by Marketing Manager | Analytics, Content Curation, Content Marketing, Google Tools, How To's & Info you can use, Internet Marketing, Marketing Tips, Search Engine, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Trends
Every website wants some love from Google. A high rank on Google’s SERP can mean the difference between getting organic traffic every day and never seeing a single visitor on your site that you didn’t pay for. The catch? Google’s playing hard to get – or it might be if you are making some common mistakes that send signals that your website isn’t the authoritative, worthwhile destination you want it to be. The good news is that these mistakes are easy to correct. Here are 7 things that Google hates and some quick ways to stop doing them and start getting the organic traffic you need. #1: Poor User Experience When Google’s algorithms return a list of search results, the company’s goal is always to deliver an optimal experience for any user who clicks on your website. If your page is slow to load or difficult to navigate, Google hates it and will likely relegate your site to oblivion on the second or third (or lower) page of search results. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix. Start by using Google’s PageSpeed Insights to ensure your page has a speed of 80 or higher. You should access the Core Web Vitals Report on your Google Search Console to identify additional problems. Finally, make sure to optimize your images by using the smallest file size that delivers the results you want and minimize redirects both internally and in your outgoing links. #2: Lack of Quality Backlinks You already know that high-quality backlinks are an essential element of SEO. If authority domains are not linking back to your site, it can negatively...
by Marketing Manager | Google Tools, Search Engine Optimization, tools
As a small business owner, you probably know the value of SEO for getting more website traffic that you can convert to customers. So maybe you started with a little research, figuring you’d like to DIY your digital marketing efforts for a while and see what you can learn. You checked out a few of the “big names” in SEO, and were immediately overwhelmed by the sheer volume of features that each site promised. Then you looked at the pricing and — no thank you! Fortunately, there is a wide variety of free resources available, from Google’s own tools to third-party extensions that run right on your browser. Here are 7 of the best free SEO tools that you can use for keyword research, backlink tracking, and more. #1 Google Analytics Diving into Google Analytics can become a full-time job. But busy small business owners can benefit from this free tool, without becoming Analytics experts. Once you have your website synced up to your Analytics account, you’ll be able to access data like users, sessions, bounce rate, and session duration. By tracking this information, you can see how your site content is performing over time. You’ll also be able to see how you get your traffic — through social media, referrals from other sites, direct traffic, or organic search. You’ll get helpful data about what time of day your users are on your site — helpful for planning launches or desktop push notifications. You can even see what type of device your users are using. Maybe your site gets more mobile traffic than you thought,...
by Marketing Manager | Content Marketing, Google Tools, Marketing Tips, tools
You want to connect with local customers who are in the market for the services you provide. You’ve probably spent some time optimizing your website. You may have paid for Google Ads. But if you’re not focusing on Google Local Service Ads, you’re missing out on the most highly qualified leads around. What is a Google Local Service Ad? Why should you care? Keep reading to learn more. What Are Google Local Service Ads? We talk to a lot of small business owners and a lot of them don’t know about Google Local Service Ads – so let’s start with the basics. Google Local Service Ads are ads that appear at the top of Google’s search engine results page when someone searches for a local service. If you know anything at all about digital marketing, you know that having an ad for your business appear right at the top of the Google SERP is a huge advantage. Google Local Service Ads aren’t available to everybody. You need to earn a spot there based on your ratings and that’s because Google guarantees the services of the companies whose ads are displayed. Components of a Google Local Service Ad The first thing you should notice about Google Local Service Ads is that they highlight reviews by displaying your average rating and the number of reviews available for prospective customers to read. Considering that nearly 9 out of 10 consumers rely on online reviews to make purchasing decisions, it’s impossible to put a dollar value on having a high review rating displayed at the top of the SERP. When a prospective...
by Marketing Manager | Google Tools, tools
The goal of any legitimate SEO strategy is to funnel more traffic to your website. But instead of seeking to rank high on the first page of Google Search’s results (which is important in its own right), today I’m going to go over X tips for landing features snippets on Google Search. A featured snippet is that first box that pops up in a Google Search just above the ranked results. It provides information or answers a question that users commonly ask. This answer could be a picture, video, list, or text explanation that is relevant to a question or topic that the user has typed into the Google Search bar. Essentially, Google searches for the best, most relevant answer and places it in this coveted spot. Technically, if you land a featured snippet, you’re in position 0 because it pops up ahead of position 1, which is the top of the ranked results. What a place to be! Is It Really Possible To Get Featured? Even though there’s no guarantee that your page will be used for a featured snippet, there are some specific steps you can take to optimize your pages and increase your chances. And there’s even better news. It doesn’t matter if your business is big or small, new or established… anyone can land a featured snippet with a little bit of focused work. Tips for Landing a Featured Snippet #1 Review Your Website Content Take a look at your website content with an eye for how you may or may not be helping visitors when they peruse your pages. Do you provide answers...
