SEO Tips To Help Grow Your Washington DC Business

May 1st, 2012
Simple, Basic SEO Tips To Help Your Washington DC Business Grow
Every day our team of search engine optimization, or SEO, experts is asked questions about the best way to start and maintain a SEO campaign for their business. While we cannot give specific instructions on how to make a million dollars with SEO, we can offer tips of the trade that will help your Washington DC business grow.
Even though pictures are pretty and pleasing to the eye, search engines don’t have eyes and they do not care about them. When it comes to SEO tactics, make sure you keywords and key search terms are available in text and not just part of the awesome graphics you hired someone to design for you. This does not mean however to eliminate all pictures on your website, but include the keywords in text as well.
Make sure you website content is actually about the product or service you are trying to promote, rather than a personal website that you have simply added a page about your latest and greatest dog biscuits. Creating content that is meaningful and valuable is essential for the SEO efforts of your Washington DC business.
Consider you domain name as part of your search engine optimization campaign, rather than just the location of your website. For example, your business may be called Danny’s Delectable Delights, but that doesn’t really tell people what you sell. Instead think of a domain name that clearly suggests your products like delectable-dog-treats (.com), search engines like those.
What’s in a title of the page? It should contain more than simply “home” or “contact us” if you are hoping to be found in the search engine results. Be specific about what your pages include and you will get much more attention from search engines.
For more tips and tricks of the trade, contact the Washington DC search engine optimization experts at Digital Assembly Line today.
The search engine optimization professionals at Digital Assembly Line gets asked frequently about the best way to start and maintain a SEO campaign for their Arlington, VA business. Even though we are unable to give you a simple 1-2-3 process for making a small — or large — fortune, we can tell you with time and diligence, search engine optimization techniques will help grow your Chevy Chase, MD business.
  • Pictures are worth a 1,000 words and they are pleasing to look at, they do nothing for your search engine optimization efforts. The search engine robots that find, scan and rank the website cannot see the photos, so therefore, they are not all that important to the search engine optimization efforts you are focusing on. However it is important to keep the human users in mind too when designing your website.
  • Keep your keywords in mind too. Your website is ranked based on the relevance of the site in relation to the topic at hand. For example, if you have a website that is about pet supplies, the content should be about pets and pet-related items as well. If you also include information on auto repair, that is not relevant to the topic and the search engines are likely to penalize you.
  • Keep your domain name in mind when you plan your search engine optimization campaign. For example, your business may be called Kris’s Krispy Katails, but that does not tell anyone that a “Katail” is a family baked good, so they are unlikely to know what you sell. Instead think of a domain name that clearly suggests your product instead.

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Increase Website Views For Your Northern Virginia Business

April 28th, 2012

Even though most people think of a website as nothing more than a place on the Internet used to show what you sell or talk about what you do, it is actually much more than simply a place gather information. When used appropriately, a website can be a tool used to accomplish your goals — whatever those may be. Whether you want to earn more money, acquire more money, entertain people or even simply convey information in an easy-to-access venue, your goals can be ahceived when approperiately using a website.

But even though our team of trained web design and search engine optimization professionals at Digital Assembly Line are well versed in creating a great looking website, we also understand that if no one looks at it, it does not matter how great it looks. So, with all of that said, you need to put as much time and effort into getting people to look at your website as you spend designing it.

Some people call it online marketing, some call it electronic marketing, but the industry professionals call it search engine optimization. Online marketing and SEO are equally important to your business success as the website and other marketing tactics are. The amount of marketing you choose to invest in depends entirely on the results you hope to achieve. For some business owners in Northern Virginia simply having the online presence is enough for them and they do not expect anything more, but others want to increase and grow their business using their website. For the second group of Washington DC area businesses, SEO campaigns can be the difference between an unknown website and a thriving business addition.

When you are ready to take the next steps in advancing your business and your profits, contact Digital Assembly Line today.

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Do You Push Your Customers To Your Door?

March 30th, 2012
With all of the talk in the business world about marketing tactics, you probably have heard about push marketing and pull marketing, but do you know what those terms really mean? Most people don’t, so let’s discuss it.
Push Marketing
Push marketing is a way of providing advertising materials to consumers without a request for the information. Pretty simple, huh? Push marketing is found in nearly every medium of communication available today. Television commercials, radio commercials, newspaper advertisements, billboards on the side of the road, banner ads at the top of the internet browser window and even in your mailbox.
The popularity of the internet has not slowed push marketing tactics at all – if anything, it has created an even larger demand for information thereby increasing the supply of push marketing. Ad revenues support the nightly newscast on your local television station, and nearly each advertisement contains the company’s website or Facebook address. News anchors typically refer viewers to the station’s website for further information on topics, which also happens to be a source of ad revenue – another example of push marketing.
The internet has also created an interesting twist on return on advertising dollars since now consumers have the ability to click a link to learn more about a product or service and with another simple click can purchase that product or service. This means real-time return on investment for online advertisers.
Pull Marketing
Pull marketing is a different approach in that rather than force-feeding your information to consumers, you attempt to draw them to your business to learn more about your product and services. Pull marketing focuses on internet advertising and tactics, even if a direct mail piece is used to promote the online presence. Search engine optimization, pay per click, email marketing, social media and text messaging all are examples of pull marketing. The introduction and rapid growth of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter has lead consumers down a path to nearly instant information on a product, typically accompanied by reviews from their family, friends and business associates. This is a great development – as long as your product is of quality and your customer service is superior. If not, potential customers can quickly be steered toward your competitors. Pull marketing tactics enforce the need for customer satisfaction and its importance. Push marketing techniques should always be used to provide support for pull marketing campaigns, as the two are separate but very closely related.
For more information on how your Northern Virginia or Baltimore Metro business can combine both pull marketing and push marketing tactics to increase your revenue, contact the marketing specialists at Digital Assembly Line. Serving clients throughout the entire Northern Virginia and Baltimore Metro regions, including Chevy Chase, MD, Gaithersburg, MD, Aspen Hill, MD, Chillum, MD, Ellicott City, MD, Reston, VA, Alexandria, VA, Vienna, VA, Rockville, MD and more, the team of professionals at DAL can provide your business with the tools to succeed in the pull marketing and push marketing areBus
Business leaders are always talking about new ways to market your business, to help grow your income and expand your company. But what typically begins with good intentions often turns into a descriptive monologue that confuses the reader and does nothing for the actual business. So, rather than add to the confusion, here is a simple run-down on the push marketing and pull marketing.
Push marketing techniques should be considered proactive measures to attract potential customers. This method provides information to consumers without their request for information — you are essentially pushing the information their way. That’s an easy way to think of push marketing. Television commercials, radio commercials, newspapers advertisements, banner ads, search engine optimization and nearly every other form of marketing is push marketing. This doesn’t mean it is bad or irrelevant, simply the state of most marketing strategies today.
Even though the popularity of the Internet continues to grow, it is not overshadowing the traditional methods of advertising and if anything has created an even larger demand for information. The increased demand for information — and typically a demand for instant information — has actually created a higher demand for push marketing. You can no longer sit by and wait for customers to come to you; you must make the presence of the business known. This is where search engine optimization comes into play. The more you tailor your website to the needs of your customers and populate it with relevant information, the more likely you are to be at the top of the list when it comes to search engine results. SEO is a way to make your business work for you around-the-clock and around-the-world with minimal effort on your part. The up-front investment of time and money is to be expected, but once the SEO machine is working, it operates non-stop.
For more information on how your Northern Virginia or Baltimore Metro business can combine both pull marketing and push marketing tactics to increase your revenue, contact the marketing specialists at Digital Assembly Line. Serving clients throughout the entire Northern Virginia and Baltimore Metro regions, including Chevy Chase, MD, Gaithersburg, MD, Aspen Hill, MD and more, our team of professionals at DAL can provide your business with the tools to succeed in the push marketing arenas.

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Get Your Business Website in Tip-Top Shape with These SEO Tips and Tricks

February 16th, 2012

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a tool to grow your online business while helping customers and potential customers find your business. Whether your business is located in the heart of Washington DC or in Falls Church, VA, without question SEO can help increase your presence throughout all of the greater NOVA area. As you understand more about SEO and how it works in conjunction with your website, you will also learn how important it is to get it right.

Give us a call and we can design a custom SEO campaign for your business, but in the meantime, here are a few tips to help get you started or guide you toward SEO.

  • Be patient. Search Engine Optimization is not a single event, it is a long-term tactic used to maximize the Internet and all it offers. For example, you may find your dry cleaning business ranks first for “dry cleaners in Falls Church VA” one week and suddenly a few weeks later you are suddenly fifth. Search engine algorithms change all the time, which requires you to change as well. Remember, what works today may not work next month or next year.
  • Be smart. Before you hire a company to complete the SEO work for you, ask questions and know what you are getting yourself into. Ask the company for specifics before you agree to anything; find out what they plan to do and how they plan to do it, then take some time and investigate for yourself.
  • Build a fantastic website. Even though you could once throw any website together using a free service and it was “good enough” that time has passed. Work with a developer to create a dynamic website for your business and be sure it incorporates room to grow as well. Since your goal is to grow your Falls Church VA dry cleaning business into a huge conglomerate, make sure your website can follow suit.
  • Buy a smart, SEO-friendly URL. If you are not sure what the URL is, you should definitely hire someone to do your SEO work for you. The URL is the location of your website (the name of it if you will). Rather than using confusing or unrelated URLs for your business, find one that states what you do and if possible where you are. For example, “fallschurchdrycleaning” (while hard to read) fits the bill for a dry cleaning business in Falls Church, VA; but “wecancleanyourshirt” does not. It doesn’t articulate what you do or where your business is.
  • Embrace pay-per-click advertising. No matter what source you choose to use, investing in a pay-per-click advertising campaign, also known as PPC. This is a great way to add actual search volume to your keywords for a rather small investment. Set a budget you can live with and work from there. (By the way, this is also something Digital Assembly Line does, and does very well.)

If you’re ready to move your business into the leader’s position, give us a call. No matter where you are or what you do, we can help create a SEO campaign that will help make you a leader in your market.

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Posted in Branding | 1 Comment »

Don’t Get Penalized For Blackhat SEO Practices

February 16th, 2012

Business owners in the NOVA area often wonder if they are doing everything they can to promote their business online and grab hold of the endless opportunities available. So when they get an email or a phone call marketing search engine optimization, or SEO, services for their business in Herndon, VA they listen intently hoping for the magic answer.

Well, that’s exactly what most of these SEO companies are trying to sell business owners throughout the Northern Virginia area — a magic answer that really is not magic — it’s unethical instead. Blackhat SEO practices have been around as long as SEO has been a term, and at one point they probably weren’t even blackhat – just the beginning form of SEO.

Search engine optimization is based on using keywords to guide search engines to a particular website. There is nothing wrong with using SEO, heck, Google even provides SEO tools for webmasters. The problem becomes instead when these blackhat SEO companies prey on unknowing business owners, offer the (Internet)world on a silver platter, and then do the exact opposite of what they promise. You see, when the search engine giants who run the (Internet)world — and probably someday the world too! — discover the use of blackhat SEO practices, they penalize the website and will typically remove it from their rankings and search results altogether. If this happens, NO ONE will find your business unless they know your direct website address and go there directly. That’s not a good idea.

For example, a (fictitious) company called SEO 1-2-3 calls the (fictitious) Sally May’s Dog Grooming Service in Herndon, VA and offers a great deal on search engine optimization for new customers. Sally May is excited about the opportunity since she has heard about SEO and knows it could really help her grow her business. So for the low price of just five monthly installments of $99, her business will now be found by everyone in the NOVA area searching for dog grooming in the Herndon, VA area. In fact, SEO 1-2-3 guarantees Sally May’s Dog Grooming Service will be ranked first in every related search within one month, or she will be refunded. And what’s more, since she agreed to it today, SEO 1-2-3 will throw in a few extras too! Starting to remind you of an infomercial? Yeah, it should.

While the overall goal and theory behind this special offer is legitimate — except for the extra part, we can’t vouch for that even in our own scenario. An effective SEO campaign is designed to raise the ranking of a website, and help search engines find the business when people search for (in this case) “dog grooming Herndon, VA” but an honest and ethical SEO company (like Digital Assembly Line of course!) will not make guarantees. Why? Because we do not control the search engines, and the search engine companies are responsible for designing their own page ranking criteria.

So, what does all of this mean? It means you should embark on a SEO campaign to improve online visibility of your business, but do so with a reputable company. Running the risk of being banned by the search engines is not worth it.

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Posted in SEO | 1 Comment »

SEO: The Online Equivalent of Colorful Road Maps

February 16th, 2012

If you’ve followed our blog for a while, thanks!, and if this is your first time here, welcome aboard! Either way, we get so wrapped up in our corner of the SEO world working for clients all over Northern Virginia (in places like Reston, VA and Washington DC) that we sometimes forget to take a step backward and explain it all from the beginning. So here it goes….SEO described as a road map. Keep reading, you will understand.

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of luring traffic (visitors) to your website. Website visitors are referred to as “traffic” so think of this entire process as a large map…an atlas if you will. The Internet in its entirety is the giant atlas book — you know, the one that you’ve forgotten even existed since the creation of online mapping tools. After opening the atlas, you need to figure out how to get from Aspen Hill, MA to Reston, VA, but where do you begin? The index.

The index in this case is the search engine of your choice (probably Google, Bing or Yahoo!). After looking to the index, you locate your current location (Aspen Hill, MA) and then look for where you want to go (Reston, VA). When you find your destination, you then can figure out how to get there.

Using the atlas analogy, as you scour the different routes to get from point A to point B. You may decide you’d like to get there as quickly as possible and take an Interstate, but you may also want to take the more scenic route and visit some quaint antique shops along the way. For this exercise, we are saving money and skipping the shopping…at least for now.

Entering your final destination (which is Reston, VA) into the atlas (Google, Bing or Yahoo!) will tell you where you need to go. This is where SEO comes in. When looking at the atlas, you see many different roads all depicted using different colors to signify the type of road it is. For example, a bold red line may be a highway, whereas a think blue line may be a dirt road. Think of SEO as the color-coding of the Internet.

SEO is nothing more than a way to aid visitors (traffic) in finding your location (final destination of Reston, VA). Search Engine Optimization is a group of colorful road signs that you can’t see but your atlas (Google, Bing or Yahoo!) can which helps you get to where you want to go quickly. Isn’t the Internet smart?

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Posted in SEO | 1 Comment »

Why Social Media Is So Catchy

January 27th, 2012

In the grand scheme of life, social media networks like Facebook and Twitter are really just a symptom of other aspects of our lives. What made them so “catchy” to users around the world? What makes millions of people log-on to Facebook to post a status update every moment, or “tweet” about their lunch plans daily? It’s simple – the need to belong. It’s the need to belong to a group of any sort — it apparently doesn’t even matter if the group is “real” — in the sense that you aren’t likely to be with a group of Twitter followers from around the world at the same time. Sure there are gatherings, known as “Tweet Ups” that may allow you to meet some of your followers and those you follow. But, the reality of meeting all of them is rather unlikely — especially since if you are doing it right, you will regularly develop more followers and fans on Twitter and Facebook respectively. So, what does this have to do with online marketing and SEO efforts? Let’s talk about that.

The need to belong to a group begins at an early ages, and apparently never goes away. So, when you are looking for ways to market your business online via social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, you need to create a community. Creating a community of people with similar interests, hobbies or goals essentially creates an online “family” of sorts, which when done right will draw people in and keep them there. It’s not organized crime or a cult or anything, merely a group of people that have something to talk about and do it regularly.

So if you are a business that creates a magazine or tabloid publication which covers celebrity gossip, you want to find your audience and keep them interested. Through the use of Facebook and Twitter, you provide an avenue for celebrity gossip enthusiasts to discuss the latest marriage, break-up or baby news. By creating a “business page” on Facebook and a complementing account on Twitter you can drive traffic from one site to the other, and increase your traffic and exposure of your products and services. Once the community members establish roles and online friendships, they are less likely to stray and more likely to be loyal to your brand.

Do create the community, you cannot simply provide the space and do nothing else. Rather, you must be inclusive with the information you provide and draw people in. Dishing out the latest “dish” on celebrities for free as teasers on Facebook and Twitter, is a great way to transition those visitors as sales on your business website. And don’t forget, even the best search engine optimization campaigns out there cannot replace word-of-mouth and referral advertising.

All this is meant to say, use social media to create a community and use the community to drive your sales. Let all of us at Digital Assembly Line do that for you — you won’t regret it.

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Posted in Social Media | 6 Comments »

Social Media Gains Importance In 2012 With SEO

January 20th, 2012

Whether or not you want to believe it, social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter (among others) are becoming more important to online marketing than some may have thought would be true. Even if you do not like the websites personally, you should at least consider their benefits professionally.

If for no other reason, you should get involved with social media for the search engine optimization benefits if nothing else. The amount of online sharing between friends and acquaintances continues to increase, and your business could be reaping the rewards. These social media sites make it so easy to share your interests with others that people simply click the “share” button and it automatically appears on their personal Facebook page (also known as their “timeline”). That may not seem significant, but each time information is shared the more people become aware of your product or service. With each share, you gain access to more potential customers than you had just moments before. Couple the sharing factor with your business presence on these sites and people will naturally make the jump between the referrer and your page, again, leading to more potential business.

Not only will you benefit from the exposure, search engines are also picking up this traffic. The more social media history you accumulate, the more search engines are going to notice and you will eventually reap the benefits of SEO as well.

Customers often ask me if it matters how many “likes” or “fans” they have on their business Facebook page, or how many Twitter followers they have. That basically depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you simply want the ego boost of seeing you have a half-million followers or fans (an unlikely number used as an example), then yes, it does matter. However, if your main reason for using social media is to increase exposure to your business website or to boost your SEO rankings, then no, it doesn’t matter.

Social media is not yet at a point that it replaces SEO efforts, and that doesn’t seem likely for at least the foreseeable future. But, as more users become “Facebook Friendly” and “Twitter-riffic” your business better jump on the bandwagon to see the rewards.

If you are ready to take the next step in online marketing and SEO tactics for your business, give us a call. We can get you started and keep you going on the social media train.

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Posted in SEO, Social Media | 1 Comment »

What is Google+?

January 12th, 2012

With the introduction of each new Internet-based application comes questions galore, especially from business owners throughout the Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC area. Each business owner wonders what the new introduction on the Internet will do to their current search engine optimization efforts, and if all the progress they have made climbing the ladder in recent months — and sometimes years — will suddenly be rendered useless. So let’s discuss what Google+ is and how — or if — it will impact the search engine optimization efforts you are currently making, or even those we make for you.

The basis of Google+ are Google “Circles.” Circles are basically categories of people you know which are organized into groups by topic. Such as friends, family, roommates, business associates, fraternity or sorority members, dog lovers, or any other category you choose. You simply drag and drop each of your contacts on Google+ into one of these categories, and they are organized.

Then comes “Sparks.” Sparks is the Google+ name for interests. You select your interests – ranging from computers to kittens and everything else in between – and Google+ offers you content based on those interests. It is basically creating a profile of your likes and interests then finds postings on the Internet it feels matches those categories.

Moving on to “Hangouts.” Google+ Hangouts are essentially nothing more than a chat room for your and your circle of friends to hang out in and chat — more or less, it’s just a video chat similar to those offered by a variety of programs available to anyone with a webcam.

Google’s answer to text messaging via the Internet is introduced with “Huddles.” Huddles allow you to connect with a group of people through messaging, there is even a mobile app available for Android phones. The app lets you send messages from your phone to your huddle and everyone can chat together.

The “Instant Update” feature of Google+ allows users of Android phones to automatically upload photos from their phone to Google+. This is a pretty simple feature and requires little explanation, so we will move on.

So how will all of this impact search engine optimization? Until recently, Google had a contract with Twitter to display Twitter feeds in real-time, which was also included in search engine results. The contract with Twitter expired, and Google did not renew it. Now, with the introduction of Google+, we know the contract was not renewed so Google could feature their own Google+ feed in search engine results. So the presence, or absence, from Google+ could eventually impact your SEO efforts, but the amount of the impact is not yet known.

The one factor that may impact SEO greatly are the Google Sparks. Since the Sparks are really interest topics, and Google suggests them (provides a pre-determined list of possible interests) many SEO experts are trying to quickly figure out how their topic of choice gets included in the Google Spark categories. Since Google created the categories, and they are not freely sharing the advice, nobody really knows how to become a Spark interest.

The one main takeaway from the study of how Google+ will impact SEO is this: in the future – possibly near, possibly not – Google rankings will be based on human interaction as much as SEO keywords. Creating a social media presence sooner rather than later — via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others — will be beneficial. Developing online relationships with customers, clients, associates and more will prove beneficial as Google changes their methods of page ranking…yet again. Give us a call at Digital Assembly Line and we can help with all of your SEO and social media needs.

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Posted in SEO | 1 Comment »

Tips and Tricks of SEO From Our Experts

January 6th, 2012

Start the new year out right, with better focus paid to your business website and your search engine optimization efforts put forth. As you probably know from keeping up with our blog, SEO is essential in first growing your business, and eventually in maintaining your business.

Our SEO experts came up with some tips and tricks that should be put into place as soon as possible, to take advantage of the growing Internet sales. This holiday season more retailers saw tremendous benefit from SEO efforts than ever before and every day you neglect yours is one more day you are missing out on unlimited opportunities.

With the changes employed by Goolge, Yahoo! and Bing, the keywords you choose for your website should be focused and used broadly throughout the entire site. In the past you could focus one page on a certain topic and plaster the keyword all over it. For example, if you wanted to climb search results for “dog collars” you could simply create a page on your website dedicated to dog collars. Times have changed and now the focus of the entire website must include more information than simply dog collars. The search engines are looking closer at sites and penalizing those that do not conform to the new industry standards.

Content is now more important than ever as well. Having multiple pages of short blurbs stuffed with keywords will no longer do the trick. Longer documents and more content are key now, with a precise range of total word count that is optimal. (We can’t tell you all of our secrets now can we?) Knowing that your search engine optimization company understands the nuances of the search engines is the first step in making a wise choice in business partners.

To learn more about how search engine optimization, pay per click or other marketing tactics can help grow your business in 2012, give us a call today. Our team of trained SEO experts can put their knowledge to work for you in unmatched ways with unmatched results.

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Posted in Pay Per Click - Cost Per Click, SEO | 9 Comments »

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