1-604-288-2938Archive for the ‘SEO’ Category
« Older Entries{SEO} As Strong As Your Weakest Link. How to Fix Your Broken Links
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
Links (external and internal) are extremely important for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and your overall Internet Marketing. It helps get your website found and allows your visitors to go to and navigate through your site.
However, every now and then, a broken link will appear. This can affect your SEO and frustrate your visitors. Here’s how you can track them down:
- Go to your Google Webmaster Tools. You must have an account open with them.
- Click ‘Diagnostics’ on the left-side panel
- Go to ‘Crawl Errors’
- Under the ‘Web’ tab, you will see your ‘Not Found’ errors. These are your broken links.
You will find broken links (404-errors) coming from your own site as well as any external links to your site. You can then download this chart to get cracking on fixing these broken links.
There are several ways you can correct broken links.
First, if you are quick enough, you can fix the link yourself: go to where the link is broken/mistyped and re-enter it. If you can’t change the link (the page does not exist anymore or the link has already been distributed far and wide), you can set a 301 permanent redirect. This basically means your old, broken link will redirect visitors to the correct URL. The good thing about this is that all your link juice will get transferred to your new URL!
Another option is to customize your Not Found error page. So, instead of visitors landing on a generic 404-error page, you can have a custom message, apology, and provide other options (many companies have become very creative with this). You won’t get any SEO link credit here, but you can help reduce bounce rate.
Custom 404 Page
General 404 Page
For any website owner or online marketing strategist, it’s important to devote some time into keeping track of your links. Don’t let your visitors land on a dead page!
Need help finding your broken links or turning your 404s to 301s? Contact us to get your site in tiptop shape.
Tags: broken links, link, webmaster tools
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Bricks To Clicks? Google Places can get your Local Business Online in a Flash
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
Having a physical store doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive to the online world and Internet marketing. Working hand in hand can give your local business a double advantage. Google Places can do just that.
Google Places allows your local business to be listed and found on Google properties. This includes Google Maps, local advertising, and even local searches, boosting your Search Engine Optimization.
It is extremely useful for any potential customer; Google Maps has become a go-to place for information:
- 1 million hours are spent browsing Google Maps and Earth each day
- 1 in 5 searches is local
What happens when you list your local business on Google Maps?
- Your business is found by many new customers who want to go to your store. Local and relevant businesses are listed right next to the map and strengthen local SEO.
- Enhance your Adwords. Google brings together your Adwords Ads and local information to deliver local ad formats (includes maps, addresses, and phone number in your ads), pinpoint local targeting to a T, and manage multiple locations with ease.
- Qualify and inform your customers. Google’s Place listings gives you the power to customize and manage how your business is seen, even before they step inside your store. You control your address, phone number, photos, reviews, and you can add maps and street view to your listing.
Google Places gives you the tool to broaden and fine-tune your targeting. It takes the guesswork out of how your business is found on Google and how customers find your business (in traditional advertising, you don’t know who sees your ad).
Contact us to set up your Google Place and fire up your Local Search Optimization!
Tags: Advertising, Google, Google places, local advertising, SEO
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How to Optimize Your Blog Post for Search Engines
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011
Many people and companies utilize blogs for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Blogs can be a huge source of site traffic and can help you boost your search rankings. It is also a great Internet Marketing strategy to interact with visitors and to create company transparency. SEO includes aspects of how robots crawl and how people interact with your web page.
Here are some key tips to optimize your blog post.
- Keywords and phrases
Determine 2 to 3 main keywords or phrases and use them throughout your copy. Try brainstorming diverse keywords and note their traffic volume on search engines. A high volume could be too competitive and a low volume could mean little traffic. - Your Permalink (URL “slug”)
Optimizing your permalink or URL of your blog post is extremely important for all SEO. It should be easy to understand and short. Also use your keywords here. - Titles
Having well organized titles and tags will make it easier for people and robots to read your blog post. Keep it relevant and short (many people will scan and only read the first 50 characters, anyway). Meta descriptions also help readers determine what your content is about. - Images
If you have images in your blog post, make sure to add a keyword-rich alt-tag, title and description, so that your images can be searched by a search engine (since search engines can’t “see” your images). - Link
Another major aspect of on-page SEO is inter-linking. Link to other relevant blog posts on your website. This will also make your post richer and easier to find information.
Again, keep in mind that your content needs to make sense to both your readers and search engine robots. Need help with your SEO? Contact us and we can get you on the right track. Also, check out other SEO articles on our blog.
~Love, Danielle
Tags: Blogging, Blogs, Search Engine Optimization, SEO
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Basic SEO Tips, Every Website Owner Should Know
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
Q: What are the basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization) things that I need to know as a website owner?
A: (Part 1)
Search 
Engine Optimization is a long and tedious process and you, as a website owner will, most likely need a team of people to help you with several SEO aspects of your business. However, there are a lot of basic SEO things that you should know and could do yourself to help us, your hardworking SEO team. ;)
1) Your Domain Name
As we wrote in our previous blog post about domain names, it’s always encouraged to think about SEO even when you are only starting your business and before you even have a website setup. Lot’s of companies in our day and age will first look up domain name availability BEFORE even registering their Company Name. Making sure you have a unique domain name that is search engine friendly is very important, so choosy wisely.
2) Your Design
Depending on the nature of your business, you will be designing a site that reflects your personality and work style. This is a crucial part of your SEO process. Make sure you find a programmer who understands SEO. Or better yet, hire an SEO consultant who will oversee your overall website design project, and will make sure that you follow all best practices and your site is search engine friendly.
3) On-Page Optimization
Most business owners don’t like when we tell them that they do not have enough html copy on their homepage. This is one of the most common mistakes in SEO, and the one that you could fix easily. There are lots of creative ways to expand your homepage copy without sacrificing the design and usability of your site. You want to have at least 200 words of clean html (search engine optimized) copy on your homepage.
4) Java vs Flash
Do you want your site to be a little more interactive? Choose Java Scripts instead of Flash (mention this to your web designer, as he/she might not think about it). Flash is not visible on devices like the iPad and iPhone, so don’t miss out on this important target segment.
5) Title Tag
Title Tag is what you see in the top of your browser when you open a page. This is one of the most important on-page SEO optimization factors. Make sure to keep it clean and very targeted. Do not include too many keywords, or keyword phrases in a title. Keep it to 2-3 targeted phrases and use them throughout the copy on that page.
To be continued…
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for Part 2!
Tags: cucumber university, do-it-yourself seo, SEO Tip, usability
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How Long Will it Take to Get Indexed in Google?
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
Q: How long will it take for my new site (page) to get indexed in Google?
A: This is a great question! I will answer using a metaphor ☺ It will take the same amount of time as for my new haircut to “get indexed” in my husband’s head! ☺ Sometimes he would notice it right away, but sometimes it might take him a bit longer. Here are some factors that would help my haircut to “get indexed” faster (don’t worry, we are still talking about your web page ;)
1) Size does matter 
One of the factors is how dramatic of a change my haircut was. If it’s just a little trim, then I would need to try hard for it to get noticed.
If it’s a major makeover then my chances are way higher.
Same with your website. If it’s a small tiny page, or a minor change on your (not-so-frequently-updated blog), then it will take longer (without extra help) for your page to get indexed. If it’s a full -on, user-friendly, ( or user-generated) website with valuable information, then the chances of being noticed by search engines are much higher.
2) Clues
So, what would be a decent clue that my husband needs to get in order to notice my haircut?
To look at the Visa statement, of course!
Same with search engines. If another website links to your new site or page, that’s one of the best ways to tell Google (and other search engines) that your site (page) exists. The more links you have, the faster your page will get indexed. The more important the linking sites are the better.
Simple things that you could do yourself:
- Use social media. Tweet your new site or page
- Bookmark your site on social networks like delicious, stumble upon and digg, etc.
- Share it on Facebook and Linked In
That being said, search engines are getting smarter and smarter at finding new content on the web. So, don’t get discouraged if your page is not indexed the next day you publish it.
Quick tip: Make sure to install an xml sitemap on your site or a blog. This will make search engines’ lives easier and your pages get indexed faster.
Need help with your internet marketing? Give us a shout!
Tags: Google, Indexation
Posted in SEO | 2 Comments »
Does My Domain Name Choice Matter for SEO?
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Q: Does my domain name choice matter for SEO? For example – .com vs. .ca
A: Yes, your choice of a domain name plays an important role for your search engine optimization. As you may know, search engines follow complex algorithms that allow them to understand what your site is about, which in the end defines how well your site is going to rank for a certain keyword (or keyword phrase).
Here are some of the things that your domain name tells search engines:
- It tells them the location of your business. If it’s a ccTLD (country specific domain name) like .ca (Canada), then it’s a clear sign for search engines that your site belongs to a Canadian business or person.
Keep in mind that not all country domains are restricted. For example, anyone could register a .me (ccTLD for Montenegro) domain name, but to register a .ca domain name you have to be “related” to Canada. That’s why it is a good idea to register a .ca domain name for a Canadian business.
So, in case of a .ca domain name it will definitely be a clear sign for search engines that your business is Canadian and your website will most likely rank higher for Canadian searchers.
If your target audience is in Canada, then definitely, you will want to register a .ca domain and have it as the primary address for your site. If a .com version of your domain name is available, then it is recommended to register it as well, just to protect your brand, and in case, one day you decide to expand your business (and search engine) horizons.
- Another important factor to keep in mind when choosing a domain name is, whether it is possible to include your primary keywords in the name. For example – www.cucumbermarketing.com includes “marketing” and since marketing is what Cucumber Marketing Inc is about, our domain name will be that extra clue to search engines that we want to rank for keyword phrases that include “marketing.”
- Also, keep in mind that some domain names just naturally (for whatever reason) do not rank as well as others. For example; a .info domain name is historically considered* to be a not so search engine friendly domain name (if compared to an equivalent .com (or .ca for that matter) domain name). No offense to the .info Registry!
Long story short, yes, your domain name choice plays an important role in your overall search engine optimization project. Choose wisely!
Thanks for reading and happy optimizing!
Give us a shout if you need help with search engine optimization.
*claim made based on SEO industry best practices and experimental research.
Tags: Domain Name
Posted in SEO | No Comments »
Video Sitemaps Explained
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Sitemaps are one of the most important and quickest things you can do to improve your site’s visibility on the web. Sitemaps tell Google and other search engines how many pages you have on your website, and essentially it creates a shortcut access to your website content for search engine robots.
Google, being one of the biggest search engines (for now ;) ) out there, always makes sure that webmasters have the right tools to make their content more accessible. Now, you can even optimize your video content and create a Video Sitemap to make it easier for Google to find your clip.
Happy Optimizing! ;)
Need help creating your very own Sitemap? Contact, the SEO experts (us ;)) today, we’d be happy to help!
Did you like this post? Please do share it with your friends! Thanks for your support! Cucumber loves YOU! :)
Tags: Sitemap, Video
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How long will it take for my site to rank well in Google?
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
I’ve (SEO) optimized my site, now what?
Just like any other SEO (Search Engine Optimization) specialist I get this question all the time. Needless to say, this is probably one of the most desired answers people would love to know, too! So, I thought I would write a post about it, hoping to shed some light, and make your site’s SEO prospects more clear for you.
First of all, , SEO is a long-term process and nothing happens overnight. That’s just how things go. There are some rare species that get indexed overnight and start ranking well within a month, but this is not the usual scenario, especially if you are in a highly competitive industry.
After you optimize your site, all you can do is to continue building links to it, be patient and hold your breath hoping that your competitors are not as hard working as you are (SEO-wise).
Why?
Example.
- Your site has been optimized recently and you are now super excited, checking your ranking position in Google every morning, hoping to see it on page one any day now.
Hold your horses and let’s put things into perspective here. There are roughly 234 million websites out there (as of December 2009) and there were 47 million NEW websites launched in 2009. Obviously, just like you, owners of all of those new sites want to be ranked on page one in Google and other search engines, too.
- Now think of this situation as if you WERE Google. How would you choose those top ten for that lucky first page of yours? That’s a pretty tricky task I would say, wouldn’t you? Just like when you meet a new person, it takes a while for you to start trusting them. You, most likely, will ask some mutual friends if that person is trustworthy or not. You will then meet with them several times before you start talking about personal stuff or invite them to your home.
The web world is the same.
- It takes time for Google to gather information about your site.
- It takes time to compare your site to other similar web properties
- Lastly, it takes time to decide why your site should be trusted more than your competitor’s
What can you do now?
There are several things that you can (and should) do if you want to gain a decent ranking position and stay(!) there. (Given that your site is optimized and all basic on-site SEO factors are all intact.)
Three SEO must-dos:
- Continue building links to your site. This should be your number one priority.
- Build content. Write useful articles for your clients and partners. If Google sees that you provide helpful information to users it then will add some brownie points to your site.
- Watch what your competitors are doing. You want to make sure that you are not only on par with their SEO initiatives, but that you have a plan on how to out-smart them.
One last thing. If you do meet an SEO company that promises you page one in a month, that’s not a good sign. No one can promise you that, and if they do that, it means that they are using some dirty SEO techniques (black hat SEO) that you could pay for in the future. If your site gets caught, Google may penalize and remove it from its index for good.
So, how long will it take? It can take anywhere from one month to a year (in a highly competitive field).
Evaluate your objectives, set realistic SEO goals and keep up the hard work. SEO is a long and tedious process, but it’s so worth it once you see your site on that so looked-after page one (or even two) of Google.
Still have more SEO questions? Give us a shout and we will be happy to provide a free SEO evaluation of your site.
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Tags: Google, Indexation
Posted in SEO | No Comments »
Twitter and SEO
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
A Quick SEO Tip:
Wondering if Twitter is beneficial to your overall SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? 
Some early stats show – yes.
Tip: Tweet your Blog updates or your site’s URL (but do not spam :), the more ReTweets you get, the more juice you add to your SEO.
Happy Tweetin’
P.S
If you are using a URL shortener in your tweets, check out this page to learn which service would be your best option:
Tags: SEO Tip, Twitter
Posted in SEO | No Comments »
