The term blog can describe what we are talking about in general (adding material to your site) but I want to be a little more specific so I use either “Dog Training Articles”, “News and Articles” or “Success Stories”. They are all blogging, but we break them down to 2 or 3 categories.

• Success stories can be a testimonial from a client or your experience with a dog OR both together on one page.
• Dog Training articles can be more specifically training articles….
• News and articles could be news about your business, new trainers, new location, what tools you like or don’t like… (this seems like the least used)

The bottom line is to

• Add UNIQUE content to your site so that Google sees you as an authority online
• Include words that people are searching for (basic dog behavior issues)
• Mention locations (since you are a local business)

In regards to the layout and design (Website Conversion Design), the most important thing is a layout that will convert well and look good on all devices. That takes a simple design and good correctly sized quality pictures, not stock photos​. To convert well the top of the site should convey;

• I know your problem (ash tree concern)
• I can fix your problem (I treat ash trees in your area)
• Call me! (people need to be told what to do)

When someone who needs help looks at a site, they ​make an immediate decision whether or not they can be helped. That means they don’t read, they only scan. You as a business owner have only seconds to catch their attention. The most important thing they should see first is that they can be helped. So only pictures and bullet points should be at the top of the site, they are easy to scan. The bullet points can be on the pictures.. The top has to immediately offer what the company does as a service and where. Much of this is subliminal. They have to feel that you can HELP them. This is often better done with a minimalist layout. Large text and bullet points. We are still at the point where we are trying to CATCH the visitor within the first 10 seconds of them on the site.

I picture is worth a thousand words..The correct picture can convey so much.

Bullet points should be fashioned to promote positive answers, subconsciously we want the visitor to feel and think POSITIVE, so their experience on your site is positive.

The visitor should immediate recognize a person will help them, not an entity or corporation. People expect people to help them, so a person has to be clearly positioned on the top. This makes it personal. That is why we have Walmart Greeters.

After you got their attention and they feel you can help them, they might look around to learn more about you. We don’t want that. We don’t want them to go to your social media page to see what you look like or what others say about you. WE WANT THEM TO CONTACT You…

Since you can’t be sure of what page google might serve in its results, all the main service pages should adhere to this design.

After these basics are covered, the details are less important. For example colors (blue is a trustworthy color) can be more personal. The bottoms of the pages should be lots of text. Each page ideally should have 300 or more words. Keep in mind, most of the text is for google. You should write it for people, but most of your clients don’t want to read all about what you do. The ones who do read it all have no intention of paying you, they want to learn from you and do it themselves. The people who want to pay you, DO NOT want to read you content. They want to contact YOU and have you fix the problem. Don’t ever feel like you are loosing money from placing too much info online. If they read it, they weren’t going to give you money anyway…

I hope this helps… and if you have examples of what you like I can copy it…​I just want to encourage you to follow these concepts.

Should I have a Blog on My Site?

I get this question once in a while so I thought I’d explain it better here than a short answer on facebook. Then again, the answer is almost always, you want a blog ON your site as opposed to a separate blog like blogger(dot)com or wordpress.com. Ok, that could be the end of this post. Read on if you need to know WHY.

Here is WHY you should have a blog on your site.  You always want MORE unique, quality content on your site whenever you can get it. You are trying to convince Google that you are an authority in your field. You can’t do that well with a five page website if you competition has lots of pages. You need to add good unique content to your site. This process will help your site rank better in google. There are many other important ways of getting better ranking (like back linking) but having a blog or adding content to your site regardless of what you call it is always one of the most important things you can do.

If you are challenged by the concept of writing articles or blogging here are some helping tips.

The easiest is to have someone else write for you, (testimonials) from your clients.

The second easiest is to write success stories. This is like a testimonial but YOU write it. For most people it is much easier to document what you have done, rather than write an article from scratch.

The hardest is to write articles; these can be about your business, or service. You can write about your opinion of different teaching tools or aides. How you do things, or how you don’t.

If typing is the issue, you can purchase an inexpensive microphone and use a online dictation or transcription service or program. Talking for a few minutes can put a lot of text on a page. You still have to go over it but that is easier than typing it all out.

Regardless of how you come up with the material, your goal should be for each page to contain:

• at least 300 words
• at least one image
• words your readers or potential clients and customers are looking for. This is important. You are not trying to impress your piers, you are trying to related to the layperson who is looking for your services. Use words and phrases that the layperson would use to put in a search engine to find you.

If you are looking for more SEO information, call or text 754 227 9876

I’ve been asked what is the difference between a web developer and a web designer. A designer usually designs good looking websites but might struggle to get all the technical features and functions to work. A developer can build a website will all the functions and features you can imagine but the over all look and layout might not be that spectacular.

I build websites that focus on generating leads by ranking well in Search Engines and Converting Visitors to Clients.

Here is an over view of what i think is important in regards to Dog Training Marketing. I offer FREE SEO CONSULTATION. Contact me now!

The new way to design is for mobile devices first, then for a desktop. To that end, sites are becoming more simple… Large images, large text and often one column. This is done so the website will look ok in ALL devices… Although it might be boring on the larger desktops.

Here are a few of design points that I think are important;

Sites must be mobile friendly. Google is very serious about that now. There is two parts to this, one is a code in the site that tells google it is supposed to be mobile friendly, and other more practical issues like the text can’t be too small. Buttons can’t be too small or too close together…

Above the fold should have Dog Trainer or Training and the location. Second to that should be the contact info or button. Another personal preference is a Dog Training picture. A picture is worth a thousand words! A good picture of a dog is nice, but it does not convey “DOG TRAINING”. The picture needs to be a person training a dog. Not a picture of a dog and a person (that is good for a testimonial). And not just a picture of a dog down, catching a ball or sitting.. It has to be a picture of a person training a dog. I think the best is a side shot of the person and dog, with the dog in a down or sit position. Two dogs is even better. Imagine the emotional connection you can make with a person who can’t get their dog to sit, or stop jumping and YOU CAN MAKE TWO DOGS SIT OR DOWN. The potential client would think you are like magic AND you can help them! This is also very important because people are drawn to people… Btw, your focus should be on improving the humans life and that will only be done by another person who can train dogs. You are not selling cute puppies or beautiful dogs. People want to see people, not corporate entities.

TAKEAWAY: Try to get a picture of a person training a dog

Above the fold should be about how you can help your potential client, not about you. No one cares about you, what you have done or certificates you have, they only care about what you can do for them.

TAKEAWAY: List credentials, certificates, etc., below they fold or on about us page.
Once you get them hooked emotionally, what you want next is to have them contact you. You don’t necessarily want them spending lots of time on your site. From a business standpoint you want them to call so you can lock them into a plan or consultation. To that end, the content above the fold needs to say “I understand your problem, I can help, call me! ” of course you would word this in a way you are comfortable…. Keep in mind, people need to be told what to do.

TAKEAWAY: Use bullet points and short sentences with a CALL TO ACTION.

That brings me to another pet peeve in regards to marketing. I wouldn’t have the social media buttons at the top of the site, I’d have them at the bottom. The last thing you want is to have someone leave your site and go to your social media pages and not contact you. Your website will convert better than social media page so once they leave your site, there is less chance they will contact you. I know if I get on youtube I could be missing for days…

TAKEAWAY: move social media buttons to bottom

Just a reminder for those who follow this page for SEO help or tips. It is more important than ever to have a good mobile site. That is because Google rankings take into consideration the fact that your site is mobile friendly or not. Not mobile friendly, not going to rank well in Google.

That all sounds simple enough but like most SEO and Google issues there can be more than meets the eye. Remember the basics, no duplicate content, it all has to be unique to the web.

That means because Google wants good quality valuable content you can’t carelessly build a mobile site unless it uses the same content with the exact URL’s as the main site, or you build a totally separate website with completely new content.

Recently I have seen some businesses use their gmail address as their business email. In most cases it is more professional to have an email with your website address like info@mywebsites.com. That tends to be look more professional. I know it may seem like more work to check a second or a third email address but that doesn’t have to be so. It is possible to setup a Gmail account to take care of most all of your email needs.

I am not a big Google lover, but they do have some good tools and most are free. In the case of the gmail, it is possible to “POP” your regular emails (just like we used to do with Microsoft Outlook). You can also set up your email so that when you reply, it will be sent FROM the same address that it was sent TO. This way the sender will receive the email from who they sent it to. You can set up Gmail to allow someone to answer and reply to your emails.

Contact us now to help take full advantage of the many FREE Google features

So if you have a gmail already and you are considering using that as your business email you should look into creating a real business email. As long as you own and control your domain or the hosting of your website it can be done. Normally the email is setup in the hosting of the website. It can be setup with just the domain (incase you don’t have a live website) you can still set it up.

Another benefit of having a gmail account if you have a business website is for the FREE analytics and webmaster tools. Analytics will give you loads of information about your visitors, where they came from, what keywords they used, what websites they came from to get to your site, where they are, what device they are using and much more.

Google Webmaster Tools will let you know if you have any errors on your site, what websites link to you, what keywords are used to display your site in google results and it is where you give Google a link to your xml sitemap and much more…

Having a Gmail account has many more FREE benefits that Google offers, Google Plus, Youtube, Voice and more.

Using SEO shortcuts or so-called “black hat” techniques to improve Google rankings can be tempting for businesses looking for quick results, but these methods are often counterproductive and can lead to severe consequences. Here are several reasons why SEO shortcuts don’t work for Google ranking:

1. Algorithm Sophistication: Google’s search algorithms are highly sophisticated and continuously evolving. They are designed to identify and penalize manipulative tactics that attempt to game the system. Shortcuts like keyword stuffing, hidden text, and link schemes are easily detected by these advanced algorithms.
2. Penalties and Bans: Engaging in black hat SEO techniques can result in penalties from Google. These penalties can range from lower rankings to complete removal from search engine results pages (SERPs). Recovering from such penalties can be a long and difficult process, often requiring a complete overhaul of the website’s SEO strategy.
3. User Experience: Google prioritizes user experience in its ranking criteria. SEO shortcuts often compromise the quality of content and the overall user experience. For example, keyword stuffing can make content unreadable, and spammy backlinks can lead users to low-quality or irrelevant sites. Poor user experience can result in higher bounce rates and lower engagement, which negatively impacts rankings.
4. Lack of Sustainability: SEO shortcuts may provide temporary boosts in rankings, but they are not sustainable in the long run. Google’s algorithms are continually updated to close loopholes and improve search quality. Relying on shortcuts means constantly chasing new tricks to stay ahead, which is neither efficient nor effective compared to sustainable, long-term SEO strategies.
5. Reputation Damage: Black hat SEO practices can damage your brand’s reputation. If users realize that your website uses manipulative tactics, they may lose trust in your brand. Additionally, if your site is penalized and disappears from search results, it can harm your credibility and lead to a loss of business.
6. Quality Over Quantity: Google emphasizes the importance of high-quality content and authoritative links. Shortcuts often focus on quantity over quality, such as generating numerous low-quality backlinks or creating thin content. This approach is misaligned with Google’s focus on providing valuable and relevant content to users.
7. Ethical Considerations: Using ethical, white hat SEO practices aligns with Google’s guidelines and builds a positive online presence. Ethical SEO focuses on creating valuable content, earning genuine backlinks, and providing a good user experience. This approach not only improves rankings but also fosters trust and credibility with your audience.

To achieve sustainable and long-term success in Google rankings, it’s essential to focus on ethical SEO practices that align with Google’s guidelines. This includes creating high-quality content, optimizing for user experience, earning genuine backlinks, and staying informed about algorithm updates and industry best practices. By prioritizing these strategies, businesses can build a strong and reputable online presence that withstands algorithm changes and delivers lasting results.

The most important point we try to hammer home to potential clients is that you can’t fool the nerds at Google. Everything you do, both on and off your site, should be working toward the end goal of making your user experience awesome… not trying to fool Google into placing you higher on search results pages.  

http://www.brickmarketing.com/blog/fool-google

During the Summer of 2014 I had a restaurant equipment supply company contact me about doing their SEO and helping them with their website.  I knew when I met with the client it might be a little bit of a challenge but he seemed like a good guy, the website was built using wordpress and I figured I could help. I should have known when he didn’t want to have anything to do with a contract that it might not be that good of a deal for me. After talking to him for a while I realized he seemed to have a sense of what it took to rank well in Google (5 years ago). Here is when I should have made a stand and tried to correct him about his failing strategies. Prior to my being involved he had some other people from out the country help him with optimization and he seemed very disappointed with them. He understood that his website had some articles on it that were written for SEO purposes. The articles were nothing special but they were keyword oriented, after going through the site I found that the spammy SEO articles were the primary articles on the site. The site was mostly image oriented and even the descriptions for the for sale items didn’t add much to the overall text of the website or user experience. The owner of the company was convinced all I had to do was add pictures of new items to the website and rewrite the articles with different locations and he would be back to ranking well in google.

When I started to spend more time on original articles, building his Social Media exposure and other SEO strategies like back-linking rather than adding the new images to his site, he became unhappy. I know he wanted the Google rankings to improve but he thought that would be done by nothing more than copying one of the existing articles, replacing the location keywords and adding it back as a new article to the site. He didn’t seem to understand the importance of good valuable content.

He didn’t want to continue with my services because he was convinced he knew what needed to be done and wanted me to spend more time adding pictures and videos to the website.  I tried explaining to him in order to rank well it wasn’t as simple as rewriting an poorly written article  and changing the locations (which worked for him years ago).

It has been a few months and I recently checked the site in Google and it is ranking better now. It seems my methods worked, back-linking and increasing Social Media signals helped like I thought it would.

Like the article from brickmarketing implies, you can’t fool the Google guys. Good content and a good user experience is what google wants to show. You can’t get around it. Content was king when I started doing SEO work in 2000 and it is still just as important now.

I was asked to review welovepetstraining.com who said they expected more from this site. Here are some of the tips to improve rankings and conversion which should increase leads and contacts for their dog training business.

Lets go over some of the basics;

• Keyword – in this case a service together with a location “dog training Johnson County, KS ” is one, pet sitting Johnson County, KS” is another.
• Using the keywords in the meta title and description of the page. One kw per page. Think of the kw as the theme of the page.
• There are only 5 pages indexed in google and 3 of them are documents. A blog should be installed so that you can easily add and modify content.
• Each service should have its own page so that they can be optimized for each keyword.
• Google loves content BUT it must be unique and relevant. The content must be written in such a way to show your authority in the field. It must be informative and valuable. NEVER copied from any other online source.
• Once your get more visitors to they site, they need to be directed or told to take an action, this is called “a call to action”.  A good looking site with great information is very important, but at some point you need to direct people to contact you or sign up for a newsletter or take some action that will benefit you. You only have seconds to get their initial attention before they continue going through the results in Google and on to the next on the list.
• Keep in mind that the visitor is interested in primarily one thing, and it isn’t your background, education or great prices, the main thing the visitor is interested in is “WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR THEM”.
  • To that end, it is best to figure out what your visitors wants or needs and offer a solution.  For example,
  • “Does your dog jump? We can help!”
  • ‘”Your dog a nightmare to walk? WE CAN HELP!”   
  • “Fido out of control? Contact us now so we can help!”
• Find other related websites to link back to your site.
• Get your business info (name, address, phone, website) listed on local directories.
• On a more technical side of the equation, the site should have both an xml and html sitemap and the xml sitemap should be submitted to google and bing using their webmaster tools page.
• The testimonials should be visible for visitors and google to see.
• Use social media (facebook, pinterest, google plus, twitter, etc.) to reach out, engage and direct people to the site – mandatory!
• Create and add videos to Youtube and embed them on your site to SHOW the world what you can do.

I use wordpress for all my new clients so they can make all the simple changes and updates they want without having to pay a developer.

(Read more here – http://www.seodoesmatter.com/search-engine-optimization/seo-checklist/)

Looking for a, SEO checklist? SEO is valuable to your site.  There are over 200 variables that Google and other search engines use to evaluate your site.

Recommended SEO checklist:

1. Research good keywords for the domain and meta tags
2. Use proper structure in design and layout
3. Apply internal and backlinking strategies
4. Decrease the load time to your site
5. Use anchor text for hyperlinks
6. Write good web content and add often
7. Optimize your graphics and videos and use alt text
8. Get involved in  social media
9. Apply Google Analytics to figure out what works and what doesn’t
10. Use Google Webmaster Tools to correct crawl errors and broken links

Remember: It doesn’t stop here with this checklist! Successful SEO is an ongoing process that always has room to improve. In order to build your site, you need to continue to develop good content and avoid errors that will hinder search engines from revisiting your site. If you have questions about any of these, leave a comment or contact us and we’ll be glad to help direct you with the best SEO strategy for your business!

Make your site SEO friendly then move ahead with other forms of internet marketing!

An SEO checklist is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide designed to ensure that a website adheres to best practices for search engine optimization. It serves as a structured tool to help website owners, developers, and marketers systematically optimize various elements of a website to improve its visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). Here’s how to best describe an SEO checklist:

1. Comprehensive Guide: An SEO checklist covers all the critical aspects of SEO, from technical SEO and on-page optimization to off-page factors and content strategy. It ensures no important element is overlooked during the optimization process.
2. Step-by-Step Process: The checklist is organized in a logical, sequential order, guiding users through each phase of SEO. This structured approach makes it easier to follow and implement, especially for those new to SEO.
3. Best Practices: It includes industry-standard best practices and up-to-date recommendations to align the website with current search engine algorithms and guidelines. This helps in avoiding common pitfalls and ensuring compliance with search engine rules.
4. Technical SEO: The checklist addresses technical aspects such as website speed, mobile-friendliness, URL structure, XML sitemaps, and schema markup. Ensuring these elements are optimized helps search engines crawl and index the site efficiently.
5. On-Page SEO: It covers on-page factors like keyword research, title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, image alt text, and internal linking. These elements help search engines understand the content and context of each page.
6. Content Optimization: The checklist emphasizes the importance of high-quality, relevant, and engaging content. It includes guidelines for creating content that satisfies user intent, incorporates target keywords naturally, and provides value to the audience.
7. Off-Page SEO: It outlines strategies for building high-quality backlinks, improving domain authority, and leveraging social signals. Off-page optimization is crucial for establishing credibility and authority in the eyes of search engines.
8. Analytics and Monitoring: The checklist includes steps for setting up and using analytics tools to track website performance, monitor traffic, and measure the effectiveness of SEO efforts. This helps in making data-driven decisions and continuous improvements.
9. User Experience (UX): It incorporates elements that enhance user experience, such as site navigation, readability, and overall usability. A positive UX not only improves user engagement but also contributes to better search engine rankings.
10. Regular Updates: An effective SEO checklist is regularly updated to reflect changes in search engine algorithms, industry trends, and new best practices. Staying current ensures that the website remains optimized over time.

In summary, an SEO checklist is a valuable tool that provides a systematic approach to optimizing a website for search engines. It ensures that all critical aspects of SEO are addressed, helping improve the website’s visibility, ranking, and overall performance in search results.