Tag Archives: web and hosting tips

Beginner’s Guide to Building Website Backlinks

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Hosting

There’s no arguing with the fact that the number and quality of the backlinks pointing at your website play a role in your site’s performance in the natural search results.  But unfortunately, since the recent Google Panda and Penguin algorithm updates, building effective backlinks isn’t as simple as using an automated tool to crank out spam links from bogus websites. Instead, the name of the game in 2013 is “natural” links.  For a few ideas on how to create these highly-desirable site-to-site connections, consider implementing any of the following techniques as a part of your website’s SEO plan:   Technique #1 – Publish and distribute good “link bait” content The phrase “link bait” refers to articles, videos, infographics and other types of content that use intentionally provocative titles and subjects in order to attract both attention and backlinks.  As an example, a blog in the personal finance industry could publish a post titled “101 Ways to Save Money” – a topic that’s bound to generate excitement amongst its audience members. A few typical link bait formulas you can follow include: List posts, as in the example above Interviews with industry experts Content that takes a controversial stand on a popular topic Resource roundup articles Breaking news pieces that cover an industry change   That said, following an established link bait formula isn’t enough to guarantee the creation of links back to your website.  If your content isn’t good, it simply isn’t going to gain traction amongst your audience.  Instead, use the link bait suggestions above as the foundation for exceptionally high quality content pieces that are sure to gain word-of-mouth interest that leads to natural backlinks.   Technique #2 – Write guest articles for industry blogs If your website is new and your audience is small, gaining traction with link bait link building can be difficult, as you don’t yet have the readership needed to spread content virally.  So if you find that your link bait efforts aren’t resulting in new links, you can jumpstart the process by offering to write guest articles for other sites in your industry. As a guest author, you provide a well-developed post to a highly-regarded industry site for free, in exchange for a link back to your site.  Not only will this link help funnel traffic from the hosting site back to your own, it will give you at least one incredibly powerful backlink for your efforts. To get started with guest posting, take the following steps: Identify websites in your industry by searching Google for “[your industry] guest author” Follow the instructions on these sites to contact site owners with guest post proposals Direct your efforts to the best-known, most-trafficked sites on your list Develop killer content for any approved guest post spots in order to build brand awareness Promote your published guest posts socially in order to build good-will with the hosting site’s owner   Technique #3 – Leverage existing memberships and relationships Need more backlinks for your website?  Take a look at the memberships and relationships you already have! For example, are you part of a professional organization or local business group?  If so, see if your membership allows you to place a link to your website in your member profile.  Are you close with other website owners in your industry?  Try to leverage these relationships by asking them to promote any of your products or services that you feel would benefit their audience members. Certainly, you’ll encounter some situations in which “stingy” webmasters are unwilling to lose any traffic or link juice by placing a backlink to your site on their pages.  However, in many other instances, you’ll find webmasters who are eager to provide their readers with the best possible information.  And if that means linking to your website, they’ll be happy to give you this important SEO factor.   Technique #4 – Check your competitors’ backlink profiles for ideas If you’ve done all you can to deploy great content, post articles to other sites and leverage your existing connects for backlinks, but you still aren’t seeing results, there’s one final link building option you’ll want to consider – checking out your competitors’ backlinks. Tools like Majestic SEO and the SEOMoz Open Site Explorer will give you a free glimpse at the sites that are currently linking back to your competitors.  Or, if you’re willing to pay for it, both programs offer paid memberships that will provide a complete listing of all the backlinks pointing at a given site. Once you’ve created an account, entering your competitor’s URLs into the programs’ search bars will provide you with a list of a site’s existing backlinks: Read through these lists and take note of any possible backlink building opportunities that you aren’t currently taking advantage of.  While you’ll want to carefully qualify any new link sources generated using this method to ensure that they’re legitimate options, this technique can be an easy way to get the backlinks your website needs to perform well in the natural search results. Continue reading →

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What’s In A Name? Choosing the Right Domain Name for Your Website

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Hosting

In many ways, choosing a domain name for your new website is the hardest part of the site creation process.  Given how difficult it can be to transfer websites to new URLs – and given the potential SEO losses that could occur by doing so – it’s vital that you get things right from the start. But staring down endless lists of available and already-registered domains doesn’t make the process seem any easier.  If you’re struggling to choose the right domain for your new website, consider the following tips:   Tip #1 – Look for “.com” When it comes to domain names, you have the option to register everything from a standard “.com” URL to a country-specific extension like “.tv” (Tuvalu) or “.ly” (Libya). That said, registering a “.com” is the best choice for nearly all businesses, for two specific reasons: “.com” domains have better name recognition.  If you want readers to be able to enter your URL directly into their browsers, they’re far more likely to remember your address if it ends in “.com.” There’s a small SEO benefit to registering a “.com” domain, as the search engines tend to view these web URLs as belonging to stable, legitimate businesses. Unless you have a truly compelling reason to register an alternative domain extension, stick with “.com” for best results.   Tip #2 – Consider registering multiple domain extensions Keep in mind that the right URL might not just be one web address – it might be multiple versions of the same domain name! As the number of domain names registered continues to increase, good names are becoming more and more competitive.  For this reason, it’s possible to have a competitor snatch up the “.net” or “.biz” version of your URL – even if you’ve secured the “.com” version. Because this can lead to lost traffic – especially if your competitors wind up outranking you in the search engine results pages – consider buying up popular TLDs (Top Level Domains) for your chosen domain, if they’re available.   Tip #3 – Aim for no more than three words Another issue that arises due to this increased competition is the availability of desired domains.  If your company has a truly unique name (for example, “Kaczmarek Consulting”), you likely won’t have an issue securing your “.com” domain. But if your business name is even the slightest bit more generic, expect to encounter some difficulties when it comes to finding a “.com” domain. If you find yourself in this situation, your first instinct might be to register a longer domain name (as in, “www.johnsontaxlawattorneyssanfrancisco.com” rather than “www.johnsontaxlaw.com”).  Again, though, keep in mind how important domain memorability is. When your domain name is too long – typically, more than three words in length – your customers won’t be able to remember your website’s URL.  And while they’ll still be able to find your business using the search engines, you risk sending traffic to your competition if these visitors enter their “best guess” URL into their browsers instead of doing their due diligence. For best results, keep things short, sweet and easy to remember!   Tip #4 – Avoid “cutesy” names and abbreviations On that same note, another domain name choice that’ll kill your memorability is to include “cutesy” names, abbreviations or numbers in your URL. Take, for example, the sample domain name, “www.realtors4u.com.” While this might initially look like a good way to skirt around availability issues while still maintaining your company’s branding, there’s a big issue here.  Whenever you try to tell somebody your domain name, you’ll have to explain that your URL uses the number “4” – rather than the spelled-out word – and the letter “u,” not the full word “you.” If you think people might have trouble remembering long URLs, know that they’ll have a field day trying to remember your text-speak domain name!  Steer clear and look for alternative domain names that convey your company’s brand messaging without resorting to tricks like these.   Tip #5 – Avoid unintentional domain hilarity One final caveat when it comes to choosing a domain name is to carefully review your final selection before hitting the “Register” button for any inadvertently inappropriate language that might pop up. To see what I mean, consider the real-life URLs for the following legitimate company names: Pen Island – “www.penisland.net” IT Scrap – “www.itscrap.com” Who Represents – “www.whorepresents.com” Experts Exchange – “www.expertsexchange.com” Speed of Art – “www.speedofart.com”   Clearly, one final check will go a long way towards maintaining your business’s dignity online! As you go about the domain name selection process, remember that moving your site from one URL to another is a complicated process.  Not only do you risk losing visitors as the result of your rebranding process, your site could potentially lose SEO value as well – damaging your ability to drive traffic from the search engines.  Take the time to think through all of your available domain name options to make sure that your ultimate selection represents the best long-term fit for your business needs. Continue reading →

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State of the WordPress Address

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Hosting

WordPress has been under fire lately, though it is important to note that although WordPress has been the target that there is truly nothing the platform has done to cause these recent circumstances to occur.  You may have heard about the recent distributed brute force attack , which is presently on-going still and targets the “admin” user name. A subsequent, and slightly lower-level attack has since been launched against popular WordPress plugins, like WPSuperCache and W3TotalCache.  While we did identify this circumstance very early on and take pre-emptive measure to effective mitigate this attack on our server farm, it simply reiterates a point we often try to make: please make sure your scripts and plugins are always up-to-date. Metaphorically speaking, having out of date scripts or plugins installed is akin to having a very nice house, with a very nice door with a very nice deadbolt on it that you simply choose to not engage, effectively leaving your door wide open to anyone what wants to walk in and do as they see fit with your property. As a web host, we provide the house, the door and the lock.  We also hand you the key to the lock on the door, but we cannot force you to engage that lock, we can only highly encourage you to do so. One thing to note in regards to keeping your script installs themselves up to date is that HostGator’s proprietary script install tool, QuickInstall, does allow you to opt in to automatic updates for WordPress and other popular scripts.  We highly encourage you to utilize QuickInstall and it’s automatic update functionality. Please take a moment to log into the dashboards of all of your CMS-backend websites and take a moment to ensure everything is up-to-date.  Otherwise, you are choosing not to engage that deadbolt on your front door and ultimately welcoming in all manner of individuals who may not have your best interests in mind. Continue reading →

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Are You Using Google Authorship Correctly?

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Hosting

If you’ve ever conducted a Google search and seen results that appear with the author’s picture and byline attached (as shown below), you’ve seen the results of Google authorship: Essentially, this feature – which launched at the end of 2011 – allows writers to “claim” their content with Google through the use of their Google+ profiles.  The results of these marked-up search results listings are higher click-through rates, greater perceived authority and increased website traffic – making it highly advantageous for website authors to set up authorship correctly. Because the guidelines for doing so have changed over the past few years, the following steps will give you the most up-to-date process for setting up Google authorship on your own site:   Step #1 – Set up your Google+ profile The first thing you’ll need to do to take advantage of Google’s authorship features is to create a personal Google+ profile. If you don’t already have a Google Account, start by navigating to https://accounts.google.com/SignUp to complete your registration.  If you have an existing Account, head to https://plus.google.com and log in with your Google credentials. Once inside, you’ll see a number of different options for creating your personal profile and adding your friends and contacts to your Google Circles.  Take a second to add a headshot picture to your profile, as the authorship system will pull this image to display alongside your marked up results in the search listings. Go ahead and grab your Google+ profile URL as well while you’re at this stage, as we’ll be using it later on in the process.  Your URL should look something like this: https://plus.google.com/104082922655269707775   Step #2 – Add your website to the “Contributor to” tab Next, click on the “Profile” tab in the far left-hand menu.  Select the “About” tab from your profile page and scroll down until you see the section labeled “Links.”  Click “Edit” in order to open the Links window and look for the link labeled “Add custom link” under the “Contributor to” section: Add the title of your blog and its URL into the fields that appear.  Click “Save” and then close out of your Google+ profile.   Step #3 – Add your Google+ profile URL to the Yoast SEO plugin Once you’ve set things up on the Google+ side, you need to finish making the connection by adding your Google+ profile code to your website.  This allows Google and your site to work together and identify any instances of content you’ve published online. The easiest way to do this is to install the Yoast SEO plugin to your website. After the plugin has been installed and activated, open up the “Users” panel within your WordPress dashboard and locate your profile.  Click to edit it and then paste your Google+ profile URL into the field labeled “Google+”: In addition to adding this code, you’ll want to be sure that every post on your website includes a byline featuring the same name that’s displayed on your Google+ profile.  As an example, if your Google+ profile uses the name “Mike Smith,” add the byline “By Mike Smith” to all of your website posts by hand, using an author box plugin or by coding this information into your site’s theme.   Step #4 – Confirm your authorship setup using the Rich Snippets Testing Tool Congratulations!  At this point, your Google authorship should be set up correctly (unless you’ve chosen to use Google’s alternate instructions for confirming content ownership via email). However, to be sure that you’ve completed the process correctly, head over to Google’s Rich Snippet Testing Tool.  Enter a URL from a post you’ve recently published and take a look at the snippet preview that appears.  If it includes your image, you’re good to go!  If not, work back through the steps listed above until you’re able to troubleshoot the issue that’s preventing your site’s authorship from triggering correctly.   Step #5 – Add authorship markup to guest posts All of the steps above will ensure that your content is correctly attributed using Google’s authorship system when you’re posting on your own site – but what if you provide a guest post for another blog?  Odds are, you still want to receive authorship markup for these posts in the Google results, even if you can’t log in to the hosting site’s WordPress back end to add your profile URL. In these cases, you still have one option…  As long as the site’s owner allows you to add an author box or bio to your post, simply add your Google+ profile URL code with the “rel=author” tag appended to the end like so: https://plus.google.com/104082922655269707775?rel=author Then, add the site that’s hosting your article to your list of “Contributed to” websites within your Google+ profile and your authorship markup should come through correctly. Though the process might seem complicated, it only takes a few minutes to setup Google authorship correctly.  Take the time to do it today and start reaping the rewards of marked up snippets in the search results! Continue reading →

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21 Things SMBs Can Do To Make Google Love Their Website (Plus 6 Mistakes to Avoid Like the Plague)

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Hosting

I consider myself to be a very active participant of social media, and agree that it offers a lot of interesting opportunities. However, I think it’s important for us to avoid getting so caught up in the social media whirlwind that we forget about good old fashioned SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Think about it this way: When you go to your financial advisor, he would never recommend that you put your entire net worth into a single stock. Well, any good Internet marketing consultant will tell you the same thing about your online marketing strategy. The most effective strategies are those that are well diversified between social media, natural search and paid search. In today’s post, we’re going to focus exclusively on the natural search piece of the puzzle. Since paid search and Google+ Local would require their own dedicated posts, hopefully HostGator will invite me back in the future to discuss those topics. Having spent a little over a decade as a search marketing professional, I can tell you with absolute authority and conviction that a well-targeted SEO campaign will result in highly targeted traffic and conversions, which in turn will add to the bottom line of your business. To help you get started in the right direction, I’ve assembled a list of twenty-one ways small businesses can make their websites more “Google friendly.” This will also benefit your rankings in Yahoo and Bing. Before we dive in, I want to point out that this list assumes you’ve already done keyword research to identify your target keywords. If you haven’t had a chance to do that, bookmark this page, research what  keywords you should optimize your website for,  and then come back and dive right in: Have good title tags:  Not only do title tags tell search engines what your site is about, but compelling title tags will also give users a reason to click through to your website when it appears in their search results. Have well-written meta descriptions:  Since a meta description is used to provide the text under the title link in search results, you want to write really good ones that contain keywords and accurately describe the different pages of your site. If you’re using WordPress, you can use the All in one SEO Pack to help with both title tags and meta descriptions. Use keywords in your internal link anchor text: Search engines pay a lot of attention to the links on your site, along with the words that you use in them. Instead of using phrases like “click here” or “for more information,” use anchor text that contains keywords and tells users where they will be going. However, only do this when it’s natural and will make sense to visitors. Be sure not to get too key wordy with this. Example if your business services page is about blue widget repair you could use “blue widget repair” for your internal link anchor text or maybe just “widget repair” is you do more than just blue widgets, but you wouldn’t want to use “blue widget repair in Houston” because it sounds forced and unnatural (too key wordy). Use relevant keywords in your general copy (but don’t overdo it):  This can be tricky, but it’s worth the effort. While some people will say you should ONLY write for humans and others will say you should write for search engines, the truth is that you need to find a balance between the two. While stuffing a keyword into your content dozens of times will sound ridiculous when humans read it and could trigger an “ over-optimization penalty ”, you can find creative ways to include a couple of keywords for search engines to come across. It’s usually sufficient if you use your keywords a few times in your copy, as well as once in the title, heading or subheading of the page. Use a good link structure:  Instead of domainname.com/page.html, it’s better to use a structure like domainname.com/descriptivekeyword.html. If you’re using WordPress, you’ll want to  change the default permalink structure . As with most keyword tips, moderation is key. Don’t go “over the top” with long keyword phrases! Use descriptive alt text and titles on images:  All images on your website should have alt tags (alternative text) and titles . Alt tags are used to describe the image, and in the event that the server cannot find the image it’s looking for, this text will display to visitors. This text also improves the accessibility of your pages, and helps visitors like those who have a visual impairment and use a screen reader. Alt tags are also a great opportunity to legitimately add some extra keywords to a page. Use descriptive filenames for images:  If you have an image of a frog, instead of something generic like 1.jpg, you should name the file frog-1.jpg. Have an XML sitemap:  An XML sitemap is a coded sitemap that makes it easier for search engine spiders to index all the pages of your website. WordPress users can create one with the  Google XML Sitemaps  plugin, while other website owners with a standard HTML site can use the  XML Sitemaps Generator . Once it’s created, you’ll want to register your sitemap with Google Webmaster Tools. Have an HTML sitemap:  Putting an HTML sitemap on your website will not only make it easier for Google to crawl your deep content, but will also provide users with a better navigational experience. Use keywords in heads and subheads:  An important aspect of basic on-page optimization, this allows you to tell Google and users exactly what your website is all about. Have a clean link structure:  Instead of cluttering your HTML with style attributes, use  CSS  to style your website without hindering search engine spiders from crawling your code. Validate your source code:  Like the tip above,  validating your source code  will ensure that search engine spiders don’t run into any technical difficulties when crawling your website. Focus on homepage optimization:  This is the most important page of your website, and the key to your site being found by search engines. Your homepage should be easy to understand and summarize the rest of your website. Your homepage should also have your main keywords spread throughout the title, heading, content and alt tags of the homepage. Just remember to keep things natural and avoid the temptation to stuff in too many keywords. Start a link building campaign : Having quality inbound links shows Google that your site can be trusted. When it comes to inbound links, “quality” is the most important word. For example, a link you get from publishing a great guest post is going to be worth a lot more than multiple links from borderline spammy directories. Also be sure not to go nuts with “exact match” anchor text, or you could actually see yourself losing rankings for your desired keyword phrases. Click here for a quick primer on the different kinds of anchor text and how to use them. Guest post frequently:  In addition to helping you build links, this will also allow you to network with other people in your industry, which can lead to them linking to you on additional occasions. Just be aware that there’s a big difference between the right way and the wrong way to do this! Have a company blog on your website:  The nice thing about this one is it can also aid in your social media efforts. A blog can be used to communicate directly to your customers, as well as demonstrate your expertise in your field. And in regards to SEO, publishing new content will ensure your website is being crawled on a regular basis. Consistent blogging is also a great way to naturally attract incoming links. Avoid most WYSIWYG HTML editors:  The reason it’s generally best to avoid most WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editors is because they will add a lot of clutter and junk to your source code. This can make it difficult for search engines to pick out the content that’s actually important. While I haven’t had many problems with the editor in WordPress, an example of a troublesome editor is the one included with cPanel. Add your site to Google Webmasters tools:  There are multiple reasons to add your site to  Google Webmaster Tools . For an in-depth look at all of the reasons, check out this post . Have a robots.txt file:  As mentioned above, you can create this file with Google Webmaster Tools. The main benefit of a robots.txt file is you can tell Google if there are any pages of your site that you don’t want indexed. Add your business listing to Google Places for Business : While Google’s frequent name changes of their local service can be confusing, all you need to do is click that link, add your business listing and then you’ll be good to go. While optimizing for Google+ Local (which is the current name of this Google Maps section) is beyond the scope of this post, if you just add your business listing there, you’ll already be way ahead of many businesses. Also, you can check out a breakdown of Google’s recent changes in this article . Last but not least:  While this one only applies to WordPress users, because it will automatically do many of the things we’ve discussed today, I highly recommend installing the free  All in One SEO Pack plugin. Now that I’ve covered a lot of the things that you should do, I’d also like to list a few common but deadly Internet marketing mistakes I see businesses make on a regular basis. You can also click here for a more extensive list. 6 Internet Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Like the Plague Not having a professionally designed website : If your site doesn’t look professional or trustworthy, visitors aren’t going to stick around long enough to become a lead or customer. Doing nothing else after getting a website up : Since the Internet’s extremely competitive, if you want results, you have to consistently promote your site through channels like organic search and social media. Attempting to save money by going with the cheapest vendor : Given that a bad SEO provider can literally get your website kicked out of Google’s search results, it’s not worth risking your entire online presence over trying to save a little money. Not having a clear call to action above the fold : Whether you want visitors to sign up for your mailing list or make a direct purchase, you need to let them know what to do. If visitors have no idea what to do once they reach your site, you’re going to be very disappointed with your conversion metrics. Not enlisting professional help : Because you’ve already got so much on your plate, the smart thing to do is enlist help from a reliable professional so that you can stay focused on the things you do best. Not setting up conversion tracking : While basic Google Analytics data is helpful, it’s really only the tip of the iceberg. If you want data that’s truly actionable, you need to set up conversion goals and call tracking for your site. If you have any questions about the tips outlined in this please let me know in the comments section. *** Gerald Weber is the founder of sem-group.net in Houston Texas and co-founder of viralcontentbuzz.com which is the free platform that helps bloggers generate REAL “social buzz” on quality content. Follow Gerald on Google+ to learn more. Continue reading →

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