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One cannot emphasize more on the importance of local citations and the impact they have on local Search Engine Optimization. Local citation websites and more importantly the reviews you get on these local sites matters a lot. Yelp is one such local review website. In today’s world, you can find places very easily over the internet – thanks to local listings, you no longer have to rely on yellow pages or a phone book.

Yelp allows users to place reviews for local services and goods and businesses. Yelp also offers local businesses a free listing on their website with a no follow link to their page. They provide an opportunity for branding and gaining visitors that you wouldn’t have otherwise got from an organic search results. This is a different visitor base to tap! Local SEO strategies work well for a locally targeted audience.

It is of utmost importance to keep your local business information updated. Well, if your information is incomplete or incorrect you stand to lose credibility and this is a huge potential loss of revenue. The other important factor is customer reviews. In other citation websites like Google places, the quantity of reviews matter. The more the number of reviews the better. In case of Yelp, positive reviews matter. A negative review can take you down!

So it is important that your local SEO strategies include consistency in information an all local websites and ensure that you work towards gaining many reviews – positive ones!

In Internet Marketing, users generally find your website be searching keywords for product or services names. Well, even if they find your site and click on it, they sometimes leave your page and go to some other site. Search re-targeting is generally used by internet marketing professionals to remarket their products to users who once visited their site by searching data. The idea is to reach out to the customers who once showed interest in your products / services but for some reason or another decided not to complete the transaction.

So, how exactly does an Internet Marketing professional re-market? Here’s how it works. Whenever a user visits your site, an anonymous cookie is placed on your website. This cookie is then recognized by your advertizing server and you can display your ads to these users again. A really great way to increase conversions.

There are two methods for search retargeting used by internet marketing professionals. One deals with users who have come to your website by means of search, and the other method deals with users who have searched for your targeted keywords.

The main benefit of this type of marketing is that the users who searched for your products or clicked on your website probably are already familiar with your brand and have already taken a first look at your products. This makes it easier for you. They are almost ready to convert. So, you can make the most out of search re-targeting.

As the uses of mobile phone are increases, it becomes a main part of life.  As we know that initially mobile was used only for text and calling but as the uses increased and technology advances, various models and features are launched in market. Now a days there are a number of smart phones and tablets available in the market by which the market of mobile web development and mobile application development is increases.  Mobile development has been growing since apple introduced iPhone and Google introduced Android.

Mobile application development came much before Mobile web development. The difference between mobile application development and mobile web development is; the songs you listen in your mobile is a mobile application and the internet you accesses is mobile web development.

Mobile industry has few frameworks which are helpful for developers for mobile website development and for mobile application development.

• Sencha: Sencha Touch is the best choice for mobile application development. It is the first HTML5 mobile application framework. Sencha Touch allows you to develop mobile applications which look native in iPhone and Android.
• jQuery Mobile: jQuery is one of the best web framework for smartphones and tablets. It is most popular because it takes less writing and more work for web development. Generally all popular mobile device platforms are built on rock-solid jQuery and jQuery UI foundation. jQuery is also very helpful for Web Development.
• jQTouch: it is one of jQuery Touch plugin for mobile web development for Iphone, Ipod Touch and for other forward-thinking devices.
• DaynamicX: It is the most popular framework for building mobile web applications. DHTMLX Touch is a free open source JavaScript library for building HTML5-based mobile web apps. It allows you to create eye-catching web application for mobile and touch screen devices.
• WebApp.Net:  it is a powerful framework, it takes advantage of AJAX technology.  It provides ready components for developing easily mobile web application.
• M-Project: it is an HTML5 JavaScript framework.  It is helpful for mobile application development.

All these frameworks help you to start your mobile application development and mobile web development.

An online shop is no different than a real life store. Customers at both places scan the new products, look at the first thing that attracts their attention and in case of an online business, they click on the first link that attracts their attention. So, your web design service has a lot of responsibilities. Your web design should be able to attract and keep the visitors in order for you to make some profitable business online. There are many factors that contribute towards making a good design.

Here are some of the principles you should follow to create an excellent web design:

• Users are always in a hurry. They want to spot information as quickly as possible. So, don’t make them think. Place your most important information in an easily locatable location. Make the navigation as simple as it possibly could be.

• When your web design includes a lot of user requirements to get a simple job done, it will definitely annoy a visitor. Of course no one asks a visitor to fill a form or register with a really long procedure to even look what your website is all about, but in general, don’t test a user’s patience.

• Once on your website, your web design should be able to get the user’s attention to exactly where you want them to go! Focus user’s attention on that. You can easily tweak your web design to do so.

• Clarity is the key. Make your customers see what your website has and where they can find it.

• Again, simplicity in design is an essential part of an effective web design. If you complicate matters for your visitors, they will simply leave. Customers are impatient – remember?

• Web design is a visual form of communication. Visual communications are the most effective form of communication.

• Finally, Test and retest your designs for all popular browsers and all popular platforms. Your designs are only good if they can be displayed the way you want to on all the browsers. So, make the most out of it. Test all your designs and features etc.

When your web design includes a great user experience and a great way to make users interact with your website, your web site is on the track for success. Remember that users appreciate quality and credibility because they are not reading in depth about what you have written. They scan content, they look at something that is attention grabbing and where they can click and easily find what they came there for. Organize your data, graphics and even flash if need be and make it as simple, clear, navigable and most importantly usable by the website visitor. Distinctive features must be highlighted and emphasis must be made on the fact that conventional designs sell more with common visitors. Not all visitors are looking for an artistic inclination. They want something to browse easily and find what they were looking for and that’s exactly what you wish too right!

When exactly do you start with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of your website? After design? After Development? Well, the right answer is SEO runs in parallel with design and development. There are some factors that need to be tweaked right from the design and development phase of a website. This will avoid re-doing some of the code and you will save time switching tasks between the design, development and marketing teams. So, develop your website with all the design and development factors in mind.

On Page SEO refers to all the changes that need to be made on a code level to help search crawlers to read and understand what’s on your website in a language that they understand. These On page changes can be effectively made while the site is being built rather than at a later stage when you actually start marketing it. A search engine spider is looking for the HTML code on your website as soon as it lands on your web page. So, make sure your HTML code has all the correct pointers and lead the spiders to understand what your page is all about.

Whether you hire a SEO service provider or do it yourself, there are some factors in your code that you would require to tweak.

Here are some of the on page SEO factors that you can include:

• Tags: There are various types of tags that you can include and optimize. The Title tag, The Meta Description and the Keywords can be included with the most prominent keyword in each one of them.

• URLS: Make sure that all your URLS are reachable, no broken URLS, no two URLs directing to the same page, cannonicalize wherever you encounter such a thing.

• Enter appropriate keywords with appropriate keyword density in the content.

• Validate your HTML code: Well, this is not an absolute necessity, but a validated code is good for you too.

• Wherever you have graphics ensure that you also have Alt tags, so that these images add value to your website (other than making it attractive). These alt tags can help search engines read what the images are all about.  Search engines otherwise reads only text matter. They cannot read images, graphics and flash animations.

• Ensure that you have a site map. This is important from both user experience perspective and SEO.

• Robots.txt – check your robots text file to see which URLs you have asked not to follow.

• Use 301 redirects for any links that have been permanently moved.

Well, these are all the on page SEO factors that you can use to ensure that your web design and development are in line with SEO requirements. Check HTML and work towards making your website well optimized for all search engine spiders. On page optimization is a one-time activity however. It requires analysis and thorough understanding of what you need to change and why.

Other than these, testing your code on various browsers is very important. This of course is a part of the design and development of the website. Make all the changes to the HTML code accurately and you’re on page optimization is ready. You can then proceed to off page changes!

Tough choice: web development in-house or web development outsourcing? Whether you select this one or that, it is important to know the pros and cons of both before you take a decision.

Let’s first take a look at the factors you can remember for an in-house web development team:

• When you are thinking of long term projects, in-house team is always preferred. It ensures that the team understands the business and the web development requirements and also understands the budgets.
• In house is cost effective for short term projects
• In house developers can understand the target audience better as they are more inline with the company’s day to day activities
• Website maintenance tasks are not neglected as there is a sense of ownership.
• They do not have to juggle between clients so individual attention ensures quality work.

To be able to select a web development outsourcing agency, you need to understand what you are getting into and then take a decision. With web development outsourcing, you get some substantial benefits.

• While you decide in favour of web development outsourcing, understand that the cost involved is less only for short term projects.
• The agency can bring diverse ideas as they work on a day to day basis with a diverse types of client websites.
• An external agency will always give you a competitive edge.
• Specialized attention can be given to your particular project.

Well, the choice is entirely yours. There are two major factors to look at. Your budget for web development outsourcing, or your length of project. When it is a budget constraint, you can look at outsourcing, as you avoid recurring costs in developing a website. When you are looking at maintenance tasks and regular daily tasks, it is good to have an in house web development team to get things fixed quickly. Although maintaining an in house team will be an addition to the recurring costs per year and you also have to think long term. With an in house team of developers, however, you will have the advantage of the team members knowing everything about your business and what works and what does not. There will be little assistance you would require to provide and little training. With the agency, you will have the advantage of getting specialized services, diverse knowledge and a team with an exposure to a diverse types of business working.

Another approach could be – a combined effort from in house and outsourced team. You can get the website development done from a web development outsourcing agency, and then have an in house team to do the regular updates and maintenance tasks. So, either approach has it’s pros and cons. You need to base your decision on the cost savings, or budget expenditure, or the length of the project or whether the requirements are for a short period of time or a long term assignment. This will help you get your work done more efficiently, timely and in a cost effective manner!

Google + exists and there is no denying that Google places a lot of importance on it’s social network activity for search rankings. SEO for these pages has now become imperative. Getting your Google + pages SEO’ed is now a good idea. Whether you find it interesting or not, whether you find that your Facebook profile rocks and all your contacts are there, Google + is not going anywhere, and nor is the fact that it is being fiercely promoted by Google. The sole intention of creating a social network was to improve the search results and not play “rival” to Facebook or any other social network.

Here are some SEO tips for your Google + pages

• For starters, content needs to be fresh.
• Profiles don’t matter as much as pages.
• Getting +1’s is good.
• Comments and shares are ok but not better than +1’s
• Reach and followers go get an advantage
• Include your search term in the Introduction, Employment and Education and Places
• Use your keywords in at least two of the above fields.

So, Google + is a good place to update your business data and add to your SEO efforts.

Getting straight to the point – Google isn’t out to get you! So stop chasing the algorithm. Every time there is a change, there is no need to tweak your website. Instead of concentrating on tricks and tips, learn the fundamentals.  Direct all your SEO efforts in making your website perfect in terms of user experience and usability. Get rid of all the unnecessary parts of your website that provide little or no value addition for your customers or visitors.

Learn the basics right. Get your site structure and development code perfect. Fix all the URLs and ensure that there are no broken links. There must be absolutely no spelling and grammar mistakes in content. Well, recheck all your links incoming and outgoing. Ensure that there are no spammy one’s there. Channelize your SEO efforts using social media. An astute SEO implementer will never get into black hat SEO practices. Will never buy links, content or avail any services that sound too good to be true. Well, create a site that cannot be denied a ranking – and you will never have to spend valuable time on looking for tricks and work arounds! There is no recipe for SEO. It should be integrated in your website proactively. Not reactively – i.e. after Google (or any search engine) announces changes!

For those whose target market is local, can restrict their SEO efforts to a more localized effort. This will drive targeted traffic to the website and your business will profit by increased number of conversions. Google Places and Local Search ranking factors refer to the signals that are considered while displaying results for organic local search queries. There are certain really strong indicators, while some misconceptions around these. Here, let us take a look at local search ranking factors that influence search results.

• Categories: Ensure that you have entered the category of your business. It’s a greater advantage if the category is part of your business name.
• Google reviews are a strong indicator to suggest that the business has some credibility. To be very specific, more than five reviews is an ideal figure.
• The terms used in category if also turn up in reviews is an added advantage, plus, the category terms in business description also matters.
• Another factor that really seems to matter is the distance of the business from the centroid. Although Google has recently made changes to the Local Search algorithm to include authority for page and domain so that users see more refined local search results.

You maintain a fantastic blog for your website. It has many readers too! Well, here’s another excellent idea to build your brand and popularize it. Guest blogging – right it is an excellent way to get great content around and get great links back! Well, one would wonder – if I have this great content; why would i place it on some other blog? It’s how you look at it. Provide people a good read, and they will surely check out who the author is. And want to read more that comes from you. It’s good for all your SEO efforts too!

 
But here are some points to remember. While guest blogging, look for blogs that already have a high traffic. Also check out whether these blogs are relevant to your business. Well, atleast check whether these sites have a category for your kind of business. Secondly, don’t do too many anchor text links pointing back to your website. On a final note, write genuinely informative posts. Don’t make it just an SEO effort.