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Unexpectedly, the SEO community was gifted a leak. Just as everyone was wringing their hands and lamenting SEO is dead (it’s not), here came a blueprint for SEOs. I have just begun soaking in all the information contained in this document. By way of background, Rand Fiskin, founder of MOZ, was contacted about the Google API being accidentally uploaded. But as I read through this, in many ways, it's not telling me things I didn’t already know, but I feel very vindicated because it backs a lot of what I think but could never prove. From the Desk of an SEO Expert – A Look Back So why should you trust my insights as an SEO Expert? The Google leak, in many ways, validates things I’ve been saying for years. I've always maintained that Google lies and misleads SEO companies, and this leak seems to confirm that. But let me define why I am an SEO expert so you can evaluate the podcast, video, and this post. I have 28 years of experience in SEO. My company was formed seven months before Google. Since my very first client, I have been navigating the ever-changing landscape of SERPs. Back in those days, it was easy. How much keyword stuffing is needed? How many pop culture references can I add to my title tag?  Or, best of all, I could type in the same color of the background and feed the search engine but not making apparent to the visitor. There were a lot of these ‘tricks’ back in the day. Do them now and do so at your peril. This is not a thing anymore and hasn’t been for many years. Our SEO journey began when the search was still rudimentary before there were 14,000 data points. As the industry evolved, we adapted and built our knowledge. In a nutshell, we have been a part of every change Google has ever made, giving us a unique skill set and vantage point. While there are others like me, we are few and far between. Some, like Danny Sullivan, have even gone to work for Google. But others, like myself or Bill Hartzer, continue to fight the good (Google) fight in the trenches. It’s all about the Algorithm. So What is the Google Algorithm Anyway? It all starts with the algorithm and the quest to understand it. The Google algorithm has always been as complex as it is simple. For those who don’t know for sure what an algorithm is, let me define it for you. An algorithm is a set of mathematical computations that solve a problem. In the case of Google, it’s the equivalent of a scoring system ‘grades’ web pages (and websites) and then putting them in numerical order, with the best page being listed in the first position. For years, I said there were 29,000 ‘things’ we had to know to get a page to work/rank within the Google algorithm. The number is 14,040.  But what’s a few thousand data points between friends? What we don’t know is the value of each of the items we are going to discuss below. What is the amount each item adds or subtracts from the score? Some may argue that predicting the outcome without those values is hard. But this is where the SEO expert part comes in. I believe I can tell with pretty good accuracy what is more important than other things. It is probably a companion piece I need to write that puts them in order and assigns the BG (Beth Guide) scale of Google Values to them. So, what IS the Google Algorithm based on? What have we learned from this Google data leak? Learned is subjective in this application. Me, I haven’t learned much. It’s all the stuff I already knew. For me, I used the word validated and vindicated. The first thing I’ve long said is that it is my opinion that Google lies to and tries to mislead SEO companies. I mean, why would they tell everyone how to game their system? It makes perfect sense. I have to say that I laugh when people tell me about the Google raters guidelines as if they are gospel. I have long said follow it to the letter and see how far you get. Google Misdirection #1 – Page Rank It's 2024, and I’m about to type the word Page Rank for those of you who have not been...

SEO Hacks: Ways to win at SEO  SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a crucial aspect of digital marketing, and understanding how to navigate it can significantly impact the online visibility of your business. In this class we will explore the basics of SEO so that you can compete in this world and understand the do’s and don’ts and if you’re paying someone you can understand that they’re doing what they need to do. Google and SEO: Two Sides of the Same Coin Google’s relationship with SEO is constant and ever-changing so it’s important to stay on top of their updates and requirements as they roll out. Since September of 2023 Google started the “Helpful Content Update” and has been aggressively rolling out new fixes in an attempt to combat the use of AI for content creation. In March of 2024, the latest roll out will alleviate 40% of the content that is currently sitting on the internet, because google reads it as written with AI. This is also designed to go after marketers using tactics to gain Google’s System. What does this mean for business owners? For business owners and content writers, this update means that they will have to ensure that no content used is created with any AI tool. Content must be written by a human, as organically as possible, and with as much helpful information as possible. If you’re not being helpful, they’re not ranking your website. No mixed signals with SEO Getting fancy with your words has its uses in marketing, but when it comes to your website and its content the messaging must be clear and concise. Google operates on a set of signals that help it understand the content and relevance of web pages. These signals are crucial for ensuring that your website ranks well in search results. One important aspect to note is that Google is literal and specific, how you communicate information on your website needs to align with how Google interprets it.  Using the right keywords and structuring your content effectively are essential for signaling to Google what your website is about. A reoccurring issue with some websites and their signals, is that a website will change, which causes the signal to break. The Role of Keywords for Great SEO Keywords play a pivotal role in SEO as they help Google identify the relevance of your content to user queries. It is significant to understand your business's keywords and how to find them and use them effectively. Using plug in tools like Keywords Everywhere can provide valuable insights into search volume, competition, and the potential value of specific keywords. The search volume of a keyword is how many people are looking up this or adjacent terms. The competition is how many other people are attempting to rank using that same keyword. Remember, higher competition keywords may be harder to rank for, so it's essential to prioritize and strategize accordingly. The potential value of the term is how much it would be for you to purchase specific search terms, but this won’t be necessary to start. Local SEO and the "Near Me" Trend An interesting trend highlighted is the growing importance of local SEO, especially with terms like "near me." Google's algorithms are increasingly favoring localized search results, making it crucial for businesses to optimize their online presence for local searches. Incorporating location-specific keywords and ensuring consistency across online directories and platforms can greatly improve your visibility to local customers. In some instances, your business name can be a keyword, but often the business name is a more abstract concept than what your business does, so it’s good to ensure your support keywords are strong enough. For example, if your business name is “TreeCutting.com”, Tree Cutting would be a keyword because it would be something someone googles. But if you’re business name is something abstract like “Jose’sCutters.com” you would then have to set up a good amount of keywords in your website like “tree cutter...

Fall is upon us, which means the holidays are soon to follow. For business owners, this time of the year is filled with opportunity - opportunities to develop your brand and capture a new wave of customers in the process. Of course, the competition is fierce during the holidays, especially as we near Black Friday and Christmas. That means SMB owners and online retailers must be ready to optimize their web presence to the extent they can. By strengthening your website, ad marketing, e-mail marketing and social media marketing channels, you’ll give your business a fighting chance to rise above the holiday noise this year. Here, we’ll address how to do just that. First, start by optimizing your Google Business Profile and integrating analytics Whether your business operates globally or locally, optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP) is a strong - and simple - first step. For local SMBs, it’s unavoidable - your company needs a locally optimized GBP to garner traction with Google. Start by making sure your company’s name and address are accurate. Put up a photo of your company’s building. Fill out as much of your profile as you can - posts, reviews, events - all of these signals add up to let Google know where your business is located. And ensuring your business is properly geolocated by Google is a must-do to achieve any degree of local SEO success. Use geo-specific keywords in your company’s description and posts. Publish photos and videos (that you or someone within the company has taken) regularly. Just make sure that the company’s profile is active and frequently updated. Take a few minutes and integrate Google Analytics (widely termed GA4) into the website, too. It’s quick and easy to do so, and it provides valuable insight into how your site is performing from a traffic and lead-capturing standpoint. Users, sessions, page views, conversions, bounce rate, engagement time - there’s a lot of data here, but you don’t need to be a digital marketing expert to extract value out of it. Create more customer touch points through e-mail and social media As the holiday season approaches, consumers start gearing up to buy. That means it’s time to get your brand in front of them. With so much online noise competing for our attention these days, consistent (but not obnoxious) touch points are needed to drive leads to your company. A proven way to do this is with e-mail marketing - Mailchimp is our preferred tech for automating many e-mail marketing functions, but you’ll need to provide the content. Ideally, this content will provide valuable information that’s designed to “hook” the user toward your website. At the least, taking a spot in their inbox will bring your brand to the front of their mind - the first step toward making a conversion. Don’t be afraid to regularly send out these e-mail blasts - a couple times a week is considered optimal - and make an effort to capture user e-mails when they visit your site or make a purchase through your business. It’s easier to sell to current customers than new ones, and that means you’ll need an updated e-mail list. E-mail marketing can also be used to pick up additional customer reviews Customer reviews are weighted heavily by Google for SEO purposes. They are, therefore, a high-value target for brands. E-mail marketing can also support this goal by (politely) reminding users to leave a review. Many buyers have no problem doing this, they just need to be asked. Don’t overthink it. A week after a customer buys something from your site, automate your e-mail marketing platform to send out a review request/reminder. It’s a no-risk, high-reward approach to building your brand’s reputation. The Google Display Network provides a brand awareness boost for pennies on the dollar Chances are, you’ve seen plenty of small ads served through Google’s Display Network (GDN). The GDN is one of Google’s many, and often confusing,

Auditing Website Basics: The Rules Every Business Website Should Follow Developing a business website is difficult work. To be frank, it’s a job that most small business owners aren’t prepared to handle on their own. The job is only getting tougher, too, as Google is constantly raising the bar on what constitutes a high quality, trustworthy site. And every business owner should want a website that Google considers trustworthy because those are the sites that secure top ranking spots. If your site isn’t performing as well as it should, the problem (or problems) may be basic. With so many elements to optimize on modern websites, it’s practically impossible for small business owners to catch everything. That’s why we’ve put together this quick guide to business site basics. Follow these rules, and your site will be off to a good start. First, a word of caution about website builder platforms Before diving into those rules, though, we need to address a question that comes up all the time: “Can I build a business site with Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, etc.?” The answer is yes, you could, but business owners should avoid doing so at all costs. Site builder platforms are easy to use and inexpensive, but the website they crank out are impossible to market and optimize. That’s a deal breaker for any business owner that plans on using their site as a lead and sales generator. Websites build on one of the above platforms are essentially invisible to Google. They spit out bloated code that Google has trouble recognizing and interpreting. They give site owners insufficient latitude to make major technical changes. They do not allow site owners to choose their own host and you’re trapped inside the platform’s ecosystem. If the platform goes under, so does your website, permanently. Given all of this, we cannot in good conscious recommend site builders. What we do recommend is WordPress - the standalone version, not WP’s own platform and hosting service. WordPress remains the gold standard for marketability, customizability and performance, so every business owner’s first choice should be WordPress. That out of the way, on to the rules: Rule 1 - Make sure your title tag and headers are formatted properly Every page should be paired with a title tag - it’s the single most important element in helping Google understand what the page’s content is about. This title is identified using a title tag - something you may hear referred to as an H1. H1 (or H2, H3, H4 and so on) tags are designated in the page’s HTML code and are used to identify a title or header. Titles and header are important for Google and users, and generally for the same reason - they help the reader understand what the page’s content is about. This is obviously important for users, as their decision to consume the content or move on has to do with the content’s title. It’s also crucial for SEO purposes because Google isn’t going to rank a page that it doesn’t understand or isn’t properly titled. Properly-formatted and written headers help Google with this. Proper format means using the right H tag - only one title tag (H1) per page, and headers should be organized in a hierarchical format. That means using an H1 with the top header, H2s for content section headers, H3s for subheads inside those content sections and so on down the line.  Rule 2 - Feature your services and products in high-importance navigation elements If Google doesn’t know what your business sells, it will probably not rank the page. At best, your site will be improperly categorized in the wrong product or service area. The result of this? Users ending up on your site after searching for something completely unrelated to your business. That’s exactly the kind of traffic business owners don’t want. To ensure Google places your site in the right category and serves it to the right users, reinforce what your company does in the site’s most important navigation elements.

Wordpress is one of the internet's most powerful engines, as something like 40 percent of all sites run on WP. Millions of those sites are professional or e-commerce in nature, and from the get-go, they must be configured properly to succeed. That means integrating the right tools into Wordpress during and following the initial WP install. If you're partnered with a reputable web hosting company, these tools may be included with your install package - a major convenience for site owners who don't know where to begin. Here, we've got a list of every important tool to consider for site owners just getting started with WordPress, along with some helpful information about WP management fundamentals. For SEO purposes, it's Wordpress or bust - stay away from site building platforms If you haven't launched a site yet, build it in WordPress. If you've already launched a site that's not in WordPress, prepare to move it to WP. And if you've already launched a WordPress site, congratulations - you're on the right track. The truth is, there's no good reason whatsoever for business owners to pick anything other than Wordpress for their online presence. WP is the gold standard for several reasons, including: Google prefers WordPress websites (better SEO) - The downside with site builder platforms is that they're built using bloated code that search engines cannot interpret well. Wix, Weebly, Squarespace and other drag-and-drop builders may be easy to use, but that simplicity means sloppy code on the backend. If you're serious about ranking on Google, this bloated code is a fatal problem. WP is well-supported by an active, open source community - WP is an open-source engine, so anyone can access the codebase and contribute to it. The benefit of an open source engine is that it's constantly being improved upon by the community, so WordPress users are always coming up with new and better tools. There are hundreds of thousands of plugins that can expand WP's functionality - Speaking of tools, there's an endless list of additional features and plugins to choose from. Each one adds to the site's capabilities, so if there's something that your site needs to do, but currently can't, there's a good chance that a solution already exists. It just needs to be installed on the site. Wordpress allows people to maintain ownership of their domain and assets - If the site is created through a standalone installation (Wordpress.org), you'll have complete ownership over all the site's assets and domain. With site builders like Wix and others, the site is contained inside the builder's ecosystem. That means if the platform goes down, so does your site. Further, if you want to move or make major changes to the site, that may be impossible if it's hosted on a platform. In short, WP's feature-rich, SEO-compatible code makes it the undisputed leader among site creation engines. Wordpress.com or Wordpress.org? Here's the difference The first hurdle business owners may run into when getting started with WordPress is whether to publish through Wordpress.com or Wordpress.org. We strongly recommend going with Wordpress.org, but here's a quick guide to both: com - Wordpress.com is WP's version of the site builder. While it utilizes the same WP dashboard and publishing process, the site itself is hosted on WP's own servers and is therefore functionally identical to sticking the site on another self-contained platform. Further, by opting for WP's own platform, site owners may be responsible for additional fees related to "premium plugins" and other features. org - Wordpress.org is the standalone version of WP that we recommend. With wordpress.org, site owners have access to all of the software's base files and user-friendly dashboard. In addition, owners have complete freedom to host the site with the hosting company of their choosing, and may make any changes they wish without interference.

How to Write a Better Blog Blogging, it’s not why most people get into business, but written communication remains an important part of customer acquisition. And online, that means writing high quality blogs, articles and landing page content to help send the signals to Google that will equal long term SEO success. With today’s tech-based, always-online economy, the value of good writing may not be obvious. That’s where we’ll start before addressing how to write a more effective piece of website content. A 24/7 Salesman: The value of an expert blog Without a website, companies are passing up on 30 percent of their potential business. Even when no one is at the office or manning the phones, the company’s website is there representing the brand. In this way, an effective website is like a salesman who never takes a break. Publishing high quality content is like giving that salesman the best possible sales pitch - with it, they’ll represent your company well and earn more customers as a result. In the end, as the company’s owner and resident expert, you have complete control over your brand’s messaging through the power of blogging. Every business owner is an expert, so put that expertise to good use The first hurdle for business owners to get over is a psychological one. “I can’t write,” said just about every business owner ever, but as an expert in your industry, your insight has value to Google and to users. That’s true even if you can’t write like Shakespeare. If you’re willing to practice writing and get better, you’ll eventually develop your spoken voice into an effective written voice. For many niche subjects, all that’s needed is clear, direct writing with some expert insight or examples sprinkled in. One easy way to come up with blog topics - listen to the customer Looking for a good blog angle? Pay attention to what customers are concerned about. These could be your customers or a competitor’s customers, wherever they provide feedback. This could be a question asked in an e-mail, a comment in a product review or a complaint on social media. Whatever it is, there’s probably a blog angle in there somewhere, as long as you’re looking for it. Google wants original, expert ideas, so be careful with AI writers like ChatGPT Although some of the ChatGPT mania has died down, there is still plenty of conversation regarding what it, and other AI writers, can do for website owners. ChatGPT can help with some writing-related tasks, but it cannot replace the expertise needed for the content writing itself. It’s not a cut-and-paste job. You’ll have to do some extra work to get the page to a publishable level. Google is on the record saying that it’s okay with some AI content as long as it meets the search engine’s quality standards. Unfortunately, AI content doesn’t. When AI “writes,” it’s actually scraping content from tons of existing pages, pulling out information and reordering it to create the semblance of an original article. But nothing in the AI page is original - just an amalgamation of the pages it pulled from. Google doesn’t like that because users don’t like that. Users don’t want an internet full of same-sounding, no-value junk, and so Google doesn’t want to fill its SERPs with same-sounding, no-value junk. As such, search engines will penalize sites that rely too much on AI for their blogging and website content. And yes, Google can easily detect AI writing. There’s room for AI to fill a role, though, so here’s how to use it To summarize so far - don’t take what the AI writer gives you, then turn around and publish it on your website. That’s a no-can-do, but what can you do with ChatGPT and similar AI generators? Generate a pool of subject-relevant keywords - Every blog should be optimized with high-value, subject-relevant keywords. These provide Google with the signals it needs to understand the page’s content and properly categorize it for its search results pages.

If you’ve just launched a business website - or are about to launch one - your work is just beginning as the site’s owner. With millions of e-commerce and professional sites already online, it’s a real fight to get new websites noticed. In fact, it’s impossible to gain traction online without an effective SEO plan in place. That’s because search engines are picky when determining which pages to rank - those with better SEO fundamentals are much more likely to snag those coveted top spots. https://youtu.be/w7Bdz9JOqVg But that only raises another question - how can business owners get started with effective SEO? That’s what we’re addressing this time. With these following tips, any business owner in any industry can get a competitive start with SEO and build a steady stream of traffic. The right engine means everything when starting a website, and that means WordPress If you already have a website, it is hopefully built in WordPress. If it’s not, we’ve got some bad news - you’ll likely need to migrate it to WP. That includes sites built in Squarespace, Wix, Weebly and other stripped-down website builders. If you haven’t built a site yet, WordPress is the engine of choice. Why? Compared to site building platforms, WP’s backend is far more compatible with Google’s site discovery and indexing process. In other words, Google understands WordPress sites better than others, so it’s more likely to fully crawl, index and properly categorize a website. In general, the more confused Google’s spiders are when crawling a website, the less likely that site will rank. WP ensures minimal confusion between the website and Google. Make your title tag count - with high impact keywords Every page on your website has to explain itself to Google, and title tags and headers are an important part of that mission. Each page gets one title tag (an H1), and you should treat it like a proper title - it should explain the content’s primary focus. And for Google, every title tag should also include relevant keywords that send the right content signals to search engines. These keywords are essentially clues that tell Google how to judge, locate and categorize the content. It is extremely important to locate the most relevant keywords (i.e., the product you’re selling) as high up on each page as possible. This will maximize the chances that Google’s spiders will find them. Additional headers are used with content subsections, and they act just like title tags. Each section header should describe what’s in the following section while including high-relevance keywords for Google. Localize your headers, copy and images for your business’s service area Most small businesses have a tight service area that’s near their operating facilities. It’s this area that your SEO should be targeted toward. Local SEO is the branch of digital marketing focused on targeting users in a particular service area, and it’s a slightly different game than general, national SEO. When users punch in a local search query (“Houston Mexican restaurants,” for example), Google returns a local SERP in response. This local SERP includes additional high-value spots like the map pack, so engaging local SEO comes with additional rewards. But local SEO also takes a slightly different approach. One part of this approach is to localize the content on your site’s pages, so Google understands where your business is located and what areas it serves. In practice, that means mentioning where the company is located in titles, headers and inside the body copy. The city it’s located in, the neighborhoods or regions it services, the names of nearby landmarks and major roads - these are all useful clues for Google. It goes further than that, too. Every image published on your website has metadata associated with it. This metadata includes where the photo was taken, so consider taking your own photos and publishing them with that metadata intact.

For anyone who has been around the Internet Marketing Clinic for a while, knows we always try to stay ahead of where the road goes. AI tools have turned 2023 on its ear, and it is not even March. In this episode of the IMCH, we are taking an in-depth look at how to balance AI tools like ChatGPT and your website, content or SEO efforts. There is a lot  of very dangerous misguided implementations ideas so we wanted try and stay ahead of it and let you know what we think you should be doing and how to used this very powerful tool, but do it in a manner that you don't blow yourself up. Do not copy AI-generated content and paste it into a website  Before you run off to ChatGPT and generate your entire website from scratch - stop. In our practice, we’ve already seen business owners attempt this with disastrous results. And that is what I keep seeing and hearing. It feels like, right or wrong everyone things they found the secret to creating mass pages to place on their website and that is just not true. Google has upped the useful content penalty possibly taking aim at cut-and-paste AI-generated content, and the search engine is getting better and better at detecting it. There are hundreds of AI writers out there, but it’s unlikely that any of them could evade Google’s AI detection for long. Why is Google seeking and destroying AI-generated pages? Because AI can’t produce a page that’s as well-written, organized and detailed as a human expert-created page. At least for now, human experts provide more value with their writing than ChatGPT or other AI tools. This is because AI content generators work by scraping and distilling what’s already on the internet. Google doesn’t want a web full of copycat content - it wants originality. And it wants original thinking because that’s what users want. From Google’s perspective, AI content generators have the potential to pollute the internet with identical pages and damage the user experience. On the other hand Google also is okay with AI content if they add to the web. If there is solid new information it more than likely won't get dinged. But you have to committed to making sure the information is not just spun and put out on the website. There are a few more problems with AI content generation, that you need to be aware of to avoid a penalty. Superficial reasoning and knowledgebase - ChatGPT and AI writers can spit out tons of information with every prompt, but because this information is sourced from thousands of sites - many of them low quality - the information tends to be superficial. This problem is more pronounced for niche topics and industries, where there are fewer inputs for AI to work with.  Confusing conceptual linking and writing flow - AI also has trouble determining which pieces of information link together and how they should link together. Us humans do this naturally when we speak, because our communication is predicated on exchanging and responding to information provided by other people.That’s why AI writers tend to go off-track with topics or repeat themselves throughout an article. You won’t find an AI linking an insightful first-hand experience with the topic at hand. That kind of web-like conceptual thinking is still beyond the reach of AI.   Difficulty with proper punctuation and grammar - Curiously, AI writers also seem to have the occasional issue with word order, sentence structure or punctuation. The longer the content, the more likely these mistakes are to emerge in a piece of AI content.  It may not be long before these kinks are hammered out, but for now, the above should give business owners pause before they go all-in on AI. Doing so could wipe out your traffic now or in the future, when Google retroactively applies penalties for AI content-generation methods. All of this is subject to change as Google implements GoogleBard, its own AI Tool   Everything in this article could become obsolete overnight - thus is the nature...

Buckle up 2023 is going to be one for the ages. Every year brings a new set of challenges for the digital marketing industry, but 2023 may bring more upheaval than normal. Multiple content-related updates in late 2022 appear to be targeted at identifying and deranking pages with low quality (potentially AI) content. Google has also made recent updates to its Search Rater Quality Guidelines - with added emphasis on communicating expertise and experience in content. Additionally both Google and Bing are rolling out chat modules for search that have the potential to upend digital marketing, especially for small businesses. Over this year as this rolls out we will address and work to find strategies that will work inside that framework. It may be a big deal. It may be a fad, no one knows yet. It's in part why I have been running these classes since 2007. Google is clearly raising the bar on what constitutes a high-ranking website. Quality content, quality performance, quality navigation and linking - there’s no more cutting corners for business website owners. That’s why we’re focusing on cleanup this week. The little things matter more than ever for digital marketing, and so we’re addressing some of the little things you can do to improve your standing on Google. Optimize your online presence with the right platform, plugins and patches  First, if your site isn’t on WordPress, move it to the WP ecosystem. More than 40 percent of the internet is built on WordPress, so Google thoroughly understands it - and prefers it. If your site is built on any other platform - Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, etc. - then you’re at a major SEO disadvantage from the start. Assuming your site is built on WP, there is a plenty of plugin available. Many of these are useful for optimization purposes, whether performance or search engine optimization. A favorite of ours is Rank Math. Rank Math is an SEO plugin for WordPress that provides broad functionality. It offers deep insights, like tracking your position history for a particular keyword. It also integrates seamlessly with Google Analytics 4 and offers centralized control over many SEO functions, like configuring headers or metadata. And if you’re wondering just how entangled Google and WordPress are - Google has an official WP plugin called Google Site Kit. With Site Kit, your Google Analytics are available through your WP backend and through a single dashboard. Verify that your business is properly listed online   Google uses your company’s location for local SEO purposes, which can be a problem if your actual location doesn’t match Google’s own data. It’s a problem that a lot of businesses have. If your company’s address or phone number have ever changed, there’s a good chance that your older addresses or numbers are listed somewhere on the internet. If there are many such outdated NAP citations out there, Google may place your business in a different market. The goal is to monitor your NAP citations and correct any that are inaccurate. Our clients have a tool to make these easy - one available through Yext. With Yext’s Optimize Location tool, business owners can get a status update on all of their NAP citations scattered around the web. This includes Google itself, along with Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, Bing, Yelp and a score of directory sites. If there are any NAP inaccuracies, it’s made obvious here, so website owners can correct the citation. To do that, you’ll need access to the account associated with the citing website. Businesses are in a constant state of flux, so it’s common for brands to lose control of certain accounts as employees are turned over and changes are made. If you do lose access to a citing account, you may able to correct the citation by submitting your company’s information to a major data aggregator like Acxiom or Localeze.  Set up Google Analytics 4 so there’s no interruption in data tracking  Google is overhauling its analytics platform and relea...

Google has always prioritized content in its rankings, but in the second half of 2022 and into 2023, the search engine giant has gone all-in on content updates. In the past several months, Google has pushed over at least three significant content updates, and its latest includes major work to its search engine content guidelines. We’ll take a closer look at this latest update and what website owners will need to do in response.  A few notable changes in Google’s newest content update  The bulk of the newest update concerns Google’s E-E-A-T (formerly E-A-T) standard. Before we dive into that, though, here’s a couple other notable changes from the update: Google is placing additional emphasis on the content’s author - One of the changes was to Section 2.5, a section that concerns the website’s operator and content creator. This change is actually an addition - a guide that helps quality raters determine a web page’s author. Why is this important to website owners? Because Google is clearly factoring in the content creator’s credibility for ranking purposes. That means business owners will need to invest in building this credibility. That’s where quality content and other page elements - like an author box and bio - come into play. YMYL pages are going to get scrutinized extra hard - Google has also added to Section 3.0, a section dedicated to defining quality content. One of the additions asks quality raters to assess whether a page concerns a Your-Money-or-Your-Life (YMYL) subject. YMYL subjects include medical, legal and accounting - subjects where wrong information or advice could do a great deal of harm to the reader. The content quality standards on these pages are higher, given the stakes involved. If you operate in a YMYL industry, it’s extra important that you develop expert-level content that conveys your expertise. It’s also important to remain on top and avoid introducing any topics outside of your field. Many more changes to the content quality guidelines were made, but the above are of relevance to business website owners. And another major update to be aware of is E-E-A-T, which we’ll address next.  Meet E-E-A-T, Google’s guidelines for creating expert content   While the above changes are noteworthy, it’s the E-A-T rework that’s getting the most attention. E-A-T has been around for years as a guide for quality content, and there’s an extra E to account for now. What was E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness and trust) is now E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust). Google developed E-E-A-T to define what end users (the page’s visitors) are looking for when assessing content. As it turns out, users prioritize experience, expertise and authoritativeness when consuming content. As the website’s owner, it’s your job to ensure your experience, expertise and authoritativeness come through in your site’s content. This is what generates the most important letter in the E-E-A-T acronym - trust. How can site owners do that? Here’s how Google defines each part of the E-E-A-T formula: Experience: Does the content creator have direct experience with the subject?  Experience is the new addition to E-A-T, and at first glance, it’s unclear where the line between experience and expertise exists. Regarding experience, Google wants to know if the content’s author has first-hand experience with what they’re writing about. For many topics, first-hand experience is the most valuable thing the writer bring to the page. Here are some examples: A restaurant review: Did the writer eat at the restaurant they’re reviewing? Comparing laptops: Did the writer try out both laptops they’re comparing? Offering travel advice: Did the writer travel to the place they’re talking about? As you can see, there isn’t expertise involved here - these are subjects anyone could write on without special knowledge. What’s important is experience. Expertise: Does the content creator have educat...

Looking back at 2022 - a year of major Google updates Another year, another slate of algorithm updates from the world’s leading search engine. Google making changes to its ranking algorithm is nothing new - it’s always going on, actually - but 2022 saw a couple of impactful changes that website owners should be aware of. Ideally, you will have already made some of the necessary adjustments, but if not, we’ve got a quick recap here you can use to get up to speed. Table of Contents Add a header to begin generating the table of contents https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmW9-W3fbp0 Technical Performance  While Google’s 2022 updates would eventually target content guidelines, the search engine started the year by making technical performance the focus. In a way, this was a continuation of Google’s Core Vitals update, which was pushed over during the summer of 2021. Specifically, Google wants websites to run faster and more reliably than ever. It’s easy to understand why. A site’s user experience (UX) remains a primary consideration for Google, because search engines don’t exist to promote businesses. They exist to connect users (the people entering queries into Google search) with the best possible answer to their search. A website’s UX describes how user-friendly the experience is on a particular page. If users are leaving the page before it loads or as soon as it loads, that lets Google know that the page is offering a poor UX. Search engines will always send traffic to a site with good UX metrics if given the opportunity. That means your site should also be optimized for UX. A major part of UX is a page’s technical performance. Does it load important content quickly? Does it respond to user interaction quickly? Does it remain visually stable while loading? These are critical performance metrics roped into Google’s Core Vitals update. The search engine is still raising the bar in terms of technical performance, so slow, unreliable sites are having added trouble in ranking well. Stay away from “cookie cutter” website builders   If you’re building a website, Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, Shopify and others offer convenience. They don’t offer anything else, though, including technical performance or improved conversion rates. In today’s world of digital marketing, nothing beats Wordpress. With unmatched Google integration, unmatched versatility and unmatched support, Wordpress websites are far easier to rank on Google and other search engines. If you’re building a new site, start with Wordpress. If you have a website in a site-builder like Shopify, consider your options in moving the site to Wordpress.   Content was always important, but helpful, expert content is now necessary    Content has always been a top ranking factor for Google and other search engines, but what exactly that content should look like has changed over the years. And this year, Google made one of its most meaningful content updates in its history. Termed the helpful content update, Google is now prioritizing high quality, expert level content that provides value to the user. But what does value mean when it comes to an online blog? Users go to Google to answer questions. Google returns the best possible answer to their questions. As a site owner, your job is to get Google to pick your answer first. That means you’ll need to generate content that offers the following: Expertise - Google places a lot of weight on expertise. It does not want to rank a non-expert highly on any of its SERPs, as this reflects poorly on its own ability to spot valuable information. This is especially true if the question has to do with an expert industry like medicine, legal or accounting. Expert content answers a relevant query fully, from every angle possible. It may take 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 words to provide a complete answer, but Google prefers longer, more thorough content that short content that offers nothing new. Authority -

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the primary components of digital marketing and is foundational to a successful website. Proper SEO gives your website the best possible chance at securing favorable search engine listings, and those top listings are valuable. In fact, the top 3 organic listings in Google gets an estimated 80 percent of all the clicks on a particular search engine results page (SERP). As your site moves up the rankings, its ability to attract traffic will also improve. That means more potential customers and, if your website’s effective at converting, more business. SEO is important, so we’re going back to the basics this week and covering search engine optimization 101. Table of Contents Add a header to begin generating the table of contents https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkfFB9p8E-w Understanding Google's Algorithm At its core, Google is an index, a directory. Google is a list of millions upon millions of websites that users reference when they need to answer a question. That query could be for a piece of information, for product reviews or for a business, but it always starts with a query. Google’s job as a search engine is to match the best answer to each query. To do this, Google utilizes a mathematical formula - an algorithm - to assess every website and page it comes across. This algorithm weighs hundreds of factors to determine whether a particular page is worth showing for a particular query. SEO is designed to make a website or page as attractive as possible to Google’s ranking algorithm. This means optimizing many ranking signals that tell Google that “hey, this website is worth considering for that question.”  Organic vs. Paid Listings  Organic listings are listings that have earned their spot through effective SEO practices. Websites that land a top organic listing have earned the favor of Google’s algorithm by optimizing factors like content, link building, page speeds, user experience and many others. SEO services provide the work needed to optimize those signals. Paid listings compete with organic listings for top SERP listings, but do so by paying Google instead of optimizing ranking signals. While traffic can be earned this way, it can be extremely expensive to manage and is considered less effective than winning organic traffic.   We have circled the paid ads on the page vs. the organic listings that are encircled. How Does Google Find New Pages? Google finds new pages by “spidering” the internet. Google’s spiders explore the internet by navigating from link to link. Those spiders may follow internal links from one part of a site to another, or they may hop on an outbound link to another website. When spiders “crawl” new pages, they analyze it by looking at various signals and determining what it’s about. If the page is worth saving for future listing purposes, Google indexes the page, which means it stores it in a massive directory for possible future reference. One of the primary ways Google locates new pages and content is through the use of a sitemap. Sitemaps are documents that provide Google’s spiders with all the information they need to efficiently crawl your website - specifically the URLs contained in your site. This helps spiders build a more complete picture of your site and ensure deeper crawling. Submit Your Sitemap via Search Console Sitemaps are XML feeds that are easily generated with an SEO plugin like RankMath and can be submitted directly to Google.  They are generally regarded as a requirement you must complete for your website to be indexed properly in Google. Fresh Content Always Performs Better Content includes the most important ranking signals for any page. One of those signals is the “freshness” of your content, and Google has directly confirmed this. The freshness of your content refers to its timeliness or how recently it has been updated. Content that’s written in relation to a current event, for example,

If you’re running an e-commerce website, then you’ve got competition. At last count, there were more than 20 million e-commerce sites in operation around the globe. Every one of those websites has the same goal - stand out, attract traffic and pick up conversions in the process. With millions of sites crowding the online picture, it’s never been more important to pursue best e-commerce practices when developing and marketing a website. That’s what we’re going to go over, along with some tips to help Google find and rank your e-commerce site. Table of Contents Add a header to begin generating the table of contents https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luEGhS1R9ww  What is an e-commerce website?  We’re going to be talking about e-commerce websites here, so let’s get the definition straight. Fortunately, it’s an easy concept to understand. E-commerce sites are those focused on selling a product or service to clients (other businesses or consumers), using a set of tools that make the process as simple and efficient as possible. An e-commerce website should provide the following functionality: Allow users to select and add products to their shopping cart. Securely process orders and payments. Manage shipping and provide shipping details to the user. Provide customer service to users. There are additional functions that e-commerce sites can perform. For example, an e-commerce site may allow people to create a profile, save previous order details for one-click ordering or let buyers redeem discount codes. In general, though, if your website sells a product or service, and it allows users to do this using a shopping cart and payment portal - you’ve got an e-commerce site. To support a successful e-commerce site, you need the right platform  Now that we’ve defined e-commerce, what does an effective e-commerce site look like? It looks like one built on WordPress. Anything else will hold your site back. There are tons of website creation platforms out there for business owners. Pretty much all of them make money by convincing business owners to use their platform. That means they’ll make big proclamations about how SEO “friendly” their site is or how easy it is to get started. Here’s the problem: Almost every single site creation platform out there is poorly optimized for Google-centric SEO. If you’re using Shopify, Wix, Weebly, Squarespace or any other popular site creation platform, your site is already facing serious SEO headwinds. WordPress sites now blanket more than a third of the internet, and it’s the leading platform for e-commerce websites, too. Because WordPress is so ubiquitous, Google works hard to understand how WordPress websites are built and designed. Google’s familiarity with WordPress gives WordPress sites a major crawling and indexing advantage, which means better overall ranking potential. In summary, Google prefers WordPress sites because it can understand them better. If you’re using any other platform, you’re making it that much harder for Google to figure out what your business does and what it sells.  Choose organic when it comes to website traffic  So search engines understand and rank WordPress websites better. So what? Adwords work with Wix or Shopify sites and you can get traffic that way. It’s true that Adwords can pull additional traffic toward sites built in most platforms, but you’re paying for that traffic. And if your site is operating in a competitive space with competitive keywords to fight for, your ad costs can be eye-popping. We’re talking thousands of dollars every month to sustain traffic flow to your site. Even worse, your pay-per-click (PPC) expenses can, and likely will, change from month to month depending on how your ads do. It’s difficult to budget for this. That’s why digital marketing professionals prioritize organic search traffic for their clients.  What is organic traffic and why is it valuable?  

When I teach class, I always advise using WordPress because it gives small business a way to level the playing field. At Vertical Web we do a lot of things, but client advocacy is one of the biggest. We talk about why using a platform like Wix or Squarespace in my opinion does not allow websites to have the best chance to rank in Google and that should always be a priority. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqEg5ROZrIk I know we often hear well I just need to have it for credibility from small business owners. What they mean is having a website is a necessary evil but it doesn't need to be more than a virtual business card.  And although that is one approach, the reality is that with the right vehicle and some mentorship you too can gain some traction on your website. It is in part why we offer this clinic and have for going on 20 years.  This should be a goal. With this video and the use of starter templates, I think that creating a WordPress based website can be just as easy as creating a Squarespace website. Best of all this version will work much better to help bring clients to your become aware of your business through Google search. I have always recognized that for a brand-new person that has no idea, a point-and-click solution may appear easier. But the long-term negative impact really makes it not as good of a deal. So what I did was take the build of WordPress we use and provide it to our clients. I also added the tools you would need to succeed in both search and in reaching business objectives including email distribution and social media scheduling. Basically, all the things we speak about in class are included. What are the Most Essential WordPress Plugins We view some plugins as essential and if you asked me that question, my go-to answer would be you need a backup plugin (BackupBuddy or WP-Staging). You also need a strong SEO plugin and we always recommend RankMath over Yoast now. You need a security plugin (We like Ithemes). Lastly, you need an optimization plugin for speed (we like WP Rocket). Backup Software It is critical to have backup software on your website. This can be handled in two ways, but that doesn’t mean it's mutually exclusive whereas doing both is recommended. Daily backups are a must, and we recommend keeping them offsite like Dropbox, One Drive or Amazon’s Glacier. Through Vertical Web we provide Amazon Glacier for backup included in our WordPress hosting plans.  The secondary way, which is also optional is a staging site, meaning we are using a dev site and then when we are happy with the changes, they are pushed into the live site. This is always a safer way to make changes or try plugins. In the long run, this avoids problems before they affect a live site. SEO Plugin I’ve talked about the superiority of RankMath in the past and they continue to out-innovate Yoast in my opinion.  They provide a full set of tools that help make sure your website is properly buttoned up for Google. Speed Optimization Plugins (caching plugins) There are several speed optimization plugins that help your website pass Core Vitals. There are a few ways to handle all this. But we recommend WP Rocket in most cases. We have used Nitro Pack but it seems to have some consistency issues that it does not always improve the site 24x7. I’ve been in touch with their support with very little assistance although they did answer each of my tickets. But, frankly, you cannot have a product that does not deliver its result consistently. Therefore we provide WP Rocket with our WordPress hosting plans. Design Tools As for the design tools we recommend Elementor for various reasons and it is what I opted to do the demo with for the attached video. WP Bakery has not upped its game for core vitals which makes it far more difficult to succeed in the Core Vitals requirements. Divi Builder has been around for years and although many devs like it, I find it cumbersome.

Each month I sit down to pick topics that are most relevant to the Digital Marketing landscape. Or, I am asked questions from clients that really can be a strong class topic. That is exactly what happened here. I had two different clients ask us to help them understand an SEO report. So out of that, this topic was born. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH9vglF2gAU&feature=youtu.be Google Analytics The reality is I used at least 2 and sometimes as high as 4 types of reporting daily for websites. The elephant of the room is Google Analytics and I decided to talk through the parts of it that I use. Really the information in GA is outstanding and helps you understand how to make better decisions on your website if you know how to interpret the data. When you look at analytics it helps you understand active pages, demographics, and the customer journey. Now, long-ago Google Removed Keywords from those reports, because as I’ve come to understand now, you cannot provide a good customer experience if we are writing on just a keyword. Rather you should be topic-centered. This is a theme you will find in most of our classes and blogs. However, I still want to know what keywords my website is drawing so I can make sure that I am meeting the needs and that the website is being used as I intended. If I look at Vertical Web in total, there are four distinct topics and audiences I wish to draw with it.  Truly it all comes down to small business owners that need digital marketing services. But I have the web hosting component, the web design component and the SEO, including local SEO or digital marketing component. And then I have our SEO classes that are live and on-demand. I have to account for each audience and client need on this website so the Keyword data helps me to understand what we’ve done well and what needs more attention to keep this all in balance. So keywords are important to help pick topics but not writing pages to the keyword. SEM Rush The second type of SEO report we use here is SEM Rush which allows us to pull through multiple different aspects of Google, including Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Google Business profiles.  This is also the report we give clients to see their overall progress for the most part. In addition, we encourage clients to look back at the previous year for their data rather than the previous month. The reason behind that is that all businesses are cyclical in nature. Retail may do more during Christmas and Back to School than it does 4th of July or St. Patrick’s Day unless you’re an Irish Pub. Looking at the aggregated data helps clients understand the progress that has been made on the website. Although some SEO companies talk about how many terms they have in the top 10, we often find that what is missing in that analysis is are they money terms. If I look at Vertical Web, we have several thousand words in the top 10 and do 1.5 Million impressions per month through organic traffic. But, we need to look at how many of them have the probability to create a conversion. For us the page that talks about how to set up DNS for a Square Space domain, something we put up for a registration customer, does not really net us anything. So although it garners a lot of terms for use and that page ranks on well over 300 variants, it does not put one dollar in our company. Conversely, a term like Houston SEO or Web Design Houston is far more advantageous for us. Therefore, we need to nurture those terms. So don’t buy the line that your SEO company is doing anything for you just because you have a list of terms. Review those terms and make sure those terms support the goals of your business. Ahrefs The next tool we use, and we’ve seen reports is Ahrefs. I often see people ask which one is better SEMRush vs Ahrefs. And to me, it’s like asking which is better water or food. You need both to sustain yourself. And I think the answer here is the same. AHrefs,

Digital marketing is a huge field, encompassing several fields of study and changing all the time. And like with any technically-heavy field, digital marketing comes with its own lingo that’s used among industry members. Here we’ll start delving into those terms and what they mean to digital marketing professionals. That way, when someone starts spitting out SEO slang, you’ll know what they’re talking about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta4_8khnLZs Here’s the terms covered in the A-D Videos Above Above the Fold  On a website, anything above the fold is sitting high enough on a page that you don’t need to scroll down to see it. This is what your site’s visitors are going to see first, so anything that’s important to that page’s purpose (making a sale, getting a visitor’s contact information, etc.) should be above the fold. The term is derived from newspapers (remember those?), because when a newspaper is folded in half, you can only see the most important headlines and content up top. The Google algorithm  Every algorithm is a set of mathematical rules that a computer must follow to solve a particular problem. For digital marketing experts, there is only one algorithm that matters - Google’s search algorithm. Its search algorithm is what Google uses to determine where to rank a particular page or site. It includes hundreds of factors, all weighted differently to prioritize important site elements. For example, quality backlinks and quality content are major factors in Google’s search algorithm, so they are weighed heavily relative to less important factors. AMP pages An Accelerated Mobile Page (AMP) is a page served up to mobile devices, and specific AMPs can be built for a variety of mobile devices. The idea behind AMPs is that they’re better optimized for mobile devices and so they load faster. However, it’s important to serve the same content for your desktop users and AMPs, to avoid issues with multiple page versions. AMPs are not the same thing as pages that use responsive design. Such pages alter their layout as the size of the browser window changes, while AMPs do not. Analytics When seo experts talk analytics, they’re usually referring to Google Analytics, though there are other analytics-based plugins that can serve the same purpose. With analytics, site owners can monitor the amount of traffic their site is seeing and where that traffic is going. This information can be used to improve underperforming parts of the site.  Author authority  Authority is a big deal to Google, and you can think of it as an analogue to trust in the digital marketing world. Anything with authority, whether it’s your domain, your brand or the author who puts your content together, will gets a ranking boost from Google. That’s because Google considers expert voices to be more relevant to users searching for answers allied to that expert’s field.  Producing expert content under a particular author’s name is one way to build that author’s authority and give them a ranking advantage when they produce additional content. Anchor text  Anchor text are the words used in a clickable link on one of your pages. On a page about winter clothing, for example, there may be a link to page that has winter hats for sale. The text used in this link could be “winter hats” for example, and that would be anchor text for that link. Anchor text is most relevant for internal linking purposes, and it can be used to establish relevant connections between pages on your site. Ideally, your anchor text will be short and highly relevant to the target page without overdoing it with keywords loading. Backlinks Backlinks are a vital element of SEO and one of the most heavily weighed factors in Google’s search algorithm. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your site. You can think of them as endorsements for your own site, so every backlink boosts a site’s authority and establishes relevance in its industry.

It seems like everyone is a web designer or an SEO expert these days. After all the years in this industry you learn to spot trends.  When the economy is poor, the web designers come out of the woodwork. Everyone suddenly knows how to build a site and knows SEO.  I am here to say that is an absolute fallacy. Reputable web designers are not part of the gig economy. And web design is not a side hustle.So what are some of the tell-tale, inside baseball signs, small business owners need to consider when looking for a Web Designer or SEO Company. Let me say up front, price should be the last consideration. I know it is easy for me to say, right? Not really, a solid web presence needs to be nurtured, so there really are two choices, learn to do it yourself, and that is the whole point of the our class series, Internet Marketing Clinic. Or, conversely you have to pay someone to do it that actually knows what they are doing. But I’ll say more on pricing here shortly.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-AwBZ6XofQ Where Do You Start with Web Design? The first thing all business owners should ask themselves is do they have the aptitude to do it themselves. Small business owners tend to be very wily in finding ways to get a job accomplished. Your website should really be no different. One of the barriers that often comes up is the fear of a computer. But as with anything, if you tell yourself you can’t do it or something is beyond you, it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Take your entrepreneurial can do spirit and apply it to this.Should you go down the do-it-yourself route, what you should not do is use DIY tools like Wix, Squarespace, Weebly. These are platformed based solutions.  Although you can whip up a website quickly, it does not account for poor design choices, but more importantly, the lack of these platform's ability to do well in the organic listings of Google. These listings are free if you put your website together properly and the value of that must not be overlooked by small business owners.Now that we’ve told you what not to do, let's talk about what we should do. WordPress.org. There are a lot of reasons for it, but the reality is this software can be set up properly  to meet the Google bench marks. This will greatly increase your probability of landing on the first page in your niche. Now, of course, there are delimiters because if your niche is crowded, the lift to get to the first page goes up. Often, those companies have folks like me on their payroll.Vertical Web has a customized version of WordPress available through our WordPress Web Hosting Plans that include all the tools preloaded and paid for making it a one stop solution for your WordPress needs. How to Pick a Web Designer or SEO Company? So, as I’ve already said, price should be one of the least important factors of who you trust with your business. But in the real world, it is not always a way to view it. So here are a few tips that might help you make the decision when the time comes to get a professional web designer to work with you.Does the company you're considering have a professional looking website?This seems like a now brainer, however I can’t tell you how many times we look at a competitor's website,  only to find the website is a one-page WIX built site, with very few clients listed, if at all Is there an attention to detail?Is spelling correct? Are images properly sized and not distorted? If the website has flaws, this is often indicative of a few things that range from how thorough a company is; to their overall ability to write an effective website. If they can’t execute these things on their own website properly, how do you expect them to execute it on yours?Does the web design firm demonstrate an basic understanding of Google's best practices?Check the website’s title tag and see if it is indicative of what the company does, rather than their company name. Or worse, does the title tag say home.

Common Mistakes That Negatively Impact Website Success Errors Errors everywhere and not a person to help.  We see errors everyday. Even sometimes we miss things. But what are critical mistakes that hamper you digital marketing success. Table of Contents The Platform And the Host We will start our list of mistakes at the most fundamental genesis. Two of the first decisions a person makes when they decide to start a website are where to host it and how to build it. Often this is the biggest mistake we see, is picking wrong based on your goals. If you wish to have a website that ranks in Google well. If you want a web hosting company that is geared toward Google success your choices are very limited.  The website needs to be built in WordPress. Now granted there are two ways to approach this, .com and .org. Wordpress.com is a platform and should be avoided in our opinion. The right and clear path for a website's success is WordPress.org. There are a few reasons for it. First off you can choose where your website is hosted which is an extremely relevant point. This is a very important decision that will impact your website. A web host that has downtime is a problem. A web host that has slow or out-of-date servers and a throttled pipe is also a problem. Additionally, there are platform-based web hosts and they too are issues where you do not have the control over your own website or even if you can have a .htaccess file, a necessary tool in the SEO toolbox. I am often asked why I started a web hosting company and first and foremost, we needed to host our sites in a manner that best-supported search engines. At the time the only way we could meet the need was to bring hosting in-house. So that is what we did and ended up with a relatively large hosting company.  Google finally came around to my way of thinking which was to include the core vitals as part of the algorithm. On-site SEO The next thing is how the little things being off can impact your website. Keyword research is paramount to having successful on-site seo success.  The proper implementation of keywords though a page from the title tag to the Headline tags, and the navigation are supremely important signals that if don’t send them you are missing an opportunity. Having on-site SEO dialed in is an easy win and will more often than not move your website from page 2+ to possibly the first page easily. Backlinks There are two sets of issues that emanate from backlinks. One is totally ignoring them or two trying to game them. New website owners especially, often think put up 5 pages and boom people will find me. Well, the days of if you build it they will come is in the rearview mirror. The reality is that you need to be an authority. You need to be fresh and you need to be a thought leader. If you are an entrepreneur, this should not be a high bar. After all, if you are bold enough to start out on your own, leadership should not be hard for you.  As a thought leader you should be putting out high-quality contact and in return, you will find people linking to your site creating the link equity needed. Now there are SEOs that feel link manipulation is the way to go meaning, buying links, PBNs that are hard to track. Spun content. All kinds of schemes that are highly against Google Guidelines. Link manipulation is by far one of the worst errors that can be discussed. Usually, the offenders are egregious in their execution. If you build a quality site, are involved in your community and are a professional organization, more than likely good quality links will come. Intellectual Property So this is a fancy term but what it means for this exercise is things like your domain name and your social media properties. In the 25 years since I’ve been working in this industry, I’ve seen so many unfortunate business owners come to us to help solve IP issues. They rang from Domains with wrong contact issues, divorce problems and even death.

Their back! Well I think they never went away. What I’m talking about is content silos, or as ahref called them a topic cluster.  On a side note, recently there was a post on twitter about how people rename things and then go Eureka, I found something new. This Eureka, whether called content hub, topic cluster or silos, have been around since day one. It is just we have not seen the emphasis in the recent past. I guess really since they started cracking down on the over use of anchor text on a  page. One of the catalysts of this I believe is John Mueller’s recent discussion on AI and how AI technology and the posting of that type of content is against Google’s Guidelines. As I have always taught, nothing beats a good solid piece of well written and well thought out content. And although I fully recognize that my industry, SEO and Web Design both foster this, anyone with a business, should not have issues producing this level of information. After all that is why you are in business, to solve issues other people have that they cannot solve themselves. And that, is the exact thing you should be writing about. What I know from the SEO side of the world is that I could write down everything I know over and over and still very few people would get it correct. So don’t be afraid to produce content that gives answers and that paints yourself as an expert. There has been a lot of chatter too on the quality of the page and what is deemed good quality and how does Google portend to decide what is good and what isn’t. In on words how good is it AI in understanding the meaning and construction of  a page. As a human I know a bad page, or spun page when I see it. But how well will machine learning address this. Additionally there are different types of on-page content. So we need to make sure we are using the right content at the right time in the right way. And honesty it can be tricky. So what types of content are their. And that’s is what else I discuss in today’s class. How do you write articles to meet the objects and how do you write them to create this content silos or Topic Clusters. What Types of Content are there? Topic Page So first lets understand the three page types. We have what we can a topics page and that is often the equivalate of a mini homepage for that section of the website. Often these are the pages that are linked in the navigation Evergreen Content Page: We also have an evergreen topics page that are usually nested under a topic. And of course, these are pages that as time goes on, will always stay relevant. For example, a page that talks about NASA, when talking about places to visit in Houston. NASA will always be NASA. Blog Page (posts) And then we have the colloquial blogs that are more relaxed and are often an editorial. More important, the facts of meat of the subject may change over time. So, time is a factor. As with all things, it’s always best to start with a mind map of your website. You must be thoughtful in this process and also, I color code mine so that when I look back at it I know what my intent was at the time I created the mind map. I also put traffic notes if they are applicable and they are a starting place if I need to make and SEO adjustment. Best of all you can tell what is a topics page (they are orange on my charts) and then what are evergreen supporting pages (they are read on my charts) And then grey lets my writers what points should be covered in each of those pages or if additional evergreen is needed. Remember To Create a Mind Map Mind Mapping We recommend MindMaple to do this with. It is free (so it says). It works on both OSX and Windows and can be easily shared. We also use this to create our keywords and understand what we should be adding to pages to be relevant. So this is an important step on the process. Once we know what type of page is needed we then try to get a feel for how long tha page should be.

When a user does a search, Google determines if they are looking for something that is either close to them in proximity, or something that is further away. But with the passage of time, more searches are being pushed into a local space, and to be successful in that space, website owners have to understand how to make this perspective work for them. This is the core of what local seo is Every business owner should be identifying where they want to go in the future, how they get there, and how people are interacting with them. Then the key is to stick to that plan because if you start to deviate or hop around too much, Google will not understand what you are doing and it can hurt the success of your website in the long run. The most linear path to getting Google to notice your website is to list your business on Google Maps and set up your website in a manner that helps the search engine understand exactly who you are and what you do. Why Maps for Your Business Are Important Consider this statistic: ninety-five percent of online traffic that hits a website with a map will have come from the number one result on a Google map listing. In other words, a map listing equals more traffic to your website and therefore your goal should be to have your business appear on that list. With best practices, any business has the potential to make the map listing for a search results page in Google, but the less competitive an industry is because it is more localized, such as a chiropractor or a plumber, the easier it will be. Those businesses who are competitive with entities on a national scale for people’s business will generally have more difficulty. How to Get Your Business Listed on Google Maps If you don’t know anything about Google Maps, you need to, so I am going to walk you through some of the basics. The first order of business is to get your company listed on Google Maps by following these steps: Go to https://google.com/business and then sign in (if have not yet registered your business, do so now by entering your business name and address). It is better to use a physical address rather than use a virtual space or address as Google recently wiped out millions of websites for that exact reason. A brick and mortar business with a physical location will always rank better than a company with just a service area. Go to the info area and pick your categories. These categories will tell Google what your website is about. There is no way to assign a category that does not already exist. A category is not the same thing as a service that your business offers. These categories dictate how Google will see your business, not necessarily how you see your business. Getting these categories right is probably the most important part of this process because if you don’t get it right, you are kind of doomed from the get go. List your services. Some of this Google may fill in and some will need to be filled in by you. Make sure your list of services is valid and comprehensive. List your hours. Be sure to list accurate operating hours for your business. Make your profile picture your physical front door to the office. Google prefers to see, no matter how ugly, the physical front door to your business that has the logo and everything on it. This is just one more way for them to establish the credibility of your business. Take photos and put them up here. When you are somewhere for business, take a picture with your cell phone because it keeps track of your location and tells Google where you were when the picture was taken with the metadata. This can help both validate your service area and grow it. Get reviews. The more reviews your business has, the better off you are. Reviews should be from actual customers and are even better with keyword placement that relates to your business. Do not make them up or buy them. Be sure to reply to every review that goes up. Thank people for good reviews.

This is the second part of our SEO for Beginners podcast. Because this section is vital for the success of any website when it comes to Google, I felt it best to put this section together all on its own. In SEO for Beginners Part I.  I touched on some of the external decisions you need to make when creating a website that will rank for Google. We spent some time on picking web hosting. I built Vertical Web’s Hosting Infrastructure specifically to accommodate Google. And I did it long before Google even knew it needed to be addressed. We also talked about choosing the right platform. From my standpoint, WordPress is the only correct solution. I know it sounds a little narrow-minded but, singularly focused with Google as the target, it really is the most viable to do what is needed. And trust me there is a lot needed. Fundamentals of  SEO or Technical SEO When I look back over the 20 years we have been building websites and ranking websites, there are some fundamental things that have always been present. Sometimes they take a more center stage focus within the Google Algorithm, and other times, they take a backseat. But having career ranking websites, I have found we have to make very little overhauls if you get the fundamental foundations right. I have sites that we have been responsible for the SEO, and although we need to modernize the appearance, the basic foundational issues are always correct. So what do I mean by fundamentals?  They have become affectionately known as Technical SEO. And as I continue to weigh on-site vs. off-site SEO, I continue to find websites that have strong link profiles and terrible on-site SEO. It is really the opposite of a few years ago because everyone was so singularly focused on links, they took their eye off the on-site part of the process. So today’s podcast starts to look at exactly what this all means and how doing it right on day one saves you money and time, and gains you far more traction. And if you have an existing site, why your site must be brought into alignment. So although I skipped picking Keywords, and will do this in a different podcast, I had to talk about how you set your website up. The Signals Lead to the Benjamins – Google looks for signals, which are ranking variables that clue Google into what a page or a website is about. There is a factor of commonality and certain words that trigger Google that helps Google discern user intent. So we must understand those triggers so we can build pages for the outcomes we want. So the question then should be what are those triggers and how should my website and then my web page address them? They are structure, meaning, how is my website outlined and how is it put together, using the navigation as the roadmap. How am I utilizing headings to make them work to signal Google what the page is about? How do I use anchor text to create signals? In addition, all these signals will allow Google to produce the right search result for each query. And, best of all, if this is done right the user will be directed to the right page on your website, rather than be forced to land and then figure out where they are supposed to go. If you don’t afford your users this, what will happen is they will simply bounce back to Google. The end user expects to land in the right spot, so this is another reason the outline of the site must be set up correctly. When these items are put together correctly on a page, Google gets a clear picture of your website and therefore places it where they think it should be in their search result. By handling all these principles properly, your site will more than likely make it into the top 20 with very little effort, depending on how competitive the keyword is. And, once the site is placed, you will be able to fine tune it into the first page. It All Starts with a Mind Map I encourage everyone that wants to have a ranking website to create a mind map of that site.

We finally got to kick off 2022 with our partner Houston Community College’s Center for Entrepreneurship. In tonight’s class I picked several points that will be the key items for ranking well in Google for 2022. Web Hosting There has been a dramatic focus put on Core Vitals. Because I have a long track record of working in SEO and understanding how vital quality web hosting is the process, it only seems fitting to me that Google finally caught up to me with ideas of how a server affects the overall performance of a website. How slow web hosting can negatively impact the client experience, which is one of Google’s prime focus. Using Web.dev gives an extensive overview of how to improve your website for speed and if your website will pass the tests Google now requires.  Of course the class always asks who is a good web hosting company and I always say we are. We provide top of the line hosting, especially focused on WordPress. Plus we know how to troubleshoot and fix most WordPress problems as they arise. This is now a focal point for success and winning a place at Google’s table. So find a good web host. If its not us, make sure you choose one that can handle the riggers of Google. One that has great support for your website. And make sure they understand or provide solutions that help with core vitals. Web Design The way in which you build your website is vitally important. From the platform you choose, to the way you put it together and assemble it, makes all the difference in the success level of the website. Going about getting a website build properly is vital to is success. Other considerations should be what is the best platform to build a website. We have long said platforms that are website builders, via a cookie cutter, rarely will rank well in Google Can it be done, yes, but it takes a lot of skill most business owners and SEO beginners just don’t have. Its always beset to setup so that your website succeed. A solid well ranked website brings brand awareness, which is a very important. A solid website that Google links and puts on the first page functions like a sales person for you. There is many benefits, but it takes planning on the frontside to get there on the back side. The general rule of thumb is to avoid cookie cutter point and click online platform designers. Learn to use WordPress.org. Web Marketing Clear messaging spoken from a position of authority is vital to you website success. Your readers want to know you a are a trusted source. This is vital for success. Yes we know it is hard to find time but really, by not you’re missing an important of the equation of having a modern business. The concept of being an expert is extremely important to this equation. We are all experts in the businesses we own, or we work in. Using this to drive your digital marketing is vital for long term success. Of course blogs are important but even more so now are also podcasts and videos to help your potential clients feel comfortable with doing business with your business Local SEO and Google My Business Local SEO is a now specialized for of SEO that is aimed at local brick and mortar or service area businesses ( electricians, plumbers). Often businesses don’t optimize their Google My Business presence and miss the unique opportunity it presents. Even worse some business owners don’t participate at all. Every business, regardless of size or scope of your business has a local domicile and therefore should have a Google My Business presence. Often when doing SEO for Lawyers or SEO for Dentists, this is a prime focus. But many services mid-size business will benefit as well from having a localized presence even if they serve a national audience. Overall these are the focal points for 2022 we should all be working towards mastering.

When it comes to search engine optimization, people often overlook the value of basic SEO in their website and digital marketing operations. And some honestly may not even understand what to do or how to get started. It is never too late to make basic SEO an integral part of the website. As the owner of a company that offers SEO services as well as web design and web hosting, let’s talk about some ways you can get started today. What is SEO?  And Why Does SEO Matter? Basically, utilizing SEO optimizes your website content to present it or feed it to the search engine in the best possible way. For a search engine optimization campaign to be successful, it must be feeding the customer AND Google. This balance is everything. SEO And Google One of the reasons SEO plays such a critical role in getting traffic to a website is because it is basically the art of feeding Google information in a way that gives your business placement on the first page of Google. Google is the largest driver of traffic for a website, coming in at a whopping 80 % of all unbranded traffic coming from them. The next highest source of website traffic can come from a social media platform like Facebook, but with a much lower yield of probably around five percent. When you compare sixty percent of traffic to five, it only makes sense to maximize your efforts in Google over other options. Google uses an algorithm, or mathematical computation, that combines roughly two hundred or so areas of data to rank a website. Google will take a page of content on your website and run it through the algorithm for a score. If you do enough things right, the algorithm may work in your favor, but the converse is also true. It is critically important to understand how a search engine works so that you can make your website and the pages conform to their algorithm, while still representing you're business with is best foot forward. Basic SEO Tips SEO is like a big jigsaw puzzle. When the puzzle is put together right, it creates an amazing picture. If one or more of the puzzle pieces is missing, it is nothing but incomplete. For the best yield from SEO practices, the goal is to do as many as you can at the best possible level because the end result is what Google will be looking at. Some good starting tips for basic SEO are: Post relevant and updated content. Google is looking for websites that share relevant and new information. For instance, if you are a plumber, a blog post might talk about frozen pipes and needs to do so in a comprehensive way that helps the reader. Keep content original and do not duplicate even material from another page on your own website. Do the legwork to get backlinks. Google will look at how many votes a website gets and part of that process is if someone makes a link to your website. In Google’s eyes, that gives the website value. Do not fake backlinks or buy them. Backlinks from a chamber of commerce or the Better Business Bureau can be good to have from the search engine’s standpoint. If you adopt good SEO, the backlinks should come on their own. Create the sitemap and submit it to Google through their search console. Utilize outside traffic. Google will take notice if a sizeable chunk of your website traffic is coming from somewhere other than them and may reevaluate your web page. At my company, we have diversified our traffic to come from a podcast and social media platforms. Be authoritative. In every piece of content put together for your website, own your authority on the product or services your website officers. In addition to verbiage, becoming a member of the local chamber of commerce and participating in your community can help with this. Good page speed. Google is looking at the speed of your webpages. Make sure they are running efficiently, which is typically a reflection of your web hosting company. Understand the importance of good keywords. Google will only know what you are talking about if ...

Table of Contents Add a header to begin generating the table of contents One of the biggest mistakes I see small businesses make is underutilizing Local SEO practices. If you want your local business to rank better in Google searches, Local SEO is a necessity because it reveals things about your specific location that could have you appearing in a user’s local search.The key to success is learning what exactly Local SEO is, how to implement it in your own website, how you can support it with Technical SEO, and how the combined effect can impact your business. Let’s walk through it together.What Is Local SEO?About ten years ago, Google started plugging map listings into their search results and defining virtually every word in the English language to help them better understand a user’s intent. The result is when a user searches for a term such as “auto mechanic” Google will surmise that they are looking for an auto mechanic, and likely one not far from where they are. Essentially, Google uses proximity searches and word definitions to provide a user with what they hope is the exact information they are looking for.If there is a map listing on a page, your goal should be to get in that local listing. This is key because the data seems to say that ninety-five percent of people go for the map listing results that appear when they do an online search. Specifically, your end goal should be to reach the top three options in the map listing to help maximize website traffic.Bottom line? Google is basing the results they provide on the intent of the user, and to do that they are assuming that when the user does a search, they want a local business. If Google doesn’t recognize your business’ address or where you do business, they have no way of knowing if you are local to a user or not, which means you are off the list. Implementing Local SEOThe best way to let Google know who you are by registering for their Google My Business program  and  to optimize your website for local searches. This is typically done best through signals such as: Google My Business registration. Register your business with Google My Business and take special care to fill out your contact information correctly and as you want it to appear everywhere. List your business’ hours of operation. Never change your phone number because it is connected to your business. Be consistent with how you list the URL of your business, whether that is with the “www” prefix or without it. Know where your Google My Business page points to and try to make a link back to it on the website. Make sure your business description is well-rounded.Owner Credibility. If a business is going to appear in the top results of Google’s map listing, Google wants to ensure that it is a valid business and not part of scam. They have some initial hurdles to answer and at times, we have had to submit documentation from the state showing the business is legit.  This is a good reason to have all your paperwork in order.Physical location information. In the past, Google preferred a physical address to be connected with a business. They now understand all businesses do not necessarily have brick and mortars and will allow a designation of a particular service area. Personally, I still recommend using a physical address if possible because everything is based on proximity. It is also a good idea to use a photo of your office as the cover photo for your Google My Business page.Chamber of commerce membership. When you become a chamber of commerce member, it is a signal to Google that you are a legitimate business, and it tells them more about your location. In other words, if you are a Houston Chamber of Commerce member, Google will assume that your business is  based in HoustonEnsuring that your business meets guidelines for Local SEO should increase foot traffic, leads from the website, and engagement. It is that important.

I was invited to give a talk on SEO for the Houston West Chamber of Commerce and decided to talk this and make a bonus podcast out of it. This is a quick sprint though core vitals and how to use and interpret Web.dev. It is important to have a strong web hosting company to help with making sure you site passes core vitals. And, if it doesn't helping you make that work. We also did a quick on page technical SEO walk though to help business owners understand how to do a quick audit of your page. We touched on title tags, H1, H2 tags and other on page technical seo elements that if you did nothing else, but fix these items, your page would be more apt to rank on local or long tail search. This segment is one of the quickest ways to fix what's wrong with your website. Because of the icy weather we know a lot of you missed the talk in person or the opportunity to ask questions so we though we would put this up and if there are any questions please feel free to leave them in the comment section of the website site. This is a little shorter format than our normal Internet Marketing Clinic classes but was great to be back in front of people and we are looking forward to doing more in person events.    

As many know I have always been a big proponent of creating a comprehensive marketing strategy where the digital part, is just that apart.  So in this week’s podcast, we go through and unpack what that should look like and what you should be focusing on to set up a long-term sustainable strategy. What Business is NOT Doing When It Comes to Digital Marketing. So sometimes it's good to start in a place that highlights what we are not doing. There are 10 things that business owners don’t do or overlook. Really understand who your customer is first and foremost. Then think about who you want them to be. The reason I break that in two is that although imaging where you want to go is important for success; not understanding where you are can be a huge hurdle to growth Know what your analytics say. Understand your cost of lead acquisition. Develop an email mailing list Create a sustainable marketing budget Using social media as a billboard rather than a strategy. Keep databases clean Choosing the wrong vendor Automate everything you can. Stand out and be the expert Being flexible and being willing to pivot as needed Understanding the Sales Funnel on Your Website We hear a lot about funnels and how we should build them. And in the internet marketing clinic, we talk a lot about how to gain traffic to a website but equally important is how that traffic matriculates to sales.  I think a lot of what we talk about in this the Internet Marketing Clinic the top of the funnel. How to get people into your sales process. But we are going to challenge each of our business owners to start looking at the next steps from traffic We see a lot of inbound marketing tactics, meaning offering folks something to get them to give you their contact information. Long term we should all have that goal. Either through education (white papers, webinars) chat or social media we need to encourage our end users to tell us who they are so we can continue to reach out and interact with them. It will take 17-23 touches before someone does business with you. So, part of our funnel goals should be to create ways to do that. We fish for clients with a big net and that is how internet marketing has been taught for many years, but we need to consider funnel and conversion actions. Who has a plan for client acquisition? This is something that we really overlook with our websites. Everything you do should be geared around making sure you create an environment and a marketing plan to acquire customers. Your business should have a very strong digital footprint as well as a strong traditional plan. Both work together to maximize your business. Your SEO should not be the only thing driving your business.  You should never be a one-trick pony when it comes to marketing yet so many business owners fall into a trap of when something works never expanding outside of that path. What is your Business' Value Proposition? Experience says that most companies cannot define their value proposition to a prospective client. When you cannot do this, and you don’t have someone asking the right questions, you cannot drive messaging right.  The messaging is not clear to prospective clients and therefore makes it very difficult for them to start to move down the funnel and move towards doing business with you. People know what to expect when they do business with Amazon or other big brands. But how do you convey that? This is more of a thought provocation rather than something I am going to answer. As a business owner, it is imperative that you define your value proposition for your clients. Are you Consistent with Web Site? Both your clients and Google start to look for consistency in what they can expect from you or your business.  Feeding Google also feeds your clients and your social media properties that start to build a consistent footprint for your business. That consistency serves a few masters. One you are reinforcing your brand.

As we all know goals are important. At the start of the year, they seem to be front and center. Digital Marketing for your business is no different. There is no time like the present to get started with it. Two Sides of the Content Coin Content discussions have been going on since the start of SEO and internet marketing. Despite the topic sounding the same the reality is that the end user has become more demanding in what they want.  In the past we have said we need to put-up high-quality content, but we never really say why or what the benefits are from doing so other than maybe getting a higher Google ranking. Despite that being true, there are really two sides to this and as we walk into the new year that need become more defined. So for many years we have talked about adding content in the form of evergreen pages and blog pages to help feed Google. We are very deliberate in word count and in technical structure, but do we stop to consider the user. In years page, no they were just a piece of bait out on the internet waiting for a client to come a long, click through and realize how great we are. Those days are gone. Now we may put out a page of content, and we need to put the end user first. Google of course is still in the equation and structurally we do want to include certain items. However, the page now must be written from a more informational or educational standpoint. We need to demonstrate we are experts, a core theme we stress here at Vertical Web. So my challenge and goals for website owners and marketers are to write solid content for their users. Make sure its engaging and creates interest in what you do, but do not be pushing the ‘sale.’ There are ways to do that gracefully and usually if you can master that you have a far higher success rate in our present climate. Once you write out that content or those evergreen parts of your website then go back and fix it for Google, but in reality if you do that correctly, you are also fixing it for your end user Avoid Missing the Mark I often see website designers that miss the mark in being clear for their end users. It is always a good idea to create a clean website with a lot of white space and keeping is simple. But there is a thing as being too simple. Often to be creative with language, it often does not send a clear message back to others about what a website is about. If the website is unclear so will the ROI. End users are looking for information. They are picky in how they interact with the content. Adding confusion to the top of this will only diminish the value of what you do. In the same vein it is equally as important to make sure you are also using the right images to convey your messaging. Its again a common mistake we see, but images need to be aligned with the subject matter. Case in point, I am in the process of building our new verticalweb.com website and in that process I had gotten some outside brand opinion on positioning. And their comments were that we are a different type of company and then proceeded to suggest using abstract images for the home page. The problem is that the public has a certain expectation so putting a picture of paper ships in a bathtub does not convey we stand out in the crowd. There are so many jokes there. But the point of the matter is standing out in a crowd sometimes means you have to understand your audience and use images that work for them. Understanding  and Educate Potential Clients Educating potential clients is always a solid way to earn trust and create leads. However, its one of those things small business owners often miss the mark on.  Very often they want to tell people what they have to offer rather than listening to them and seeing what they need or how you can make their solution fit.  Listening is one of the best ways to understand our clients. And best of all they often give you the content to your website on a silver platter.

New Year’s Day always brings with it resolutions. As business owners, we often have a set of business resolutions for an upcoming year. But do you include your marketing, and specifically your Digital Marketing? Wherever you are in your digital marketing journey, start it or strengthen it by making sure you have the fundamentals in place and that they are working for you. Table of Contents Add a header to begin generating the table of contents Resolution 1 - Fix Website Issues Chances are, if you are reading this,  you already have a website for your business. Understanding of what the website needs to be able to do be successful is paramount. Otherwise, you have a website that sits there looking beautiful but not really doing anything beyond because it's in the abyss of the internet. Start With Your Web Host - Speed, Speed, SpeedYour Web Hosting company can be one of the best places to begin analyzing your website. Arguably, since the advent of Google Core Vitals, the role of web hosting now factors into the success of a website’s ranking. Google can and will penalize your website if it is slow. Even with an otherwise perfectly optimized website in place, slow speed will find your site out of the sight of a potential customer's path. So where do you find out how your website scores in core vitals? The answer is simple Web.dev. This Google site is for you to see how your site is doing based on their best practices model. If you check your website speed and it does not pass, this should be one of the first resolutions you should consider as the web development could be better. The next logical question is how to tackle these issues. First let's establish you could do everything else right for core vitals and if your web hosting company is not on board it is all for nothing. So let's get this off the table first.  What Questions Do You Ask  Your Web Host about Core Vitals?Some considerations to address with a potential web host before signing should be:What kind of web server do you have running? There are several types of web servers. Although Apache is the most common, LiteSpeed Server is far better for SEO goals. They may push back on you and say that's a dedicated server function. Will the webhost set that up for you, or are you on your own to buy the license and install on your own? Vertical Web Includes LiteSpeed Servers as part of all of our WordPress Web Hosting Plans.Do you have compression and caching running on the web server? A web server can be set to compress images and help deliver images quickly. This does require less clients per server and more computing horse power. Again the answer may be dedicated server. Again, will they install it for you? This too is included as a part of all Vertical Web Hosting plans standard. What is the likelihood of the web server becoming overpopulated? This is a hard question to get an answer to. No one is really going to answer that question, but know this, a cheap web hosting plan is a quick indicator of a packed server. The bet is 99% of the people on that web server will never really do much, but if you are serious about marketing, this is not a circumstance you should take a chance with. A dedicated or managed server is a better scenario if you are unsure of the answer. WordPress Installation Considerations for Core VitalsThe other part of the core vital equation is a solid WordPress install. Bloated installs with bad themes and inefficient builders can bog your site down and cause issues. Vertical Web uses a customized install for our Management WordPress Hosting plans. Here are some examples of what to look for when using WordPress:Keeping the WordPress install currentEnsuring plugins are up to dateAvoiding bloated themes not designed to be core vital friendlyHaving the right caching software. We recommend WP Rocket and provide it with our WordPress Hosting plansRunning a speed te...

I often hear what I do is voodoo or some kind of magic. That is simply not true. Optimizing for SEO has everything to do with math and common sense more than it will ever be about magic. So we have some basic steps that we need to follow to do optimization for each page. Step One: Define Objectives. Coming off my last topic of Keywords this should be fairly easy to do. Figure out the core words you want to rank on and write them down and put them next to your monitor. They should be the forever guiding principles of how you want to run your website. For us, it is SEO and Web Design and I am going to speak and use those examples throughout. Notice how I just weaved the right words into my blog post. Step Two: Understanding Your Competition So maybe this can be defined as one of the most important steps because we need to understand the ecosystem that is the first page of google. So historically the rules were the same for everyone. A certain keyword density and you could bank that it was the same universally. Now the keyword and its usage is very niche-driven. What is the right density for one industry can be completely different from a second industry. It also can change from keyword to keyword and not just industry to industry. The only way we can learn what it should be is is to understand and observe our competition. So you always take the word you want to rank on and see what the research or the SERP says. When I take Houston SEO, I can see immediately there is a map. Because that map is there, we will have to change our strategy some, whereas the map will get the lion share of the clicks. Past that I start to do some math and understand how the competition is using the keyword, how many times does it appear on their pages and how many words are even on a page. For Houston SEO the ranking homepages have in excess of 2500 words. And then I go through each page and understand the dynamics of each of the ranking pages so that I can utilize the topics. It’s a lot of data gathering and fact-finding. I also am looking at what the competitors have as Title tags. I use tools like SerpWorx so I can get a good handle on each and every site. I need to understand the word count, the backlinks, and the technical SEO aspects of the page. I also pick the first 10 non-directory websites to base my research on. I take the information for each and then create an average and then use that average as the delimiter of how I optimize the page. Now I do have to take links into consideration with this exercise although link-rich sites usually throw off the average so I do sometimes throw those sites out, just as I would a directory. Step Three: The Tools I run the websites through Moz, Screaming Frog, and understand and continue to average out what I should target for the title, word count, and Technical SEO. The slightly being off can be the difference between the first page and the second page. We are also big fans of RankMath and how that on-page grader can help guide you to the right SEO balance. It is not as detailed as what I am outlining, but it does help guide you through a process and help get you into the right place with things. Understanding the technical SEO aspects of a page and then what your competitors are doing will help you formulate a great per page strategy that will tell Google what your page is about properly.

There is a lot of confusion about how to handle blogs in 2021. From should I be running a blog down to how should I be running it. As a business owner, your website (notice I said website) needs to have a blog. That is not really optional anymore. And the blog needs to be a part of your website and not being run elsewhere. Everyone needs one. In today's website world, there is a level of brand building that has to go on for a sale to be made. The days of being in the number one spot and the sale being automatic are gone.  Plus, as the end-user has become more sophisticated in that they research purchases and they want to feel good about the company they are doing business with. They review and scrutinize each and every interaction. So to not have a blog that helps customers understand you, your brand, and how you do business puts you at a definite disadvantage in how you are reaching out to them, in hopes they choose you to do business with. The bar is definitely higher How Do I Start blogging? That is always one of the first questions I get along what is the difference between a blog and a Vblog.  So first things first. To start blogging you need to have your website set up in software like WordPress and it is hosted on your own website on your own domain. Now not to get off into the website builder conversation and why places like Wix, Square Space, and Shopify are not solid solutions for SEO, the fact is you need to have software that supports a solid blog and for us, WordPress is really the only solid option. If you care enough to follow this blog and our videos, then you take marketing seriously enough that it really is the only solid solution to excel in Google. Once you have picked your platform, you will need to start generating the content, similar to what you see here. They usually are from issues and situations that impact your clients or provide information based on the services you provide. You would not put up a blog on selling coffee if you were a divorce lawyer. Remember these are ways potential clients and existing clients can know they have picked the right person for the job they have. Should I have a Blog or a Podcast? So my answer is both, but why should it have to be an either or situation? The reality is if you do your podcast properly it is the perfect fodder for your blog. After all, you are reading this, aren't you? In essence, it is a summary of the attached podcast and this is providing the show notes.  And this serves multiple masters with half the effort. What i mean is that if you take your blog post and do what I'm doing here which is writing an engaging page of content about the blog I am solving two problems with the same idea. It is foolish to me to try to separate the two and the most successful bloggers and podcasters have something for the others. So let's look at why this is. Most businesses have customers that traverse multiple age groups. Those over 45 often like to take a moment and read about what they may be watching simply because they do not want to invest time into something that may or may not be productive. After all that maybe 2 hours of time you won't get back.  There are the folks under the age of 35 that are more apt to watch a video, even if it is a talking head. They want video and have no interest in reading. And then there is everyone else that podcasting has become a norm. They subscribe. They listen in their cars, at their desks, in the grocery store. Podcasting has become a way of life. Who Should Host My Blog and Podcast? I get this question a lot and honestly, it's hard to answer in a classroom because I don't ever want to be self-promoting. I personally own a web hosting company that was set up in 1998. We have geared it to what the SEO companies need. We understand the traffic and the needs of running a solid blog. I also recommend BluBrry to host the actual podcast files and YouTube of course for the video files.

I hear a lot of different opinions on keywords and how relevant they are. I even had someone tell me that Google says there is not published keyword density and if Google says it we know it’s the truth. While it is true there is no published keyword density, the density of the keyword presence is still relevant and needs to be considered. Gone are the days of just adding words to a page with no consideration of what the user intended to get in results. And we now also have to understand what Google thinks a word is about rather than what the word actually. So it has become a much larger job than just ranking terms. I suppose if I think about Keywords and how they are now, traffic for traffic sake is useless now. The days of the comment is just a numbers game although still somewhat true, is fraught with a lot of pitfalls. I can think of numerous terms that if I ranked on them would garner me traffic but would not add one cent to my bottom line and that is really the name of the game. ROI is something that has always been used against organic search. And that opinion is because most SEOs talk about Keywords without any acknowledgment of the value of those words and how you intend to convert that traffic. So as we talk through picking keywords, and how best to accomplish that, the intent of the user always has to be considered, or you end up with traffic for traffics' sake. Long Tail Keyword and User Intent Other things to consider, when looking at keywords and with a nod to the evolution of keywords would be the sophistication of the end-user.  What I mean is as search has evolved, end-users have learned how to better quantify their results. So they understand the more keywords they add to the root the more targeted the result will be to answer what they are looking for. Considering the long-tail search is essential because the longer the tail the more unique the search but also the more likely someone will be to buy. Keywords Everywhere  One essential thing in selecting keywords it to understand how many people are searching for the word. When you select a word that no one searches for, it is a pointless exercise in my opinion. Google of course provides a baseline to help guide this and with the Chrome plugin of Keywords Everywhere. It is designed to help you select the right keyword. The cost is cheap at a penny a search and it is well worth every dime you spend on it. Some of the metrics it will cover is how many people search for a word. This is a great delimiter to help determine success. If the number is small, under a hundred, that word may not be a very effective keyword in driving sales. Conversely, a high number may equally be limited in the sense that it is so broad, there maybe is not a lot of competition on the word because it may not drive sales. By not being able to discern user intent, it may make a highly trafficked key term a bad key term. Keywords everywhere also give the cost-per-click information. Although we are working with organic SEO, paid search terms are useful gauges of the value of the term. So when I review how worth a term is, if the word has low search volume but a $15 PPC bid, I am going to look to optimize for that word. This tool is invaluable to selecting the right keywords for your site. But today, I had someone ask me where to start to find a keyword and the answer is simple. Google your competitors, find the biggest one, and then use a tool like SEMRush. This will help you find all the keywords associated with your business if you can’t figure them all out without some guidance. So when I put these tools together, I can make an informed decision about my website and how I interact with it. This allows you one set of tools to make the proper decision on how a page should rank. Another overlooked tactic is often to consider your location. Locations, need to be appended to your search term when a term is deemed local by Google.

In last week's Score class I got a a question about adding content to keywords after you wrote a page. In essence, what is an SEO content strategy.  I answered the question no that I do not do that, but upon further reflection it got me thinking about the process I do use when I create a page and why I usually get it right, with very little tweaking needed. As I thought about it I realized that my process really was a great topic to the Internet Marketing Clinic.  What I have noticed though the years is that business owners struggle with the concept of content. The constant pushback is I don't know what to write about. And although I can say check your email and use that the reality is there is a way larger process involved. The problem is that if you're interested in   having a ranking website, this has to be handled. In this class we go though that process and thought process of having a successful SEO content strategy. Know What Your Business Does For starters, I challenge each of your to do an elevator speech. Many do it and people have no idea what they do. Practice that because at the end of the day the perfect elevator speech can give you great guidance on meeting your SEO goals. For Vertical Web my elevator speech says we cover SEO (duh) Web Design and Web Hosting. Everything I do revolves around one of those three components. So I just know that is what I need to do with each and ever piece of content I create. Just the simple inclusion of this sentence gave me three top teir keywords that I was able to link to a relevant page.  Know Who Your Target Audience Is Once we know what we do...and you would be surprised how many people cannot articulate what they do, the next step is to identify who you are writing for. In other words, who is your clients. Are you reaching out to them properly. Do you understand who they are. The more in touch with your client you are, the more relevant your search placement will be. If done properly it does create a stream of leads for your business.  So make sure you know who your customer is and how to develop content for them. Don't overshoot your target, but also don't undersell your self either. Know Who Your Competitors Are Knowing who your competitors are is essential for success. What I often see small business owners not accurately identifying small business. Once I understand who my competitor is, I can utilize them to help me define the key terms I need to rank on. It's a very cost effective way of getting some market research for free or relatively low cost.  Identify Keywords that Embrace Services You Offer with Your SEO Content Strategy Once you understand the keywords, its is imperative to understand how to formulate content that embraces those terms yet addresses what your client needs. So we used a few examples in this class. You have learn to put yourself on the other side of the screen and use the terms your clients will use. You also need to learn to understand the question your clients ask that may lead to a warm lead.  This is often very difficult for business owners to step outside of themselves and see how end users see the. Once you master this, it helps you build a long term sustainable sales funnel. Understand the problems you solve for your clients. Meet people where they are.  Know the Keywords Your End Users Use One major mistake small business owners often do is not knowing the right words the end user uses. Tools like Keyword Everywhere is a simple and inexpensive way to translate what you think versus the words the masses use. Doing a simple search on the services you offer, and then coupling it with the keyword research from your competition, you start to have the right perspective to create a piece of content that will check the boxes. Then what?  Once you have all this information and a path forward, you can start into writing you page. From PPP Loans to SEO Web Hosting  you can start to build a page of c...

In last week's Score class I got a a question about adding content to keywords after you wrote a page. In essence, what is an SEO content strategy.  I answered the question no that I do not do that, but upon further reflection it got me thinking about the process I do use when I create a page and why I usually get it right, with very little tweaking needed. As I thought about it I realized that my process really was a great topic to the Internet Marketing Clinic. What I have noticed though the years is that business owners struggle with the concept of content. The constant pushback is I don't know what to write about. And although I can say check your email and use that the reality is there is a way larger process involved. The problem is that if you're interested in   having a ranking website, this has to be handled. In this class we go though that process and thought process of having a successful SEO content strategy. Know What Your Business Does For starters, I challenge each of your to do an elevator speech. Many do it and people have no idea what they do. Practice that because at the end of the day the perfect elevator speech can give you great guidance on meeting your SEO goals. For Vertical Web my elevator speech says we cover SEO (duh) Web Design and Web Hosting. Everything I do revolves around one of those three components. So I just know that is what I need to do with each and ever piece of content I create. Just the simple inclusion of this sentence gave me three top teir keywords that I was able to link to a relevant page. Know Who Your Target Audience Is Once we know what we do...and you would be surprised how many people cannot articulate what they do, the next step is to identify who you are writing for. In other words, who is your clients. Are you reaching out to them properly. Do you understand who they are. The more in touch with your client you are, the more relevant your search placement will be. If done properly it does create a stream of leads for your business.  So make sure you know who your customer is and how to develop content for them. Don't overshoot your target, but also don't undersell your self either. Know Who Your Competitors Are Knowing who your competitors are is essential for success. What I often see small business owners not accurately identifying small business. Once I understand who my competitor is, I can utilize them to help me define the key terms I need to rank on. It's a very cost effective way of getting some market research for free or relatively low cost. Identify Keywords that Embrace Services You Offer with Your SEO Content Strategy Once you understand the keywords, its is imperative to understand how to formulate content that embraces those terms yet addresses what your client needs. So we used a few examples in this class. You have learn to put yourself on the other side of the screen and use the terms your clients will use. You also need to learn to understand the question your clients ask that may lead to a warm lead.  This is often very difficult for business owners to step outside of themselves and see how end users see the. Once you master this, it helps you build a long term sustainable sales funnel. Understand the problems you solve for your clients. Meet people where they are. Know the Keywords Your End Users Use One major mistake small business owners often do is not knowing the right words the end user uses. Tools like Keyword Everywhere is a simple and inexpensive way to translate what you think versus the words the masses use. Doing a simple search on the services you offer, and then coupling it with the keyword research from your competition, you start to have the right perspective to create a piece of content that will check the boxes. Then what? Once you have all this information and a path forward, you can start into writing you page. From PPP Loans to SEO Web Hosting  you can start to build a page of content that discusses your topic an...

So Google is FINALLY seeing things my way. Every year since I've been doing the Internet Marketing Clinic, I've tried to prognosticate where I think we will be or what will happen in the up coming year. I am often pretty well correct.  But this year there is a some vindication for me I think. Google announced in December that it was going to make Core Vitals a boost if you past them. Finally Google understands how important your web hosting company is to your overall success. I have been preaching this situation since 2000, pretty much before Google was a thing. Here is what most don't understand. Your web host can do things that impede the speed and functionality of your website. As a practice we never did that because we understood how essential a powerful website was to the success of a business. Google will begin penalizing sites that do not load right, are slow to respond or have an inferior hosting product.  The design of the website is also part of what they will begin to grade. Really, its bottom line is user experience and trying to improve how that works. I will content that end users may not have a great of an experience because this will cut some of the creativity. But good elements of web design should make it easier to follow. Also this is where solid technical SEO comes in as well.  Lastly are you an expert? What have you done to show you are an expert. This will now be a major factor. There are ways to handle this and we start that discussion. 

So Google is FINALLY seeing things my way. Every year since I've been doing the Internet Marketing Clinic, I've tried to prognosticate where I think we will be or what will happen in the up coming year. I am often pretty well correct.  But this year there is a some vindication for me I think. Google announced in December that it was going to make Core Vitals a boost if you past them. Finally Google understands how important your web hosting company is to your overall success. I have been preaching this situation since 2000, pretty much before Google was a thing. Here is what most don't understand. Your web host can do things that impede the speed and functionality of your website. As a practice we never did that because we understood how essential a powerful website was to the success of a business. Google will begin penalizing sites that do not load right, are slow to respond or have an inferior hosting product.  The design of the website is also part of what they will begin to grade. Really, its bottom line is user experience and trying to improve how that works. I will content that end users may not have a great of an experience because this will cut some of the creativity. But good elements of web design should make it easier to follow. Also this is where solid technical SEO comes in as well.  Lastly are you an expert? What have you done to show you are an expert. This will now be a major factor. There are ways to handle this and we start that discussion. 

In today’s episode we discuss social media and tips and tricks and how planning can make these efforts more effective.  To that end we talk about: Why businesses need a Facebook page dedicated specifically to the business and what the About Us section can do for you. The importance of being an expert, owning your brand, and cultivating that persona across social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Why you need a different strategy across platforms and why knowing your business, what you do, and your target audience is critical for each. The importance of graphics and pictures on social media platforms in engaging users. Planning your posts several months in advance and the benefits of doing so. The importance of creating a Google My Business page and regularly posting to it with graphics. Why it is critical to respond to business reviews as they come in and encourage further commenting on various posts. Why responding to a review can reach a further audience than just the person you are responding to. Being authentic in your social media and blogging efforts to facilitate credibility and highlight your unique personality. Video

In today’s episode we discuss social media and tips and tricks and how planning can make these efforts more effective.  To that end we talk about: Why businesses need a Facebook page dedicated specifically to the business and what the About Us section can do for you. The importance of being an expert, owning your brand, and cultivating that persona across social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Why you need a different strategy across platforms and why knowing your business, what you do, and your target audience is critical for each. The importance of graphics and pictures on social media platforms in engaging users. Planning your posts several months in advance and the benefits of doing so. The importance of creating a Google My Business page and regularly posting to it with graphics. Why it is critical to respond to business reviews as they come in and encourage further commenting on various posts. Why responding to a review can reach a further audience than just the person you are responding to. Being authentic in your social media and blogging efforts to facilitate credibility and highlight your unique personality. Video

No matter what type of business you have, for the holidays see a better buying time. Many small business owners though don't always handle this all right. It's passe' but making sure your website is mobile-friendly is often and can work well with a mobile device. We are now to a point where more transactions are conducted on a mobile phone rather than on a computer/laptop. We discussed the issues you may have from a technical standpoint and how to make sure your website is a racehorse at the time of the year you need it most. We tried to cover as many different good practices we could as well as answered many of our participant's questions.        

No matter what type of business you have, for the holidays see a better buying time. Many small business owners though don't always handle this all right. It's passe' but making sure your website is mobile-friendly is often and can work well with a mobile device. We are now to a point where more transactions are conducted on a mobile phone rather than on a computer/laptop. We discussed the issues you may have from a technical standpoint and how to make sure your website is a racehorse at the time of the year you need it most. We tried to cover as many different good practices we could as well as answered many of our participant's questions.        

In today’s Internet, Marketing Clinic decided it was a good time to go back to basics and talk about some basic tips that are often overlooked, forgotten, or just poorly executed especially when SEO is a goal for your website. Last week I was talking a web design client who asked me to ‘do’ SEO to his website. And that is something I commonly hear. SEO is something we do. What I answered him back was that SEO was a lifestyle, not something you do once or twice stick. Sure there are some things that if you do them right fundamentally will allow you to float along, but in no way does it mean you are living the SEO lifestyle. What I answered him was if you eat Quinoa, it does not mean you’re are eating and living healthy. It just means you eat Quinoa. So what is SEO anyway? I tried to clarify what it actually that with my thoughts on how SEO is a holistic behavior that is ongoing and long term. Its how you live as a website owner and not just a one time only behavior. Being Relevant We talked about how you are relevant to your users and why if you are relevant to your users you are also often relevant to Google. Quality Content This is the one that most people have issues with yet is the fundamental building block for your digital marketing campaign success. It's not just writing a page, but how do I take that page and make it relevant and useful. Does it represent us well. In even this post your reading now. This post is being written around the class. Learning how to hit all the high points with one effort is effective, time conserving, and allows multiple ways for the user to consume your content.  The most important still remains that the better the quality, the more likely a favorable SEO result. User Experience Consideration After all, each page we build is for the end-user. How can we make sure we are building an effective page that also ranks. Or how can we build a page that ranks well but is also easy to use for the customer? I know it should like those are the same things but they are actually not. Your site always needs to look like a million bucks, but you also must take Google factors into account and lay your pages out in a way that appeals to both. Responsive Web Design Although I cannot say this enough, I still find sites that are not mobile-friendly or use huge images with no consideration for how good or bad a page ranks. Building Internal Linking So I think this is the most underutilized ranking variable out there. The better your internal linking structure is in execution, the higher your site will rank. Its really simple but so often overlooked. I see the error constantly being made. Its is a great way to help offset the lack of external links. And you can overcome some of those hurdles by simply setting up a strong internal linking structure. Authority How are we building authority to our brand and to our website? This is an important situation and needs to be addressed by every website owner. I touch on this point, but it is a class all on to itself. Title Tags and Descriptions. Oh so overlooked and one of the leading reasons a page ranks or doesn’t Poor keyword placement in the title tags, Lack of a quality description. This all needs to be done and one right and often the title is left to only mimic the page title someone puts in word press…you know home, about these highly descriptive terms that everyone uses…note the sarcasm. Ignore quality title tags and descriptions at your own risk. Schema So let’s just say this, schema is a must.  There are plugins to help but its an absolute must to compete in today’s Search Wars. Properly Tagged Images So for the most part images should have tags. Am I guilty of ignoring this one, yes I am? When I am already number one on something, I don’t want to be stuffing more keywords into a page.  I have seen cases wherein removing the title tags, the page has drifted downward. In fact, I have a website right now that is down by 30% after a ne...

In today’s Internet, Marketing Clinic decided it was a good time to go back to basics and talk about some basic tips that are often overlooked, forgotten, or just poorly executed especially when SEO is a goal for your website. Last week I was talking a web design client who asked me to ‘do’ SEO to his website. And that is something I commonly hear. SEO is something we do. What I answered him back was that SEO was a lifestyle, not something you do once or twice stick. Sure there are some things that if you do them right fundamentally will allow you to float along, but in no way does it mean you are living the SEO lifestyle. What I answered him was if you eat Quinoa, it does not mean you’re are eating and living healthy. It just means you eat Quinoa. So what is SEO anyway? I tried to clarify what it actually that with my thoughts on how SEO is a holistic behavior that is ongoing and long term. Its how you live as a website owner and not just a one time only behavior. Being Relevant We talked about how you are relevant to your users and why if you are relevant to your users you are also often relevant to Google. Quality Content This is the one that most people have issues with yet is the fundamental building block for your digital marketing campaign success. It's not just writing a page, but how do I take that page and make it relevant and useful. Does it represent us well. In even this post your reading now. This post is being written around the class. Learning how to hit all the high points with one effort is effective, time conserving, and allows multiple ways for the user to consume your content.  The most important still remains that the better the quality, the more likely a favorable SEO result. User Experience Consideration After all, each page we build is for the end-user. How can we make sure we are building an effective page that also ranks. Or how can we build a page that ranks well but is also easy to use for the customer? I know it should like those are the same things but they are actually not. Your site always needs to look like a million bucks, but you also must take Google factors into account and lay your pages out in a way that appeals to both. Responsive Web Design Although I cannot say this enough, I still find sites that are not mobile-friendly or use huge images with no consideration for how good or bad a page ranks. Building Internal Linking So I think this is the most underutilized ranking variable out there. The better your internal linking structure is in execution, the higher your site will rank. Its really simple but so often overlooked. I see the error constantly being made. Its is a great way to help offset the lack of external links. And you can overcome some of those hurdles by simply setting up a strong internal linking structure. Authority How are we building authority to our brand and to our website? This is an important situation and needs to be addressed by every website owner. I touch on this point, but it is a class all on to itself. Title Tags and Descriptions. Oh so overlooked and one of the leading reasons a page ranks or doesn’t Poor keyword placement in the title tags, Lack of a quality description. This all needs to be done and one right and often the title is left to only mimic the page title someone puts in word press…you know home, about these highly descriptive terms that everyone uses…note the sarcasm. Ignore quality title tags and descriptions at your own risk. Schema So let’s just say this, schema is a must.  There are plugins to help but its an absolute must to compete in today’s Search Wars. Properly Tagged Images So for the most part images should have tags. Am I guilty of ignoring this one, yes I am? When I am already number one on something, I don’t want to be stuffing more keywords into a page.  I have seen cases wherein removing the title tags, the page has drifted downward. In fact, I have a website right now that is down by 30% after a new mar...

Okay I’ll admit it, I am a big fan of WordPress. The whys of course is multi-faceted. Although we talk a lot about the ilks of web site builders, the other side of WordPress is how flexible it is and however even Google is now building plugins. So what are plugins. They are ways to expand the functionality and capabilities of a basic WordPress site. And there are thousands of them. I am often asked what are the best and I think in fairness it depends on what you are trying to do. But in today’s Podcast I go into detail about some of the most popular plugins and make some recommendations. RankMath Vs. Yoast For a long time Yoast stood alone at the top of the SEO plugin pile. Then came RankMath. It does all the things Yoast does, just better. And it does more than Yoast. It gives a more far more granular control. The numerical value of correctness is handy and easier to make a determination of what you may or may not want to address. If you’re new to it, RankMath is simple to set up and takes a lot of guess work out of what elements on your page needs to be addressed. The list of features are too many to mention but we recommend RankMath as the SEO plugin for 2020 Google Web Stories This is a Google created plugin for websites to house web stores, pages designed specifically for small screen browsing.  This is on our radar of things to watch and this is a brief overview of the things you can do with it. WP Bakery We think WordPress is powerful, but the user experience is important. There are multiple versions of design helpers that allow you to build better pages. We like WP bakery because the code is clean, and it keeps things loading quickly. Builders like Elementor are solid but add a lot of bloated code in the background. Divi builder is a solid alternative but I don’t think its as intuitive and not great for those who are new to building websites. So it depends on your user level . Then there is a pile of ones that are not well maintained and often come with Themes and speaking of themes, pick a solid lightweight and flexible theme that allows customization. We recommend U-design for those who ask. WPRocket Speed is important. We have found that WP Rocket has all the tools needed to speed your WordPress install up. It also has a built in CDN that is easy to configure, which is important. Mail Optin This is a great plugging for sending email from your blog posts as well as building and maintaining a mailing list. We love this plugins because of its versatility as well as its ability to customize our news letters. Blog2Social This is another biggie when it comes to our list of favorites. This plugin has allowed for auto posting of our social media posts and has tied it back to our website unlike some of the services that have high prices monthly subscriptions has a low cost annual to it. We setup our blog posts and off they go. It also allows for us to repurpose our content and keep our readers. Best of all it allows for auto posting to Instagram and to GMB.  This one is a must have for serious marketing. There are multiple other plugins we discuss, including some that we include with our hosting plans. We hope you will find this episode a must listen to guide for WordPress. Videos

Okay I’ll admit it, I am a big fan of WordPress. The whys of course is multi-faceted. Although we talk a lot about the ilks of web site builders, the other side of WordPress is how flexible it is and however even Google is now building plugins. So what are plugins. They are ways to expand the functionality and capabilities of a basic WordPress site. And there are thousands of them. I am often asked what are the best and I think in fairness it depends on what you are trying to do. But in today’s Podcast I go into detail about some of the most popular plugins and make some recommendations. RankMath Vs. Yoast For a long time Yoast stood alone at the top of the SEO plugin pile. Then came RankMath. It does all the things Yoast does, just better. And it does more than Yoast. It gives a more far more granular control. The numerical value of correctness is handy and easier to make a determination of what you may or may not want to address. If you’re new to it, RankMath is simple to set up and takes a lot of guess work out of what elements on your page needs to be addressed. The list of features are too many to mention but we recommend RankMath as the SEO plugin for 2020 Google Web Stories This is a Google created plugin for websites to house web stores, pages designed specifically for small screen browsing.  This is on our radar of things to watch and this is a brief overview of the things you can do with it. WP Bakery We think WordPress is powerful, but the user experience is important. There are multiple versions of design helpers that allow you to build better pages. We like WP bakery because the code is clean, and it keeps things loading quickly. Builders like Elementor are solid but add a lot of bloated code in the background. Divi builder is a solid alternative but I don’t think its as intuitive and not great for those who are new to building websites. So it depends on your user level . Then there is a pile of ones that are not well maintained and often come with Themes and speaking of themes, pick a solid lightweight and flexible theme that allows customization. We recommend U-design for those who ask. WPRocket Speed is important. We have found that WP Rocket has all the tools needed to speed your WordPress install up. It also has a built in CDN that is easy to configure, which is important. Mail Optin This is a great plugging for sending email from your blog posts as well as building and maintaining a mailing list. We love this plugins because of its versatility as well as its ability to customize our news letters. Blog2Social This is another biggie when it comes to our list of favorites. This plugin has allowed for auto posting of our social media posts and has tied it back to our website unlike some of the services that have high prices monthly subscriptions has a low cost annual to it. We setup our blog posts and off they go. It also allows for us to repurpose our content and keep our readers. Best of all it allows for auto posting to Instagram and to GMB.  This one is a must have for serious marketing. There are multiple other plugins we discuss, including some that we include with our hosting plans. We hope you will find this episode a must listen to guide for WordPress. Videos

I've been doing SEO along time and keywords have been around since the first boolean searches. The premise is simple. You add a word to a page and the Boolean search comes along finds those words and returns the answer. Though the years, keywords were that one talking point that SEO companies used as a metric of success. After all to some degree SEO in the old days centered around the more keywords the more traffic and therefore more success. And although I can say that the more keywords 'may' cause more traffic the reality is that it does not always mean more success. The layers are much more these days. So about a week ago I got a lead from our website (and the Houston West Chamber of Commerce). The call went like this. We are having our web site designed (by someone else) and well someone said I needed to find keywords and I really don't know what they mean. So it got me to thinking that I haven't really talked about keywords in a really long time. The core reason why is that the complexity of keywords now and how they are used to be effective seemed to be something that a rookie was going to get. And, I didn't want to promote this idea that keywords should be a metric for success for SEO. Simply that is not correct. Yes, some will argue that it measures success but honestly my web hosting site ranks on 1000s of keywords but there is only one that will ever net me money, web hosting (seems kinda obvious doesn't it).  It has been that way for 20 some years and counting. What is that the the fuss about keywords for SEO? I can make the argument that keywords are the single most important element of a website and without them you site is destined to a life of mediocrity. I'm sure that there will be some SEO people that want to come and talk about the death of SEO and why keywords are not as important as they used to be, all the while making sure they put keywords in their title tags (because of course if they aren't there the page won't rank). What they may argue is that the contextual words on the page may null and void the need for the keyword. And while that is true in come niches (ie, movers),  in most cases, if they are looking at all the pages on the website a keyword there is a set of keywords that will prevail and be thought a site, almost like a thread that that holds everything together. Now my friends that'll will also argue about the importance of links my also feel links are singularly the most important ranking factor. That is a case that can be made but, naked links and links devoid or keywords have far less impact that just simply having a link. Often you make a link containing a keyword in it. So although we can argue one for the other, one is far more effective with a keyword in it rather than not. In this episode we talk some on keyword history and how we got here. We also talk though how to properly identify keywords and why they are important. But, I also make the point that you should pick about 20 money terms and build around that. Just like this site. I want to rank on SEO and Web Design. Anything past that is gravy to me and my posts usually include some allusion to one of those two words each and every post I make. Additionally you will see me link them to other pages inside my website. Video

I've been doing SEO along time and keywords have been around since the first boolean searches. The premise is simple. You add a word to a page and the Boolean search comes along finds those words and returns the answer. Though the years, keywords were that one talking point that SEO companies used as a metric of success. After all to some degree SEO in the old days centered around the more keywords the more traffic and therefore more success. And although I can say that the more keywords 'may' cause more traffic the reality is that it does not always mean more success. The layers are much more these days. So about a week ago I got a lead from our website (and the Houston West Chamber of Commerce). The call went like this. We are having our web site designed (by someone else) and well someone said I needed to find keywords and I really don't know what they mean. So it got me to thinking that I haven't really talked about keywords in a really long time. The core reason why is that the complexity of keywords now and how they are used to be effective seemed to be something that a rookie was going to get. And, I didn't want to promote this idea that keywords should be a metric for success for SEO. Simply that is not correct. Yes, some will argue that it measures success but honestly my web hosting site ranks on 1000s of keywords but there is only one that will ever net me money, web hosting (seems kinda obvious doesn't it).  It has been that way for 20 some years and counting. What is that the the fuss about keywords for SEO? I can make the argument that keywords are the single most important element of a website and without them you site is destined to a life of mediocrity. I'm sure that there will be some SEO people that want to come and talk about the death of SEO and why keywords are not as important as they used to be, all the while making sure they put keywords in their title tags (because of course if they aren't there the page won't rank). What they may argue is that the contextual words on the page may null and void the need for the keyword. And while that is true in come niches (ie, movers),  in most cases, if they are looking at all the pages on the website a keyword there is a set of keywords that will prevail and be thought a site, almost like a thread that that holds everything together. Now my friends that'll will also argue about the importance of links my also feel links are singularly the most important ranking factor. That is a case that can be made but, naked links and links devoid or keywords have far less impact that just simply having a link. Often you make a link containing a keyword in it. So although we can argue one for the other, one is far more effective with a keyword in it rather than not. In this episode we talk some on keyword history and how we got here. We also talk though how to properly identify keywords and why they are important. But, I also make the point that you should pick about 20 money terms and build around that. Just like this site. I want to rank on SEO and Web Design. Anything past that is gravy to me and my posts usually include some allusion to one of those two words each and every post I make. Additionally you will see me link them to other pages inside my website. Video

Using the right permalink and how to build one is often lost in modern day web building. For those of us that have been around 20 years, we remember the days of building a site with actual directories and publishing with dreamweaver or Microsoft Front-page. Now with CMS system like Wordpress, the old directory structure is mimicked inside the permalink functionality. What most folks don't understand this is the impact on seo that can be gained from properly structuring you're URLs. In today's episode we take a look at how to do that and how to make that work right for SEO all while still using a CMS system. And why it's important and the signals it sends. Also I decided to talk about SSL. I always get people calling the hosting company talking to me about how a website is secure or insecure. In most cases to them it means can the website be broken into or how secure their website is. As a web hosting provider as well as a digital marketing agency. We understand those are two really separate things. An SSL certificate does not make your website 'more' secure how average users mean it. The SSL certificate protects the data being transferred from the website to the end user. So while it is true that is less likely that a password or credit card number can be stolen over unencrypted channels, it does not mean a brute force hack is stopped. It does not mean a DDoS attack is stopped nor does it mean a malware/pfishing attack is not launched from or at your website. So I talk about what this is and why in my opinion Google was so insistent to get this done and how it benefits them. What I will tell you is this thought. Everyone has been trained to look for the padlock. Browsers are popping up warning saying "danger Will Robinson" ...well really they say that the website may not be safe. This of course discourages users. So while the warning is a little over the top, most users are not savvy enough to discern the danger or lack there of. Video  

Using the right permalink and how to build one is often lost in modern day web building. For those of us that have been around 20 years, we remember the days of building a site with actual directories and publishing with dreamweaver or Microsoft Front-page. Now with CMS system like Wordpress, the old directory structure is mimicked inside the permalink functionality. What most folks don't understand this is the impact on seo that can be gained from properly structuring you're URLs. In today's episode we take a look at how to do that and how to make that work right for SEO all while still using a CMS system. And why it's important and the signals it sends. Also I decided to talk about SSL. I always get people calling the hosting company talking to me about how a website is secure or insecure. In most cases to them it means can the website be broken into or how secure their website is. As a web hosting provider as well as a digital marketing agency. We understand those are two really separate things. An SSL certificate does not make your website 'more' secure how average users mean it. The SSL certificate protects the data being transferred from the website to the end user. So while it is true that is less likely that a password or credit card number can be stolen over unencrypted channels, it does not mean a brute force hack is stopped. It does not mean a DDoS attack is stopped nor does it mean a malware/pfishing attack is not launched from or at your website. So I talk about what this is and why in my opinion Google was so insistent to get this done and how it benefits them. What I will tell you is this thought. Everyone has been trained to look for the padlock. Browsers are popping up warning saying "danger Will Robinson" ...well really they say that the website may not be safe. This of course discourages users. So while the warning is a little over the top, most users are not savvy enough to discern the danger or lack there of. Video  

In today's Internet Marketing Clinic we talked about how to do Email marketing with the Vertical Web way of doing this. Since the pandemic Vertical Web has started working with email marketing to help our clients stay in touch but also we have realized that we can create a circumstance where we are reminding folks that we are out here and we are available. We have done the same with several clients and we have been able to re-establish relationships with previous customers and restarted a sales dialogue. Because everything we do is really centered on sending google the right signals we incorporated our IMC and podcast and have used email to help us grow our class and our podcast. Both have been working very well. Additionally we have repurposed these blog posts into social media posts and that also has created foot traffic as well as a way for our clients to keep in touch with us via social media. So although this is somewhat off what we normally do, Email marketing is an important tool we have in our marketing arsenal and should be used. If you don't know how to use email marketing or where to start, this class is for you. Video

In today's Internet Marketing Clinic we talked about how to do Email marketing with the Vertical Web way of doing this. Since the pandemic Vertical Web has started working with email marketing to help our clients stay in touch but also we have realized that we can create a circumstance where we are reminding folks that we are out here and we are available. We have done the same with several clients and we have been able to re-establish relationships with previous customers and restarted a sales dialogue. Because everything we do is really centered on sending google the right signals we incorporated our IMC and podcast and have used email to help us grow our class and our podcast. Both have been working very well. Additionally we have repurposed these blog posts into social media posts and that also has created foot traffic as well as a way for our clients to keep in touch with us via social media. So although this is somewhat off what we normally do, Email marketing is an important tool we have in our marketing arsenal and should be used. If you don't know how to use email marketing or where to start, this class is for you. Video

We do a lot of talking about how to do SEO but we often don't talk about the tools we use and why we use them. In this episode we talk about the tools but also how I use them to make decisions on how to move a page up in Google. I've always said give me a search term and I'll tell you what you need to do to get here and this is some of the how I make those determinations. SEO is a series of doing things right mathematically and tools can help you learn what you need to do and how to do it better so that your site lands at the top of Google Search. In today's episode, we take a look at the tools we use and why. Most of them are free or have nominal price points but it gives an overview of metrics that will allow you to make better decisions. As I teach, I keep saying SEO isn't something you do but rather its a way of life and a way of thinking. These tools help you stay in that zone. These are free for the most part and are plugins into the Chrome web browser. Moz Bar - This is a bar that displaces in a google page and shows the links domains have and the domain authority. It allows what you might need to do to pass the person in front of you. Google Lighthouse - This plugin gives guidance on what needs to be addressed in 4 critical areas and provides some information on how to address the issues. Serpworx - Is a great tool to see some base metrics. This tool displaces link profiles, technical SEO specifications, and word count. This helps you make decisions about the page your looking at and gives a quick overview on some really important matrix. SEMRush - Why this all-purpose tool is a smart choice especially if your squeezed by budget. Ahrefs and why does an outstanding job with links and link reviews. Screaming Frog - This tool gives a great amount of Techincal SEO info and quickly identifies problems with a website. It also allows you to spot things like thin content tag pages. Google Analytics plugin is also very handy to see the metrics of a page that is one your site. It allows you to see the traffic to the page and see how people interact with it. Video