How to Optimize for Better App Recognition

One of the biggest challenges facing businesses that launch a mobile app is getting their customers to find it. With so many apps in Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market, businesses cannot expect their customers to hunt down their application.

The best way for a business to get their app recognized is through search engine optimization (SEO).

Google has made incredible improvements lately to the way in which it indexes app store description pages and the way these pages appear in search results. However, there are a few tactics that businesses need to employ to ensure that shoppers can easily find the programs.

The first step is to ensure that the name of an app includes the name of the business that it is associated with.

This is important because both the Android Market and the Apple Store have strong link juice in Google’s search algorithm. When important pages link to an application, Google ranks the app download page very high.

So, it goes without saying that businesses should be promoting their applications across all of their web properties. However, any download promotions appear in the form of text, rather than an image, for better optimization.

Search engine optimization is the easiest and best way for a business to drive traffic to its app.

Copyright 2012 dzine it, Inc. web design company All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Peter Crisafi (Peter Crisafi dzineit)
dzine it, inc. +1.212.989.0813
26 West 23 Street
New York, NY, 10010 U.S.A
Specialty:
Digital Marketing; News

Best SEO Practices for Ecommerce Websites

Everyone seems to do their shopping online these days. However, just because people like to shop online, it doesn’t mean that they are expert website users.

Businesses need to ensure that their website’s search tools are simple and intuitive, or they run the risk of losing potential customers. Nearly sixty percent of all online purchases are the result of customer search.

This means that in addition to landing a high search engine placement for their website, ecommerce businesses need to optimize their on-site search for better user navigation.

A website user’s eye naturally moves from left to right. Therefore, navigation bars should live on the left.

From there, designers may expand navigation bars into drop-down menus that display sub-categories. However, don’t become too specific with sub-menu categories as it may overwhelm and discourage users.

Once a user moves past the page’s navigation, the user should be taken to a page of products. The site should then provide a filter allowing a more narrow view of the products being offered. Filters may include price, color, most recently listed and more.

Products should be featured, he said, using great photos coupled with unique product descriptions. There should be cross-links between product pages and categories, helping the shopper find related products.

Next, utilize a search box to help with targeted navigation.

Even with a search box, businesses should strive to entice users to further explore their website. For that, ecommerce website owners should consider a floating sidebar of the site’s most popular products.

Finally, since Google crawls the pages of a website that have the most SEO juice, which is typically a website’s homepage. Therefore, pages that link to a site’s homepage should be the most important.

Ecommerce website owners should give prominence to highly-clicked pages, making them more likely to be crawled by Google.

Consider indexing all of an ecommerce website’s pages, including user reviews.

Copyright 2012 dzine it, Inc. web design company All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Peter Crisafi (Peter Crisafi dzineit)
dzine it, inc. +1.212.989.0813
26 West 23 Street
New York, NY, 10010 U.S.A
Specialty:
Digital Marketing; News

How to Decrease Bounce Rates Through Better Design

A website's bounce rate refers to the percentage of visitors that come to a page and don't go to any other pages within the same site. In other words they bounce away to another website.

A high bounce rate can be frustrating and costly, especially when you have invested time and money into an SEO campaign and paid advertisements. Nobody wants their hard work to go to waste.

Businesses need to ensure that first impressions reel in the visitor in order to reduce bounce rates and to keep visitors engaged.

To help combat high bounce rates, consider the following list of usability considerations that can lower a website's bounce rate and improve visitor retention:

1. Carefully consider ad placement. Advertisements are often necessary to the survival of a website, but too many advertisements can be a big turn-off to readers. Remember that advertising placed too close to a site's navigation can cause accidental clicks, which force visitors to leave your page. Also, placing too many ads above the fold means your readers aren't getting to the heart of your site quickly enough. Keep advertising prominently placed but out of the way enough so that visitors can use the site properly.

2. Avoid third-party content. The more third-party services, widgets and content your site contains, the slower your pages will load and users hate slow-loading pages.

3. Consider some contrast. If visitors cannot read a website's content, they will leave. That's why every website needs contrast. Not only does it make a site more accessible to visitors who may have difficulty seeing, but it also has the overall effect of making important content easier to find.

4. Ensure good navigation. If a user cannot easily navigate a website, they will leave. A website's navigation should be prominent, clear and easily accessible. Consider repeating sidebar or top links in the footer and make sure that click targets are large enough for small resolution use.

5. Have a clear message and/or call to action: If a new visitor has to search for the information they need, they're going to leave. A website's purpose should be immediately evident and expressed clearly in both design and content.

Copyright 2012 dzine it, Inc. website design All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Peter Crisafi (Peter Crisafi dzineit)
dzine it, inc. +1.212.989.0813
26 West 23 Street
New York, NY, 10010 U.S.A

Are You Keeping Up With Your New Year's SEO Resolutions?

New Year's resolutions are being ditched left and right as we enter the second month of 2012. However, companies that made a New Year's resolution to boost their online presence cannot afford to their search engine optimization efforts slide.

This is especially true for ecommerce website owners. New data shows that online shopping is on the rise in the United States, particularly on a local scale.
While the Internet is a truly global marketplace, geography has increasingly become a factor in securing sales.

There are some shoppers who want to know their item will be delivered quickly or are concerned about the environmental effects from cross-country delivery. Knowing the size of your local market is a very important step in SEO.
It is also important to consider long-tail keywords as part of an SEO campaign.

Long-tail keywords are less competitive, but much more specific, so be sure to adjust your landing pages accordingly.

This technique will help raise conversion rates and achieve greater profits despite fewer queries. When it comes to local SEO, you can make almost any short-tail key phrase into a long-tail one simply by adding in 'your location' to the end.
These types of flexible and dual-layered techniques will help give your site an added edge over your local rivals.

Copyright 2012 dzine it, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Peter Crisafi (Peter Crisafi dzineit)
dzine it, inc. +1.212.989.0813
26 West 23 Street
New York, NY, 10010 U.S.A
Specialty:
Digital Marketing; News

Tread Lightly Before Going Mobile

There are still many companies that haven't taken the time to create mobile versions of their websites.

This may be due to the recent downloadable app craze.

Apps are hot right now and it seems that every business owner wants an app. Unfortunately, an app is not really the appropriate way for a business to begin building its mobile presence.

On the other hand, going mobile isn't as simple as shrinking an existing website down to fit the screen of a Smartphone.

There are three things to consider before taking the leap:

1. Analytics
Website owners need to first consider what mobile users want from their website. The good news is that this information is already out there and it is easily accessible.

Most analytics programs keep track of what kinds of devices people use to visit a website, as well as what types of browser they are using, and what devices are being used to visit which pages.

When you're looking to create a mobile-optimized version of your current website, start by checking to see which pages are being frequented by users with Smartphones.

2. Follow the Patterns
The mobile viewing patterns will vary from site to site, but some will be obviously constant.

When reviewing your analytics, you will likely notice that the mobile visitor has one goal in mind. For example, they may simply want your address and phone number.

With that in mind, get as much information that mobile users look for onto the mobile site's front page.

3. Consider Users' Devices
Since a website can tell what kind of device is being used, it can be programmed to tailor itself accordingly. However, it makes the most sense to have a single design work across all mobile devices of a given category.

This approach requires less maintenance and lets your design stay true to your company's brand.

Copyright 2012 dzine it, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Peter Crisafi (Peter Crisafi dzineit)
dzine it, inc. +1.212.989.0813
26 West 23 Street
New York, NY, 10010 U.S.A

How a Business Can Benefit from a Company Blog

A blog has the potential to significantly impact a company's popularity and subsequently its discovery by potential customers. Blogging also contributes to a company's search engine value, which can drive more traffic to its website, increasing the chance of attracting qualified leads and potential customers.'

The benefits of blogging have already been proven. For example, a recent study showed that the average company that blogs generates 55% more website visitors, 97% more inbound links and 434% more indexed pages than companies that don't blog.

Obviously, the greater the number of visitors to your website, the more popular your pages, and subsequently your business, becomes.

Another study found that 69% of businesses attributed their lead generation success to blogging and 57% of businesses claimed to have acquired a customer through their company blog.

Blogging is a great way to provide information to readers, relative to your company's product or service, helping them to trust and form an interest in your company.

Consider the following tips for the creation of a successful company blog:

Offer Great Content!
By creating useful, remarkable blog posts, companies will attract an audience that is looking for new information related to its industry. Posts should be written in such a way that they position the company they represent as an authority in their industry.
Use Social Media!
After posting a new blog entry, it is important to update all social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, with a direct link to the post. Also, by placing social media share links at the end of your blog post, you make it easier for readers to share your entry on their own social media accounts.

Allow Comments!

Always allow readers to give feedback on posts. While many companies are hesitant to leave this option available, for fear of negative feedback, it gives the company the perfect opportunity to address concerns directly while utilizing positive feedback.

Use Keywords!

When proper keywords are included in a post, it helps the blog entry get found by the search engines. Proper keyword placement and usage helps the SEO value of the blog, and subsequently the website it is associated with.

Update Regularly!

In order for a blog to be successful, posts should be published approximately 2 to 3 times a week. A continuously updated blog shows audiences, and the search engines, that its authors are experts in their industry.

Copyright 2012 dzine it, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Pinterest
Peter Crisafi (Peter Crisafi dzineit)
dzine it, inc. +1.212.989.0813
26 West 23 Street
New York, NY, 10010 U.S.A
Specialty:
Digital Marketing; News
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