Design To The Finish Line

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of boosting the ranking of a website in search engines without paying money.

The more a website appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive. This helps give a web site web presence.

The term “SEO” refers to “search engine optimization”.

When a website is search engine friendly it is because it has been optimized for the purpose of search engine exposure.

Here are some of the terms which can help you understand SEO -

1. Affiliate Marketing
A means of revenue sharing which allows merchants to enlist website owners to use their websites as a type of outside sales force where the affiliate websites earns a referral fee, based on click-throughs to the merchant site based on a set criteria.

2. Alt Tag
ALT tags filled with keywords which properly describe your site and image can help keyword frequency better search rankings. ALT tags also make websites more accessible to visually impaired people using text readers.

3. Backlinks
These are the number of inbound links to a website from other websites, which is one indication of the popularity of the website.

4. CTR
Called a “click-through-rate”, it’s a way of measuring the success of an online advertising campaign. The rate is determined by dividing the “number of users who clicked on an ad” by the “number of times the ad was delivered” (known as impressions). For example, if a web ad was delivered 200 times and two people clicked on it, then the CTR would be 4%.

5. Keywords
A word or phrase that targeted prospects are likely to search for to find a website.

6. Long Tail Keywords
A combination of highly searched keyword phrases that generates relevant phrases. Long tail in keywords can provide a significant amount of traffic to a website.

7. PPC
PPC means “Pay-per-click” where advertisers pay a website owner when their ad is clicked on.

8. Google PageRank
A system where Google ranks website pages based on a scale of 1 to 10. Higher page rank usually means higher placement on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP).

9. Google Trends
A search that reflects what keywords people are searching for on a daily basis used to determine keywords and article marketing.

10. Rank
How well a website appears in search engine results. Rank and position affect your click-through rates and conversion rates for website landing pages.

If you are not getting the results in search engines you need for your website to be a success, we can help. Call us at 707-578-1390 today and we can help you with your web content and help you determine how effective your web pages are to your website marketing plan.

Our continued success to you,

About Forward Motion Studios -
Forward Motion Studios™ is a Santa Rosa Web Design company that builds, hosts and supports custom websites for businesses. This includes simple, brochure-like web pages to highly complex, software and database-driven eCommerce websites with B2B shopping carts. You can catch their Tweets at twitter/forwardmotion and connect with them on Facebook at facebook.com/forwardmotionstudios.

Website statistics are a business owner’s friend. Web statistics help you know the number of visitors to your website and what they are doing once they land on your site. These figures, when analyzed help you understand what is an isn’t working with your website and your Internet marketing plan.

Unique Visitors
A unique visitor is an individual person who views your website within a specified time period. Each person visiting your site is counted only once during this time period.

Hits
When visitors visit any page in a website, the page they land on counts as one hit. In fact, every page they click on counts as a “hit”.

Number of visits
This is the number of times that your website has been visited. Compare it with the number of unique visitors, and you will get an idea of the number of people who are returning to your website.

Referring URLS
The website address where your visitor was before they came to your website. It is good to pay attention to where your visitors come from, either by search engines, email addresses and websites so you can determine if your marketing efforts are paying off.

Duration of Visit
How long people are staying on your website. If they are not staying long you may need to review your content.

Page impressions
How many people are visiting each page. You may find people are only visiting your home page and not going any further into your site.

Exit Page
The last page requested by a site visitor – the page least persuasive in keeping visitors at your website.

Keywords
The words visitors are using to find your website.

Understanding your website statistics is important part of your overall Internet marketing strategy. They can alert you to which web pages on your website are more popular than others and which ones need some attention – or aren’t important; where your visitors are coming from; what keywords are being used from your content and if you need to consider re-writing your content to include more keyword phrases.

If you are not sure how to access your website statistics or what they mean, or do you even have them installed? Call us at 707-578-1390 today and we can help you with your web analytics and how effective your web pages are to your Internet marketing plan.

Our continued success to you,

About Forward Motion Studios -
Forward Motion Studios™ is a Santa Rosa Web Design company that builds, hosts and supports custom websites for businesses. This includes simple, brochure-like web pages to highly complex, software and database-driven eCommerce websites with B2B shopping carts. You can catch their Tweets at twitter/forwardmotion.

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You’ve heard the buzz:

Ignore Social Media and your small business will be left behind in the dust.

So you have decided maybe it’s time to look at getting involved in Social Media.

Before you begin, it’s important to establish Social Media objectives so you can identify the specific Social Media plan that will help you achieve your objectives, as well as who to hire to help you achieve those goals.

A professional Social Media company can help you figure out your goals. But before you hire them, we’ve complied  7 questions to ask a social media company to make sure they are on the same page as you when it comes to determining what Social Media will mean for your business.

In addition to these 7 questions, be sure to ask for Social Media client references and case studies.

1. What is your background in Social Media?

Your expert should have a presence in social media. You should be able to find them on more than one social place like Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and on their own blog. Yes, they should have a blog.

2. What social media campaigns is your company known for?

Hopefully your social media expert will have a broad range of clients – both big and small.

3. How do you define social media?

Your expert should look at social media as a type of PR/advertising media where they develop a transparent brand identity that reaches out to people, which motivates them to ‘pass it on’ to others.

4. How will Social Media help my business?

Social Media helps to improve your web presence by helping businesses find an active audience who are actually interested in what you do or say,

5. How do you monitor our Social Media presence?

A good Social Media expert should have more than one method of tracking the ROI of participating in Social Media, but the real proof will be if your business is connecting with current and potential customers on a more intimate level, where they feel they really know you and your brand.

6. What are your recommendations for the types of Social Media my company should be involved in?

Social Media is not a one size fits all scenario. What Social Media platforms are good for some businesses, don’t work for others depending on the brand and message.

7. What do you charge clients?

Social Media should work like hiring a telemarketer or PR person for your company. What kind of salary would you pay this person? You should allow yourself this kind of budget.

When you hire a Social Media agency to help you, make sure they train you on how to properly participate in social media – and listen to them! You can’t build a community around old advertising speak where you talk at your customers. Your Social Media presence should be real and engaging. It should help raise brand awareness and build your business. We offer Social Media training as part of our Santa Rosa Web Design business.

Why not call us today at 707-578-1390 and let us help you get started in Social Media?

About Forward Motion Studios
Forward Motion Studios™ is a Santa Rosa Web Design company that builds, hosts and supports custom websites for businesses. This includes simple, brochure-like web pages to highly complex, software and database-driven eCommerce websites with B2B shopping carts. You can catch their Tweets at twitter/forwardmotion.

Contact us for a free estimate / consultation by calling 707-578-1390.

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