Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Make Your Website Visible

Whether you've heard of SEO or this is the first time, it's very important that you take the time to read this valuable information. How much are you spending on a monthly basis for advertising, and what are you getting in return? Let's be honest, advertising isn't that great for most of us. With proper SEO, your website can and will become valuable to customers who are looking for your services and products. The World Wide Web is a huge place and most websites are lost somewhere out there. Stop for a moment and ask yourself this question: How do I expect people to find my website? Are you thinking they'll magically type in the words that relate to your business? More than likely they will, however, if your website doesn't reflect this kind of information to the search robots crawling your site, they won't know to display your site when these terms are entered by a person browsing for information. That's why it's imperative that you invest in SEO and have your website optimized properly so that that your website and all of your great products and services can be discovered by those searching for them.

Here's one way to look at this: Say you spend $500 per month on advertising, whether it's in the newspapers or online. Chances are that you have little to no idea of how effective that ad is and what your ROI is. Sure you can continue to fatten the pockets of Google, Facebook and/or Bing by continuing to use their Pay Per Click Advertising but the problem is that it really takes a professional who's very well versed in the advertising systems put out by the companies to get the most out of your investment. Many times when you use online advertising, your ads are displaying to people who are using search terms such as "cheap" or "review" or similar and if you're trying to sell something and make a profit, you probably aren't writing and providing reviews and you don't want to sell your products for "cheap" or else you'll eventually go out of business!

The smart alternative is SEO. SEO is an art that can take your site from not being visible at all through the search engines to becoming competitive and appearing for terms that are actually search for on a regular basis. This process involves a lot of time and effort by the company performing the services, but you will see a huge reward for singing up for this service. Although the search engines are constantly updating their algorithms to improve the results they deliver, here are some common areas that we assess and correct for clients. Please keep in mind that this is only a partial list.

1. URL Structure: Are your pages named like any of the following?

   www.yourdomain.com/great new products.html
   www.yourdomain.com/index.php?route=base/2845
   www.yourdomain.com/great_new_website.html
   www.yourdomain.com/my-great-services/service-1.html

   The last option is the ideal way to name your pages. A search engine crawler can read these actual words and in turn uses them as on of the factors to return results.

2. Meta Tags: Sure you'll hear companies say your meta tags need to be optimized, which is correct. However, it's important that the proper information is put into these tags. We've studied AND tested various methods to know that we're providing you with the right steps once we begin to optimize your site(s).

3. On Page Content: This is very important to the Search Engines. The top goal of a search engine is to deliver useful and relevant content to the user. With that said, it's important that your meta tag information is not "stuffed" with keywords and information that you want to appear for, but rather, your page content needs to correlate to the information in your meta tags and vice versa.

These are just a couple of the "obvious" techniques that are used to increase your site ranking.

One of the biggest steps in SEO is to perform extensive keyword research. What good is it to optimize your site for terms that are either not relevant to your business or for terms that are searched for so infrequently every month?

SEO is a much smarter investment than advertising, and we'll prove it to you!

Common Questions About SEO

What is SEO?

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a strategic process designed to make a website appear within the top 5-10 results for a given keyword or key phrase.

How long does it take before results are noticed?

Results will vary from website to website, due to the fact that we're at the mercy of the search engine spiders and how often they crawl the content of a website. Generally, it can take 4-6 months to really see progress being made and at times, full results won't be seen until 10-12 months after the campaign has begun.

Are there certified professionals to handle SEO?

There is no such certification program that is backed by Google, Yahoo or Bing.

What is required of me during the process?

The majority of the work rests in the hands of our company as we optimize many aspects of your website. There are a few parts of the process which require your input. These parts include the discussion and decision making of which keywords to choose, in depth information about your business to help us better understand who you are really targeting and in some cases, if there is not enough content on your website, we may be asking you to help us develop additional content.

What is the difference between SEO and SEM?

SEO is a process by which permanent results can be achieved. The costs are often higher, but if you weigh out this cost versus constantly advertising, you'll quickly see how valuable this is for your business and website. SEM or Search Engine Marketing can be very effective when you are wanting to draw an instant amount of traffic, possibly to promote a hot special or an event. Your budget can be very small or very large depending on your goals. As soon as you don't replenish your account, your ads will disappear within the results pages. For more information on SEM, click on the tab at the top of this page.

Google AdWords™ Pay Per Click Advertising

Perhaps you've seen the "Ads" column on the top or along the side of a search results page and wondered how to get your website listed there and what it may cost. This program, known as Google Adwords™ is a very highly effective advertising platform for businesses and websites of all types. CWS is proud to offer this service to you and to help you maximize your full potential from a properly managed Google Adwords™ Account.

The Value in Hiring Trained Professionals

Google Adwords™ is a very unique and powerful online advertising program designed for anyone. Search Engine Marketing campaigns allow you to effectively target new and existing customers who are searching for the products and services that you offer. However, managaging an online marketing campaign can often require close attention. With our experience and proficiency in creating AdWords campaigns for businesses, we can save you time and resources by managing your very own AdWords campaign.

Global Reach From Google

By hiring CWS Website Design and Marketing to create and manage your Google AdWords™ campaign, we can help you reach your consumers in a relevant, accountable way. With over 170 million people using the Internet in the US, and Google's network reaching 80% of these potential customers, you can now effectively reach the audiences which matter most to your business. During the setup phase, you'll be able to choose your target customers by neighborhood, city, state or country. AdWords™ is available in 38 different languages and 250 countries.

Relevance

AdWords™ displays your ad to potential customers when they're actively searching for information pertaining to the products and/or services that you have to offer. This allows your ads to be placed when decisions are being made. When it comes to making in-store purchases in key categories, 89% have conducted online research prior to their purchase.

Return on Investment (ROI)

AdWords™ provides a wide range of helpful online tracking tools giving us the insight about what's working, what's not and what adjustments can be made to maximize your investment. With no minimum dollar commitment and the ability to adjust, pause or stop your campaign online, complete flexibility is in your hands. The only financial commitment on your end is a one time setup fee for your new AdWords™ account and however much money you decide to put into the ad campaign. And the best part: you only pay when consumers click on your ad and go to your site.

Costs and Flexibility

Costs

Advertisers can choose cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-impression (CPM) pricing, whichever best suits your needs

Under the Google AdWords CPC pricing model, advertisers pay for ad clicks, not impressions. If an advertiser's ads appear 50 times and receive five clicks, the advertiser is charged only for those five clicks. With CPM pricing, advertisers who prefer impression-based pricing can set their own price and receive traditional CPM metrics.

When using AdWords, you'll enjoy a tremendous level of control over your costs. You can set a maximum daily budget to help manage costs over the month and specified amounts you're willing to pay per click or per thousand impressions, which the AdWords system will never exceed.

Once your account is setup, we'll also setup the Google conversion tracking tool and send account reports by email so that you can monitor your sales conversiona and return on investment.

Flexibility

Due to the high degree of flexibility and control, it's an especially effective marketing tool to help advertisers:

• Generate leads

• Generate sales or conversions

• Create brand awareness