At Webspec Design we try to be as transparent as possible with every project we take on. We include our clients in every decision and alter their services to fit their wants and budget. Our goal is to make sure our clients feel they are receiving the best quality service, whether they are employing our ongoing SEO services or having a site designed and built for their business, we strive to provide unmatched excellence.
I was hired on January 2, 2013 as the new SEO / Content Writer at Webspec. I was essentially given the task to define what the department would become and begin offering SEO and content writing services to our clients. While I had experience in writing content for websites I had no idea what I was doing when it came to Search Engine Optimization. In the beginning months we were very upfront with our clients that we were new at this and just getting the hang of how to run SEO campaigns. All of our clients were fine with this arrangement as long as we could show them continued improvements in their rankings and site traffic while simultaneously learning all we could about the intricacies of SEO.
I began researching everything I could about SEO, the best strategies to implement, things to avoid doing on the site, where the Google Algorithms were headed and more. After implementing what I was learning on the sites we began to see upward movement in not only rankings, but site traffic as well. Our clients were beginning to receive more leads from the site and we were beginning to get a solid footing in understanding SEO.
Since then, I have learned what works and what doesn’t work for campaigns and improved my strategy throughout the whole process. Here is a look into how we operate and what we have learned.
1. All SEO work is done in-house at Webspec Design
We don’t believe in outsourcing our work. We are proud to put our name on our websites, marketing materials and your SEO campaign so we do it all ourselves. If a deal sounds too good to be true, SEO for $1/hour, it is. These campaigns are completed overseas and use a lot of tactics that are frowned upon by Google. Typically the person working on those campaigns lives in China or India, doesn’t speak English very well and is just going to build a bunch of spammy backlinks on your site and call it SEO.
We recognize the impact that a quality campaign provides to our clients. For starters, our clients have direct access to their campaign manager via phone, email and regular in-person meetings. We also know that if you are targeting a local market that different techniques will be used on your campaign than what would be implemented for a company that is focusing on national or even a global target area. We genuinely care about our clients and campaigns. We cheer for your success and are disappointed when our plan does not achieve the desired results. You can rest assured that we will work to raise the campaign rankings no matter what it takes.
2. Research pays off
I have been researching the changes in SEO techniques, Google, Bing and Yahoo search algorithms and recommendations from other SEOs since the beginning of my time here at Webspec and have no intention of stopping. I learn new things about Search and SEO every day that benefit my campaigns greatly. This research has helped our campaigns survive the Penguin Update and the Panda 4.0 update without a problem.
3. SEO title tags, descriptions, keywords & alt tags matter
When we begin an SEO campaign we start with the page titles, descriptions, keywords and image alt tags. It is no secret that page titles matter not only for ranking in search engines but for receiving a click-though. The page title is the text that appears in the tab of the browser window and also appears in the search results. This is the blue link you click on in Google, Bing or Yahoo. The description is the text below that blue link in the search results that is displayed for users to read and for Google to get a better grasp on what the content of your site is. The keywords are simply for search engines and are typically used more by Bing and Yahoo than Google, however they are still important. Alt tags are alternative text for images. They were originally developed for people reading the web with a screen reader and are used in place of images that do not display on the page. Google has begun to read the alt text as a way to “see” what the picture is. By using keywords that describe the image, you have a better chance of ranking content in the top ten search results and also in the image search results.
4. Homepage content matters to users and Google
The amount and quality of the content on your homepage matters a lot. Although the design and idea of having content on your home page might not appeal to you I bet ranking in the search results does. Unfortunately, most businesses have to have relevant content on their homepage in order to rank in Google. Over the last few months we have developed a creative way to add more content to the homepage without sacrificing design or aesthetics. We do this through content sliders. Content sliders are essentially image carousels but instead of an image, content is used instead. This allows us to take even the smallest space and create four to six paragraphs of homepage content all with individual headers that all count towards a better SEO score.
When the sliders are filled with relevant and keyword focused content, rankings go up. I have seen homepage content mean the difference between ranking 3 out of 65 words in the top 10 with no content and 45 out of 65 words in the top 10 with content. Take my advice, don’t miss out on rankings because you don’t have homepage content, take advantage of it and you will see results.
5. Navigation matters. A Lot
Is your navigation set-up for your users or for you? So many times I see navigation menus that are set up for someone who knows the lingo and organization of the industry. This is fine when the audience of the site knows the industry terms or specifics about your business, but when they don’t, your user experience suffers. Organizing your navigation so that your services, products, locations, etc. are easy to locate will improve your user experience. Naming your pages with keywords that you want to rank for can increase your placement in search results. If you own an automotive business and you want to rank for auto parts, then you would name one of your top navigation pages “Auto Parts.” I have reorganized several different navigation systems for different sites and the results have been amazing. Content that never ranked before or was never read on the site began to receive traffic and the leads for the businesses began to increase.
Check back next week for 5 more things I have learned about SEO.
