Hashtags are not anything new. They've been in active use for quite a while and aren't showing signs of going any where any time soon. In fact, the # symbol has been used to denote important information within technology fields since as early as the 1970's. It makes perfect sense for someone to come along and use it as a marker for indicating central themes in more casual communication. Social media posting without hashtagging is like asking someone out on a date but forgetting to give them your phone number. Hashtags create the means for people to find you or…
With information about SEO trends and tips running rampant on the internet - some of it years out of date - it is easy to become overwhelmed and misdirected. Floods of information, seemingly giving new advice on updated trends, easily leads us to believe SEO practices are constantly in flux. And, while there is some truth to this, Google's frequent updates to its algorithm aren't always major game changers. Google Hummingbird, however, launched in September 2013, actually is a new algorithm as opposed to a simple update to the existing. Prior to, and especially after the announcement of the new…
Enhancing SEO takes a lot of work, but at least with this final step in the process you can have a little bit of fun. The fourth cornerstone of SEO is SMM, or Social Media Marketing. For those who may not know, social media marketing is the process of gaining website traffic by using social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, et cetera. With so many choices out there these days, tackling a social media plan can become as overwhelming as the entire search engine optimization campaign. But, we know the secret to the best social media plan, and…
Search engine optimization requires time, dedication, and in many cases some monetary investment. While there are many free SEO tricks, it may be worth it to spend a bit of money to increase traffic to your business. Hiring a marketing firm to design and develop an optimized site or paying the yearly dues to the BBB and/or the Chamber of Commerce in order to gain some back links are wise investments. A more flexible means of funding higher searchability is through SEM, or search engine marketing. SEM, or search engine marketing, also known as pay-per-click advertising, is the process of…
In our previous post we explained how search engines operate, and how to search engine optimize your site on-page. Now it is time to take a look at the second cornerstone of SEO success: Off-site SEO. Your beautifully optimized site will only get you so far. The next step in the process is generating exposure on the internet. Off-site SEO is all about internet presence. You want people talking about your site and providing back-links, or inbound links, to your site in as many reputable places as possible. This can take a lot of work, especially for a business just…
