How To Do SEO For SearchGPT

Face it: AI isn’t leaving – no matter how much we hate it. So, what can we do now? Optimizing your website for ChatGPT is increasingly important these days if you want to stay competitive. With so many people using AI for quick answers, making sure your site is friendly for these tools can boost your visibility big time. By structuring your content clearly and including relevant keywords, you make it easier for ChatGPT to pull accurate information from your site. This means more accurate and helpful responses for users, leading to more traffic to your site. Plus, having well-organized, AI-optimized content can improve your overall search engine ranking. In a nutshell, a little effort in optimization goes a long way in staying ahead of the curve. Direct Online Marketing has even launched AI Marketing Services ourselves. Read on to learn about how you can optimize your content to appear more within AI Search Results.

How To Optimize Your Website For ChatGPT…. And How To Use ChatGPT To Optimize Your Website

As OpenAI preps to launch their own competitor to Google, the concept of optimizing your website for ChatGPT or the OpenAI search engine becomes even more important. Below is our detailed information on how to do SEO for ChatGPT, whether you are a novice or an advanced web user. The most important thing to remember through all of this is:

Why should YOUR website be considered an authority?

On that note, continue on to learn more about how you can optimize your website for ChatGPT and the OpenAI Search Engine competitor to Google.

How Can I Optimize My Website? A Quick Guide

First, The Basics: How To Optimize Your Website?

“But, how do I optimize my website?” you may be asking. If you haven’t even started SEOing your website the old fashioned way, you may be getting ahead of yourself trying to understand SEO for ChatGPT and the new OpenAI search/AI system they are calling 4o.

So, let’s quickly cover How To Optimize Your Website

How Do You Do SEO For Your Website?

Optimizing your website for Google search – and other search engines – involves several key strategies that enhance content and technical aspects through updates to your site’s code, content, and structure.

First, you need to make sure your content is high-quality, relevant, and keyword-optimized. This is key!

Conduct thorough keyword research to understand what terms your target audience is using and incorporate these naturally into your content.

Use compelling titles, meta descriptions, and headers to make your content more appealing to search engines and users.

Regularly updating your content to keep it fresh and relevant also plays a crucial role in maintaining and improving your search rankings.

“How Do I Optimize My Website For SEO?” – Technical Talk:

On the technical side of things, make sure that your website is mobile-friendly and loads quickly, as these factors significantly impact your search rankings. The slower the site – the worse your traffic will be, the worse your rankings will be, and the worse your conversions will be. Speed is essential.

Implementing clean, efficient code and using responsive design principles can improve user experience and search engine visibility.

Additionally, optimize your website’s structure with a clear hierarchy and internal linking, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index your pages.

Using tools like Google Search Console can help you monitor your site’s performance and identify any issues that need addressing.

So, now that you have the basics on how to optimize your website, lets ask the big question… How Do You Do SEO For ChatGPT?

How To Use ChatGPT For SEO?

Using ChatGPT for SEO opens up new ways to streamline content creation and keyword research.

ChatGPT can generate optimized content, such as blog posts, meta descriptions, and product descriptions, that integrate relevant keywords naturally. By inputting prompts with specific topics and target keywords, ChatGPT can deliver content that ranks well while maintaining readability. Additionally, it can assist in ideation by offering suggestions for new content topics based on trending keywords or gaps in existing content. This allows marketers to develop high-quality, SEO-friendly content quickly.

Another powerful way to use ChatGPT in SEO is through automating repetitive tasks like updating title tags or generating variations of content for A/B testing. ChatGPT can create multiple iterations of meta tags, titles, and headings, enabling easy testing to find what works best for SEO performance. It also supports competitive analysis by reviewing content from competitors and providing insights on how to improve your own site’s SEO strategy.

How To Optimize Your Website For ChatGPT

How To Do SEO For ChatGPT?

AI is finally here, and it is named ChatGPT. And it’s smart. Wicked smart.

Gone are the days of AOL Instant Messenger chatbots – today’s AI is intelligent, witty, and well-read. 

Coming up in AI responses to queries, especially those from ChatGPT, is increasingly becoming a focus for SEOs and digital marketers this year. But how do you optimize your website for ChatGPT and other AI bots?

In this article, we will go right to the artificial intelligence engine itself, as well as provide some general tips for search engine optimization that can help future-proof your website for the new advancements in AI that are around the corner.

Where Does ChatGPT Get Its Data?

Currently, ChatGPT does not scour the web on it’s own – it is fed data, and it uses that data to learn. While that data IS from the Internet and many websites, it is currently out of date (it is from 2021), but it is in the process of being updated soon with current 2023 data.

When this happens, it will take the information it was fed and update its answering capabilities, including references to websites within its search and query results. 

“The training data for ChatGPT was cut off in 2021, so it is up to two years outdated as of 2023. However, it still has a vast amount of information on a wide range of topics, and its training data includes text from diverse sources such as websites, books, and articles, which provides a broad base of general knowledge. But it is important to keep in mind that some information and events that have taken place since the training data was cut off might not be reflected in its responses.”

ChatGPT

The current understanding is that if you rank well for various queries in the new set of data and the continuous flow of data following, you will show up more frequently in the results ChatGPT gives to its users.

But how can you do that?

How To Do SEO for ChatGPT

According to the prompt I asked ChatGPT in the development of this article…

“As ChatGPT is an AI language model developed by OpenAI, it is not possible to optimize a website specifically for it. However, here are a few general tips for creating a website that is friendly for language models and search engines:

How To Optimize For ChatGPT

1. Again, just like we said above – use clear, concise, and well-structured content: This will help language models and search engines understand the content on your website and provide more accurate and relevant results.
2. Utilize headings and subheadings: This makes it easier for language models and search engines to understand the structure of your content.
3. Include relevant keywords: Use keywords relevant to your content in your headings, subheadings, and throughout your content to help search engines understand the topic of your website.
4. Provide high-quality, original content: Search engines and language models prefer websites with high-quality, original content over sites with low-quality or duplicate content.
5. Make sure your website is easily accessible: Ensure that your website is easily accessible to both users and search engines by avoiding broken links and fixing technical issues.

These tips can help ensure that your website is well-structured, easily understood, and provides a positive user experience, which can improve its overall visibility and ranking in search engine results.”

ChatGPT, 7/30/2024

Sure, we believe you.

To Optimize For AI, Optimize For Voice Search

One of the clearest understandings we have regarding the information given back by ChatGPT is how much it seems to prefer natural human language, and when questions are both Asked and Answered within the content. This presents strategies akin to how an SEO or webmaster may optimize their website for voice assistants, like Google Home and Amazon Alexa. 

“Optimizing your website for AI tools like ChatGPT is crucial in today’s digital landscape. By structuring content clearly and incorporating relevant keywords, businesses can enhance their online visibility, ensuring that AI-driven platforms accurately represent their information and connect them with the right audience.” – Billy Wright, Lead Digital Marketing Strategist at Direct Online Marketing.

How Do You Optimize Your Website For Voice Search?

Here are some tips on how to best optimize your website for voice search and voice assistants.

Use conversational language: Voice search queries tend to be more conversational and longer than text-based searches, so use language that is natural and easily understood.

Optimize for local search: Voice search is often used for local queries, so make sure your website is optimized for local search by including your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) on your website.

Utilize structured data: Use schema markup to help search engines understand the content on your website, including your business’s NAP and information about products and services.

Provide quick answers: Voice search is often used to find quick answers to questions, so make sure your website provides concise and accurate answers to common queries.

Make sure your website is mobile-friendly: Many voice searches are conducted on mobile devices, so it’s important to make sure your website is mobile-friendly and easily accessible on all devices.

By following these little tips, you can help improve your website’s visibility in voice search results and provide a better user experience for voice search users.

Get more tips from our team on how to optimize for voice search by checking out this resource, How to Optimize for Voice Search.

How Do You Use ChatGPT As A Search Engine? – The Future Of SearchGPT

Will ChatGPT replace Google in the future? It’s the question many webmasters, digital marketers, and SEOs keep asking – but no one really knows what’s in store. ChatGPT has its own canned response to questions about it’s future as a potential search engine, stating, 

“While OpenAI may choose to develop other models with web crawling capabilities in the future, ChatGPT itself is not designed to crawl the web.” 

ChatGPT

For an SEO like me? That’s doublespeak for Coming Soon.

UPDATE: It did come soon.

In fact, ChatGPT Search now exists and it delivers results very similar to Google, but not the same as Google.
And guess what? You can do SEO for it….

A Digital Marketing Agency That Does SEO For SearchGPT

For more information on how you can get your website optimized with AI Marketing Services, contact us today.

Note: This article was updated January 15, 2025 to include new information including a link to Direct Online Marketing’s AI Marketing Services page.

The post How To SEO Your Website For ChatGPT In 2025 appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

When your website loading speed is slow, your page load times can affect every metric that matters to you.

Gone are the days of dial-up Internet when the average load time for a page was eight seconds. That might not seem like a lot, but for visitors to your site, it can feel like an eternity.

Consider that in an age where our time and attention is limited, users are less likely to bounce from websites that load quickly. No matter what kind of content your website serves, — e-commerce, informational, SaaS, etc.— its success is affected by site speed.

In this article, we cover how to tell if your website is just too slow.

Why You Should Care About Website Loading Speed

Site speed matters because a faster website makes you more money.

As mobile technology and Internet connections continue to improve, the average person browsing the Internet has high expectations for load speed.

A Note About U.S. vs. Global Site Speeds

If the majority of your prospects and customers reside within the contiguous United States (excluding Hawaii and Alaska), load times will generally be consistent. However, a lot can impact someone’s load times, including their connection speed (cable, mobile data, fiber optics, etc.), distance from servers, the capacity of your hosting, and more. For smaller businesses, it is important to fully vet your hosting situation’s details, such as location. Here’s a list of hosting solutions for small businesses that might be helpful to begin your journey.

More importantly, your site speeds will vary across the world. If you’re in the U.S. and serve people all over the world, you need to assume that their load time, depending on location, is going to be much longer than you see at home.

Most often, think of  Africa and many parts of Asia. Internet is slower in many of these places and a large number of users are accessing the web via their mobile devices. If you have ever spent extended periods in an area with less than ideal data coverage, you’ve probably noticed that download speeds are far from consistent.

And if you’re in China, the Great Firewall can put a major damper on speed.

How a Slow Website Impacts Your Bottom Line

In one study, over a quarter of participants stated they would abandon a webpage that takes four or more seconds to load. Additionally, a one-second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.

To get a better sense of how that one-second delay impacts your bottom line, let’s suppose you have an e-commerce store that, on average, pulls in $100,000 a day. With a 7% reduction in conversions, this translates to a $2.5 million loss in sales per year.

Ouch.

How Does Pagespeed Impact Conversions?

If that’s not enough of a reason for you to think site speed is important, consider the following:

1. 20% — The percentage of shoppers that will abandon their shopping cart if they perceive the pages as being too slow. (Source)
2. $1.6 Billion — The revenue lost per year, per second of site speed decline according to Amazon’s internal testing. (Source)
3. Eight million — The number of searches that Google has calculated it would lose per day if search results were to load just 0.4 seconds slower. (Source)
4. 15.4% — The decrease in downloads reported by Firefox when average load time increases by 2.2 seconds. (Source)

Website Load Test: How To Measure Website Speed

There are multiple ways to perform a website load test:

1. Use one (or more) free online tool(s) to measure the speed of a single page – like Google PageSpeed Insights or Pingdom, for instance
2. Use a tool to measure the speed of every page (or a group of pages) on a website

But first and foremost, there is an even easier way to measure your site’s speed based on its performance: user and employee feedback.

Regularly requesting feedback is one of the best methods for understanding if your site is loading so slowly that you must take action. If your website is slow, customers and employees should be encouraged to speak up if they experience long load times.

It might not be a bad idea to use a service like Google Surveys to gain insights into your customers’ true feelings about your website. This tool can be invaluable when seeking market research to drive business decisions.  Tons of other choices for survey software exist if you’re looking for more advanced features.

How to Measure Page Speed

Many free tools across the internet can give you a good idea of how your website loading speed performs. The downfall of these tools is almost always the same — although they are accurate, they do not allow you to test more than one URL at a time.

However, these types of tools are helpful if you already know what pages frequently have long load times or if you want to benchmark performance before applying site-wide optimizations.

Many of these tools also give very helpful readouts that may help diagnose the cause of page load issues and some even go as far as to recommend actions you can take

Here is a list of the tools that we recommend for testing a single page’s speed:

1. Google’s PageSpeed Insights
2. Google’s Lighthouse
3. Pingdom Website Speed Test
4. GTmetrix
5. WebPage Test

How to Measure Website Loading Speed

After using one or more of the tools above, you should now have data that indicates just how slow certain pages are loading.

But what if you don’t have a list of frequent offenders for slow load times. How do you figure out what those pages are, and to what extent does their page speed impact your site?

To answer these questions, we would recommend utilizing tools that bulk analyze the pages on your site. Here are two and how to use them:

1. Batch Speed

Batch speed is a bulk page speed checker that relies on Google’s Page Speed API. To get the most out of this tool, we recommend using an XML sitemap generator to generate a sitemap for your website (if you don’t already have one on your website) or using a tool like Screaming Frog to generate a list of your website’s URLs.

You can use a sitemap or URL list as input to the bulk page speed checker. Here are the results of a batch speed test for our own site:

The details section of each page can be expanded to see how each detected issue contributes to the page’s load time.

2. Google Analytics

Google Analytics (GA) has a site speed section that can be helpful if you know what you are doing. You can find this section by logging into GA and navigating to Behavior > Site Speed > Page Timings. Here you will find a chart like the one below:

At first glance, this is very valuable information, but if you compare any of the timings found in GA with those found in any one of the five tools for measuring individual page speeds, you will more often find that these timings won’t match up.

By default, GA only collects timing data from a fraction of your site visitors – 1% to be exact. The value of the data in this report is questionable, or even non-existent if your website traffic is relatively low.

The same can be said for sites that have a great deal of traffic as GA also limits timing data to 10,000 hits per day.

There is, however, a solution that allows you to increase your GA page speed hit limit — and we highly suggest it. If you want to know how to do it, shoot over an email to info@directom.com, and we’ll share some of our favorite resources.

Benchmarking to Fix Website Loading Speed

With any issue, you need to understand all the factors thoroughly to identify a plan of action. Here are a few simple steps to begin benchmarking page speeds:

1. Use bulk page speed tools like GA and Batch Speed to compile a list of slow loading pages in a spreadsheet.
2. For each individual page, run that list of common offenders through website load test tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights or Pingdom.
3. Record page timings and routinely update new data.
4. Identify high priority pages based on extremely high load times or pages with valuable content (home page, product / sales / service pages, contact pages, etc.).

Simply put, if your website is running slow, money is being left on the table. You must take action, or you risk losing out on new business and Google rankings.

Contact us for an SEO audit or check out any of these helpful resources written by our team below. Or, to get more information on this topic, contact us today for a free consultation or learn more about our status as Google Partners before you reach out.

• Internal Links: How Much Do They Affect SEO?
• Image SEO: Does Alt Text Still Matter?
• How To Crush Your Unminified JS And CSS Issues
• These Landing Page Optimization Tips Dramatically Boost Conversions
• Readability Analysis: Tips to Improve Your Writing and SEO

The post How To Tell If Your Website Load Times Are Hurting Your Business (2024 Edition) appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

Acquiring a new company often comes with the exciting yet challenging task of integrating websites. This integration is crucial for maintaining brand consistency, user experience, and SEO value. Here’s a toolkit to guide you through a seamless website integration process post-acquisition.

Table of Contents

• Assessing the Existing Websites
• Creating a Unified Strategy for Website Migration
• SEO Considerations for a Post-Acquisition Site Migration
• Content Integration for a Post-Acquisition Site Migration
• Site Migration Design & User Experience
• Technical Aspects of a Post-Acquisition Site Migration
• Communication Plan for a Post-Acquisition Site Migration
• Experience the DOM Difference in Post-Acquisition Site Migration
• Key Takeaways for a Post-Acquisition Site Migration

Assessing the Existing Websites

Are you thinking, “I just acquired a company. What do I do with their website?” Start with a thorough audit of both websites. This audit will highlight strengths, weaknesses, and areas that require special attention. Key areas to examine include:

• Content: Identify high-performing content, redundant pieces, and gaps between the two sites.
• Design: Assess the visual appeal and consistency of design elements so that you can maintain continuity between the sites where desired.
• Functionality: Check for features that enhance user experience.
• SEO: Evaluate current rankings, backlinks, and keyword performance; there will likely be some drop off in rankings, but the more you prepare, the more you can mitigate the downturn.
• Analytics: Understand user behavior and traffic sources.

Tools like Google Analytics, Semrush, and Screaming Frog are great for assembling a detailed picture of how each site looks in these areas. This assessment lays the groundwork for a unified strategy.

If you’d like help getting a sense for where you are, DOM offers a free website audit.

Creating a Unified Strategy for Website Migration

The highest-level decision you have to make with a post-acquisition site migration is which site to migrate into which. 

Once you’ve reviewed the legacy site as well as the newly acquired site, it’s time to decide which site you’d like to migrate material to. There are various factors to consider in choosing between the two. For instance, the legacy site may be valuable for the historical record it has with search engines. A newly acquired site may have a URL that better reflects the future direction of the company and may have better search ranking potential. Perhaps one site is built in a more user-friendly content management system, like WordPress.  

Whatever you choose, you’re going to be compromising. That’s the nature of integrating websites. But that’s not a bad thing. A skillful website migration can deliver great elements of each site into one new online experience. 

Defining clear goals and objectives is the next step. What do you aim to achieve with the integrated website? Increased traffic, improved user engagement, or higher conversion rates? Involve key stakeholders from marketing, IT, and content teams to ensure all perspectives are considered. Develop a timeline with milestones to track progress and keep the project on schedule.

SEO Considerations for a Post-Acquisition Site Migration

SEO is a critical concern of any website migration. The owners of each of the extant sites have likely worked hard to optimize their site for search engines. Now you’re challenged with preserving and bettering that SEO work.

Minimize duplicate content when merging websites. Search engines like Google will penalize pages that have substantially the same content as others on the same domain (or elsewhere on the internet for that matter). So it’s important to bring pages together across the new site that talk about the same topic. Think about trying to have each page focus on one keyword. You don’t have to have multiple pages cover the same keyword in depth because those pages will then compete with each other for rankings, rather than that content ranking even more strongly when on a single page.

Implement 301 redirects from the sunsetting site to the site that will be continuing. A 301 redirect helps users and search engines find the new site. A redirect points from the old site to the new in a way that passes some of the ranking status of the old site over to the new. Plus when users ask a question that the old site used to answer well, search engines can direct them into the new site and still get their answer with the help of 301s.

Update meta tags and headers to reflect the new site structure. The meta title and heading 1 of each page are prime signals to search engines. These elements are where organizations tell sites like Google what they believe a page is about. Optimizing the meta title and headings can be a relatively quick way to show the intended structure of a migrated site. While fully updating the content of dozens of pages may take months, a little spreadsheet magic can get hundreds of meta tag in order quickly. 

Adjust internal links to increase the footprint of newly migrated pages. Google’s search engine can only crawl pages that it can find links to. Internal linking is a core activity to getting every corner of your site seen online. This is especially important to new pages that you will likely be creating during a post-acquisition site migration. Connect those pages to the rest of your site with internal links. It’s a technically simple step that can have a big impact on the visibility of new pages.

Content Integration for a Post-Acquisition Site Migration

Content is king. Integrating it effectively is crucial. Your initial assessment of each site should have revealed the highest-ranking pages. These are the ones you should focus on. Make sure that the content on those top-ranking pages is still represented on the newly integrated site, either by retaining that page whole cloth, or stitching together multiple old pages into one new page.

Create a content migration plan. This often takes the form of a spreadsheet that maps the location of valuable pages on each site to the new locations (the new URLs) where that content will be moved or combined on the new site.

When you combine pages, do give attention to the tone and style you want going forward. Likely the two extant sites won’t be in total sync. So make sure you clearly communicate the vision you have for the new site so that your content writers can edit and adjust any migrating content. 

Site Migration Design & User Experience

A post-acquisition site migration is a unique chance to make some optimizations to a website’s design and user experience. Outside of building a new site, there’s probably no better time to get buy-in from your team to make site-wide changes to branding and UX/UI design. 

When you have two sites that you now need to combine, you’ve essentially got two experiments that you can learn from. Your assessment of each site pre-migration will reveal what’s working and what’s not on each site. You’ll see what pages are driving traffic and which never convert. Just by diving into Google Analytics or Semrush, you’ll be able to make data-driven decisions. 

Branding — Unify the visual and text elements that will signal the new direction of the migrated site.

UX/UI — Take the learnings from each site and make the user experience of the new site better. 

Navigation — Make the site architecture clear and intuitive with clean, comprehensive menus. 

Technical Aspects of a Post-Acquisition Site Migration

Integrating the technical infrastructure of two websites post-acquisition is a critical phase that requires meticulous planning and execution. 

Hosting and Domains

Transferring hosting and consolidating domains are fundamental to a successful integration. Consider server performance, uptime reliability, and customer support. If the acquired company uses a different hosting provider, decide whether to migrate to one unified hosting service or maintain separate hosts. A unified approach often simplifies management and can reduce costs.

Schedule the hosting transfer during off-peak hours to reduce the impact on users. Tools like cPanel or Plesk can aid in a seamless migration, ensuring that all files, databases, and configurations are correctly transferred.

Domain consolidation is equally crucial. If the acquisition involves multiple domains, decide on a primary domain and set up 301 redirects for the others. This process helps preserve SEO value and ensures users can find the new site easily. Additionally, update DNS records to point to the new hosting environment. Make sure SSL certificates are correctly configured to maintain secure connections and user trust.

Back-End Systems

Integrating back-end systems is often the most complex part of the technical integration of multiple websites. This includes merging databases, integrating customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and ensuring compatibility of content management systems (CMS). Tools like SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) or Talend can facilitate the data migration process.

Security Measures

Implementing robust security protocols during and after the transition is vital to protect the integrated website from threats. Start with a security audit of both websites to identify vulnerabilities. During the integration, employ secure transfer methods, such as SFTP, to move files and data. Encrypt sensitive data to prevent unauthorized access. Set up firewalls and intrusion detection systems to monitor and block malicious activities.

Post-integration, ensure that the new site complies with security best practices. Regularly update software, including CMS platforms, plugins, and themes, to patch known vulnerabilities. Use strong, unique passwords for all administrative accounts and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) where possible.

By meticulously addressing these technical aspects, you ensure that the integrated website remains functional, secure, and efficient. A well-planned technical integration not only provides a solid foundation for the newly merged entity but also enhances user experience and trust in the brand.

Communication Plan for a Post-Acquisition Site Migration

You can dot all your i’s and cross all your t’s behind the scenes, but if you don’t clearly announce your new site some users may be confused. 

Sending out an email to any lists you’ve gathered from each site is one way to approach getting the word out about a site migration. This gives you a chance to reconnect with your clients and let them know that the great products, services, and experience that they are used to with the old site will still be available in an upgraded form on the new site. 

Consider putting an explanation on the homepage for a few months that calls out how this site is now the central home of once separate entities. This can help take old brand recognition and transfer it onto the new organization and the new website. 

An email blast is also a great way to stimulate traffic to the migrated site. You can announce the new site and invite users to check it out. It’s a way to refresh client relationships and to start getting user behavior data. 

Experience the DOM Difference in Post-Acquisition Site Migration

Integrating websites post-acquisition is a complex but rewarding process when done right. By following this toolkit, you can ensure a smooth transition that enhances user experience, maintains SEO value, and supports business goals.

For expert assistance with website migration and integration, consider the website migration services offered by Direct Online Marketing. We have the experience and expertise to guide you through every step of the process.

These are best practices we carry out with each website migration:

• Review your site for keywords in the top 100 positions on Google
• Compare your site to competitors for keyword gaps
• Analyze traffic volume and project volume post-migration
• Note technical issues that limit the reach of old and new sites

Your website is where you showcase your goods and services. Launching a new site is always a bit nerve-wracking. You know you only get one chance to make a first impression. 

Careful planning can ease your site launch tensions. 

At DOM, hundreds of companies have trusted us to guide them through launching new sites. We are well-acquainted with the meticulous prep work that makes for a successful launch. And we’ve helped sites recover rankings after shaky website redesigns. 

If you need help transitioning your site, consider our Website Migration Services. 

Key Takeaways for a Post-Acquisition Site Migration

• Conduct a thorough audit of both websites to identify strengths, weaknesses, and key areas that need attention, such as content, design, functionality, SEO, and analytics.
• Use tools like Google Analytics, Semrush, and Screaming Frog to gather detailed insights and establish a foundation for a unified strategy.
• Decide which site to migrate into the other by considering factors like historical SEO value, future company direction, and the usability of the content management system.
• Minimize duplicate content, implement 301 redirects, update meta tags and headers, and adjust internal links to preserve and enhance SEO during the integration.
• Integrate valuable content from both sites, create a content migration plan, and ensure consistency in tone and style for the newly integrated website.

The post Your Post-Acquisition Website Integration Toolkit appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

Launching a new website is like opening the doors to a brand-new store. The excitement is palpable, but the preparation behind the scenes is what makes the grand opening a success. To make sure your website hits the ground running on launch day, a well-thought-out strategy is essential. Here’s how to make sure your website shines from the moment it goes live.

Table of Contents

• What To Do When Launching a Website
• What Should You Do When You Relaunch Your Website?
• How To Push Your Relaunched Website Live
• Selecting a Web Development Company To Launch a Website
• Experience the DOM Difference in Web Development
• Key Takeaways

What To Do When Launching a Website

Launching a website is a big deal for your organization. Meticulous planning and execution are essential. Here are things to consider that may help your launch be smooth and successful:

• Final Testing and Quality Assurance Before Launching a Website

Before your website goes live, conduct thorough testing. This includes checking for broken links, ensuring all forms and buttons work correctly, and verifying that images and videos load properly. Perform cross-browser testing to confirm that your site looks and functions well on all major browsers and devices. Pay particular attention to mobile responsiveness, as a significant portion of your traffic will likely come from mobile users.

• SEO Optimization for a Website Launch

Search Engine Optimization helps people organically find your website. The goal of SEO is to craft pages to answer common user questions and concerns.

Implementing on-page SEO is a great way to make sure your content contains relevant keywords, meta titles, and descriptions—all of which helps search engines understand that your site would be good to show to people searching for those topics.

It’s also crucial that your images have descriptive alt text and that your URLs are clean and readable. You should create and submit an XML sitemap to search engines to help them crawl and index your site efficiently. Establishing 301 redirects for URLs that are changing can prevent broken links and preserve your SEO efforts from any previous site versions.

• Analytics and Tracking When Launching a Website

Google Analytics is a powerful tool you should consider setting up to understand your site’s performance from the start. With an analytics platform monitoring your site, you can define and monitor key metrics such as page views, bounce rate, and conversion rate to track how effective your site is.

Implement tracking pixels for social media and ad platforms to get insight into user behavior and the performance of your campaigns. This data will be invaluable for optimizing your website and marketing strategies.

• Marketing and Promotion Around a New Website Launch

A well-coordinated marketing campaign is essential to drive traffic to your new website. Leverage your social media channels to announce the launch and share compelling content that highlights the benefits of your site. It’s a good idea to email your subscribers about the new site, offering with a sneak peek or exclusive offers to encourage visits. Consider using press releases to reach a broader audience and gain media coverage.

• Launch Day Monitoring of a New Website

On the day of the launch, monitor your website closely. Keep an eye on real-time analytics to track traffic and user interactions. You should be poised to tackle what issues will inevitably arise. Engage with your audience on social media and through your website’s chat or support features. Prompt responses to questions and feedback can enhance user experience and build trust.

By following these steps, you can implement a successful website launch that attracts visitors and drives engagement. Take the time to build a firm foundation for your online presence.

What Should You Do When You Relaunch Your Website?

Relaunching a website is an opportunity to refresh your brand, improve user experience, and enhance your online presence. Here’s how to approach a website relaunch effectively:

• Conduct a Thorough Audit Before Relaunching a Website

Start by auditing your current website. Try to determine what’s working well and where there are opportunities for improvement. Analyze your website’s performance metrics, such as traffic, bounce rate, and conversion rates. Ideally, you’d solicit feedback from actual users to understand the real-world pain points and preferences they’ve come to on your site. Such an audit will inform your strategy and check that your new site addresses any existing issues.

Need help conducting a website audit? We can help.

• Update Your Design and Content When You Relaunch a Website

A relaunch is an excellent opportunity to revamp your website’s design and content. Use a design that is modern, user-friendly, and aligned with your brand identity. Improve navigation to enhance user experience and make it easier for visitors to find what they’re looking for. Update your content to reflect your current offerings, values, and messaging. Incorporate high-quality visuals, compelling copy, and clear calls-to-action to engage visitors.

• SEO and Technical Enhancements During a Website Relaunch

Revisit your SEO strategy so your new site is optimized for search engines. Update your keyword research and integrate relevant keywords into your content, meta tags, and URLs.

Improve site speed and mobile responsiveness, as these factors significantly impact SEO and user experience. Implement technical enhancements such as structured data, which can improve your site’s visibility in search results.

• Plan a Marketing Campaign When Relaunching a Website

A successful relaunch requires a well-coordinated marketing campaign. Announce the relaunch on your social media channels and email list. Create engaging content that highlights the new features and improvements of your site. Think about doing special promotions or offering incentives to attract visitors. Paid ads are a further way to get a wider set of people to interact with your new site.

• Post-Launch Monitoring and Optimization

After the relaunch, monitor your website closely to check that everything is functioning as expected. Analytics tools can be a good way to track KPIs and user behavior. Collect feedback from visitors to identify any issues or areas for improvement. Conduct A/B tests on different elements of your website to surface areas where you can make the user experience better. Continuously update and refine your website based on data and feedback—it needs to remain effective and engaging.

These ideas can be a boon to your relaunch, a relaunch that revitalizes your brand, enhances user experience, and drives better results.

How To Push Your Relaunched Website Live

Pushing your website live is the culmination of your development efforts and requires careful execution. Try these things for a smooth and successful launch:

• Review and Testing

Before making your website public, conduct a final review and thorough testing. Check for any remaining issues such as broken links, missing images, or incorrect formatting. Test all interactive elements, including forms, buttons, and navigation menus, to see they work correctly. Perform cross-browser testing to confirm compatibility across different browsers and devices. It’s a must that your site be optimized for mobile: a significant portion of your traffic likely comes from mobile devices.

• Backup and Security Measures

Create a comprehensive backup of your site, including files and databases, before pushing it live. This guarantees you have a restore point in case anything goes wrong during the launch.

Putting security measures in place to protect your site from potential threats is also an essential activity. This includes installing an SSL certificate to encrypt data, setting up firewalls, and using security plugins to monitor and block malicious activity. Secure your server and website admin panel with strong passwords and two-factor authentication.

• DNS and Domain Configuration

Update your DNS settings to point to your new website. This involves changing the nameservers of your domain to those provided by your hosting provider. Be aware that DNS changes can take up to 48 hours to propagate globally. To minimize downtime, consider making these changes during off-peak hours. Verify that your domain configuration, including subdomains and redirects, is correct so that there is a seamless transition for your visitors.

• Launching the Website

Once everything is set up and tested, it’s time to push your website live. Use your hosting provider’s control panel or FTP to upload the website’s files to the server. When working with a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress, follow the platform-specific instructions for going live. After uploading, double-check that all links, forms, and interactive elements are functioning correctly. Clear your website’s cache; this will enable visitors to see the most recent version of your site.

• Post-Launch Monitoring and Promotion

After pushing your website live, monitor it closely to watch that everything is running smoothly. Again, tracking traffic, user behavior, and site performance is made simple with a solid analytics software. Be prepared to address any issues promptly, whether they are technical glitches or user feedback. Promoting your newly launched site can make sure it gets off the ground—think social media channels, email newsletters, and other marketing platforms. Announce the launch to your audience, and be blunt: point out the improvements that you’ve made that will enhance user experience.

By following these steps, you can push your website live with confidence, ensuring a smooth transition and a successful launch.

Selecting a Web Development Company To Launch a Website

Choosing the right web development company to launch your website is crucial for ensuring a successful online presence. Below are some things to think through before settling on a partner for web dev.

• Define Your Needs and Goals for a Web Dev Company

Before selecting a web development company, clearly define your project requirements and objectives.

Define for yourself the intent of the site. This will make it easier to zero in on a target audience and the features you need to appeal to those people. Consider whether you require e-commerce capabilities, custom functionalities, or integrations with other platforms.

Assemble these needs and concerns in a detailed project brief; such a document will serve you well when you go to try to tell a web designer what you’re trying to accomplish.

• Research and Shortlist Potential Website Development Companies

Start by researching web development companies that specialize in your industry or have experience with similar projects. Look for companies with a strong portfolio, showcasing their past work and capabilities. Check out client reviews and testimonials to get a sense for the company’s reputation and how happy their clients have been. Shortlist a few companies, ones that seem generally in line with what you need, and, just as importantly, that have demonstrated excellence in delivering high-quality websites.

• Evaluate Their Expertise and Services as a Web Dev Company

Once you have a shortlist, evaluate each company’s expertise and services. Consider their technical proficiency, including their knowledge of programming languages, content management systems, and development frameworks.

Assess their design capabilities, ensuring they can create a visually appealing and user-friendly website.

What’s more, check whether they offer additional services like SEO, digital marketing, and ongoing support, which can be beneficial for your project.

• Request Proposals and Compare Quotes on Website Developer Companies

Contact the shortlisted companies and request detailed proposals for your project.

The proposals should outline their approach, timeline, and cost estimates. Compare the proposals based on their understanding of your requirements, the proposed solutions, and the value they offer. Be wary of significantly low quotes. You do tend to get what you pay for. Or you tend to be told you’ll only be charged so much but are then hit with hidden fees and expenses down the road. Look for an organization that lays things out clearly, including a proposal that aligns with your budget and goals.

• Communication and Collaboration with a Website Developer

Communication and teamwork—these characteristics are central to well-functioning partnerships. Assess the company’s communication style and responsiveness during the initial interactions. Choose a company that keeps you in the loop with progress updates, transparent communication, and that empowers your decision-making with their insights. This kind of collaborative approach can get your vision realized, as you work together toward a common goal for your site.

• Review The Support and Maintenance Services of a Proposed Web Dev Partner

Launching a website is just the beginning. Ascertain whether the web development company offers reliable support and maintenance services post-launch. This includes troubleshooting, updates, and security monitoring to keep your site running smoothly. Discuss their support policies and response times to make it clear you have a reliable partner for ongoing maintenance.

By taking the time to address these issues, you can choose a web development company that aligns with your needs, delivers a high-quality website, and supports your long-term online success

Experience the DOM Difference in Web Development

Your website is where you showcase your goods and services. Launching a new site is always a bit nerve-wracking. You know you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Careful planning can ease your site launch tensions.

At DOM, hundreds of companies have trusted us to guide them through launching new sites. We are well-acquainted with the meticulous prep work that makes for a successful launch. And we’ve helped sites recover rankings after shaky website redesigns.

If you need help transitioning your site, consider our Website Migration Services.

Key Takeaways

• Thorough testing and quality assurance, including cross-browser and mobile responsiveness checks, are crucial before launching a website.
• Implementing effective SEO strategies and using analytics tools from day one can drive organic traffic and track website performance.
• A well-coordinated marketing campaign, including social media promotion and email blasts, is essential to attract visitors during a website launch or relaunch.
• Conducting a comprehensive audit and updating design and content are key steps in relaunching a website to enhance user experience and reflect current offerings.
• Choosing a web development company involves defining your project needs, evaluating expertise and services, and ensuring effective communication and post-launch support.

The post Hit the Ground Running on New Website Launch Day appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

As highly capable digital marketers, we have an unprecedented number of tools to help us do our jobs. Last time we checked (a few minutes ago), the most popular marketing automation software, coming in with around 20% of the market share, was Adobe’s Marketo platform. If you have anything whatsoever to do with digital marketing, you know how prevalent Marketo is. Most implementations are centered around their handy landing pages. So most of our Marketo SEO tips are most relevant for the landing page templates, though you can use that platform for other things, too.

Just like anything else you want your customer to find via a search engine, your Marketo pages need to be optimized for SEO. Here are our top tips to get the most out of your SEO for Marketo.

Marketo SEO Tip 1: Just do the SEO thing.

You know the thing we’re talking about: optimize that page for search engines! If you want to know more about how to do that, we have a whole bunch of resources to help you. Trust us, we’re experts. In fact, below is a list of blog posts we’ve written over the years to help you out with some of the SEO basics.

• Image SEO: Does Alt Text Still Matter?
• Internal Links: How Much Do They Affect SEO?
• Why SEO Titles and Meta Descriptions Are Still Important
• Does Duplicate Content Affect SEO?

That said, if you’re up to speed already on the SEO basics, this post is for more advanced users who really want to squeeze the most value they can out of their Marketo assets.

Marketo SEO Tip 2: Learn how to edit html.

We’re not trying to be glib (well, maybe a little), but you will get a lot of mileage out of the simple small step of popping open a copy of HTML Programming for Stupid People, or whatever those books are called, and teaching yourself some basic coding. It’s not difficult—html is definitely one of the easier programming languages to learn—and you’ll enable yourself to do stuff like these sub-tips.

Need a reason to learn to code HTML? Here’s why you should learn to code HTML in case you want some reasons why.

Marketo SEO Sub-Tip A: Add canonical links to your header tags.

Don’t be alarmed, it’s easier than it sounds. You can freely edit the HTML of the Marketo headers (everything between the <head> tags on a webpage). One of the most useful ones is the canonical link. We use canonical links all the time as a way of telling search engines that potentially duplicate content is intentional and need not be indexed. Google famously dislikes duplicate content, and we all know what happens to content Google doesn’t like.

It gets ranked lower. That’s all.

You won’t lose your listing, but your organic searches will suffer. This is especially true for Marketo pages because they tend to multiply based on the SKUs, products, or services being marketed, and similar page content can trigger false duplicate flags to Google’s crawlers. That’s the opposite of what we want.

Marketo SEO Sub-Tip B: Add Google Analytics code and various pixels to the header tag manually.

While you’re editing the header, you might as well take this step while you’re there. By “manually” we mean “by hand,” as in “you have to code it yourself” because Marketo doesn’t let you do it as easily as other web design interfaces (like WordPress, for example). You can get the embed codes from the websites you use to track whatever it is you’re tracking, and your little bit of coding knowledge will come in very handy.

Marketo SEO Tip 3: Make sure your gated content is protected by noindex tags.

One of the most useful techniques for a digital marketer is to put valuable content behind a conversion link, like a newsletter signup. This lets us get something valuable in exchange for something valuable, which your gated content most definitely should be. But if that valuable content is visible to Google, then simple searches can bypass your gate and your hard work goes unrewarded.

Make sure to add the noindex tag in the headers of the pages that host your content, not the landing page itself. That’s a great way to make sure Google loses track of your page, which, again, is the opposite of what we want. Don’t take our word for it—check out Google’s own knowledge base about noindex tags.

Want to get more in-depth on our tips for gated content besides making sure search engines can’t crawl it? Check out our definitive guide to gated content.

Marketo SEO Tip 4: Link to your landing pages on your website.

This could probably be included in Tip 1, technically, but we see it so often that it merits its own mention. The tendency is to pretend like your landing pages aren’t part of your website’s ecology, but that’s not doing your SEO any favors. We’ve already seen how much Google likes links, so don’t be afraid to link it in your site navigation, in blog posts, wherever your favorite links live.

Marketo SEO Tip 5: Make sure you’re secure.

You have to make certain you’re using the https prefix with Marketo, especially when you’re linking to it from your website. Not only does Google prefer secure pages, but a link from a secure site to an insecure one might raise a flag on your customer’s browser. And flags are bad.

Marketo SEO Services

Those might be our most important MarketoSEO tips, but we could go on. If you’re using Marketo then SEO is extremely important for driving leads and sales to your website. Luckily, we’re experienced in optimizing Marketo sites and helping drive growth for your Marketo stores with our SEO services. Schedule a free consultation today and maybe we’ll share them with you.

The post SEO For Marketo: 5 Advanced Tips For Marketo Success In 2024 appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

There are so many different kinds of websites in the world today and so many ways to mess them up that it makes some of us downright wistful for the days of Geocities and Tripod, when everything made sense, everybody had a website about everything, and we were all equally bad at making them. 

Table of Contents

• Mistake 1: Lack of Clarity
• Mistake 2: Not Enough Content (or Too Much)
• Mistake 3: No Call To Action
• Mistake 4: Non-Responsive Design
• Mistake 5: Sloooooow Loading Speed
• Mistake 6: Inconsistent Design
• Mistake 7: Bad Site Organization
• Mistake 8: Ugly or Outdated Design Choices
• Mistake 9: Too Many Technical Mistakes
• Mistake 10: Experimental or Unconventional Elements
• Save Yourself (and Your Conversions) With DOM

Let’s make sure you’re not messing up your website by going through a few of the scariest and most common mistakes we see around the web and some ways to avoid them. 

Mistake 1: Lack of Clarity

A website without clarity is like a dimly lit room where you can barely make out the shapes around you. You know there’s something there—a purpose, a reason—but it’s not immediately clear. That’s what a website with a lack of clarity feels like to a visitor. It’s an eerie ambiguity that leaves people confused, frustrated, and likely to exit faster than a haunted house. 

For CMOs and marketing professionals, a lack of clarity on a website is akin to turning away potential customers at the door. Every visitor who leaves because they can’t quickly understand what you offer is a lost opportunity for engagement, conversion, and revenue. The absence of a clear message can dilute brand identity and make marketing efforts less effective. 

The Antidote: A Guiding Light

So, how do you banish this ghostly presence? It’s really quite simple: there should be a very clear declaration above the fold that describes exactly what you do. You would be surprised how many websites don’t do this one simple trick. In addition to that, you should have a value proposition: a concise statement that explains the tangible benefits that customers will get from your products or services. It should answer the question, “Why should I choose you?” straightforwardly.

Steps to Achieve Clarity:

• Identify Your Unique Selling Points: What sets you apart from the competition? It could be your innovative approach, exceptional customer service, or unbeatable prices.
• Craft a Clear Value Proposition: Use simple, jargon-free language. Your value proposition should be easily understood in less than 5 seconds.
• Place It Prominently: Your value proposition should be one of the first things a visitor sees on your homepage. Consider placing it above the fold for maximum visibility.
• Support with Visuals: A picture is worth a thousand words. Use high-quality images or short videos that align with and support your value proposition.
• Test and Refine: Use A/B testing to try out different phrasings and placements for your value proposition. Analyze visitor behavior and conversion rates to determine what works best.

Mistake 2: Not Enough Content (or Too Much)

Imagine a Halloween party where the snack table is either overflowing with candy corn or almost empty. In the first scenario, you’re overwhelmed by the sheer volume. In the second, you’re left wanting more. This is the Candy Corn Dilemma in web content—either inundating your visitors with an overwhelming amount of information or leaving them starved for details.

Too much content can lead to cognitive overload, making it difficult for visitors to absorb key messages or take desired actions. On the flip side, too little content can result in a lack of engagement and a missed opportunity to establish authority and trust. Both scenarios can lead to lower conversion rates and a weaker ROI for your marketing campaigns. When you don’t have enough content, you go against one of the cornerstones of good SEO: give the search engines plenty of content to serve to organic users. When you have too much, you’re breaking a UX law: don’t overwhelm your audience. 

The Antidote: Striking the Sweet Spot

The goal is to find the right balance, offering enough content to guide the visitor through the buyer’s journey or to educate them, or whatever your goal is, without overwhelming them.

Steps to Strike the Balance:

• Identify Key Information: Determine the essential details that a visitor needs to understand your product or service. This could include features, benefits, pricing, and customer testimonials.
• Organize Thoughtfully: Use headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs to make the content easily scannable. A well-structured page guides the eye and makes information digestible.
• Use Multimedia: Videos, infographics, and interactive elements can convey complex information in an easily understandable format. They also break up text and add visual interest.
• Implement Analytics: Use tools like Google Analytics or Hotjar to track metrics like time-on-page and bounce rate. This data will give you insights into whether your content is engaging or overwhelming.
• Iterate Based on Feedback: Conduct user surveys or use heatmapping tools to understand how visitors interact with your content. Use this feedback for continuous improvement.

Mistake 3: No Call To Action

A website without a call to action is like a road trip with no map, GPS, or even road signs to guide you. You might enjoy the scenery for a while, but eventually, you’ll want to reach a destination. It leaves visitors wandering through your content without a clear path to follow, leading to missed opportunities for everybody. 

A missing CTA is a critical oversight, like having a store without a checkout counter. Visitors may browse, but they’re unlikely to take the next step in the customer journey, whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or requesting more information. The result? Stagnant conversion rates and a less effective marketing funnel.

The Antidote: Signposts for Success

The solution is to incorporate clear, compelling CTAs that guide visitors toward a specific action. These are your signposts, leading people down the path you want them to take.

Steps to Create Effective CTAs:

• Define the Objective: Before crafting a CTA, know what action you want the visitor to take. Is it to read a related article, fill out a contact form, or make a purchase?
• Be Clear and Specific: Vague phrases like “Click Here” are less effective than specific ones like “Download Your Free Guide Now.”
• Make It Stand Out: Use contrasting colors, larger fonts, or strategic placement to make your CTA catch the eye.
• Add a Sense of Urgency: Phrases like “Limited Time Offer” or “Only a Few Spots Left” can encourage immediate action.
• Test and Optimize: Use A/B testing to try out different CTA designs and placements. Analyze the results to find what drives the most clicks and conversions.

Mistake 4: Non-Responsive Design

According to Statista, 58% of all web traffic is on mobile, and that number promises to get higher. Since so many office workers and business people use their computers and their big, wide screens to look at their own websites, it’s really easy for them to overlook the mobile experience. No mobile experience means lower engagement, reduced SEO rankings, and, ultimately, fewer conversions.

The Antidote: Adaptability is Key

The remedy is a responsive design, one that adapts and restructures itself depending on the device it’s viewed on. This ensures a consistent user experience, crucial for keeping potential customers engaged and moving through the sales funnel.

Steps to Implement a Responsive Design:

• Audit Your Current Design: Use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see how your site performs on different devices.
• Prioritize Essential Elements: Identify the most crucial information and features that must be accessible on all devices. Make sure these are prominently displayed in your responsive design.
• Use Fluid Grids and Flexible Images: These automatically adjust to fit varying screen sizes, ensuring that your site looks good and functions well, no matter the device.
• Test Extensively: Don’t just test on one or two devices. Use a variety of smartphones, tablets, and desktops to ensure universal adaptability.
• Monitor and Update: Technology and user behavior are always changing. Regularly review analytics to ensure that your responsive design continues to meet your audience’s needs.

Mistake 5: Sloooooow Loading Speed

Is your website a zombie, moving at a snail’s pace, inching closer but never quite reaching some juicy, delicious brains? That’s what a slow-loading website feels like. They’re waiting for something to happen, but it takes so long that they lose interest and move on. 

Slow loading speed is a conversion killer. Google says that even a 1-second slow down in site loading can decapitate the top 27% of your website’s conversions. This means higher bounce rates, lower SEO rankings, and a tarnished brand image. 

The Antidote: Turbocharge Your Website

The solution is to optimize your website for speed, ensuring that pages load quickly and efficiently across all devices.

Steps to Boost Loading Speed:

• Compress Images: Large image files are one of the main culprits behind slow loading times. Use tools to compress images without sacrificing quality.
• Minimize Code: Eliminate unnecessary code elements. Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights can identify areas for improvement.
• Leverage Browser Caching: This allows frequently accessed resources to be stored in the user’s browser, reducing load times for subsequent visits.
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): CDNs distribute the load, saving bandwidth and speeding up access for your users.
• Regularly Monitor Performance: Use speed testing tools to regularly check your website’s performance and make necessary adjustments.

Mistake 6: Inconsistent Design

Inconsistent design elements can create a jarring experience for visitors. One moment they’re navigating through a sleek, modern interface, and the next, they’re faced with outdated graphics and mismatched fonts. This inconsistency not only confuses users but also undermines the credibility of your brand.

For us marketers, inconsistent design is more than just an aesthetic issue; it erodes trust and can lead to lower conversion rates. A cohesive design is an extension of your brand’s identity, and inconsistencies can make your business appear disorganized or unreliable.

The Antidote: Cohesion and Consistency

The key to solving this problem is to establish a consistent design language across your website.

Steps to Ensure Design Consistency:

• Create a Style Guide: Document your design choices, including fonts, colors, and layout styles. This guide serves as a reference for anyone who works on your website.
• Standardize UI Elements: Buttons, forms, and other user interface elements should have a consistent design and behavior across all pages.
• Consistent Navigation: The menu structure should be the same on every page to make navigation intuitive.
• Uniform Imagery: Use a consistent style for all images and graphics. This includes the use of filters, angles, and lighting.
• Regular Audits: Periodically review your website to ensure that all elements adhere to your style guide. Make adjustments as needed.

Mistake 7: Bad Site Organization

Navigating a poorly organized website can feel like wandering through a labyrinth. Visitors encounter dead ends, hidden information, and a lack of clear pathways. This complexity frustrates users and often leads them to abandon the site altogether. How’s that bounce rate? Probably not very good. 

A poorly organized site is a missed opportunity. Visitors who can’t find what they’re looking for are less likely to convert, impacting your bottom line. Additionally, bad site organization can negatively affect SEO, as search engines may struggle to index your content properly.

The Antidote: A Well-Planned Blueprint

The solution lies in creating a logical, intuitive site structure that guides visitors effortlessly from one section to another.

Steps to Improve Site Organization:

• Conduct User Research: Understand your target audience’s needs and preferences. Use this information to inform your site structure.
• Create a Sitemap: Outline the hierarchy of your website, detailing how each page connects to others. This serves as the blueprint for your site organization.
• Implement Clear Navigation: Use straightforward menu labels and a consistent navigation structure. Consider adding breadcrumbs to help users track their location within the site.
• Optimize for SEO: Use descriptive URLs, proper tagging, and well-structured HTML to make your site more accessible to search engines.
• Test Usability: Conduct usability tests to identify any bottlenecks or confusing elements in your site structure. Make adjustments based on user feedback.

Mistake 8: Ugly or Outdated Design Choices

An outdated or unattractive design can make your website look like a room that hasn’t been cleaned in years, complete with cobwebs in the corners. This not only detracts from the user experience but also sends a message that your brand may be similarly outdated or neglectful. 

For businesses, an outdated design can have serious repercussions. It diminishes the credibility of your brand and can make visitors question the quality of your products or services. In a world where first impressions are often made online, an unappealing website is a significant disadvantage.

The Antidote: A Fresh Coat of Paint

Refreshing your website’s design can be like giving a room a fresh coat of paint. It brightens the space, makes it more inviting, and shows that you take pride in your presentation.

Steps to Update Your Design:

• Assess Current Trends: Research current web design trends to understand what modern users expect. This can include flat design, minimalism, or the use of specific color schemes.
• Consult Your Brand Guidelines: Ensure that any design changes align with your existing brand identity, including colors, fonts, and logos.
• Focus on User Experience: Make design choices that enhance usability. This can include larger text, more white space, and intuitive navigation.
• Implement Visual Hierarchy: Use size, color, and layout to guide the visitor’s eye to the most important elements on the page.
• Get Feedback: Before finalizing any changes, get feedback from stakeholders and target users to ensure the new design meets business objectives and user needs.

Mistake 9: Too Many Technical Mistakes

Technical errors on a website are like a flashlight that flickers and dies when you need it most. They disrupt the user experience, causing frustration and confusion. Broken links, outdated plugins, and 404 errors are common culprits that can make your website difficult to navigate. Make no mistake: Google will find those technical errors, too, and your rankings will tank faster than the Titanic.

The Antidote: Regular Maintenance

Just as you’d regularly replace the batteries in a flashlight, your website needs ongoing maintenance to function smoothly.

Steps to Avoid Technical Mistakes:

• Conduct Regular Audits: Use tools to scan for broken links, missing meta descriptions, and other technical issues.
• Update Plugins and Software: Outdated software can lead to security vulnerabilities and compatibility issues. Keep everything up to date.
• Optimize for Mobile: Ensure that your website is fully functional on mobile devices. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test can help identify issues.
• Improve Site Security: Use HTTPS and regularly update security protocols to protect user data and improve search rankings.
• Monitor Site Speed: Slow load times can be due to technical issues like unoptimized images or excessive code. Use speed testing tools to identify and fix problems.

Mistake 10: Experimental or Unconventional Elements

Are you an artist? Are you trying something new and, this is the important part, are you unafraid of putting your users off? There’s a good argument for making interesting or unexpected web design choices. For instance, is your name Jeff Bridges, and are you a movie star? Do people coming to your website expect an unconventional experience? If that’s the case, then go wild and follow your heart. If not, then what are you doing?

For marketing professionals, unconventional design choices can be a gamble. While they might attract attention, they can also confuse or alienate your audience, leading to lower engagement and conversion rates. Unless your brand is built on being avant-garde or experimental, it’s usually best to stick with proven design principles.

SEO Note: this also applies to the language you use. Sure, you can call the donuts you sell “Dough-Knots” but unless you use the old-fashioned and obvious word for what you sell, too, kiss that organic traffic goodbye. 

The Antidote: Calculated Creativity

Innovation and creativity are not inherently bad; they just need to be applied thoughtfully. The key is to introduce new elements in a way that enhances, rather than detracts from, the user experience.

Steps to Balance Creativity and Usability:

• Know Your Audience: If your target demographic appreciates creativity and is more tolerant of unconventional elements, you have more leeway.
• Test Small Changes: Before overhauling your entire site with a new experimental feature, test it on a smaller scale to gauge user reaction.
• Get Feedback: Use analytics and user surveys to measure how new elements are affecting engagement and conversions.
• Iterate: Based on feedback, make adjustments to ensure that your creative elements are adding value, not creating confusion.
• Balance with Familiarity: If you do introduce unconventional elements, balance them with familiar design features to help guide the user.

Save Yourself (and Your Conversions) With DOM

Using the World Wide Web doesn’t have to feel like a trek through a haunted forest, dodging pitfalls and snares at every turn. Your website should be more like a well-lit, inviting mansion where visitors can explore freely, welcomed and encouraged by each room they enter. 

At DOM, we’re the architects of these digital mansions. We know how to avoid the cobwebs in the corner, the flickering lights, and the confusing mazes. Let’s work together to build a digital space that’s not just free of scares but is irresistibly inviting. Turn the key, step inside, and let’s create something extraordinary. 

Key Takeaways

• Clarity is Crucial: Your website should immediately convey what your business is about. A clear value proposition is essential.
• Content Balance: Too much or too little content can either overwhelm or underwhelm your audience. Strive for the sweet spot that informs without overwhelming.
• CTAs Drive Action: A missing Call To Action is like a map without directions. Make sure to guide your visitors toward meaningful engagement.
• Mobile Matters: With over half of web traffic coming from mobile devices, a responsive design isn’t optional; it’s mandatory.
• Speed Sells: Slow-loading websites kill conversions. Optimize for speed to keep your audience engaged.
• Design Consistency: Inconsistent design elements can confuse users and dilute your brand message. Maintain a cohesive look and feel.
• Organized Navigation: A well-structured site helps users find what they’re looking for, improving user experience and SEO.
• Fresh and Modern Design: Outdated or unattractive designs can turn visitors away. Keep your design fresh and aligned with current trends.
• Technical Health: Regular maintenance and audits can prevent technical issues that harm user experience and SEO.
• Calculated Creativity: Unconventional elements can be a double-edged sword. Use creativity wisely to enhance, not hinder, user experience.
• Partner with Experts: Avoid these common pitfalls by partnering with a skilled team like DOM to create a compelling, effective website.

Free DOM Webinar: Tuesday, November 14 2023

Feeling like your digital marketing and sales teams are like a witch and a vampire—powerful alone but not quite in sync? Conjure up some team synergy this season. On Tuesday, November 14, 2023, at 12:00 PM EST, we’re stirring a potion of knowledge in our webinar: “From Click to Close: Maximizing Google Ads & Sales Team Synergy.” 

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill webinar; it’s a spellbook for navigating the shadowy realm between Google Ads and your sales force. From unlocking the dark arts of Google Ads to metrics that can resurrect your ROI, we’ve got the incantations you need. Suitable for CMOs, sales sorcerers, and SEO warlocks alike. Don’t ghost on this opportunity; reserve your seat in our digital séance today.

The post The Top 10 Scariest Web Design Mistakes You Can Make (And What To Do Instead) appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

First Steps

Before making any changes that impact how your site loads and handles content, it’s worth auditing its current performance. To start, you can use a free tool like PageSpeed Insights. It will assess your Core Web Vitals (metrics Google uses for page ranking) on mobile (by default) or desktop and let you know if you passed. 

It will also provide a color-coded score reflecting your site’s overall performance and identify opportunities for improving your score. This test will show you where your site needs improvement. 

Image Optimization: Shaping Your Visual Experience

Images can make your site more engaging and memorable, but they can also drag down loading times, especially if they’re high resolution. There are a few ways to achieve image optimization. 

Compressing images before adding them to your site can save precious space and time upon page load. There are a few ways to optimize image size for your site. The best way is to make sure they were originally saved out for the web, usually as a .jpg or .png, although .pngs can be on the larger side.

CDN

You could use a CDN (Content Delivery Network). A CDN stores your cached website on servers around the globe so that when a user visits your site it grabs the data from the nearest location which can cut down on loading time.

Lazy Loading

Lazy loading is a tool used to delay image loading until a user gets closer to the image upon scroll. This means that a user would see the top part of the page, as the site would not be trying to load the entirety of the site.

Streamlined Code: Empowering Faster Experiences

Every HTTP request — for images, stylesheets, scripts, and fonts — adds to your site’s overall load time. As your site grows, these HTTP requests start to stack up and eventually create a noticeable delay between user click-throughs and actual page loading. Optimized code ensures quicker loading times, smoother user interactions, and improved overall performance.  By focusing on code optimization, you can unlock the following benefits:

1. Eliminate unnecessary characters and whitespace: By removing redundant code elements, such as extra spaces and comments, you can reduce the file size and make your code more concise. This step helps minimize the amount of data that needs to be transferred, resulting in faster loading times.

2. Consolidate CSS and JavaScript files: Combining multiple CSS and JavaScript files into a single file reduces the number of HTTP requests required to load a webpage. This consolidation simplifies the loading process and accelerates the rendering of your website, enhancing user experience.

3. Utilize code minification techniques: Minifying your code involves removing unnecessary line breaks, indentation, and whitespace to reduce its size. This optimization technique improves performance by reducing file sizes and decreasing the time required for the browser to parse and execute the code.

4. Avoid Page Builders: While page builders offer convenience there are several drawbacks to consider. Firstly, page builders often generate bloated and messy code, resulting in slower page loading times and compromised website performance. Secondly, they can limit design flexibility and customization options, as they are built around pre-defined templates and modules.

Optimized code paves the way for a more efficient website, leading to increased engagement, improved search engine rankings, and ultimately, the success of your online presence.

Is your website in need of a redesign? Get your free website development consultation now.

Let’s Talk

Caching: Embrace the Power of Speed

Caching is a game-changer when it comes to enhancing website speed and delivering a seamless user experience. By storing frequently accessed data and resources, caching eliminates the need for repetitive and time-consuming processing, resulting in significantly faster loading times. Whether it’s static content like images and CSS files or dynamic database queries, caching optimizes content delivery, reduces server load, and ensures a blazing-fast browsing experience for your website visitors.

1. Configure browser caching: By setting appropriate expiration dates for static resources, such as images, stylesheets, and scripts, you enable returning visitors to enjoy faster load times by retrieving cached files from their local browser storage. This reduces the need for repetitive downloads and improves overall website performance.

2. Leverage caching plugins: Utilizing powerful caching plugins specifically designed for platforms like WordPress, such as W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache, generates static HTML versions of your web pages. This caching process minimizes server load and allows content to be served more quickly to users, resulting in significantly faster loading times.

3. Optimize caching for dynamic content: While static caching is effective for unchanging content, dynamic websites require more advanced caching techniques. Implementing database caching, object caching, or using technologies like Redis or Memcached can efficiently cache dynamic content, reducing database queries and enhancing website performance.

By embracing the power of caching and incorporating these strategies into your website development process, you can unlock the full potential of speed and deliver blazing-fast websites that captivate users and keep them engaged. Caching plays a vital role in reducing server load, optimizing content delivery, and ensuring a seamless browsing experience for visitors, resulting in improved user satisfaction, higher conversion rates, and ultimately, the success of your online endeavors.

Embrace the power of a lightning-fast website today and captivate your audience like never before. Contact our team of WordPress experts and elevate your digital presence to new heights.

The post Improve Website Performance With Faster Loading Times and Better User Experience appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

Understanding WordPress Security Risks

WordPress websites are vulnerable to various security risks, including outdated software, weak passwords, and insecure themes or plugins. These vulnerabilities make WordPress sites attractive targets for hackers. Attack methods like repeated login attempts, unauthorized database queries, and malicious code injection can compromise WordPress sites, resulting in serious outcomes such as unauthorized access to sensitive data and eroding user confidence.

With that in mind, making updates a priority is a basic step in fortifying your website’s security and safeguarding your online presence. Keeping WordPress and plugins up to date is crucial for maintaining a secure website. Updates often include security patches that address known vulnerabilities and weaknesses. By regularly updating WordPress core, themes, and plugins, you ensure that any identified security flaws are patched, reducing the risk of exploitation by hackers. 

Outdated software is a common target for cybercriminals, as they actively search for easy ways to gain unauthorized access or inject malicious code into websites. By staying up to date with the latest versions, you benefit from the continuous efforts of developers who actively work to improve the security of their products.

Is your website in need of a redesign? Get your free website development consultation now.

Let’s Talk

Best Practices for WordPress Website Security

1. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Implementation:

By enabling SSL, you ensure secure communication, protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access. SSL’s can sometimes be difficult to install yourself, it can be useful to have a developer take care of it for you. Luckily many hosting providers include these with their services. i.e.: WP-Engine, Bluehost, and HostGator.

2. Changing Login URL:

Changing the default WordPress login URL is a simple yet effective security measure. By modifying the login URL, you can deter brute force attacks and unauthorized access attempts. Consider using plugins or methods that allow you to customize the login URL and enhance the security of your WordPress site. While we would suggest using code, as you should try to limit plugin use when possible, there can be some significant issues if done wrong.

3. Strong Passwords:

Using strong and unique passwords is essential for protecting your WordPress user accounts. Weak passwords are easily compromised, providing unauthorized individuals access to your site. Create strong passwords using a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Additionally, consider using password manager tools to securely manage your passwords. i.e: Keeper, Last Pass, Norton Password Manager.

4. Limiting User Account Access:

Limiting user account access privileges, especially for non-administrative accounts, helps minimize potential security risks. Implement user role management plugins that allow you to assign specific permissions to each user role. By granting only necessary access rights, you can reduce the likelihood of unauthorized actions on your WordPress site.

5. Cleaning Up Unused Users:

Unused or inactive user accounts pose a security risk to your WordPress site. These accounts can potentially be exploited by hackers. Regularly review and remove any unnecessary or unused user accounts to minimize potential vulnerabilities.

6. Security Plugin-Monitoring:

Security plugins can significantly enhance the security of your WordPress website. These plugins provide monitoring and detection features, allowing you to identify potential threats and suspicious activities. Popular security plugins such as Sucuri or Wordfence can actively protect your site by monitoring and mitigating security risks in real-time.

7. Limiting the Number of Plugins:

Minimizing the number of installed plugins is crucial for reducing the attack surface of your WordPress site. Each plugin introduces potential vulnerabilities, so it’s important to evaluate and select only essential plugins. Regularly review your installed plugins and remove any unnecessary ones to maintain a lean and secure WordPress environment.

8. Keeping Plugins and WordPress Up to Date:

Regularly updating WordPress core, themes, and plugins is vital for addressing security vulnerabilities. Outdated software can become a prime target for hackers. Stay informed about updates and promptly implement them to ensure your WordPress site is equipped with the latest security patches and improvements.

Essential WordPress Security Plugins:

1. Plugin Security:

Consider using plugins that help detect and mitigate vulnerabilities in other plugins. These security plugins can provide an added layer of protection to your WordPress site, ensuring that potential security loopholes are identified and addressed promptly.  

2. Malware Scanning and Removal:

Install plugins that offer malware scanning capabilities for your WordPress site. These plugins can scan your site for malicious code and malware, enabling you to detect and remove any infected files promptly.

3. Login Protection:

Enhance login security with plugins that offer additional login protection features such as CAPTCHA and login limiting. These plugins help prevent brute force attacks by adding an extra layer of authentication and limiting the number of login attempts.

4. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA):

Implementing 2FA plugins adds an extra layer of security to the login process. With 2FA, users are required to provide an additional verification code or token, greatly reducing the risk of unauthorized access even if passwords are compromised.

Suggested Plugins

1. Sucuri
2. All-in-One Security
3. Wordfence
4. Defender
5. Google Authenticator

By implementing best practices such as SSL implementation, changing the login URL, using strong passwords, limiting user account access, cleaning up unused users, and keeping plugins and WordPress up to date, you can significantly enhance the security of your WordPress site. Additionally, incorporating essential security plugins adds an extra layer of protection, monitoring, and detection. Take immediate action to implement these practices and plugins to safeguard your WordPress website, protect user data, and ensure a safe online presence.

The post Improve WordPress Website Security With These Best Practices and Plugins appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

The company’s own website features a list of notable Big Names who use it, from The New York Times to UPS to eBay. Heck, even Lollapalooza is on that list.

We love WordPress because it’s easy to use, adaptable, has built-in blog functionality, and sites made with WordPress generally rank pretty highly, relatively speaking.

However, the reason we really, really love it is because WordPress features the ability to use plugins. More specifically, SEO plugins. And SEO is what we live and breathe over here at DOM.

So, while this whole thing could just be a love letter to WordPress, we thought it would be beneficial if we, the CEOs of SEO, shared our favorite SEO plugins for our favorite site-building tool.

The Best WordPress Plugins
For SEO In 2022

This list is in no particular order. Simply saying that one of these plugins is more crucial than another could lead to bedlam amongst SEO experts (and within the DOM office).

• Best for Content Optimization: Semrush SEO Writing Assistant
• Best for On-page SEO: Yoast SEO
• Best Comprehensive Plugin: AIOSEO
• Best for Internal Linking: Internal Link Juicer
• Best for Image Alt Tagging: BIALTY
• Best for Google Analytics Installation: MonsterInsights
• Best for Google Monitoring: Search Console
• Best for Site Caching: WP Rocket
• Best for Image Compression: Smush
• Best for Structured Data: SchemaApp
• Best for Redirects: Quick Page/Post Redirect
• Best for Mobile Page Speed: AMP
• Best for Securing URLs: Really Simple SSL
• Best for Content Delivery: Cloudflare APO
• Best for Increased Product Review Counts: wployalty

More details (plus some free alternative options) are listed below.

Best Plugin For Content Optimization:
SEMRush SEO Writing Assistant

One of the most popular tools with SEO professionals, SEMRUSH is filled to the brim with useful features that are all designed to aid you in your quest to reach the top of the search engine rankings.

The Writing Assistant plugin takes many of those features and brings them over to your WordPress to provide on-page SEO assistance with features like an overall SEO score, readability score, link-checking, target and recommended keywords, and more.

The plugin will even check your content for plagiarism to avoid any snafus down the road.

To get it to work, you’ll have to have an existing Semrush account to connect with the plugin. After that, it’s all gravy.

• Plugin URL: Semrush Writing Assistant
• Developer: Semrush
• Free Alternative Option: Got one? Read below to learn how to contact us and have it listed here.

Did you know that we’re also a Semrush Certified Agency Partner? Learn more about our ability to help your team take a shortcut to better marketing results by checking out The DOM Difference.

Best WordPress Plugin For On-Page SEO:
Yoast SEO Plugin

A venerable name in the SEO game, Yoast has been a part of SEO for a very long time. The plugin takes all that experience and expertise and puts it right there in the WordPress ecosystem for your convenience.

The magic of Yoast is how it balances content optimization to please both human audiences and search engine crawlers. Features like a content and SEO analysis that scans your pages and posts for readability ensure that your site is as engaging to real people as it is to Google’s algorithm.

Yoast also features a redirection tool for 301 redirects, internal link tracking, Google Search Console integration, automatically generated XML sitemaps, and much, much more.

• Plugin URL: Yoast SEO
• Developer: Team Yoast
• Free Alternative Option: SEO Ultimate, The SEO Framework

Does your website content struggle with the use of passive voice? Learn how that can affect your SEO (and how Yoast can help you get rid of it) here.

Best Comprehensive WordPress Plugin For SEO:
AIOSEO

Perhaps the most popular of the overall WordPress plugins for SEO, AIOSEO really tries to live up to its name by packing in a nearly exhaustive list of features that covers rich snippets schema, built-in social media integration, robots.txt file editing, an SEO health checker, and most of the features contained in the two entries above.

However, some may argue that it doesn’t do some things as well as Yoast or SEMRush in terms of SEO analysis, but that’s a subjective thing for another time.

AIOSEO even allows for user roles for varying levels of content access and WooCommerce SEO tools for eCommerce sites and online stores.

There’s a pretty robust free version available on their site.

• Plugin URL: All In One SEO Pack
• Developer: All in One SEO Team
• Free Alternative Option: SEO Ultimate, The SEO Framework, Rank Math

Best WordPress Plugin For Internal Linking: Internal Link Juicer

There’s a lot of debate about the “best way” to do internal linking SEO on WordPress websites. Plenty of traditionalists that have been using the platform to build sites for years will tell you that manually adding links is the best way to get it done “right” and avoid issues with over optimization.

On the contrary, a lot of progress and updates have been made over the years to internal linking plugins. If you manage the settings correctly, these plugins can save you a lot of time while also boosting your page rankings. Also, if you ever make significant changes to your site architecture, using a tool like this to overwrite potential broken links is a smart suggestion.

Internal Link Juicer builds internal links within post content by using a “per-post configuration” method. There are both free and paid versions of this plugin, with the Pro version including custom targets, keyword import, and silo structure building.

• Plugin URL: Internal Link Juicer
• Developer: Internal Link Juicer
• Alternative Option: Internal Links Manager

Best WordPress Plugin For Image Alt Tag Optimization: BIALTY

If you run a WordPress website that leverages a massive directory of content (yes even larger than a 200+ word glossary) or sell products online using WooCommerce, then you likely have a high volume of image files on your site.

To help you save a whole lot of time, effort, and calloused fingertips, the team at PAGUP have created BIALTY (an acronym for Bulk Image Alt Texts with Yoast). BIALTY pulls content from the titles of your posts, pages, and products and then combines those with focus keywords assigned in Yoast.

Prefer to do manual image alt tag optimization based on some other form of keyword research? Not a problem, BIALTY comes with a Post Meta Box that gets added to the edit area for each individual page.

• Plugin URL: BIALTY
• Developer: PAGUP
• Alternative Option: Got one? Read below to learn how to contact us and have it listed here.

Best WordPress Plugin For Analytics Integration: MonsterInsights

If this blog were about the best Google Analytics plugins for WordPress, MonsterInsights would definitely be at the top of the list, and that list would be in a particular order (unlike this one, please don’t fight).

However, not only does MonsterInsights completely rule the Google Analytics game, but it’s also a powerful SEO tool in its own right that can keep you on top of what’s happening on your site from the convenience of your WordPress dashboard.

The plugin shows you your top-performing content, where your users are coming from, where they visit most on your site, and much more. It also gives you easy access to your eCommerce SEO performance by showing how all your products are performing on an individual basis.

• Plugin URL: MonsterInsights
• Developer: MonsterInsights
• Free Alternative Option: Google Site Kit
• More Reading on Google Analytics:
  • How to Track Blog Posts by Author in Google Analytics
  • Track ANY Form in Google Analytics in Under 5 Minutes
  • How Google Analytics Empowers Content Marketing Strategy
  • Why Your Direct Traffic in Google Analytics Is So High
  • Bounce Rate In Google Analytics (Everything You Should Know)
  • A Guide to Button Tracking Using Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics
  • What is Google Analytics 360?

Prefer to add Google Analytics directly to your website by copying and pasting the code into your theme? Check out this tutorial.

Got a complex Analytics project you’d rather have a team of experts work on with you and your team? Learn about our Google Analytics services.

Best Plugin For Google Monitoring:
Search Console

It’s no secret that Google is the largest and most popular search engine on the planet. So when they offer a plugin for WordPress, you can bet everybody’s ears perk up. Better yet? It’s totally free.

Google Search Console is an essential tool for tracking your content’s performance across the mega giant’s titular search engine. It allows users to submit sitemaps and new content for indexing, find and fix malware and spam issues, discover what your page is ranking for, check inbound links, and even helps with brainstorming new blog ideas.

When integrated with MonsterInsights, Google Search Console lets you see your site’s average position on SERPs, along with clicks, impressions, and click-through rates.

Like we said before, Google Search Console is completely 100% free, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t already be on the page and downloading it.

• Plugin URL: Search Console
• Developer: Tropicalista
• Free Alternative Option: Google Site Kit
• More Reading on Google Search Console:
  • How To Link Google Ads To Google Search Console
  • Set Your Course In Google Search Console With International Targeting
  • Get To Know Google Search Analytics Report

Best WordPress Plugin For Site Caching:
WP Rocket

This is our preferred plugin solution for addressing issues related to optimizing for Core Web Vitals areas like Largest Contentful Paint and Total Byte Time.

WP Rocket also simultaneously takes care of many of the high volume warnings found in SEMRush Site Audits related to uncached, uncompressed, and unminified JavaScript and CSS files. If your goal is to find a solution to optimize your site for delivery on all device types, this is it.

• Plugin URL: WP Rocket.me
• Developers: Jonathan Buttigieg and Jean-Baptiste Marchand-Arvier
• Free Alternative Options: Autoptimize, Hummingbird, WP Optimize
• More Reading on WP Rocket: How To Crush Your Unminified JavaScript And CSS Issues In Site Audits

Best WordPress Plugin For Image Compression:
Smush

An awesome plugin for image file compression from the team at WPMU Dev.

Smush works retroactively on media files that already exist on your site, but can also be set up to work proactively on media files as you continue to create content to scale your website.

There’s a premium version of this plugin that automates some things. If you are going to use the free version, be prepared to watch and wait for it as you do your initial file compressions. It will only compress 50 files at a time in the free version.

• Plugin URL: Smush
• Developer: WPMU DEV
• Free Alternative Option: Imagify

Best WordPress Plugin For Structured Data: Schema App

We currently use this on our own website for schema markups. While we have the experience and expertise with schema markup to deploy it manually, part of the reason we use Schema App so much is because Schema App allows someone who doesn’t code for a living to deploy accurate schema with ease.

Why do something the hard way if you don’t have to?

• Plugin URL: Schema App
• Developer: Mark and Martha van Berkel
• Free Alternative Option: All In One Schema Rich Snippets, Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP

Best WordPress Plugin For Redirection:
Quick Page/Post Redirect

There are a ton of redirect plugins for WordPress, and they all perform the exact same function. So why do we work with Quick Page/Post? Well, it’s simple. We don’t mean that the reason why we use the plugin is simple, we mean that the plugin itself is simple.

For quick redirects, you don’t even have to have an existing page or post to add a redirect. You simply enter the Request URL and the Destination URL and QuickPage/Post does the rest. There is also the option to perform individual redirects for existing pages and content.

The feature list is huge, especially considering how easy the plugin itself is to use.

• Plugin URL: Quick Page/Post Redirect
• Developer: anadnet
• Free Alternative Option: Redirection

Best WordPress Plugin For Mobile Page Speed: AMP

Your potential customers are using mobile devices to research their issues and educate themselves on the topics you blog about on your WordPress site.

AMP markup is a must-have for any business using WordPress as their blogging platform to generate a high volume of traffic from mobile searches.

While there are a few alternative plugin options for AMP, this one is available for free and is developed specifically for WordPress by the collective that started AMP development in the first place.

When in doubt, go to the original source!

• Plugin URL: AMP for WordPress
• Developer: AMP Project
• Free Alternative Option: AMP for WP

Best WordPress Plugin For Securing URLs:
Really Simple SSL

While we usually prefer that websites have their SSL setup with their domain name provider or their hosting provider, Really Simple SSL is a great alternative option.

Streamlined minimal options keep things light and breezy, and the plugin does a spectacular job of doing what it says: Enabling simple SSL.

• Plugin URL: Really Simple SSL
• Developer: Really Simple Plugins
• Free Alternative Option: WP Force SSL & HTTPS SSL Redirect

Best WordPress Plugin For Content Delivery:
Cloudflare APO

According to the plugin’s directory listing, Cloudflare APO can “speed up your WordPress site by up to 300%.” If your website has a global reach, tapping into Cloudflare’s 250+ data centers makes sure your content is deployed quickly and consistently with no lag.

In order to use this plugin, you will need a Cloudflare account. If you are currently a free user of Cloudflare, that’s fine – but you will need to invest a small annual fee to cover for the APO features, which includes free DNS, free automated SSL certificates, free DDoS mitigation, and more.

• Plugin URL: Cloudflare
• Developer: Cloudflare
• Free Alternative Option: Sucuri

Best WordPress Plugin For Increased Product Review Counts:
wployalty

According to the plugin’s website, wployalty is a WooCommerce plugin for WordPress that builds loyalty for your online store by rewarding your customers. This plugin is trusted by over 1,000 brands all over the world, so no matter where your target customers are located, we are confident it can help you drive better engagement from your target customers.

Speaking from an SEO perspective, if you are properly leveraging schema markup on your site for product pages, this plugin can help you increase the trust and social proof of your products by increasing the amount of reviews left after each purchase. The value of encouraging user reviews can go even higher if you offer the ability to leave video reviews or reviews with product photography.

• Plugin URL: wployalty
• Developer: Cartrabbit
• Free Alternative Option: giftbit

But Wait, There’s More WordPress Plugins For SEO!

The above list is certainly not exhaustive, and there are plenty of other WordPress plugins for SEO, hundreds even, that businesses and site-owners use on a daily basis.

Some have a lot of overlapping features with the keyword-focused tools we mentioned above. For instance, Ahrefs is an incredibly popular SEO tool, especially amongst small businesses, that deserves to be looked at.

Countless other SEO plugins can be found at the official plugin directory on the WordPress website, so feel free to browse for yourself and find some that fit your particular needs.

Of course, having the best WordPress plugins for SEO is just a small part of SEO. You also need to know how, when, where, and why to use them as part of your overall strategy. That’s where we come in.

At DOM, we’ve made it our mission to use smart, efficient, and well-studied SEO strategy to create ROI for our clients. If you or your company are looking for help with optimizing your site and your content for maximum results, be sure to contact us for a free consultation to find out how we can be of help.

Have you made (or do you use) one of the best WordPress plugins for SEO that we haven’t listed? Does it serve a benefit we haven’t included? Contact Jonathan Bentz, Sr. Digital Marketing Strategist, by email or LinkedIn DM with your request for inclusion. 

To get more information on this topic, contact us today for a free consultation or learn more about our status as a Google Partner Agency before you reach out.

The post What Are the Best WordPress Plugins for SEO? (Updated 2022) appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.

That said, there are several options for getting performance grades on how fast your website content gets delivered to your visitors. You may use something like GTMetrix, YSlow, or Uptrends – and we can’t blame you for that.

However, one thing that can’t be debated is that Google recently included page speed in its updated focus on core web vitals, and that was for a good reason:

if your page is slow, people won’t want to visit it.

Considering that’s exactly the opposite of what we want as SEO professionals, we use a couple of important tools to speed. We wanted to know and maybe you want to know, too: which is better, PageSpeed Insights vs Pingdom?

One Good Tool Is Good, More Is Better

We use both tools as part of our SEO site audit processes. The most common implementation is to use Google’s insights tool as the default with the backup use of Pingdom if a page doesn’t have a lot of traffic. Both have their benefits.

Google PageSpeed Insights

If there’s an official tool by Google, we’re going to use it. After all, their search engine is the one we want to rank for.

And we don’t need to cite data here to prove that it’s the top search engine in the world—okay, fine, here you go: according to statista.com, Google has 86% of the search engine market share.

Google’s tools are always going to give us the most accurate data as it relates to metrics that are important to Google. If the metrics matter to Google, then that means the metrics are important to us. Contentful paints, input delays, layout shifts, all of them.

As long as it has so much of the search volume, supplying a gargantuan share of the organic traffic on the internet, then we would be silly to ignore it.

Pingdom Page Speed Test

You might be wondering why we would use anything other than Google PageSpeed Insights, if the results we get from it are so valuable. We don’t do anything without data, and that’s where Pingdom helps us—it provides good data, sure, but it also has a bonus feature that Google doesn’t: transparency.

The primary measurement of page speed is called ping time, which is another term for latency, or how long it takes for the data to go from your device to the page you’re visiting, and then back to your device.

We don’t know the actual source of Google’s site speed measurements, whereas Pingdom, on the other hand, tells us exactly where its servers are.

That’s good because, even in this age of fast-as-light data transfers, distance still matters. A page that is hosted in a location thousands of miles from a person visiting it is prone to higher latency, or ping time. After all, we haven’t invented a technology that can move faster than light.

Not only does Pingdom tell you where the servers are, it lets you choose which server to use in your latency tests. That’s something Google doesn’t offer, and it can be really useful when your website’s traffic tends to come from one specific place. You can also use Pingdom to find out whether the site speed differences you might be seeing are geographic.

Pingdom, of course, is just one of a “comprehensive set of turnkey infrastructure integrations” from Solarwinds. Without getting too promotional for this solution, Pingdom also has additional products to do transaction monitoring, alerting, and more.

Pingdom’s Onload Time vs. Google Page Speed’s Time to Interactive

Onload Time (a Pingdom page speed metric) factors in that some elements on the page may not load before the browser requests it—like a JavaScript-based image carousel. While things like browser caching and lazy loading of images are great, this setup can create a false sense of security for marketers because Pingdom will often report faster page load times than what a user actually experiences.

This is especially true on sites with high mobile device usage and sites with a global reach to areas reliant on 3G or slower connections for internet access.

Time to Interactive (Google’s metric) is the amount of time it takes the page to fully load every element and function. You have more extreme timings in these reports, but you also have a more honest look at how long it can take for a user to gain access to the complete site experience on a device.

Instead of Google’s Time to Interactive metric, a better comparison for Pingdom’s Onload Time metric is Google’s Speed Index metric.

Here’s a comparison of those two for a random page on the internet.

1. Pingdom Load Time: 3.69 seconds
2. Google PageSpeed Mobile Page Speed Index: 16.2 seconds
3. Google PageSpeed Desktop Speed Index: 5 seconds

Clearly, the desktop results from both Google and Pingdom are much closer to each other. But we’re also seeing a pretty wide gap between the desktop experience and the mobile experience.

How does that happen?

Emulation

The leading theory, and one that seems to match the data, is that Pingdom likely uses a real world browser simulation to do its speed testing and page evaluation. While Google Page Speed uses an emulated browser in situations where there is no field data or lab data collected in Google Chrome.

That emulation can cause a discrepancy that is important to keep in mind.

The Conclusion: Which One is Better?

The answer… is both! We told you from the top: we use Google Page Speed Insights most of the time, and Pingdom page speed is great for filling in the cracks that can appear.

Of course, there are other options out there in the market for page speed testing. We would be short sighted to not acknowledge tools like GTMetrix, YSlow, Uptrends, and a variety of other proprietary and open source solutions.

As with so many measurements, you’re almost always better off relying on more than one source for your web performance data.

Of course, neither of these free to use tools are a replacement for getting real user insights in real time. But both can be a great place to start if you want some easy pointers on improving page performance and the timings of delivery for your site.

To get more information on the topic of website speed, we have multiple resources for you to check out.

• Are Your Site Pages Up To (Google) Speed?
• Core Web Vitals Update: It’s Coming (Eventually)
• How To Tell If Your Website Load Times Are Hurting Your Business
• How To Crush Your Unminified JavaScript And CSS Issues In Site Audits

Or, if you’d rather just speak to someone about how to make your mobile and desktop pages faster, you’re welcome to contact us today for a free consultation.

Not quite ready to speak to us? No problem, you may want to start out by learning more about our status as a Google Premier Partner and what that means for you.

The post Which Site Speed Tool is Better? Google PageSpeed Insights vs Pingdom (Updated 2022) appeared first on Direct Online Marketing.