Category: SEO

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Why Inbound Links Matter For Your Website

Why Inbound Links Matter For SEO

SEO: Importance of Inbound Links

Any business that wants to succeed in the world of internet marketing needs to have inbound links. They need to be credible sites that are directly related to the products or services you offer on your website.

You may personally love gardening and have found several gardening websites that you follow. But, you would not ask them to link back to your business website which is focused and designed around selling vacuum cleaners. In this instance, the inbound link will carry very little relevancy and ranking power. Instead, you should look to get links from websites more relevant to vacuum cleaners such as Mom/Dad blogs, cleaning websites, etc.

 

What Is An Inbound Link?

An inbound link is when a website is linked to another website. As per the several seo case studies provide by this company the purpose of the inbound link is to send search engines as well as customers to your website. Inbound links can also be called a backlink, linkback, incoming link, inlink, or inward link. No matter which descriptive word you use, these links help drive traffic to your website and can really improve your public relations and SEO position.

There are different types of inbound links that you can use for your website that have varying value and/or weight.  Here are some of the more common ones:

  • Contextual:  An incoming link that is valuable because it comes across as a natural comment that mentions you in the body of text and describes your product or service.  This can come from the written text in a blog or a news article. It actually could be any kind of text.

 

  • Sidebar:  A link that is shown on the sidebar of a page. Sometimes it is on every page of the website. Sidebars are readily found on blogs. These sidebars may contain descriptive text or graphics.

 

  • Footer:  This link is found at the very bottom of each page. These are most often used to promote the companies responsible for the website. These links do not rate as high by search engines as contextual or sidebar links.

 

  • Reciprocal:  As the word implies these are links that are exchanged between websites. These links are of little or no value if they are not relational. Sometimes a reciprocal link has value if they come from reliable sources and are relative to your product or service.

 

Why Does A Website Need Inbound Links?

Inbound links assist in improving a website’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which is what SEO for contractors or any other profession aims to providing so that the clients sites climb to the top of the list of search engines such as Google, Yahoo, etc. Search engines use the inbound links as a measure of a website’s purpose and clout. These links help customers find what you offer by clicking on a linked website or blog. You will also find that the more websites you are linked with, the higher your website will rate with the search engines.

Just like in most areas of life, the quality of the link is important. Go for a reputable, recognizable link that is directly related to your website. The old saying “More is better” is true (mostly) in the case of inbound links. Of course, as stated above, the links need to be relevant.

 

How Do I Measure The Qualities Of An Inbound Link?

  1. It must come from a trustworthy website that is directly related to your website.

 

  1. It must include anchor text. This is highlighted text in a hypertext link. When clicked on, this opens the targeted web page. If it requires more work than this, people are not as likely to go to the trouble to check it out.

 

  1. The anchor text must be descriptive. This is vital to the person receiving the link because search engines will have more specific information about the site.

 

So, look at your website and other websites related to your own website. Decide which websites would be a good match for your website. Then contact the owners of the desired sites and try to make the links. Also, make sure you’ve linked all of your social media pages to your website. Sit down and list the companies that you regularly work with and make contact. There is a good chance that they will be willing to help you.

 

To Get Started With Search Engine Optimization

Call us at (916) 382-7229, or contact us today to discuss what we can do to market your website by promoting it online to build up your authoritative inbound links so you can get new customers.

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How to Adjust Your Marketing to the New, Smarter Google

SEO

 

Use synonyms

In the example above, using the word “biking” instead of “bicycling” would provide some benefit compared to the bygone era of keyword phrase-specific search engines. So if the search engines have evolved into substituting associated words outside of keyword phrases, doesn’t it make sense for the marketer also to do so?

The key takeaway here is that instead of packing content with search engine-friendly keyword phrases, it might instead be better to provide the search engines with alternative terms they’re already probably seeking.

 

Use common sense

Typing “bicycling in California” into Google currently lists a page with the header “Best spots to bike in California” among the top results. In a now-bygone era, the searcher likely would have had to type that exact phrase into the engine to see that result.

But it’s as if Google now can discern, ‘What is this user looking for?” And that’s a question SEO-savvy marketers and private blog network service agents might also want to ask when creating search engine-friendly content. 

If a marketer asks the same question, guided by common sense, he or she should be able to provide the search engine a “gimme” that might not have been possible in the past. If the marketer knows what the searcher wants to know, embedding that into the content might not only mean higher ranking in results but also content that’s more relevant to the searcher.

 

Use the spoken word

There’s little doubt that one of the factors influencing the evolvement of search engines is the somewhat newfound twist of voice searches. Asking Google or Siri to find something via voice search is going to result in using different words compared to typing something into a device.

To illustrate this, again consider the California bicycling example. Is a bicyclist typing more likely to use the word “bicycle” than the word “bike” compared to a bicyclist who is speaking? Voice searches have affected search engines, and the marketer who can recognize and adjust to the differences between the written and spoken word might give themselves a leg up with the search engines. Voice searches have paved the way for more colloquialism in content marketing.

The internet is always going to evolve. Spotting the factors that drive this evolution, and rolling with them, can give a marketer — even one previously entrenched in the “old” ways of the web — an upper hand with search engines.

 

To Get Started With Website Optimization

Call us at (916) 382-7229, or contact us today to discuss what we can do to update your website(s) to meet all 5 website design goals so you can get new customers.

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How Internet Marketing Works

Let’s say you have a business website, but you haven’t generated many leads from it. When you search for keywords related to your site on Google, you either don’t show up in the search results, or you show up on the 8th or 9thpage where no one ever looks. Perhaps you have a social media Facebook business page, but you have few likes and even fewer people “talking about it.” Your lack of success on the Internet probably has nothing to do with your business idea but your Internet marketing strategies. In fact, your ideas are most likely excellent, and all you need to get more customers is increase your visibility. In other words, you need help from a professional online marketing company like Summit Marketing to help you with your Internet marketing strategy.

Internet marketing is all about increasing your visibility. The more visible you are to people who are looking for your products and services, the more opportunities you have to generate leads and increase your sales. Internet marketers have a few different ways to increase your visibility that include one or more of the following types of online marketing.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Over 31% of people are turning to the Internet to shop for goods and services, and nearly all of those people will use a search engine to get there. That means in order to capture those potential leads, you need to show up on the first page of top search engines like Google and Bing. SEM works by employing a few different strategies to help search engine crawlers read, index, and rank your content. If you don’t currently rank for search terms related to your site or you rank low for terms related to your site, NOW is the time to change that by investing in SEM. SEM includes search engine optimization and paid search. Summit Marketing can help you with both.

Social Media Marketing

People are constantly browsing social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and more. Not only are people catching up with their friends and family, but they are also liking and following businesses. This is possible because the businesses buy social signals to place it on social media platforms, which lead people to their websites. Your social media platforms is essential if you want to expand your reach. One of the best ways to get more business from social media is to create a profile and host a giveaway or contest.

Content Marketing

Content marketing bleeds into all other aspects of your online marketing strategy, so a good content strategy should be included in all of your Internet marketing efforts. The more excellent content you generate, the more search engines like you and the more people like you. You can take all of your fun ideas and turn them into a YouTube video, Infographic, or blog post that people will find helpful and want to share.

Google says there are over 5 billion searches conducted on a daily basis. That means people are continually searching daily for information, products, and services. In fact, in the time I’ve been writing this article, I’ve stopped by Google 3 times to look for products (baby booties, baby earmuffs, hard drive for a Mac … in case you were wondering), and Facebook about 10 times to distract me from actually finishing my work (entered a giveaway for $250 in free Dream Dinners … in case you were wondering). That means the more you can do to increase your visibility on the Internet, the more you can capture the attention of customers who are looking for companies just like you. For more information about small business SEO services, call us at Summit Marketing today. We would love to help you get started!

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How Much Time Will Your Customers Spend In A Car To Pay You A Visit?

When marketing your local business it can be difficult to judge how far you should extend your catchment area for attracting new customers. Small businesses neither have the time nor the resources to waste on targeting consumers who may not consider them local enough to be a viable business for them to use.

It’s more beneficial to target those consumers in your immediate area, but how do we know how far is too far for a local business? Just how ‘local’ do you need to be to attract new customers?

Enlisting the help of our US consumer panel this single, simple question was asked to them:

How much time are you prepared to drive for to visit a local business?

A panel with 13 business categories were asked to enter a driving time against each category.  There were over 800 responses (all US based) to the poll and the answers are displayed & analyzed below.

Driving Times to Local Businesses Infographic

Courtesy of www.brightlocal.com

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Google My Business Local Listings Categories – Don’t Finish Claiming Your Google My Business Local Listings Categories Until You Watch This

Google My Business Local Listings Categories

If you are not already on Google My Business Local Listings, then you are missing out on traffic and potential business you could get from the right Google My Business Local Listing categories. There are some things you can do to make sure you are properly optimized to not only get more traffic from Google My Business Maps Listings, but to also make sure it is the right type of traffic. It all starts by claiming your Google My Business Listings page.

Many businesses have not even claimed their Google My Business Local places page and this means they are missing out on traffic they could be using to make more money. If you need more business, then you should certainly make sure you claim your page and you begin to work to optimize your page properly for your type of business.

How to Use Google My Business Local Listing Categories to Get More Business

Not only do you need to claim your page on Google My Business places, but you also need to optimize it and make sure you show up for the right categories. For example, if you are running a Mexican restaurant you will want to show up for Mexican, but you may also want to show up for another food category as well. It is all about what your business provides and the more categories you can show up in the better off you will be.

The major thing is to figure out what people are going to type in to find your business. This is not all that hard to do and if you just ask a few of your current customers what they would type in if they were going to try to find you it will give you an idea of what categories you may want to use.

You also want to make sure you are not just in categories that are very general. Using the example above it may be a good idea to be in the “Restaurant” category, but you would also want to be in the Mexican category and any other category that is more specific. People will not just type in restaurants to find you, but the type of restaurant you are.

After you have figured out what categories you want to target the next step is to optimize your page to show up in the local results for those categories. This is a very powerful strategy to get more people in your doors and get the business you really need and want. If you need more business, then the Google My Business Map Listing categories can certainly help you get it.

 

There are many benefits to showing up, not only in the local results, but high in the results. If you are the first choice on a list of 15 or 20 choices in a specific category, then you have a better chance of getting the business instead of the other choices on the list. You can easily get to the top of this list and reap the benefits.

The first way to get to the top of the list is to claim your page and customize it for the type of business you are running. You can add an actual website, information about your business, your hours of operation, and much more to give potential customers an idea of what you can provide for them.

The second thing you want to do is start getting reviews about your business. It only takes five reviews and you will get the gold stars next to your business name in the local search results. This can put you higher on the list much faster than anything else. Just implement a strategy to get real customers to review your business on your Google My Business places page.

The last way to get listed higher is to use a company that specializes in optimizing Google My Business Local Listing pages for specific categories that you are targeting. This will help you to show up at the top of the list for your specific categories and you will be able to get more business and more profits with the help of a professional company.

Having your Google My Business places page listed high in the local search results will bring more people to your website and to your actual business. This is a great way to gain more business and give your potential customers a better chance to find you quickly and easily. Just make sure you are optimizing your page for specific Google My Business places categories that make perfect sense with the product or service you provide.

If you’ve enjoyed this information and would like to get more local search marketing tips,  you can also contact us here or call 916.382.7229 to learn more about Google My Business Local Places categories.

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Why You Need Local Search Marketing Services

Local Search Marketing Services – The Why’s!

If you have a business, one of the things that you should greatly take into consideration is local search marketing. If you are a newbie, you might be wondering what it is and what it can do to help your business grow. By reading the next few paragraphs you will gain some great insight into why you should be taking advantage of this form of online marketing.

You are using the internet for your daily transactions, aren’t you? Well, the internet is one of the top reasons why there is a need for you to prioritize local search marketing. If potential clients or customers in your locality searches in Google the services or products you offer or a problem that your company solves, then your company just might be on top of the results. With this, there is a tendency for you to establish a stable online presence, gaining new customers daily via Google Search. Therefore, those prospects or potential new business customers will  try out your products or services. See the process? Well, this is just one aspect on how local search marketing can help you.

With the demand and popularity of online shopping, people nowadays tend to check what stores are open based on their convenient time. If you will let a reliable, experienced and reputable local search marketing company handle your online marketing business, you will not have a problem when it comes to ensuring consistent visibility online. Maximize your digital exposure and get your brand out at LocalBrandAdvisor.com.

Majority of people also do not live where they work. Therefore, when certain services are needed or wanted while at work, the local familiarity is not there. Instead of making a phone call to the local handyman in the neighborhood when specific work needs to be done, they will just search online. Now, if an good online marketing agency is handling your business’ local search marketing, you don’t have anything to worry about.

Headlines on articles, videos, and posts can also tell a visitor or prospect a lot, and these are considered the best ways to point potential customers and clients to your business. If your chosen local search marketing service provider has innovative and breakthrough methodologies, you will be able to achieve a high level of lead generation.

These are just some of the best reasons why you need to have powerful and effective local search marketing when in business. However, that would not be made possible without the help of an experienced and professional agency that can always make everything is in favor of your business. If you are currently looking for one, then you are in the right place at the right time.

For years, we have been in the local search marketing industry. In the span of our operation, we have already mastered the art of this kind of marketing. Therefore, we can provide you 100% guarantee that your business will be in good hands. We also have local search marketing professionals that have the skill and knowledge on how to give your business a high level of visibility and exposure in the online world and ensure you are the “Go To” person in your local community when searched online.

Would you like to secure the reign of your business in your chosen niche and industry? Then you should make local search marketing your #1 priority because it will bring out the best in your business and get your phones ringing off the hook.

To see just where your business is ranking online and to learn how to dominate your competition get FREE access at  for a free local search marketing report.