Emergency Infant Services is a non-denominational, non-profit organization which assists over 1000 infants and toddlers each month. Funded through the generosity of the community, staff and volunteers work together to make sure that infants and toddlers have the essentials they need. We have no waiting periods or income qualifiers, operating on the theory that a hungry child cannot wait.

They are celebrating 35 years serving Tulsa and need your help to reach $35,000 in 35 days!

Please consider donating: http://emergencyinfantservices.org/35th/

So we offer to you the following list of five great things you can do to keep yourself and your business at the top of your game.

Blogging

Maintaining a list of recent news articles, an advice column or a simple blog can do wonders for your website and the visibility of your business. Probably the most important aspect of blogging is to create a connection with your current and prospective clients. You can tell them about your products and/or services and give them insights on how you can help them. You can provide news about your industry or typical interests of your clientele. They not only appreciate the information, but the blog gives them a reason to visit your site. Another important aspect of blogging pertains to search engines and their love for new content. You can also broadcast your blog posts to social networks, as we’ll see below.

Social Media Integration

If you already have links on your website that point to your various social network accounts, that’s a great first step. But to really take advantage of your potential visibility, you need to be more integrated. For instance, are you broadcasting your latest news or blog articles to your Facebook and Twitter pages? You should be. There are tools available that will automatically generate posts on your Facebook page, Twitter profile, LinkedIn account and other social networks so you don’t have to manually create those links back to your website. Of course, you should also have buttons for Facebook Like, Twitter Share, Google +1 and other popular networks. Also, if you have a user-based website (meaning that visitors can register for an account to participate in article comments, forum posts, etc.), you can integrate ways for your users to connect using social networks, making it very easy for them to register on your website and get started using their existing credentials.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Yes, you’ve probably heard it a thousand times by now; search engine optimization is key to a modern, visible website. SEO is more than just placing the right words in the right places and submitting your site to the various search engines. It starts with a structurally-sound backend, i.e. design layout and coding that validates with existing web standards. You don’t necessarily have to know what that means, you just need to have your website built using the latest standards. It’s not just good practice — it’s good for the usability, speed and efficiency of a website that can be found easily by prospective and existing clients.

Video

Incorporating video on your website might seem like a time-consuming and costly task, especially if you don’t know how to do it. But really, you don’t need a professional studio to create small, informative videos. A Flip Video camera, your smartphone with built-in video recording capability or even a good webcam can provide a suitable means for obtaining video clips. Brief videos of you (or someone within your business) explaining what products and/or services you provide can be very helpful to your visitors. Instant availability of information in this modern era has actually made people impatient, so placing informative videos on your website gives them the “quick fix” they are looking for. Recent studies have shown that more than 50% of visitors to video-enabled websites take action (meaning that they click on something on your website to find more information) and nearly 20% of them actually make purchases. In addition, you can upload your videos to sites like YouTube, giving you another route for prospective clients to find you.

Competent Webmaster

Keeping up with the latest internet trends and keeping your business above or on par with your competition requires a good relationship with a savvy and competent web development firm. You won’t necessarily need their services all the time, but it’s a great idea to have them as part of your arsenal when the need arises. We won’t name any names, but a great web developer will harness the technology of the Internet to make your website rise above the rest.

Courtesy of Wendell.

To achieve a high Google Page Rank, there are some basic SEO principles that you have to follow, as we’ll explain below.

I want to be on the first page of Google search results.

CODE QUALITY

You may not even realize it, but there are widely-recognized standards for website development. These standards act as the guide to developing the underlying code for your website. If followed, your site will benefit greatly because search bots tend to favor those who follow standards. We strive to achieve standards with each and every client. For more information, visit the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) website.

KEYWORDS

What terms will people use to find you? This is important, because you can’t just blindly setup a website and expect Google to magically rank you on the first page. You have to consider the intent of your website and what customers might search for when looking for the type of services, products or information you provide. Then, you have to consider how much competition you may have for any keyword phrase you might want to use. You can choose keywords that are common in your industry, creating lots of search competition and thus making it difficult to achieve a high search result. Or you could use keywords that are not so common, targeting a smaller group of consumers but possibly ranking higher in search results.

You also need to consider how you use your keywords. You need to utilize them well on your website, but without giving search bots the impression that you are using them to spam your own website.

CONTENT IS KING

This is probably one of the hardest things to accomplish. Having unique content on your website can bring you more traffic simply because it cannot be found anywhere else. Utilizing your chosen keywords in your content can also help, as long as you don’t overuse them. Unique content gives you an edge because search bots will recognize that and index your website accordingly.

INCOMING LINKS

How many other sites link to you? How well do those sites rank with the search engines? Good links to your site can be helpful — or not. Sites with good rankings that link to you will help your ranking, but low-ranking sites can actually bring you down. It’s a good idea to get listed on directories and other sites that are popular and already have high rankings. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to be listed on as many websites as possible, just be careful about who you are linked from.

DOMAIN AGE

The age of your domain is actually very important. If your domain has been around for 6 months or more, this helps the search engines feel better about you. Domains that have been around for years will have even more trust. This also means that you will likely have achieved more incoming links from other websites, which also scores trust points.

SUMMARY

Google and other search engines can be picky about who gets good page ranking and who does not. They have algorithms that specifically look for things that can help or hinder your ranking in search results. These algorithms are intended to maintain quality search results by giving high marks to sites that have integrity and scoring low marks to those who might try to cheat. But it all starts with you and how you decide to build your website. We are happy to do our part in providing a quality website product to help you achieve your search engine dreams.

Courtesy of Wendell.

The company dates back to 1979 when founder Casey Goodwin established a successful carpentry business in Oklahoma. Mr. Goodwin grew his business into a company uniquely dedicated to fine construction and traditional craftsmanship with the belief that the success of any project is reliant upon good design.

We built a website for Goodwin Company in November 2011.