Why Your Website Needs SEO Today

Here at Integraphix we fully believe in the power of Search Engine Optimization.  Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is essentially the process of improving your website’s keyword usage, content, graphics and organization to achieve better search engine rankings amongst engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing.  We are not just a Chicago Design Firm, in fact we do much more than just design. Through SEO we make websites visitor and search engine friendly.  We are a full service Chicago Marketing Company that simply wants to see our clients succeed and one way we know how to help our clients is to build websites that are fully optimized.  Here are some of our top reasons why you need to optimize your website:

(1) More traffic to your website: The main reason you probably have a website is to generate business by attracting new customers and maintaining relationships with all of your current customers, right?  SEO will help you drive more traffic to your website.  Search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing will rank your site higher for relevant keywords, which will help usher in traffic to your website.  Choosing the right keywords and being ranked highly for those keywords will get you more traffic or visitors to your page, which should help bring you more business.

(2) Improves your website's overall appearance: Chicago SEO companies, or any SEO Company for that matter, typically recommend changes to your website that will greatly improve its appearance and functionality.  Having a more functional, aesthetically appealing website will help attract customers that you are attaining through the SEO process.  How will the improved appearance help your rank higher?  Well-organized websites tend to rank higher than unorganized websites, which makes sense.  Organized websites are easier for search engines and visitors to read.  Optimized websites use fewer large graphics, have fewer irrelevant pages or posts, and load faster, which will no doubt help your website maintain and attract new traffic. 

(3) You can spend less on online advertising: With SEO you are essentially advertising your website for free.  There’s no need to deal with pesky pay-per-click ads when you are doing SEO.  Yes, the process of SEO can take time and be a tad time consuming, but in the end it’s worth the money you will save on doing less online advertising.  SEO is a process that takes time to go into effect and build up, but once it does it will pay for itself probably more than a burst of online ads.

(4) Your website becomes your ultimate sales tool: When optimized, your website becomes one of your best assets and biggest sales tool.  You may be in bed sleeping, but millions of people are up late at night and they’re checking out your website and perhaps, they’re buying your products all while your catching some zzzz’s.  Your website needs to be more than just some brochure that people either (A) never see or (B) disregard and SEO is the key to avoiding both the A and B. 

We know SEO can be a confusing topic, so feel free to comment on this post or speak directly with 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.

Create More Engagement on Pinterest

We are not just Chicago Graphic Designers, we are also social media experts.  We love trying new social media sites and seeing how they can help our clients.  When it’s being used by the right client, Pinterest has a ton of potential to capture a target audience.  Here are some of our tips on how to create more engagement on your Pinterest page:

 (1) Fill your boards with tons of pictures:  Every once and awhile you may come across something you want to pin that doesn’t have a picture that is attached.  Try to only pin things that have a picture since pictures are a big part of what makes Pinterest interesting for users.  Aesthetically, it will look better on your boards as well.  

(2) Make your boards interesting: Your boards need to do two things for followers- help and entertain.  Typically, Pinterest users are looking to learn or be entertained, so do a little of both.  Provide followers with boards that will be entertaining, but will also teach them something related to your brand.  Just keep all your boards and pins related to your company and industry. 

(3) Allow contributors: Pinterest gives you the option to allow contributors to post on your boards.  Allowing contributor posts helps you draw in fans of your company.  Allowing someone to contribute to your boards means you’ll have more people adding pins to your boards besides just yourself.   Adding contributors helps shape your page and boards around your audience and will help increase your popularity. 

(4) Contests:  There are a wide variety of different contests or competitions you can run for your Pinterest page these days.  Contests are great because they drive interactivity on your page.  Scavenger hunts, pin and wins, and most repins are common types of contests found on the social media site, so try out a contest and see how many people you can get involved.  There could be a huge payoff in the form of people visiting your website. 

(5) Analyze your page: As you should with all of your social media sites, make sure you are taking the time to analyze your Pinterest progress. Check out the “Popular Pins” section often.  This page shows you what pins are the most popular and who is sharing them.  The people sharing those pins may be people you want to connect with.  The popular pins section also gives you ideas on what types of things you should pin to drive traffic on your Pinterest page.  You should keep track of what is being pinned from your site to help get a better idea of the types of things you should pin more frequently.

Use these tips on your Pinterest page or build off of these tips as a springboard for even bigger ideas.  Looking for social media tips and tricks, contact us.  

Working with an SEO Agency

It appears the demand for Search Engine Optimization Agencies is only continuing to increase.  Recently conducted surveys have found that businesses today are spending more and more of their marketing budgets on search engine optimization.  Some businesses have claimed that they spend nearly a third of their marketing budgets on SEO services.  And why not put the money into SEO?  Businesses who put money into SEO report higher earnings. 

An SEO company has the expertise to launch a full-scale campaign for a brand.  If your company is getting serious about working with an SEO company, here are a few things to look for:

(1)  They research keywords for your company: A good SEO firm will start by evaluating keywords that will directly link to your business.  SEO firms will make sure your website is properly optimized so that it will appear in a higher ranking spot on search engines.  After all, that is the goal.

(2)    They optimize your content: An SEO company will continually generate new, compelling content to captivate readers and of course, improve search engine rankings.

(3)  Link Building: SEO companies know that content that is constantly linked can improve search engine rankings. Links help establish a level of credibility with websites as well.

(4)   Generate new content: Search engines love constant new content.  SEO companies know that generating a plethora of content is key to improving search engine rankings. 

(5)   Perform website analytics: SEO agencies will frequently perform website analytics to ensure that business objectives are being achieved.  Search engine marketing tools help measure, research and report results.  It helps keep a campaign on the right track.

Investing part of a marketing budget into SEO efforts is well worth the spend.  Firsthand we have watched our clients greatly benefits from our SEO campaigns.  If you are interested in what SEO can do for you and your company, talk to us.   

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Picking Keywords

            No one said the process of SEO would be easy.  Picking the right keywords is crucial to maximizing your SEO efforts.  Now how does one go about picking the right keywords?  This is a question we are frequently asked.  Keywords can be hard to pick, but here are some tips on how to pick out keywords:

(1) Relevancy- This may seem obvious, but it is important that the keywords you choose are relevant to your business.  We suggest jotting down a long list of some ideas first.  For now simply focus on brainstorming.  Just generate as long of a list as possible to get started and keep them relevant.  If you are having trouble generating a decent list, then check out Google Insight or Google Keywords Tool.  Type in a word to search it and you’ll be able to see a list of other possible suggestions.  Pretty cool!

(2) Traffic- Type your entire list into Google Keywords Tool and check how much traffic there is on the Internet from your suggested words.  There would be no point to picking a word or phrase that is never searched. 

(3) Competition- Here’s where things can get tricky.  Think again if you are trying to break into the top ten using a keyword with alot of competition.  If the sites utilizing those keywords have mass amounts of traffic it will be even more difficult.  There are programs available to help you in this area such as SEO Power Suite and Market Samurai.  You can also use Google Keyword Tool to check to see if competition is low, medium or high. 

(4) Optimization- Once you’ve selected your keywords you can begin optimizing your content.    

SEO efforts can take time to be effective, so hang in there.  If you’re still unsure about your keywords or anything else related to SEO, feel free to contact us.  

Handling Google Algorithm Updates

Back in April, Google rolled out major algorithm update dubbed the “web spam update,” also known as the “Penguin” update.  Most major algorithm updates cause heavy protest, but “Penguin” caused much more than just protest.  It caused panic amongst webmasters and SEO experts.  Weeks of speculation and worry over the idea of “over-optimization” penalties lead to lost traffic and revenue.  The impact of “Penguin” was not just immediate, but quite substantial. 

            So what does this all signify?  Should fear of all algorithm updates always remain in the hearts of webmasters and SEO experts forever?  Not necessarily, but Google certainly won’t be backing down on combating spam tactics any time soon.  Never fear, we have brought you some simple tactics for surviving updates of this magnitude and really any other update that Google unleashes:  

            First- Before completely panicking, take things one step at a time.  This is where you recite a positive mantra and take a deep breath.  Figure out the exact damage from the latest update.  See exactly where you sustained your losses by reviewing your analytics first.  Fully evaluating the damages should be one of the earliest and first steps you take.  Segmenting data will also help you assess exactly where you have lost the most traffic from.

            Second- Keep note of exactly when you saw major traffic losses.  If your traffic losses coincided with the algorithm update, then odds are the new update is the culprit.

            Third- Make sure that the problems you’re experiencing with your site aren’t just  technical issues.  Solving the wrong problem will not just cost you time, but it can end up costing you a ton of money.

            Fourth- Don’t necessarily start removing all of your links.  The links may not even be the root of your problems, so quickly removing all of them is only going to cause your traffic numbers to drop drastically.

            Fifth- If any of your posted links are considered low-authority or are suspicious in any way, shape or form, remove them.  Focus on positive link-building.

            Finally- Seriously examine your content and links.  If you remove your links, does your content still hold up and serve a purpose?  If it doesn’t, it should.  Don’t think of the task at hand to be a process of de-optimizing your page, but rather re-optimizing your content.  Now that is optimal!

            One of the most important things to realize about being hit by an algorithm update is that you can only fix what you’re able to fix.  Not every issue is solvable.  Figure out the “real” root of the issue and solve what you can.

            If you need some more guidance on the subject, contact us.  We are happy to help.


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Things Not To Post

It is probably safe to say that we all know someone that posts a little more information than he or she should be posting on social media sites.  Everyone has become accustomed to say things like “Be careful what you post” and “Did you check your security settings?!”  Yes, we are all now aware that our social media sites aren’t just for us anymore.  Colleagues, clients, and family all come and visit our sites and see what we post on a regular basis and that is exactly why there are certain topics to stay away from.  Here's our top 10.

Topics or things to stay away from:

1. Erring your daily grievances- Of course your friends and contacts care about you, but they don’t need to be reminded on a constant basis about how much you hate your job, how horrible your girlfriend treats you, or how much debt you’re in.  Try and stick to posting more positive sentiments. 
2. Too much information- Ah the dreaded TMI!  While we’ve all become so accustomed to blurting out personal information to our blogs and the like these days, try to refrain from overly personal information.
3. Personal photos- Posting provocative photos is never a good idea.  Racy photos or photos from last week’s party can easily get into the wrong hands.  As a rule of thumb, anything you think is compromising to your job or reputation should never be posted. 
4. Linking sites- Linking your social media sites altogether may not be the best idea.  While yes, it may make updating your sites easy, it could get you into trouble.  For example, your personal Twitter and business Facebook should never be linked together.  They contain two very different kinds of information that should be kept separate. 
5. Company information- Keep information about your place of work quiet.  What happens in the office should stay in the office.  Leaking top secret company information could definitely put your job at risk.  It’s just not worth it!
6. Posting photos of your kids- It may seem like a good idea putting up pictures of your kids for your family and friends to get constant updates, but if your site isn’t private, anyone could be viewing those family photos.  This includes Internet predators seeking out their next victim with the help of social media sites, especially sites that aren’t private. 
7. Contact information or home address- Listing this information puts you at a definite security risk.  Posting this could put your at risk for identity theft or burglary.  If you post that you are away on business, then this lets burglars know that your home is empty.  By using a reverse lookup service phone numbers can be traced to home addresses. 
8. Birthdate and place you were born- Believe it or not listing your birthdate (Including month, date and year) and the place you were born gives online identity thieves a perfect starting point to figuring out your social security number. 
9. Vacation plans- Letting all 800 of your “friends” know that you are out of town is never a good idea.  Do you trust every single person on your social media site with knowing that you are away and that your house is completely empty? Again, if your site is not private this lets people, whether that be burglars or identity thieves know when your home will be empty and for how long. 
10. Spamming someone’s wall- Sending out a mass message may seem like an easy way to get ahold of everyone in your contacts list, but truthfully, it is impersonal and viewed as annoying more often than not.  Try to keep things on a more personal level with people on your contacts list.

Questions on how to better manage your social media sites?  Ask us!