rfe_landing_page_hero_image-1

SEO Beginners Tips to Get Started

April 14, 2016 by Leave a Comment

seo

SEO (or Search Engine Optimization) can be overwhelming. There are entire companies dedicated to maximizing SEO for websites all over the internet. There is a lot to know, but for those ‘DIYers’ that are trying to get started in the world of SEO here are some great tips to set your website up for success:

Monitor Your Efforts

You can do everything just right or be doing everything wrong. You won’t know what SEO efforts are working unless you have a way to monitor your success. Make sure to take advantage of free online tools like Google’s Toolbar to find out what is working best for your website. Other awesome tools like NewRelic and Site24X7 great ways to keep an eye on how healthy your website traffic is.

Know and Use Your Keywords

Make sure you know what keywords work best with your industry and the words that are going to bring people to your website when they type them into search engines. Once you know what those keywords are, make sure you work them in throughout your website for the best results. Name your pages, titles, and pictures using these keywords and try to work them in throughout the text on your website. Make sure that you do it tastefully, however. Spamming your own website with unnecessarily placed keywords might make it show up a little higher in search engines, but will be difficult to read and unattractive to customers.

Use Searchable Phrases

While keywords are super important, don’t underestimate the power of searchable phrases as well. Try to use phrases that you would type into the search bar to find information about your industry. Use locations, city names, and other specific identifiers to help lead people to the information you are trying to show them.

Add a Blog

Blogs are one of the greatest tools any website can have for the SEO arsenal. Providing fresh, new, quality content gives your customers a reason to visit your website and makes sure search engines know that your site is not only relevant but a site to watch.

Link Yourself

One of the easiest ways to help your search engine rankings is to link back to pages on your own website. This is another reason why blogs are so helpful for SEO for websites; they give you things to link back to on your own site! Just like with keywords, don’t over do it to ensure you don’t annoy the customers visiting your website.

Keep Your Website SEO Friendly

While Flash based websites are beautiful and ‘flashy’, remember that the search engine ‘crawlers’ (the parts that actually gather information about your website to know how and where to show it to people looking for information related to your content) can’t read beautiful images and video. Crawlers can see and read text, so make sure that your website design doesn’t underestimate the power of the good old fashion ‘word’.

Don’t Forget to Submit Your Website

While the process can still take a few weeks, it’s important to submit your website to the major search engines. The process isn’t difficult; simply fill out the easy to use web form for Google and Bing (or any other search engine that you find will be beneficial).

Filed Under: revive, SEO, SEO Tagged With: , , , ,

The Best FREE Responsive WordPress Themes of 2016

April 7, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Nothing beats getting something amazing for free, and these WordPress themes don’t miss the ‘amazing’ mark! Thinking about building a website, or giving yours a face life? Check out these awesome free WordPress themes to make your website stand out!

  • Customizr

    • The King of WordPress themes, Customizr has lots to offer and is super easy to setup and customize. Perfect for the WordPress newbie or a seasoned website designer, Customizr is sure to provide you (or your clients!) exactly what they are looking for in responsive website design. With customizable fonts, social media integrations built in, and a majestic slider you are sure to grab the attention of any customer that lands on your page.
    • Screenshot (73)
    • Interested? Check out this link for more details!

  • Esteem

    • Esteem is perfect for any blog or portfolio! With limitless color options, two custom page templates, and a stunning slider, Esteem is sure to make your blog stand out. What makes Esteem special is it’s ability to feature your own custom background images to truly make your website unique. Set up the perfect image to show off any of the three different blog options in the foreground, and reach your customers with a ‘ready to go’ contact form. It’s ‘translation ready’ and has an unbelieveable support forum, making this free template a steal for any website builder!
    • Screenshot (74)
    • Check out this link for more information!

  • Accelerate

    • Accelerate is one of the most elegant free themes on the market today. Design to present your website with a professional feel, Accelerate features a beautiful front page slider as well as an easy to use ‘Contact’ set up so you can stay in touch with your website visitors. Is your blog more involved than just pictures and words? Accelerate is perfect for you! Accelerate supports multiple post formats, allowing you to show off different types of content! Feature images, videos, quotes, links, audio, or even short snippets called “asides” to your website.
    • Screenshot (75)
    • Check out this link for more information!  

  • Inkness

    • Image heavy websites never had it so good with this awesome free theme! Inkness features a beautiful responsive homepage slider, making it stunning regardless of what sort of screen it’s viewed on. Whether your visitors are visiting from a phone, tablet, or desktop computer, Inkness is sure to impress! Looking for a base that is already translated in to French or Italian? Inkess has got you covered.
    • Screenshot (76)
    • Check out this link for more information!

  • Arcade Basic

    • Let your website feature an amazing photo or graphic that is sure to catch your viewer’s eye with this amazing free WordPress theme. Arcade is not only unique, it’s beautiful and loaded with awesome extras like JetPack to make sure that your new website can be found by the right people. WooCommerce integration is also available for those websites that are selling something to their customers, and it’s all for free!
    • Screenshot (77)
    • Check out this link for more information!
Filed Under: Blog Guides, revive, Themes Tagged With: , , ,

4 Tips to Finding the Perfect Web Hosting

March 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment

WebHostingFinding the perfect web host is like finding the right neighborhood for your website. With so many options out there, it can be hard to find the perfect one. Here are a few tips to help you find the right match for your domain.

Your Server Must Be Reliable

Nothing is more frustrating for viewers than going to visit a website and finding it down because the server it’s information is stored on is not working. These moments when your viewers are frustrated lead to a bad experience with your brand, and if it’s a business website, may result in the loss of sales or (worse!) losing leads to a competitor.

You need your website to be up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. While nothing is perfect and it’s logical to expect some issues throughout the year, you can expect that your website’s servers are up and running 99% of the time. Anything lower should be considered unacceptable.

How Much Traffic Will Your Website Get?

Every website is different and appeals to a different type of viewer. Is yours an online retail store? Is your website giving information on a popular (or not as popular) subject? Is this a set of forums or a login situation where your visitors might check your website many times a day?

Many people opt for “shared hosting“, giving most websites plenty of space for visitors to come check out their goods or information. It’s the ideal option for ‘newbies’ to the website world and those that are operating an online presence for a small business. What does ‘ideal’ mean? Most shared hosting experiences can accommodate somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 unique visitors to a normal WordPress based website a month.

If you find that your website is very busy (Congratulations!), you can always upgrade your domain to VPS hosting, or even dedicated hosting to allow for a better experience of website browsing for many more visitors.

The Domain Game

When it comes to the web, keywords are key and one of the easiest ways to help your website show in the right internet searches is with the right domain name. It’s a good thing they are so cheap! It’s not uncommon for small businesses to purchase many domains that all point to the same website.

It’s for this reason that it’s important to find hosting that allows for multiple ‘Addon’ domains. This allows you to support many different websites with many different domains all under the same hosting account. It’s not uncommon to find hosting companies that allow for up to 20 or 25 domains, so be sure that check on the number you are allotted before you commit to hosting from a particular company.

Get Ready for Fees

It’s very common for most hosting companies to offer low rates at sign up. This initial price is to encourage you to start service with them for a certain amount of time. However, when it’s time to renew, the price usually goes up. While the price difference isn’t normally drastic (less than $10 or so), it can really add up over time so it’s important to read all of the fine print before handing over your credit card information and transferring all of your domains.

 

Filed Under: Blog Guides, revive, Web Hosting Tagged With: , , ,

6 Reasons Why Your Website Must Be Mobile Friendly

March 17, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Sample news website on digital tablet. Contents are all made up.Some say the days of the desktop are dead, and it’s easy to see why they might think so. Over half of the traffic on the web is done via a mobile device (cell phone, tablet, etc.), and without a mobile friendly website, your customers can’t see all the amazing things your website is trying to tell them.

A ‘responsive’ website is designed with multiple viewing platforms in mind. Your web address and the website you have displayed there will appear differently to your customer depending what device they are using to view it.

Here’s why ‘image is everything’ when it comes to how responsive your website is to mobile viewers:

You are giving your competitors business.

No, really. According to Google’s Think Insights on mobile internet usage and customer habits, if one of your potential customers lands on your website and doesn’t find what they are looking for quickly, there’s a 61% chance they will leave immediately and go to another website to find what they are looking for.

Think “Happy Thoughts!”

That’s right; if a potential customer has a positive experience with your mobile website they are 67% more likely to buy something from you. Your attractive website is doing all the work, presenting your customer with all the information they need to not only make a sale, but learn about your business.

Different Users Spend Differently

Desktop users aren’t the ones that are making all the purchases in 2015 and 2016. In fact, mobile users are more likely to make a purchase if it’s less than $10 via their phones, and tablet users have the highest buyer rate out of all screen possibilities. While they are all technically the same ‘users’, understanding that peoples’ habits on different devices is imperative to reaching your customers the right way.

Google likes “mobile”

Let’s face it; everyone uses Google. Because Google likes responsive websites, this means it’s more likely to show those people ‘using Google’ search results that are responsive to different screens because it makes their search results ‘better’ and ‘more reliable’. Now that doesn’t mean that your non-responsive website will never get Google traffic, but it does mean that Google is more likely to list your competitors higher under the same key words if their website is mobile friendly and yours is not.

Social Media is Your Friend

91% of mobile internet is done with some type of social media. If your business does any social media marketing or wants to ensure that a website ‘look up’ from one friend to another leaves a good first impression, a mobile friendly website is the quickest way to please your customers than end up on your website from a Facebook link.

WordPress Makes it Easy

If you are using a WordPress based website, picking the right template can be a simple fix to putting out the perfect virtual image. Many WordPress templates explain that they are mobile friendly and/or responsive as a selling point to encourage buyers to try their template.

 

Filed Under: Blog Guides, revive, WordPress Tagged With: , ,
Terms Of Service | Privacy Policy