SEO Services In A Tough Economy

I don't know of anyone who isn't feeling the pinch in these tough economic times. Now more then ever businesses need good SEO services and Internet marketing to drive traffic to their sites. There are several things that can be done that to increase your sites page rank and drive traffic to your site.

A good SEO Service Provider and Internet Marketing Company will review your site and customize a plan that meets your needs and your budget. SEO is not rocket science, but it is time consuming and needs to be done consistently in order to see results.

At BLaST creative we have learned from years of experience that when doing white hat seo and organic seo that it typically takes 3 months before you start to see results. And depending on the competition and what they are doing as far as SEO, it could take longer.

Some things that you can do to help increase traffic to your site as well as increase your page rank and search engine listing.

1. Meta tags-if your site doesn't have them, they need to be added, especially a good description and keywords.

2. Heading tags, alt tags-if you currently aren't utilizing these on your site then you need to update them.

3. Content-is it fresh and does it contain the keywords that you are trying to target? If not you need to update this as well.

4. Backlinks-Google just changed their algorithm again, you need to get relevant organic backlinks for your site.

For more information on SEO Services and Internet Marketing, please contact BLaST creative today!

Detecting and Fixing Site Visibility Issues

In terms of the Integrated Approach, site visibility refers to compliance of a page's source code with the requirements and needs of search engine spiders. This topic is based on the knowledge that the spiders are computer programs instructed to parse your HTML pages, then analyze certain page areas and undertake certain actions such as requesting other pages by following the hyperlinks found on the given page.

Thus, we can make the conclusion that specific page areas bear a certain importance for spiders and thus play a role in overall search engine visibility. Another conclusion is that consistent site structure is an essential factor for spiders to be able to effectively crawl your site.

Following are the main visibility problems that are usually encountered on a website (especially large sites):

• Broken links;
• Broken redirects;
• Missing ALT attributes;
• Missing TITLE and META (keywords and description) tags
• Old pages which are not regularly updated
• Deep pages (located far from the home page or from the page where the spider enters your site)
• Excessive length of TITLE and META tags

Most of these problems (except for broken links and redirects) will not frustrate your visitors. These flaws, however, are potentially dangerous for your positions in the SERP (search engine result pages) and for indexing of your whole site by search engine spiders.

Let's get into a deeper explanation for each of these problems.

Broken links
Broken links are a common scourge for webmasters, especially with large and dynamic sites. A search engine robot will not be able to access a page that is hidden behind a broken link. Most robots, however, will not stop spidering your site when they meet a broken internal link, provided they have some other links to follow. But if the broken link is intended to point to a strategically important content page, the page won't be indexed and the problem then becomes more serious.

Broken external links are not as critical from the visibility point of view; rather they state problems for the visibility of the site or page they're pointing to.

Redirects and broken redirects
Most common redirect codes are 301 (Moved Permanently), 302 (Found), 304 (Not Modified), 305 (Use Proxy) and 307 (Temporary Redirect).

As a webmaster, you may implement a redirect in a number of different ways: either by sending the corresponding HTTP headers from within your server-side code (PHP, ASP, PERL etc), or by putting the instructions into the ".htaccess" file in the directory on the server, or by putting a special META REFRESH tag directly into the HTML code of the page:

meta http-equiv="REFRESH" content="0;url=http:www.mywebsite.com/new-file.htm
In this case, the user-agent (either a visitor's browser or a search engine spider) will treat the tag as if it has met a 301 (Moved Permanently) redirect.

Actually, from all the redirects enumerated above, only one (301) is considered search engine-friendly and is recommended by the search engines. The others have been abused by spammers in the past (and are still often used in black-hat SEO) for creating doorway pages for search engines and for cloaking a website. Thus, search engines apply strict policies to pages for which they get all the other redirect response codes from the server (300,302 and above).

Moreover, this redirect abuse led some search engines to ban sites that use META refresh tags for redirecting the visitor. AltaVista is the strictest: sites with the refresh attribute set to less than 30 seconds have been banned as spam. The policy of other search engines varies. In the past, Google hasn't been too worried about spam since it relies mainly on link popularity to rank sites - but they have recently started to pay more attention to these issues.

Because of this, we recommend that you use a server-side redirect with the help of a dynamic technology like PHP or ASP. If this isn't possible, use the ".htaccess" file (on apache servers) with the following line:

Redirect 301 /page1.htm http://www.yoursite.com/page2.htm

to redirect the visitors from page1.htm to page2.htm.

Broken redirects will lead to the same results as the broken links, that is, spiders will not be able to index the pages hidden behind the broken redirect, unless they find that page through some other links or redirects used on your website.

Missing ALT attributes
ALT attributes are used within the "< IMG >" HTML tags to describe images textually if the browser will not display the image. The ALT attribute is also useful in providing additional information when a user hovers the mouse cursor over a displayed image.

Nowadays ALT attributes are not as important for search visibility as they used to be a couple of years ago. Therefore, there won't be any harm for your rankings if you omit them. However, it's useful to include ALT attributes, especially to get your images ranked for particular keywords in the image search, which also brings you organic traffic.

Missing TITLE and META tags
This is probably the most serious gap in your readiness for the SEO campaign. The TITLE tag, META keywords and META description tags are the primary regions where search engines attempt to find relevant keywords for your site. If some of your pages are missing these TITLE and META tags, you should put these on your page before starting any further optimization analysis.

Old pages
One of the algorithms Google now applies for ranking Web pages is the SandBox algorithm. It means that the pages that haven't been updated for a long time will gradually lose their positions in the rankings even if they initially had high positions. Google constantly crawls the Web and adds thousands of new pages to its index. These new pages have unique content, but it is the novelty or “newness” of these pages that may cause Google to rank them higher than the actual content would otherwise dictate. Google assumes that newer pages probably contain more updated information than older ones. This process will gradually "dissolve" your site in the competition, while your pages get "crowded out" by the new additions from the top results.

To retain your high positions, you not only need to constantly add to your link popularity, but also update your pages often and add new content pages from time to time.

Deep Pages
An average search engine spider will not crawl your site deeper than 2 levels away from the home page and the most advanced spiders are instructed not to go further than 4 levels deep. Under "depth" we mean number of jumps which should be made from page to page along the links to get to the destination page from the source page (which is, most often, your home page). So, if a spider enters your site on your home page, it will read all pages linked to it, then all pages those pages link to and then most spiders will stop. If your site has any pages that link any deeper than this your site structure needs optimization.

It's important to understand that the link structure and file structure are two different things: you may keep all your 500 pages in the root directory, yet some of them may be 5 and more levels deep according to the link jumps.

TITLE and META tags length
The information placed in the TITLE, "keywords" and "description" META tags is indexed by search engine spiders for use on the search results page. There is a limited amount of space for these. If they are too long, they will be cut off in the search results display. Moreover, search engines will not read more than certain amount of characters in the tag. Even further, some search engine spiders may consider an excessive amount of characters as spamming. Therefore, it's useful to check whether the length of these vital page areas is within sensible limits.

For information Search Engine Optimization, Internet Marketing and Web Design, please contact BLaST creative today!

Gift Cards for SEO?

SEO, search engine optimization comes all shapes and sizes, but gift cards? Well, in a round about way, you can utilize gift cards sites like CityDeals.com to enhance your SEO standings. By purchasing a banner ad from City Deals that links to your site, you basically have purchased a backlink for your site. The added bonus being that sites that are linked to City Deals are quickly indexed and pulled to the top of the search engines.

For sites like the Windmill Restaurant, a Montana Steakhouse, who has a page rank of zero, this can be very beneficial. For sites like Focus Sped, a school in Plano Texas that helps kids with Autism and other learning disabilities, this can not only help their page rank, but City Deals receives over 50,000 visitors a month with over 297,000 page views. Now that’s a lot of traffic, a lot of people viewing your banner ad and it’s great for SEO!

For sites like Doug Batts Prepaid Legal Services, it can mean a double bonus. SEO for page rank and literally thousands of visitors viewing his banner ad with the ability to click straight through to his site and that’s one way to generate new business for your site. Meredith Haberfeld Coaching is another site that reap the benefits of SEO from using City Deals gift cards site.


The thing that I like best about utilizing sites like City Deals for SEO purposes, is that not only do you help increase your own page rank, you get exposure for your business, plus you can shop for awesome deals on discounted gift cards.

Gift Cards for SEO? The answer to that question is an absolute yes! Take advantage of the sight today! For more information about SEO and Internet Marketing, contact BLaST creative today!

The $5 Article with Original Content

The world.wide.web has opened the door for new avenues of enterprise for many entrepreneurs including the freelance writer. The problem is that no one wants to pay for the services of the professional writer adequately. The request comes in for original content, a quote for statistics and lets don’t forget that you should be able to do this in 15 minutes.

The 15 minutes is my favorite line, obviously it’s not a writer who is making the request. The research alone for any good article is going to take a minimum of 1 hour. And while I am an excellent writer, even I need more than 15 minutes. Writing for the web has been a lot of fun and I’ve learned a bazillion things, but it is still work and worthy of decent pay.

Yes, there is plagiarism, but don’t assume or accuse every writer out there of it. I hate the ad that says; “I check for plagiarism,” so don’t apply. Okay, well if you paid more than $5 an article for “original” content, you wouldn’t get the bottom of the barrel writers.

I love writing! I love what I do, but like many Americans, I too am trying to make a living. I’ll give you original content, content that is SEO friendly, content that is full of facts, is accurate and up to date and original. But what I can’t do is give you that copy for $5.

At BLaST Creative we are certified in Internet Marketing and can assist you with all of your Internet Marketing needs. For more assistance, please contact BLaST Creative.

BLaST Creative Copywriting for Your Website

When I write an article for a magazine or newspaper, I get straight to the point. It’s necessary to have a hook in the first paragraph or you lose your reader. So you have to start with the facts immediately!

People surf the web in a similar manner to the way that they skim newspapers, stopping to read stories and/or blogs that grab their attention and they leave your site as soon as they get bored. So lets cover a few steps that will assist you in writing attention-grabbing copy.

The intro

When you are writing copy, the most important part of your content is the first sentence. In 30 words or less it is necessary for you to grab your readers attention and explain what it is that you want them to know. A boring intro can send your readers to another site.

Begin your drama from the first word

Try to make the first word of your copy as dramatic as possible. For example which of these intros do you like the best?

Having already burned 300 acres, the Cascade fire is still burning out of control.

Cascade Fire Crews brace for weather.

The five Ws and an H

So now that you have an intro it’s time to help your reader discover the rest of the story and you don’t want to leave them with any questions.
So reread your copy and make sure that you’ve answered the following questions:

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why
• How

In everyarticle or copy, you’ll need to tell your readers what happened, who or what did it, but don’t worry about answering all six questions in the first paragraph.

At BLaST Creative we are certified in Internet Marketing and can assist you with all of your Internet Marketing needs. For more assistance, please contact BLaST Creative.

BLaST Creative Web Content

Let’s face it, the biggest reason that any of use the web is to save time. It’s waaay faster to look up what time the movie is playing at the local Cineplex on the website the to have to listen to all of the list and times, etc on the phone or even driving there in person to see what’s what!

The same is true for the content on your web pages. Your content needs to be relevant and short, if you have a lot to say, it’s better to write a paragraph or two and link the rest to a separate page, giving the reader a choice. Why have your visitors come to your site and what do they want to know? Let them have the information the quickest way possible.

Don’t use BIG words, don’t talk over people’s head, talk to the lay person. Speak in your own voice, don’t use words that are extraordinarily looooong!

It doesn’t matter if you are trying to register students for dance class, sell dance clothes, or just tell about your business, if people can’t understand what you’re trying to say, you will fail.

Even if you’re writing for a specialist audience, like doctors or rocket scientists, ask yourself if you’re using bigger words to help your site reach its goal or to make yourself sound clever.

Along that same line of thinking, don’t be too short, give descriptive detail so they know what it’s about instead of searching somewhere else because they need more detail.

At BLaST Creative we are certified in Internet Marketing and can assist you with all of your Internet Marketing needs. For more assistance, please contact BLaST Creative.

BLaST Creative Search Engine Optimization

There are lots of things that can be done for search engine optimization or SEO. One of the things that we do at BLaST Creative for SEO Services is utilize pay-per-click advertising like Google AdWords.

Google Adwords and other pay-per-click advertising networks work by paying a set fee every time somebody clicks on an ad for your site. This may sound expensive, but it really isn’t. You can set an amount of $25 per month and all of the other parameters as well. If people are clicking too much or not enough, you can change how it’s setup.
Other things that are helpful for search engine optimization include setting up a blog about your business, podcasting, utilizing online press releases, and of course you can always use traditional advertising through local newspapers or flyers.

In order for your website to do well people will need to find your site by utilizing search engines. Google is number one right now on the search engine lists, followed by Yahoo, MSN, AOL and Ask. There are literally hundreds of search engines, but if you can get listed on the top ones, the rest will follow suit.

BLaST Creative SEO Services can help your web pages perform as well as possible in Google and the other major search engines. There are literally hundreds of things that you can do to help your web pages rank higher in the search engines’ results pages.

But don’t waste too much,SEO techniques become obsolete rather quickly. Search engines have to constantly change their algorithms and they way that they index web pages, because some people try to cheat the system, therefore, the search engines have to stay ahead of the game so that it’s fair to everyone!

At BLaST Creative we are certified in Internet Marketing and can assist you with all of your Internet Marketing needs. For more assistance, please contact BLaST Creative.

Hyperlinks—To Underline or Not To Underline, That Is The Question

This week at BLaST Creative Web Design, we’d like to talk about hyperlinks or what you’ve probably heard called by it’s shortened named, links, are words or images that help with navigation, they take you to another part of the web page that you are on or even to another web page or web site entirely when you click on them.

In most cases the links that are present in the body of text are underlined and their color is different from the surrounding text, making it easier for visitors to spot your links. And in most instances, if you hover your mouse over them they will change color.

At BLaST Creative we like to be different, so we designed our website different from others including when it comes to the links. We did not applying the underline under the links. It’s really an easy thing to do, but we realized that our visitors would are familiar with the underline and but we wanted our site to be different, familiar as well, and we believed that people have had enough experience with the web that they will know to click on the navigation tabs without an underline.

Basically, you don’t have to underline your links, you can be different, but consider your visitors and what you are trying to accomplish? Is it worth not underlining your links?

At BLaST Creative, we decided to be different and unique by not underlining our links. You can too! Links are good and very beneficial for marketing, so answer the question for yourself to underline or not to underline and link away!

Why Businesses Need SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Services?

More than 70% of online consumers start their quest for a product, service or support call using a search engine. If you’re a business owner, how can you honestly afford NOT to be associated with this massive audience?

The bottom line is that you cannot afford to miss such opportunities. As a business owner you can use search engine optimization to drive more business from people who have never even heard of you before.

You need SEO Services, Internet Marketing Services and link building campaigns that work. SEO services and Internet marketing services will help generate sales for your business while increasing website traffic naturally. You need a search engine optimization strategy and link building campaign specifically designed for your websites products and services,natural SEO services and organic website promotion.

Achieving better rankings begins with proper web site optimization; a great link building strategy and well planned online marketing goals. But beware, some website services use tricks or claim to have secret tips they can't share with you. Your SEO provider should be able to share everything with you and strictly follow Yahoo, MSN and Google web master guidelines. If you have questions they should be clearly explained, as well explaining their site promotion techniques. SEO services should utilize top website optimization tools to analyze the top competitor websites.

Do you need expert search engine optimization services or top search engine rankings in organic results pages? BLaST Creative's experienced Internet marketing combines the highest quality website promotion strategies, link building campaigns and search engine placement to help you rank better.

SEO and link building strategies aren't just about fixing Meta data and submitting your site to directories. Quality link building will provide you hundreds to thousands of incoming links pointing directly to your website.

At BLaST Creative we will develop a link-building plan that is long lasting. Our services have an excellent track record increasing website rankings naturally. Highly competitive keywords will need a custom link building strategy to achieve higher rankings. This will also increase link popularity in the top engines. We use several variations of your keywords in your back links to get the perfect balance. This is important due to recent Google updates.

Pay per click advertising: If your company needs instant traffic during the website design process, we can provide help with online advertising. Maximize your current ad budget.

Growing Companies:

Companies can maximize budgets and web exposure with our business website solutions. Many companies simply can't afford a high monthly budget.

Website submission: Each URL submission to search engines. Do you need to keep your site rankings or link popularity up? The way to do that is with directories, press releases, article and Blog submissions that provide your website tons of new back links. Save by bundling your Meta Tags, URL submissions and keyword research. Have your website reviewed today and see the positive affect that BLaST Creative's Internet marketing services can have on your business! Learn more about our search engine optimization service, pricing or web tools contact BLaST Creative today.

How Can I Spend My Economic Stimulus Check?

Are you wondering what to spend your economic stimulus check on? If so, how about your front yard and backyard, give your home a face-lift with outdoor landscaping. The front of your house is the most visible, you want passers-by to stop, to admire your landscape and you want a PA landscaper like Designer Landscaping PA to turn your backyard into a personal outdoor oasis.

Backyard Allentown PA Landscaping Installations

You may think that backyard installations can have better or worse value return. And you would be correct a costly gazebo or storage shed wouldn’t have the same installation cost-to-property value ratio as a reasonably priced pond or swimming pool. Your first question when considering Allentown PA landscaping is what backyard landscaping project fits your lifestyle, that will tell which project to undertake.

If you dream of afternoon barbecues then a deck is something that you may want to consider investing in. If you preference is a calm, quiet evening dining, you mat want to consider a patio. If you like to retreat in your backyard to enjoy the peace, to meditate and enjoy nature then a pond/waterfall combination may be ideal. A swimming pool can be an amazing addition that the whole family can enjoy. Your Designer Landscaping PA backyard landscaping should be unique, not trendy, unless you're sure it fits your lifestyle and/or you plan on selling your home in the next few years.

Cashing that economic stimulus check, planning for the future can mean more than just spending more on your installation project or getting the most bang for your buck. A frequent example of this is an above ground swimming pool installation. If you have children, they may bug you to put in a swimming pool. Spending more on this swimming pool may increase its lifetime by an extra ten years. It may seem like a good idea at the time, but once the kids leave for college, you may not want the pool or the maintenance.

You could invest that extra money and in ten years use that money to replace the swimming pool. Designer Landscaping PA above ground swimming pool is one of the easiest installations to replace. Digging the foundation for the swimming pool is also natural ground preparation for a garden or patio.

Backyard Allentown PA Landscaping Care and Maintenance

Basic landscaping care and maintenance can be more about getting the most for your money. Planting or removing trees or other plants can provide many options and several of them can save you money and still accomplish comparable effects. Existing topsoil can often be revitalized in a relatively short amount of time at a significantly cheaper price. The most important thing is to ask a lot of questions before you make any actual plans. Talking to a Designer landscaping PA professional about what you want for your backyard landscaping is the best thing that you can do. Be sure to ask what your options are and make sure you can justify each decision to yourself.

This article was written for marketing purposes, if you are interested in learning more about article marketing or SEO services please email me for further information.