 |
Building
Websites That Can Actually be Found |
Contact Us | Our Company | Home |
| 510.523.7312 |
| HOME | BLOG | SOLUTIONS | PORTFOLIO | TESTIMONIALS | ARTICLES |
 |
MJS Blog |
|
|
| Thoughts :: Opinions :: Trends | |
|
|
Monday, July 30, 2007
All is not lost. Welcome Site Search. If a website doesn’t have their own search engine, use Google’s (or Yahoo’s, or MSN). For example, lets say I’m looking for “optimization services” on mjswebsolutions.com, you would type this string into the Google’s search bar: “site:www.mjswebsolutions.com optimization services” Google will only search the site you specified. NOTE: Site Search (or Domain Search) will only find words that are indexed by the search engine you are using. If the search engine hasn’t indexed those words or the site, you’re out of luck. Other Search Site Options
Add a Custom Search Engine to Your Website If you’re reading this and you have your own website without a search feature, Google now offers Custom Search. Many other companies offer plug-and-play site search programs too. Mike Swartz says, “Check it out”.  Posted by: Michael Swartz at 8:40 am Comments: None | Filed under: Web General Monday, July 23, 2007
I just sold another item on eBay with great results…I got the price I wanted. How? By doing my research. Research the Competition - Get the Highest Price Before you post an item to sell on eBay, check out the competition. First, type in the item your selling. Check out the prices of like items you’re selling. Also review some of the listings. How do they title their listing? What words do they use? What kind of description do they give? Is it detailed? Do they include pictures? Etc. Unfortunately these are items that are selling, not SOLD. It would be better to know the prices of sold items. We can. When performing your competitor search, on the left margin under “Search Options”, check the Completed listings box. A list of sold items will appear. Now you can better gauge how much to price your item. Review the ads that garnered top price. When did the auction close? What keywords were in the title? Were there pictures? How many? Etc. Use this information in your own ad and I guarantee you’ll get a higher return on your items. Get Your Website Higher in the Search Engines - Research the Competition You can use this same approach when trying to get your website higher in the search engines. Check out your competition. How? Type in the keywords you want to optimize for in the search engines. These are your competitors. Go to their website. Are the keywords you typed in on their website? How many? What other keywords are they using? What websites are linked (backlinks) to their website? Etc. Apply this information into your own website. Really…the only way you’re going to get higher in the search engines or get the highest price on eBay is if you beat the competition. What better way than to beat them at their own game. Posted by: Michael Swartz at 6:14 pm Comments: 2 Comments | Filed under: Web General, SEO Monday, July 16, 2007
There is a lot of talk about website usability, but I’m unsure people really understand what it means. It basically means: is the website usable? Having Trouble? I was getting an error while trying to login to our online registry at Williams-Sonoma. Well right next to the login area and on the same page is a telephone number in case you are “Having trouble accessing your registry”. I was, so I called and got a representative right away who helped solve my problem. That, my friends, is usability. Website Usability Placing the telephone number and stating why the telephone number was there is brilliant (and useful) web design. It it hadn’t of been there, I would have had to hunt down throughout the site looking for the number and then route back to the registry page once I began speaking to customer support. A lot of time, effort and sanity was saved thanks to a small decision to add the contact number right next to the login page. I got off the phone a happy and satisfied customer. If you have a telephone number, don’t hide it from your customers. Display it in areas where it will be helpful and useful to them. Posted by: Michael Swartz at 8:14 am Comments: None | Filed under: Web Design Monday, July 9, 2007
Searching for local businesses on Google you will find at the top of the search results a few businesses listed along with their addresses and maps to their business. (e.g. type in “auto repair alameda” into Google). What you’ll also find in the search results are listings to ’social networking’ sites. Google seems to be placing more emphasis on these websites lately. (On a side note…you need to be a good searcher to be a great SEO expert.) Social Networking Sites We’ve all heard of the popular social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, but other social networking sites are focusing on a local level and can give your business the exposure it needs.
The reason why theses sites work for SEO and why Google likes them is because they’re genuine and most people searching for “auto repair in alameda” are not necessarily looking for one particular shop. They’re looking for many shops and may (and will) do comparison shopping. If you’re business is not within the list to compare, you’re potential customers won’t have a reason to call. Simple as that. Mike Swartz says, “Check ‘em out”. Posted by: Michael Swartz at 11:50 am Comments: None | Filed under: SEO Monday, July 2, 2007
We’re back! It’s been an amazing past few months. We’ll first off…I got married on May 12, the day we first met 6 years ago. Justine and I got married in Alameda at the First Presbyterian Church. Jack Buckley was the kind gentleman who married us. Thank you Jack. We spent our reception on the San Francisco Bay exploding to the KABOOM fireworks where Justine and I met for the first time. It was the best day of my life! Thank you everyone! You made our dream come true. Now back to business… Another reason for not contributing to my blog recently is that my workload here at MJS has been off the charts. I have not been able to devote enough quality time to my blog. Customers came first. I’m sure you understand and I thank you for tuning in.
Since my time becomes more valuable each day and I need to stay on top of the SEO world (I used to visit Threadwatch exclusively, but it just recently shut down), I setup an add-on to Firefox called Sage. It’s an RSS reader that pulls specific data you choose (to a certain extent) to view from your favorite sites and lists all that content into one place. (This is the true definition of an RSS reader). Now I can surf the internet and view all the latest SEO headlines from one place. A great time saver! Mike Swartz says, “Check it Out”. Posted by: Michael Swartz at 7:49 am Comments: None | Filed under: Web General, Computer, Personal |
|
Posts by Categories
Subscribe
Twitter UpdatesFacebook ProfileCurrently ReadingCurrently ListeningLinksSearch Blog PostsPrevious Posts
Posts by Month
|
|
||||
|
||||||||
A lot of websites I visit do not have a search feature. Sometimes I know exactly what I’m looking for and want to find it immediately by doing a search on their website.
Hello.
Hello.
I write a lot about 
Saving Time With Sage
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||