How You Can Create a Great Home Page

No matter how great you think your current home page is, there are some common conversion mistakes that you may have made with your content.  These mistakes can cause you to miss out on converting your traffic to sales, but by following the tips listed below; this mistake can easily be corrected.  I am going to show you which type of information you should include on your home page to make it appealing to your customers as well as search engines.

You may be wondering why you have to spend so much time on the content and layout of your home page; the answer is simple, it’s the first page that visitors to your site see and it serves as a representation of your business online.  It also requires special attention because it is the page that is most indexed by the large search engines.  It can also set the tone for the rest of your website, which is why it is so important that you make it as functional, attractive, and effective as possible. 

When you design your home page you should think of it as the first step in your sales funnel.  Visitors have likely reached your page through the use of a search engine or a link.  When this traffic reaches your site, it is important that you share with them that they have reached the appropriate destination.  Once you have done that, the next thing you need to do is direct them to the areas you would like them to visit next. 

The content that you include on your home page should be used as a way to offer visitors with a preview of what you have to offer.  Providing your visitors with a small bit of information regarding each of your services or products is a great way to encourage them to investigate further and follow the links to the specific service or product they are interested in.  This is also a great way of keeping the information from becoming overwhelming for the visitor. 

When you create the content that you are going to use on your home page, you should write in such a way that it comes across as personable and not mechanical.  After all, you want visitors to know that there is a human behind your site and not a robot.  Creating content aimed at your target audience will help increase the number of conversions your business sees on a regular basis.  This is also the ideal time to freshen up your content and include keywords that will help your site show up in searches.

It is also important that you create content that is focused and relevant to your particular niche.  You should remember the importance of staying on track and expressing your message to your customers in as few words as possible.  Visitors are more likely to read shorter paragraphs and descriptions than they are longer ones, when you begin creating your content you should keep this in mind.

Is Your Content Too Optimized

Everyone who runs an online business understands the importance of optimizing their content.  But what many are not aware of is that it is possible to optimize your content too much.  This happens when you create content that is focused on grabbing the attention of search engines and not customers.  To help you determine if your content is too optimized, I have put together some helpful tips on what you can look for.

• Hyperlinks – Some website owners believe that including hyperlinks on their pages will help them improve their ranking or to provide their customers with as many options as possible, while it does help, there is a point when you can have too many hyperlinks on one page.  When it comes to improving your current rankings, adding hyperlinks to your pages will not help; and when customers are presented with too many options they tend to become confused and will often leave your page without clicking on any of the links you presented.
  
  If you notice that your pages a hyperlink heavy, it may be time to go in and remove the majority of them.  When you narrow down the choices for customers, they will likely find it easier to make a decision and investigate everything that your site has to offer.  Removing extra links will also allow you to achieve higher conversion rates and increase your ROI.

• Keyphrases – We know that including a few select keyphrases will help your page get noticed by search engines.  But, just as with hyperlinks, when you include too many in your content, it will have the have opposite effect.  For someone who is actually trying to read what your page has to say, trying to navigate through all of the keyphrases can be become a bit annoying. 
  
  To remedy this, you will need to cut down the amount of keyphrases that you currently have in your page content.  In some cases you may discover that you will need to rewrite the content altogether.  In this case, you will have the opportunity to improve your existing content and use your keyphrases more effectively while providing readers with content that they can enjoy.

• Fluff – Website content that comes across as fluffy is typically the result of a writer trying to meet a specified word count.  Rather than providing the reader with informative content that could have been stated in fewer words, the writer chose to inflate the content.  This often results in content that is hard to read and follow and does not offer any value to the reader. 

          If you notice that your content appears to be somewhat fluffy, you may need to revise your existing               content and the way you think.  Rather than trying to impress search engines with a specific amount of           words on each page, focus on the reader and make the content appealing and easy to read.  If you               create content that is benefit driven and well-written, you will not only end up pleasing your customers           but search engines will also begin to take notice.

Increasing Your SEO Using Google Plus

Google Plus is more than another social media website.  When used in the proper manner, it can be used to help increase your ranking on Google’s search engine.

 

With the recent release of Google’s latest algorithm Hummingbird, including Google Plus as part of your online marketing and SEO campaigns has become extremely important.  This is not only true for those who rely on online marketing; it is also true for bloggers, internet marketers and webmasters. 

Google Plus is often an overlooked social media website, but as it becomes a larger part of everyone’s online marketing strategies the number of registered users continues to grow daily.  If you’re not familiar with the platform, Google Plus is designed to help you connect communication, social and people with the purpose of increasing your website’s ranking.  To help you maximize your SEO efforts using this website, I have put together some helpful information.

The first thing that you should do to ensure that you are getting the most out of Google+ is to optimize your profile.  You should optimize your profile to help your followers understand who you are and what it is that you do.  To do this, you should make sure that you have completed all of the fields in your profile.  You should also make sure that you have uploaded a profile image to give your company a face behind the brand.  Also, don’t forget to include your website’s URL, relevant details about your business and a description about the type of work your business performs.  This will help ensure that your profile is optimized in the best possible manner.  An additional step you may want to consider is having your Google+ page verified by Google to provide you with an additional level of credibility.

As with all of your other online marketing efforts, high quality content is just as important when using Google Plus.  You are more likely to attract new followers if you regularly provide them with high quality content that is useful and informative to them.  Writing high quality content on your Google Plus page will also help improve and boost your existing ranking on the Google search engine, as well as on Google Plus search results.

Another great way to ensure that your Google Plus page is getting as much exposure as possible; you should include links to your page on your website and other social pages that you may be using.  By including this link, others will know that you are active on the site and they are more likely to begin following you on that site as well.  This step is also a great way to make it easier for search engines to connect website with your user profile. 

I hope that this information has provided you with a glimpse into how Google Plus can be used in conjunction with your other online marketing efforts.  If you’re looking for a way to ensure that your search rankings increase, you may want to get started with Google Plus.

SEO, Page Rank, Bacon and Location

Hickory smoked barbecue bacon by Dennis Brown

Bacon, you simply love it or you are just wrong!  Bacon is one of the most sought after treats yet hated because all of its deliciousness goes right to your hips, heart, and you know, other organs... blah blah blah.. so the doctors say.  Personally I find it to be the fountain of youth (note this woman who ate bacon daily and still kicking at at 105!) Anyhow, a little off track in the purpose of this blog - well yes and no.  See, I organically used the keyword bacon 4 times already in this first paragraph.

Keywords, regardless if it is bacon you are promoting, high heel, sewer systems, or by pass surgery - usage and frequency, and consistency are key!

I did a little playing on Google search engine to show everyone the way  keywords can affect your page rankings.  I used the primary keyword "bacon" of course because I heart it!

On a general search for the key word bacon (I searched under Web Google Search as well as Blog Google Search) note the difference between a web search and a blog search below. (You can click on any of the following the pictures to see them enlarged.)

Now notice who shows up under both search methods - Bacon Today. Do you know why? I will tell you - it is because they are SEO SMART!

Now, when you you add another word to your keyword, will the results change? Noticed below the web and blog search I did for "bacon Wisconsin".

And the winner this time is Nueskes!  Why?  Well of course the same reason as before - SMART SEO!  

Now when you add yet another word to your primary keyword notices the changes again.  This time I searched for "bacon Milwaukee Wisconsin".  

When you have a business that services a specific location you need to make sure that you are using the right keywords.  As you can see, under the "blog search"  DudeFoods.com  took first place and The Comet Cafe took first place in the web search.  It would be wise for businesses in the Milwaukee location that heart bacon like I do to connect with this foodie blogger DudeFoods.com and have this foodie review their restaurant/bar such as the Saloon Calhoun in Milwaukee as they are placed way back on page 3 on the web search.  :-(  In addition, it would be wise for Saloon Calhoun to have a real blog on their website.  It could be as simple as updating daily specials, menu changes, fun food facts, customer appreciation, entertainment info, etc.  There is a ton of stuff they could blog about that when a person searched for "bacon Milwaukee Wisconsin" they would pull up high under a blog search as well and would increased their standing under "Bacon Wisconsin" too!  Now, a really smart move for both Comet Cafe and Saloon Calhoun would be to connect with Bacon Today and advertise with them.  Bacon Today specifically offers site sponsorship's  branded articles, and traditional ad placement programs available. 

With any niche you have on the web, if you service a region, you are wise to make sure your SEO reflects that as well as checking out your page ranking competition is on both a web search and a blog search.  You will find many times that your page ranking competition is not necessarily a business competition, rather someone that could make a great alliance with you and help in boosting your own page ranking. 

This has been a Public SEO Awareness Announcement from your one and only Baconator Bacon Queen from Article Write Up, where we are always happy to help in all your content needs.  Now go - Eat Bacon and Prosper!    

    

Hark! Hark!! Read All About It!!!

I bet you are expecting some late breaking news now, aren't you?  Okay, I confess; there is nothing late and breaking about the news I am about to deliver you but it is something you need to know – not only for your website, but for any content you EVER put out – web copy, blogs, articles, press releases, white papers, sales landing pages, and the list goes on and on.  The news, although nothing new but too often neglected is simply – write a compelling headline!
 

Now, with the web, not only do you need to write a compelling headline, but you also you have to write one that includes a long-tail keyword or a keyword phrase (two words) that you know your market niche would naturally search for to find you! Long tail keywords are a type of keyword phrase that has at least three and some times as many as five words in the phrase.  Creative headlines catch interest from readers and interest from search engines – include the keywords that reflect your niche, and you get indexed by our friendly crawlers.

   

Do you know what long tail keywords your targeted market would use to search for what you have to offer?  Are they in your headlines on your website? Do you make sure your headlines and titles are keyword optimized?  If so – GREAT JOB!  If not, it is never too late to fix it on your website.  Go back and work in your website content headlines that include a long-tail keyword or keyword phrase (two key words) to improve your search engine rankings.  It is an easy fix and it’s FREE!!!

How To Get Googled

When done effectively, SEO writing is an easy way for businesses to drive traffic to their website and increase sales.  SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and SEO writing is a way to grab the attention of search engine indexes to increase the natural page ranking in search results.

While the rest of the world is eating, sleeping, and working, search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing, have bots out crawling the web in search of information.  These bots can’t see a picture, watch a video, or listen to a podcast, but they can read.  As they read they index all the text they find, making note of phrases and keywords.  Websites rich in these common keywords will show up higher in the search results, as they are more relevant.  This increases the chances of that site being visited.  With an average of over 17 billion searches being done every month, effective SEO articles and quality SEO writing are becoming a hot commodity.

It is not as simple as cramming as many keywords as possible into an SEO article and putting it on the web.  While that may help with search results, the ultimate goal is to get the consumer to click on the link that leads to the website, and actually spend time there.  To accomplish this, an SEO article must also be rich in content—they must be written about something the consumer wants to read about, and done in a professional fashion.

A key to boosting your organic search results is to include the keywords customers will be searching for in the first few lines of the SEO article.  If, for example, a business provides cat-herding services, they would want to put the key words ‘cat’ and ‘herding’ at the beginning of their article, and provide useful information for the reader (and not just a sales-pitch for their services).  A sample lead-in might read like this: “Although it’s no field for the faint of heart, the world of cat-herding can be an incredibly rewarding calling for lovers of our feline friends.” 

Web-crawling bots, much like humans, get bored easily, so including the keywords early on assures grabbing their attention.  SEO writing must also be the right length: too short and the content will not have enough substance; too long and the reader will get bored and move on.

Author: ArticleWriteUp.com writer Fletcher H.