Websites Web Marketing
There are numerous reasons why your website won't appear on the first page of Google, and so there are just as many techniques to get it there. Some are free, some cheap, some expensive, some once-off, some on-going. So it should come as no surprise, that there are entire companies dedicated purely to website marketing. We are not one of these companies, but do offer certain website marketing services...
What we can do for you:
1. Fundamental SEO
Most companies that offer SEO (Search Engine Optimization), are really only offering you what a good web designer should have done in the beginning. Correct implementation of Title tags, meta data, H1 tags, alt attributes, webcrawler-friendly navigation etc are all simple SEO concepts, but also evidence of good web design.
If we build a website, we do it properly, and that means that this on-page optimization is included at no extra cost.
We don't offer SEO for websites we didn't design ourselves because generally speaking, other web designers code sloppily, and make poor site infrastructure decisions. Apologies if that sounds arrogant, but we are perfectionists, so we would end up spend more time fixing their nonsense than just redesigning your website from scratch.
2. Directory & Search Engine Submissions
Unless you tell Google and other engines/directories that your site exists, the chances of them finding your site naturally, without intervention, is almost non-existent. Of course if they don't know your site exists, they will never add you to the search results pages. We offer a service of manually submitting application forms in the correct manner to Google, and other popular search engines and quality directories for the sole purpose of letting them know your site exists and what it's about.
You might be tempted to think that only Google matters, but the other directories that choose to include your site in their listings provide you with a valuable one-way link. A one-way link from a quality site is considered a vote of confidence in Google's eyes, and where other factors are equal, this pushes you above your competitor in Google's search result pages.
This is a once-off service. Many SEO companies will want to make this a monthly service so that you have to pay every month, but, if done correctly, it only needs to happen once. In fact, repeatedly submitting your site to the same directories over and over will result in your site being banned from some of these.
Another thing worth reiterating is that we complete each submission form manually. For the past 15 years or so there has been software available that allows you to input your website's details, hit 'go' and watch it auto-submit the website to hundreds of directories. These programmes may seem like a nice short cut but they fill in forms sloppily - directories often change their search fields and the software is not kept up to date which results in incorrectly entered data. This, at best, will get your submission ignored, and at worst, banned. Most decent directories have now also implemented various kinds of anti-bot technology to block these programmes, rendering the software useless, so if someone approaches you and says they can submit your site to 'hundreds' or 'thousands' of directories, they are likely using one of these programmes and the success rate is slim to none. We don't submit to 'hundreds' or 'thousands' of directories, but the directories that we choose are worth submitting to, and we take time to ensure that we are applying for your website to be listed under the most appropriate category and that all the info is correctly entered.
During this process, we also produce an xml sitemap for Google and Bing so that your pages are indexed quicker. Additionally, we've started including meta information so that your site will display with an image if posted as a link on Facebook.
What we don't do:
For many companies, fundamental SEO and directory submissions, coupled with a bit of patience is sufficient to achieve success on Google. If, however, your market sector is very competitive, you may need to do more in order to increase your website's visibility. As mentioned at the top of the page, there are entire companies dedicated to search engine research, optimization and marketing. We are not one of these companies - our primary focus is on producing a good quality website with a solid foundation.
Here are two services you would consider a dedicated SEO company for:
1. Research and Content Creation
A good dedicated SEO/marketing company will research your market sector to determine the best keywords and phrases for your website to target. These will be phrases that have a high search rate and low competition - meaning lots of people search for a particular phrase, but not many websites are gearing their content around that phrase.
The company will then embark on rewriting your content (the text) to target said phrase and in some cases, generate new content, sometimes on your own site, and other times on external sites that link through to your site.
They will then monitor the results of their efforts via analytics and make adjustments to their created content according to the data they receive.
How to Proceed
We at Coza Web Design are creatives, not analysts which is why we don't offer this service ourselves, but we do understand how it works and can assist you in determining whether a dedicated SEO company is reputable or not. If you don't know where to find one of these companies, you could start your search here: SEO and Marketing Specialists.
How can we assist
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Screening Marketing Companies
Sadly, most marketing companies don't know what they're doing. The industry is full of charlatans and inept, lazy individuals who will happily bloat their quote specs full of things we have already done. Therefore, we urge you to bring any offers from these companies to us before agreeing to any terms. In this way, we can determine if the company actually has something worthwhile to offer you.
Please note that this free analysis is only available to our own clients. -
Google Analytics Installation
Your marketing company (or you) may wish to hook up your website to Google Analytics in order to analyse website traffic. We are happy to do this for you - just say the word. -
Blog
Your marketing company may advise that you get yourself a blog to post keyword-rich articles. Whether you need the blog added to your existing website, or an external site, please ask us for a quote for a professional solution. The actual articles should be written by the marketing firm but the design should be handled by us, or another professional website designer - not the marketing firm.
2. Google AdWords
Google AdWords is Google's Advertising System. This basically works in the following way - you set an advertising budget, for example R2000/month, and choose search phrases that you think potential customers might use. Then if someone searches using that phrase, your website listing will appear as an advert above all the normal listings. If someone clicks on the advert, Google deducts a certain amount of money from your budget. The exact cost of each click is dependent on how high the competition is for that phrase, or in other words - how many of your competitors have also chosen that phrase.
Technically an AdWords campaign is not part of SEO because it does not entail optimizing your website, but rather optimizing the advert. So this is a service that not all SEO companies offer. It is seen as a last resort because ideally you want your website to feature organically (as a natural legitimate listing) on the first page of Google rather than paying copious amounts to be appear as an advert above the legitimate listings, but sometimes it is necessary.
How to Proceed
Google AdWords campaigns are not something we offer because as mentioned we are creatives rather than analysts, but we can assist in creating landing pages for your AdWords campaigns. These are specifically designed web pages that specific adverts link to. Usually these pages will feature the same phrase that was used in the advert text and a call to action.
Again, there are entire companies whose sole function is to help you determine the best phrases to target and if you find that you are spending a lot of money on advertising but not getting an adequate return on investment, it will be wise to contact a company dedicated to AdWords services to help you. If you don't know where to find one of these companies, you could start your search here: SEO and Marketing Specialists.
How can we assist
Whether you decide to contact a company that specifically deals with AdWords campaigns, or whether you want to sign up for AdWords and do it yourself, we can assist in the following areas:
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Banner Adverts
Google doesn't supply the adverts they charge you for, and generally speaking, marketing companies are made up of analytical minds, not creatives, so if you need an attractive advert designed that people will actually click on, please give us a shout. -
Landing Pages
If you just link your advert to your homepage, the person who clicked on the advert may leave when they don't immediately see what they expected to see. For this reason, it is common practice to have a specific landing page that uses the same phrasing as the advert, and whose sole layout is dedicated to leading the visitor to a call-to-action. We are obviously more qualified to design such pages than your average marketing company, so please ask us for a quote, rather than settling for an ugly template they will no doubt want to sell you.
Summary
- We build websites with on-page optimization already in place at no extra cost.
- We provide an invaluable once-off submission service to let search engines and directories know your site exists.
- We don't provide advanced marketing such as content creation and monthly analytics reports (though we can install Google Analytics, and design a blog for you.
- If requested, we will screen offers by marketing companies to ensure that you do not waste your money. This service is only for our web design clients.
- We can design you a beautiful banner advert that begs to be clicked, and a professional landing page to go with it.
Email Us
If you would like a quote for any of the above, please drop us an email:
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