seo

ANNUAL CHECKUP We all know the importance of personal annual health checkups.  The same sage advice applies to companies.  With the holiday season wrapping up, now’s a good time to catch a breath as well as to reassess the health of the current SEO framework in preparation for the new year and the anticipation of even more customers and business. WHAT TO CHECK There are three major areas that need to be looked at.  They are page speed, security, and priorities. An earlier article discussed how mobile search has overtaken desktop and the need for web sites to be fast,... Read More >

"SEARCHIN" There’s a line in “Searchin’,” the 1957 hit song by the Coasters that boomers know so well, “Searchin’ every which a-way” that seems so appropriate in today’s all-important SEO world.  Proper search engine optimization is the key to organic success for websites, and what every marketer is constantly longing for. KEYS TO SUCCESS Omnichannel is the most critical factor in any company’s efforts for SEO success.  All departments must work together and be focused in the same direction, so any existing silos need to be removed and brought together. This also applies to all messaging and marketing, as everything... Read More >

SEO – HERE TO STAY? When famed author and humorist Mark Twain said, “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” he was responding to a rumor that he had passed away while on a trip to London.  Such is the case with SEO or search engine optimization which some people have declared dead as well. One reason why some doomsayers pronounced SEO dead is that they may have failed to notice that SEO, like search engines, are evolving all the time.  Unless a marketer keep-ups with the changes, he/she is doomed to see less and less success. WHAT HAPPENED? In... Read More >

SEO for Dummies, Part Two On-Page Content While is a huge load of work behind the scenes of SEO, you still need to ensure you are producing high-quality content for visitors to read and view. Google’s latest algorithm puts a major emphasis on useful, high-quality writing rather than heavy keyword usage. As such, avoid “keyword stuffing,” and instead focus on calculated, strategically-placed keywords. It is best to target one keyword phrase per page. Make sure each page has a distinct arrangement and headings. Meta Tags To best understand the value of meta-tags, think about things through the eyes of someone... Read More >

SEO for Dummies, Part One For many people, SEO can seem like the elephant in the room. You know your business needs to deal with it, but you would rather not be the person responsible for the task. Indeed, when most people think SEO, they assume a complex and time-consuming process akin to transcribing the entire internet itself. You’ll be happy to learn, then, that SEO can be learned in ten simple steps. If you don’t have a dedicated marketing team at hand, confront that elephant and take your growth to the next level! Setup Just as a house needs... Read More >

You’ve heard it before: New Year, New You. While you’re at it, you’re probably considering a revamp of your firm’s online communication strategy- and if you’re not, you should. Many SEO tactics just don’t cut it anymore, forcing many communicators to rethink their entire approach to SEO. Here are some quick and actionable tips to get you started on a better footing this new year. Don’t use “#” signs in URLs. Googlebot does not support index URLs that list a “#”. Google will, however, show emojis in search results. Those little smiley faces can actually play a huge role in... Read More >

Walker Sands Communications Walker Sands is a public relations firm founded in 2001 and based out of Chicago. Their services include branding, product launches, blogging, and a focus on winning awards for their clients. Their niche is primarily technology-based clients ranging from startups to national and global enterprises. Some of their clients include Acquity Group (NYSE: AQ), Alterian (acquired by SDL), Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), HarperCollins UK, Seesmart Technologies (acquired by Revolution Lighting), ThreatMetrix, Newark element14, SecureNet, ThinkVine, CenterPoint Properties, and others. According to this site, “in 2014, Walker Sands was named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies for... Read More >

As with other practices encompassed by Public Relations, SEO once existed as a separate silo in the general marketing community. However, the two disciplines now go hand in hand, as one helps to drive the other. Public relations experts use communications skills to know what keywords and trigger words to associate with a brand. When distributed throughout the online community, these keywords help boost traffic to the brand’s content on the company website or other mediums, which is essentially search engine optimization (SEO). This boosts visibility, and better positions the brand to reach its target market. Using Search Engine Optimization... Read More >

For the past ten years, journalism has been steadily declining; in 2015 the American Society of News Editors annual census release reported a loss of 3,800 journalism jobs in just one year.  In this New Media Age, less of our news comes from journalists and more of it is coming from public relations. According to Robert McChesney’s  "The Death and Life of American Journalism," as the numbers of journalists decline, the number of public relations people seem to multiple at a much faster rate. Despite this, however, the decline of journalism actually has a correlating effect on public relations. Public... Read More >

The dawn of the Internet likely signaled the beginning of dusk for traditional journalism. More and more, readers began to turn to the Internet for not just entertainment, but knowledge, and then news, and now just about everything. In fact, according to a study done by the American Press Institute, 69 percent of Americans get their news from online sources. Most of these sources would rather not hire someone to research and write a story from scratch, no matter how interesting the subject. They prefer to publish an already well-crafted piece, without paying a dime for it. But how does... Read More >