by shannon | Oct 27, 2020 | Baltimore SEO, Local SEO
Off-Site SEO And How To Master It!
For your website to appear in the top search results, you need to utilize all forms of SEO, including on-page SEO, technical SEO, and off-site SEO. If you only focus on one approach to SEO, then your strategy will not be effective.
In this article, we look at off-site SEO specifically by explaining what off-site SEO is and providing tips on how to master off-site SEO techniques. Let’s get started.
What Is Off-Site SEO?
Off-site SEO is a technique that helps your website appear higher in the search rankings. Unlike on-page SEO that focuses on optimizing page content, off-site SEO increases your website’s authority and boosts its reputation. In other words, the purpose of off-site SEO is to boost the website’s credibility, making it appear as a trusted, reliable source for online searchers.
When a search engine comes across a site with good off-site SEO, the search engine interprets the website as a good search result for online searchers. In contrast, sites with bad off-site SEO will have lower search rankings because they do not appear relevant, credible, or trustworthy.
Off-Site SEO Analogy: Letters Of Recommendation
Imagine that your resume is on-page SEO: it tells the reader what the content is about, why it matters, and why they should read it. Off-site SEO, though, is more like letters of recommendation because it shows the credibility of your content. Just as you need both a resume and letters of recommendation to get hired for a job, you need both on-page SEO and off-site SEO to have a high search ranking.
Why You Need Off-Site SEO
Off-site SEO tells search engines and searchers that your website is a good and trustworthy site. In other words, it tells them that they should trust your content over another website’s content.
How To Master Off-Site SEO
As we have seen, having off-site SEO is crucial for maintaining good search rankings. The question remains: how do you master off-site SEO? Here are the most important steps to effective off-site SEO:
Focus On Your Links
Whenever you create online content, you should always provide links to other sources. These links show the search engine that you are pulling your information from other, fact-checked websites. To get the most out of your off-site SEO, it is crucial to incorporate link-building into your plan. With that being said, there are strategic ways to use links:
- Only link to sites with good authority or reputation
- Link to sites with large backlink profiles
- Use links on PageRank
- Make sure that the link is directly relevant to your page
- Use a diversity of link types
- Use contextual links
- Anchor the link into the text
Boost Your Accountability
Another important aspect of off-site SEO is your site’s accountability. Your site’s accountability will tell the search engine and potential searchers that your website is factual, reliable, and trustworthy. The last thing you want is for your website to be viewed as unreliable and faulty.
One way that you can build your accountability is by other websites linking to your page. In fact, this is probably the most important factor for off-site SEO. This shows the search engine that other websites are using your source as a means for information.
Build Social Media Presence
The third important aspect of off-site SEO is building a recognizable and relevant social media presence. The social media presence will boost your accountability, increase traffic to your site, and increase links to your domain.
Final Thoughts
Off-site SEO is crucial to gaining a high search ranking. Even if you have killer on-page SEO, your website will not rank high if you do not focus on off-site SEO as well. Without off-site SEO, the search engines and searchers will not think that your website is credible, trustworthy, or reliable.
The best ways to boost your off-site SEO is by focusing on your links, boosting your accountability, and building your social media presence. Of course, this is easier said than done.
Hire A Professional
Off-site SEO can be very tricky, especially if you are new to SEO in general. To make sure that you put your best foot forward in terms of your off-site SEO, consider hiring a professional.
Virtual Surge is a world-class marketing agency that can help you boost your site’s off-site SEO techniques, henceforth increasing your site’s search ranking. To find out more, set up a free meeting to discuss off-site SEO with one of their world-class SEO optimizers.
by shannon | Sep 21, 2020 | Baltimore SEO, Local SEO
Providing Reliable Local SEO Services
Do you own a local online business? Does your primary target audience include the local population? If yes, are you aware of the various ways that you can use to approach this audience? In case you don’t, one of these ways is using local SEO services.
If you are not familiar with this concept and want to know more, you’ve come to the right place. I am an SEO expert who will tell you everything that you need to know about local SEO.
What does Local SEO mean?
If you own an online business, you are probably already aware of your search engine ranking’s importance. The higher the ranking, the more chances you have of appearing on the top of the list when someone searches for relevant services. Applying local SEO techniques to your online platform or content ensures a higher ranking for the local audience.
It means that if your food business is in Baltimore, by using the right local SEO services, you’ll be the top recommendation by the search engine when a user searches for local food businesses in your area.
What are the components of Local SEO, and why is it important?
As discussed above, using local SEO services can help you get better visibility on the search engine results. But what is the magic ingredient that does all that?
Local Search engine optimization involves the usage of appropriate keywords and phrases. These keywords are specific to every business, content, and location, and their usage allows the browser to determine how suitable you are to show to the local community. For example, the more appropriately you use “Baltimore SEO” in your content, the more Google will realize you’re the best fit for Baltimore’s population.
The importance of using local SEO services depends on how much your business relies on the local audience. If you are a Baltimore business that supplies its products worldwide, you probably don’t need to optimize your content geographically and make it specific to a particular area. However, if your business solely depends on people that are about 300 meters from you, you must target them, or they won’t know you exist.
How does Local SEO benefit you?
When you travel to a new place, what’s the first thing you do? You look up local attractions to visit. You start searching for the best local businesses for food, entertainment, shopping, etc. When you do this, the chances are that you click on the top recommendations first and probably end up choosing one of those options.
Now, think of this scenario as a business person. The top recommendations you saw had applied the right local SEO techniques to make it to the top. You found them first, spent more time considering them, and ended up purchasing from them as well. The final result was a successful sale for the business. That’s how Local SEO benefits your business.
It attracts more local audience and brings traffic to the website. The right amount of traffic on your site can help you grow online and increase your rank in the search results.
The Problem
As a business owner, you probably have all the necessary and essential information about running your company. However, technical skills such as local Search engine optimization is not something they teach in business schools. It is an entirely different field and profession, which is why you need a Local SEO service provider to do the job for you in a professional way.
The Solution
Being an SEO expert myself, I have helped several different popular brands, growing companies, and small businesses with local SEO. I use my expertise, experience, and knowledge to understand what you need, where you lack, and how you and I can fix the problems together. After asking for your preferences and needs, I propose possible practical and effective solutions. Then, you can leave the local SEO to me and give your complete attention to your business.
Conclusion
Local SEO is an essential aspect of growing your business, and all business owners should be aware of this concept. However, being aware of a technique is not the same as knowing how to do it. Certain technicalities are involved, and not everyone can understand them, especially if they don’t get the time from managing their business. So, let me help you. Together, we can develop the best ways to target your particular audience and increase your online traffic and sales rate.
This article was originally posted at Virtual Surge.
Baltimore SEO
Baltimore SEO Services
Healthcare SEO
by admin | May 7, 2020 | Baltimore SEO, Digital Marketing, Local SEO
How To Be A Flexible Leader During Pandemic
As our nation faces one of the biggest challenges in its history, we would like to salute the health care industry in Washington, D.C. and across the country. We understand what sacrifices you are making by merely going to work every day. We know that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused you to do your job with limited supplies. We know that you can’t come home at night and hug your kids. We know that you, too, are worried about your aging parents.
The American public has learned several things from health care professionals in Washington, D.C. and across the world.
They have been reminded of the power of perseverance. Even with an increased hospital population and a limited supply of resources, doctors and nurses are successfully treating patients with the coronavirus.
Americans have learned a new definition of bravery. Some of our healthcare workers have risk factors themselves, but they still show up for work because they are needed.
Finally, Americans are learning the importance of adaptability. Healthcare workers in Maryland and around the world have had to adapt to this new reality. They didn’t have a choice.
As a business leader who is facing unchartered territories caused by a worldwide pandemic, you don’t have a choice. You know that you need to adapt your business strategies quickly — your company’s survival depends upon your ability to act.
Someone once said, “A wise man adapts himself to circumstances as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it.” Here are some tips on how to reshape your company for a successful future.
1. Focus on your digital marketing campaign.
Whether you are a brick and mortar shop in Baltimore or a healthcare facility in Annapolis, it is time to focus on your company’s digital marketing strategies. And it’s time to pull out all the stops.
This means that you need to re-look at your website. This is the public face of your business for the unforeseeable future. Are you proud of what your potential customers will see or does the idea make you cringe?
You also need to evaluate and potentially expand your social media presence — especially if your customers are a part of the general public. Are you producing share-worthy content? Do you give customers the ability to connect and ask questions through Facebook?
Since your salespeople will no longer be able to do a face-to-face sales pitch to your customers, have you created video content to share with your potential customers? Have you worked out a way to train your customers to use your product without face-to-face interaction?
We know there are a lot of things to consider when analyzing your digital media campaign, and we know that these discussions may be out of your comfort zone. Regardless, you can’t ignore digital media any longer.
2. Learn how to network without trade shows.
Companies who work mainly with other businesses will need to learn how to network without trade shows and face-to-face interaction. How will your business adapt to this situation?
You may need to adapt by opening new channels over social media or web platforms. This may be the new way of opening new channels and making new relationships.
Do you have an attractive LinkedIn profile? What about your employees? Do they all have a professional presence on this networking website?
You may thrive in a face-to-face environment, and this new way of making connections may make you uncomfortable. Unfortunately, you aren’t going to be invited to anyone’s office to make a sales pitch soon, so you need to figure out how you are going to adapt.
3. Prioritize your SEO strategy.
The time is now to prioritize your company’s search engine optimization strategy. This means that when customers search for products or services that you provide, they need to be able to find you on the first page of a Google search.
The only way to make that happen is to have a smart, well-researched SEO strategy, which leads us to the next point . . .
4. Work with a professional digital marketing firm.
It is essential that you seek professional help as you adapt your marketing model for this new era. The staff of Virtual Surge is ready and willing to assist you.
We have been working with companies to increase their Google rankings long before corona. In fact, we are known as one of the Washington D.C. SEO leaders (specializing in health care SEO).
The staff of Virtual Surge are experts in digital marketing advertising. Let us assist you as you learn to adapt your business strategies in the face of COVID-19.
This article was originally posted at Virtual Surge.
by admin | Mar 31, 2020 | Baltimore SEO, Healthcare SEO, Local SEO
Modern SEO Practices To Promote Your Health Care Website
We know there is a lot to learn about healthcare SEO. In fact, the staff of Virtual Surge is continually learning, so they can stay current on modern SEO practices. Today, we would like to talk about one aspect of healthcare SEO strategies that we will use in making sure your patients can find your practice on the web. Let’s discuss title tags, meta descriptions, and headings.
Keywords
We have already discussed how essential keyword research is for your SEO strategy. Our staff at Virtual Surge are experts in evaluating what keywords and phrases you should use in your healthcare website. For example, we know how to measure the difference in traffic between “Washington DC SEO” with “SEO services in Washington D.C.” We can also tell you about related words or topics you may want to use on your website to drive traffic.
Once we have completed our keyword analysis for your practice or business, we will then use those keywords in strategic locations throughout your website.
Title Tags
One reason you should hire an SEO strategist for your healthcare business in the Baltimore area is that they are familiar with the inner workings of your website. For example, you may or may not be familiar with the concept of a title tag.
When a person completes a Google search to find a doctor in his local area, a list of websites will appear from the search. The website’s name that appears in blue is called the title tag.
When Virtual Surge creates your website, we will make sure your title tag is formatted correctly and includes the best keywords and phrases to win traffic to your business’ page. We know how many characters to include and how to phrase the keywords naturally.
Meta Description
Underneath the blue text, searchers will find a meta description. This text, of course, is fully customizable by the owner of the site, but Google reserves the right to change it and use content from the page if the original description is not deemed accurate.
You want to be in charge of your own meta description, and Virtual Surge will show you how to make this happen. We know how long the meta description should be and how to format it. We will also make sure that the keywords in the meta description are used within the text of your actual website — as title pages or headers.
Headers
Finally, Virtual Surge will use headers throughout your content to help Google and other search engines know what content is included on your website. These, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, and h6 tags will enable search engines to scan the site to quickly determine what information will be helpful for the person searching for information.
Headings within your content will help your reader as well. Most online readers do not look at each word. Instead, they scan through the material, looking for the phrases that are most important to them at the moment. Using appropriate headers throughout the text will assist readers in finding the relevant information.
Let Virtual Surge Help
While this article was not meant to offer instructions on how to complete your own SEO for your healthcare website, it is intended to illustrate how complicated and essential the process is. You are the best doctor for your patients, and your nursing home is the best place for the aging members of the community. The people who need you won’t be able to find you if you ignore this part of your business operation. Let Virtual Surge assist you with your healthcare or nursing facility website.
Our staff is practiced in improving the Google rankings for our clients. We are experts in keyword research and website development. We can even provide professionally-written, original content to help improve your website’s rankings.
Even though we are based in the Washington DC area, our healthcare and nursing home clients are scattered throughout the country. We are happy to provide you with reviews from satisfied clients who have increased business as their Google rankings have improved.
We know that reputation management is one of the primary concerns for doctors and healthcare facilities. We understand that you work with people when they are in a highly emotive state. Sometimes patients and families look for someone to blame when their loved ones are ailing. Virtual Surge will monitor the review websites for positive and negative feedback, and we will assist you in how to respond to it.
Please fill out our contact page on our website, and our staff will get back to your ASAP. We want to help your patients and clients find you.
by admin | Feb 29, 2020 | Baltimore SEO, Local SEO
Ranking for Topics in Your Industry
Are you frustrated that your ranking never seems to improve? Do you feel as if you have given readers quality content while utilizing your industry-specific keywords? Are you tired of coming up with new ways to talk about the same information? Are you out of ideas on what to write about in your business’ blog?
We know you are tired and frustrated with your ranking. It’s challenging to improve your situation when Google periodically changes the rules. And it seems as if your competitors are continually producing more and more content that attracts shares, pins, and comments.
Let us give you some more avenues to try. First, take a deep breath. Grab a cup of tea. And let’s improve your ranking!
Have you tried improving upon what your competitors are offering?
After doing a quick search of keywords in your industry, you notice that your competitor ranks high with an article that offers valuable content. Perhaps the article is titled “5 Tips for Getting Your Kids to Sleep Through the Night.”
We recommend that you use the same general idea, but improve upon the content. First, consider hiring an industry expert with credentials and experience to write your content. Next, if your competitor’s article offered five ideas, you should provide 50 insights. If their content didn’t include any high-quality external and internal links, add some to your article. If their content didn’t include any sources, make sure you add a source page. Finally, make sure your report includes eye-catching photographs and easy-to-pin infographics.
In essence, use the same general idea, but make your content ten times better!
Have you tried using Google trends?
Let us warn you if you are new to Google Trends. It is easy to become sucked into playing around with this tool.
Google Trends allows you to see what topics are trending across the country. Some of the trends probably make sense to you. You know that following the Superbowl, a lot of people searched for commercials.
Some of the trends may cause you to scratch your head. You may wonder why Bob Marley had appeared in over 50,000 searches when he died in 1981?
Additionally, Google Trends allows you to see how much your keyword has garnered over time.
I typed in “sleep through the night” and learned that this topic received consistent attention throughout the last year. I also learned which state’s residents are the most likely to search for that term (Idaho!) Oddly enough, the state whose residents were least likely to search for that topic was nearby Montanna.
Next, I learned about related topics that were trending. People were also adding the words “weaning,” “bassinet,” and “wake” to their search. I also learned that two brand-new related topics were trending. Apparently, users began to look for smiling/sleeping topics as well as rhythm/sleeping topics.
Additionally, I was able to see related queries to my topic. I learned that many people were wondering, “how to get my puppy to sleep through the night” and “how to sleep through the night without waking.”
Finally, this fantastic tool enabled me to test two similar keywords. I compared the phrase “sleep through the night” and “sleeping through the night.” I learned that the previous term was almost twice as likely to be used rather than the later topic.
Use Google trends to analyze your industry. Perhaps you can cover a topic that is loosely related (but a trending) topic to drive people to your website. In my example, maybe I would want to provide content about sleep problems that come from weaning a child off of breastfeeding. Or I could write about how to get your infant to sleep through the night after moving from a bassinet to a crib.
Have you tried using Google News?
Perhaps you should try to use Google News to find new topics for your website’s blog. Although this may not be as informative as Google Trends, it will tell you about the latest stories relating to your industry.
When I typed in “infant sleep” in the search bar, I was informed of a new study that was recently published on the criteria for good infant sleep. This would be great information to write about on a website about sleeping infants.
I also noticed more trending studies showing how to keep infants safe while sleeping.
Within a few keystrokes, I have two new topics for my website.
Use these three tips will help you in improving your rankings.
This article was originally posted at Virtual Surge.
by admin | Feb 14, 2020 | Baltimore SEO, Local SEO, Recent News
What To Know About Google 2020 Update
We have perused the websites of SEO experts to see what they have discovered about Google’s new update. Apparently, the update rolled out during the second week of January.
Many reported that the update affected a large number of websites. Google labeled the update a “broad core update,” which means that it was not specific to a category of sites or regions.
Maybe you weren’t even aware that the update was taking place, but you noticed that your ranking seemed to have changed over the last few weeks. Now you know a possible reason for the change.
When Google introduced massive updates in June of 2019, the company said there was little you could do to fix your site if you saw a decline in ranking. The good news is that Google has been a little more forthcoming this time around in posting advice on what you can do to fix your site. Here’s what we know so far.
Don’t overhaul your website.
We know this answer is not very satisfying. But when writing about the updates, Google representatives state, “There’s nothing wrong with pages that may perform less well in a core update.”
We know how frustrating this answer is. If your website previously appeared on the first page, and now it is buried on page three, you will receive fewer clicks. When Google representatives tell us to relax, that is not very satisfying.
Google representatives used an analogy to describe the process. We are instructed to think of a “Top 100 Movies” list that was published in 2015. If that list was re-examined in 2019, there would be new movies that were made in the last four years to replace some of the previous films on the list. Over those four years, movie viewers would have time to think about other movies that hadn’t made the list previously that they now view as contenders.
While the movies that were removed from the list weren’t bad, others may have been more deserving of the top-ranking four years later.
Apparently, we are to think of the Google update the same way. It’s not that your website is poor quality, but perhaps others have come along since the last update that are better. Google says that these websites now are more deserving of a first-page rank.
We know how unsatisfying this explanation is. You have been working hard on your website, and you thought you were doing everything in your power to earn your rank.
It’s all about the content. Google goes on to reiterate the advice that they have given time and time again. Focus on your content. Google says that its algorithms reward websites with good content.
Here are some things to think about regarding the content on your website. The questions that we pose are written in our words, but they are based upon the questions that Google provided.
These questions can be summarized by the acronym EAT, which stands for Expertise, Authoritative, and Trustworthiness. Whether or not your website has these traits can be determined by the answers to the following questions.
Is your content original?
Do you comprehensively cover the topic?
Do you provide original research or reporting?
Does the information come from quality sources?
Is the headline descriptive and offer a summary of the content?
Do you avoid exaggerations and shocking headlines?
Does your content seem like something that would be published in an encyclopedia or book?
Does your content provide information that you would want to share?
Do we learn about the author of the content?
Does the author seem like someone with authority?
Do you feel as if the author could be an expert on the topic?
Is the content free of factual errors?
Do you trust this content?
Is the content free of grammatical and spelling errors?
Does the content follow the same style?
Is the webpage mobile friendly?
Is there an abundance of ads on the page?
Is the content engaging?
As you go through the list of questions, you may feel as if you are checking off all the necessary boxes to achieve a high-ranking website. If you aren’t getting the clicks you think that you deserve, something must be wrong.
If nothing obvious jumps out as being wrong with your content, visit the higher ranking pages. Analyze what they are doing to achieve the top spot.
Are they providing a list of sources for each of their articles that come from government or education websites?
Do they provide biographies of their authors? Do they seem as if they could be experts on the topic?
Are the articles longer than what you have provided your readers?
If you have tried your best at improving your ranking, but to no avail, maybe it’s time to consult with an SEO expert. The future of your company may depend upon it.
This article was originally posted at Virtual Surge.
