In the past, snippets included only text. Walls and walls of text resulted from each and every search query. Text on the sidebars, text in the PPC ads above the search results, text in the search results – text everywhere!

And quite frankly, all that text tires out the eyes, and often doesn’t say enough about what users can expect upon entering the site.

Rich snippets changed all of that.

Why You Need Rich Snippets

Here’s what Google says about rich snippets:

If Google understands the content on your pages, we can create rich snippets – detailed information intended to help users with specific queries. For example, the snippet for a restaurant might show the average review and price range; the snippet for a recipe page might show the total preparation time, a photo, and the recipe’s review rating; and the snippet for a music album could list songs along with a link to play each song. These rich snippets help users recognize when your site is relevant to their search, and may result in more clicks to your pages.

Rather than use mere text to explain what users can expect within your site, rich snippets bring the site’s content directly into the search engine results. And sites already using rich snippets report a 20-30% increase in their click-through rate – all because their search engine results are personalized to meet their site’s content.

The Many Types of Rich Snippets

Google currently offers eight types of rich snippets, each targeting a different industry:

Reviews – A review snippet allows Google to display customer reviews, either a single product or the most recent review information. Google says, “The goal of a review rich snippet is to provide users with review information about a specific product or service, such as the star rating (1 to 5 stars) and the name of reviewer(s).” A positive review can encourage users to click into your site.

People – For sites like LinkedIn, a people rich snippet allows Google to better recognize and display your information in search results. Also, each person rich snippet can be customized to show only certain information about the individual, such as their job title, name, nickname, friends, address, or photo. Use as much information as you feel comfortable with displaying in a search result.

Products – According to Google, a products rich snippet “helps you to:

• Attract potential buyers while they are searching for items to buy on Google.
• Submit your product listings for free.
• Control your product information. You can maintain the accuracy and freshness of your product information, so your customers find the relevant, current items they’re looking for.”

The snippet does this by giving Google “detailed product information [they] can use to display rich snippets (for example, price, availability, and review ratings) right on [their] search results page.” If you sell products, you need to use products rich snippets.

Businesses and organizations – The businesses and organizations rich snippet works in conjunction with the reviews and events rich snippets, by providing Google with more information. Each organization’s rich snippet “can have a number of different properties, such as its name, address, URL, and phone number.”

Recipes – Although Recipe View is only available in the US and Japan, Google is expecting to “bring it everywhere.” The goal of a recipe rich snippet is “to provide users with additional information about a specific cooking recipe, such as the reviewer(s) star rating (1 to 5 stars), cook/prep time, and calorie information.”

Events – An events rich snippet can provide details about a single event:

…or a whole bunch of events:

Both the event itself and the information about that event must be clearly defined for Google to display it in their search results. Also, Google doesn’t allow any “promotional elements such as the price of the event, a call to purchase, or an indication of a sale or temporary discount.” An events rich snippet is solely for providing basic information about the event.

Music – A music rich snippet allows Google to place music samples or songs in your search result snippet. This allows users to see which songs are available in the site, and even click on the song to start listening right away.

Video Content – Google currently “recognizes both the Facebook Share and Yahoo! SearchMonkey RDFa markups. Using either (or both) of these formats to mark up video directly in your HTML helps Google better understand and present your video content. Make sure the markup appears in the HTML without the execution of JavaScript or Flash.”

Schema.org

To make rich text snippets easy to integrate for developers, Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo! collaborated to create schema.org. The site features structured data markup schema support by major search engines, which standardizes the web development process across the board. Rather than force web designers and developers to markup sites for each search engine, this streamlines the web creation process.

“If you’ve marked up your content for rich snippets using microformats, microdata, or RDFa, then you’re already family with the process,” writes Google. “schema.org works the same way, using the microdata markup format and a vocabulary that is shared by all the search engines and that supports a wide variety of item types and properties.”

How to Incorporate Rich Text Snippets

Although Google provides all the necessary information to integrate rich snippets into a site, the actual act of integrating them can elude some individuals. But this shouldn’t keep you from enjoying the benefits of rich snippets – especially the increase in traffic.

For this reason, we’re happy to help anyone upgrade their website with rich snippets. All you have to do is contact us.

The post How Rich Snippets Increase Search Traffic appeared first on SEO Website Design.

With Facebook recently announcing their new Graph Search function, social media continues growing into an astronomical advertising titan. Getting messages injected into an audience now only takes a click of a button. But the button you click determines which audience hears your message. After all, Facebook attracts a separate audience than Twitter or Instagram.

Rather than leave you wondering which platform works best for your social media marketing needs, we compiled a list of statistics from last year’s social media activity. Glance through the facts, look for key information relevant to your advertising strategy, and then make an educated decision.

Facebook

• A photo of Barack Obama currently holds the record for most likes, the current total sitting at 4,445,255. (Source: Facebook)
• 25% of Facebook users don’t use any privacy control. (Source: PR Daily)
• The average Facebook user has 130 friends. (Source: PR Daily)
• Links containing adult keywords are shared 90% more than any other link. (Source: PR Daily)
• Over 488 million people regularly use Facebook mobile. (Source: All Facebook)
• Approximately 23% of Facebook users check their account 5 or more times per day. (Source: Socialnomics)
• One in every five page views online occurs on Facebook. (Source: All Facebook)
• Over 300 million photos are uploaded to the site each day. (Source: Jeff Bullas)
• Around 77% of business-to-consumer companies and 43% of business-to-business companies claim to have acquired customers from Facebook. (Source: Business2Community)
• More than 80% of users prefer to connect with brands through Facebook. (Source: Business2Community)
• An average Facebook user has 130 friends and likes 80 pages. (Source: Digital Buzz Blog)

Twitter

• There are more than 465 million Twitter accounts. (Source: Jeff Bullas)
• The average Twitter user has tweeted 307 times. (Source: Diego Basch)
• Approximately 175 million tweets were sent every day in 2012. (Source: Jeff Bullas)
• Around 750 tweets per second are shared on Twitter. (Source: PR Daily)
• 1 million accounts are added to Twitter every day. (Source: Jeff Bullas)
• Barack Obama’s presidential election victory tweet holds the record for most retweeted tweet ever with over 800K retweets. (Source: Guardian)
• The average Twitter account follows or is followed by 51 people. (Source: Diego Basch)
• 32% of all Internet users are on Twitter. (Source: Marketing Land)
• 69% of follows on Twitter are suggested by friends. (Source: Web Analytics World)
• Approximately 50% of Twitter users use mobile devices to tweet. (Source: Tag.Microsoft)
• 34% of marketers claim to have generated leads using Twitter. (Source: Digital Buzz Blog)

Instagram

• There are 8,500 likes per second. (Source: Instagram)
• More than 40 million photos are uploaded to Instagram every day. (Source: Instagram)
• Around 25% of Instagram users upload more than three pictures. (Source: PR Daily)
• Approximately 23% of all Internet users have an Instagram account. (Source: Marketing Land)
• Instagram currently has 90 million monthly active users. (Source: Instagram)
• In August of 2012, Instagram had an average of 7.3 million daily active users. (Source: All Things D)
• There are approximately 1,000 comments made per second. (Source: Instagram)
• In 2012 alone, Instagram users liked 78 million photos. (Source: Digital Buzz Blog)

Pinterest

• Approximately 97% of the fans of Pinterest’s Facebook page are women. (Source: Media Bistro)
• The average user spends 16 minutes on Pinterest per visit. (Source: Media Bistro)
• About 80% of Pinterest users are women, and approximately 50% of all Pinterest users have children. (Source: Search Engine Journal)
• Over 80% of pins are repins. (Source: Media Bistro)
• The most popular age group on Pinterest is 25 to 34 year olds. (Source: Media Bistro)
• Pinterest pins with prices receive 36% more likes than those without prices. (Source: Shopify)
• Around 69% of Pinterest’s visitors found either an item they purchase or wanted to purchase, compared with 40% of Facebook users. (Source: All Facebook)
• When surveyed, 43% of people prefer Pinterest to interact with retailers or brands. (Source: All Facebook)
• 57% of Pinterest users interact with food-related content, the #1 category of content. (Source: Blog.Compete)

Google+

• The #1 occupation of Google+ users is “Student.” (Source: PR Daily)
• More than 2/3 of Google+ users are male. (Source: PR Daily)
• The Google +1 button is used more than five billion times per day. (Source: PR Daily)
• Google+ is adding 625,000 new users every day. (Source: PR Daily)
• More than 42% of Google+ users are single. (Source: PR Daily)
• Only 8% of Americans over the age of 12 have a Google+ profile page. (Source: Edison Research)
• At least 60% of Google+ users log into their account daily. (Source: Tecmark)
• Sites with a +1 button generate 3.5x more Google+ visits than sites without the button. (Source: Hubspot)

As you can see, the importance of social media in today’s business climate cannot be emphasized enough. Plus, it’s easy to get started. Simply log into any social media platform, create an account, and join the online conversation.

If you have any questions, or need our help starting a social media marketing campaign, feel free to contact us.

The post Surprising Social Media Statistics from 2012 appeared first on SEO Website Design.

Building Community with Valuable Content

But value isn’t an unattainable thing. Companies all across the world create valuable content each day, using their creations to expand and engage both new and existing audiences. So, how do they do it? How can a company set out to create valuable content in order to attract individuals? Moreover, how can a company then convert those interested individuals into customers?

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s discuss “value.”

What is Value?

Quite simply, “value” is something that helps or heightens an individual’s everyday experience. It’s something the person uses, either consistently or only once, to make their life easier, more convenient, and more enjoyable. Overtime, people come to view that something as worthwhile or significant.

For companies working in today’s Internet era, “value” often translates into a video, photo, article, or some other online creation. But it’s important to remember that all of these examples are merely containers for content, and it is the content itself that people find valuable.

However, if it’s the content people care about, the question then becomes, who actually cares about your content? And who will care so much as to find it valuable?

And that’s exactly where we find the truth behind valuable content: it’s not about what you create – it’s about who you’re creating it for. Your audience determines the value of your content. Not you. Your job is to provide them with something that they view as valuable.

Focus on Your Audience

Imagine having a conversation with someone who only talks about their life, their problems, their desires – them, them, them. No matter how hard you try to divert the topic to something else – weather, sports, work, money, anything – they turn the conversation back to focus on them.

It’d be annoying, right? Well, that’s exactly what audiences hear when companies focus on self-promotion rather than providing worthwhile content. There’s a huge difference between creating valuable content and talking about yourself, your plans, your goals, your objectives, and so forth.

Create content that keeps people engaged, as if you were in an ongoing conversation. Release content that may interest your audience, then listen to the responses and create the next piece of content based off audience response.

Engage to be Engaging

We’ve talked before about what it means to run a successful social media campaign, in which the topic of valuable content was briefly described as “giv[ing] people something worth sharing.” While true, this sentence doesn’t go far enough: creating an audience is as much about giving people something worth sharing as it is about listening to what the audience has to say.

Plus, listening shows empathy. It shows a company cares about what its audience has to say, and you’re viewing them as people, not numbers. This instills trust and respect, while also offering ideas for creating valuable content. Keep your mind open to what the audience has to say, because you never know what could spark the next big creation.

Of course, possibly more important than creating valuable content is how you provide that content to your audience. After all, even the best content means nothing if no one sees it.

Valuing Your Value

Obviously, companies want to attract individuals so as to convert them into customers. That’s basic business. However, how you go about converting customers has an impact on the valuable content that you create. For example, Mail Chimp, a leading provider of email services, offers tons of e-books on their website, all of which are absolutely free. No secret charges. No additional costs. These e-books are free for everyone to enjoy.

So, what good does this do Mail Chimp? First, these e-books prove to customers that Mail Chimp is an authority in the industry, because they know so much about email marketing that they wrote numerous books on the topic. Second, offering these e-books for free shows customers that Mail Chimp actually cares. The company isn’t in it just to make money. They genuinely want to help people.

And since the books are actually informative, that’s exactly what they’re doing: helping people. What did we say earlier that the definition of “value” was? (Hint: “Quite simply, ‘value’ is something that helps or heightens an individual’s everyday experience.”) You better believe that’s what Mail Chimp’s e-books do, and you better also believe that people view Mail Chimp’s e-books as valuable resources.

Providing audiences with informative and free resources is an effective way of leveraging valuable content to attract dedicated customers.

From Content to Customer

So, how exactly does valuable content turn into an increase in customers? Simple: people share valuable content. They see it as so worthwhile that more people need to know it exists. This act of sharing introduces your company to newer audience members that may have never been exposed to your services, thus making an impression on the individual. The more impressions you make, the more opportunities of selling your company to customers.

And since their first impression of your company comes from valuable content, they’re already skewed toward viewing your company in a positive light. By doing this, you not only introduce valuable content into an established audience, you also utilize that established audience to bridge social connections into other established audiences.

As long as the content you create provides audiences with worthwhile information or helpful services, your company will see an increase in those drawn to your company. Moreover, you’ll create a community based around your products or services.

The Community Conclusion

Building a community requires engaging individuals on a level other than sales or advertising. You must provide people with a reason to gather. Furthermore, you must provide a deeper reason for people to continue gathering around your company.

To put it simply, you must be creative, consistent, and helpful, providing people with an experience that contributes to their everyday routine.

Is this easy?

No, of course not. If it was, everyone would have a huge community.

But it’s also not impossible. And when you do create a community that relies on your content, the results are unlike anything your company has ever experienced.

The post How to Use Valuable Content to Create a Community appeared first on SEO Website Design.

What is Orderbound?

Short answer: It’s an automated web-based work order tracking software now helping numerous companies across the country.

Long answer: It’s the result of our efforts to use custom software as a solution for a problem affecting many of our clients: mismanaged work order tracking. Basically, some of our clients were having trouble transferring their online business into the offline world. They would receive orders and then misplace them, or have more employees than necessary because they could not properly manage all incoming and outgoing orders. Orderbound, quite simply, negated all of these problems.

With the help of Orderbound, companies reduced their overhead and employee costs by ensuring workflow productivity ran at maximum efficiency. In addition, the companies exceeded their previous turnaround times for all customer orders, meaning they increased their financial potential.

The point being, Orderbound, software designed by us, is now the go-to tool for companies looking to address specific problems within their corporate framework, and we’re always looking for new companies to build custom software for, to help alleviate any issues holding back their potential.

How can custom software development increase workflow production?

Short Answer: Software automates workflow productivity while also reducing changes of human error.

Long Answer: Custom software development targets an exact problem. It introduces an electronic element into the company to not only eliminate the problem but also enhance all other facets of the company. Manual labor, for example, can be enhanced by software that expedites and organizes incoming and outgoing information, because the software’s workflow enhancements make it easier for employees to work.

In addition, targeted software eases the burden or mismanagement and disorganization placed upon employees, thus freeing them up to perform tasks elsewhere. Reducing time lost due to disorganization translates into increased time spent being productive, thus increasing the company’s ability to produce financial opportunities.

Custom software removes the need for manual analysis, reduces the chances of human error, and increases the company’s overall efficiency. Quite simply, custom software is necessary for today’s competitive business environment.

How can you achieve success with custom software?

Short Answer: Contact us.

Long Answer: Think about your company and the areas in which problems arise. Maybe you still use paper to organize orders, or your employees have no system to manage time spent at lunch. Maybe you need a project management system, or a program for managing overtime changes in clientele accounts. Whatever the need, we can build a custom piece of software to fix the problem. Orderbound stands as an example of that fact.

Don’t let errors and inconsistencies ruin your company. Contact us today to start work on a custom software development project specifically for you.

The post How Custom Software Development Saves You Money appeared first on SEO Website Design.

Overview

Our many years within the web industry have led us down interesting paths, including the creation of an effective web-based work order tracking software, Orderbound. Built to be strictly used for our internal operations, we soon discovered interest in the software from outside clients. These organizations needed an automated system to help them manage, control, and monitor all incoming and outgoing orders. They turned to Orderbound as a solution.

The post A Web-Based Order Tracking Software Website appeared first on SEO Website Design.

However, countless companies misunderstand the process of creating a free Facebook coupon page. They either think it’s too hard or too complicated, when it is in fact among the easiest additions to incorporate into a Facebook page. Plus, a free Facebook coupon page is the perfect way to convert customers.

Step-by-Step Instructions to Create a Facebook Coupon Page

Assuming you have a Facebook page already, the first step is to download the app Static HTML: iframe tabs. It’s free and easy to install. All you have to do is push this big blue button:

To access the app, click “Edit Page” in the top-right of your Facebook page’s Admin Panel, and then click “Update Info.” Next, click “Apps” in the left sidebar, as seen here:

You’ll see Static HTML: iframe tabs listed among your added apps. Click its middle option of “Edit Settings,” which will pop up the following window:

This window allows you to add the new tab to your Facebook page where customers can access a coupon code. In addition, it controls the name and the thumbnail image of that tab. Here’s a visual example of the tab we created:

Now, let’s set to actually creating the coupon page. Head back to your Admin Panel and click on the newly created tab. You’ll see a page like this one:

The “Public content” section is what a user will see if they have yet to Like your page, while the “Fan content” section is what users will see after they have Liked the page. Simple enough. So let’s create your “Public content” first, since it’s already selected. Click the “Edit” button located to the right of “Public content,” which will bring up this section:

This is where you want to put an image that entices someone to Like your page. But take notice: clicking “upload image…” prompts a message saying that you have to upgrade your Facebook page by paying $12/month. Don’t do that. Instead, upload the photo you want to use onto your website’s server. Then, place the following code into the “index.html” tab:

Obviously, replace “yoursite.com” and “yourimage.png” with your website and image’s actual names, and add any file names, if necessary. This will call the image into the app, allowing you to bypass the $12/month charge. When you’ve finished with the “Public content” section, do the same thing with your post-Like image for the “Fan content” section.

And voila! You have successfully created a free Facebook coupon page.

The post How to Create a Free Facebook Coupon Page appeared first on SEO Website Design.

Countless websites now use WordPress as a web development asset and content management system (CMS). What this means is, WordPress has the ability to create and manage entire websites, from the code to the copy. Plus, the simplicity of WordPress’s backend interface makes it appropriate for anyone. Whether you’re a blogger or a developer or a designer, WordPress proves itself a vital framework for any website. And here’s why:

Self-Hosted

For bloggers switching over to WordPress, you have to buy a monthly hosting package. Don’t panic – there are plenty of affordable options out there (we even offer web hosting packages). Plus, having your own host puts the site more in your control, and believe me, WordPress gives you a lot of control.

Design Possibilities

Let’s say you want a fancy web design interface, but don’t have any technical skills, what are you supposed to do? Well, you can find free WordPress design templates all over the Internet, though many are outdated or clunky, or you can hire a professional designer to whip one up for your WordPress site. Of course, if you are a designer, WordPress is great about integrating code into design so as to not ruin anything. I mean, there’s a reason 22% of new websites use it.

So Many Plug-ins

At the time of writing, there are 23,013 plug-in options in the WordPress plug-in directory. That’s 23,013 options for altering and customizing your website to meet your exact expectations. What exactly are those options? Pretty much anything you can imagine. There are some SEO plug-ins, some anti-spam plug-ins, and even some copywriting plug-ins. Honestly, it’s better to just spend time delving through the directory, starting with most popular options. And before I forget: they’re all free. All of them. Have fun!

Better SEO

Optimizing a WordPress website for a search engine is exponentially easier than doing it without WordPress. In addition to the search engine optimization plug-ins mentioned previously, WordPress’ framework makes it inherently easier to keep a website within a search engine’s limitations. For example, updating a page’s URL takes mere seconds, and it’s so easy that anyone can do it. Does this mean you’ll be a first-page result simply for using WordPress? No, sorry, it’s not that powerful, but it’s still more effective than trying to optimize a site without WordPress.

Easy-to-use CMS

Managing pages and URL structures used to be a nightmare, but WordPress’ backend CMS makes it easy to change, edit, delete, and move pages. This easy usability carries over into all other facets of the site, too, such as photos and content. Anything you want to edit or change, WordPress makes it easy and intuitive.

Code Control

In addition to being effective at managing content and internal pages, WordPress is also very effective at managing some of the site’s code. It’s not as extensive as, say, Dreamweaver, but it’s effective enough for many developers to create some outstanding on-site effects. Feel free to check our portfolio for examples.

Spam Management

Nearly every site is susceptible to spam in some way, but WordPress offers numerous options for cutting off the channels in which spam enters a site. For example, with one click you can turn off comment sections all across the site. Alternatively, you can turn off comment sections on a single page. If you want comment sections but don’t want spam, there are plenty of plug-ins that address this exact problem. (Seriously, plug-ins are amazing.) WordPress is all about putting the control in your hands.

Open Source

Ah, yes, the most important reason: WordPress is open source, which means it’s free. No fine print that screws you over months down the line. No secret monthly subscription service that kicks in only after six months. None of those scummy ways some companies make money. WordPress is absolutely free.

Reliable Support Forums

Lastly, as an open source piece of software, WordPress has an extensive support system. Head over to the official WordPress forums to see what I’m talking about. People are constantly finding new ways to make the software more effective, while fixing errors or glitches in the process.

The post 9 Reasons You Should Switch to WordPress appeared first on SEO Website Design.

Improve Internal Linking

Internal links serve two purposes: they guide users along an information stream, but they also inform search engines about other existing pages, thus improving search engine optimization. Creating an internal campaign that caters to both halves of the solution means using an intuitive and logical approach to internal linking. For example, create an internal link with keywords appropriate for the receiving page (which pleases search engines), and use those keywords in an appropriate spot within the content (which pleases users).

Cut Outdated Content

The easiest thing for any website owner to do is cut excessive content on a regular schedule. Outdated information, or copy no longer relevant, should either be updated or eliminated, as users and search engines dislike sites with excessive pages stuffed with useless information.

Clean Up URLs

Again, websites used to be built without any rhyme or reason, but today’s content management systems make it easy to manage URL structures. Don’t use dates or numbers, and avoid all forms of parameters. Focus instead on keywords related to your website.

Ditch Unused Domains

The affordability of domains makes buying them a slippery slope. One becomes two, two becomes four, four becomes eight, and the number continues rising year after year. However, an unused domain does nothing but soak up money. No matter how much you love the domain www.PurrrfectKittens.com, it’s time to let it go, because it’s costing you money and not giving anything back.

Mobile-Friendly is Necessary

All right, making a mobile-friendly website isn’t exactly something any website owner can do, but it is absolutely necessary for succeeding in the digital era. More people now use their cell phones to search online than ever before, and having a website specifically for their browsing capabilities can exponentially increase your website’s traffic and conversions. Contact us today for a mobile web development quote.

Speed Up Your Site

The less time a user has to wait for a page to load, the less of a chance you lose a user to their impatience. Speeding up a website requires cutting features like Flash, or trimming back excessive code causing browsers to take forever loading your site. The best option is to shift your website to HTML5 to take advantage of the latest coding techniques.

Watch Algorithm Updates

Website maintenance is an ongoing project, and it’s necessary to watch for search engine algorithm updates. One missed update could mean the difference between front-page search engine results and falling way, way down the SERPs. Obviously, not all website owners have the time to watch for search engine updates, but you’ve already found one of the most effective resources for ensuring your site meets search engine algorithms: SEOWebsiteDesign.com.

If any of these tips seem too difficult or beyond your understanding, please contact us. We specialize in optimizing every facet of your website, so as to enhance the business you conduct within the online world. Contact us today to get started.

The post 7 Tips for Improving Your Website appeared first on SEO Website Design.

And it is exactly the volatile nature of that guessing game which creates a breeding ground for SEO myths and rumors. One optimizer claims to find evidence for an SEO technique, passes it off as fact without further testing, and that technique spreads like wildfire through the whole industry until it’s impossible for anyone to quell its existence.

However, at SEOWebsiteDesign.com, we believe it’s our responsibility to inform both clients and colleagues about the dangers of certain rumors currently floating about the SEO industry. After all, what so many perceive as positive SEO techniques could, in fact, be quite the opposite, and it’s time for us to stand up against their existence.

Let’s get to it:

1. Adwords boosts organic search results.

For whatever reason, some within the SEO world believe Google gives special treatment to websites buying into Google’s Adwords service. This is absolutely false. Websites using Adwords will only see an increase in non-organic traffic.

2. Google uses bounce rate and Analytics to rank sites.

Again, this is absolutely false. How do I know? Well, Matt Cutts said so himself. Cutts later made a comment on the forum Sphinn, where he said, “…I’ll just say that [tracking] bounce rates would be not only spammable but noisy. A search industry person recently sent me some questions about how bounce rate is done at Google and I was like ‘Dude, I have no idea about any things like bounce rate. Why don’t you talk to this nice Google Analytics evangelist who knows about things like bounce rate?’”

3. Multiple websites on the same server/IP address decreases rankings.

I could answer this question, but I’ll let Craig Silverstein, Google Director of Technology, answer it for me: “Actually, Google handled virtually hosted domains and their links just the same as domains on unique IP addresses. If your ISP does virtual hosting correctly, you’ll never see a difference between the two cases. We do see a small percentage of ISPs every month that misconfigure their virtual hosting, which might account for this persistent misperception—thanks for giving me the chance to dispel a myth!”

4. Pages accessible only by a site’s form will not be indexed by Google.

Even though Google announced in 2008 that the Googlebot can now fill out forms, this myth continues to kick around the SEO industry. Please kill this myth.

5. SEO projects have a completion date.

The first sentence of this article negates this myth: search engine optimization responds to search engine algorithm changes. If Google releases a new search engine update, you have to respond with a new SEO strategy. That’s just how it goes. Thinking SEO has a start and end date is an archaic mentality in need of a digital awakening.

6. Personalization ruined Google’s rankings.

Everyone take a deep breath. Calm down. Relax. Google’s rankings have not been destroyed since they introduced personalization into their search results. In fact, personalization changed little of the search query results. If you don’t believe me, check it for yourself: run the same search query twice, the second time adding &pws=0 to the end of the URL. Voila!

7. High page rank = high search ranking

.
Nope, nope, nope. Absolutely wrong. Download a browser addon like WooRank’s SEO Website Analysis or SeoQuake, and then blast out a bunch of search queries. Check the page ranks of each front-page result. I guarantee you’ll find a lower ranking search result with a higher page rank than those above it.

8. Google uses Analytics to spy on your site.

Analytics is one of Google’s many services, yes, but Google openly states that they do not use Analytics to spy on your website.

9. An XML Sitemap increases a site’s rankings.

Honestly, many myths begin somewhere within the realm of reality and become warped later. This one was most likely birthed out of the fact that search engines use sitemaps to discover pages, thus increasing the rate in which a page is initially crawled. However, having a sitemap definitely doesn’t increase a site’s overall ranking.

(Note: Some argue sitemaps can increase search rankings by helping Google discover previously undiscovered pages. While it’s true a sitemap can help Google discover pages, I present a counterargument: two identical websites, one with a sitemap and one without, with all their pages indexed by Google, would rank the same.)

10. All URLs should end with .html.

Doesn’t matter whether the URL ends with .html or nothing at all.

11. Hiding links in footers can help rank pages deep within the site.

This myth comes straight out of the black hat SEO tips and tricks book, meaning you shouldn’t do it. Search engines see this as spammy.

12. Click-through rates contribute to rankings.

If this were the case, SEO would be so much easier. All you’d have to do is spend hours each day clicking on the page(s) you want to rank for. Unfortunately, SEO doesn’t work that way. Click-through rates are for you, not the search engines.

13. H1 tags are useless for SEO.

I actually found this myth on a reputable SEO site claiming to be debunking SEO myths. Their claim was that H1 tags are useless, and then they linked to this SEOmoz article as proof. But the article states that SEOmoz surveyed “37 influential thought leaders in the SEO industry on search engine ranking factors. In that survey, 35 of the 37 participants said that keyword usage in the title tag was the most important place to use keywords to achieve high rankings.” That doesn’t sound useless, does it? Nope. Not useless at all.

14. Quality content guarantees high rankings.

Nothing in life is guaranteed, and even the best content can be passed over by the masses. It happens all the time to books and movies, and you better believe it happens online, too.

15. Search engines ignore CSS.

In 2005, Matt Cutts released an article in which he said, “I don’t recommend that people use CSS to hide text, and I don’t recommend that they document it, either.” That was seven years ago, yet the myth lives on…

16. Outbound links don’t help rankings.

Again, this is a common myth in the SEO industry, and again we turn to Matt Cutts for the official answer: “In the same way that Google trusts sites less when they link to spammy sites or bad neighborhoods, parts of our system encourage links to good sites.” It’s all about quality over quantity, basically.

17. Using Javascript to link to pages will prevent them from being indexed.

Once again Cutts comes in for the killing blow of another SEO myth: on November 1, 2011, Cutts Tweeted, “Googlebot keeps getting smarter. Now has the ability to execuse AJAX/JS to index some dynamic comments.” Quite simply, it’s becoming harder to hide from Google’s prying eyes.

18. Cloaking sites is purely a black hat strategy.

Before the advent of mobile devices, cloaking was a black hat SEO technique used to show Googlebot an alternative version of a website, which was built specifically for Googlebot’s robotic brain. These days, however, people use cloaking to create legitimate website alternatives for mobile device users or users from other countries, and Google is wise enough to know the difference between ‘bad cloaking’ and ‘good cloaking.’ Use this SEO technique to optimize for incoming users, not trick the Googlebot into believing a site is more than what meets the eye.

As a parting note, feel free to call us out on any of these myths. We care more about promoting worthwhile information than popularized misinformation. Either comment below or drop us an email.

The post Top 18 SEO Myths That Shouldn’t Exist appeared first on SEO Website Design.

To answer these questions, I interviewed our social media experts to get an inside opinion on what makes social media marketing a worthwhile investment. And now, this information is yours to enjoy. Let’s get to the goods:

#10. Being Social

Here’s a redundant statement: you have to be social during a social media marketing campaign. The problem is, too many companies view social media as a one-way conversation. They put out content and then ignore customer responses. Companies that view social media sites as an open conversation are the ones succeeding and selling to customers, because they’re interacting, engaging, and making impressions.

#9. Valued Content

Successful social media campaigns give people something worth sharing. An article, a photo, a video – it doesn’t matter the medium, all that matters is it adds something to a user’s life, be it happiness or sorrow or an educational tidbit. People want to tell each other about interesting things. But the thing has to be interesting enough to be told to others. Don’t just throw together a half-assed video and expect it to go viral.

#8. Accessible

A large part of being social is being accessible. After all, people cannot be social if you aren’t available to talk. You need to continually check your social media accounts for updates or notifications, because one missed Tweet or Facebook post could result in a lost customer. Don’t become obsessed, but definitely be committed to your accounts.

#7. Patience

Similar to search engine optimization, social media marketing success doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, some companies have had to keep their accounts active for years before they attracted attention. It’s all a matter of being patient and believing in your company’s products or services. Continue pushing quality content and people will eventually discover you.

#6. Focused Marketing

Successful companies use their social media accounts like magnifying glasses for their messages. They stay focused on specific topics relevant to the company’s products or services. Quite simply, a highly-focused content marketing strategy is much more powerful than one utilizing a broad topic approach.

#5. Relevant Companies

If you provide worthwhile content that attracts an audience, you may even attract the attention of a relevant company within your industry, which may then share your content with their followers. Of course, you could also contact such companies to attempt a content sharing negotiation. Having another authority within the industry share your content could create a huge increase in your account’s followers.

#4. Narratives

As mentioned before, creating quality content is vital to a social media marketing campaign’s success, but it goes even further than that: content must tell a story. People love reading about stories, seeing stories, sharing stories – we’re a story-based culture. If you can craft a long-term content strategy that follows a single narrative, such as telling how your company got started or how a specific product was developed, people will follow along. They’ll want to see how the story progresses and concludes.

#3. Be Truthful

It’s cliché for a reason: honesty is always the best policy. Talk to your customers like you’d talk to friends and family. Lying or hiding information creates distrust and a lack of transparency, which can drive customers away. Honesty instills respect into customers, because it shows them that you care about their opinion. And people know when a company is being honest or covering something up.

#2. Empathetic Responses

When a company has hundreds or thousands of followers, it can be hard to remember that those numbers are all people. Each one is an individual trying his or her best within this wild world. Giving one of your followers a worthwhile, personal response could be the needed impression to convert them into a loyal customer, because it shows you recognize their existence and took the time to give them a meaningful response.

#1. Listening

Lastly, the most important part of a successful social media marketing campaign is to listen to your customers. Hear what they’re saying and acknowledge it. Don’t just brush it off and move on with your day, because your customers will do the same to you. And by “listen,” I don’t mean argue. I mean actually listen. Hear their complaints and comments, think about them, and then give an honest response in return. People appreciate it when you take a moment to hear what they have to say.

The post 10 Traits of a Successful Social Media Marketing Campaign appeared first on SEO Website Design.