7 SEO Trends To Look Out For in 2019

A new year means new content for your small business! But with so much ground to cover, where do you start? Our Santa Rosa SEO specialists and web designers at K2 start with the SEO strategy. It’s important to update your SEO strategy at least once a year to keep up with the always-changing algorithms Google uses to keep us on our toes.


As you prepare your digital marketing and content strategies for the new year, use the latest SEO trends to grow your business through digital marketing.

1.Page Speed - Google’s number one priority is to deliver the most relevant, user-friendly content as quickly as possible. While desktop page speed has been an important SEO trend for a while, mobile device page speed has quickly become equally important. Google has introduced a new speed metric, so it is to your benefit to optimize your website (improve your optimization score) to improve your page speed.

2.GDPR - The General Data Protection Regulation passed in the European Union is a relatively new rule that blew up your inbox earlier this year. The GDPR regulates who owns the data you provide online. Because of GDPR, users now own their data and can always ask corporations to see what data they have of them. While this is particularly important for businesses in the EU or do business in the EU, Google has adjusted its analytics with respect to GDPR. User’s data is now deleted after 26 days, and businesses can delete an individual’s personal data upon request. The little pop up that appears on websites asking you to accept cookies (data collection) is now a mark of credibility.

3.Hyperlocal Search - Most people search for locations through their mobile devices now. As a small business, attracting local customers is a top priority for you. Hyperlocal search marketing allows you to be more precise with your targeting and rank higher for “near me” searches. Proximity is a big factor for consumers when choosing brands. For local companies it could even mean losing prospective customers to a corporation simply because they are closer and have better SEO.

4.Mobile-First Indexing - Google now uses your mobile version of your page for indexing and ranking. Back in March, Google started migrating sites to this mobile-first index. This basically means Google will be prioritizing mobile when ranking websites.

5.Voice Search and Home Assistants - Half of global searches will be conducted through voice and home devices by 2020. That means your SEO keywords need to be compatible with this technology. Aim to use keywords that are between 7 and 9 words and include language that people use in regular conversation.

6.Use Your Brand as a Ranking Signal - Google now uses online brand mentions as a ranking signal. Google crawls for unlinked brand mentions to determine whether your brand is an entity. Then, it looks at the context of the brand mentions to see the quality of the mentions and to determine your brand’s value.

7.Amazon Search - Now more than ever, people head straight to Amazon to search for products. While Amazon is not a full search engine, it has quickly become the Google of e-commerce. In fact, according to a study, 56% of people defer to Amazon if they are considering shopping. As a retailer, it will be important to be selling on Amazon in 2019.


Need Help With Your SEO?

Optimize your website and see major growth in 2019 with help from K2 Santa Rosa SEO specialists. Our team can work with you to design, strategize and execute a better digital web presence so you can grow your business online.

4 Web Design Hacks to Increase Web Conversions

You can make all the design edits in the world, but if they’re not the right design edits, it really doesn’t matter. What do we mean by right? If your web design isn’t converting, then something isn’t right.

If you’re looking to design a website, campaign or digital element that converts, design with the customer’s motivations and preferences in mind. Start by using these quick design hacks for more web design conversion.


1.The Law of Pithiness
This is one of Gestalt’s guiding principles. It states that we tend to organize our experiences in symmetrical, simple ways. We like things to be clean, neat, and orderly (despite how we keep our cars and desks). Clutter creates overwhelm, so you want to avoid that at all costs.

The most common web design hack that follows the Law of Pithiness is the use of white space. White space makes people’s eyes happy, use it whenever possible.


2. The Law of Past Experience
The Law of Past Experience (concept of mental models) states that our past experiences have a huge effect on how we interpret our present experiences.

So how do we apply that to web design?

Customers past experiences are extremely personal, and we can’t help but bring those experiences into our current experiences – stay with us – web designers can use this familiarity to decrease barriers to purchase.

For example, people are used to the “Add to Cart” button sitting at the top right-hand corner of the website. Keep it there.


3. Familiar Faces
People are more likely to buy if you have familiar faces on your website. It’s a sign of trust and community. This has proved true in political campaigns and pizzerias alike. Human faces attract attention and convey emotion, both of which are huge assets in marketing. Use human faces in your web design whenever it’s appropriate.


4. Cost/Benefit Analysis
How much are you willing to pay for an online course? It depends on two factors:

·      Is it easy to acquire it?
·      Will it be worth your time/money?

If all you have to do is enter your email, then you will do it in seconds. But if you have to fill out a survey and pay $15, then that yes turns to a no or, best case scenario, “I’ll do it later”. This is the rule of Cost/Benefit Analysis. A customer will “pay” for the product or service if the benefit appears to equal or even outweigh the cost.

Design the Calls to Action and other web design elements to accentuate the benefit and increase the attractiveness of the cost. This also requires good copy writing, so have one of those professionals in your back pocket.


Looking for help with your web design? We’ve only scratched the surface here. Call our super brilliant and incredibly good-looking design-hacking Sonoma County Web Designers at K2 for a free quote.

How To Make Your Site User Friendly

A website is only as good as its ability to convert -- otherwise, why be online in the first place? Websites with excellent conversion rates have one key characteristic in common: they are user-friendly. But what does “user-friendly” mean, exactly, and how do you make a site as user-friendly as possible? These are the questions that boggle the minds of thousands of business owners.

Fret no longer, busy business owner, we’re here to chat user-friendly websites. If you’re a business owner looking to improve the functionality of your website, then buckle up because we’re about to run through the basics of user-friendly web design at lightning speed.

What Does User Friendly Mean
A user-friendly website is intuitive, responsive and personalized. Web designers have hundreds of tricks up their sleeve to improve the user-friendliness of a website. While not all tactics may be necessary for your website, your web designer will be able to identify what methods make sense for your industry, your budget, and most importantly, the preferences and needs of your target audience. The whole purpose of user-friendly web design is to keep the user in mind every step of the way. If you’re ever in doubt about a web design element, sak, “will this be attractive and easy to navigate as a customer?”. That question alone will change the way you view your website.

The Key Principles of User-Friendly Web Design
Whether you’re building your own site on Wix or you plan to hire a web designer to build a custom Wordpress site, there are a few standard user-friendly web design methods to include in your website.

1) Keep Things Simple - Remember those websites from the 90s where the homepage looked like a full phone book's worth of information on it (also, remember phone books?). That’s the exact opposite of user-friendly web design. You want to give the user’s eyes plenty of breathing room so they don’t feel overwhelmed. When a customer is overwhelmed with visual stimulation then they definitely won’t want to hear anything more you have to say.

2) Be Fast And Furious - Your website should be FAST.  We don’t have to tell you how small our human attention span is, and nobody has patience for a slow-loading page. HIre a web developer to make sure your website’s backend is clean and up to date so you don’t lose customers because your homepage moves slower than rush hour on the I-5. 

3) Put Your Logo Front And Center -  OK, your logo doesn’t literally have to be in the center of the web page, but it should absolutely be easy to spot on every page of your website. Your logo, as well as other definable brand elements, should always be present so the viewers knows exactly what they are looking at. 

4) Be Brief, Clear And Genuine - No one wants to be confronted by a wall of text online, and your website is not the exception. Use your SEO strategy to write clear, engaging copy that gets to the point in a way your target audience will resonate with. Remember that your target audience is 100% human, so talk to them through your brand voice in that way. Think more “friendly email” than “academic paper”. The idea is to connect with your visitors as quickly as possible. That calls for brevity, clarity, and genuineness. 

5) Tell Them What To Do - You could tell the most beautiful, elaborate story about your product, but if there is no clear call to action on the web page, your visitors will not act. Craft engaging calls to action that jive with your brand messaging. 

6) Make Content Shareable - Your website content should be easily shareable for social media platforms. Display social media icons in the footer or sidebar of each page, make sure your images and media are pinnable, and highlight excerpts of your text with prompts like, “Tweet This.” Your website visitors are a primary vehicle for getting the word out about your brand, and a little prompting goes a long way. 

7) Include A Mobile Friendly Version - Most people browse the internet on their phone at least once a day. As a web surfer yourself, you’ve probably noticed the mobile version of a website is a bit different than the desktop version. This is because your web designer has coded certain elements to minimize or even disappear in response to the smaller screen. Make sure your website is responsive to mobile devices and tablets. This is something your web designer can easily do as they build your desktop site. 


Make Your Website User-Friendly
Are you ready to generate more leads and please your web visitors with stellar, responsive and user-friendly design? Contact our wildly capable group of designers at k2 Sonoma County Web Design for your free quote.

5 Signs Your Website Is Outdated

The digital space is evolving on a daily basis. What was once new and exciting is now old and outdated. When it comes to your business, you always want to come off as relevant and technologically savvy. The way your website operates can give a major impression on potential customers, and you want that impression to be a good one.

If you’ve had your website for a few years now and haven’t made any real updates, look for these signs that your website may be outdated.

1) Your Content Is All Over the Place - People have reached a point in their digital experience where they expect websites to look a certain way. They expect the “shop” button and logo to be on either side of the top left or right corner. They expect clear and engaging content to greet them to the site and explain what you offer them. Your website content should be broken up into small, distinct sections. If your web visitors are greeted by a wall of text with no guidance as to where they should begin, they will be out of there quicker than a sorority girl who stumbled into a biker bar.

2) The Dates On Your Site Are Over One Year Old - If you still have a flyer up from an event your company held over a year ago, your website is outdated. People come to your website to find relevant information and answers to their problems. If you have outdated information, including dates, events, bios, and specials, then visitors will have no reason to trust your credibility. You could be a family-run company that’s been open for 100 years, but if your potential customers haven’t heard of you and their first impression is outdated information, they’re not buying.

3) Your Website Looks Like a Rainbow - Color is a fantastic tool for attracting visitors to the content you want them to see. However, if you have 4 or 5 colors competing for the visitor’s eye, you will lose them. Aim to use no more than 2-3 colors on a webpage. This will make your website more attractive and much easier to look at for long periods of time (which is the goal!). Ideally you will want to have one main color that ties all the other colors together. Consider these your brand colors, you will likely have them in your logo and other brand materials.

4) You Have Broken Files, Images and Links - Is there anything more annoying than following a link to what you think will be valuable information only to find that it’s broken? Imagine what your website visitors think. Broken links, plugins and images give a terrible impression of your website, and most of the time that broken link represents your one chance to make an impression with new visitors. Hire a web developer to consistently maintain the backend of your website so you never have people bouncing off your site due to broken content.

5) There’s Clip Art and Animations On Your Site - While there is certainly room for gifs, memes, graphics, videos and movie clips, pixelated animations (like Tamagotchi, remember those?) will definitely show your website’s age. Honestly, there’s no need to use these anymore. People expect high res, life-like imagery on websites, so if you’re brand relies on animation and graphics to get the brand feel across, hire a web designer to create updated versions of your old animations.

Ready For Some Updates?
If you’re finding outdated content all over your site and don’t know how to fix it, call our Santa Rosa Wordpress Web Development team to take care of the bugs for you. We’re a full service Wordpress web development and SEO team that can whip your website back into tip top shape. Let’s do this.

What is Domain Authority And Do You Need It

What is Domain Authority, Anyway?

What is the Domain Authority of your website?

If your eyebrow shot up in questioning, then no worries. You’re right where you’re supposed to be. Domain Authority is an essential website metric that business owners can easily overlook. This week we’re going to break down Domain Authority and how to apply it to your website.

Domain Authority is one of the most important SEO metrics in determining the overall authority, or power, of your website. The basic Domain Authority (DA) metric can be measured using three key factors: Age, Popularity, and Size. Although, the creators of DA, Moz, calculate DA by considering dozens of other metrics, including number of total links and linking root domains.

DA works as a logarithmic scale from one to 100. The scale predicts how well your website will ranks on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). When a website has a higher score, it is more likely to be predicted to rank.

Technically, Domain Authority is calculated using a machine learning model to predict the best fit algorithm that correlates the DA calculation program’s link data with thousands of real search results. These real search results are used as the standard that the machine learning model bases its scale on.

How To Use Domain Authority

This DA score can be used to compare the site to other sites. It’s important to understand the DA score is a prediction of how well your site will rank, not how your site is ranking currently. So there shouldn’t be any pressure to have an insanely high DA score. Instead, a DA score should be used as a comparative metric--meaning you should compare your DA score to the scores of your direct competitors. Look at the DA scores of competitor sites, then use SEO strategies to ensure your DA score is always higher than your competitors.

Where To Find Domain Authority

The DA metric can be founding using SEO tools like Moz’s free tools at MozBar. You can also request that your SEO professionals add this metric to your monthly reports.

Domain Authority is NOT Page Authority

Domain authority predicts the ranking of your domains. Page authority ranks the strength of pages on your website. These are very different metrics.

How to Increase/Manipulate Domain Authority

The machine learning software makes it extremely difficult to influence your domain authority directly. The best way to influence your DA score for the better is to improve your overall SEO and link. DA scores will rank better in your favor if you specifically work on increasing the amount of links from other higher ranking and well-linked pages around the web.

Need assistance boosting your SEO? Call our Sonoma County SEO experts to see how we can help improve your overall SEO metrics, attract more customers, and produce more relevant content for your current customers.

How To Find A Great Local SEO Company

Look for a great local SEO company is a lot like looking for the other sock to your pair -- you know it’s around somewhere, you just don’t know how to begin looking for it. Fortunately, there are are some key things to look for in an SEO company that will help you determine whether they’re good, great, or just OK. Use these tips from our fellow Sonoma County SEO professionals to locate that other sock … or err that great local SEO company.

Know What You Need From The Very Beginning
As with anything in business, the more clarity you have on what you need, the easier it will be to locate the right vendor to make it happen for you. Even the most wizard-like SEO master out there can’t read your mind, so when you schedule a meeting with an SEO company candidate, come prepared with key questions to your biggest web problems. Ideally, you will glean two observations from this strategy:

• What solutions the SEO company has to offer
• How they communicate these solutions

If you find it difficult to get straight answers from the company, then you absolutely will not get straight answers once you’re under contract with them. With that said, the clearer your questions are, the clearer their answers should be. 

Ask For Stories, Reviews, and References
The best way to learn about an SEO company is to hear their stories. Get them talking about past clients, current trends in their industry, and biggest successes. Remember to do your own research as well. Check reviews and ask for references from other clients. The more perspective you can get, the clearer picture you will have of your work with them. 

Discuss Their Approach
If there’s anything you should know about SEO before meeting with the professionals, it’s the SEO is a long game. That means if any SEO company tries to convince you that you will have the coveted 1st search result spot on Google in a matter of weeks, run far away from them. SEO takes time, but the right foundational work can set you up for long-term success.

Ask About Their Local SEO Strategy
If you are a local business, then local SEO will be key to your success. Ask pointed questions about the SEO company’s local SEO strategy:

• Do they optimize title tags for local content?
• Will your site be submitted to local directories?
• Will you be listed on local “Best of” directories?

Don’t Stop At One
There are hundreds of SEO companies (or agencies who claim to have SEO services) out there. Vet your SEO vendor hunt like a bridezilla with a clipboard at a cake tasting. This is arguably one of the most crucial vendors for your digital marketing strategy, so look at all of your options and only choose your company when you feel 100% certain they will take care of you.


If you’re currently vetting great local SEO companies, call K2 SEO in Sonoma County for your free quote. Our Santa Rosa Search Engine Optimization experts will help you.

Web Design Terms Part 1: Terms Business Owners Should Know

If you want to communicate with your web designer, you’ve got to learn how to speak their language. Luckily, it won’t take you a full semester to speak in terms they understand. However, there are quite a few terms worth wrapping your arms around, which is why we are doing a 2-part post about web design terms business owners should know. Memorize these key web design terms and you will be on your way to more effective communication with your web designer.

HTML or HyperText Markup Language is the language of the world wide web. HTML is the messaging tool that allows your web designers to tell certain web elements what to do. HTML language has different tags that help tell the web browser what’s an image, what’s a video, and what’s a paragraph.

CSS or Cascading Style Sheets allows for web designers to create and maintain “visual rules” that determines the rendering of all the visual elements on a web page. This includes, shape, color, and position of the web elements.

JavaScript also allows for different interactions between web elements. The origins of JavaScript can be not-so-fondly remembered as those pop-up boxes requesting validation of phone numbers or codes. Now JavaScript can be used for more convenient practical means such as uploading content without having to refresh the entire page.

SaaS or Software as a Service refers to any service that provides a software platform--Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Adobe, Google Docs, etc. Saas is usually delivered through the cloud. 

A/B Testing is an experimentation method where two ideas intended for the same result are tested against each other to determine which option will achieve the better result. For example, you may A/B test two different home page images or calls to action to see which one performs better.

Responsive Design refers to a web page’s ability to adapt or “respond” when displayed on devices of various sizes. You will have most likely noticed this when you view your favorite website on a desktop versus your smartphone. The layout is likely different ad the visuals might be bigger or smaller.

Responsive design also refers to personalization and relevance, meaning a web page responds to the specific individual viewer and displays only what is relevant to them.

ARIA or Accessible Rich Internet Application speaks to the technology used to close the gap between a user’s needs and the web browser itself. ARIA technology includes UX design, as it focuses on user-friendly content, accessibility, and functionality.

Got all that? Good. If not, study up and we will see you next week for Part 2!

Ready to dive in with a team of creative, go-getting web designers, call K2 Sonoma County Web Design to see if we’re a good fit.

Web Design Issues You Need To Fix Immediately

Websites are likes maps to your brand. They help your customers and website visitors understand what they should know and where they should go to consume relevant information. But if your website is riddled with outdated information, poor graphics and (gasp!) stock photos, your visitors will sense that your brand is outdated and ingenuine. Whether you’re a new business ready to put some money into digital marketing, or you’ve had your business for years and your website looks that way, make sure all of these web design holes are patched up immediately.

Outdated Design - If you still have the same exact website you paid for back in 2005, your website is outdated. Honestly, if you have the same website graphics from two years ago, it’s outdated. Hire a professional web designer to consistently update your website with new information and up-to-date visuals that communicate to visitors that you’re still relevant.

Stock Images Everywhere - All those “happy families” and “perfectly stacked sandwiches” aren’t fooling people anymore--everyone can spot a stock image, and because of their overuse visitors are desensitized to them. In a sense, you would probably be better off not having any photos, although we don’t recommend it. Invest in professional photography for your brand, so you can be sure no one else on the planet has the same visual content as you. Those kind of details make a huge difference when customers are comparing your brand with competitors.

Unnecessary or Superfluous Design -  One of the key rules of design is, “Less is more.” Clean, uncluttered design is much more appealing to the eye--and when your customer’s eyes are happy, they’re more likely to buy your products. Cluttered design frustrates people and they will associate that frustration with your brand.

Unclear Site Path - Your homepage may be pretty, but if your visitors don’t understand where to go next, they will leave. Part of excellent website development involves designing a pathway for your visitors to follow on the site. Think of it as a road to different destinations that lead them to relevant information and other benefits they may not have known existed. A poor or absent pathway will be confusing and frustrating.   

Confusing or Unclear Links - Go ahead, be witty. Throw your wit and sense of humor all over the site, but don’t be funny in your links. This is the equivalent of making jokes on road signs. People don’t want to laugh when they’re lost. Keep things clear.

Outdated or Invisible Contact Info - Don’t make it difficult to find your physical location. Make sure all your information is visible on the website and available on different platforms outside of your website as well.

Have any of these issues with your website? Call our Sonoma County Web Designers to get your website back in shape. 

How to Make SEO Work For You

What is SEO and How Do I Use It?
The purpose of SEO is to prove to Google and other search engines that your site (and your business) is a credible, relevant source of information and entertainment. The name of the game with SEO is to optimize your site so well that it lands you in the first 3 search results for a given keyword.

What’s a Keyword?
A keyword is the golden snitch of SEO elements. Your goal is to rank number one for keywords that are relevant to your brand. Customers use keywords to find relevant information that is associated with your business/website.

How to Get SEO to Work For You
SEO is meant to work for you, but it can work against you if it’s not set up properly. Typically people hire SEO specialists like our Santa Rosa SEO team to keep things running smoothly. If you’re hell bent on doing it yourself though, make sure you follow these tips for getting SEO to work for you.

1. Use one primary keyword per page - Google doesn’t like when you stuff web pages with keywords. It sees your game, so don’t bothering playing it.
2. Use Meta-tags and ALT-attributes - When optimizing your page, make sure you write meta-descriptions for each page and pimp out your photos and graphics with ALT-attributes.
3. Take advantage of Title Tags - Your page title shouldn’t be the only title if you want to optimize your site. Use title tags as an additional way to insert your keyword and provide additional information about the page to your visitors. Make sure it’s short, catchy, and memorable. It should also appear on several areas of your website.
4. Remember to use location in keywords - Using location helps to optimize your business for your area, rather than casting a wide net with a vague keyword like “Donuts”.
5. Place keywords in headings and subheadings - Headings and subheadings are prime real estate for keywords. They reassure your web visitors that they are getting what they searched for. This also helps search engines know you are relevant.
6. Act natural - As you write keywords throughout your content, make sure they blend in naturally with the rest of the text. Reading clumsy text that is clearly pointing to the keyword is like listening to your mom drop hints about marriage and babies at a family dinner. It’s not as subtle as you think it is.
7. Optimize each page with keywords - Proper SEO strategy means using a different keyword for each page. Don’t use the same keyword for several pages, otherwise this will force your pages to compete against each other, which is a waste of everyone’s time.

Feeling overwhelmed by this whole SEO thing? We get it. There are so many rules to satisfy both search engines and your site visitors. Sometimes it’s better to leave it to the experts. Get in touch with K2 Santa Rosa Search Engine Optimization specialists for a free quote.

SEO Decisions You Need To Make Before Wordpress Website Development

The Importance of SEO in Web Development - Sonoma County Wordpress Website Developers

Developing a website is the digital version of building a brick-n-mortar storefront from the ground up. Before you break ground, you need a clear blueprint. For your website, that blueprint is your Search Engine Optimization plan (SEO). 

SEO saves you time and money by targeting your ideal audience and improving site rankings. Without SEO, it won’t matter how beautiful or user-friendly your website may be. You can contact to our Santa Rosa SEO experts in Sonoma County for more information.

Whether you’re building a website DIY-style or you plan to hire a professional Wordpress website development company, there are some details to consider when incorporating SEO into the overall website development process. 

1.Keyword Research

You want your website to rank on the first page of Google, and the way to do that is to rank for terms that your users are searching for. Market research and analytics will improve your keyword list so you can optimize content based on these keywords. 

2.Wordpress Website Architecture and Internal Linking

Proper Wordpress website information architecture makes it possible for crawlers to scan your website for credibility and relevance. Site architecture is also helpful for your human visitors, as they can browse your site and find what they need easily. 

The ideal website architecture puts human needs first while also making the site crawlable. You can use canonical tags and redirects (if you have an existing website) to streamline your linking structure.  

3.Website Content 

 Decide what type of content your site will have. Will you have blogs, ebooks and white papers or videos, infographics and large images? Your professional website developers can design your website according to the content that you produce. This is essential for both user-function and overall site performance.

4.Page Loading Time

Gone are the days we would patiently wait for a site to load to get the information we need. Users expect fast website loading time (according to recent research from Google, 1-3 seconds is ideal). A long page load time could lose you leads, but if you have a clean SEO plan and solid website structure your site will load faster.   

5.Security  

Before building your Wordpress site, you will want to decide whether to use Hypertext transfer protocol or Hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTP or HTTPS). Until recently HTTPS was only a concern for ecommerce sites, but because HTTP sites are not encrypted, it is encouraged to choose HTTPS so all data that passes through this connection is secure. 

6.Responsive Design

As more and more people use their smartphone or tablet to browse the web, it is essential that your website is responsive to all devices types. In other words, your website should be just as user-friendly on a smartphone than it is on a desktop computer.  

7.Website Development and SEO Maintenance

Once the site is live, you will need to track performance, fix bugs and re-strategize keywords when it makes sense. Google Analytics is the most popular tracking software, but Screaming Frog and Big Web Master Tolls work great too. If maintaining your website sounds like a massive headache, it’s better to hire professional Wordpress website developers to take care of updates and keep your site running smoothly. 

Conclusion

When it comes to building a website, the “If you build it, they will come” mentality is only true if there’s a strong SEO plan amplifying the site. Investing in SEO for your Wordpress website will ultimately set you up for a more profitable website in the long run. But, just like building a brick-n-mortar storefront, the website needs effective blueprints and regular maintenance to work well for your customers. 

Need a website that performs as beautifully as it looks? Get in touch with our Sonoma County Wordpress website developers for a free quote!

7 SEO Tips to Improve Your Website Rankings

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an essential tool for increasing page ranks on search engines, attracting your ideal customers, and establishing credibility online. As Sonoma county’s SEO professionals, we’ve assisted many businesses with SEO and backend web maintenance to save them time and the overall headache of web development.

Some customers prefer that we do everything (which is fine by us, SEO is our specialty!), but other clients have asked to learn the basics of SEO as they add more content to their website.  If you’re preparing to build a website or want to keep up the good SEO work as you add more content to your site, use these SEO tips from the professionals here at K2 Sonoma County SEO and Web Development Services.


1. Choose The Right Keywords - While it’s tempting to try and attract everyone, this is not a realistic method for converting viewers into customers. The more you settle into your niche, the easier it will be to attract the right customers to your website. Whether you have a website already or you’re preparing to build one, make sure your website reflects the specific problem you are solving for your customers.

2. Focus Your Website On 1 Purpose - When a viewer lands on your website, they should be able to understand what you’re all about with a single glance. Keywords can help you do that. As an expert in your field, you’re bound to include other topics related to your expertise throughout the site, but ultimately these are only supplemental to your website’s larger purpose.

3. Include Your Keywords In Prime Locations - Your keyword should show up in your headline, taglines, home page, domain name, page content, and blog categories. This helps site crawlers identify you as credible and relevant to viewers searching for your keywords.

4. Include Keywords in URLs - URLs are another great place to insert keywords. You should be able to edit your URLs before you publish the page, however this is not advised if the page is already published, as it can lead to broken links through the site.

5. Take Advantage of Alt Text - Did you know you can optimize your images? When you’re using a Wordpress site, you have the option to include a keyword in the Alt text of the image. This can help increase your SEO status for the page.

6. Take Advantage of Internal Linking - Once viewers land on your site, the goal is to keep them there. The best way to ensure this is to link pages to one another through internal linking. Link important articles and other pages to your home page so viewers are able to easily navigate through your site and gain more value from you.

7. Keep Up With Website Updates - Wordpress websites update frequently, and it is extremely important you stay consistent with your updates. Sometimes when website updates occur, information on the site can get messed up, so you need to make sure everything still looks good from the front-end as well. If you don’t want to deal with this, it’s best to hire a web developer to maintain the backend of your website for you.

Feeling overwhelmed with SEO? Give K2 Sonoma County SEO services a call to take care of it for you.

The Real Difference Between Web Designer and Web Developer

People often confuse web designers and web developers, which can result in some major problems if business owners ask for certain deliverables that don’t line up with the professional’s expertise. Before you put up a job posting for a web designer or web developer, know what you’re looking for so you attract the right professionals.

The Main Differences Between Web Designers and Web Developers

The Role of Web Designers - Web designers use graphic design to create the overall look for the website, landing page and other web elements. Their designs become functional with the help of coding. Web designers often also work as graphic designers for branding, printed pieces and other graphic marketing materials.

Web designers often work in advertising agencies and creative houses or as freelancers. They often work alongside developers and copywriters to produce full scale marketing collateral.

The Role of Web Developers 

 

Web developers are often able to do many of the tasks that web designers can do, but they can also do more on the technical side of things. However, web developers are able to build websites from scratch, working with codes like Javascript, CSS and HTML. Web developers can put web designer’s work into action on websites and other digital platforms.

Web developers are typically more analytically inclined than web designers, having backgrounds in computer science and programming.

How Web Design And Web Developers Work Together

 

Web developers and web designers are often confused because they frequently work on the same projects and, depending on the professional, can have different skills that cross into the other’s expertise (design, coding, SEO). To be fair, the job roles of web designer and web developer continue to blur as they both adopt different skills. You will often see web designers with developer skills and web developers with design skills. Many people in this profession call themselves web designer/developer. However, this only emphasizes the fact that employers should be clear about their needs and make sure to hire a professional with the specific skill set they are looking for.

Looking for a web designer or web developer in Sonoma County? Contact K2 for a free quote!

5 Reasons to Use Wordpress for your Website Design

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) and blogging platform used by 24% of website owners across the globe. But why is WordPress so popular? There are many other CMSs out there, including Shopify, Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, Jumla, and Drupal. With our experience as Santa Rosa WordPress Website Designers, we’ve had clients start with one platform only to get frustrated and switch over to WordPress. When you boil it down, WordPress is the most human-friendly platform. And not just business owner humans, web designers too! If you ask any credible web designer about WordPress, they will probably sing these 5 praises. 

It’s extremely easy to use. From software updates and SEO to the design and content editing, WordPress is is incredibly easy to understand, even when you have a bunch of people with various WordPress competency levels working on the site simultaneously. It’s also very manageable for the one-man-show running everything on his own, if he has the right plugins. WordPress Web design is the easiest way to bring your dream website to life.

WordPress is the bridge between search engines and humans. WordPress is hands down the best platform for websites that need SEO (that’s all websites). The backend is user-friendly and comes equipped with measurement tools to let you know how your SEO will rank and what you can do better.

It’s the universal platform. We always recommend choosing WordPress on the backend because so many people know how to use it, even if it’s just elementary knowledge. This makes things easier when you hire different freelancers tinkering in the backend throughout the life of your website. WordPress can handle it and communication between you and your web development or creative team is likely to be easier. You won’t have to teach a designer or copywriter how to use WordPress.

You have more creative flexibility. Whether you want an opt-in to pop up as your viewers hover over the exit button or a beautiful slideshow of your best work, there’s a plugin for that. You have the ability to optimize your pages, add call to actions that link to your email marketing platform, embed forms, and even make your website load faster.

WordPress is massively supportive and secure. Over the 10 years since its launch, WordPress has gained an incredible amount of support from users, developers, and designers. This community is responsible for making all these plugins and maintaining the usability  on the platform. WordPress also stays current on updates and always informs you when another update is due. Many people who use WordPress as their CRM use WP Engine to host their site. This is a very secure hosting service and offers outstanding integration options.

Interested in designing your site with WordPress? Call our Santa Rosa WordPress Website Design team to set up an introductory call and receive a free quote.

How To Search For A Great Web Designer - Santa Rosa Web Design

Searching For Santa Rosa Web Design

Are you struggling to find a web design company here in Santa Rosa? Guess what, you’re far from alone. This is actually becoming a big issue for business owners, specifically those who do not want to hire a full-time web designer to their staff. No matter where you’re located, hiring a great web designer can be a really difficult process. There seems to be thousands of people claiming to be designers or freelancers, and if you’re relying on job recruiter sites, you could be wasting a lot of time sifting through subpar candidates. Whether you’re on the lookout for a web designer to join your team or a freelance Santa Rosa web designer to tackle a few quick projects, use these hacks to find a web designer that can create the design you’re dreaming of … assuming you dream about design like we do.  

Searching For Web Designers Online

We’ve all been there: sitting in front of the computer screen, staring back and forth between your looming list of design needs and the blank Google Search page, having no idea what to even search first. If “award-winning affordable web designers”, “web designers who can also do SEO” and “unique web design specialists” are listed in your search history, you might be casting too big of a net. If you want to find quality, dependable and creative designers in your area, first start with your region (i.e. Santa Rosa Website Design, San Francisco Web Design and SEO … you get the idea). It may seem a little heavy handed, but if we’re going to stay with this fishing analogy, you’re way more likely find a fat, friendly creative fish that might even tell a few jokes before you eat him. In other words, if you search location-specific terms you are more likely to find design agencies and freelancers who live in your area and are much easier to communicate with.

Searching For Web Designers By Word Of Mouth 

Another tried-and-true way to find Santa Rosa web designers is to ask around. As we’ve mentioned before, everyone and their mother is some form of freelancer now, so we are willing to bet that each one of your friends has a referral for you. If face-to-face meetups are more your style, this will be a much quicker way to find a Santa Rosa Website Designers that can churn out the work you’re looking for.

Once you find a list of designers in your area, start stalking. There are a few key details you will want to note as you research designers:

Check out their portfolios - Do they seem to have a bunch of clients within the same industry? If so, is that industry the same or similar to yours? Checking out their work with past clients will give you an idea of their creative style and see how diverse their designs are.

Read their blog - A great web designer will usually have a lot to say about it.  While the writing doesn’t have to be spectacular, the enthusiasm should definitely be there. Browse their blog to see what they tend to write about and how they talk about it. This will also give you an insight into their communication style, should you choose to hire them.

Reviews and Testimonials - Think of reviews as a pre-interview test. Read through testimonials and reviews and look for patterns and frequent keywords. If several past clients say something about pace, processo or time, then make a note to ask about time frames in the interview. If you see past clients talking about how hard the designer is to get ahold of, make a note of that too.

Check out their LinkedIn - When looking for Santa Rosa web design, it’s very possible that the web designer shares a few connections with you on LinkedIn. If this is the case ask around to see if the web designer has a good reputation.

Don’t forget to read the About - How a web designer talks about herself can tell you a lot about what the person values as well as their background and confidence level in their work. Depending on your budget and web design needs, you might find the web designer is either too experienced or too novice for your needs.

Looks like you found us online, that’s awesome! If you’re in need of some rad, custom web design holler at us through our contact page and we can set up a time to chat!