SEO Hosting Blog

For the most part, whenever I’m hired to write web copy, the client already has a website or they’re already in the process of putting one up. However, I was recently part of a project in which the client had just decided to build a new website and they needed suggestions for domain names. To be honest, domain name selection isn’t something I do on a regular basis, but I do have some basic guidelines I follow when picking one.

1. Consider the brand—If you already have an established brand name, it probably makes sense to use that as your domain name. However, if you’re a new company or you aren’t building around an established brand, then maybe you don’t need a brand-driven domain name.
2. Look at the top keywords—Not only do keyword-rich domains still help with SEO, but they also tend to clearly describe who you are/what you do. So, start brainstorming some keywords and doing some keyword research online. One thing to keep in mind: When choosing a keyword-based domain, use broader keywords that capture everything you do, not service-specific keywords. For example, if you’re a graphic designer that handles all types of design (print and online), you wouldn’t want to limit yourself with a domain like “houstonwebdesigner.com.”
3. Make sure it’s completely different—It’s not enough to simply choose a domain that’s available. You also have to make sure the domain you choose isn’t too similar to any others that are already out there. For example, it wouldn’t be wise to choose “houstonwebdesigners.com” if there’s a competitor out there with “houstonwebdesigner.com”. It’s too similar, making it too easy for people to get confused. Be as unique as possible.
4. Make it memorable—The easier your domain name is to remember, the better. A good domain is something people could easily tell their friends at a party and the friends could remember it when they get home.
5. Keep it simple—Good domain names are easy to type. If you choose a long domain name or one with complex verbiage, you make it hard for people who just want to type in your domain name and go to your website. Keep it simple.
6. Stick with .com available domains—If you’re trying to build a serious brand, I always recommend getting a .com domain. The bottom line is that “.com” is the first thing the average web user thinks of when typing in a web address. So, if your website is on a “.biz” or even “.net”, and someone who has heard of you is trying to get to your website, they could end up on a competitor’s “.com” or just a nonexistent page.
7. Avoid hyphenated domains—Again, if you’re trying to create a brand that people tell their friends about, avoid hyphenated domains. It’s too easy to forget hyphens when typing a domain, and when people talk about your website, they won’t refer to it as “red hyphen and hyphen blue hyphen widgets dot com”. They’ll likelier say “red and blue widgets dot com.”

What are some of your rules for good domain name selection? Share your tips by leaving a comment.

If you have a particular blog post that is getting a lot of search traffic, it might interest you in turning the blog post into it’s own website. There are many reasons why it could be beneficial to do so. One reason is that it can allow you a way to expand on targeting further related keywords based on the primary set of keywords the blog post is already ranking for. Another reason is that the general topic of the article could be expanded into it’s own blog. The key thing to know is that if you have a blog post that is consistently receiving traffic, it is possible to convert the post into a website. In this post, I will show you how it can be done.

A few conditions need to be assumed prior to following these steps. Number one, your blog needs to be a self-hosted WordPress blog. Secondly, you need to have modified your permalink structure to %postname%/. WordPress is database driven and creates dynamic urls. Meaning, pages do not physically exist on your server. Instead, they are dynamically created. For example, if you have a post with the url http://www.yourblog.com/my-post-about-dogs/ in theory, this should exist on your server here: public_html/my-post-about-dogs/index.php. But, if you FTP into your server, you will see that this does not exist.

And that’s the trick. This is how you can convert the blog post into it’s own site or even separate blog. In order to do this, you need to login to FTP and create the physical directory that WordPress has created dynamically, and either upload an index.php file, or simply install a new WordPress blog inside the directory. The beauty of this trick is that even though you have overridden the existing dynamic structure with a physical directory and file(s), the existing dynamic reference is still maintained within the original WordPress install.

That means your existing blog post will still show up in all of the sections in your blog. Formally, if it was still appearing on the home page, even after you override the post by manually uploading a directory and index file, it will still appear on your original blog home page. The same applies to the post reference from the archive, category, search, and tag sections. However, when the post title is clicked on, instead of the original post being loaded, the newly uploaded section will load instead. If you simply uploaded a directory with index.php file, the index.php file will load. If you decided to install WordPress inside the directory, the home page of the newly installed blog will load instead.

The above screen shot shows a blog post I wrote about pizza coupons and specials. The post picked up a lot of traffic in Google so I decided to override the post with a physical php file instead. The dynamically generated URL for this post is http://www.garryconn.com/pizza-hut-specials-coupons.php.

So, in order to optimize this page and capitalize on the traffic, I created my own web page from scratch, saved the file as pizza-hut-specials-coupons.php and uploaded it to the root directory of my server. (i.e. public_html/pizza-hut-specials-coupons.php).

Once I did that, the physical file overrode the existing dynamic file. The end result is now I have my own specially created web page that maintains the same permalink structure as the dynamically created one by WordPress.

Above, I had mentioned that you can do this if your WordPress permalink structure is set to %postname%/, this can also be done if you have it set other ways such as %postname%.php. The key is the make sure that your permalink structure is not set to default: ?p=123. The reason is because you will not be able to manually upload physical files to your server.

I hope all this makes sense. If you have any questions about how to do this, feel free to leave me a comment and I’ll provide assistance as soon as I can.

As an iPhone 4 user, one of my favorite apps is the Marketing Profs app. The app publishes mobile friendly, mini articles you can read in 60 seconds or less. The articles cover a range of marketing topics, from PR to SEO and everything in between. I like checking out an article really quick while I’m waiting in line or just have a minute to kill.

Anyway, the other day I was reading an article on there that was a condensed version of the HubSpot post “5 Items to Delete From Your Website Today.” The article caught my attention because most articles offer advice on things you should add to your website, not things to take away. So, of course, I gave it a read.

The article started out good enough, encouraging readers to get rid of complicated animations, industry jargon, and irrelevant, slow-loading images. Okay, I can agree with that. Then, I got to point #4. Point #4 said long pages have no place on your website. I disagree, but that’s a topic for another post.

But it was the 5^th point that really made me give an audible “WTF?!” The author said to get rid of contact us forms from your website. He flat out claims “contact us forms don’t work”, and says they don’t attract qualified leads but instead “mostly attract spam.”

Again, I give a loud “WTF?!”

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The FAQ (frequently asked questions) page is an often overlooked, yet very important, section that almost every website could benefit from including. Not only do they allow you to offer better online customer support, but they also save you time as you don’t have to field the same questions on a daily basis.

While there is no single right way to create your FAQ page, here are some basic guidelines for ensuring you create a truly useful page that enhances the user experience.

• Information is your top priority—Don’t let the design become a distraction on your FAQ page. People who visit this page want information delivered quickly and easily. All distracting elements should be removed from the page, making the focus on the content.
• If you have a lot of questions, have them link to the answers—Depending on the size of your company and the complexity of your products or services, you could end up with a big list of questions on your FAQ page. In this case, it’s best to hide the answers and just link the questions to their answers at the bottom of the page. This way, the user doesn’t have to browse through a bunch of answers he doesn’t care about. Also, remember to include a link at the end of the answers that takes users back to the top.
• Divide questions by category—Categorizing questions allows users to find what they’re looking for much more easily. For example, if you sell widgets, you could have FAQ sections for shipping information, warranty information, payment options, etc.
• Start with the basics—Start your list of questions with the most basic information (e.g. What is insert product name here?) and work your way toward more complex topics.
• Track the questions your customers ask—A FAQ page is useless if it doesn’t answer the questions your visitors actually have. To figure out which questions you need to include on the page, you should be tracking the questions your customers ask most often. Look through your emails and talk to your customer service reps to identify these questions.
• Keep answers short—People use a FAQ page for one reason: to get information quickly. Don’t go on some longwinded diatribe when answering the questions. Keep the answers short and easy to understand.
• Provide a way for people to ask additional questions—Not every question customers have will be on your FAQ page. That’s why you should have a way for visitors to easily ask additional questions.

Do you have a FAQ page on your website?

As more and more consumers turn to the internet to guide their purchasing decisions, it’s essential to take a hard, unbiased look at your website to make sure it meets the demands of potential customers. Remember, online shoppers are skeptical by nature, and if your website appears shoddy and outdated, there’s a good chance they’ll abandon your site for one of your competitors.

How can you tell is your website is outdated? Here are 6 signs to look out for.

1. You still have a splash page. Your customers are in a hurry. Making them wait while your splash page loads and then click another link before they can actually access your website is a horrible idea. It leads to high site abandonment rates, costing you money. It’s 2010. Ditch the splash page.
2. Your copyright isn’t current. Nothing screams outdated like a website with a copyright from 2003. It shows that you haven’t updated your website in years, and it makes it look like there is no active, breathing company behind the website. Customers want to know that your company is current, relevant, and trustworthy. Update your copyright, and earn the trust of potential customers.
3. The copy doesn’t reflect your current business. Businesses grow. They change. If it’s been a few years since you’ve updated your website, there’s a good chance it doesn’t reflect your current business. It may no longer correctly speak to your target audience, and it might not focus on your latest unique selling point.
4. Your website uses old, spammy SEO tricks. Oh, how I miss the old days of SEO. The hidden text on the background of the page. The long paragraph of keywords stuffed at the bottom of each page. Nothing like some good old spam. If your website still uses these old SEO tactics (and I still see websites like this), you need to update your site ASAP.
5. Your site doesn’t display properly across all browsers. In the past, all you really had to worry about when building your site was making sure it looked okay in Internet Explorer. That’s no longer the case. Not only are there several other browsers you have to consider (Google Chrome, Firefox, etc.), but there are also mobile browsers, so your site needs to display correctly on cell phones as well.
6. It just looks dated. Just like fashion, interior design, automobiles, and everything else, website style is always changing, and if your website hasn’t been updated recently, it might look dated. The only difference? Dated websites aren’t hip or vintage. They’re just sad, outdated, and ineffective.

What are some other telltale signs of outdated websites?