How to Evaluate Your Content When SEO Ranking Declines

Are you stumped as to why your content isn’t ranking highly on Google?

Would you like to learn how to refresh your content?

Keeping pace with Google’s ever-changing algorithms amid a surge of technological advancements is a challenging task. As Google refines its criteria, many established website owners are witnessing fluctuations in their traffic. While this can be disheartening, it’s important to recognize that improvements can be made by consistently evaluating your content and adapting to Google’s evolving standards. 

If you’re currently experiencing a drop in traffic, know that you’re not alone. Here are some factors to consider when evaluating the quality of your content: 

Is Your Content Original, Relevant, and Valuable?

When creating content, emphasize originality and relevance to stand out in the digital crowded landscape. Move beyond generic product listings and service descriptions and instead put focus on sharing experiences. 

Center your content around user experiences by writing about how consumers will feel when using your product or service, and shift to highlighting customer reviews and testimonials. This will humanize your content which is great for SEO and makes your material more appealing and engaging to your target audience. 

Boost Your Content with an Ann Arbor SEO Company 

If you’re seeking a competitive edge that will aid in improving your website’s standing on Google, consider seeking professional guidance and research the services of Ann Arbor SEO Companies. 

Michigan SEO Group offers online marketing in Ann Arbor, MI and the surrounding communities. We perform search engine optimization, write digital content, and manage social media campaigns. Contact us today so we can begin creating a plan of attack for your SEO! 

Five SEO Tips You Can't Live Without!

First, find the best keywords! 
There are two things that the average business website does that are NOT very helpful to SEO. 

First, they choose words that only a person who already knows about their business would type into Google. For example, a local heating a cooling business we know optimized their site for the word “mechanical.” Now, an educated person might know that “XYZ Mechanical” would repair and install home furnaces, but someone whose furnace just quit will probably type in “furnace repair.” You have to make that kind of calculation for all your keywords.

Second, they choose keywords that very few people are searching for. If you have limited space on your site (and you SHOULD limit the number of words on your homepage, at least), then you want to focus on the keywords that most people are searching for. There are a number of good tools to find out, including the keyword tool on Google Adwords, and many free services offered by the search engines. Make sure the keywords you select are actually ones being commonly searched in your area of specialty. Don't forget to check your successful competitors!

Find out how many incoming links your competitors have, and their top five keywords. This will give you very specific guidance as to (1) how many links you’ll need to compete, and (2) what keywords they deemed important.

You’ll have to dig a little deeper to make this information meaning, however. The quality of incoming links is at least as important as the number, so you can use of the many free back link checkers to find out the Page Rank of your competitor’s incoming links. 

You’ll also want to go further with your analysis of your competitor’s keywords. Review them just as you do your own – make sure they’re keywords that are widely searched, and figure out how to incorporate them into key phrases that generate sustained search interest.

Third, add great content! This is the thing Google is trying to get you to do, anyway. You want to include actual content that inspires people to visit your site and share it with others. If you aren’t a great writer, find someone who is. In the large context of your advertising budget, freelance web writers are often very affordable. Here are some of the qualities of good online content: originality, usefulness, worth sharing, accuracy, detail, excitement. One way to learn more about shareable content is to visit one of the free sites that allows you to search for most shared articles. Study those articles and you’ll figure out some of the things they do that make them so shareable.

Fourth, make sure you optimize your page titles and meta description. Page titles are those words that appear at the top of your browser window, usually in the gray or blue space above the URL (uniform resource locator). Make sure your page titles contain as many of your top keywords as possible while still reasonably indicating the purpose of the page. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that Google only considers the first 66 characters of a page title, but many SEO experts still advise including as many words as you think are necessary to adequately describe the page. 

The meta description is a phrase that often shows up in the snippet of text Google shows below the link to your site. It’s a chance to point out what your page is all about. As part of what we call “four-in-one” keyword optimization, we like to be sure our most important keywords are included in the URL, page title, headers, and text of our home page, and to make sure the meta-description is compelling.
 
Fifth, be sure to use title and ALT attribute 
The title attribute is included in the html of a link. Though the viewer won’t see it (unless she’s looking .. or actually, if he or she is blind. Browsers for the visually impaired often read the title and ALT attributes) it tells the search engines more about where they will end up if they click the link. Since this isn’t meant to be a technical article, we’ll just say here that the link will not only contain the URL of the destination page, but also a short description of it. Once again, this is a good place to employ keywords.

The ALT attribute is also for the search engines and those who use browsers or readers for the visually impaired. It gives more information about an image, which otherwise wouldn’t have any value to the search engine.

This is far from an exhaustive list of SEO methods. But it will help get you started. If you’re not inclined to do this kind of work for yourself, or if you’re too busy, give us a call at 877-815-6974. We’ll do a quick FREE evaluation of your website, and let you know if we can help get you to page one of Google!

Do You Know How to Succeed on Yelp? We Do!

Are you struggling to retain visibility on Yelp?


Do you log into Yelp on a regular basis?


Are you finding it a challenge to get reviews?


Do you communicate effectively with your clients?


Knowing the best search engine marketing practices when it comes to Yelp is always a good tactic so you can be one step ahead of your competition. Many people have heard of Yelp, but don’t know what it takes to succeed there. We have the inside scoop, so we’re going to tell you almost everything we know ... and more!

According to Yelp.com, there are numerous things you can do to succeed, they include:

•     Track how many people view your business page. You can use the info gathered here to inform your decisions on things like “When is the best day of the week to run a special?”
•     Add photos, a detailed business description, up-to-date information, history, and specialties.
•     Recommend other businesses.
•     Put a badge and link to your Yelp listing on your website.
•     Put a "Find us on Yelp" sign in your place of business, on the front counter or window.
•     Include a link to your Yelp business listing in your email signature with the words, "Check us out on Yelp!"
•     Allows you to communicate with your customers.
•     Respond to positive and negative reviews.

All these things have been tested and proven, so you know you’re getting the good stuff from experts who use Yelp firsthand. If you start using Yelp on a regular basis and still don’t see a lot of activity on your analytics page, you may need to consult with an SEO expert or online marketing expert.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time must I commit to my Yelp listing?


It depends on how much success you want! If you want to be successful, at least 1-2 hours weekly would be sufficient as a minimum.


Can I designate Yelp tasks to someone on my team?


Yes, you can designate Yelp tasks to someone on your team who is knowledgeable about your business. They will need to implement a description, history of the company, coupons, pictures, and more.


Is Yelp user-friendly?


Yes, Yelp is user-friendly. If you need help for any reason and can’t figure out the answer, Yelp has a business support section that answers common questions.


At SEO Ann Arbor, “We believe in helping people achieve their dream of a successful, growing business and an abundant life…starting today!” Feel free to give us a call to talk about what you’d like to achieve for your business. We’ll even take a quick look at your website and share our impressions without charging you anything. Even if you don't end up hiring us to do your search engine marketing for you, we like to think we can help educate and inform you. If your website is not on Page One of Google, contact us today!

Check Google Trends

A good way to get a rough idea of how many people are searching for a particular word or phrase is to use Google Trends. Trends allows you to enter up to five words or phrases (separated by commas). Your results will show the relative number of people searching for each word or phrase.

Suppose you sell floor coverings and you're trying to decide whether to focus this month's online advertising on tile, plank flooring, bamboo, or carpet (we realize this example probably seems excessively simple if you're in the business, but we don't sell floor coverings!). You just type those words into Google Trends and you'll know which of them is being searched for most, which second, which third, and so forth. You'll have a good general understanding of the online trends (we're pretty sure that's what they call it "Trends").

There are a few things to keep in mind both about the value of Google Trends and about its limitations. Trends shows results for the entire English internet (though it does break those results down by geographic region), not necessarily for your city. It's more of a butter knife than a scalpel. It's also true that just because lots of people are searching for a particular term doesn't mean they're going to find your website. We'll talk more about how to become successful by avoiding the most searched-for terms, but for now we'd just like you to keep in mind that Trends is more of a tool for getting to know the big picture than it is for developing a detailed keyword list for your website.

One neat aspect of Google Trends that can be helpful for websites dealing with hot topics or current events is that it shows spikes in searches and correlates them with major news stories. That can be very helpful if you're researching when to emphasize certain words and phrases and what information to correllate them with to take advantage of surges in search numbers.

Once you've got an idea of the big picture, it's time to go to step 3: the Adwords Keyword Tool.

It all starts with research!

In real estate, its location, location, location!  In SEO it is research, research, research!

The first step in any significant SEO project is to determine what keywords you are trying to optimize.  Even if you think you have a pretty clear idea, it is always worth spending a little extra time up front researching and planning your approach.

Why?  Because all of this SEO stuff takes time, so you might as well get it right the first time.  Plus, you may not be as aware as you think you are of all of the various terms that people are searching for.  There are tools available to help you with this, so there is no reason not to take advantage of them.  You may be surprised at what people are actually searching for, and there is no sense in missing out on opportunities.

One place you can go (it actually may be the best place) is to Google Adwords program. The "keyword" tool they supply can tell you most of what you need to know when you are trying to decide what words to focus on.

Make sure you have a page on your site dedicated to each keyword/phrase

Let’s say you have an auto repair shop that specializes in providing service for European imports such as Audi, VW, and BMW.  When people go to Google and search for “bmw auto repair ann arbor” you would like your site to show up on the first page, if not first in the list.

Your current site has a “services” page that mentions that you work on BMW, VW, Audi, and other imports, but you don’t have a page specifically for “bmw auto repair ann arbor.”  Do you see the problem here?  You are hoping to be featured in the search results for a very specific search phrase, but you don’t have a page on your site that was specifically designed for that purpose.

But imagine if your competitor does.  Whoops!

The solution is to create a specific landing page just for “bmw auto repair ann arbor”.  You should go so far as to make sure the filename of the page includes those keywords (e.g. bmw_auto_repair_ann_arbor.html).  The HTML title of the page should also contain those keywords (more on page titles later).  The page should contain a lot of text that contains the phrases BMW, auto repair, and Ann Arbor.  Each one of those phrases should also be included in an HTML H1 header tag.

Try to include some specific information as to what advantages your facility would offer to someone with a BMW.  Do you have a BMW certified technician on staff?   What makes you so good at repairing BMW’s as compared to anyone else? The more information that you can provided, the more opportunities there are for you to include keywords, and that will help improve the relevance of your site for those particular words and phrases.  You might even go so far as to reserve a keyword rich domain name such as “bmw-repair-ann-arbor.com”.

Now go back and do it again for all of the other keywords and phrases that you are trying to optimize.

What is the ONE thing I can do to optimize my site?

Let’s face it, SEO can be confusing. There are a dozen major things, and dozens of minor things that can and probably should be done to optimize your site. Worse yet, many of them are time consuming and involve disparate skills. Still, you have to start somewhere, and we get asked all of the time, “what is the one thing I can do to optimize my site?”

The answer is simple. Write! People use words to search the Internet. When I am looking for someone to install a sprinkler system at my house, I don’t upload a picture of my brown lawn to Google and hope they figure it out. No, I type in “Ann Arbor Sprinkler” or “Sprinkler System Installation.” Google and the other search engines understand text. Sure, there are other things that can help, but one of the biggest factors in convincing Google and the other search engines that your site is pertinent for a given set of keywords, is to make sure that your site contains those keywords.

If you install sprinkler systems in Ann Arbor, then make sure that your website liberally mentions that fact. Again and again. For any given set of keywords, you want them to appear at least once in the page title, once in a header tag, once inside of paragraph text, and also in the name of the page. We call it 4 in 1 optimization. You’ll call it “magic” once you see how well it works.

Ignore Your Website and it will Go Away!

My Website Looks Really Good!

Okay, so you were trying to save money when you started your business. Your friend's wife does websites in her spare time using Weebly or Moonfruit, so you asked her to design yours, and it looks pretty good. It has a home page with some nice motion graphics, an "About Us" page, a page showing the services you provide, and a "Contact Us" page. You've even gotten a few compliments on it from friends.

So How Come I'm Not Getting Any Calls?

Now that you've been in business for a while, you notice that you get calls from referrals and a few from that expensive Yellow Pages ad, but hardly any from people who found you through your website. Where's the so-called magic of the world wide web? You know your site can be found because when you type the name of your business in the search bar of Google, it shows up right there on page one. Heck, you submitted the URL to Google yourself!

Google Beauty is More than Skin Deep

Assuming your site is at least somewhat appealing to your potential audience, chances are you’re not appearing on or near the first page of Google results. That’s because beauty (or popularity, actually) is more than skin deep for Google purposes. There’s a whole range of things going on that aren’t readily apparent to the casual viewer of your website. Some of these things are page titles, meta tags, headers, keyword rich text, clear syntactically correct html, robust content, and the number of other sites that link back to yours.

Robots are Searching for You as We Speak

The search engines like Google and Yahoo! have automatic software systems sometimes called “search engine robots” or “spiders” that constantly patrol the web, looking for information that tells them how popular a website is. All those things we mentioned above are important. So if your competitor’s website is equal to yours in almost every way, but their page titles are more effective, their site will appear above yours in the Google search results. If enough other sites have better SEO features than yours, your site might not appear until several pages down.

Page Two is Like Outer Space

Putting aside the pride you justifiably feel if your site appears on Google search results at all, think about the last time you used Google to find something. Did you even bother to look past the first page of results? What if you found something even somewhat relevant to your search on page one? You probably clicked on that link and never bothered to return to your search results. That’s what’s happening to your site. Very few people who are looking for your product or service are going to get past page one, and not every one who sees the listing for your site is going to click on it.

Page One is Where You Need to Be

One study found that 90% of searchers click on one of the listings on the first page, and 14% of searchers click on the #1 result! That means you should try everything in your power to get on page one, and if possible, at or near #1 on the first page. The bad news is that (1) everybody wants their website to be at number one, and (2) it takes a series of things done right to get there.
There is some good news, however, and the good news is that there are people (like SEO Ann Arbor) who know how to get your site moving toward page one, and perhaps on page one. Those people are trustworthy, they’re hard-working, and they’re real people who live and work in the Ann Arbor area. They’ve got a track record of success, and they are constantly studying the science of SEO to make sure their methods are at the cutting edge. Best of all, you can call them and get a free initial evaluation of your website! Don’t wait! If your website isn’t on page one of Google, contact SEO Ann Arbor today!

Why You Need SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?

So you spent a bunch of money to have a website designed and built and you think it looks pretty good. You took a lot of pretty pictures and wrote some great text describing your business, and now you’re waiting for the clients to start rolling in.
Awesome!
Except, for most of us, the “rolling in” part never seems to happen. Sure, we get a call or two, maybe even find that a few people contact us to ask where we are or what our prices are. But for the vast majority of businesses, the end of the rainbow simply doesn’t point at the proverbial pot of gold. Want to know why?

Web Marketing Can Separate You from the Huge Crowd

There are many reasons, but the quickest answer is that, depending on who you ask, there are between 344 million and 644 million websites on the internet. That means almost no matter what product or service you offer, there are a LOT of other people in the world offering it, too. Unless you do something really unique or really spectacular, you’re going to have to find clients the old fashioned way – through personal contacts, networking, and word of mouth. That can make it tough to earn enough to pay your overhead.
Another reason – closely related to the sheer number of websites out there – is that consumers are overwhelmed by all the advertising they encounter every day, not just on the internet, but on TV and radio, in their reading material, on billboards, and surrounding them while shopping or sightseeing. If you want outstanding sales, you’ve got to find a way to stand out.

Page One of Google is the Best Place to be on the Search Engines

One way to stand out is to be sure that your website appears on or near page one when people search Google or one of the other search engines. As we stated above, there are millions of websites, but only around ten of them appear on page one when you do a search. As we pointed out in this article - What is Search Engine Optimization?
According to some experts, 95% of real traffic to websites comes from the results on page one of search engine results. That means if your business appears on page two, you are competing for the leftover 5% of potential customers. If this seems extreme, think about the last few times you searched for a product or service on the Internet. Like most of us, you probably went to Google and typed in a word or words that you thought would get you to the businesses you wanted. When you found one or two likely listings, did you keep scanning through the results? No? We don’t either, and most people who use search engines (which is almost everybody these days) click through to the first likely listing they see.

It May Not be Enough to Have a Website

Search engine optimization is the science and art of adding the right things to your site and in other places on the internet to help the search engines find out how important and relevant your website is. Even if your business is the only one in Ann Arbor offering purple and green widgets, there may be other businesses in other parts of Michigan or the US offering purple and green widgets, and if they’ve had competent SEO work done, they may well appear above your business in search engine results.

Web Marketing Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry

We don’t want to assume that you’re like everybody else, but in our experience the vast majority of business owners overestimate the “natural” importance of their businesses on the internet. We probably notice this because we made the same mistake when we started out. You’re rightfully proud of your business and hopefully you’re optimistic about the chance to make millions this year, but the noise of advertising is getting louder and louder with each passing year. Great results on the internet are made, not born, and the process of making them is called SEO.

You Can Do All Your SEO Yourself … Maybe

You can do a lot of the things that an SEO expert will do for you, if you have the time. You can do research to determine which words and phrases people are most searching for when they look for products or services like yours. You can cull out the words and phrases that don’t relate exactly to what you’re offering. You can write keyword-rich text to include on your home page and on other critical pages on your website. You can include appropriate keywords in your URLs, page titles, meta-descriptions, and text. You can seek out partner websites to link back to your site. You can write cogent, keyword-related articles to post on your site.
You can create and manage social media campaigns on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Youtbue, Linkedin and Pinterest. You can check your HTML to make sure that it is error-free. You can ensure that you use CSS appropriately, and that your site is submitted to all the relevant search engines and listing places. You can manage your Google Places and other geographical listings. You can develop and manage mobile versions of your site or apps that help generate traffic for your business. And you can do any dozen or two of the many other things that ensure you a steady flow of potential customers for years to come.
Or not.

Do It Yourself SEO is a Great Idea for Some Businesses, and Terrible for Others

If you’re actually a lot better at doing the thing that your business does, and you make decent money while doing it, then you should probably consider hiring experts to do your web work, SEO, and social media management for you. We’re fond of saying, “If you have more time than money, do your own SEO. If you have more money than time, hire someone to do your SEO for you.” It turns out that most good business people can make a lot more money doing their thing than trying to do DIY SEO.
We do SEO everyday, and we’re pretty good at it. Our clients’ websites get to page one of Google, either quickly or over a reasonable period of time. Because we work with SEO every day, we know what to look for, and we have efficient ways of doing it. We’re also local, so if you have questions or concerns you can sit across the desk from us or call us on the phone (in the same time zone!) and we’ll make sure your questions are answered. But whatever you do yourself, or whoever you decide to hire, make sure you understand and use SEO. It can make all the difference to your success! If you’d like more information or have a few questions, feel free to call us today!