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Top 10 Justifications on Why a Company Needs SEO
Almost 100% of web traffic is driven by major search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. They allow people to navigate the millions of indexed sites online to find what they’re looking for and weed out irrelevant information. Over the years, the algorithms for these search engines have come to display the best results higher on the first page. This has improved the trust of Internet users in businesses that they otherwise would have never heard of. However, these search queries aren’t simply based on “the best” companies. They’re based on companies that are implementing the best search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. In this article, we’ll examine the top 10 reasons why a company needs SEO, especially in today’s competitive marketplace. 
1. Less Than 1% of Internet Searchers see the Second Page
Did you know that 99% of online interactions occur within the first page of search engine results? If you’re not on the first page, you’re going to be getting 1/100th of the visibility you could have if you were ranked better. Internet users have come to trust search engine results pages and the higher you are to the #1 position, the better—the #1 spot in Google gets 31.7% of all clicks. Nearly half of the businesses operating online today don’t invest in SEO tactics. What does this mean for you? It means that you can successfully rise above your competition using some strategic tactics and ongoing digital marketing. If you don’t, you’re more likely to fall in line with the irrelevant online businesses and rely on word of mouth or paid advertising, which isn’t nearly as efficient. While SEO takes some time to show results, with a little patience you’ll experience an unbeatable ROI and continued success. The long-term results alone should be a strong enough reason to invest in SEO, but they’re not the only benefits.2. SEO Improves Overall Brand Awareness and Visibility
Roughly 8 out of 10 people use the Internet to find a product or service and most of them eventually conduct their business online. However, in order for people to trust you enough to give you their money without ever meeting you, you need to make sure that your brand awareness and visibility is strong and trustworthy. SEO can help improve your overall brand awareness and visibility by increasing your ranking on popular search engines and improving user experience. Popular search engines help people trust different sites, so the higher a site is ranked, the more people view it as trustworthy.3. A Majority of Searches are Done on Mobile Devices
Over 4 billion people around the world use their smartphones every single day, all throughout the day. While people still use computers for things, many times Internet searches are done on a commute, in between meetings, or during lunch hours. The convenience of a mobile device makes it far easier to use when searching for restaurants, new electronics, home services, or physical stores. With over 50% of Internet searches being conducted on mobile devices, your business needs to be easily accessible. SEO can help your website become optimized for mobile devices for the best performance possible. Mobile SEO improves your local search results and ensures that everyone can access your information, regardless of where they are.4. It Improves Overall User Experience
In addition to adhering to your mobile audience, SEO will help improve the overall user experience across all devices. Page loading speed, aesthetics, and content make a huge impact on how your visitors view your company. If your page loads too slowly, they’ll leave. For example, if your page takes more than 3 seconds to load, your visitor is likely already browsing products on your competition’s site. SEO is also a crucial part of protecting your customer’s data, which will help build trust and accountability across your audience. The more your visitors trust your site, the more likely they are to do business with you.
5. SEO Improves Your Bounce Rate
By strengthening your SEO strategies, you’ll experience fewer bounce rates over time. High ranking sites are there because of a number of features that Google, or Bing deem as important, including user experience and loading speed. The better your site works, the less people who are going to click “back” or “exit.” The higher your bounce rate is, the fewer conversions you’ll see. SEO involves both front-end and back-end optimization to ensure your website is working it’s best for your visitors.6. SEO Increases the Discoverability of Your App
With an increasingly mobile-focused world, many businesses are developing apps that integrate well with smartphones or tablets. Utility apps had a 96.6% mobile reach among online users in the U.S. in 2019. This means that there are very few people who don’t rely on apps day in and day out. SEO can help your apps become more visible in searches, which increases download rate and use. Mobile apps are a great way to strengthen your SEO and improve your brand.7. Content Marketing Relies on SEO
Many companies are paying for content marketing without fully understanding its connection to SEO. However, content marketing relies on SEO. While you can write hundreds of blogs and simply post them to your website, if they’re not optimized, they’re not going to have the best impact on your overall company ranking and you’ll be wasting money. Instead, opt for an SEO strategy that integrates content marketing to get the best results.8. Online Traffic is Stronger Than Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is often seen as annoying or unwelcoming to consumers and while it can give you results; they simply don’t measure up to the impact SEO has. Organic search engine results compromise 85% of all Internet clicks while sponsored and paid advertising, like pay per click (PPC), only accounts for 15% of traffic. With Internet marketing and strategic SEO practices, your business, products, and services are put in front of your targeted market and prospective customers who are actively seeking exactly what your company offers. This, in turn, provides more qualified leads and will end up improving your conversion rate tenfold.9. SEO Increases Sales and Leads
The more online traffic you’re getting, the more conversions you’ll see. Higher exposure results in higher leads, which translates to higher sales. An optimized page results in a conversion rate that’s 200% higher than a page that hasn’t used SEO beset practices, which is huge for business growth.10. SEO Works Without Interruption
Paid advertising and printed campaigns only work for a certain period of time—SEO works without interruption. Even before SEO optimization strategies start showing results, they’re working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, giving you the best results possible for your marketing efforts. If you’re looking for an SEO firm that will help you improve your online visibility and organic traffic, or are interested in learning what we can do to grow your business online, contact SEO Fuel Marketing today for a free consultation.
Why is User Interface (UI) Design Important
Millions depend on the Internet through day-to-day operations, so you’ll understand how important web design and site usability is. The popularity and ease of Internet-based-living is undeniably here to stay and if you haven’t recognized that yet, it’s time to face the facts. If you rely on the Internet for your growing your business, it’s vital you are up to speed with your online competition. The more efficiently that you use the existing technology, and the stronger your website is, the more accomplishments you will see. Businesses that master these realms acquire a huge lead over their competitors.
Consider this:
If you’ve ever landed on a website and either don’t comprehend what they’re offering, or can’t seem to navigate the pages, it’s highly likely you move on to another site or try another web page. More likely than not, this is a result of the website not having a solid User Interface Design. This cuts to the idea that the customer is always correct and makes sure that that statement is reflected in all the specifics to your site.
When all’s said and done, if you’re a business that depends on website traffic for leads, you need to make sure that you’re User Interface Design well thought out. A lot of businesses do not understand how important a user interface really is and we’re here to make sure that you do. To start the process, make sure that you understand what User Interface Design really is.
In addition to basic design changes like shapes of buttons and color arrangements, odds are people won’t stay on your site if it’s difficult or confusing to interact with.
When users visit your site, their experience should be one of your top goals. When people have a good experience, conversion rates are higher and tend to tell more people about it. Ultimately, this means more chances to boost your sales and increased opportunities to grow your customer base. When visitors have a negative experience on your website, chances of your product or company being rejected rises exponentially. This is particularly true if you rely on Internet marketing to get in touch with most of your target audience.
Simply put, User Interface Design is important because without it, you would most likely need to resort to cold calls and flyers. People make snap decisions and when they visit your website, they would rather spend 20 seconds opening a new site than meddling around on a problematic one. If your customers finds your site too complex, confusing or difficult to navigate, an otherwise phenomenal product or service can easily bomb.
People want to be able to comprehend things easily, which is why most physical products can be figured out without digging through a large manuals. Making your site’s User Interface Design comprehensible without a manual is the difference between complete success and a potentially disheartening letdown.
Basically put, User Interface Design is imperative because it can mean the difference between a make or break situation with your audience. It produces fewer problems, increases user involvement, perfects functionality and generates a strong link between your customers and your business site.
When all’s said and done, if you’re a business that depends on website traffic for leads, you need to make sure that you’re User Interface Design well thought out. A lot of businesses do not understand how important a user interface really is and we’re here to make sure that you do. To start the process, make sure that you understand what User Interface Design really is.
What is User Interface Design?
User Interface (UI) Design is the connection between users and your website. It comprises the basic design elements that need to exist in order for someone to navigate your website and make informed choices. It is the ever-evolving association between a person and the system that they are using. This encompasses the way that your website interacts with visitors, the overall design/layout and how information is presented to the user. UI brings together concepts from interaction design, visual design, and information architecture. There are many ways to look at user interface, but the fundamentals always include the communication from a product to the user and vice versa. User Interface Design is all about user manipulation, site structure and communication. This is one of the main reasons it’s so vital that you pay close attention to it. UI is the basic foundation of how your site is built out and functions when visited by your audience. Problems may follow if a UI design does not go efficiently. Common elements pertaining to UI Design include the navigational components, informational components, input controls and containers. Details are very important. Breadcrumbs, buttons, icons, toggles, tags, lists all play a large part. It’s the way that you design your website from the back-end so that your audience can have a pleasing and seamless front-end user experience navigating your site.Why is UI Design of Utmost Importance?
User Interface Design is one of the vital reasons your website will start to see an inflow in traffic. It lures people in and keeps them on the site. It’s what makes people endorse you and become devoted customers. Regardless of what somebody may say, it should not be overlooked. How big of an impact even the smallest adjustments in UI Design can have is often what takes people by surprise. For example, did you know that the shape of a button image could determine whether or not someone knows how to complete a task? People have certain predispositions based on visual details that play into how they interact with a site and designers need to take these into consideration. Design speaks to people and should always be taken seriously if you want to be effective online.
In addition to basic design changes like shapes of buttons and color arrangements, odds are people won’t stay on your site if it’s difficult or confusing to interact with.
When users visit your site, their experience should be one of your top goals. When people have a good experience, conversion rates are higher and tend to tell more people about it. Ultimately, this means more chances to boost your sales and increased opportunities to grow your customer base. When visitors have a negative experience on your website, chances of your product or company being rejected rises exponentially. This is particularly true if you rely on Internet marketing to get in touch with most of your target audience.
Simply put, User Interface Design is important because without it, you would most likely need to resort to cold calls and flyers. People make snap decisions and when they visit your website, they would rather spend 20 seconds opening a new site than meddling around on a problematic one. If your customers finds your site too complex, confusing or difficult to navigate, an otherwise phenomenal product or service can easily bomb.
People want to be able to comprehend things easily, which is why most physical products can be figured out without digging through a large manuals. Making your site’s User Interface Design comprehensible without a manual is the difference between complete success and a potentially disheartening letdown.
Basically put, User Interface Design is imperative because it can mean the difference between a make or break situation with your audience. It produces fewer problems, increases user involvement, perfects functionality and generates a strong link between your customers and your business site.
Principles of User Interface Design
We now know that User Interface Design is important to your website, but how do we ensure we optimize our site? In general, it’s great to have a professional by your side. They bring a design team for examination and can demonstrate what you are doing right and what you’re wrong. However, there are a few basics that should never be disregarded.Simple Navigation Menus
We can’t stress enough the navigation menu. Don’t make things unbearable to navigate to. Every part of your landing page should be clearly labeled on the navigation menu and positioned strategically for your users. Do not change things up and make your menu hard to locate. It will only push people away.Simple vs. Fancy Design
While fancy layouts and multiple interface patterns may be enticing, it can actually makes it more problematic for users. When you stick to simple design your target audience can see what products or services you offer more clearly and without confusion. When you have complicated designs, it may look great, but it’s likely to muddy your underlying purpose. Sticking to ease of use is a great way to increase your User Interface Design.Usability Testing
Usability testing is a process that involves watching a group of users interacting with your website or application in order to see what is working and what is not working. Implementing this process will allow you to make small tweaks that often go unnoticed in having any impact at all. This process made one business understand the shape of their clickable buttons made a difference or not when a user clicked on it.Be Steady
Across your site, verify that you are utilizing common elements. This will allow people to recognize patterns and learn how your website works quicker than random elements. Consistent patterns, languages and functionality will help you more than you can imagine.Effective Communication
When something goes right, or off the rails, the user should be able to tell. Verify that your site creates defaults and communicates effectively with your target audience. You can incorporate default choices, pre-filled forms and more. Think of what you would want if you visited your site and proceed from there. Furthermore, make sure that things are worded clearly and in a way that everyone can comprehend. In other words, keep it short and sweet and stick to your point.Don’t Ignore Typography, It’s Important
Just as the typography on your site is vital to your branding, it also affects usability. It requires more attention than we used to think and can illicit specific responses from people. Make sure that your designers do research, test out various typographies and optimize everything for convenience. It’s sure to make a big difference at the end of the day.In Summary
When looking at the big picture, it is easy to appreciate why User Interface Design is so important. It’s the reason a company either see success or disappointment. It is the way that your website speaks to your target audience and the way that your audience comes to understand your business. It is the one characteristic of your functionality that you should never hold back on on. If you’re just starting out or thinking your website could use an enhancement in User Interface Design, reach out to us for assistance.
On Page SEO versus Off Page SEO
What’s the Difference Between On Page and Off Page SEO
One of the best ways to increase your business’ online visibility is through using search engine optimization (SEO) best practices. SEO is the process used to improve your website’s ranking on search engine results pages. Even if you’ve never heard of SEO, you’re probably already implementing a few promising strategies. To get the most out of your efforts and increase your ranking, it’s important to implement both On Page SEO and Off Page SEO (also referred to as offsite or off-site SEO). These strategies involve different tactics, but both of them aim to increase your website’s ranking, gain more traffic, and lead to more conversions. In this article, we’ll explore the main differences between On Page SEO and Off Page SEO and how to start using both to your advantage.
What is On Page SEO?
On Page SEO includes all of the search engine optimizations techniques that you can do yourself, to your own website. They’re the things you have control over—things you can consciously decide to do, or not to do. Generally speaking, On Page SEO covers everything that your website, and each individual webpage, is about—it’s descriptive and relevant. It let’s people know what you do, what you’re an expert in, and what you have to say about your niche. On Page SEO is used to optimize your website and each of its moving parts to positively affect your search engine rankings. On Page SEO also helps recognize competitive keywords your website can rank for. To better understand all of the moving parts of On Page SEO, let’s look at some of the most widely used tactics.Website Page Content
Any content that you add to your website needs to be relevant, useful, and accurate for your readers. If it’s not high quality content, it’s not going to help your SEO efforts. Make sure things are easy to digest and add value to your reader’s experience.Keywords
When creating new content, try to do so with keyword optimization in mind. It’s not as heavily weighed as it used to be, but it’s still important. Use a combination of short-tail and long-tail keywords that rank competitively and never over-stuff your pages.Title Tags
Title tags are the things that tell search engines what your web pages title is. It’s prominently displayed on all search engine results pages when your website comes up. Title tags are the hyperlinks you click on to visit a web page after making a search. Include your target keywords and try to create search engine friendly title tags.Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions are the small paragraph that appears underneath your title tag on a given search query. It’s the short description that let’s people know exactly what the content of the corresponding page will be. Use relevant keywords and try to be as straightforward as possible with your meta descriptions.
Internal Linking
Another good way to boost On Page SEO is to internally link your web pages together. This is not only useful to visitors; it boosts overall user experience. User experience plays a huge role in your website’s ranking and Google and other search engines will notice anything you do to improve it.Page Performance
How fast your page loads makes a huge difference in search engine rankings. More often than not, if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load, people will leave—and Google will take notice. Run tests to ensure that everything is as fast as possible and if you can’t seem to beat 3 seconds, consider switching your hosting platform or optimizing your page’s speed using tried and true tactics.What is Off Page SEO?
Off Page SEO is a little more complicated. It encompasses everything that happens to your website rather than on it—things that happen off of your actual site. When your company, website, or brand is shown on other websites, that’s Off Page SEO. When an influencer decides to link back to a helpful article you wrote, that’s Off Page SEO. It’s not as clear cut as On Page SEO, but it revolves around making your website more authoritative. To clarify, let’s look at a few examples of popular Off Page SEO tactics.Backlinks
The most important Off Page SEO tactic is building strong backlinks. The more you have, the better your site will rank. There are a lot of paid backlink building approaches, but those are risky and can seriously damage your ranking. Instead, focus on organic approaches and continue to create high quality content that deserves to be shared. Try guest blogging on sites within your niche, reaching out to influencers, using other page’s broken links for your benefit, and getting involved in business directories the right way.Domain Authority
Search engines assign a number for your domain authority, which basically describes how strong your website is. The more authority you have, the better you rank. This is measured by the length of time your website has been up and running, how many backlinks you have, and how many technical problems your site runs into. Try to keep your authority as high as possible by using a stable domain name, generating good content, and making sure your page is running without any problems.Social Promotion
Another way you can work on your Off Page SEO is through social media. Sharing your website or web page on your social media profiles can lead to more website visits, more shares, and eventually more backlinks. It’s also a great way to connect with your audience and strengthen your brand.How to Maximize Your SEO Strategies
We get a lot of questions asking which type of SEO is better, On Page or Off Page. It’s a difficult question because the simple answer is always that it depends. It depends on your website status, your audience, your expertise, and even your niche. Both On Page SEO and Off Page SEO have extremely important factors and both play a huge role in the algorithm Google uses to rank a website.
Instead of focusing your energy on how to cut corners and get the best results with the least effort, you should prioritize both on your website. This way, you will work on bettering your website as a whole and simultaneously reap the benefits by rising in the rankings.
With that being said, there are a few instances when you should put more of an emphasis on one tactic over the other.
New Website Launch
If you’re new to the website game, you’ll need to build up your content before you can start to get legitimate backlinks. With no content, people aren’t ever going to link to your site. If you don’t add content that will never change. In this situation, you need to focus your efforts on building up your On Page SEO and overall content. Once you start developing content that carries value, people will take notice. Once people take notice, you’ll start to earn natural backlinks and people will be more likely to link your website if asked. Another benefit of prioritizing content and On Page SEO with a new website launch is that you have a chance to build strong keywords from the beginning. Keywords are what Google uses to connect search queries with your website and are very important when it comes to indexing your site. Choose your keywords wisely and use them strategically to get the best results. Continue developing strong content and always double-check your information for accuracy and relevancy. Publishing low quality content will have an adverse effect on your efforts, so put in the time needed to make sure it’s high quality and targeted towards your audience.Seamless Websites With Strong Content
If you’ve had your website for a while, are producing strong content, and rarely, if ever, experience performance issues, then you should focus more on Off Page SEO. Be advised, when we say strong content we mean it—you need long, unique posts that go into depth about a specific topic to rank well. When you produce content that can be found anywhere, why would someone choose your website over the others for a backlink? Chances are, they wouldn’t. Once you are producing high quality content, you can reach out to experts and share your information with them. If they like it, they’ll probably use it. If not, hopefully someone else will. The more authoritative the websites are that are giving you backlinks, the better your results will be. You can also use directories and guest posting websites, but they won’t be as strong as backlinks that are truly earned.At the end of the day, SEO is an important tactic to implement as a whole. To see the best results, you need both On Page SEO and Off Page SEO. However, SEO can be tough and determining where to focus your efforts can get overwhelming. If you need help, or want to see if your SEO efforts have been paid off, get in contact with us today. SEO Fuel Marketing is always happy to help with any or all of your digital marketing needs.
The Basic Differences Between Google and Bing
It’s very likely that you could count the number of people who’ve never heard of Google on one hand. It was the second “search engine” to be introduced to the Internet in 1998, after Yahoo was developed in 1994. Yahoo began as more of a database of websites organized through hierarchy instead of a searchable index of pages, while Google focused on providing a service for people to search pages on the Internet.
Over the past 20+ years Google has evolved to include social media sites, phones, Wi-Fi devices, email services, news aggregators, calendars and more. Google seemed to have cornered the market and has since continued to evolve to match the changing technological times.
Bing was introduced in 2009 through the merging of Windows Live Search and MSN Search. When it was released, it was announced that the search engine Bing would also move on to take over Yahoo. Since 2009, Bing has expanded, updated and evolved into what it is today. It has become a service that mirrors Google’s advancements and will continue to have an impact in the world of search engines.
So what does that mean for Internet users and business owners?
Well, if you’re like most people, you probably have a preferred search engine and are an avid enthusiast for it. Once chosen, people don’t often make the switch to another search engine, but at the end of the day, is there really a difference? That’s what we’re here to find out.
If you’re a business owner, small or large, read on. Why? While there are tons of SEO similarities between the two search engines, there are also lots of differences, which are crucial to your success. Even the basic differences between Google and Bing could lead to your website ranking on the first page of Google, but on the tenth page of Bing and that has a major impact on your business’ reach.
In this article, we’re going to delve into the functions that are unique to Google and Bing as well as mention some similarities between the two so you can improve your SEO efforts across both.
Google Differences
Here are a few of the things that help you rank well in Google’s algorithm.
Mobile Optimization
It comes as no surprise to note that Google understands Internet trends. As more and more people have turned towards making Internet searches on their mobile devices, Google has begun to prioritize mobile optimization. In fact, they are moving toward ranking first on the quality of your mobile content followed by desktop content, a.k.a., using a mobile-first index. In order to stay relevant, take the time to make sure that each page of your website is optimized for all mobile devices. If you need to hire a professional to help make the changes, it will be worth the investment.
New, Updated Content
The world changes each and every day and because of that, Google likes to see updated content. When you regularly post new and engaging content, Google rewards you and your rankings grow. This isn’t how it works on Bing. Bing prefers old content that has proven to be reputable through the ages and has generated a lot of traffic throughout the years.
Content Interpretation
One of the greatest things about Google is the fact that it uses it’s advanced technology to delve into each and every website that is being ranked. Using this technology, Google has the ability to interpret the context of a page through its heading, subheadings, titles and content rather than solely based on the use and frequency of keywords (which is what Bing does). Don’t be mistaken, keywords are still important, but Google will also reward you for strong, relevant content throughout each page.
Strong Internal Pages
Regardless of where your page is on your website, you’ll have an equal chance to rank on Google. Google encourages landing pages and internal pages to have relevant, engaging content that will answer questions for those searching and reward those that do. As long as your internal pages are following best SEO practices and are high quality in terms of content and copywriting, they will be ranked well.
Backlinks
Google uses backlinks as a huge indicator of whether or not your company is worth ranking. On Google, the more you have, the higher you’ll rank in SERPs. Seriously, this can’t be stressed enough, Google loves backlinks. While they will still help you rank in Bing, it’s not nearly as important. For both search engines, when you use backlinks, make sure that they are high quality. The more trusted the site is that backlinks your page, the more your credibility will raise. If you get low quality backlinks, both Google and Bing will take notice and your rankings can drop.
Bing Differences
Here are a few of the things that will help you rank better in Bing’s algorithm.
Strong Home Pages
The developers at Bing decided that a company’s homepage is far more important than the internal pages, especially when it comes to ranking. Bing displays results on SERPs based more on homepages than they do on internal site pages and landing pages because they adhere to the more traditional assumptions of site structure. This is opposite of Google, who ranks each and every page individually based on the SEO tactics that are implemented. In order to excel in Bing’s SERPs, make sure you have a strong, SEO optimized homepage.
Exact Keywords
Rather than the interpretive manner that fuels Google, Bing will need you to spell it out exactly. In fact, Bing relies on exact keywords in order to interpret the context of a page. The key word here is exact. Be very direct and intentional with your keywords when trying to increase your ranking on Bing.
Social Media
Social media is important in today’s business world, regardless of the SEO benefits that it brings. On Bing, social media has a huge impact on your rankings and should not be ignored. The technology that Bing uses on their SERPs allow you to see if your friends on social media have rated or recommended a company/product you’re searching for, which is something that Google has yet to successfully implement. Luckily, focusing on social media for Bing’s SEO efforts is a win-win for your company. The more likes and shares you have, the higher you’ll rank.
Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions, the short summary that appears under your link on a SERP, are important on Bing. Make sure you use exact keywords and write a strong meta description in order to rise in rankings on Bing. While this is also a factor on Google, it’s not worth nearly as much weight as it is on Bing. Be direct when writing this for Bing and clearly state the name and purpose of your company along with the relevancy of your site.
Multimedia Searches
While this isn’t necessarily a difference per se since both Bing and Google offer multimedia searches, Bing has definitely dominated the market in terms of effectiveness. Bing has an “entity understanding,” which means that high quality pictures, videos and audio clips will all improve your ranking in Bing’s SERPs. Since Google mainly uses HTML, it still primarily relies on text and their multimedia searches aren’t nearly as strong or effective as Bing’s are. In terms of other multimedia searches, Bing has also dominated the market for voice searches. In order to optimize your page for voice search, use lengthier longtail keywords that would occur in natural language across your target audience.
Some Striking Similarities
In addition to the aspects that are unique to both Google and Bing, there are a few striking similarities that should not be ignored. These similarities are a great way to combat the basic differences between Google and Bing and can help boost your SEO for both search engines.
Company Size and Influence
Regardless of the search engine you use, the bigger your brand is the higher you’ll rank. This is an automatic function of both search engines; so if you’re competing against the big boys, consider choosing your keywords strategically to boost your rankings. As you grow in company size and influence, so will your rankings.
Local Searches
Both Google and Bing are strongly geared towards local searches, since a huge percentage of people searching are trying to find things near them. Make sure you implement strong local SEO strategies and you’ll be in good standings.
Internal SEO Tools
While there are tons of external SEO tools that you can implement in order to track and access information, both search engines have their own internally. Bing uses Webmaster Tools and Google uses Google Search Console.
At the end of the day, the basic differences between Google and Bing revolve around the fact that they have different algorithms used to rank their SERPs. This poses an interesting challenge to anyone strategically working in SEO. If you optimize your site for one search engine, there’s a chance it might not even show up on page 1 in another. The best option for combating these differences is to first focus on the similarities and then make a strategic decision on boosting other SEO practices based on your target audience. Since Google is still the most used search engine, you’ll want to hit all of their unique points, but you can still incorporate some SEO practices that will boost your ranking in Bing. This can get tricky, so if you’d prefer to leave it up to the SEO professionals, we don’t blame you. That’s why we’re standing by to help. Contact us today at SEO Fuel and find out how our team of SEO experts can help you get ranked online, regardless of the search engine.
Want to Make Sure Your Content Ranks in Google? Here’s How!
A lot of people write articles for their websites without ever considering what their readers want to read. In reality, you should be putting a lot of thought into what you’re producing. If this sounds like you and you’re ready to make an impact in your market, and rate highly in search engines, it’s time for a change.
The best way to do this is through SEO copywriting.
If you want to learn how to write read-worthy content that will get your posts ranked in Google, you’ve come to the right place. Read on for a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about SEO copywriting.
SEO Copywriting: The Basics
In order to fully understand what SEO copywriting is, you need a basic understanding of each part of the whole.SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a process that businesses and influencers use in order to increase their webpage’s ranking on a given search engines results page (SERP). This includes Google, Yahoo, Bing and any site that you use to perform Internet searches. Your goal is to get to #1 and SEO helps take you there.Copywriting
Copywriting is simply writing with the intention of persuading your reader take a specific action. It can be anything that helps move your company’s agenda forward and is used in all areas of advertising.Bringing Them Both Together
So, when you combine SEO and copywriting, you’re looking at a type of high quality writing that utilizes specific, target keywords that will move you up in the results pages. Your goal is to rank higher and SEO copywriting is what accomplishes this. You’re taking the best of both worlds and meshing them together to create something that your readers want to read and search engines want to rank. So, while all of this sounds pretty self-explanatory, it’s a bit more intensive to put into action. Luckily, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide on getting your content ranked in Google, and other search engines, using SEO copywriting. Let’s get started.Research the Right Keywords
The first step is making sure that you’re utilizing keywords that will actually have an impact on your ranking. To do this, you need to do some research. Don’t skip this step; it’s what you’ll use in each of the following steps to find success. Since each and every post that you’ll write will focus on a primary keyword, getting the hang of this process is crucial. Start out by brainstorming a list of potential keywords that are informational rather than transactional (a.k.a., they’re used to teach something rather than sell something). When people make searches on Google, it’s almost always to learn new information, not make a purchase. They go to review sites or straight to Amazon for that.
Use a keyword tool like Google Adwords to perform research on the SERP of your brainstormed keywords. This will show you whether or not people are actually making searches with those keywords. If they’re using them, you’re good to go. If they’re not, find another keyword.
Don’t leave out long-tail keywords. Even if they don’t have as much competition, if people are searching for them, they’re in the cards.
Understand Your Audience
After you’ve researched some potential keywords, put yourself in the mind of your target audience. Does it sound like something you could write an entire page about that they would actually want to read it?Think about what kind of content they want to see and work with that. Focus on search intent and research the current top ranked pages on your keywords. Look for commonalities and try to understand why they’re ranking highly. Most often, you’ll find that the highest ranked pages are answering questions about a topic in your niche or explaining how to do something. They come to search engines with questions and the sooner you understand their thought process, the sooner you’ll be able to answer them. Remember, the goals of your posts are to draw in your potential customers and give them something they want to read. Thus, not only are keywords essential to this success, your content needs to be high quality and catch their attention with a solid introduction (more on this later). Using your keyword research and audience knowledge put yourself in your audience’s shoes. The goal is to think about what you’d want to read… then write about it.Study Your Competition
During your research stages, you’ll start to notice similarities in the top ranking pages. Do your research and take the time to study your competition. This will help you revise and refine your process so you can understand how to use your target keyword to get more results.Start by looking at the top 5 positions in SERP for your target keyword. Open them all and review their content. Seriously, read through the entire post and keep track of what they’re doing. Take notice of the format they use and mirror it. Most often, visitors want things that are easy to ready or skim through, which most people do. Focus on the writing aspects of SEO and see what your competition is doing right. Chances are, at the end of your research, you’ll find that their content was well formatted, easy to read, comprehensive, up to date, relevant and accurate. When you create your next post, make sure that it adheres to these 6 major content checks. You may also want to take the top 5 ranking pages and do a back-search to find out exactly what target keywords they’re utilizing. If you think you can create better content, go for it. If not, amend your keywords and try something new.Stand Apart From Your Competition
Studying your competition is important because at the end of the day, it’s what allows you to stand apart from them. In SEO copywriting, it’s nearly impossible to create and write something that is 100% unique. There are trillions of articles already published on the Internet and the likelihood of publishing something that isn’t already out there is slim to none. Instead, use SEO copywriting to stand apart from your competition.You can do this by creating a unique voice and using it. Take something and put your own spin on it, add to it, elaborate, basically do anything to make yourself different from the rest. People find inspiration from personal experiences and personality and use it in their writing.Spend Time on Your Introduction
Like we mentioned earlier, your introduction matters. It’s what draws people in and convinces them to either keep reading or try another site to get what they’re looking for. These are the words that will help people decide whether or not you can answer their question. Use them wisely. Not only do you need to make your introductions catchy, you need to unequivocally show your visitors that they’re in the right place. Communicate that you know who they are and why they’ve come to your website. Unfortunately, there’s no universal formula that you can use for each one of your introductions. Each one will be different because each of your pages will likely have a different target audience (depending on your keywords). Use the information that you’ve gathered thus far and clearly communicate search intent. If you demonstrate that you understand the reader and their problem, promise a solution in your post and then prove that you’re the right person to provide that solution, they’ll know they’re in the right place. All people want from an introduction is to know that they’re in the right place. Give them that and you’ll increase your reader base tenfold.Link Your Post
While you can go ahead and edit, polish and post your article now, you may want to spend some time getting backlinks first. The more you have, the higher your post will rank. Both internal links and backlinks are important, but since you can handle internal links yourself, we’ll focus on getting backlinks. Backlinks are when other people link to your post. Unfortunately, most of them won’t come naturally. You need to put in work to get your numbers up there, but if you deliver what you promise, it’ll get easier as you go. For starters, you need to prospect and reach out to other professionals in your field. As long as they’re not direct competitors, most will be happy to include a link to your article in exchange for a link to theirs. The more unique your post is, the more people will link to it. This step will take some time to develop but has a huge benefit in terms of SERP growth. Check out a detailed post on how to get more backlinks here.Edit and Polish Your Post
Now it’s time to edit and polish your SEO copywriting. Re-read your post numerous times and make sure that everything is accurate, up to date and relevant.Since most readers just want to know the solution to their problem, remove any unnecessary content or fluff. While we would love for everyone to read each and every word, it’s just not a reality. The more simplified your post is, the better. Use short, easy to digest, sentences and paragraphs and make sure that it is “skimmer” friendly for best results. Make sure your formatting includes lots of lists, white space, images and screenshots in order to break up your text and compliment your SEO copywriting. Use internal links and emphasize certain words for better readability. Once you’ve gone through it a couple times and feel like it’s ready to post, you’re done! The only thing left to do is upload your post to your website. Repeat this process time and time again. It will take time to perfect, a lot of time, but once you do you’ll receive more and more traffic to your site each month and appear higher in organic searches. If you’ve read through this comprehensive guide on getting your content ranked in Google and feel like you need some outside help, or just want to streamline the process, reach out to us at SEO Fuel. Our search engine optimization professionals are here to help with SEO copywriting for your website that gets you results.
Local Search Engine Optimization Tips For Small Businesses
One of the most difficult things about owning and operating a small business is making sure that you are marketing efficiently and effectively. It is probably the best, and arguable only, way of ensuring that your business will see growth. However, marketing can be a big task for a small business and a lot of start-ups just don’t have the resources to hire someone full-time. This is where search engine optimization comes in.
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a way of positively affecting your web page rankings on multiple different search engines. It is a process that works with the algorithms used by sites like Google, Bing and Yahoo in order to boost your business to the top of the results pages. Essentially, SEO helps to show search engines that your company’s website is legitimate and worthy of being on the first page of results. This is extremely beneficial for businesses, especially those in a saturated market. Websites who are ranked on the first page of search engines see more traffic, which leads to more profits. However, if you’re not an expert it can be difficult to get started. That’s why we’ve taken the time to put together a comprehensive list of SEO tips for small businesses. If you want to make your company standout from the competition, you’ve come to the right place.
#1: Master Your Keywords
The first thing you’re going to need to do is get an understanding of some of the basics in small business SEO. It’s imperative that you understand the target keywords and phrases that you’ll need to utilize in order to successfully target your audience. Think about what words or phrases people will enter into search engines in order to find products, services or content like yours. Keyword research is important because it is the first building block in order to be successful. After you’ve completed the research, you’ll want to work on optimizing your sites to include the specific keywords throughout – including content, titles, descriptions, etc. If you don’t know where to start with keyword researching check out sites like SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner and KWFinder.SEMrush
SEMrush assists in day-to-day tasks, provides in-depth keyword analysis helps improve website performance.
Google Keyword Planner
Google’s Keyword Planner helps you find new keyword ideas for your website that are relevant to your product, service, and target customers.
#2: Make Sure Your Website is Optimized
After your keyword research is completed, the next step will be to make sure that your website is optimized correctly. If you haven’t already created a domain name, you can either use your business’ name or something that represents your business or overall niche. Regardless of if you create a domain name or already had one in use, make sure that your website is properly categorized. This tells search engines what type of content you will be publishing along with what niche your website falls under.Include your business name, address and phone number (also referred to as NAP), on all of the pages of your site. You can do this at the bottom so it’s not overpowering more pressing information, but it compliments algorithms and verifies credibility. Including relevant local information also helps to improve the validity of your company. Try publishing area specific content and keywords. Connecting with other local businesses and organizations is also helpful. Link building is another way to help improve small business SEO. Link building is the process of including internal and external links to relevant and high quality content.
External links help to boost the credibility of your business because they connect your website to trusted sites. It also increases user experience, which has recently taken more weight in search engine algorithms. This is only beneficial when the external links are related to the content that you are writing about. If you continually link to websites that are unrelated, it will actually damage your search results over time. Internal links can keep users on your website for longer. The longer someone is on and the more they click around, the better it is for your SEO. Finally, you’ll want to make sure you account for all of your mobile users trying to access your site. This is something to pay special attention to because most people who browse the web use their mobile devices to do so. This is why you need to make sure that your website has a mobile-friendly version. If people aren’t able to access your content on the go, they might not return to your site on a desktop. You’d be surprised at how much this influences traffic.
#3: Have Creative Tags
A very powerful tool to include this list of local business SEO tips is making sure that you take full advantage of Title tags. A Title tag and meta description are the things that show up on the search engine results page describing your web page. It involves the title of your content (either web page or article) along with a brief description of what it is about. Usually, these are limited to about 70 characters for a title tag and 160 characters for a meta description tag. Take advantage of this space so that your target audience will click on your links more often. It helps to include target keywords in both the title and description.
#4: Create Local Business Listings
Local business listings are online entries that contain all of the relevant information of your business in a local page. They include your company’s NAP (name, address, phone number) along with any other details that may be important to your audience. You can create local business listings across all the major platforms including Yelp, Google, Bing, Foursquare, Google and even Yellow Pages. This ensures that each of these search engines has your company’s information in their databases and that you are searchable to their users. If you go to register your business and already see a listing, you can claim ownership of it. Just make sure that it is listed accurately. If your information is not listed accurately across all of the platforms then search engines may get confused about which information is true. This leads to lower rankings and a decreased chance of getting contacted. This is one of the most powerful local business SEO tips available since it helps to associate your company with your local area.
In addition to the major platforms, you can also see if there are any local specific directories that will list your business. Think about organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, newsletters, etc. and reach out to them directly. Some associations require you to be a member, but others will at list your business free of charge.
Two very important directories to register with are Google My Business (GMB) and Bing Place for Business. When you’re registered and verified through both of these, your company has the potential to rank higher and potentially receive a spot in the “top 3” that include physical locations on their maps. After you verify your business, optimize your listing with as much information and as many pictures as you can. Taking this step will bring your small business SEO to the next level.#5: Reviews are Important
Not surprisingly, the reviews you and your business receive actually make a big difference. The biggest impact you can see these from are Facebook, GMB and Yelp. When you have bad reviews, people tend to try and find a place that doesn’t. It’s as simple as that. Unfortunately, sometimes circumstances and negative attitudes combine for an unavoidable review. In these cases, take the time to reply and show your concern for your customers. Tailor to them and how you want their next experience to be the best. Remember, the customer is always right… even if they’re wrong. When you engage with your customers, on both good and bad reviews, you are more likely to attract new customers and retain your current ones.#6: Stay Engaged
In a world where most of human interaction is done online, you can’t forget about social media. It is one of the most relevant local business SEO tips around. When you have a strong social media engagement, people start talking about you and linking back to your sites. The more back links you have, the more authentic your site will be to search engines and the higher you will appear on the results pages. It all comes full circle eventually, so take some time each day to engage with your audience.
Tying it All Together
In order for small businesses to stand out from their competition, they need to pay special attention to local SEO. It increases visibility, helps tie you to your target audience and creates an online presence that generates authenticity and credibility. SEO is an art and it is constantly evolving. In order to take advantage of these benefits, start with making sure that your company has successfully mastered the items on this list. The more you practice, the better you’ll get. It may be confusing or frustrating at first, but if you continue to research strategies and develop your website, you will see results. 
Beginner’s WordPress SEO Guide: How to Set Up and Optimize Your Blog
The popularity of blogs has skyrocketed in the past few years. It seems like every person runs a blog either personally or through his or her business. Why? It’s because blogs are extremely beneficial. They have transformed into a moneymaking opportunity that most people don’t want to miss out on, especially business owners. However, there are such things as good blogs and bad blogs, both in terms of content and profitability.
One of the things that determines whether your blog is successful or not is the utilization of blog SEO (search engine optimization). SEO is a technique used in order to increase your website’s rankings on major search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and more. It includes making sure that your site has a code that can be read efficiently and found easily by search engines. This means that if you utilize the correct keywords and phrases, SEO can help you move toward the #1 suggestion on results pages. This ranking comes with a sense of authenticity and credibility and you will get more page visits, which leads to more money.
This is important in the blogging world because of how saturated the market is. If you want your blog to stand out from the crowd, you need to rank highly. In order to accomplish this all you need to do is make sure that your blog is optimized from the start.
Although there are many different platforms available to choose from, most people recommend WordPress because it is beginner SEO approved. It’s extremely user friendly and set up in a way that the generated code compliments best practices for SEO. After choosing WordPress, you can begin setting up your blog.
How to Set Up Your Blog
Since you’re starting from square one, you’re in good hands. Starting from the beginning allows you to establish a solid foundation right from the beginning. When you learn about how to optimize your blog from the start, you gain the knowledge and skill set needed in order to successfully drive traffic to your website. This is much easier than publishing your blog then going back years later and weeding through all of the content in order to optimize it. Plus, you learn the ins-and-outs of all things revolving around beginner SEO.
In order to start setting your foundation, there are a few basic administrative steps that need to be taken. Specifically, you need to determine your blog’s niche and domain name. Choosing each of these gives you a starting point for future content. It also sets the stage for keyword research. If you already have a business, your niche and domain name can be pulled from there.
The next step to set up your blog and work towards the mastery of beginner WordPress SEO is making sure that you choose the right web host. This is important because depending on your host you could either have a very slow loading time or a very fast loading time. Sites with faster loading times get ranked higher due to providing an increase in user experience. Some good hosting sites include SiteGround, Bluehost and Liquid Web. SiteGround is great for beginners but Liquid Web is a full-service hosting company that has tons of additional benefits.
When selecting your hosting platform, check to see if they offer SSL. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and makes sure that all of your communication for both you and your audience is done through a secure network. It has gained more importance over the years since hacking has become increasingly prevalent. In fact, due to security concerns, search engines have begun implementing SSL as a ranking factor.
The sooner you establish SSL when setting up your website, the easier it will be. This is why it’s beneficial to find a hosting platform that offers it for free as they can help you set it up from the beginning as well as offer support if you need it in the future. If your host does not offer it, you can get it for free from Let’s Encrypt.
Finally, you’ll want to install your blog. WordPress makes this process extremely easy and offers tons of free templates for you to choose from. These templates provide a great starting point for your beginner WordPress SEO. Your hosting platform should also have the option of “one-click installation” for WordPress sites.
Creating Content
Once all of the logistics are set up, start brainstorming and developing content that you’ll want to release to your target audience. Keyword research will help you understand which words or phrases people will be searching for in your niche. Use these keywords and phrases in order to optimize your articles and help boost ratings. Good keyword research is the key to boosting search results. A good tool to use in order to explore and analyze what content to write about is BuzzSumo.
Make sure that you include your target keywords or phrases but don’t overdo it. When you try to stuff too many keywords into an article or on webpage, search engines will notice and it will do more harm than good. Make your content read naturally and try to only focus on one or two keywords for each page of content or article. Having content ready to publish at regular intervals is important when you first launch your blog, so don’t skip this step. It is also helpful as a sort of “tester” when optimizing your blog.
How to Optimize Your Blog
Once you’ve set up the basics of your website, you can begin the optimization process. Some parts are more difficult than others, but if you take it slow you can master beginner WordPress SEO.
- Check Visibility
Your site should be visible when you install everything, but sometimes the invisibility box gets checked on accident. Head over to Settings > Reading and make sure that the ‘Search Engine Visibility’ is on. If it’s not, search engines won’t even know to look for you.
- URL Optimization
A detail that is often overlooked that increases the successfulness of beginner SEO strategies is permalinks. These are the URLs that direct traffic to your blog and other areas of your site. Rather than use messy links that include random numbers and symbols, can clean them up from the back-end. Physically changing your permalinks is pretty easy, all you need to do is go to Settings > Permalinks. You can change them to be anything you want, but try and choose something that will help your optimization – think keywords! This will be an ongoing process once you begin publishing content, so don’t forget to re-visit this page frequently.
- SEO Plugins
There are thousands, if not millions, of different plugins available on WordPress but one of the most important ones is the SEO plugin. Unfortunately, due to the immense amount of options, it can be difficult to determine which one is the best for you. We recommend using Yoast SEO.
Once you install and activate this, you are brought to your Yoast menu on WordPress, which can be found on your administration dashboard. You have the option of either using the configuration wizard or manually walking through each tab. We recommend walking through the tabs because this is how you will achieve maximum optimization. Don’t forget to save after you edit each tab.
In the “Features” tab, make sure that you enable advanced settings. This turns on things like XML Sitemaps, Social, Titles and Meta and more – which allows you to optimize your site even further. Go on to “Info” tab and fill out all of the corresponding data. If you already have a verified site then you can skip “Webmaster Tools” and head over to “Security” to disable the advanced part of the Yoast SEO Meta box.
If you haven’t verified your site then you’ll need to do that. Verifying your site is important because it connects your site to different search engines. In order to do this, you will be working in the “Webmaster Tools’ tab. However, you need to first make sure that you have accounts set up with Bing, Google Search Console and Yandex. Once you have these accounts set up, you can choose the ‘Meta Tag Verification Option’ and an html will be generated. You’ll need to copy and paste that html into the respective lines under the “Webmaster Tools” tab and then, in Bing, Google Search Console or Yandex, click “Verify.” This will verify your blogs and make them searchable.
Google Search Console is a great tool because it allows you to see what people are searching for that leads them to your website. This lets you see what works and what doesn’t, so you can make changes when necessary.
One great thing about Yoast SEO is that their default templates are great, especially for automatically generated Meta data (in the “Titles & Metas” tab). You can also edit these directly on each new Post or Page that you create. Usually, the plugin gives suggestions but you can always edit them if you need to.
- Submitting to Search Engines
For beginner SEO enthusiasts, it’s best to stick with the default settings in things such as XML Sitemaps. You can come back and work with it once you get a little more advanced. So all you really need to do with this is submit your Sitemap to Google.
- Social Media Engagement
Finally, link all of your social media accounts to the Social – Yoast SEO accounts tab. This will help cross-reference all of your sites and increase the credibility of your blog.
Hope you enjoyed our Beginner WordPress blog SEO guide. While you can master beginner SEO, it might not be what you want to spend your time on. If you’d prefer to have someone else set up and optimize your blog for SEO, contact us today. Our SEO consultants can help you work towards the website of your dreams.
SEO: Still the Best Marketing Strategy for Local Businesses
There are some people that believe that SEO is starting to become a thing of the past. We’re here to tell you that those people are wrong. SEO is still extremely viable and is considered one of the top marketing strategies for local business. It is a straightforward tactic that has the ability to help increase the reach of local businesses as well as bring in many new customers. If you’re unconvinced, here are a few reasons why SEO still trumps other marketing strategies.
It Gets The Job Done
For anyone that’s used SEO, they know that it actually works. In fact, in a MarketDive study, they found that 82% of users said that SEO not only works, but it is becoming even more effective. SEO helps improve your company’s rankings, which can lead to more business. Search Engines are not going anywhere anytime soon, so SEO is still crucial to put you at the top of your competition.It’s Cost Effective
With the development of outbound marketing methods like cold calling, businesses are beginning to migrate away from SEO tactics. This is because outbound techniques feel more direct and come with a sense of simplicity. Unfortunately, it has been shown that these tactics are actually more costly in the long run. Studies show that inbound leads, like those from SEO strategies, cost 61% less than outbound marketing methods.
Infographic: 14 Reasons Why SEO is Still the Best Marketing Strategy
1. It Improves Credibility
SEO works to improve your company’s ranking on popular search engines while simultaneously building credibility. For instance, when you search for a local keyword and one company appears on Google but another doesn’t, it is more likely that you will choose the one that appeared on Google. This is because when a company shows up on the first page of Google, people instantly feel confident and a sense of trust in that company and their abilities2. It Keeps Your Ranking Safe
Google algorithms change so frequently, that if you don’t keep up with the changes then your rankings will suffer. That’s why you need an SEO expert who is aware of the current best practices in order to keep your ranking safe. Investing in SEO will make sure that you stay at the top of the search results while your competition falls behind.3. It is Relevant for Mobile Searching
With mobile searching becoming more and more prevalent in today’s technological world, it is important to make sure that your company is findable. In fact, according to a Reuters’ study, 75% of Internet users will be mobile in 2017 – a 71% increase from 2016. This is why it’s crucial to make sure that your company’s website and blogs are optimized for mobile use in order to improve SEO. This will give those companies who utilize SEO a huge lead against the competition.4. It is Also a Market Research Tool
SEO focuses on compiling keyword research in order to improve search result rankings as well as analyze data from different agencies. This means that the work done for SEO can double as a market research tool. It allows you to have a better understanding of exactly what your audience is looking for and gives you better insight as to how to deliver it. It also doubles as a way to see the problems and the solutions that are being considered.5. It Provides a Huge ROI
SEO can be a slow process. It might take a few months for the results to start coming in, but once they do you will see a massive return on your investment. In fact, SEO provides one of the best and most consistent returns of all of the marketing methods available to choose from. When Brafton.com performed a study, they found that over 70% of small businesses that had invested in SEO as their marketing method increased their profits.6. It is Low Maintenance
While the first year of SEO may contain quite a bit of work, the maintenance after that is extremely low. That’s because, once you have built the backbone of SEO for your company, it will continue to serve as a foundation for all of your online marketing in the years that follow. You just need to make sure that you follow the content marketing strategy and release content that will be able to stand against the competition. That’s all it takes to maintain a first page ranking for your keywords.7. It’s Easy to Outsource
Thanks to search engine optimization, there are so many great companies that are successful in providing high quality SEO. All you need to do is search for them! Make sure you find one that you feel comfortable working with and has a good track record. SEO Fuel Marketing is a great place to fuel your mission.8. It Generates Consistent Leads
If you’ve ever used a search engine, you know how rare it is to actually move past the first page and look at the results on the second. In fact, over 75% of people never leave the first page and the #1 result generates almost 33% of all clicks. This means that if you can get your SEO rankings up to the first result, you will generate more leads than all of your competition. If you stay at the top, your leads will continue to roll in and you may even experience a need to grow your company.9. It’s Easy to Convert Leads
Once you get an influx of leads from your search result ranking, SEO makes it easy to convert those leads into profits. SEO works to target people who are actually looking for your specific products or services. This means that once they find you it is much more likely that they will follow through with using your services. It might be surprising, but SEO leads have close to a 15% close rate while outbound leads only tend to have an average of 1.7%. That’s a huge difference!10. It Improves User Experience
Google has started to place a premium on their user experience, which means that if you don’t have strong SEO you may fall behind. Having strong SEO will help to improve UXO and vice versa, which means that people will prefer to visit your company’s site over others with poor user interface.11. It Gives you Competitive Advantage
Utilizing SEO will help give you a leg up on the competition. Since it can be a fierce race out there to be at the top of your market, you want to make sure you have all of the advantages that you can get. This means that when your website appears on the first page of Google, you will instantly be ahead of your competition. Make sure that it happens by choosing SEO tactics over other marketing strategies.12. It’s Here to Stay
SEO has been around for quite some time and will continue to be around for years to come. All of the top executives at Google have come to the same conclusion, so make sure to get started sooner rather than later. While it’s your job to run your business, it’s our job to make sure your business gets the visibility it needs to succeed. With our SEO experts, we can help you achieve the results you want. Contact us today at SEO Fuel Marketing for all of your SEO needs.
Best SEO Tips for Beginners
When searching for anything on Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. the chance of someone clicking “next page” for more results is slim to none. Every avid Internet user knows that the links closer to the top of the first page are the ones people consistently open. Usually they’ll go down the list on the first page until finding what they need. I personally even know people who will enter an entire new search keyword before clicking next page!
That’s where SEO (search engine optimization) comes in. SEO is essentially exactly as the name sounds, it’s a process carried out in order to positively affect the ranking of a webpage on any given search engine. Since sites like Google and Bing follow intense algorithms, SEO masters need to follow certain tips in order to convince search engines that their website is worthy of the infamous first page rankings, or even the number 1 result.
For anyone who wants to create an online presence, and a successful one at that, SEO is of utmost importance. The hardest part is always starting, so here is a list of the best SEO tips for beginners and small businesses.
SEO Tip #1: Content Matters
In the past, writers could mill out articles stuffed with keywords that really didn’t make much sense. The algorithms weren’t so advanced that surprisingly, this worked. However, in order to protect their reputation, sites like Google and Bing realized they needed to seed out the junk. Now with complex formulas that comb through every article, the content truly does matter and search engines are harshly objective.
New and creative content with a reasonable keyword density is what you want to aim for. Obviously, this content needs to be completely original and it should make the reader actually want to get to the end. The reoccurring theme through this post might as well be: write a post for the reader, not for the search engines. 
While you do want to place a keyword into the webpage a few times, try to mainly focus on writing about it rather than merely stuffing it into sentences awkwardly. The same advice goes into the length of the post. Don’t worry too much about it, just make sure to stick to your topic and say everything you need/want to.
Surprise! Your English skills actually do matter as well. Grammar and spelling are huge on assessing the validity of a site, so please… just proofread it a few times. It will save you a ton of hassle in the long run.
High quality content is arguably one of the best SEO tips out there.
SEO Tip #2: Put Thought Into Your Post/Page Titles
This notion has never changed; writers always want a title to catch a reader’s attention. If it does the chances are that people are going to click on it more, which leads to higher-ranking results. Search engines also favor descriptive titles as they help to support their results page. When writing a title, keep in mind that it needs to be brief and to the point. If it’s too long it might trail off on the search results page leaving people (and search engines) in wonder regarding what the post is truly about. Make sure it fits entirely on the results page and accurately explains the content of what’s inside.
SEO Tip #3: Optimize Your Formatting
In order to make sure that your webpage is completely optimized for SEO, you need to pay attention to formatting. You can use HTML formatting to help draw the user’s attention to certain parts of your post. Utilize underlines, bolding, italics, and most importantly H1 and H2 tags.
An H1 tag is of utmost importance because it tells the search engines, and the reader, exactly what your page is about. Make sure to only have a single H1 tag though, because if you have more than one you could confuse everyone. Use H2 tags as well as short paragraphs mixed with basic formatting to make your page easy to read and even easier to follow.
SEO Tip #4: Consider Your Links
One of the best SEO tips involves the importance of links. SEO is about increasing the number of people who visit your site’s links. In order for this to be easily found, easily shared, and easily remembered make sure that your permanent website link is clean and concise. You could use a keyword, but make sure you completely avoid “overstuffing” them into your link. The most important aspect is that it’s clean and straight to the point. Instead of using random numbers, underscores, or other characters (www.google.com/h?7!jlia_f92?) use words separated by hyphens (www.google.com/contact-us).
Using internal links is also a great SEO tip for beginners. These links are inserted into your web page and tagged with a keyword that would direct a user to another page on your website. This will encourage readers to spend more time on your page and explore everything you have to offer. Connect them with related blog posts or FAQ pages, the more times they visit one of your links the better.
You could also connect readers with related external posts using hyperlinked keywords. When doing this just ensure that the related posts are actually useful rather than just stuffed into your page.
Always remember to focus on the user, not the search engines. I recommend not exceeding 4-5 links in a post depending on the length and make sure that none of these links are broken. This can be a huge deterrent for both engines and users.
SEO Tip #5: Tags are Technical, but Important
Technicalities are important with SEO and you will need to learn the lingo. One of the best SEO tips for beginners is to study the vocabulary as well as basic HTML. Meta tags are among that group and are basically just a tag written in code that helps to define the content. It tells the code what to display for the description of the page. This gives the readers and search engines a solid summary of what your post is about. It is often displayed on search result pages underneath the title, so you want to keep it on the smaller end in order for it to be fully viewable. Use this to try to convince the reader that your link is worth clicking on.
As a note, avoid meta keywords because they have become outdated and may actually do more harm than good.
An image alt tag is also helpful to increase traffic by describing your images to search engines. Use descriptive tags (seo-computer.jpg) rather than ambiguous letters/numbers (image1.jpg) to help out the engines. Watch your image size and quality though because, as we will find out, speed matters.
SEO Tip #6: Faster is Better
Every Internet user knows that faster is always better. If your page’s speed is too low, chances are people might leave before any content even loads. Even search engines take this into consideration. Keep an eye on your image size and don’t go too crazy with added plug-ins. Make sure to test your site and if necessary, get recommendations from free services offered online. A great resource is Google Page Speed Service.
SEO Tip #7: Don’t Discriminate Devices 
Almost half of website’s visited are on mobile devices so you need to make sure that your web page is accessible across an array of technology. Think Android, iPhone, iPad, desktops, Kindle Fire, etc. Consider turning your site into an app or make sure that content display changes according to screen size and device. This will allow more traffic on your site thus increasing your ranking.
Wrapping it up
While this isn’t a comprehensive list, it’s a great place for SEO beginners and small businesses who are hands on with their website to start. SEO is always changing and evolving, so it’s extremely important to stay up to date. Research and reading are your new best friends. Learn as much as you can and stay ahead of the competition. As you move along with these tips you can always take it to the next level. Research some off-page SEO strategies and always be persistent. As with everything, learning SEO takes time but if you continue to work at it you will be successful and see results. Just remember, never build a website solely for a search engine. Always put the reader first and the results will follow.
Search Engine Optimization Tips for Newbies
SEO or search engine optimization knowledge is critical for the person starting out in e-commerce. Whether you intend to blog, run an online store or do anything else successfully online, you need to find out how to get noticed by search engines to ensure that people can find you. Understanding search engine optimization is critical for anyone who wants to succeed in online enterprise.
An important aspect of search engine optimization is the fact that you need to invest time and effort into your website regularly in order get traffic and keep traffic continuously increasing. If you allow your website to sit and collect dust it won’t do much for you. Here are our SEO tips for newbies.
SEO Tip # 1:
Our first SEO tip for beginners is that there isn’t a magical SEO formula; at least none that’s evergreen so it’s important to stay current on Search Engine Optimization news. Dig deep to find information and read everything you can. You’ll find conflicting information at times but knowledge is power so absorb as much SEO news as you can.
SEO Tip # 2:
Create an easy to follow design with a standard homepage, easily viewable links and a site index. This way, people and online search engine like Google can find their way around easily and so can people.
SEO Tip # 3:
Determine what your target keywords are. There are some great SEO tools out there that can help you both for free or for a small fee. Often it’s fairly easy to figure this out on your own or you can use tools like Linkio to make it easier.
Businesses should use important product or services keywords to describe their company for local SEO ranking.
Ask yourself:
What are the top three to five words or phrases you would use if you were use to search for the product or topic you are selling? Make sure that those words are on each page of your website, especially in titles, headings and at the beginning, middle and end of each page. It’s a smart idea to use variations as well to give your site further credibility and increase the Long Tail.
SEO Tip # 4:
SEO Fact: Content is king. Always will be. Don’t assume that more is better in terms of keywords. Do not fall victim to the temptation to simply keyword stuff your site otherwise two things will happen. First, you’ll get banned by search engines and even worse, you’ll be ignored by humans who arrive on your page. Both types of visitors can see through vain SEO attempts to trick you to get onto their site.
Instead, you need to target the fine line between having enough keyword relevancy to make it impossible for the search engines to ignore you but not as much that your human visitors find your content to be poor quality. Hire a professional SEO article writer if you need to so as to come across as professional. Keep fresh content on your pages and change your content regularly. You don’t have to waste what you’ve put effort and money into, instead move your old content into archives so it continues to work for you simultaneously.
Use social media like Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest to build brand exposure for you business. It’s an easy way for SEO beginners to acquire backlinks which help in organic search rankings
SEO Tip # 5:
Web 2.0 is about social networking. Social networking, social book marking, forum posting and link exchanges can be invaluable if you can get high ranking websites in your niche to exchange links with you, this can help. If you are blogging, comment on other blogs in your niche to get a link back to your site and generate interest from bloggers that frequent other sites in your niche. If you use tools like Technorati, Digg, StumbleUpon and other social book marking tools on your pages with appropriate tagging, you can bring relevant traffic fairly quickly and it’s viral so others will do the same. Social networking activities are also indexed by search engines.
SEO Tips for Beginners Summarized
There are basic to advanced SEO techniques and website optimization tips that you can use to get noticed with big three search engines. You should always keep SEO in the on your mind, and always follow best practices. Skipping the basics of search engine optimization will only leave your website’s foundation disarray and prevent you from fully maximizing revenue opportunities. Your results will depend a lot on how narrow your niche is but there are some basic things you can do to be search engine friendly from the start. It’s never too late to optimize your site though, so don’t lose heart if you didn’t follow this advice on your website from the get go. This is not an exhaustive list, but it is a great place to start for newbies to learn about basic SEO techniques, ideas and concepts.