Category: Search Engine Optimization

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Use Different Keywords for Organic Placement

Nancy McCord is a Google and Bing Partner
Nancy McCord is a Google and Bing Partner

As a professional AdWords account manager and expert in Search Engine Optimization, I do recommend that the focus of keywords be different for your website optimization versus what you use for pay per click.

Personally, I like a very narrow set of very tightly targeted keywords for AdWords; as we are typically driving traffic for lead generation. Our top focus is cost per conversion and increasing leads.

For organic, I like to focus on keywords that have the most click activity and may be more general yet still industry specific. I find that the balance helps sites to drive more site visits and  leads and is not redundant with the specificity we use for AdWords.

For example, for a client selling warehouse equipment, in AdWords I might target very tight product names and categories like Forklift model 45S, powered warehouse equipment, and other specific keywords.

In organic I might target material handling equipment and material handling equipment supplier as my focus for blog writing and social media; striving to cast the net farther and wider but for high click volume keywords.

When every click you pay for in AdWords must make a difference in growing your business, you have to be narrow and very results oriented. In organic where you do not pay by the click the effort should be to enhance website traffic that is free.

If you need help adjusting your strategies to make the most of your ad spend and drive traffic and build inbound links, visit www.McCordWeb.com to see how we can help you too.

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It’s the Page Speed Load Time That Hurts Your Sales

McCordWeb.com Results
McCordWeb.com Results

Continued from Monday.

Google says that as your site load speed increases from 1 to 7 seconds, your bounce rate increases 113%. Missed opportunities; bounced prospects means missed sales.

I tested my own website against a number of other sites on the Google Test My Site tool and here’s what I found.

My site www.mccordweb.com – 3 second load, excellent rating, low loss of visitors. My site is a responsive design in PHP and only uses WordPress for the blog.

Fulfillment company legacy HTML website that is over 8 years old, but the owner is not ready to do an update yet. 7 second load time, fair rating, 26% estimated visitor loss.

Pest control company legacy PHP website that is over 10 years old, but the owner is not ready to do a site update yet. 6 second load time. fair rating, 24% estimated visitor loss.

Medical business redone responsive WordPress website, but the owner was not speed-focused. 7 second load time. fair rating, 26% estimated visitor loss.

GPS technology business newly redone responsive WordPress website with a very glitzy look, but the designer was not speed-focused. 10 second load time. poor rating, 29% estimated visitor loss.

What I have found is that the WordPress sites with the slide show on the home page are not testing well for speed. The PHP based websites that do not have a slide show cover and are more text focused and utilize created AMP pages are testing as speedy.

Need help with your website? Check us out to see how we can help you get a speedy rating and not risk visitor loss.

 

 

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It’s the Page Speed Load Time, Stupid

McCordWeb.com Results
McCordWeb.com Results

No offense intended, but to not be paying attention to your website load time is simply not smart in the world of Google today.

This is why knowing and working to improve your page speed and site load time is crucial.

Google has a new tool called “Google Test My Site”. This online tool will test your URL, compare your site to others, give you a rating, and even give you a free report and recommendations to follow to improve your speed.

Google says that your site will lose one-half of all your visitors while the page is loading. Know that 70% of visitors globally are surfing the web on 3G or slower speeds until 2020. Want more business? Speed up your website!

Test your own site out today now at Google Test My Site. Then touch base with us about purchasing a new fast responsive PHP website. Our own website at www.mccordweb.com clocks at a 3 second load, received and excellent rating, and has low visitor loss.

Find out more about Page Speed and what we’ve found out on Wednesday.

 

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Mobile Page Speed Now Becomes a Crucial Consideration

Mobile Page Speed Matters to Google and Your Customers
Mobile Page Speed Matters to Google and Your Customers

Google sent me an interesting tool this past week and I wanted to share it with you. You can view and use the mobile impact tool online https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/feature/mobile/. This tool allows you to measure the speed and monetary impact from the speed of your clocked website with just a few additional insights about your average sale, website traffic, and conversion rate online.

Not only is Google getting serious about letting website owners know that page speed on mobile device impacts sales, but they provide the tool to help you understand that even improving your site by a second can improve your sales results; and now you can see that in monetary terms.

Add to this information the announcement that in July 2018 Google will use mobile page speed as a ranking indicator for organic placement and the push to make your site speedy becomes crucial to success. Read the article by Search Engine Land on Google’s announcement.

This focus on mobile impacts not just e-commerce stores, but informational websites. Although the key focus and significant impact is to those that make their living selling products on the web.

Don’t tear your hair out, although Google says speed is important, the do provide additional details.

“Google today announced a new ranking algorithm designed for mobile search. The company is calling it the “Speed Update,” and it will only impact a small percentage of queries, Google reiterated to us. Only pages that “deliver the slowest experience to users” will be impacted by this update, the company says.”

My recommendation is that if you are selling online – start your focus on speed. And if you are really in the service or consulting business, know that speed is important and should be a strong focus when you do a website redesign.