Brad Roark

May 13 2014

How Do I Create A Website?

© medithit's flickr creative commons — © medithit’s flickr creative commons

It is not as impossible as you might think.

You can read about keys to a great website or is your website built right later but lets get started on building you a website. I will take you from A-Z and provide links that will help get you going.

Step 1 You can either decide on a domain name or setup your hosting first. Your choice, but you need both and I suggest never using the same company to both buy your domain and also host your website.

Domain name-This is what your website address will be.
For example: bestlexingtoncarwash.com or bestlexingtondentist.com -this is what your domain name is and I prefer using Godaddy.

Every website needs a hosting provider. Basically, you buy the domain name you want then you pay a hosting provider so your website is made live on the internet. I prefer Hostgator but there are numerous ones to choose from. Hostgator is very popular and I have nothing but great experiences using them.

So you have your domain and your hosting now what?

1. Log in to your Godaddy account and under Domains > Domain Management you will see your newly purchased domain.

2. When you click on your domain inside your Godaddy account you will see a page like the image below.

3. There will be a whole bunch of options, confusing things but just concern yourself with the button that says Nameservers.

4. Sign in to your Hostgator account which can be accessed by typing in your domainname.com/cpanel. Replace domainname with what your actual domain name is.

5. Scroll down the Hostgator cpanel and on the left hand side you will see information that says Nameservers. Probably something like ns2020.hostgator.com and below that will be ns2021.hostgator.com. Both are made up but your nameservers will be close to the same format.

6. Go back to Godaddy and click on the nameservers > set nameservers. Take your hostgator nameservers and add them to your nameservers replacing any default info you may see. You need to add both nameservers and click on I have specific nameservers for my domains. this will tell Godaddy to point your domain in the direction of Hostgator.

7. Go back to your Hostgator account and the image below resembles what you see in your cpanel. Just click on add on domain under the domain section.

8. Once you have clicked on addon domain you will see a page like the image below.

9. The default stuff will be there so just concern yourself with the New Domain Name space and password. Once this is set click add domain and your good to go!

Set back take a deep breath, you now have a live website domain name. Take it all in as you have just completed something most small business owners can’t do. It may take hours for all the Internet servers across the world to see your website address but its there even though it’s still empty at this point.

Now for the fun part

I’m assuming you have Hostgator hosting for the instructions below but all cpanel logins should be just about the same.

You have your domain setup with hosting but you have a blank page. First, decide on the basics.

1. Make a list of your information you want on your website -pages for example that are Home, Contact Us, About Us, Products or whatever you want.
2. You will need content but that’s where your creativity comes in.
3. You have a couple options like HTML templates or WordPress.

I suggest WordPress since this could be your first time setting up a website.

But you can find HTML templates everywhere including right on Hostgator. HTML is a coding language that you learn but templates help you basically plug and play your way to building your website. Both HTML and WordPress have advantages and disadvantages, BUT adding content or changing content in WordPress couldn’t be easier.

On the Hostgator dashboard there will be selections like this.

1. Log back into your Hostgator account and find Fantastico De Luxe under Software/ Services. When you click on Fantastico it will take you to a page that has whole bunch of info but just look on the left and click on WordPress.

2. The next page will have choices like New installation. Simply click on new installation and setup your new WordPress installation. Don’t worry about the Install in directory -thats for more advanced stuff so leave it blank.

3. Be sure to add a user name and password under Admin access.

4. Choose a nickname and fill in your email. Your site name and description can be changed once your into your WordPress.

5. Once you click install your almost done. Once you get the successful setup screen you should be able to use your login and password you created to access the Worpdress dashboard.

You now have a website with a domain name and the default WordPress theme on your homepage. WordPress is customizable in almost every way so play with it and learn.

Happy website building!

May 06 2013

Google Authorship Stopped Showing In SERP’s? Problem Solved

Within a few hours of completing the necessary steps my profile began to show for all the articles I wrote. If you haven’t established authorship using your Google+ account I suggest reading How to Show Your Author Photo in Google Search Results. For those that have had authorship showing for some time until recent, maybe this blog post can help.

The Problem

A few weeks ago by pure chance I noticed articles on my employer’s blog stopped showing authorship markup in the SERP’s. Throughout the problem my picture always displayed when testing links in the Rich Snippet Tool. My company happens to use Google business email services, so by default my business email address gives me access to Google services. Please keep in mind there is a difference between rel =author and rel =publisher. Along with the Google+ business page I also have a Google+ user profile associated with my employer’s Google Plus account. Therefore, I began building my businesses Google+ user profile and linked this profile to my employer’s blog. I appeared in SERP’s almost instantly.

Fast Forward

The past month or so my authorship markup stopped showing in Google search engine results. I realize there is no guarantee it will show, but I found it odd that I began to have problems on every search I performed. I checked everything I could think of, but no luck.

I changed my profile picture. It appears a bad photo could trigger a problem. I’ve used a black and white image for a long time without issue, but after reading Google Author Pic Not Showing Up? Solution I thought maybe I fell out of favor with Google guidelines so went to a color photo.

Coincidentally, I added a bio box to blog posts a few months ago containing my personal Google+ profile. I thought having a Google Plus business user profile link in the header and my personal Google Plus profile in my bio box could confuse Google. However, after research it appears Google only verifies the first Google Plus profile it crawls on a website.

I removed my personal Google+ profile from my bio box. NO LUCK….

Solution

I removed the Google+ link for my business user profile on my company’s blog. Then, on my Google Plus business user profile I removed contributor links connecting my business profile to my company’s blog and my verified business email address (not sure email removal mattered).

I added links on my company’s blog to my personal Google Plus account and vice versa. In the contributor section I added both www and non-www links to my personal Google+ account. As the image shows I still have a contributor link connected to my personal blog.

I received the Google verification email confirming authorship status. After receiving the confirmation from Google to my personal email account, that authorship status was active, I manually checked the results with GREAT SUCCESS!

UPDATE: After I was 99% sure I solved my problem I uploaded a different profile image then what is pictured below.

I now show in the SERP’s for my personal Google+ profile on both my personal and employer’s blog posts.

Apr 26 2013

How Did You Hear About Us? -I For One Scroll Straight To “Other”

Information Overload — © franganillo’s flickr creative commons

Is it really important to know if the visitor filling out your contact form came from the Yellow Pages or the search engines? Trick question –I know. But really, if you’re still using:

How did you hear about us? Preceded by 20 different selections.

It may be time to catch up to 2013.

Granted, this move is far less complicated for small businesses than it is for a large corporation. But, to have “search engines” as an option won’t tell you a lot even if you are dialed into your chosen analytic’s program. Perhaps, circa 2008, giving the visitor (potential new customer) 24 different options to choose from made sense. However now it’s useless. In some instances it simply drives away potential customers at their ZMOT (Zero Moment Of Truth).

The general public has and is becoming more sophisticated in how they seek out information on products. However, do you think people remember what channel led them to your website? Was it a paid or organic search? I’ve seen “paid advertising” before on a fortune 5000 company contact form as a selection. Good luck using that data to your benefit as a Technical Marketer.

There have been numerous tests performed to show how the number of options directly correlates to conversions. But consider this; could Nike ask this question and expect to get accurate data? Of course not.

In contrast, the local hardware store on the corner may find this type of information useful. Still, just a few options would accurately show how the potential buyers are arriving to the website. For the large (not Nike large), but big companies that spend advertising dollars online and need to accurately track their ROI there are several things you can do.

Get familiar with multiple touchpoint marketing, social interaction, and brand reputation. These components make up the different stages of converting a buyer, but we should have a plan in place to track the visitor through the entire journey. Whether traffic arrives via Facebook or a re-tweet of an article, we as SEO Professionals have to drive home the fact that there is no need to have more than a few “How did you hear about us” options. I for one scroll straight to “other” when I see a list of choices that wastes my time so don’t forget about the user. They probably would be more inclined to pause and think about what action brought them to your contact form, resulting in better data for you and higher ROI for your company.

Apr 24 2013

If I Were A Better Writer, I Would Be A Better SEO Professional

© drewcoffman's flickr creative commons — © drewcoffman’s flickr creative commons

Just like many professions there are several layers to being the best in your field. When it comes to writing I lack the skills to be great, but I’m working on it! For some, creativity may limit their ability. For others, its grammar or lack of interest. Putting my thoughts on paper and using perfect punctuation so far is my Achilles heel.

SEO professionals, I hope you have moved away from thinking you can do it all. Most of us know our strengths and weaknesses, for me I know when (not if) my writing skills catch up to my technical skills I will have reached another level of indispensability to both clients and employers.

This is my first REAL post on my website. Like most, I’ve concentrated solely on clients and companies I’ve worked for and with, leaving little time to brand myself. Not that I didn’t think I needed to, I like to think I’ve been learning these past several years and that has brought me to where I am now.

To be a great writer that enjoys the technical side of putting an interesting article together or builds in awesome, linkable content may be better at SEO then one that focuses just on the technical side of search engine optimization. We all realize the importance of website copy and writing for your consumer base. How many of you are expanding your writing skills?

Apr 22 2012

The Right Words On Your Website Makes Dollars And Sense

The right words on your website = traffic!

There’s no doubt that having a website for your brick and mortar business is crucial, and even necessary these days.

But it’s not enough just to have any old website. You need a website that will draw traffic, aka visitors, who are surfing the web. These are visitors you wouldn’t otherwise have and they can make a huge difference in the success or failure of your online presence.

So how do you get these visitors who are surfing the web?

By your choice of words…
• in your content
• in your content titles
• in your graphics titles
• behind the scenes of your site
• in your links to other pages of your site

Some words are better than others because they are searched for again and again by TONS of people. Some words, called longtail keywords, are searched for a lot yet have little competition from other sites (not as many sites use these keywords). If you use these favorable longtail keyword phrases it may mean you can land on page 1 in Google for the phrase.

The result of being on page 1 of the Google search engine is huge! Just think what it means if people find your website on the first page of their search – a marked influx of traffic and a big new market of people to market to.

I can help you find the best keywords for your website. I can also add them to your site in all the right places. Let me know if you’d like to talk about this powerful traffic-getting technique.