Optimized images help improve the SEO value of your website and blog. They also make it possible for people to find you through the Google Images tab during an organic search. 

In the example below, I did a search for “SEO Madison WI.” Note how the entire first row of search results in the Google Images tab are Cuppa SEO homepage images …

“Logo.png” or “Image12867.jpg” are meaningless to Google, so the algorithm just moves on and pays these images no mind. Instead, use a phrase that’s rich in one or more keywords that are relevant to each particular page or blog post. In other words, name that image! It will improve your SEO!

How to Implement an Optimized Image Name

1. It’s best to optimize an image name BEFORE you upload it to your website or blog. But if you’re beginning work on optimizing an existing website or blog, you won’t have that luxury. If this is the case, you’ll have to save your current website images to your computer or a cloud account like Dropbox or Box. Now you’re ready to caffeinate each image with some SEO.
2. Take out your keyword report. It’s the foundation for optimizing every image. Don’t have a keyword report? Contact Cuppa SEO Web Design for a consultation — we can create one for you!
3. Assess what your image is about. For this example, let’s say you own a dental office and you’re optimizing an image for your root canal page.
4. The original image name is: “IMG_28651.jpg,” which has neither SEO value nor value to the human eye.
5. You look at your keyword report and determine “Root Canal Madison WI” is a good keyword phrase for this image.
6. So you change the image name to “Root-Canal-Madison-WI.jpeg.” Or even better, maybe you include your business name: “Caffeinated-Dentist-Root-Canal-Madison-WI.jpeg” (fictitious, of course).
7. Notice how I’ve structured the hierarchy of these image names with each word being separated by a dash. There are NO spaces, and NO underscores — both of which would hurt the SEO value of the image.
8. Now, within this one image name, “Caffeinated-Dentist-Root-Canal-Madison-WI.jpeg,” I am actually using ALL of the following keywords: Dentist, Dentist Madison, Dentist Madison WI, Root Canal, Root Canal Madison, Root Canal Madison WI.

As you might have guessed, at first it may be a challenge for you to fit six different keyword phrases into one image name. It’s not something we’re expecting you to be able to do out of the gate, but it’s a good goal to shoot for as you become more and more comfortable with naming images.

Want to learn more about optimizing your image names and your website? Check out A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing by Joey Donovan Guido (our fearless leader over here at Cuppa SEO). Or, contact us anytime to schedule a complimentary consultation — we’re happy to take care of optimizing your website for you!

The post Image Names Matter More Than We Think appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

What are Keywords?

Keywords are terms or phrases that, when implemented into your website, can help connect you with people who are looking for what you do. In other words, when the keywords you use on your site are in alignment with the search terms people use to find the specific products or services you offer, there’s a better chance Google will present your website higher in the search results.

For example, if you were a dentist in Los Angeles, CA, phrases like “Dentist,” and “Dentist Los Angeles” would be good keywords because they’re actually terms people use to find a dentist in Los Angeles, CA.

Picking the Best Keywords

The quality of your keywords makes a big difference in how effective they are. Many factors go into determining which keywords are best for your website and blog, including:

• The size of your site
• How long it’s been around
• How many people are searching for a specific keyword phrase within the region(s) where you do business
• How much competition you’ll be facing for that particular keyword or keyword phrase
• How relevant a keyword phrase is for your business or organization

Making Your List

When optimizing content, you don’t want to have just one keyword phrase that you hammer on ad nauseam. Instead, you’ll want to create a well-rounded list of keyword phrases for every web page and blog post. Depending on the topic and the content length, this list could include 3–5 keyword phrases or more than a dozen. 

No matter the length of the list, make sure every single phrase is relevant to the topic, service or product you “discuss” in your content. Some call this “topic-based SEO,” among other things, but we just call it good writing.

For instance, if you have a pet food store that caters to dogs, well-written copy won’t be limited to dog food. You’ll want to talk about food for puppies as well as for older dogs … about different breeds of dogs and what foods might be best for them … and don’t forget dog treats! You might even want to cover how the foods you sell affect not only canine general health, but also canine dental health. You get the idea. Well-rounded keyword usage helps produce well-rounded content that’s good for the human eye — and for SEO.

Want to learn more about keywords and optimizing your website? Check out A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing by Joey Donovan Guido (our fearless leader over here at Cuppa SEO). Or, contact us anytime to schedule a complimentary consultation — we’re happy to take care of optimizing your website for you!

More SEO Tips …
– Optimizing Your Website: SEO By The Numbers
– Does Every Website Need SEO?
– 5 Simple Ways to Optimize Your Blog for Better SEO
– Soup Up Your Sub Headlines with SEO

The post Selecting the Best Keywords for Your Website appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Technical debt is a bill that always comes due, whether in the form of a hack or painful upgrade …

If you’re not familiar, “technical debt” is a concept from software development that refers to essentially kicking the can down the road and choosing the easier solution now that will ultimately result in additional work or rework later.

Prepare for some tough love about keeping your website current from a functional standpoint.  Obviously we always want to make sure our content is accurate and fresh, but maintaining an updated website is about so much more than that. Here are four things you can implement today.  

1. Stay on Top of CMS Updates

Periodically, your CMS will push out updates to address security, bug fixes, user experience, etc. You’ll want to implement these as soon as they become available to protect your site from security threats.

2. Keep Those Plugins Updated

The same is true of your plugins. If your CMS is regularly updated, they will need to keep up.  Make sure you keep those updated too!

3.  Keep an Eye on Google

Keep abreast of Google’s announcements and adopt their prescribed best practices. Google has a great deal of control over how consumers find us online. As they did prior to “mobilegeddon,” sometimes Google even gives us a heads up that an important change is coming. When this happens, don’t procrastinate getting your digital house in order. You will be ahead of everyone else who wasn’t paying attention and it will show in your search rankings.   

4. Have a Contingency Plan 

You need a contingency plan if something breaks. That is not the moment you want to begin hunting for a programmer. Make sure you know exactly who you’ll be calling if you need support. Your website should also be configured to back up on a regular schedule so it can be rolled back in an emergency.  

How are you feeling about your technical debt?
If you don’t know how to answer that question, that’s okay! We can help. Contact Cuppa SEO Web Design for a complimentary consultation.

The post Technical Debt is a Bill that Always Comes Due appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

What is a Backlink?

If you’re not familiar with the term, a backlink is a link from somebody else’s website or blog to yours. Backlinks are important because they have the ability to raise or lower your website authority in a meaningful way, depending on the quality of the backlinks you attain. I say “depending on the quality,” because not all backlinks are created equal.

Good Types of Backlinks

• Sharing a link, or someone sharing a link to you, because it’s great information that’s relevant to readers
• Links that come from reputable websites — with low spam scores and high authority scores (sites that have higher authority scores than your site are preferable)
• Backlinks that require some amount of editorial control. Examples include: guest blogging, directory submissions (citations), press release distribution, blog commenting, niche forums and community sites. All of these are editorially controlled (gaited). In other words, someone has to approve or reject the submission as opposed to simply being submitted and accepted (non-gaited).

Bad Types of Backlinks

• Paid links, which is a link that’s actually paid for (with money, a favor, gifts, etc.).
• Link networking, which occurs when two websites trade links, or link to each other in order to boost backlink numbers.
• Links from overly spammy sites. A good way to check for site “spamminess” is to use an application like MOZ’s Open Site Explorer. It’s free to use, and it will tell you the spam score of any website for which you are considering creating a backlink. You can also check sites that have already added a backlink to your website (with or without your permission) to check their spam score. While you’re there, check your site’s spam score, too!

What are Citations?

You may be wondering what citations are, as the term has more than one meaning. In this case, we’re talking about website citations, which are essentially directory listings for your website. They’re important, and luckily easy to build upon, especially if you use an application such as Bright Local. Bright Local helps you identify where you already have citations, suggests potential new citations, and SUBMITS these citations for you so you can spend your time doing something else.

Avoid Sketchy Backlinks Dealers

If anyone offers to increase your backlinks by hundreds or thousands in a short amount of time, that person is probably practicing questionable strategies to do so. And that can mean trouble for your website. In fact, large amounts of backlinks created in a brief amount of time can look suspicious to Google. If this happens, your efforts can actually work against your website, so build your backlinks carefully and with patience. According to Bright Local, “citation building should appear natural to the search engines and be built gradually over the course of a few months. A good figure to work on is around 25-50 citations per month.”

At Cuppa SEO, we’re sometimes even more cautious with clients, rolling out about 10 new citations every 3–4 weeks. Why? If anything looks unnatural to Google, a penalty could ensue. And if we’re building a brand-new website, nothing says “unnatural” more than 500 backlinks cropping up just days after a site goes live. Beyond citations, there are other ways to legitimately increase your backlinks — natural editorial links and manual outreach, for example. But no matter how you slice it, it’s a long-term process.

This article was gleaned from Joey’s book, A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing, which is chock-full of tips and marketing strategies to help you grow your business. Want to learn more about backlinks and optimizing your digital presence? You can get your copy of A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing on Amazon. 

Need assistance with your website?
Contact Cuppa SEO Web Design anytime for a complimentary consultation! 

The post Let’s Talk Backlinks appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Yes, we understand it’s only May, but …

… don’t overuse your keywords, it could make Google angry!

Overuse of a keyword phrase is something you want to avoid. This is referred to as “stuffing,” and although it’s great on Thanksgiving, it’s best to avoid stuffing altogether on your website and blog.

Why? Because if you get caught stuffing keywords into your pages, you could get a penalty from Google, and it’s one of the factors that can land you in what we at Cuppa SEO call, “the black hole of Google Panda.”

In a nutshell, Panda is part of the algorithm Google uses to assess the website authority and SEO value of each page of your website, and your website as a whole. Best to stay on Panda’s good side and avoid the black hole — so don’t stuff!

Check out this fun one-minute video about stuffing, starring our fearless leader’s kids!

To sum up, keyword stuffing is exactly what it sounds like — jamming the same keyword or keyword phrase into your content as often as possible, just like the example the kids provide in their video.

Reasons to avoid keyword stuffing are:

1. It has the potential to land you in the black hole of Google Panda. In non-tech terms, this means the page you stuff — and possibly your entire website — may never be found again in search engine results. Stuffing is bad for SEO, and just as importantly…
2. Even if Google doesn’t hit you with a heavy penalty, your readers will not appreciate this tactic, and they very likely won’t come back. In other words, it’s a bad user experience. There’s a good chance you’ve seen writing like this on somebody’s website: “Our dentist will take very good care of you. Our dentist is a pain-free dentist, so make an appointment with the dentist today!” Yuck.

Now imagine this, paragraph after paragraph, page after page, and you can see why Google would take a site like this and hide it from view.

There was a time, back in the wild west of the internet, where adding a bunch of the same keywords could elevate a page in search engine results. Google quickly said “no way!” to this tactic, labeling it black hat SEO for good reason.

A better strategy is to write rich, relevant content that connects with customers, solves a problem, offers insightful info, or highlights a benefit you offer that can help with a pain point.

In summation, leave the stuffing for Thanksgiving. It has no place on your website or blog.

This article was gleaned from Joey’s book, A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing, which is chock-full of tips and marketing strategies to help you grow your business. Learn more about the book.

The post Leave the Stuffing for Thanksgiving appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

2015

If you don’t remember, 2015 was the year of Google’s famed “Mobilegeddon.” Google announced substantial algorithm changes that would suppress non-mobile-friendly results for all searches on mobile devices. 

Due to the implications for businesses that rely on web traffic, Google took the unusual step of announcing the change two months in advance. Just how high were the stakes? A CNN Business article from that time noted that the top spot on a search page typically attracts 20% to 30% of the page’s clicks. 

For those pages that saw most of their traffic from desktops, this change was catastrophic. Unsure if your page is mobile-friendly or in need of a mobile overhaul? Contact us at Cuppa SEO for a Zoom and coffee chat about your page!

156

Your meta description should have 156 characters. Crafting unique meta descriptions for each of your web pages and blog posts can improve the page’s clarity and user experience — as well as increase your credibility. If you’re not familiar with the term, meta descriptions are the short paragraphs Google shows as part of its search results. Like this… 

It’s important to know that meta descriptions are only for the human eye; they have no SEO value. In other words, meta descriptions don’t affect search engine ranking. But they’re still important for optimizing, because when they’re well written, they can evoke a feeling of trust and peace of mind. If people are reading one of your meta descriptions, it’s your first (and possibly only) chance to engage with them. 

Until recently, meta descriptions could be only a maximum of 156 characters long (including spaces). If you went past that character count, you’d see an ellipsis at the end of the meta description. Google now allows up to 300 characters (including spaces) BUT we’ve seen no consistency from Google on when they allow the expanded description so it’s best to stick with 156 characters.

70

Your title tag should have 70 characters. These are the words (content) in the gray bar at the very top of each web page. Best practices dictate not exceed 70 characters, including spaces. Separate the phrases with “sticks” (not commas, periods or dashes), like this…

Your title tag is one of the first things someone sees once they navigate to your page. Make sure it’s informative, clear, engaging — and the correct length! 

But wait, there’s more!

There’s more where this came from! Keep and eye on our site for more blogs with SEO information, tips, tricks and anecdotes throughout 2021. Can’t wait? Snag A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing or get in touch for a Zoom and coffee with a Cuppa SEO team member to chat about how we can help you with optimizing your site. 

The post Optimizing Your Website: SEO By The Numbers appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

By now, most of us have adjusted to working from home. But have we gotten too comfortable? Do you find yourself leaving your laptop open 24/7? Are you checking emails while eating dinner and watching Netflix? Are you texting with co-workers at all hours? Here’s a couple techniques to find balance and create boundaries between work and home, even in a tiny apartment.  

Designate a Zone

For the first week, I definitely worked from the couch in yoga pants… Okay fine, pajamas. I’d stumble out of bed, make some coffee, plop down on the couch and open my laptop. Eventually evening would come and I’d move my laptop from my lap to my coffee table, heat up some dinner and sit back down in the same spot. PING! “Well I’ll just answer this email quickly…” Two hours later, I’d still be doing, “just one last thing.” My life was out of balance and something needed to change.

After a bit of internet research, it was clear I wasn’t alone. As much as I enjoyed the DIY videos about converting the guest room into an office, they weren’t much help to someone in a 900SF one-bedroom apartment. Instead, I designated a rarely-used two square-foot corner of my kitchen island and a counter stool as my new work zone. My laptop and a small bin live there and I use that spot only for work. It gives me the feeling of entering and leaving a “place of work” that helps me maintain balance while working remotely.   

Establish a Ritual

For me, it’s the act of opening and closing my laptop in my designated corner of the kitchen. I leave it open during breaks, phone calls, etc. so the act of closing feels like I’m “closing up shop” on my workday. While this might be enough for me, I recognize it’s not the same for everyone. Maybe you need to put your security badge on at the start of the day and remove it at the end?

The best start/end workday ritual I’ve heard in the pandemic was from the coworker of a woman at a large tech company. Every morning, she got dressed, put on her badge and got in her car. She’d back the car out of the drive, go around the block, return home and pretend to swipe in at her garage door. In the evening, she’d similarly mimic her usual leaving work routine. Your routine should be whatever helps you feel a sense of balance and separation between work time and home time. 

Whether you go big or small, I hope you find these two techniques helpful in resetting your work vs. home life boundaries if they’ve gotten away from you. 

The post Balancing Work & Home When Home Becomes Your Place of Work appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

You know the way you cringe when you see, “in 2018 we will pursue…” on a website you’re browsing? An annual content audit of your website will minimize a potential client associating that feeling with your business. Here’s how to start a repeatable process you can implement year after year.   

Step 1: Make sure your site map is accurate.

Don’t have one? Get started! A site map is an outline that lists all the pages on your website. There are a number of web tools, like Flowmapp, to help you build an elaborate site map or you can simply set up an outline in a Word or Google document.

Step 2: Determine what you can delegate.

Are you lucky enough to have a team? Great! Start deputizing folks as subject matter experts (SMEs) and assigning them pages on the website to review. I prefer to do this by color coding my site map, creating a key, and sending it to my team for approval. Explain they are receiving this because you think they are the organization’s experts and best suited to confirm if the information on their assigned pages is current and accurate. Everyone loves to feel important, right? Ask to review the list and confirm their assignments are appropriate.

Step 3: Transcribe Away!

While you’re waiting for confirmation you’ve selected the right SMEs, you can get to work transcribing your website. You’ll start with your site map and add in your web copy page-by-page. At Cuppa SEO, we like to use a program like Google Docs for this because it allows for real-time collaboration and visibility. 

Step 4: Your Review

It’s best if you require all changes to be made in “suggesting mode” in the document. If you’re working in Word, you’ll use a feature called “track changes.” This way, you’ll know exactly how much of the content needs updating when it comes time for implementation. If you haven’t finalized your SMEs yet, use this time to do a cursory review of the document for anything you would normally own (grammar, spelling, etc.) and make updates as needed. Still not ready for delegating? Charge ahead and complete the pages you’ve assigned to yourself. It will help your team to understand how to make their edits if they can see how you’ve begun the process. 

Once everyone has confirmed their SME role, share the document with them and clearly explain your timeline, how you would like them to log edits and how they should confirm to you they have completed their review. 

Step 5: Implementation

Get rolling with those website updates! Do this at least once a year to keep your site fresh and current.

The post When Was the Last Time You Did a Proper Website Audit? appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Live events and courses were already long days and a lot of work. As the business community has adapted our model to a virtual audience, we’ve learned what teachers have been saying since last spring, “virtual is so much harder.” Here are five major differences with virtual events and how you can prepare for them.

1. You have to schedule down to the minute.

Yes, our live events are often scheduled down to the minute but we all know how those timelines “evolve” as each speaker runs a few minutes long. Or what about when the person who’s supposed to be on stage is in the bathroom and you have to stall? Virtual events just don’t allow us to “wing it” the way live events do.    

2. Record as much as you can in advance. 

The normal parade of sponsors and dignitaries offering introductions is very difficult to coordinate virtually. It’s a good guideline to ask anyone speaking less than 30 minutes who has no Q&A portion to pre-record and submit a video. It avoids any internet connection or audio issues that tend to occur in livestreams. If your event has a large enough budget, consider engaging a production vendor to facilitate the recordings. 

3. You need to have a dress rehearsal.

Every event speaker should participate in a dress rehearsal or tech check before the event. It’s important for all parties to feel comfortable with the technology and understand what is expected of them during the event. In addition, it allows technical staff to ensure each speaker has a sufficient broadband connection to support high quality audio and video. A rehearsal also allows you to make sure your speakers have professional and appropriate backgrounds. 

4. Simultaneous breakout sessions become infinitely more complicated.

There is no more simply sending attendees to their breakout sessions. Each session will, at minimum, require a coordinator to introduce the speaker/panel, launch the session, monitor for technical difficulties and facilitate a Q&A. Consider a longer event or several shorter events to streamline staffing resources.

5. Double your previous planning timelines.

Things just take longer to coordinate with virtual events. There are more steps and no room for improvising. You are no longer emailing your sponsors to ask them to come on stage at a specific time during an event they’re already attending. Instead, you’re asking them to either record and submit a video or log into streaming video technology they may find intimidating. Either way, you’re looking at lots of questions and lots of hand-holding.  

It’s normal to feel intimidated by this new virtual event format. The best way to get comfortable is to practice. Consider doing small virtual sessions with your team using the same technology in the weeks leading up to the event!

The post Going Virtual: It’s a Lot … Preparing for Virtual Events appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Those of us who are used to the trade show and conference circuit know our presentation backwards and forwards; we could put together booth displays in our sleep. That was great until 2020 had other plans. After several postponements, our regular events are finally happening, just virtually. Here’s what you need to know about showing up virtually.  

1. Optimize Your Attendee Profile

Most virtual event platforms offer attendees the ability to create a profile. Be sure to fill yours out completely as soon as you are able. Add your professional headshot and customize your bio to express how excited you are to connect with your fellow attendees. Encourage them to get in touch! Are you a speaker or a panelist? This goes double for you!

2. Look for Virtual Attendee Networking Opportunities

After you’ve set up your attendee page on the conference website, poke around and see if there’s a social component. Can you add people as friends? Message them? Schedule meetings? Do it! And start as soon as you’re allowed to begin logging in. This increases the likelihood that your message will be one of the first things attendees see when they join the platform.

3. Virtual Presentation, Real Background 

We’re not saying you should never use a fun virtual background, but it can be distracting. If you’re speaking at a conference, especially on a panel, try to avoid it. Instead, make sure your real world background is uncluttered and attractive. Consider setting up a spot with some nice art behind you. It’s also important to be cautious of how much personal information is in the shot. Does your office wall show your diploma? Maybe a framed baby needlepoint from a great aunt? Items like these can give away enough information to invite identity theft, especially during large virtual events.

4. Optimize Your Company Profile

Representing a company? Most platforms allow you to create a company profile, similar to the attendee profiles. Just as you would for your attendee profile, fill it out completely and as soon as you are able. You want to capture the interest of attendees pursuing the conference website before the event! Upload your logo and make sure it fits nicely into the thumbnail space, both on the profile and in the companies listing. If you have the opportunity to include a video, consider filming one specifically for the event to stand out from others who are simply uploading their most recent television commercial.  

5. Virtual Trade Show Booths 

Just like the company profile pages, make sure you optimize and customize! Next, if the conference website lets you chat with attendees, make sure someone is scheduled to staff that chat for the duration of the event. If this is not possible, it’s best to clearly indicate “office hours” on your page and stick to them. Lastly, if the event you’re working has any kind of game with a prize to encourage attendee participation, promote the game in your virtual booth. The more people who play, the more visitors and engagements you’ll see.

Attending and working virtual events is never going to be the same as an in-person gathering but we hope these tips (some of them we learned the hard way) will help you make the most of your next virtual conference.

The post Are You Ready for Your Next Virtual Event? appeared first on Cuppa SEO.