Valuable Internal Optimization Tips

As a Chicago Marketing Company we stress the value of Search Engine Optimization. If you want web traffic from search engines there are certain areas of your website that must be optimized.

Title Tags – Title tags are shown up as the title in search results and on browser windows. Our Chicago Marketing team has found that title tags are the most important place to insert your keywords on your website. A strong title tag should contain between 65-70 characters or less. It is important to choose keywords for your title tags that correspond with the content on the page.

H1 Tags – Search engines have been attracted to h1 tags for years. Our Chicago Marketing Company has found that some websites don’t even utilize H1 tags! Many search engine optimization experts have found that H1 tags are one of the most important factors of internal optimization. You are only hurting your website by not including H1 tags.

URL – The key to any web page is it’s URL. Within your website you will have different pages designated to separate web URL’s. Our web designers in Chicago always name particular page’s slug according to what the page and content is about. Example: http://www.integraphix.com/services/chicago_internet_marketing entails information regarding our Chicago Internet Marketing services.

Image Tags – Our creative agency has found that images are often ignored when it comes to search engine optimization. It is very important that all of your images on your website are saved according to your keywords to help increase web traffic. Make sure that all of your images on your website are given logical and readable names. An image saved as “logo.jpg”says nothing to search engines. Saving an image as “Chicago-web-design-company-logo.jpg” will help your website for search engine optimization purposes. Uploading images to your website saved as keywords will definitely help increase your rankings and ultimately increase your web traffic.

Content – When creating web content for your website, it is very important to include a variety of keywords. As a Chicago Marketing Company, we recommend you use at least 4-5 keywords on each of your pages. If your site is legitimate and you are targeting the right audience, your keywords should fall into the copy naturally. It is important to understand that the more content you put on your site, the better off you are in terms of search engine optimization.

Without a solid foundation of internal optimization on your website, you cannot grasp the full potential of search engine optimization. For a FREE Marketing Analysis of your website, contact Integraphix: 847-537-0067. Our Chicago Marketing Company consists of our creative team specialists that have the knowledge and experience on  how to increase interest with search engines.

Optimize Your Pinterest

The power of search engine optimization doesn’t need to just be confined to your website and blog.  All of your social media pages, whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or even Pinterest, should be optimized.  When we optimize, we prefer to optimize all the way, so this way you are maximizing your potential to be ranked higher by search engines.  While algorithms probably have not been accounting for likes, pins and comments quite yet, we certainly are starting to see more and more Pinterest results appearing in Google.  Here are some tips on optimizing your Pinterest page:

Don’t just repin, upload some of your own images:  Don’t get us wrong, repining is a big part of Pinterest’s purpose, but try to have an equal balance of pins that are repined from others and your own uploads.  Uploading your own images will have more weight when it comes to optimization.  Repining other peoples’ pins can help increase your page’s popularity.  After all, this is social media!

Pin from a variety of sources: Don’t pull all of your pins from one source.  Try uploading from multiple sources.  Having a variety of images from all different sources will help make your Pinterest page more interesting as opposed to other people or companies' pages repining from the same sources all the time.  Variety is the spice of life!

Name images you upload with keywords: The file name you have saved your images as can become important when it comes to optimizing your Pinterest page.  Instead of uploading a picture with a file name like 5832058209.jpg try something like chocolate-cake-recipe.jpg.  Make the file name relevant to what your picture and board are about.  If your entire board is about chocolate cake and the picture you’re uploading is a picture of chocolate cake with a recipe attached, then name it accordingly.  You want your chocolate cake board to utilize the keywords chocolate cake as much as possible. 

Leave lengthy descriptions: Pinterest always allows users to leave a description of up to 500 words.  Here’s the challenge: 500 words can be a little lengthy and perhaps be deemed as annoying or overkill, but we say use those words up.  Make your descriptions lengthy with plenty of keywords. 

Name your board appropriately: Pay close attention to what you name your boards since the titles of your boards will be apart of the search engine optimization process.  Say you own an Italian Restaurant and you want your page to come up in Italian Cuisine search results, then don’t name your board “Food We Love” or “Food We Make.”  Name it simply “Our Italian Cuisine.” 

As a Chicago Marketing Company, we have really been able to see the different search engine optimization makes for our clients.  Don't just optimize your website.  Optimize your social media pages as well to achieve optimal results.  If you have comments or questions on anything SEO related feel free to drop us a comment or contact us.  

Making a Social Media Plan

Creating a social media plan is probably one of the smartest tactics to implement to help your business succeed.  A social media plan will outline your goals for your social media use and will help you achieve them.  Even as a Chicago Internet Marketing Firm we have our own social media plan for ourselves and our clients.  Being successful using social media isn’t all about posting a million times a day (if anything, don’t do that, people will ignore you!) it’s about the quality of what you’re posting and doing it on a rather regular basis.  Here are a few steps you should take when you develop a social media plan for your business: 

Step ONE: Outline Your goals- First, identify what you hope to accomplish with social media. Not all social media sites are created equal, so outlining your goals will help you choose what sites will best help you work towards your goals and eventually, achieve them.

Step TWO: Stay Focused- Establishing your presence on social media takes time, so don’t lose hope and try to stay focused.  Be patient.  Use the goals you outlined in step one to help you stay focused and on the right track.  If you feel unfocused, remind yourself of what you want to achieve and reengage yourself!

Step THREE: Check out your target audience or current fans- Does your business already have fans?  If so, see where they hang out in the realm of social media and start there.  Engage with them by being a strong presence wherever they are.  No fans yet?  That’s okay.  Start by identifying your target audience and check out their social media site use via demographic research.  You and your business need to be in the center of where your fans or target audience are.

Step FOUR: Scheduling- Create a schedule to help you determine how and when (frequency) you’ll engage with your fans or target audience.  Creating a schedule keeps you accountable and when it becomes a habit you’ll be able to keep up with posting more easily and perhaps stay engaged more easily as well.  Start engaging with your target audience and users and you may be surprised by how often they’ll begin engaging with you.

Step FIVE: Content, Content, Content!- Social media isn’t all about selling yourself and your product.  It’s about being social and connecting with people, who may (if you do it right!) at some point, be very interested in what your company is selling.  Don’t provide them with endless amounts of status updates or tweets about your company.  Give them something to talk about at the water cooler.  Give them industry information.  Your posts and tweets should mainly be relevant to the industry your business is in.  Write a blog, explore relevant trends and show your fans and target audience case studies and infographics.  Position yourself as the expert in your industry and you’re likely to succeed. 

Step SIX: Contests and Promotions- Every couple of months run a contest or promotion to keep your fans and target audience coming back for more.  A contest or promotion is an opportunity for you and your business to be seen by a greater number of people on a larger platform.  A contest or promotion encourages fans and followers to keep up with you and your company, so it’s worth the legwork. 

These steps will help keep you and your business on the right track with your social media use.  Looking for more tips on creating a social media plan or have a comment?  We always love to talk social media, so contact us.

Are No-follow Links good for SEO?

I've recently seen a lot of discussion on the value of no-follow links for SEO. Half of the Internet Marketing community is saying there IS value to them and the other half thinks there is absolutely no value. After some research, I've found compiled some information on backlinks and their do-follow/no-follow relevance to SEO.

No-follow Links: Is is still valuable to get them when you can? Social Media sites are mostly no-follow. Is it worth the reach even without the SEO value?

With some research, I've come to this conclusion: Yes, no-follow links are definitely important. There is much debate on no-follow links and as an SEO, I don't believe there needs to be so much concern over getting do-follow links. If a link is from a strong website with high PR such as Huffington Post, or Forbes and can pass traffic, then I say go get it! Search Engines are paying a lot of attention to Social media websites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) so why bother with worrying about nofollow/dofollow when they're still incredibly important to have. If you're trying to build a brand and rank on Google, it's best not to obsess over whether a link is good for SEO - think about what is good for your brand.

Nofollow links to not pass search engine value for Google and Bing - Yahoo might be another story. But you CAN have a link on Wikipedia or even Google's own blog and it won't count, but that doesn't mean it's not incredibly valuable.

Websites with lots of links, even if they're no-follow links, can still send traffic: meaning that the link is still clickable or live. This can still help with increased website traffic, leads and potential conversions and perhaps even encourage others to link to your website with a do-follow link. The point of all the Social Media links is about creating awareness and a following for your product and services. This awareness about your brand will lead to more link building from other sources and develop a larger community for your brand. So do no-follow links matter? Yes they most certainly do.

Investing in SEO for your Website

Is your website getting all the traffic you'd like to see? Often, good web design is not enough. To draw visitors to your site, an SEO campaign may be necessary.

Search engine optimization is not a do-it-yourself project. SEO experts use a collection of sophisticated tools to dive into the details of your website to make it more attractive to search engines, and build sophisticated strategies to improve your search engine rankings. But not all SEO firms are created equal. Here are five red flags to watch out for when comparing SEO firms for your search engine optimization campaign.

1. Aggressive timelines. If a firm promises high rankings and big results in the first 30 days, beware. True search engine optimization takes time to achieve. This sort of short-term gain usually requires a flurry of activity in promoting your site online -- and can often get you banned from Google or other search engines indefinitely. A reputable SEO firm will talk about results over months, not weeks.

2. A one-time shot. Just as you change your product or pricing in response to the market, good SEO requires changes in strategy over time. A short-term project may create short-term activity, but just because your site is ranked #1 today doesn't mean it will be tomorrow. Good SEO firms provide constant monitoring and updating as required to see search engine success over the long term.

3. A "trust me" approach. Your SEO efforts are only worth as much as the results. If you're writing a check each month for services and aren't sure exactly what's being done on your behalf and what impact that's having on your search rankings, find another SEO firm. Most solid SEO firms will provide reporting regularly (we provide reporting monthly) and will keep you informed of how their work is progressing.

4. Tactics that harm your business reputation. No matter how much search engine rankings are worth, they're not worth damaging your business reputation. Some more questionable SEO practices can end up with your company information associated with unsavory areas of the web -- including adult content, organizations that you may not support, and websites that sell or in other ways profit from private user information. SEO firms that play fast and loose with your good name should be avoided.

5. Difficulty connecting with a real person that understands your business. SEO firms that use a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach will likely miss great opportunities to promote your website and add to visibility because they don't adequately understand your customer, your products, and your business goals. If someone wants to sell you an SEO package without an expert consultation which considers your wider marketing strategy, run.

Reputable, effective SEO firms can double or triple the number of visitors to your website over time, and they can make the difference between a winning web strategy and a site that's beautiful but unused. Before selecting an SEO firm, ask questions, get a detailed proposal, and make sure you understand what you'll be getting for your money.

Integraphix is a full-service Chicago website marketing company, developing and promoting stunning websites and dynamic mobile applications for large corporations and small businesses nationwide. Our SEO experts can design a search engine optimization campaign that grows your business without busting your budget. Contact us to see how investing in promoting your website can pay off over and over again.


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How to find a good Chicago SEO Company

With small and large businesses increasingly turning towards SEO for help marketing online, the number of Internet marketing companies and Search Engine Optimization companies have doubled as well. Chicago, with its large number of corporate companies has also hopped onto the Website Optimization bandwagon.

Search engine optimization and marketing services in Chicago provide small or large Chicago businesses with some of the most competent SEO services, and at highly affordable rates. With so many of these companies cropping up, its hard to find a really good Chicago SEO company that provides effective services and is affordable at the same time. But where there's a will, there's a way. So, if you are desperately looking for a reliable SEO company in Chicago that does not charge exorbitant fees, then here are a few tips on how to go with your search:

Word of Mouth – Asking around is probably one of the best ways to find a good yet affordable SEO company Chicago. Try getting referrals from other companies in your business niche. Choose companies that have a strong Internet presence. Such companies are probably hiring the services of a good SEO company. So, give it a shot!

Do not rely on fake guarantees – Many SEO companies try to sell their services by guaranteeing immediate results. If you know anything about SEO, you'll know that it takes a lot of hard work, patience and a lot of time for you to see any results with SEO. So, if anyone promises to give you instant results at low rates, ignore the rates and ignore the vendor. You'll find better.

There is a limit to affordability – No company that is really good can afford to provide their services at dirt cheap prices. So, if you are looking for a Chicago SEO company that is dirt cheap, then you can forget about it. Such cheap companies end up costing you more in the long run. Any reliable SEO company will provide services at reasonable rates that are not necessarily cheap, but by no means are they extremely expensive as well. You shouldn't only be looking at the price of the services, but the quality counts as well.

Ask the Chicago SEO company in question about the strategies they use – Always make it a point to ask the SEO company what strategies they use before you hire them. There are 2 basic SEO strategies, namely White Hat SEO strategies and Black Hat SEO strategies. By using Black Hat strategies, your site can get banned. So make sure you hire a company that only uses white hat strategies.

Using these points could help you find an effective yet affordable SEO company in Chicago. It is also advisable to check out whether the SEO company has testimonials from past clients. Above all, make sure you find a vendor who's SEO package fits in with your budget.


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SEO Firm of Chrysler Group Fired over vulgar tweet

Within the last two weeks, Chrysler Group ended it's long-standing relationship with their social media agency over a vulgar tweet that was posted to the official Chrysler Brand Twitter Account. Crazy!

The tweet was posted Wednesday March 9th, 2011 by New Media Strategies and read 'I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the Motor-city and yet no one here knows how to f*****g drive'. The tweet was removed shortly after being posted, but to no avail. 

Chrysler immediately made a statement the next day that it won't be renewing its contract with New Media Strategies for the rest of this year but noted that it will work with the agency through the transition period until it names a new marketing firm.

The Michigan based auto-manufacturer apologized in a blog post saying that the employee responsible for the tweet had been fired. In a follow up post, Chrysler said that the post had been meant for the employee's personal Twitter profile rather than Chrysler's and that they had not demanded the person be fired. Needless to say, it was a fireable offense in and of itself knowing how much social media runs the world these days.

The CEO of NMS, Pete Snyder said, his firm regretted the 'incident'.

"It doesn't accurately reflect the high-quality work we have done for Chrysler", he said in a statement, "We respect their decision and will work with them to ensure an effective transition of this business going forward."

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To a company who deals in a lot of social media marketing, reputation management and SEO services, this is outrageous. Integraphix believes whole heartedly in ethical SEO, even down to our employees being good and ethical people. The fact stands that even though that tweet was meant for a personal twitter account and YES free speech is an issue here, an employee has a particular image to uphold for the company they're working for AND the companies they represent.

New Media Solutions was in their rights to fire this employee. Ethical SEO and Search Engine Optimization Companies in general sometimes gets a bad wrap sometimes for being shady and the stories that have come out recently about black-hat SEO have not helped us much.

What can you do? Question your Chicago SEO Firm and ask them about their social media ethics. Ask who will be handling your social media marketing and make sure you're comfortable with who you're working with! 

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Integraphix, one of the Top Marketing Companies in Chicago | www.integraphix.com 

847.537.0067 or email us at info@integraphix.com for more information on Ethical SEO in Chicago

Chicago Marketing Company, Chicago SEO, Chicago Graphic Design, Chicago Internet Marketing, Chicago Web Design, Top Marketing Companies in Chicago

SEO Firm of Chrysler Group Fired over vulgar tweet

Within the last two weeks, Chrysler Group ended it's long-standing relationship with their social media agency over a vulgar tweet that was posted to the official Chrysler Brand Twitter Account. Crazy!

The tweet was posted Wednesday March 9th, 2011 by New Media Strategies and read 'I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the Motor-city and yet no one here knows how to f*****g drive'. The tweet was removed shortly after being posted, but to no avail. 

Chrysler immediately made a statement the next day that it won't be renewing its contract with New Media Strategies for the rest of this year but noted that it will work with the agency through the transition period until it names a new marketing firm.

The Michigan based auto-manufacturer apologized in a blog post saying that the employee responsible for the tweet had been fired. In a follow up post, Chrysler said that the post had been meant for the employee's personal Twitter profile rather than Chrysler's and that they had not demanded the person be fired. Needless to say, it was a fireable offense in and of itself knowing how much social media runs the world these days.

The CEO of NMS, Pete Snyder said, his firm regretted the 'incident'.

"It doesn't accurately reflect the high-quality work we have done for Chrysler", he said in a statement, "We respect their decision and will work with them to ensure an effective transition of this business going forward."

--

To a company who deals in a lot of social media marketing, reputation management and SEO services, this is outrageous. Integraphix believes whole heartedly in ethical SEO, even down to our employees being good and ethical people. The fact stands that even though that tweet was meant for a personal twitter account and YES free speech is an issue here, an employee has a particular image to uphold for the company they're working for AND the companies they represent.

New Media Solutions was in their rights to fire this employee. Ethical SEO and Search Engine Optimization Companies in general sometimes gets a bad wrap sometimes for being shady and the stories that have come out recently about black-hat SEO have not helped us much.

What can you do? Question your Chicago SEO Firm and ask them about their social media ethics. Ask who will be handling your social media marketing and make sure you're comfortable with who you're working with! 

--

Integraphix, one of the Top Marketing Companies in Chicago | www.integraphix.com 

847.537.0067 or email us at info@integraphix.com for more information on Ethical SEO in Chicago