Posts by cmiller
Keywords: The Long and the Short of It
Why are long-tail keywords important if they don’t have much search volume? There is a question I get from clients over and over again: why should I go after a long-tail keyword? If they don’t have much search volume, why is it worth it? We all love “money keywords,” or keywords with a high search…
Read MoreHow Many Words of Content Should I Have On Each Page?
When SEO was still learning to walk back in the 90s, the average webpage contained around 75 words of content. Now, top-ranking pages consistently top the 1,000 word mark–and they seem to be getting longer! Hearing this, webmasters surely wonder, “Do I have to write that much content to be successful in my niche?” Not…
Read MoreWhat is The Google Hummingbird Update?
Hummingbird is Google’s largest official algorithm update since 2001, affecting 90 percent of search queries. Google’s senior vice president of search, Amit Singhal, officially announced on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013, that a new search algorithm called “Hummingbird” had been released within the previous month. The company did not reveal many details on the release in…
Read MoreHas your website been manually penalized? Now Google tells you.
One of the most common questions we hear from website owners who are considering SEO services is “How do I know if I’ve been penalized by Google?” Thanks to a new feature in Google Webmaster Tools this question has now become a lot easier to answer in a definite fashion. In continued efforts to keep…
Read MoreIncrease Conversion: Feature the Right Content “Above-the-Fold”
When was the last time you read from a newspaper? A week ago? A year ago? Today, many of us access the news via the Internet. Though the majority of traditional publications have been transferred to online platforms, newspaper editors know how to make a powerful first impression—using principles that could benefit your website. Successful…
Read MoreA Pirate’s Quick Guide to Search Engine Indexing
Remember how fun treasure hunts were as a kid? Remember how fun finding the stuff you need on the Internet is? (The answer to both those questions is YES!, in case you were wondering). A good website is the treasure of the online community, whether the gain is in information, products, or entertainment for the…
Read MoreAlt Attributes: Every Picture Needs One
Pictures are one of the easiest ways to improve the look of your website, convince people to stay on your pages, and provide information to visitors visually. Pictures are a great benefit for any site, but they have one major disadvantage . . . Google can’t see them! Luckily, the brilliant people who invented the…
Read MoreTop Ten PageRank Factors for Effective SEO
Yes, it is true; Google is one of the most amazing innovations since . . . well, chocolate. But what makes Google the number-one search engine in the world? Google relies directly on millions of websites linking to other websites in order to create what is known as Google PageRank. So in essence, consumers, individual…
Read MoreSite Architecture: Creating a Structure that Thrives
Unfortunately, for a lot of websites out there, site architecture can be somewhat of an afterthought. After all, if you’re selling a phenomenal product, shouldn’t it sell itself? Even if you have fantastic content on your website, good site structure makes a huge difference. Imagine for a moment you’re walking into your favorite grocery store,…
Read MoreThe Key to Building Link Diversity
I often use this metaphor to help people understand SEO: Let’s say you are hungry. You ask ten friends about restaurants in your area, and five of them tell you to eat at a certain restaurant. If half of your friends are telling you that a particular restaurant has tasty and affordable food, you can…
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