by admin | Jun 14, 2016 | Recent News, Uncategorized
Google’s Second Mobile Algorithm Update Could Change the Ranking System for Websites without Mobile Optimization
As of May 12, 2016, if your website isn’t optimized for mobile access, you could be experiencing major disadvantages in client acquisition and website traffic. The second version of Google’s mobile-friendly update has been fully rolled out and is designed to increase the effect of the mobile friendly ranking signal. According to Google, those sites that are already mobile-friendly, are not impacted by the update.
Google’s algorithm is a page-by-page signal. Therefore, it required a certain length of time for Google to assess each page and took some time to roll out completely.
In addition to mobile optimization for improved SERP rankings, having a mobile-optimized website will assist with paid search strategies also. Paid search ads will supply customers with a “Mobile Friendly” seal if the website is optimized, permitting consumers the opportunity to enjoy an enhanced user experience. Consumers are likely to click until they find websites that offer a user-friendly interface.
If you are a business owner, mobile optimization is a vital part of the productivity of your business. Why is this, you ask? Websites provide a visual experience for customers, it’s imperative that your site appears as professional and viewer friendly as possible. Without a mobile-friendly site, mobile device visitors can’t access your website.
There are additional advantages of optimizing your website for mobile devices.
1. Instant Access
Mobile devices are extremely portable and many people utilize them to surf websites at any time and from any place. If a website is mobile-optimized, consumers can easily access the site and gain a clear perspective on what the company offers.
2. Offline Integration
How much knowledge do you have about QR codes? These can assist you with integration of offline media. It is increasing in popularity by measures of making offline advertising for companies and businesses. As a result, it can be scanned and translated into information such as the url or email address of a website. Insertion of these codes into ads aides in directing traffic to websites. It provides instant communication with offline users around the globe.
3. Improved SEO
It was 2015 that Google announced its new algorithm favors mobile-responsive websites and the very next year, 2016, an update was performed. Google has a prepared mobile-friendly seal set up that prompts users as to whether or not a site is mobile compatible. As an end result, users typically will not click on a website link that appears in a Google search, but isn’t optimized for mobile devices. Keep in mind, more than 70% of web surfers are browsing from their mobile device.
4. Boosts Productivity
Mobile optimization does more than enhance user engagement, it also has a positive impact on the bottom line. Website visitors are more than 50% more likely to conduct business with an online retailer that has a mobile site. Potential or existing clients are less likely to conduct online business transactions via a site that isn’t optimized for mobile usage due to concerns of validity of the transaction or accuracy in the overall process.
Google’s Mobile Ranking System
The initial reaction to Google’s announcement of a mobile ranking system was consumed with mixed indicators of the unknown. Businesses that were properly optimized for mobile felt safe but wasn’t exactly sure what Google would utilize as standard system of ranking. While those businesses that weren’t optimized, were unclear as to which direction to take in order to gain the proper optimization of their site and not miss out on the opportunity to become ranked.
The launch of Google’s second Algorithm update is a strong indication that Google is beginning to focus strongly on the ranking of mobile sites, which puts those sites that aren’t optimized for mobile access at jeopardy of not being ranked at all in the near future.
If you are among the few businesses that have yet to optimize your website for mobile use, it’s simple to start the process.
The initiative required to develop a mobile-friendly website depends on a few factors, developer resources, business model and level of expertise. On an extremely basic implementation level, transforming an existing desktop site to mobile compatibility involves extracting current elements of content from the desktop site and organizing it to relate to a mobile-friendly design pattern.
Be advised! Google’s next mobile update is expected to include page speed. If you would like to learn more about mobile optimization for your website or would like assistance with making your website mobile friendly or to have quicker page load speed, contact Shannon McCraw at Virtual Surge. 443-840-8444
by admin | Feb 11, 2016 | Online Advertising, Uncategorized
Increasing revenue in a business today requires more than just advertising and marketing techniques. For your business to appeal to the broad audiences as well as reach more potential buyers, it is not just enough to implement traditional marketing methods; you must implement online marketing strategies as well. Internet marketing which is also referred to as online marketing is an effective marketing tool with attention-grabbing abilities for any business.
More and more people today are preceding traditional media for the internet. This typically means that using online platforms to market your business and enhance your revenue is one of the most effective marketing tools today. It saves you money while still reaching a broader audience without the fixed expenses in marketing campaigns and advertising. Here are methods to increase your revenue in 2016 with online marketing:
1. Using SEO
Search Engine Optimization or SEO is perhaps one of the most effective ways to attract better and more qualified leads which result in more customers hence more revenue for the business. Since it is a fairly new marketing concept, it is crucial first to understand what it is. Imagine a one-way town or street lined with five gas stations. Your gas station is the first one that motorists see when they drive by the street. The other gas stations are a bit further down and would be time-consuming drive and because of this, you end up attracting most drivers. This is one of the main ways to figure out the relationship between your business and search engines.
One of the main objectives of SEO is to make your venture first or as close as possible to the first one in the search engine pages when people consumers search for the services/products that you offer. Basically, with SEO you are optimizing your site for the search engines so as to get your business to show up on the 1st page when somebody keys in related keywords to your business.
However, that can be easier said than done. The only way to be at the top is by implementing a robust and strong SEO strategy. This entails continuous research of customer demographics, competitors, and keywords. It also requires ongoing questions like “what else can I do.” You can hire an SEO professional to do this for you.
2. Lead generation
This involves collecting contact information and names about potential prospects which you can contact for generating orders. It normally involves telemarketing and advertising. Depending on the type of business that you do, this strategy can be used to increase your revenue in 2016.Lead generation refers to the use of different computer programs, the Internet or databases to obtain data for the sole purpose of increasing revenue and sales. Leads can contain the addresses and names of institutions, corporations, agencies or people. You can easily gather lists of leads from specific data bases such as the internet and telephone directories.
On the internet search engines and websites can great sources of leads even though procedure may be time-consuming and tedious. However, there are numerous amounts of companies out there that have been evolved for the main purpose of lead generation for businesses at a fee. You can hire these companies, and they will research and provide you with a list of leads for potential customers. There also hundreds of computer programs that are designed to help different business in lead generations.
3. Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is whereby you pay for an ad space in a website, and then you advertise your product on that space. The exact price paid for space is usually settled in a bidding process between the ad space owner and the marketer.
Paid advertising is every effective for online marketing because it capitalizes on all channels of advertising. It provides an ideal way to expose your business to a wider audience. The ads are often displayed at the bottom, top or sides of web pages. You can pay more to have your ad feature on more popular sites to enhance traffic which will eventually boost your revenue. Additionally, the various types of paid advertising such as PPI and PPC allow you to strategically personalize your marketing campaign.
4. Social media
Social media has joined that rare stratosphere of recognition and fame reserved for presidents and rock stars. Today even Presidents and rock stars acknowledge the impact of social media. If you sell your products or provide services to the public, then there is a high chance that most of your prospective customers and customers are not only networking online but buying online too. Social media offers a low-cost way to influence and reach a larger customer base.
All you have to do is create a social media marketing strategy and brainstorm about your objectives. As yourself, questions like: What are you hoping to achieve? Who is your target audience? What message do you want your audience to get?
Driving more revenue into your business in 2016 will not only help grow your business but also fund your development without the need of investors. Note that some of the techniques suggested here can only be implemented if the industry and business are favorable. For a company to succeed it must under promise and over deliver. And lastly, make sure you don’t banish your site visitors with excessive adverts when marketing online.
by admin | Dec 7, 2015 | Online Advertising, Uncategorized
In today’s highly competitive market, SEO services are more important than ever before. Today, search engines serve billions of online users who are looking for solutions and answers to their problems. This makes it critical for every business to start 2016 with SEO services. SEO will not only provide you extensively targeted promotion, but it will also ensure your websites come up for those potential clients, who are looking for your services and products.
Nowadays, clients have access to information whenever and wherever they want it. Thanks to globalization and the Internet, most people are now able to access easily, information via their mobile phones, computers, tablets and other mobile devices. This has made SEO a rather important aspect when it comes to online marketing. As a matter of fact, online marketing is utterly useless without the use of SEO services. Choosing an SEO service like Virtual Surge, to provide you with quality content is the best way of maximizing earnings from web traffic.
8 Reasons You Should Be Using SEO Services
1. Increased Web Traffic
Top rankings on search engines results pages receive the most clicks and impressions, thus ranking in the top positions will result in significantly higher traffic for your website. Baltimore SEO services focus on producing informative, high-quality content that has all the relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and title tags, which come up in the search engine results from pages. Having the optimized descriptions and tags helps in increasing the click-through rate, which in turn promotes the overall increases in qualified web traffic.
2. Brand Awareness
Since top position rankings normally result in significantly higher impressions, having your site on the first page of the search engine results will translate to greater exposure for the site. Also, being on the 1st page will help users to associate your particular brand with those targeted keywords, and it will also instill trust since most businesses on the 1st page are usually perceived to be much more trustworthy. The higher your site ranks in the search engines, the higher the chances for users to check out your content and also associate with your brand.
3. Find New Markets
The web is one of the fastest growing markets in today’s World economy. Successful SEO campaigns will help you explore new economies and find new markets. Mobile platforms and social media platforms can take your web traffic levels to an entirely new stage by enhancing your SEO performance.
4. Better Conversion Rates
An optimized site is easy to use, fast and compatible with mobile phones and tablet devices. This translates to much better conversion rates. Also, people visiting your site will much more likely become loyal visitors, customers, and subscribers.
5. Business Reputation
A good reputation is vital to any business. Without the confidence and trust of the customers, a business will not survive. In the past, the importance of reputation has become increasingly noticeable. If a company has a good reputation, the customers might choose that particular company/business from many others in the market. Businesses that need to build reputation should invest in SEO services and gain the top position rankings for the terms/keywords that are related to their particular business. Today, search engines play a crucial role when it comes to building or destroying a business’ reputation.
6. Cost Effective
SEO is among the most cost-effective marketing strategies since it targets those who are currently searching for your services and products; and since SEO targets those who are looking for products/services like yours, the traffic that results from SEO is much more qualified than the traffic from most other marketing strategies. This results in cost savings for your business.
7. Lets You Concentrate on Your Business
When you hire Virtual Surge, you will have more time to spend on other important aspects of your business/company. The concerns of marketing and ranking will be in the capable hands of Virtual Surge’s top Baltimore SEO professionals.
8. Quality and Informative Content
High-quality content is another benefit of hiring an SEO company instead of doing it on your own. Today, search engines are very sensitive to plagiarism and poor quality content. When you hire an SEO company, you will get informative and high-quality content that naturally appeals to your target audience. This will help in maintaining your site’s visitors loyalty.
Contact Virtual Surge today to receive your free, no obligation website analysis.
by admin | Nov 6, 2015 | Mobile Marketing, Uncategorized
Due to the increase in mobile phone use across the globe, there has been an upsurge in the percentage of web traffic coming from different mobile devices. Having a mobile-friendly website is, therefore, a worthwhile effort as it can put you way ahead of your competitors. Below are some of the main benefits of having a mobile-friendly website:
1. An Increase in Mobile Phone Use
With over three billion mobile phones currently being used across the globe, we are heading towards a time when most people’s first experience with the Internet will be through mobile devices. This means that businesses and other website owners have no option but to adapt to this trend. With responsive websites, mobile phone users will be able to access the relevant information and even perform certain tasks with ease.
2. It is an Inexpensive Option
Considering that mobile screens are much different from computer screens, mobile friendly website designs must also change accordingly. Fortunately, it is a cheaper process and less time consuming. Moreover, users find it to be convenient as it takes up lesser data bundles compared to accessing conventional websites.
3. GPS Use
GPS is a very important technology that is used by so many mobile phone users to find certain things and directions. In fact, most people use it to locate nearby businesses and services. If your business does not have a mobile friendly site, you are likely to be losing such customers in your area.
4. The SEO and Google Algorithm Factor
Having a mobile friendly site also helps in Search Engine Optimization. It does so by improving rankings on the mobile-friendly search engines like Yahoo and Google. Moreover, Google’s algorithm currently rewards mobile friendly sites. For instance, on April 21, 2015, Google made a significant change in the way websites are ranked. The change is based on whether a blog, website or landing pages are optimized for mobile devices. This is bound to significantly affect the search traffic of different websites.
5. Compatibility with Different Platforms
Rather than producing applications that perform similar functions, having a mobile friendly website will save you this hassle. Moreover, the option is less expensive, and you will not need to make different applications for different platforms.
6. The 2D Bar Codes
This is another great bonus that comes with the mobile friendly sites. 2D bar codes resemble regular bar codes, although they are capable of doing a lot more. For instance, they may be used for discounts. The customer just needs to take a picture of such a code using his/her cell phone and get instant access to the details as well as reviews of that particular product. This enables the individual to make an informed decision before purchasing the product.
7. Better User Experience
In the past, it was hard to make a good mobile site and give users a remarkable experience due to low bandwidth as well as server speeds. This has significantly changed in recent times. It is now possible to make a topnotch mobile site, with an enriching user experience.
Choosing Your Mobile Optimization Approach
Just in case your web content is not optimized for mobile, it will be extremely important to make the necessary changes due to the new Google algorithm. Note that even the most outstanding landing page can witness drastic diminishing returns if it is not optimized for mobile. To be protected from these changes, you need to move your content to three main setups or configurations that Google recognizes as mobile friendly. They include:
I. Responsive Design
This is Google’s number one recommended design pattern. This option is the most preferred as it does not create two different copies of the same site. This means that users only have one single URL to visit. It is upon the website to adapt to the type of device being used.
II. Dynamic Serving
Just like the responsive design, the dynamic serving approach will keep the same URL. It is only the HTML that changes. The setup uses user-agents so as to “sniff” out the type of device a viewer is using and dynamically serve up the most appropriate view.
III. The Mobile Website Option
This earliest version of mobile optimization involves the creation of a separate mobile website. Whenever a new user visits the website, the configuration detects the device and redirects them to the most appropriate website using redirects.
Although most people dread Google algorithm changes, mobile optimization is a good one, both for Google users as well as marketers. Optimizing your website to suit the way people access information and even shop will meet the needs of different customers. This will reduce the friction on your website and in turn, lead to more revenue for your company or business. To get the best results, you need to a topnotch company with experience in SEO and web optimization. If you are looking for such a company, you can contact us, Virtual Surge. Virtual Surge is a company that is renowned for exceptional social media, reputation management and web design solutions.
To find out if your website is mobile friendly, test it by visiting this link: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/
by admin | Oct 27, 2015 | Recent News, Uncategorized
Google has de-indexed websites temporarily. Take ownership of your website by transferring it to WordPress. Allow Virtual Surge to help! We are offering special pricing to help businesses move their sites to WordPress. Please fill out the Discovery Form and we will be in touch with you shortly!
by admin | Sep 29, 2015 | Online Advertising, Uncategorized
Often when I speak to potential clients, I am asked, “How much does SEO cost”? I have also received many requests asking for a proposal before I even talk to the potential client about their needs. Search Engine Optimization and online marketing costs should never be a specific set rate offered by any marketing company, ever.
Most people want to know what they are going to pay before investing the time discussing their needs only to find out that the cost is above their budget. I understand this as I often want to know the price of services as quick as possible as well. However, marketing pricing is a hot topic, and I thought it would be beneficial to share some information with anyone who is in the market for online marketing.
As an online marketing expert, there are a lot of things that I need to review before I can offer anyone a price. I use several tools to complete a full analysis of a website or social media platforms. I may find that everything looks great and only needs a little bit of work. However, are times where I have found a site saturated with “spammy” links that will eventually trigger a penalty from Google if it hasn’t already. The process of fixing that can be time-consuming and, therefore, would need to charge extra. There are many factors that SEO’s should be looking at including your sites current performance, your competitors rankings and the competition of your keywords.
Other factors that SEO professionals should consider is whether the marketing need is local, nationally or internationally. A small mom and pop store is going to be less expensive than a franchise or business owner who may have a few locations. A law firm is going to be more than an individual lawyer.
Always remember, you get what you pay for. If you have SEO’s offering you a marketing campaign at $500 per month, be very cautious. I strongly encourage you to run even if you have a very small business. In addition, if a marketing professional is guaranteeing you results like being able to get you on the front page of Google within a month, turn the other way. No one can ever be sure of how long it will take to rank someone’s website on the front page of Google. A brand new site could take up to six months or longer to reach the top of Google’s front page.
Always keep something in mind, search engine optimization and online marketing is an investment. It may seem pricey, but the amount of ROI (return on investment) will surpass your initial costs. While at times our services may seem high, it is much more involved than most potential clients realize.
If you have a need for online marketing services, Virtual Surge, my company, can provide you a free website analysis. Go to the home page of our site and fill out the discovery form and I will be happy to assist you.
As of May 12, 2016, if your website isn’t optimized for mobile access, you could be experiencing major disadvantages in client acquisition and website traffic. The second version of Google’s mobile-friendly update has been fully rolled out and is designed to increase the effect of the mobile friendly ranking signal. According to Google, those sites that are already mobile-friendly, are not impacted by the update.
