Marketing on the Web I started Marketing on the Web in 2007 to assist Huntsville-based companies with their internet marketing efforts. Over the past 10 years we have assisted many local, regional, and national businesses with their on-line marketing efforts and we thank them for contributing to our success! Marketing on the Web is known for its attention to detail and hands-on approach to Internet Marketing. As an adjunct to in-house marketing teams, MOTW improves the on-line presence of businesses without the o...
MoreSearch Engine Optimization
Marketing on the Web explores Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how it can impact your web marketing efforts.
Keyword Optimization
(Hint it's Relevance over Ranking) These days rather than Google matching keywords or phrases to webpages, Google is using artificial intelligence (aka RankBrain) to interpret a searcher's intent. Therefore it is important to make sure that Google understands that your website is pertinent to the searcher’s intent rather than trying to make pages that rank (or match) for specific search terms. For our clients, a website ranking for a keyword versus being relevant for the searchers intent c...
MoreGoogle Webmasters Guidelines Updated
Google has just updated their guidelines for websites. Website designers and webmasters should review these guidelines to insure your sites follow best practices. Among the changes are new recommendations for mobile sites and using https (secure http). Google Webmasters Guidelines Bing's guidelines have not been updated, but can be found here.
MoreIt’s About Topics Not Keywords!
I am routinely asked about keywords and SEO. First let me say that meta keywords, have literally not been a ranking signal for more than 10 years. Yahoo was the last to major engine to use them and that ended when Yahoo started using Bing's as its search engine. Second, with Google's Hummingbird update, Google understands parts of speech, so it more important to cover a topic thoroughly than to have exact keyword phrases. If your still stuffing your pages with keywords and phrases, just stop! It...
MoreCurrent SEO Strategies
Google has really altered the Search Engine Optimization landscape in the past few years. Companies that went against Google's guidelines were either banned from the search results entirely or their products and services were moved way down search results into obscurity. This video from Rand Fishkin at MOZ does a really good job of highlighting current SEO strategies (or perhaps better, Search Engine Marketing strategies). Don't start the video and leave thinking you already know this stuff, he ...
MoreOptimize Your Pages for Topics, Not Phrases
Google released an update called Hummingbird in September of 2013. The update shifted the focus of SEO away from direct match phrases towards rich topical discussions. I suspect this was in part due to the shift in search volume to phones, and more specifically, Google's ability to search from voice requests. Google now understands parts of speech and that one question may relate to a previous question. As an example someone might search "where is the Eiffel tower" and then follow with "how tall...
MoreHTTPS Everywhere
Google has announced that https: (secure) connections are preferred and that sites using https: will enjoy a ranking advantage over https: (non-secure) sites. This video discusses some of the common pitfalls that occur when people switch.
MoreContent is King, now more than ever!
I was in a discussion with a client recently who was impressed by a competitor's website. It was graphically stark and almost completely devoid of text. While it was attractive, I am betting the site's traffic volume of search is extremely low. There was a time when we could make a page rank just by the strength of information pointing to it, but that is no longer the case. Your pages must have good clear content to be found in the search results.
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