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  • An Old Dog With A Few Tricks: The Dogpile Search Engine

    An Old Dog With A Few Tricks: The Dogpile Search Engine

    Dogpile, a name that might conjure up images of the last time you strolled through a busy park, has a rich history as a metasearch engine. Established in 1996 by Aaron Flin, a research attorney, Dogpile was born out of frustration with the search engines of the time. Flin was dissatisfied with the cluttered and often limited search results they provided. Thus, Dogpile was designed to aggregate multiple search indexes to present more organized and relevant results. Go2Net acquired Dogpile in 1999, which later merged with InfoSpace, making Dogpile the flagship engine of InfoSpace.

    Dogpile continues its legacy by fetching results through its mascot Arfie. Arfie compiles search results from Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and other search engines. Users can conduct searches across various categories, including Web, Images, Audio, Video, News, Yellow Pages, and White Pages. The platform has also evolved to include new features that are keeping pace with the modern user’s needs.

    Key Features of Dogpile:

    1. Comparison View: With Dogpile, users can select which indexes to perform a search under, using the Comparison View. This feature highlights the sources of the search results, and Arfie ensures duplicates are removed for a more streamlined experience.
    2. Pay-for-Inclusion Service: If you want your website to be listed on Dogpile, you can opt for its pay-for-inclusion service. However, since Dogpile fetches its results from other search engines, optimizing your site with SEO services can also get it listed for free. Listing your site with the pay-for-inclusion service ensures faster inclusion, typically within 72 hours.
    3. Toolbar with Integrated News Feeds: Dogpile’s toolbar can be customized to include an RSS ticker, allowing users to stay up to date with the latest news feeds of their choice.
    4. Popular Searches Page: This feature showcases the most popular searches on Dogpile, categorized as a directory. Categories include Arts and Entertainment, Computers & Internet, Games, and more.
    5. Recent Searches Feature: Users can view their recent searches, with the option to clear or hide this history.
    6. Advanced Search Options: To refine searches, users can use the ‘Advanced Search’ feature which allows them to:
      • Specify exact words or phrases.
      • Set a date range for when the original content was published.
      • Choose the language of the search results, including Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish.
      • Filter specific domain names and set content filters to exclude or include adult content.

    Dogpile persists as a valuable metasearch engine for users looking to gather information from various sources. Website owners and marketers should consider optimizing their websites not just for the primary search engines but also for metasearch engines like Dogpile, as it can enhance visibility and reach to a broader audience.

    Going to the Dogs?

    Web321 offers Dog Breeder design templates for Breakdance.

    More on search:

  • Calligo Going Away And What You Can Do About Your Website

    March 1st is coming up fast and Calligo (www.calligo.io) clients have to find somewhere for their sites to live.

    This from Calligo :

    Important notice about your website and mail service from Calligo

    (previously 3 Peaks / Pacific Online)

    From 1st March 2021, you will no longer be able to access these hosted website or email services and should ensure you have made arrangements to migrate or back-up any data in advance of that date.

    Calligo, who acquired 3 Peaks and Pacific Online in 2017, currently provides a selection of website and email hosting services (including smartmail and mailsite) to customers across the world, of which you may be one.

    We are writing to inform you that Calligo as a business will no longer offer these services and so the Calligo management has taken the difficult decision to retire them as of Sunday 28th February 2021. This communication serves as our formal notice to that effect. Service and any current invoicing will continue and be unaffected until this date.

    From 1st March 2021, you will no longer be able to access these hosted website or email services and should ensure you have made arrangements to migrate or back-up any data in advance of that date.

    They identified some hosting options, but we have a great list:

    WPPro.ca – John Overall hosting
    A2 Hosting
    EZP Hosting – Canadian Web hosting

    ***Please note that we do not officially endorse or recommend these suppliers and has no commercial arrangement with them in this regard.

     

  • 17 Ways To Win at Growth Hacking 

    Growth Hacking

     

    Growth Hacking is a great option for anyone looking to grow their business fast! For anyone unfamiliar with the term, growth hacking refers to a series of techniques used to add social media followers rapidly and with minimum investment on your part. As growth hacking’s popularity grows, people are coming with more and more ways to draw followers to their brand. The tricky part is usually finding out which technique works best for you. Don’t worry, we’re here to help! 

    So, in no particular order, here is a list of 17 of our favourite growth hacking tactics! 

     

    1 – Smart Social Media Monitoring 

    In 2020, having a social media presence is absolutely necessary. The disheartening part of being a new company on social media is the fact that every account starts with no followers. So how can you kickstart a social media following? One answer is with strategic social media monitoring.  

    This is often overlooked but it’s the easiest and most effective tactic for organic growth! Develop an understanding of your target audience’s online presence and find out who they are currently supporting. Once you find this out: interact with your target audience and interact with competitors. 

    Important: Be polite; don’t take it as an opportunity to attack other companies in the same industry. One ethos of the web: “collaborate and compete.” This is doubly true interacting in the same spaces as your competition. Be informative. Be helpful. Create meaningful interactions with the pages and avoid any direct solicitation of your products and services! You’ll have better results creating a meaningful interaction (eg. “this makes sense of X”) rather than a generic comment like “nice picture” or “you might like our page, check it out”. 

    2 – A/B Testing with Measured Conversion 

    Knowing your customer’s behavioural patterns at the beginning of your venture can be difficult. Your landing page, wording or design elements could be the thing that’s driving potential customers away and you might not even know it. With A/B testing with measured conversion, you can determine your target audience’s behavioural patterns to quantify which test versions are more effective. 

    A/B testing can be as basic as changing one word, changing the colour scheme of your CTA buttons or trying out a new blog title. The key lies in tracking it, so you can see whether any given change affects conversion or not. 

    3 – Guest Posting & Tools like Help A B2B Write & HARO 

    Guest posting is the act of writing blog posts or articles for a website that isn’t your own. Though can take time, it’s a great tool for increasing brand awareness. 

    Looking to get started with guest posting? Reach out to credible websites and see if they are interested in including one of your blog posts. If they aren’t accepting guest blog posts, then try a guest blogging platform such as myblogguest.com; or place yourself as a potential source for journalists on helpab2bwriter.com or helpareporter.com. 

    If you’re thinking about guest posting, keep in mind. 

    • Write blog posts for websites or people that have a similar (or same) audience to your target audience
    • Be informative! Apply personal experience and research to the topic.
    • Don’t be afraid to work with an old topic. Use juxtaposition to contrast an old idea with something new in the field. 
    • Be positive. Try to add new knowledge and insight through your work. Don’t just re-hash established data.
    • Include a call to action or a minor pitch at the end to entice people to visit your page. 

    4 – Leverage Referral Programs

    A great way to grow your business is with a referral program! Referrals allow existing customers to vouch for your business and act as a trusted voice to people in their network. This system is cyclical as it then opens the opportunity for new members to act as the trusted voice to their network and so forth. 

    When implementing a referral program, the most important element will be to offer an incentive program with it. Dropbox is a great example of this; the company allowed both its users and their referrals to add an extra 500 MB upon successfully referring new members. This referral program increased signup conversion by 60%.

    5 – Become a Leader on New Platforms 

    Social media is an ocean of opportunity, but popular platforms like Instagram and Facebook have plenty of boats. Becoming a leading fashion brand on crowded platforms such as Instagram or Facebook takes much more effort. Incorporating your brand on a new social media platform or a platform that does not have leaders in your industry on there, gives you the opportunity to become the leader. Keep in mind, for this to work, you need to know which social media platforms your target audience uses! 

    6 – Add Value with ‘a Freebie’

    Similar to food samples at Costco, offering your customers a “Freebie” is a great way to give your customer a taste of what you have to offer before they are required to commit. If your business doesn’t allow for a customer to “try before they buy”, offering a gift to add value is also an option. 

    A “freebie” can be a trial period of your service, a sample of a product to try, or a specialty gift to act as a “thank you” for choosing your company. 

    7 – Add Personality 

    Personality is another great way to increase brand loyalty and viral potential. There are two ways to add personality: Creating or emphasizing a social media style and tone for your brand, or putting a human face to your organization. 

    One example of this is Chris Hughes from A Nerd’s World; a web developer and SEO professional in Toronto. Chris has a captivating personal presence and highlights this through his successful YouTube channel. Creating a trusted personality linked to his brand’s name has given him a large social media presence (over 20K subscribers) and growth for A Nerd’s World. 

    8 – Run a Contest 

    People love a chance to win free stuff! Running a contest is a sure way of generating brand awareness and growth on social media. The key to running a social media contest is to make sure your prize fits with the company’s brand. This helps you attract people who will continue to follow and support your brand after the contest is over. 

    Don’t forget to be purposeful with your contests. Have a goal in mind and make sure that the reward, the rules, and the contest structure are aligned with those goals. 

    9 – Create Tiers and “Freemium” options 

    “Freemium” is a portmanteau of the words “free” and “premium;” it’s a business model that involves offering customers both complimentary and extra-cost services”. 

    This strategy attracts people who are interested in the product as well as those who love to see the word FREE! 

    10 – Partner with Influential People  

    There’s no denying, the word “influencer” has been exhausted after the last few years but that doesn’t mean they aren’t effective! Similar to defining your target audience, targeting the right influencer for your brand and product is the key for amazing results. 

    Influencers have spent time cultivating trust from an audience of like-minded people. Their referral can increase conversions and generate sales immediately. Sounds great, right? Well there’s more! Influencers are also skilled at creating great interactive content that can be shared to your platform later. 

    11 – Create FOMO  

    FOMO is the fear of missing out; the state of anxiety caused by the thought of missing out on something great. Done right, it entices purchase to purchase a product or service to avoid that anxiety. 

    Create FOMO by creating urgency; give them an offer they can’t refuse! This is typically done with online contests, special sales and offers, and limited-time promotions to name a few. Another tactic is creating exclusive offers. For example: 25% off select merchandise for those on the mailing list. 

    12 – Building Online Communities

    A social media presence should be a priority for all businesses. It isn’t just a cost-effective marketing platform; it’s also a way to build a customer-facing online community. Building your online community will involve a few detailed decisions: deciding on a target audience, picking your niche, developing content strategy and creating valuable content. 

    There’s no denying that building an online community takes time, especially if you’re starting from scratch, but the results are growth in brand awareness, brand loyalty and trust, direct product/service feedback, and more!

    13 – Gamification Strategies (Competitions, Rewards) 

    Gamification is the process of adding gaming elements to non gaming environments, such as your online community. Gamification can be any form of loyalty program that creates competition to receive the most incentives. 

    The best example of this: Starbucks’ Summer Drink game. This summer exclusive game allows customers to connect their Starbucks account to a board game. Players earn moves with every Starbucks purchase made over a certain period of time, which allows them to move across the board to reveal prizes.

    Strategies like the Starbucks Summer Game create engagement in the community and provide instant gratification for consumers, while simultaneously generating more sales for the company. 

    14 – Build Your Email List Pre-Launch 

    An email list of engaged users who are excited about your brand or product release is a great asset to your business. The question is, how can you generate an email list of users interested in your brand before launch date?

    One technique to generate an email list before you launch is by using the calls to action in your guest blog posts to direct readers to your email signup page. This page should be designed to attract visitors to convert and add themselves into your mailing list. 

    Another great means of adding people to your email list is to offer them something in exchange. Find something of value to your target audience, and offer it to them in exchange for joining your email list. 

    15 – Repurpose Content

    Repurposing content is a great way to be consistent online when you’ve hit a creative slump. You do have to remember that not all content can be repurposed. Anything topical, that’s tied into a specific time, trend, or event shouldn’t be repurposed. It’s better to repurpose things like general concepts, facts, or marketing tactics that are still up to date. 

    Recyclable content goes beyond pictures, infographics and videos. It also includes blog posts or other articles that you may have written in the past. Just tweak them a little to bring them up to date.

    16 – Content Promotion Strategy 

    Creating content is one step, but the real priority is getting it seen. Start by promoting it on all appropriate platforms. Not all posts are built the same, so if you’re looking to share a post across all social platforms, make sure it is edited to work for all platforms. (Ex: adjusting image size, rewording language, adjusting calls to action) 

    If you’re a newer brand, share your blog posts and content in your newsletter. Not only are you getting your content seen, but you could be reaching new potential followers.

    17 – Website Pop-Ups

    Pop-ups are an effective strategy markets use to garner conversion rates higher than 40%. Depending on how much content you have on the page, passive viewers may not scroll down to where you can convert them. A pop-up puts important information like  announcements or your email list sign up right in front of their eyes. 

    But aren’t pop-ups annoying? Not when they’ve been strategically set at the 30% mark of the page! This allows engaged readers to scroll through the site as normal, only giving them the pop-up at the point where they expect to be hooked. This way they’re more likely to convert to the CTA you just put in front of them.  

    About Us 

    Web321’s Web Design Subscription Plan makes it possible for small businesses to get a lovingly maintained website for just $321 a month. This done-for-you service includes absolutely everything a small business needs to have a compelling, safe and secure website and online presence.

    We love the idea of using growth hacking to build our market position. We’re hiring for a growth hacker position soon! Come back and check out our site for details.

    For more information, check out our website https://web321.co or @web321co on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. 

     

  • Play Twenty Questions With Your Website Decisions

    These are unprecedented times, right? Unprecedented can be a good thing, though. Given industry make-overs across regions, fields and firms requiring re-evaluation of company structuring, financing, product placement and promotion, there is no better time than now to change how you use your web presence. Given the vast shifts to online research, merchandising, sales and delivery, crafting a site that maximizes search engine optimization, content delivery, user friendliness and e-commerce efficiency has never been more important. Whether potential clients are looking for new employment, expanding their network or just to make a purchase, your website could be the destination they rely upon to make an informed decision. If you’re a small business trying to gain your foundation or a mid-sized firm looking to expand, your site has to allow you to stand out from the competition instantly.

    The big question you’re probably wondering is, what is it that sets one site from another? In short, brand optimization: knowing what you want to present to your potential client and how you’re going to present it. To get there, and create the online performance your brand deserves, you need to consider the following questions:

    1. How easily can customers access the information they need? An educated consumer is a reliable consumer and one who will likely generate many referrals.
    2. Does your site inform visitors what service or product your business provides? Purpose generates performance.
    3. Is your site compatible on mobile and desktop interfaces? In a changing and dynamic world, you need to be able to accommodate multiple user platforms.
    4. What attributes do you find effective about your competitor’s sites? Comparison and competition are what drive the innovation that will carry over into your site’s performance.
    5. How is your server speed? In fast-paced and changing world, top download speeds can separate the elites from the needy.
    6. How clearly is your brand conveyed to your potential consumers? You need to be able to convey your brand’s mission to clearly and effectively win customers and sales.
    7. How easily can visitors access your site’s features? The unknowns of online traffic make this exciting consideration a necessity to ensure site accessibility for anyone and everyone.
    8. What kind of search engine optimization are you willing to develop? Search engine optimization can be a deal-breaker in saturated markets.
    9. Who is your ideal client? You need to make your site as tailored to your clients as your brand is.
    10. What is your desired site traffic? Maximum traffic is critical to generating consistent sales.
    11. What content is generating the most traffic on your site? Another critical component in ensuring that your site is as tailored and accommodating to your user base.
    12. How well can you monitor traffic and capture data? A difference maker when it comes to providing real-time updates relating to consumer support, client feedback or brand development.
    13. What are your long-term goals for your site? Given the variety of dynamic features and accessibility tools, this is the component that generates the long-term development strategies essential for sustained growth.
    14. What development plans have you considered relative to your long-term site management? As consumer tastes and preferences change, your site needs to be able to change with them.
    15. How well are you generating repeat traffic? Not everyone shops the same and many patronize as much for the entertainment value as for the retail value.
    16. How well do you encourage users to share your content? A crucial factor in a world driven by social networking and 24/7 digital presence.
    17. How well does your site interface with social media? Again, necessary for compatibility, particularly in targeting younger and middle-aged demographics to keep them informed and engaged with your developments.
    18. What ways can users interact with your site? As with making your site user friendly, consumers often gravitate towards sites that provide maximum sensory stimulation relative to the online format, allowing them to conveniently engage with your product and spend at the same time.
    19. How well doe your site suggest that sales are the main priority? Because, as we all know, sales are success for brand and client.
    20. How well does your site help you reach your performance objectives? Site traffic is product placement, more traffic equals higher sales, and higher sales leads to higher sales objectives that lead to sustained success!

    If attracting traffic and keeping visitors engaged is the main priority in website design and management, you may be feeling your eyeballs spinning inside your head after all these considerations. The priority, however, is your vision from a web management company so that they can craft and maintain the site that will generate YOU the revenue YOU deserve. Here are some considerations when choosing a web management service for your site:

    1. Provides domain name acquisition, expediting and easing the searching and branding process to allow your business to stand out and stay that way.
    2. Obtains an SSL (secure sockets layer), certificate which allows your site to conduct transactions involving sensitive data, crucial to conducting online sales, password storing and other sensitive information logging sought by online consumers. Some providers charge extra for services such as customer support and enhanced encryption rates. The truth: there’s good SSL and there’s overkill. We know the difference.
    3. Facilitates website hosting, an essential service that allows your website to be connected to other servers, essential for users to access and engage with your site in any capacity, whether it is browsing, connecting to provide feedback or procuring product that drives your sales. Website hosting range in value but there is a Goldilocks zone of how much hosting should cost. We have hosting that suits our clients well.
    4. Provides website updates to keep your site looking sleek, savvy and user friendly. Sought after features include webpages, content, media, navigation, forms and background images. These features allow your site to generate the brand image that helps to drive reliable consumer traffic, sales and trust. The more updates you need, the higher the fee can. But what if that’s a blank cheque you don’t want to write? Our maintenance plan includes unlimited updates.
    5. Monitors CMS, or content management system, updates that allows you to manage your marketing through uploading, publishing and managing your site’s content.
    6. Provides technical support, including server errors, broken links, encryption holes and any other possible hindrance to successful site operation. Turnaround times regarding fixing errors after they’ve been reported are a critical component to fluid site operation; the faster, the more expensive.
    7. Generates website analytics support that, while not always a necessary service, provides clients with such information as site usage time, traffic volume and individual user frequency, allowing clients to tailor their site design to their targeted market
    8. Enables e-commerce system support, streamlining online payment to allow secure, timely and reliable transactions and payment confirmation.

    All of this sounds great, but the problem is, if you don’t know who you’re dealing with, what essential services you require and don’t research carefully, you can get stuck paying for services you don’t need or that don’t maximize your online commercial activity. If you don’t like that, there is good news: we carry out our management and updates as part of one done-for-you fee. If you’re a mid-sized enterprise trying to run a stream-lined, online enterprise and take it to the next level, or you’re a small business looking to break through into your respective industry, creating a well-managed and affordable online presence is key. That’s where Web321 comes in. Web321 offers industry-tested, constantly-updated, consumer-driven and economical web design and web management services to meet your business’s needs. With a price of $321 per month, Web 321 is offering a bargain compared to the fees charges by other providers, you get the following:

    1. 24/7 managed web presence, including website design and maintenance, search engine optimization, social media networking and online advertising, with unlimited support requests to handle the dynamic nature of your enterprise
    2. Daily site backup with malware and virus protection and real time site monitoring to address whatever problems you may encounter
    3. Design and development standards such as domain name registration, SSL, CDN and hosting to ensure that you have a solid foundation in the online marketplace to maximize and maintain your desired traffic
    4. Per request, website design refresh every 2-3 years to ensure that your product remains attractive to Google and its avid users, another traffic maximizing feature
    5. Streamlined, three-step account set up that speedily and securely allows you to share your passion and allow Web321 to provide a quote, get to work, and continuously provide feedback and reports to get your brand to the next level,
    6. Custom booster packs for additional web management that includes brand awareness, online sales, impactful images, Google adwords and the latest techniques to generate maximum site traffic

    Just because these are unprecedented times does not mean these are impossible times. Whether you are entrenched in your industry or taking advantage of market opportunity, Web321 can help you accelerate your goals and dominate your online presence. Now is the time to take advantage of what the web has to offer; Web321 can make these unprecedented times exceptional times. Go to https://calendly.com/web321/lets-talk to begin your journey to making your business future better than ever.

  • Turning the Clock, One More Time (Daylight Savings Time) 

    Turning the Clock

    On November 1, many provinces and territories across Canada may be turning the clock back an hour for the last time. Before automation in technology, we were required to remember two special dates that required the hard labour of changing our clocks by an hour. This quirked its way into two sayings we’ve engraved into our brains “Spring Forward” and “Fall Back” – a way to depict which direction to move the hour based on the season. 

    However, even with technology advancements that meant automatic daylight savings time changes on our laptops and cellphones, provinces and territories across Canada have still chosen to get rid of the practice.

    The End of An Era 

    Though it isn’t official across the country, many provinces and territories have had conversations individually to scope whether or not Daylight Savings Time will continue in their respective regions. 

    At the moment, British Columbia is under work to remove daylight savings time after 93% of a sample size of 220 000 people stated they were in favour of the decision. Following British Columbia’s lead in this conversation is Ontario while areas in Eastern Quebec, Nunavut, and all of Saskatchewan have already made the move to Standard Time. Though there are plans to remove Daylight Savings Time in BC, there are provinces headed against the grain, which may complicate time zones moving forward. 

    But, why are there so many people interested in removing daylight savings time? 

    Daylight Savings Time Disasters 

    The top reason why people have shown disdain towards daylight savings time is the impact the time difference has on our health. The time period of up to a week after the time change has proven to have an impact on our physical and mental health. 

    Physically, our bodies are exhausted – for the obvious reason that we lost an hour of sleep, however, the effects of one less hour of sleep have been very dangerous. The number one complaint the day after and within an adjustment period of a week is the feeling of grogginess or being “tired”. This has resulted in an increase in car crashes and heart attacks. 

    Mentally, our bodies are distracted and our focus is shifted on ourselves. Studies show that there are spikes in depression and feelings of distraction that cause cyberloafing, lack of work productivity, and unhealthy dietary trends (such as overeating).

    Projected Impact on Business 

    With all of the negative impacts and side effects of daylight savings time, it only makes sense that there is resistance towards it – but what does this mean for business? 

    First and foremost, there will no longer be a transitional period that comes with daylight savings time. The week of adjustment and feeling back to oneself will no longer hinder business, bringing a general flow throughout the year. 

    Productivity

    An end to Daylight Savings Time means employee productivity would remain the same all year, saving companies money from worker hours lost to exhaustion.

    More Sales

    The removal of Daylights Savings Time would also mean customers would no longer be adjusting to a time difference – suggesting more projected sales for businesses. 

    Communication

    Without the twice-yearly time change, communication within a single time zone might improve, but the grey area comes with communication between zones. For businesses that do business or have employees across Canada, working out which provinces have changed their times versus which have not may impact communication between provinces.

     

  • Keeping Up With Google Algorithms

    Keeping Up With Google Algorithms

    Google’s algorithm is known to have core changes every few months to improve the quality of search results – what does this mean for you and your website?

    With every change to the algorithm, if not detected immediately, can lead to severe impacts on your website performance and discovery. In some instances, small businesses have had their websites penalized and others have recovered from past penalizations.  

    How your business can be affected by updates of the Google algorithm:  

    •       Website traffic (these changes can be drastic!) 
    •       Search visibility and Google page rankings, or lack thereof 
    •       A reach to new consumers – this sounds great in theory, but the effects of this are new user behaviour towards your products and services

    How to stay strong despite Google Algorithm changes:

    Content Makeover  

    The first question to ask yourself is: do I have enough content on my website? The Google Algorithm had affected websites that had minimal content in relation to their number of links. 

    Creating new, fresh, and informative content regularly on your website will increase the amount of organic traffic that is directed your way. The longer and more credible your information is, the more exposure it will have. By the way, taking inspiration from other websites is okay to do! Cite your sources or give examples with links to your external sources and watch Google do its magic! 

    Tip: When creating content for your website, answer the questions up front and give your viewers the answers at the first opportunity in an article. The further down your information is– the more buried it is– the more likely it is to get lost in the search results. 

    Lean on Metadata

    Metadata is information about information. When you look at a file, the contents are accompanied by things like the filename, when the file was created, when it was modified, its file size. Photos get accompanied by “EXIF” data that covered dimensions, device, composition details, sometimes even the lat/long of where the photo was taken. 

    HTML has metadata too. All of a web page is made up of HTML tags. They look like this: 

    <a href=”https://web321 title=”Best on the Web”>Web321</a>

    There are critical pieces: the tag itself (a hyperlink, a bold tag, etc.) and the content wrapping the text in use. There is other data in the HTML that can get read in by search engines. Search engines use metadata to give something context. 

    The title element can be added to HTML to give it more context. Beyond catering to search engines, the title tag is read in by non-visual web browsers used by the visually impaired. It can be handy for describing your element in a way that suits a search engine that may be too long-winded or awkward were it to appear visibly on the page. 

    The alt element can be added to images. 

    <img src=”/images/picture100.jpg” alt=”A yellow rose as photographed by Jane Smith in August of 2019”/>

    It can describe the image both to non-visual screen readers and search engines. Search engines are getting really good at interpreting images for their content, but it’s still hard work and it can be wrong. Adding the alt tags spoon-feeds the information to the search engines.  More on images: https://moz.com/learn/seo/alt-text 

     Nofollow Links 

    Using nofollow links is beneficial to implement because they boost your domain authority and ultimately drive traffic to your website. If you look at the HTML source code for a hyperlink, it looks like this:

    <a href=”https://web321.co/”>

    When Google indexes a website, it follows the links that are present. If they lead away to another website, Google will merrily turn its attention to that other website. There is a way to say to Google, “Hey! Don’t look over there!”

    <a href=”https://yahoo.com/ rel=”nofollow”>

    The rel=”nofollow” is read by Google and Google will not index the content on the other site. This can also be used internally if there is a compelling reason to show users content that you want Google to discount. 

    There’s another factor to nofollow: if you share links on other sites through a backlinking exercise, the sites that do not use nofollow are more valuable than those that allow Google to follow links. This is best seen in social media. Social media is a frenzy of activity and link sharing. Why doesn’t that create love from Google? Almost all of the links in social media (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc.) get the rel=”nofollow” added. Google reads the phrase used in the hyperlink but doesn’t give authority to the linked site. The social media site becomes the magnet for those searches moreso than the details page on the linked site. Google appears to be factoring that into the search algorithm and you will seldom find social media links in Google search results. 

    Hint: Sharing your new blog post through social media is a nofollow as well.

    Responsive Websites 

    Have a responsive website without loading pages. The Google algorithm doesn’t favour websites with loading pages and more often than not, will not show your webpage. Beyond the algorithm not favouring your website, the responsiveness of your website will directly correlate how much traffic will come to, or stay on your website. 

    Beyond favouring responsive websites, the algorithm has been updated for mobile websites as well as desktop websites. As more than 50% of website traffic is done with a mobile device, the importance of a responsive mobile website has increased. 

    The Google algorithm for mobile websites accounts for relevance and timeliness more than actual content! Though this sounds like it may be counterproductive the purpose is to keep the user experience high. 

    Google Search Console Insights 

    The Google Search Console allows you to keep in check with the new content that you’re putting on to your website. Keep track of your content performance through metrics depicting the views, how long people stayed on the page to interact with the content and who is sharing the content to their social media platforms. 

    Whether you love or hate Google and its tracking of your website, it does it anyway. Google Search Console lets you peek at some of the metrics they uncover. 

     Having access to the Google Search Console allows you to track regularity patterns of your page views and content interactivity. By viewing these metrics, it makes it more noticeable when changes happen and helps to pinpoint the cause for these changes. 

    Google Analytics

    While Google Search Console gives your site a health check-up on its search opportunities, Google Analytics gives you hard data on who comes to the site. Why, when and where: important questions to understand online success. 

    Why: Understanding why a user comes on to your website reveals the basic questions of what is the user’s need and what is their intention? Looking at this information will allow you to see what products are being looked at, how long they’re looked at, if there was an abandoned cart or follow through to purchase. This information is key for acknowledging where website issues are and if changes to the page need to be made. 

    Other information that comes from Google Analytics is the comparison of “clicks” versus “impressions”. Clicks are the number of visits from a Google search while impressions are the viewership of links from a Google search with no clickthrough. If your impressions are higher than your clicks, the question then shifts from why to why not? 

    When: Looking at when people are viewing your website may reveal just as much information as to why people are on your website. Your products may have more of a draw during holidays; when there are promotions being advertised; or when world events are happening. 

    Or, more simply, your website may have more traffic during the workday between Monday and Friday than on the weekends. This year has changed user habits but it hasn’t turned them on their heads. Google Analytics and Google Search Console will reveal pattern changes and how a business may need to adapt in response.

    For example, if you sell coffee creamers, pumpkin spice flavoured creamer will be viewed more during the months of September-October than it may in December!

    Where: Exploring where your views are coming from can be impacted by Local SEO. Local SEO is a strategy that directly benefits your business by being more visible in search results and creating more online leads. With this in mind, if you are experiencing viewership from other regions of the city, this information allows you to acknowledge new markets to tap in to! 

    In short, Google harnesses results based on location, so results that you may experience at work can be very different from the results you get at home! 

    How Web321 Can Help 

    1. A Managed Web Presence 

     We understand that you have a business to run and keeping track of Google analytics is another task that would be added to your list. Or, maybe you are new to tracking Google analytics and aren’t sure what insights are out of the ordinary. That’s where we come in! Web321 manages your website’s analytics and creates monthly reports for you to assure everything is on track.

    In addition to tracking your analytics and search results our managed web presence provides your website with optimal response times and unlimited content updates. 

    2. Booster Packs – Content Creation 

    Web 321 offers various Booster Packs to our clients with the aim of boosting the performance of your website. A notable Booster Pack that we offer is our content creation package. This package is designed to refresh your online presence with specially curated infographics, relevant photos optimized for your website, blogs and articles that boost your online authority. 

    Web 321 is your go-to hub of website management tools to help improve your business with a monthly subscription model. Our signature plan is $321/month with add-on booster packs available to maximize your web presence. 

    To see if this service is right for you, visit our website at https://web321.co to book a free demo or email us at [email protected] for more information. 

     

  • Web Maintenance Checklist

    If you own a site, whether it is for personal use as a blog or you use it for your business, the site must be maintained frequently. The system is constantly updated and if you do not take enough care of your site through proper web maintenance, you will not attract traffic. Getting traffic and converting those visitors into customers is a key point in having a web presence.

    There are many things you should do to maintain your site, and we have made a list that will help you further. Be sure to pay attention to each of these items, as each of them is equally crucial to the site.

    The Basics of Web Maintenance

    Domain name

    The first thing you need to do urgently is to make sure your domain name is registered. There are thousands of cases where site owners do not know the expiration date of their domain name, so in such situations, it happens that their site crashes, all without them knowing. To make sure this does not happen to you, a good solution is to check that all the contact information with your hosting provider is correct.

    Administrative contact plays an important role here because it determines who will receive information about the expiration of the domain name. Create a shared email that will consist of info and your domain name (for example [email protected]), so that more people in your administration receive a timely warning about the expiration of the domain name.

    Website Software

    Most sites use a CMS (Content Management System) or some of the scripts such as something written in Perl, .Net, PHP If this is the case, constantly check if your software is updated to the latest version. The easiest way to do this is with a software publisher (WordPress support if you are using WordPress) that has all the information on your web management.

    It is important to know that your website hosting platform needs to update the core server software. Details like FTP service, web service, applying patches, and the like should be done by them. If you are the person who manages the server, don’t forget to update and test these things.

    Web Statistics

    It is very important to update the Web Statistics regularly. It gives you accurate information about visitors to your site and details such as how long they stayed on the site, which pages they visited the most, where they came from, and other information that may be relevant to you. By looking at these statistics, you can create an image of who the people who come to your site are, how to attract and retain their attention, and how you can improve and rank your site better.

    Content

    Is it even necessary to mention that the content, images, posts, texts, blogs, and information you post on the site must be relevant, new, and updated regularly? If you stop publishing content regularly, there is a good chance that your site will lose traffic and visitors, and thus will lose the need to exist.

    Testing

    If your site has a newsletter sign up options, forms, or similar options, test them from time to time to check their effectiveness and functionality. Whether emails arrive in your follower’s inboxes, what their form looks like, how difficult it is to sign up for the mailing list, etc., always check these details.

    Link Checking

    When writing blogs you will probably leave links to similar blogs that can be helpful, links to products, resources, etc. Make sure the links still work, are relevant, lead to the right page, and offer the information readers still need. Based on that, Google rates whether the content you post is high quality and whether even more people need to see it.

    Backups

    Check the database and backups of your site, in case of complications to save all updated data. It would be a good idea to also check the functionality of the backup and whether the data can be easily restored once it is deleted.

    Design

    Considering that website browsers like Safari, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Opera, etc. are constantly upgrading, changing, and updating, the design of your site may change due to changes, be displayed differently, or in the worst case not be displayed at all. Check and update your design according to browser changes so that your site is available in its best and most modern edition.
    Also, optimize your site for mobile devices, today 80% of traffic comes from phones and tablets, leave a good impression. There are many deals on the market that offer you no upfront design fees and good design optimization.

    Website Errors

    Errors can often be a big problem for your site. Check them with Google or Bing Webmaster Tools and remove them if they appear.

    Loading Time

    The time it takes for your site to open can sometimes turn visitors away from visiting your site. Check how long it takes for your site to load and make sure it’s as fast as possible because search engines love fast-loading sites.

    Why should you do site maintenance?

    Today, the world is increasingly online and there are millions of sites that offer a great experience. Updates and improvements happen every day as the IT world strives to bring the online world to perfection. If your site lags behind that idea, chances are high that it will fail and not have a very bright future. To stand out from the competition and have a good position on search engines, your site must be in step with the latest trends and offers. If the opposite happens, the quality of the site decreases, the audience is smaller and the competition takes over the game.

    Who Should Do Website Maintenance?

    Certainly, maintenance should be done by a person who is versed in the latest information and tools, regardless of whether he is a paid professional or the owner of a site that maintains it himself. That person should know how to adapt the site to the new circumstances, but also be careful.
    In most cases, business owners do not have enough time to learn about scripts and design. But if you are one of them and you are interested in such things, then a well-maintained website could be done by you.

    In order not to bother about learning these things, the best solution would be to hire a team of experts who will maintain your site for you. This is a very smart and profitable investment that will provide you with an updated and protected website. Who could hire? Well: us. We can help you with your web maintenance

  • It’s 2021: These Are Seven “Features” That Shouldn’t Cost Extra

    Seven “Features” That Shouldn’t Cost Extra

     

    When it comes to web design, there are many designers and packages available. Various players in the web industry have tried to differentiate themselves with new features and buzzwords – but how many of these “premium features” are actually standard? In many cases, your provider may be artificially throttling a feature they get for free, or in unlimited supply, just to turn around and sell it to you as something special.

    When looking for your next website design, make sure that you are not paying a premium for the following features: 

    1. WordPress Website

    WordPress websites are fast, powerful, and secure – but they are built using open-source software which, on its own, is free. Web developers may use WordPress as a foundation to build great websites, but they aren’t paying anything for the tool they’re using. Granted, it does take a small amount of effort for a developer to install WordPress and connect it to a database, but that’s true of any website content management system. WordPress should be marketed as a feature – because it’s definitely one of the better platforms out there – but if a package charges you a premium for WordPress, look out!

    2. Mobile-Ready

    In a time where almost everything is digitally driven, 45-55% of website audiences are viewing sites using mobile devices. In fact, having a mobile-ready (“responsive”) website is more important than ever! 57% of users visiting a non-responsive website on their mobile device won’t recommend that business.   A good web designer should make every site they build responsive by default, without a premium charge. If your designer is trying to tack on extra fees for this “feature”, look elsewhere!

    3. 99% Uptime 

    Website uptime is the time that a website or web service is available to the users (“up”) over a given period. Optimal website uptime is 99.9%, which guarantees your website is up and running with only 43 minutes of downtime out of the 720 hours in a month. 

    If your website has an uptime of 99%, out of the 720 hours in a month, your website will have a downtime of 7.2 hours per month. That difference is huge!

    A 99% uptime guarantee is nothing special and falls far short of the minimum 99.9% uptime you should be looking for. If you’re being charged a premium for 99% uptime, in our opinion, you’re getting fleeced.

    4. Unlimited Email Addresses 

    Hearing “unlimited” always sounds like a win and mentally justifies a premium price. However, you may not know that most hosting comes with unlimited email addresses for your domain – all your web designer has to do is activate them for you. What’s actually limited is the drive space available on the server – and most providers will cap the size of each email account to prevent hitting the drive space limit. Essentially, if your web designer is charging you extra for more email addresses, they are charging you a premium for something they get for free.

    To put this in perspective, imagine a pizza parlour offering you a pizza that has 20 slices. This sounds like a great deal, however, is the pizza really any bigger than if they cut the same pizza into 10 slices? Be careful you aren’t paying more money for the same thing just because there’s a more impressive number attached.

    5. Unlimited Blogging 

    Here’s another example of how packages use the word “unlimited” to create the illusion of a juicy deal. The space available on your server, or server farm will reach a cap at some point. However, this cap is usually very large and isn’t a problem for most businesses (unless you’re an extremely large firm such as Facebook).  

    When it comes to blogging, you shouldn’t have a limit to how much you can publish. Blogging as a tool on your platform helps create viewership on your website and demonstrates your thought leadership. It gives you the opportunity to drive search traffic, generates leads, and acts as content for email newsletters. 

    If you’re given a limit of how many blogs you can post on your website, your provider is artificially throttling your growth simply so they can ask you for more money. The only limit on how much you blog isn’t server space – it’s subject matter and time. (We can actually help with that, too.)

    6. Unlimited Form Submissions

    Forms on your website allow your future clients to contact you about purchasing your services, request quotes, or inquire about your company. Form submissions are the key to successful conversion on your website. 

    Some providers are stingy with their bandwidth, and will actually throttle the number of form submissions you’re allowed – even though their capacity to handle form submissions is huge! This means that at some point, you’ll reach a limit of form submissions for a given time frame. If you want more, you’ll have to shell out extra money for this “feature”. Not cool.

    7. Content Editors 

    As your business grows, you’ll probably look towards hiring talent to contribute or edit the content on your website. A hidden element of some packages is artificial “limits” to how many content editors you are allowed on your website. On WordPress websites, for example, there are no practical limits to how many editors you can add to the site – unless your web developer imposes one.

    When it comes to your website, you may want to limit the number of content contributors for administrative or tracking purposes, but your web provider should never impose a technical limit on this number. If they do, they’re likely looking to make an extra buck off you.

    Web321 is Different

    At Web321, we know you don’t have money to waste. You shouldn’t need to bribe your web design, web management or hosting company for features that should come standard. Our pricing structure is simple – $321 for everything you need, no artificial limits imposed. That means if we don’t pay for it, neither do you.

    So if you want an all-in-one web design, hosting, and management experience that includes standard in every build:

    • WordPress website platform
    • mobile responsiveness for every screen size
    • free premium plugins
    • 99.9% uptime guarantee
    • unlimited email addresses
    • unlimited blogging
    • unlimited form submissions
    • unlimited content editors
    • unlimited done-for-you content updates
    • and a lot more…

    …visit our website at https://web321.co or email us at [email protected] for info.

     

  • Can Google Advertising Grants Help With Your Online Marketing?

    Have you heard of Google grants? Google grants are another version of Google Adwords.

    However, this one is specifically for non-profit organizations. If you are a listed non-profit organization in Canada, then you can get $10,000 every month. In a year it becomes $12,000 with the help of google grants.

    All non-profit organizations need traffic and attention from people as well, like any other website. Using the internet, you can easily get the word out about your organization and gain the interests of many people.

    That’s great, right? So, if you want to get this opportunity, check out your eligibility, and apply now. Here is what you need to qualify for Google grant;

    • You need approved charity status in Canadian Federal Non-profit or Canadian Provincial Nonprofit organization.
    • Agree with google non-discrimination, usage, and donation certificate.
    • Make sure you have a decent website with enough content for your viewers.

    If you fulfill these three requirements, you can apply for google grants. A good application can get your organization website at the top of google’s search engine list.

    However, some changes have been made to the program requirements. It includes keeping a good performance as it is needed with the google Adwords grants program.

    How does Google grant program work?

    The google program is based on keywords search and pay per click to advertise management. Here when a person searches for anything online, if the words are related to a keyword, it will appear on the search engine.

    Pay per click is a payment module. Here you one needs to pay for the ad only when a visitor clicks on the advertisement. Otherwise, nothing is charged for it.

    If you want an AdWords account, you will need to apply for it. Once the Adwords authority receives your request, they will check and explore your website for a certain time.

    At first, your mission, and what you want to accomplish will be examined. Once this phase has passed, they will contact you and discuss how to integrate your website better with google. Here you will learn about developing your landing page, attracting more visitors, and improving connections with google.

    If the suggested changes are made to your website, you will notice significant traffic flow to your site. Your site will jump at one of the top searches and you will get many visits to your site from all over the world.

    However, google asks something in return for them. They want at least a 5 percent monthly click-through rate, and the ads placed are related to your organization. This way, both the organization and google gets some benefits.

    What are the problems a non-profit organization faces with google grants?

    Many organizations try to apply for the google grants program, but not all of them get accepted. Most of the organization face problems during the setup or maintaining with the google terms.

    However, you don’t have to worry about that. There are booster packs available that will help you stay connected with the google grants program.

    Once you use this booster pack, you will know how to use your fund to improve your website statistics. Additionally, you will know about the keywords search, and which ones can help you get better traffics for your website.

    Overall, the booster pack will make google Adwords more effective on your website. After this, even if your keyword fails, the google grant system automatically brings the traffic and motivates Adword to visit your website.

    Google wants to develop an understanding with the charity organizations. They want to make sure that the organization can use its revenue wisely and keep all the records up to date.

    So, they can track their contacts, donations, funds, and keep things running properly. For this, they need to keep their google grants account.

    If you can maintain your google grants account properly, you can control your organization data and keep it up to the mark. Along with that, you can use the account to manage the ads from Adwords as well. Optimize the advertisements and get the maximum benefit from the google grants account.

    Maintaining optimizing the ads is not the only advantage you will get. It is recurrent and helps to predict marketing costs.

    By using the guidelines and google grants account, you will have access to unlimited digital ads with their budget. All you need to do is select one to display on the website and let the traffic flow. The ads are paid and provided by Google.

    What can you do with the google grants program?

    A non-profit organization can get lots of benefits from the google grants program. It can help them hold fundraising campaigns, donations, events, and more.

    On top of that, they can do all this in front of the public, so everyone knows about their activities and the good work they do. This way, the organization can gain fame easily among large numbers of people.

    It all depends on how you arrange your website. If you have an impressive goal, and how you present your organization on the web, you can easily gain the attention of many viewers.

    They will want to know about your organization if they like how you present it. This will help to get the word about your organization to many people.

    So, focus on getting a good impression on your visitors. To get their attention, you can highlight special campaigns on the website. Promote events and point out the areas in your organization that need more attention.

    Getting good website traffic flow is extremely important. Google grants know that, so they try to help you out as much as they can.

    A charity organization needs attention as much as a business organization does. However, business organizations have their products to boosts business where non-profit organizations are behind.

    But like any other website they can get intense traffic flow too, thanks to google grants. Now the non-profit organizations can take help from google grants and get the word out about their organization to everyone around.

    On top of that, there is the latest Adwords grant PPC setup that will help you manage the existing accounts of the google grants. Get your hands on this one and start managing your website today.

  • Web Presence Grant from the NASE Growth Grant in 2020

    Web Presence Assistance provides a non-repayable contribution to Prince Edward Island businesses to assist them in establishing a presence on the Internet. The purpose of this assistance is to help Island companies increase business by creating a website to establish online visibility and reach. Consumers today use Internet search engines to locate companies the way previous consumer groups used the Yellow Pages. If a company isn’t visible on the Web, it’s losing an opportunity to connect with potential customers.

    A website allows customers to easily find information they want – when they want it – and allows a company to expand its potential customer base beyond those in its immediate geographic area to a global customer base. Web321’s team can do a lot to make the most of your web presence.

    NASE Members can apply for small business grants worth up to $4,000 each. Small business grants are useful for financing a particular small business need. Past recipients used their growth grants for website creation and more. Here’s some fun math: Web321’s websites are $2999/yr. – in Canadian Funds. Your $4,000 grant is worth over $5000 CDN. If successful, you could use NASE grant to pay for almost two years of web design, hosting, domain registration, support and updates. Our affordable web design fees have gotten even lower!

    Grants will be funded within 30 days after all signed usage and required regulatory documents are received by the NASE.

    What are the application deadlines?

    Grant applications are reviewed quarterly, based on the following schedule:

    • Completed applications received in January, February and March will be reviewed in April.
    • Completed applications received in April, May and June will be reviewed in July.
    • Completed applications received in July, August and September will be reviewed in October.
    • Completed applications received in October, November and December will be reviewed in January of the following year.

    ELIGIBILITY & APPLICATION

    Growth Grant applicants must be a member in good standing for 3-months prior to submitting an application. Annual members may apply immediately. Monthly members may apply ninety days after joining the NASE. If you are a NASE member, apply now for October funding window. If you are not a NASE member, join them now to be eligible for next year.

    What are the selection criteria?
    Criteria used in evaluating applications and awarding grants include:

    • Review of identifiable business need
    • Detailed use of the proceeds of the grant
    • The potential of the grant to satisfy the identified business need
    • The potential impact of the grant on overall business growth and success

    Growth Grants are awarded at the sole discretion of the NASE. The NASE has the sole discretion to make no grant or present a higher or lower amount than requested. The NASE in its sole discretion may award less than the totals indicated to be potentially available. The NASE will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sex, age or disability. Decisions of the selection committee are final and are not subject to appeal. Application feedback is not required by the NASE.

    ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES

    The types of services that may qualify include the registration of a domain name and the design, development, hosting, and search engine and mobile optimization of a website. Once approved, the grant money can be applied to a Web Design Subscription through Web321.

    RESPONSIBILITIES & CONDITIONS

    The following conditions apply:

    • The use of funds must be consistent with written statement of grant use.
    • Recipients must maintain records showing use of the money.
    • The funds may not be used to pay debt or rent/mortgage payments.
    • Recipients agree that NASE has the right to publicize names, business name, amount awarded and photographs of the recipients. 
    • The NASE requests that the recipient place the NASE Member Badge on the recipient’s website for one year after the growth grant check is received.  NASE Member Badges can be found by visiting http://www.nase.org/become-a-member/member-benefits/MemberBadges.aspx.

    Need Help?

    We can help with the grant application process. Contact us

We’ll take good care of your website.

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