Essential Ingredients of SEO

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The world of SEO is ever changing and it becomes increasingly complex every day. As Google continues to update their search algorithm, SEOs and webmasters around the world are trying to figuring out the next best way to build and maintain rank. There is a plethora of information available on this topic, so much that it can be difficult to assess what to really believe. Here are a few recommendation of what we think you need to consider when optimising your site. There are some basics, as well as some more out of the box ideas.

On-Site Optimisation

You’ll most likely already be aware of what this entails. Make sure that the design of your site is conducive to high search engine rankings. This is quite a broad category and includesthings such as meta information, keyword use, site load time and site structure.

SEO-Optimised Copywriting

Getting your website designed is one thing, but it is never really complete until you have populated it with impressive, optimised content. Taking all of the relevant keywords and seamlessly integrating it into your content to create an amazingly compelling page takes a level of skill, and if you are unable to do it yourself, we recommend that you seek the help of professional copywriting services.

Copywriting

Strong Backlink Profile

One of the most heavily weighted factors that Google uses to gauge the importance of a site is its backlink profile. ‘Backlink profile’ refers to the information about the sites which link to a domain. Building high rank backlinks on relevant sites will significantly help you move up the rankings. However, backlinks on unrelated blogs have a much lower backlink value. The best way to achieve a strong backlink profile is to provide useful content which other sites will want to share. You can do this by writing articles or posting images or infographics. If what you are providing is valuable enough, sites will simply want to link to it.

In-Depth Articles

One of the more recent additions to Google was the addition of the ‘In-Depth’ articles section. Google values articles which are longer and provide more in-depth information, so has added this feature to give these longer articles more exposure. The internet is absolutely filled with short. 300-word articles and the reason for this is that it is much simpler to write a short article.

Rich Snippets

You will no doubt already have noticed all of the extra information which gets presented alongside search results in Google. Sometimes these rich snippets will provide you with information about ratings, addresses, opening hours, Google+ pages and more. By linking your site with your social accounts such as Google+, you can give searchers the chance to quickly connect to your page. As well as this, you can set up an author account for your website, which will display an image of the author next to the search result. Whatever extra information is on offer, it is likely to improve your chance of grabbing the attention of searchers.

Take all of these factors into account when formulating an SEO strategy and you’ll set a good foundation for your business.

Ways to Earn Money Online for Web Designers

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Web designers can find a plethora of ways to make money by working online, and it is time to begin exploring those opportunities if you’ve not already. As a web designer you have an awesome talent that can be used in many different ways. And, many of those methods are those which can also put money in your pocket. We all have lives to lead, families to care for and debts to pay, so what could be better than putting your talents to good use?

Best ways to earn Cash

There are tons of ways to earn cash online as a web designer. You need nothing more than a computer, your skills and time and you have all that it takes to earn cash and as much or as little of it as you want. Take a look at a handful of the very best ways that you can earn cash online and start getting your share of the pie, too!

Making Money Online

Blogging: Not everyone has the creative visions needed to become a web designer, nor do they have the skills. They’re okay with this, but learning what you do is amazing to them. Creating a blog entailing the many joys of life as a web designer, how-to’s, tutorials, etc. through a blog could be a fun way to produce more income. In addition this will help build your credibility and reputation as a designer.

Create Stock Images: Stock images are used everywhere and almost any image you could imagine could be worth bucks. If you have a good camera and enjoy snapping photographs, consider this as a way to make extra income.

Offer Web Design Training: If you can teach others what you know it is possible to turn this into cash. Offering training and tutorials could enable others to be given a new, amazing skill while helping put cash in your pocket.

Design Logos: Logo design is yet another area for web designers to make money. Logos are lots of fun to design, and you really feel rewarded when the work is done. There is a great need for logo designers in today’s world so you can certainly find this a great way to produce a nice income.

Advertise Your Services: There’s plenty of places on the web where you can advertise your services free or at a reasonable cost. Of course you want to advertise what you have to offer. Otherwise how would you ever build a list of clients? Be sure to use a variety of online and offline sources to advertise and make the most of your business.

Job Boards: There are a number of online job boards out there and they list various jobs and taking a look at these online job boards can help you find many new positions that you would have otherwise been unaware of. It is free to use the boards and certainly worth your while when you are looking to make extra income from these online jobs.

Making Money Online

As you can see there are tons of fun and easy ways to make money online if you are a web designer, and you should take advantage of as many of these as you have time to and that interest you. Also keep in mind that there are tons of other ways to make money online as a web designer and you should always keep your eyes open for those ideas. You never know what type of new way to make money will come your way until you look. Money in the pocket is always a good thing, and these are certainly fabulous ways to put plenty into your pocket.

Get yourself out there: how to mark your business presence online

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With Twitter, Facebook and up to the minute news taking over the advertising world as we know it, it’s important now more than ever to understand the benefits of marketing your business online. This is more than just good advertising – it also encompasses good use of social media and web design. Here are five ways that you can use the web to get your business noticed.

Get the look

The multitude of custom-built website designs is enough to make any client yawn these days, so try to get a little creative when it comes to designing your website. Good website design is about aesthetics and user accessibility – take GamingClub.co.uk, for example. With quirky, unusual fonts and easy to recognise brands (i.e. Tomb Raider) on its homepage, this immediately draws the user in, while its casino games are clearly displayed to give the surfer instant access.

Be a social butterfly

What use is a beautifully designed website if nobody knows about it? One of the wonders of the modern age of digital marketing is social media, so get tweeting. Studies show that 51% of active Twitter users follow companies, brands or products on social networks, so make sure you use a Twitter handle at the bottom of every one of your web pages.

Social Media

Blog till you drop

Another way of building up your online presence is to use the power of the written word. Even the biggest named brands use blogs to highlight the simple fact that behind the business model are people, giving your brand a more personal touch and making your prospective clients feel closer to your product. Blogging is a great way to inform others about any work you have done in the local community, with the opportunity to post photos as well as large walls of text. To use it most effectively, make sure you post your blog posts to Twitter or Facebook, and keep them to no more than 500 words, with hyperlinks at appropriate places.

Link back and forth

One of the more subtle ways of online marketing, you can liaise with other businesses and ask them to put hyperlinks to your business on their website. This is a great way of attracting customers almost without them realising – rather than using a large, intrusive ad on the right hand side of a page, a hyperlink, for example, within somebody’s blog, is a more subtle link. Studies show that users regularly spend no more than 10-20 seconds on a website, so make sure that the link they’re going to next is yours.

Be accessible

As we forgo our laptops in favour of tablets, smart phones and more, it’s important to make sure your website is as up to date with the technology as your clients are. So, make sure that your ads are well placed on a page, rather than for example, lurking inaccessibly on the bottom right hand side, and if you can, try to create a mobile version of your site to make it easy to read for those on the go.