November 27, 2008 at 7:48 am · Filed under SEO
Consultancy is hard to sell to Internet search engines, because search engines rank by popularity and unique, original and focused text content. Clients and competitors most likely will not link to a consulting firm’s Web site, so where to gain topical link popularity? Links from the local chamber of commerce plus a few Web directories aren’t enough.
Creation of unique and original content is the second major issue. The consultant usually cannot reveal details about consulting projects, also every project has a different focus, so without interesting stories there is nothing to write about?
Wait! The consultant’s broad competence as well as extensive knowledge and experience should lead to a few pages of text content. Not really, most consultants are afraid to publish knowledge which may be sellable some day.
As a matter of fact, mission statements, visions, and similar sales pitches based on a finite number of catchwords will not attract organic search engine traffic. There are only so many ways to praise a consulting firm, none of them is unique any more. The search engines’ indexes are flooded with variations of the same yada yada yada, they consider it (near) duplicated text content, and refuse to deliver the consultant’s Web pages on their first search result pages (SERPs).
How to escape the dilemma? You really want to reach the potential clients querying their preferred search engine with questions like [how can I achieve “insert goal” in a “insert industry” shop?] or [what exactly is “your special subject here” and how can I implement it?]. You cannot attract this highly targeted search engine traffic by focusing phrases like “our Business Management Consultants are skilled management consultants with extensive combined experience gained at first addresses” on your Web site.
Search engine users don’t search for a consultant’s philosophy or academic background. They do search for solutions to particular problems, and they do use natural search queries as well as industry specific terms, including brands and abbreviations.
If you don’t change your attitude, those potential clients will never join your clientele. You must provide tons of freebies to attract converting search engine traffic. You must plaster your Web site with valuable information, for example knowledge bases, state of the art tutorials and guides, (anonymized) case studies, up to date articles and white papers, free tools like branded checklists or spread sheets, online services like KPMG’s Alumni or weekly tax briefings … be creative in revealing all your business secrets.
Actually, besides your payroll and such stuff you can’t reveal crucial business secrets, because the toolset of a consultant consists of knowledge which is available to the public (even if buried in university libraries or obscure periodicals), common sense, and experience. Publishing knowledge in the context of consulting experience –applying all the phrases search engine users may search for– will not make the reader a good consultant, but it pleases the readers mind. Pleased visitors more likely subscribe to your RSS feeds or newsletters and they bookmark your Web pages. Chances are good that a recurring visitor will get used to your site, making use of your service request form –or at least the contact page– one day.
Above all, frequent online publishing is a great way to become noticed as an expert on a topic, which leads to increased popularity, and popularity on the Internet gets expressed as link love. Outstanding content combined with the power of link love –that is naturally earned inbound links– leads to nicely targeted search engine traffic. It doesn’t hurt to consult a smart search engine optimizer for some fine tuning of your SEO strategy, and to take care of the technical aspects like crawlability (info) and Web site structuring (info), but basically a good Web developer/designer will be able to get your thoughts on the World Wide Web.
Sebastian is a freelance IT consultant specialized in search engine friendly Web development. He is the author of several SEO guides and articles on Web site design published by Smart-IT-Consulting.
Tags: search engine optimization, search engine optimizer, search engine optimizing, sem, SEO, seo advicesearch engine optimization, search engine optimizer, search engine optimizing, sem, SEO, seo adviceShare This
September 3, 2008 at 5:07 am · Filed under Web_Design
We would all like to have the best looking website, that’s a fact - but if we keep in mind that our main objective is to finally sell our product or service online, we’ll realize that maybe design is not the most important factor when it comes to achieve this objective.
Professional design is probably the most time consuming part of the web development, so my first tip would be, before you are contacting a Web Design Company, to browse the Internet for companies which offer similar services and products - you will find probably hundreds of them - save in your Favorites four or five websites which you really like, print out these, and show the printouts to as many people as you can, especially to your existing customers, and ask them which one it’s more likely is to make them take an action (contact, buy, subscribe) on the site. This way you have conducted your own little “marketing pool” which will add weeks and weeks of online presence and business.
Based on this little pool you’ve conducted you know have a good idea on how your website should look like to entice your visitors to buy your service/product.
The next step would be to contact the Web Design Company of your choice and show them exactly want you want, cutting this way 80% of the design time. The designer will probably make suggestions and additions, some off them good ones but most of them just so they can mark up the price of the design.
I would advise that you should be really firm on your feet if you really want your website to be up and running ASAP.
Another very important aspect of this design contracting process is that even you showed them exactly what you want, you have to realize that you are not the designer’s only client and the designers are working on probably tens of other projects too, so I would advise you to put in the contract you are signing a very firm deadline for the site design, and ask for penalties on the design company end if it’s not done in time, this way you will ensure that your project is prioritized.
Mr. Josh Szatmari is a Web Marketing, Search Engine Optimization Specialist & Web Developer, currently the Vice President of Performance Development Corporation and the Web Development Director of Hilton Head Rentals.
Tags: choosing web design, sem, SEO, web design, web marketing, website advice, website designchoosing web design, sem, SEO, web design, web marketing, website advice, website designShare This
July 7, 2008 at 12:08 pm · Filed under Web_Design
Very often web designers forget one thing, web design is not just about innovative concepts and beautiful images with eye candies.
A web site will be visited and utilised by users. The following are 10 important points you want to note before you begin your web site
1. Set goals and know understand the objective of your web design
What is it trying to achieve?
Wow the audiences?
Design a simple web user interface?
2. Design Consistency
Many web pages has more than 10 types of fonts with 20 types of sizes. Ever seen this type of web design?
Use CSS to help maintain a consistency through out your web design.
3. Font Type
Use readable font for your audiences. After all, you are trying to let your audiences understand about this web site that you have designed.
4. Important information at the top of the page
While if important words are positioned at the top of web pages, it helps in SEO, this is not the main factor. You want to convey your message immediately when the page loads.
5. Links
Make sure your links is clearly visible. Do not use the same text and font and color for links.
6. Usage of images wisely
You want to limit the download time of your users. Do not load too much graphical images on one page. It turns user away. Remember, web page design involves users, usability is a important factor.
7. User Resolution
Consider the resolution of user’s screen. While a designer usually work on huge screen 1200 x 1024, not all internet users enjoy that luxury.
8. Headings
Use proper heading to let user know which section they are reading now. Just like a book, you wouldn’t read an entire book without knowing which chapter you are in.
9. Navigation
Ensure your navigation is clear cut and precise. Do not design a navigation that users will not understand.
10. Design for your targeted audiences, ask for feedback before you finalise your web design with your users.
Good looking or bad looking design can be subjective however, a user friendly web design can never be disputed. It can be tested if a web site is user friendly or not.
Adrian Lee is CEO of a VibrantStyle Pte Ltd.
A Singapore Web Design, Development & Internet Marketing company that focus on search engine marketing.
Tags: search engine optimization, sem, SEO, usability, web design, web developmentsearch engine optimization, sem, SEO, usability, web design, web developmentShare This
