Scottsdale Web Design – Why WordPress Is the Best Choice for an SEO-Friendly Website (Part 2)

In Why WordPress Is the Best Choice for an SEO-Friendly Website (Part 1), I already discussed 5 reasons why WordPress is the best chpoce for SEO.

WordPress reflected on a laptop monitor

Today, I shall discuss 4 more reasons. Here they are:

  1. WordPress Easily Integrates Your Social Media Campaigns

Today, social media is really huge tool in selling your brand because everyone seems to be on social media. Additionally, your social media efforts in a way affect your SEO. Hence, you should utilize social media to work together to achieve your online marketing success. Luckily, there’s WordPress to assist you in this specific endeavor.

With WordPress, you can add social media buttons in your blog posts so that web visitors can simply share what they have just read in your site. You can even put a real-time social media feed on your website!

  1. WordPress Has Great Plugins Created Particularly for SEO

Just install the needed plugins and SEO won’t be much of “foreign” subject to you. So, I will list some of the finest SEO plugins that WordPress has.

Yoast SEO

It’s no wonder that Yoast SEO downloads have reached millions it has made SEO easy even for the general public. What are the things that Yoast SEO can do for you?

  • With its focus keyword feature, you can create content that fits your keywords.
  • Ensures that your content is readable for the web crawlers, and the users.
  • Editing the page title and meta description is made easy in just one spot!

Google XML Sitemaps

This plugin can generate an XML sitemap for you. Use the Google XML sitemap plugin to improve SEO. The created sitemaps will aid search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo to better crawl and index your website.

Google Analytics Dashboard

This plugin is created by MonsterInsights. Majority of WordPress users choose it because:

  • There’s no need to switch to your WordPress site and your Google Analytics page. No need to go back and forth!
  • This plugin provide detailed stats, and you will easily know the pages that perform well.
  • Lastly, you will know the number of clicks your ads and links get.
  1. Simple to Incorporate WordPress with Other Tools

You know another advantage that WordPress has? It can connect with other tools such as Google Analytics Tools and Yoast SEO. Aside from these popular tools, WordPress can also work well with these tools listed below:

    • ConvertKit – a tool for creating landing pages, emails, sign up forms
    • Sucuri – a security to safeguard your WordPress website
    • G Suite – this is Google’s all-in-one solution for emails, documents, and storage.

With these amazing tools in your site, it will surely improve user engagements, which will further boost your SEO rank.

  1. WordPress Has a Wide Array of Themes

Yes, keywords, page titles, and meta descriptions are vital.

One big thing that search engine looks for is a great webpage design. WordPress has a wide array of themes.

Utilizing WordPress, you will not worry about site design because all you need to do is select an SEO-friendly WordPress theme, and web crawlers will come running to your website!

 

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Scottsdale Web Design – Why WordPress Is the Best Choice for an SEO-Friendly Website (Part 1)

WordPress continues to grow since it started in 2003 and has gained 34% of all the website shares.  In fact, WordPress 5.3 has been downloaded 42,698,981 times as of writing this article.

woman in black sweater using WordPress on a macbook pro

Why the huge success? Of course, there are many reasons why. WordPress is the finest content management system (CMS) for SEO. So let us find out why.

  1. WordPress Centers on the User’s Journey

The plugins and themes of WordPress unite in order to be user-friendly to the general public, and not only to the tech experts. And the proof is that, visitors choose to stay longer in the site, which results to the diminishing of the website’s bounce rate.

  1. WordPress Permits You to Customize Your Own Permalinks

With this feature, it is effortless to edit your website’s permalink. You can quickly plug the keywords in URL. So, it is not just permalink looking fantastic and educational; it does assist the search engines too.

  1. WordPress Makes Metadata Effortless to Handle

Page titles and meta descriptions enhance how search engines identify the significance of your website. It aids the search engine crawlers in the comprehension on what your webpages are about.

Inserting pertinent keywords to your metadata will help you to have a better chance to rank for the keywords you added.

How do you think WordPress promotes the optimization of metadata? With WordPress, you gain access to a plugin like Yoast SEO. Plugins such as this will help you customize your page title and meta description in just a few clicks.

  1. Image Optimization Becomes Easy with WordPress

Your blog posts become more appealing when you put in one or two images. When used, images do not only make it just interesting, but make it readable.

When you utilize WordPress, you can use images as tools and not just decorations.

Below are the three means to optimize images for greater SEO scores:

  • It permits you to add alt text for every image. So, you can add certain keywords as explanations that will capture the attention of the web crawlers.
  • If you want something automated, then, you can even utilize a plugin that systematically creates the alt text for your images.
  • It can rescale your images to avoid the webpages to load slowly.
  1. No Slow Loading Time on Any WordPress Websites

One of Google’s ranking element is page speed. Therefore, if your site demonstrates a slow or turtle-paced speed, it will not only discourage the users, but it will likewise lower your ranking on the SERPs.

But do not lose hope because WordPress provides incredible plugins that will assist you to have a faster website. As an example, there is the ShortPixel Image Optimizer plugin, which condenses the images or PDF documents on your website.. This way, your load time will surely be much better.

There is another option when you need a speed boost, and this tool is called WPOptimize. It cleans the unnecessary files, compresses your large images, and caches your website. All these features will help you have a faster and better website.

 

Next? Why WordPress Is the Best Choice for an SEO-Friendly Website (Part 2)

 

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Scottsdale Web Design – 5 SEO Tips that Will Boost Your Web Design (Part 2)

In 4 SEO Tips that Will Boost Your Web Design (Part 1), I already tackled a few tips.  Today, I am going to give more suggestions for you to upgrade your web design.

silver iMac turned on inside room

So, here they are:

5. Make Sure Your Permalinks Are Search Engine Friendly.

When I say search engine friendly, the URLs should, more or less, give an overview of what its contents are. A good URL should be able to tell the search engines that these are focus keywords for this article

Example,

This will tell you that this blog post will talk about keywords and its purpose for 2020. By just looking at it, the users and search engines will have an idea. Compared to something https://www.scottsdalewebdesign.com/blog/a18yska/, no one knows what could this could be. It definitely does NOT describe the page. So,  use terms and words that may help anyone browsing your site identify the content through its permalink.

6. Never Disregard Image Alt Attributes

Every image you have should be with descriptive alt attributes. Not just the permalinks, but also the images attached to your posts.

Why put alt attributes? Because search engines read the alt attributes. They consider the image and its alt text to the relevance of a user’s query. It could also be utilized in ranking image-based searches. Also, visually impaired users rely on alt texts to describe the images for them. More on: Importance of Adding SEO Friendly Alt Texts

7. Add New Content

If your site runs a blog, why not leave a space for a few lines of excerpts? Search engines loves to see that a site changes. When you add new blog posts, this means the site is still in the game and very much alive. Thus, there will surely be more search engine crawling.

8. Do Not Stop Experimenting

Perhaps, you have posts that are doing pretty well, but it has obsolete data. You can try to update these pages into a recent one. See: Accelerate SEO Traffic By Deepening Your Past Blog Posts

There are instances when it is just a matter of design alterations and tweaking updates. Plain modifications like headers, buttons, links, putting extra sentences will improve the page. Experiment on changing the button colors, and see if more people will click it once you have chosen a bolder color.

These little tweaks can really improve your website’s performance. Each test can help you identify your user’s preferences. Once you figure what works, stick to it!

9. Distinct Meta Data

Each page should have a unique focus keyword. Aside from that, page title and meta description must be appropriate. There are many occasions when web designers will do a template for a certain site, then, they will not remember to alter the meta data. The generic placeholder was left there unedited.

Like I said, each page and post must be unique. There should be a distinct meta data in order to afford keyword cannibalization. For your information, keyword cannibalization happens when your own site pages fight over the same set of keywords. They become each other’s enemy!

 

Scottsdale Web Design – 4 SEO Tips that Will Boost Your Web Design (Part 1)

In a few seconds, can your web visitors know what your business does? Can the users quickly navigate to the blog should they decide they want to? Is your price layout clear? Does your website stats show an exceedingly large bounce rate? If your answer is no, then, it is time for you to take a look at how you have been optimizing and designing your site.

MacBook Pro on table beside white iMac and Magic Mouse

You have to make sure that your website is friendly to search. And to do that, you have to take into account a few fundamental and fine content improvement methods. It is wise to think of what problems you have confronted and difficulties that other people have faced. To help you to do just that, here are SEO suggestions.

  1. Create a Plan

  • Do not begin to design your site; create a plan. To make sure that your site is efficiently addressing the needs of your users, you have to design your buyer’s experience from their first entry to your site up to the time they have officially become a client.
  • What kind of pages will they read, what type of content will they read, and which of your offers will they convert on? Knowing these things will assist you to improve the structure of a site that will aid visitors over the sales funnel.
  • Remember the information about your recent customers and start from there. It’s about gaining the users’ trust and answering their questions. More on: Reasons Why SEO and Web Design Go Hand in Hand
  1. Take Off Certain Elements

  • There are some factors that will diminish the worth and the message you want to communicate. Contents that are much too lengthy, complex animations, and stocky website images are but a few components on the checklist. More on: 4 Useful Tips in Simplifying Content
  • Your audience has only a span of attention for, more or less, 8 seconds. So, quickly delivers your main points. Do it briefly but with such strong parts of content and with appropriate photos that are separated by headers.
  • Now that you know, review and remember, no jargon or vague vocabulary. It will only make your content sloppy, and it will surely bewilder your audience.
  • Stay away from words that have been used and reused  thousands of times because using them will not make your posts more interesting.
  1. A Website That’s Friendly to Search Engines

  • Flash is not advisable to utilize if you do not know how to create Flash objects as well as making your Flash content crawler-friendly. To be honest, Flash is so old school. Keep it simple and professional looking. Just as previously suggested, make your content brief and concise. Plus, add images and divide your elements using distinct headers.
  1. Utilize only the Content that Search Spiders Could Read

  • Content is the energy of a site and that is what search engines need. When you design your site, consider a great framework for content, meaning you add headers to separate multiple and you also insert links throughout the article.
  • If a website has very minimal content, then, it is sure to fall behind in the Google search results. Read more on the 3 Tips to Follow for You to Gain Google’s Favor. That’s a 3-part special so be sure to read each portion carefully.

 

Next? 5 SEO Tips that Will Boost Your Web Design (Part 2)

Scottsdale Web Design – The Purpose of Keywords in SEO this 2020!

SEO experts, who have been in the game for the decades, know that there have been several changes to the SEO playing field. Looking back, in the past 10 years, we have experienced numerous Google updates such as Hummingbird, Penguin, Panda, Bert, or RankBrain. Despite these changes, a lot of people still think that SEO content is all just:

  • Including our target keywords multiple times in a content.
  • Inserting the keywords at the right places such as the meta descriptions, header tags, and title tags.
  • Writing lengthy articles because this is ideal structure in order to rank in the SERPs.

Remember, Google’s algorithms have grown. By now, we know that deceiving Google by stuffing keywords in our content is not going to work.  It is truly how we give our users a remarkable journey that gain success. So how do we use keywords? To do that, we have to rethink and know why we really write content for search.

Choose your words tiles

Defining SEO Content.

For many SEO experts, SEO content is no longer written just to rank. Therefore, if algorithm is making a pattern of what people would chose and consider the greater outcome, the response to the question of how you can rank high is: do what is for the good of your searchers. It follows that whatever you will write, the users will surely appreciate it.

Further readings:

How can you make your content SEO friendly?

When we say content that is SEO friendly, it covers a lot of things. First, the content should answer the concerns of the users. More tips on: 6 Steps in Developing SEO-Friendly Content for Your Website

Content that Respond to the Purpose of the User’s Inquiry

As mentioned earlier, a content should answer the user’s questions. Therefore, the topic will be coming from the queries of your audience. But then, not all content is pertinent for the searchers. This goes to show that we do write blog posts for different reasons so it follows that not all of your content may rank well.

Comprehensible and Extensive Content

When you ask something, would you want the answer to be complicated, hazy, or awkward? Wouldn’t you want an answer that is precise and direct? Yes, you do and Google thinks the same way too.

Sure, you could have accurate research, but this can be destroyed if your content is not well written or if people barely understood your point. These basic rules could assist you in making content better:

  • Substitute difficult words for easy ones.
  • Trade being wordy to being compact.
  • Go for active voice instead of passive voice.

Answer your audience’s queries with such clarity, and that will help you gain the people’s trust. More solutions are posted on: 4 Quick Tips to Improve Content

Remember to E-A-T 

 If you want attention in the SEO industry, then, do your content with a lot of EAT. Ed Smith, my co-blogger, discussed importance of the Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness on his post, E-A-T And Why Website Owners Should Care.

 

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Scottsdale Web Design – Building More Web Traffic for Newer Websites

Numerous websites strive to create traffic. On occasion, it is due to Google’s updates, or either the website is just starting. The truth is, websites does not need to struggle because there are other fresh sources of traffic.

man operating laptop on top of table

Regarding Google’s Algorithm

There has been a little confusion when people thought that Google wants fresh content. That may have been rooted because of Google’s freshness algorithm. It advances fresh content when it is currently trending well. It is not supporting the most current published content. Instead, it is fostering trending content.

The date of a content’s publication will not change the web page rank higher.

Google’s freshness algorithm is all about the significance it brings to the users… and a fresh web page is pertinent to someone who is looking for the most current data.

This is what Google wants to clarify:

“…we’re making a significant improvement to our ranking algorithm that impacts roughly 35 percent of searches and better determines when to give you more up-to-date relevant results for these varying degrees of freshness.”

This is an excerpt from Giving you fresher, more recent search results, which is posted on the Official Google blog.

Upgrading Content and NOT just Changing Content

Google’s John Mueller in 2018 shared his views regarding freshness as a ranking enhancement. He said that Fresher doesn’t mean better. He further stated that people should not get used to the idea of altering every time. Instead, he added that bringing your content to a greater extent is even better.

The thing to do is to come up with new content that is significant to people. What Mueller wants to caution us is to stay away from modifying our content, wanting Google to see it as something new and fresh. There is a huge difference between modifying content and updating it. When you change, it is merely editing or modifying. However, when your update, you are making it recent to fit the present time. Certain content may get deleted as it becomes obsolete.

Having said these things, remember that not every site require fresh content to have a high ranking. These are what we call authoritative websites that have worked their way up and has created a good standing with Google. They will definitely stay there until another site gives a more significant and relevant response to the search query.

Fresh Means Significant

SEO folks are inclines to be obsessed with the particulars of Google’s algorithms. Publishers can do big steps simply concentrating on being pertinent to users when they require content regarding fresh topics.

Evergreen content is a content that is always pertinent, and it stays applicable. A new struggling site will surely have a difficult time ranking using evergreen content as they are pitting against the more accepted sites. Coming up with trending topics is a good approach for new and struggling websites. Once you lure them to your site, they will now anticipate evergreen topics from you.

When you consistently create content that is significant to your audience and publishing it frequently. Giving time to these kind of content because evergreen content will surely keep things going on in your site. Despite algorithm changes, your website can adapt well.

 

SOURCE: (1), (2)

Scottsdale Web Design – Helpful Tips in Becoming a Terrific SEO Consultant (Part 2)

There were some great ideas in Helpful Tips in Becoming a Terrific SEO Consultant (Part 1), and I will now talk about the other five suggestions.

man pointing at the silver MacBook discussing something

So, let us go and tackle it right away:

  1. Anticipate the Questions

A good consultant will answer queries right away and in an understandable manner. Seems simple? Well, the truth is, many people struggle with this. Nonetheless, responding and tackling the queries is one important ingredient for a relationship with your client. So, remember never evade the question. It does not mean though that you must know every answer to every question, but anticipate the possible questions. In case you really do not know the answer, tell your client that it’s beyond your field of expertise and recommend someone who may be able to help. After all, SEO covers a wide scope that is connected to other fields like web designemail marketingsocial media.

  1. Take the Proper Steps

Being a consultant means that you are in the business of giving professional advice to your client, but you have no authority in controlling the implementation procedure. Here are the things you may consider doing:

  • Focus on the expected outcome – not all suggestions is immediate. Specify which ones are the top priorities and which ones can be put aside for a while. So, people will center on the tasks that have a direct effect on the project.
  • Motivate implementation – a consultant should discuss the possible effects if suggestions are properly implemented.
  • Think of other options – Is there any other strategy that will lead to the same result?
  1. Pick the Correct Tools

A terrific consultant also choses equally terrific tools. Even if you are smart, skilful, and has a lot of valuable experience, it is impossible to progress without great tools and funds. Tools could make or break the effectiveness of your business. It likewise affect the data that you get for your client. In addition, the extent of the tools should depend on the size and the needs of your business.

Tools has to be examined to come up with the best options. Here they are:

All of them are awesome; it is just a matter of choosing what works for your needs. Remember, other tools may work for others, but not necessarily for your business.

  1. Understand Your Audience

To understand your audience is a chance for you to adjust with the way you communicate with them. This is the only means that you can determine how to make your suggestions in a way that they will understand.  Everybody in the meeting should know what will transpire or what is happening on the said program and your role on the project.

  1. Establish Your Worth

It is vital that you identify the objectives to assist you in showing your worth. You have to convey the developments efficiently. It is likewise vital that your client knows how you are able to accomplish the outcome. Make sure you present this accomplishments in a very light and direct manner. Talk about the whole story.

 

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Scottsdale Web Design – Helpful Tips in Becoming a Terrific SEO Consultant (Part 1)

Being a consultant is not an easy job but is exceedingly worthwhile. There are many components and qualities that will make you stand out. Hence, it takes a lot of hard labor, consistent training and developing.

Business Meeting Woman Presenting with a Laptop on the Desk

So, here are some tips to help you be that kind of an SEO consultant.

  1. Determine the Goals

Determining the goals has to be discussed right from the beginning so that everyone that will work on the project with good comprehension of what are to be accomplished. It will also help you gauge the project as well.  These will be the barometer on whether or not everything was a success in the end. Remember, SEO tools won’t be able to help you in this step.

  1. Teach your Clients 

This is a must if you want to have a great relationship with your clients. When your client realizes your expertise, it follows that your value is now known. So, when we talk about SEO, it can be about the keyword research, technical SEO like page speed, internal linking, off-page links, on-page SEO, and a lot more. Apart from these, SEO keeps on changing. So, a client that has no experience with SEO might not be able to understand. When we talk about understanding, we need to know the following about your client:

  • Does your client has an experience in marketing?
  • What is your client’s post in the company and his accountability?
  • Does your client have knowledge in your area of expertise?
  • Has your client worked with another consultant in the past?
  • What are the finest methods that your client is aware of? Are they like yours?

Having known the above, you can now start to help your client understand where your client needs help.

  1. Indicate your Expertise

A real consultant does not only know what is currently going on; he understands the entire scenario.

It is highly crucial to show how much you know about the account, the company, and the industry in general. You may need to ask as many questions as needed for you to gather all the data that are important.  Another step you should take is to consistently verify with your client if there are any important changes, new priorities to implement. You have to guide them because some tasks may not be one of the urgent priorities.

Likewise, put an effort in understanding the client’s industry, the business and its landscape. Know also the major competitors. Having said that, make sure you subscribe to the best publications in the business, have Google Alerts notify you on the latest activities of the competitors. Finally, do not settle in taking orders; instead, tell your client how to get to the goals of the project. Remember, you are the specialist, not the client. The small things that you do will absolutely win trust and more value for you as a great consultant.

Now that you have established your value, we can now discuss more tips in the second part. See you next time on Helpful Tips in Becoming a Terrific SEO Consultant (Part 2)!

Scottsdale Web Design – Reasons Why SEO and Web Design Go Hand in Hand (Part 2)

So far, in Reasons Why SEO and Web Design Go Hand in Hand (Part 1), I already stated two pointers. I discussed your site should mobile friendly and it should be designed for mobile reading.

pencils and smartphone on top of books

Today, here are 4 more reasons why.

 

  1. The Page Speed
  • Is your website slow? Are you aware what makes it slow? There is a strong possibility that it is your web design. If your ranking is down, it is probably because of the people leaving your site. Follow some of the tips to ensure a speedy site. Additionally, you can speed things up by taking out all the unneeded plugins, permitting browser caching, compressing your images and a lot more.
  • Have in mind that your site must load in 2 seconds. Longer than that may mean that half of those who came to your site will leave. Page speed is critical especially when it comes to mobile phone because people will not stay long. It is also a great concern for Google.
  • Remember that the faster the speed of your website, the faster Google can crawl it. If your site is slow, then, very little pages in your site will be indexed.
  1. Great Content
  • Let us go over your content. Is it instinctive? Brief? Clear? Straightforward? Google prefers website that are clear and intuitive. It goes for content that is quick to follow, logical, and the keywords are located where they should be. The best way to make it there is how-to blog posts, FAQ pages, and other pages that are helpful to the users. More info on:  How to Boost a Content That Is NOT Doing Well?
  1. The Sitemaps
  • Your web design can be of great aid when we talk about crawling your site. A sitemap is a critical component to have if you hope for search engine to be able to crawl your site. It gives search engines of the pages and content that are in your site. This means, you get to say to search engines what the important pages are. Additionally, sitemaps also help in the user browsing. A first time visitor use it in going around your website.  Learn more on building sitemaps here.
  1. Obtaining User’s Confidence
  • You cannot really determine the quantity of people’s trust in your site. Nonetheless, winning trust is still a big share in greater ranking. People rapidly shape views, and when they do, it is hard to alter their minds.
  • We have for many years see well developed websites that gives users remarkable journeys. This is the standard we have in mind when we visit a site. People want to see sites that are neat, simple to navigate, and loads fast. We are incline to think that this type of sites are credible. Check out the 7 Crucial Assets of a Great Website.
  • An archaic and outmoded websites or hard to utilize will give a lot of people a bad impression. And when they go, there will never have a second time. It would be a waste especially if you have a great product or service but since your website does not show this, you not only lose good ranking, but you will lose the chance to convert them as well.

 

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Scottsdale Web Design – Reasons Why SEO and Web Design Go Hand in Hand (Part 1)

In our life and also in websites, we are incline to put all our focus in one or two components. In the process, we forget what is crucial. It is not just SEO or web design, but the two should go together. The bottom line is web design and SEO both should be present.

person writing on white paper in front of computer and mobile phone

So, what are the areas in which SEO and web design work together? To know what they are, read below:

 

  1. A Mobile Friendly Website

  • If you are accustomed with web design or SEO, you absolutely know all about why your site should be mobile-friendly. In 2015, Google carried out that being mobile friendly is a ranking element. In 2017, Google announced that the mobile sites get indexed first than the desktop sites. This goes to show that the most used device is the mobile phone.
  • Today, it is the mobile first age. Everyone uses a mobile device, and everyone is always bringing it around. That is the reason why, websites should consider doing their mobile layouts for their site.
  • From the viewpoint of an SEO, mobile-friendliness is a sure fire ranking element for mobile search, and it is that version that will be utilized by the search engine to examine and finally rank your website.  Know that half of the web traffic comes from mobile devices which means half of your audience are using their mobile. Therefore, if you are not mobile friendly, then, you are unintentionally isolating half of your audience. That could be a lot!
  • A website may have towering bounce rates because images and other elements take time to load. There are some elements unnecessary for mobile. Cut the fancy upgrades, and focus on the readability of your content. It is best to work on optimizing your website for mobile users. To check the mobile – friendliness of a website, you can check out Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
  1. A Scannable and Readable Design

  • When you work on your SEO, you probably put a lot of your time and effort in your content. Few people do not know that the web design of a site has a big effect on the content. A badly designed web will surely drive away users to another site. And if their concern is not properly addressed in your site, why should they stay any longer?
  • You probably experienced being in a site that had text which are unreadable due to its page design. Perhaps, the texts were placed against a white background, or dark color texts were placed against black background. For sure, it’s a torture to look at! More on: How to Choose the Right Colors for Your Website and The Importance of Color Selection
  • Also, the text could be too small or too big. Maybe the font style is hard to decipher. Again, this will drive people away from your site. For sure, web designers know how to create a site that is SEO friendly enough for the users to read the content. That way, you get your money’s worth. Images, the length of the line, and white space can call the attention of people. Do not forget that there are people with impairments so consider them too when deciding on your website’s design!

Next? Reasons Why SEO and Web Design Go Hand in Hand (Part 2)