According to Google, “…we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”

Google will continue to use other factors in ranking search results, so high quality content pages which are not mobile-friendly, could still get a high ranking. Rankings are page-level, and mobile-friendly pages on a site will get higher rankings than non-mobile-friendly pages.

The rollout begins on April 21st, and will take approximately one week for all sites to be indexed by Google. Every time a website is crawled and indexed, Google will determine its mobile-friendliness. Pages can be tested using this mobile-friendly testing tool from Google.

Use Powerful Images
We’ve all heard a picture is worth a thousand words, and this is equally true for web design. People spend more time and give more clicks on sites with strong visual imagery. The right photo, chart or infographic can tell a story as well as any words. Just make sure you don’t overload your site with bandwidth intensive graphics which impede the user experience. Instead, pick one or two relevant images that convey your message and connect with your customers.

Employ Responsive Design
This is a must! Responsive web design adapts automatically to the user’s viewing environment, whether it be a desktop, laptop, phone or tablet. Responsive design gives the same user experience regardless of how or where the information is viewed. By using a “begin with the end in mind” approach (a good philosophy for any endeavor in life, not just web design!), you first design your website for mobile access – tablets and phones – and then work your way to a laptop and desktop. This is especially important if mobile devices are how your customers most often get online.

Flatten Your Design
Microsoft, Google and Apple all do it, so why don’t you? We’re talking about flat web design. Shiny buttons and drop shadows which were once all the rage are now outdated. A simple, classic esthetic is what flat design is all about. The user experience is the focus, not flashy buttons and network rich images. Simplicity does not mean boring. Blocks of color can be used to great effect, text should be clear and obvious with links and buttons easy to find and click. Flat design works well as a responsive design and looks good across all platforms.

Include White Space
In the visual arts world white space is known as negative space, the area on a page left blank and free of text and images. White space gives our eyes a place to pause and rest, much needed in today’s over stimulated world. Sometimes less is more, and for the end user a site with less stimulation can draw their attention quicker than a site over-packed with graphics, photos, charts, videos, maps, buttons, links and text.

Interact With Your Visitors
Static, passive web pages may be good at presenting data, but do they engage your website’s visitors? Interactive elements serve a dual purpose – they give your visitors something to do on the website, while allowing you to collect data that can help improve and increase your business. Interactive elements can be as simple as requesting an email address in exchange for a reward (an ebook, video, coupon), to answering a poll to providing feedback, ratings and reviews. If you want to know what your customers want and need, give them a way to tell you. One caveat – don’t let interactivity impede the overall user experience. The last thing you want to do is turn off a customer because of a cumbersome process. Allow interactivity, but do not force it on your visitors.

With a few simple changes, you can create a new look and feel for your website and provide additional value to your customers.

With that in mind, here are some current design trends and their impact on your SEO.

Parallax is a single scrolling page web design that has become increase popular in recent years.  The pros are the improved visual interface and less clicking and navigating as all content is on a single page.  The cons are graphic rich designs which can be slow to load and users may get lost with all the scrolling.  There is also a negative effect on SEO, as all the content is on one page and does not allow for links to multiple URLs.

Responsive design sites are built to allow visitors to have the same user experience regardless of which device they use to connect.  As today’s users could be looking at your site on their phone in the morning, laptop midday and tablet in the evening, you want to have a site that easily works regardless of how someone connects.   Separate sites for different devices may trigger a message to user’s that the site is not designed for their mobile device and consistently updating duplicate content could be problematic.  A single site for all content is a definite advantage when it comes to SEO.  

Fixed navigation makes it easy from a user perspective, as they can easily click to navigate back to any part of the website.  There is no real drawback from an SEO perspective, but fixed navigation may have issues with some mobile devices.  On the other end of the spectrum is off-screen navigation which uses a symbol (three horizontal lines) to represent the navigation menu. Again, there is no negative SEO consequences, but if users don’t know this is how to access the navigation menu, they may get frustrated and move on to another site.  

Keeping your customers in mind when designing a site and creating the user experience is where you should focus your efforts.  Within this framework, you can then figure out how to best implement SEO, along with the other elements that create online success, such as social media, marketing and good old fashion client engagement.

Just where did this spam fighting algorithm come from and why so many updates? Let’s briefly go over when the releases happened and what was the impact of each.

Google’s overall search algorithm is monitored by Penguin. If you are in a situation where you have noticed a drop in traffic, then it’s time to take a look at your site. Bad links and poor quality sites are going to be red flagged, therefore you will have to improve your site. Until Penguin sees the content is removed, you are going to have a problem. The best way to avoid this problem is to check your content and links.

Here are ten tips that will give you a boost on your SEO without having to do anything too complicated.

These ten tips are going to help you on your way to Youtube success, but also SEO as well.  Google has identified that people love videos, so what better way that to take your business and get it on Youtube.

The challenges of a fast growing E-Commerce market where companies are going to face obstacles and opportunities to develop even better is rapid approaching. Social media is being analyzed for a method to “crack the code” so to speak that will leverage social media into driving more traffic. Social media plays a huge fact in E-Commerce traffic, but at what cost will test the loyalty of the major brands?

If you are not familiar with WordPress and all of the features it can offer, now is the perfect time to check it out. WordPress is changing the world with the functionality, features, and the great support system from the WordPress community.

Once you make a few changes, you will be able to start keeping track of your search traffic. Be sure to take notes to see what is working, and what might still need alterations.

When people find your business because they are searching for your product or service, the ability to make a sale or recruit members is much easier. If you have a small business, you know the importance of gaining these targeted leads. Where is the best place to find targeted leads? The Internet, of course. Search engine technology and search engine optimization, or SEO, utilize keywords to match consumers with your product. Of course, your goal is to get your website on the first page of Google’s results pages. This article will elucidate how you can use YouTube to make that happen.

1. Embed video on your site. There are numerous videos on YouTube, and many are related to your business. Take the time to search for videos that match the theme of your product or service; try “how to” videos or reviews. When you find some that fit, check the permission information for using these videos on your website or landing pages. By using a video in this manner, your conversion rate can jump significantly (reportedly up to ten times).

2. Create your own YouTube page with video. By creating video for your product, you begin your own YouTube page. This is where all your videos will be stored. Place keywords in the title of your video as well as in the tags. When doing this, brainstorm as many terms or phrases as you can think of that people might use in their search. In the description section, you should write about 300 words, making sure to use the title’s keywords in the description at least three times. The first and the last thing you should include is your website address. This will show up as an active hyperlink; visitors who find your YouTube page will then be able to click through to your homepage. In fact, one in five visitors will like your content enough to make the jump to your website in this manner.

3. Link YouTube with your social media pages. Use your social media pages in concert with each other. When visitors are able to find you through these links, you are building brand awareness.

4. Use the flexibility of YouTube to your advantage. Unlike Twitter or Facebook, YouTube allows its users to customize their page. Use this opportunity to tailor your page with background images, buttons, video categories, and order buttons. When used in conjunction with social media, all can be very powerful conversion points.

5. Generate continuous content. If you have the ability to update your YouTube page weekly, you will have a chance at generating a nice following, especially that of a younger demographic. Pay attention to your audience’s interests and respond to their questions, comments and preferences. Like many mediums, you need to keep a close eye on behavior to make this tool perform as you like.