Archive for Web Design / Blog Sites
Why You Should Choose Your Link Anchor Text Carefully
Posted by: | CommentsDo you know what anchor text is and how it impacts your SEO efforts? Basically, anchor text is the words that show up in a link. For instance, click here or contact us are some of the most common types of links you see on a web page. Now, why would it matter what words you use in a link?
Lots, actually.
Why Anchor Text Matters
For one, the right anchor text heavily impacts your SEO efforts. When you’re trying to attract inbound links, you would want someone to link to your site with the keywords that describe your business. The reason being is this: search engines rank keywords in search based on the relevancy of the words in links to sites.
So, if you wanted to rank higher for “business consulting, “ make sure inbound links use those words as the anchor text for the link to your site. This also goes for links inside of your site as well. Search engines take into account internal links as well as outgoing and incoming links.
Anchor Text Helps Conversions Too
Now, there’s another reason you would want to use better words for anchor links: conversions. Think about it, if you want someone to visit your sales page, would you want a link like click here? Nahhh…make sure it’s something compelling, like get your free business consulting report now.
So, remember, when you’re looking at linking anything in or out of your site, choose the right anchor text for each link – the words matter more than you think!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) the Series – Part III: Submit and Monitor
Posted by: | CommentsDuring this three-part Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Series, we’ve discussed the crucial coding that goes between the head tags: a unique and accurate title tag, a good description, and appropriate keywords and phrases, as well as the content of your web pages between the body tags.
To conclude, I’ll discuss submitting your website to the search engines (SEs) and then how to monitor the results.
The Process of Crawling
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) the Series – Part II: Content is King
Posted by: | CommentsIn Part I of this Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Series, we looked at the importance of using a unique and accurate title tag, a good description, and appropriate keywords and phrases in your HTML code within the head tags of your site as the first phase of optimizing your website for the search engines.
Although being found by the search engines (SEs) is key to increasing traffic to your website, equally important is the content of your site, which is what those visitors will see once they find you, and the topic of today’s post. It is too easy to get caught up in pleasing the search engines and forget that the ultimate goal of our website is to provide valuable information to our visitors.
With that in mind, follow these rules of thumb to keep your visitors happy and encourage them to bookmark your site for repeat visits. And remember, it takes between 15-30 seconds for someone to decide whether your site is what they’re looking for. Good content and design are crucial to people and the SE “bots” that will be crawling your site.
Hyperlinks
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) the Series – Part I: It’s All in Your Head
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to recent estimations the World Wide Web contains over 100 million websites. With numbers like that, it’s no wonder why search engine optimization (SEO) is more important than ever. But, unlike Kevin Costner’s character in “Field of Dreams,” simply building it doesn’t mean they’ll come – website visitors, that is. There’s more to being popular online than designing and publishing an eye-appealing website.
This post is one in a series of three that will help expose how some achieve high organic search engine rankings while others fall short of that mark. Organic SEO means spending time, patience and a little know-how versus money for pay-per-click campaigns. Success starts with appropriate and descriptive tags and coding in the HTML.
For the intents and purposes of this post, let’s use a fictitious company called Wow Business Support (WBS). WBS specializes in business support services and is physically located in Toronto, Ontario.
Do You Really Need a Privacy Policy for Your Website?
Posted by: | CommentsAsk yourself this: do you ever bother to visit a website’s tab labeled “privacy policy,” even when it’s right there, on the site’s home page? Most likely, the answer is no. So why then should you bother to invest your precious time and internet real estate on a post explaining your own website’s privacy policy? Is having a privacy policy on your site’s home page really that important?
The simple answer is yes, absolutely!
A well-conceived privacy policy not only protects your users, but also your company and your website. The question then becomes, what should you include in your website’s privacy policy?
If you actively collect data from your visitors, such as an newsletter sign-up form, then you must announce this in your privacy policy, however redundant this may seem. You also need to state what you will do — or more importantly, what you promise not to do — with their personal information. But what if you don’t have an email submission box on your website? Are you then exempt from this disclosure?
The simple answer is no, you are not!
For instance, do you use an analytics program, such as Google’s? Most webmasters do, and that constitutes user information collection, however indirectly.
There are basic elements that should be included in every website privacy policy:
- Basic Terms & Conditions (note that any changes to these must be posted immediately)
- Notice of User Consent
- Description of the Information Collected
- Explanation of How that Information is Used
- Contact Information with E-mail Address & Phone Number (should the user have privacy questions or concerns)
While it is fine to borrow the basic language of another website’s policy when formulating your own, it is crucial that you tailor it so that it reflects your site’s own, unique policy. It is a good idea to check with the privacy policy requirements of any advertising and affiliate programs your site employs, to ensure you’ve covered your bases.
As with most legal documentation, you may only need that website policy once in a blue moon, if ever. But, like an insurance policy, come the one time you do need it, it will be there to protect your users, your business, and your site!
