Free Local SEO Webinar May 31st 3pm Eastern

It's SEO Web Design Tips' pleasure to put in a plug for our friends at OIC Group, Inc., who are presenting an incredibly valuable Local SEO Webinar tomorrow Thursday May 31st at 3pm Eastern time.

This free webinar will highlight the importance of search engine optimization for local businesses, and will showcase many actionable takeaway points that attendees can employ on their own websites.

Tomorrow's local SEO webinar will offer a wealth of insights for attendees in various industries and professions on how to get more traffic to your website. OIC Group is pulling back the curtains on many "secrets" of the trade, from techniques to optimize your website to ways on how to increase your Google Places ranking.

After years of immersion, research, and testing, the SEO team at OIC Group has become an industry leader in local SEO and local Internet marketing. In tomorrow's webinar, specialists of the company plan to share a number of powerful SEO techniques and specific processes. Attendees can learn several ways to do some SEO of their own, such as:

• Proper Google Places SEO strategies
• Tips on how to keyword optimize a website
• How and where to build quality links for SEO
• Where to further promote your local business on the web

There have been a lot of recent changes taking place in online search. In an effort to provide more relevant, better quality search results, Google has been focusing more on the local orientation of its users. That is, Google is showing localized search results (commonly Google Places) based on the IP addresses of users' locations.

These shifts have not only impacted Google's search landscape, but have leveled the playing field. No longer is Google search solely for big-business brands with powerful websites and large marketing budgets. Now, local businesses can take advantage of an effective advertising and marketing platform that offers a highly targeted way to connect with in-market consumers.

To learn actionable tips and strategies that center on local search engine optimization, Google Places SEO, and other Internet marketing channels for local businesses, sign up for OIC Group’s webinar. The webinar is set for tomorrow (Thursday) at 2:00PM CST (3:00PM EST). To sign up for the webinar, click here.

Simple Tips on SEO for Web Designers

Search engine optimization is the cornerstone of any successful website. In the past, web designers considered SEO to be a completely separate part of the Internet marketing strategy and as such, they would create shoddy websites without SEO in mind with poor HTML structure and use of outdated technology.

Time has disapproved this approach and web design has become integrated as an important part of optimizing your site for the search engines. If you are setting up a website or upgrading the one you have, there are a few basics on SEO web design that will come in handy. These tips on SEO for web designers are critical to ensure a client’s website is quickly indexed and ranks well in the search engines.

Page User Friendliness to Search Spiders

There is a misconception that web design is all about nice looking graphics with appealing drop down menus and Flash elements but this is not so. SEO experts know that though Flash might give you a fascinating looking page, Flash is almost completely non-SEO friendly to the search engines for indexation. Any site being optimized for search engines must use proper HTML structure for easy indexing and search rankings. Some devices such as iPhone cannot view Flash pages again exacerbating the situation. One of the best SEO web design tips we can give you is to, Just say no to Flash.

JavaScript also poses the same conundrum. It is unreadable by search spiders and if it is absolutely necessary to create a section using it, ensure you have a HTML link of that page elsewhere on the site. Another inhibiting factor is the use of frames, which are popular with some web designers. Search spiders will overlook them and your page will not be indexed.

Use but Do Not Abuse Keywords

Everyone understands the importance of keywords and phrases that people are searching for and how to get more traffic, but most web designers still abuse them. SEO keywords should appear at important points such as URL, title and header tags, and throughout the web content, but must not be overused and be used only relevantly.

Page Redirects to Avoid Duplicate Content

Canonicalization is the process of ensuring that resources on your page have the same URL. 301 redirects are essential to secure link authority and improve page ranking. In addition, this helps to avoid signals of duplicate content, which would be penalized by search engines. This process applies for the home page and any consequent page with duplicate URL.

Web design isn't just about the graphics anymore. It's about proper HTML structure, usage of SEO keywords and SEO-friendly technologies that aid search engine spiders to easily access the information they need in order to rank a website high in the search results.

Why Your Web Design Company Must Respect SEO

Now more than ever, most website design companies are adding SEO to their web design packages that they offer. The problem is that many of these self-proclaimed SEO and web design firms fail to fully understand the nature of search engine optimization, and how certain SEO elements apply to a website's back-end.
It is absolutely critical that your web design company knows the basics of SEO while putting together a website. Respecting the ever-so important SEO-friendly website elements of a site is imperative during the web design process. In this post, we discuss the specific aspects that web design companies need to be aware of when building sites with SEO in mind.

Aspects of SEO to Consider for Web Design

Designing and developing a well-optimized website must take into consideration the overall architecture, content structure, and back-end code of a site, or HTML. This includes aspects of both the on-page and off-page content and how it is presented on each page of the website.
The off-page SEO aspects of a webpage are the page's title and meta description. These critical content components should be presented as early as possible in HTML code of each page. The page title defines that page (and typically always includes a keyword phrase for SEO), so early reference of these elements is very important. The on-page elements of a webpage need to focus on quality, keyword optimized content that other-wise "SEO-friendly." In essence, SEO-friendly on-page content is that which can be crawled and indexed by search engine spiders. On-page content elements of the like include:

• text or copy on the page that can be parsed, or highlighted 
• relevant images (including a keyword optimized "Alt" tag in each image) 
• links (preferably keyword optimized cross-links between relevant pages of the site) 
• quality videos (which can be labeled and keyword optimized prior to uploading) 

On-page content that hinders the SEO process is the infamous Flash media. Flash has a reputation for causing pages to load very slowly which inhibits search engine spiders from crawling and indexing a webpage in an efficient manner. Although Flash is attractive and many web design companies use it, Flash is consider very code-heavy and is SEO no-no.

Choose Your CMS Carefully

Many website design companies built their sites around a content management system (CMS). The coding structure behind each CMS' website is different, and many are much more SEO-friendly than others. Here are some SEO considerations to keep in mind for website content management systems:

• CMS platforms that make use of code-cumbersome nestled tables can hinder SEO performance. Find a CMS that uses CSS style sheets which is much better for search engine crawling and indexing. 
• Always choose a CMS that will allow you custom write an optimized page title and meta description for each page. 
• Avoid content management systems that auto-generate static URLs. Pick a platform that enables you to write a dynamic, keyword friendly URL for each page. 
• Some CMS platforms will enable you to perform internal linking (or cross-linking) with ease. This will help make the SEO process more efficient for deep sites with many pages. 
• Only the most highly SEO-friendly CMS platforms automatically create a XML sitemap. This feature goes above and beyond and is something to look out for.

Smartly Select a Website Design Company

If you are hiring a web design company for both website design and SEO services, don't hesitate to ask them highly detailed, technical questions about their processes. If they fail to comply, then they are not the right firm for you. In short, there are far too many web design companies that promote search engine optimization, and yet failed perform SEO effectively. We hope this read has enlightened you and equipped your arsenal with some solid questions in selecting a SEO and website design company you can trust.

SEO Web Design Trends to look for in 2012

2011 seemed like the pinnacle year of innovations but analysts project even more creative applications in 2012. Though there are expected hitches such as internet privacy laws, regulations, among other hiccups, web design is set to grow exponentially not only in volume but also in the refinement of technology to offer even more to consumers. According to recent reviews by industry experts some of the expected innovative SEO Web Design Tips and trends for 2012 are already underway and include:

 

Responsive designs

User experience in the use of websites is going to take center stage. As such, there will be creation of user interfaces that are applicable across board to bridge the gaps between different platforms. Users will experience faster response when using websites and other applications. On devices such as phones, growth of tap design will mean easier and faster downloads especially with social media icons, which make interactions easier.

 

The rise of Free Apps

Though free downloads are the order of the day, you can expect even more of these in future. Some of these include dark photo slider, mini web UI set, sliding tags to mention a few. You will have myriad options including logos, banners, and interfaces among others.

 

Mobile and Device Technology Explosion

With mobile companies stuck in trenches as the war continues, there is expected explosion in growth both in numbers and technology. In terms of new devices, you can bet that more companies will jump into the tab market fray and even sleeker gadgets will be produced. Tablets, smartphones are just the vanguard but as technology advances, you can expect even smarter devices. Modifications on existing gadgets to include new apps and features such as double screens on tablets and phones are bound to arrive in 2012.

 

Better Value, Service, and Products not Price

The next battle ground in SEO Web Design is to be fought on quality customer service, better products and reliable technical support and not on price. Improvements in established features such as typography, better image gallery slideshows, re-invention of modal popup boxes, generated image thumbnails are just a few of the new trends that will try to incorporate value into the web design experience.

There are many other singular trends such as web fragmentation, exaggerated hyperlinks, and oversized icons just to mention a few. Other monumental frontiers in SEO Web Design for 2012 will include social media innovations especially as new entrants seek to wrestle the mantle from older players such as Facebook. On the other hand, established players will play a key role in innovative SEO web design trends for 2012 because they have the expertise and resources to invest in research. These are just a few observations from experts in this blossoming industry.

3 Perspectives of a Successful SEO & Web Design Team

There are a few key variables that make for good SEO and web design synergy. In fact, there are many aspects of web design that contribute to SEO effectiveness, many of which hinge on the structure and organization of the site that is being optimized.

Good SEO begins with awareness of the web design elements that are important and risky. In essence, good SEO and web design teams know the aspects of a webpage that are fundamental to the SEO process, such as content, coding structure, navigation and usability.

Professional providers of SEO and website design also know which design elements that can hinder SEO performance, such as Flash and code-heavy pages. Below we outline three perspectives that define successful SEO and website design teams. You can use these points to help refine your own optimization efforts, or use them as an evaluation of your current SEO and web design provider.

Critical & Creative Thinking

An essential requirement for SEO and web design is being able to think creatively and critically. One sign that a SEO web design team is not seeing their services through this perspective is the uniqueness of their packages. Creative teams have custom, unique packages per client and they think critically in building each package and campaign. On the other end of the spectrum, there a many SEO and web design teams that offer cookie-cutter templates and automated packages that fail to use any creativity or critical thinking.

Understanding HTML Mark-up

Mark-up language is the heart of the web. Web pages are “marked up” with HTML and XML, which governs most data interchange on the Internet. Search engines recognize most content through mark-up language, which is why it is essential for a SEO to understand the basics of HTML. When web design and SEO clash, certain design elements are added to a page that inhibit the search engine performance of a webpage. In short, web designers may be quick to use robust coding structures, or even worse, Flash media. Many designers are unaware of the repercussions such web design elements have on SEO. When a search engine spiders attempt to crawl a page with Flash, they often choke and fail to index the page efficiently.

Know How Search Engines Work

Search engines are specifically designed to retrieve information, and there basic function is governed by precision and recall. That is, search engines are highly precise in the way in which they can retrieve information based on the user’s needs and they are able to recall information that is most relevant to the search query. These two principles form the basis from which strategies for SEO and web design can be developed.

With a good idea of the concepts of information retrieval, Peoria Web Design and SEO teams can better organize their strategies in a cohesive logical manner. Critical thinking is also improved as service providers discover a wider source of relevant information from which conclusions can be drawn upon. Designers can structure pages to meet the content organization demands for SEO, all the while addressing aesthetic variables that help websites convert users. Formal SEO education does not focus on these three foundational perspectives.

In most cases, SEO education is geared toward the methods and techniques that result in immediate results. Looking at SEO and web design from a broader perspective can often shed light on more long-term opportunities.

Guest Blog Posts

One of the SEO Web Design Tips that many companies are catching onto these days is approaching guest blogs and writing guest blog posts to promote their goods and services. This is one of the SEO Web Design Tips that provides great benefits for a company that writes a guest blog post for an industry related Website.

Writing a guest blog post offers benefits on both an SEO level, but also a branding level.

Why Would I write a Guest Blog Post?

When you write a guest blog post for another website that isn't run by you or your company, you're literally producing unique content and giving it to another site to post for a return in branding and search engine optimization rewards. To get the most SEO benefits out of writing a guest blog post, you'll want to craft an article that discusses a topic relevant to your business, and then offer that guest blog post to an industry-relevant Website. So, if your business manufactures portable power module packages for generator sets, you'll want to write a guest blog post for a Blog focused on the power generation industry.

How do I Contribute Guest Blog Posts?

It's a pretty simple procedure if you want to contribute guest blog posts. Lots of these Websites are actually looking for people like you who want to provide these guest blog posts. Many of them feature a link on their site that straight up says “Become a Guest Blogger!”. It doesn't get much easier than that.

If they don't have an obvious link or page on their site about contributing guest blog posts, find their contact page and drop them a line. Inquire about your wish to provide them with your unique, industry-relevant content. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised by the response.

Enjoy the Perks of Writing Guest Blog Posts

Writing guest blog posts for multiple Websites can deliver many search engine optimization gains:

• Should you start contributing guest blog posts, you're sure to get valuable backlinks for your Website from the Guest Blog. Acquiring these types of inbound links is a critical cog for increasing search engine rankings and bolstering SEO results.
• Your brand sees increased visibility when you contribute guest blog posts.
• One of the better perks of writing guest blog posts is getting in and networking with other business owners, marketing people who are running the guest blogs. You never know when or who your next great business deal or sale will come from!

Just think about it. Think about the benefits you can get from simply writing a guest blog post for another Website. Now think about what the benefits would be if you could become a guest blogger on several Websites! This SEO strategy of guest blogging is a great tactic for building up search rankings and increasing brand visibility for your company!

Tell Congress Not to Censor the Internet!

Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.
The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late.