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.

If you are not familiar with search engine optimization, use this SEO glossary to help you with unfamiliar online marketing terms.

Affiliate Marketing – Affiliate marketing is a process of revenue sharing that allows merchants to duplicate sales efforts by enlisting other web sites as a type of outside sales force. Successful affiliate marketing programs result in the merchant attracting additional buyers, and the affiliate earning the equivalent of a referral fee, based on click-through referrals to the merchant site.

Algorithm – A set of rules that a search engine uses to rank listings in response to a query. Search engines guard their algorithms closely, as they are the unique formulas used to determine relevancy.

ALT Text – Also known as alternative text or alt attribute. An HTML tag (ALT tag) used to provide images with a text description in the event images are turned off in a web browser. The images text description is usually visible while “hovering” over the image. This tag is also important for the web access of the visually impaired

Anchor Text – Descriptive, clickable text in a hyperlink.

Arbitrage – A practice through which web publishers – second tier search engines, directories and vertical search engines – engage in the buying and reselling of web traffic. Typically, arbitrage occurs when such publishers pool client budgets to engage in PPC campaigns on Tier I search engines (Google, Yahoo!, MSN). If the publishers pay $0.10 per click for traffic, they typically resell those visitors to clients who bid $0.20 or more for the same keywords. Successful arbitrage requires that the arbitrageur must pay less per click than what the traffic sells for. The variation called Affiliate Arbitrage involves a web site owner or blogger bidding on keywords from programs such as Yahoo! Search Marketing or Google AdWords, who then links the ads, either to their own web site, or directly to a merchant site displaying ads (from programs such as the Yahoo! Publisher Network or Google AdSense).

Backlinks – All the links pointing back at a particular web page on the owner’s website. Also called inbound links.

CPC – Cost Per Click, advertising where you only pay when your ad is clicked.

Cascading Style Sheets or CSS – An addition to your HTML, a web site’s “cascading style sheet” contains information on paragraph layout, font sizes, colors, etc. A cascading style sheet has many uses as far as search engine optimization and web site design are concerned.

Click Through Rate – The percentage of those clicking on a link out of the total number who see the link. For example, imagine 10 people do a web search. In response, they see links to a variety of web pages. Three of the 10 people all choose one particular link. That link then has a 30 percent click-through rate. Also called CTR. Source: Webmaster World Forums

Competitive Analysis – As used in SEO, CA is the assessment and analysis of strengths and weaknesses of competing web sites, including identifying traffic patterns, major traffic sources, and keyword selection.

Conversion Rate – Conversion rates are measurements that determine how many of your prospects perform the prescribed or desired action step. If your prescribed response is for a visitor to sign up for a newsletter, and you had 100 visitors and 1 newsletter signup, then your conversion rate would be 1%. Typically, micro-conversions (for instance, reading different pages on your site) lead to your main conversion step (making a purchase, or signing up for a service).

Crawler – Automated programs in search engines that gather web site listings by automatically crawling the web. A search engine’s crawler (also called a spider or robot) “reads” page text contents and web page coding, and also follows links to other hyperlinked pages on the web pages it crawls. A crawler makes copies of the web pages found and stores these in the search engine’s index, or database.

Deep Linking – Linking that guides, directs and links a click-through searcher (or a search engine crawler) to a very specific and relevant product or category web page from search terms and PPC ads.

Description Tag – Refers to the information contained in the description META tag. This tag is meant to hold the brief description of the web page it is included on. The information contained in this tag is generally the description displayed immediately after the main link on many search engine result pages.

Domain Name – Refers to the web address you type into the address bar in a browser to get to a website. It is also referred to as the URL. (seodoesmatter.com)

Doorway Page – A web page specifically created in order to obtain rankings within the natural listings of a search engine. These pages generally are filled with keywords and are meant to funnel surfers into the main web site. This practice is generally considered an outdated spam tactic. This term is not to be confused with a “landing page.”

Hyperlink – A method of connecting or moving from one webpage to another webpage. Typically done with keyword(s), graphics, or the web URL address. (http://www.seodoesmatter.com)

Internal Linking – A link pointing to another page within your own web site.

IP Address – Acronym for Internet Protocol. This is the numeric address of a website.

Keyword / Keyword Phrase – A specific word or combination of words that a searcher might type into a search field. Includes generic, category keywords; industry-specific terms; product brands; common misspellings and expanded variations (called Keyword Stemming), or multiple words (called Long Tail for their lower CTRs but sometimes better conversion rates). All might be entered as a search query. For example, someone looking to buy coffee mugs might use the keyword phrase “ceramic coffee mugs.” Also, keywords – which trigger ad network and contextual network ad serves – are the auction components on which PPC advertisers bid for all Ad Groups/Orders and campaigns.

Keyword Density – The number of times a keyword or keyword phrase is used in the body of a page. This is a percentage value determined by the number of words on the page, as opposed to the number of times the specific keyword appears within it. In general, the higher the number of times a keyword appears in a page, the higher its density.

Keyword Stemming – To return to the root or stem of a word and build additional words by adding a prefix or suffix, or using pluralization. The word can expand in either direction and even add words, increasing the number of variable options.

Keyword Stuffing – Generally refers to the act of adding an inordinate number of keyword terms into the HTML or tags of a web page.

Keyword Tag – Refers to the META keywords tag within a web page. This tag is meant to hold approximately 8 – 10 keywords or keyword phrases, separated by commas. These phrases should be either misspellings of the main page topic, or terms that directly reflect the content on the page on which they appear. Keyword tags are sometimes used for internal search results as well as viewed by search engines.

Landing Page / Destination Page – The web page at which a searcher arrives after clicking on an ad. When creating a PPC ad, the advertiser displays a URL (and specifies the exact page URL in the code) on which the searcher will land after clicking on an ad in the SERP. Landing pages are also known as “where the deal is closed,” as it is landing page actions that determine an advertiser’s conversion rate success.

Lead– Consumer’s information (contact information such as name and email address) collected that is interested in your business/product/service; a potential customer.

Link Farming – The attempt to substantially and artificially increase link popularity.

Link Popularity – Link popularity generally refers to the total number of links pointing to any particular URL. There are typically two types of link popularity: Internal and External. Internal link popularity typically refers to the number of links or pages within a web site that link to a specific URL. External link popularity refers to the number of inbound links from external web sites that are pointing to a specific URL. If you have more “links” than your competitors, you are typically known to have link cardinality or link superiority.

Long Tail – Keyword phrases with at least three, sometimes four or five, words in them. These long tail keywords are usually highly specific and draw lower traffic than shorter, more competitive keyword phrases, which is why they are also cheaper. Oftentimes, long tail keywords, in aggregate, have good conversion ratios for the low number of click-throughs they generate.

Niche – A defined group of people interested in a similar issue or topic; A distinct segment of a market which can be narrowed or broadened.

Organic Search Listings – Listings that search engines do not sell (unlike paid listings). Instead, sites appear solely because a search engine has deemed it editorially important for them to be included, regardless of payment. Paid Inclusion Content is also often considered “organic” even though it is paid for. This is because paid inclusion content usually appears intermixed with unpaid organic results.

PageRank (PR) – PR is the Google technology developed at Stanford University for placing importance on pages and web sites. At one point, PageRank (PR) was a major factor in rankings. Today it is one of hundreds of factors in the algorithm that determines a page’s rankings.

RSS – Acronym for Rich Site Summary or Real Simple Syndication, a family of web feed formats that leverages XML for distributing and sharing headlines and information from other web content (also known as syndication).

Reciprocal Link – Two different sites that link out to each other. Also referred to as Cross Linking.

Robots.txt – A text file present in the root directory of a website which is used to direct the activity of search engine crawlers. This file is typically used to tell a crawler which portions of the site should be crawled and which should not be crawled.

SERP – Acronym for S earch Engine Results Page. The page delivered to a searcher that displays the results of a search query entered into the search field. Displays both paid ad (sponsored) and organic listings in varying positions or rank.

Sitemap – Refers to HTML sitemap and XML sitemap

XML sitemap is specially formatted files that have links to your pages. The XML sitemap can be submitted directly to search engines.

HTML sitemap is a webpage created with links of your own web pages for users looking for direction to specific pages. They can be categorized to fit the need of the website.

Subdomain – Refers to a folder within a domain used for distinct products or topics. (maps.google.com)

Title Tag – An HTML tag appearing in the <head> tag of a web page that contains the page title. The page title should be determined by the relevant contents of that specific web page. The contents of a title tag for a web page is generally displayed in a search engine result as a bold blue underlined hyperlink.

URL – Acronym for: Uniform Resource Locator. It’s the global web address. It can also be called the domain name.

Verticals – A vertical is a specific business group or category, such as insurance, automotive or travel. Vertical search offers targeted search options and PPC opportunities to a specific business category.

Viral Marketing – Also called viral advertising, viral marketing refers to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness. The awareness increases are the result of self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can often be word-of-mouth delivered and enhanced online; it can also harness the network effect of the internet and can be very useful in reaching a large number of people rapidly. Source: Wikipedia.

Here is an updated list:

Here’s a complete SEO glossary covering important terms, concepts, and acronyms used in the world of Search Engine Optimization:

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A

• ALT Text (Alternative Text): A short description of an image, used for accessibility and to help search engines understand what the image is about.
• Algorithm: A set of rules that search engines use to rank websites in their search results based on relevance and quality.
• Anchor Text: The clickable text in a hyperlink. It’s important for SEO because it gives context about the link’s destination.
• Authority: A measure of how credible and trusted a website or webpage is in a particular niche or industry, often reflected by the quality and quantity of backlinks.

B

• Backlink (Inbound Link): A link from one website to another. Backlinks from authoritative sites can help improve a site’s search engine rankings.
• Black Hat SEO: SEO practices that violate search engine guidelines, such as keyword stuffing, cloaking, and using private link networks. These can result in penalties from search engines.
• Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may indicate that your content or user experience needs improvement.
• Breadcrumbs: A navigational aid that shows the user’s location on a website and helps with both user experience and SEO.

C

• Canonical URL: A tag used to indicate the preferred version of a webpage when there are multiple versions of the same content. This helps avoid duplicate content issues.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of users who click on a link after seeing it in search results. A higher CTR typically indicates that your content is relevant to the search query.
• Content Management System (CMS): A platform (like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal) that allows users to create and manage digital content, including blog posts, web pages, and multimedia.
• Crawling: The process by which search engines systematically browse the web to collect information about websites for indexing.
• Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
• Cloaking: A black hat SEO technique where content presented to the search engine crawlers differs from what is shown to users, often used to deceive search engines.

D

• Domain Authority (DA): A score (on a scale of 1 to 100) developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs).
• Duplicate Content: Content that appears in more than one place on the internet, which can lead to SEO penalties because it confuses search engines about which version is the original.
• Deep Linking: The practice of linking to a specific, inner page of a website rather than the homepage.
• Disavow: The process of telling Google to ignore certain backlinks to your website, usually because they are low-quality or spammy, using the Disavow Tool.

E

• E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): A key quality measure used by Google to evaluate the credibility of websites, particularly in the health, financial, and legal sectors.
• External Link: A hyperlink that points to a webpage outside of your domain.
• Evergreen Content: Content that remains relevant over time, continuing to attract traffic long after it is published.
• Engagement Metrics: Data that shows how users interact with your content, such as time on page, pages per session, and bounce rate.

F

• Featured Snippet: A summary of an answer to a user’s query that appears at the top of Google search results, often referred to as “Position Zero.”
• Freshness: A ranking factor that prioritizes recently published or updated content in search results, particularly for time-sensitive searches.
• Footer Links: Links located in the footer of a webpage, often used for site-wide links like privacy policies or contact information.

G

• Google My Business (GMB): A free tool from Google that allows businesses to manage their online presence, including maps listings and local search results.
• Google Search Console: A free tool that provides insights into how a website performs on Google search, including indexing status, search queries, and potential issues.
• Guest Blogging: Writing content for another website’s blog to gain backlinks and reach a broader audience.

H

• Heading Tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.): HTML tags used to define the headings and subheadings of a webpage. The H1 tag is typically reserved for the main title of the page.
• HTML (Hypertext Markup Language): The code used to structure content on the web. SEO professionals use HTML to optimize content for search engines.
• Hidden Text: Text that is invisible to users but still visible to search engines, often used to manipulate rankings. It’s a black hat SEO technique.

I

• Indexing: The process by which search engines organize and store content they have crawled so that it can be retrieved when relevant search queries are made.
• Internal Link: A hyperlink that points to another page within the same website.
• Image Alt Text: A description of an image used in the HTML code to describe what the image is about, improving accessibility and SEO.
• Impressions: The number of times your site or a page from your site appears in search engine results, even if the user doesn’t click on it.

J

• JavaScript: A programming language commonly used to create interactive effects on websites. Search engines sometimes have difficulty crawling JavaScript content.

K

• Keyword: A word or phrase that users type into search engines when looking for information. SEO revolves around optimizing content for relevant keywords to rank better in search results.
• Keyword Density: The percentage of times a keyword appears on a webpage compared to the total word count.
• Keyword Stuffing: An outdated SEO tactic where keywords are excessively repeated to manipulate rankings. It’s considered a black hat practice.
• Keyword Research: The process of discovering and analyzing search terms that people enter into search engines with the goal of optimizing content for those terms.

L

• Link Building: The process of acquiring backlinks from other websites to your own, a key part of off-page SEO.
• Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI): A method used by search engines to identify the relationships between words and concepts within content to determine relevance.
• Landing Page: A specific web page where visitors land after clicking on a link, typically designed to convert visitors into leads or customers.
• Local SEO: The process of optimizing a website to rank well in local search results, often for queries that include location-based keywords (e.g., “dog trainer near me”).
• Long-Tail Keywords: Longer, more specific keyword phrases with lower search volume but often higher conversion rates. For example, “best dog training classes in Columbia SC.”

M

• Meta Description: A brief description of a webpage that appears under the title in search engine results. While not a direct ranking factor, it can influence click-through rates.
• Mobile-First Indexing: Google’s practice of primarily using the mobile version of a website’s content for ranking and indexing.
• Meta Tags: HTML tags that provide metadata about a webpage, including the title, description, and keywords.
• MozRank: A proprietary ranking score from Moz that estimates how well a website will perform in search engines based on its link profile.

N

• NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number): Information crucial for local SEO, particularly for businesses seeking to rank in local search and map results.
• NoFollow Link: A type of link that tells search engines not to pass authority (link juice) from one page to another, often used in comments or sponsored posts.

O

• Organic Search: Results that appear in search engines naturally, based on relevance, and are not influenced by paid advertisements.
• On-Page SEO: The practice of optimizing individual web pages to rank higher in search engines. It includes keyword optimization, meta tags, content, and internal linking.

P

• PageRank: Google’s original algorithm that determines the importance and authority of a webpage based on the number and quality of backlinks.
• PPC (Pay-Per-Click): A type of online advertising where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked, such as Google Ads. PPC does not directly affect organic SEO but can complement it.
• Pillar Page: A comprehensive piece of content that covers a broad topic in-depth and is supported by related blog posts, known as topic clusters.

Q

• Query: The words or phrases users type into search engines to find information. Optimizing for user queries is the essence of SEO.
• Quality Score: A metric used by Google Ads that influences ad rank and cost-per-click (CPC). It’s based on the relevance and quality of the ad, keywords, and landing page.

R

• Robots.txt: A file used to communicate with search engine crawlers, specifying which pages should or should not be crawled.
• Rich Snippet: Enhanced search results that include extra information, such as reviews, prices, or images, designed to make the listing more appealing and informative.
• RankBrain: A component of Google’s algorithm that uses machine learning to better understand the meaning behind search queries.

S

• Schema Markup: Code that helps search engines better understand the content on your website. It’s used to create rich snippets, such as star ratings or event details.

Why Search Engine Optimization Matters

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) produces a higher rate of return on investment (ROI) than almost any other form of online marketing or advertising.  It is measurable, allowing you to see results.  In today’s economy, having an SEO strategy should not be secondary after TV, radio, or print advertising.  It should be your first marketing plan.

Search Engine Optimization should be considered at the beginning stages of web development.  If you are planning to make a website for your business,  make sure your web developer has the skills and knowledge to implement SEO.  If your web designer is not experienced with SEO, you need to consider the consequences.  If you already have a website but were not aware of internet marketing, don’t worry! Your website can still be successful and achieve improved rankings through a search engine’s organic search results. These results are produced by algorithms that are kept secret by search engines, such as Google.  Achieving positive results requires regular updates and modifications based on current online searches and the competition.

Due to the nature of Search Engine Optimization, you can expect to wait several months to gauge the effectiveness of a campaign. But in many cases, we can substantially improve search engine rankings within weeks, if not days. Not only does search engine optimization improve rankings, it’s also about improving traffic that lead to conversions!

SEO, or search engine optimization, is of significant importance to a dog training business for several compelling reasons, all of which contribute to enhanced visibility, credibility, and client acquisition.

1. Increased Online Visibility: SEO For a dog training business, appearing prominently in search engine results is crucial. Most potential clients begin their search for dog training services online, often using search engines like Google. Effective SEO practices ensure that your business appears near the top of search results when users search for relevant keywords such as “dog trainer near me” or “best dog training services.” Higher visibility translates into more website traffic, which is the first step towards client conversion.

2. Targeted Traffic: SEO allows for the strategic targeting of specific keywords and phrases that potential clients are likely to use. By optimizing your website for these targeted terms, you attract more qualified leads—individuals who are actively seeking dog training services. This targeted traffic is more likely to convert into paying clients because they already have an expressed interest in your services.

3. Cost-Effective Marketing: Compared to traditional forms of advertising, SEO is a cost-effective marketing strategy. Once a website is properly optimized, it continues to attract organic traffic without the need for continuous investment. This long-term benefit is particularly valuable for small businesses, such as dog trainers, that may have limited marketing budgets.

4. Enhanced Credibility and Trust: Websites that rank higher in search engine results are generally perceived as more credible and trustworthy by users. By implementing best SEO practices, your dog training business can establish a strong online presence, which can help build trust with potential clients. This is particularly important in a field where clients are looking for experts they can rely on with their pets.

5. Improved User Experience: SEO involves optimizing various elements of a website, including site speed, mobile responsiveness, and user-friendly navigation. These improvements not only help with search engine rankings but also enhance the overall user experience. A well-optimized website that is easy to navigate and quick to load is more likely to retain visitors and convert them into clients.

6. Local SEO Advantages: For a dog training business, local SEO is particularly beneficial. By optimizing for local search terms and ensuring your business is listed on local directories and Google My Business, you can attract clients from your specific geographical area. Local SEO strategies, such as optimizing for “dog trainer [city name],” help ensure that your business appears in local search results, map listings, and other geographically targeted searches.

7. Competitive Edge: In the competitive market of dog training, having a robust SEO strategy can give your business an edge over competitors. By consistently applying effective SEO techniques, your business can achieve higher rankings and greater visibility than competitors who may not be as focused on optimizing their online presence.

8. Analytics and Insights: SEO efforts provide valuable data and insights through analytics tools. These tools help track user behavior, understand which keywords are driving traffic, and measure the effectiveness of various SEO strategies. This data-driven approach allows for continuous optimization and informed decision-making to improve your website’s performance and ROI.

In conclusion, SEO is an essential component of a successful marketing strategy for a dog training business. It enhances visibility, attracts targeted traffic, builds credibility, improves user experience, and provides a competitive advantage—all of which contribute to increased client acquisition and business growth.

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