Blog - WebWise Design & Marketing

Have an Old Website That No Longer Ranks Well in Searches?

Google, Search, SEO / By John / March 10, 2014

For years, many have believed the age of a domain name is a factor in Google search results rankings. We have seen anecdotal evidence that it seems to be true, to a point. Google’s Matt Cutt’s answer to a related question in a Google Webmaster Tools video prompted this post.

Does this sound like your business?

Your domain name was registered several years ago.
You had a website before a lot of others understood the importance.
Your website was doing pretty well in Google for many keyword searches
Lately, the last statement is no longer the case.
You are wondering why you no longer do as well in Google SERPS (Search Engine Results Page) rankings.

Does this sound like your business or organization?

You have not done any meaningful updates to the content on your website in years
You have not redesigned the look and layout of your website
Your photos and graphics are not optimized to be fast loading
You are not using Social Media
You have not included Social Media share & follow buttons
Your competitors have been doing all of the above

Take a fresh look at your website to see just what visitors are experiencing, and compare that to what they experience on your competitor’s or other similar websites.

Don’t just listen to us. See for yourself what Google’s Matt Cutts says in his video, “How can an older site maintain its ranking over time?“

Take Control of Your Local Search Listings Now!

Uncategorized / By John / February 4, 2014

Are you sure that those searching for your business are getting the correct information? Do a quick search for your business name using Google, Bing, Yahoo or your other favorite search engine. Hopefully you have a website that is listed at or very near the top of the organic SERPS (Search Engine Results Page) rankings. You will likely also see several instances of your business name in the results.

The web has a myriad of companies providing local listings of businesses. The vast majority of them generate those listings using bits and pieces of information by scraping the web. These services can either help or hinder your businesses with the information they display in Google or other SERPS (Search Engine Results Page) rankings. More often than not, one or more of the services will have an incorrect phone number or address, or out-dated hours of operation. You need to “claim” each of these listings and control what is displayed. It is a huge mistake not to do so.

We’ll list them here, arguably by importance:
Google+, Bing Places, Yahoo Basic Local, Yelp, Yellow Pages Local, Superpages Business, CitySearch

Start with Google+ which, because it is connected to all things Google, simply cannot be ignored. Do the rest as you have time, but definitely Bing, Yahoo, and Yelp. There are others as well, but claiming and filling out your listings for these will help you considerably.

Please know that you do not have to do any more than the “free” listings. Do not fall for their upsell, unless you have a very large advertising budget. There are better values for your ad dollars.

Also, please do not fall for the “We’ll list you in 40 Local Directory sites.” or similar pitches. You do not need to be in 40 local directories.

This is not a “local listing” suggestion, but worth mentioning here. Most of you should have a LinkedIn Company Page. Why? They simply do very well in SERPS, and they don’t need a lot of maintenance.

I didn’t mention Facebook, but hopefully you know whether or not a Facebook page is right for your business. If it is, by all means create one. It will help you locally. If it is not a really good fit, don’t waste your time.

So, take the time, and Take Control of Your Local Listings Now!

Here are some quick links for you.

Google+
https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1713911?hl=en
Bing Places
https://www.bingplaces.com/
Yahoo Basic Local Listing
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/local-listings/basic-listing/
Yelp
https://biz.yelp.com/signup
YP Local Listings
http://adsolutions.yp.com/advertising-solutions/local-business-listings
Superpages Business Listing
http://www.supermedia.com/spportal/quickbpflow.do
CitySearch Listing
https://signup.citygrid.com/cyb/find_business

Three Important SEO Facts to Remember for 2014!

Google, Marketing, SEO, Social Media / By John / January 9, 2014

1. The Google Search you remember from 2 years ago doesn’t exist!

Most likely, what you thought you knew about getting ranked in Google SERPS (Search Engine Results Page) rankings, matters very little anymore. Think semantic and entity search with keywords as the tertiary element.

2. Just having a website is not enough!

Social Media needs to be included as well. Blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook – know the social media platform used by your target audience and connect with them frequently.

3. You can’t ignore Google+ anymore! Especially, those of you with local businesses.

I know. I know. I don’t like it either. When someone searches locally for your business or the products or services you offer, you simply have to control the narrative.

B2B Companies are Making Connections Using Video Storytelling

Marketing, Video, YouTube / By John / December 12, 2013

Good content marketers know storytelling, done well, works. Business-to-business companies are starting to embrace what business-to-consumer companies have been using successfully for quite a long time.

B2B companies are awakening to the fact that we all enjoy a good story, especially when told in a video. We simply like to be entertained. Businesses that want to get their message out to as many as possible are finding that the story is the important part to ensuring more views. It has to be interesting.

Statistics from eMarketer show the actions taken after watching a technology-related video, according to their B2B Video Marketing: Best Practices for 2014 report.

The bottom line: visually telling your story can work in the B2B world.

Carr Valley Cheese Wins Big at the World Cheese Awards 2013

Announcement / By John / December 7, 2013

Sid Cook and his team at Carr Valley Cheese represented Wisconsin’s Dairyland well, as international cheese experts meeting at the World Cheese Awards 2013 in London, England awarded Carr Valley Cheese ten awards.

Bringing home the gold is nothing new to our friends at Carr Valley Cheese. In the past five years alone, Carr Valley cheeses have won more than 400 top awards in U.S. and international competitions. Here are the latest award winning Wisconsin cheeses from Carr Valley’s artisan cheesemakers.

Super Gold Award Winners: Billy Blue (Goat Cheese), and Cave Aged Marisa (Sheep’s Milk Cheese)

Gold Award Winner: Black Sheep Truffle (Sheep’s Milk Cheese)

Silver Award Winners: Smoked Billy Blue, Virgin Pine Native Sheep, Smoked Ba Ba Blue, Bessie’s Blend

Bronze Award Winners: Aged Marisa, Virgin Pine Native Blue, Menage

More than 250 cheese experts gathered in London at the World Cheese Awards 2013 event to whittle 2,777 entries down to just 58 SuperGold cheeses, as well as awarding gold, silver, and bronze medals to nearly 700 well-crafted cheeses. The cheeses were chosen by a panel of 16 expert judges representing 13 nations. Organized in 1988 by The Guild of Fine Food, the World Cheese Awards has grown into the largest international event of its type in the world.

All of us here at WebWise Design & Marketing want to congratulate Sid and his entire team including his cheesemakers and support people for the latest awards acknowledging the skill, pride and care they put in crafting their Wisconsin cheeses and in making it available for everyone.

Visit the Carr Valley Cheese retail website www.carrvalleycheese.com or their website for chefs, cheesemongers, and other wholesale customers www.artisancheesesource.com where you may purchase their award winning Wisconsin cheese.