THIS is Why You Need Professionals

It’s story time! Are you ready? Do you like scary stories? We’re going to tell you one that’s worth hearing! This is a bit long, but it illustrates a critical point that we make to our clients (and potential clients) all the time...

*This* is why it makes sense to have business class web hosting.

*This* is why it makes sense to go with a local company that knows what they are doing on all fronts (hosting, programming, design, and SEO), and has your best interests in mind.

*This* is why you don't let "creative" people create your website on the platform du jour because it's "easy" with little or no thought to maintenance, backups, or security.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent, but this is real.  It actually happened.  Please make sure you are working with competent and reliable professionals so it doesn’t happen to you.

Here’s the story:

Anonymous Marketing Company [AMC]:  Hey, Michigan SEO Group, Client X’s website is messed up. We think you are hosting it.  Can you restore it from a backup?

Us:  Sure, we can take a look at that!  Hmmmm, it looks like we used to host it, but you guys moved the web hosting away from us last year.  We have backups of what was hosted on our server, but nothing since you redesigned the site using WordPress and moved the hosting elsewhere.  You’ll have to check with the new hosting company for recent backups.

AMC:  Oh dear, we’re waiting to hear back from their web hosting firm, but apparently they didn't sign up for a hosting plan that includes backups.

Why someone would even offer a hosting plan without backups is a mystery to us. Do you see the problem here? There was nobody in their marketing or hosting company with a sufficient professional mindset to make sure the client’s best interests were protected.

If you’re committed to truly doing the best you can for your company, make sure you have: (1) robust, redundant web hosting; (2) a website installed in a professional, SEO friendly, content management system; (3) automated backups; (4) a professional website design that does more than just look good, but also utilizes current best practices for user engagement and analytics; (5) consistent, thoughtful SEO to make sure your website appears as high in the search results as possible and stays there; and (6) a dedicated person or team making sure that the technology is monitored, fully functioning, and updated regularly.

Website Design in Ann Arbor: Contact the Experts!

We know this sounds like a lot of work, it is!  But if you'd like more clarity about any of these things or if you'd like to explore what it would be like to work with SEO Ann Arbor, please contact us! We’re committed to our clients’ online success!

To learn more about other helpful tips and news about SEO and website design in Ann Arbor, sign up for our Black Belt SEO Tips & News!

The Big Mistake Almost Everybody Makes

Here’s a quick “reality check” from Big Don Prior. 

Who’s Don Prior? 

He’s the one telling you how it’s going to be!

This SEO business can be tricky.  There are lots of moving parts.  There’s your website, blog, social media, online reviews, web hosting, and much more.  All these need to be monitored, optimized, and maintained.  It’s a lot of work, but someone’s got to do it. Your friends at SEO Ann Arbor are experts when it comes to SEO and everything that encompasses it!

Most people think that their website is a “fire and forget” situation. Once it’s up and running, they’re good to go and they don’t need to do anything else. 

That’s a mistake.  Big mistake.  Huge.

Except the Successful People 

If you don’t continually check the results, you won’t wind up where you want to be.  Updates need to be applied. Content needs to be updated. Results need to be checked.  People who are successful online make this part of a continual process. Not a one-time deal. There is no “set and forget” going on with the A players.

There are things that are beyond your control. Most people want their website to show up on the first page of Google, but Google periodically changes the rules of the game, and they do so with no notice to you and me. That’s why you need to monitor it, pay attention, and fix the issues that pop up. Or have someone monitor it for you.

We’ve seen Google stop indexing a bunch of pages on particular websites. Something like this can adversely affect your search engine rankings, especially if Google decides to stop indexing 50% of the content on your site. Fortunately for our clients, we keep an eye on just this kind of thing.

When was the last time you logged into Google webmaster tools to check the status of your site?  Even if you did, they aren’t going to tell you what the problem is.  They basically say “we stopped indexing a bunch of pages on your site.  You figure out why, because we aren’t telling!”  Usually this requires someone with a high level of proficiency in web design, web hosting, and SEO to figure this out.  Again, our customers are covered.

So How Are YOU Doing?

As Google continually changes the game, we’re on the case, monitoring how the changes may effect your search engine rankings. In some cases maybe what’s needed is an upgrade to your site to use https (secure hosting). In others it may be ensuring that the name of your site is referenced consistently (either with or without the “www” at the beginning of the domain name). Sometimes your site just needs to be resubmitted to Google and the other search engines. Other times, there are changes that need to be made to your content, hosting platform, or internal linking strategies. 

We have all this covered. Our customers have people for that. 

Do you?

Website Design in Ann Arbor: Contact the Experts at SEO Ann Arbor Today!

Want to learn more about internet marketing and successful website design? Call our experts at 877-815-6974 to arrange a time to visit or get your questions answered. If you’re more comfortable with email, you can reach us at info@seoannarbor.com or just contact us here.

For more in depth news on how to stay on top, sign up today for our Black Belt SEO Tips & News! You’ll learn about the truth about how to stay on top and website design in Ann Arbor.