Web Design - Let's Have Fun Together!

SEO Part 2 | Explanation of MetaTags, Keywords and Back Links

2011-10-01T05:00:00.001-04:00

Meta Tags:
These are the most important items, listed by importance:

Title Tag: This could better be called your "headline". It is what shows people your page is about. A good rule is to try using your primary keyword at the beginning and your secondary keyword at the end. Keep it to 8-10 words and/or 5-80 characters. Make it relevant to your page.
Meta Description Tag: Shows up under the title tag in search results. Keep it 25-30 words and/or 160-180 characters. I suggest making it informative and attention-grabbing so people click to visit your site rather than the one below or above you.
Meta Keywords Tag: Keywords were once THE thing. Nowadays, their importance for rankings are greatly diminished. They still help some to show search engines what you're hocking, but they aren't near as important as they once were. Keep keywords to 7-10 words; otherwise, Google and other search engines will see it as "stuffing". Google says, "Keyword stuffing" refers to the practice of loading a webpage with keywords in an attempt to manipulate a site's ranking in Google's search results. Filling pages with keywords results in a negative user experience, and can harm your site's ranking. Focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and in context."
Heading Tag: Your heading tag is designed to tell the page topic. It's larger than the page text and you need careful attention to formatting for it to blend in well with the rest of your site page. Too large and bold will look intrusive and unsightly. Though they are listed fourth in importance, search engines will identify the words that are more important than the rest of the page text. The theory is that headings will sum up the topic of the page, so they are counted as important keywords.
Image Tag: Image tag is used to place photos on your page. I use short file names, but am not against tagging your photo files with longer names on the chance the search engines pick them up. Instead of fruit.jpg I can use martha-fruit-stand-pineapple.jpg. The alt words for images should be only 70-80 characters. The alt word is description of image so if a browser can't see the photo for some reason, the person will see the "alt" words instead and know what was supposed to appear there.
Anchor Text Tag: Anchor text are the words between tags that point to some other page, e-mail, etc. For example, if you wanted to tell someone to "click here" to visit your contact page, you could say "Visit Martha's Fruit Stand Contact Page" instead of the old-style "Click Here".

Reputable Links (Back Links)

Getting high quality back links is very important. When another site/page has a link to your site, Google sees that as a "vote". Ways to get your link on other sites is to use Facebook, Twitter and other Social Media, Blogs (if you have time; blogs take consistent effort and creativity to keep them alive), visit forums that have to do with your products or services and post your link there (comment on someone else's post and say "you can also visit my site . . . " or other non-intrusive wording), add your link to directories such as LinkedIn, del.icio.us, etc. The good and bad news is that all you have to do is get your site linked in thousands of places to be popular! This shows why I charge separately for this part. Though it helps SEO, it isn't part of the normal web page set-up/coding. It can be very time consuming as joining directories, forums, etc. typically involves setting up user accounts, writing a good title, verifying your account setup through e-mail, submitting your request and entering a captcha code to prove you're human and not an automated bot, and finally verifying your submission via e-mail.

SEO | Is It That Big Of A Deal?

2011-09-26T18:00:00.101-04:00

What Is SEO?
There isn't a hotter term of the moment right now than SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO is basically a set of "best practices" to get your website to play nice with search engines (Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc.). The idea is to get your website ranked on that oh-so-coveted first page of rankings.

How Will It Help Me?
Surveys show over 90% of people do some kind of online research of a product prior to making a purchase. Even if they went to a brick and mortar store to do their purchasing, they've been online doing research and reading reviews. Customers are even conducting searches on their smart phones while in the store. This is the biggest reason to consider SEO; the internet has changed the way people make purchases. Most consumers don't look beyond the first 2 or 3 pages of search results, and the search engine's purpose is to make sure that the first pages of returned results are the most relevant to what the consumer is looking for. Today typical competition for web pages for any given keyword ranges from 800,000 to 1,100,000.

Is It Worth All That Money?
As of June 2011, the average cost of SEO services in the United States hovered around $9,000 to $14,000 per year for a typical service industry company (plumber, electrician, etc.), about the same for accounting industries (high end $14,000 to $18,000) and even more for legal practices going after ultra competitive keywords that bring in the big bucks in clientele ($20,000 plus!).

I believe it's being abused and spoken of in a higher fashion than necessary. In particular to charge customers exorbitant fees unnecessarily. That's just my opinion as a one-person office trying to get off the ground and thinking about the small to medium-sized business owners who cannot afford those types of charges.

Why Do You Not Charge Separately for SEO?
When one builds a website page, you start out with coding at the top, add the meta tags, keywords, etc. below that (information search engines crawl for). I feel that is part of building a site, it's automatic, it belongs there. I don't believe in charging separately for something that is part of the overall page coding.

One aspect of optimization I do charge separately is back-links, or you may have heard them called reputable links with authority. This is very involved and time-consuming. Watch for future post detailing what is involved in linking and the tagging for SEO optimization.

Summary
The answer is, yes, SEO is that big of a deal and very important in order to get on the first page of search results, standing out in a crowded marketplace like the internet, getting more business.

However, SEO is not the end-all, be-all and is somewhat intrinsic to the basics of maintaining your website. Don't stress about SEO, implement it then forget about it. Focus on delivering value to your readers and potential customers, creating great content of worth to them and keeping them on your pages. Google monitors how long people stick around!

Site Examples

2011-08-10T07:44:00.001-04:00

Most recent sites:
Design by Denae' (Original Artisan Jewelry)
Kathy's Decorative Accents
Lynnda Tenpenny - Nature Inspired Art Adventures
Day III Earthworks

Other sites:
West End Academy
Knoxville Healing Rooms - North
J.C.'s Heating and Air
Eden's Way Band (No longer maintaining; background & layout I created remain)

Services and Pricing

2011-07-10T09:08:00.002-04:00

I will work one-on-one with you from the very first contact. I will ask you relevant questions regarding the exact website you are looking for. I will then work on building the home page to submit for your approval, or if you want changes, we'll go back to the drawing board until it's exactly what you want. I will put your page in a demo folder and send you a link to where you will see it "live". You will be able to monitor my progress 24/7 and provide me feedback if necessary. When we get the page design and layout where you are 110% pleased, I will build the rest of the site with that layout. All my sites are optimized for search engines, neatly organized and easy to navigate.

New & Re-designed Website (including shopping cart or catalog up to 30 products) start at $300.00
Sites start at $300.00 and this will normally be the cost. However, sometimes one may come along requiring much more time/detail/elements, in which case I will give you a firm price after talking with you so you know exactly what you're looking at before you commit. You will receive creative custom web and graphic design, search engine optimization, advanced analytics and reporting, everything needed for a full site up and running.
** Shopping Carts or Catalogs With More than 30 products, please add $40.00**

Update (Freshen Up) Existing Website $75.00
Updating includes minor fixes. You keep your site structure, menu, pages, etc. "as is", but you change the look (color, layout) of it, add analytics if not already in place. This is very minimal changes (no adding new pages, etc.).

Facebook - Social Media $80.00
I can work on your Facebook page to help draw new business, set up options, set up new accounts if you don't have one (presently they require a personal account in order to have a business account).

I will create a tab where, when clicked, people will go straight to your website. I can also add a "reveal tab" where someone that has not become a fan of your business page will see a photo asking them to click the "Like" button for a special offer. After they click the "Like" button and become a fan, they are directed to another page with a code to enter at your shop for whatever discount you want to give. Incentives like these drive people to visit your site, like it and receive something in return. This will make it more likely they refer their friends as well.

Blogger - Social Media $80.00
If you don't already have a blog, I will create an account, set up options, layout design to match your website, and give you step-by-step instructions how to post a blog (if you decide to not ask me to do this as part of maintenance). I will integrate the blog with Facebook and your website using Networked Blogs so when you publish a blog, it will post on your website, Facebook and Networked Blogs; 1 blog, publish once, land in three places.

Back Links $150.00
Search engines consider it a "vote" when they see another site linking to yours. That's why it's important to have links to your site on other web pages.
Set up Twitter account if you don't presently have one (this gives an extra place linking to your site)
Add site links to directories (free ones) such as in forums that are geared to your niche, social media such as Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicious; find blogs in your niche to comment on and leave link.

Maintenance $30.00 per hour ($7.50 minimum) - Invoiced End of Each Month
If you would like me to maintain your site, I would be more than happy to do so! After your site has been live for one week, we go into the maintenance plan. Within that first week I'm giving you time to see if there are any tweaks you'd like to make. Time and work will be clearly defined on invoice.

Deposit
Once you commit to having me do your site, I ask for 50% down and 50% when the site goes live.

I also do business cards, brochures, flyers, postcards, etc. If interested in any of those things ask about them :o)

The Process

2011-07-09T10:32:00.001-04:00

The way I start out is getting some information from you then I work up the first page (home page) of your site. I put it in a test folder and send you link to view it, making sure it's what you want before proceeding to make the rest of your site. This is because, for consistency and professional polish, each other page will be the same layout, colors, etc.

My motto is, "It's your site, you must be 110% happy with it." Nothing will hurt my feelings. If I put something together and you hate it totally, always let me know and I do another. If you like some aspects, but not others, I make changes. We work the one page until it's exactly what you want. I usually get some sort of vision after talking and/or e-mailing with you then start tying it together with other elements, etc.

I'm in constant contact with you, usually every step of the way. We learn from each other this way. However, if you don't want that much involvement, I can put it all together without prior approval each page, step, etc. I will have many questions that come up but please know I work on YOUR schedule. If it takes you a couple minutes to respond or a day, that's okay with me. I work as efficiently as I can (day & evenings) but I understand people have different schedules and don't freak out when I don't get an immediate response. I want to get your site up in as timely a fashion as possible for you but you are at liberty to take what time is needed without me hollering :o)

First contact what I usually ask is if you have an existing theme (business card, logo, etc.) and we work from that. If you don't have a logo or anything else yet in place for your business I can work something up to see if it suits you. You just let me know what colors you like, a little about your tastes and we'll go from there.

If you don't yet have a site, we have to then come up with a domain name (your site name - name of your business which would be www.myname.com) and make sure it's available (always good to have 3 different names in case one is already taken, or use .net or other extension instead of .com); we then get hosting (hosting is the service that allows us to publish your site pages to the world wide web). I have always used GoDaddy due to price (can find coupon codes for discounts) but would recommend checking out HostGator pricing as I have heard a lot of good about them. You can also use any other hosting service - it's all up to you, I just give recommendations if you're not familiar with the back-end setup. I can give you a step-by-step how to purchase your domain name & hosting or you can give me card information and I go in and do it for you (once purchased you receive all information to access the account and I throw away the card information). I prefer Linux hosting over Windows hosting (programs and software sometimes require Linux or won't work - like custom forms, chat support, etc.) but that is up to you as Linux does cost a tad more.

If you do have a site, I will need the FTP login and password information so I can publish what we do to the web.

Barring any problems outside my control (hosting issues, awaiting information from client, etc.), should be able to have your complete website done inside a week.

Some Background

2011-07-08T11:24:00.001-04:00

Hello :o)

Hoping your day is blessed and appreciate you checking out how I may help you!

I call myself a "Mom and Pop" store HA! Though my services are much below the "norm" because I work from home without overhead, etc. you will receive professional services. And I like to think with today's economy and everything else going on, I can be someone that helps others and able to give them the "break" we all can use these days, while still helping to put groceries on our table!

How did I get started? Well, God is God as usual and hit me upside the head with it, again as usual LOL About the only way He can get my attention some times HA! Several years ago I started researching to see what "html markup" and stuff was all about, after saying many times I'd never learn that (should know by now to never say never!). Shortly after I was asked if I could help someone on their site so I dove right in. It was a great learning experience. Eventually I was doing five more sites but knowing people couldn't afford monetary reimbursement I did them for free. Therefore, I had to seek outside employment when I lost a job of 14 years I was doing for a company from home (economy sunk 'em like a lot of businesses) in the administrative/bookkeeping field. It would seem like site work was going to pick up, then it would go no where - rode those waves for a while. One day God started speaking to me about getting a lot of stuff off my plate. This time I listened quicker than usual and dropped my part-time outside work, and most of the freebie sites. I told the Lord, "Here I am. What do you have for me now?" A couple months later a precious lady called me that a friend had given my name and number to (a few months before! God's timing is always perfect). I was anxious at first because of before when it looked like God might use me to do websites but then it didn't go anywhere. So I thought this time He might have something totally different for me. But it didn't take long to get confirmation this was where He was leading. As we worked on her site she would tell me this and that friend of hers needed a site. I am in constant awe of how God works! So beautifully and so on time. As hard as it is for me to ask for money I knew I had to come up with a plan or I would sabotage God's plans again. The Services and Pricing section came out of much prayer and consideration.

I'll ever be so grateful to Denae' at Design by Denae for her encouragement and allowing God to use her to show me where He was leading! She too was a little anxious due to bad past experience . . . we needed each other!