SEO Tasks to Kick-Start Ranking Improvement In 2018

by on January 10, 2018

New Year has begun and you may be working with dedication to earn something more valuable in the rest of the year. Well, the start can be turned into an inspiration which can turn along to motivate you throughout the year. Same is the case with SEO. If you work on SEO and you really want to make things happen your favor, you can start doing right things to make sure that rest of the year brings your work in spotlight. There are a few SEO tasks which you can do to push your website towards higher ranks.

Improve page speed

While other ranking factors are still there to be taken care of, there is one big addition which specifically focuses mobile users. It’s the page speed. According to a study, page result has been one of the main factors in turning visitors into customers.

The main hurdle in this scenario is that people don’t actually realize that their websites have been performing poorly because of page speed. And then they ask reasons for the bad performance of their websites. In that case, it becomes essential to examine websites on speed testing platforms. There are several web and desktop tools available to check the website speed.

Having that said, it’s important that you invest in high quality web hosting. Furthermore, you can merge CSS and JavaScript files in order to reduce HTTP calls. Another reason for the poor speed of website has been found as slow loading of the images. Thus, you need to make sure that the images you are using are accurately scaled and compressed.

Create a personal brand

You may think about cold link outreach in order to get some valuable connection with the well-performing brands. Everyone does it in order to establish better business connection. However, this very method is quite challenging. This process can literally be regarded as a method to ask from someone who doesn’t know you at all. It’s the wrong and, sometimes, quite dangerous approach. You need to have good connection with a brand before you send a request for the placement of your link.

Here you can develop your own personal brand. With this brand, you will not have to ask someone for the placement of your links. Instead, people will come and ask for their links to be placed in your site. If you look at this process, it could actually be an opportunity for you to identify legitimate practitioners and look to form a valuable partnership based on mutual interest.

Incorporate video

If you want to market something, text, and images alone cannot drive the traffic you could consider beneficial. Therefore, incorporating video can be your best bet.  The video is a visual illustration which can deliver right message to the audience, asking them to take an action.

Making the Transition to Expanded Text Ads

by on July 30, 2017

Google’s transition towards larger text ads is something that anyone using their advertising platform has already known about for quite a while. Expanded text ads went live in a year ago. While advertisers could still run the standard text ads, changes made by the search engine giant in February 2017 make it impossible to create new ones or edit your “old style” ads in any way. You can’t even update the landing page URL anymore. Your only options are to pause your ads and unpause them.

If you want to make any changes, no matter how small, you will need to write completely new ads. Obviously, this has left some advertisers worried about how those newly-created ads will perform once they go live. According to information published by many search engine marketing experts, these worries aren’t completely unfounded. Some advertisers have reported better performance with expanded text ads when compared to the standard ones. On the other hand, there is no shortage of those who say their ads are now doing worse.

In any case, if you use Google AdWords, there will come a time when you need to update your existing ads or create new ones. The good news is that there are ways to navigate the transition to the expanded ads while minimizing potential problems.

Differences Between Standard and Expanded Ads

The previous ad format (25/35/35):

 

  • Headline – 25 characters
  • Description 1 – 35 characters
  • Description 2 – 35 characters

was replaced with a larger format (30/30/80) in the following layout:

 

  • Headline 1 – 30 characters
  • Headline 2 – 30 characters
  • Description – 80 characters

According to Google, the change was made to give mobile searchers more information. They reported an average rise of 20 percent in CTR during early tests conducted last year.

Why New Ads May Perform Worse for Some Advertisers

One reason for this is that the new ads are larger and thus require advertisers to completely rethink their message. For many advertisers, this means their ads aren’t merely rewritten, they’re completely new.

Bigger advertisers often have ads they consider “proven winners.” That is, ads they have tested and optimized over a period of years. It’s therefore normal that their new ads may not do as well as their previous ones right after they go live.

Expanded Ad Testing Strategy

If you’re unsure of how your new ads will perform, some prominent SEM experts reccommend creating an ad group with four ads written by using this strategy:

Ad 1 – Write a small ad using wording as close as possible to one of your standard ads with the highest CTR.

Ad 2 – Create a longer second ad with completely new messaging.

Ad 3 – Use the same description as ad 1, but swap headline 1 with headline 2.

Ad 4 – Use the same description as ad 2, but swap headline 1 with headline 2.

Should swapping headline positions not make sense for your ads, you can instead swap them for a portion of the phrase you use in your description.

With this approach, you get four ads instead of just one, increasing the chances that at least one of them will be successful. You’re also keeping some of the elements of your highest performing standard ad, which makes it more likely that your new one will get a high CTR as well. Run the ads as a test and you’ll get to see how each of them does. You can then use what you’ve learned when you create more expanded text ads.

Why you Should Adopt Agile Marketing in Your Marketing Strategy

by on April 11, 2017

Adopting impactful marketing approach which is within the budget is what every business owner wants. However, companies tend to confine themselves to conventional marketing strategies that hardly work, and scarcely bring value for money. Currently, there are countless marketing approaches, but none of them stands out like agile marketing. Have you heard of agile marketing? Well, this is the new marketing sheriff in town and is conquering where unadventurous marketing techniques fell short. What is agile marketing? Why should you espouse agile marketing in your marketing strategy?

Agile marketing is a strategy derived from agile software development. Undeniably, agile software development process is intricate and indeed requires cutting-edge know-how. Conversely, the agile process has useful values and benefits that could be applied in marketing. Noting how impactful and useful these values could be on the businesses marketing strategies, experts are now using its basics in what they call agile marketing process. Steadily, this marketing strategy is gaining popularity, and more companies are embracing it.

Clearly, agile marketing is different from traditional a marketing strategies in that it anticipates challenges and responds to change. Normally, conventional approaches focus on the establishment of detailed plans that can be time-consuming and involved. What’s more, these plans do not anticipate challenges and are typically overwhelmed during a crisis. Unlike traditional approaches, agile marketing accentuates the need for a simple short term plan; mostly because short term plans are easy to adjust and easy to adapt to change.

Agile marketing concentrates on rapid iterations rather than long-term based campaigns. Agile marketing experts describe conventional approaches as swindling. Those who use old-style methods declare victory without evidence if the approach worked or not. However, agile marketing first tests what works before its implementation. Learning what works and what does not work is the most important thing in agile marketing. By doing so, marketers’ use more money on campaigns that work and improve what will work in the future.

Conventional approaches highly relied on opinions and conventions. Bureaucracy determined which approach would be adopted. Market decisions were designed to complement the views of the highest-paid in a company. But, agile marketing emphasises on testing, and consideration of the right metrics to ensure improvement in business. What’s more, the approach prefers making many small bets over few big bets. By doing this, you invest on what is likely bring improvement and spend less on what you are not sure will work.

In Agile marketing, collaboration is imperative and individual interactions are highly encouraged. When using agile marketing, all opinions matters; it insists everyone must be on the same page before they implement a strategy. What are the benefits of agile marketing? Companies that have adopted this approach get more done and chiefly focus on right priorities and relevant things. Additionally, the company comes up with short and precise plans that proactive, adjustable and easily adapt to change. Also, agile marketing leads to improved communication and collaboration within the marketing team and even other departments within the company.

Local SEO: How to Beat the Competition in 2016

by on June 25, 2016

As SEO gets more competitive, ranking well in local search results has also become increasingly difficult. With numerous changes being made to local SEO search results, such as the switch to three listings in the local pack, it is now more important than ever to have a solid SEO plan for your business. Our experts at Indianapolis SEO have complied a short list of strategies your company can use to ensure SEO success well into the future.

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First, in order guarantee high rankings, you need to understand what the ranking factors are. Ranking factors are basically what Google looks at when deciding where your page should rank in the search results. These ranking factors are divided up into five different categories. These categories are:

  1. Overall ranking factors
  2. Local pack ranking factors
  3. Localized organic ranking factors
  4. Negative ranking factors
  5. Competitive ranking factors

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These categories all play a vital role in your SEO plan, and it is important to carefully consider each one when outlining your SEO strategies. We’ll take a quick look at some of the top factors in each category to help you secure a top ranking in your local search results.

  1. Overall Ranking Factors:

On-page signals is the most influential factor in this category. Basically, you want each page of your website to clearly communicate what products or services you are offering and in what location. If your site does not do this well, then the rest of your digital marketing efforts will be for nothing. You need to perfect the most basic concepts of good SEO before you can move on to more complex tactics.  Thus, you will have to focus on marketiNG TIps for small busineSS to make on-page of your website more appealing for search engines.

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  1. Local Pack Ranking Factors:

Local pack ranking factors determine if your business is listed in the local pack map. Since these results appear at the top of the page right under the paid ads, these factors are some of the most important in this list. Here are a few things to consider in order to ensure your company is listed in the local pack map:

  • Address in the city of search
  • Consistency in Citation
  • Correct Google Category
  1. Localized Organic Ranking Factors:

These factors include some of the more common aspects of SEO because you are dealing with organic rankings. For example, these factors include the domain authority of your website and the click-through rate from search results.

  1. Negative Ranking Factors:

Negative ranking factors can severely hurt your business’ local SEO if you are not careful to avoid them. Some common negative ranking factors are the presence of malware on your site or the incorrect business category.

  1. Competitive Ranking Factors:

The most important aspect of these factors is linked. Having solid links connected to your site will help you get ahead of your competitors.

I hope the information provided above helps you as you plan your local SEO. And, as always, you can contact the seo expert houston, should you need any further assistance.

How Will the New Google SERP Affect Your Chiropractic SEO?

by on March 18, 2016

SERPs, or Search Engine Results Pages are what come up whenever you use a search engine and type specific keywords in the search box. SERPs are made up of two things: organic results and paid results. Organic results are pages that appear because of a website’s specific algorithm. SEO companies, such as the one you use for your chiropractic SEO, specialize in optimizing web content to promote specific things to appear more often in the organic results. Paid results, in contrast to organic results, have been paid for by companies in order to be advertised. These are the ones that typically appear at the top of the SERP list, and have the ‘ad’ symbol next to it. And additionally, up until recently, were also displayed on side bars to the right of the SERP results.

SEO-slide

The new Google SERP has completely eliminated sidebar ads, and have increased the number of paid results (up to four) that will be listed at the beginning of every SERP list. You may be wondering how this will affect your chiropractic SEO, now that the organic results are going to have less room in the initial part of the screen that is viewed. Well, all that you will need to focus on is your marketing strategy. As long as this is on point, your chiropractic SEO should remain perfectly in tact.

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First things first, you must realize that the new layout actually appears a lot more natural looking without the side bar ads. Now that the only way to advertise is through the coveted paid results, this will likely drive up prices. More and more companies will be forced to pull out due to the price point, and shift gears to focus on their organic results. This will only make organic results more competitive, and increase the importance even more on your focus in this arena.

In order to compete in this new crazy Google SERP world, your SEO should focus on several things. Use data to identify what content is desirable, and provide more of it. People want to get the information they need when searching, not a bunch of excess material. In addition to this, make sure your contact is marked up with meta data and schema in order to draw in the most attention possible. Make your content as visually appealing as possible. Lastly, measure your results and make adjustments as necessary. Your chiropractic SEO can still be just as, if not more powerful than ever before with the new Google SERP by following this advice.

Tips for Choosing a VoIP Service

by on March 13, 2016

VoIP has become a huge player in the world of phone calling. Its popularity is benefited from quality of service, extraordinary features and that too in the cheaper rates as compared to PSTN services. However, you need to find the appropriate vendor if you are willing to get the VoIP service.

Here are some tips that you may find useful in your search for suitable VoIP service.

    1. The very first thing you will need to ensure is that your connection is capable to handle VoIP. The complaints about bad quality of voice in the VoIP calling are common but it is the internet connection that is found to be the real culprit most of the time. Make sure that you have a reliable and high speed internet connection.
    2. Your phone bill should explain you well about the cost you want to cut. VoIP offers different packages such as call forwarding, call waiting, conference calling, three-way calling etc. in very cheap prices. There is a mighty chance that your PSTN service provider would not be able to provide all these options with one line. And even if it does, there is going to be a hell lot of money that would need to pay to PSTN Company. However, if you do not need all these services and you only want to keep the normal phone calling option, it would be unwise to switch to VoIP.

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    1. Although most of the VoIP service providers would offer you all the services you are looking for, it would be ideal to check details of several providers and their offers. That will help you to find the package you look for in suitable price.
    2. View the contract conditions, warrantee and guarantee terms carefully. If the company isn’t offering a money back guarantee for a reasonable time period, don’t consider that service. Keep in mind that good service providers give solid guarantees. Moreover, make sure that contract isn’t binding you for a long time. It’ll be a frustration if the service is not what you have desired for but you are bound to pay every month due to tricky terms and conditions. Be aware of attractive packages which use the word ‘FREE’. These packages are often found to cause more harm than good.

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  1. Most internet consumers use internet through DSL which involves internet service over the phone line. If you have decided to switch to VoIP, you will not be able to call for termination of your phone line. A ‘metered service’ by Phone Company would help you to keep an eye on your phone usage. Surely you wouldn’t want to pay for phone calls through PSTN network if you have decided to switch to VoIP.

By considering the above mentioned tips, you can find Best VoIP Providers in the price you are willing to pay. Order for connection and enjoy digital calling experience.

iPhone Encryption Fight And Free Speech

by on February 26, 2016

Apple seems to challenge the court’s order regarding change in an iPhone’s encryption. The order was issues on Dec 16 by court which instructed Apple to cooperate with FBI in decrypting the security settings of an iPhone that was used by one of the terrorists involved in San Bernardino shootings. The order by court instructs Apple to develop a custom iOS that will be used by investigators to break the encryption. According to Apple, creating custom iOS for security setting’s decryption is a good move that may provide a breakthrough in shootings investigations but this move is certainly going to create a loophole that will put security of iPhones at stake.

The complication of this case is due to a clash between national security and mobile’s data security. According to mobile companies and Apple, it would be essential to keep the encryption out of everyone’s reach so that personal data and settings of every mobile could stay protected. On the other hand, law enforcers urge that this encryption is the major obstacle in their way to investigate the terrorists’ activities at an advanced level.

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It’s worth mentioning here that San Bernardino shooting incident is a big mishap which activates All Writs Act for government. This act authorizes government to take stern actions without taking orders from courts or law enforcement agencies.

Apple’s attorney, Theodore Boutrous, states that All Writ Act would completely nullify Apple’s right to challenge the amendment order. Application of this act in Apple’s case would certainly be the clear violation of freedom of speech.

iphone-encrypt

When PEW research center asked US citizens regarding Apple’s stance, 51% people gave a nod to the law enforcers’ stand while 38% people suggested that Apple shouldn’t compromise on its mobile security.

The hearing on this matter is going to be held on March 22. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has informed that Cupertino is going to represent Apple’s case in the court.

Furthermore, Cook has demanded congress to make a commission in which national security, personal freedom and mobile security would be discussed.

Invention of Incombustible Lithium-Ion Battery

by on January 20, 2016

After the incidents associated with the bursting of batteries in electronic devices, Stanford University researchers have now developed nonflammable lithium-ion rechargeable batteries.

According to the research team, these batteries are designed to automatically shut down upon reaching the limit where battery temperature can cause battery burst.

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This invention is the good news for people who are fond of using electronic devices that rely on rechargeable batteries. These incombustible batteries will not only ensure device’s safety but it would also be safer from injury’s point of view.

Zhenan Bao, researcher from the Stanford’s team, has explained that function of this battery is supported by sensors which immediately turn the battery off before it can swelter. It is the nanotechnology which inhibits the flow of electrons when battery’s temperature reaches the critical limit.

This research has been regarded as a breakthrough because safety issues have been placing hurdles in the production of lithium ion batteries. The inflammable batteries used to get exploded to, sometimes, burn the device completely. Nevertheless, the only reason for the lithium ion batteries to be popular among consumers is their ability to retain huge amount of energy.

According to Stanford University, lithium ion battery’s main contents are electrodes and electrolytes. When electrons start to travel across the battery’s items, they penetrate into the items, resulting in the rise of battery’s temperature. Upon reaching the temperature of 300 degree Fahrenheit, the battery catches fire.

us-airline-bans-battery-shipments

To prevent the battery from catching fire, there are amendments made in the lithium ion batteries. It mainly includes the flame-retardants which are added in battery’s electrolyte.

The researchers from MIT are said to have used a manufacturing technique that would cut the cost of lithium ion batteries by half. They also have claimed to simplify the recycling process of battery. Similarly, Stanford University’s researchers have succeeded in developing a battery that starts giving warning when it starts heating up.

According to the co-author of study, the lithium ion battery becomes dead after it overheats. It is obviously one of the main reasons which prompt the researchers to find a solution in order to enhance the batter’s safety.

Top SEO Predictions for 2016

by on January 12, 2016

Now that the year has begun, it’s time to look at predictions for the year coming about. You’ll see what will happen in 2016 based off what happens in 2015, and what it means for you in the world of SEO web marketing.

The first is we will see a change that allows nonprofit universities to offer a degree in internet marketing, including SEO classes. Several universities have offered this, and the only little technicality is what is considered major. They have announced courses in 2015, so we can see the trend occurring in 2016 as well.

2016_SEO_Predictions_-_Facebook

Then there will be Google continuing the trend of giving off instant answers to search results. However, the number of new interactive tools was a bit limited in 2015. They tried out new interfaces, but they are still working out the kinks in it.

Then there is the prediction that Google will have organic results with less than 70% CTR. For many years, it had been about 80-95% for organic ads, but now that google is becoming aggressive with the non-organic results, it might start to change it and inevitably silence the subject through its system. It’s not gloomy however, because it’s still growing and will continue to grow despite it all.

2016
Then there is the factor that the growth rates in mobile start to taper. It doesn’t mean that we’ve reached the peak, but the numbers will start to fall. Most of the time however, the use of a desktop will not change, especially since many still use them.
Then there is my prediction that twitter will start to grow again. It’s been hard for twitter recently, but I think this year will allow the company to grow. Since the new CEOs have begun, I think that they will impact the growth and we’ll see once again their stock prices improving as well
Then there is the factor that social engines will start to become popular.

For example, Nuzzle which is a great app and website that is a great replacement for many content search engines. It allows you to have all of your links shared on twitter and Facebook put together, and you can see the content. There is also ProductHunt, which is a startup in the tech world that’s like Reddit for software and apps. You can look at the different site suggestions and see what will work based on daily emails. It’s a new way to have all of your social networks together to see the popularity of it, referral traffic, and even the active users which makes it even better to use.

Amazon  market place would expand more and here there will be a trend to rank products in Amazon search results. You can expect more and more looking into Amazon SEO as well.

Finally, there is the death of normal distributions will hit the publishing and search engines, and it will do so hard. I think we’re moving away from normal distributions and it creates demand curves as well. The long-tail theory has been proven false, and it will create a significant impact in the world in the future.
These are the major predictions, all we have to see is what will come about with them in the future.

Ford Alludes to Possible Drones and Self-Driving Cars

by on January 8, 2016

On Tuesday morning, Ford recently talked about possibly having automaton coming to vehicles. Google didn’t seem to mention it, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not possible. However, Ford has recently started pushing on this, and Ford plans to triple their autonomous vehicles and have a new-generation sensor technology to help move the development forward. The company is also looking to connect with some other companies such as Amazon and DJI.

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The recent news of autonomous vehicles has been mostly speculation recently, but Ford’s Chief Technology officer is starting to look at tripling the number of Fashion Hybrid autonomous research vehicles, making Ford with the largest fleet out there. The new vehicles will have Velodyne’s new Solid State Hybrid Ultra puck, which is basically a senor that gives you information and detailed mapping with real-time 3D models of the area around your car.

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Right now, there are thirty of these cards that are being tested on roads in Arizona, California, and Michigan. With more of these out on the market, there are now new software development algorithms that can even make the vehicles even smarter. Ford’s CEO hinted as well at the press conference about this, and he also mentioned other companies that are working with them, but there is no mention of google.

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In terms of partnership, Ford is looking to possibly work mainly with Amazon, because with Alexa they could change things around immensely. Alexa is the voice assistant for Amazon Echo, and it’s looking to connect the sync 3 system with the Wi-Fi connected echo, which means you can control smart home devices from your car, and even vice-versa. With the integration, you can use the Echo to lock or unlock your car, or even start and stop your car from the comfort of your own home, and in addition it can also check the range or charge of an electric vehicle, along with fuel levels, mileage, and even the location with the street name and driving time to get home.

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On the flip side of this as well, while you’re in your car, you can use Alexa to do things at home before you get there, such as maybe turn on the front porch lights or even open the doors and the garage door. You will also have to put in smart bulbs and a smart garage door opener, but think about it this way: if you have all of this put in, you can control it in a sort of hub fashion. It also can be linked with Alexa to allow you to check the weather, add items to a list, or even change the music.

With all of these new things, it’s obvious that Ford is now more than just a car maker. Beginning this year, they have start to work on being an auto and mobility company, and with this new, interesting move, it could also possibly hint at some of the new developments other automakers will create as well this year.