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.

If you are wanting some SEO advice and are looking to get your website ranked on Google, then please call Hopping Mad Designs on 02 9360 8514.

Are you going to get a new website built for your business then the following are some fundamental SEO mistakes you should avoid at all costs.

1. You Need Time For An SEO review and Audit.

Depending on the size of the website, you need around 1 to 2 days to go over the whole website and prepare it for launch if there is an SEO perspective. You can’t expect to make a site live and have it SEO ready that day. It’s like having a painter, paint your shop on the day it opens – it’s just not going to happen. Time and necessary preparation is needed if the website is going to be Google compliant and adhere to all the strict SEO requirements. Rushing through your SEO checklist is a sure way to miss out on things, which will affect your rankings once your new website has been indexed.

Ideally, you should be working with your web developer from the outset to make sure that they are following SEO best practices. Work carried out in hindsight is a lot harder to do than at the start of your project.

2. Check The Web Developers CMS

I find that many web development companies like to put websites on their own CMS or content management systems platform – they do this so they can basically charge a monthly fee for this service – which is a total rip off and something that is not needed when there are so many open source free CMS platforms on the market like WordPress.

The SEO issue here is that many CMS platforms may work well on the surface, but underneath in the back end, they are an SEO nightmare. I have seen this so many times before, where people come to me wanting to rank their website and we have to ditch their CMS and start from the beginning.

These custom-built CMS platforms don’t allow for basic SEO essentials like H1 headers, titles, descriptions, meta tags etc – the list goes on and on. Yes, they may work well for basic brochure style websites, whose owners are not concerned about SEO, but if you want a page 1 or even page 2 ranking, you can forget about it. Also with the explosion of DIY websites, you have to be careful of their SEO impacts as many of these sites like WIX and Squarespace have lots of SEO limitations.

3. Thinking About the Price Too Much

People call me all the time and say how much for SEO and getting their website ranked. As soon as I hear this I turn off and steer them to a cheaper SEO supplier. In this game, there is only 1 way to do things and that is through a well-strategised SEO campaign by a company that knows its stuff. Too many businesses will go with the cheapest option on the market and therein lies a massive problem; they won’t get their website ranked – cheap n nasty companies offer their search engine services because they cut corners and in most cases will take your money and do no work for you.

Also read: Mistakes Most Businesses Make When Choosing an SEO agency

Basically, if you want to get the business via Google, then you have to pay for this service. Depending on the keywords you are after this can cost a lot, but after all it’s your business and you want to do the right thing for it. Shopping around and tyre kicking for the lowest price will result in three things:

1. you won’t get your new website ranked
2. you may end up getting your website penalised through dodgy SEO practices.
3. you might end up in a lengthy 12-month contract that you can’t escape

Conclusion

For a new website to rank on Google you do have to take into account many of Google’s algorithmic factors. The above are just some minor points to look out for when launching a new site. Getting to page 1 of Google for competitive keywords is highly challenging and one that needs mapping and planning from the outset, which is why you need the expertise of a web design agency like us at Hopping Mad Designs. Get your SEO right from the beginning will yield huge dividends once the site gets indexed by Google where you’ll start to see decent ranking for long-tail keywords in a couple of months.

 

Why is Blogging Good For Google Rankings?

Blogging traditionally has been the domain of travel and food writers. Businesses never really thought much of blogging, up until now. If you want to get you website and the pages within your site ranking, then you have to blog. There is no other way. So this is the free tip for you: start a blog on your website and blog like crazy.

The main reason why blogging is key to the success of your SEO is due to the fact that Google will reward websites that change, evolve and are updates with new content.

The very best way to update content is via a blogging platform. New content on your blog will get indexed and in turn drive traffic through to your website. Simple as that.

So next time you are working on your website, make sure that your development team includes a blog.

There are some interesting articles about corporate blogging tips that you might find interesting once you have your blog in place.

Blogging can become quite addictive, but if this is the case, it will only benefit your business.

If you would like to learn more about blogging and how it can dramatically improve the amount of people visiting your website, then please call 02 9360 8514.

This can either be through a simple toned downed electronic version that accompanies their annual report or a full blown version that has many interactive and dynamic features. What is clear is that this trend is likely to continue and grow well into the future.

Whatever the reason, your company may decide to go with an interactive annual report: environmental, company or government regulations/initiatives, there is no doubt that having an interactive annual report has many positive benefits for your company, these include:

• Think of the huge cost savings when you don’t have to print all those reports. That is a massive saving and in today’s economic climate it’s a no brainer. Not to mention the effect on the environment ( paper, ink + distribution).
• It can be viewed by most people nowadays who have access to the internet and their mobile devices. Think of the broader shareholder base who would prefer to receive their annual reports electronically.
• Being interactive is basically limitless. You can have videos, simple animations, forms, feedback, galleries, displays of real work in progress. It brings your company to life, Yes, you might have a website that does this, but remember we are focusing on the financial data and company achievements over the past year. What an awesome way to do this.
• Having a deeper and more dynamic level of shareholder and user engagement where a viewer can explore the interactive annual report thoroughly, via related internal page links, animated graphs and charts that can have pop up windows, additional hot boxes of content that link right through to relevant pages, or get a quick overview via an animated infographic.
• Think about the impact of your CEO actually speaking on your annual report via a video. Or even better, what about small video grabs of key stakeholders all having their say on the success of the company over the year plus providing summaries of the annual report.

 

WHY USE HOPPING MAD DESIGNS FOR YOUR NEXT INTERACTIVE ANNUAL REPORT?

1. Based in Sydney we have over 18 years graphic and web experience and know how to merge design with technology. Meaning your interactive annual report will not only have impact but will work well extremely well for your company.
2. We have a team of user experience experts ( UX)  ensuring that your viewers will be impressed with the end result. Report navigation will make sense. We eliminate any hurdles or dead ends.
3. All our work is carried out in our studios in Darlinghurst and we never outsource our work.
4. We are fast, efficient and are happy to work to tight Annual Report deadline. Simple as that. If you need it done, we will get it done.
5. We have great in house animators, programmers and web developers and if there are any special requirements we can easily outsource them.
6. We take into account that many shareholder might be elderly so our interactive navigation is simple, uncluttered and user friendly.

It Will Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment
Shopping cart abandonment rates are absolutely staggering and can range between 60 and 80%. Yes, they may love your product and want to make the purchase, but just because they are on your site does not necessarily mean that they are going to part with their cash. Most businesses that have engaged a credible user interface and web design company have got this right, but there are still many businesses out there who have no clue about this. Having strong call to action buttons on each page of your website will make it simple for potential customers to commit, hence reducing the amount of exits. Consider pop up windows asking ‘if users are sure they want to exit the page’, for users that have added an item to the cart but not proceeded to buy.

It Improves Customer Engagement
Potential customers are less interested in sales jargon than call to actions that will emotionally appeal to them. They are more interested in how a product or service may benefit them, than cheesy sales slogans. Therefore in your call to actions, make sure that the wording is all about how the customer can benefit. For example, as a web design company, we might want to have a button saying: “ you are 1 click away from getting 5 new customers per week’. Remember people will respond more if they can see how buying from you will benefit them.

Let’s Make a Deal.
A well placed call to action is the best way to drive sales. It’s a super catalyst to converts browsers or tyre kickers into full paying customers. Make sure that every landing page of your site has these conversion points. Without them you may have a great looking site, but completely worthless when it comes to bringing in the dollars.

 Have a good look at your current website and see if there are any call to action buttons. If you can’t see any why not get in touch with one of our web designers here at hopping mad designs and we can audit your site and make the best recommendations on where to place these. You might just be surprised what a few simple, minor alterations can do for your bottom line. Try it out. Add just one call to action on your home page and check out the difference it makes.

What I mean by this is that a user on your website should be able to get to where they want to go within 3 clicks of the mouse. Anything more and the problem you may have is that you end up loosing them.

Although this may be a hard design and development process, ideally your web team should have enough experience in website user experience and process flows to streamline the buyer pathway down to 3 simple clicks.

However, if you are developing a website with large amounts of this 3 click policy may prove difficult. What may ensue, is large unmanageable drop down menus with may click points all leading to the one page. Of course the main focus is that the consumer knows that no matter where they are on the site, they can easily get to the end with only 1 click. Making this process as simple as possible will result in higher user attrition, lower page bounce rates and an over all increase in sales.

It is absolutely amazing what one simple ‘ buy now’ button on the home page can do to site traffic and sales. Try it out for yourself and see the difference it can make.

Mitigating site exits and controlling where users go is the job of corporate web design experts like us here at Hopping Mad Designs. If you have a complex website and are not sure about how it will work or how it will generate sales then get in touch with us. I am happy to go over this 3 click rule and show you how it can work in your favour to generate sales.

What is a .com.au Domain Name?

Simply put, a .com.au domain name identifies your business as an Australian business.
Countries all over the world have their own domain name endings, for example, the USA domain names end with a .com.

How Does a .com.au affect Search Engine Optimisation?

Search engines will filter and rank results that are country specific. So for example, if you have a web design business and are based in Australia, then Google will prioritise results for website design companies with a .com.au ending. If you business has a .com ending and you are in Australia then your online rankings are going to be below the .com.au results.

Rule # 1 = If you are an Australian company trading in Australia only, then buy a .com.au domain.

Google wants the user to experience the most appropriate search results based on a geo specific location. That is why, if you are an Australian company looking to rank highly, then you must buy a domain name that ends with a .com.au.
If however, your business has an international market, then it is advisable to get a .com ending on your domain. Having a .com ending will identify your business as a global trader.

Can I have a .com.au and a .com Domain Name?

There is absolutely no reason why you can’t have both domain name endings and have them pointing to 1 URL. Purchasing both URL’s are a great way to protect your intellectual property online. But the trick here is not to go to extremes. Buying many domain name endings and pointing them to 1 web address can be perceived as spamming the system and you may end up in trouble with Google.

What Is the Price Differences Between a .com.au and .com Address?

The price difference is minimal. We are talking here of only a few dollars so price should not be a determining factor in your decision making process.
 

So How Are Website Designers and Developers Distinct?

Since they are both in the web design industry it can be an easy mistake to bundle the 2 together, but in reality their job roles are very different. So, if you are looking to get a website designed, you should really know the types of companies that you may end up working with. Will you be, working with a web design studio or a web development firm, that has some design experience.
This can prove fatal in the execution and outcome of your website as going down the wrong path may lead to complications when the final web site is delivered.

If, you are looking to have a website that is high on design then you should be looking at a web design studio whose focus is on the graphical side of things. Alternatively, if you have a complex, back-end driven website project that requires a lot of technical expertise then you should be looking for a web development firm. Ideally, you should be looking for a company that has a mix of these 2 disciplines, that is; a studio with a team of great designers who can partner with the ‘techies’, to produce a functional site that looks great.

More Website Design & Web Developer Distinctions

Knowing the difference between the two types of companies for most people can be extremely hard to work out, but following are some key points to help you differentiate the two:

> The web design studio will generally have a more graphical slant to its operation. When you go in for a meeting their angle will be more aimed at how the website should look. They will be focusing more on graphical elements and design styles and try to pitch their services form a visual perspective. If asked technical questions beyond the very basics, you may find they have to refer this to another company or are simply unable to answer the question.

> They will be pushing to show you their portfolio of work and it’s more than likely that they will have some great looking website to show you. If you delve a bit deeper you will notice that most of their work is for B@B style sites. That is companies who are looking for websites that are ‘brochure style’ in nature. Nothing too complicated, just sites that offer something visually distinctive.
Web design studios are the ideal option for businesses looking for the creative design edge. They are able to look at the competitive nature of a specific industry and come up with designs that set the standard.

> Generally speaking, web designers prices will be quite competitive, depending on the brief given. If you are a business looking for a basic website, that will be enough to give you an online presence, then costs can be quite cheap.

Alternatively, a web development company will offer the exact opposite services of a web design studio. Their core service is about web architecture, databases, content management systems, additional plus ins, HTML coding, JAVA scripting, progamming, coding, SEO, API’s, AJAX etc etc. All the things that make your eyes glaze over if you don’t know what they are talking about.

Web developers will have very little design experience and be uncomfortable discussing design elements. Their only concern is how it should function, not look. They can be a little frustrating at times, and may be short on the patience side of things if you don’t speak their language ( a great example of this is trying to deal with a tech expert over the phone…see how annoying this can be). They won’t have been to design school or have any formal training in graphic design. If they pretend to know about design ask to see their portfolio of work, you should be able to judge their abilities from this point. Never let them bluff you about their design skills. This will and I repeat WILL lead to issues once the site has been launched. That is, it may look aweful.

How Can Hopping Mad Designs Help?

In today’s competitive digital environment, you need to be able to distinguish between the two disciplines, if you are going to get a successful web outcome.

As a director of Hopping Mad Designs, I can honestly say that I have seen and heard some horrific web stories of businesses confusing the two. For example, they have gone to a friend who is a web developer, paid a small fortune for a site, that may function well but looks terrible. It just doesn’t attract people or convert users. It looks bland, unattractive, basically hideous. Whilst they may have thought they were making a prudent decision in the beginning it has actually turned out to be a grave business error. What they should have done is work with a web design team, get the site looking great and start marketing themselves online.

> At Hopping Mad we are lucky enough to have a strong mix of both in-house designers and developers. The advantage is that we can work with any customer on any size project.

> We can design and develop sites using the latest Web 2.0 standards and offer client’s options such as responsive web design and mobile web technologies. Customers no longer have to look for 2 different companies to work on 1 project. It can all be facilitated by our graphic and web teams.

> There is a massive cost saving as we have streamlined the processes so there is no blurring of the line between the design and programming components of a website. We talk internally amongst each other, not externally to another firm.

Web Designers and Developers differ greatly both in attitude, language, and deliverables. I would advice that the company you select has a strong mix of the two. Good developers and designers are a rarity and so if you can find the perfect combination, then you have hit the jackpot!
 

List on Google Within Days

All you really need to do is go to the link http://www.google.com/addurl/ and from there you will be able to submit your domain name.
Please note that if you are already a customer of Hopping Mad Designs, we would have already done this for you as part of our service and web design protocol.

With Google, an important point to note is that you must be very patient. Of course, this is the main search engine and you want to have your site be listed as soon as it goes live, but in my experience, it can take anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks before your site gets indexed by Google. In some cases, we have launched a website and it was indexed and cached the next day and in other more remote cases, it took well over 1 week. If you have had your website designed by Hopping Mad Designs we make sure that your new website is so super search engine friendly, that it will most likely be picked up and indexed very very quickly. This is just one of the reasons why it’s best to go with a web design studio that knows the ins and outs of the search engine world.

How about yahoo?

Not as popular as Google but in any case, it is another option that you can try to get more external links back to your website. http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html.

Did You Know That True Local Can Help You Generate Leads?

True Local is owned by News Corp. Basically, it is a business directory, not too dissimilar to the Yellow Pages, but it is more focused on local search. Being listed on True Local is a great way to help your online presence and listings on Google Maps, and Yahoo 7. You can list your site for free, but this website is a business so if you want a priority position on the first page, you will need to pay for this.

Try To Get Listed on the Many Other Search Engines

There are literally thousands upon thousands of search engines to be found on the internet. In reality, you should only be concerned with 1 search engine and that is, you guessed it; Google. This has a market penetration for online searches of around 98% and is really the only place you want your website to be listed. The rest of the search engines, whilst good in their own rights, are simply nowhere near as popular as Google. Listing your website on other search engines, such as Yellow Pages, Ask.com. and Ask Jeeves, will all help your site get indexed and eventually push you up in the rankings.

Start A Facebook Page and Google Plus Page.

There is no denying it. Social media is here to stay and if you want your website to be found quickly, a sure-fire way to expedite this is to create a social media buzz around the launch of your new site. What this means is that you can create a dedicated social media page for your website and have links from these sites pointing to your site. This should trigger the search engine spiders to come looking for your site and help the whole indexing process. As an example, I have been able to write a blog article, and have it indexed and ranking on Google within 48 hours after posting the links on my Facebook and Google+ page. It’s a simple as that.

Submit Your Website To Google Maps

Targeting a geo-specific area ( like graphic designers Sydney) is awesome for your marketing and a good way for listing your new site on Google maps. Follow the prompts on the home page of Google to the maps listing area and go from there. You will have to jump through a few hurdles for verification but once that has been done you will see your site on Google Maps. This is different from organic listings, but still, it is a good way to target local clients.

Following the above tips should be enough to get your site listed. But, if you are unclear about this or need some help, please do not hesitate to call one of our very friendly staff at Hopping Mad Designs on 02 9360 8514.

Following are a few rules that should guide you in determining the price of an ecommerce website design.

1) Are you after a customised ecommerce web design or will an off the shelf template website suffice? If you are wanting an ecommerce solution designed by a web company then you will have to pay for this privilege. Alternatively, if you are prepared to go with a cheaper ecommerce platform then obviously the cost factor will be a lot less. It is very difficult to put a price on a website whose design and user interface has been customised, but from our past experience figures of $10,000 upwards are not uncommon. On the other hand, you can get a cheap ecommerce site for anywhere from $3000 to $10000. You should note that if you use a web agency with ecommerce experience, the end result will be far better, in terms of site traffic and sales/revenue. I have seen some awesome looking sites over the years that I have eventually bought from and I have seem some total dud sites that make me want to run a mile.

2) Like most ecommerce website platforms, your site needs to generate sales. It’s the life blood of the site and it’s purpose for existence. The reality nowadays is that is you want to drive customers to your site you will need to implement a search engine campaign as part of the process; pre and post site launch. Depending on the keywords this can also add to the cost of the site but prices for ranking ecommerce sites can start at $1000. You need to note that SEO is a difficult process and it does need time and effort, hence the cost.

3) If you want your website to have all the extras like: image zoom, multiple currencies, various filters for size, colour and quantities you will have to pay a bit more for this. Some off the shelf platforms will offer this as a standard feature but any customisation or variation to what is provided will be out of the question. These types of add–ons depending on the complexity can really push the web budget especially if there is a lot of customisation that goes along with this.

4) The eCommerce web design company you decide to eventually choose will have a huge affect on the  pricing. If you do your home work  you will find that many companies say they are based in Sydney, but are in fact outsourcing all their work to India. These types of studios will end up being cheaper, but in the long run, will end up causing you huge dramas ( this is a whole new topic and needs to be looked at on another blog piece).

A higher priced more prestigious web company ( like us here at hopping mad designs ) often will produce more top-end, stylish and individually tailored work. Make certain that whoever you choose has an office and is readily accessible and contactable when you need them. Time differences are a killer and you do not want to have to be up all night waiting for an answer.

5) Security is a huge issue. You will have to pay on top of your yearly hosting fee a fee for a SSL certificate – these should come up to the $500 per year. With all Hopping Mad Ecommerce platforms we offer a complete and very secure hosting solution.

 

 

ECOMMERCE WEB DESIGN PRICES – a historical perspective.

Historical Perspective: How Much Should a Web Site Cost?
Like many electronic and tech based products the costs, involved with designing and developing these have come down over time. The following chart gives you a great look at how costs have reduced for ecommerce web design over the past 15 years.

1995 – 1997 $17,500 to $22,000
1998 – 2000 $14,000 to $20,000
2000 – 2004 $10,500 to $14,500
2004 – 2013 $8,000 to $12,500

As you can see the costs have come down considerably for the average ecommerce site. We feel that the reason for this drop is based on two factors. Firstly, there are just so many web designers in the market and secondly software upgrades and modern tools make the design and development process easier.

The issue with the web market place being so competitive is that this has forced down the prices. Businesses are now finding that they are able to bargain the price down to a point where website studios are just recouping their costs. This has created a ‘bottom feeder’ market dominated by cheap and cheerful web design studios undercutting the more established designers. At the end of the day this will not last forever as businesses are waking up to the fact that you get what you pay for and are now willing to spend more to get a better ecommerce web solution. Basically, if you think that you can succeed online by cutting corners and looking for the cheapest quote then you are only doing yourself a disservice.

WHY USE HOPPING MAD DESIGNS?

The answer to this is simple; WE ARE AWESOME AT ECOMMERCE PROJECTS.
We have a talented pool of very creative designers and developers who LOVE these types of projects.

So if you have a product to sell online and want to get an ecommerce website then give us a call on 02 9360 8514 for a free no-obligation chat.