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Wix and SEO: Myths Busted

by Pythagoras Matko
written by Pythagoras Matko

Wix.com is considered one of the top website builders on the internet today. This Israeli-based company provides cloud-based web development services for new and existing users. Customers may create HTML5 websites and mobile-friendly sites with a range of online drag and drop tools. There is even a user-friendly interface for laptop/desktop clients as well as a convenient app.

The platform offers both free and paid memberships with the World Wide Web (www) URLs for paying customers. With over 644 million live websites on the internet, chances are there is a site out there similar to yours. With this in mind, you need to go above and beyond to pull audiences and visitors to your pages.

The last thing you need is to get lost in the neverending stream of web pages. With 26 percent of the market share, Wix is only second to Squarespace (at 42 percent) in terms of content management system (CMS) user engagements. However, how well does this platform stack up to other site builders like GoDaddy, Jimdo, WordPress, and Weebly?

We have busted five of the myths floating out there with facts and realities about Wix:

1. How do Wix websites rank on Google?

Myth: Wix is not SEO or Google-friendly.

A common misconception is that Google favors websites that are built on specific CMS networks. These include WordPress, Magento, OpenCart, and other reputable site builders and platforms. The fact is that Google’s algorithms do not distinguish or differentiate websites’ visibility based on their CMS builds.

So, where does Wix rank among Google’s algorithms and search engine optimization (SEO) best practices? They dominate over 50 percent of the market with Squarespace. Even with this partial clamp-on website building, is the service Google-friendly for webmasters and site builders? Here are some facts to ponder:

  • The fact is that this service features an SEO optimization plugin called Wix SEO Wiz. The plugin automates several protocols for Wix users, so their sites stand in good with Google’s guidelines.
  • Wix users have access to measurable results and metrics that are easy to scan and digest for SEO purposes. They can see their pages in Google’s search results within minutes of updating them or creating new sites from scratch.
  • The Google I/O 2018 Developer Conference also praised Wix for taking care of SEO/technical requirements for users, so their sites have excellent visibility on SERP results.

Fact: Wix is both SEO and Google-friendly with site-building templates that produce high-quality content for audiences and search engine bots.

2. How well do Wix URLs perform?

Myth: Wix URLs do not rank good on Google

Another common myth is that Wix’s URLs don’t rank well on Google and other search engines. While the platform was once riddled with long and messy URLs, that is a thing of the past.  You can customize and shorten your website addresses, which are ideal for SEO purposes.

Having a clean web address is essential for brand visibility and messaging. However, Google usually does not drop websites because they have messy URLs. Even with that, Wix removed long versions and hashbangs in 2016 for optimal convenience and aesthetic appeal. If you are working hard on your website with quality content, links, and social media integration, your sites should perform nicely on Google and other search engines.

Fact: Wix URLs do rank on Google, but it’s more about site content than the length of your website address.

3. Are Wix titles and meta descriptions relevant?

Myth: Wix does not give its users control over meta titles and descriptions.

Titles and meta descriptions are just as important as the content you are presenting on your pages. After all, page titles and meta descriptions are the first impressions your visitors see in search results. Therefore, they have to be crafted engagingly to rank well across Google.

For a while, Wix did not give its members control of meta descriptions and titles. However, this was only during the platform’s initial launch phase. While this may have turned some users away, Wix now gives you complete control of metas and descriptions. This allows you to edit the metadata per page manually and as desired.

Fact: Wix gives users control of meta descriptions and titles for their websites.

4. Are my blog posts optimized on Wix?

Myth: Wix’s Blog cannot be optimized

Google tends to reward websites that produce high-quality, industry-specific content. This also goes for blogs that should feature helpful information for your website visitors. Blogging is a vital part of any online SEO marketing campaign. It even promotes your brands in their best light while making you a reputable resource in the industries or niches you serve.

Wix’s Blog is already optimized for SEO with plenty of tools for keyword placement and content structuring. As long as you are creating original, valuable content with relevant keywords and links for your audiences, your blog should rank in SERPs – especially for targeted keywords that attract visitors and meet Google’s guidelines.

Fact: Wix’s Blog is optimized for SEO.

5. How are Wix’s page loading times?

Myth: Wix still has slow loading pages

Websites must be able to load fast or experience high bounce rates. For  Wix, there was a time when their sites loaded slower than other website builders. However, they have increased site speed by improving the coding of templates and other features. There are now little to no issues with site speed over at the platform.

Customers can also upgrade from free websites to the paid Wix version. This automatically removes any advertisements and increases page speed for business and social web developers alike.

Fact: Wix no longer has slow loading pages and is up to par with any other website builder on the internet.

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Winning SEO Content Strategies for the Remainder of 2019

by Pythagoras Matko
written by Pythagoras Matko

2019 has been a banner year for search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns. In fact, many webmasters and brands adopted best-practices to produce measurable results this year. While SEO trends continue to evolve, the emphasis on streamlined content remains pivotal in achieving higher visibility across Google. Similarly, many companies are investing in digital campaigns geared towards positive user experiences. With six months left to go, there are still ways to attract and engage new clients to your products and services.

Here are the most important facets of SEO so far this year:

  • Great user experiences across multiple platforms and networks.
  • High-quality content that is centralized, thought-provoking, and gives folks something to take away with.
  • Mobile optimized websites, blogs, and online stores with faster page/download speeds.
  • Acquiring natural – organic links that accentuate any pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns.
  • Not rely on social media to build brand visibility and awareness. Instead, many brands are churning out content that is industry-specific, relevant, and insightful for their readers and users.

Google Marketing in 2019

While Google remains the most popular search engine in the world, it continues to update its algorithms to correlate with the current trends. With this in mind, Google has called on all brands to produce in-depth content that answers questions and serves the needs of your users. No longer is creating content for the sake of content acceptable across Google’s SEO services. Instead, your content must now meet the following in order to remain or become competitively viable:

  • Create pages for users and not search engines. Remember, reader engagements drive web traffic, lead generation, and potential revenue for your brands.
  • Don’t deceive your clients, customers, and new users. Always provide precise, concise, and truthful content that meets the needs of your bases across the web.
  • Always abide by Google’s White Hat criteria to secure higher page rankings and visibility on Google. Avoid tricks of Black Hat techniques (misleading titles and click-bait) to improve search engine rankings – this can get your site and pages permanently banned from Google and other search engines.
  • Use your own photos of products and brands within the content. Try to avoid common stock imagery which may be in use by competitors and other brands.
  • Develop content that is unique, enticing, and engaging across the board. Make your website stand out from others within your field, sector, or niche.

Set aside some funds to invest in a sound and effective SEO campaign. This can help your brand grow and flourish – especially if you are pressed for time. Your local advertising agency has the tools and expertise to help your company catch up in 2019. It’s as simple as reaching out to them to discuss your online marketing and brand expansion goals.

Best Practices for Content in 2019

If your brands are struggling this year, you may want to rethink your existing strategies. Again, the valuable context within the content is everything in 2019. No truer is this than when it comes to meeting Google’s quality standards. In order to build better user engagements and experiences, here are some content essentials that continue to soar in popularity:

Long-Form Content

Long-form content is once again the norm in the world of SEO marketing. You should aim to produce 1,500-2000 word posts that are engaging and full of substance. Add relevant social media links as well as strategic keywords to boost site traffic and increase conversion rates. Your content needs to establish your brands as helpful resources in the industries they serve. Similarly, it must evoke emotions while inspiring thoughts and questions. This can only lead to longer stays on your pages which help reduce bounce rates and increase visibility. Here are a few more things to keep in mind when developing brand content:

  • Provide solid recommendations for your readers. Give them helpful links, resources, and links back to your products and services.
  • Make sure your content is unique and different with each post. This will set you apart from competitors and help users cut through the clutter.
  • Stay abreast of all the current SEO trends and developments. This will give you and your brands the edge on promoting content to core, niche, geo-specific or mass audiences.
  • Scale your content plan if targeting smaller audiences. However, you can increase promotions via paid ads, e-mail automation, and especially social – mobile media platforms.
  • Make sure to match your content to user intent. This gives validity to keywords while ensuring your information is valuable to those that demand and need it to the most.

Snippet Content Optimization

Featured snippets are now what most SEO plans strive to achieve. This, of course, is rank #0 or enhanced results on top of organic results. In the past, most brands fought to reach the number one spot in the SERPs. This is no longer the case due to snippets providing detailed information like titles, descriptions, bullet lists, and content that differs or aligns with brand intent.

Snippets are essentially teasers that entice users to click through the content. This lets them access information without ever leaving Google. The best part is that snippets appear in voice search results as well. This gives users substantial information and timely answers to their queries and concerns. Therefore, it is important to optimize your content with snippets in mind to increase user engagements. Here are some ways to try and secure the coveted zero ranking spot on Google:

Be Direct in your Content

High bounce rates occur when your content is too lengthy or does not entail valuable information. While long-form content is important these days, you still have to get to the point. In fact, avoid writing long, wordy introductions before you address the topics in the titles of your posts. Give your readers precise information right away – this will keep them on your pages longer and may increase conversion rates and clicks.

Always perform keyword research to see which words your competitors are not using. With keyword optimization, you can stay ahead of the pack and get featured snippets. It’s also important to break down your content with bullet lists for better accuracy and flow. Google loves including lists within featured snippets; makes it easier for users to scan and digest content. You can even use FAQs to provide answers to stock or common questions. Featured snippets tend to pick up FAQs if they are in an easy form and able to capture within the boxes.

These are some of the ways to enhance your SEO content for the remainder of 2019. Again, let a professional agency take care of these content enhancements if you simply do not have the time.

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Blog TrafficGoogleLocal SEOReputation ManagementSearchSEOSEO NewsSERPSite OptimizationWebsite Traffic

Google Search Now Displays More Diverse Search Results After Update

by Austin Robinson
written by Austin Robinson

On June 6th, Google announced an update to its search results with the goal of increasing “site diversity.” The Google Search update will attempt to provide greater domain variety by limiting the number of results from any particular domain to two or less for a specific search query.

That means you will need to adapt your SEO strategy to this new change to enhance your results. Otherwise, you risk being negatively affected by it. So here’s what you need to know:

Greater Diversity of Google Search Results

Throughout the years,  SEO experts have been tasked with finding unique and creative ways to overcome the fact that Google’s top search results often show too many listings from the same site. This can allow one company or domain to dominate a particular search query.

So in the past, if you searched for a specific keyword, you might see 4, 5, or even more of the top 10 results from the same site. With this new site diversity update, Google is now aiming to not show any more than two results from the same domain for any query.

There Will Be Exceptions to the Rule

Google will maintain the right to veer away from its “two results” limit if they deem it appropriate. One theory on why Google might do this is to allow more accurate results for branded queries. For example, if you searched for a brand like Nike, you would see more than two results from Nike.com on the first page.

Subdomains are Treated as a Part of the Root Domain

Google will consider subdomains and root domains as being the same site. So if your subdomain is blog.example.com, it will be treated the same as your root domain of www.domain.com and will be counted as one of the two results allowed.

Of course, there’s another exception. Google will reserve the right to treat a subdomain and root domain as different sites if “deemed relevant” for diversity.

The Update Will Only Affect Core Results

For now, Google is containing the update to core results only. Other On-SERP SEO factors like carousels, snippets, and top stories won’t be affected.

Domain Diversity is a Long-Running Theme for Google

Google is no stranger to updating their SERP algorithm to provide greater domain diversity. Since 2012, they have gradually made changes to limit the number of results from one domain for a given search query.

While not all of the changes have been publicly confirmed, SEO marketers have noticed the silent updates throughout the years and adjusted accordingly.

The Takeaway Going Forward

If you are trying to get your domain to dominate the Google search results for specific queries, this will undoubtedly affect you. One of the primary industries likely to be affected is reputation management, although other search professionals will see an impact as well.

For anyone looking to rank more than two pages from the same domain for the same search query, you’ll want to ensure that your analytics are robust. That way,  you can measure how this recent Google update will affect your sites moving forward.

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SEOSite Optimization

Why Image SEO is as Important as Ever

by Pythagoras Matko
written by Pythagoras Matko

Google is starting to show more images in web search results than ever before. In fact, what was previously allocated to two or three images has now expanded to five or more. With this in mind, it might be time for you to focus more on image SEO and its impact on brand marketing and appeal.

Industry monitors that track Google results have reported a significant increase in image results. In fact, the image search result box is now popping up for 1/3rd of all search queries. This has seen images in the Top 10 soar from 24% occurrence to a 34% occurrence. This sudden spike in image search started around April 13 and continues to dominate searches in May.

Why the spike in image results?

Along with RankRanger and Mozcast data, SEOClarity has attributed the rise in image searches to Google’s AI platforms. The world’s largest and most utilized search engine is now showcasing images of products they feel you might be interested in. For example, the term “red roses” may deliver local, regional, national and even international online florist shops based on your search settings. However, the image search results are beginning to rival actual URLs and SERPs in terms of volume and relevancy. As a result, you may see more images in your search results than ever before – allowing you to make a worthwhile and informed buying decision.

Why this is important for SEOs?

Image search is certainly nothing new and usually part of any online marketing plan. However, Google search indexes are strongly recommending SEOs to focus a bit more on image searches. While Google may update their algorithms with a continued call for high-quality and relevant content, they consistently change the game even when SEOs feel they are fully updated. Now, Google Images may be another source of the traffic to your website and blog. By optimizing your images for Google Image search, you have a stronger platform for generating leads and higher conversion rates.

Here are some more benefits of image optimization for SEO:

  • Image optimization helps your site, blog or online store rank higher on Google Image search results.
  • Optimizing your images drives high volumes of traffic and clicks that link back to your products and services.
  • Google indexes your images so they appear in other search engines and mobile results as well.
  • Image optimization for on-page SEO is just as important as relevant content, social media links, and mobile optimization.
  • Over 35% of search results showcase images that relate to specific keyword inquiries. As a result, optimizing images can get you organic results that regular Meta descriptions and snippets may not be able to.

What about image loading times?

The time an image loads can make all the difference between bouncing and staying on your page. Therefore, it is crucial to optimize all your images and keep them under 100 kb to retain image resolution. Anything higher than that can increase image loading time – resulting in higher bounce rates and bad experiences for users. If you are unsure about correct image sizing and optimization, simply let a search engine optimization agency take care of it for you.

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SEO tactics that will get you into trouble

by Ellan Dineen
written by Ellan Dineen

Taking advantage of search engine optimization (SEO) is perhaps the best way to distinguish your brand from the hundreds or thousands of companies within your same sector. When websites perform well within the search results, they’ll receive an increase in website traffic that will undoubtedly lead to greater exposure, better leads, and a huge influx in sales. But elevating your business to the first pages of the search engine results pages (SERPS) is a delicate balance and a difficult task. With so many companies competing for the coveted positions, you’ll want to ensure you’re doing everything you can to increase your chances of ranking well. Additionally, you’ll want to be sure you’re avoiding anything that can work against you, or get you penalized by the search engines. The following post covers some of the main things you should stay clear of when optimizing your website for SEO.

The Google mechanism
When it comes to SEO, Google uses certain algorithms to crawl websites and determine which ones deserve to be in the top rankings, and which ones are doing something wrong. While Google’s major “core” updates usually occur once a year or so, Google’s basic filters are constantly evolving, even on a day-to-day basis. Crawler’s work exhaustively to audit websites and reward those that adhere to Google’s rules, while penalizing those that don’t.

SEO tactics to avoid: It’s essential that every business remain aware of the dos and don’ts of SEO, and update their websites as needed. Even one small mistake could make a site’s rankings drop significantly overnight! The following list includes some of the SEO mistakes you’ll want to steer clear of.

Broken links: Broken links are links that lead to nowhere. They’re links that send visitors on your site to a page that’s no longer there. If you’ve ever gotten a 404 error message or the like, you’ll know how frustrating these broken links can be. Not only are broken links bad from a user experience point of view, they will serve to get you actively punished by Google’s algorithms. Not to mention, these look very unprofessional! Scan for broken links regularly to ensure your site doesn’t fall prey to this major no-no. There are plenty of free link-checking software out there, so there’s never an excuse to have 404 pages as part of your site.

Keyword stuffing: Keyword stuffing is a common mistake many businesses make. Keyword stuffing is exactly what it sounds like— filling your content with keywords in a manner that’s unnatural, just to get them in. Using the right keywords is probably the best thing you can do to increase your ranking, but if they’re not implemented correctly they can end up working against you. Such is the case when you use too many of them. More is not always better— and if you use more keywords than is necessary, you’ll find yourself getting less of the results you want. Don’t write content with the soul intention of getting keywords in. Instead, write content that first and foremost focuses on the things your audience will need and want.

A missing sitemap: A sitemap is a file that lists the various URLs that go into making up a site. These maps allow Google and other search engines to crawl sites more efficiently, and therefore it’s important that you have one. These guides also make it easier for other visitors to navigate your site. Site maps can be created in a variety of formats, and then submitted to Google.

Bad anchor text: Anchor text is the text on a page that’s used to insert the hyperlink to either an internal or external link. Anchor text is used to give visitors and crawlers alike a brief description of what the link is regarding. It was previously a good idea to include as many keywords as possible in anchor text, however that has since changed. Now, the best practices for anchor texts is to ensure its to-the-point and relevant to the link in question, not generic, and not too keyword-heavy (it should flow naturally).

Cloaking: Cloaking occurs when words are disguised on the page, either intentionally or unintentionally. This is usually done when words and phrases are written in the same color as the background, making them blend in and become unnoticeable to visitor’s eyes. Cloaking used to be popular when it wasn’t outright penalized to do so, and developers would use it as a means to include as many keywords as possible. However, these days, even if these hidden words aren’t visible to the naked eye, they are discoverable by the crawlers, and they will result in hefty penalties against your rankings.

Plagiarizing content: It’s never a good idea to be a copycat, but unfortunately not everyone learns their lesson in school. Plagiarizing content will not only reflect very badly for your brand, but it will also harm your standing within the SERPS. In this context, plagiarizing means the act of taking some other website’s content and passing it off as your own. Duplicate content is also a big no-no when it comes to SEO. While this content may not be plagiarized and may be originally written by you or someone within your company, if you use it on your site more than once you’re likely to get penalized. Some may attempt to use duplicate content as a means to bulk up their on-site keywords, but Google will detect this mistake and punish your business accordingly.

A non-responsive site: Responsive web design means creating a website that is operational across all devices. Responsive websites “respond” to the device they’re visited on, and are configured to whatever specifications will best serve that device. If you visit a website on your smartphone that hasn’t been optimized for mobile— you’ll know it! Responsive web design means never having to worry that your visitors will have trouble using your site based on the browser and device they’re using. With over half of internet users browsing mainly from a mobile device, responsive web design has never been more essential— and will only continue to increase in importance. It’s not just individuals that will recognize if your website isn’t responsive— Google knows too, and they’ll make sure you’re punished for not having a site that’s functional across all devices.

While following SEO best practices will get you rewarded, failing to pay attention to them will work against you. Staying away from the above mistakes will help you stay on Google’s good side, and help your website increase in the rankings.

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SEOSite Optimization

Here are 5 Important Website Optimization Tips You Should Follow in 2019

by Tom Bowen
written by Tom Bowen

It’s December, and there are only a few more days of this year left before 2019 comes into play. This means that there isn’t a lot of time to waste to get your website optimized before your Q1 of next year. The internet has changed a lot this year alone, and it’s important to ensure that your site is carefully optimized in order to convert your site’s visitors into customers more efficiently.

If you aren’t up-to-date on the latest site optimization tricks, don’t worry. Read on to learn about five website optimization tips you should follow in 2019.

1. Mobile Optimization

According to Search Engine Land,  57% of all worldwide search traffic is derived from mobile devices. As more and more people are accessing the internet using mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, it’s imperative to make sure that your site can give these users a pleasant web experience.

Here are some of the basics of getting your site mobile-friendly in time for 2019.

  • Always scale your site’s images using a responsive design. This will help your site visitors view them more clearly.
  • Create shorter meta titles. These are easier to read on mobile devices.
  • Avoid using popups that can cover up your content; these include ads.

2. Use Technical SEO

Some people find the idea of technical SEO to be particularly daunting. One of the most important aspects of technical SEO is an audit, which is now made available to virtually anyone nowadays. Simply having your site audited won’t solve issues with your site. You’ll have to properly interpret data that you receive, such as status code errors and duplicate title tags, and fix them to optimize your site for both search engines and web users.

3. Improve Page Speed

According to Google, it takes a mobile landing page nearly 22 seconds to load, but 53% of web users leave when a web page takes more than three seconds to load.

As you can see, slow page speed creates a poor user experience – which is why Google takes page speed into serious consideration. You can improve your site’s page speed by simply:

  • Minimizing HTTP requests for scripts, images, etc. Having too many of these requests can result in longer page loading times.
  • Minimize image sizes.
  • Increase server response time
  • Lower DNS lookup time

4. Embrace User Intent

Writing great content is all about what your reader wants to read, which is why user intent is very important. In previous years, it was simple to use keywords without having to understand the intent behind them. Now Google is making an increased effort to improve user experience by focusing more on user intent.

This means you should too. You can leverage user intent by conducting your own advanced keyword research. Try to understand the what, when, where, and why behind your targeted keywords to embrace user intent and bring more visitors to your site.

5. Create More Content

As Google becomes more aligned with user experience, the search engine will prioritize websites that actually provide meaningful information to their visitors. You can create more content for your site by writing news articles relating to your niche. Prowling social media for trending topics is a great way to write a great, relevant news article for your site. It’s also an easy method of gaining more website traffic.

If you don’t have the time or resources to employ any of these tips to your advantage, click here to contact us to optimize your site in time for the new year.

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Good SEO Starts with the Right Web Development

by Anastasia Stefanuk
written by Anastasia Stefanuk

If you want your website to get noticed by visitors and potential clients, following at least the basic SEO-practices is essential. However, to fight for the top page in Google – you have to be even more advanced. Advanced SEO can require a ton of website changes. Adding tags, optimizing website speed, and making sure bots will crawl your page – all of that is needed in the fight for top 10.

However, making website changes without knowing how to code is similar to moving in the dark. There will be a lot of stumbling blocks and obstacles which can only be avoided if you understand the code. If you are not a coder, consider paying a developer salary so that there’s a techie on your team.

Why good development is important for SEO?

It’s common to think that the only task of SEO is to put as many keywords as you possibly can into your content. And it was so, ten years ago. Now, the algorithms have changed – there are many other things GoogleBot takes into account while crawling the page.

Here are a few things that matter:

  • Time for a script to load;
  • Pagespeed – the page has to load in under 2 seconds;
  • Cross-device friendliness;
  • Website security – making sure that the website and its service has a valid SSL-certificate.
  • Business website responsive design.

All of these tasks are directly linked to development – so, SEO is as much of a part of web development services as it is for marketing. It’s only through code that you can improve user experience and improve the average website conversion rate.

SEO-friendly development: best practices

Provide structured data

When GoogleBot is crawling websites, it’s trying to understand the content of each page. If you want to give a better understanding of the page to a bot, add structured data to describe the key elements of the page.

The source code for structured data is created by Google and can be downloaded. Then, you’ll have to test the code. In order to do it, developers use the Structured Data Testing Tool (SDTT).

Red flags to watch out for:

  • Provide a relevant description of the page. Google doesn’t show rich results for time-sensitive content.
  • Mark the content that your readers can see on the website. Otherwise, Google bot will consider your structured data potentially misleading.
  • Don’t be misleading while labeling the content.
  • Don’t mark pages that are a summary of links to individual pages (lists of jobs, announcement board page, etc.).

Prerender your page

Those developers who power their website with JS have noticed GoogleBot struggles to render the pages. It’s been commonly noticed that HTML-pages are treated better in rankings than JS ones. The reason for that is that Google struggles with rendering rich technology – media, snippets, etc. To make the rendering easier for the bot, you can basically do it yourself. While a bot will get an HTML-snapshot, a website user will still see the page with top JS frameworks. By the way, React is one of the most popular JS frameworks and you can find out why over at this website.

Tools for prerendering: you can either go with external ones like Prerender.io or use PhantomJS on your server-side.

Find out if your website is Bing-friendly

With over 11 million of audience reach, Bing is a search engine you shouldn’t ignore. Though 99% of search engine optimization practices are shared between Bing and Google, there are a few peculiarities.

1) Down-level website experiences

Unlike Google, that, with a few issues, can still crawl rich media, Bing might not be able to index your JS-rich website. To make sure the crawlers can still get in, optimize the website technology – use down-level experience so that a user with an older browser version can see an HTML-version of the website. Bingbot will see the version with rich media and interactive elements as well and indexing will get way easier.

2) Use 301-redirects

Instead of a temporary 302-redirects between pages used on multiple websites, be sure to implement permanent redirects. Bing considers redirect a strong ranking factor and will boost your website’s ranking. Using right redirects is a strong ranking factor for Bing that can significantly improve your website.

3) Flash is okay, as long as pages have separate sitemaps

It’s no secret that Google has no love for Flash-powered pages. So, if you want to have good rankings on Big G, go slow on powering your website with Flash. Keep in mind, however, that Bing is likely to rank these pages pretty well. To make the job easier for BingBots, create a separate sitemap for any page that uses Flash.

Make your links crawlable

Search engines discover websites through links. If the link to your page has technical errors, it will be impossible for a search bot to get through the content of the page itself. The URL doesn’t seem significant in terms of SEO. However a poorly optimized will make matters worse.

When using an alt tag, don’t disregard a =href attribute. Any other attribute will not be crawled by Google. At the end of the day, your link has to look like the following:

<a href=”example.com”>Example</a>

Avoid ‘zombie pages’

When Brian Dean wrote a post about top SEO tips, he had a lot to say about zombie pages – the ones no one cares about. “The more – the merrier” has been a common misconception when it comes to pages – after all, it’s yet another chance for your website to be found. Is it really so?

Turns out, pages no one visits are a dead weight for your website. Not creating them in the first place is the right thing to do. One page with heavier SEO-weight will rank higher than a few insignificant ones – Google stated so themselves.

“Those smaller pieces themselves might not be that clearly kind of targeted where we can really recognize actually all of the information is here and they can navigate to the rest of the site here.”

John Mueller, Trend Analyst, Google  April 2018

Best web development tools for website developers

It’s crucial to know all the newest SEO-trends and practices. However, the process of optimization is a lot of analysis and inspection. While we can detect gross errors manually, some pieces of the code can only be noticed with the help of technology.

Developers all over the world are using SEO-tools to improve website inspection and audits. Let’s take a look at most popular SEO-instruments.

  1. Google Search Console

Google’s own Search Console is hands down the most important tool for tracking and analyzing your website’s performance. After being installed on a website, the Search Console will alert you of any malware, errors, or notable notification about your website’s performance and current rankings.

  1. Google Pagespeed Insights

Website speed is crucial for SEO-rankings. The time for a page to load should be under 2 seconds and that of a script is under 5 seconds. If any of these operations takes longer, there’s a risk crawlers won’t index the page. To make sure that website speed is under control, developers use Google Pagespeed Insights.

  1. Google Chrome 41

Google Chrome is constantly updating, and it would seem that GoogleBot would use the latest version of the company’s browser. Yet it doesn’t!

For website rendering, Google uses Chrome 41 released in 2015. Since then, a lot has changed in web development but all of these features might not be supported by crawlers. In order to make sure if your website is renderable, display it in Chrome 41. If you have no errors, fingers crossed that neither will Google crawlers.

  1. Deepcrawl

Out of so many tools available for SEO-audits, Deepcrawl is among the most advanced ones. It will tell you if there are duplicate pages on the website, make an inspection for failed URLs and paginated pages.

Good news is, you won’t be getting a list of mistakes with no suggestions – a tool offers a few possible solutions you can implement right away.

Conclusions:

  • Good SEO is crucial – high rankings alone can bring thousands of people to your website so that you no longer need to put as much money into social media promotion.
  • Development can build a solid base for high SEO-gains. Comprehensive code with user-friendly front-end development no syntax error, the down-leveling system applied to your javascript framework, multi-regional optimization and other code changes can positively impact your rankings.
  • The UI design also makes a difference – make sure your page load time is under 2 seconds, your website is mobile-friendly and works for different platforms.
  • Apart from hiring a developer who knows SEO-practices and takes them into account, consider using tools to track your website’s performance. That way, you’d have a three-dimensional outlook on how your website is doing.
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BusinessContent MarketingSEOSite Optimization

Startups and SEO

by Tom Bowen
written by Tom Bowen

When you are a startup, It is crucial to make yourself known, who you are, how your business can help but most importantly how will people find you and know about the services your startup offers.

Being aware of the challenges for optimizing content so you can have a search presence will make it easier to get your startup to show up on Google searches.

Being able to make use of the SEO techniques can help your startup leave a mark for your target market.  The methods used help so that search traffic is directed to your website. But for this, you not only need to be aware of SEO techniques but also of the SEO strategy.

The challenge is you are trying to get your company off the ground and don’t have time to learn about SEO strategies or techniques to have your company show up on the first page of a Google search.

What is an SEO Firm?

An SEO is a firm that takes your company website and puts it on the top of the search engine results page.  Hiring an SEO is a commitment, and it needs to be part of your long-term strategy because it takes effort to get to the top of the search engine. So when interviewing an SEO get a realistic picture of when you can expect the SEO tactics to yield results for your business.

What can SEO do for my Startup?

An SEO can help you optimize your business website for relevant search queries so that you can reach and get the attention of your target audience. Working with an SEO can help your startup create strategies that can work well for your business

Things to consider when searching for an SEO:

  • Get Referrals and Recommendations.
  • Confirm that the expert you want is up to date with the latest strategies.
  • Make an appointment to meet whether in person or by face time.
  • Negotiate a Fee.
  • Draw an Engagement Letter or Retainer.
  • Get monthly updates.

Benefits of a Local SEO

Local SEO’s will become more important. Businesses need to focus more on locations and their local offerings to their target audience when developing an SEO strategy. In 2016 Google needed to know where your business was located and what you were offering.

  • Local searches lead 50% of mobile visitors to visit their local store within a day according to Searchengineland.com.
  • More than 60% of consumers have used local information in ads.
  • 50% of mobile searches are conducted in the hope of finding a local result.

Overcoming  SEO challenges for startups isn’t as tough as it seems. Take the time to conduct research, and find the right SEO expert or firm, for your startup like InsigniaSEO. Most importantly, allocate a budget for your SEO needs. Many new companies forget to set a budget for SEO services. Even if you don’t use the service right away, you need to make sure you have a budget set. Your competitors might be spending more money on SEO strategies than you may be planning to spend.

*Informational content provided by www.inc.com, Searchengineland.com

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GoogleSEOSite Optimization

Increasing your Google PageSpeed in WordPress: The Essentials of Page Performance

by Pythagoras Matko
written by Pythagoras Matko

Over 59% of websites use WordPress as their primary content management system (CMS). From informative articles and blogs to press releases, it’s important to optimize your WordPress site for Google PageSpeed. This powerful tool enables you to make important decisions that increase the performance of your pages. Here are some essentials of PageSpeed for webmasters looking to increase their page rankings as well:

  • PageSpeed recommendations – for webmasters – are based on current SEO industry trends and developments.
  • This valuable tool is designed to increase performance for your desktop- mobile websites and WordPress CMS pages.
  • PageSpeed features advanced data visualization, along with tagging, filtering, and snapshot technologies.
  • This is a comprehensive and cohesive platform that enhances a visitor’s browsing experience while increasing your search engine rankings.

Google PageSpeed is truly an important metric in the SEO realm. This is both for SEO and user-friendly purposes. Similarly, WordPress is now facilitating CMS sites for over 59 percent of web users. With this in mind, Google even has a special engineering team that handles anything and everything WordPress.

PageSpeed and not Page Speed

It is important to understand the difference between PageSpeed and page speed. PageSpeed is a Google metric, which includes a number of tools designed to increase and enhance the output of your WordPress pages. The PageSpeed numbers are ranked between 0 and 100, while page speed simply refers to the real-world speed of a web page. While both terms are different, they are interwoven – in some cases – when it comes to overall page performance and delivery.

With this in mind, here are some ways to increase your Google PageSpeed for all your WordPress sites and forums:

Switching to HTTPS

Hypertext transfer protocol is one of the protocols utilized in application layer of layered architecture. This protocol is commonly used before website URLs and helps expedite data communications so users can reach desired web addresses. The “S” is HTTP refers to secured communications, which prevent unauthorized usage or intrusion of financial, medical, and mass-industry sites with discreet or private information.

However, HTTPS also refers to safe sites that have stores, financial portals and other areas where B2B or P2P communications take place daily. When it comes to enhancing PageSpeed for WordPress, it’s important to get your site switched over to HTTPS. This ensures safe and secure certificates while helping Google cache and page logs for future customer and visitor use. Similarly, switching your addresses to HTTPS creates convenient 301 redirects, and your settings (on average) immediately jump to:

  • Mobile: 61/100
  • Desktop: 0/100

In a recent testing switch on WordPress, a user’s page loading speed was around 10.1 seconds. This was the median loading page for all worldwide users and visitors, and the site was based out of Denver. After switching to HTTPS, the page speed bumped up to 9.4 seconds. This is a great way to reduce bounce rates while keeping your visitors and customers on pages longer.

However, if your WordPress site does not automatically redirect, try using the Force HTTPS plugin to get the job done right.

Sizing Images

Images are notorious for slowing pages down in WordPress. In fact, you can use over 15 unnecessary MB with image uploads and resizing. With this in mind, it is crucial to optimize your images to prevent slow and sluggish pages. This will secure faster-loading pages while keeping your visitors, blog subscribers and guests on your pages longer.

It is best to use the image editing tools, which allows you to optimize large images without losing visual quality on your pages. For example, image optimization can help your pages load at 5.5 seconds as opposed to 9.5 or other readings. In the digital age, even a few seconds makes a huge difference in user and customer retention. You can also use external image hosting sites, which also helps increase the performance of your pages and images with inbound or outbound links.

Here are some essentials of image sizing in WordPress for Google PageSpeed:

Resizing and Compressing

With resizing and compressing, images are larger than they need to be. This occurs in WordPress quite a bit – especially when images are added to the Media Library. However, they do not need to be added or linked natively, which results in larger-than-needed dimensions that take up page room and slow down loading times.

Compressing

Image compression allows WordPress users to place images on all their pages. However, these images can be reduced in size, but without losing visual quality. Unless you resize the DPI (dots per inch) to desired settings, you should not experience a visible degradation in quality. Compression also allows more freedom to place images in multiple sizes for blog posts, banners, and integration with social and mobile media links.

Browser Caching

Browser caching may or may not be an issue for WordPress users. However, Google does suggest webmasters to tell your visitors how long their browsers should keep specific resources. This is why you see older pages that get cached, but with visible previews that almost mimic Meta descriptions. With this in mind, here are some ways to avoid caching issues with WordPress for optimal Google PageSpeed results:

  • You can easily send messages to browsers that images can be cached for two weeks. This is only a suggestion and not the desired number of weeks per user.
  • If opting for two weeks, returning visitors will see the same images, but with faster loading times for sites and pages.
  • You can set time limits for caching of other sources as well: scripts, style sheets, CSS and other image types.
  • You can set up browser caching in the .htaccessfile or the W3 Total Cache plug-in.

Adding Codes

Adding codes directly to your .htaccess file can also enhance your browser caching experience. However, if you are not too familiar with file coding, it’s best to use the plug-ins to improve overall Google PageSpeed performance in WordPress. Simply access the WP File Manager, which governs the access to the files within your CMS platform. These are but some of the ways you can improve user experience with Google PageSpeed and WP. However, you need a seasoned and reputable SEO agency that can take care of all these WP particulars and metrics for you in a timely and expert manner.

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BacklinksMarketingSEOSERPSite Optimization

7 Risks of Not Tracking Your SEO Progress

by Duncan Kingori
written by Duncan Kingori

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is undoubtedly one of the most essential tools for any business in today’s competitive market. Whether you own a website, online store, blog or SEO marketing agency, having the right SEO strategy can help you meet your objectives and grow your business to the next level. Most importantly, the best SEO strategy will improve your business’s online visibility. SEO tracking sites like https://serpbook.com/blog/rank-trackers/ offer user-friendly SEO tools to monitor various SEO activities and performance automatically.

However, even with the right strategy, failing to track the success of your SEO efforts can lead to the misallocation of resources and loss of time and money as a result. Measuring your SEO progress is an important practice that helps you to identify the strengths and weakness of the strategy and plan on any necessary changes. Moreover, it is an excellent way for an SEO agency to prove the impact of their services to their clients, as well as recommend SEO improvements. Below we have compiled a list of seven risks of not tracking your SEO progress.

Risks of Failing to Measure SEO Progress

1.) Missing on Potential Opportunities in the Market

A good SEO tracking tool can help you identify what your target audient are looking for and help you exploit this demand to grow your business. Understanding what your potential customers are searching for will not only help you to optimize the right keywords but also develop your products to address these demands.

2.) Increase in Content Gap – Risk of losing Potential Buyers

Creating the right content for your audience is the foundation of any successful digital marketing campaign. To close the gaps in your content, you will require an informative SEO progress analysis to help, so that you can center your content creation focus on the most performing keywords. Additionally, a content gap report can enable you to offer a timely call to action, smoothen the customer’s purchase journey and retain your potential customers. This will enhance your authority in your niche, in turn, increase customers’ confidence, and trust in your brand and products.

3.) Inhibit Growth Potential for Your Business

In any business, the primary goal is always to grow, overcome competitors and make more profit. This growth process involves setting the right intentions, measuring the achievements, and focusing your resources on the right areas to achieve even more. Tracking the progress of your SEO tactics helps you to monitor the various aspect of your marketing campaign and to set realistic goals in line with your overall business objectives. Furthermore, it will guide your site improvement requirements and get past negative SEO results. Another benefit is that positive results will motivate you to focus on deeper audience needs.

Without SEO tracking, you could be losing your existing customers and chasing away prospects unknowingly.

4.) Confusion Between SEO Techniques

There are many SEO methods available today, but not all will work for you. The only way to better your SEO performance is to identify the best techniques for your SEO requirements through trial-and-error. Before you can settle on your ideal SEO technique, you need to monitor, analyze and compare the impact for each. This will help focus your time and energy on the most effective tactics to get better results and avoid wasting time on unproductive techniques.

5.) A Threat to Customer Experience and Satisfaction

Your SEO campaign aims at attracting and retaining qualified traffic to your website. This emphasizes the importance of optimizing your site for both the search engine, to help potential customers find your website easily and entice them to stay or come back for more. The ability of a website to attract and retain visitors depends on many SEO elements including loading speed, usability, quality of content and relevance among others. Only through monitoring and analysis of your SEO progress will you identify and rectify SEO issues that could compromise customers’ experience.

6.) Poor SEO Reporting

Whether you are a webmaster, an SEO consultant or digital marketer, you need to generate informative SEO reports to show the impact of your services, as well as guide SEO decisions. Lack of the right SEO data makes it hard to convince or advise your clients through such reports. Furthermore, if you cannot show your success, you risk losing your clients.

7.) Search Engine Penalties and Fines

Tracking your SEO progress will help you identify outdated methods that could attract penalties from Google. This will help you to adopt emerging techniques, keeping your site at the top of the SERPs for your keywords.

Conclusion

Measuring the progress of your SEO techniques helps you to gain full control over your SEO strategy. It helps you to maximize on the most effective practices, maintaining a higher rank on search engine results, as well as attack and retain relevant traffic to your site.

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