Smart Websites

The age of digital media is stronger today than it was just two years ago, actually stronger than it was just 10 months ago. You need to understand how to be an effective marketer to promote your website.

It isn’t a secret that the search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.) continually modify their algorithms so that we as developers, designers, and marketers are constantly seeking better methods to attract customers.

Branding has and will remain a constant. In order to be an effective brand it is required to understand how the current process works to make sure your website is built smart.

Some of the things to be concerned about for 2012 are the following:

• Build brand links rather than anchor texts. This includes posts, articles and whitepapers that are relevant.

• Subdomains had become a no-no for the last few months with SEO’s. Now things are changing again. For example, Google is treating subdomains as internal links rather than independent URL’s. That means as you build subdomains, be sure to target your keywords while naming them. This will improve your rankings.

• Content is still king. Knowing this, you should choose wisely the links to your site. Be sure these are solid sites with good content.

• Contextual links are still very powerful. Base these on the following:

–  Appropriate anchor text

–  Content quality and relevancy

–  Place these links within the content and surround them by the content in the site

–  Contextual links drive more visitors to your website

• Backlinks are good when done correctly. You can build backlinks through blogging, forum participation and press releases.

In addition, you need to make sure that your website is easy to navigate, has no broken links, and has a site map. It should go without saying that the site should to be clean in design and not look too colorful like a circus. As much as this may seem obvious, just do some web surfing and see how many websites violate this rule. Maybe that’s why they are not well visited or ranked very high.

And keeping with the digital age, make sure your website is devise friendly. Meaning it will operate on all forms of handheld devices (smart phones, tablets, etc.) as well as different browsers. It also helps to stay in touch with new and current trends such as qr codes. Although this could be overused, it is good to know that qr codes can be text messages as well as links to your website. Use them as often as needed to keep active customers in touch with your company.

And finally, once you build that smart site, don’t let it sit for several months without updating or modifying the content. It is very important to have an active site. If not, then the SEO’s  will quickly decrease your rankings, and t will be difficult to regain the position you once held.

If you need help to promote your site, or want to get higher rankings, give George Carson a call at 949-477-9400