Is Google Turning Into a Helicopter Parent?

October 1, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Terms you Need to Know

HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol): how we send and receive information on the web. For example, by typing "fall activities in St. Augustine," in Google's search box, you are actually sending a command to a server. In return the server fetches the information.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer): is the technology that allows information to be encrypted between the web server and browser. An SSL Certificate can vary in cost depending on the level of security needed. If you are in need of an SSL Certificate, contact Old City Web Services today

HTTPs (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure): is a secure way to send and receive information. The information you would normally get through HTTP is encrypted through HTTPs.

: Example of HTTPs URL (Secure)

: Example of HTTP URL (Not Secure)

Is Google Serious?

This past January, Google Chrome decided to become that uncool mom - who is so cautious that it is literally crippling. The number one search engine began marking websites that require sensitive information, like credit cards, social security numbers, and passwords, without the HTTPs in the URL as not-secure.

But, this crazy soccer mom, is only getting started. This October, they are taking security to the next level and will mark ANY website you interact with, that does not have HTTPs in the URL, as not-secure. So far they are defining interaction as, anything you enter into a text box, including search boxes. To promote a safer internet they are placing icons at the beginning of URLs.

: Secure

: More Info/ Not Secure

: Dangerous/ Not Secure

Will Google Standards Effect Your Business?

A secure website undoubtedly brings users comfort while they browse your site, but, it is not detrimental to your business plan. If you are requesting sensitive information, OCWS suggests you spend the few extra bucks and become SSL certified - to protect your clients and yourself from liability. The bummer is that adding SSL Certification to your website slows down the streaming of your page, because there is an extra step in place - which encrypts information. The good news is that it is possible to only certify certain pages or forms!

If you are interested in SSL certifying your website, or individual pages, OCWS works with GeoTrust, to provide certifications for our clients. Contact us today!

Rumor has it that Google's new standard will cause search results to place HTTPs sites above HTTP sites. We have not noticed this as yet. The reliability of information on your website at large, remains to be what will predominantly effect your SEO.

A tip for success:
Create A Newsletter
One simple way to stay in-touch with your customers is to create a newsletter. It can then be sent directly to your audiences' inbox wherever they are and they will know what's going with your business. Newsletters are also an awesome way to share current specials and events with your audience.

Sharing and re-posting this blog is encouraged. Please credit Old City Web Services when sharing.
Disclaimer: Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information on Old City Web Services Blog.

Consistency is King

September 5, 2017 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Hi there! Steve coming at you from Old City Web Services; I lead the SEO efforts for our fine company.

In my first addition to the "Tips For Success" series, I'd like to share an important aspect of digital marketing that every business owner or operator can leverage - "NAP consistency." NAP is an SEO term that represents name, address and phone number. In order to show up effectively in search engines (especially the maps area), you will want to make sure that your name, address and phone number are listed EXACTLY the same, with the same details and format across the web. In other words, if the address you have listed on your website says "suite 4" and the address you on Google Business and Yelp says "ste 4" - this is bad, and it will keep you from reaching your full ranking potential.

Want to learn more about how our team can help improve your search engine rankings?

Need help updating your Google Business, Yelp, Yahoo and more?

5 Things You Need to Know About Google

October 7, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

Learn how Google relates to your business.

1. Google doesn’t automatically know what your website is about.

In order for Google to catalog your website in their search database, you need to have text on your site that explains what your website is about. This can appear in both the content that visitors see and in the metadata that only Google will see.

2. Google doesn’t have feelings.

If Google favors one website over another, it’s not because it likes one site’s owner better or thinks that one site has better pictures. Google’s organic rankings are based strictly on a mathematical algorithm. That equation filters the information in Google’s database and provides the search results you see on the web. If you’re not happy with your ranking, you have to analyze your website in terms of the criteria used in Google’s algorithm, not what a human might think about your website versus someone else’s.

3. Google is by far the most popular search engine on the web.

From September 2010 to September 2011, Google had 90.7% of web usersover Yahoo! (3.76%) and Bing (3.7%). Although our optimization services still cover all three, it’s obvious that Google is the preferred search engine around the globe.

4. Google gets it wrong sometimes.

Even though Google works very hard to make their results more accurate, every once in a while Google does something wrong. Sometimes it returns a result for a website that’s not there anymore, or a result with false information. Most of the time this will clear up with time as Google updates its database, but if it doesn’t you can visit the Google Webmaster tools and (after creating a free Google account if you don’t already have one) you can report a bad site.

5. Google hates scammers and spammers alike.

You know the old expression “If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is”? That’s the case with a lot of SEO companies who promise you specific rankings, especially the coveted top spot. Some of those scammers might be able to get you to #1 on Google, but not for long. Google is constantly updating its algorithm to keep out the spam because it hates to be manipulated. Good, honest SEO uses the right combination of keyword rich content, good navigation and site structure.

Send the surf your way with optimization.

July 18, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

What kind of relevant search engine traffic is your website getting?

When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), it’s a common misconception that all traffic to your website is good. In fact, one of the most important components of SEO is finding the most relevant traffic to bring to your website. What do we mean by that? Here’s an example…

Wally is St. Augustine’s premier postage stamp collector. He has an inventory of every postage stamp ever made in the history of postage stamps. To get more traffic to his online retail store, Wally optimized his site so that he comes up #1 on Google for “stamps”.

The problem with Wally’s plan, however, is that of the people who search for “stamps” online are either looking for rubber stamps (which Wally does not sell) or current mailing stamps from the U.S. Post Office (which Wally also does not sell). So while Wally’s getting tons of visitors to his website from his high Google ranking, none of them are purchasing his productsbecause they are searching for a different kind of stamps.

Understanding what people are looking for when they search for something on the Internet is a critical part of the SEO process. That’s why it’s sometimes better to optimize your site for more specific terms (like in Wally’s case, “collectible stamps” or “American stamp collections”) rather than the more open ended, general terms.

Get a free SEO evaluation from Old City Web Services.

If you’d like to find out more about your current page rankings and how we might be able to optimize your site to get more traffic, please call (904) 829-2772 or send an email to us at letusmarketyou@oldcity.com.

For more information on SEO, read some of our previous blogs on the subject:

· – What is Search Engine Optimization?: http://bit.ly/qN2BBJ

· – Under the Umbrella of SEO: http://bit.ly/gBn2qn

Under the Umbrella of SEO

April 7, 2011 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

5 Things You Need to Know about Search Engine Optimization

If it seems like we talk about search engine optimization (SEO) a lot, it’s because it has quickly become a key factor in creating a successful marketing campaign. Odds are that by now you’ve heard of SEO and have an idea of what it is, but there are still some questions on your mind. We want to provide you with a little bit more information about how you can put the search engines to work for your business, with a little help from Old City Web Services.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is NOT the same as Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Consider the difference between SEO and SEM as the same difference between having the newspaper write an article about your business versus paying for an advertisement in the same newspaper. Both methods will reach the same audience, but people will perceive them differently.

2. Search engines are changing constantly.

The algorithms that each of the three major search engines (Google, Bing and Yahoo!) use to determine search results are constantly being updated. Why? Because some websites “spam” the search engines by flooding them with massive amounts of content and keywords to give themselves top ranking even though they don’t provide any relevant information

3. Inbound links act as votes in your favor.

Websites that offer a link to your website from theirs act as “votes” for your business in the eyes of a search engine. But beware, not all “voters” were created equal. So-called “link farms” that offer to add you to their list of links are seen as “spam” in the eyes of the search engines. Stay clear of those and look instead for legitimate businesses that already have excellent rankings and offer traffic that would be relevant to your website.

4. Extra domain names can help if you have extra content.

Your domain name carries a lot of weight with the search engines. However, having multiple domains that “point” to your website do not offer an added advantage. The search engines will only catalog the content of your website with its permanent domain. If you want to put extra domains to good use, create a single page (called a “splash” page) with unique content (slightly different from what is on your website) and provide a link to your main domain. This will put the extra pages into the search engine databases while also acting as a traffic funnel to your website.

5. Specific titles can make your pictures and videos count.

Search engine databases can only process text information. So in order to make sure that the pictures and videos on your website are picked up by the search engine crawlers, make sure that you title the picture or video files with a unique description (like “st augustine sunset”) instead of generic letters and numbers (like “DSC2939383”). Where possible, add captions as well to provide additional content.

Start increasing your search engine traffic right now.

Old City Web Services can offer search engine advice and assistance tailored to meet your business’ needs. Our staff includes a dedicated SEO Specialist who keeps up with all the latest search trends so that your business can stay on top of the competition. Call or e-mail us today to schedule a free consultation.

– Old City Web Services

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

October 11, 2010 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

If you’re a little confused when it comes to SEO, you’re not alone. The evolution of the Internet has left many people scrambling to keep up with new terms and capabilities on the web.

Search engine optimization is a new internet marketing tool that combines knowledge of how search engines work with research into what keywords and phrases people use when searching online.

For example, if you were to go on Google and search for a roofing company in St. Augustine, you might type in “St. Augustine roofers” while someone else would type “Saint Augustine roofers” and another person would type “St. Johns County Roofing Contractors.” Skilled SEO professionals can sift through all of these terms and find out exactly how many people each month search for what specific terms.

Shh! Don’t tell Google.

So if people search for tons of different variations of the same keywords, then you’re thinking you should just optimize your website for all of those, right? Wrong. Search engines don’t like being taken advantage of. They want their results to be totally organic, a genuine index of what the Internet has to offer on any particular subject. If you try to incorporate too many keywords into your copy, the search engines think of it as “keyword stuffing” and will punish your site’s rankings accordingly.

Generally, it’s best to keep your keywords to maybe five or six, depending on how large your website is. Larger sites with more content have more room to add keywords, which is why we recommend that all of our clients have at least 300 – 400 words of text on their home page.

Where do the keywords go on my website?

After you’ve selected your important keywords and phrases, they have to be incorporated throughout your website in various places. A few of the search engines consider criteria in certain areas to be more important than others—for example, they might consider what’s written on the home page to be more important than what’s written on a sub-page.

A little bit of art, a little bit of science.

Professional search engine optimization has many layers. There is an art in making keywords and phrases so subtle that anyone reading your content won’t notice awkward sentences or redundancies. But it also takes extensive research and a constant effort to keep up with the changing trends of the industry. While some individuals have the time to devote to optimization themselves, for many of our clients their time is better spent practicing the skills that run their business. That’s why we’re here to help.

I’m interested, but need more help.

If you’d like to find out more about optimizing your website, you can get started today with a free SEO evaluation by calling us at 904-867-4112 or send us an email at letusmarketyou@oldcity.com.

Can Google Find Your Website?

August 4, 2010 by anoadmin Leave a Comment

If it can’t then you are missing out on a huge amount of traffic that should be coming to your site. The way to get Google to see you is through Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO. To understand the value of SEO it is important to understand how Google works. May we suggest that you watch the video below? It’s straight from Google.