The Magic of SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and, according to Elle & Company's Lauren Hooker, "Search Engine Optimization refers to the strategies and techniques that are used to improve your site's ranking on Google." Today, we're going to explore the world of SEO with Lauren Hooker and with a Spotlight on Macy's.

SEO with Lauren Hooker

What I absolutely love about this article is that it explains SEO in a way that anyone can understand. I, myself, am not a tech-savvy person, so reading her article really helped me to navigate this concept.

The first half of the article gives a good explanation of SEO. Based on the definition of SEO given above, the main goal that most businesses want with SEO is to get their website to pop up on the first page of Google when a person searches for a topic that is relevant to that business. According to Lauren Hooker, "only 8.5% of people proceed to the second page", so getting that kind of attention can be very difficult. However, it is not impossible.

In the second half of the article, the author of the post gives 4 tips for making the Search Engine Optimization on your site better:

The first tip is to "submit your content to Google" (Hooker). Basically, you're doing this to get your website noticed by more people on Google search engines. Another thing about content that she mentions earlier in the article is that you're content, above all else, is what will draw people in the most. It doesn't matter how well and how thorough you are with applying SEO to your website. Applicable content is what keeps people coming (she uses direct quotes from Google to back this point).

The second tip is to "sign into Google Webmaster Tools" (Hooker). According to Lauren Hooker, this program "monitors your site's performance in Google searches." Essentially, this will help you to keep track of how well you're applying SEO.

The third tip given is to "add your sitemap in Google Webmaster Tools" (Hooker). This will help Google to know what exactly your website is about and what it contains in order to boost website traffic.

The fourth and final tip is to "use Fetch as Google to test how Google is crawling and indexing your site" (Hooker). First of all, the term "crawling", if you don't know, refers to Google actually going through all the content of your site (Hooker). Secondly, Fetch as Google is a "diagnostic tool that allows you to simulate how Google crawls or renders a URL on your site" (qtd. in Hooker). This is like looking from a third-party view of what happens when you search for content applicable to your website.

Overall, Elle & Company's Lauren Hooker does a beautiful job of exploring this content, and it would be beneficial to read her posts about this topic and many others. She has implemented these concepts successfully in her own business, and, to read more of her posts, you can go to her blog website here.

Spotlight

In a small experiment, I went to Google and searched for random, general-description pieces of clothing, and I did this about 5 times. Almost every time, Macy's came up on the first page. Suffice it to say that Macy's has implemented a very successful SEO.

In an interview article written by Andy Betts of BrightEdge, Macy's gets a spotlight on their SEO implementation with the head of this process, Lauren MacPhail. Using BrightEdge for Macy's SEO implementation, the interview discusses the success of Macy's SEO and how they're adapting to changes in SEO technology. If you want to know more about this awesome company's SEO success, you should definitely read this interview article to add to your SEO knowledge.

In honor of the recently late Carrie Fisher of the Star Wars series, may the Force be with you on your Search Engine Optimization journey!

Pictures found on Google Images. I do not own these pictures, nor the Macy's and Star Wars trademarks and quotes. This is being used for educational purposes.

#GoogleAnalyticsTips

What is Google Analytics, and how can you use it for your own website? Today, I will answer these questions and more with an article by Jennifer Lonoff Schiff of CIO. We will also put the Spotlight on Twitter, who uses this program to their advantage.

8 Tips with Schiff

Before we begin our tips, let me give an explanation for those of you out there who don't know exactly what Google Analytics is and does. Google Analytics is a program used by many websites to determine different traffic aspects of a website, such as how many people visit the site, where they're from, etc. Many successful companies use this program to their advantage when it comes to building their business website. Now that you know what this program is, let's look at these tips on how to use this program to your own advantage.

The first tip provided by Schiff after her conversations with experts on the subject is to know how people are accessing your website the most through Google Analytics, or whatever analytics program that you use. Once you figure out how, then you need to build your site around that technology that people are using to access your site. For example, if most of your site traffic is coming from laptops, then you need to make sure that your site is best represented in that fashion.

The second tip is to use your analytics program to figure out how people are getting to your website. Are they going through Google? Did they click an ad? Did they just type in the address directly? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you know how to optimize which avenue is being used the most when it comes to getting consumers to your site.

The third tip is to know where your visitors on your website are from. You can definitely use this to your advantage through Google Analytics. You can spend more time and resources on the places that people are from the most in order to increase traffic and sales.

The fourth tip for using Google Analytics to your advantage is to study the "demographics" of your visitors (Schiff). This will also help you to determine which people to spend time on the most when it comes to getting people to your site.

The fifth tip is to analyze what exactly your visitors are looking for via the "search" engine on your website (Schiff). This will help you to determine what your consumers want, need, and what they're looking for to buy. In this way, you can figure out how to fill those wants and needs of your visitors.

The sixth tip is to "learn where visitors are landing" (Schiff). Now, by "landing" (Schiff), she doesn't mean that E.T. landed on your website wanting to "phone home". What Schiff is describing here is what's called a "'Landing Page'" (Nick Mather qtd. in Schiff). This is the page that most people first encounter when entering your site. This will help you to improve upon and make sure that the first thing that people see keeps them exploring your website.

The seventh tip is making sure whichever of your "calls to action" intrigues people and makes them want to stay on your website (Schiff). Google Analytics can show you what visitors are intrigued by the most per number of "clicks" of certain "links" (Brendan Cournoyer qtd. in Schiff). You can use this to know what people like on your site and what keeps them engaged.

The eighth and final tip (Woohoo! You made it!) is to use your analytics "to see where your losing customers" via "bounce rates" (Schiff). "Bounce rates" refer to people who get on your site and then leave quickly afterward (Schiff). Through this method, you can see where and what you need to improve on your site in order to keep moving forward successfully.

Jennifer Lonoff Schiff interviewed quite a few experts to come up with these tips, as you can see, so this article is definitely top notch and worth looking at for yourself. I highly recommend it if you're currently building a website and plan on utilizing an analytics program.

Spotlight

#Success! Twitter is one of the world's leading social media websites, and, according to an article by George Gill of Gill Solutions Management, it is one of the more well-known companies in the world to use Google Analytics.

Did you know that as a Twitter user you can see these analytics applied to your own account? If you go to analytics.twitter.com and sign in to your Twitter account, you can see your analytics on a per-month basis. Some of these include your Top Tweet for the month, your Top Mention, how many followers you've gained or lost, and more! You can also see the growth of your profile visits and how many times people have seen your posts. To get a good idea of how analytics works, I truly recommend seeing a company such as Twitter do it successfully. Go check it out now! Have fun with your analytics journey!



Pictures found on Google Images. I do not own these pictures, nor the Twitter and E.T. trademarks and quotes. This is being used for educational purposes.

Never Go Out of Style: Current Website Trends

If you're building a website, here are some trends that you definitely need to know! Plus, we'll take an interesting look at someone who's website follows these trends and does it well: Taylor Swift.

Trends According to McLeman

Donald McLeman uses infographics in this article here to explain the most current trends in the design of websites today. Websites that look old tend to turn people away, so, if you follow some or any of these 5 trends, you'll be good to go!

The first trend that McLeman discusses is the mobility trend. If your website doesn't look good or function well on a phone, you're done before you start. A lot of people in today's world can access the web via smart phone, so making sure that your website works on a phone properly is critical.

The second trend discussed in this article is called "interactive scrolling" (McLeman). There are two types that fall under this trend, and they are called "infinite scrolling" and the "parallax effect" (McLeman). The first type is pretty self-explanatory. It essentially means that people see endless information when they scroll a site, which a lot of people like. The second type that is trending is when you use 2-D objects to make a site look 3-D when you scroll.

The third trend is called a "flat design" (McLeman). Basically, it's just keeping the design of your web page simple with basic shapes and coloring. Simplicity is brought out in a lot of these trends and is crucially important to creating a successful website, so I'm going to use a quote from one of my favorite shows, The Office, to help you remember it:

"Michael always says, 'K-I-S-S: Keep It Simple, Stupid.' Great advice. Hurts my feelings every time."

-Dwight K. Schrute

Minus the "stupid" part, this is a great trick to remind you to keep things simple. Do NOT over-complicate your website. No matter what, remember that simplicity is better when it comes to designing your website.

The fourth trend involves keeping your website to a single-page basis. Some websites keep all of their info on one page with links that lead you to the next one. If this works for your website, it is fully encouraged that you use it because it is aesthetically pleasing. Remember, however, that not everybody can fit all of their information onto one page, so this trend might not be for every business.

The fifth and final trend is similar to the third trend, but more to do with the layout then just the design of a website. Make sure that you keep the layout of your site simple and easy to navigate through. Imaging is also important here, as well as fonts. Remember, keep it simple.

The great thing about Donald McLeman's article is that it has examples of websites for each trend, in case you don't know exactly what he's talking about. There are also statistics in his infographics to back up his statements. This article is definitely something to look at before creating a site, and, if you didn't catch the link above, you can click here to read the full article.

Spotlight

As someone who wants to work in the music industry someday as a marketer, I can honestly say that Taylor Swift's marketing strategies are top notch. Her team, and herself as well, always come up with the most innovative ideas for marketing her music that I have ever seen. Even though this may be considered an "unconventional" business to Spotlight on, her website is very successful on the business-side of things.

When you go to Taylor's website, the first thing you'll see is a page that will show you the current holiday sale that is going on in her website store. Once you get past that page, you'll see the latest news for Taylor Swift, as well as the latest posts on her social media pages when you scroll down. There are also multiple links that lead to an About page, Events page, Store page, and more. The whole design of her website pays homage to her last album, which, to date, is 1989. Everything is clean-cut, simple, and easy to maneuver. The store page itself is also this way, and has plenty of merchandise to choose from in a categorized manner.

Ever since I was a little kid, Taylor Swift was always someone that I admired and looked up to as a role model. I loved her when she was country, and still like her now as a pop artist. I not only appreciate her as a musician, but, as a student who is studying marketing, I appreciate Taylor and her marketing team as business people. Their website definitely reflects they're amazing marketing strategies and is something to strive for when you create your own website. Here's the link to her website in case you missed the one above. Good luck on your own website adventure!

Pictures found on Google Images, and "Style" lyrics belong to Taylor Swift. I do not own these pictures, nor the Taylor Swift and The Office trademarks and quotes. This is being used for educational purposes.

Blogging Tips Unbottled

Struggling with blogging for your business? I have six easy steps for you, according to Linda Dessau of the Social Media Examiner. It's that simple! I'll also put the Spotlight on Coca-Cola's successful blog "Unbottled" in this post.

Linda Dessau's Six Easy Steps

Before you start these six steps, according to Dessau, you need to have a plan. You can't just create a blog and hope that it works out for the best. You have to know where you're going. Here's a personally-made, clever comparison for you: you are like Dora the Explorer. Dora needs the Map to go exploring. Otherwise, she would just wander around aimlessly while Swiper steals everything and wreaks havoc on Dora's magical world. The same goes for you. You CANNOT blog without a plan, or your blog will fail and the competition will win.

The first step after you have an idea of what you're going to do, according to Dessau, is to look at other companies' blogs. This will give you an idea of what design to use, how to post, and how to successfully implement your ideas into a blog. One example that Dessau uses is of Coca-Cola, which we will look into more later.

The second step is to "create a mission statement" (Dessau). Like I said before, Dora needs the Map to go exploring, and so do YOU. A mission statement provides an overall goal for your blog and something to look back on if you forget what that goal entails. It will also help you with future decisions when it comes to your blogging ventures.

The third step is to meet the goals that you have for blogging with your business. You need to create goals that can be measured in order to see how effective your marketing tactics are. For example, one of your goals could be gaining a bigger audience. That can be easily measured by traffic on your blog.

The fourth step is to pick "categories" for your blog (Dessau). Dessau recommends about "7-10 categories" so that readers can easily find and know what they're looking for. This will also help you to know where your blog is going with its topics.

The fifth step (don't worry, were almost there) is to lay out a plan for when to blog and what to blog about. Time-wise, you need to blog the amount that best meets your company's goals. Content-wise, you need to post what captivates your readers and meets your goals that you've already set.

The sixth and final step is to check out the results of your blogging ventures. Did you meet your goals? By how much? This is where you evaluate how much and if you have met the goals that you have set for your blog and company.

Overall, this article, in my opinion, provides great insight into starting a blog. It's very easy to read, and it doesn't take too long to do so. To read the article in Dessau's exact words, click here.

Spotlight

If you're looking for a great "blog role model", as Dessau puts it, Coca-Cola has an AMAZING blog to explore. The design is so simple and easy to access that anyone can explore their site with ease! On their blog, Coca-Cola shares stories of the amazing things that they are doing with their products and their company in general. They also share about events going on around the world. This blog is a great way that Coca-Cola has personalized their company, and it is definitely something that every blogger should strive be like with their own blogs. For a direct link to their "Unbottled" site, click here. Good luck on starting your own blog!



Pictures found on Google Images. I do not own these pictures, nor the Dora the Explorer trademark. This is being used for educational purposes.