SEO benefits may be something you have heard a lot about if you’re a business owner, but do you really know and understand what they are?
Not to worry, our SEO benefits breakdown will help you understand the basics.
What is SEO?
SEO or Search engine optimization is a set of rules that a website or blog owner can follow to optimize their website for search engines and, as a result, improve their search engine rankings.
Have you wondered how some websites rank higher than others in search engine results such as Google, Bing or Yahoo?
The answer is SEO efforts.
The SEO world is ever changing and often impacted by a number of factors such as algorithm updates by the search engines. Google is frequently updating their SEO algorithm to ensure that the search results on their platform best meet the needs of the users.
Google’s goal is to make sure they place the best results at the top of the page because they want the users, like you, to have the best experience using their product, much like you want your customers to have the best experience using your products or receiving the services you provide.
So what are the SEO benefits and how can they help you increase your sales?
SEO benefits
- Put you ahead of your competition.
- Search engine optimized websites rank higher than those that are not optimized, even if you and your competitor provide the same service, the SEO content will rank better.
- Most search engine users choose one of the suggestions on the first results page, so being there will increase visits to your website and sales.
- User experience and usability are improved with good SEO practices and help your visitors have a good overall experience on your website.
- Search engines are a trusted source for users to generate the best results for their search. Ranking well confirms to your customers that you are a trusted source as well.
Understanding the SEO benefits and how they can impact your business is only the first step in helping you increase the traffic to your website as well as sales.
How can you help your website or blog rank well in search engine results?
There are a number of ways to achieve this. Most business owners often outsource SEO services to a marketing company that they trust such as our company, Longevity Graphics.
While outsourcing is a great decision for some businesses, in some cases there are other options that are better suited. SEO training by Longevity Graphics is a great investment for those companies or business owners that would like to complete the SEO on their own. A crucial investment, in this case, is ensuring that proper SEO training is received for best results. If implemented incorrectly, the efforts can have the opposite effect and hinder your rankings.
Longevity Graphics SEO training is the best local SEO training in Vancouver. It teaches business owners like you how to generate more leads and increase sales from your website.
We have worked with business owners like you for over 15 years helping them rank at the top of the search engine results page for their keywords. When it comes to SEO, we have learned what works and are excited to share our strategies with business owners like you.
Learn from our local SEO experts how to get your website ranked on the first page for your keywords, helping you increase sales.
Learn more about the training or sign up now. Our first class starting February 1st has been sold out. Don’t miss your chance to increase sales and generate more leads for your business, sign up for our March 2016 class.
Responsive Design – What is it?
Responsive design is having a website that is coded so you don’t have separate mobile, tablet, and PC versions of your site: the site adapts to whatever size screen it’s being displayed on. With a responsive web design, visitors will get all the content they want, in a format they can read. If you don’t have a mobile site at all, 61% of visitors will return to Google to find a site that is easily readable.
Moving forward, it will be extremely critical that your website provides mobile users an easy-to-use experience as this directly impacts the growth of your business. Despite the impressive points shown below, many businesses still do not yet have responsive friendly websites or communications. Here’s why we think you should upgrade to responsive today:
1) Mobile usage is booming.
• Over 20% of Google searches are performed on a mobile device.
• The average amount of time spent on mobile / tablets is about 3 hours a day.
• Almost 60% of all website traffic is from mobile devices
• 25.85% of all emails are opened on mobile phones, and 10.16% are opened on tablets.
• 80% of internet users own a smart phone.
2) Higher conversion rates & happy visitors.
A well structured and user-friendly responsive website will drive more sales and also make it easier for visitors to find / share information. Responsive design helps modern websites appeal to modern users. According to a calculated figure, 5.1 out of the 6.8 billion-world population are smart phone users. If a user lands on your website and is confused or doesn’t see what they are looking for, there’s a 61% chance they will leave immediately and go to another website (most likely a competitor). It’s also said that if they have a positive experience with your mobile website, a user is 67% more likely to buy a product or use a service.
Mobile users that find your business online have a conversion percentage nearly three times higher than the same search done on a desktop or laptop. Why? Mobile users are on the go. They grab their device and have a specific intent in mind. Mobile searchers are buyers, assuming you can meet their needs. With 80% of consumers regularly using their smartphones to shop online – this isn’t something you want to miss out on.
3) Search engine optimization.
Responsive development is Google’s recommended approach for mobile web design. Responsive websites will perform better in search rankings because they provide a better user experience than sites that are not mobile friendly.
Going responsive makes it easy for search engine robots to crawl and index your website, ensuring that your page rankings are as high as possible. If you’re sharing links (especially through social media) to your website and it’s responsive you will experience improved brand perception, less bounce rates and boosted website conversions. If you don’t have a
responsive website, not only will you have a lot of frustrated visitors but Google will interpret the high bounce rate as a sign your website isn’t offering relevant content, which is likely to drop your rankings. Mobile phones have a separate Google search algorithm than desktop searches too; so you will want your rankings high for both desktop and mobile searches. Most people do their browsing on mobile and complete their transactions on desktop, so the marriage of the two and having a responsive friendly site is important for complete conversions.
Are you ready!?!
As you can see responsive web design plays an integral role in the level of success of your business and search rankings. Switching over to responsive web design will be a big challenge, but it will prepare you for the future and put you a step ahead of your competitors.
If you are looking for an expert in Responsive Website Design then collaborating with Longevity Graphics is the right choice for your business. Contact us today to get a no obligation quote for your next responsive web, SEO or marketing project.
Looking for things to do in Vancouver on Good Friday and Easter weekend.
Easter Egg Hunts and Family Activities:
Easter Egg Hunts
Easter in Vancouver: Things to Do on Easter
Easter Train
Easter weekend: what’s open and closed
The Good Friday Concert
Church Services
You open a new browser window and you type in the search bar for widgets. You get back 500 pages containing 67483 results. Feeling overwhelmed, you begin scanning through the first page of results. Everything look the same, until you see a result with a picture and a name to the right. You take notice because none of the other results have this. It wasn’t the top listing but you click on it anyway. The listing just got a click that might not have happened if the author of that particular link wasn’t using Google Authorship on their site.
Google Authorship is a powerful tool for recognition within Google’s search results. It provides a fantastic way to stand out from your competition in the crowded search results page. If you contribute writing online, setting up Google Authorship should definitely be done. It doesn’t take long to setup. The benefits are well worth the time investment.
Before you setup Google Authorship you must first have a few things in place.
First, you will need to make sure you have a Google+ account setup. Google automatically sets up a Google+ account when you register a new Google account. Or if you already have a gmail or YouTube account and have used it recently, chances are Google has already created a Google+ account for you. The second item you will need is at least one website/blog that you contribute to.
Step 1- Setting Up Authorship With Google+
Log into your Google+ account and go to your Profile. Under the About page you will see a Contributor to section.
Do not get this confused with Other Profiles or Links. These are separate and serve different functions. To add the website/blog that you contribute to, click on the Edit button at the bottom of the section . Within the editing mode, click on Add Custom Link in the Contributor to section. You should link to the main Blog section of the website. Click on Save when done adding the link.
Next, you will have to verified your Google+ email address in order for Google to recognize and associate you with your content.
Google provides a page to automate the verification process, however, to do it this way you are required to provide an email address with the same domain as the one being claimed. If you are using a gmail account or another email address you can verify it within your Google+ profile by clicking on the Verify link next the email address. After you click on the link, Google will send you a verification email. You will have to click on the Verify link in the email to complete the verification process. If you do not see the email come in within a few minutes, check the junk or spam folder in your email program.
Once the account has been verified, make sure you have uploaded a clear and professional looking photo of yourself. We recommend using a colour photo with a bright background. With authorship being used more often, you want to make sure your photo stands out. To upload a photo, click on the circle image on the left within the page Cover. You can either upload a new photo or choose one in one of your albums.
Step 2 – Setting up WordPress For Authorship
Depending on what version of WordPress is installed there are a few ways to set up Authorship. Until relatively recently, WordPress required manual setup. In recent updates they have simplified the process. To help simplify the process, it is recommended to install Yoast SEO, a SEO plugin that helps with adding meta data to pages and posts on a WordPress site. You can install the plugin if you have administrator privileges. To do this, first log into WordPress, click on the Plugin link from the Dashboard. Click on ADD NEW PLUGIN and search for Yoast SEO. Click on the install button. If you do not have permission to install plugins then contact the websites admin for assistance.
Once the plugin has been installed, from the dashboard click on USERS and then YOUR PROFILE. Scroll down towards the bottom and until you see where you can enter your Google+ account. Enter your Google+ profile here. You can get the link from the address bar on your Google+ page. It should look something like this. https://plus.google.com/103294418624820015984/
This lets Google know that you are the author of the content and will associate your profile with it. Also, be sure that the name you are using in WordPress is matches exactly with the one in your Google+ page. Google is very picky about this. If the name does not match, Google may choose not to display your Author information.
In older versions of WordPress, you can accomplished this by inserting a link to your Google+ profile with in the user Biographical Info section.Write a description about yourself and include By <a href=”https://plus.google.com/103294418624820015984/” rel=”author”>Your Google+ Profile Name</a>
If you do own the site and you are the only one contributing to the site, you can add a similar code to the HTML header.
To make all this come together, write a blog post like you normally would. Make sure the blog has you include as the author. Publish the post.
Karen, Website Developer
One on One with Karen, Expert Developer and part time dodgeball Ninja
Karen is the newest addition to the Longevity Graphics team. She has a wealth of experience in web design and we are truly excited to have her with us.
Karen excels at online design and building websites in WordPress by day, while tearing it up in the local dodgeball league at night.
Below is a short interview I had with Karen this morning
Ben: Hi Karen, welcome to the team! What are you working on right now?
Karen: Hi Ben, thanks a lot! I’m just working on a mobile site for one of our clients. It’s coming along great.
Ben: That’s awesome, I was wondering if you could tell our readers about yourself? Could you start with your previous experience?
Karen: For sure, I’ve been doing web development for a long time. I’ve worked for agencies and done freelance work as well.
My favorite job before coming here was working as the information and technology leader for the Coquitlam Dodgeball League. I actually still do a bit of work for the organization, I’m really passionate about the sport so it’s kind of fun to work on.
Ben: What you do at Longevity Graphics?
Karen: I’m the designated web designer for the company. If the company is contracted to build a website, chances are I’ll be working on it.
Ben: What are you best at within web design?
Karen: I am especially good at making WordPress sites. I’ve made dozens and dozens of them.
The best part about making websites is that you are given something with structure, so you know it will turn out well, but at the same time you have creative control to work around the base and be creative. I like making every website a little bit differently and that’s what keeps things interesting.
Ben: Tell us about your education
Karen: Well, I went to BCIT on and off for about six years in total. I kept going back to upgrade courses and learn the latest technical applications of web design. It’s really important to me to be on top of all of the recent technological updates so that I can make sure that the quality of my work is top notch.
Ben: I heard you are pretty good at dodgeball, is this true?
Karen:I’m actually considered to be one of the fastest throwing females in both the Vancouver and the Coquitlam dodgeball leagues, you might even say I’m in the top 2-3% of female players.
Ben: Wow, could you tell us more?
Karen: Yeah, it’s pretty intense because it’s co-ed, so I play with a lot of guys as well.
I am one of the fastest throwing females in the Coquitlam dodgeball league. I play three nights a week in the A tier category- That’s the highest level.
Ben: That’s pretty amazing!
Thanks for doing this interview Karen, I’ll let you get back to that site!
Today searches via mobile device are increases, and experts are declaring that mobile searchers will continue to increase going forward. 1 in 3 Google searches are now mobile. Mobile SEO is more important than every now.
I am sure at some point you have done a search for something on your mobile device and come to a website that is impossible to navigate. You cant’ find the information that you are looking for, and the website is impossible to read because the text size is so small. I know I have. It is so frustrating!
Having a custom built mobile website, or even a responsive website, that makes your website mobile friendly will help to improve the user experience and even your placement in search engine results pages (SERPs) on mobile devices.
Here are my top 5 mobile SEO strategies that will help you increase your mobile traffic and improve mobile user experience.
Top 5 Mobile SEO Strategies
1. Custom Mobile Website or Mobile Friendly Website
The first step in mobile SEO is having a mobile version of your website! This is very important these days. This will not only increase your chances for ranking higher organically within the search result pages (like Google); it will also improve the user experience.
There is a big debate in the online marketing world about which is better, custom mobile website or responsive. I personally find that custom mobile websites are generally easier to navigate therefore leading to a better user experience. Having a better user experience will always generate higher conversions.
That being said, having a responsive website is not a bad thing. It is definitely better than having a non-mobile version of your website, and if setup well, it can still generate a good user experience. Either will help you increase your chances of out ranking your competitors, without a mobile site, within the SERPs.
2. Understand Mobile-User Intent
Adapt your mobile website based on mobile search. Mobile searchers are unique for the information that they are looking for. Users have different reasons for searching for information via mobile devices. It is important that you understand the user intent so that you can provide the appropriate information.
According to Google, 69 percent of mobile users expect businesses to be within 5 kms of their location, and 55 percent of mobile users want to purchase within the hour. Keeping this is mind, providing location information, hours of operation, and contact information are key to increasing your conversions.
3. Easy to use navigation and buttons
Having a standard navigation on a mobile device makes the website almost impossible to navigate. Mobile websites should be easy to navigate. Building a custom navigation for mobile devices is a must.
Adding click to call and click to email buttons are also incredibly import. It is important for users to be able to contact you easily. Don’t bury important contact information on a contact page that the users needs to navigate to . I recommend setting this information at the bottom of the site that is nested on top of the rest of the information and is always available. This will help to increase the amount of leads you generate from the mobile site.
4. Incorporate Clean Design With a Focus on Usability
Design your mobile site so that your users can move quickly and freely throughout the interface. This is important to the effectiveness of your websites usability. Mobile device screens are quite small in comparison to a desktop or tablet. If too much information is included on the page, it can be overwhelming and busy.
This can lead to a poor user experience and users will bounce from your site to a mobile site that is easier to use. Having a clean design with pertinent information will help to increase the user experience resulting in more conversions. Lots of white space will help to focus on the main goals and direct your users to the information that they are looking for.
5. Speed Up Slow Loading Mobile Pages
Page load speeds can have a significant impact on mobile SEO, mobile user-experience and conversions. Because page load speed is crucial to creating a positive mobile user-experience, it is essential to a successful mobile SEO strategy. You can test your mobile load time via Google webmaster tools speed test.
In conclusion, if you don’t already have a mobile version of your website, I would highly recommend that you look into implementing this sooner than later. Your users expect it! Don’t let your competitors win your customers over because your mobile site isn’t cutting it. Get ahead of your competitors, in mobile search rankings and user experience.
Some of our clients have been wondering how to write a Google review on a business page. Reviews have become increasingly important with Google’s new updates, and knowing how to leave a positive review on google for your friend could be the difference between them ranking on their places page, and being buried below their competition.
As many as five reviews can often put a company’s places page on the first page of Google- check out this article and practice your new skill on Longevity Graphics! (ha ha ha)
How to write a Google review:
Step 1. Search for the company on Google Maps. To do this: -Search the company’s name on Google.
Select the “maps” tab from above the search box.
Other buttons on the tab include “Web”, “Images”, and potentially others depending on your configurations. There is also a button in the same bar called “more”. If “maps” is not right next to “images”, click “more”, and it will be there.
Step 2. Once you have successfully searched for the company on “maps”, find the business in the results and click on it.
Step 3. A speech bubble will pop up over the business location on the map.
Next to the title of the business will be a button that says “more info”. Click this!
Step 4. Once you are on the “more info” page, there will be a button on the right hand side of the page below the map that says, “Write a review”. Click this!
Step 5. Give the business a rating out of 5 stars on the pop up window that will fill the center of your browser, and then write your review.
Step 6. Click publish!
You can edit your review after by clicking the “edit your review” button.
This button will be exactly where the option of “write your review” previously was. Let me know if you need any clarifications on this!
If you were wondering how to write a Google review, hopefully this tutorial has been of use to you. It is a full breakdown of how to write a Google review for beginners, but it is also an asset for experienced internet users as well.
Google reviews, along with social media, keyboarding, text wrapping, and other social media strategies, are an extremely important part of any campaign. Now go out there and be opinionated!
We Are Hiring a Web Developer – Grow With Us
Who You Are
Are you a web developer with three years experience or more?
Are you tired of fighting traffic and the long commute to Vancouver?
Does your current job not provide you with opportunities to grow your skills?
Do you enjoy working collaboratively with a tight-knit team?
Do you value providing exceptional customer service and personal attention to clients?
If you answered yes to the above questions, you might be a good fit for this position.
Who We Are
We are a growing web design and internet marketing firm located in Port Coquitlam. Our clients are hardworking people who make an honest living working in the service industries. We use white-hat SEO and ethical marketing strategies to help our clients grow their businesses.
We are currently looking for a web developer. We value real-time, face-to-face interaction between team members to create a more intimate, team-oriented work environment. Subcontractors will not be considered and telecommuting is not an option.
This is a full-time position with benefits.
Responsibilities will include:
– Updating customer’s existing websites via wordpress as well as hand built html and php websites
– Developing new websites from scratch and using various CMSs
– Optimizing HTML elements of websites
CSS, HTML, PHP and wordpress experience required
This is an excellent opportunity to grow with our company. Please send your resume to [email protected].
The Landscape of SEO and Online Marketing in 2013
An introduction:
Right now online marketing is changing more rapidly than ever. Nearly one half of the human population now has the ability to “get online”, and the process in which individuals evaluate and consume information is developing with the changes. These differences in content consumption bring opportunities to those who stay vigilant and are aware of the new possibilities that come with evolution.
Purpose:
This blog will outline our projections for what where we believe trends are headed, and what this means for business owners who are interested in marketing their content. One must have a solid grasp of upcoming trends to create a content marketing strategy for their business. This article is going to outline four major trends that are going to take place in the online marketing industry this year.
1. The Internet is Only Becoming More Competitive.
Previously, regularly posting relevant, one of a kind content was a great standalone strategy. While this is still important, this kind of content marketing is not nearly sufficient. Giant media publishers like the Huffington Post churn out over 1,000 articles per day and keeping up with these content creating monsters simply isn’t a feasible business strategy. So, how do we solve this issue? Sites must devise what is called a content strategy. To develop this, you must understand what exactly your company does best, and the ways in which it offers the most value. You must find your niche, so to speak. For example, Longevity Graphics is a Vancouver SEO company, and we stay within the bubbly of online marketing when marketing our content. Specifically, SEO is the product that we sell, and that is why we often write about it.
2.Picking Your Battles
Why Focusing Your Marketing Efforts is Important
When running a content marketing campaign, the first thing to figure out, is what exactly are the goals of the website? Do you need more clicks, more retained visitors, or are you trying to convert buyers via a landing page? Having clear priorities is very important, because you need to understand what you are trying to accomplish.
Once you have clear goals, you can optimize your online strategy to meet them, and ultimately actualize your business. For instance, if the goal of the website is to have people buy a product, sign up for a service, or book a consultation, you must organize the site so that it encourages the user to convert and take the behavioral path which you are attempting to lead them down.
3.The importance of content integration
How to Plan Your SEO Strategies and Online Marketing in 2014
In recent years, content marketing became one of the most important things that companies can use to promote their products. However, it can be difficult to know how to integrate your strategies with other marketing programs. It’s important to have a good approach and a solid plan to integrate new tactics and strategies; setting a budget for your content marketing is often a good idea.
The benefits of integrating your content across multiple channels will be considerable in the long term. Everyone talks about integration, but only a few people really understand how it works. This is one of the reasons you need to have people that can communicate the message you want to send in a clear and concise manner. Researches have shown that most of the people use the Internet and new technology to visit online stores and find the best deals for the things they want to purchase. But, while people browse on the Internet, the majority of these people still prefer to go into a supermarket, retail store or a in person shop to buy things.
The interesting thing is that the study is referring to the newest generation, also known as “millennials”. The study reveals that people are still responding to “in-person” marketing, showing the true importance of content integration. While digital tactics are easier, require less effort, and can be done at lower costs, personal interaction is still considered the tool that people respond best.
Companies are losing revenue if they fail to connect with their costumers on a “personal” level. Using Social Media tools, visual tactics and in-person events all together is the best strategy for small and large companies, consumer or non-consumer retail stores, in the same time. Therefore, a good connection between online, mobile and “in-person” marketing is the best way, and the most effective strategy marketers need to focus their resources on.
4.New technologies provide new channels for marketing
How to Keep Up with Your Online Marketing and SEO in 2014
If we follow how technology has evolved over the years, we realize that one’s marketing strategy must change and improve according to the new trends. We can’t ignore the value and benefits that new technologies bring to marketing. Today, in 2013, more than half of our online devices are tablets and smartphones, meaning more and more people are using new technology to accomplish daily tasks of their lives like: shopping, learning, traveling, and basically everything.
Marketers need to keep up and adapt to the new technology. They must take advantage of innovation and produce apps, services and online features that will implement and promote their products. Many brands came up with innovative marketing ideas using new technologies.
For example, Nivea started a campaign that used both printed and mobile ads. What Nivea did was to include a solar-powered charger in a printed ad that would help people charge their cell phones and devices while they were enjoying their time on the beach. They filled a consumer need and simultaneously promoted their brand. The key to better marketing is innovation and what business owners need to understand that to remain competitive you need to adjust and focus your resources to new channels and explore new technologies.
In Conclusion
2014 is going to be an exciting new year for businesses, and innovation will bring about new changes in the way that marketing plans must be implemented. Hopefully this article will help you prepare for the coming year, and help your company be more competitive in the marketplace.
We are really excited to be welcoming our newest member of the Longevity Graphics Team.
bOB HOmer is joining us as an SEO consultant and graphic designer. bOB has worked in the industry for over 15 years.
Who wants to get to know bOB a bit better?
We asked him a few questions to get to know him a little better.
1. What are your hobbies and interests?
I think of myself as a little geeky. I like collect vintage Apple Computers. The pride of my collection is the Newton message pad 150. Other areas of interests include photography, which I ran my own photography company and creating art of all types.
2. What do you bring to Longevity Graphics?
I have worked in the industry my whole life and have worked on a lot of great projects. I think I have done just about every job in the industry from production work to sales and marketing.
3. Why did you get into the industry?
I love being creative. It has been the driving force in my life.
4. What is your favorite part of the work you do?
I like being able to work on projects that I get to design and create new and creative things for my clients. I try to create unique solutions that will help take their business to the next level.
5. Any words of wisdom that you would like to share with our readers?
Do what you love.
There you have it folks. We are really thrilled that bOB has decided to join our team. If you would like to interact with bOB, you can shoot him an email [email protected]