Google's SEO Starter Guide

Google has made their SEO standards more transparent than ever for webmasters with their new SEO Starter Guide!

Understandably, diving into the relatively uncharted world of SEO optimization can be intimidating and tricky for new webmasters at first. But luckily, Google's new compact guide will help to assuage some of those initial fears and shed some light on the subject!

Google's new guide explains the following SEO practices on a fundamental, easy to understand level:

1. Creating unique, accurate page titles
2. Making use of the "description" meta tag
3. Improving the structure of your URLs
4. Making your site easier to navigate
5. Offering quality content and services
6. Writing better anchor text
7. Using heading tags appropriately
8. Optimizing your images
9. Making effective use of robots.txt
10. Being aware of rel="nofollow" for links
11. Promoting your website in the right ways

Basically, reading this guide is akin to taking a SEO 101 course at your local community college. I would say however, reading the guide is a much more efficient use of time and won't drain the coffers. Enjoy!

Labels: Google Standards, SEO, Web Strategy

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Take your SEO to the next level with these tips and tricks!

Let's say you're a rookie in the field of search engine optimization, and you've just recently gotten the hang of how good fundamental SEO practices work. Let's also say you've recoded your company's new website in order to implement these best practices. So far you have removed all image-based page and section titles and replaced them with proper H1 and H2 tags; added meaningful keywords to your titles tags instead of having the same "Welcome to Company Name!" label for each page; added informative alt tags to the web site's imagery; and hey, you've even cleaned up that rather large list of meaningless keyword-stuffed links conducive to classic black hat SEO tactics that the Holy Grail of SEO Practitioners, Google, deftly frowns upon!

So you've implemented the basics. Where do you go from here?

My first recommendation is that you visit this handy cheat sheet located at Vaughn's Summaries: Google Ranking Factors - SEO Checklist. Though the formatting and usability of this checklist leave much to be desired, there is no disputing the fact that it contains handy information, tips, and techniques you may have overlooked or not considered before when optimizing your web site. Heck, it even lets you know what practices are looked down upon ahead of time so you're not hauled off by the SEO Police!

My second recommendation is to visit this excellent compiled list of 21 Great SEO Tips From Google's Matt Cutts, located on SEO Egghead. In this collection of tips, Matt gives great advice and perspective on the technicalities of well thought out SEO.

It is, after all, the details that make good SEO great SEO, right?

Of course it is. So visit the page of 21 Great SEO Tips and educate yourself on why nearly hidden keyword-stuffed text is more damaging than completely hidden keyword-stuffed text, why you should be weary of who links to your website, how redirects are vital, and why user-friendly URLs triumph over dynamically generated ones any day!

I know all these SEO tips, tricks and rules seem like a lot to worry about when you are beginning to refine your skills, but hey, practice makes perfect! The more often you make all these little pieces a part of the larger picture when authoring and strategizing SEO for your next website, the more intuitive it becomes!

Labels: online marketing, SEO, Site Optimization, Web Strategy, website optimization

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Who needs Google when you're just local?

Blast Advanced Media works with small, mid-size, national and multi-national businesses. We rarely find that clients will come to us unaware of the benefits effective search engine marketing can bring to their business - even if they still think there is a magic formula to making their business the guaranteed number one result on Google. Recently I was working with a client who was skeptical when I was explaining some of the benefits of our web site optimization services, how they would help improve search engine rankings and likely bring more clients into their small, local business. Our conversation went something like this:

Client: "I am a local business, with no intention of going national anytime soon..."
Me: "How are you currently bringing in new clients?"
Client: "I get most of my business through word of mouth and some from the yellow pages... I don't really need to be found on the web"
Me: "You don't think increased visibility on search engines could benefit you?"
Client: "Not really... I'm a local business, people don't search for my services on the internet."
Me: "If you've never focused on optimizing your site to show up in search results how would you know?"
Client: [Silence...] "Hmm. I don't know..."

The truth is every day, millions of people use the web to find local businesses. Consumers conduct millions of local searches per month and many will call local businesses that they find in their searches to, at a minimum, get more information. These types of local keyword searches are often very high quality leads since the searcher has a very specific need versus something general, like books. If you told most business owners you could bring them 10 new prospective clients for a relatively minimal investment and that as many as 3 to 4 of those prospects would turn into paying customers or clients, most would find that a favorable proposition.

Focusing on local keyword phrases, we have seen greatly improved results for locally focused businesses. On one recent project, using geo-targeted keywords our client's site reached #1 ranking on Google and MSN for several relevant keyword searches. Even more impressive is where our client was listed before our search engine optimization (SEO) efforts (which was nowhere) and after our SEO efforts (which is 51 new listings):

Before			After
Listings in the First Position	0		Listings in the First Position	7
Listings in the Top 5 Positions	0		Listings in the Top 5 Positions	23
Listings in the Top 10 Positions	0		Listings in the Top 10 Positions	32
Listings in the Top 20 Positions	0		Listings in the Top 20 Positions	46
Listings in the Top 30 Positions	0		Listings in the Top 30 Positions	51
Total	0		Total	51

Local Search now 50% of all Client's Website Traffic

Free organic search engine traffic for local specific terms now accounts for approximately 50% of all traffic to this client's site!

Improving your search engine results not only gets you listed on the major national search engines, but also improves the chances of being listed on link aggregators and directories focused on local results. Don't believe that just because your business has a local or regional target audience that being found on the web can't benefit your business. Local search is one of the most powerful sales channels to come along in decades - but it only works if you take the time to optimize your site so it can be found.

Labels: local search engine optimization, local SEO, online marketing, SEO

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SEO Tip: Why Use Squidoo?

Unless you have been purposefully shunning the online social media movement over the past few years, by now you might have heard of a nifty website called Squidoo.

Squidoo is essentially a wiki website functioning on Seth Godin's credo that "Everyone's an expert on something!" By that standard, anyone who is passionate enough about a subject, be it a person, place or thing, is qualified to create a one-page site (called a "lens") which allows them to share their knowledge with other users.

Interesting enough of an idea, right? So what is our primary reason here at Blast for advocating the use of Squidoo as a SEO tool?

Our primary reason is the probability that if executed correctly, a well-created and frequently maintained Squidoo lens can boost a person's, product's or service's placement in search engine results pages (SERPs) and potentially drive traffic to a desired website. This is done by optimizing the lens with meaningful, keyword-dense headline tags and relevant well-authored content, both dynamic and static in nature. (Not unlike properly optimizing a regular website, is it?)

Simply put, Squidoo can help us to help our clients get a better foothold in SERPs.

It is also extremely useful for more specific online marketing goals, as briefly touched upon by one of the most well-respected pundits of online marketing himself, Seth Godin:



Ah, so many great SEO-boosting and online marketing possibilities to explore with Squidoo, and so little time to investigate other useful websites with charmingly peculiar names!

Labels: Lead Generation, online marketing, SEO, Site Optimization, Web Strategy

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Classique Catering, Sacramento's Premier Caterer, Launches New Website

After having been voted Best Caterer by Sacramento Magazine every year since 1998, Classique Catering needed a new website to help accomplish their business objectives of increasing the visibility of the company and of presenting the various services they provide to current and potential clients. While best known as the top caterer in Sacramento, Classique Catering also provides event planning services so they can make their clients lives easier by planning every aspect of a corporate event or wedding.

Classique Catering relied heavily on the expertise of the web design team at Blast Advanced Media to guide them through the process of presenting their compelling message online. Through close collaboration and utilizing an Agile User Centered Design (Agile-UCD) methodology, the new site focuses on meeting the needs of Classique Catering's current and potential clients.

"At Classique Catering we believe that to be the Best Caterer, you must always strive for innovative menus and presentation." said Richard Ginzel, General Manager of Classique Catering, "We are looking forward to the tools and flexibility that Blast's Motivity™ will give us as we reinvent cuisine for social and corporate events. We are always striving to be better and to be the best!"

With seasonal menus featuring California's world renowned produce and new information about events and venues, Classique Catering chose to implement Motivity™ so information on the site will always be easy to keep up to date. Because of Motivity™'s focus on marketing, Classique will be able to improve their online marketing and better track and measure their overall marketing return on investment.

Visit Classique Catering's website.

Numerous web design galleries has featured Classique Catering's new redesign:

CSS Mania

CSS Based

CSS Bag

CSS Zone

One CSS

CSS Design Yorkshire

Labels: cms, Raving Fans, SEO, Web Design

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