When someone goes to Google looking for a specific product or service, they are likely to review the first few results that come up in the results and ignore results that are not featured on the first page of results.

For example, when people are searching for a “website design company” on Google, this is the result that comes up:

As you can see, just below the three paid results, the first organic result is Blue Fountain Media. How did we achieve such a result? It is the result of employing SEO techniques and putting a great deal of time and effort into making sure the SEO campaign is successful.

Title Tags, Meta Tags and Keywords

How your site identifies itself in the source code goes a long way to determining how your site will be valued by the major search engines. The most important coding is your “Title Tag.” Your title tag is exactly that, the title of your website. Search engines pay very close attention to the content of your title tag, so the words should closely reflect the content of your site.

This is also often the user’s first impression of your site, so it should give the user a reason to click on your result. Words in your title tag will also show up bold if the user has included them in their query, so high-volume keywords are a good place to start.

It is generally recommended that your title be under 100 characters, keeping in mind that Google will only display up to 70 characters on a search results page.

Meta description is what will usually show up in search rankings below the title. The best way to approach a meta description is to think of it as your website’s sub-title. Google recommends that they shouldn’t be longer than 100 characters, while DMOZ (the web’s Open Directory Project) suggests no more than 25-30 words.

Finally “Meta Keywords” is a list of words, specific to your site, that are embedded in your site’s source code. However, search engines no longer give weight to the terms listed here. Sometimes including a few misspellings can help give you an edge in ranking for the misspelling (provided you already rank for the correctly spelled term), but for your main target keywords, the content that users see is what is most important.

Keyword Targeting

You won’t be able to rank for a particular keyword unless you actually use that keywords in your site’s content.

Being “found” on the web really isn’t much different from being “found” in the brick and mortar world. Before people ever heard of Google, they found service providers in the Yellow Pages, by word of mouth, through advertising.

If your business happens to be a law firm, how would people find you? As a rule, they want to find a lawyer who is in relatively close proximity, a lawyer who specializes in the precise area where the potential client has a need (immigration, real estate closings, drunk driving, e.g.) and a lawyer who is in their price range.

When searching for a lawyer online, people won’t just Google “lawyer,” because they know they will be getting a lot of untargeted, general results. They are much more likely to add a geographical modifier (“New York City”) and a specialty (“criminal defense”).

An Entriweb study found that 31% of people use two-word searches on Google, while another 25% use three word searches. Single word searches constitute only 19% of searches. That leaves another 25% of searches with four words or more.

Keyword Optimizing

Once you’ve figured out the keywords most relevant to your site, then you must make use of them in the most “search engine friendly” way you can. “Optimizing” keywords means using them prominently and frequently in the content of your website. Context and relevancy also counts, and you don’t want your language to be awkward, so it is important to integrate your keywords as transparently as possible.

As a rough guideline, try to optimize every page on your site for a different search phrase. Each search phrase should contain 2 to 3 highly targeted keywords. When optimizing your keywords, remember that search engines pay more attention to words at the top of your content than at the bottom.

Linking

One of the most important SEO tools and one of the most difficult to do well, is “back-linking”. Back links are direct links to your website from other websites.

Back links are the equivalent of good reviews and search engines pay particular attention to them. Just as a good movie review in The New York Times means more than a good review in a local community newspaper, search engines like Google give far more weight to back links from major sites.

The key is being diligent. Research the sites that you really believe have some relation to your business and contact them. If you sell sneakers, contact sports-related sites. If you sell weight loss supplements, contact health and beauty sites. If you design websites for entrepreneurs, contact every online entrepreneur publication and blog.

Many of the sites you contact will ask for reciprocal linking. This is generally not beneficial; reciprocal linking is recognized as such by search engines, and unless there is relevant content to justify the incoming and outgoing links, their value will be discounted. The same goes for a “links” page; a given page has a finite amount of link value to pass through its links; the more links on the page, the less valuable the one that goes to your website.

In Conclusion

Search engine optimization requires knowledge, experience and a bit of artistry. To maximize your website’s exposure it is important to devote time and effort to do your SEO properly. Investing in an expert SEO team may seem expensive, but the return on investment can be well worth your while. You’ve already seen what Blue Fountain Media has done to help its own search engine optimization (Google search “website design company,” Yahoo search “website design company”). If you want to see what we can do for you, call us at 212.260.1978.

The New Year is a time for resolutions: lose weight… exercise… spend more time with family and friends.

It’s also a perfect time for businesses to re-evaluate their online presence and marketing strategies. Blue Fountain Media likes to use this time of year to go over our clients’ goals for the upcoming year. By focusing on some big picture issues, we work with clients to develop results-driven solutions.

Blue Fountain Media has created this checklist of things for businesses to consider when planning for the upcoming year:

Website

Does my company’s website positively reflect on my brand?

Does my company’s website accomplish any business goals?

• Attracting new clients?
• Serving current clients?
• Enhance branding?
• Bring in direct revenues (e-commerce)?

Does my company’s website have the kind of content that brings visitors back again and again?

• Blogs?
• News?
• Tutorials?

Social Media

Does my company understand the power and value of different social media tools?

Does my company have a social media strategy in place?

Does my company have an individual or team dedicated to enhancing our social media presence?

Is my company using social media as a business tool?

• LinkedIn?
• Twitter?
• Facebook
• YouTube?

Search Engine Optimization

Is my company’s website getting the kind of traffic we want?

Does my company come up high on Google (and other search engines) for searches that are pertinent to my business?

Is my company losing business because our competitors’ websites are getting more traffic?

Online Marketing

Is my company satisfied with the returns from its current advertising and marketing efforts?

What percentage of my company’s marketing and advertising budgets are being spent online?

Does my company fully understand the online marketing opportunities available for a business like mine?

Online Reputation Management

Does my company know the state of its online reputation?

Are there negative statements/reviews about my company on the Internet?

Does my company have a strategy for managing its online reputation?

Next Steps

After answering all of these questions, few clients can say that there aren’t any areas they need to improve or bolster. Just as companies constantly strive to improve their product lines and services, they need to focus on improving the ways they use the web to enhance their businesses.

Are you happy with your answers to all of the above questions? Are you ready to take the steps necessary to take your web presence to the next level?

Blue Fountain Media has expertise in all aspects of web design, development and online marketing. If you have questions about any aspect of your company’s online presence, please give us a call at 212.260.1978. We’ll be happy to help make 2010 the best year your business has ever enjoyed!

It’s a simple, valid question, and it’s one that I’ve heard asked by both small business owners and C-level executives in large corporations.

The fact is, Google can be baffling and intimidating to people who aren’t in the web industry. A high placement in a Google search can make or break a business. There are millions of Internet users and, within that universe, thousands if not tens of thousands of potential clients/customers.

As Creative Director for Blue Fountain Media, a comprehensive web design, development and marketing firm in New York City, I counsel clients about Google (and other search engines) every day. Specifically we help our clients gain the coveted first-page Google results for a number of searches.

So, let me get back to the story of my friend the dental surgeon. In responding to his question, I turned the tables on him:

“What results do you want to get from Google? More traffic to your site? More patients? How much more?

Achieving a great placement on search engines depends on many factors. One of the biggest factors is how common are the terms you are looking up?

For example, if you type your name and location into a Google search, the odds are you will show up very high (unless your name is John Smith). But, if you want to show up at the top of Google for more generic searches (e.g. ‘dental services’ or ‘new york dentist’) it will take far more effort and money to attain a high placement.

That is why it is essential to invest in a multi-platform Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program involving keyword placement, linkbacks and, for some, online advertising campaigns. A search engine optimization guru knows how to use all the tools of his/her trade:

• Keywords
• META Tags:
• Alt Tags:
• Page Titles:
• Website content
• Site Maps
• Social media integration
• Marketing

My team and I have used these methods (and more) to optimize results for Blue Fountain Media and we have achieved remarkable results for many critical keyword searches. Though there are thousands of web design firms worldwide, we show up at the very top of the first page of Google results for “website design company”. Similar results can be found on Yahoo and Bing.

We have achieved similar success for many of our SEO clients.

Unfortunately, many businesses seem to think of online marketing as a cheap short-cut to success… some sort of miracle pill. While they may be willing to spend many thousands of dollars over the years on traditional marketing, they bridle at the idea of spending more than a few hundred dollars online.

Online marketing does get results, but as in any marketing platform, you have to spend money to make money.

Blue Fountain Media has achieved remarkable results for many of our clients. While some may have originally balked at the idea of spending upwards of $20,000 on a search engine optimization campaign, the worries were quickly assuaged when the business that came in as a result brought back a significant ROI. For a few examples, go to our case studies.

What can we do for your company? Talk to us. Tell us exactly what you are looking to achieve. We then provide you with a detailed plan specifying:

• Budget
• Guaranteed high placements on Google and other search engines
• Guaranteed increased traffic to your site

Guaranteed? Yes. We do not invoice you for our SEO efforts until the agreed-upon milestones have been met. I am quite happy to report that we have never had a situation where we failed to meet those contractual guarantees.

Please call us at 212.260.1978 to get started. We look forward to working with you and helping you achieve your bottom-line goals.

If you’ve been well prepared, then you are far less likely to panic. Think of how terrified first-time parents are when they bring their first child home from the hospital.

Like a new baby, your new website will require attention, care and monitoring. For a simple website, the ongoing maintenance shouldn’t be too difficult or time consuming. The more sophisticated a site is- the more functionality, content and features- the more likely it is that you will need to invest a significant amount of time, effort and money to keep the site up-do-date and running smoothly.

The fact is, most websites require at least some form of post-launch and ongoing maintenance. This maintenance can come in many forms:

• Performance monitoring
• Performance optimization
• Ongoing search engine optimization
• Creating regular site backups
• Content optimization
• Feature upgrades
• Copywriting
• Design
• Hosting and hosting issues
• Product updates and inventory monitoring for e-commerce sites

Some businesses feel that once their website has been launched, traffic will magically come to the site. This “build it and they will come,” mentality is a recipe for disaster.

Ongoing website maintenance helps to bring new visitors to your site and keeps current users coming back for more.

The great thing about the online world is that you get nearly instant feedback on every element of your website. Analytics tell you what features of your site are doing well and which ones need help. They also give you a clear picture of how your advertising and marketing efforts are working.

When you have an expert monitoring your site’s performance, they can implement changes to your content, your design, and your marketing strategies in real time.

If you are fortunate enough to work with a firm that offers website design, development and online marketing services, then your site can be built with these ongoing maintenance issues in mind. If your site is already up and running, the maintenance program may require extra effort to improve navigation, content, search engine optimization and online marketing.

Blue Fountain Media is one of the few firms with expertise in all of these areas. From our first meeting with a client, we emphasize the importance of maintaining your site for maximum return on your investment.

To learn more about our website maintenance plans or any of our other services, please give us a call at 212.260.1978. To get an idea of what we’ve been able to do for our clients, please check out our testimonials.

When it comes to sales, too many companies are acting like it’s the 20^th century and behaving like it’s the 19^th century. They act as if the Internet was never invented and sites like Google, Bing, YouTube and Yahoo didn’t exist.

“My CEO just doesn’t get it,” one potential client confided in us. “He thinks you need a huge sales team to make sales and that there is no connection between Google and getting clients and customers.”

There are a lot of companies who don’t believe that “Google is for them.” The vast majority are dead wrong. Convincing the decision makers in these organizations isn’t always easy, but it is definitely worth the effort.

All you need to do is remind them that many people running businesses in the 1990s didn’t believe that it was worth it to have a website. Those businesses ended up learning a painful lesson.

Even presented with this argument, many businesses don’t feel as if search engine marketing and search engine optimization is for them. These are the same kinds of businesses which, back in the late 1990s, didn’t think that a website was for them either.

Blue Fountain Media has enjoyed explosive growth relying heavily on business that has come in through search engines. The great preponderance of the sales team efforts is handling incoming leads as opposed to pursuing potential clients.

Better yet, the people who come to us via Google and other search engines are people we know are looking for the services we provide. This may sound obvious, but when people are looking for a website design company simply type website design company into their favorite search engine.

What do they find when they do that search? THIS

How many salespeople would it take to drive that kind of interest to our company? More than you could imagine. Our top level placement in search not only brings us traffic and leads, it also pre-approves us as a company that understands online marketing.

Before the advent of the Internet, the selling process was heavily labor intensive. Your sales team would:

• Identify leads
• Contacts leads
• Follow-up with leads
• And, hopefully close the sale

At each stage of the process, potential leads were lost. Many potential leads were annoyed that you were bothering them with a cold-call. Some of the calls were made to the right company, but not to the right person. Others were made to the right person, but the call was made at a time when the potential client was not immediately looking for your products or services.

Even the sales that were “closed” by the salesperson came at a price that didn’t merit the ROI.

Today, Google and other key search engines streamline the sales process, making it cheaper, more immediate and self-targeting:

• Clients are looking for you… not the other way around
• Clients are looking for your products and services NOW
• Clients will get in contact with the companies that jump out at them… the ones that show up high on the first page of search results

It’s hard to think of a business that couldn’t benefit from a high-level placement on a search engine results page:

• Professionals: When people are looking for a New York tax lawyer, they can ask 10 friends for referrals or they can have dozens of New York tax lawyers at their fingertips in a matter of seconds on Google
• Retail outlets: If someone is looking where they can buy a specific item of clothing online (i.e. a Gucci scarf), they no longer have to walk through a store to find it. If your online store is near the top of the search results, you are very close to making a sale.
• Restaurants: No matter how popular your restaurant is, you should always welcome new customers, especially tourists, who might not know the great restaurants in your city. If you had a steakhouse in Chicago, wouldn’t you want to be seen at or near the top of this page?
• Large companies: Many large companies feel that search engine optimization is not necessary since their brands are so well known. The fact is, online purchasers can often be impulsive. If your company shows up a few spots ahead of your competition, that can make the difference between which one gets the sales.

While search engine marketing is only one tool in a company’s overall marketing and advertising plan, it should be considered an integral part of the plan. At Blue Fountain Media, we can discuss your business goals and help to show you how search engine marketing can help you reach those goals. Please give us a call at 212.260.1978… or just Google us!