Solid Stratagems

Andrew Larson

A data-driven search and inbound marketing enthusiast since 2007.

Inbound Marketing, Local Inbound Marketing, Uncategorized

3 Reasons www URLs Are Better Than Non www URLs For SEO …But Don’t Go Switching Just Yet

www vs non www url for SEO

When I started my first website I had no idea that a www URL was better than a non www URL (sometimes called a root or naked URL). In fact, I had no idea that both options even existed. Unfortunately, my first website’s URL by default was a naked URL. Most “experts” will tell you that there is no difference, it’s just a matter of preference. It does make a difference! www URLs are better for SEO! …but don’t go switching just yet.

Links

Each and every website with a naked URL I’ve analyzed has had backlinks (links to the website) that include the non-canonical www URL. In other words, when people link to a website they often include the www whether or not the canonical URL includes the www. Links play a big part in a website’s capacity to rank and direct links add more PageRank (ranking capacity) than links to permanant redirects (a 301 redirect). Here’s a short clip about it from Google’s Matt Cutts:

Performance and Speed

Website performance and speed is playing a growing role in SEO. www URLs have at least two advantages over naked URL’s.

CNAME Records: Some hosting providers strongly recommend against naked domains. One reason for this is that www URLs allow the hosting provider the extra flexibility of redirecting traffic from a failing server using DNS CNAME records. You can learn more about this over at Heroku.

Cookies: Among the best practices for website developers is serving static content from a cookieless domain (often a subdomain of the website, e.g. static.domain.com). If you are using a www URL you are actually using a subdomain as your canonical domain (www.domain.com is a subdomain of domain.com) and cookies will not get sent to other subdomains (e.g. static.domain.com). If you are using a naked domain (non-www) as your canonical domain, the cookies may get sent to all your subdomains, including the subdomain used for static content). In short, a naked canonical domain can prevent one from creating a cookieless subdomain.

Google Uses The www

If you listen to a hundred “SEO” experts you’ll get a hundred different opinions. If you’re smart you’ll stop trying to learn from the “experts” and start learning from the brands that are at the top of search engines for the most valuable keywords and phrases. In the case of www vs. non-www, you can take note from the biggest and best search engines. Google, Yahoo and Bing all use the www. That should say enough by itself.

A Note About Branding

Admittedly there is no direct SEO difference in branding your site as www.domain.com or just domain.com. That said, when people see a www they immediately think website. I’m just assuming that branding your website with a www is much more effective than without it. Of course, you could always brand your website with a www even if the canonical URL is naked (I did this with my first website), but doing so may lead to more www links. Not good.

Have A Naked URL? …Don’t Go Switching Just Yet

If you’re starting a website from scratch I highly recommend starting with a www canonical domain. But what if you’re not starting from scratch? Based on the above reasons websites with a naked URL should switch to a www right?

Wrong.

Perhaps much worse than wrong.

If your website has already begun to gain natural links to you naked canonical URL the last thing you want to do is change your canonical URL. All those links would pass through the redirect and you would lose a portion of that precious PageRank you’ve spent so much time and effort earning. You already made the decision (whether intentional or not), and it’s time to move forward. Like me, you can always make the better choice on your next website.

The Solution That Is Better Than Switching

So you’re bummed because you or your client chose a naked URL.

And you know switching to a www URL is a no go.

But, you want the full benefit of all links pointing to your site. Including the ones with your pointing to your non-canonical www URL.

There’s good news. Here’s what Google has to say:

“If you specify your preferred domain as http://www.example.com and we find a link to http://example.com, we’ll consider both links the same.”

So after you have specified your preferred domain Google will consider the non-canonical version the same as the canonical. I think this means that there is a good chance that links with or without the www will point directly to your “preferred” (aka canonical) domain and there is a good chance the PageRank passes directly to the “preferred” domain as well. This is the best solution I’ve found (other than choosing a www to begin with).

How To Specify Your Preferred Domain:

Here’s instructions on specifying your preferred domain from Google’s page on setting a preferred domain.

  1. On the Search Console Home page, click the site you want.
  2. Click the gear icon , and then click Site Settings.
  3. In the Preferred domain section, select the option you want.

Why Is My Website Still Showing Up In Search Results Without the https://?

In Google’s search console page on how to Use Canonical URLs, they include a section about how they prefer https over HTTP for canonical URLs. In this section they help developers troubleshoot why Google may choose to make the http rather than the https the canonical URL for a website.

Genesis, WordPress

The 10 Point Checklist For Optimizing Pages in WordPress

Optimize webpages in WordPress Image

A single webpage that ranks for a high-profit search phrase can provide a steady stream of sales and revenue. There are many excellent webpages that are buried in the search engines. A few technical errors can sometimes make all the difference. You don’t want your pages or posts buried. You want to build that steady stream of traffic, sales and revenue. The good news? Pages and/or posts in WordPress (or in Genesis Child Themes) are SUPER EASY to optimize! Writers and bloggers would do well to remember this simple 10 point checklist.

1. The All Important Permalink

If there is one thing you want to be sure to do correctly it is creating an optimized permalink. The permalink is the part of the page’s url after the domain name. For example www.your-domain/this-is-the-permalink/ Preferably you never want to change the permalink of a page, and if done right you probably won’t have to. Remember to make your permalink as short and clear as possible. Also remember your url will be displayed in the search engine results and can affect your click through rate. If you are editing or refreshing an existing page/post I recommend against editing the permalink unless you have good reason and plan on creating a redirect for any links to the existing url.

Where To Find Your Permalink in WordPress
The Permalink is displayed in the image above in blue.

Local Tip and Example: When building web pages for a local audience you’ll want to include both city and state in the permalink. Your URL might look something like this:

www.MyDomain.com/santa-barbara-ca

or…

www.MyDomain.com/santa-barbara-gutter-installation

2. Choosing an H1

The H1 (page heading) can easily be changed, edited and revised. I recommend improving or revising the H1 any time the page is improved/revised. Remember there should only be one H1 on your page. This is the main heading of the page and the first thing a reader sees – so make it count! Many Genesis themes automatically use the page/post title as the H1. If this is the case with your theme and you don’t want to display the page title as the H1 you can use the Title Toggle plugin. Once installed you can opt to hide the title. This option is displayed on the WordPress page you want to edit below the content field.

Where To Find Your Heading 1 In WordPress
You can make any text an H1 by selecting Heading 1 from the dropdown.

Local Tip and Example: Like the permalink the H1 of a local page should include at least the city name – if not both the city and state (abbreviated or not). Your H1 might look something like this:

Santa Barbara Gutter Professionals

3. Remind People (and search engines) What Your Page is About Early

Search engines consider text that shows up earlier as more important than text that shows up later. So be sure to use your keywords in your introduction (or even first sentence) to remind people (and search engines) exactly why they want to read your page.

Local Tip and Example: For local pages be sure to mention the city and state in the first sentence or paragraph. Also, adding an original review (one that can’t be found elsewhere online) is a great opportunity to add the city and state. For example:

Love these guys!

– Andrew | Santa Barbara, CA

 4. The Title Tag

Directly below the visual/text fields of each page is the “Theme SEO Settings” section. The first field “Custom Document Title” is where you can create your custom title tag. Remember the title tag is what will be displayed as the page title in the search engine results and searchers will only see about the first 60 characters. I recommend making it 50 – 60 characters.

Where to edit your Title, Description, and Keyword Tags
In Genesis Child Themes you can find the Theme SEO Settings below the page content field.

Local Tip and Example: Title tags of local pages should absolutely start with the city and state abreviation. Second should come the keyword/phrase. If you have room – your third priority should be your brand. It would look like this:

Santa Barbara CA Gutter Services | My Brand Name

5. The Description Tag

Directly below the title field is the “Custom Post/Page Meta Description – this is your description tag. Search engines often use this as the description that shows up in search results below the title. Keep it to 140 characters.

Local Tip and Example: Just be as genuine as possible here and speak to the people of the community you’re addressing. Might look something like this:

ABC Gutter Services has been providing gutter installation, repair, and replacement to Santa Barbara since 1999. Visit our website or call us to learn more.

6. Keywords Tag

After the description field you’ll find the “Custom Post/Page Meta Keywords, comma separated” field. This field is where you can give search engine a list of topics your page/post is about. I actually use this field to list key phrases in the order of search volume. It helps me when I come back to a page months or years later.

No Local Tip Here

7. Image Size

Image size matters in two ways. Dimension and file size. Here’s what you need to know.

  • Dimension: Images should not be any larger in dimension than your website will display them. If the max width of the content area is 880 px, then your images should not be wider than 880 px. Of course, this number will be larger for full-width pages than pages with a sidebar.
  • File Size: Images should also not be at a higher resolution than what can be seen on a browser. You can check if your images need to be compressed with the Google PageInsights Tool. The tool will also provide links to compressed versions of your images if needed.

Quick Tip on Image Height: If you take your optimized image width and multiply it by .5225 you will get your optimized height. This optimized width – height ratio won’t help you in search engines, but is the dimension that will work best if you share your image to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

No Local Tips Here

8. Image Title Attribute and Alternative Text

When adding images to your content be sure to add an optimized Image Title Attribute. This should be an appropriate Title so that you or search engines understand what the image is without seeing it.

While you’re optimizing the Title Attribute of your images optimize the alternative text (also called the alt tag) too. This should be the description of the image not the title. It is what someone would read if they viewed your webpage without images.

Edit Image Tags By Selecting An Image
Select any image in the WordPress page editor to edit the Alternative Text and Image Title Attribute.

Local Tip: Like other meta tags use the city and state to let search engines know what location this image is about. At this point, you’ve used the city and state several times. Be sure not to repeat the same key phrase each time you are using the city and state. Mix it up and be real and genuine. Don’t be a robot or try use the same key phrase again and again. This will hurt you and you miss the opportunity to be relevant for a variety of phrases.

9. Links Won’t Hurt Your Page but They Can Help It and Other Pages (including your own)

Many people think linking to external websites will result in less ranking power (Google PageRank) of the webpage. This isn’t the case. All webpages will pass on PageRank no matter the number of links. So it doesn’t hurt the page that is linking. In fact, linking to high-quality external webpages is correlated with higher rankings.

Will it help the pages you link to?

Yes.

Will adding links to your own pages help your rankings?

Yes, it will help both the page that is linking and the page that is being linked to.

Local Tip: When you link to a local page within your website consider using at least the city name in the anchor text of the link.

10. Your Words, Sentences, Paragraphs, and Sections Should Be Short and Sweet, but Not Your Page/Post

Pages with short words, sentences, paragraphs, and sections get higher engagement than pages that aren’t so clear and concise. And engagement will indirectly (if not directly) help your rankings.

The total page length is a different story.

Pages that are long-form (at least 1500 words) perform better than average in search engines. And pages that go short (less than 250 words) perform worse in search engines.

Local Tip: If you’ve followed the local tips and examples given above then search engines will have a crystal clear signal which city your page is relevant to. Don’t think you need to intentionally use the city or state name throughout your page or post. Just be natural and speak to your audience. If that means you use the city name several times in your text – fine. If it means you never use it outside of your intro – that’s fine too.

Conclusion

Following these tips while creating pages about your brand’s specific offerings and service locations is a great way to build increasing inbound traffic. Always write to your audience but don’t miss out on search traffic because you forget to let search engines know what your content is about.

Growth, Inbound Marketing, Local Inbound Marketing

The 7 Prerequisites For Strong Sustainable Growth

Strong Sustainable Growth

Ignore any of these seven rules and strong sustainable growth is no guarantee. Follow each of them and you’ll be protected against the most common reasons businesses fail to thrive.

Rule #1 Become Driven By Data

Learning to make decisions the right way is invaluble. When faced with decisions, especially big ones, most companies will brainstorm, talk it over and make a decision and go forward. Being decisive is good, what isn’t good is going forward with a decision that wasn’t the best possible decision (not to mention most big companies have a very difficult time reversing bad decisions, often throwing good money after bad). The goal isn’t to make the best decision the first time, the goal is to never stop working towards arriving closer and closer to the best decision. In optimization speak, it’s called – iteritive testing. It’s a five step process that never ends.

  1. Brainstorm for possible solutions.
  2. Choose at least two solutions to test.
  3. Test and gather data.
  4. Implement the better solution.
  5. Start the process over again by brainstorming for an even better solution, perform another A/B test, etc.

By following these steps you will leverage the power of better data and arrive closer and closer to the best slogans, click through rates, landing pages, sales pitches, pricing structures, sign up process, customer satisfaction etc. Don’t be a company that is complacent with the same results every quarter. Be anxiously engaged in gathering data that will allow you to have 10% increase in click through rates to your site, 10% increased engagement with you site, 10% increase in order form completion, 10% increase lifetime value of customer etc.

Rule #2 Build A Scalable Model

Businesses that grow without having a scalable business model eventually pop. If you want strong sustainable growth make sure you have a scalable model and systems in place that do not put a ceiling on your growth.

Rule #3 Be and Remain Committed to Being The Very Best

There are a lot of variables that make up the minds of buyers. Some are looking for the lowest price, some want the most bang for their buck, others simply just want the very best (and often buyers are looking for convenience – but we’ll talk about this in a bit). Who you market to will determine who your customers are. Who your customers are will have a tremendous impact on your long term growth and success (not to mention how much you enjoy interacting with clients). Consider the following table which compares outcomes of business models that focus on winning customers through “Best Price”, “Best Value”, and “Absolute Best”.

Best Price Best Value Best Product
Profit Margins < Average < Average > Average
Profit/Time Ratio < Average < Average > Average
Customer Satisfaction < Average < Average > Average
Customer Reviews < Average Average > Average
Customer Loyalty < Average Average > Average
Default Ratio High Average Low
Long Term Success < Average Average > Average
Personal Sanity Very Low Average Very High

Rule #4 Create an Optimized Pricing Structure

Offering nothing short of the industry’s very best means limiting yourself only to clients who are willing and able to pay the highest price right? Not at all! By creating an optimized and scalable pricing structure you can help those with the tightest budgets afford the very best (although in smaller or limited portions). When creating an optimized pricing structure consider the following:

  • Transparent and Defined: Buyers love transparent and well defined pricing. They want to be able to see the pricing and know exactly what they are getting. Do not be afraid to put your pricing right on your website. This helps assure buyers that their will not be hidden fees or surprises.
  • Super Simple: Pricing must be simple. If your pricing structure is transparent and defined but complex it will lead to confusion, indecision and frustration. It’s tempting to pack too many features into your packages or pricing. KEEP IT SIMPLE, LESS IS MORE. DO NOT CREATE INDECISION.
  • Options/Levels: Let’s imagine you own a pest control company and price your premium service at $450/year ($75 every other month). If you put that package on your website, you may, for example, have a conversion/close rate of 10%. Without changing any other part of your sales funnel you can increase your conversion rate by creating multiple pricing levels. In this case, let’s say you add a smaller package of $380/year ($95 every three months) and a bigger package of $780/year ($65 every month). At first thought you may think your conversion/closing rate will go up because you are appealing to customers with a variety of budgets, but it’s much better than that. By placing your premium package (your bread and butter package that you want everyone to buy) between a smaller and larger package you actually help convert and close customers who don’t usually pay for premium products and services
  • Incentive to Be a Recurring/Subscribing Customer: If your business model aims to create subscribing or recurring customers your pricing structure better give buyers an incentive to do so. For example, a pressure washing company could offer 10% the one time price if the buyer signs up to have their home pressure washed annually or 20% off to have the service semi-anually.
  • How high should your pricing be? Use these guidelines to help determine the price level of each package:
    1. High enough to be able to provide the best products and/ or service.
    2. High enough to be able to hire and retain the best employees (this is HUGE! HUGE! HUGE! If you can’t retain your best employees you are going to be fighting an uphill battle).
    3. High enough to have a 10% budget for inbound marketing.
    4. High enough to have at least the industry’s average profit margin.
    5. You must have the highest quality products and/or service, but not necessarily the highest prices. That said, if you are truly following guidelines 1-4 your pricing is probably in the industry’s top 20%.

Rule #5 Always Reinvest 10% of Revenue in Future Growth (Wisely)

Not all marketing is created equal. Some methods have a much better ROI than others. The following five marketing methods are listed in order of ROI for most local and small businesses.

#1 Organic Inbound Marketing

  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Local Search Engine Optimization
  • Review Site Optimization
  • Conversion Rate Optimization

#3 Paid Inbound Marketing

  • PPC e.g. Google Adwords
  • Local Directories e.g. Angies List, BBB, Yelp
  • Remarketing

#2 Customer Marketing

  • Blogging/Content Marketing
  • Social Media
  • Email Marketing

#4 Targeted Outbound Internet Marketing

  • Social Media Marketing

#5 Targeted Outbound Marketing

  • Trade Magazines
  • Trade Websites
  • Targeted Direct Mail

#6 Less-Targeted Outbound Marketing

  • Radio
  • Television
  • Newspaper

Rule #6 Value Your Reputation Above All Else

The internet has made it much easier to build a strong or terrible reputation quickly. It is a huge game changer when your reputation is clearly the best and the strongest. As stated before you better be and remain committed to being the very best. If you allow your reputation to go south… well good luck.

Rule #7 Be Disruptive

Companies that experience strong growth aren’t followers (remember that part about being data-driven?). They don’t wait until someone else is doing it! They are the market leaders! They assume the whole industry has it wrong. They test ideas they get from consumer feedback. They test those ideas, and when the data says the idea is great, they implement the ideas. The rest of the industry tries to keep up and copy what disruptive companies do.