Tuesday, January 31, 2012

10 Steps to Setting up in Web Design | SEO Development

The article that this post refers to gives a ten step breakdown of where to start in designing your own website. The steps are brief and clear. This article should really help you get the grasp of designing your own website.
It is also important to understand web design if you are paying for a web developer. You should be able to understand the basic elements of web development and seo development before you enter into a contract with a developer.
This said, in this day and age, it is a good idea to brush up on your web design outline.

Thanks for reading, feel free to repost!

Jacob Hines -- HikeMySite.com
SEO Development and Web Development Services

Monday, January 30, 2012

Updated SEO Development Website -- HikeMySite.com

Our website is updated! HikeMySite.com has undergone extensive on-page SEO Development. The site is ready for high traffic, since it will be optimized. This means a lot of directory, article, and link submissions! This also means personally linking with potential customers via forums and blog comments.
If any readers are interested in doing guest blog posting on each other's blogs, feel free to contact me at jahines.uh@gmail.com.
Check out our changes and let us know what you think!

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Sunday, January 29, 2012

HikeMySite.com Articles! Read SEO Development Articles here!

HikeMySite.com added a SEO Development Article page!
Our articles cover SEO Development and Web Development topics in more depth. We will keep adding articles to this page, so check back often!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me personally: jahines.uh@gmail.com
**Please share and distribute our articles!

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Nine Easy Backlinks from Social Media Profiles -- SEO Development blog

"Link building is perhaps the most important activity you can do for the SEO success of your Web site." Continue reading here.
This article has 9 suggestions in building back links through social media pages. This is practical for every business that is on social media sites--which should be most businesses.
These suggestions are very practical despite the industry.
Please comment and share this article!

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Thursday, January 26, 2012

How To Successfully Pitch A Blogger For A Guest Post -- HikeMySite.com

As always, I am on the search for the most useful content for our do-it-yourself SEO blog. I find the information linked to in our posts useful, so I hope y'all do too!
"One of the most important ways to enhance your link portfolio is through guest blog posts. Finding a relevant blog with an engaged audience can be a daunting task, but the return on investment is..." Continue reading here.
This post is about the potential return on having a guest blogger post for your site once in a  while. With a guest blogger, he/she will also post it on his/her blog. This opens your blog up to the readers of a completely different blog. Also, readers may find the additional perspective to your blog useful enough to subscribe!
As always, comment and let me know what you think of this do-it-yourself blog!

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Interact With Small Business Owners Online -- HikeMySite.com

As mentioned in my post about getting website traffic from forumsforums are a great way to bring traffic to your site! HikeMySite.com’s recent discovery of connect.manta.com has helped us bring more traffic to our site by interacting with other small business owners.
Once you create a free username for this site, you can have personal interactions with others. This allows you to give personal replies to customers seeking services that your business provides. Another important use for Manta Connect is the opportunity for links in your posts. Unlike many SEO forums, Manta allows new users to post replies and posts with links. Helping your PageRank while exposing yourself to customers that ACTUALLY need your services is priceless.
If you’re interested in our do-it-yourself SEO blog, feel free to read our other posts!

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Uphill Battle Of Social Event Sharing -- HikeMySite.com

"Getting content into a social network is not enough to ensure its adequate value; there’s also an importance of preserving that content’s value over time, especially if it just trickles in." Continue reading here.
This article is a lengthy analysis on social event sharing. If your business/organization is in need of social media help, read this article! Of course you can always contact us for help as well.

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Online Ad Spending to Surpass Print in 2012 [STUDY] -- HikeMySite.com

"According to a study released Thursday by eMarketer, online advertising is expected to generate $39.5 billion in sales this year — a 23.3% increase from 2011 — compared to a sum of $33.8 billion on print." Continue reading here.
This article is huge news! In past times, traditional advertising methods have gone from the "staple" of business advertising to taking a backseat to online ads. Online ads are more easily distributed, more cost effective, and more visible to your target market. Whether your business does Pay-Per-Click advertising with Google, email marketing with Constant Contact, or search engine optimization, you're heading in the right direction.
*Analysis: If online advertising has finally proven itself more popular than the traditional, print ad, what does it mean for businesses' marketing strategies? If your business is at the point where it is time to add an advertising budget, it would be most sustainable to choose internet marketing:
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will ensure your site's exposure for searches related to your industry: for example, "Kankakee social media."
  • Email Marketing is most efficiently used when updating customers with your business's news or for summarizing your blog's posts every week for clients. (Blog newsletters are very convenient for the high percentage of internet users (especially older users) who check email but do not blog.
  • Pay-Per-Click advertising is most effective in conjunction to search engine optimization. Having your business represented in the "ad section" of Google results and the organic search results greatly increases your exposure.
  • Online Directories is a free (usually) supplementation to your marketing strategy. Your business showing up on Yellow Pages and similar local business directories will increase your SEO and will reach yet another separate demographic of internet users. (Contact us for more information about directory services.)
  • **I am aware of more online advertising opportunities, but in my opinion, the above services are the most cost-effective for your business's marketing strategy. HikeMySite.com offers all of the above services and uses the most recent statistics and strategies available on the web.

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

4 Tips for Writing SEO-Friendly Blog Posts -- HikeMySite.com

"When Google reads a website to index it, it reads the code directly, not the snazzy presentation that humans see. The way most blogging platforms are built, the headline or title of your blog post is among the first things Google sees, and Google generally assumes the words that appear earliest are the most important. That’s why the title is the most important part of your blog post when it comes to SEO." Continue reading here.
This article provides 4 easy to remember tips for SEO writing. This can be applied towards blogswebsitesarticles, etc. I am confident that we all can take a couple things from this article.

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

How to Build Backlinks -- HikeMySite.com

"It is out of question that quality backlinks are crucial to SEO success. More, the question is how to get them." Continue reading here.
This article is a great "one-pager" on building backlinks for your website. **It also offers more ethical SEO advice since it avoids backlink software. If you like this article, comment or contact us! If you don't like the article, comment a suggested post topic! Also, links are much appreciated!
Until next time,

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Monday, January 23, 2012

87% Of Connected Consumers Prefer Websites & Mobile Sites Over Apps

"Welcome to the connected consumer. This person most likely has a tablet and smartphone, and is constantly connected to their friends via Facebook. Today, more than 60% of 25-34 year-olds (Gen-Y) own a smartphone. One in three online consumers will buy a tablet by 2014. " Continue reading here.
This article is about the trends of online consumers. It also reveals the high percentage of consumers who buy online. Understanding the behavior of online consumers is extremely important to your marketing strategy. I hope you find this article helpful.
***PLEASE comment and tell me how boring/useful each post is. I want to provide quality content for my awesome readers. Aka y'all.

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

First Page or Bust: 95% Come From Page One

“The company I work for just released a study on SERP (search engine results pages) click rates, and found that the sites surveyed received more than 95% of all their non-branded natural search traffic from page-one results pages across all three major engines.
This article is about the importance for your website to be on the first page of results for your keywords. Being on second page of results means your site will be exposed to 95% less people than possible from the first page.
I hope this article helps your SEO efforts! If you have questions please contact us!

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Newsletter!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter! No advertising, no spam, no obligations. Just receive a summary of each week's posts on HikeMySite.com's blog. Please subscribe here!
Our newsletter will provide additional industry-related information as well as discounts for HikeMySite.comservices.

As always, if you would like more information or would like to chat about search engine optimization, web development, and/or our services, please Contact Us.


Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Saturday, January 21, 2012

How To Blackout Your Site (For SOPA/PIPA) Without Hurting SEO

"You may be thinking about joining the website blackout movement, but yikes … what about the SEO implications? How do you take your site offline in protest without messing up your visibility in Google’s search results?" Continue reading here.
This article is once again related to the recent SOPA legislation. As you may have noticed, several websites "shut-down" to show opposition to the legislation. If you are considering joining the "next movement" against SOPA and PIPA, this article is for you. It provides interesting insights about the affects on your website.

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

How to get traffic using forums: -- HikeMySite.com

For the last several weeks I have been on a kick of linking to great articles that are already on the internet about search engine optimization and industry-related topics. This post is me, myself, and I. I think the SEO blogging community has not sufficiently praised the power of forum involvement to get traffic for your site.
Let me explain, if your site is submitted to all the top directories, you blog every day, and spend the time on quality content, it isn't enough. You'll have the infrastructure for a higher traffic site, without the traffic. Although there are many great ways to get traffic to your website, this post is solely about forum involvement.
Go to Google and search for your related industry forums. I'm willing to bet most industries have some sort of a forum-based organization to share ideas. Create an account with the forum(s). Make it your personal goal to interact with the forum and help as many people as possible. Your writing, research, or perspective will draw people's attention. If the first date goes well, they'll be viewing your website and blog. Boom, traffic!
Disclaimer: Don't try to build extra links while interacting on the forums. Most forums have strict policy on spamming and will often block your account.
Anywho, that's my two-cents on forum interaction for traffic. If y'all have any questions, please contact us.

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Facebook IPO Hitting in Late May [REPORT] -- HikeMySite.com

"Facebook‘s long-awaited IPO is likely to come in late May, according to a report." Continue reading here.
This article talks about Facebook's upcoming IPO. It appears that its IPO may have been over-estimated.

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

20 of the Best SEO Plugins for WordPress -- HikeMySite.com

"With more than 120 million blogs in existence, how do people find YOUR content on the Internet? The key starts with great search engine optimization (SEO), which is an art and a science that helps search engines discover your content and understand how relevant it is to specific search queries.
You can blog your heart out, but if you don’t have good SEO, ...." Continue reading here.
This article outlines the top twenty most useful Wordpress Plugins for SEO. Whether your business is in the restaurant industry or SEO consulting, these plugins are hand-selected to get your blog exposure on the internet.

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Friday, January 20, 2012

SEO Search engine optimization infographic -- HikeMySite.com


Blogged by HikeMySite.com
Source: datadial.net via Erik on Pinterest
Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

Search Engine Optimization Graphic -- HikeMySite.com


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All you ever wanted to know about Search Engine Optimization -- HikeMySite.com
This "infographic" breaks down the complex conversation of content for search engine optimization. It begins with talk of Google's organic traffic, social media and branding, and the predicted value of search factors. Great resource! - HikeMySite.com Search Engine Optimization and Web Development

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design

How will SOPA affect your business and personal life? -- HikeMySite.com

"What the SOPA protesters should say is that even if SOPA goes down in flames, it's not over. It's never over. Further, the public can not rely on mainstream media to warn them of this sort of legislation. This is doubly true when the legislation is supported by the same organizations that own the media." SEOmoz Daily

If you're unfamiliar with Sopa, please watch this video:
Protect IP / SOPA Breaks the Internet
"SOPA + PIPA are real threats to Internet freedom, commerce, content and the marketing profession not just in the US, but worldwide (another troubling and terrifying issue that Moz isn't really the place to discuss). We support all those helping to keep the web the amazing place it's become and will put our names, our votes and our dollars to use stopping those who'd legislate against web freedom to help the wallets of self-interested non-innovators." Read more from SEOmoz here.
This article takes the SOPA and PIPA into perspective for internet marketers. Businesses of other industries will also be put into a position to restructure.

Jacob Hines — HikeMySite.com
Online, Local Exposure for Small Businesses — SEOWeb Design