Simple Website Tips that work

Brian R

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1. Make sure every page in your website has a link back to your home page and a link to your site map.
2. Search engines look for text, not flashy graphics and cool layouts. Cool web designs will mean nothing if no one is able to find your site.
3. Content is king. It is imperative that your website have fresh, unique, and quality content that is updated on a regular basis.
4. People are more likely to input a phrase instead of a single word when conducting internet searches. "Carpet Cleaning San Diego" Etc.
5. Write naturally. The worst thing you can do is try to cram a zillion keywords into your article or blog entry. Search engines are able to determine whether or not your text is logical and they will ignore content with ridiculously high keyword density.
6. Building links to your website is essential to its success. Links are like the queen to complement your king's fresh content
7. Links within your website should be built with keyword phrases as well. Try to avoid using generic anchor text such as, "click here".
8. Don't place a list of links on your website. Always place a link within at least two to three lines of related content. The better your description, the more likely it is someone will click on the link.
 

Brian R

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Re: Stupid Website Tips that work

9. Don't limit your keyword or phrase to text links. You should also incorporate your keywords into your image alt tag and domain name, whether it is part of the name itself or contained within the description.
10. Try to avoid using frames, Ajax, and Flash as much as possible. None of these functions are keyword or search engine friendly and will hurt your SEO results
11. Before your website can be found by the search engine spiders, it must be indexed. Search engines such as Google have regular submission forms, but it can take days or weeks for your form to be processed. Having a highly ranked website place a link to your site is a sure-fire way to have your site indexed quickly.


No, I don't claim to have thought this stuff up. It's just some things to use when playing with your website.
 

Brian R

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Have pics of you, your family, pets, vacations etc on the about us page. Home owners want to know who they are dealing with.
A website is used for people to get to know your company. It can also be used to get to know YOU.
Don't put up a pic of you in a tour shirt or nascar hat...unless that's who you want to market to...try to dress presentable.
Since a big part of our Res. work is pet related. It's always good to have pics of your pets to let them know that you understand there situation.
Birds of a feather.

400_F_8079721_YHSc8rklKpQ8jIcy9W8Y77xu8p7bE9td.jpg


Family_Beach_Vacation_Picture_cape_San_Blas_FL_Barrier_Dunes_BFW.jpg
 

Brian R

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I think it's a good Idea to use photos whenever you can to help describe whatever you are describing. Of course you want to have Alt Text on each photo and you also want to have text describing what you are describing as well.

I've often used pics here on Mikey's Board to get my point accross.
Gaston%20Taking%20Picture%20of%20a%20Ecuador%20Bird
 

Brian R

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The most important part of your website and any other website is that landing page...the first page you see.
You have to get your point accross in the size of a computer screen and in all of about 3 seconds.
Photos do just that.
Remember to have your call to action (Call Now!) and your phone number prominently displayed.
If they have to look for your phone number, you are wasting your time and theirs.


call-now.gif



dialing%20dog.jpg
 

Brian R

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SEO gets them to your website but pleasant organization keeps them there.
I can't tell you how many websites are all over the place with their content.
Make it easy to read and and comfortable to follow.
Check out other big name websites to get some ideas.

landing-page.jpg
 

Brian R

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DO NOT USE BLACK IN YOUR WEBSITE!!!!

Black backgrounds are the kiss of death for Cleaning Websites. If you are selling artwork or cars or advertising a bar that's great. But don't use it for advertising "Clean" to your female browsers.

I've done studies myself and colors are a HUGE part of a well working website.

Your customers don't want to see this. Trust me.
BlackSabbath_splash.jpg
 

Brian R

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Websites are not just a virtual thang.

Put your website on all your Business Cards, Hand Outs, TV Ads, T-Shirt, Van, Storefront, Bumber Sticker etc.

Not too mention, put your website on other websites (back links). Whenever you place an ad with an online or paper ad, put your website link on it.
It's worth having a crappy little ad on Yellowpages.com just to get the link. Google picks up on Yellowpage.com, Service Magic, Local Online Advertisers...you name it.
Never forget the Gravy baby!
 

Brian R

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Have I mentioned that you have to have a website to grow your business? In this day and age you MUST have a website to be considered a respectable company. A simple page with some info is better than no website at all.
When people search Google and your listing pops up without a website, why the heck would they call you when the 100 other guys all have websites?

Call Andrechelle and have them do the minimum now and then build on it. They can optimize it and get you started. If you have some money to spend...Spend it on your website.
Do it right now...don't piss me off!

Website placement has a lot to do with time as well. The longer you are out there working on your website, the more often Google sees you and you will start working your way up.

Did I mention to do it now??
 

Brian R

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I'll mention Blogs even though I don't have one right now. Fer Chaim on me right Chavez?

The main reason to have a blog is so the search engines see updated relevant content. Again, brings you up in the ratings.

A side benefit of a Blog is for your Customers to keep updated...yes I said side benefit because they wouldn't see it if they couldn't find it first.

blog%20board.jpg
 

Brian R

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Website Submission.
You should submit your website URL to all the major Search Engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask etc.
They all have a page where you can do this.
Here's Google's
http://www.google.com/addurl/

This lets them know that you have a website so they don't have to just stumble upon it with their spiders.
I will do a submission every so often or after a major redesign of my website.

Bonus: If you have a Yahoo Website, they sumit it to all (or most) the search engines with a click of a button. Easy Peasy Japaneasy.
 

Brian R

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Local Business....ok its called Google Places now on Google.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/introducing-google-places.html

If you havent already, sign up on all the major search engines local business pages. This gets you listed on Maps.
Fred says it's takes "Zero Talent" to do this but it's a great way to let your cusomers know what areas you service.
Google let's you list your service area now on Google Places. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. I'm in the process of testing it out.

Anyway, if a customer wants a cleaning done they will want someone local. Being on the maps assures them that you are not too far away and won't charge them a trip charge...ok that's just one thought on it but you get the idea.
 

Brian R

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Mikey P said:
Hey Cork, don't give this stuff away damnit!!

I'm going to take credit for all that and charge $99 a month to get it here


Yeah, I'm an info Slut.
I should keep it all to myself. The guys who know this stuff are saying "big deal" but the guys who don't will benefit from it.

I'm just trying to get all this info on here before you start raping people. :mrgreen:
 

Brian R

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Ok, I'm done...for now.

You can call or email or PM or yell out a window to me or whatever if you have any questions.

Good luck and I hope to hell we can all make some money.

Ok, one more thing. If you want to know some good keywords for your site.
Just type in "carpet Cleaning" and when Stanley Steemer pops up, click their website, right click, view source and use the keywords that you see.
That company puts so much money, time, research and effort into the development of their website and other, we would be stupid not to take notice.

This has a been a moment with Brian. :wink:

44597-StanleySteemer.jpg
 

Brian R

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Oh, and of course Testimonials or reviews of your company work really well too.

When you are finished with a job, email them a link to wherever you want them to give you a review.

Take those reviews and use them as testimonials on your website.

Reviews on search engines help you to get seen.
Testimonials on your website adds content for the search engines and of course credibility for your customers.


Ok, I gotta go do my testimonial page now..and my blog...ugh...what the hell am I doing on Mikeys Bored???


Mikey, what blog do you use again?
 

Brian R

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Don't forget about having the right size photos on your website. If you have too many large photos (even if you squish them in the website (that's a technical term) it will take forever for the website to load on your custy's computer and they don't like waiting around. And they won't.


I believe Steve T. calls that a "Negative Moment of Truth"


Resize your photo's before you put them on your site.
 

Brian R

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Remember to center your website. Chavez caught me on that one a good while back.
Nothing says "Non-Professional" worse than a site that is falling off the side of your computer.
 

Brian R

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Track your website's activities.
Use Web Spinner or Google Analytics to see who is coming from where, what keywords they are using, where they are going in your site and how long they stay there.

What is tracked, will grow.
 

Royal Man

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Did you mention registering at local directories and find the citations the(Web Pages) that are listed by Google maps of other companies (not just carpet Cleaning or even your area)and register for a couple each month.

Also, being a member of local groups such as the BBB or chamber of commerce can now raise your ranking.

Goggle has been changing to local credibility for ranking instead of link building. Because companies were gaming the system by buying back links.

The new system makes more sense and makes client reviews more important that ever.

Remember to implement just a few changes at a time. Or Google will send you to the penalty box and send your listing from page 1 to page 65 for a month or 2. SPANK!!

It happend to me. Now I'm back to 1st position for webpages and maps for most cleaning related terms.



Brian,
I want a percentange of your $99 per view you are getting for this post.

Some guys are paying $200 or more per month for SEO that is not as good as these tips.
In fact I wonder what they are paying for. Sometimes it's just a link to a blog that all the other sites are linked to. Easy money for the seller.

Dave Yoakum-
 
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Mikey P said:
Thanks Brian


You're the best non moderator I've ever had.


I don't know where Brian stops and you begin.... :lol:


Good info Brian... I'm always interested to learn from others... :D
 

Brian R

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Yes, Google makes note of the phone numbers you list and tracks them to see if they actually go to where you say it goes. If it's a landline then Google likes it. 800 numbers, cell numbers and forwarding numbers don't work as well.
This is an attempt (and a good one) to find the local guys.

Optimization is always changing. It's not always what you do to your website but what your website is involved with and in.
 

Brian R

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Nate The Great said:
[quote="Mikey P":ns9u97u2]Thanks Brian


You're the best non moderator I've ever had.


I don't know where Brian stops and you begin.... :lol:


Good info Brian... I'm always interested to learn from others... :D[/quote:ns9u97u2]


Me neither but there is an echo in here and it's really dark. Help.
:oops:
 

Brian R

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Remember to check all your links once a week at the very least.
I check mine every day.

Google and other search engines hate broken links. I guess they figure if you don't care about your website, why should anyone else?

Mikey, have you fixed your red line on your about us page?

Am I the only one who see's this?
http://www.connoisseurclean.com/about.html


I know it's not a link but it still bugs me. :?
 

Brian R

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Remember your focus groups.

Get as many women as you can over the age of 30 to critic your website. ask them to be brutally honest because you really want to know what's wrong with it.
I got some brutal answers from some really nice women.

If you can, do a double blind study to make sure the results are accurate.
Ask your friends to get their friends to critic and make sure you let them know it will be completely anonymous.
By not knowing who you sent it out to and keeping them anonymous with the reviews you will be sure to get honest answers.
 

Brian R

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K.I.S.S

Keep It Simple Steamer...Huh huh? pretty good huh?? :roll:

Anyway, less is more when it comes to website design. Don't try to fit all the info on one page. Instead, focus on what matters most to your customer....figuring that out is the hard part.

I think my website is a little cluttered...but that's how my mind works (shut up Fred) I may neet to tone it down a bit.
At the end of the day it's really just their first impression that matters but make it easy to find the info they need.
 

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