutter company? Btw, if they tell you to type in the name of a business or specific service company, you should be at or near the top. This is one criteria that should scare you away.
Keyword phrases matter. You can check out some of my results by going to my CSS built site. Mouseover the image, it will tell you the term they needed to come up under, and the domain name to look for. Showing results matter!
In the end you have to decide what you can afford, what will work best for you. If you have to wait for your site to fall before you make changes, then maybe it is time for a new method to be used.
Below is from December of 2016
This month we would like to discuss Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO. This is how you get listed in the search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask.com, to name a few. Everyone wants to be listed on the front page. How do you get there?Lets say you have a company called Joe’s Lunch. You use one of the search engines, use Joe’s Lunch as your search term, and you come up on the front page. You may think your search engine optimization is done. But it isn’t. If a client already knows the name of your restaurant, you will get them to come back with this . But you also need to know that for people who don’t know your restaurant’s name, they will likely never find you.
Things like location, the type of restaurant you have, the different types of food you sell will all come into play.
Using single words will not help you. As an example, go to Google.com and type the word sub. Look at all the responses you get in return. How many are about food, and how many are about the military? So lets set up some qualifiers.
If you are located in Boston, then Boston becomes your first qualifier. You are a sub shop, so there is your 2nd qualifier. You sell cheesesteaks, tuna, chicken, italian and meatball subs. Those turn into more qualifiers. What that can turn into for a search meta tag would be:
boston sub shop, cheesesteaks tuna chicken italian meatball subs, sub shop boston
This covers you on a few levels:
boston sub shop
boston sub shop cheesesteak subs (insert each kind of sub in place of cheesesteak for more versions)
sub shop boston
cheesesteak subs boston (again, insert each kind of sub in place of cheesesteak for more versions)
Now you are covered frontwards and backwards. Some may use the qualifier boston first, while others may use it last.
Who is best at deciding what the keywords should be? YOU! Why is that? Becuase you know your business or subject matter better than a web designer would. You come up with the words, and we will help you formulate search terms to be added into your site.
Depending on your budget, you can take this further. Page names can be made using your search terms. Title tags (the browser tab text) is another great way to get your page indexed.
While a site will look plain if you use text links as your main ones, you do need to have text links to every single page you have. You usually find this at the bottom of a website.
There are two type of sitemaps to use. A standard one where it has all the links to your site listed. This is important as you want the search engines to index all of your pages. You only get to submit one page to the search engines. Make sure that page has a sitemap text link on it.
The other type is a Google sitemap. This is written in xml. Google uses this to index your site quicker because you need to verify the website site, then the sitemap is accepted.
Your webmaster will set up a Google account for you, build out the sitemap, and verify your site.
Depending on your budget you can also add in Sponsored links. These are paid for by setting a monthly limit for spending. Then you set an amount for for each time a potential customer clicks on the link.
Your budget will determine just how much you can do with your search engine optimization.
Don’t be taken by any webmaster or SEO house that try to talk you into paying high MONTHLY fees, as it simply isn’t needed. Don’t accept that setting up splash pages with a bunch of keywords will work for you. Google and the others frown upon it. They will knock your domain out of their engines when they catch on.
Beware of any web designer that says they can get you to number one with your keyword terms. As Google has stated:
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.
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We hope you have gained some insight into the world of SEO. This was a simplified version of what goes on, but one you need to know before you get onto the SEO bandwagon.