Tag Archives: optimization

Jul 06

How to increase your website traffic

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The purpose of this article is to show some ways of raising your website popularity. Making your website popular maximizes traffic to it which automatically converts your visitors into buyers or at least makes them your dedicated followers.

The following topics will be covered:

  • Search engine optimization
  • Social networks submissions
  • Paid advertisement methods
  • Other methods

Search Engine Optimization

The process of a real Search Engine Optimization can be really long and complicated one. Still, we will mention some essential tips that should help you to attract more traffic to your website from organic search queries.

First, you should make sure that your website is well indexed by the search engines. You can “help” them by creating a SiteMap of your website and submit your website via different search engines. To create a sitemap you can use some free services available on the Internet. For example, the following website provides a free SiteMap generator which will include up to 500 pages of your website — http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/

As soon as you have your SiteMap generated, you should place it under the root of your domain name in order to be accessible via http://your-domain.tld/sitemap.xml. It is a good idea to submit your website to different search engines. You can use the following links to submit your website:

You may also register your website to the Google WebMaster tools (http://google.com/webmastertools) where you will be able to submit your SiteMap as well.

Additionally, you can order a SiteMap generation and submission as an extra professional service via your TMDHosting Customer area -> extra professional services.

Every website, which is running for a good search engine ranking should have a good sitemap, in addition to its search engine optimization. By purchasing this service, you ensure that all crawling search engines (including Google, Yahoo, etc.) will be informed of your website’s content in terms of links and other hierarchy. You also will be allowed to include additional information about each URL, such as when it was last updated, how often it changes, and how important it is in relation to other URLs in the site. This allows search engines to crawl the site much more intelligently, which automatically improves your search engine rankings. The better rankings, the bigger revenue and more visitors you get to your website.

Another thing that you should consider is to create SEO-friendly content for your website. For example, you should do your best to title your articles as close as possible to the natural (organic) terms that a person would use if it is looking for your content. Additionally, you should make sure that your pages have title tag, meta description tags and meta keywords tags which will definitely increase your content visibility in the search engines.

For more detailed and additional information you may refer to the Google Webmasters section where different aspects of website optimization are explained.

You can also take advantage of our professional SEO optimization services which includes:

  • Meta tags optimization
  • Meta description optimization
  • Manual Submission to the biggest Search Engines(Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc)
  • Manual Social Networks Submission
  • 500 USA Targeted Visits
  • Traffic Boost Program
  • Sitemap attachment
  • Googlebot one time invitation

With this exclusive service, you will have the opportunity to allow our search engine optimization specialists to analyze your website’s content and advise the most appropriate solution for boosting your website’s search engines ranking. The better ranking, the more visitors you will be getting to your website. This service can be ordered via your customer area with TMDHosting -> extra professional services.

Social networks submissions

Different social networks can be a great source of referral traffic to your website. You can both provide a way for your visitors to submit your articles and products to different social networks and submit your content on your own.

One of the most popular way to provide your visitors with the option to submit your website through different social networks is the Bookmark This button. It provides a huge list of different websites where your website can be submitted. You can obtain your AddThis/BookMark button from the following website: http://www.addtoany.com/

On the other hand, you can submit your articles and products to networks such as:

http://www.digg.com

http://www.stumbleupon.com

and many others which are available in the Bookmark This tool. Furthermore, you can create pages of your website or submit it in different social networks. Create social profile pages at squidoo, hubpages, bumpzee, twitter, facebook, etc. on which you put the same content or links to your website. Creating such profiles takes a couple of minutes and so is updating them with links to your website. You may refer to the following list for example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

Paid advertisement methods

Paid advertisement is another method to increase your website traffic. One of the most popular ways to advertise your website is the Google pay-per-click program. You can read more about the Google AdWords advertisement programs on their official website.

Additionally, you can use banner advertisement method. You can find different websites which has relevant content to your topics and contact the webmaster for any opportunities to place a banner on their website. Most websites usually have an advertisement section where you can check the fees and the expected traffic referral rate based on the website statistics.

Other methods

Set up a blog and post articles about your website. With each post you make give a link to your site which you can then submit to social bookmarking sites. Search engines love blogs as they have real content and are very often updated. Moreover, whenever you write for your blog you need to use all the strong keywords you are aware of connected with your website and product/ service. Be very careful with the articles you write as those can be used to demonstrate your knowledge and improve credibility in your area of business. On the other hand, articles can be submitted to optimized article directories. Someone visiting those directories and reading your articles will be impressed by your knowledge and expertise and will click through to your website via a link at the bottom of the article. So, make a blog for your website and give interesting articles to your visitors to read – you can be sure they will be coming back for more raising your website’s traffic.

Comment on other people blogs posting meaningful comments. Be sure you post in blogs which allow links back to your website. Do not forget to read the post correctly before making original comments. Otherwise you could be accused of spamming.

Join forums and discussion sites relevant to your theme. Read the topics that you feel closest to and try to participate in the discussion and don’t do it in a commercial way. At the end of each post place a signature link that will help the concerned people find your site.

Create videos about your company/product and share them on YouTube and other video sharing websites is also a great way to increase your site traffic. As YouTube is a great advertising venue, such videos will help you promote your business and services easily. Once you have your videos and upload them, do not forget to give them correct titles and description. A good title is catchy and interesting or includes keywords that will help people remember it or find it via the search engines. You can also promote your videos on social networks and sites like Stumble upon, Digg and Hubpages which are the best ones to use in this case. Include a link to your site in the description or any other additional information that could catch the attention of ones watching the videos and helps them remember them easily

We hope that the provided information will help you successfully promote your site for free over the cyberspace. Give it a try – your efforts and promotions are most likely to pay off soon.

Jun 09

Is SEO ranking affected by server location?

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As mentioned in our previous post about how to choose a SEO friendly domain name, there are many aspects of site optimization that have to be considered before starting a successful online project. We have already shared some tips on how to choose a SEO-friendly domain name. Now let’s move to another aspect of the website optimization. Throughout today’s article we will concentrate on the SEO effect that a host country has on your domain name/ website. Very often we are asked if a server location matters and if it does, how it can affect SEO rankings. In other words: Does hosting in one country while trying to rank in another affects the search engine presence of your website? Our answer is yes and still depends on the case. Here is what we mean by that.

There are 2 main cases concerning the matter that I would like to focus on:
1) You have already chosen your target market, you have a country specific domain name for that country (i.e. .co.uk for the United Kingdom) but you host it outside that country (i.e. in the USA).

Now here is the good news: If you have a country specific domain name, the location of your host doesn’t matter, it does not affect your ranking. In other words, your country code top level domain name (co.uk) will not be influenced by the IP of the server you are hosted on.

Another thing, it is known that .co.uk domains always rank higher on Google.co.uk, no matter if your business is based in the USA or the UK. The very domain (or its extension/ suffix) determines the geo-location in all the major search engines. The very fact that you use a .co.uk domain name comes to show that your company/ business is based in the UK. This means that if someone located in the USA wants to search for a UK company, they will look in the google.co.uk. Hence, chances of ranking for UK google results are much higher.

On the other hand, if you have business in the UK and wish to expand to the USA, then you need to consider using a .com domain name. To conclude this point, if you have a .co.uk domain name, it will rank better under google.co.uk no matter what you do. So, when trying to expand your business abroad, you should consider purchasing a .com domain name and create a website for your target market in the USA. When doing that, you might also need to change a bit the content of the website, not just copy-paste it. We all know there is a difference in some words in the every day language, as well as, cultural differences. So, be sure you make your second website appropriate for your target market in the country you are expanding your business to. Best will be to use the services of a local Translators Agency.

2) You are located in the UK, you have a .com website and host it in the USA which is your target market.

It is known that due to geo-location the rankings can be affected by the IP address. That is only when your site uses generic top level domains like .com, .org, .net, etc. Additionally, several search engines determine the country to which a web site belongs by the location of the web hosting server (the server IP). All this leads us to the conclusion that, if you are a UK company trying to rank for google.com, you would be listed for sure. Of course, you can not reply only on that – the so desired leading position depends on the whole SEO strategics you follow.

To summarize, if you are trying to boost your Search Engine presence in another country, you must cosider to buy a domain name with an extension that matches the country in question. Furthermore, you should consider the cultural, language and other country specific differences. These are points of concern you should remember especially when trying to grow your business outside your country of origin.

May 30

How to choose a SEO-friendly domain name

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Today’s post is dedicated to providing some tips on how to choose a SEO friendly domain name for your online project. To start with, nowadays, Search Engine optimization’s role has grown so much that it will not be exaggerating to say that ignoring it would be a crime. Knowing there are thousands of websites in the Internet “seeking” visitors’ attention, you must do something to come to the front row and be noticed. You do not want your website to be left alone in cyberspace hardly ever visited by someone that could be a potential customer, right? Moreover, you can’t just rely on random visits, you need to do something about it. We suggest starting your online project with choosing a SEO friendly domain name and here are some guidelines on that matter.

When starting an online project, especially a business oriented one, there are many aspects of site optimization that have to be considered. Choosing and buying a keyword-rich domain will not make or break your PageRank but it may indirectly increase your visitors as Google will see links that use your domain name. So why not get a domain name that not only reaches your audience but lands you a little higher in search results. It is known that Google tends to give weight to keywords in the domain name. That is why you must find out and use the right keyword or keyword combination that best describes your business/website. Let’s say that you wish to create a web design studio site. First thing will be to check for keywords describing that business. Write down key words and phrases that you think your potential clients can associate you with when Googling. Now you want to make sure that the keywords you are optimizing for are a part of the search terms that people actually use when trying to find your product/service on the web. We suggest using the Google’s Search Volume tool – it helps you find out how often those keywords are in fact used in searches.

For example you can check the related key words for “webdesign” here.

Using the Google’s Search Volume tool you can try out different words or phrases connected with your business in order to find out which are the preferred ones – the ones with the highest estimated search volume. What is best is that you can add search criteria by regions, too. If you are an American and wish to focus on the USA market, you can check out the level of interest towards the compared keywords in all states or you can choose only a number of states. So, on the one hand, you have the Totals that shows the result in a graph so that you can clearly see which word is most preferred by users in searches. On the other hand you have Regional Interest – you can check out the interest towards the chosen word by regions. You also have Top Searches where more keywords combinations are offered, again they are listed according to their search strength. And last but not least, you have Rising Searches: you get keyword suggestions  for your market and their estimated search volume. Be advised that you do not need to sign up in order to use this tool.

Play some time with the Google’s Search Volume tool  and we are sure you will enjoy choosing a successful domain name for your online project. This way you will guarantee yourself a well-established presence on the Web and you will know that your domain name works for your SEO.

You can also check the following online video presentation on Google’s Search Volume tool:

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Here are some more guidelines on choosing a SEO catchy domain name:

  1. Avoid choosing hyphenated and multi-term domains like get-best-hosting-now.com (I just made this one up). Such domains have limited SEO value and lack credibility. So if you are planning to do serious business, we will recommend you to not name your website this way.
  2. It is important that you opt for a .COM name whenever possible. There are two main reasons for that: users tend to think in terms of .com, and any other extension will be hard for them to remember; .com names tend to receive higher rankings in Search engines than websites using other extensions.

Get your SEO friendly domain name registered for free by TMDHosting Services! Contact us:

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Mar 27

Sales improvement for eCommerce websites

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In the one of our previous articles we have discussed some of the advantages and drawbacks of paid and open source e-commerce applications. We also made a list of some of the most common e-commerce platforms together with their main specifications.

Today, we are going to talk about the most important design features of an e-commerce web site and will give you some tips about building up a successful online business.

Whatever you are selling on the Internet, one thing is most certain about it – it’s on sale on someone else’s website already. And because there are so many online shops out there and competition is so strong you may only survive with one thought in mind: what your customers want and how can I sell it to them.

Although there are many theories about keeping customers happy when it comes down to e-commerce there is only one, and that is clean and usable website design that will make it simple for you customers to shop on. An easy-to-use website will offer your visitors great experience. Great experience will most probably end with placing orders. And this is exactly what you want.

Below are some of the main features of a user-friendly e-commerce business you should bear in mind before designing your online store.

Choose a background colour which will not distract your customers’ attention from the product itself. The purpose of your webpage background colour is to complement the product image, it should be tasteful and in conformity with your overall website appearance. Whatever colour you choose make sure it keeps your customers focused on the product features rather than annoying them. Do not forget to place your company’s logo on the left upper corner of the page – where customers expect to find it.

Furthermore you need to think carefully about your web page navigation – it should be logical and simple to use. You may build a fancy website, place great pictures, and do a great job advertising your online business; you are burned without a proper search box. This is an absolute must for any online shop with a large number of items for sale. The search bar is the only way for your potential customer to find what they look for, especially considering the fact that most users need to be in control when they enter your website. They do not want to be guided through your website, that’s the reason why many users go straight to the home page search menu. Studies have shown that your search box should be a type-in field. To offer to your visitors accurate search results you need to organize products into categories and provide first-query results, otherwise you will lose many potential buyers.

The product images that you are going to include on your website play a vital role for the success of your online business. Numerous studies have proven that consumers prefer to browse through images rather than reading description text. Remember that product pictures are essential for your potential customers – they will better understand the product’s features by looking at it than reading about it. But this is not enough, to reach you goal which is of course sell the product, you should use clear images with high resolution and keep their size not too big or too small either. Sometimes depending on the product you should place more than one picture. Do not be afraid to show the product from different sides or angles, especially if this is crucial to close the sale. If possible give the users the opportunity to zoom in and out, turn around and see as many details of the product as possible. Do not use misleading pictures — this will only cause you troubles later on.

Next step to consider carefully is the product description. Here you should keep the text simple, if accurate use bullet points. Explain the most distinguishing parts of the product, like the material it is made of, its size or features, brand, colour and so on. Be brief and straight to the point. If the product requires, you can place a link with attached file with more explanations or how-to-use manual. If the same product is on sale in different colour let’s say, make sure you explain it clearly to your customers. This is also the place to put the product price, together with any discount you offer and shipping fees your customer will encounter. Make sure your customers understand exactly how much it would cost them to buy from you. If there’s no delivery fee let’s say, put a zero and give the final purchasing price. The same applies if you have to charge customers with additional fee for using their credit card for example or any other cost they will have to cover. If you have different methods of payment, state them clearly, so your potential customers can choose what’s best for them. It is absolutely important that you place payment details in the product description page. Do not make the customers browse further in your website to find the price or how to order, they will simply get annoyed and abort the shopping process.

Despite the fact that these are the basic optimizations that you can apply to your eCommerce website, they are very important for creating a successful online shop. If you are not exactly sure how to start your eCommerce online shop you may review our article on how to start your own online shop website.

If you need a professional assistance you may always contact our experienced and friendly representatives via our live chat and discuss your ideas for eCommerce website.

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