What Matters More: Backlink Quality or Quantity?

In one corner stands backlink quality. Marketers everywhere are arguing that all you need to worry about to improve your rankings is the quality of the backlinks you’re generating. There’s no need to worry about the number of backlinks so long as the ones you generate are from high domain authority websites. But are they right? In the other corner stands those who argue for the quantity of backlinks. They say that the amount of backlinks you generate is far more important than the quality of those backlinks. In fact, they would argue that the quality of the backlinks matters very little if at all. But are they right? Well, that’s what we’re going to discuss. And my goal is to finish this debate once and for all. Or at least to settle it until Google comes out with a new algorithm update. But before I get too ahead of myself, what are backlinks? Backlinks are links that travel from another website to your website. They can come from social media sites and directories, but they most often come from blog posts and the content of other websites. Ideally, those links come from other relevant websites within your niche and industry. Marketers like yourself are scrambling to build these beauties because they massively impact your rankings on Google. If you have a lot of high-quality backlinks, then your stats might end up looking something like this. And that’s what we all want, right? We all want our backlinks to raise our website through the rankings and generate passive traffic and leads consistently every month. That’s the dream of every marketing strategy. But should you focus on quantity or quality of backlinks? While the two sides are fighting, let’s take a moment to discuss the ins and outs of each, and then...

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source https://andlocal.org/what-matters-more-backlink-quality-or-quantity/

Google Page Layout Algorithm: What You Need to Know

STAFF Anna Crowe 9.3K READS Editor’s note: This post is part of an ongoing series looking back at the history of Google algorithm updates. Enjoy! There are plenty of rabbit holes to fall into when it comes to Google algorithm updates. One of my favorites (after the unsolved mystery of Fred) involves the 2012 Google algorithm update on page layout and the above-the-fold movement. Like the JCPenney link building scandal, there are still plenty of people who talk about this Google algorithm update — you just have to know who to ask. But you don’t have to go digging into the archives, we’ve got you covered here. This post will tell you everything you need to know about Google’s page layout algorithm, how it has evolved over the years, and what it means to you now. What Was the Google Page Layout Algorithm? The arrival of a high-quality user experience and more sophisticated on-page SEO might have felt premature in the wake of 2011 Panda updates, but Google made it official on January 19, 2012: the page layout algorithm was here. The page layout algorithm update targeted websites with too many static advertisements above the fold. These ads would force users to scroll down the page to see content. Google said this algorithm would affect less than 1 percent of websites. But, the 1 percent of those sites affected were forced to design a better user experience. This update didn’t include pop-ups or overlay ads. Page Layout/Above the Fold Google Algorithm Update Timeline Here’s a quick snapshot of how the algorithm has changed over time: 1. January 19, 2012: Page Layout Algorithm Launched Google introduced the first-page layout algorithm update, also known as “Top Heavy” or the above the fold algorithm update, impacting sites that showed too many ads above the fold....

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source https://andlocal.org/google-page-layout-algorithm-what-you-need-to-know/

47 Experts on the Top SEO Trends That Will Matter in 2018

STAFF Danny Goodwin 13K READS Want to up your SEO game and be more successful in 2018? Good! You’ve come to the right place. Below, you’ll find tips from some of the top SEO professionals. They will tell you just about everything you need to know to succeed in 2018. However, before we get to our main event, I must note that after our 2017 edition of SEO trends launched last year on Search Engine Journal, we heard a couple of complaints about how long it was. Well, you’ll be happy to know that this year’s SEO trends post is a mere 13,014 words, down from 13,839 last year. You’re welcome. 10+ SEO Trends That Will Dominate 2018 As an added bonus, this year we’ve added this helpful TL;DR section for those of you with extremely short-attention spans who care not about context or details but simply want to know what the most important SEO trends tricks will be in 2018. If this sounds like you, here you go: Mobile-first Voice search Schema Featured snippets Content Machine learning and AI Speed Technical SEO Links A whole lot more! (TIE) So go focus on all those things and I’m sure you’ll be just fine. For those of you who plan to read on, we’ve got some amazing insights in store for you about why all these things (and many others) will matter so much in 2018 – as well as what you need to do and how to do it. So what SEO trends should you focus on in 2018? Here’s what you need to know, according to 47 SEO experts. Dawn Anderson, Managing Director, Move It Marketing It feels that this year has very much been around “fast is the only speed,” given we know that mobile search is now so prominent...

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source https://andlocal.org/47-experts-on-the-top-seo-trends-that-will-matter-in-2018/

How to Build High-Quality Backlinks when Nobody Knows Your Name

So, you found out about the power of backlinks. Maybe a marketing friend told you how backlinks can benefit your SEO and drive traffic to your website. Or maybe you read an online article that briefly mentioned the word “backlink.” Whatever the case, you’re intrigued. And you’re not just intrigued. You’re interested in building a backlinking strategy. But you also recognize a serious problem: No one knows who you are. So why would they link to you or your website? After all, the number of backlinks you actually need to land on the first page of Google results is enough to make most marketers give up. Even the ninth and tenth positions have an average of over 30,000 backlinks. And the relationship between linking domains and rankings tells a similarly discouraging story. Won’t that take years to build? Well, the short answer is yes. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t start right away with your unknown name and website. In fact, despite the opinions of other online articles you’ve read, you don’t actually need to be famous to build backlinks. There are lots of different ways to build backlinks, and many of them don’t require a celebrity’s status. But before we look at eight different ways that you can build backlinks when no one knows who you are, let’s first take a quick moment to discuss why high-quality backlinks rather than low-quality backlinks are so important. Why you should aim for high-quality backlinks It’s tempting to hire a black hat SEO agency to build backlinks for your website. But there’s a reason marketers call it “black hat.” It’s the dark side of SEO. By that, I mean that black hat SEO strategies are risky, largely unethical, and don’t necessarily help your rankings. Black hat SEO tactics link your website to a variety...

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source https://andlocal.org/how-to-build-high-quality-backlinks-when-nobody-knows-your-name/

Boost Your Online Marketing: SEO Tips for the Holidays

How to Know When Making a Change is Necessary to Adapt and Grow https://startupnation.com/grow-your-business/online-marketing-seo-tips-holidays/ On – 04 Dec, 2017 By Constantina Kokenes

source https://andlocal.org/boost-your-online-marketing-seo-tips-for-the-holidays/

What’s The Best Long-Term Online Marketing Strategy?

<div 10="" 2017="" _ngcontent-c23="" innerhtml=" The way I see it, marketing and advertising strategies can be split into two main categories: long-term and short-term. Short-term strategies are ideal if you need to build traffic or sales quickly; for a set amount of money, you can place and ad or distribute a message that leads to an immediate, but finite influx of new interested customers. Long-term strategies, on the other hand, require more investment—both in time and in money. They don’t usually allow you to see results right away, but over time, their effectiveness grows, ultimately leading to a higher long-term ROI and a better capacity to sustain themselves. So what’s the best long-term online marketing strategy? SEO Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of my personal favorite strategies. It’s the process of optimizing your website (and off-site targets) to increase your rankings and visibility in search engines. This increase in rankings will result in more traffic and, hopefully, more revenue. It’s advantageous because of its: Flexibility. Your strategic direction in SEO is usually dictated by the types of keywords you want to target and the type of visibility you want to earn. Since pretty much everybody uses search engines as a conduit for their eventual online interactions, this makes SEO an enormously flexible strategy. You can use it for almost any business in any industry, and customize it to your needs. Targeting. SEO is also advantageous because of its precision. Though you’ll be in the dark about certain subjective metrics, like your exact domain authority, you can track your rankings and scrutinize meticulous details about your audience. Sustained authority. The authority you build in your SEO campaign is permanent. You’ll continue reaping results of your efforts even after you’ve ended your campaign. Content Marketing Content marketing serves as an excellent...

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source https://andlocal.org/whats-the-best-long-term-online-marketing-strategy/

30 web design tools to speed up your workflow in 2018 | Creative Bloq

The right web design tools can streamline your workflow, helping you work smarter – rather than harder – and more efficiently. After all, you want to invest your energy in solving problems, delighting users and creating beautiful designs. You don’t want to waste it on dull, repetitive and soul-sapping tasks.  Thankfully, new web design tools are being released all the time to help you simplify processes, and reduce time and effort – most notably in UI design.  Here, we look at 30 brilliant web design tools for 2018 that will help you become more productive in the coming year. Some are brand spanking new; others have been around for a while. But all have the potential to save you time, energy and budget in your web design projects. 01. Sketch We’ll start with the most obvious. Yes, we know everyone’s heard of Sketch – Bohemian Coding’s vector UI design tool – but anecdotally it seems there are still a lot of web designers relying on Photoshop for UI design (and that’s despite the release of Adobe XD, Adobe’s shiny new prototyping and wireframing tool – one of the newest additions to Creative Cloud – which comes in second on this list).  Rory Berry, creative director at Superrb, rightly feels that using Photoshop for web design is a mistake. He made the switch to Sketch in 2017, and highly recommends it. “Having been a user of Photoshop for over 10 years, it was hard to change and learn something new,” he says. “But literally after the first day of using Sketch, there was no looking back. I’m a total convert.” He offers a number of reasons why. “Compared to Photoshop, sorting all your documents that you have and making revisions on Sketch is much easier,” he begins. “Sketch has small documents...

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source https://andlocal.org/30-web-design-tools-to-speed-up-your-workflow-in-2018-creative-bloq/

Don’t Fire Your SEO Yet! 7 Signs SEO Failure May Be Your Fault

Stoney G deGeyter 1.8K READS One of my biggest frustrations about SEO is having the responsibility for a client’s online success without having the control over everything that is required to make them successful. Get a handful of SEO professionals and digital marketers in a room and you’ll likely hear this as their number one complaint.  Clients expect their web marketers to drive new business and traffic, while at the same time they won’t do what’s necessary to achieve those results. Now before I go any further, this isn’t going to be a scapegoat post. There are times when the lack of success falls squarely on the shoulders of the SEO. But I’ve been in this business long enough to know that SEO pros get blamed for things that they have no control over. So before you fire your web marketing team, make sure you know, without a doubt, that the fault lies with them. If you can make sure that none of the following items apply to you, then you’re free and clear to fire your SEO. If not, well, maybe you need to look internally before you stand firm in your certainty of where the blame lies. 7 Signs It’s You, Not Them 1. Your Campaign Is Too Narrow Ten years ago, you could get away with having a digital marketing campaign that focused only on keyword optimization and link building. But those days are long gone. Links continue to be an important part of a successful digital marketing campaign. Keyword optimization is still integral. But those two things alone will rarely get you the success you need with today’s algorithms. Possible? Yes. But it’s less and less likely due to all of the algorithm changes that have happened over the past five years. Today, you have to...

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source https://andlocal.org/dont-fire-your-seo-yet-7-signs-seo-failure-may-be-your-fault/

5 SEO Formulas That’ll Kickstart Your Rankings

So, you want to kickstart your rankings? Well, it’s hard to blame you. Few things in the marketing world are as enticing as the prospect of generating traffic, leads, and sales passively. Who doesn’t want to sit back, do nothing, and make money? That’s right: no one. And the lucrativeness that SEO promises is no secret. 93% of all online experiences start with a search engine, 75% of users never scroll to the second page of results, and 70% to 80% of users completely ignore paid search advertisements. This means that if you get your website ranking organically on search engines, you’ll leverage all of that percentage potential. Unfortunately, you’re not the only one trying to do it. Since SEO offers so much promise, everyone with a website is trying to get their cut of SERP potential. That means that you’re going to have to compete with a lot of other websites to get to the top. In fact, 27.88% of marketing dollars go toward SEO. That’s a higher percentage than social media, PPC, and link building combined. But don’t get discouraged. Even though everyone is trying to climb to the top of the rankings, it doesn’t mean that you should give up. It just means you should spend more time, money, and energy than everyone else. Then, you’ll win. To do so, you need to know the SEO formulas that will rocket your website to the top of the search results. Here are five formulas that will do the trick. Formula #1: Use competitive analysis One great way to optimize your SEO efforts is to analyze the successful competition. What are they doing? How are they doing it? How much are they spending? And how can you mimic their efforts? These are all valid questions to ask when trying to determine what your competitors...

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source https://andlocal.org/5-seo-formulas-thatll-kickstart-your-rankings/

Influencer Or Imposter? A Quick Guide To Influencer Marketing

Tweet This <div _ngcontent-c30="" innerhtml=" In short, influencers should be reliable sources of information.“> <div _ngcontent-c30="" innerhtml=" “influence and audience aren’t the same thing.”“> <div _ngcontent-c23="" innerhtml=" Co-written with&nbsp;freelance&nbsp;Megan Leung Co-written with freelance Megan Leung First there were influencers. Then came micro-influencers. What next? Nano-influencers? As the trend carries on and brands get a whiff of influencer marketing, one question haunts many: What makes someone a so-called influencer? The Cambridge Dictionary defines influencer as “a person or group that has the ability to influence the behavior or opinions of others.” By and large, this isn’t a new thing. For centuries we’ve had philosophers, artists and activists. They were the influencers of the past. Today, nearly anyone with access to the Internet is claiming to be an influencer. Just add water (in the form of followers) and wait for lucrative corporate sponsorships to roll in: cha-ching! But there’s more to influence than audience size. Here’s a shortlist of what brands should look for before sealing deals with influencers. 1. Professional background and knowledge It’s common practice for businesses to screen potential employees. Influencers shouldn’t be an exception. It’s imperative for brands and businesses to look into an influencer’s education, professional history, industrial acumen, creative competence and likability. Mickael Romaniello, mobile developer at 2WAO Limited, shares that an influencer to him is a person with “high knowledge of their professional field.” Someone who isn’t only able to attract positive attention but also “someone whose experiences people can learn from.” Influencer knowledge and experience can be tested through interviews or informal chats. Their online profiles and credentials should always be verified and brands can benefit from seeing them as service providers rather than audience hunter-gatherers. 2. Ability to produce and improve creative output Bringing influencers on board mean employing additional creatives in the marketing team. They...

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source https://andlocal.org/influencer-or-imposter-a-quick-guide-to-influencer-marketing/

How to Outperform Sites Ranking Above You on Search Engines

That latest post took days to develop. It’s instructive and inspiring and educational and entertaining. Easily, one of your best yet. But you come to check your traffic data only to find that you’re ranking 70th in the SERPs. In other words, you ain’t gettin no traffic anytime soon. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Unless some crazy person is actually clicking seven pages deep on Google. Which they aren’t. All of that hard work, research, and effort got you almost nothing in return. Meanwhile, your competitors are ranking in the top ten results, even though their content isn’t as long or thorough. Why? Because of Google. But really, the most likely answer is time and links. Your post is new, so it’s going to take some time. Knowing this, that doesn’t mean you can sit around and expect it to be on the first page without doing work. Thinking that your new post will gain thousands of links on its own is foolish. Outperforming your competitors on search engines isn’t an easy, one-off task. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. In fact, if you implement a few of these tactics, it’s likely that (in time) you will. Why? Because your competitors are comfortable. They think the rankings won’t ever change. You, on the other hand, are grinding to get ahead. Here’s how you can outperform sites ranking above you on search engines. The Top Two Ranking Factors, Straight From Google When Google RankBrain was announced in 2015 on Bloomberg, it was made known that RankBrain was the third most important ranking factor. But that was all they said. What about the first and second ranking factors? We got almost nothing for an entire year. In 2016, we got some clear information (for once) from Google. In a Q&A with Andrey Lipattsev, a...

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source https://andlocal.org/how-to-outperform-sites-ranking-above-you-on-search-engines/

6 free tools for boosting your SEO keyword strategy

  Keywords are essential for inbound marketing. The thing is, it’s not easy finding the right keywords without help. A lot of online tools require you to pay a monthly or annual subscription, but there are perfectly good free alternatives out there, and it’s those we’re going to focus on. After all, what small business has good money to burn? Start with why, not what Before you start your search, make sure you know why you’re searching. Is it: For finding the right keywords for a blog idea you already have? Or Do you want to find the keywords that your audience might be searching to give you inspiration for what to write about in your content marketing? The six free tools for finding the right keywords that we explore in this post can be used for either, but before you hit the web, look within your own company for answers first. Who knows best? Think about it: who knows best what your customers are looking for? Your customers! Of course, it isn’t practical to ask every one of your customers what they commonly search for (although maybe ask a couple of your best), but there is another option: talk to your team. Your sales team will – hopefully – have kept notes from their discovery calls with your clients. These notes will include the pain points clients were dealing with when they found your company. Your customer service department also regularly talks with your clients. Ask them what the most common questions are and see if you can turn them into blog posts. Addressing these issues matches the last stage of the inbound marketing methodology: delight. Being intuitive and working out what your customers want before they have to ask for it is a sure-fire way to build their trust....

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source https://andlocal.org/6-free-tools-for-boosting-your-seo-keyword-strategy/

When SEO isn’t your SEO problem

If you’ve been doing SEO for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly experienced your fair share of failures. And in many cases, frustratingly, the SEO program itself was not the issue. While I’ve discussed meta topics such as management challenges, getting executive buy-in, and the need for flexibility in the past, I haven’t directly addressed the question, “What do you do if SEO isn’t your SEO problem?” As search marketers, we work our tails off analyzing data, search results, client websites and more, with the goal of providing recommendations that will move the needle. Unfortunately, the best recommendations in the world don’t matter if they aren’t implemented — and therein lies one of the biggest challenges of SEO. Let’s look at a few common obstacles that can hinder an SEO program’s progress and discuss how we can overcome them. Just following up We’ve all been there: You’ve sent one, two, three emails and still have heard nothing back. How can you possibly get anything done if the client won’t even answer your emails? It’s not a simple solution. People are busy; they have other priorities, and it’s our job to ensure our clients understand the importance and value of the program. If a contact goes silent, there are a few options we can try. Pick up the phone Your clients are busy people, and many of them probably receive dozens or even hundreds of emails per day. That’s a lot of messages to sort through! While it can be frustrating to not receive a response, it’s possible your contact has more important emails to get through. Pick up the phone. It’s so simple, yet we often forgot to do it. In the age of technology, everyone is emailing and texting. Talking to someone can go a long way. Use an email tracker If your...

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source https://andlocal.org/when-seo-isnt-your-seo-problem/

Brand Authority as an SEO Ranking Factor #SEMrushchat

In last week’s #SEMrushchat, we talked about an exceptionally important topic: how brand authority interacts with SEO as a ranking factor, since we just released our newest study: the 17 most prominent Google ranking factors. We invited expert, Jennifer Slegg – founder & editor of The SEM Post, speaker, and author of Understanding Google Panda Algo Guide. Along with her and our other guests, we focused on questions like how to identify a good brand authority, how authority influences rankings, and how PR and SEO can, and should, interact. Here is what they had to say:  Q1. How do you identify a good brand authority? What are the main metrics you would use? There are three factors that come into play: expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. Expertise is your knowledge level and the value you can provide on any given subject. Expertise is your knowledge level and the value you can provide on any given subject. Your authority is how established your brand is, both in your industry and online. Trustworthiness is how much customers and industry peers trust that you, your content, and your products and services are all top-notch. When it comes to measuring these factors, there are a number of metrics to look at in order to get the full picture, all of which can individually strengthen your search rank. Often times, branded search volume increases as a brand becomes better known. Once upon a time, people didn't include words such as "Amazon" "eBay" or even "Pinterest" in their Google/Bing/etc searches. #semrushchat — Jennifer Slegg (@jenstar) November 15, 2017 There are several ways to measure this. The first is branded search volume, or how many people are searching for you by name. Instead of searching for “sneakers,” for example, someone might search for “Nike sneakers” due to the...

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source https://andlocal.org/brand-authority-as-an-seo-ranking-factor-semrushchat/

Approaching e-commerce investments in the age of Amazon

With Amazon as the 800-pound gorilla, many of my fellow investors choose to ignore e-commerce altogether. In fact, the industry hit recent lows in a number of deals and investments. But as Bonobos’ $310 million acquisition by Walmart and Stitch Fix’s IPO demonstrate, there are still plenty of exciting opportunities in this space for investors. In my ongoing hunt for investment opportunities, I recently came across a brand that had garnered significant traction without raising a lot of capital. This traction, however, was across traditional retail channels, not the channel that mattered most to me as a venture investor — e-commerce. Why do I value this direct to consumer channel so highly? For one, e-commerce margins are better (in the 80 percent range versus as low as 50 percent in traditional retail). But it also offers the potential for scale that retail simply can’t match. My grandfather grew his textiles business methodically, one merchant and store at a time — something I greatly admired as a child, given the grit and hustle he put into closing each sale. However, today, with the help of Facebook ads, viral videos like Dollar Shave Club’s classic ad, influencer and celebrity-driven endorsements, sales can boom overnight. People have been shopping online for more than two decades, and we have seen a number of iconic brands originate online. Behind many of these brands are successful venture investors, such as Forerunner Ventures (Warby Parker, Glossier, Bonobos) and Maveron (Everlane, Madison Reed), as well as amazing entrepreneurs and marketers like Kal Vepuri, Divya Gugnani and Rohan Oza, who “just get” consumer branding. They know how to make something cool, at an affordable price point, and how to position their companies for big M&A when the time comes. As these investors and individuals know, billion-dollar acquisitions come from scaling...

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source https://andlocal.org/approaching-e-commerce-investments-in-the-age-of-amazon/

How to Target Specialized Audiences With Facebook Ads : Social Media Examiner

Do you want to improve the ROI of your Facebook ads and Instagram campaigns? Wondering how to reach specialized audiences with Facebook ad targeting? In this article, you’ll learn how to create six refined target audiences for your Facebook and Instagram campaigns. How to Target Specialized Audiences With Facebook Ads by Aleh Barysevich on Social Media Examiner. How to Create Target Audiences in the Facebook Ads Manager There are two ways to create target audiences for your Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns in the updated Ads Manager. You can create audiences on the fly as you set up ad campaigns in the Audience section of the ad set. You can also create audiences by going to the Audiences page of the Ads Manager. If you use Business Manager, you’ll find the Audiences page in the same location. Certain audiences (such as those created from your website visitors and customer email list) will take longer to process than others, so it’s a good idea to create them in advance of when you need them for your campaign. This will give Facebook enough time to create the audience so it’s ready when you launch your campaign. Here’s how to get started creating custom, saved, and lookalike audiences. #1: Create a Saved Audience of Your Ideal Customer Demographics Do you know the demographics of your top customers? If so, you can use that information to create a saved audience to use in your Facebook and Instagram campaigns to reach people who are likely to buy your products or services. To create a saved audience for the first time, click the Create a Saved Audience button on the Audiences page. If you’ve created audiences in the past, click Create Audience and select Saved Audience from the drop-down menu. On the following page, you’ll see...

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source https://andlocal.org/how-to-target-specialized-audiences-with-facebook-ads-social-media-examiner/

A Comprehensive Guide To Web Design — Smashing Magazine

(This is a sponsored post). Web design is tricky. Designers and developers have to take a lot of things into account when designing a website, from visual appearance (how the website looks) to functional design (how the website works). To simplify the task, we’ve prepared this little guide. In this article, I’ll focus on the main principles, heuristics, and approaches that will help you to create a great user experience for your website. I’ll start with global things like the user journey (how to define the “skeleton” of the website) and work down to the individual page (what should be considered during web page design). We’ll also cover other essential aspects of design, such as mobile considerations and testing. Table of Contents Designing The User Journey Information Architecture Global Navigation Links and Navigation Options “Back” Button in Browser Breadcrumbs Search Designing Individual Pages Content Strategy Page Structure Visual Hierarchy Scrolling Behavior Content Loading Buttons Imagery Video Call-to-Action Buttons Web Forms Animation Mobile Considerations Practice Responsive Web Design Going From Clickable to Tappable Accessibility Users With Poor Eyesight Color Blind Users Blind Users Keyboard-Friendly Experience Testing Iterative Testing Test Page-Loading Time A/B Testing Developer Handoff Conclusion Designing The User Journey Information Architecture People often use the term “information architecture” (IA) to mean the menus on a website. But that’s not correct. While menus are a part of IA, they are only one aspect of it. IA is all about the organization of information in a clear and logical way. Such organization follows a clear purpose: helping users to navigate a complex set of information. Good IA creates a hierarchy that aligns with user’s expectations. But good hierarchy and intuitive navigation don’t happen by chance. They are a result of proper user research and testing. There are a number of ways to...

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source https://andlocal.org/a-comprehensive-guide-to-web-design-smashing-magazine/

The psychology of Web design: How colors, typefaces and spacing affect your mood

1,197 shares A great web design is so much more than just delivering content and making it look good. When visitors come to your site, they produce a set of feelings about your website and your organization. The type of feelings they produce – positive or negative – are entirely in your hands and should not be overlooked when designing content. Over the years, there has been a body of knowledge produced to help designers create effective visuals that play into the psychology of their viewers. In order to achieve this, one must understand how different web design elements and how we use them affect the mood, attitude and experience the visitor will have while browsing our website. Below are four major areas of website design and development that have the biggest impacts on the psychology of website visitors. These are the tools you’ll need to create a visually-engaging site that encourages visitors to return. Content For websites, content drives the design you see on screen. Visitors come to a website to access information they need. Web design helps them find the information they need quickly and with ease. In the early days of the Web, it was common to see pages and pages slammed with content, often pages with 10,000 words or more (as a comparison, this article is about 1,600 words). With pages loaded down with content, it made it extremely difficult to find content, let alone read through to get the information needed. This often invoked stress, anxiety and overall unpleasant feelings for visitors. With today’s Web design, content should be edited and organized so that there is a happy medium between providing adequate and needed information while not overwhelming visitors. When content is in that happy place, visitors are able to find the information quickly and...

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source https://andlocal.org/the-psychology-of-web-design-how-colors-typefaces-and-spacing-affect-your-mood/

Web Development Changing the Climate of Web Design — Jewish Journal

Web Development Changing the Climate of Web Design BY Bob Gorman | | Tech   Just like the fashion industry, web development goes through trends, which in turn affect the world of web design. Every year, new trends and technologies emerge that web developers and designers should keep up with. Besides that of new technologies, web companies have to be on the curve in order to adapt to the changing climate. A leading web design Victoria Company has pointed out in order to gain more customers you have to ensure a great design aspect within the navigation, wording, and color. In light of this, web design has been changing every single day since JavaScript was invented. Today, we have responsive web design, much of which is powered by content management systems that you can easily implement even if you don’t have tangible experience in coding. However, what should you expect after responsive web design? In that light, we explore some web development trends that are revolutionizing the climate of web design. Card-Based Web Design   Card-based designs are becoming increasingly popular in web design miami. These designs are responsive and ideal for mobile devices. A card is also referred to as a tile, a module, or a portrait. Card-based designs are already being used by leading tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Pinterest. Machine Learning   With the development of open-source programs, such as Google’s TensorFlow, machine learning will quickly become an integral component of web design. In fact, you can use machine learning for a wide range of purposes, the layout of a website being just one of them. In the world of web development, machine learning-powered multivariant testing will have the ability to automatically test and optimize a site at a customer level. What does this mean? Each...

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source https://andlocal.org/web-development-changing-the-climate-of-web-design-jewish-journal/

Low Sales? Here’s How to Read Minds to Close More Deals

People either do what you want. Or they don’t. And there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. Except react. Except follow-up based on a new set of rules. That doesn’t mean you can’t predict it, though. That doesn’t mean you can’t manipulate it. It doesn’t mean you can’t choreograph it ahead of time. Almost every single customer interaction presents an IF/THEN scenario. They either choose to do one thing, do the opposite, or do nothing at all. And each option means you should react in a slightly different way. The good news is that you can do it in advance. You can determine what happens, before it happens, so the message they receive next is always the right one. Here’s how to get this insight and react in real-time to give people exactly what they want, when they want it. 1. Start by setting objectives Personalization isn’t “Hey $FNAME.” It’s deeper than that. It’s about collecting various data points so you understand context. So you ‘get’ what someone wants before they want it. In a Spy’s Guide to Strategy, ex-CIA case officer, John Braddock, says that creating a strategy comes starts with two moves: Identifying someone’s potential end game, and then Reasoning backwards to figure out how they get there. That way, you can see what’s coming. Only when you know where someone is trying to go can you create scenarios for how they might get there. Content mapping is a perfect real-world example. Image Source Some people come to your site to buy. But not most. Only a tiny slice ready to hit the Product Tour and Opt-in page before reading “Thank You.” Others want pricing. Some want insights. And still more want information. Which is why content mapping says you gotta give all those things...

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source https://andlocal.org/low-sales-heres-how-to-read-minds-to-close-more-deals/

How to Use Traditional Marketing to Promote Your Freelance Business During the Holidays

The holiday season is pretty much here already, and the internet is still probably the outlet of choice for much of your marketing. But, don’t count out traditional marketing just yet. Just as in-person interactions can personalize your relationship with customers and colleagues, print collateral can make a different type of impression on customers. For freelancers, the holiday season is the perfect opportunity to network locally to spread the word about your offerings. It’s the one time of year professionals leave the office to attend holiday-themed gatherings, providing numerous opportunities to meet the very people who need the type of work they offer. Here are four ways to make the most of the holiday season to promote your freelance business. Display at local businesses During the holiday season, certain local businesses enjoy a serious increase in foot traffic. Shoppers are checking off items on their gift-giving lists and businesses are stocking up on supplies for their parties. Find local, non-competitor businesses that are likely to attract your ideal clients and ask if they’ll display your business card or other print materials to promote your business. This type of display will work best if your services are compatible with the storefront where your items are on display. A graphic designer could benefit from having items displayed on the countertop of a local print and copy shop, for instance, while an event planner could get helpful exposure with a display at a party store. Discounts on your business cards Before you seek out in-person interactions with potential clients, make sure you have professional-quality business cards. There are plenty of affordable online options for freelancers, each with its own set of templates. In addition to contact information, make sure your business card is designed to bring in business, including adding a coupon code that’s...

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source https://andlocal.org/how-to-use-traditional-marketing-to-promote-your-freelance-business-during-the-holidays/

Google Is Leaving You Clues to Help You Rank Higher – Know Where to Look

Image via Shutterstock. Google is leaving you clues about how to become a better marketer — and you might not even be seeing them. 👀 The job of every marketer today, whether they work in PPC, SEO, CRO, or content, is to solve people’s problems. Google is taking note of companies that are doing it well, and companies that are leaving people disappointed. Search engine optimization is changing With the help of AI, machine learning and years of data, search engines are getting better at predicting what people want. At the recent Call to Action Conference, Seer Interactive founder Wil Reynolds explained that as search engines become more concerned with solving people’s problems, the old SEO toolset is going to be thrown for a curve: My bet is on people signals in the algorithm becoming how we’re going to see ourselves ranking better and better. Google’s algorithm is going in a direction of better understanding what people want. In other words, the search race is no longer simply about keywords — it’s about being a trusted brand committed to solving people’s problems. Find clues to solve prospects’ problems The good news is there are a few places you can start looking to see what your customers want, so you can then deliver. Here are two places Wil suggests any marketer can look to better solve their customers’ problems and start seeing better results. Clue #1: Comparison search queries When your future customers are in the evaluation stage of their journey, they’re likely comparing you with your competitors. They’re typing in things like “best,” “compare” and “reviews.” These keywords indicate that they’re not necessarily sold on you yet — they’re looking for a comparison. Knowing this, how can you discover exactly what they want so you can serve it up for...

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source https://andlocal.org/google-is-leaving-you-clues-to-help-you-rank-higher-know-where-to-look-2/

9 Reasons You Might Need to Rethink Your SEO Approach

Chuck Price 3.0K READS Have you ever wondered why your website isn’t generating any traffic? Perhaps you have traffic, but it’s the wrong audience and not converting. Maybe it’s because you are still living in the past. Many are still using SEO practices that were effective years ago, but have no value today. If that’s the case, you need to rethink your SEO strategies. Best SEO practices evolve, over time, as Google and the other search engines change ranking methods and algorithms. SEO is a practice that never stays constant. Whether you consider yourself a marketing professional or a newbie, you’ll only stay on top of your game by knowing what works and what is outdated. In this post, we’re going to discuss the reasons you may need to rethink your SEO approach, by exploring practices that no longer work. 1. Dated Content Marketing Practices If you still consider keyword density an integral part of your content marketing, knock it off. That practice dates back to a time when Google used strings of meta data for rankings. Today, Google uses artificial intelligence in the form of RankBrain to understand the context of a page. Not only does keyword stuffing make your content appear spammy, in the most egregious cases you could also trigger the Panda algorithm and take a ranking hit. Instead of worrying about keywords, focus on being contextually relevant and genuinely useful to the users 2. Dated Title Tag Practices Stuffing keywords in your titles is no longer a recipe for success and could even be counterproductive. Study after study shows pages now ranking for keywords that neither appear in the title nor on the page. Instead of worrying about keyword placement in the title, think about creating a snippet that describes the page and encourages users to...

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source https://andlocal.org/9-reasons-you-might-need-to-rethink-your-seo-approach/

SEO for Small Business Owners

Search engine optimisation is the practice of making changes or alterations to your company website, with the aim of improving your page rankings and searchability on the likes of Google, Bing and Yahoo. Changes made with SEO in mind can give you the online advantage over your competitors, while also improving the browsing experience of any visitors to your website. Most small business owners will not have the time or resources to spend money unless it’s absolutely necessary, and as such a commitment to an intangible practice like search engine optimisation may be a difficult decision to make. However, the effects of good SEO can be both an increase in sales and greater online visibility for your brand, two metrics which are both measurable and extremely valuable and Onpoint SEO service can really help your business expand, get more customers, and make more money. So how exactly does SEO improve a small business website, and just why is it worth investing in?   SEO for Small Business Websites To begin with, let’s imagine you are a customer who is interested in a new product or service, either for personal use or for your own company. Unless you’re already familiar with a particular supplier, the chances are you will need to do some research. More often than not, this research would begin with a Google search. With increased broadband speeds and ever-growing smartphone technologies, it would appear that the search engine will remain the dominating force for those seeking the right business for the job at hand. Google now processes over 40,000 search queries every second on average (visualize them here), which translates to over 3.5 billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide. A good page ranking will mean potential customers see your business name first, giving you the edge over your...

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source https://andlocal.org/seo-for-small-business-owners/

SEO and Content Marketing – It’s a Match!

If content is still king, SEO is queen. We look at how integrating your SEO and content marketing can increase relevant traffic to your website and improve user experience. Businesses tend to think of SEO and content marketing as completely separate departments, keeping them apart like two naughty children. In fact, when allowed to work together,

source https://andlocal.org/seo-and-content-marketing-its-a-match/

How To Best Keep Google Happy | The Makerting Folks

SEO Keeping Google happy can be hard work. There are many factors at play and formulas to follow, some of which come easier than others. In order to drive sales up and increase the amount of readers or viewers to a page, the search engine has to be catered to. The central focus then comes

source https://andlocal.org/how-to-best-keep-google-happy-the-makerting-folks/

Google Is Leaving You Clues to Help You Rank Higher – Know Where to Look

Image via Shutterstock. Google is leaving you clues about how to become a better marketer — and you might not even be seeing them. 👀 The job of every marketer today, whether they work in PPC, SEO, CRO, or content, is to solve people’s problems. Google is taking note of companies that are doing it

source https://andlocal.org/google-is-leaving-you-clues-to-help-you-rank-higher-know-where-to-look/

How to Improve Page Speed for More Traffic & Conversions

Jeremy Knauff 1.7K READS Page speed is a critical factor in digital marketing today. It has a significant impact on: How long visitors stay on your site. How many of them convert into paying customer. How much you pay on a CPC basis in paid search. Where you rank in organic search. Unfortunately, most websites perform

source https://andlocal.org/how-to-improve-page-speed-for-more-traffic-conversions/

How to Write SEO Friendly Blog Posts – The Complete Checklist

Writing for SEO purposes can be difficult and time consuming. However, it’s time well spent, as SEO helps us rank better in the search engines.   How do you write an SEO-friendly blog post, you might ask? Using a step-by-step SEO checklist, of course! By the end of this article, you’ll know exactly how to write search

source https://andlocal.org/how-to-write-seo-friendly-blog-posts-the-complete-checklist/

Internal Link Structure Best Practices to Boost Your SEO

Corey Morris 2.8K READS Whether you’re launching a new website, refreshing an existing site, or restructuring your content, your internal link structure will be essential to your SEO success. Internal links are any links that connect your webpages to one another. If you don’t have an internal linking strategy, you’re missing out on a valuable

source https://andlocal.org/internal-link-structure-best-practices-to-boost-your-seo/

Multiple Sites: Does It Hurt or Help SEO? – Search Engine Journal

Ron Dod 4.1K READS Having multiple websites hosted on different domains can be either a great or bad tactic when it comes to SEO. Most of the reasons for having multiple sites are tied more to business decisions or best practices, such as focusing a product offering for one customer base or separating brands into

source https://andlocal.org/multiple-sites-does-it-hurt-or-help-seo-search-engine-journal/

Artificial Intelligence & SEO: 5 Strategies You Need to Follow

Guy Sheetrit 2.2K READS Billions of searches are conducted on Google every day. Even with years of engineered gathering of search queries, Google still sees unique queries every minute. These days, people need and want definite answers from Google. Instead of typing just a couple of words, we nowadays type of speak a whole sentence,

source https://andlocal.org/artificial-intelligence-seo-5-strategies-you-need-to-follow/

Google: Top Ranking Factors Change Depending on Query – Search Engine Journal

STAFF Matt Southern 10K READS Google’s Gary Illyes has clarified a misunderstanding about ranking factors. Contrary to popular belief, Illyes says there are no top 3 ranking factors that apply to all content. Top ranking factors for a web page will change depending on the query used to find it. I didn't give a top

source https://andlocal.org/google-top-ranking-factors-change-depending-on-query-search-engine-journal/

A Beginner’s Guide to SEO in a Machine Learning World

Dave Davies 4.1K READS When thinking about the rise of machine learning as it relates to SEO, we can be faced with a frightening scenario depending on the type of SEO you are. SEOs, like myself, who are logic-based and have historically worked relying on an understanding of the signals at play and how they

source https://andlocal.org/a-beginners-guide-to-seo-in-a-machine-learning-world-2/

Your Rankings Have Dropped – 10 Things to Do Now

Brock Murray 8.9K READS Whether your organic search rankings are in free fall or you observe a minor position loss on a secondary keyword, no one likes to see a drop. Though fluctuations are inevitable, especially in the face of Google’s rolling real-time algorithm updates, it’s never good news when your search rankings start trending in

source https://andlocal.org/your-rankings-have-dropped-10-things-to-do-now/

5 Ways to Accidentally Hurt E-commerce Search Engine Rankings

Ron Dod 2.8K READS Organic search is one of the most important customer acquisition channels. Period. SEO can bring in anywhere from 10 to 60 percent of your overall website traffic. Therefore, it’s paramount that you avoid any potential e-commerce SEO pitfalls. E-commerce sites that lose search rankings risk going out of business. Don’t let this

source https://andlocal.org/5-ways-to-accidentally-hurt-e-commerce-search-engine-rankings/

Why No Brand is Too Big for SEO

Josh McCoy 3.3K READS If you’ve ever helped lift a new brand off the ground and generate a large amount of organic visibility, you know that doing so is no easy feat. You need to build authority, create resourceful content, and instill SEO best practices. All of this takes time. Usually a lot of time. On

source https://andlocal.org/why-no-brand-is-too-big-for-seo-2/

5 ways to balance technical & non-technical SEO

In SEO’s earlier days, technical SEO was largely about coding. For a fun throwback, check out this 2008 SEL article on search-friendly code by Jonathan Hochman, an internet marketer and computer sciences grad from Yale. Technical SEO was all about how to optimize (and often, manipulate) code, metadata and link profiles to achieve better results. And

source https://andlocal.org/5-ways-to-balance-technical-non-technical-seo/

3 Ways a Solid Social Media Program Can Increase SEO Rank in 2017

Jasmine Sandler 1.6K READS There has been a ton of back and forth about how social media marketing impacts SEO and whether social profiles and posts can positively affect organic search rankings and visibility. Despite Matt Cutt’s famous 2014 video, in which Google’s former distinguished engineer refuted the idea that social signals were part of the ranking

source https://andlocal.org/3-ways-a-solid-social-media-program-can-increase-seo-rank-in-2017/

A Beginner’s Guide to SEO in a Machine Learning World

Dave Davies 3.1K READS When thinking about the rise of machine learning as it relates to SEO, we can be faced with a frightening scenario depending on the type of SEO you are. SEOs, like myself, who are logic-based and have historically worked relying on an understanding of the signals at play and how they

source https://andlocal.org/a-beginners-guide-to-seo-in-a-machine-learning-world/

8 Places You Can Find New Keywords to Grow Your Organic Visibility

Pratik Dholakiya 1.7K READS Are you stuck in a keyword bubble? I know the feeling. You dig deeper and deeper into your keyword tools, trying to find something novel, something in your industry that hasn’t already been completely saturated, but you keep finding the same 10, 20, 50 keywords over and over again. You try scouting your competitors’ sites, but they’re

source https://andlocal.org/8-places-you-can-find-new-keywords-to-grow-your-organic-visibility/

25 Inspiring Examples of Ultra Minimal Web Design

25 Inspiring Examples of Ultra Minimal Web Design Add to Flipboard Magazine. Sometimes, less means a whole lot more! Get inspired by these ultra minimal web design examples and discover what makes them stand out. The latest web designs with loud colors, trendy headers, and stunning imagery are indeed attractive, but sometimes it’s nice to

source https://andlocal.org/25-inspiring-examples-of-ultra-minimal-web-design/

Top 8 Web Design Trends For 2017 [Infographic] | Social Media Today

Websites are an essential part of doing business in the modern day highly competitive environment – a website is usually the first source of information on everything, including the products or services of a company. But web design trends and techniques have been changing fast over the years amidst ever-increasing competition to catch the users’

source https://andlocal.org/top-8-web-design-trends-for-2017-infographic-social-media-today/

Why Google Won’t Rank Your Content (And Steps to Fix It)

You’ve written an article. It’s good, but it’s not delivering any results. Despite targeting a seemingly easy keyword, the content is nowhere near page one in Google search results. I was in the same spot a little bit ago after writing a lengthy article on “trade marketing,” a broad subject area with lots of searches.

source https://andlocal.org/why-google-wont-rank-your-content-and-steps-to-fix-it/

Overcoming Corporate Roadblocks for Enterprise SEO Efficacy – Moz

“You don’t have an SEO strategy problem. You have an organizational efficacy problem.” That is typically what I tell our new clients at Red Door Interactive (RDI). Poor organizational efficacy can be caused by several things, most commonly a lack of labor, a lack of knowledge, or a lack of senior executive buy-in and direction.

source https://andlocal.org/overcoming-corporate-roadblocks-for-enterprise-seo-efficacy-moz/

Mobile SEO: The 3 areas that really matter for SEO performance | Search Engine Watch

With the upcoming launch of Google’s mobile-first index, digital marketers are preparing for a proliferation of “micro-moments”. There has been a lot of noise around this seemingly seismic shift, but this trend was set in motion years ago and we have plenty of data to hand on what makes or breaks a mobile SEO campaign.

source https://andlocal.org/mobile-seo-the-3-areas-that-really-matter-for-seo-performance-search-engine-watch/

Google Mocks SEO Experts That Place Mass Content On Footer

Gary Illyes from Google responded to a tweet last week on Twitter mocking “SEO experts” who place massive amounts of text on their footer. He said those are the same SEO experts who complaint they were hit by some sort of update. Here is Gary’s Tweet: Interestingly, mostly loud, self proclaimed "best SEOs" implement that

source https://andlocal.org/google-mocks-seo-experts-that-place-mass-content-on-footer/

On-Page Boot Camp: How To Identify Striking Distance Keywords

Businesses may operate differently based on their industry or market share, but when it comes to SEO, everyone is the same. No matter the size or the nature of your company, its website still needs to rank well on search engines, and benefit from high visibility and traffic. In this series of four short videos,

source https://andlocal.org/on-page-boot-camp-how-to-identify-striking-distance-keywords/

Google Says Sticky Footers Are OK, With One Exception – Search Engine Journal

STAFF Matt Southern 749 READS Google’s Gary Illyes says sticky footers on a website are nothing to worry about when it comes to SEO. Illyes’ advice on sticky footers, which are footers that stay glued to the bottom of a screen, was prompted by the question of whether or not they can be seen as

source https://andlocal.org/google-says-sticky-footers-are-ok-with-one-exception-search-engine-journal/

Google is Testing a Feature No One Seems to Want – Search Engine Journal

STAFF Matt Southern 2.2K READS Google is testing a new feature in desktop search that, quite frankly, no one is happy about. When Jennifer Slegg from The SEM Post reported on seeing autoplaying videos in Google search, the chatter around the web has been nothing but negative. Here is a smattering of the sentiments thus

source https://andlocal.org/google-is-testing-a-feature-no-one-seems-to-want-search-engine-journal/

6 Shortcuts to Hiring the Right Web Design Expert For Your Startup | Inc.com

https://www.inc.com/jordan-kasteler/6-shortcuts-to-hiring-the-right-web-design-expert-.html On – 10 Jul, 2017 By Jordan Kasteler

source https://andlocal.org/6-shortcuts-to-hiring-the-right-web-design-expert-for-your-startup-inc-com/

4 Ways To Help Your Web Design Clients Be Successful – Krista Rae

When you got started in the design industry you probably thought all you’d have to worry about was designing websites that looked nice and made your clients happy. I don’t blame you. With the quick run I had doing design, that’s exactly what I thought. If that is the idea you started out with, I’m

source https://andlocal.org/4-ways-to-help-your-web-design-clients-be-successful-krista-rae/

3 Masterful SEO Insights That Will Change Your Life

Pratik Dholakiya 6.7K READS Some SEO insights offer incremental improvement. Others can change your life forever. We need both. But today I want to focus on three life-changing insights. As you can probably guess, these aren’t “tactics.” These are fundamental ways of looking at your discipline. You may even have heard some of them before.

source https://andlocal.org/3-masterful-seo-insights-that-will-change-your-life-2/

5 Common Internet Marketing Mistakes You Should Avoid – TechGeek365

If you’re not having the results you anticipated from your digital marketing strategy, any of the marketing mistakes listed below could be the reason. Web marketing strategies can be very productive when applied in the right way, but there is a reasonable percentage of error. Any of these common mistakes can harm your online marketing

source https://andlocal.org/5-common-internet-marketing-mistakes-you-should-avoid-techgeek365/

Facebook Searches for New Ad Slots as Profit Spikes 71% – WSJ

Facebook Inc.’s news feed is running out of room for advertisements, but the social media giant is making up for it with higher prices and new slots for ads in videos and its messaging apps. The company on Wednesday said profit spiked 71% in the second quarter. While growth is still rapid, Facebook warned that

source https://andlocal.org/facebook-searches-for-new-ad-slots-as-profit-spikes-71-wsj/

How Do Facebook Ads Work for Small Business? | Social Media Today

“I think every business tries Facebook ads, fails at it and then blames the platform,” says digital marketing expert Neil Patel. Sound familiar? You’re not alone if a minute or two in Power Editor leaves your head spinning and wondering, “Wait… so how do Facebook ads work?!” Don’t even know what Power Editor is? Hey,

source https://andlocal.org/how-do-facebook-ads-work-for-small-business-social-media-today/

What You Missed Last Month in Google

For many things in life, it seems like there’s a weather analogy. A happy disposition is often described as “sunny.” Something foreboding could be said to “cast a cloud” on someone. And, according to MozCast, indications of a big change in Google’s algorithm can be described as “hot and stormy.” That’s not bad news for

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/31/what-you-missed-last-month-in-google/

3 Masterful SEO Insights That Will Change Your Life

Pratik Dholakiya 6.7K READS Some SEO insights offer incremental improvement. Others can change your life forever. We need both. But today I want to focus on three life-changing insights. As you can probably guess, these aren’t “tactics.” These are fundamental ways of looking at your discipline. You may even have heard some of them before.

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/31/3-masterful-seo-insights-that-will-change-your-life/

Minimalist Web Design – More Effective Than Any Other Design Style In The Web Design Industry – Web Design Ledger

This article is the third in a series devoted to the understanding of minimalism in web design. During the time, this trend has become very popular among the graphic designers and it will still be on top for the years that will come, regardless the influences it will have. You might assume minimalism is easy

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/30/minimalist-web-design-more-effective-than-any-other-design-style-in-the-web-design-industry-web-design-ledger/

Building Loyalty: 7 Web Design Strategies to Earn Your Audience’s Trust – Search Engine Journal

Jason Hawkins 1.7K READS First impressions matter. Your website is often the first place where your audience learns about you. It can help them decide whether they want to do business with you – or leave and never come back. Designing and optimizing a website properly can help you gain your audience’s trust and loyalty

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/30/building-loyalty-7-web-design-strategies-to-earn-your-audiences-trust-search-engine-journal/

31 New Trend Website Design Examples | Web Design | Graphic Design Junction

Creating a website for your company, firm or organization you must follow the new trends. Creative ideas and modern trends can make your web design more attractive and eye catching. In past few years web design trends improvements very amazingly and growing up too fast like flat design and retro/vintage effect, big background, video with

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/30/31-new-trend-website-design-examples-web-design-graphic-design-junction/

How to test (and perfect) nearly everything in PPC

PPC (pay per click) is a key component of many online marketing campaigns. And while it can drive significant revenue, it’s also one of the most expensive ongoing costs in a campaign. Therefore, it’s key that you test your ads regularly, to make sure you aren’t letting any conversions slip through the cracks. Testing and

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/29/how-to-test-and-perfect-nearly-everything-in-ppc/

Google AdWords Testing Button To Auto Create Ad Headlines

Google AdWords is testing a new feature to help advertisers create ad headlines for their ads. There is a checkbox in the ad creation page within AdWords that reads “create a second ad with headlines in reverse order.” Not everyone is seeing it but Conrad O’Connell posted a screen shot of it on Twitter. Here

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/29/google-adwords-testing-button-to-auto-create-ad-headlines/

Sorry isn’t enough: why agencies need to work with influencers and not against them | The Drum

With the latest influencer marketing stats revealing the industry’s impressive growth into a channel that is steamrolling traditional advertising, we are seeing many new agencies cropping up. With more noise in the space, it’s more important than ever that the industry isn’t misrepresented. At VAMP we have been working with Influencers since the concept of

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/28/sorry-isnt-enough-why-agencies-need-to-work-with-influencers-and-not-against-them-the-drum/

7 Strategies for Effective Influencer Marketing

One of the keys to effective influencer marketing (aka getting real results) is by doing it authentically. But just what does that mean? Being authentic in your influencer marketing efforts means investing the time to learn as much as you can about each influencer you want to reach out to and then communicate with them

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/28/7-strategies-for-effective-influencer-marketing/

12 Ways to Actually Get an ROI Using Influencer Marketing

Free Webinar | August 16th Find out how to optimize your website to give your customers experiences that will have the biggest ROI for your business.Register Now » Influencer marketing is all the rage in today’s day and age. Yet, it’s no guarantee: You may have every intention of generating high-level results, but getting a

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/28/12-ways-to-actually-get-an-roi-using-influencer-marketing/

Six inconvenient truths about influencer marketing | Econsultancy

https://www.econsultancy.com/blog/69209-six-inconvenient-truths-about-influencer-marketing On – 30 Jun, 2017 By Patricio Robles

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/28/six-inconvenient-truths-about-influencer-marketing-econsultancy/

101 Online Business Directories for Local SEO – Rankings #restaurant #business #plan

  101 Online Business Directories for Local SEO – Rankings #restaurant #business #plan Posted in News – 25/07/2017 – 0 Comment #online business directory # 101 Online Business Directories for Local Marketing (List + Tips) For small businesses, local search is likely to drive most of the traffic to your business s website or physical

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/28/101-online-business-directories-for-local-seo-rankings-restaurant-business-plan/

How Citations Help Local SEO – Las Vegas SEO for Growth

How Citations Help Local SEO Image courtesy of Moz Local Ah, the endless quest to make sure your business shows up in local search. The landscape is constantly changing and it’s up to you to keep up if you want to optimize your site for Local SEO. That’s why you should take advantage of any

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/28/how-citations-help-local-seo-las-vegas-seo-for-growth/

10 Steps to Perform the Best Local SEO for Businesses

| 10 Steps to Perform the Best Local SEO for Businesses If you are a business owner, a top ranking position in Google isn’t the ultimate goal, but a means to seize your goal: people who will become your customers after a few minutes of typing and clicking. Well, here’s the kicker: putting your website

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/28/10-steps-to-perform-the-best-local-seo-for-businesses/

2017 Local SEO Tips That Have Helped Me Rank Sites In Months

Today I share my top local SEO tips for 2017. Quick qualifier: I currently have tons of businesses ranking locally with the techniques I’m about to share with you. These businesses are backed by videos that show how I achieved these rankings as well. Not convinced? Check out this iPhone Repair company I ranked in

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/28/2017-local-seo-tips-that-have-helped-me-rank-sites-in-months/

5 essential aspects of technical SEO you cannot neglect | Search Engine Watch

Eighty-eight percent of B2B marketers now report using content marketing in their promotional strategies, according to the Content Marketing Institute. Developing content and using SEO to drive rankings and traffic has become a fundamental part of digital strategies, not just for the thought leaders of the industry, but it has become standard across the spectrum.

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/27/5-essential-aspects-of-technical-seo-you-cannot-neglect-search-engine-watch/

Building ROI-focused SEO strategies: A framework

Running into my tenth year at the helm of an independent performance-focused digital marketing agency, I still — when discussing pain points with prospective clients — see a remarkable number of SEO strategies that are, at best, decoupled from business performance, and, at worst, totally unengaged with wider business performance. Google’s Avinash Kaushik writes excellently on a

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/27/building-roi-focused-seo-strategies-a-framework/

5 SEO Don’ts of Traffic Monetization. How to Avoid Google Penalty

Sergey Grybniak 734 READS Earning your first dollar in e-commerce is fairly simple. You’re selling a product. But what if you own a publication or media site? To start making money, you will have to: Engage in affiliate marketing Lease ad space (directly or via AdSense) Sell info products (e.g., e-books, courses, webinars) Publish paid

source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/27/5-seo-donts-of-traffic-monetization-how-to-avoid-google-penalty/

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source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/22/give-your-seo-a-boost-with-these-12-accessibility-improvements/

30-Day SEO Action Plan

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source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/21/boost-rankings-ultimate-local-seo-cheat-sheet-infographic/

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Ultimate guide to small business SEO • Yoast

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source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/21/complete-local-seo-checklist/

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source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/21/ultimate-guide-seo-friendly-url-structure/

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source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/21/long-tail-seo-strategy-target-high-intent-keywords/

Is Content Curation Good for SEO? 11 Examples That Prove So!

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source https://andlocal.org/2017/07/21/content-curation-good-seo-11-examples-prove/

11 SEO Myths You Need To Stop Believing Today

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3 Masterful SEO Insights That Will Change Your Life

Pratik Dholakiya

• 6.3K
  READS

Some SEO insights offer incremental improvement. Others can change your life forever.

We need both. But today I want to focus on three life-changing insights.

As you can probably guess, these aren’t “tactics.” These are fundamental ways of looking at your discipline. You may even have heard some of them before. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that knowing is different from doing.

These are three key insights that master SEOs put in practice in their daily lives.

1. The Hustle Matters Twice As Much As The Algorithm

Understanding as much as is possible about the search engine algorithms is crucial in order to be an effective SEO.

In fact, I believe that the search industry as a whole is severely underinformed. Many SEO professionals (and agencies):

• Jump to conclusions far too swiftly from correlative studies.
• Take universal lessons from anecdotes too often.
• Ignore Google’s guidelines too frequently.
• Take industry-wide “best practice” too seriously and their own data not seriously enough.

As an industry, we need to be better skeptics, experimenters, and testers.

I’m not at all dismissing the technical side of SEO when I say that the hustle is twice as important as the algorithm.

The search engine is designed to make ranking difficult. It is built on the foundational assumption that the most cited pages are the most valuable.

You have to get noticed.

Getting noticed takes work.

If you don’t put yourself out there, your SEO strategy is doomed to failure.

I can pretty much guarantee some readers are scoffing right now. “This is supposed to be a life-changing revelation that will change my life? Get real. I already know this.”

For some of you, that may be the case. But for most of you, I think the following is much more likely: you know this is what you’re supposed to do, you’ve heard of it before, but somehow it hasn’t quite sunk in. Somehow, something is holding you back, and you’re refusing to invest in the hustle.

I know because I’ve been there.

We’ve all been there.

We get stuck in that phase of information addiction. If that’s where you are, I know what it feels like.

Deep down, you know you should be putting more of what you’ve learned to action. You know you should test that tactic you learned last Friday. You know you should build a process to ensure that all of this gets done.

But you can’t help it.

Some nagging part of you says “Just this next tactic. Just this next blog post. And then I’ll know enough to really put all of this to action.”

I’m here to tell you no, you need to hit the ground running and make it happen.

And I’m not talking about trying that one tactic one time and forgetting about it.

I’m talking about having the resolve and dedication to make it an institutionalized habit.

• Put tactics to full use.
• Make it a part of your routine.
• Measure the results.
• Adjust as needed.

This is the only way to cross the bridge from theory to practice. And I guarantee when you start making a habit out of crossing that bridge, you’re going to realize just how much of the theory you come across is a waste of time.

No reserve of knowledge is more powerful than your own history of attempts and failures.

SEO knowledge isn’t power. It’s only potential.

2. If You Don’t Build It, They Won’t Come

I’m going to let you in on a little secret.

The winners of the internet don’t “produce content.” They build things.

(Easy there. We’re marketers. You’re reading content right now. We understand the value. Hear us out.)

Are you old enough to remember when the internet first started taking off? Do you remember that hot new phrase: “interactivity?”

Ask yourself, what do you spend most of your time on the internet doing?

Are you consuming the internet, or are you using it?

If you’re like most people, you spend a pretty solid portion of your time online.

More importantly, of the time you spend using the internet, you probably use a pretty small number of sites. Know why? Because most sites are built to be consumed instead of used. Most sites take lessons from their peers at the bottom, rather than the industry leaders at the top.

Just take a look at the most linked sites on the internet.

I see an awful lot of tools and platforms here. Not so many “content producers.”

Again, this isn’t intended as some kind of anti-content marketing rallying cry. Instead, I’d like you to now think about your favorite content site.

Do you use it, or consume it?

What first put them on your radar? Did you land on a random blog post, or did you come across a massive content resource of some kind that you quickly realized you almost couldn’t live without?

Look at any developed online industry and you will find that the top players have at least one page on their site that is elevated to this level.

What I mean is this: the page crosses a threshold. It ceases to be “content” and it becomes a free product. It’s something so valuable that people actually come to use it, not just to consume it. And they will likely use it more than once or twice.

These pages aren’t always the highest converting, but they are usually the most heavily linked, second only to the homepage, and they are usually the most heavily trafficked, with the highest return rate. All of these things play a crucial role in rankings, brand reputation, and brand recognition.

If you have to choose between “producing content” and “building something,” go with the latter. A tool, a platform, a community, or an “ultimate guide” is almost always going to draw more traffic and links than your next piece of “content.”

I strongly believe that you need to produce content and build something. You need both. Most only have one.

The internet was built to be used.

3. If It’s Not For Anything Else, It’s Not For SEO Either

A masterful SEO understands the search engines and understands that they can’t rely on the search engines.

Let me explain.

First and foremost, there are two simple facts:

• The algorithm changes, and it changes constantly.
• Google warns us against manipulating the algorithm.

I want to hammer these points home, because they are often either ignored or acknowledged and then quickly treated as though the statements were never uttered.

First, the algorithm (algorithms, really) is updated about 500 times every year.

Just let that sink in. It is updated once or twice every single day.

Google’s search engine is just a massive collection of interfacing code. It is interacting with a constantly crawled and updated search index. No single engineer at Google can possibly understand fully how their own search engine works.

We’re talking about a massive collection of protocols, applications, operating systems, databases, and information retrieval processes. If you’ve ever dealt with complex code, then you know how much one small tweak can change everything else inadvertently. And I’m talking about the kinds of changes that don’t show up as “syntax error.”

So if you’ve been studying all of those “ranking factors” hoping to “reverse engineer” the algorithm, you have presented yourself with a task that is quite literally impossible. We can only hope to find statistical tendencies, and you absolutely must treat every site and every SERP as its own entity with different sorts of factors taking priority.

Second, I can’t stress enough how important this point is from Google’s guidelines:

“Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is whether you’d feel comfortable explaining what you’ve done to a website that competes with you, or to a Google employee. Another useful test is to ask, ‘Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn’t exist?’”

Don’t get me wrong. The idea that you should only do things that you would feel comfortable sharing with a competitor is laughable, and pretending search engines don’t exist today is even more impossible than it was when the guidelines were first written.

But the implications are clear. If your SEO tactics are only helpful for SEO, and do nothing else for you, you’re on uneasy ground with Google’s guidelines.

Final Thoughts

Anybody who has been doing SEO for a long time know that those “pure” algorithmic SEO tactics fade with age.

Only SEO rooted solid marketing principles continue to work for you in long term.

A masterful SEO always has two eyes open: one on the search engine, the other on marketing.

Remember, the SEO mindset is one of cumulative growth.

We are looking for lasting improvements. Each incremental improvement is intended to tack more visits, more links, and more revenue to our long-term monthly figures, not just to this month’s figures.

That means not just using tactics and strategies that the search engines will always be OK with, but using tactics and strategies that don’t strictly rely on search engines to have lasting, cumulative impacts.

Put these insights to use. You won’t regret it.

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/3-masterful-seo-insights-will-change-life/204276/

On – 08 Jul, 2017 By Pratik Dholakiya

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