Have you ever finished a conversation with your search engine optimization analyst and were left with your head spinning a little bit by some of the terms they’ve used? It’s understandable, the search engine optimization process can be confusing if you’re not constantly involved in the process. Here are a few of our commonly used terms when we discuss SEO with our clients:

• Algorithm – Google’s algorithm calculations give you a specific result on the search result page. By using different items, such as your frequently visited page, location, etc., Google is able to give you what it thinks you’re looking for.
• Black Hat – Techniques that go against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, which include: keyword stuffing, paying for links, automatically generating content, hidden text, etc. Using these practices could result in your website not appearing in organic listings.
• Blog – This section of your website is updated most frequently, including information such as: latest news, tips in your industry, etc. The content is written more conversational than the remaining pages of your website.
• Bounce rate – This measurement is how long users are staying on your website before navigating elsewhere. If people are coming to your website and leaving quickly, this could affect your organic search result ranking because the algorithm will think users are not finding what they need on your website.
• Crawler – A bot scans your website automatically to discover additional pages, images, etc.
• Directory – The directories are much like an old phone book. They’ll list your business name, phone number, address and website. Some directories, such as Yelp or Google+, will also allow users to provide testimonials on your business.
• Duplicate Content – The content of your website should be unique to your business. If you have the same content across multiple domains, search engines will think you’re using black hat tactics to rank your business.
• Organic Ranking – By creating relevant content, link building and other SEO tactics, search engines will list your website in the results located below the paid ads or local map listings.
• Sitemap – A page or document listing all of the pages of your website that provides the user or GoogleBot with information on your website’s structure.

The Advanced Digital team values communication with clients and are always open to answering their questions. The list above is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to SEO terminology. Are there any SEO terms that you’ve wondered about? Let us know in the comments below.

The easiest way to help communicate a message on your website is through images. Whether the images are infographics, stock photos, photos of your services or products, etc., chances are users are skimming the content of your pages and paying more attention to photos. With this in mind, there are a few things that should be taken into consideration when adding photos to your website.

Image Don’t

– Don’t use images found in google search – Avoid the $1,000 (or more) fines by not using photos you find in a Google search and instead use resources specifically for reusing photos. Even if you’re using Google’s image search with the option to reuse selected, you could still find yourself in hot water. Rather, use one of our favorite resources: Dreamstime.com, Shutterstock.com, Freeimages.com and Pexels.com.

– Don’t forget to add images to your sitemap – Adding an image sitemap increases the optimization of your website, although there is not a guarantee all photos will be indexed.

– Avoid using low quality photos – In addition to your website looking professional by using high quality photos, you also increase the potential of social shares. If you’re using low quality photos, your website could see a spike in the bounce rate which ultimately effects your SEO. It is important to remember the quality of photos is more important than the quantity.

Image Do’s

– Use images relating to the content – Photos say a thousand words and you want to make sure the ones you’re using on the pages of your website are supportive to the written content.

– Appropriately sized images to improve page load-time – Your website should load within 3-5 seconds, depending on the device, and images that are too large can increase the load time. Tip: When saving photos in Photoshop use the option, “Save for Web” where you can adjust the quality of the photo. If you don’t have Photoshop, Pixlr.com is a free online photo editing resource.

– Use descriptive alt tags – Search engines are unable to see the images on your pages, but by using descriptive alt tags you’re able to communicate what the image is about. Keep in mind, you should avoid stuffing the alt tag with keywords as this could negatively effect your SEO.

By using free image resources found across the web, you are on your way to increasing the optimization of your website. For further reading, check out our blog post on Visual Presentation from our three part blog series on the importance of first impressions.

Keyword research starts a foundation for search engine optimization, as it allows you to understand what your customers are searching for when it comes to your business. There are three questions you should ask yourself when searching off your research:

• How frequently is the keyword phrase searched?
• Are the terms relevant to your business?
• How competitive are the keyword phrases?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is not a one time task. Your website needs to constantly and consistently be updated with fresh and relevant information. Knowing the number of people searching for a keyword phrase may influence which services you target first. You may find the number of times a keyword phrases is searched increases based on how competitive the market is.

It is important to remember you are creating content for your consumers, not for a search engine. Narrowing down phrases that are relevant to your business will help you decide what content needs to be created.

Keyword Research Tools

Moz Research Tool – Launched in May of this year, the Moz team brings you an extensive tool to best help you with keyword phrases analysis. After plugging in a keyword phrase for research, you will receive keyword phrase data including but not limited too: additional keyword phrase suggestions, search engine result page (SERP) analysis, and keyword phrase metrics.
Google AdWords – This tool provides you with the number of times a phrase is being searched and offers new suggestions you could be missing. It important to remember, they will not show keyword phrases that have an extremely low search rate.
Google Analytics – Find the keyword phrases people are searching for when it comes to your website. With this tool you will also be able to determine not only what keyword phrases people are searching, but also what area’s the keywords are being searched from. You may find that one particular keyword phrase garners more traffic based out of one city more than it would in another city that you business targets.

By combining all of these tools together, you are now well equipped to answer the core three questions and begin to increase your organic search result ranking.

Chances are your website provides customers a first impression of your business. Is the website clean and organized? Can products or services be found easily? Many of us are visual people and you form an opinion of a company from what you see first. For example, if an e-commerce website is unorganized and the website looks outdated, you will probably go elsewhere for the same product. The messy layout and outdated look is going to lead you to believe the company is old, the factory is disorganized and it may take you longer than you want to receive your item.

When your potential customers come to your site, they essentially want everything laid out for them above the fold. Much like when eating at a buffet, you’d like everything set out before you so you are able to pick and choose what you would like. Put simply, the easier you make navigating your website, the lower your bounce rate and higher your conversation rate.

Key Components To Keep in Mind

Some key components to keep in mind when it comes to the usability of your website:

• Are the services or products your website offers easily identified and accessible from your home page? Potential customers should be able to tell what services you offer and what your business is about by your menu, slider (or hero image), call to action buttons, etc. Various heat maps of websites show users tend to put all of their focus on the top of the page, as you go down the page users are clicking fewer links.
• Are your web pages loading at an appropriate speed? You don’t want users to feel like they’ve traveled back to the dial-up days. Choosing the right host, reducing ads, enabling cache and compressing images are just a few of the things that can help speed up your website. Slow page-loading times could increase your bounce-rate and result in the loss of a conversion.
• How are website errors handled? Instead of having a 404 Not Found page only stating, “404 Not Found,” you may want to offer them other options. Latest blog posts, service pages, about your company and most importantly the contact us page. Like we stated earlier, you potential customers want everything laid out in front of them, they could become increasingly frustrated with the usability of your website.

Is your website user friendly and attracting potential customers?

The Advanced Digital team is focused on providing the best customer service to all of our web design, search engine optimization and marketing clients. Our goal is to be accessible, approachable and responsive, while guaranteeing customers confidence in doing business with us. If you have any questions about our services, you can reach out to us via email, live chat, phone and even social media!