Blog | Orange Tail Marketing

How to get your site listed with Google

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Orange Tail Marketing

Many people often wonder how long it will take for search engines to start listing their site in search results. Although this is a valid question, unfortunately, there is no definite answer for everyone. This may be frustrating for some, but luckily there are a few things you can do to speed up the process and get your site listed as soon as possible! Here are four steps you can take to ensure your site gets crawled and indexed quickly.

Step 1: Send your URL

The first thing you can do to get search engines to take notice of your site is to submit your URL to Google and Bing. This is a very simple process and can be completed in just minutes. To send your URL to Google, sign into your Google account, or sign up for one if you don’t have one already. Next, you simply submit your URL in the provided space and you are finished. The process of sending your URL to Bing does not even require you to sign in.

Step 2: Send a sitemap

The next step you can take to get indexed by search engines is to make and send a sitemap to search engines. A sitemap is an XML document that shows all of the pages you have on your site. This documents assists the bots in crawling your website and simplifies the process for them. Additionally, a sitemap will help search engines know how frequently your site is updated with new content. This helps them know how many times they should visit your site to re crawl it in a given time period.

You can create a sitemap in WordPress by using the Google XML sitemap plugin, or other comparable tools if you use a different program. You can submit your sitemap to Google by signing in to your webmaster tools account, adding your site to webmaster tools, then going to optimization, sitemaps, add/test sitemaps.

Step 3: Content Creation

One of the most important things search engines will look for in your site is high quality, relevant content. Search engines will reward your site if you have provided content that makes sense, is keyword rich, and aligns with your business. So if you are in the massage therapy industry, your site can contain content about different massage techniques, the benefits of massage, aromatherapy, and other related topics. On the other hand, a massage therapy business who has articles about baking tips or fashion advice on their site will be considered much less relevant by search engines.

Also important, search engines take into account how often you update your content. This means you should try to update your content frequently, and if you don’t have a blog on your site, consider starting one immediately. At the very least, you should be blogging a few times a month, but weekly is even better. This will keep the attention of search engines on you and help your site rank higher in search results.

Step 4: Seek high quality incoming links

Search engine bots locate different websites by following the links placed on other sites. The higher the amount of incoming links your site has, the more search engines will be directed toward your site, and the faster you will get indexed. Furthermore, if you can obtain incoming links from sites who are comparable to your site, you will be viewed as higher quality and given a boost in search result pages.

You can get these incoming links to your site by guest blogging on similar websites, or by sending articles and press releases to various services online. Keep in mind you only want to seek after high quality incoming links. Links that appear to come from sites meant only to link back to others will actually reduce your chances of being indexed and receiving a high ranking.

Bonus Tip: One of the easiest ways to get links to your site is by using social media for your business. Create a Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, or LinkedIn profile and you can link back to your main website.

We hope these tips will help you get your site indexed as quickly as possible! Remember it may take some time, so try to have some patience with the process.

Good Luck Marketing!

For this and other blogs from Orange Tail Marketing, go to www.OrangeTailMarketing.com. Orange Tail Marketing, an Ogden Utah Business, provides quality search engine marketing, social media marketing, local search marketing, as well as long term email nurture campaigns for businesses all around North America. Feel free to call us today at 801-317-TAIL (8245).

Update Your Facebook Page with This Checklist

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Orange Tail Marketing

Has it been awhile since you last updated your Facebook page? If so, you may be missing out on several of the new features that could be helping your business! Facebook makes changes often, so it’s important to stay informed and use any new features to your advantage. Here is a checklist you can use to bring your Facebook page up to speed.

Cover Page

Not too long ago, Facebook made a few changes regarding the guidelines of cover pages. This is important for businesses because they actually relaxed some of their restrictions a little on what you can display as the cover image. For example, you can now use this valuable location to display your web address or a call to action. With a little creative design, you can use your cover page as an easy way to connect vital information to your audience. Just make sure that the text used on your cover page is no more than 20% of the provided space.

Profile Picture

Your profile picture is crucial because it is usually the first impression people get of your business. That being said, make sure your profile picture accurately represents what you want someone to think about your company. A personal photo will only work if it shows off your brand, otherwise, your logo is great option to go with.

Page Description

Facebook allows you to add a short description of your page, around 155 characters, that is shown underneath your cover photo and profile picture. This description can either persuade someone to keep looking at your page, or leave immediately. Try to write a clear and direct statement about your organization that includes your web address. A reader should have a general understanding of what you do by reading this simple description.

You can add a page description by clicking edit settings in the admin panel, selecting basic information, and typing under the title of short description.

About Section

Other than the short description part of the about section, you can also add to a few other sections. Depending on the page category you have selected, these subsections may be labeled as company overview, description, general information, and mission. The about section of your Facebook page is very important because it gets indexed by search engines. This means you should always try to use your keywords and include your address, city, state, and zip code to optimize your local search results as well.

Tailor your Facebook URL

Another way you can improve your Facebook page is to customize the URL in order to get rid of the “pages” and groups of numbers in it. You can instead pick a distinctive username that uses letters and numbers but leaves out dashes and other excessive characters. Make sure you are confident with your selection because you are only able to change the URL one time! The advantage of changing the URL is that it will make it easier for people to locate your organization. It also looks more visually appealing and simplifies the URL for use in your marketing efforts.

To make a tailored Facebook URL, go to Facebook.com/username

Category Selection

You have several options to choose from when picking a category for your Facebook page. Depending on what category you choose, you will be provided with different features on your page. One of the most significant differences is the check in feature for local businesses. If your business includes a physical location you want people to visit, it is very important to include the check in option on your Facebook page. You can do this by simply changing your Facebook category to local business.

Having the check in feature is important because it can get your name out there, build brand awareness, and help people know where you are located. Check ins can also be a factor in graph search results, which will help bring people to your business when their friends have checked in previously.

Comment Reply Feature

Just a few months ago, Facebook created the replies feature which gives people the ability to reply to a certain comment in a conversation. This helps comments to not get lost in a thread and makes it much easier for people to keep conversations going longer.

You can enable the replies feature by going to your admin panel, selecting edit settings, then clicking manage permissions. Scroll down toward the bottom of this page until you see the replies area and check the box to activate it. Save your changes at the bottom and you are good to go!

We hope this checklist will help you get your Facebook page as updated and efficient as possible!

Good Luck Marketing!

Posted in Goals of social media marketing, Online Reputation Management, Social Media SEO, Update your Facebook page | Tagged Brad Hess, Local Search Engine Marketing, Ogden Online Marketing, Ogden Utah, Orange Tail Marketing, search engine marketing, seo, social media, social media marketing | Comments Off

Improve your EdgeRank in Facebook with Six Steps

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Orange Tail Marketing

So you may be posting some great content on Facebook, however, your fans may not even see it. Why you ask? Well the answer lies within Facebook’s algorithm, otherwise called EdgeRank. EdgeRank is how Facebook determines who sees what in their news feed. There are three factors included in the EdgeRank algorithm called affinity, weight, and time decay. When you break it down, it’s actually quite simple.

EdgeRank Explained

Affinity measures the relationships among people to decide which posts will take priority over others. For example, you will see much more posts from family members and close friends than you will from random people who have added you over the years. Weight takes into account the different components included in posts. Posts with pictures or videos are weighted more heavily than posts with links, but posts with links are weighted more heavily than plain text posts. The time decay factor is exactly what it sounds like, the older a post, the less likely it is to show up on your news feed. Facebook tries to keep things fresh and interesting.

How to get your posts seen by more fans

Now that we have explained EdgeRank, you’re probably wondering what you can do to improve yours. Here are six simple steps you can take to get the best EdgeRank possible.

1. Keep it short

Try to keep your posts below 250 characters to encourage more user engagement. Too many words will discourage people from looking at your content.

2. Add Pictures or videos

When you add pictures and videos, not only will your posts be more attractive to your fans, but your posts will also carry more weight as we explained under the EdgeRank section.

3. Pose a question

Many business pages are simply not getting any interaction because they are not asking for it. Throw out a question, try a trivia quiz or contest, just make sure to reply to anyone who responds.

4. Give the people what they want

Your Facebook posts will be much more successful if you are posting high quality content that relates to your readers. Your fans do not want to be bombarded with a sales pitch every day. Write about interesting or informative topics in your industry and you will attract the right crowd.

5. Mold to your audience

Unfortunately, there isn’t an ideal universal time for everyone to post content. Instead, you need to fit your posts to your audience and the time of day they spend most on social media.

6. Post Frequently

If you just dabble in social media when you have some extra time and end up only posting intermittently, you will be easily forgotten and buried under other more important news feed topics. Improve your EdgeRank by posting often, even daily if you can. No need to go overboard here, but most people will see your posts in their newsfeed, not on your actual business page, so it’s important to keep the content flowing.

Good Luck Marketing!

Posted in Facebook status updates, Goals of social media marketing, Marketing for an audience, Social Media SEO | Tagged Brad Hess, Local Search Engine Marketing, Ogden Online Marketing, Ogden Utah, Orange Tail Marketing, search engine marketing, seo, social media, social media marketing | Comments Off

5 Myths about Search Engines

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Orange Tail Marketing

What do Big Foot, Loch ness monster, mermaids, and search engine algorithms all have in common? They are all surrounded by myths, hearsay, and false information.

One of the reasons that incorrect information on these topics continues to thrive is because it keeps getting repeated. As with the popular childhood game of “telephone”, the further down the grape vine the information gets, the more likely it is to be incorrect. Unfortunately, SEO strategies are not immune to this kind of myth distribution. So to help you separate myth from fact in the SEO world, here are a few common myths that continue to exist today.

Search engines always recognize high quality content

Everyone in the SEO industry is always talking about how your content must be high quality in order for it to rank well in search engines. Although this is partly true, it is important to remember that Google cannot think like a human, not yet anyway. The definition of quality is highly subjective, what one person considers high quality, another may think is terrible. That being said, search engines do not disregard quality altogether, they simply measure it differently than us humans would. For example, Google’s algorithms use page segmentation, user behavior, inbound links, natural language processing, and other methods to define high quality.

For the most part, these algorithms get it right, but just remember that it is possible that high quality content is sitting out there in the abyss somewhere because search engines are reading it wrong. Google can make mistakes just like we do. To sum it up, search engines do not comprehend quality per say, but they do make very good estimations.

A lower page ranking means search engines are penalizing it

If your page or domain significantly drops in rankings and or organic traffic, there are two potential reasons why this would occur. First, there may have been a change in the algorithm and second, you could be experiencing a penalty. Many people are quick to assume the second option; however, changes in search algorithms occur regularly and are the most likely culprit for your drop in rankings.

There are times when search engines will take action if a web site is violating their rules. Google can supersede their algorithms and put a ranking reduction penalty into place if necessary. You will usually be notified if this occurs and the reasoning behind it.

There is a top secret method to SEO that works for all

When it comes to SEO practices, there is no secret method that will work for everyone. Each page is looked at in a slightly different way and search engines literally use hundreds of ranking factors. This creates a unique experience and will have varying implications on each individual page. It will be much more beneficial to focus on a basic understanding of SEO practices and using them in your overall marketing strategy.

Focusing on links is most essential

Although links remain an important ranking factor to search engines, many believe their significance is decreasing and will continue to do so in the future. Social media signals are now being looked at as the new frontrunner and could possibly dethrone links in the SEO world. For now, it is wise to take a mixed strategy, using link building on top of social media strategies and other marketing efforts.

Search engine algorithms never change

This last myth is extremely incorrect, quite the opposite is true in fact. Algorithms are being updated frequently and little changes here and there happen all the time. Unfortunately, with this constant change, algorithms are quite unclear, which is why it is crucial to know why your site is ranking in the position it is in.

Good Luck Marketing!

Posted in content marketing, Internet marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media SEO | Tagged Brad Hess, Local Search Engine Marketing, Ogden Online Marketing, Ogden Utah, Orange Tail Marketing, search engine marketing, seo, social media, social media marketing | Comments Off

Attract Attention to your Blog with the Right Headline

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Orange Tail Marketing

The whole point of having a headline is to attract reader’s attention and persuade them into reading the rest of your content. Headlines are very powerful and can really make or break a blog post or email marketing campaigns success. To put it in perspective, about 80 percent of readers will look at a headline, but only 20% will go on to read the rest of the content. This is why it is so crucial to get the right headline for all of your content in your internet marketing strategy. In this post, we will offer a few tips on how you can increase the effectiveness of your headlines.

Give it some thought

The first tip we will mention is to slow down and take some time to actually think of a great headline. So often, the importance of the headline choice is overlooked and rushed. Your headlines need to align with your content and correctly inform readers what it’s all about in an interesting way. This is not always easy, and posting the first thing that comes to your head will probably not fly here. If you’re having trouble, here are a few questions to consider:

What point are you trying to make with your content?
What does your audience want to hear about?
What do you want readers to do after seeing your post?
If you saw this headline would you want to keep reading?

Some other things to keep in mind while choosing a headline:

Brainstorm and make a list of a few different possible headlines, ask for opinions from others and choose the best on the list
Find a popular topic in your industry and tie it to your post and headline
Create a topic targeted toward your readers, not toward search engines
Make sure your headline is valuable to your readers
Create a feeling of urgency
Provide a unique benefit

Headline Setup

Another way to create a good headline is to include keywords that relate to the rest of the contents message. There are several different approaches you can take with headlines, you can be straightforward, indirect, ask a question, offer a testimonial, or provide a top reasons why headline.

So let’s say you are hosting a 5k event for charity and you want people to sign up for it, here are a few headline examples:

Straightforward approach- All ages 5k event for charity- Register now

Indirect- Have some family fun while helping others!

Question- Are you ready to help others while having fun and getting fit?

Reasons why- 5 Reasons to sign up for a 5k today

In the examples above, we used calls to actions, keywords, and other headline techniques that can help gain more interest in your content and keep people reading. When you create headlines with attracting attention in mind, you will notice a definite change in how they turn out. Your headlines will be more meaningful, eye-catching, and successful.

Good Luck Marketing!

Posted in Blog Marketing, Facebook status updates, Make your content more readable, Marketing for an audience | Tagged Brad Hess, Local Search Engine Marketing, Ogden Online Marketing, Ogden Utah, Orange Tail Marketing, search engine marketing, seo, social media, social media marketing | Comments Off