Bad online reviews? Here is What you Should Do

Advertising your business using SEO and social media is necessary, but it also opens your business to criticism, especially with rating and review websites such as Yelp, Google Reviews, Amazon, Angie’s List, Facebook Reviews, TripAdvisor, etc. With these review sites acting as the new word of mouth, it’s especially important to have a strong digital reputation. Read more

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Why Your Business Needs SEO

Many businesses and brands, from Fortune 500 companies to small-business owners, realize the need for good SEO and the potential benefits they can get with respect to brand awareness and exposure. SEO is a vital component in improving a business’s visibility and overall searchability online – but does it offer any additional value for businesses aside from increased exposure? Why is SEO such an important part of digital marketing strategies? Read more

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All About Meta Descriptions

Use meta descriptions to describe your content and help users click.

Google processes more than 40,000 search queries every second, which translates 3.5 billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year, according to internetlivestats.com. To rank among the top search results (your main goal through SEO), you can entice users to click your link through a meta description. Read more

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Digital Marketing Trends for 2019


In today’s digital marketing world, trends and tools are constantly evolving and changing to appeal to the consumer – whether that be through social media, internet, television, or third-party applications (and this is just touching the surface). While the need for marketing has been and always will be essential – the way that businesses market their products and services, as well as what platforms they’re using, has changed drastically. Read more

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3 Ways to Improve Your Site’s SEO Optimization

We use Google daily. When we need to know something quick, it’s the first resource we think of. Have you ever wondered how Google determines what information and which sites to present to you first? Often, we supply even the vaguest of terms and still receive detailed and helpful search results that get us the answers or information we want.

So how does Google do it? Algorithms. These algorithms search for key components or material from web pages and organizes them into relevant search results. For many new or smaller businesses, hacking these algorithms can be a bit difficult. The easiest place to start is through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is an organic way to give your brand the boost it needs and to refine your search result placement.

Here are 3 ways to improve your SEO results and bring your website to the top of a search:

Images

Images are a great way to keep your audience interested. Approximately 65% of individuals are visual learners, meaning they search for visuals or remember things best from visual representations. This is your chance to appeal to both audiences. Make sure that your image is relevant to your company and the page it’s on. The size of the images you use can also make or break user interaction with your site. Larger images don’t only take away from the meat and potatoes of your site, but they also take longer to load. Always remember the 8-second rule: if your site takes longer than 8 seconds to load, 50% or more of visitors will leave.

Keywords

Another essential to differentiating your page amongst others is the use of keywords. This one might sound simple but take this into consideration. Is what your sharing revolutionary? Have others already discussed the topic? Most likely, yes. Find a way to tie keywords together in a way that connects similar topics or take advantage of new hot topics. If you’re one of the first to share insight on a new topic, you’ll have a competitive advantage over others late to the trend.

Mobile Optimization

With over 2.5 billion people in the world owning a smartphone, mobile web pages have become increasingly relevant. If your website isn’t mobile friendly, a good majority of your audience may turn away and search for another site that is. Most website building platforms allow you to toggle between both and offer simple and easy to use layouts that make it easy for people to find what they’re looking for. Always make sure that your website performs well on a mobile device, and that everything formats correctly. If it’s all out of order and scattered, you risk losing all connections with your mobile audience.

If you follow these three tips, you’ll have a head start in optimizing your search engine results. Though there are more helpful tricks and benefits that SEO can have to your web page, starting here will help you establish your brand and increase your engagement.

At Traffic Jams, we specialize in web design, SEO, social media and content creation. If you’re searching for more ways to improve your SEO performance and increase your visitor’s engagement, give us a call at (855) 859-9998 or email us at sales@trafficjams.com.

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The Power of Voice & SEO

Our smartphones and smart devices such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home are becoming more commonplace as consumers have come to love the simplicity, speed and usability of these devices. Nearly 20 percent of all searches are done through voice, and with the growing popularity of smart speakers and consumers making their homes ”smart,” business owners and marketers have already started implementing voice search SEO as a part of their long-term goals and strategies to drive traffic.

As we quickly approach the end of 2018, here are some useful pointers to ensure that your business is getting the most out of voice search SEO and preparing for success in 2019.

 

Implementing Voice Search into Your SEO Strategy

Traditional forms of SEO such as tags and keywords are still relevant, but voice search requires a slightly different approach. One important factor that accounts for this difference is in the way people write versus how they speak. Depending on the type of business, certain words or phrases are more commonly utilized when doing a voice search, such as ”coffee” and ”café,” or ”food” and ”restaurant.” When coming up with a voice search SEO strategy, it is crucial to take this difference into account to ensure that you take full advantage of voice search capabilities.

Below are just a few helpful tips that can help you leverage the power of voice search SEO:

  • Using long-tail keywords and long-form content. Long-tail keywords and long-form content, which tend to include more information, are especially useful in voice searches, since the user is speaking in longer sentences and asking in-depth questions. Since voice assistants are also designed to be conversational, it is important for businesses to understand how consumers may speak about their type of business as opposed to how they would do a search on Google or another search engine.
  • Page speed is key. Speed is everything – especially in the context of voice SEO. Since humans by nature talk faster than they type, it is crucial that a business’s web page is optimized to run efficiently and quickly. Fast-loading webpages have a key advantage over competitors as voice search devices like Alexa and Google Home need to quickly pull information from sites that have long-tail keywords to generate the most accurate results.
  • Think local. In a world where people are constantly on the move, deciding on where you want to go for a cup of coffee can be a challenge – especially if you’re in unfamiliar territory. This is where local searches come into play – and now with the power of voice, users can easily go on their smartphone and ask them for the closest coffee shop with the press of a button. Since 2016, trend reports have found that over 20 percent of people use voice search to find local information and that number continues to increase (almost 150 percent year over year). Now more than ever, local businesses need to leverage voice search into their business plan – which includes using keywords characteristic of the local neighborhood and nearby landmarks or institutions that are relevant to the business’s success. Doing so, can help maintain the business’s role in its local community.
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