Search Engine Optimization Blog

The message is clear: consumers want to be heard. But is the message heard by whom it matters – the marketers?
With the proliferation of consumer reviews, blogs and social media channels like Facebook, consumers everywhere are voicing their opinions about companies – from the level of customer service given to the defective products they used [...]

Letting consumers know your business exists can be very tricky. You can advertise in local flyers, billboards, even local or national commercials, or you can go broader and cheaper by embracing the world of Internet marketing.
In this world, you can advertise via pay-per click campaigns and optimize your business website for the major search engines. [...]

Your website has been designed, you have enhanced the homepage and other pages for the proper keywords, all your images have “alt” tags and your breadcrumbs and navigation menus are organized and use understandable explanations. By all rights, you are ready to go live.
In the weeks after going live, you notice increased traffic but no [...]

An active search engine optimization plan can pull your company website to the first page of Google, drive traffic to your website, get social networks to notice you, and put your company’s name in the news. However, with time on your side, results come quicker.
Of course, time can not replace the need for an aggressive [...]

Many LinkedIn users do not realize that their blogs can be syndicated to their LinkedIn profile. In order for this to work, your website’s blog has to be based on WordPress or your blog will need to be hosted at WordPress.com.
Simply log in to your LinkedIn profile and select the LinkedIn WordPress Application. Select “Add [...]

Here is a topic that we recently discovered was still a problem… we hoped that such a practice was in the mid-90’s internet graveyard but its still a problem. Blending keyphrases into your website that are invisible to your readers is a technique that makes the Google Bot’s face red and will almost guarantee a [...]

We review of a lot of websites each week and it’s always surprising when we see URLs (website addresses) that are not SEO friendly. In 2008, Google released an official guide to search engine optimization covering the basics of what they want to see in a website. Pages 6 – 9 talk about URL structures, [...]

Google puts a strong emphasis on website quality – quality content, quality navigation, quality inbound links, quality outbound links, quality, quality, quality.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that your website being up and without returning “not found” errors is an important aspect of getting and achieving a high ranking.
As Google visits your website to [...]

The object of search engine optimization for most businesses is to reach local clientele who are in need of their product or services. It’s a pretty simple concept but getting ranked on the first page in many metro areas requires a lot of work. Google basically is looking for a short list of items.
1) Quality [...]

When we started this company over five years ago, content management systems were a thorn with which every search engine optimization specialist was constantly coming in contact. Their clunky feature lists and inability to customize individual titles made them a nightmare to deal with and generally resulted in futile optimization efforts.
How the times have changed. [...]

If you tuck away the contact form, you are requiring the visitor to make an extra step to contact your company. The average visitor to a website will visit 2.3 pages on your site. This number can be increased if you keep a blog actively updated. However, if the homepage is the first page, the [...]

A lot of shuffling is taking place in the Google algorithm right now. Last year, their modified algorithm named “Google Caffeine” was released for public testing. In the summer, we reviewed it and realized that they were changing for the better. In November, they announced that they would begin upgrading their data centers.
In the last [...]

We will admit, Twitter can be a little silly. The constant updating of barmy commentary can be a little maddening, and it’s not exactly the place you would think to plug in your business.
However, Twitter is also filled with real legitimate people. Where there are people, there is an audience and where there is an [...]

When looking at regional search engine optimization, it is important to identify your regional target. If you have a product or service that can be delivered nationwide, a general highly competitive keyphrase would be appropriate (for example, a windmill kit). However, if you are confined to a region, then you would want a keyphrase relevant [...]

Much of what the search engines judge you by is the information and keyphrases that appear at the top of the page. That is one thing that search engine bots and users have in common.
Therefore, it is important to establish what you do and where you are located at the top of the page starting [...]

Earlier in the summer, we did a podcast episode on Google Caffeine (http://www.adviatech.com/google-we-are-ready-for-some-caffeine/), the next generation of the Google core search engine. We were very excited and anxious for this technology to become the norm.
Just recently, Google announced that they would begin implementing the new technology in their datacenters. This is going to happen gradually [...]

For those of you who do not know what an H1, H2, or H3 tag is, basically it is the larger font toward the top of your website. It is important that this area of your site reflect your keyphrases and NOT your company name or a generic “Welcome to our website.”
To see an example, [...]

You should avoid “proprietary” content management systems. Content management systems are, in theory, easy-to-use, online website editors that allow website owners to easily make changes to their site by logging onto an online control panel.
Several marketing and web development companies have content management systems that are exclusive to their service. If things do not work [...]

Everybody online knows about the Google search engine for web searches, but do you know they also offer additional search engines? Google News displays news from media sources from around the world. Google Image Search displays relevant pictures. Google Shopping compares prices on items. And Google Blog Search, well, searches for blogs.
If you have a [...]

A big mistake that many businesses make with their website content is wording it as if they were introducing themselves at a business meeting. The stale, “We specialize in widgets and whatnots,” just does not work when you are trying to convert your web traffic to new business.
Your website’s content is important for search engines [...]

One of the oldest search engine optimization tools around is actually one of the few that is still effective. Sitemaps have been around as long as the Internet has been commercially available.
Basically, a standard sitemap is just a page that links to all of the pages on your website in a neatly categorized form. By [...]

Internet Explorer 6 is the thorn in the design and programming community that keeps getting sharper. In spite of its constant glitches, website design distortions and a series of other problems, nearly 15% of web surfers (according to w3.org) are still using Internet Explorer 6 (IE6).
The web browser was originally released in 2001, which means [...]

To get to the first page of Google and other search engines, you need links to your website. That is to say, you know other websites to link to yours without you linking back to them. By now, most people looking into search engine optimization have heard that.
What is the best way to do that? [...]

Content, content, content. The search engines want your website to provide valuable content and lots of it, but is it possible to have too much?
Having a website filled with useful content is a necessary part of search engine optimization. Providing information, links to valuable resources, and content relevant to your industry is a surefire way [...]

A major concern for many regionally focused website owners (such as attorneys) is limiting the traffic to fit their niche. For example, a divorce attorney that specializes in high profile cases can’t optimize his website for “high net worth divorce lawyer.” Such a term probably gets very little traffic.
The solution is optimizing wide and filtering [...]

Continuing with our series on the “Annoying Side of the Web,” this week’s topic is noise. Remember the early days of the Internet when you could embed background music? You would visit a website and a little ragtime tune would pop up.
It may have been neat at the time, but nowadays more visitors than not [...]

Over the next few weeks we are going to point out some irritating features found on certain websites. This week, it’s all about colors.
Do you know why black ink is still printed on white/off white paper even though colored printing is cheaply accessible? Because it’s easy to read. When you pick up a book, the [...]

Having a blog on your website is as much required as your phone number and contact information. An onsite blog will allow you to offer your visitors concise information related to your area of practice and it keeps your website growing with new pages of content on a regular basis.
The word blog is a contraction [...]

When laying out your search engine marketing plan, you should first decide whether you want to attract the whole world, the whole country or your neighborhood. Thinking too big at first may actually give you less traffic.
Just as an example, we will use a Florida divorce attorney who has offices all across the state. The [...]

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. With a name like Really Simple Syndication, the workings for a beginner can be anything but simple.
Most popular blog platforms will automatically generate RSS feeds. Blogs like Wordpress, Blogger and TypePad will create an RSS feed based on your blog entries. Then other blog owners can receive your RSS [...]

There is much talk on the web about black hat search engine optimization, white hat search engine optimization, and even gray hat for the SEO companies that like to work in the middle. But what is ethical and unethical? They’re just search engines, right?
Basically, ethical practices are determined by the search engines. “Black hat” SEO [...]

There are a lot of phony services out there that promise to do useless things for the optimization of your website. The most popular is the submission of your website to thousands of search engines.
However, there are not really thousands of search engines, just 5: Google, Yahoo, Cuil, Ask, and Bing (formerly Live.com which [...]

Natural search engine optimization is the process in which your website gets ranked in the center listings, based on the merits of the site. Both quality and quantity come into play with content and the number of links to your website. Over 70% of search traffic goes to the natural listings so why wouldn’t you [...]

Twitter. Mention Twitter at a cocktail party and you will simultaneously hear roars of love and hate. But is it really any good for your business?
It can be. As a business, you can use Twitter as a 140 character newsletter. Is something exciting happening? Send it out on Twitter. Something new is coming out? Send [...]

A month ago, SEOLawFirm.com’s parent company, Adviatech Beta, launched a business social network called Adviatech Connect.
The application was customized to make it search engine friendly by allowing members to post blog entries, marketing literature, and connect with other businesses. Most importantly, we allow hyperlinking keyphrases.
Whenever you post a blog entry in Adviatech Connect and a [...]

One of the easiest ways to get on the fast track of search engine marketing success is to talk to someone who has been there. Of course you can contact Adviatech at 1.800.728.5306 or visit us at http://www.adviatech.com. You can also visit our favorite online resource, SEOMoz.
SEOMoz.org offers a handful of useful tutorials related to [...]

If you don’t have time to read about search engine optimization, you may consider subscribing to some search engine marketing related podcasts.
Podcasts are generally between 5 and 15 minutes except for more widely distributed ones like those produced by NPR, which are generally half hour shows. You can download iTunes and search through their directory [...]

Just as it helps to monitor your credit, it also helps to monitor your search engine credit. Google assigns a quality number to each website called Google Pagerank.
Your Pagerank number goes from 0 – being a new website or worthless website – to 10 being the absolute best. To give [...]

When writing your website content, it’s important not only to have a lot of text but also have useful, interesting text. If you have pages and pages of boring literature, nobody will read it or want to link to it.
If your company has multiple employees or departments that specialize in various fields, you should have [...]

A hosting provider is an important part of your search engine marketing. I’m reminded of a client of ours from several years ago. Their ecommerce website was ranked number 2 on the first page of Google for their main keyphrase, clearly a successful search engine optimization campaign. But, they were hosting their website with a [...]

When seeking a search engine optimization company, some businesses have unrealistic expectations. Often times, we receive requests like, “I want to be number one on everything!”
The truth is, the majority of the internet’s search traffic doesn’t come from “everywhere,” it comes from Google. A much smaller portion comes from Yahoo, and an ignorable portion comes [...]

Your regional focus is an important element of your search engine marketing. At first you may want to focus on a large area that you can fully service, or a small suburban area that isolates your company from a larger market.
If your service is regional (legal, medical, financial, etc), then focus on your closest metro [...]

Google PageRank is the algorithm that makes Google what it is. Your website’s PageRank number is a quality stamp from Google. A PageRank of 1 means your website is either new, not linked to by third party websites, or of minimal quality. A PageRank of 7 to 10 means you are probably a web giant [...]

(Part II of “Twitter Me This”)
Last week, we talked about the basics of Twitter. If you missed it, here is a quick recap.
Twitter combines the publicity of a blog with the simplicity of text messages. You’re rather limited with 140 characters per post. Everyone from doctors to senators to gossiping teenagers use Twitter. They use [...]

We will write a more detailed article about Twitter in the future; but for now, we’ll answer some frequently asked questions about Twitter.
1) What is Twitter? – Essentially, Twitter takes the simplicity of a short text message and combines it with the public access of a blog. So, you can update your “Twitter blog” with 140 [...]

Some companies come to us with websites that have quality, insightful content, and pages of valuable information. However, the search engines are not ranking them favorably and the traffic they are getting does not convert to contact requests or new cases.
Often times, the problem lies in the design. Clean, professional design instills confidence in the [...]

Many times we get new clients who are already ranked on the first page of Google and other search engines, but are not getting new business. Why is that? It’s because the search engine marketing company prior to our company did not research the keyphrases.
Being on the first page for popular keyphrases is much more [...]

A simple search engine marketing technique to keep your visitors coming back is actually a free cut-and-paste program. Social bookmarks and favorite places allow web surfers to save the websites they have visited (like yours) in a folder to easily retrieve the websites at a later date.
With so many social networks and social bookmarking profiles [...]

Recently we experienced a situation with one of our clients. During their first year of search engine marketing through our search engine optimization services, the client was on the first page of Google for their two highly competitive keyphrases. Then, when Google updated their systems in 2008, the website fell off the search results map.
They [...]

Search engine marketing doesn’t take effect overnight and it’s a good thing it doesn’t. If your website ranking could leap to the first page overnight, then all of your competitors could also do the same and there would be no stability in search rankings.
The fact that search engine optimization is a progressive process means once [...]

Two absolutes for any search engine marketing plan are statistics and website reporting. Without analyzing your website’s performance, you could be missing important information, such as traffic sources and conversion statistics.
If your website is getting a lot of traffic, then your search engine marketing and search engine optimization plan are working effectively. However, if that [...]

Search engine optimization, search engine marketing, all of these work together to make sure that your website is found by your target market. But what happens if you are found, but not trusted?
It is the job of your search engine marketing specialist to not only get you to the top of the search engines, but [...]

Search engine optimization is all about relevancy and popularity. If you have a website that covers multiple services and products, your relevance will be more difficult to achieve since there isn’t a small set of keyphrases for which your website is relevant.
The best remedy to this problem is to target the most profitable parts of [...]

You know that room in your house that doesn’t have carpet? The muscle car in the garage that will never be a hotrod? Or the patch of dirt and weeds in your backyard that was supposed to be a garden?
Taking on your own search engine optimization will probably yield the same results.
By now, most people [...]

To stay up on the competition, I often review other search engine marketing companies to see what Adviatech is going up against. While some search engine optimization companies have plans and services that contain all the elements that make up a higher Google ranking, still lurking around are the cheap services that offer no value [...]

Perhaps the most overlooked search engine optimization technique is a little patience. The process of search engine optimization and search engine marketing is a progressive one. While Google has gotten a little better about quickly indexing your website’s changes, it’s the links that take a while to add up.
Link building is crucial to the success [...]

It is always difficult to maintain your routine blogging throughout the holidays but now, its time to let go of the champagne and dessert and get back to blogging.
Blogging, be it on your web site, social networks, or third party providers (blogger.com, wordpress.com, etc) is a great way to position yourself as an authority in [...]

While meta tags never really went away, their importance has dwindled over time with search engines indexing entire page content rather than relying on meta data.
Having a properly formatted meta tag will help your search engine optimization. The key is relevance without ridiculous repetition. For example, a meta description should describe your business in two [...]

If you are using a template or stock design to represent your business, you may not only be doing your brand and image a disservice but also you could be hindering your search engine optimization efforts.
Does the Google Bot have eyes?
Well, not exactly but close. While the Google Bot may not look at poor color [...]

As tech firm’s research and development budgets get reduced due to consumer spending decreasing, we can probably expect fewer technological advances in the near future when dealing with hardware, phones, televisions, and gadgetry.
However, I believe that companies are going to create online technology this year which is cheaper to develop and offers greater profitability.
Even with [...]

It’s that time of year again. The closing of a year past, the beginning of a new one, and the time of year when many companies start thinking about next year’s marketing strategies.
If your company is planning to harness the power of the Internet for 2009, you need to contact a search engine optimization company [...]

Each week, we talk about the various elements that will make your law firm’s web site rank higher in search engines. Google having the highest standards is of course, the search engine we based our practices and policies around. But to truly understand search engine optimization requires an inside look at what Google really wants.
Search [...]

The internet offers a great variety of marketing opportunities that fit into a small businesses budget. However, some of those such as pay per click, may not be suitable during tough economic conditions.
By now, most people probably are getting tired of hearing “times are tough”. A line that was overplayed by every running public official [...]

When encouraging businesses, insurance agents, insurance companies, law firms, and sole practicing attorneys to move forward with a search engine optimization project, the one question that always comes up is “how long is it going to take?”
Search engine optimization is a progressive process which means your ranking will gradually increase over time.
So here is something [...]

Traffic is just one part of search engine optimization. In most cases, its not the traffic that makes SEO worth the money, it’s the new business. New business from web traffic is all about conversion.
If you walk into a store that is dirty and has disorganized shelves and an overall unpleasant environment, is it likely [...]

The first response from a search engine optimization specialists when reading a title like that may be “whaaaaaat?”. It turns out, that Flash has a place in this world and you can use it properly without taking a ranking dive.
First, let us explore why flash is generally frowned upon in the search engine optimization community. [...]

Why do “innovators” insist on fixing things that are not broken by launching inferior products? How Cuil, Accoona, and others mock themselves.
It was a big deal, a group of Google expats raise thirty million dollars to stick a group of servers together and suddenly call themselves a search engine. In earlier news releases, Cuil even [...]

It often feels like there are two different types of online companies, designers and marketers. But they should work as one since web design is search engine optimization’s close cousin.
The Creatives verses SEO war has been going on for years. One side says “make it pretty”, the other side says “make it wordy”. Funny enough, [...]

If your firm is considering a guaranteed search engine optimization based marketing strategy, the question may come up, how long will it take to see results? This is a good question and certainly one worthy of discussion.

Search engine optimization means increasing the keyphrase density and relevance of your web site’s textual content and building inbound [...]

At first, you may think targeting bigger zones may bring in more business. However, aiming for a target bigger than your company, may simply add headaches.

If you are a bankruptcy lawyer in Raleigh North Carolina, you do not want to optimize for the term “North Carolina Bankruptcy Lawyer” unless you have satellite offices all [...]

If you do business online, does that really make you an internet company?

The market is changing and the internet is finding its way into every aspect of our life. In fact, many trade publications agree that by the year 2012, internet accessibility will be about as common and depended on as cellular phone connections. Little [...]

Search engine optimization on Ecommerce related web sites can be a little different than static web sites. However, other opportunities exist for shopping cart web sites.

Search engine optimization companies often see e-commerce (shopping cart) web sites as an obstacle to their search engine optimization platform. Shopping carts are generally template based and most content is [...]

Sometimes, a fresh look for your web site could mean new obstacles for your search engine optimization company. Here are some things to do and avoid.

As times change, designs need to change to keep your brand fresh and your company image modern. However, your web sites new look can cause trouble for your search engine [...]

Choosing a search engine optimization company can be tiring. Here are a few tips to help insure that you are getting the best SEO specialist for the money.

Your web site is up, functional, and looks good. You stare at it with much satisfaction until you look at the stats. Suddenly it occurs to you…you need [...]

Flash search engine optimization is certainly not as easy as optimizing static HTML web sites but is Flash really the end of the road with your search engine optimization effort?

Search engine optimization is all about relevant content, fresh content, and relevant web sites linking to you. So, what is content? When it comes to search [...]

Blog entries on your onsite blog keeps your visitors informed on basic related information, company news, and industry news.

Blogs are unique in that they can be used as promotional machines and informational sources. You should submit a blog entry at least once every three days to keep the information fresh so that your users will [...]

A great way to get your products out there on the web is by using such services as Google Products (formerly Froogle), Shopping.com, Shopzilla/Bizrate, and Yahoo Shopping.

All but Google Products (Froogle) are pay per click based but you’re only charged when someone clicks on your product from their web site to your shopping cart. Click [...]

If you’re just beginning to look into search engine optimization, online marketing, pay per click advertising, interactive media, and other forms of internet based marketing, you might have come across the terms “Pay Per Click” or “Cost Per Click”.

On Google, Yahoo, and most search engines, you will see two sets of search results when doing [...]

You might be confused by the different uses of the terms “search engine marketing” and “search engine optimization.” Search engine marketing is an all inclusive term regarding all things related to marketing your web site/business using search engines. For example, if you are registering your web site and business with Google Local and spending money [...]

A press release written for online submission needs to be a little different than what you would submit to print media sources. Your keywords and keyphrases need to be plainly stated in the title of your press release as well as the body.

For example, when Adviatech creates a press release, we do not create a [...]

Often times we are asked by our clients why their page one ranking on Google fluctuates from a rank 3 to rank 5 to rank 2 depending on the day and computer used for the search.

In an effort to only show the most relevant search results, Google will sometimes rank web sites higher or lower [...]

If you’re an Adwords advertiser, you might not understand the difference between advertising on the Google search network and advertising on the content network.

The search network is made up of Google, AOL, and a variety of other search engines that use Google as their search engine solution. Your ads are only displayed when someone does [...]

The value of quality link partnerships cannot be overemphasized. While you, of course, must have quality content, relevant content, fresh content, and a search engine friendly web site, the next step is link population. Link population is the process of getting other relevant web sites to link to your web site. These are also referred [...]

Inbound links to your web site are a necessary part of search engine optimization. In fact, it is what makes the difference in your optimized web site being ranked on the 10th page or 1st. However, it is still a misunderstood part of search engine optimization and many SEO companies give mixed signals.

Google expresses that [...]

Press releases are great ways to not only increase your link population but your overall brand awareness as well. Many newswires like PrWeb, PR.com, etc, have a huge number of inbound links so naturally, your press release hosted on their web site has a greater chance of being ranked on the first page than your [...]

On Site Blog’s are great ways to add fresh content to your web site and increase your inbound link population. Unlike articles, blog entries can consist of one or two paragraphs and be brief and to the point.

The frequency of blog entry submissions should be at least four times a month. As many Adviatech clients [...]

Sitemaps are great ways to help the search engines find all of the content within your web site. To create a sitemap, simply open up a web editor or have your webmaster make a simple HTML page which links to every page on your web site.

Then, link the HTML page to your homepage. This will [...]

It surprises me how many search engine optimization companies still use meta tags in their marketing ploys. In the early days of the internet, search engines relied on web site owners placing accurate keywords and descriptions in meta tags to determine where to place the web site in their index.

However, today, search engines download the [...]

User Upload video web sites are fun to visit to see the strange, funny, and often times stupid aspects of people’s lives. But they also can play a valuable role in your online marketing strategy.

The Mentos and Diet Coke trick, a car accident, a talking cigar smoking cat, these are what make user video web [...]

As you make changes to your web site, its important to make sure your menu’s are updated as well. Otherwise, you might have dead links. A dead link is a link to a page within your web site that does not work. More than likely, it doesn’t work because of a misspelling or you have [...]

In past blog entries, we have stressed the importance of a good, content rich, web site when optimizing for the first page of Google. However, more often overlooked is the items currently on your web site that are damaging your ranking.

Google must see textual content. Often times, web sites are made in Flash or have [...]

An often overlooked element of search engine optimization is the use of statistical data. Statistics is how you can measure the success of your search engine optimization effort. The most comprehensive statistics package available for free is Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics/).

Google Analytics will help you see where your traffic is coming from and it will also [...]

What most people do not understand is that search engine optimization is simply a science. The search engines have certain criteria they look for in a web site to determine its ranking. If your web site meets that criteria, then you achieve a page one ranking.

It fascinates all of us here at Adviatech when we [...]

Web design is search engine optimization’s close cousin. The design of your web site is almost as important as the content within it. One of the biggest mistakes made by web designers is the use of flash buttons, java buttons, and other buttons other than textual links.

Search engines need links to easily access all of [...]

Can a reputable search engine optimization company really guarantee first page placement? The answer is yes.
As I talked with a prospect on the phone, the basic search engine optimization questions arose. How do we build links? How do we optimize content? These are standard questions, which I’m more than prepared to answer. But when I [...]

Have you ever walked into a little grocery store that carries just the items you are looking for but the floor is dirty, the shelves are disorganized, and the overall atmosphere is scattered? If your web site doesn’t have a clean design and simple navigation, you are representing your business in a similar manner.

When someone [...]