Houston Seo And Web Design - Archive - SEO Houston Experts & Search Engine Optimization Consultants

Houston SEO Expert: A Guide To Help Improve Your SEO Performance By Updating Old Content For The Google Freshness Algorithm

April 25, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

How To Boost Your Houston SEO Performance On Google By Updating Older Content

Google threw the SEO game for a major loop in 2011 when they announced the launch of their new freshness algorithm. The stated goal of this change was to deliver “fresher, more recent results” to the search engine’s users. What does that mean from an online marketing standpoint? Let a Houston SEO expert explain it to you: The practical upshot of Google’s freshness algorithm is that whether or not it seems sensible, all of your content now loses its SEO potency as it ages. The search engine is going to prioritize more recently-published content over older content, no matter how useful and evergreen that old content might be. So, how do you deal with this game-changer? Do you have to hire a full-time writer to churn out fresh articles in order to stay on top of the search results? Fortunately, no! You can turn the Google freshness algorithm into an asset instead of a challenge: It’s an excuse to rework older content and turn it into a more productive marketing tool.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to refreshing your content to improve SEO the same way the pros do:

1) Tweak The Words

How is the tone of your old content? Does it still match the new articles you’re posting? Are the facts still accurate? Is it up to the latest standards in your industry? Don’t be afraid to cut, modify, and expand your writing to make sure it’s as good as can be! This is also an excellent time to check your content’s keyword placement. Are you dumping too many keywords into your articles? Have you shifted targets and need to rephrase to target new keywords? Bear in mind that best SEO practices on this subject evolve over time; a keyword density that was considered “adequate” a few years ago might be “overstuffed” today. You want to do what you can to gain Google’s trust so you can rank higher.

2) Overhaul Your Visuals

This step is absolutely vital in making your old content look fresh again. Change out the existing graphics and consider adding new videos or infographics if you have them. Overhaul the layout to conform to the latest standards. Your goal here is to make your content look appealing even to a visitor who might have read it before.

3) Aim At New Social Networks

If your marketing techniques have evolved over time, the odds are good that you’re promoting yourself in new channels where you previously had no presence. Make sure that your overhauled content gets announced in all of your most effective social media channels. Reworked content is a great “icebreaker” to use to break into new platforms.

4) Expand Your Audience

The refreshed material may attract a dramatically different audience than your original content. You can even aim for this effect intentionally and conduct your entire overhaul with an eye toward capturing a new audience’s attention. Never overlook an opportunity to expand your business by expanding your market!

5) Automate As Much As Possible

Once you start to unlock the content renewal potential in all of your old material, every scrap of stuff you’ve published will likely start to look valuable. Don’t let the sheer volume of material overwhelm you! Establish a consistent process for content renewal and automate it as much as possible. You should use your time where it’s most effective: Making substantive decisions on how best to overhaul your material. The minutiae of picking it out and posting it should be handled by a rigidly-defined process.

To get started, call us or contact SEO Houston Pros. We invite you to visit our blog for more SEO tips and tricks!

Should I Fire My Houston SEO Firm Or Keep Them?

April 25, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

Reasons Why You Should Probably Fire Your SEO Agency In Houston

Advantages To Staying With Your SEO Digital Marketing Agency

True potential – Being with an SEO Houston agency for a couple of months isn’t really enough time to see everything that they can offer you. A flawed or bad initial strategic plan can potentially be grounds for having a new strategy session, instead of completely abandoning the agency.
Brand familiarity – The agency is familiar with your brand. Having to teach the standards of your brand to a new agency is going to require a large upfront investment of both money & time.
History and data – The new agency might be doomed to make the same mistakes if it is blind to your history and metric information.
If you are working with the top-rated Digital Marketing Agency in the nation ie SEO Houston Pros, that means you are getting amazing results already.

Problems With SEO Results

Timing – Keep in mind that search engine optimization is a long-term strategy. Therefore, during the first few months, you shouldn’t expect any meaningful results. However, if it has been six months or even longer and the campaign is still not providing you with anything valuable, that could be a sign that you have an ineffective strategy.
Type of results – You might be dissatisfied as well is you don’t see your campaign providing you with the kind of results that you wanted. For several queries, you may have number one rankings, but it isn’t giving you any organic traffic. That might mean that your priorities are misaligned between your agency and you.
Responsive Actions – Does your agency admit that your campaign should perform better, and have strategic change suggestions to get things to improve? Or are they using the same ineffective tactics over and over again?
If your agency or firm doesn’t do content marketing, definitely fire them. Don’t waste time thinking about it.

Communication Problems With Your Current SEO Company

Another thing that could be happening is you and your agency might be having communication problems:
Unresponsiveness. A big red flag is untimely responses or gaps in communication.
Lack of clarity. When you don’t understand something, then that problem must be addressed and solved.
Lack of transparency. If results are promised by your SEO agency without them telling you what is occurring behind the scenes, that can potentially be a red flag to watch out for.
Misleading conversations. If you are receiving many empty promises, or your account reps mislead you at all, then that can be signs of intentional lying, apathy, disorganization, or all three.
Reporting. It may be time to find a new agency if you don’t get suitable information in this area.

Competitive Threats Between Different SEO Service Providers In Houston

Even if you and your existing agency have a decent relationship, you might still think that it’s time for you to fire them if there are any discrepancies between them and other potential agency alternatives:

Service discrepancies – Another agency might offer more thorough or modern services. It doesn’t make any sense to stay with an agency that doesn’t meet your needs any longer.
Pricing discrepancies – Many digital marketing agencies offer different price packages with similar if not the same products. Make sure to pick one that is charging according to your budget. Keep in mind that the agency that is charging a little bit more may provide better results.
A better fit emerges – You could come in contact with an SEO agency that has everything you are looking for in an agency. If this happens you should definitely consider.

Sometimes, an agency will fit better with your brand than another. It could be a combination of personnel, industry focus, services, and price. Whatever it happens to be, it is always worth exploring upgrades. If you are experiencing any of the signs discussed in this article, then it may be time for you to consider firing your SEO agency. If that is the direction you are leaning in, then be sure to check out your contract. There might be language in it that requires you to provide advance notice to the agency or might preclude you from ending the partnership prematurely without incurring a financial penalty. If you decide it is time to find an agency that will provide you with better results and takes the time to pay attention to your specific company, look no further. SEO Houston Pros are a great team of experienced digital marketers that have been named the best SEO company in Houston, time and time again.

To get started, call us or contact SEO Houston Pros. We invite you to visit our blog for more SEO tips and tricks!

Comparing The Differences: H1 Headers & SEO Titles

February 16, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

What Is The Difference Between The SEO Title and H1 Heading? SEO in Houston Tips

Writers have a tendency to put a lot of thought into their titles. Titles are very important for online content for both the search engines and readers. So that is why they are doubly important! You can get assistance from Houston SEO services if you need more assistance with this topic. If you are using WordPress and certain plugins, the post titles can be inserted into the post title input field. Doing this will make your title displayed at the top of the post as an H1 heading. You can also potentially improve and edit your SEO title as separate processes. Why is this so? What is the difference between the two? And how should your SEO title be edited? In this article, I will be explaining these things. You can get help from Houston SEO services if you need more assistance with this topic.

Two Input Fields

This is very obvious for some people, however, let’s look at where the two input fields can be found to put the post title in – which is the same thing as the H1 heading – and also the SEO title. In WordPress, you can find the input field for the post title in the post editor or at the top of the page.

The SEO title input field can be found in the plugin meta box, and this is right below the post input field. If you want to edit your SEO title, click the edit snippet button. That will cause the snippet preview to open. There are three input fields offered by the snippet preview. The input field is the first one that allows you to edit the SEO title. Below the input field hopefully, there will be a green bar. If you have a well-optimized SEO title it will be green. If it is red or orange you should work to improve it. There are also lots of strange % signs in the SEO title. Don’t let that alarm you, I will be covering that later on in the article.

Purpose of the SEO title and the Post Title

It is very important for you to understand that the purpose of your SEO title doesn’t need to have the same purpose that the title of your page or post does. Your post title is intended for individuals who are on your site already. It lets them know what your page or post is all about. On the other hand, your SEO title is intended for individuals who haven’t made it to your website yet. It is displayed in the search engines for people. It is the title of the snippet that Google shows – and that is why it appears in the snippet preview. Your SEO title’s purpose is to get people to click on your snippet, visit your website and then purchase your product or read your post.

What is done automatically by these plugins? Without needing to do anything, the plugin will automatically generate an SEO title that is based on your post’s title, which is the H1 heading. Your website’s name will also be put into your SEO title. If you don’t add the name of your website into your SEO title, Google does it for you. The plugins will ensure your title is not too long – if the title is too long then you will be notified.

You are able to set how your SEO title is generated in the plugin’s meta and title sections. When you do that, it will result in all of your post titles being generated exactly the same way. However, as we discussed above, it is also possible to separately edit your SEO title for a post. We will now explain when you might want to do this.

Should your SEO title be edited?

I personally don’t ever edit a post’s SEO title. I write my post and then select a title that is suitable for individuals who are on our website already, in addition to individuals who will read in the snippet that is displayed in the search results. The settings for generating titles automatically in a majority of plugin installs are fine.

If I want to make changes to my title, because perhaps I forgot to use my main keyword in my post title, I can always change the post’s title. Then the SEO title also changes. For this type of post, it works fine. However, if you are selling a product, the page or post tile may not be the SEO title to use. Maybe you want to mention the product price in the SEO title, without having included in your page H1. You will need to edit your SEO title in those cases.

How is the SEO title edited? What are those strange %% signs that are in the input field? What do you use them for?

Houston SEO Title Template

As previously discussed, the plugin generates the SEO titles automatically for you. The title template can be adapted according to your preferences in the meta and titles section of the plugin. This is where the %% signs come in. They are %%title%% signs or magic variables. The magic variables certain pieces of information and then they are combined to form your SEO title. When you type %%title%% into the SEO template’s input field, then your page or post title appears. The %%sep%% takes the separator sign you selected and then it is placed in your SEO title.

Get in touch with us or call now for more information on getting your campaign started!

Measuring Your Houston SEO Content Marketing Strategies

February 16, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

How The Success Of Your Content SEO Houston Strategy Can Be Measured

If you would like to measure how successful your SEO strategy has been, the first thing that you need to do is determine what your goals are for your strategy. A Houston SEO consultant can help you determine these goals. You need to know what the purpose is of your content SEO strategy! Are you looking to get more traffic? Do you want to get higher rankings?

To evaluate your overall Content SEO strategy, first, you need to define what success means for your business. After your goals have been established, you will be able to measure how successful your content SEO strategy is. In this article, I will be helping you with defining your goals and providing you with some tips on how to measure your goals as well as how successful your content SEO strategy is.

What is your ultimate goal?

When it comes to your SEO strategy, what would you really like to achieve? Many people will say that they would like to have higher rankings on Google. However, is really what they would like to achieve ultimately? Or would they like to attract more search engine traffic to their website? Maybe what they really want is to sell more of their products? Or to increase the number of their return visitors. These are all different goals, and every goal has different metrics for evaluating it.

Achieving higher rankings on Google for specific search terms most likely will result in more traffic to your website. However, that isn’t necessarily always the case. We used to rank very high for the term “Google Analytics.” A majority of people were searching for Google Analytics when typing that into the search bar. That is what their search intent was. Sl even though we had a really high ranking for a very competitive search term such as “Google Analytics,” we didn’t get a lot of traffic from it.

In a majority of cases, most people will want to receive more organic traffic for their website instead of higher rankings. If you have an e-commerce store, most likely you want to earn more money: you want to attract consumers to your website who have an intent to buy. That means your content SEO strategy needs to focus on attracting those consumers to your website

Your Content SEO Strategy Needs To Be Set Up To Fit Your Goals

After your goals have been defined and you know what you would like to accomplish with your content SEO strategy, your next step is to develop a strategy that fits your SEO goals and helps you achieve them. If you would like to achieve higher rankings for your articles, then you need to improve and update your best articles. If your goal is to attract increased traffic to your site, then you should think about using a long tail keyword strategy. If your goal is selling more products, then think of ways to attract consumers to your site.

How To Measure Your Goals

After your ultimate goal has been established, and your content SEO strategy has been developed, you can measure it. To know whether or not your content SEO strategy has succeeded, you will need to measure it twice at least. You will need to know how you were doing prior to your content SEO strategy kicking in and then you will need to do know how it has performed after it has been implemented. Let’s take a closer look at different goals and how they can be measured.

Higher Rankings

Take a look at your articles and see what their positions are. Which articles need to have an SEO boost and which ones are ranking fairly well? Write new content and rewrite old content that needs to be improved. Add links and some content SEO magic. Once some time has passed, check the rankings again. If some of your articles have higher rankings than before you implemented your content SEO strategy, then that means there has been an increase in your rankings. Google Search Console can be used to track your rankings.

Increased Traffic

If attracting increased traffic to your website is your goal, you need to focus on how many unique visitors you receive on a monthly or weekly basis. If there is an increase in organic traffic – visitors coming to your website by using a search engine, then your content SEO is succeeding. It means that more people are clicking on your snippets that are displayed in the search engines. Google Analytics can be used to track how many visitors your website is receiving.

Increased Sales

Increasing the number of sales that you make on your website might be the ultimate goal that you want to achieve with your content SEO strategy. It can be difficult to measure what your content SEO strategy’s direct effect is on your sales. It takes some time for a good content SEO strategy to take effect. However, there are many options on Google Analytics on how to attribute value to certain pages for sales.

Other Goals

There could be other goals that your SEO strategy is trying to achieve. You may want to get visitors to stay longer on your site and read more article. How much time is spent on your website is a metric that you will need to measure this. Maybe you would like for people to return to your website. To do that the number of return visitors will need to be measured. Another goal might be ensuring that visitors are able to find the information they are looking for on your website. That will help to reduce the number of calls that your call center gets. In this case, you will need to track how many phone calls you receive – before and after you have implemented your content SEO strategy.

Call us now or contact SEO Houston Pros today for more information on starting your campaign. Visit our blog to learn more about SEO in Houston!

Outbound Linking & Houston SEO Marketing

February 16, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

Understanding How Outbound Links Affect SEO

If you have a website, do you include outbound links when you write a new post? If not, you should. There is a common misconception that the only types of links that are valuable from an SEO standpoint are incoming links. As it turns out, however, outbound links can also positively impact your website when they are used correctly.

Based on our experience, adding outbound links is an important part of optimizing a website. That is why we encourage all of our customers to add these types of links to their content.

Houston SEO for Everybody

At this point, you are probably curious why we are so adamant about asking you to link to other sites from your own. As it turns out, there are quite a few different reasons. Linking to other sites that are related to your own helps create connections that search engines can use to better understand your content. When sites that are similar to one another link to each other, it helps make it easier for visitors to find relevant content. It also helps the search engines grasp what your posts are about, giving them a better idea of how they relate to other content on the Internet.

We are strong believers in the concept of SEO for Everyone. When websites support one another, they all perform better in the search engines. This enables smaller websites that have excellent content to rank higher in the search engines. As a result, the Internet becomes more diverse and the information that is available tends to be more helpful. Instead of being dominated by a few large companies, the search results provide a mixture of different types of content from a variety of sources, creating a better user experience.

Understanding How Outbound Links Impact SEO in Houston

There is a definite link between outbound links and SEO. The way that these types of links benefit your site is quite subtle. In essence, they provide your users with a better overall experience. This can encourage them to stay longer on your site and to visit more of your pages. Search engines reward content that users find engaging, meaning that you can get a boost in your search ranking by keeping your visitors happy.

If you are interested in Houston Internet marketing services, contact us or call today. We will get back to you right away to talk about any questions or concerns that you may have. You can also ask us questions directly through the comment form below this post. If you want to learn more about how our services can benefit your business, be sure to visit our testimonials page. We are excited about working with you to expand your company’s online reach.

When It Comes To Houston SEO & Outbound Linking: Here’s How

February 16, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

Houston Content Marketing: Information On Linking Entities To Content

Entities have become a major positive for search engines. What are entities? These can vary and are often spotted in the “Knowledge Graph” as being concepts, things, places, ideas, or people. However, there is more to it with search engines because each search term can be a unique entity. A good example would be the word “Apple” because it can be the fruit or the largest tech company in Silicon Valley. Both are separate entities but share the same search term. Therefore, it is the context that plays an important role in what the search engine puts in front of its users once the search is made. This is where linking entities becomes vital.

Semantics

Defining or applying “context” to each word is what semantics involves. For example, one could write about Apple and never once bring up the word. Even if the word isn’t present, a reader can still understand what it is talking about and that’s where the context matters. It can often be seen with commonly used words. Continuing with the example of Apple as an entity, we can assess the semantics of a search.

Let’s assume you pop into Google and search “Apple,” what is the first thing you are going to see? You are going to see the tech company pop up. However, why is that happening? Why does the tech company show up and not the actual fruit? What about other things that are listed as “Apple” including candies? Why are they not at the top of the rankings? It has to do with Google using your search history to determine what is best suited for your search. If you are searching tech topics and companies all the time, it’s a good guess to assume you were searching the tech company named Apple. Google can even start to look at co-occurring synonyms/phrases/keywords as a means to filter out pages you aren’t looking for.

What are Co-occurring Phrases?

These are phrases that are often seen being used to describe a specific entity. For example, Apple (tech company) might have phrases involving keywords such as tech, macs, computers, hardware. While co-occurring terms or phrases for apple (the fruit) would include things such as pies, farms, farmers, supermarkets, and recipes. Of course, this can be expanded with more and more terms that Google can pick up on.

All of these words can pop up under the label of “co-occurring phrases.” The goal is to semantically link up these entities with the content that is showing up even if the main keyword isn’t present (i.e. Apple). It is more finding synonyms and linking them to the main keyword but about related terms that would be used in the same sentence based on the context you’re using it in. If done right, this will ensure the right page is being indexed every single time a search is made. Search engines will use spiders/bots to go through these related terms to figure out what you could be searching.

Optimization of Phrase-Based Indexing

Google has taken a liking to phrase-based indexing over time and continues to apply for new patents as a way to enhance its present systems. The goal is to look at the value of co-occurrence and make sure it is applied the right way. This makes it easier to manage the plethora of topics that use the same search terms or phrases. Phrase-based indexing is reliant on making sure the retrieval of information is spot on and can be organized rapidly. As the context is assessed, the phrases can be indexed along with the entity as they related to each other. This helps Google recognize what the content has to offer and which entity it is connecting back to. Yes, it is one of the more complicated systems Google has been working on but the goal is to optimize everything. Most websites will be optimizing their content along these lines anyway (i.e. researching keywords and building content around them).

For those who write their content, you will often take the keyword and build content around it.The goal should always be to write content with purpose and make sure it is as relevant as possible. This is how the search engine will know what is being written about as soon as possible. It ensures there is no doubt about the content and what it is saying.

For example, if you are still talking about Apple (tech company), you want to make sure you are assessing various sources such as the Knowledge Graph, Wikipedia, and other relevant sources. You want to start looking for those co-occurring phrases or keywords that are going to work well with your content and its main keyword. You want to make sure the context is apparent. The best way to do this is to run a search of the term you want to rank for and look at the words they have used in their content. This is how you can start to link to the entity.

No LSI Keywords

Don’t look for LSI keywords because they don’t work out well with Google’s algorithm. You are not going to b providing context by using them. This has never worked and never will be based on the direction Google is going in. It doesn’t play a role in SEO.

With the help of a good Internet marketing company Houston has to offer, it’s possible to rank well and link entities properly.

Call or contact SEO Houston Pros today for further information. Visit our blog for more tricks and tips for Houston SEO!

A Closer Look At Blog SEO & How It Benefits Your Houston Business

January 11, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

Blogging SEO for Houston Businesses: Longtail Keywords

If you are looking for a great way to add some SEO to your blog, don’t overlook the longtail. This is a keyword strategy that can work well for driving traffic to your website over time and it also helps to keep your website in focus. In this article, we are going to talk about SEO for blogs and the importance of becoming friends with the longtail keyword.

Taking a Closer Look at Longtail Keywords

Chris Anderson is the author responsible for the term longtail keywords which has become so popular today. The book itself is “The Longtail” and Mr. Anderson does an excellent job of showing how it is possible to target any market with these types of phrases. The thing the most people don’t understand, however, is the fact that many of those markets are extremely small.

It is the overall size of the Internet that makes the niche product and the related post on your blog profitable. Since longtail keywords tend to be more specific and less frequently used than other keywords, they provide more of a focus on any niche. This post will talk more about SEO copywriting and the use of longtail keywords to your benefit.

A Primary Theme with Many Tails

The majority of blogs tend to focus on the primary topic, usually referred to as a head term or a primary keyword. For example, if you have a food about blogs, you may talk about restaurants, eating or recipes. Many family bloggers may talk about their life and children. This blog, on the other hand, is about search engine optimization and that is why it is an SEO blog. Every blog post that you see on this website is going to be about Houston SEO or a topic that is associated with optimization. It is our primary goal to rank for that keyword.

Although the main topic of your blog should be the focus, you need to ensure that more people are able to find you. Imagine that you had a blog that was fully dedicated to making Mexican food. Quite obviously, you would want to rank for the keyword “make your own Mexican food” and that is your primary focus.

At the same time, you would not want to continually focus every one of your blog posts on that same search term. Doing so would be redundant and could cause a wide variety of problems. It is a much better idea to consider all of the longtail possibilities that may be associated with your primary term and to write posts that are focused in that direction. You may talk about everything from tacos to enchiladas and burritos but all of them point back to your main category.

You might even want to consider using long tails even more. Perhaps you could write about some homemade soft tacos that your family absolutely loves or how to make the perfect salsa for your homemade corn chips. The sky is really the limit when it comes to keywords but you do need to do your research.

The Tail Links to the Head

If you are using a variety of longtail phrases, then you can use those pages to link to the primary category pages. This really gives a lot of additional weight to the best pages on your website which really form the cornerstone of your blog. Keep in mind, you always want to link properly from the tail to the head. It gives structure to your website and helps Google to follow that structure to the ultimate conclusion.

You want those primary web pages to rank highly in Google. For example, you may have written an in-depth and high-quality webpage on the best way to make tacos. You want to pull as much traffic as possible into that single webpage to attract new blog readers. Your longtail keywords on other blog posts will then link to that head page on the blog.

The Importance of Longtail Keywords for Blog SEO

There tend to be 2 different reasons why a blogger would focus on longtail keywords. It has to do with high conversions and easy rankings.

1. Quite simply, it is much easier to rank for a longtail keyword than for a head keyword because you are dealing with a lot less competition. When the longtail keywords are specific and contain multiple words in the phrase, it becomes easier to rank them in Google. The Internet is a very large place so your audience is going to grow as the Internet grows. When you use longtail keywords to focus on many related terms, you will see an increase in traffic.

2. You also benefit by focusing on longtail keywords because a single visitor would be more likely to become a regular visitor. They may even take the next step of subscribing to your newsletter! When you focus on precise and long search terms, you will find it much easier to convert people into regular visitors. When they type those longer terms into Google, they know exactly what they are looking for. One may find the solution on your website, you will then have a regular visitor. In other words, longtail keywords tend to be used by a more focused audience that are motivated to find what they want. That is why longtail keywords are so profitable.

Keep Writing for the Longtail

Bloggers can profit by focusing on writing for longtail keyword phrases. When you do it properly and link to your head pages, it can boost your traffic and bring in a whole new type of audience.

Another benefit of using longtail keywords is that it helps you to find fresh ideas for blogging. As you likely know, it can be challenging to come up with new subjects for blog posts. When you have a list of longtail variations at your disposal, however, those ideas will keep flowing. The only thing that is left for you to do is to keep writing.

For more examples of appropriate blog SEO, take a look at ours. If you have any questions or would like to get started on your new or existing business’ marketing campaign, give us a call or contact us today!

The Perks of Having Your Houston Business Google Guaranteed

January 11, 2018 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

Get The “Google Guarantee” On Your Home Service Ads

It was recently discovered by Google that some San Francisco area plumbers and locksmiths were abusing their home service ads. This resulted in Google announcing a new verification process which shows whether or not a company has been guaranteed by Google. The process will enable businesses to showcase their credibility and stand out compared to their competitors that haven’t been verified. The new advanced verification process may be the determining factor in a company receiving an individual’s business or not.

If you looked for a plumber on Google and didn’t recognize any names that were displayed, then you would contact one that Google had verified instead of one that wasn’t verified. It is just that simple. Whenever a person clicks on a Google guaranteed company, they will be taken to that business’s home service ad, which will include more details about why being Google guaranteed is valuable. That helps to even further increase a company’s credibility. Customers find the Google Guarantee attractive since it means these companies are insured and have been pre-screened. It also means the company needs to do the job right or give the customer a refund.

If your home service company is not Google guaranteed, then you basically are handing over revenue and valuable customers to your competition. Since the steps for getting Google guaranteed are quite simple, there is no need to do that. The process of getting the green checkmark for the “Google guarantee” involves answering questions from Google, and completing an application via a third-party verification service. The same process applies to locksmiths and plumbers that use AdWords.

Why should a locksmith get Google guaranteed?

Locksmiths, over the years, have had problems with getting involved in online scams. Basically, the locksmith scam involved something like this – An individual would call a bargain locksmith suggested by Google My Business or an Adwords ad. The call would then be redirected over to an offshore call center and somebody local would be sent out. The locksmith would drill the lock open and then hand the person a big bill. The online scams have made customers needing locksmith services wary. Google saw what was occurring and instituted its new guarantee process in order to reduce the number of online scams.

Now, whenever an individual searches on Google for a locksmith, they have the ability to call a trustworthy company. When they have the choice between calling two different locksmiths, the individual searching will call the one that Google has promised will do the job right or give them a refund. All the risk is eliminated and the customer is reassured that the locksmith will focus on providing quality service.

What gives Google guaranteed plumbers an advantage?

Just the thought of needing to call a plumber frequently gives people feelings of dread. They are overwhelmed with their plumbing problems already, in addition to being worried about things like a plumber being uninsured or unlicensed, overcharging for the services they provide or checking out their house for a potential burglary. These concerns are significantly reduced when a plumber gets their company Google guaranteed.

When the words “Google guaranteed” and small green checkmark are seen by a prospective customer, they can be assured that the plumber is trustworthy and credible. Similar to calling a locksmith, there will be a much greater chance that the customers will hire a verified plumber compared to one who isn’t. So your plumbing company is provided with instant value when it is Google guaranteed.

What are some other benefits associated with getting Google guaranteed?

One major benefit of getting Google guaranteed is your business will be one of the top search results on Google. That will ensure visibility for your company for anyone searching for a business in your industry and enables you to connect with prospective customers who are searching for the services you offer. The app can be used for managing leads, tracking bookings and replying to messages. It offers the convenience of having the ability to stay connected while you are on-the-go. For the home services industry, this is very important. Having the ability to personalize your profile and messages also provides your business with an extra edge.

One of the biggest advantages to having the Google guarantee is not only being contacted by customers who choose your profile instead of your competitors, but it also helps to keep you from having to waste resources and time. Your energy can also be focused on working with qualified leads instead of trying to convert people who aren’t ready right now.

If my company is Google guaranteed do I still need to use SEO?

Yes, absolutely! Let’s discuss the reasons why. When your business is Google guaranteed that doesn’t necessarily mean you will have the top rank in the search results. Only three Google guaranteed companies will show at the top of Google’s search results. All of the other companies will be on a list of top featured companies that can be clicked on. That is why is very important to be one of the top Google verified home service companies so that you stand out from your competition.

SEO is still absolutely critical if you would like your company’s rankings to get to the top of Google and the other major search engines. When you invest in SEO and get your company Google guaranteed, you will increase the ranking of your website and credibility of your business. This will result in your home service company enjoying an increase in sales and traffic. When a Google guaranteed is combined with good SEO it reinforces your company’s value. SEO helps your website rank higher in the search engines, and the Google guarantee helps to demonstrate your company’s credibility to customers.

Would you like help with getting a Google guarantee for your home services company? When you are Google guaranteed you can show your business and build a positive online reputation. You might feel overwhelmed trying to get everything in place in order to get verified. However, we are here to help you. We can get you pointed in the right direction and make sure you take all of the steps that you need to take. Our industry-leading Houston internet marketing company can work closely with you to make sure your company gets Google guaranteed and reaches its goals.

To get started, call us or contact SEO Houston Pros. We invite you to visit our blog for more SEO tips and tricks!

SEM & SEO in Houston : What’s The Difference?

November 27, 2017 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

The Differences Between Search Engine Marketing (SEM) & Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in Houston

The terms search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) are often used interchangeably when referring to digital marketing strategies involving search engines. Because of this, many business owners and marketers believe they are the same. While they share some similarities, however, SEM and SEO are two unique methodologies with different characteristics.

SEO Is A Part of SEM

SEM is a broad term that encompasses all forms of digital marketing in which the primary goal is to increase a website’s visibility in the search engines. That includes SEO, pay-per-click (PPC) marketing and other forms of digital promotion involving the search engines. SEO, on the other hand, refers specifically to the use of on-page and off-page processes with the goal of increasing a website’s ranking in the search results. So, SEO is a part of SEM.

Understanding SEO

The primary objective of SEO is to achieve a higher organic rank in the search engines for one or more keywords. The owner of a website that sells custom engagement rings, for instance, may want to rank for keywords such as “custom engagement rings,” “custom wedding rings” and “personalized wedding rings.” Anyone searching for these keywords will presumably be interested in buying a custom engagement ring from the owner’s site. Therefore, the owner optimizes his or her website to rank for these keywords. SEO is a tricky subject, however, because of the tight-lipped nature of search engines. While Google has revealed some of the factors it uses to determine where websites rank, it has not shown its exact algorithm. Of course, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. If Google disclosed its ranking algorithm, webmasters would know how to manipulate their search rankings. There are still ways to encourage higher search rankings, and that’s the basis of SEO. It involves building backlinks on relevant and authoritative websites, as well as publishing high-quality content and performing other on-page optimization processes.

Benefits of SEO

SEO offers several benefits, one of which is the simple fact that it’s free (or almost free). Unlike PPC channels like Google AdWords or Bing Ads, you don’t have to pay for traffic generated from SEO. Once your website begins to rank high, you’ll create targeted traffic that doesn’t cost a dime. That is in stark contrast to PPC traffic, which charges advertisers by the click. You’ll still have to pay for website hosting, domain registration, and other traditional website expenses, but the traffic generated from SEO is entirely free. Users also trust organic search listings more than paid listings. Any company can buy an ad placement for its website, but only those deemed worthy by the search engines will rank high organically.

Furthermore, users are more likely to click organic search listings than paid listings. According to Search Engine Land, organic listings receive 70% of all clicks, whereas paid listings earn just 30%. Again, this is probably attributable to the fact that users trust organic listings more than paid listings.

Understanding SEM

The primary goal of SEM is to achieve greater visibility in the search engines. That typically involves SEO as well as PPC. All of the major search engines offer PPC advertising, including Google, Bing, and Yahoo. One way to get your website listed in the search engines is to optimize it using SEO. An alternative method, however, is to create a PPC ad. Using AdWords or Bing Ads, you can create text ads for your website that appear in the search results and choose the keywords to trigger these ads. The only time you’ll be charged is when someone clicks one of your ads. Because it involves PPC, SEM requires a more substantial monetary investment than SEO. That is why some online entrepreneurs stick with SEO. If you have the resources, though, investing in SEM can prove far more lucrative and beneficial than using only SEO.

Benefits of SEM

SEM is a versatile, robust digital marketing strategy that allows businesses to strengthen their presence in the search engines. Combining PPC and SEO will enable you to display your website in multiple locations. In addition to an organic listing, you’ll also have a paid listing. If your site sells physical products, you can create three listings for the same keyword by creating an AdWords Shopping campaign as well. By consuming more digital estate, SEM can offset some of the costs associated with PPC. Depending on the competition, PPC advertising typically costs S1 to $3 per click. If you generate 500 clicks, you’ll have to pay $500 to $1,500. If you get 5oo clicks from PPC and 5oo from SEO, however, you are essentially getting twice the traffic for the same price.

SEM also delivers fast results. It can take over a year to achieve a high, stable search ranking through SEO. In comparison, PPC ads are almost instant. After you’ve created a PPC ad, Google will review it to ensure it doesn’t violate its guidelines. Assuming it looks good, your ad will go live. This entire process usually takes less than 24 hours.

Furthermore, SEM guarantees your website will appear for a specific keyword. You can spend countless hours optimizing your site for a keyword, only to discover little to no change in its search ranking. If Google believes other sites are more relevant and provide a better user experience, it will rank them higher than your website. Thankfully, this isn’t a problem with PPC. If you’re willing to bid high enough, you can display your site at the top of the search results for your target keywords.

The Bottom Line on SEM vs. SEO

So, should you use SEM or search engine optimization in Houston to promote your website? SEM is more potent than SEO, both for digital marketing strategy and to achieve more targeted traffic. With that said, not everyone has the about the budget or time for SEM. If you’re just getting your feet wet with digital marketing and not willing to invest any serious money into it, SEO can still help you achieve your goals.

Call or contact SEO Houston Pros to learn more about starting your SEM or SEO campaign.

Using Houston SEO With Social Media Marketing To Improve Lead Generation

October 12, 2017 By SEO Houston Pros Leave a Comment

Combining Social Media and SEO To Make An Impact On Your Internet Marketing

Whether you’re a marketing professional or a business owner, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with all of your possible lead generation tools. Social media happens to be one of those tools that many newcomers overlook. When combined with search engine optimization techniques the results improve dramatically. The key is to fully understand what your audience wants to know and then integrating the proper keywords.

If you are a business owner, then you can make this job much easier by working with a professional Houston lead generation team. In the meantime, here are some guidelines for choosing adequate keywords.

Understand All Possibilities.

Take a moment to ask some of your friends or associates what keywords they might search if they were looking for the products or services that your company offers. Your familiarity with your own industry might lead you to overlook some commonly used terms. For example, you may know what people “should” search if they want to find your business, but that’s rarely what they actually do search. Customers often use vague or generic search terms. You need to consider all of these possibilities when choosing what words to optimize for.

Listen To What Google Says.

Google provides business owners with a fairly reliable tool for researching keywords. The tool will provide you with suggestions according to a primary word that you enter. In addition to the Google research tool, you may find some other free keyword tools beneficial as well.

Take full advantage of these tools. Keyword research is extremely important and will have a significant impact on the ROI of the time you invest.Analyze Your Site.

Analyze Your Site.

An analysis is extremely important, but many people struggle to learn what is worth analyzing. There’s so much data that it can be an extremely daunting task. The best place to start your analyzing is on your own website. What keywords are you already ranking for on search engines? That includes engines other than Google as well, such as Bing or Yahoo. If you’re ranking highly for certain keywords, then you should move them into your social media strategy as well.

Analyze The Competition.

Another important source of data is your competition. If it’s working for your competitors, then it can likely work for you as well. Use Google to find out what keywords your competitors are ranking for. Take those keywords an integrate them into your social media strategy.

Furthermore, you can learn a lot from their networks. If you dig into their social media presence you might find followers, fans, customers, and groups. Those are the people that may one day be your customers. Keep that in mind and try to find out what appeals to them.

Don’t Forget The Help From A Local SEO Company In Houston

As a business owner, attempting to manage your own social media campaign, SEO strategy, and lead generation efforts can be overwhelming. Especially considering that you need to run your business at the same time. Consider working with our Houston lead generation professionals instead. They will work closely with your SEO and your SMM efforts to ensure that you get the best possible results. That leaves you free to work on the many other important aspects involved with running a business.