Blog - Stewart SEO

19May 2021 by Jed Stewart

Worried About Taking Your Business Online?

Does the idea of going digital with your business frighten you, as if you were about to walk through a minefield blindfolded? "Taking your business online" is not about changing the way you run your business, it is about reaching a client base that you have no other way to reach. Your new Salesman Let's say it is like hiring a new salesman. When you take on a new hire, you don't change the way your business operates. A newly hired veteran salesperson may request some changes in procedures to accommodate the way he or she sells, but your business operations are largely unaffected. You still run the business the same way. There's nothing scary or unknown about hiring a new salesman. On the other hand, going digital with your…

05May 2021 by Jed Stewart

Watch Out For the Latest Website Scams

General

Scammers are certainly not short on creativity. With new scams coming out so frequently, this should probably be a weekly article. I'm not sure we have time for that, but we'll think about it. Here's a new scam going around right now that business owners with a website should be aware of. Falling for this trap could infect your computer with a virus costing you money and time. We did not take the bait, so we can't be certain what the endgame is, but likely it's just a virus. It's also possible that they might try to convince you to pay them to go away. The Copied Images Scam A new scam making its way around the internet comes as an email that is addressed to one of your company…

23Apr 2021 by Jed Stewart

How Mobile Search and Voice Search Have Redefined Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Lead Generation, Search Engines

The new trusted sources for word-of-mouth marketing are Siri, Alexa and Google. Mobile searchers, myself included, regularly ask Siri for her 'recommendations' for services and products. Even though Siri never ate at In-And-Out Burger, she will gladly identify it when asked 'Hey Siri, where's the best burger place near me?' Android users ask Google instead. Alexa's in on the action too. They are all too willing to give you advice on where to eat, buy shoes or get your teeth cleaned. You don't even have to search any more. The three of them will search for you. We talk to our mobile devices more and more, and they're talking back to us - with recommendations. But where does the information they are dispensing come from? You already know the answer…

12Apr 2021 by Jed Stewart

Uh, oh! Here Google Goes Again

Search Engine Optimization, Search Engines, Visitor Engagement

It's been a while since the last major algorithm change in Google Search, so now the time is upon us. This time around there will be a new ranking factor - Page Experience. If there was ever a question in anyone's mind about the importance of UI / UX (user interface / user experience), this should settle it once and for all. User experience is all about how your website and its visitors interact. UX/UI has been a growing segment of the website/app industry, and now Google is confirming its importance to the world. Coincidentally, Stewart SEO has been focusing on what we call Visitor Engagement Optimization (VEO) for years. Check our past blog articles to see it. Our emphasis on visitor engagement is based on great page experience. So…

28Jan 2017 by Jed Stewart

Digital Billboards – You Are Probably Wrong About Them

Search Engine Optimization

The Parable of the Billboard Ad Manager & the Business Owner A billboard ad manager has made an offer to you, a business owner. You pay the normal billboard fee for a few months, maybe six or so, then afterwards a small monthly maintenance fee, but you get to keep your ad on the billboard for an indefinite amount of time, possibly even years. You get your ad in front of visitors, every day, for months, even years, for a minor monthly payment. Sounds great, doesn't it? You scoff and turn down the offer. Why? For some reason, you think your ad is already on the billboard, and you have not seen any great increase in business. It's as if you are the only one who sees the billboard. So…

28Dec 2016 by Jed Stewart

Top 5 Criteria For A Successful Website

Lead Generation, Visitor Engagement

Wow, where to start with this one! I suppose the first thing to clarify is 'what is a successful website?' Success will be interpreted differently, depending on the point of view. A marketing expert who specializes in generating web traffic for his clients may define success as 1000's of website hits per month. An SEO expert may revel in obtaining a number 1 ranking on Google for his customer's website. Success to a web designer may be a wonderfully crafted and aesthetically pleasing front page. But these 'successes' don't really have anything to do with true success, which is more phone calls, more business, more money in the bank. I think every business owner would agree. Who's Success Is It Anyway? A successful digital marketing plan should all incorporate the…

09Dec 2016 by Jed Stewart

How Do You Pick Your SEO Firm?

Search Engine Optimization

SEO is such a nebulous acronym for an equally nebulous profession, but if your business has a website, you need it, like it or not. The disturbing ambiguity that makes up search engine optimization gives business owners an uneasiness about SEO experts, prompting many business owners to just forego the expense and accept that his company's website is and always will be firmly entrenched on page three of Google searches. It's true that there are as many approaches to SEO as there are practitioners, none of them being exactly right. That being said, there is a 'more correct' method of SEO, as well as a 'less correct' method. So how do you go about finding and picking the right company or individual to handle the SEO aspect of your business'…

16Nov 2016 by Jed Stewart

Want Higher Search Position? Get Involved

Visitor Engagement

Who knows your business best? That's an easy one - you do, the business owner. So why leave the tasks of creating an Internet presence and developing an SEO strategy to someone who doesn't know the business the way you do? It's because most business owners view their website as separate entities, not as an extension of the company. Owners are usually unschooled in SEO, SERP, search position, and other 'computer stuff', so they leave website development to the geeks and the nerds. But that's like letting your maid pick your furniture and carpet because she's the one who cleans it. We work with our clients to change that mindset. There are tasks and logistics that should be left to the computer nerds, but your website and Internet presence is…

09Nov 2016 by Jed Stewart

Visitor Engagement Optimization

Visitor Engagement

The SEO Explosion (and Inevitable Implosion) As Google continues to take a greater share of local searches for products and services, the market for search engine optimization (SEO) services increases along with it. Unfortunately, that growth comes with a seeming endless flow of SPAM email and bogus use of customer lead forms on business' websites. How many of you with a 'Contact Me' form on your website haven't received requests from 'SEO experts', quite often in India, offering their services? The irony is that you added a contact form to bring you more leads, but they're using the form to generate their own leads. This huge market for SEO services is driven by the click distribution of Google search results. As much as Google would like a more even distribution…

05Jul 2016 by Jed Stewart

Have a Slow Sales Week? Google Didn’t

Lead Generation, Search Engine Optimization

Small business sales are cyclical - there's no doubt about it. Some weeks are hot, others cold. It's just the nature of the beast when percentage variances can make huge swings in revenue for a small business. Take for instance a pool builder in a medium size city. Getting three queries from potential customers in a day may be huge, considering that a pool might cost $8,000 to $30,000, depending on configuration. On the other hand, since his potential client base is relatively small, he may not get a customer call for a week. So the call difference between having seven great sales days and seven bad days might be about 20 calls. It doesn't sound like much, but to a small business owner, it can be the difference between success and failure. If there…