Google – Page 21 – McCord Web Services The Web Authority

June 29, 2015June 26, 2015

Google Says Mobile is a Key Micro Moment

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I recently attended a Google Partner seminar online on Mobile Tracking and Reporting for Google AdWords. There were some interesting nuggets that the Google Staff shared with us from the extensive research that Google has done on mobile and its value in the conversion funnel.

Here are a few nuggets I want to share today on mobile’s importance in the funnel:

1. Keyword search queries used on mobile searches will be shorter and more general.

2. Mobile activity accounts for strong pre-conversion research.

3. Mobile activity is about looking to be inspired and typically the user is not ready to convert, at least not just yet.

4. Mobile sessions as part of the conversion funnel are typically done early in the day (before noon) with conversions taking place later in the day and typically on a desktop or tablet.

5. Due to mobile activity Google states that desktop pageviews and time on the site are lower, but in reality much of this activity has just simply moved to a mobile device. You may still be getting the same activity from users, but now it is difficult to see in Google Analytics as it happens from multiple devices.

6. Google is strongly recommending advertisers to use cross device conversions as a part of their conversion metric by enabling this as a column detail to better understand how users are converting across multiple devices. Although these are estimated numbers, Google feels that they have a 99.9% surety.

If you watch your numbers in Google Analytics, it is not unusual to see typical website numbers such as 1.1 minutes on the site versus previous numbers last year of 2 to 3 minutes on the site. It is not uncommon to see pageviews down from a year ago of 2 to 5 pages down to 1.2 pages per session. It seems to me that Google has “nailed” what has happened on the web. Don’t discount mobile to your business and marketing equation. Although you may not be getting conversions, you are getting micro moments that lead to sales. Cut out the mobile portion and your sales will very possibly suffer.

Looking for a savvy AdWords account manager for your Fredericksburg PPC program? Check out McCord Web Services – your Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania, Virginia Google Partner.

May 27, 2015May 22, 2015

Business Phones – Think New Technology

Bright Idea Tips to Help With Business Phones

I am moving to the Fredericksburg, Virginia area in July and August this year and as I plan ahead for my move I am revamping my home and business phone technology used to use new things.

Currently, I have a fax telephone line, a business phone line, a residential phone line, two line phones throughout the house, hard wired CAT 5 cabling, and over 9 computers. With my new move, I am going to streamline my use of old tech and move to some new tech.

For example, I am thinking of:

1. Using a Word document/Office subscription fax interface that will allow me to fax using my smartphone as well as to receive faxes this way too. I like MyFax at MyFax.com as my solution. I selected this one due to ease of use and low price – $10 a month. I’ll be needing to have a temporary fax solution for three months before I move into my permanent office and so want something easy to use and usable on a smartphone.

2. I am actually thinking of not having a separate phone line for my business and using my smartphone as my office phone. I already have set up a Google Voice number and will most likely use this number on my website and have it forwarded to my smartphone or home phone on certain days. I have already purchased a new local phone number from Google for $10, as once you have a number you have to pay to change it. I like the ability to control when Google Voice forwards calls. You can even group contacts and then create different answering messages by group. You can have family and friends get automatically connected without delay which is a nice feature.

3. I know that I will have FiOS as my new office. I already have been using virtual phone numbers which really give a terrific cost saving and use VOIP. I may continue to use this for my business or at least for a dedicated fax line and now only one residential line, but I am still thinking of what is the best and most versatile option for my future needs.

With so many new technological choices what you used to think you had to have in your office phone-wise, you now get to think over and reinvent when you move. What technology have you moved to that has cut costs and streamlined your life? Make sure to let me know by clicking and leaving a comment. I guarantee that I’ll check it out and may use it too.

May 13, 2015May 10, 2015

How to Add Location Specificity to Your Website

I am in the process of building a new website for a client and wanted to share a few of my own tips for adding location specificity to your website. Although these are very simple tips, you would be amazed at how many web designers, who are not SEO-focused, will forget to use them.

1. Put your address, phone number, and locations in the code never in images. Search engines cannot read images and do not place any emphasis on what you have in the alt tag. Style these items with CSS don’t take the lazy route by creating them as images.

2. Make sure your phone number is at the top of each and every page and make the phone number clickable using this html tag: <a href=”tel:301-705-7303″>Phone 301-705-7303</a>. When you use code such as this for phone numbers in your content, smartphones will allow these links to be click to call and even browsers and tablets will try to open Skype or other phone calling application with a click.

3. Make sure you include the full address including spelled out state and zip code in the footer of all pages. I even go a step further and note the service counties if there are only several. Don’t do huge lists of cities or counties as Google does not like this approach, but a very small list delineating your service area to readers is appropriate.

4. On your contact page, make sure to embed a map from Google Maps. You can create this custom linkable image from within Google Maps and use the <iframe> code to insert it. This gives visual cues to readers and also a link that can be followed to your exact location for search engines. I have found many sites don’t include their physical location on their contact page; I think that this is a mistake, and unless you are working from a home office location you may want to correct that.

5. Consider on your about page giving more details about your service area. For pest control professionals we have found that a service listing with unique pages built for their important city locations may give the placement that they need in a town or city that they would like to place organically in.

If you need quality but affordable SEO-focused web design or redesign services make sure to check out our details on our responsive website design page.