SEO Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Hopping Mad Design

Seriously, How Expensive has Adwords (PPC) become!

Adwords are seriously way too expensive for most SME’s.

I also checked some other keywords and the cost for the top of page 1 position for the following keywords goes something like this:

Web design $29.00 per clickLawyers Sydney $18.00 per clickCosmetic surgeons $56.00 per clickRubbish removals $40 per click

If you think about it, that means that every time someone clicks on your website for that keyword you are going to drop some serious coin. If we look at the average daily budget this means that most of these businesses to stay competitive and be right at the top on page 1 they are going to have to drop roughly $1000 per day. If you think this is unrealistic or I am making these figures up, well….you are mistaken. I have actually spoken to people in each of these fields and I know exactly what they are spending on their Adwords campaign and the figures are starting to become frightening.

Now just suppose you are starting out in business and are looking to get some new leads to get things going. Where are you going to advertise? Google of course. But this is where the issues start and this is where most small businesses run into a brick wall. They simply cannot afford to be competitive on Google unless they are prepared to outbid the more established companies with deeper pockets. Unless these SMEs are will to risk everything and drop many thousands of dollars then an Adwords campaign is basically useless and not the answer.

Also Read: 5 PPC Mistakes That Are Ruining Your Campaign

Let’s be really honest here, if you are going to be on Google you have to be right at the top. And, if you are going to be relying on Adwords, then you need to be in the TOP 3 positions. Sure, you can be on the right-hand side but no one really clicks there. You may get the odd 1 or 2 people clicking on your ads but you really miss out on all those juicy new leads that tend to focus on the top 3 ads or the top 3to 5 organic listings. Basically, you are wasting your time.

Also, I just want to throw ‘click fraud’ into the mix here. That’s right! People or generally your competition clicking on your Adwords or getting their friends and family to do this as well so you go through your daily budget. This is a real waste of money and it happens all the time. I have spoken to people who have dropped over $1000 in a day on Google and received 50 clicks BUT not 1 lead, It’s that bad and that much of a problem for many businesses. Just imagine your hard-earned money being clicked away into oblivion. It’s such a horrible feeling. If you complain to Google they really don’t do much about it so basically, you are stuffed!

So what’s the solution to the problem of overpriced Adwords on Google?

There are 2 solutions; 1 really good one and the other terrible. Let’s start with the latter first.

What you can do is look to spend your Adwords money on long-tail, less expensive keywords. These are generally suburban or locally based such as: ‘cheap rubbish removal companies Balmain’ OR ‘ ‘liposuction cosmetic surgeons Sydney. These keywords are going to be a lot cheaper to get to the top 3 positions on Google, but there is a catch; they will have a very low search volume. That is, no one is really typing these keywords in. Yes, you may be up the top, but there is no traffic. There is nothing that can be done about this unfortunately and this is what makes the main core keywords for competitive niches so expensive.

The other better option rather than hemorrhaging your money on Adwords is SEO or search engine optimization. This is where you rank organically on Google (as we do at Hopping Mad Designs for all our main keywords – especially web design – see screenshot). Once you have established the right keywords you want to target and once your SEO campaign starts to gain traction and the results start showing you can ditch Adwords for good.

3 organic listings on page 1 of Google!!!

This is the beauty of SEO and this is why all SME’s should be thinking about starting an SEO campaign so they don’t waste all their money on Adwords. The other really positive thing about SEO is that people tend to click on organic listings rather than paid ones. You will find that you get better quality leads, more often. Please note that SEO is a long-term strategy and not for the type of person that wants instant online rankings – they just don’t happen when it comes to ethical SEO practices.

We have found that the tire kickers and price shoppers go for the glitzy sales pitches on Adwords, whereas the more committed and serious customers tend to click on the organic listings.

Conclusion

If you have the money and you are prepared to throw it all away and take a huge risk, go for it. Put it all on Adwords and see what happens. Be prepared to sell really hard as you have to make each lead pay for itself. Alternatively, you can be smart and start your SEO campaign now, give it 6 or so months and watch all the benefits start to flow.

The trick is finding the right SEO agency that will do the right thing for your business. The SEO landscape is full of dodgy brother operators who will fleece you blind and make Adwords look like a cheap option.

If you need some help or advice regarding the best digital marketing platforms you want to try Pay Per Click or SEO, please get in touch with us here and we can offer you constructive advice.

SEO Agency or In-house SEO: Which is the right choice for your business?

Ideally, it would be great to have both; an external SEO agency advising your in house SEO person or even speaking with you on the latest Google algorithm updates and technological advances, whilst you implement everything. This is great if you love to have complete control, but remember, this would be really time consuming and chew up many man hours – not to mention the cost.
Unfortunately, it’s either 1 or the other. You cannot have both. It just doesn’t make sense. So following are the benefits of each option. After that it’s totally your call. With SEO, all decisions have dramatic consequences. Make sure the one you make is carefully thought out.

SEO Agency Advantages

A good SEO agency is a rare thing to find and if you happen to pick the right one you are going to really profit from it. Choose a dud and you will pay heavily.

Most SEO agencies have the experience, know how, and talent within to be able to get your website ranking. This is a great advantage as all you need to do is pay them a monthly fee and you can focus on what’s important; your business. These guys will have all the necessary tools at their disposal to analyse competitors, provide accurate reporting and generally give you the type of service that you are paying for.

All search engine optimisation agencies live and breath SEO. They spend hours every day researching, reading and trying to stay ahead of what Google is about to do next. I can tell you first hand that our SEO consultants will spend between 2- 3 hours per day doing actual research before they implement any SEO work. For them it’s second nature and they actually love doing this kind of research. After all to be any good at something requires this type of dedication. Outsourcing your SEO to an agency with this kind of commitment, devotedness & single-minded attitude is going to be a huge asset for your business. I want to add a caveat here – this only applies to agencies that know what they are doing. There are still a whole heap of duds out there who have no idea about SEO and pretend to be something they are not.

Good SEO companies will generally provide your business with faster results. Why? Because they are in this day in day out 24/7 and know what they have to do to rank your website. They have strategies in place and all they do is follow their proven formula. If their SEO is working for other companies then it will work for you. That’s the logic. They know what works and what doesn’t. Quicker results if Google compliant, is a massive advantage and one that could be a tipping point in favour of outsourcing.

Most business owners are too busy to focus on the nitty gritty and painstaking analysis that comes with SEO. They have their own worries and issues, let alone wondering what Google’s next algorithmic change will do for their business. Leaving it to the professionals and forgetting about it, is worth it’s weight in gold.

Let’s look at costs now. When you outsource to an agency the monthly fee might seem high in some cases. Compare this to employing a full time person (in Australia) and this cost will seem cheap. You don’t have to deal with all the compliance issues that a full time employee brings nor do you have to worry about sick days, holidays, superannuation etc etc. This again, is another huge victory for outsourcing. Also, think about the software and monthly costs associated with these reporting tools that you now have to fund. By working with an external agency these are all included as part of your monthly package.

You actually have to spend the time looking for an in house person and it will be your sole responsibility for choosing the right person. How as a business owner are you going to know what choice to make?

SEO is a very difficult and serious discipline so what gives you the necessary qualifications to make the right choice. People can exaggerate and lie in interviews and if you pick the wrong person, his or her SEO efforts once employed, could have dire ramifications for your business. It’s better to leave it to the experts with a proven track record. How many times have you employed the wrong person for a job? Think about it. SEO is different it is not a matter of simply replacing them. The things they do today can and will affect you in the long term. The realities of this are extremely serious!

In-House SEO Advantages

An in-house SEO person, will be dedicated 100% of the time on your business. This is their focus and if you have made the right choice and they know what they are doing then your rankings should climb. They will have an intimate knowledge of your business and be able to customise and SEO and content marketing campaign just for your company. This is great news if they have the right SEO strategy in place.

If you are launching a new brand or service or even new part of your business, these in house SEO people should be immersed and absorbed in this. They will therefore be able to bring this to market quickly through their online marketing channels much quicker than an agency.

Which Choice Is Right for You?

You own the business it’s totally up to you. But, form the list above I would like to draw your attention to the number of benefits that outsourcing your SEO has over doing it in house.

As this is just a blog where I am providing you with just the advantages of each, I am trying to remain impartial. But, I feel that employing in house SEO staff is far riskier than outsourcing.

You might think that I am trying to promote outsourcing because Hopping Mad Designs provides and SEO service. But, from my experience in this field, all I can say is that I do receive a number of calls every week from businesses that have tried to do it in house and it has failed miserably. The results were disastrous because they chose the wrong person. This is a critical factor and common thread among all the complaints.

It’s your decision….make the right one.

4 website critical stuff ups that will hurt your business

1. Cheap Web Design Prices are the Worst

The first and probably the most common mistake that businesses make is going down the cheap and cheerful path when it comes to choosing your web designer. The temptation is there and I am very sympathetic to this that business owners want the best value for their marketing dollar. But, there are so many web companies out there offering cheap deals that the end results are websites that do not perform well. as stated above if they are not better than what’s out there online already, how are they going to entice customers and take some of the market share? The graveyard of businesses are littered with heap, template web designs. Saving money at this critical stage of your business is a recipe for failure and I urge al business owners NOT to be seduced by these companies offering ‘cookie cutter’ solutions. Also don’t be tempted by these free websites, they have very limited design options and they simply do not work – you have to trust me on this as I get people calling me all the time who have tried the free WIX style web option and they hate it.

2. You are not offering a Unique Value Proposition

Another very common mistake is not clearly communicating exactly what you do on the home page. That is, what is your unique value proposition and what are you offering your clients. This is the result of a poorly designed website and not planning a web site strategy from the beginning. Too many businesses feel that having any old web page up there with their logo is enough. Well I have new for you; its not. You need to plan each and every step of your web process including the content on the home page. The issue with this is that people will and on your website and simply exit. Think about how much money you are loosing case you do not clearly state what you do. You can compound this issue if you have an eCommerce site that relies heavily on online sales. If you are serious about your website performing like an olympian athlete then you need to invest the right funds and resources by using a web agency, like HOPPING MAD DESIGNS that can get you to where you want to be.

Let me give you an example here. On your home page; rather than saying ‘your local Plumber specialist’ wouldn’t it be better to say ‘ Emergency plumbing service…at your house in 2 hours!’ It’s these small details that can make a huge difference. You have to know what defines your brand or business and you have to market this to its full potential.

3. A difficult to use Website littered with errors

A professionally designed website that has covered off all aspects of your business in regards to design, site speed, content and SEO will outperform and outsell your rivals. Poor websites with difficult navigation and broken links will damage the user experience and in turn you are going to turn potential paying customers away. Get Google analytics installed on your website and see if you have high bounce rates. That is, people coming to your site and exiting without looking at another page. I will bet anything that if your site is poorly designed it will have above average bounce rates.
Your market, your clients now demand fast, easy on the eye websites that clearly define your brand. Anything less than this will be disastrous for your business. That I can guarantee!

4. Ignoring all MUST HAVE ‘On Page’ SEO Requirements.

So many businesses simply ignore this web killing mistake and they let it go on and on. What happens here is they sign up with a woeful web agency that is offering them a website for a couple of hundred dollars and what they get is a disgusting looking site that has no SEO strategy or planning in place. The worst part about this is that business owners, are oblivious to this and think that their website will rank on Google because they have a site.

WRONG!

How do I know this, cause, people call me up and ask me why their site is not ranking 6 months after it was built. I have to break the bad news to them that their site is crawling with errors and it is totally non Google compliant. What a waste of time and potential lost revenue.

This blog article is intended to shake those in the business community up a bit who think that they can survive online with a website that they have paid peanuts for. I want them to realise just how dangerous this is for their business and if they think they can get away with it, they are sorrily mistaken.

Moving forward, for a discussion on how a website should be properly designed and built for success, why not give us a call here at Hopping Mad Designs on 02 9360 8514. It’s only 1 phone call and could mean the difference between you boasting about how good your website is and how well it’s doing OR complianing that your site is an utter failure online.

6 SEO Questions I’m Always Asked

Do you know all there is to know about SEO?

Wow, what a great question and this is the one I get asked all the time.

In short, I have been in the SEO game for well over 12 years and the web businesses for 18 years, so that makes me a kind of expert in this field, even if I do say so myself, but do I know everything about SEO? No way!

Anyone who says that they have a complete understanding and know all there is to know about SEO is having a lend of you. Cause Google are always changing their algorithm, one could say that we are forever learning and always keeping up to speed with the whole SEO industry. It’s a constant learning process, so all I can say is that while I know more than most people about SEO ( you can check out some of my great rankings I have been able to get for my clients) – there is always something new to learn.

When did you start doing SEO?

Well, I have been doing SEO since 2003. Can you believe that! Time has gone so fast and the SEO landscape has changed enormously. In fact it doesn’t even closely resemble what it used to look like. Gone are the heady days of over optimisation and keyword stuffing. Today it’s all about quality content combined with domain name authority.

Because I have seen so much happen with Google over the years I would say that our company is probably the best SEO company in Sydney to handle all your SEO needs. I have not just started this company a few years ago with a limited knowledge of SEO. I was here at the infancy of search engine optimisation and have seen the industry mature. This is a hell of a good reason why you should be considering us as your SEO partner.

Why is Your Company Better Than the other SEO Company?

I could go on about this point for ages and bore you to death, but following are some of the answers I give:

we are SEO veterans and have helped so many businesses become successful using our proven SEO methods that we stand well above most of the other SEO agencies out there online.
Many SEO companies will talk the talk, over promise and not perform. They are simply looking for a fast buck and are out for the kill – this is not how we operate and this is why we have one of the best SEO reputations in Sydney.
We are also a web design agency and this means we are able to look at your SEO in conjunction with design – this means that we are able to make sure that all your web pages are fully conversion focused. That is, when someone finds your website, they are going to be more inclined to buy or make an inquiry cause they love what they see. This is critical when it comes marketing your business online. No point after all in getting the best rankings in the world if your site looks terrible.
We are Sydney based – we have an actual office and are not some over the phone, hidden, web and SEO agency. This means that you can come in as often as you like to go over any aspect of your web marketing campaign. I have seem far too many businesses get absolutely smashed and ripped off online by using people with no physical office address – and be warned about serviced office locations as these are often a front for offshoring your web and SEO work, which is the WORST MISTAKE YOU COULD POSSIBLY MAKE.
We have hundreds of years of combined web and SEO expertise so you benefit from our experience.
We never design from templates and look at your internet marketing from the ground up – which is really the only way you are ever going to succeed online. Any other approach will JUST NOT WORK. You have to trust me on this. Everything that we do with your website has a SEO and conversion rate focus. Call us on 02 9360 8514 and you will see what I mean.

What is the most important factor of SEO?

Ask 5 different SEO people this question and you will most likely get 5 different answers. Like building a house, all the bricks and cement combined go in to making up the solid foundations of your walls, floors and roof. So goes the same with SEO. There are too many contributing factors to just single out one of them. But if I were pushed hard enough on this point I would have to say that content is a major player when it comes to determining your SEO ranking.

Obviously on it’s own it won’t achieve much but combine this with some really powerful back linking and you are on a winner.

Remember this point and I want to hammer the message home here so it really makes a point. NOT EVERYONE can do back linking. Sure they may say that they might be able to do this and sure they will swear to the heavens above that they are experts in this field with really powerful Aussie links. BUT in many cases this is far from the truth.

Just have a look at the Google ranking for Hopping Mad Designs. Google the words:’ web design’, graphic design’ or even ‘website design’. These are all insanely competitive, extremely hard to rank keywords and look what we have been able to achieve….PAGE 1 for each keyword.

This is a compelling reason why you should trust us that we do know what we are doing when it comes to establishing your SEO ranking and maintaining it over the long term!

Why Don’t You Offer SEO Guarantees like Everyone Else Does?

This would have to be one of the most common questions I get. People call me up and tell me that the last bloke they spoke to was willing to back up his SEO with a written guarantee.

All I can say is:

good luck cashing in on this guarantee – these SEO guarantees are absolutely worthless and are a poor attempt to get you to sign up with them. Why? I have blogged about this so much BUT for those people reading this let me be very clear: SEO GUARANTEES are a LOAD OF RUBBISH. Google has over 400 algorithmic changes per year so how on earth can you guarantee anything when you are not in control – what a SCAM!
these guys offering a guarantee will never honour it, especially if it comes with a money back guarantee – just try collecting on this – you will never be able to cause the small print that you over looked when signing the SEO contract is going to be the undoing of your claim.

I do not offer SEO guarantees because I am one of only a handful of legitimate SEO players out there

Are you able to work Australia wide?

We are a Sydney company but we have clients all over the country: Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and even Darwin. Distance is not an issue as you can imagine with modern technology.

How to Recognise the TOP 4 Dodgy SEO Practices

SEO in the past has been often misunderstood. Businesses used to engage a company, let them do what they have to do, and hope for the best.

They put full trust in these providers and believed all the lies and stories they were told. Businesses would go down this path blindly for years, paying in some cases, huge amounts of money for little return and very poor rankings.

Nowadays, and I have really noticed this recently, the public has woken up and is very aware of the SEO scams and the right questions to ask a supplier. They have become much less trusting and are really making decent, honest website design and SEO companies like us jump through many hurdles before they are prepared to commit. That’s totally fine, cause we do not hide anything and are prepared to answer all those difficult questions, all fully backed up by proven results. This is why so many businesses and companies in Sydney trust Hopping Mad Designs with their Search Engine Optimisation.

Anyway enough of the self-promotion….read these and absorb them well, so next time you are looking for an SEO company you WILL KNOW WHAT TO AVOID.

1. They are promoting a Page 1 Guarantee

This is a laugh and anyone who says this should be avoided. So let’s be totally honest here and lay our cards on the table. No one and I mean absolutely nobody can guarantee anything, least of all a page 1 position on Google. Why? Cause nothing in Google land ever stays the same. The algorithms are always changing and rankings are consistently fluctuating. This is the nature of the search results and the search engines. NEVER, for 1 minute believe that your SEO company can get you to page 1. Sure, if they are any good they might give your website a better chance/percentage of a good ranking BUT nothing is certain.

So why do these SEO companies offer a page 1 guarantee without getting the pants sued off them? It’s very simple and quite sneaky. What they do is offer to rank a large number of keywords. Perhaps 15, 20 or even 30. You as the customer get excited thinking that all these keywords are going to be ranking on Google ( cause they guaranteed it). What they didn’t tell you is that they will rank your NON CORE UNCOMPETITIVE keywords that have absolutely no value or web traffic.

As an example, any SEO team can guarantee a page 1 ranking for: ‘left-handed plumbers based in Timbuktu’ BUT to rank ‘ plumber Sydney’ is another story. This is the money keyword and the one you want to be ranked BUT I can bet any money that they won’t be able to do this and this keyword will be outside the guarantee.

So before you fall for the baloney about Page 1 Ranking Guarantees ask them exactly what keywords will they guarantee. Say to them’ ‘page 1 for what?’ If they can’t answer this to your satisfaction get rid of them. Remember, you want to rank on page 1 for your 6 top keywords NOT your bottom 6 keywords that no one will be searching for. These SEO agencies are out to rip as much money out of you as they can so be very careful before you sign on the dotted line. Google even tells us that if they guarantee you that their changes will give you first place in search results, find someone else.

2. They ShowYou Google Analytics which is really not SEO

This is a beauty and a favoured smoke n mirrors tactic. Sure Google Analytics is a great tool for dissecting and analysing web traffic, but it is not SEO. Let’s be very clear about this. If your SEO company is showing you Analytics as part of their SEO performance then they are pulling the wool over your eyes. Because these SEO guys are doing nothing, they need to at least show you some statistic or graphs to get you to pay for the next month of SEO. They might say things like, there has been 80 visits to such and such a page this month compared to last month where there were only 60 visits. BIG DEAL! This is not SEO. This is a statistic, which may be useful but it doesn’t explain or show what they have been doing the last month for their money. It’s a complete con, a sham, a trick to make you think that they are doing something, when in fact they are not.

Traffic to your website is going to occur regardless of your SEO campaign or not. If all you receive is an Analytics breakdown, then rest assured you are getting ripped off.

3. SEO takes a lot of time and work

SEO takes time. There is no way around this and if you think that you can get a ranking quickly then you are dreaming. It’s a fool’s paradise and if you see your competitors ranking quickly above you, then they have spammed their way to the top. And guess what’s going to happen? A google penalty. That’s right, their site will get pinged by the search engine for somehow manipulating their authority and they will pay the price. This is certain. SEO takes time and if you are SEO impatient then you will land up in serious trouble.

SEO is a full-time job for some businesses. You need to be constantly adding content and looking at improving the performance of your website. Managing your social media, addressing page fluctuations, looking at your ‘on page’ variables and all this needs lots of love and attention. Simply back linking is not enough, in fact, if Google sees this type of inorganic activity then this could be reason enough to have your website devalued. See, the point I am trying to make here is that your website needs to appear as though it is a source of information. A ‘go to’ place for anything industry related. It’s all about building your brand and authority online. Pretty similar to what I am doing with this Hopping Mad blog. I am always adding content, pages and monitoring my rankings. And this is what needs to be done with your website if there is any chance of it ranking.

Make sure you ask your SEO provider what they are doing each month. Don’t just sit idly by and pretend that this is a necessary monthly expense. Really hammer them on what they have been doing and why they are unable/able to rank pages within your site.

Google loves unique content that is engaging and fresh, with links from relevant websites that steadily increase. Achieving these outcomes, therefore, requires real people doing real things – teams of people writing a high-quality unique content and actively building your businesses profile across the web. Search Engine Land tells us that content should be your first priority when thinking about SEO. Quality content is how you engage, inform, support and delight your audiences.

You should ask your SEO providers how much work goes into your campaign each month. How much labour was spent on your campaign, and what did they actually do? You should ask to see the actual work if link building is part of the campaign. Don’t be shy to ask, the results might actually be quite illuminating.

4. Please sign a 12-month contract

Watch out! The old 12-month contract is an SEO killer and you should never put pen to paper if they ask this. OMG, I have seen so many disaster stories when companies have done this. They believe the hype and BS, surrounding SEO and unfortunately get locked into a long term contract.
There are many reasons why it’s ok to sign up with a hosting company or a mobile phone company BUT when it comes to SEO, this should be month-to-month. Why? Cause these guys need to be showing you their monthly performance and only get paid if you are happy with what you see. Contracts lead to complacency and you WILL FIND that after say 3-4 months your rankings will start to slide. PLUS these types of players looking to lock you down are really dodgy ones and you will be stuck with 12 months BAD SEO, which is going to kill any chance you have of ranking no and in the future.

I’m telling you, readers, out there – stay well away from SEO contracts – it’s like burning your cash or throwing it away. Make them prove their value rather than blind faith that they will do the right thing by you.

Website Rip Offs You Should Know About

CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OR CMS LIES

This is a beauty and I know for a fact that most web agencies that are using their own in house customised CMS solution will lie to you and never flinch. They have got their story so well refined and so well rehearsed that they actually believe their own lies.

That is, that they will never tell you that the website they are building for you is on their own CMS platform and not an open source CMS like; WordPress or Joomla. They will omit this point unless you press or pressure them into telling you what CMS platform they are using.

They are going to do everything possible to avoid this question because they know that deep in their heart of hearts that their web cms solution is flawed and is not the ideal solution for your business.

Why I hear you ask?

Because, you are stuck using their CMS. You cannot go anywhere or use any other company that has anything to do with your website. You are tied to these guys for the life of your website and they have you completely locked in.

If you want to move companies, too bad. If you do not like the service you are getting; too bad. If you feel that you would like to make some web additions and want to test the market with pricing…well that’s a big issue, it cant be done and its too bad. If you are unhappy with the way the CMS works, well that’s just too bad.

Guess what? You have just made the first fatal error when it comes to your website and this is not a good start.

To add to the problems, these shonky web agencies and I mean shonky, will start charging you a monthly fee for the use of this content management system. Over time, you will find that these monthly ‘so called’ fees are going to rise.

What for?

That’s a great question. They will tell you it’s for security upgrades to your website and that these CMS fees are necessary for updates you may have etc etc.

It’s all a lot of hot air, bull, and baloney. Don’t get suckered in or ripped of by these guys who are offering their own CMS platform. You are only going to regret it in the short to medium term. This I can promise you!

So before you commit to a website design agency, please make sure you ask them what CMS platform you will be using! It’s a simple one off question that can save you a hell of a lot of grief in the future.

A point to not here is that most Sydney based Web Agencies will NEVER tell you about the CMS platform – they are going to dodge an d weave around this question and try to throw you off the track – don’t fall for this routine and don’t believe ( and excuse my language here) all the BS surrounding their custom CMS.

It’s all designed and devised to take your money and to keep on taking it on a monthly basis!

NEVER OUT SOURCE OVERSEAS

If you think you are going to save a few dollars by using cheap web companies or offing it to crowd sourcing sites for the best deal, you are going to get hammered and completely ripped off online. You might as well throw away the couple of hundred dollars – in fact, if you are in this head space and want to even try this out, you probably should think twice about being in business or having a website. Sorry, but this is the truth!

Yes, this is a harsh statement, but if you don’t understand how important a website is and if you are wanting to scrimp and save a few dollars on your most important marketing tool…well, then you are heading down the wrong path – that is the path to failure. The successful people are the ones who are willing to fork out money for a website and are the ones who know the value of true creativity and marketing from the outset.

I am not saying that you have to pay a fortune…I’m just warning you about these cheap online deals and shonky web players.

WE DON’T NEED A MEETING, JUST FILL OUT THIS DOCUMENT.

How are they going to get an accurate design brief and know about your business from you filling out a silly form. This is your business, this is your livelihood and these people think that hey can advice you properly without a meeting.

Get real!! This is a joke and the fast, slick sales talk, that is, fill in the form, read our wordy, graph filled, pretty pictured document and we will do wonders for your business…..what a load of utter nonsense. These people are on real heavy sales targets and they couldn’t give a dam about you ever succeeding. Their primary concern is to lock you into a web contract, even worse a SEO contract that is going to siphon off your marketing budget before you even begin – I hate these guys and I hate they way they ruin the good name of decent agencies like ours.

All I can tell you is be warned and be on guard for these types of tricks!

OUR WEBSITES ARE VERY SEO FRIENDLY and YOU WILL RANK QUICKLY.

Come on, this is a joke. Sure they may have some elements that are SEO friendly, but without a SEO campaign, your new website will have absolutely no chance of ranking.

These web guys are so full of the sales pitch and are so motivated to get you suckered in to believing them that they will even use the whole…oh you website is going to rank once we have finished. I have never heard such an inventive and outrageous lie in my life.

For gods sake…these web designers who claim to be SEO experts, are going to cause real harm to your business and chances of ever succeeding.

My advice is to be very wary of any ranking claims and ask for real evidence. I bet they can’t show you anything. Go with a proper SEO agency in Sydney – if you look hard enough you will find them.

A GREAT TIP here is to avoid web agencies that are not prepared to meet with you face to face. If they have fancy documents that are 30 pages long, then they are hiding something. These guys are trying to cover up their inefficiencies, lack of design skill, over inflated pricing for their CMS and crappy SEO.

I am not just writing this because I am in the web and SEO game and I’m trying to promote our business. I am blogging about this because I have a genuine passion about business and I just hate good, honest, hard working people who want to get a website, being ripped off and conned out of what could be a good opportunity.

If you Google ‘WEB DESIGN’ you will see these shrewd, dishonest, shady, deceptive and fraudulent companies either advertising through adwords or ranking organically – obviously I cannot name them BUT I strongly urge you to do your homework, make the right inquiries, ask the appropriate questions and if you are still confused give me a call on 02 9360 8514 – even better come in for a chat and I will clearly outline the best web solutions and digital marketing strategies for your business.

Reasons to Consider a Microsite Strategy

Microsites have a Focused Message

Every microsite can be designed and written for a certain target audience. Its an awesome way to get a very specific message out there on line and either sell it hard to your client base or have it as a very informative focused message for your audience.

Microsite visitor traffic are not going to be swayed or distracted by other parts of your website, because they have landed on this page because they have made a very specific search.

If your overall objective is to enhance your corporate branding, increase website conversions or maximise sales leads, microsites are a very effective marketing solution for businesses.

All you need is a 1 page microsite and once indexed by Google you can begin to leverage your marketing strategy off this page. Why not do another microsite page for another part of your business? It’s so easy to do…Call 02 9360 8514.

Awesome for your SEO

Targeted microsite content will be make it very easy for the search engines to find you. The search engines absolutely love specific content and this is exactly what Microsites deliver!

Think About Your Domain Name Carefully

The beauty about Microsites is that you are able to have a great keyword rich domain names, so it ranks easily for the search on Google. Part of search engines ranking algorithm is the weight placed on the name of the URL, when it serves up results – combine a targeted domain name with rich relevant content and you will be on a winner.

Capitalise on the Design Opportunities

If you are creating a one off site for your particular audience why not give your graphic designers the freedom to design specifically for this market. Where as your website might have to appeal a wider audience, with a microsite you can have a lot more design flexibility.

Microsites increase your Conversion rate Optimisation.

Showcasing just one page and really selling hard on this microsite page will boost for your conversions. Think about it, people are on this site because they are really looking for something specific. If you are able to harness this audience and convert active buyers in paying customers, then your conversion rate will skyrocket.

Localise Content and Drive New Business.

Concentrating microsites on specific geographic areas will localise your service offerings and drive conversions. If you are seeling in Sydney only, then design a microsite with a strong focus on Sydney.

Microsites can be considered another marketing tool that you can use to promote your business. But remember, it has to be executed and marketed properly if it has any chance of succeeding.

Implementing this strategy by using a digital design agency like Hopping Mad Designs that has been building Microsites since 1998 – will give the the best opportunity of success.

Landing Pages Convert Visitors to Customers

You Must Have an Attention Grabbing Headline

Titles and headlines are so important in catching the eye of the reader. Newspapers, magazines and newsletters do this, so your landing page should do this as well. If you expect someone to stop and read your web page, then the heading; whether on a blog, article or post needs to really stand out.

Spend just that bit more time developing a great headline and you will see the benefits on your conversion rates. The more that people find, read and engage with your landing page, the higher the conversion rate – it’s simple mathematics!

What are the four main elements in creating that great headline

Focus Driven: tell the reader exactly what the page is about – catchy, quirky, fun grabs are OK but they cannot be too off topic.
Maintain Relevance: The headline must be exactly about what you are telling the consumer – saying anything else will just confuse or send out mixed messages.
Explain the Benefits: An awesome headline will immediately tell the user the benefit about reading the page. For example, “Learn How to Drive in 10 Days” is a lot better than “ Driving Secrets”.
Don’t Be Too Over the Top: Keep headings simple and not long winded.

Do You Know your Audience?

Examine your landing pages through the eyes of the potential client you are looking to convert.

How have they found your landing page and what drove them to search for this? You have to satisfy this curiosity with relevant answers or solutions to that can help in their acquisition. If they were looking for dog walkers in Parramatta, the landing pages will need to have the following:

catchy headline like: “Are you looking for the best dog walkers in Parramatta? ”
answers to questions throughout the landing pages like: times you work, prices you charge, areas your service. Once they see statements like ‘ONLY $25 per hour for dog walking’ in the text, they will be more inclined to find out more.

Highlight the Benefits More Than Features

People have come to your website because they know what they are looking for. Now it is time to make that landing page sell to them. Sure you can have the features in a specifications document, but the purpose of the landing page is to convert users and for this to happen it needs to have a sales emphasis.

People like to know all the benefits before they make a purchase and these need to be highlighted on as many landing pages as possible.

Have You Thought About a Call To Action on your Landing Page

Calls to action buttons really highlight benefits and positive features you want readers to focus on. They are a great way to drive people around your website and not only get their attention but steer them down the web paths you want them to navigate.

Don’t be shy when it comes to have these call to actions. Put several on your website and watch the conversion rates rise. They are a wonderful, easy to implement and quick fix tool that can have an enormous impact on web traffic and customer inquiries.

Think about the impact that the 2 words ‘ FREE SHIPPING” in a big, bold, highlighted box will have. Try it out and measure the performance.

If you would like to speak to a specialists about landing pages and optimising your website for increased conversions and traffic, call us on (02) 9360 8514.

Five Simple Tips in Creating a Great, SEO Friendly Content Strategy

1. Keyword Balance

When you write an article or a blog a fundamental way to rank this is to have relevant content that is ‘keyword rich’. The more keywords you have the higher you should rank. In theory it should work like this, but in practice it actually goes against you. Over stuffing of keywords used to be common practice and work wonders for your SEO ranking. Throw in about 100 words and repeat then as often as you can, without over confusing the reader was the way to go. Now YOU MUST write (if you want to get a ranking) in a natural sounding way. Content should be for the user and not the search engines. The best way is to balance your web page with your keywords and have them spread evenly. Find the right balance and you WILL see your ranking soar.

2. A Well Thought Out Meta Description

Meta description is a summary of your websites content. Google use meta description to give the user some rich snippets of information about the website and its content. Make sure that when you write this description, you make it as relevant as possible. Never keyword stuff and a great idea is to add a phone number or sales message. Attention grabbing descriptions are a great way to get the users attention.

3. Web Page URLs

In exactly the same way that you have relevant content in your meta descriptions applying this logic into your page URLs will have a MASSIVE impact on your SEO. Web page URL’s must match the content of that particular page. For example if it is a services page describing an area of law that a law firm offers, then the URL should have the service in it…www.abclawfirm.com.au/divorcelaw – is an example.
In accurate URL structures will confuse the browsers and the search engines. Best of to leave these web semantics and page descriptions to SEO specialists or web professionals.

4. Link to Sources You Have Used

Don’t be afraid to reference any material you have used on your page. Linking to other websites that have similar content is great for SEO and will allow users a better online experience. The better the experience, the more likelihood your article will be shared and in turn SEO rankings will rise. Everything is connected in the web world and if you are genuine in your writing and have something to say, then this will be indexed and ranked. Spamming the system to try to generate traffic to your website WILL be found out and eventually your site may be penalised via a Google penalty. Honesty plays a huge role in SEO. So if you are true in what you say, then the rewards and customers will follow.

5. Write The Best Content You Can

This is a no brainer. All of the above points will have little effect on your search engine rankings if the quality of your content is poor. Write as your would for your customers and not the search engines. This is what counts and what matters.

Getting found online is one thing, but getting people to actually engage with what you are saying is another. Well written copy and content will be paramount to the success of your website and ultimately your business.
I tell my clients that trying to write your own web copy can be disastrous. This part of the project is best left to people that know how to write SEO web friendly content.

The SEO advantages is writing great content is that more people will likely find your site, share it, and in turn, this page will gain popularity. Other sites liking this content may want to link to you, which is the best thing for your SEO rankings. Imaging a Government department or online magazine would pick up your article and link back to you? The SEO effects would be immediate!

Ultimately, if all this sounds a bit confusing and you are in the process of getting your websites built, you should really speak with one of our web designers and see how they can manage this whole process for you. Free Call 02 9360 8514

SEO is for the Long Term – You Can’t Cheat Google

Following are problems regarding getting quick SEO gains, and solutions to this issue:

Problem # 1: The only real way for very short term gains on highly competitive keywords is to back link. If you want to get to page 1 quickly then you will have to do more back links than your competition. If this is performed in an in-organic fashion, and all of a sudden you have thousands of in-bound links, then Google will pick this up and your site will be sandboxed or penalised.

Solution: Obtain backlinks organically by:

writing articles and having them published with links back to your website – please note that these are NOT articles that have been bought. They are from credible magazines, papers or blogs that publish only relevant content. Getting these articles published are not easy which makes it’s SEO value great.
Backlinks should be acquired slowly and gradually. Space this evenly, as a sudden jump in your link popularity will be seen as spammy and very inorganic.
Having a few links on well know directories are great for Local SEO – directories such as Yellow Pages and True Local are fine as long as these listings are free.
Have a blog on your website and link between blog articles, just so long as they relate to each other. Linking between pages on your website is a great SEO tool. Careful to have only 1 or 2 links max on each page.

Problem # 2: You have used a SEO company in the past and they have not performed well. They have said that they have been implementing a SEO campaign but you cannot see any positive results.

Solution: Get rid of these guys before they do any further damage to your website. They are obviously getting backlinks from low ranking, meaningless websites and this is damaging any chance of future rankings. Google knows when this kind of activity is happening and will again result in your site being penalised.

Problem # 3: You were ranking quite nicely but all of a sudden your website listing has slipped to page 5.

Solution: You have over optimised your keywords. Stop all SEO immediately, Commence and remove all backlinks and references to your website from all other external websites. You will then have to reapply through your webmaster tools account in Google once all links are removed to ask/beg to get out of this penalty. This can take 3 months but there is light at the end of the tunnel and a solution for this.

Reasons Why Google Will Rank Your Web Page

If your page has unique content then it will rank. Fresh interesting content is a great SEO technique.
You have quality in bound links from sites that have a high page rank.
Your page has been optimised for SEO. That is; site speed, titles and meta tags are all Google compliant.
You have not keyword stuffed, in the hope that this will push up your rankings.
If you have not duplicated this page or copied it from another source.

SEO for Serious Businesses

If you are really serious about your website ranking on Google and actaully staying there, then you have to be in this for the long haul. By this I mean it never ends. SEO is a continual process and cannot be turned on and off. It must be done on a continuous basis, day in day out. Stopping your SEO will only allow your competition to over take your position. If you adopt a long term SEO policy and accept that this is now going to be part of your marketing mix, then your website will rank online well. Let a professional SEO company do this for you, give it 6 months and you will see a HUGE difference.