How search engine optimisation can drive targeted traffic to your business

July 17, 2011 by Jon Hollenberg

SEO Gold CoastDay in, day out your clients are using Google to find products and services to help solve their problems.  If your site isn't listed on the first page it is basically invisible and they will be doing business with your competition!

Gone are the days where having a website was enough be listed in Google.  A website is worthless if no one is finding it.

Does your website appear when someone searches for your product or service in the geographic area?  e.g. "accountant gold coast", "tax return gold coast" or "financial advice gold coast".  This is how the average user of Google locates businesses and unless you aren't on the first page of Google then you won't be found!

The primary goals of a good search engine optimisation campaign are to do the following:

  • Drive highly targeted, new customers to your site
  • Use your website as a "pull" marketing tool i.e. customers seek you out
  • "Pre-sell" a customer through providing relevant content that "helps" them with their problem.

More Website Traffic = More Profits!

Find out how we can help with a dedicated Search Engine Optimsiation campaign.  We help hundreds of businesses at the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Australia make their websites work harder for their business.

Contact Jon Hollenberg on (07) 5576 2581 for more information.

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Getting your business listed on Google Places

July 17, 2011 by Jon Hollenberg

Getting your business listed on Google PlacesGoogle places integrates with Google Maps and allows people to easily find your products and services based on a geographic search term.

Any business can use Google Places and it is free!  You don't even need your own website.

Here’s a quick reference checklist:

  • See if your business is listed already by going to http://maps.google.com.au and typing in your business name e.g. "five by five gold coast".  If it is there you can verify it, if not you can create a new listing from scratch.
  • Enter in all your companies contact details including:
  • Company name
  • Email address
  • Physical address
  • Assign "categories" to your business.  Ensure you use the "pre-defined" ones first and then add in any custom categories which may not exist.
  • Add in your trading hours.
  • Add in photos & videos.  The key here is to use all the tools that Google provide to promote your business.  Google places allows you to upload up to 10 photos and 5 videos. Fill out as much info as you possibly can!
  • Ensure you verify your listing.  This allows Google to authenticate the information that you have provided.
  • Get as many customer reviews as you can.  Google tends to put preference on businesses which are reviewed by other people this can be very beneficial to your business.
  • Add posts.  Google loves content and adding in any info will be beneficial and keep the content fresh and relevant.

Local search is very powerful.  This setup process shouldn't take any more than 10-15 minutes and can pay great dividends!

If you get stuck, don't hesitate to contact Jon Hollenberg from Five by Five on (07) 5576 2581

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5 Reasons Why I love WordPress

May 30, 2011 by Jon Hollenberg

Wordpress IconAll our client projects we deliver use a content management system called WordPress.  We have been using WordPress for many years now and seen it evolve from what started out as a blogging tool to a full blown CMS.

Here are FIVE of the reasons why we love it so much:

1. WordPress if FREE:  Used and contributed to by millions of bloggers from around the world.  WordPress is being constantly updated, enhanced and evolved.

2. Super easy to install:  WordPress allows you to install within minutes without having to be technically minded. There are many tutorials around and if you are running CPanel you can use Fantastico Deluxe's awesome ONE click install.

3. Access to Themes:  There are thousands and thousands of free themes available on the web ready to install and use.  This changes the appearance of how your website "looks and feels".  

4. Plugins:  A plugin is a way of "extending" or "enhancing" the core functionality or features of WordPress.  We recently implemented an event registration plugin using a plugin called "Event Expresso". Need to adjust a plug-in? Not a problem. With basic knowledge of PHP, you can modify and adjust these plug-ins to your liking with no fuss.

5. Very SEO friendly:  Using a plugin called "All In One SEO" you can easily optimise each of your pages and posts so that it gives you the best possible chance to generate traffic through Google.  This coupled with the ability to fully customise your URL's makes this a very SEO friendly tool!

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