One element that always attracts my attention is the fact that it’s easy for ideas to gain traction online. Since there seems to be so much confusion in the world of SEO, it can be incredibly easy to convince novices that certain viewpoints are true. There’s a big difference, however, between presenting a particular viewpoint and actually being correct.

The story of 2012

So why is it that many people are so easily convinced that SEO is dead and buried? In part, I think it can be explained by the fact that last year saw many transformations in the search engine landscape. With high profile algorithm updates from Google, many online businesses suffered a loss of positioning.

As is typical in the case of algorithm updates, however, it’s worth remembering that there were winners and losers. Internet forums tend to be full of stories from those who have lost out and you need to think about the fact that you are far likely to hear from the winners.

This can create an overall impression of a situation where so many people seem to be struggling. For those who have suffered a similar fate, it should not be too surprising to find that there is a willingness to believe that all is lost.

A focus on quality

This all needs to be kept in context. Although many sites did lose positioning, the truth is that website owners were often indulging in fairly low quality techniques. In a sense, this was pretty understandable, since Google often rewarded those who were looking for shortcuts.

The message from last year is not that SEO has come to an end. Instead, the reality is that a certain approach to SEO is no longer successful. If you’ve been busy stuffing sites full of keywords, adding low quality content and building thousands of links, then the game is up.

This can be frustrating news, particularly if it seems like others are still succeeding, despite a reliance on older techniques. I certainly see sites rising up the rankings that do seem to be using shortcuts, but they don’t last long. For those of us looking to build sustainable rankings, it’s clear that a different approach is required. In particular, we need to think about quality, rather than quantity.

A consideration of all aspects

That quality needs to be present when adding content to a site, when reaching out to potential customers and when attracting links to your site. In short, you need to be thinking about quality at all times.

This can seem like a more difficult approach and it’s certainly less likely to be quick. As a result, there’s also a fair chance that it will be increasingly expensive. Without embracing the new rules of SEO, however, you will discover that you can’t find long-term success.

If 2012 was the year of SEO changes, then make sure that 2013 is the year of online marketing advances for your business.

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About the Author: Keith Barrett writes on a variety of online marketing subjects. As part of his work for Search South SEO, he takes a look at strategy and the changing online environment.

The post Finding The Right Approach To SEO In 2013 appeared first on Dotcomweavers.

When Pump Express, an industry leader in pump and motor distribution, needed help optimizing their company’s website, they turned to another industry leader: Dotcomweavers. Businesses in the tri-state area know that Dotcomweavers is the team to trust when it comes to New Jersey web design and development because they routinely realize and surpass their clients’ goals and expectations.

“We initially contacted Dotcomweavers in an effort to add some interactivity to our website and to optimize it. It turned out to be a great partnership,” said Stacy Szewcyk, Pump Express’s communications manager.  “The result has been a more interactive site, a layered site, one that is more user-friendly, and more content rich.”

However, it’s more than just technical know-how and expertise that Dotcomweavers brings to the table, it’s their professionalism and ability to listen to their clients that truly sets them apart from their competition. This important detail was not lost on Pump Express.

“One of the great things about working with Dotcomweavers is their accessibility,” noted Stacy. “They’re very open to face to face meeting; that has been an important element in our collaboration.”

Thanks to the diligence of the web design and development team at Dotcomweavers, Pump Express has a custom website that not only has increased interactivity, but creates a more fluid customer experience for the company’s clients.

“I would definitely recommend Dotcomweavers to any business that is interested in enhancing their online presence, building their first website, or optimizing their site,” said Stacy. “We’ve had really good experiences and really good results. Thank you, Dotcomweavers.”

The post NJ Web Design Client Testimonial: Pump Express appeared first on Dotcomweavers.

New Jersey web development team DotcomWeavers has worked with Wa-Kan to develop a social agenda management tool capable of managing personal, professional, and family obligations all in one simple to use interface.

The Wa-Kan website allows users to manage their activities by simply referring to their Facebook activity. Wa-Kan makes organizing social affairs easier and more user-friendly, an especially important task given the mobile nature of today’s social planning.

The web design and development professionals at Dotcomweavers were able to produce a custom web application that addressed all of Wa-Kan’s business and operational needs. First and foremost, users can easily manage their events and activities. Wa-Kan’s portal bridges the gap between individuals and organizations and provides an easy-to-use tool that can be used to plan events together. And users can categorize their events under five main headings: My Time, Career Time, Play Time, Our Time, and Family.

Users can also subscribe to fan pages to stay informed of events spanning multiple categories. The system alerts them to potential conflicts and can let users know how much time they are devoting to one particular activity.

Dotcomweavers and Wa-Kan realized this agenda management tool would be particularly useful for busy students. As a result, they devised a feature that allows colleges and other educational institutions to upload course information via excel spreadsheets. Students enrolled in those courses can then subscribe to them and have the schedules appear directly in their agenda.

Finally, both parties understood that agenda management can be deeply personal. Dotcomweavers acknowledged this by designing a system which allows users to categorize their own events. What is play time for one person can be career time for another. Innovative features, as well as the ability to create groups, organize friends, and plan internal events, provide individuals with a streamlined and intuitive user experience. Thanks to the team at Dotcomweavers, Wa-Kan’s vision of innovating agenda management is being realized.

About Wa-Kan:
Wa-Kan is a California based company that is changing the face of agenda management. By incorporating innovative features that allow users to better integrate social media, they are creating an all in one online agenda that allows users to optimize the management of their social and educational affairs.

About Dotcomweavers:
Dotcomweavers Inc. is a Paramus, New Jersey-based web development company that focuses on advancements in Internet technology to provide attentive service and solutions for cutting-edge businesses in New Jersey and New York: web development, website design, e-commerce and internet marketing (SEO). Visit http://www.dotcomweavers.com or call (888) 315-6518 for more information about New Jersey website design and web development services provided by Dotcomweavers.

The post Press Release: DotcomWeavers Launches Social Agenda Tool for Social Media Innovator Wa-Kan appeared first on Dotcomweavers.

That’s where local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) comes in. Local SEO is a marketing technique of optimizing your website to rank well when users are searching for your products or services in your area. And if you’re not focusing at least some of your marketing efforts on Local SEO, you should be.

Here’s what you need to know:

On-Page Optimization:

On-page optimization refers to how your site is built and coded. You want to be sure search engines can easily figure out what your page is about and match it to relevant queries.

Make Sure Your Site is Crawlable

This one’s pretty simple to understand—if you want your website to appear in search engine rankings, you have to be sure the search engines can effectively read your pages—but implementation can get a bit technical. I advise pointing your web developer to this post on the Google Webmaster blog.

Page Titles & Meta Descriptions

Page Titles and Meta Descriptions are the most important on-page signals of what a web page is about. You can read more about them and how to optimize them in “The Top 2 SEO Tips for Every Business,” but basically, make sure they contain enough keywords to help in search while still staying readable to humans.

Even if you rank well, nobody will click through to your site if the Page Title & Meta descriptions are keyword-stuffed mumbo-jumbo. And remember, the point of SEO is to draw traffic, which means people clicking through to your site.

Page Content

Google local search map for “pizza brooklyn ny”

Of course you want your page content to be relevant to the products or services you are offering. If you are a pizzeria in Brooklyn, NY, you want to talk about pizza and Brooklyn. Ideally, you’d have a blog where you post frequent updates about pizza and Brooklyn and establish yourself as an authority on Brooklyn pizza. But, at a minimum, make sure your content is relevant to your keywords.

And just like Page Title and Meta description be sure to avoid keyword stuffing. With Google too much of a good thing (keyword frequency) can be a very bad thing—you can get your site penalized in the rankings which can be very difficult to recover from.

Off-Page Optimization

Off-page optimization is all of the SEO work that happens on websites other than your own. The most important off-page factor in Search Engine Optimization is inbound links—links from other websites back to your own site—and that’s where we’ll focus our attention.

Inbound links are seen as referrals, and the more referrals you get (and the higher-quality sites you get them from), the better your search rankings will be.

Social Media

Social Media can be a great way to engage your customers, drive traffic to your site, and help with your SEO, but only if you do it right. I’ve encountered many business owners who think, “We have to be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, Tumblr, FourSquare, etc.,” but don’t have the time or the desire to actually engage on these platforms.

Only join a social media platform if you plan to dedicate time and resources to it. Your Facebook and Google+ pages need content, you need to tweet regularly, and more importantly, you have to respond to comments/tweets in a timely matter. Social media is a two-way conversation and serves as a public forum of your customer service. Be sure to monitor often, respond quickly, and always put your best foot forward.

And if you’re only going to join one social media platform, I recommend Google+. While it may not be the best for customer engagement, as a Google product, Google does put more SEO emphasis on its social signals. (As I’ll discuss later in this article, Google+ Places is also vitally important for local search.)

Local Review Sites

Local review sites are a great way to get some backlinks—and another avenue to guide actual people (not just search bots) back to your website. While some of these backlinks are “nofollow” (they don’t pass ranking authority with the referral), consumers do use these sites so your business should be on them. For a pretty comprehensive list of local review sites check out this post from Website Magazine.

Like social media, many of these sites offer a two-way conversation. For especially popular review sites like Yelp, be sure to monitor your reviews and provide good customer service. If someone has a negative review reach out to him/her and see what you can do to fix the situation. Negative reviews can spread like wildfire so you definitely want to nip them in the bud.

Local Search

Together Google, Bing, and Yahoo account for roughly 95% of all search volume, with Google dominating nearly 2/3 of the market. And all three offer free local listings to businesses—listings that they feature prominently in local search.

Google Places for Business , as Google itself states, is “the easiest way to show up on Google Search and Maps. “ If you only take one thing away from this article let it be this: Claim your Google Places listing. Right now.

Yahoo Local and Bing Places are also free and featured prominently in their respective search results so these pages are worth claiming, too.

In the Press

Getting press coverage is another great way to build up authoritative, high-quality backlinks. Sponsor an event, donate to charity, or volunteer. Not only will this help build your reputation in your community (off-line marketing), you can generate online buzz if you position yourself correctly. Reach out to local news sites (like Patch) and focus on the event or charity you’re supporting. You’ll be helping a good cause and getting some “link-juice” while you’re at it.

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Local businesses need to take advantage of local search. I hope these tips help give you a strong foothold on the local search market, but if you need more comprehensive SEO contact DotcomWeavers today.
 

The post Local SEO 101: What Every Local Business Should Be Doing appeared first on Dotcomweavers.

Offer their Readers Something

Bloggers serve their readers, and they aren’t going to talk about anything that won’t interest or benefit their readers. If you want to earn a blogger’s attention, you can do so by giving them something that they can offer to their readers. For example, tell bloggers that you’d like to give all their readers a free copy of your ebook. As long as the ebook is useful or interesting to their readers, you can bet the bloggers will write about it, because their readers love free stuff. You can do the same with other types or merchandise, but ebooks are easy and inexpensive.

Give Them Something Exclusive

Bloggers also attract readers by writing about things no other bloggers are writing about. This expands a little on the idea of giving something to their readers – give them something exclusive. Mainly, exclusive information. Whenever you have news to announce about your company, offer it to a prominent blogger and give them the opportunity to be the first to “break” the news. You can also offer exclusive discounts on merchandise, exclusive “sneak peeks” of a new book or other product, exclusive videos, and more.

Talk about Them

One tactic you can try is getting a blogger to talk about you by talking about them first. On your company blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc., make a post or status that mentions the blog you’re interested in. Share an interesting or helpful post from the blog, or in some way talk about their knowledge, resources, news, etc. It helps if you can tag that blogger in the status, too. Send a friendly note to the blogger letting them know that you love their blog and want your customers to know about it, and hopefully they’ll be kind enough to return the favor. At the very least, they may tell their readers about the shoutout you gave them.

Make a Genuine Connection

Making the effort to form genuine connections with bloggers is usually a very worthwhile effort. Without being too pushy about how you hope to benefit from the relationship, reach out to a blogger and start a conversation. You might, for example, ask them what they think their readers would be interested in from your company, or ask for their input on a new product. Bring up some mutual topics of interest, and a blogger will usually recognize the possibility that they could benefit from the connection in some way, too. Foster the relationship with positivity, and don’t let ulterior motives of marketing opportunities be at the forefront of your discussions.

About the Author: Steven Peters is an expert reviews tracker and reputation manager.  He has recently been writing about the importance of looking at local reviews blogs for businesses.

The post Getting Bloggers To Talk About You: Fail-Proof Tips appeared first on Dotcomweavers.

Hiring the right web development company is a vital business decision, something that Genie Weisz, president of The Paper Store and More, found out through trial and error. Their previous web designer simply lacked the expertise to meet The Paper Store’s goals and was holding the business back from achieving its potential.

“We had been looking to get into the ecommerce world,” said Genie. “We had an experience with a previous web designer and we found that they were not able to provide us the look and functionality that we wanted for our website.”

Genie refused to settle for anything less than the best for her business. After doing some research she contacted Dotcomweavers, the number one resource in New Jersey web design and development.

“Rather than continue to pursue that avenue and try to get [the previous company] to do what we wanted or accept what it is they would do, we decided to go elsewhere. So we reached out through the internet, found Dotcomweavers, interviewed them and chose to use them for our ecommerce site.”

Like many Dotcomweavers clients, Genie was instantly impressed with the professionalism of the web design company’s team. She especially admired Dotcomweavers’ interest in getting to know her business and the paper industry to better address The Paper Store & More’s needs.

“We were very impressed with Amit, and also his staff,” observed Genie. “What I found most impressive is that while they were not familiar with paper, they took a very active role in learning about paper and understanding our product and our industry, even though it was completely different from anything they had ever done before.”

In addition to learning about Genie’s business, Amit and his staff also drew upon previous experiences they had had working with other industries. By doing so, they were able to provide Genie with ecommerce solutions that she had not previously been aware of.

“The other thing I liked is that they were able to introduce elements that they had used before with other websites for other companies and were able to provide us with functions that we did know were available for a website.”

Thanks to the innovative ideas and professional dedication of Dotcomweavers, The Paper Store and More has a custom ecommerce solution that addresses all of their needs and has seen a fantastic sales season.

The post NJ Web Design Client Testimonial: The Paper Store & More appeared first on Dotcomweavers.

Google-Integrated Software vs. Facebook-Integrated Software

Perhaps the most notable difference between Google-integrated software and Facebook-integrated software is that the home screen will likely lose the Google Search bar. One of the reasons that Google was so successful at maintaining a large share of mobile searches is because every Android device featured a prominent Google Search bar on the home screen. With Facebook Home, however, that search bar will be replaced by Facebook’s new Graph Search. Theoretically, this will take advertising money away from Google, at least for the time being. The convenience of a search box on a device’s home screen can’t be overstated and it’s more than likely that people are going to continue using whatever search toolbar is available to them.

Regardless, Google’s dominance in the realm of both mobile searches and mobile advertising shouldn’t take too much of a hit. Few people are familiar with Facebook’s Graph Search and it’s not that difficult to open up a mobile browser and start searching the web with Google. Google’s advertising revenue on Android mobile devices probably won’t diminish as substantially as one might think. People will always be able to make money from apps.

Google Not Limited To Android

What’s more is that Google’s search prowess doesn’t have to be limited to Android devices. Other device platforms often integrate Google into their browsers making it increasingly easier to cash in on the advertising revenue. In fact, both Google and Facebook will accrue steady revenue streams via mobile searches and advertising simply because they are so widespread. Both of these entities can be referred to as device agnostic in that they don’t require a single platform to be useful. In fact, they are not even pinned down to one location within the device itself. It’s possible to find both Google and Facebook in standalone apps, mobile web browsers, and, of course, all over desktop computers.

When it comes to mobile advertising, there’s still no company more intuitive and expansive than Google. They account for the lion’s share of all mobile searches and advertising revenue. The inclusion of Facebook Home on Android devices should not have a dampening effect on Google’s superiority when it comes to mobile searching. Although about 80% of the time users spend on mobile devices is spent in apps, Google’s footprint is far too substantial for anyone to eliminate in a single stroke. In any event, the concept behind Facebook Home isn’t a direct attack on Google’s mobile search superiority, and Google (and anyone advertising with them) should probably not be concerned.

About the Author: Ray Thompson is an experienced app developer form the United States. He has helped many companies launch applications for both the Android and the iPhone marketplaces.

The post What Does Facebook Home Mean For Google And Mobile Advertising? appeared first on Dotcomweavers.

1. Page Title

First, what is a page title? A page title is a line of text added to every webpage’s code that signals what that page is about. And, more importantly, the page title is what Google displays when your page comes up in search results.

Right click within a browser window to View Page Source

Where can I find it? The page title can be found in most browsers by opening the page and looking at the text at the top of the browser tab or window. You can also find the page title by viewing the page source—in most browsers, you can do this by right-clicking on the page and selecting “View Source” or “View Page Source”—and finding the line of code, usually at or near the top, that looks like this:
<title>Your page title goes here</title>

How do I optimize it? It’s important to remember that Google ranks web pages, not websites, so you want to include keywords that relate specifically to that page (not to the site as a whole). For example, if you own a pet shop that sells items for dogs, cats, and fish, you’d want the keyword “fish tanks” to appear on the “fish” page but not on the “dogs” or “cats” page.

The more specific the page content is, the more specific the page title should be. This helps target less-competitive “long-tail” keywords (longer, more specific search terms) and can draw visitors searching specifically for your product or service.

And remember, Google displays your page title in search results so don’t just stuff it full of all your targeted keywords. Make sure it makes sense to both web crawlers and human readers.

Expert Tip: Keep the page title under 70 characters as that is all Google will display in search results.

2. Meta Description

What is a Meta description? Your Meta description is a description of your web page found in the page’s code (but not on the actual page).

The Meta description is hugely important for SEO because it is the text that Google displays under your page title in search results. If your page doesn’t have one, Google will usually display the first text it encounters from that page—which likely won’t be optimized for search.

Where can I find it? Since the Meta description isn’t visible on the web page, you need to view the page’s HTML. Again, you can do this by right-clicking on the page and selecting “View Source” or “View Page Source,” then finding the line of code at or near the top that looks like this:
<meta name=”description” content=”Your Meta description goes here” />

How do I optimize it? The Meta description should be written with 2 goals in mind: (1) entice users to click and (2) feature your most important search terms. Make sure to include a call to action and a value proposition. Going back to the pet store example, here are two potential Meta descriptions for the fish tank page:

1. Pete’s Pets sells fish tanks from all the top brands at the best prices.
2. Visit Pete’s Pets for the best in freshwater & saltwater fish tanks & aquariums from Advanced Aqua, SeaClear, TopFin and more, all at the guaranteed lowest prices!

I think most people would agree the second description sounds better and here’s why: it starts with a call to action (“Visit Pete’s Pets”), it features more specific search terms (“freshwater & saltwater” and listing top brands), and it highlights the value proposition (“at the guaranteed lowest prices!”).

By highlighting search keywords and enticing users to click you’re much more likely to reach your #1 SEO goal: drawing more traffic.

Expert Tip: Google displays the first 160 characters of your Meta description so make sure to fit your entire call to action and your most important keywords within that limit.

Of course there’s much more to SEO than just page titles and Meta descriptions. Optimizing these two is a great start and likely to help your search rankings very quickly. For more comprehensive Search Engine Optimization planning and implementation contact DotcomWeavers today.
 

The post The Top 2 SEO Tips for Every Business appeared first on Dotcomweavers.

Install anti-virus software

A computer virus is a lot like a virus you might find in your body. You could eventually get rid of it, but while it’s there it can be the most annoying thing you’ve ever experienced. The damage it causes could cost you more than the price of a new computer. Nobody in the world should be accessing the Internet without having antivirus software in place because it’s not worth the risk.

Use a firewall

When you have a firewall on your computer you’re telling hackers they should go away and attack someone else. If you don’t have on they won’t find it too difficult to break in and mess about inside your system. Your computer is a very personal thing and everything is hidden behind passwords. Don’t let anyone sneak in because you didn’t set up a firewall.

Complex passwords

Your passwords should contain numbers. If you really want to be secure there should also be a mixture of upper and lower case letters. You should not use your dog’s name or your child’s date-of-birth. People are also going to guess where you were born and what your favorite color is. Keep your passwords complex, or you will end up having them all hacked. Just make sure you can remember them and don’t save them on your computer.

Update operating system

You can’t keep using the same operating systems for years on end. Eventually they become obsolete and you won’t be protected anymore. There will be more security issues in your computer than there are in North Korea. That doesn’t mean to say you should run out and do it right now, but don’t stay too far behind the curve if you can help it. You might only need to update every 5-10 years and it’s not too expensive.

Software updates

Software is the exact same and it will eventually go out-of-date. If you have anything installed on your computer the onus is on you to make sure you are using the most current version of it. If you are connected to the Internet most programs should automatically look for updates on their own, but make sure you are clicking OK when it asks you to update.

Monitor usage

Your computer could be under threat because of who you allow to use it. Whether or not they are trying to sabotage your machine on purpose is up to you to decide, but when someone keeps accessing dodgy websites and downloading strange files it can be damaging. Keystroke logger software records everything someone does and you can go in after them to find out if they’re doing anything wrong.

Save everything

Once a file disappears it’s very hard to recover it. If something happens to your computer you might not be able to get it back. The only way you’re going to stay safe in this day and age is by making a backup of everything you deem important enough. That means sending your data into the cloud and if you have more than one account you will be even safer. An external hard drive also won’t hurt and they are cheap.

Sheldon Lewis is an IT expert at Webwatcher. He has vast knowledge of computer repairs and maintenance and has listed few useful tips in today’s post which people can put to use to keep their computer secure. He also blogs about computer related topics in his spare time.

The post Are You Carrying Out These 7 Tasks To Keep Your Computer Secure? appeared first on Dotcomweavers.

Paramus, NJ (PRWEB) April 19, 2013

As a leader in web technologies, New Jersey web development agency Dotcomweavers understands the need to keep up with the latest tech trends. And with more and more users surfing the web on their tablets and smartphones, now is the time to take advantage of responsive design.

Rather than creating a separate version of a website for smart phones, tablets, netbooks, and desktops (and every other device out there), a responsive design adapts itself to the user’s screen size and optimizes user experience on any device. Gone is the need for an individual app for each device, all serving the same content—a single responsive website replaces them all.

Along with the responsive design, Dotcomweavers has incorporated many extra features into the new website. Navigation has been simplified to help users find what they’re looking for and the web design portfolio has been streamlined so users can easily see many of Dotcomweavers’ successful web design & development projects. Video testimonials have been incorporated throughout the site to highlight the great customer experience clients receive with Dotcomweavers.

A new addition to the website is Live Chat customer support. Now, users can ask questions and receive answers in real time from a real human being. This is just another way Dotcomweavers makes itself available to ensure the best customer service in the web development industry.

The new site was built using the WordPress Content Management System, adding custom design and incorporating powerful WordPress plugins and widgets for site security and extra functionality—while leaving the core code alone. This means site administrators can update content and add extra features without having to write a single line of code—and the site will always be forward-compatible with any new versions of WordPress.

Of course, “Content is King”. And Dotcomweavers has gone through every page to ensure users can find the information they are looking for. The new Management Team page lets you see exactly who you’ll be working with and learn about what separates the Dotcomweavers team from the competition.

Web design, web development, online marketing, application development—Dotcomweavers can help your business with all of these and more. With over 300 successful client websites, Dotcomweavers has the knowledge and experience to make your web project a reality.

You can view the new website and read about all of the services available at http://www.dotcomweavers.com.

About Dotcomweavers
Dotcomweavers Inc. is a Paramus, New Jersey-based web development company that focuses on advancements in Internet technology to provide attentive service and solutions for cutting-edge businesses in New Jersey and New York: web development, website design, e-commerce and internet marketing (SEO). Visit http://www.dotcomweavers.com or call (888) 315-6518 for more information about New Jersey website design and web development services provided by Dotcomweavers.

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