Greg Beddor | Portland SEO Consultant

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Boost Your Website Rankings with High Powered Inbound Links

7/30/2023 4:20:00 AM by Greg Beddor | Portland SEO Consultant

Acquiring inbound links for your website is crucial for improving its search engine rankings and organic traffic. One effective approach is through guest blogging and content creation. Reach out to reputable websites within your industry and offer to write high-quality articles or blog posts for them. By including a link back to your website in your author bio or within the content (if allowed), you can attract traffic from their audience.  Additionally, focus on creating valuable and shareable content on your own website, such as informative blog posts, info graphics, or guides. When your content is compelling and useful, other website owners and bloggers are more likely to link to it in their own articles, generating organic inbound links. Leveraging social media platforms can also help you attract inbound links.

Promote your valuable content on social media to catch the attention of other website owners, bloggers, and influencers in your niche. If they find your content relevant and valuable, they may choose to link to it on their websites, further enhancing your website's authority and visibility. Another strategy involves exploring online directories and resource pages within your industry.

Submit your website to reputable directories, as they often include links to valuable websites. Being listed in these directories can not only provide inbound links but also increase your website's exposure to relevant audiences. Building relationships through networking and partnerships is an organic way to secure inbound links. Engage with other businesses, bloggers, and influencers in your niche. Collaboration and partnerships can lead to opportunities for guest posting, co-creating content, or being featured on each other's websites, resulting in mutually beneficial inbound links.

Furthermore, consider seeking press and media coverage for noteworthy events or achievements related to your website or business. Reaching out to relevant media outlets or journalists can lead to coverage that includes backlinks to your website, enhancing its online presence and credibility.

Finally, providing testimonials or reviews for products or services you use can also lead to inbound links. Some companies include a link to your website when featuring your testimonial, offering you valuable exposure and link equity. As you implement these strategies, remember to prioritize quality over quantity when it comes to inbound links. Seek links from reputable and relevant websites, as search engines value the authority and trustworthiness of linking domains.

Building a natural and diverse link profile over time will positively impact your website's search engine rankings and overall visibility. Be patient and persistent in your link-building efforts, and avoid engaging in practices that could lead to penalties from search engines.


Is Page Speed a Ranking Factor with Google?

6/22/2023 9:10:00 PM by Greg Beddor | Portland SEO Consultant

Yes, page speed is a ranking factor for Google. Google has been emphasizing the importance of page speed for several years as part of its efforts to improve the user experience on the web. In 2010, Google officially announced that page speed was a factor in determining search rankings for desktop searches.

In recent years, with the increasing shift towards mobile usage, Google has placed even more emphasis on mobile page speed as a ranking factor. In 2018, Google introduced the "Speed Update," which made mobile page speed a significant ranking factor for mobile searches. This update reinforced the importance of delivering fast and optimized mobile experiences to users.

Google's primary goal is to provide the best possible user experience, and fast-loading pages contribute to that goal. Pages that load quickly are more likely to satisfy users, reduce bounce rates, and improve overall engagement. Therefore, Google rewards websites that prioritize page speed by giving them a potential ranking boost in search results.

It's worth noting that while page speed is important for SEO, it is not the only factor that determines search rankings. Google considers a wide range of signals to evaluate and rank web pages. Content relevance, quality, mobile-friendliness, backlinks, and other factors also play significant roles in determining search rankings. However, page speed remains an essential element to optimize for a better user experience and potential SEO benefits.

Ok, so how can I improve the load time of my website pages?

Improving the load time of your website pages involves optimizing various aspects of your website's performance. Here are several steps you can take to enhance page speed:

  1. Optimize Images: Compress and resize images to reduce their file size without compromising quality. Use image formats such as JPEG or WebP, and consider lazy loading images, which load only when they are visible to the user.

  2. Minify and Combine Files: Minify your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files by removing unnecessary characters, whitespace, and comments. Additionally, combine multiple CSS and JavaScript files into fewer files to minimize the number of HTTP requests.

  3. Enable Browser Caching: Leverage browser caching by setting appropriate HTTP headers. This allows returning visitors to load your website faster by storing static resources locally in their browsers.

  4. Reduce Redirects: Minimize the number of redirects on your website as they add additional HTTP requests and increase page load time. Direct users to the final destination with as few hops as possible.

  5. Use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): Utilize CDNs to distribute your website's static content across multiple servers worldwide. This ensures that users can access your website from a server nearest to their location, reducing latency and improving load times.

  6. Optimize CSS Delivery: Place CSS at the top of your HTML document and prioritize critical styles inline. External CSS files can be loaded asynchronously or deferred to prevent render-blocking and allow the page to load faster.

  7. Enable GZIP Compression: Enable GZIP compression on your web server to reduce the file size of your website's resources. Compressed files are faster to transfer over the network, resulting in improved load times.

  8. Evaluate Third-Party Scripts and Plugins: Assess the impact of third-party scripts and plugins on your website's performance. Remove or replace any that significantly slow down your pages.

  9. Monitor and Analyze Performance: Regularly measure your website's performance using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or WebPageTest. Identify areas for improvement and track your progress as you make optimizations.

  10. Consider a Fast Web Hosting Provider: Choose a reputable web hosting provider that offers fast servers and optimized infrastructure. The performance of your hosting service can significantly impact your website's load time.

Remember, improving page speed is an ongoing process, and it's important to regularly review and optimize your website's performance to ensure fast and efficient user experiences.




Is it Worth Hiring Someone for SEO?

5/28/2023 3:06:00 AM by Greg Beddor | Portland SEO Consultant

Hiring an SEO professional or company can be a worthwhile investment for businesses seeking to maximize their online visibility and generate more revenue. Here's a detailed explanation of why it can be beneficial:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a complex and ever-evolving field that requires specialized knowledge and skills. By hiring an SEO expert, you gain access to their expertise and experience. They stay up to date with the latest industry trends, algorithm changes, and best practices, enabling them to develop effective strategies tailored to your business goals. Their deep understanding of SEO techniques and optimization tactics allows them to implement the most relevant and impactful strategies for your website.

Implementing successful SEO strategies takes time and effort. It involves tasks such as conducting comprehensive keyword research, optimizing on-page elements, creating valuable content, building high-quality backlinks, and monitoring performance metrics. By outsourcing these responsibilities to an SEO specialist or company, you can free up valuable time and internal resources. This allows your team to focus on core business activities while ensuring that your website's SEO is handled efficiently and effectively.

A well-executed SEO strategy can significantly improve your website's visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). When your website ranks higher for relevant keywords and phrases, it becomes more visible to potential customers actively searching for products or services you offer. This increased visibility translates into a greater likelihood of attracting organic traffic to your website. More targeted and qualified traffic means a higher chance of converting those visitors into paying customers, leading to increased sales and revenue.

Furthermore, SEO is a cost-effective marketing strategy compared to other advertising methods. While paid advertising can drive immediate traffic, it requires continuous investment to maintain visibility. On the other hand, SEO focuses on organic, unpaid traffic. Once your website starts ranking higher due to effective SEO efforts, you can benefit from a consistent stream of targeted traffic without ongoing advertising expenses. This can result in long-term cost savings and a higher return on investment (ROI).

Moreover, SEO provides long-term benefits. While it may take time to see significant improvements in search rankings, the efforts put into SEO can have a lasting impact on your website's visibility and organic traffic. Unlike paid advertising that stops delivering results when the campaign ends, SEO efforts can continue to generate traffic and leads over an extended period. By continually optimizing and refining your SEO strategy, you can maintain and even improve your online presence, ensuring sustained growth and profitability for your business.

In conclusion, hiring an SEO professional or company can be worth it for your business. Their expertise, knowledge, and implementation of effective SEO strategies can boost your website's visibility, attract targeted traffic, and ultimately generate more revenue. By outsourcing SEO tasks, you save time and resources, while benefiting from long-term cost savings and ongoing growth in organic search traffic. Investing in SEO can be a valuable step towards maximizing your online potential and gaining a competitive edge in the digital landscape.


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