SEO – Iceberg Web Design https://www.icebergwebdesign.com Tue, 11 Jan 2022 17:30:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.3 https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-iceberg-favicon-32x32.jpg SEO – Iceberg Web Design https://www.icebergwebdesign.com 32 32 Start the Year Off with a Website Audit https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/2022/01/website-audit/ Mon, 10 Jan 2022 13:07:04 +0000 https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/?p=16865 Is Your Website Performing? A website audit can determine whether your site is optimized and achieving your goals. If it isn’t, the audit can point out things to improve. How Effective is Your Website? You can find out with a website audit. A website audit can determine whether your site is optimized and achieving your […]

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Is Your Website Performing?

A website audit can determine whether your site is optimized and achieving your goals. If it isn’t, the audit can point out things to improve.

Hands holding a tablet over chalk drawings of tools

How Effective is Your Website?

You can find out with a website audit. A website audit can determine whether your site is optimized and achieving your goals. If it isn’t, the audit can point out things that to work on to improve your site’s

  • Performance
  • Ranking on Google’s Search Engine Results Pages
  • Bounce Rate
  • Conversion Rate

The Emphasis of Your Website Audit is the User Experience

Slow load times frustrate the user.

The wrong keywords mean the user will have a tough time finding your site in the first place.

Too many keywords? That’s super irritating for readers, and it will kill your SEO.

So, we will go through your site and find all the issues that detract from the incredible user experience you are trying to offer visitors to your site. Some of these are issues that are behind the scenes in the coding. Others are technical errors that harm your site’s performance, security, SEO, and mobile responsiveness.

We will look at on-page SEO, such as the way your page is laid out and content and how it is used in places like headings and keywords. We’ll also assess your off-page SEO for ways we can improve your meta descriptions, title tags, and image alt text. These changes can raise your search engine ranking.

A Self Mini-Audit

  • There are a few things you can do to get an idea of where your website is at now.
  • Can new visitors navigate your site, and the conversion paths within it, intuitively?
  • Is your site’s purpose clear?
  • Do you have internal links on your site that move visitors from one page to another in a way that makes sense as a user?
  • Is there a clear, compelling call-to-action on each page?
  • Due to large photos, files, and pages, are your load times too long?
  • Is your content high quality? You need to give your visitors what they came for, or they will bounce away, looking for it elsewhere. Your blogs and the content on your pages should have meaningful, well-organized information
  • How does the overall design of your site impact the experience of your visitors? Implementing heatmap software can help you see if there are parts of your website that people are missing because the design needs improvement.
  • Is your site mobile-friendly? More than half of all web page views happen on a mobile device. So make those experiences are just as positive as they would be on a desktop.
  • Check for any errors on your site and eliminate broken links.
  • Is your site indexed, making it easier for robots to crawl?

Does this all seem like a lot of work?

It is! At Iceberg, we are offering a free website audit that is even more in-depth. And if you find you aren’t happy with how your site is measuring up, we can make improvements to increase traffic and conversions for your business.

Contact Iceberg Web Design to get your free website audit today, or fill out the form below to get started.

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Use Categories to Organize Your Website https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/2021/09/use-categories-to-organize-your-website/ Tue, 07 Sep 2021 15:59:29 +0000 https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/?p=16453 How Do You Organize Your Website? When we consult with a new client, we talk about the content for their site. How will the content on your website be organized? We begin by planning out a site map that will help us plan the menu and be a roadmap for the developers as they assemble […]

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How Do You Organize Your Website?

When we consult with a new client, we talk about the content for their site. How will the content on your website be organized? We begin by planning out a site map that will help us plan the menu and be a roadmap for the developers as they assemble the various parts of the website. In WordPress, your content is either put on a page or a post.

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What is a Page?

Pages are static, permanent parts of your website. They aren’t affected by the date, and while they can be edited, their overall structure doesn’t change. Pages are listed in your site’s menu and include your home page, about page, and contact page, among others.

What is a Post?

Posts are more like newspaper articles. You frequently update them with new content to keep your readers coming back. They can be displayed in chronological order or reverse chronological order. You can also customize the way they are displayed. For example, some people like to keep one post pinned to the front of their blogs. This is called a sticky post.

When people think of posts, they usually think of blog posts. But there are other kinds of posts. For example, many businesses share press releases on their website using a custom post type.

On e-commerce sites, products’ sales pages (which are actually a custom post type) are organized into categories, just like they would be in a brick-and-mortar store.

Organizing Your Posts

Recently we met with a client who is a prolific writer—and a good one! He has been adding content to his blog for years and now has hundreds of posts. In planning his new website, we discussed ways to make it easier for readers to access the specific content they search for on his site. We came up with several solutions that would create an appealing, well-organized website. But the first job was to put the content into categories.

Organize Your Website With Categories

If you put the posts from your website into a book, you would want to do it in a way that makes sense. You would organize it in whatever way works for your business, and the names of those categories would be the table of contents, showing readers the main topics you would be covering. If they prefer to get right to the matter, they are interested in, and they can bypass the chapters that don’t pertain to them and read the one that does. That’s what categories do.

Don’t Let Your Website Be “Uncategorized.”

All WordPress posts must be categorized. If you don’t organize your posts, WordPress will do it for you, placing them under the heading “uncategorized.” By the way, it is a good idea to change that to something else like “other.” “Uncategorized” looks like you didn’t finish the details of the post.

If you have a health and nutrition site, your categories might be:

  •       News
  •       Nutrition
  •       Mindfulness

These are Pretty Broad Topics 

That’s why you can also use subcategories to organize your website posts.

 News

COVID-19

Nutrition

Vegan

Keto

Gluten-Free

 Diabetic

Weight Loss

Mindfulness

Mindfulness Apps

Mindfulness Techniques

Even the subcategories are broad, but at least they will get your readers pointed in the right direction (of course, you don’t have to use subcategories).

Limit Your Categories

Try to limit your posts to one category (occasionally two). At the same time, limit the overall number of categories to no more than ten. Keep the number of subcategories to a minimum, as well. This is better for SEO and the overall organization of your website.

There are, of course, exceptions. For example, large e-commerce sites often have many more categories.

Leave it to the Experts

At Iceberg Web Design, we create unique custom websites. We also offer hosting and maintenance packages that will give you security and peace of mind. Contact us today!

 

 

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Robot.txt Files & Robot Meta Tags https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/2021/08/robot-txt-files-robot-meta-tags/ Mon, 16 Aug 2021 16:18:24 +0000 https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/?p=16341 Have you ever wondered how Google and other search engines can efficiently organize all the content that ends up on their search engine results pages? They do it with the help of search robots. They aren’t literal robots, but virtual ones that crawl the internet, indexing titles, summaries, and entire contents of websites faster and […]

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Have you ever wondered how Google and other search engines can efficiently organize all the content that ends up on their search engine results pages? They do it with the help of search robots. They aren’t literal robots, but virtual ones that crawl the internet, indexing titles, summaries, and entire contents of websites faster and more completely than human beings ever could. This content includes web pages, PDFs, images, and videos. Then, they rank that information for search queries.

Because of how these virtual crawlers work, many people call these bots spiders, crawling the world wide web. It is their work that allows us to retrieve information so quickly when we search the internet. It’s pretty mind-blowing when you think about it.

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Managing Bot Traffic with robots.txt Files

There will be times when you won’t necessarily want everything on your website to be found by everyday people searching the internet. These would be pages meant for employees, thank you pages, and other internal business-use-only pages.

You can usually manage to keep search engine bots out of these pages, at the directory level, by using a robots.txt file. The robots.txt file is just a request. Even though Google’s crawlers are generally respectful of these requests, there is no guarantee that their bots or those belonging to other search engines won’t ignore your request.

Robot Meta Tags

Robot meta tags (also known as robots meta directives), like other meta tags, are pieces of code. They tell the search engine bots that crawl websites how to index web page content. Unlike robots.txt files, these meta tags aren’t suggestions. And rather than trying to keep bots out of your site, they tell crawlers that a page should not be indexed.

Two Kinds of Robot Meta Tags

There are two kinds of robot meta tags:

  •         Directives that are part of the HTML page
  •         Directives that the web server sends as HTTP headers

These directives tell search bots how to crawl and index specific web pages on your site. Even though these are directives (meaning they are orders), bots can still ignore them.

Why Wouldn’t You Want Something Indexed?

  •         To block an element on a page, such as an image or a video, rather than the entire page.
  •         Content not written in HTML, like flash or video, should not be indexed.
  •         If you can’t access the <head> section of a page’s HTML
  •         When you can’t change your site’s global header

Since bots need to crawl your site to read robot meta tags and follow them, having robots.txt files will be counterproductive. The robots.txt file will keep the bots out, so they never see your directive. If you are unsure which one you should use, opt for a meta robots tag with “noindex, follow” parameters over a robots.txt file.

Beware!

Even if you correctly use a robots.txt file or meta tags to allow or disallow search bots from visiting and indexing your website, you will want to get your website set up in Google Search Console. This will let you see what is being indexed. It will also allow you to request that Google remove specific URLs from its search index.

Never count on either of these to keep private information out of the public eye. For that level of security, you will want to keep your data under password protection.

Always be careful when using these files. They have their place, but occasionally, people will inadvertently make their entire site inaccessible to Google’s bots which is no good for your SEO at all.

Your Best Bet with Bots

Iceberg Web Design builds custom websites every day. We also have SEO services available for new and existing sites. Are you looking for your next website-based business solution? Contact us today to see how we can help.

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Are Your URLs Hurting Your SEO? https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/2021/07/are-your-urls-hurting-your-seo/ Tue, 27 Jul 2021 16:13:21 +0000 https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/?p=16250 URLs create your website’s taxonomy. Taxonomy is the practice of classifying things or concepts. Remember back in High School Biology when you learned about taxonomy? You had to classify various living organisms into domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Don’t worry! Website taxonomy isn’t nearly as complicated, but if it isn’t done […]

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URLs create your website’s taxonomy. Taxonomy is the practice of classifying things or concepts. Remember back in High School Biology when you learned about taxonomy? You had to classify various living organisms into domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Don’t worry! Website taxonomy isn’t nearly as complicated, but if it isn’t done properly, your SEO could take a hit. 

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The Structure of a URL

You should structure your website’s URL in a way that helps Google and your site’s users make sense of what they are going to find on the page they are opening.

The first part of the URL is the protocol.

This is the URL for Iceberg Web Design’s SEO Services page. You can see that the website is using HTTPS protocol.

https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/services/seo/

The next part of the URL is the subdomain.

This is the URL for Iceberg Web Design’s E-Commerce Development page.

https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/services/ecommerce-development/

The third part of the URL is the domain.

Notice that on all of these URLs, the domain is the same. That is because they are all on the same website, listed under the same domain.

https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/services/website-development/

The fourth part of the URL is the TLD

This stands for “top-level domain.” The most common is com, but you will also see org, gov, and net, among others.

https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/services/website-design/

The fifth part of an optimized URL is the subfolder

All of the URLs we’ve looked at so far have fallen under the services subfolder because they pertain to services offered by Iceberg. Subdomains should be organized by topic rather than by keyword.

https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/services/website-hosting/

But this next one is categorized under a different subfolder- the about subfolder.

https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/about/our-team/

Finally, we come to the lowly slug.

It actually isn’t so lowly. The slug is the name of your page or post.

https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/services/reputation-management/

How to Optimize your URLs

Always think about the subfolder and the slug when you name your pages. Put the content into the proper subfolders so Google and your readers can easily find what they are looking for. Avoid using dates and other meaningless information in your URLs because this doesn’t show how pages within your site relate to one another.

Start organizing from the beginning.

It is so much easier to plan your sitemap out from the start than have it evolve. By planning it, you will know how your site will be structured. If it is an evolving process, you will soon have a mess to deal with in your URL structure. Not only will it take a lot of time and effort to clean up, but it will also cost some of your hard-earned SEO as you restructure.

How to make Your plan

The first thing we do when we build a website at Iceberg is to plan the sitemap. We talk about your business goals and how your website can help you achieve that. Even if we aren’t immediately implementing some parts of the site, we still plan for them (for example, a blog that will be added later or a porch page for a home construction company).

As we build your site, we plan for internal links (links that connect two different pages on your website together). Internal linking helps site users naturally discover other pages related to the one they are already reading. This allows pages deeper within the site to rank better over time.

How to Ensure Your URLs are Correct

If you need a new website or SEO services, Iceberg Web Design will have everything in the correct order, optimized for Google and your customers. Contact us today!

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Writing Meta Descriptions for Better SEO https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/2021/07/writing-meta-descriptions-for-better-seo/ Wed, 21 Jul 2021 18:31:15 +0000 https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/?p=16205 Writing Meta Descriptions for Better SEO A meta description is a type of meta tag. Like all meta tags, it is a piece of HTML code. Search engines read this code to know what to expect on your web page and how they should list your page in the SERP. While search engine devs claim […]

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Writing Meta Descriptions for Better SEO

A meta description is a type of meta tag. Like all meta tags, it is a piece of HTML code. Search engines read this code to know what to expect on your web page and how they should list your page in the SERP. While search engine devs claim the description doesn’t affect your SEO, having a well-written meta description will affect your click-through rate. This snippet of code is your chance to advertise your page, so do it right!

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Your Meta Description’s Length

Usually, the meta description is listed within the search results, so it is best to keep it between 50-160 characters. That’s a wide range. You don’t want the description so long that Google has to shorten it for you. But you do want it long enough to spark interest, so users will click on the link, eager to read more.

Let’s Look at an Example

Launch My Health is a functional medicine service offering nutritional classes, health coaching, and one-to-one virtual visits with physicians, nutritionists, and other health professionals.

The code for the meta description of their homepage looks like this:

<head> <meta name=”description”

content=”1-833-9Launch | Eliminate disease & imbalances in the body with a whole-​person approach & functional medicine. We’re on a mission to simplify healthcare​!”></head>

If we were to look up Launch My Health functional medicine, on the search engine results page, it would look like this:

1-833-9Launch | Eliminate disease & imbalances in the body with a whole-person approach & functional medicine. We’re on a mission to simplify healthcare!

Did you notice in the example that “functional medicine” is in a bold typeface? That’s because it’s the keyword I used in my search. All of the SERP entries with the keyword phrase “functional medicine” in their description would have it boldened, making it easier for users to scan the SERP for what they are looking for quickly.

It Can Get Complicated

If we change the keyword phrase, the results will be different. In the following example, I searched for “Launch My Health Whole Person Approach.” This was the result on the search engine results page:

About Us | Launch My Health

launchmyhealth.com › about-us

We take a positive approach to your health. … We do this by arming you with the information and support needed to make the best health decisions for you as a person, not just a … Her children grow up eating more nutritious, whole foods. 

The second search query pulled up the About Us page rather than the Homepage. The description is different because it is tailored to the keyword phrase “whole person approach” instead of “functional nutrition.” Notice, however, that Google broke up the keyword phrase. Those words are in the meta description, but they aren’t in the exact form we were seeking.

Google actually created this entry. You can tell by the use of ellipses used to patch the content together. They went to this length because I was not only searching for the keyword phrase, “whole person approach,” but also “Launch My Health.” Google’s algorithm isn’t perfect, but it is pretty amazing.

Ways to Improve your Meta Descriptions

  •         Like all good writing, use an active voice.
  •         Eliminate weasel words like “my, perhaps, possibly.”
  •         Use your focus keyword (but only once. It isn’t Thanksgiving, so avoid keyword stuffing).
  •         Make your page description accurate. Never mislead the reader.
  •         Include a call to action to create compelling ad copy.
  •         Entice the reader to click.
  •         If it is a product page, include the product specs.
  •         Make your meta description unique. Stand out from the crowd.

You Don’t Have to Write a Meta Description

What? Didn’t I tell you how important they were? Yes. But, if for some reason you choose not to write them for a page or two or more, your pages will still be listed when people search for something you have written about. The drawback to not writing your own meta description is that Google will do it for you, and it doesn’t always turn out the way you want.

Typically, Google will take the first sentence or two from your page or post and use that on the SERP. If you use an intro paragraph or disclaimer, that’s what will show up—not your compelling copy with a keyword and enticing call-to-action. If at all possible, write a meta description for every page and post you publish.

Does it Sound Like a Lot of Work?

It is. That’s why many business owners have Iceberg Web Design create and manage their website and SEO. We do it well, so you can do what you do best. Contact us today to learn about how we can help you take your business to the next level.

 

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Writing Title Tags for Better SEO https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/2021/06/writing-title-tags-for-better-seo/ Thu, 24 Jun 2021 13:00:11 +0000 https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/?p=16169 The most important thing you can do on-page for your SEO is to have great content that is likable and linkable. But don’t stop there. The next thing you must do is to give that content an optimized title tag. Writing Title Tags for Better SEO A title tag is an HTML element that tells […]

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The most important thing you can do on-page for your SEO is to have great content that is likable and linkable. But don’t stop there. The next thing you must do is to give that content an optimized title tag.

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Writing Title Tags for Better SEO

A title tag is an HTML element that tells search engines the title of a webpage.  The title tag for this post, for example, looks like this:

<title>Writing Title Tags for Better SEO | Iceberg Web Design</title>

But title tags do more than that. They appear on SERPS and in shared social media posts, so they had better be enticing because your potential readers will see them. A positive first impression could mean a click.

Limit the Length

You will also want to limit your title to 60 characters or less, to have the full title displayed. This is a general guideline since the actual limit is 600 pixels, and some letters are wider than others. For example, a “W” is wider than an “I.” If your title exceeds the 600-pixel limit, Google will truncate it at the nearest word-break before that.

To ensure your title fits into Google’s limit, you can use a preview tool like Portent’s SERP Preview Tool.

H1-Tags

While title tags show up on SERPs, H1-tags appear as the title on the page itself. Although they don’t have to be the same, it is standard to write them that way for clarity. That way, when readers click on something they have searched, the page that pops up is what they are expecting to see.

Using Keywords in Your Title Tags

It can help to use the keyword(s) you are ranking for in your title tag, but it is less important than it used to be. Still, because these elements are supposed to be telling people (and Google) what your page is about, and your keywords are supposed to be on-topic, having a keyword in your title tag often makes sense.

Search engines are intelligent. They understand variations of keywords, so you only need to include one version in your title tag if you wish. We are no longer in the old wild west days of SEO—no keyword stuffing in your page, post, or title tag. If Google decides that you’ve loaded your title tag with keywords, it may change how it is displayed on the SERP.

Homepage or E-Comm Sales Page Title Tags

You never want to have a homepage titled “Home.” Instead, SEO best practices (for now, because they are constantly changing) say that your title tag should be something like this:

{Keyword 1} {Keyword 2} | Brand/Company Name

Or for an e-commerce sales page

{Product Name} {Product Category} | Brand/ Company Name

You want to have the most important information first and keep it within the size limits mentioned above. Frontloading your tags with the most essential information also helps to grab the reader’s attention. Keep in mind this may be your location. 

It boils down to this: Play around with your titles until you come up with one that is catchy, descriptive, accurate, and fits into the size limit.

My Best Advice

Rather than worrying about title tags and all the other SEO components of your website, call the SEO experts at Iceberg Web Design. We create customized websites with built-in business solutions so you can do what you do best. Contact us today.

 

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On-Page SEO: Why Good Content is King https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/2021/06/on-page-seo-why-good-content-is-king/ Thu, 17 Jun 2021 13:54:21 +0000 https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/?p=16116 The most important thing to pay attention to when creating or modifying your website is its content. That’s because content can make the most significant difference in your website’s overall SEO. Let’s look at why that is and how you can create content that will give your site an edge over the competition on the […]

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The most important thing to pay attention to when creating or modifying your website is its content. That’s because content can make the most significant difference in your website’s overall SEO. Let’s look at why that is and how you can create content that will give your site an edge over the competition on the search engine results page (SERP).

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Good Content is Likable

It is even more than just likable. It stands out from the crowd as having what other content on the same topic is missing. It might be a unique perspective, an expert voice, a deeper dive, or a fresh way of explaining the topic. Whatever your content has, it makes it irresistibly readable, shareable, and something that people want.

Good Content is Linkable

Your content can be the most enticing information in the world, but if you can’t link to it, search engines won’t like it and won’t rank it. Examples of this kind of content include slide shows and content that you can only access after logging in (and even then, it can’t be shared).

Good Content is Optimized for the Right Keywords

When you are trying to decide what keywords to focus on in your content, do your research. You will want keywords that are a natural part of the content. Don’t over-use them. This is called keyword stuffing. Search engines don’t like it, and they will punish websites that employ such tactics. The keywords you choose should be in demand enough that people are looking for the topic, but not so in-demand that your content will never make it to the top of the pile. It often takes a little trial and error to find your sweet spot, but you will soon get the hang of keyword research.

Good Content gets Updated Regularly

Don’t allow your site to sit stagnant for too long. It sends the message to site users and Google that your content isn’t fresh or relevant anymore. Instead, update your content regularly by adding to your blog, updating an event calendar, refreshing a page’s content, etc. This will send the message that you are paying attention to your content, and that means it is more trustworthy than stale content that hasn’t been changed in two months.

Professionally Written Content Makes a Difference

Iceberg Web Design offers professional SEO content writing services for custom websites, subscription sites, and SEO services. If you would like to take your business to the next level, we have the solution for you. Contact us today!

 

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Why Content is the Foundation To A Website that Converts https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/2021/06/content-is-foundation-of-seo/ Tue, 08 Jun 2021 14:00:48 +0000 https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/?p=16015 At Iceberg Web Design, we always start a website project with content. That content may come from an old website that you are updating. It might come from a writer that the company has hired. But most often, it is created by our SEO Content Writers. We spend time with someone from the company, finding […]

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At Iceberg Web Design, we always start a website project with content. That content may come from an old website that you are updating. It might come from a writer that the company has hired. But most often, it is created by our SEO Content Writers. We spend time with someone from the company, finding out what they need from their website. We talk about what they envision, and we consult with them on best practices and industry standards.

Then the writer assigned to the project will do a deep dive, researching the industry and deciding how to portray the company best to put them on top.

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Well Written Content 

Your content will profoundly affect a customer’s perception of your business. If your content is disorganized, visitors will assume that your business is, as well. That organization rests on the shoulders of your content.

It has never been more critical to make a good impression on your website. Because of COVID-19, many customers are vetting businesses by visiting their websites first. This can often save them time and potential health risks by ensuring a company can meet their needs before going into their brick-and-mortar business.

SEO Strategy

Your SEO strategy should include both on-page and off-page SEO. Your content writer needs to be adept at using these concepts. User experience is the number one thing that will affect your SEO. User experience is behind all of the rules that are part of Google’s algorithm. Having a content writer who knows how to maximize the user experience will not only make Google happy and boost your SEO. It will also make your site visitors. It may even improve the chances that they will want to do business with you.

Avoid the Fluff: Display Your Expertise

Offering Free Knowledge is a great way to show your customers that you are an expert in your field. Many people want to understand the problem they are hiring someone to fix. Then, they feel secure in the knowledge that they are getting the right service for their needs.

Your website is the first impression many people will have of your business. Customers can find fluff anywhere. By sharing something of value, you are helping them feel comfortable with your level of expertise. If you can’t articulate your business, customers aren’t going to feel secure working with you.

Yet, some companies are fearful of giving away free knowledge. They hold onto it like it’s Grandma’s secret recipe. But sharing knowledge with your site’s visitors will help to create a bond between them and your business over time. They will see your generosity and good-will.

Iceberg Web Design Can Help

We have SEO Content Writers who care about helping your company make a good first impression. We’ve worked with hundreds of businesses over the years, and we would love to work with you. Contact us today to learn how to make that happen. Read our Reviews if you don’t believe us! 

 

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Penguin Profile: Heather Erickson | Iceberg Web Design https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/2021/06/penguin-profile-heather-erickson-content-writer/ Tue, 01 Jun 2021 14:00:59 +0000 https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/?p=16010 At Iceberg Web Design, you get to have a dedicated partner with an invested team working for your business’s interests. Each month we have been featuring each of our team members in a profile post, so you can get to know the penguins better. This month, we are talking to Heather Erickson, our SEO Content […]

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Iceberg Web Design Team MN

At Iceberg Web Design, you get to have a dedicated partner with an invested team working for your business’s interests. Each month we have been featuring each of our team members in a profile post, so you can get to know the penguins better. This month, we are talking to Heather Erickson, our SEO Content Writer.

Heather Erickson
SEO Content Writer

Heather | SEO Content Writer

I’m an SEO content writer and head of the content department at Iceberg Web Design. I was a freelancer, contracting with Iceberg from November 2019 until July of 2020, when Iceberg hired me to be on staff full-time.

Have your duties changed since you first started working here?

I started writing blog posts for customers who subscribe to our SEO writing services. That involves researching the business and the things about which their customers are concerned. Then, I write articles about those topics. I might be writing for a lawyer and an electrician one day, and the next, I could be writing for a roofer and a flooring company. So, I get a lot of variety.

Over time, I started taking on website projects. That’s an entirely different type of writing, but the same SEO principles apply.

What do you do for Iceberg’s customers?

Every website project that I write content for starts with a content interview. I prepare for the interview by doing some preliminary research and deciding what I need to prioritize since I will only have an hour with the client. That time can go very fast!

My job is to gather enough information from the content interview to put the business owner’s passion for what they do into words. I need to do it in a way that evokes trust and assurance to customers and gets customers excited about working with the business—all while making the copy search engine-friendly.

The process includes writing a couple of drafts to ensure I get all of the details right. Once I have delivered the final copy to development, I am pretty finished, other than checking the site before it goes live for any potential issues.

What’s your favorite part of your job?

My childhood dream job was to be a detective, so I love the content interviews and the research. I get to pull out important details to get an accurate picture to have on the website. Plus, I love getting to know our customers. It’s the one chance I have to really connect with them.

What is your #1 goal when working with a customer?

My number one goal is to help create a website that will fulfill their business’s needs. Sometimes that means they want sales. Other times they want to hire new staff because of high turnover. I love finding ways that their website can make their job easier. The truth is, we do much more than build websites. We build business solutions that happen to look like websites.

In what other industries have you worked?

Haha. You name it. I’ve been a nursing assistant, a waitress, a cashier, a trainer in restaurants. I guess I like the service industry. I was also a realtor for about ten years. My favorite job was homeschooling my kids. I got them through to college, which they each started at the age of 16.

Tell us a bit about your family (including pets):

I’m a widow. My husband had lung cancer for seven years before his death in 2019. Our kids are Matt (17), Samantha (19), and Summer (22). Summer just got married, so now I have a son-in-law, too! I have a gerbil. My youngest kids are allergic, or I would get something more interactive.

Do you have any hobbies/special interests?

I hunt wild mushrooms and am involved in the Minnesota Mycological Society. I also carve Wooden Duck Decoys. I don’t hunt, but I love the carving process. I enjoy learning Spanish, as well. I like learning anything.

What is something about you that might surprise your customers and co-workers?

I’m a true crime junkie.

Describe your perfect day:

Perfect weather, 72* with no humidity and a soft breeze rustling through the trees. I get to spend the day in the woods. I can walk, look for mushrooms, read, take a nap, relax. That sounds amazing to me.

Science or History? Which is your favorite and why?

I think history, though it is tough to choose. I love the stories that are attached to history. There are science stories, as well, but they aren’t well known.

If you were guaranteed the correct answer to one question, what would you ask?

“What should I do?” The key thing is to save that question for the most crucial moment—a pivotal point in time.

What is your best piece of advice? It can be about anything.

If you can learn from your mistakes, you turn them into life lessons. Then, they are no longer regrets or wasted moments in time.

My second-best piece of advice is to contact us at Iceberg Web Design for all of your website needs! 

Connect With Heather or the Iceberg Team

Learn more about The Iceberg Team. Read Some Of Iceberg’s Reviews!

 

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Black Hat SEO: Keyword Stuffing & Paid Backlinks https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/2021/05/black-hat-seo-keyword-stuffing-paid-backlinks/ Tue, 18 May 2021 14:00:41 +0000 https://www.icebergwebdesign.com/?p=15993 In the early days of the internet, it was like the wild west, with no one making any rules for how websites should move up on the search engine results page. The main thing was to use the keyword you were trying to rank for more than the competition did. That’s how we got pages […]

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In the early days of the internet, it was like the wild west, with no one making any rules for how websites should move up on the search engine results page. The main thing was to use the keyword you were trying to rank for more than the competition did. That’s how we got pages stuffed with keywords rather than useful information that the user wanted to read.

Then Yahoo Changed the World

In 2000, Yahoo introduced Google to the world, and Google unveiled its algorithm for deciding how to rank websites. It boiled down to “if they are talking about you, you are important.” Links were one component of their algorithm, so people suddenly added all the backlinks they could point to their site—even if it meant paying for them.

You can learn more about the fascinating history of SEO in The Search Engine Journal. The important thing to take from this is that even though the black hat tactics of keyword stuffing and paid backlinks are rooted in the internet of the early 2000s, you will still see people attempting to use them.

black hat

Keyword Stuffing

Have you ever read an article on the internet that kept repeating the same keywords throughout the content to the point that it felt like overkill? They may use different variations of the keywords, but something about it does not seem natural. That is because it isn’t. It’s keyword stuffing in an attempt to rank higher on the search page for that particular word or phrase.

Google has gotten wise to this black hat tactic and will kick those pages down in the ranks when detected. As a website owner or a content writer, it is essential to keep your content useful and relevant for the readers you are trying to reach. By doing this, you will naturally grow your audience and move up in the ranks.

Paid Backlinks

Receiving a backlink from another site on the web is a high compliment. It means they trust the content you are putting out enough for them to share it with their audience. Because of that, Google counts that as a factor in how you should rank on the search engine results page. It’s like carrying extra clout.

Unfortunately, some people would instead take the quick and easy route rather than the honest way. They pay for links that others work hard to get. Google and other search engines have taken a tough stance on this, banning the buying and selling of links as a way of manipulating page ranking. If they do detect this, they will penalize both the seller and buyer of the links.

What if I Have Paid for Links in the Past?

If you have paid for backlinks in the past, not realizing it was wrong, and you want to straighten things out, there is a way to do that. Google has a Link Disavowal Tool.

How Can I Rank Well?

The best way to rank well with search engines like Google is with high-quality content that follows search engine optimization rules. At Iceberg Web Design, we specialize in website-based business solutions, including premium content and SEO services. Contact us today to see how we can help take your business to the next level.

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