Understanding what the goal of your website is and ensuring that goal (or goals) is met takes a dedicated team of professionals who are able to work together. A website developer may have mastery over the layout and imagery that must be present in order to attract customers and convince them to buy your product/service but without close consultation with an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) specialist, a sufficient number of the right people may never even get to see your site. Three of the most critical elements that must go into any website in order for it to be successful include:

1. Users (people conducting a search) must be able to find your site quickly and easily using commonly known words and phrases
2. Once they are directed to your site, it must be directly relevant to their search with meaningful content
3. The site must be easy to navigate and take as few steps as possible to complete a transaction

If these key points are not addressed, users will either never get to your site or once there may become frustrated at having to go through a complicated process just to get the information, product or service they were after. The reality is that most users will not spend more than a couple of minutes browsing through any site to find what they are looking for and if not immediately successful will simply move on.

In order for all elements of a website to work properly both the Web Design professional and the SEO expert must work together. Along with understanding what searchers are looking for and how they look for it, SEO service providers must be familiar with the types of errors that both search engines and users commonly run into. They must also have a clear understanding of the severity and frequency of such errors and be able to prioritize the order of necessary fixes. It is critical for Web Designers to communicate regularly with SEO service providers in order to accomplish a successful Internet Marketing Campaign and ensure the client receives the best possible ROI (Return On Investment).

When experts in the field talk about web design in terms of SEO marketing strategies, they are referring to much more than an aesthetically pleasing website. It must also have what they call “usability” as it pertains to search engines, the user (the general public) and of course the owner or the company the site is for. Making sure that the content and layout of a website conforms to all these areas (and more), is a complex undertaking. Trusted SEO service providers will work closely with your own web designers to tweak or re-design a site in order to meet predetermined goals and give you the best possible ROI.

As if these elements were not challenging enough, advances in technology have introduced an array of devices and interfaces that must now also be part of an already complex equation. Since the fundamental reason behind having a website is to increase traffic and subsequently your revenue, a user (potential customer) must be able to access your business’s website easily and get the information, product or service you provide quickly regardless of which device they are using.

One of the first steps in deciding how a website will need to be constructed is to determine exactly who your target audience will be. A PC sitting on someone’s desk is no longer the mainstream for those performing a search. Between tablets, smart phones and other devices, the face of the way we connect and find information about products is not only changing rapidly it is also divided into specific age group demographics. If you look at how and what teenagers are looking for compared to say young professional adults or even our grandparents generation, interaction with technology is vastly different.

The savvy business person understands that knowing the consumption habits of one’s target market is dependant to a great deal on where media is purchased. This should be a wake-up call prompting us to perhaps change our notions of where this media should now be built according to age and market demographics. Staying true to how we’ve always done things is no longer an option for the business that truly wants to connect with his/her target market.

Another critical part of the equation is the type of content that needs to be developed. It is important to keep in mind that someone sitting at home in front of their laptop will more than likely be looking for completely different content than a group of young adults out for the evening and looking for a place to eat or which movie to see.

Your SEO service provider must be able to work with web designers in helping to create a website that can accommodate a variety of browsers or devices depending on the target market one is attempting to reach. Today’s website must flexible enough to encompass all facets of the users’ choice of media.

The term Website Usability is a popular phrase but seems to have a different meaning, depending on who one is talking to.

For the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) professional or web developer, usability generally refers to the ease by which search engines understand, recognize and rank a website. Of course when you speak with the average lay person looking for products, information or services, they take this term to mean that the site they are directed to will be easy to navigate and quickly find what they are looking for. On the other hand, the owners of websites are looking for dual purposes. They have come to expect that Website Usability will make it easier for search engines to find them as well as creating a site that is convenient and simple to navigate for potential clients.

In order for professionals to measure success both the terms SEO and Website Usability are dependant on certain core aspects that can be built upon step by step in a methodical fashion. A successful SEO campaign must be efficient, effective and easy to learn and use by all parties concerned. It must provide the client with Reputation Management/Brand Protection protocols and recovery plans if misuse is detected. Equally as important is how user satisfaction is rated.

In order to determine the effectiveness of a website, your SEO service provider must be able to show that pre-determined objectives have been met and all required and/or promised tasks have been completed. One way to measure this is by making certain that searchers (users) are able to find exactly what they were looking for both by the search engines and ultimately through the client’s website. If these objectives have not been achieved; why not and further more, how can these hurdles be prevented?

The next step for the Website Usability professional is to assess how easily (efficiently) users were able to find what they were looking for. They must determine how quickly a user was able to navigate the site once there and how long it took for them to get the information/product/service they wanted.  Another aspect of “ease of use” refers to whether or not the searcher (user) was quickly able to learn how to use a particular website. It is a fact that a website that requires too many steps to complete a desired task or is complicated to learn will result in the user navigating back to the search page to find an easier site. A simple and efficient website will also be remembered by users as a place to go when looking for what they want, whether that is a product, reliable information or a service.

In short, the term Website Usability must satisfy the needs and goals of all concerned; the SEO professional, users (the average searcher), the owner of a company website as well as the web developer.

How does one determine which Internet Marketing Service plans will best fit your company profile? Most businesses that have functioning websites will be familiar with terms such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Reputation Management, PPC Management and Conversion Optimization. Knowing precisely what they mean and what is involved in each is certainly a different story. In many cases, getting the most out of your website requires a combination of services which means that your service provider must be fluent in all aspects of these programs. If you are looking to get the best ROI (Return on Investment), it is best if your Internet Marketing professional is able to provide these services on an in-house basis. Although some functions may be contracted out, such as Content or Copy writing, they too must be monitored by your service provider for quality and relevance.

Although at the outset, one or two specific programs may be recommended, things can and often do change and one must be prepared to alter the original plan in order to keep up with the ever changing world of Internet Marketing. Companies that have a highly focused line of expertise will not be able to adapt to changes that your website needs to stay one step ahead of the competition. Even when the marketing side of your website is doing well and traffic is on the increase, problems can arise. It is absolutely imperative that sufficient monitoring be in place that will detect any abuse of your site, your company’s brand and even negative posts and articles about the owners and employees of your business. A proactive approach is always recommended but a plan with appropriate response and solutions must be ready if any such abuse is detected.

Metamend Search Marketing Experts understand that as today’s technology changes, so can the needs of their clients. From in-depth SEO Services to Conversion Optimization to Reputation Management and Brand Protection, their experienced professionals will stay connected with you every step of the way. From taking the time to understanding what your business is all about to recommending new or alternate services, they will take the time to explain the best plan of action and ensure you receive the best possible ROI while increasing relevant traffic to your site.

There is no question that the internet has opened new doors for companies to expand their market share with opportunities to sell their products/services on a global scale. This new way of doing business has also allowed smaller enterprises to compete with larger international companies that they would never have been able to just a few years ago. Unfortunately, this has also created new areas for criminals to expand their own interests. The simple fact that there is a certain amount of anonymity on the internet has made it easier for unscrupulous businesses to take advantage of the good reputation and brand that others have taken years to build. Any time your company’s reputation or brand has come under abuse of this kind, your sales inevitably suffer. Not only are honest business people and criminals becoming more savvy when it comes to doing business on the internet; so are consumers. If a client gets directed to a questionable site while searching for a brand name product or if their personal information has been “high jacked”, their level of trust in you’re company’s ability to protect them certainly suffer.

In today’s ever evolving technological age, it is more important than ever to be proactive when it comes to protecting your company’s reputation and brand. Attempting to remedy damage that has already occurred is a complex and costly endeavor. Most large corporations take the proper steps in creating a domain portfolio in order to protect their brands. Although this is an important and positive step, a constant monitoring plan must also be put in place to circumvent any potential abuse before it does any damage and sales are negatively affected. Equally as important is having a team of professionals who are able to take appropriate and immediate action to remedy such abuse.

Because the issue of Reputation Management and Online Brand Protection is a complex one, having a team that has a proven track record in dealing with all aspects of such a program is essential. Your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) service provider must be able to first analyze your website, take the time to get to know your business and put in place a plan of action that is relevant to your particular business and its unique needs. It is also important that they be able to provide you will all services on an in-house basis to maintain continuity and professionalism.

So you’ve finally decided to get a website for your existing business – now what? The site looks great with lots of great graphics and content about your business yet you still can’t seem to get on page one or two or even three when you do a search. Without professional Search Engine Optimization (SEO), it’s unlikely that your client base will ever increase. Unfortunately, it is more likely that being on the net will simply make you vulnerable to unscrupulous individuals or companies looking to “cash” in on your good reputation.

The right SEO plan will not only help you improve your ranking with search engines, it will also protect your business’s identity, reputation and brand. There is no question that SEO is a complex undertaking and if you want positive, measurable results, it is a field that is best left to professionals who understand how to maneuver through these complexities. There are several key factors that will come into play when any SEO plan is put into place.

1. The Importance of Keyword Research – Although you may have developed content on your site that uses all the right industry jargon, it may not be the words or phrases that people use when searching for information about the products/services your company provides.  If, for example, you sell high end kitchen accessories but have not used words like utensils, kitchen gadgets, serving platters, juicer, etc, people searching for these items will probably never find you.
2. Meta Descriptions and Page Titles – Every page of your website must have a specific and accurate title and meta description in order to achieve a high ranking in search engine results. The title and meta description of each page act as a form of “advertising” for that page.
3. Search Engine Indexing – Your SEO professional will be able to create and XML or HTML sitemap for your website.  Links from other appropriate websites will help your site rank higher and help you get indexed.
4. Quality and Original Content – It is critical that the content on your site be relevant, of high quality and not repeated over and over again on every page of your site. When search engines detect content that is the same on several pages, it will only view one as original and the rest will be deemed as a duplicate and is considered low quality resulting in a lower ranking.

Of course there is much more to achieving positive results from any SEO campaign than the points mentioned above. Constant monitory is critical to ensure your site maintains a high ranking at all times. This monitoring is also essential in ensuring that any negative posts that may appear in relation to your business or its employees is caught and dealt with immediately.

Whether you are currently contemplating a website for your business or already have one, you will want to make certain that it ranks high with search engines. There are several goals that every business owner will be looking to achieve with a company website. The first and usually most important one is to increase one’s customer base thereby increasing sales. There is no shortage of companies or individuals who claim they can get your site ranked among the top and will guarantee and increase in traffic to your site. One can also purchase a “One Size Fits All” plan that lets you do your very own Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Keep in mind that if it were really that easy to get on page one of a search engine, everyone would certainly be doing it themselves.

It is important to understand that all search engines have their own algorithms and methods that they use in order to get the most relevant, quality content to people who are performing a search. There are two basic categories that SEO falls into.

1.      White Hat – This method requires knowing how to give search engines exactly what they are looking for so that they will direct queries to your website first. This is dependant on knowing how to perform a keyword analysis and producing quality, original content that search engines will recognize. Search engines are getting more sophisticated at recognizing content that is relevant to specific key words.  It is also important to have links from other quality websites that point to your site. Links that point from your site to other high quality, relevant sites is also an important factor in White Hat strategies.

2.      Black Hat – This strategy relies on loopholes and other devious methods for getting a high ranking. Initially, results from this method are usually quite impressive. Unfortunately it is only a matter of time before Google or other search engines will wise up to what is being done and actually ban your site. Once your website has had a ban imposed, it is not only extremely difficult to recover from but will also take a very long time to overcome your bad reputation.

Professional SEO service providers such as Metamend will never subject your website or company name to such practices. Although no one can every guarantee a first page ranking, the right SEO service provider will work with you to ensure that you achieve the highest possible ranking. They can also put in place provisions to help protect your Brand and your company’s reputation.

Few businesses today would ever consider operating without a website and the majority understands the importance of including search engine optimization as an integral component of their overall marketing plan. There is however another element that should hold equal importance in one’s online marketing campaign – Conversion Optimization. A simple way of understanding this concept is by comparing your website to a brick and mortar, store front operation.  Let’s say for example that you plan to open a shop that sells gourmet foods and specialty kitchen gadgets. Obviously you will want your window display to showcase your products and let passersby see the kind of products you offer. Once they enter the store, it is crucial that everything is easily accessible and that someone is always available should a customer require help in making a purchase. These can be considered the basics of a search engine optimization campaign.

The next step in ensuring continued success is through website conversion optimization in which there are several issues that must be put into place in order to maintain existing customers and expand your market share. The main goal of any conversion optimization plan is to make sure that the right people are finding your business and that they are being converted into repeat customers.  Using the same example of a store front specialty store, you will want to make certain that your store’s location will attract the right type of customers. There is not much point in securing a building because the price is right if you will be surrounded by companies that deal in farming and heavy construction equipment.

Any professional website optimization process should ideally begin with:

• A clear understanding of your business goals
• You expected ROI (Return on Investment)
• A realistic and workable budget

The true value of your personalized conversion optimization plan can be looked at in terms of hard goals such as a 10 to 1 return on optimization expenditures or soft goals like 10x response rates. The next step comes through ongoing management and in measuring the results of the data that has been collected and processed. The tools that are used enable professional conversion specialists to see which web traffic finds your site (demographics) and what they do once on your site (behavior). Once these and other processes are complete, a Conversion Site Audit can be presented followed by an appropriate Website Conversion Implementation program.

Having a website is essential in today’s global and technological marketplace. But just like the right location for a storefront operation is critical, the right SEO Marketing Campaign and Website Conversion Optimization plan is essential in making sure the right customers find your business on the net.

The goals of any professional website are quite simple; increase knowledge of the products/services your company offers, increase your customer base (and with it revenues), keep existing customers happy so they will return again and again and protect your business (and customers) from internet fraud. How one goes about this is of course the difficult part of the equation.

The first step in this process is to make certain that you understand your core business philosophy and determine key short and long term goals. It is important to figure out where you see your company in the future. Once you have a clear picture of where you business is now and where you want it to go, choosing the right SEO Marketing firm is the next important step. One of the first things to consider when doing your research is that you will want a company that will take the time to understand your business and get to know a little about the owners and managers. It is vital that they are able to provide a comprehensive set of services that will encompass all the necessary steps as well as a host of options in order to achieve your particular online marketing goals. Some of the services that any professional SEO company must be prepared to offer include:

• Reputation Management Solutions
• Online Branding and Protection
• PPC (Pay Per Click) Management Services
• Conversion Optimization
• Keyword Density Analyzer
• Quality Content Writing
• Organic SEO Services

A number of free SEO tools should also be made readily available to help you recognize problem areas that may exist as well as to enhance the services that will be implemented within the proposed SEO marketing strategy.

Always ask for references and make sure you follow up on them. This is probably one of the most important factors when searching for the right SEO firm. Reputable businesses that have experienced a successful online marketing campaign speaks volumes for company they chose. The bottom line is to take the time to ask questions and find out exactly what you can expect from your SEO professional along with the methods they provide to show measurable results along the way. The right SEO marketing campaign can have significant positive effects on increased revenues but you also want to make certain that you will be receiving a positive ROI (Return on Your Investment).

Although Reputation Management has been discussed in previous blogs, it is a topic that deserves a great deal of attention. Your company’s reputation and specifically, its online reputation have a direct effect on your ability to maintain existing customers for the long term and the ability to attract new clients. Customers who trust a particular business are more likely to become “regulars” and will be quick to recommend a company that they trust.

This type of loyalty takes time to build and is the result of a number of factors. The two most important of which are:

1.      Knowing that they will receive a quality product or service every time they shop with you. Within this context, customers must also be confident that if a problem should occur, it will be rectified quickly and to their complete satisfaction.

2.      The second factor and probably the most important one is, knowing that any personal or payment information they submit will be completely secure.

Today’s online criminals have become quite knowledgeable on how to phish web traffic to obtain personal information about clients that have conducted business with you in the past. Most businesses also routinely deal with other companies in the course of their normal business activities some of which may not be in compliance with your digital information. It is in fact the legal responsibility of each company to take appropriate and adequate measures to protect all their clients and business partners from fraud.

An integral part of your Online Brand Protection and Reputation Management plan should include the services of a Branding Consultant who will be able to help you:

• Develop safeguards against online scams, phishing and other fraudulent sites that may impede your ability to conduct business in a secure manner.
• Understand how to monitor what is being said about your company on the internet, 24/7.
• Develop a vigorous ORM (Online Reputation Management) strategy to counteract negative publicity, press and Blogs about you, your company and your employees.
• Ensue that you remain in compliance in protecting sensitive data.

Enough stress simply can’t be placed on how important it is to remain vigilant when it comes to your company’s reputation. The best products/services can not compete with a reputation that has been damaged and repairing that reputation and Brand can be a costly endeavor that many businesses are not able to recover from financially. A proactive approach to Reputation and Brand Protection is by far the best policy in today’s technically advanced marketplace.