Should every website be SEO'd (search engine optimized)?

Just recently I was reading a post on SEOMoz, "Naivete & Misconceptions Still Prevalent Attitudes Towards SEO", and I commented about whether every website should really be optimized for the search engines. It may sound like an odd question coming from a company that helps companies optimize and build optimized websites, but it's one that we feel is important.

Are there websites that just shouldn't be optimized?
I think the answer for this is very simple - YES. Let me explain that a little. When it comes to business websites, for the most part they should be built well and optimized to gain the most exposure possible. However, what about the "business" websites that are really just fronts for other things.

One of the best examples I can think of would be affiliate marketing websites. Now I realize this is a large industry, but are these sites really helping anyone? An affiliate website by its nature is really just a middle man. Sure, it can be lucrative for the person(s) running it, but does it provide value to the website searcher? I would venture to guess that most if not all don't provide anymore value then if the visitor was brought to the source from the start.

So do white hat SEO's have an obligation to stop optimizing these sites?
I think we do. If we are calling ourselves White Hat SEO's and truly believe that the content that should be at the top of the search engines should be relevant and quality, then affiliate sites should be dropped to the bottom of the list. Other than creating some income for the middle man, I don't see how these types of sites provide value to people searching the web.

I believe that part of the reason the SEO industry has a bad reputation in the eyes of many is because we seem to be OK with optimizing any website. Just like lawyers have a bad wrap for defending even the most lowly people, SEO's are often too eager to get a project rather than stand by their principals.

Don't the search engines have a part in this also?
Now, it may seem like I'm being overly harsh on SEO's, and I know that there are many SEO's who do have very high standards and don't take these projects. For those that stand by their principles I commend you. For those that don't really care, I think the search engines should start playing a larger role in keeping these types of sites from ranking well. The search engines seem to be smart enough now to determine if a site is an affiliate marketer or not, so why are they still allowing them to rank well (sometimes better then the source)?

Remember: What you do speaks much louder then what you say.

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization
Website Packages Now Available!

Does your marketing message POP?

It's not enough to just say "we're the best", or "your leading supplier" anymore. Sure those statements make you seem like the authority but what company isn't saying that? You need to make your message bold, and different. You want people to say "oh that's clever" or "cool, you've got my attention".

How do I make my marketing message POP?
It's time to start thinking a little outside the box. Think of the most unique thing about your company, product, service etc. Now take that a start to think of ways in which you could slightly embellish that. We're not talking about totally exaggerating, but a slight expansion of the facts is fine. For example if you sell green products and the most unique thing is that you sell them from a solar powered house, why not use "Buy from a the first solar powered store, and be truly green!". OK, so you aren't really sure if you are the first, but who else is going to know? You don't necessarily have to be the first person to do something, you just have to be the first person to say you are doing it.

Should I concentrate on just one marketing message?
At first I would say start with one and target the market that fits that message. Once you have your feet wet and have a better idea of how to make a more powerful message then you can create one for each target market or segment. So if you are selling green products you might target one message at the residential user, while targeting another message at the janitorial industry.

Do I have to hire a marketing team to figure out the right marketing message?
NO! I know this may sound odd coming from a company that does online marketing, but in the economy we are in I think it's important to save where you can. Marketing messages are nothing more then brain storming and good ideas. Gather some or all of your staff and setup a brainstorming session. Explain what the goal is, who the target market is and then start writing down every idea (even the ones that might seem silly) that comes up. Usually a large white-board works so people can start seeing the ideas and spinning off new ideas based on what they see.

Remember: Marketing isn't about being the best, it's more about being the most clever!

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization
Website Packages Now Available!

Is FREE now a four letter word?

Have all of the uses of the word FREE started to make it sound more and more like a four letter word? Have we been bombarded with so many offers that this once alluring word is now a warning sign? Wary buyers are now more than ever skeptical of even the most honest deal and unfortunately one word has become the victim. So what do you do about this and how do you still give away something for "free" without using the word?

Let people see the value in "FREE"!
Since you can't just market your item as free, you need to give it some form of value. So for example instead of writing a headline such as "Free widget with the purchase of another", try something like "Get more value with the purchase of your next widget". So now it's not that you are getting something for nothing, you are getting more for your money. With a simple change of language, you have made people think differently about your "FREE" item.

It comes down to a matter of semantics. People have been programmed to think that anything "FREE" must be cheap and worthless. You have to let them see the light, by rethinking your approach, even if it's just a simple altering of language.

What if it's just one item I'm giving away?
OK, so you only have the one item and you are giving it away for free to a certain number of people or to a certain demographic. How do you combat the negative "FREE" connotation? You can try demonstrating it and leaving "samples" for people to take. Remember, just because it doesn't say free doesn't mean people don't understand what you mean. Sample is a word that has become almost a synonym for free; use it to your advantage.

Put time and money into your free item/service:
If you want people to feel that the item/service that you are giving away for free is valuable, you have to make it look like you took the time to give it value. You know when something was done on a whim and when something was taken seriously and had a lot of thought and effort put into it. Just because you aren't making immediate money doesn't mean you shouldn't spend a little to make things "pop".

Remember: Choose your words wisely and you can get people to think about something in a whole new way.

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization
Website Packages Now Available!

It's Your Home Page, Not Your Company Profile Page!

That's right, your home page is not a place to be presenting your company history or your company philosophy. Your home page needs to be as direct and to the point as possible, but not about who you are, rather about what you offer and why you are better.

The home page is like the cover of a book
Would you pick up a book if the cover was a diatribe about the author? Would you even look twice if the cover looked more overwhelming then you had time for? The answer is probably no, or at least I hope so, otherwise you have a lot of time on your hands!

The cover of a book usually has a very catchy title, the authors name, and most times a picture to give you some insight as to what it is all about. You may also see a brief intro like "the best thriller novel you'll ever read". Within a few seconds you are able to get a sense for what that book is about and whether it will suite your reading needs. It's not until the inside or back cover that you get a bio of the author.

What should my home page be then?
It should be that intro that serves to quickly and effectively inform your visitors of whether they are at the right place or not. Take for example the website image below, the first thing you notice is the company logo is in the top left corner (A). This allows you to see if this is the right company and/or what company website you are at. The second thing you notice is a brief intro of what the company does and what products/services they offer (B). After that you see a group of content buckets (C) that represent important areas of the website. Content buckets are meant to guide visitors to the most important areas of the website, cutting down on search time. Along the left side you have the product/service navigation (D) which allows visitors to dig more deeply into the area of the site that interests them. And last but certainly not least there is a clearly visible call to action (E).

Within seconds a visitor has been able to identify, understand and assess the site and the company. They know right away whether the site will offer what they want.

KISS - Keep it Simple Stupid.
As with most things, the best approach is to keep things simple and straight forward. Don't add more then you have to, just get your message across and let the rest of the site handle the "fluff". Keeping it simple is something that is truly under-rated especially when it comes to websites, but you'll learn in time that some of the most simple sites are the most effective.

Remember: You're selling your products/services not your company history.

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Website Analytics – Beyond the Dashboard

**PLEASE NOTE: This is not meant to be an in-depth analysis of Google Analytics, but rather a basic overview of what people can find if they dig a little and start using their analytics program past the dashboard. We’ll be giving an overview of the various sections and how it might help you with your overall marketing efforts.

More often than not when speaking with clients and or potential clients about their analytics they often only refer to a few things, visitors, hits, and/or keywords. This leads me to believe that many companies don’t ever look past the dashboard of their analytics program. They don’t dig down to really see what is going on with their website. In this post, I’m going to do my best to explain the various areas of Google Analytics and what it can show you as a client. We use Google Analytics as an example because most people can relate, and if you don’t have a GA account, your analytics program most likely has similar areas (dive in and you’ll be surprised by what you find!).

*All images are screen shots are courtesy of Google Analytics - https://www.google.com/analytics - all data has been removed to protect the site being analyzed.

Below we will show you some of the different areas available via the left navigation bar of Google Analytics, as well as giving some insight as to what you can find within that particular area and how it might be useful to you and your organizations marketing efforts. Please keep in mind that there are many other ways in which the different areas can be useful to you, but our examples will help those who have never look into them.

Visitors Section:
In this section you will find another dashboard that gives you an overview of data from the different areas dealing with visitors.

• Benchmarking – In this area you can compare your sites that are relatively the same size as yours. You can also select which industry category your site falls under so you get an even better idea of how your site stacks up. This is a great way to see how well your site is performing compared to the rest of the industry in a broad view.


• Map Overlay – This area lets you see what countries/regions your website visitors are coming from. It even shows you on a colored scale, which countries are referring more visitors than others. It may not seem important at first, but if you have a campaign targeting Europe, you could look here quickly and see whether or not it’s working (generally speaking).


• New vs Returning – Here you can see what percentages of visitors are new versus visitors that have come back to your site after already having visited you at least once. Again his is great to look and to get a quick view of whether your site is gaining any new potential customers/clients.


• Languages – Just what you thought it would be, this area gives you an idea of what languages the people who visited your site spoke. So let’s say you have been debating whether or not to have different translated version of your site. You can quickly come up with a priority list of which languages you should concentrate on and in what order.


• Visitor Trending – This area is packed full of information. You can see how many of your visitors are unique each day, how many page views each visitor had, what your bounce rate is, how much time the average visitor spent on the site, etc. The usefulness of this data is endless, you can easily see whether you are keeping visitors at the site long enough to make a purchasing decision, or whether your site is “stickie” by seeing how high your bounce rate is.


• Visitor Loyalty – Want to know how many times repeat visitors are coming to your site? You can get the breakdown of what percentage of visitors came back once, as opposed to two or three times or more. If you have a social networking community this would be extremely important information to have, as you certainly want to have your return rate as high as possible to keep the community active.

There are other areas in this section (Browser Capabilities and Network Properties) that get into the more technical aspects of your website. For example what browsers visitors are using to see your site. This would help your web designer when considering what to implement and how to test the site. Since this post is geared more towards the average company owner, we’ll stick to the areas that will have the most value to you (not that it’s not valuable information, but chances are you aren’t coding your own site!)

Traffic Sources Section:
In this section you will find another dashboard that gives you an overview of data from the different areas dealing with where your traffic is coming from.

• Direct Traffic – Here you can see the number of visits that you received by the visitor typing in your website address directly into the address bar of the browser. This is a good indicator of how memorable your website address is.


• Referring Sites – These reports let you quickly and easily see what sites your visitors were at that linked them over to your site. Knowing where your visitors are coming from can give you some great insight on whether that link you got on a related site was worth it or not.
  
• Search Engines – As you might guess this section lets you see which search engines are referring traffic and how much. You may think that Google is the end all be all, but a quick look at this report can fill you in what other search engines matter to your visitors.
  
• Keywords – Want to know what people actually typed in to find your website? You can, you just need to look here! That’s right, this area lets you see what your website visitors actually typed into the search engines to find you. Thinking of doing a PPC campaign, this is a great place to start when trying to figure out good keywords to use. A great post was recently written on the value of analytics and this section when doing keyword research by Unstuck Digital – Leveraging Analytics for Keyword Research.
  
• Adwords – Do you currently have an Adwords campaign running? Great, you can track its effectiveness here. Drill down and see on a granular level what people did after clicking your ad.

Content Section:
In this section you will find another dashboard that gives you an overview of data from the different areas dealing with what content your visitors are seeing and going to.

• Top Content – What content/pages are your visitors going to the most? Within this section you can see what content is most viewed. This is extremely valuable because if you know that a particular product page is getting most of the views, you might think of adding a call to action or reference link to other areas of the site or to order now!


• Content Drilldown – What path did your visitors take once on the site? You can see that here, figure out which pages they viewed, and in what order they viewed them in. This helps in figuring out if the site you thought was intuitive really is as intuitive as you thought.


• Top Landing Pages – The home page isn’t always the first page that website visitors see! That’s right, you read that correctly. Search engines try to provide the page that matches the closest with the search that was performed, so now you’ll know what pages are matching those searches.


• Top Exit Pages – Just as important as the landing pages are the exit pages. What pages are people leaving your site at? Let’s say you run an ecommerce store and aren’t getting the number of orders you think you should be. One look at this could tell you that a majority of your visitors are leaving at the check-out first step. Now you can look and see why that might be.
  
• Site Overlay – Ever wondered what buttons on a particular page are being used most often? Well now you can, this section lets you see the number of clicks on any linked part of that page whether they be navigation links, body text links, etc. Thought everyone would click the big red buy now button but they aren’t? Try it in a new spot and watch to see what happens, or change the color and see the effect.\

Now these sections are not the only ones in Google Analytics but if the dashboard was your main information source before, just going into these three main areas will give you a whole new wealth of knowledge about your site and visitors. You don’t have to be a ‘computer geek’ to understand the information either. Even having the most basic understanding will help you in conversing with your marketing team.

Remember: Knowledge is power, and analytics is powerful knowledge.

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Clients, Visitors, Customers - Whatever you call them, they come first!

I just finished reading a really interesting blog post entitled "The Power of Accidental SEO: A Case Study", which tells about a women who was so into her business that SEO was something that happened because of her, not by her. I encourage you to click the link and take a read, it will be well worth it I promise.

So what does "the accidental SEO" mean to you?
At the very least it should show you that although SEO is important, what is more important is that you engage your customers/clients/visitors. Having a site just because it's what you needed, or running a blog because it's what everyone else is doing will greatly decrease your chances for success.

We at Ignite realize that not everything can be done through passion and pure love, but there needs to be at least a little of each in order for other people to 'buy-in" and take hold of what you are presenting. Whether it be through writing, talking, or actions people can tell if you are really into what you are presenting.

Should I stop my SEO than?
No, and I'm not just saying that because it's a service we offer. If I thought SEO had lost its luster I would stop offering it as a service and make sure I preached to all my clients that they didn't need it anymore, but as of right now that is not the case. SEO is important and will help, but you the client also need to get involved and give your site/blog/article something extra, something that makes people realize you really do understand their needs and care about what they want/need.

Remember: SEO is not the cure-all, it's merely one of the ingredients in a well thought out marketing plan.

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development

Make the Holidays Bright.

That's right, we are just around the corner from Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. The scary part is, the economy isn't looking too favorably on having a good financial holiday season though. So what is a business, whether it be online or off, to do to make things the best they can be?

Marketing Starts Now!
That's right, and some may argue the train should have already left the station for your marketing. Make sure you are in front of the people you want shopping from you as often as you can be. Go out and purchase banner ads, advertise on the radio, put an ad in a magazine or two, get an article in the paper, etc. Just remember to be smart, don't pay for ad space that you feel is too expensive, remember the company you are buying the ad from is probably not doing well either so you might have some room to bargain.

You can never market enough, especially when the economy is not in your favor. The more people know about you, and the more they see your name the better chance you stand of having them stop at your store. Don't give them any reason to look for another source, be in their face without being too annoying (yes it's a fine line, but you know when you've gone too far, just be smart about it.).

Smart Pricing
Smart pricing is pricing your products so you still make a profit, but you look like a better bargain then your competitor. Sometimes taking less profit can actually increase sales and increase your bottom line. If you are working on 50% mark-ups, why not cut that down to 40% or 35% if you can afford it? You don't want to undersell your items, but you also don't want to be the most expensive shop in town.

Good Customer Service = Referrals
This may seem like a given, but it's one of the most important things. Make sure that anyone and everyone who has contact with a customer from your company (whether it be phone, email, face-to-face) does it in a positive way. One bad experience from a customer can equate to many lost sales from people they know. On the other hand, a truly positive experience will most likely have that customer coming back and usually they'll tell or bring a friend.

Remember: Just because the economy is slow, doesn't mean you should be.

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development

Pay Per Click - Is it right for me?

I'm often presented with the question "Is Pay-Per-Click really worth it?". Surprisingly the answer is both yes and no (it's never easy is it?!!).

Why is it both you may ask? Well for the simple reason that depending on what you are referring to, it may or may not be worth the time, cost, effort, etc. Lets take for instance a highly popular term like cars. Lets say you are the number one car distributor in your area. I would say in this case, it may be worth it to use PPC to come up when people search for general terms like car dealership, new cars, cars for sale, best cars, used cars, and more. The reason being, those are typically highly competitive terms and would be extremely hard to get natural rankings for with the top 2-3 pages. So using PPC will allow you the opportunity to have a presence closer to the top of the search engines (depending on your budget of course!).

On the other hand if you are trying to be visible for a phrase such as "used red corvettes in dayton", you may stand a very good chance of being found close to the top of the search results. Why? Well if you do the simple process of adding a couple of pages about "used red corvettes in dayton" and the years you carry, you most likely will have no problem showing up under this term in the top search engines, without having to pay. That's right I said without having to pay.

Pay per click is a highly effective tool when used appropriately and in conjunction with a well planned, and thought out natural search engine campaign. It takes a little time and evaluation of results to perfect your campaigns, but it will be well worth the effort in the end.

Remember: Think. Plan. Promote.

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development

Remembering the people!

I recently read a really good blog post over at SEOMoz entitled "Social Media is People". The post was written by 'feedthebot', who is pretty active at SEOMoz and who's writing style is fun and easy to read and understand.

The whole point of the post is to remind people that at the end of the day any marketing efforts, especially social media marketing in this case, is not about what you have where and how many but rather who you know and how you can reach out to those you do not know yet. The people, real true life, flesh and blood people are the reason we build websites and communities, not to obtain tons of links.

As marketers and business owners we often forget what the true objective is, and are always trying to keep up with our competition. We're so worried about being on this directory and that directory and having this new thing added to our site and that other thing taken off that we lose sight of what is really important - THE PEOPLE!

I encourage you to read this post by 'feedthebot' and really take to heart what he is saying. We have to start thinking about who we want at our site and how we can get our name and site information in front of them, rather than just worrying about being on various sites and hoping that the right people see it.

Remember: Going back to the basics isn't always a bad thing.

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

White Hat vs Black Hat and what about the Grey?

There are thousands of methods that search engine optimization and internet marketing specialists will use to help get a site ranked well. Anything from content building, link building and keyword stuffing, to viral marketing, guest blogging, and various others. So which methods are better then others, and which ones are considered black hat and white hat?

White Hat Methods:
I like to think of these methods as the methods that would be used if you didn't have to worry about the search engines. What I mean is that if you asked yourself "If I didn't have to worry at all about ranking, would I do what I'm about to try?", would you still do it? If the answer is no then it clearly is not White Hat.

Content building, link building (for the most part), code structuring, etc, are all mostly White Hat techniques. They can take longer to have an effect, but over the long run your site will be better off for trying these methods.

Black Hat Methods:
Pretty much the opposite of White Hat, Black Hat is anything you can do to get your site ranked well regardless of whether it is ethical or legal in the eyes of the search engines. Spamming blog and or forum posts with links back to your site, stuffing keywords in every possible place, cloaking your domain, etc.

Black Hat techniques can give you good results in the short term, but over time can prove to hurt your site overall. There have been instances of sites being delisted in the search engines for using such techniques, which obviously is the exact opposite effect that was intended.

The Grey Area:
As with anything in life, there is always a grey area. This area is where White meets Black and the line is blurred as to how ethical an action is. For example, buying links for inbound linking campaigns is often frowned upon by the search engines, but what if the link is for a reputable association but they just so happen to charge for them? It's hard to say what to do in cases like this. The link itself is probably very valuable but there is a chance the search engines will not look so kindly on it. My suggestion would be to ask yourself "Will the link benefit a user who clicks on it?". If the answer is yes then proceed, if the answer is maybe or no, I would tend to say don't even consider it.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race:
Although it may seem like an old, over used cliche, it is indeed true. Long terms internet marketing takes time, and over time your hard work and effort will pay off and those people who have employed Black Hat techniques will have to continually look over their shoulder to see if their site is still listed.

Remember: It's not about quantity, it's about quality.

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

International Marketing Tips

The smaller the world gets, the easier it has become to do business overseas. Marketing your product overseas however, is not as easy as it may seem. Here are a few basic tips to help you when considering your venture into the international market.

Not everyone speaks English!
That's right, believe it or not, not everyone in the world speaks English. Although your product is made in the USA and you currently market it using the English language, you will have to seriously consider having everything translated. How frustrated would you be if you saw an add for a product/service you were interested in only to get to their website and see that it is in a language you don't understand?

Translations aren't always created equal
Just as in the English language, not all words translate clearly. Another thing to remember is that there are many different dialects for some languages, such as Spanish. You want to be sure to have someone who is native to that region either translate or proof read the translations so you can be sure you are not offending anyone.

Meaning is everything
Always be sure to see what your slogan means when translated. Most of us remember the story about the car company that had a slogan that translated into "doesn't run" (or something like that). You certainly don't want to be marketing your product only to realize that people are interpreting it as a negative thing.

Take the trip, see the people
There is no replacement for a first hand experience. Actually taking the time to visit the places that you are going to be marketing in and speaking with the local people can give you great insight. What you may once have thought about a particular destination based on what someone told you may not be true at all.

Remember: Do your homework, and you'll find it will pay off later.

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

A saturated market, is it worth it to get in?

Most people would immediately tell you to stay away from a saturated market. There is usually very little room for profit, and the daily grind of trying to compete for every dollar can get tiring. You also have to be very creative in your marketing and always try to stay one step ahead of your competitors. However, if you have a unique angle or niche within that market, why not go for it?

A niche within a niche
Lets say for a minute that you are about to get into the computer market. This is a very tough industry as most of the big players dominate the field and it leaves very little room for anyone else to make headway. But what if you had a niche within this arena? Your first niche might be that you only sell laptops, so that cuts your competition down a bit. Now the real fun starts. Your niche within a niche for laptops could be "biodegradable packing and refurbished machines". You now can play up the going green concept and let people feel good about buying from you.

Your service can outweigh your product
Many people think that it's all about marketing the product. If the customer doesn't know about every detail and each product you sell, how else are they going to chose you? Well, there are times when the product comes second, and the service or extra care is what really makes the sale. For example the biodegradable packaging mentioned above could be the most important thing to someone who is extremely environmentally aware. They know they can get a laptop from just about a million places, but you offer something that others don't, peace of mind when it comes to the earth.

Bring on the competition
So the next time you or someone else is thinking about getting into a so called "saturated market", consider what you or they will need to do to differentiate the company. Sometimes it can be as simple as your packaging other times it might need to be something radically different. Each market and company is different and thinking outside the box is always helpful.

Remember: Everyone has products or services, you need to have a differentiator.

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Should I build multiple websites to attract more customers?

Many people are under the impression that building out several websites for the same product/service will give them a better chance on the search engines. They think that even if the sites have the same content, there are more of them for the search engines to find and in turn they can get more listings. Unfortunately this is rarely the case.

The search engines are looking for sites with unique and authoritative content. When they find several sites that are the same they will most likely either list only one of the sites and/or none of the sites, or list all of them but deep within the search results. So you have effectively devalued your sites, which is exactly what you were trying not to do.

Build "IT" and they will come
The saying is not "Build them and they will come", or "Build many and they will come", it's Build IT and they will come. That's right, build one very well written, well constructed website that concentrates on gaining as many authoritative inbound links as possible. It may take some time to gain the traffic you are looking for, but this approach will always win out in the long run.

Link building is better for one
Another drawback to building many websites for the same service/product is that when you start acquiring inbound links, what site do you point them to? You'll be hard pressed to find authoritative sites that will link to all of your websites if they are all the same thing. They know the value of the link they are giving you and they want to be sure they won't see any backlash from sending people your way.

How do I keep up with it all
One last thing that you should consider is that having multiple websites means you have to keep up with multiple websites. That price change for all your products now has to be done in more than one place. That new product that is coming out next month has to be added to all your sites. After a while this could prove to be a pretty daunting and annoying task. One site, means one update, one addition and better quality control.

Remember: More isn't always better.

--------------
Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Guest blogging; Should we allow it on our blog?

Guest blogging has become more and more popular over the months/years since blogging has really taken off. Guest blogging is allowing/asking/accepting someone to write a blog entry on your blog. It allows the guest blogger to spread their name and usually link back to their own site/blog and also gives your blog some fresh content written from a new viewpoint.

Should we allow guest blogging on our blog?
Most times there is no harm in allowing a guest blogger to write an entry in your blog. You just want to be sure that you read the entry prior to posting it live and get a sense for what the topic will be prior to accepting the offer, or asking another writer to post.

Guest blogging can be a great way to draw a new audience. Many times the guest blogger will refer to their post on your blog at their own site. This of course starts drawing traffic to your blog and hopefully to the rest of your site as well.

Just because you have a guest blogger does not mean they should write about whatever they want. Their entry should be in line with the theme/concept of your blog. So if you're blog is about wine tasting and wineries an appropriate guest blogger might be another wine aficionado talking about their wine tours.

How do we get a guest blogger?
Sometimes they will hunt you out and ask you, but more then likely you'll have to do a little asking yourself. Find a blog you like, or a friend that you know and ask them if they would be interested. Remember you can offer them a link to their website/blog. Try not to pay someone to write on your blog. Why you may ask, because you want their entry to be as honest and genuine as possible. You want them to write an entry because they want too not because they are getting paid to do so.

You may also want to consider offering to guest blog for someone else. This is a great way of getting your name and site out there, as you will most likely get a link back as well.

Remember: Networking is more then just handing out business cards, it's a whole new game with the internet.

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

How can specialization help a website?

When you specialize in something you become not only good at it, but most likely great. You know your product/service inside and out and eventually you've seen almost anything and everything that could happen. Specializing also gives you an edge over your competitors because while they may "do it all", you "do it right!".

How does specialization translate to your website?
Very simply put, it gives your website that same advantage. Think about all the sites that you have been to, and think about the ones you would go to in order to make sure you got just the right product for your situation. Chances are that site was specializing in that area. They had all the information you needed, just the right products and their staff and/or website could answer any question you had.

Are there any other benefits of having a specialized website?
Absolutely. Sites that specialize in one area stand a much better chance of being seen as an authority on that subject. For example, if you had a shop that was all about car stereos and only car stereos you stand a better chance of being found under that then the site that also sells car seat covers, windshield wipers, etc. This is because your pages and your entire site are structured around a very specific, defined set of keywords.

What if I can't specialize my site?
Just because your company/business is not specialized doesn't mean your website can't be. You have several options here, you can create separate websites for each of your divisions or better yet you can create sub-domains for each of your divisions. This way you can drive people directly into whichever sub-domain is appropriate for them and still gain the benefits of a larger more content rich website.

Remember: You don't have to necessarily be specialized for your site(s) to appear that way.

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Should we hire an Inhouse SEO/M or Outsource?

Choosing whether or not to go with an in-house or outsourced SEO/M can be somewhat agonizing for many companies. There are many things to consider when going with either option, and each has its own set of pros and cons. And believe it or not, just because we offer these services here at Ignite Media, we don’t always believer outsourcing is the right choice.

In-House SEO/M
The biggest thing to consider when thinking about bringing your internet marketing in-house is not how much it will cost, but rather how many people you will need. The immediate thought might be that only one person is needed, and in some cases that might be correct. However, for larger companies you may need an internet marketing team. Not every SEO/M is good at all phases of the marketing.

The challenge with finding the right person(s) is knowing enough to know whether they will be effective for your company. This can be tough because most likely the reason you need an SEO/M is because you don’t know enough about this subject.

Outsourcing SEO/M
This should also should to be completely decided on price. You need to make sure that the company you are going to use will really give your company the best possible change to gain more traffic to your website. As we all know, more traffic means more chance for conversions.

It’s not always easy to tell the difference between each SEO/M company, but the biggest sign will be if you go to them and say you want this to happen they come back to you and say ok but you really should be doing this or that. You don’t want a company that is just going to do what you tell them you want, after all they are supposed to be the experts here right? You wouldn't go to your accountant and tell them how they would best do their job on your account would you?

How do we decide?
Unfortunately there is no easy answer, but if you do your homework and you carefully consider your options you should be ok. Don’t be afraid to get on some SEO forums and ask them if the have heard of the companies you are considering or what questions you might want to ask a possible in-house candidate.

Remember: Don’t be afraid to change companies or employees if they aren't taking you in the right direction.

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

SEO Rules - Do they exist?

There are no hard and fast rules of SEO (search engine optimization). There are many people who believe that they have a pretty good idea, by testing and researching, of what the search engines are looking for from a good website, but only the search engine algorithm creators really know. This research and testing has lead to some industry accepted best practice guidelines, but in reality if the algorithm changes, these guidelines will have to as well.

Does this mean we shouldn't SEO our site?
Absolutely not! A well optimized website will most often do much better then a website that is created without the guidelines and best practices of SEO and usability. SEO should be done as naturally as possible. A good SEO'd website in our humble opinion should go through at least 5 things:

Keyword research: the agency you hire should do their homework and find out as best as possible what phrases people are actually using to find your products/services.

Site Review/Usability Review: an objective review of your current site, or a solid plan before starting a new site is key. You need to know that the efforts you put into optimizing your site will stand the best chance of succeeding and good website that is usable is the only way that is possible.

Natural Inclusion of Phrases: the list of phrases that you choose to optimize your site should be naturally worked into the site. Ideally there would be a page for each phrase. If this is not the case, don't just use the phrases anywhere. Really put some thought into how those phrases are used and be sure that when a visitor reads that page it still makes sense.

Quality Content: your website needs to have quality content. Quantity is good, but quality is better. You and eight other people could be selling lounge chairs, but if your content is better, more informative and keyword rich, you will stand a better chance of not only being found but keeping that visitor and converting.

Good Code and Structure: You might have the best content in the world and from a visitors perspective the most usable site, but if the spiders cannot get through the code to get to that content, you will have a hard time being found in the search engines. Good, clean code will go a long way in making sure you stand the best possible chance of being indexed.

There are many more things that are important (right now) to optimizing a website, but these are some of the very basics that should be kept in mind. Just because you don't know how to optimize your website doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to ask the "experts" working on your site if they've done their job thoroughly.

Remember: When having your site optimized ask yourself this "If I didn't have to worry about the search engines would I take that approach?", if the answer is no then don't do it.

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

SEO or SEM - What to do?

There are two terms that people sometimes get confused, SEO and SEM. SEO is search engine optimization and SEM is search engine marketing. From someone outside of the field they may seem identical, and in some respects they are. They are both focused on getting and converting website visitors into customers.

So what is the difference and which is better?
The answer to that is not nearly as simple. It really isn't a matter of doing one over other, but rather one before the other. SEO as noted above is search engine optimization. This is the process of taking a website and making it as optimized for the search engines as possible. For example this would include creating keyword rich and powerful title tags, enhancing and/or cleaning up the code of a website, and many other things. This is extremely important to ensure that the search engines will be able to quickly and easily index your website for the appropriate phrases.

Recently there has been a lot of debate over whether or not SEO is an ongoing process or a one time thing. At Ignite we feel that for the most part this is a one time thing. We optimize your site for the phrases we are targeting and let the search engine spiders have at it. If the company changes it's focus, or things change with the search engines then more optimization may be needed. Usability and traffic analysis are often clumped in with SEO, but these are really subsets of SEM and website development in our eyes.

SEM on the other hand, is search engine marketing. This is the process of marketing your website to the internet and trying to drive as much targeted traffic as possible. This includes but is not limited to inbound link building, social media marketing, email blast creation and more. For the most part this can be thought of as any means by which you use to drive more and better traffic to your website.

So which comes first, SEO or SEM?
SEO would ideally come first. You have to make sure that your website is optimized for what you are going to be marketing it for. For example if you are selling bicycle and bicycle parts and your page about seats had a poorly phrases title tag and the code was a mess you certainly would not want to be sending the search engines there. Along with SEO you want to make sure to perform some usability tests as well. After these two things have been done then you can start with your SEM campaigns. This approach will ensure that the traffic you are sending the the site will have the best possible chance of converting.

Remember, you aren't just sending the search engines to your site, you are sending people and people will be the ones to decide if you are successful or not.

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Quality first.

It seems that today people are most concerned with being found in the search engines, and getting the highest ranking possible. The problem that I have noticed though, is that the site that they want to send thousands of visitors to is second rate at best. I don't mean the design, although a good design doesn't hurt, I mean the quality of the content.

The internet was founded and created to share information. People seem to have forgotten this over the course of the years. Information is what the entire internet is made up of and quality information will stand the test of time.

Think for a minute about Microsoft. Imagine they built their website with very little information and took very little time to get quality content on their website. Do you think that developers would even consider going their again in the future? Probably not. Your website should be thought of in the same way. What is the point in sending visitors to a site with poor or no information?

Stop and ask yourself, after you have the first draft of your website, whether you would stay at a site like yours. Be critical because you can be sure that your website visitors are going to be. Don't be afraid to say "this is crap, we need to start over". A website is more then just some text on a page with your phone number. A website is a sales person, a point of reference and the image that you are portraying about your company.

Remember, if you are going to take the time to drive the horse to water, you better make sure the water is there.

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Is a blog right for my site?

Blogging over the years has become more and more popular and businesses are starting to wonder if they should be in on the "trend". There are many interesting and informative blogs out there, but there are just as many uninteresting and, dare I say, useless blogs out there. You want to be sure you are one of the interesting and/or informative blogs.

You also want to be sure you have the time to dedicate to a blog. It's not an 8 hour a day project, but it does take some time and a regular routine. Blogging needs to be done on a set schedule, ideally 2 to 3 times a week or more. People who subscribe to blogs want to be updated regularly and they will move on to the next one if you are constantly delayed or not posting at all.

Many companies think that they are not in an industry where a blog would be useful, but this is where thinking outside the box will come in handy. Take for example a company that does fish hooks. This is their sole business and they make every type and style of fish hook, but nothing else. At first you would think that a blog for this would quickly become dry and the writer would run out of things to blog about. Who says you have to only write about fish-hooks? Your blog can be about anything to do with your industry, just because this company only makes fish hooks doesn't mean they don't know anything else about fishing.

That same company could have a post about the top 10 spots they love to fish, or the fish you will find in their local area. You need fish hooks to fish and you'll likely want to know where to go fishing so it all ties in. You could even write about local fishing events or fishing excursions that you and your employees have gone to or on.

Now there is a limit to how far outside the box you want to go. For example you wouldn't want to start writing about the car show or the local town fair, as this might annoy some readers. You want to be sure you can always relate your story back to your main idea which in this case is fishing and your fish hooks.

A blog might not be right for everyone, but anyone who is interested and can set aside the time on a regular basis should give it a shot. Just remember, always think of your readers and how it relates back to the purpose of your blog.

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

I want a full Flash website!

This is the phrase that a web site design company that also does internet marketing hates to hear! Sure, Flash is great and makes your sit interesting, but what about the search engines and being indexed by them? What about the load time and the intro player that will cause many people to hit the back button on the browser, never to be seen or heard from again?

Flash is a very good application and used appropriately it can be a very powerful application. A website selling products should in most cases not be doing a full Flash website. A website promoting a rock band might be ok with a full Flash site, but not if they want to be found in the search engines any time soon!

The problem with Flash is that as of today there is no way for the search engine spiders to crawl through a Flash website to see what it is all about. A Flash website is like a movie when it comes to the search engines. For the most part it sees a page that calls a file (SWF file in most cases) and that file is unreadable to the spiders.

Flash can be effective if used appropriately though. For example a website that is built in HTML using style sheets that also has a small Flash banner with a marketing message is effective. The visitor is not required to wait for the movie to load to read everything else on the page and doesn’t have to hit “Skip Intro” in order to see the rest of your website.

Remember, when it comes to Flash less really is more!

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Content is King. But who's job is it to get the content?

We have all heard the saying that "Content is King" when it comes to building a website and marketing it for the search engines. It makes perfect sense, the search engines index content and if you have more content on your site then you have a better chance of showing up for specific terms/phrases. But who's job should it be to get that content together?

I believe it should be a joint effort from someone that works for the company and the optimziation/marketing company that has been hired. This approach will ensure that you are building content that is relevant to the company at hand. Yes content is king, but relevant content is the supreme ruler!

Why a joint effort?
Who knows more about your business then people who work for you? Yes a search engine marketer should be able to pull information and learn about your company, but they still will not know everything. An employee can tell the search engine marketer what differntiates you from your competitor, a new product/service that is coming down the line, the largest segment of your business, and so much more. Why leave it to the search engine marketer to guess at these things when you could have more impactful content by providing them with this information?

Once that information is given to the search engine marketer then they can work their magic. They should be able to sell that product/service, and make it interesting to read about. They should be able to create keyword/phrase specific pages and sections of the website.

Remember, good content is only as good as the source from which it came. If you leave it all up to your search engine marketing company you may not be as happy as you would be if you worked with them to build out that content.

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Is SEO worth it?

I was recently reading through some posts that were listed at Sphinn and came across one titled "What A Waste...Oh The SEO!!", in which they talk about how AMEX has decided to take the stance that SEO is a big scam. This brings to the forefront the question that many people often ask "Is SEO worth it?"

The answer to this is no as simple as one might think, in my humble opinion. You can not simple just say yes it is worth it, because as you can read in the above mentioned blog, there are times when SEO is simply not worth it. Whether you are being taken advantage of or the SEO you have hired just doesn't know enough, this scenario would yield the answer that NO it is not worth it.

However, if you have someone like Julie Joyce running your SEO campaign then I would have to say that YES SEO is worth it. A person like Julie will work as hard as they can to drive as much traffic to your site as possible while at all times keeping the best interest of your company in mind. This mentality is exactly what we preach and practice here at Ignite Media and commend Julie for conducting herself like this.

We realize that honest, hard working people are not always the easiest to come by. There are plenty of SEO companies out there who only care about the money they are getting for the "service" they are providing you and not about your success at all. As with any other purchase or contract in your life/business you need to know who you are getting involved with. Ask them for references, results, and/or an easy opt-out clause of the contract.

SEO can be worth it, and should be worth it, you just have to make sure you know who you are dealing with and that they are truly WORKING FOR YOU and not WORKING YOU FOR YOUR MONEY!

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Beyond Your Website...

Internet Marketing should go well beyond your website. There are various ways to promote your company using the internet without them ever having to have gone to your website. Below are a few ways that you probably have heard of, but just never tried and we urge you to try:

Blog Writing

Ok so this one is usually connected with your website, but people will find your blog in various ways. If your blog is run by blogger you will/can show up in their blog lists. People can also subscribe to your RSS feed, and therefore not have to go back to your website or blog unless something interesting peaks their curiosity.

Press Releases

The days of contacting hundreds of editors and trying to find their correct phone number are over. Today there are few sites that you can submit your press release too and they will do the syndication for you. Sure they cost a little money, but your time is cut down drastically so you can concentrate on your next task.

Email Blasts

You probably have a contact/client database somewhere. If you have email addresses in that list you can start an email blast campaign. We do not suggest that you use Outlook or any in house emailing program, but rather use an email blast service as they can provide statistics as well as keep you Anti-Spam compliant.

Link Building

Go out and find websites that would make sense to have a link to your website and maybe even you having a link to them. It can be an association, distributor, informational site, etc. As long as you can see a natural connection between the two sites then the link will be beneficial.

These are just a few ways that you can utilize the internet to help promote your company and website. If you stop to think beyond the confines of your website you may find there is a whole world of possibilities on the web.

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Egg Hunt Anyone?

Hopefully you answer no to this question! An egg hunt is great for little kids and parents around Easter time, but it's certainly not what you want people to think of when searching for something on your site. You don't want to make people run around your site looking for what they need; you want to make it readily available.

Multiple points of entry (MPoE), is the name of the game. Many times people say "why do you have a link to widgets in two places, isn't that redundant?". Yes it is, and for very good reason. Would you have noticed the link to widgets if it was only in one place and that one place was at the bottom of a list of other links? Probably not. Sure it may seem a little redundant, but wouldn't you rather be redundant and have people find what they want then be conservative and have them "hunt for eggs"?

Now don't get me wrong, I think that there is a fine line between being positively redundant and negatively redundant. You certainly do not want to start making every word in every sentence on your website a link. However, appropriately done, a little redundancy can be a positive thing.

Take for example www.target.com - they have multiple ways to get to the same thing. What they did however is use different wording each time. So if I wanted to get some bedding I can click on 'Bed and Bath' on the top nav bar, or 'Bedding' on the left nav bar, or further down there is 'Bed and Bath' as a text link on the left nav bar. Three ways on one page to get to the same area of the site, but it works and it doesn't feel like they are yelling at me to get there.

Take some time to look at your site. When you are on the home page specifically or any landing page you should have at least two ways to get to the same place (for the most important sections at least). Have one way be a nice navigation button/link and another be a content bucket or ad/button. I think you'll like the results you see.

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Know Your Own Website

Have you ever been on a website, called up the company and asked them where something is? Or have you ever emailed a company because you couldn't find what you needed on their website, only to have them email you back and say "look on our website"?

Many times companies are not using or looking at their own website and therefore don't know what is there and what isn't. This can be incredibly frustrating from a customers view point. You need to know what you are putting out there for people to see and read.

There should be a system in place to have your website reviewed on a regular basis by as many people in the company as possible. This will ensure that all the information is there and it is in the right place. The ideal people to do this are the customer service people who are answering the phones, they know what people want and can tell management that something is missing and needs to be added.

You certainly would not put out a catalog before you reviewed and proofed it, so why would you not look at your website is available to anyone with an internet connection?

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Networking as Advertising

I often have clients and friends ask what the best form of advertising is. They want to know where they will get the best ROI for the least amount of money. Of course everyone wants to know this and it tends to be a little different for each business when you talk about traditional advertising mediums.

That being said, I firmly believe that there is one form of advertising that costs next to nothing and can be pretty fun and/or interesting for just about every industry. What is this advertising avenue you may ask? Well to put it very simply it's NETWORKING! You know, getting out there and meeting people in different organizations, groups, places, etc.

Now you may be thinking that this isn't really advertising, but I beg to differ. What better form of advertising is there then a real life conversation about you and your company? Who is there to better explain what you do then you?

I mentioned above that it is as close to free as you can probably get when it comes to advertising. Really all you need is a handful of business cards, which you can get 500 cards today for less then $50, and a place to go. Even if you have to throw in gas, dinner and some drinks you probably will only spend $100 for one night of what could be numerous valuable contacts.

With the craze of blogging today, networking can even be done from your own desk. Now you can't get much cheaper then that for advertising can you? Browse the internet for blogs or forums that relate to your business or industry and start posting. Now I say start posting, but I DO NOT mean start "spamming" the blogs and forums. Simply start engaging in conversation by commenting on someones blog, and give yourself a footer at the bottom of your comment that notes your website address, name, and company and you've just advertised for no cost and without being an annoyance to the site you are viewing.

With technology so readily available and the internet broadening everyone's horizons, there are thousands of ways to make yourself visible. It requires a little of your time and thought, but it doesn't have to be a hundred thousand dollar ad campaigns in a magazine to be effective. Word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising, so get out there and start talking!

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization

Finding the Right Website Development & SEO Firm

Finding the right website development and search engine optimization (SEO) firm can be hard. Often times they are two different companies as well. So how do you go about picking the right firm? This post will give you five ideas, tips and thoughts when considering which firm to go with.

#1 . Are they responsive?

This may sound like an odd question, but you will be surprised at how many companies are not. How quickly did they return your call/email when requesting information from them. How much time did they spend with you, before they rushed off to their next call or meeting? Be critical when selecting a firm. You want to find a company that you can create a long lasting relationship with.

#2. Do they have examples?

Examples of previous work that the firm has done will give you a good idea of what they might be able to do for you. You should note that past experience doesn't always mean future results for you. Whether you are having a new website built or starting up an internet marketing campaign, knowing what the company can do and has done is important. This doesn't mean you should ignore all of the new, smaller firms with less experience but it's another tool in your arsenal to ensure you are getting the best "bang for your buck"!

#3. Are they teaching you?

You might wonder why they should be teaching you. We're not talking about them sitting you down like a student and showing you step by step what they are doing. We are talking about explaining in clear and easily understandable terms what they will be doing and why and what effects it may have on your company and/or website. You wouldn't buy a car without the dealer telling you why this car is better then the older model or competitors model, would you

#4. What are you getting?

You might think to yourself, well I know what I'm getting. But do you? When you are signing up for that $5,000 website do you know how many pages you are getting, what is included in the hosting and whether they are writing the copy or are you? When you are signing up for that internet marketing campaign are they going to be giving you weekly, monthly, or quarterly reports? You want to be sure a clear outline of what the deliverables that you will be getting are. You wouldn't think about buying a house without knowing if the appliances you saw in there come with the house, so why take any chances on your website and/or marking plan?

#5. Will you have any say in what goes on?

Communication is key. A good internet marketing firm and/or website development company will involve you in almost every step of the process. You know your company best and your industry and it would be foolish to think that someone else could market your company without your input. Of course they should be able to understand what it is your company does and what differentiates you, but there will be areas that will need your input and approval. The most successful campaigns of any type require a lot of communication and whether yours is a small or large campaign it deserves that same attention.

------

Remember, these are just some examples of what you should be looking for. You might find a company who only lacks in one area, or is just starting out in the field and they could be just the right fit. The one thing that holds true throughout is that you must do your homework and really know who it is you are going to be working with.

--------------
Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization