Difference Between a Website that Doesn’t Render on Mobile and a Non-Responsive Website:

Doesn’t Render: Often, due to technical errors, incompatible elements, or server issues, the website fails to load or display correctly on mobile devices, making it unusable.
Non-Responsive: The website loads but is difficult to navigate and read on different mobile devices due to the lack of responsive design. The site is usable but offers a poor user experience on mobile.

What It Means for a Company’s Website

This change in ranking criteria means having a mobile-friendly design is no longer optional—it’s imperative. Websites that do not render on mobile will experience a notable drop in search engine rankings. This change will directly affect a company’s online presence, traffic, and potentially its revenue. As users increasingly use smartphones and tablets for browsing and shopping, a mobile-friendly website creates a better user experience and higher engagement rates.

Should a Company Care?

Absolutely. Here are a few reasons why companies should prioritize a mobile-responsive design:

1. Search Engine Visibility: As of February 2024, almost 60% of all worldwide website traffic is from a mobile device. Without a mobile-friendly design, your site won’t be indexed, leading to a loss of organic traffic from search engines.
2. User Experience: Mobile users expect a first-class experience. A mobile responsive design ensures your site is accessible and user-friendly across all devices.
3. Competitive Advantage: Companies adapting to mobile-first indexing can gain a competitive edge over those that don’t. Being mobile-friendly can improve your ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs).
4. Customer Expectations: With more than half of global web traffic coming from mobile devices, users expect websites to be optimized for mobile use. Not meeting these expectations can result in higher bounce rates and lower engagement.

How to Prepare

Preparing for mobile-first indexing involves several key steps:

1. Responsive Design: Make sure your website uses a responsive design that adjusts seamlessly to different screen sizes and devices. You can test your website’s mobility design with tools like Google Page Speed Insights and MobiReady.
2. Content Parity: Ensure that your mobile site’s content matches your desktop site’s content. This includes text, images, and videos. Google crawls the mobile version of your content for indexing, so it’s crucial that the mobile content is complete and of high quality.
3. Structured Data: Verify that structured data is present on your site’s desktop and mobile versions. Structured data helps Google understand your pages’ content and can improve your search visibility.
4. Performance Optimization: Optimize your site for speed and performance on mobile devices. Use techniques like image compression, lazy loading, and leveraging browser caching to enhance load times.

The Future of Mobile-First Indexing

The move to mobile-first indexing is just the beginning of a broader shift towards prioritizing mobile experiences. The online search experience is being influenced by societal, technological, and competitive forces like never before, so here are some future trends to consider and plan for:

1. Voice Search Optimization: As mobile devices are commonly used for voice searches, optimizing for voice search will become increasingly important. This change involves focusing on natural language, long-tail keywords, and answering specific questions users might ask.
2. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs): PWAs combine the best of web and mobile apps, offering fast, reliable, and engaging experiences. Adopting PWAs can further enhance the mobile experience and keep users engaged.
3. AI and Machine Learning: Google’s algorithms will continue progressing in AI and machine learning. It is imperative for companies to stay current with best practices and emerging SEO and web development trends.
4. Enhanced User Experience: As Google emphasizes user experience (UX) metrics like Core Web Vitals, companies must prioritize UX in their mobile design strategies. This focus includes aspects like loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability.

Google’s decision to enforce mobile-first indexing marks a significant juncture in the future of the web. Companies must adapt to this change by ensuring their websites are mobile-responsive, user-friendly, and optimized for performance. By embracing these practices, businesses can maintain their search engine visibility, meet customer expectations, and stay competitive in an increasingly mobile-centric world.

If you are concerned about your website’s mobile design, contact Power Marketing for a free analysis and consultation.

The post As of July 5th, 2024, Google Will No Longer Index Non-Mobile Websites appeared first on Power-Marketing.

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored by your browser when you visit a website. They serve multiple purposes, including:

● Storing login information

● Saving preferences like language and font size

● Keeps track of shopping cart items

● Identifying users with a unique ID

● Tracking the pages you visit

Cookies can be temporary (expiring after a session) or persistent (stored until you delete them).

Why Are They Called Cookies?

The term “cookie” comes from “magic cookies,” a computing term referring to an exchange of information between two programs. Lou Montulli, a developer in the mid-90s, introduced the term “cookie” in the context of the internet. Like a fortune cookie, which contains a snippet of advice, internet cookies contain important information about your activity on a website.

First-Party vs. Third-Party Cookies

Websites you visit create First-party cookies, which can only be accessed by that site. These cookies improve user experience by remembering your preferences. For example, an e-commerce site might use cookies to keep track of your shopping cart items.

Third-party cookies are created by websites other than the one you’re currently visiting. They track your activity across multiple sites, gathering data about your browsing habits for advertising purposes. This “tracking” is how ad networks know to show you targeted ads. For instance, if you’ve been searching for flights, you might see ads for hotels and car rentals on other sites.

What’s Changing?

First-party cookies remain unaffected. However, most browsers are now blocking third-party cookies. Privacy-focused browsers like Firefox, Brave, and Safari have done this for years, and Google Chrome started blocking third-party cookies by default in 2024. Given Chrome’s dominance, this change is significant.

On January 4, 2024, Google began blocking third-party cookies by default for 1% of users, with plans to increase this to 100% by Q3 2024.

How Will This Affect Your Business?

While other browsers have weakened third-party cookies, Chrome’s upcoming phase-out marks a significant shift. Chrome will continue tracking users through different methods, with anonymized and categorized data sent to Google or other parties. Learn more about The Privacy Sandbox initiative.

Meta’s Pixel defaults to first-party cookies but still uses third-party cookies for cross-website tracking. Meta can still determine users’ interests with data from its own platforms, and its Conversions API helps fill tracking gaps.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is designed for a cookieless world. It relies only on first-party cookies and uses statistical modeling to fill tracking gaps.

Overall, the most significant impact will be targeting accuracy, not attribution. Publishers may feel a bigger impact than marketers since advertising networks rely heavily on third-party cookies. If you don’t run programmatic advertising, there’s less cause for concern.

Digital Marketers anticipated this gradual change for years, and platforms have adapted accordingly. More importantly, there’s no reason to panic. If you’ve been using third-party cookies for your marketing campaign, most seasoned digital marketers are prepared with marketing alternatives based on privacy concerns.

If you have questions about third-party cookies or digital marketing strategy, contact Power Marketing.

The post The End of Third-Party Cookies: What You Need to Know appeared first on Power-Marketing.

Clearing your cache is akin to a cleaning of your digital space. It ensures your website looks its best by loading the most up-to-date content and running smoothly for anyone who stops by. Plus, it helps protect your privacy by removing stored data that could be sensitive. While “cache” may sound technical, clearing it is a simple yet essential step for speedy and safe internet browsing. Think of it as regular housekeeping for your internet browser. There are a couple of options.

Hard Refresh To Clear Cache

A hard refresh is a shortcut. It’s less thorough but takes less time. A hard refresh consists of striking a series of keys at the same time. On most operating systems, command+shift+R or control+F5 will do the trick. This link will take you to a hard refresh guide by browser.

A hard refresh only refreshes a specific web page. For example, a web developer is revising your website’s home page design. You go to review it, and you don’t see any changes. The web developer may tell you to “hard refresh” to clear your cache. If you’re on a Mac, hit command+shift+R, and the updated home page design will appear.

Hard refreshes are best for smaller tasks. They can improve performance and don’t log you out of commonly visited websites, which can be a pain to re-enter all those passwords. Think of a hard refresh as more of a reload to view the most recent version of a web page.

Clearing Browser Cache

Clearing the browser cache is more complex. Each browser is slightly different from the others.

Typically, the steps are:

• Go to Settings
• Find Option to Clear Browsing Data/Cache
• Select Types to Clear (cookies or images or both)
• Choose the Time Frame to Clear (last week, last month, or everything)

Here’s a link to clearing the cache for each browser.

By clearing the browser cache, you are removing all cookies, images, and other saved items. Consider it a deep clean of your website. Clearing a web browser’s cache regularly provides the following advantages:

1. Improve Performance: Regularly clearing the cache can help your browser run more smoothly. Over time, cached files can become cluttered and outdated, which may slow down browser performance and page loading times.

2. Update Content: Clearing the cache ensures you view the most recent version of a web page. Sometimes, browsers load stored versions from the cache, which might not include the latest updates to the site.

3. Troubleshooting: Clearing the cache can resolve issues with web pages that display improperly or behave erratically. It removes any potentially corrupted files that could be causing the problem.

4. Privacy and Security: Clearing the cache can enhance your privacy, as it removes saved data that might include sensitive information like passwords, addresses, and browsing history. This practice is critical when using shared or public computers.

5. Storage Space: Your device’s cache can occupy significant storage space. Regular cleaning helps manage storage effectively, especially on devices with limited space.

What About Mobile?

Yes, clearing the mobile cache is separate from clearing the cache on your desktop. Since mobile devices have less storage than desktops, and most people use their mobile phones more than desktops when surfing the internet, your mobile cache should be cleared more often. Clearing mobile cache has similar procedures for iPhone and Android:

• Open Settings and select General.
• Go to Storage
• Select your browser (Safari, Chrome, etc.)
• Select Website Data
• Select Remove All Website Data

For complete instructions on clearing cache on mobile devices, see this link.

Regularly clearing your cache on mobile devices and desktops ensures that you’re viewing the most current version of websites, protecting your privacy, and managing your device’s storage effectively. Remember, a well-maintained cache is like a well-maintained home – organized, efficient, and safe. Regularly incorporate cache clearing into your digital routine to ensure a fast, precise, and secure browsing experience.

If you have questions about website development or digital marketing, please get in touch with us at Power Marketing

The post What’s Cache? Why Do I Have to Clear It? appeared first on Power-Marketing.

It would be an understatement to say we were dumbfounded. The Power Marketing team has managed 8-12 Google Ads accounts without an issue. We thought Google’s new advertiser verification policy would be simple since we’d been using Google Ads (a.k.a pay-per-click) for years, and we viewed our team as model internet citizens. After effortlessly having the first eight accounts verified, we thought we were in the clear, and then we received this message:

Your Google Ads account was suspended for violating our Circumventing Systems policy. Suspended accounts are prohibited ads in all locations.

The notice went on to describe all the ways an advertiser can “circumvent”:

● Posting similar ads to ones that have been disapproved
● Redirecting visitors to non-compliant content
● Submitting false information on the verification process
● Billing/Payment Issues
● Unauthorized usage.

The notice ended with:

The suspension will be permanent unless you successfully appeal within five business days.

The First Appeal

The paperwork was standard. We told Google about our website security measures and long-term use of Google Ads. We documented the excellent site health of the landing page and website. It was a simple mistake by Google. Surely, a quick review of our account would show we were legitimate.

5 days later – APPEAL DENIED!

The Second Appeal

Obviously, the alleged violations were more complicated than we thought. For the second appeal, we changed our strategy. Since we had no idea what the violations were, we would put our team on the phones to find a live person at Google Ads. After several hours of making calls and being hung up on, a team member spoke to a Google Ads specialist. The specialist told our person she didn’t have access to the reason our account was suspended. Our man persisted and eventually was pushed to a manager who told us there was suspicious traffic on the website. The suspicious traffic appears to be from a Google Analytics issue with Poland (nothing to do with Power Marketing). So, our “A-HA moment” was here. We figured it out and submitted a new appeal.

7 days later – APPEAL DENIED!

The Third Appeal

Back to the drawing board! We had no idea why we were suspended or what to do next, so we turned to online forums, continued our phone call campaign, and had our senior developer review the website for any functionality that could be causing the issue.

Through the online forums, we read about issues with plugins and pixels, collecting information about website visitors. Our senior developer removed any pixels or plugins that might fall into this category. We scheduled another meeting with a Google Ads Specialist Manager to review the changes. We submitted the third appeal with extremely detailed descriptions and images showing all the hoops we jumped through to be compliant.

3 days later – APPEAL DENIED!

Then, suddenly, 27 days after we submitted the information to verify our account, we received this message from Google:

Your Google account has been reactivated.

What We Did Wrong

Thinking It Was a Simple Mistake—We lost over a week because we thought a simple email would fix the problem on the first appeal instead of submitting a more thorough case. When dealing with a massive corporation like Google, be extra diligent and remember to overwhelm them with the tactics you’ve executed to fix the issue.

Believing Someone Would Tell Us the Problem—If you have high blood pressure, dealing with Google’s support won’t help. The initial support person told us she didn’t have access to the reason our account was shut down. Once we moved up the ladder to speak with a manager, he stated the website had suspicious traffic, which we may or may not have been accurate.

What We Did Right

Insisting to Speak with a Manager—We will never know what pushed our case over the top. I think the multiple calls and subsequent meetings with managers at least showed we wouldn’t give up and that this was a fixable issue.

Deep Dive into Online Forums—Oddly enough, the resource we found with the most recent and thorough answers was Reddit. In the Reddit discussion, we followed a detailed step-by-step strategy that worked for another person with the same problem. The description included information on the appeal, timeline, and the job title to connect with at Google Ads to get answers.

All Hands On Deck Approach—Once we realized the depth of the issue, we organized our team members with different responsibilities. One person made phone calls to Google, two did online research and reached out to Google Ads experts, and a developer audited the website. Ultimately, we had no idea why our account was reinstated, so one of the elements corrected the issue.

Keep Meticulous Records—We used a shared spreadsheet to document every effort we made to make the website compliant. Documentation saved a lot of time when adding information on the appeals and was a great reference if our person making phone calls reached someone.

Didn’t Give Up—One common theme appeared in our research. It will take about a month, and you must make multiple appeals. Without that information, we may have given up after the second appeal and moved the money to social media.

Google is the 600-pound Gorilla in the room, and we must play by its rules. If you need help reinstating your Google Ads account, don’t hesitate to contact Power Marketing for a free evaluation.

The post My Google Ads Account Was Suspended: One Advertiser’s Journey to Reinstatement appeared first on Power-Marketing.

In website development, WordPress is by far the most commonly used content management system (or CMS). A CMS is the framework on which a website is built. WordPress powers almost half of the websites in the U.S.

Within the WordPress ecosystem, plugins play a pivotal role in expanding the functionality of websites. A plugin enhances a website by adding specific features or extending its capabilities. Plugins integrate seamlessly with WordPress, allowing users to customize and improve their site’s functionality without modifying the core code.

What is a Plugin?

A WordPress plugin is similar to a smartphone app. Just as apps add new features to your phone, plugins add new features and functionalities to a WordPress website. A plugin can include a simple contact form or a full-fledged online store. Third-party developers develop plugins that are available through the WordPress Plugin Directory or private vendors.

What Does the Beaver Builder Plugin Do?

Beaver Builder is a popular WordPress page builder plugin that enables users to create their own web pages through a drag-and-drop interface. It makes web design easier for people with little technical knowledge who aren’t familiar with web development. With Beaver Builder, users can construct pages visually, seeing changes in real time without writing code. It has different modules for adding text, images, sliders, and more, making it a flexible tool for creating professional websites.

Issues with the Beaver Builder Plugin

Like any software, Beaver Builder has drawbacks. One common issue is performance. To simplify the process, Beaver Builder generates complex code instructions called shortcodes. These “shortcodes” can lead to slower page load times, especially on more complex websites.

Additionally, while it offers extensive customization options, navigating the many settings and options can be overwhelming for beginners. Another concern is compatibility; as WordPress updates other plugins or the core theme, conflicts or bugs can affect Beaver Builder’s functionality.

HAVE ISSUES? WE CAN HELP

How Can the Plugin Fail Over Time?

Over time, several factors can lead to the failure or degradation of a plugin like Beaver Builder:

1. Updates and Compatibility: WordPress is continually updated, and these updates can sometimes break plugins if they need to be updated to be compatible with the latest version of WordPress.
2. Security Vulnerabilities: All software can have vulnerabilities, and plugins are more prone to security issues. If you do not address these vulnerabilities through updates, malicious actors can exploit them.
3. Performance Issues: As websites grow and more content or plugins are added, the performance of existing plugins can be affected. Beaver Builder’s resource-intensive nature might contribute to slower website performance over time.
4. Support and Maintenance: If the developers behind Beaver Builder were to cease support or updates, the plugin could become obsolete or dysfunctional over time.

How to Know When It’s Time To Build a New Website

Spending over an hour monthly on website repairs is excessive. Websites require regular updates and maintenance, ideally taking at most an hour per month. If you have a retainer with your provider, monitor the time resolving issues with Beaver Builder. You should also assess your website developers as well.

A site audit is optional for evaluating Beaver Builder, but it offers valuable insights into your website’s condition. Use free tools like Google’s Page Speed Insights or Ubersuggest’s Site Auditor. For a comprehensive audit, consider contacting a reputable digital marketing agency. Some agencies offer free audits, but detailed audits typically cost $300 – $500.

If you would like a free site audit of your website, Power Marketing will provide one at no charge. If you are interested in transferring your Beaver Builder website to a custom WordPress platform or a theme-based WordPress platform like Elementor or Divi, give us a call or drop us an email.

The post Common Issues with Beaver Builder on WordPress Sites appeared first on Power-Marketing.

What Happened

The surge in seemingly high traffic numbers was due to spam websites. Originating primarily from Poland, this spam traffic tampered with GA4 by artificially increasing “referral traffic” counts. Referral traffic is visitors to your website from other websites, most likely through a link. But, this “hack” did not reflect actual visits to the affected website, resulting in what’s known as “ghost traffic.” These visitors never actually visited the websites, but GA4 recorded them.

Impact on Google Analytics Users

For those using GA4 to gain insights into website traffic, the flood of ghost traffic tainted the reliability of their data. Aside from traffic data, ghost traffic can also skew other user metrics in GA4. For example, bounce rate and session duration may appear lower due to the influx of false traffic. This can make it challenging for website owners to accurately measure their website’s performance and make informed decisions for optimization. Additionally, ghost traffic can also impact conversion tracking, making it challenging to determine the effectiveness of advertising campaigns or overall website conversions.

Countermeasures

To fix this, immediate action was required to sift through and identify the bogus traffic sources. Google advised users to review their GA4 account, pinpoint the affected data, and block the IP addresses linked to the spamming referral websites. This tactic was a good start if you had an agency or an internal IT person to block this traffic. Otherwise, you were stuck until Google figured it out.

Was My Website Affected?

If you are familiar with Google Analytics (GA4):

• Go to your dashboard
• Find: Users by Country
• Select: Last 30 Days or enter in custom dates that include 2/17 – 2/29

If there is significant traffic from Poland, your website visitors and metrics are inaccurate.

OR

• Go to your dashboard
• Find: Sessions by Default Channel
• Select: Last 30 Days or enter in custom dates that include 2/17 – 2/29

Your website could have been affected if it received a large amount of referral traffic. Typically, referral traffic on a website is a category producing a small number of users.

As of this article’s writing, Google has fixed this issue. If you want to know your website’s impact, contact us at Power Marketing, and we will provide a free analytics check.

The post You May Want to Double Check Your Website Traffic from February appeared first on Power-Marketing.

Business History

Before hiring a website development company, it’s essential to consider its longevity. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of businesses fail within the first year and 45% within the first five. If a company fails, changing developers mid-project can cause delays, increase costs, and force you to start from scratch for the most part. To minimize these risks, choosing a website development company that has been in business for at least five years is a good idea.

Website Ownership

Ensuring full ownership of your website is crucial. Unfortunately, many business owners have faced the unfortunate situation of not owning their website or domain after completing their project. Ownership allows you to be independent of the web development company, avoiding issues with their services. Moreover, switching web development companies can result in starting over and losing all the SEO value you’ve built over time. This process can be costly and time-consuming, so it’s essential to avoid it. Verifying complete ownership of your website and domain from the beginning of the development process is critical. Ask, “Will I own the website when it’s completed?”

Open Source Content Management Systems

Choosing the right content management system (CMS) is critical for the success of your website. A CMS provides the framework on which your website is built and determines how easily you can manage and update your content. Popular standardized CMS options include WordPress, Squarespace, and Drupal. At Power Marketing, we prefer using WordPress CMS, which is utilized by over 50% of websites in the U.S. Opting for an open-source CMS like WordPress offers flexibility in case you need to switch website developers, maintenance, or support.

Almost as important, you can find WordPress developers at nearly any digital marketing firm in the U.S. This ensures that you won’t be tied to a proprietary platform developed by a small group of individuals or a company that controls all the changes. Proprietary platforms can hold your website hostage, and the developers can charge excessive fees for minor modifications.

Mobile-Friendly Design

A mobile responsive design should be standard. Eight years ago, Google prompted web developers to adopt a mobile-first approach through algorithm changes. Most developers complied. Nowadays, more than half of a website’s traffic originates from mobile devices. However, some developers, including “cookie-cutter” website builders like Wix, fail to implement a mobile-responsive platform automatically.

A mobile-responsive website dynamically adjusts its layout and content to suit the screen size and resolution, be it a smartphone, tablet, or desktop computer. A mobile-responsive website enhances the user experience for potential customers and boosts search engine optimization (SEO) rankings. Google prioritizes mobile-responsive websites and penalizes those lacking mobile optimization. Consequently, having a mobile-responsive website can improve search engine rankings, increase site traffic, and increase conversion rates.

Support and Updating

A website requires regular maintenance, just like a car. Neglecting updates can lead to costly consequences, such as website malfunctions or hacking. Regular maintenance in the form of security updates, website theme updates, plug-in updates, and broken link fixes is crucial to ensure the smooth operation of your website. Ensure website updates are included in your monthly hosting agreement to guarantee the longevity and effectiveness of your website.

Hosting: Dedicated, Private, and Shared

Ideally, hosting your website on a dedicated server where you are the only client is the best option. However, it can be costly and unnecessary if your business doesn’t handle a large traffic volume. A private server is a good option. On a private server, all clients on that server are specific to the web development company. A private server allows web developers to incorporate particular security standards for all clients on the server, making it more secure and improving SEO value. Shared servers are the most common and cheapest option, but shared servers are considered the least safe. Your website “shares” a server with hundreds of other websites on a shared server. Different developers or individuals manage these websites; each website will have different security protocols, maintenance programs, and updating schedules. You don’t know who your “neighbors” are on a shared server. And if one of your neighbors is hacked, it can make your website vulnerable.

Who will Design the Website?

In the age of Artificial Intelligence, freelance graphic design services, and pre-designed templates, it’s easy to think anyone can design a website. Suppose your website is relatively simple, with just a few pages and basic functionality. In that case, you can use website builders that offer templates or employ a less expensive freelance designer. But, if your website involves complex interactions, multiple user flows, and specific user goals, a professional UX designer can help ensure a smooth and intuitive user experience. A user experience specialist will know what color schemes work best and the optimal placement for call-to-action buttons (i.e., Contact Us, Request a Quote) and ensure best practices for users with disabilities.

How Long Will It Take To Complete the Website?

The timeline for completing a website varies based on multiple factors. The complexity of the website plays a significant role in determining how long it takes to complete. A basic website with only a few pages can be built much quicker than a large, complex website with custom features and functionalities. The number of people working on a website can also impact the timeline. If a dedicated team of developers, designers, and content creators work on the project, it can be completed faster than if only one person handles all the tasks. It typically takes between 60-90 days to complete a website. However, be cautious of website development companies promising to finish a website in less than 30 days. A reputable website development company will likely have a backlog of work to complete before starting a new project. Therefore, if a company promises to complete a website in two to three weeks, it’s best to be wary as they may be overpromising or don’t have consistent work.

How Much Will a New Website Cost?

One of the most critical questions when building a website is, “How much does it cost?”. The cost depends on factors like functionality, features, and complexity, ranging from $5,000 to $100,000. Like buying a new car or home, the price depends on features, options, and customizations. Each one can affect the overall cost. To get an accurate estimate, you should provide examples of websites you like and the desired features. Providing examples helps you get a price range and make an informed decision. However, when choosing the right fit for your project, you should consider other factors, such as the developer’s experience, reputation, and portfolio.

If you are interested in a website for your company, contact Power Marketing.

The post Making the Right Choice: Guide to Assessing Website Developers appeared first on Power-Marketing.

Regarding search engine optimization (SEO) and local SEO, managing expectations and processes should occur early and often. More than 200 elements determine SEO value, and the metrics provided are precise. Unfortunately, this exactness can give clients misguided ammunition to pick apart each component of an SEO program without seeing the complete picture. 

Ideally, there should be only one metric: I spent “X” money and sold “Y” widgets. Therefore, my return on investment is “Z.” But figuring out “Z” usually takes a long-term analysis. So here are some strategies for managing expectations and the best processes for SEO.

Websites DO NOT Equal SEO

As digital marketers, we understand this. But, it needs clarifying in the early phases of website development. A well-designed website with optimized images, updated content, and optimized for mobile will help your SEO value. But, a new website only accounts for a small amount of the overall value. The companies ranking PAGES on the first ten results of Google for high-volume keywords are likely spending $1,000s each month to reach and stay ranked on page one. A good website with a great user experience is imperative to good SEO and converting leads into customers.

Google Ranks Pages/Not Websites

You will commonly hear, “I want my website to rank on the first page of Google.” You want pages ranked. The Google robots crawl individual pages and rank them based on their SEO value. So, a more accurate statement would be, “I want my page focused on the keywords Custom Home Builder Denver to rank in the first ten search results on Google.” Your home page will typically have the most traffic and focus on your main keyword(s). But, each page needs to have relevant content, optimized images, onsite SEO, and outbound strategy.

SEO Takes 5-8 Months for Results

SEO is a “slow burn,” and no one knows Google’s “secret sauce.” Remember, even if you start to figure out the formula, Google adjusts the SEO ranking system daily and typically makes significant updates every few years. In the past 18 months, Google has made two major updates to its algorithm. The first gave more value to the mobile experience. The second evaluated content to ensure it’s helpful and not a keyword-rich article to improve search value. Researching the most achievable keywords takes 2-4 weeks, and implementing a strategy involving the main phases, technical SEO, OnSite SEO, and Off-Site SEO, is just the beginning. Ranking for targeted keywords will take a consistent monthly program of content development, backend keyword adjustments, link development, website maintenance, and data analytics. Monitoring the metrics is a must. As my boss mentioned above also used to say, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

Is Your Organization Ready to Receive Leads

As a marketer focused on lead generation, one of the most significant issues I confront is implementing an SEO plan and creating qualified leads, and the company isn’t prepared. The rule of thumb we follow after receiving leads:

• 82% of leads expect an immediate response
• The fastest responder closes approximately 50% of the leads
• Responding after 30 minutes is 21x less effective than responding within five minutes

Another common roadblock to becoming institutionally ready is assuming your product is different. Periodically, I will hear clients say, “My product doesn’t fall under this research. Our company has large ticket items, and people will wait for us to reach out.” But remember, in the information age, potential buyers are almost ⅔ of the way to the sales process before reaching out. People have done their research and are further down the sales process than at any other time in history. That’s why you want to be the resource to help potential customers navigate the overwhelming amount of information in a 1-on-1 setting.

Developing a successful SEO strategy is a complicated process if you want to discuss SEO or digital marketing elements, contact Power Marketing or call us at 615-257-0057.

The post How to Avoid Disappointment in Your SEO appeared first on Power-Marketing.

Acemoglu, a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been challenged on his premise. But, some important aspects need some unpacking. Real wages for workers have barely increased since the 1980s. Before the 1980s, the % of individuals with advanced business degrees who ran companies was 25%. Since then, workers’ wages have struggled to keep up with the inflation rate while the number of people with “MBA-like” degrees running companies has increased to 40%.  

Don’t get me wrong; I think advanced degrees are beneficial. My wife has an M.B.A., and it has served her well. So, I am not disparaging individuals with that degree. I am more annoyed with companies adding unexplainable fees or using overly complicated contracts to increase their bottom lines without adding value. 

One of the most common and regular offenders is AT&T. AT&T cable, phone, and cellular services have settled multiple class action lawsuits over the last ten years, totaling hundreds of millions in fines. I realize major corporations are often the target of class action lawsuits. But, the examples by AT&T get to my point. In August 2022, AT&T agreed to settle a class action lawsuit for adding a $1.99 monthly administrative fee to its phone customers for each additional phone line. Consequently, AT&T agreed to pay $14 million, which, let’s face it, doesn’t even qualify as a slap of the wrist for the mega-corporation. Other settled litigation against AT&T includes charging customers for unauthorized third-party services, advertising unlimited data plans, and slowing customers’ service as data usage increases.

Signs of M.B.A. Disease in Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is complex. That’s why it’s easy to charge hidden fees or wrap them up in long-term agreements without a customer’s knowledge. If you are considering starting a digital marketing project or strategy (e.g., web development, SEO, Google Ads, etc.), here are a few items to help you avoid working with a company suffering from M.B.A. disease. 

Ownership of Your Website and Hosting: The issue I harp on the most is ensuring you own your website. I’ve met with potential clients who believed they owned their website, and when they attempted to move it to another company, they found out they didn’t own the website. So, if they wanted to leave, they had to build a completely new website or pay an additional fee to buy the website.   

Usually, the company building your website will also host your website for a monthly fee. With some digital marketing companies, if you attempt to move the website to another platform, they will add a fee. Since they host your website, they may hijack it and take it down if there is a dispute. Another covert tactic occurs when you try to move your website to another provider, and the company charges you to pack up the files and send them to the new company. Always ask:

1. Will I Own the Website?
2. If I move the website, how much does it cost?
3. What is the process for moving the website?

Fees for Payment Online: Not all online payment fees are bogus. However, a digital marketing company should have already factored that into the overall cost. So, if you are paying by A.C.H. or credit card, ask if there will be additional fees before you sign your contract.

Setup Fees: Setup fees will occur on almost every SEO, Google Ads, or email marketing campaign. In some cases, companies will charge exorbitant amounts for setup fees since the potential customer has no idea how much work goes into the elements of SEO, Google Ads, etc. Ask upfront if there will be a setup fee and what is involved. It’s also important to shop around and determine how much other companies charge for the same setup fees.

Auto-Renewing Contracts (A.K.A. Reading the Fine Print): Most companies use one-year or two-year contracts for services like SEO or hosting. Some digital marketing companies will have clauses buried in the legal agreement stating the contract will automatically renew without written notice. Auto-renewals can be a massive headache if you have to pay for an extra year or two of a service you don’t want because you didn’t send a written notice before the term ends.

Adding confusing legal language and unexplainable fees to agreements at some point became acceptable. Of course, every business has to monitor the numbers to maximize revenue. But more focus should be on retaining customers and expanding the product/services rather than deceiving people. 

The post What is M.B.A. Disease? Know the Signs appeared first on Power-Marketing.

This is where SEO has traditionally come in. Websites have been trying to manipulate the algorithm that determines these search results since we learned about the algorithm in the first place. Initially, this led to articles crammed with keywords, hoping they’d act like internet lighthouses, bringing in visitors.

Google has continually updated their algorithm for search results, sending SEO experts scrambling to stay ahead of the curve. Recently, Google has tried to reward useful content over robotic keywords simply peppered throughout headlines and paragraphs. This effort has just taken another huge step forward with Google’s new Helpful Content update.

We’ll dig into the specifics of this new update so you know exactly what to expect and how you can make it work for you.

What is Google’s Helpful Content Update?

As we said above, the purpose of this new update is for Google to get better at returning articles, videos, and other content that is actually beneficial to users. Content that it deems to have been written for search engines will be downgraded.

As stated by Google themselves:

“Google Search is always working to better connect people to helpful information. To this end, we’re launching what we’re calling the “helpful content update” that’s part of a broader effort to ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results.”

The rollout of the Helpful Content update is set to begin the week of August 22nd, 2022 and could take up to two weeks to fully implement.

Users have become frustrated with articles that are obviously written with the sole purpose of ranking high in search results. These articles don’t offer value to readers or visitors, only serving to frustrate them as they continue to look for answers to their questions. This new update looks to correct that, which means many websites will see some drastic changes to their search rankings.

How Does the Helpful Content Update Impact Search Results?

Google’s system will automatically begin scanning websites, webpages, blogs, e-commerce listings, and more. They’ll be looking for content that is unhelpful to the user. Anything that doesn’t offer value will be negatively impacted, reflected by a much lower positioning in search engine results.

“Any content — not just unhelpful content — on sites determined to have relatively high amounts of unhelpful content overall is less likely to perform well in Search, assuming there is other content elsewhere from the web that’s better to display. For this reason, removing unhelpful content could help the rankings of your other content,” said Google.

Websites that have well-researched, informative articles that offer immediate value to users will be rewarded.

If you’ve spent a lot of time writing with SEO practices in mind, it’s well worth the effort to update your content. This classifier will run continuously. New websites will be assessed, as will existing websites. It might take a little time to regain your positive standing in search results, but it can be done by replacing unhelpful content geared toward the old algorithm with new, quality information.

How Can You Use the Helpful Content Update To Drive Traffic to Your Website?

In short: Write better content. That might sound reductive, but it’s the most straightforward way you can raise your search result rankings. Offer content that will satisfy users–the days of writing to please a computer are long gone.

Google provided some questions you can ask yourself to determine if the Helpful Content update will reward your website. Every time you answer “yes” is another step toward advantageous search result rankings.

• Do you have an existing or intended audience for your business or site that would find the content useful if they came directly to you?
• Does your content clearly demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge (for example, expertise that comes from having actually used a product or service, or visiting a place)?
• Does your site have a primary purpose or focus?
• After reading your content, will someone leave feeling they’ve learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal?
• Will someone reading your content leave feeling like they’ve had a satisfying experience?
• Are you keeping in mind our guidance for core updates and for product reviews?

This new update will greatly improve the experience of every Google user. And if you want to be there for the ride, you need to be sure your content provides value. Audit your existing content and update or delete anything that doesn’t clearly and sufficiently answer the question it is supposed to answer. Contact us to discover how we can help you with your Helpful Content.

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