Blog Overall rating: ★★★★★ 5 based on 23 reviews
5 1

BlogSimplio Labs Blog

Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.
Albert Einstein

How To Rank Your Local Business in Google Local Listing

SEO Tips No Comment

how-to-rank-your-local-business-in-google-local-listing

The local SEO is just as important as any other SEO. First important thing is you must know that the local SEO is very much different from the normal SEO. It is very imperative that your business ranks higher even in the Google Local Packs. The ranking usually depends on the niche of your business, the competition you have and most importantly where your business is located. We will discuss about a strategy that is foolproof so that your business site ranks high on the Google’s Listing of My Business. However, it is important to first know what Local Listing exactly is.

What Is It?

If you make a search on Google, you will obtain results that show the name of the business, its address, the contact number, location and the website. These results are altogether referred to as the Google Local packs. These listings will require a Google My Business Page that is verified in order to score a rank on Google pages.

Google My Business- What Is It?

It is nothing but a tool or a service that is free provided by Google for all the websites to mentor their presence as well as existence online in search results of Google and also on the maps.

Factors You Need To Focus On To Rank Yourself Higher

  • You must own a website and have assurance that your business address is appropriately listed

Firstly, you must make sure that you have a verified as well as a claimed My Business Page of Google. You may either have the verification done over phone calls or you would probably receive a letter from Google so that the verification is done. Google decides which of the either it is going to be. If you have your business verified, you certainly will get higher credibility.

  • Your business must be suitably categorized

If you wish to rank your business higher on the Local Listing of Google, you must clearly define the kind of business you run. To exemplify, if you are a florist in your locality and desire to rank yourself higher among the same category, you will have to update your niche in the My Business Page of Google. Most of the times, people who turn businesses will not have themselves listed in a proper category and as a result fail in making their business visible on the Local listings. You need to ensure that you properly describe the keywords that are on your page of description of business in Google My Business page. It will also be easy for Google to land upon your site for a particular keyword of search. You also will have to include your location on the Meta descriptions which is on the site.

  • Reviews received from Google profiles that are active

You must certainly have nice reviews for your site if there is a desire of ranking higher in Local Packs. The usual sources are citations wherein your business us discussed over the web on websites like Yelp, Yellow Pages, SuperPages and others. You will have to qualify in these citations as they provide your credibility as well as authority for the website you own. It is important that you have good bonding among the clients. Though sometimes reviews are not always positive, it is always worth it!

5 Mobile Commerce Mistakes You Should Avoid

Business Advice, Mobile No Comment

5-mobile-commerce-mistakes-you-should-avoid

Mobile phone sales have been one of the reasons for increased eCommerce sales in recent years and it becomes clearly essential for the eCommerce websites to provide excellent experience for the users – be it the interface or the quality, it is vital that customer experience is valued. Since there is no instruction manual for a perfect mobile website, it will turn out to be hard to figure out what could be done and what not.

However, there are certain things which you must absolutely not do.  Below is a list of the 5 Mobile Commerce Mistakes You Should Avoid.

1) Having a complicated webpage

Never use sliders or image carousels for any of the pages of your site, be it mobile or desktop. To begin with, no one actually spends time to go further than the initial image anyway. Besides, it will only make it difficult for your page to load quickly. Though the bandwidths of mobile are pacing up, they still haven’t met par with those on the desktops. This will put the users off, affecting your sales. You could rather use a single picture of call to action.

2) Not possessing an Email Newsletter

Though this is the age of consistently flourishing new apps, Email still has the potential to give you better returns on investment than any marketing forms. Stop and think of the cost that would go into just writing an Email newsletter and sending it. Also think of the number of subscribers you possess. Easy, isn’t it?

3) Making use of QR Codes

Let’s agree to this. QR Codes are no longer cool, new or useful in anyway. Besides, they include a lot of complex steps while having to use them online. Better to strike off the QR code from your site altogether.

4) Unnecessary expenditure on an app for smartphone

Having an app for your site wouldn’t really be a bad thing. However, it isn’t vouched as a good thing to do either. If you plan to have an app for your site, ensure it has got the need which your customer would have. Make researches to ensure it will be catering to the need. Or else, you have simply spent your money in vain!

5) Using Flash

This one is quite obvious as the iPhones don’t support it. Nonetheless, mobile websites are still making use of it. It is better not to use the flash on your website at all.

6) Having same designs for Tablets as well as smartphones

Since smartphones are extensively used, your customers don’t really use them to watch videos. Besides, video requires large bandwidth which will take away a lot of data from your customers if they don’t possess a proper data plan. Tablets, however, are appropriate to watch videos, and users generally use them in homes, connected to their Wi-Fi. If you really have to make use of videos, you could make separate designs for tablet users.

10 Common SEO Myths Every Marketer Should Know

SEO Tips No Comment

seo-myths-01

A lot of information is around regarding the SEO, Search Engine Optimization. But how would you know if it’s all true? Here’s a list of the ten most common myths that surround SEO!

1) More links mean more success

Though link building is important when it is about SEO, it is the content which is the king. Having number of links won’t help anymore if you lack content. The quality of links is more important than the number of links.

2) Social Media wouldn’t help

It is true that Google doesn’t go into Analytics of Twitter or Facebook for rankings of a site. Nonetheless, a strong social media presence is really vital for SEO these days. It can help your visitors as well as search engines land upon your business online. It will help Google find your site online and also takes your content to a larger audience.

3) Mobile site doesn’t matter for SEO

This can be a disastrous thought in present time. It must be your first priority to make your site friendly to mobiles. Mobiles are being used extensively to access internet and you are going to find your audience more on phones. Make your site mobile friendly.

4) Once SEO is done, there is no need to bother again

SEO is constantly undergoing changes and just because you have optimized your site once somewhere in the past doesn’t mean it is still effective. Make sure you keep updating your SEO practices. Google always changes the algorithms in order to give the best service of search engine possible. Ensure you keep up with them!

5.) Tricks to outsmart search engines

There is no secret method or a trick that will outsmart the search engine and rank your site higher in the results page. You must solely focus on generating content of quality.

6) Nofollow links are worthless

Isn’t it odd to have a site with 1000 inbound links with no Nofollow links? Google will definitely suspect this. Nofollow links are equally important.

7) Bounce rates of Google Analytics make a difference

Business owners freak out when there is high bounce rates for their page. However, the truth remains that bounce rates don’t affect your rankings in any way.

8) A spin off micro site will help

This strategy is outdated. Having microsites to generate inbound links from one site to another is of no use anymore. Google will easily figure out all those sites are owned by a single business.

9) Stuffing keywords help

Stacking lots of keywords in your content won’t be doing any Hood. Keyword density used to have an impact but not anymore. Trends have changed. It isn’t really effective anymore.

10) Google doesn’t like SEO

Google surely hates Black Hat SEO that is manipulative but it isn’t the same with all the SEOs. In fact, Google also provides tips to find best SEO practitioners. It will also give you information of how you can report a SEO company if at all they deceive you.

How will the 2016 USPS Rates Increase Affect Your Business?

Business Advice, E-Commerce No Comment

USPS-Rares-Increase-01

With the growing number of eCommerce sites, online shopping has become the norm for many people. In fact, there are countless websites that offer their online shopping services. However, as of this year online retailers will begin to experience many changes due to the fact that most shipping carriers such as UPS and FedEx have increased their prices. The United States Postal Service, more famously known as USPS, has also changed some of its products offerings aside from the price hike, which is the first in the last 3 years.

The USPS Rates increase may seem extreme, but USPS is still the best option for small businesses especially for light weight packages. You may visit the Pitney Bowes page or the Postal Regulatory Commission website for more information regarding the changes and new prices.  Given these, it’s high time for small businesses to think out of the box and explore other ways to deliver their products or even have a carrier mix to utilize different shipping providers in order to get the best service and costs.

It is not advisable for businesses to have just one carrier. They must create a shipping strategy that considers all factors in order to avail of the best service and prices. Cloud based shipping solutions are also available and these are good options for small businesses because it simplifies the shipping process. Lastly, having the right packaging is vital. Companies should use packaging for the sole purpose of making sure the items remain in good condition. Shipping small items in big packages is a waste of space and can incur additional costs.

Price Increase Overview

  • No changes for First Class Mail and the Forever Stamp
  • Overall Priority Mail Express Service 15.6% increase
  • Average retail price of Priority Mail Express 14.4% increase
  • Priority Mail Express Flat Rate Box has been discontinued
  • First-Class Package Service 12.8% increase
  • Standard Post is now called Retail Ground 10% increase
  • International Shipping Prices -Global Express Guaranteed (GXG) 7.1% and Priority Mail Express International (PMEI)6%

The USPS is also encouraging ecommerce companies to use the Intelligent Mail Package Barcode (IMpb) and meet all its requirements to benefit from the commercial mailing prices.

What are the benefits of IMpb?

  • No more scanning. There is no need to scan a parcel 11 times. It is now easier for companies and customers to track information, while improving USPS customer service
  • FREE insurance without having to go to the post office to purchase it
  • 5-50% savings on postage, but depending on the package size, weight, class and distance of delivery.

In order to take advantage of IMpb, all packages must have unique tracking IMpb barcode. To qualify, businesses must have their own web based shipping solution or application. The good thing is that most businesses that have been transacting online already have applications that incorporate shipping charges into the shopping experience. But due to these changes, business owners should check with their providers how these changes affect them. Some apps like ShipperHQ  and WebShopApps have automatic updates while Magento has patches that need to be installed.

Google Introduces Accelerated Mobile Pages

E-Commerce, What's New No Comment

Google-Accelerated-Mobile-Pages-01

Google’s AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is making a giant leap towards the goal of a faster and better mobile internet set by Google themselves. However, what would it consist and how does it affect the marketing industry?

Google announced about AMP last October, targeting to greatly enhance the performance of mobile internet. Anyone can collaborate with AMP and create mobile webpages using it. Read on for some important details you must know about AMP.

What exactly is AMP?

To put it simply, AMP is a revised version of the mobile web that ran on reinvented variations of the computer language that was used to make web pages, the HTML. The revised version takes away many elements from the original that slowed down the loading of a page on mobiles. The AMP also has better visual qualities when compared to the older version. Google asserts that the pages that are created using AMP HTML could load faster by 15-85% when compared to the version of the web page that is non AMP.

It is also made easy for publishers of web to begin with tutorials of AMP to create their pages. However, with the revision, Google is also taking away marketers and infrastructure advertisers who relied on the non AMP versions. Though certain factors of AMP will need a fresh approach towards mobile advertisements, there are plenty reasons to resort to AMP.

Google-Accelerated-Mobile-Pages-02

Enhancing the search engine rankings

We all know mobile responsiveness is a criterion for search engine rankings. Since Accelerated Mobile Pages are particularly designed for quick loading and to provide good experience for mobile users, pages with AMP would certainly get the boost in rankings. Besides, quick loading implies more views on ad and more views of pages.

As per Kissmetrics, forty percent of users will close the page if it requires more than 3 seconds for loading. So quick mobile pages are definitely everyone’s option. Hence, web paged with AMP are likely to rank higher in the search engine rankings.  Speaking about page views, Google ensures that AMP traffic could be measured and analyzed, like it would do with any other regular pages.

Regulating Ads

Google’s announcement on January pertaining to advertising on AMP had few interesting aspects on how ads would work and what publishers would be allowed to do. When the AMP would launch, it would comprise of vital and fundamental functions. This involves the allowance of trafficking ads with servers of ads of your choice, and support for many formats and demand sources. It also gives complete control over placements of ads and also will allow measuring the views. Google is strongly determined about making the ad contents on AMP beautiful, secure, and of course faster! However, though Google is letting marketers and publishers have control regarding various factors of advertising, there are few parts which are forbidden.

7 Myths of PPC Advertising

Business Advice No Comment

7-myths-of-ppc-advertising-01

PPC or pay-per-click is a long standing internet marketing model where the advertisers pay a fee as soon as someone clicks on their advertisement. But the problem arises when the advertisers fall prey to the misconceptions of PPC unknowingly and as a result of you may even end up being duped and  missing out on a good and useful marketing method.

Here are some of the commons myths in regards to PPC advertisting:

  1. Beware of AdWords

AdWords are a very potent weapon in the arsenal of any power user, which can easily lighten the pocket of any advertiser without even giving them any clue of what they are getting into.

  1. Paying less for acquisition or leads

If you are trying to achieve a target which can be deemed aggressive, you will have to spend a little extra, as paying less here will not yield results.

  1. SEO and landing page quality score

The importance of relevant words in the SEO and the landing page is more than the actual content in them. Also, the click through rate is what you should give importance to as compared to the quality score of the landing part page.

  1. Exact keywords = better ROI

The online market is a growing one with people looking for different products. Therefore, getting the exact keywords is not easy. Even if you have exact match keywords, it will still not assure better profit making abilities.

  1. Long tail AdWords will give me cheaper clicks

The days of long tail AdWords are over, so don’t even think of doing that. Search engines have been taking steps to clean the search pools to get better results, hence getting into long tail AdWords won’t work here.

  1. Testing time

Testing is always good if you know how to do it. Go for a more scientific approach when testing rather than wasting money and time unnecessarily on trial and error testing methods.

  1. Taking help

If companies like GOOGLE are running point for you, then you don’t need to think of anything else. But, you are mistaken and it would be much better if you take help of an actual expert instead.

If you are looking for help in PPC Advertising, Simplio Web Studio is here to help you. Simplio Web Studio offers a complete PPC management service, which includes all stages of the process from initial research and campaign creation to extensive research, analysis and optimization of the campaign results. Check out our services here.

Why Should You Care About Google’s Search Quality Rating Guidelines?

Business Advice, SEO Tips No Comment

googloe-01

If you aren’t completely aware of what the article headline is trying to say, we must inform you that Google has released a full version of its Search Quality Rating Guidelines for the year 2015 in PDF format – a first for Google.

Google never has been so open about the guidelines in the past!

Earlier, Google had contacted people who had put up the link of previous versions of the guidelines and had asked them to remove those links in order to keep them away from the eyes of public. That brings us to the question of why Google has decided to put up the link now. Well, the answer is simple. It was already leaked. Many blog posts have put up these links open to the public and it is difficult even for Google, to remove them.

Moreover, there might be a person who works in Google who realized it was foolishness not to release the guidelines. Why would they teach their raters about the aspects that would result in a quality page, and not tell people making their pages?

What are the Google Search Quality Rating Guidelines?

These guidelines are nothing, but confidential and proprietary written guidelines which Google provides to those it hires to verify the quality of a webpage.

Honestly speaking, there are not any secret recipes or tricks in the guidelines. But why such hype?

Here is why: It is always best advisable to act in such a manner that produces benefits in the long run in search visibility for your students and clients. Hence, though the guidelines aren’t really a compelling read, you could take suggestions from it to improvise.

Do you want to get noticed by Google and the searchers? Go where they are going!

Do not make an attempt to tamper with Google’s algorithm and reverse engineer it. Instead, observe where Google is headed. Google has always been driving towards the goal of favoring those sites which offer something that pleases the audience who land on any site that is displayed in their search results. This is a general motive, as there are many useless search results too. Hence, the guidelines of quality rating are vital as they let us know what Google exactly looks for. After this happens, it is easy for Google to refine the technique used to reward websites which give them what is sought by them.

Hence, if you need to configure your websites in such a manner which will be beneficial for upcoming years, understand the quality rating guidelines and impact on the company’s mindset which created them.

A good decision by Google

Sharing the quality rating guidelines with the people is a good decision that Google has come up with. This is also a sportive comeback, giving it back to those who illegally tried to leak the guidelines. Well done!

You can download the full version, courtesy of Google, over here.

 

Sources: (1) (2) (3)

6 Dreadful Design Mistakes to Avoid in Website Design

Business Advice, Web Design Tips No Comment

web-design-01

SEO restricts the creativity of the designers, and thus web designers ignore SEO while web designing! But if SEO is ignored, your beautiful web design will just go to waste when you don’t have visitors to your site at all. Do not hope for free traffic from search engines if you have not followed the standard guidelines of a webmaster to make sure the visitor gets a good user experience.

We list 6 dreadful design mistakes to avoid in web designing, so that your website isn’t lost in rankings of the search.

1) Putting valuable information on images

information-in0image-01

It is quite obvious that search engines understand the text content. Though serving images, podcasts or videos to the audience engages them, your main motive must be drawing audience to them first. Search engines look for keywords in important locations. The most vital content of your website might be ignored if you have put them in images or flash files. Try and use text to display essential names, links or contents. Do not make the mistake of replacing the text headers with pictures. The best way to practice using images is to include the keywords in the images’ alt texts.

2) Ignoring the visitors on mobile

mobile-visitor-blog-image

Consumers spend around 69% of the time on smart phones. Hence, you must ensure that your website is responsive to the mobile audience as well. Though the responsive design of the website isn’t mainly a ranking factor, it is recommended by Google to the webmasters to turn their sites into a mobile friendly one. A design that is responsive will provide a consistent experience to the users on all devices. It will also increase the engagement of the audience in your website.

3) 404 page

joomla-404-error-page

You would not wish to lose the audience who would have entered a wrong URL or have opened a broken link given on your website. You might want to give a good experience even to such audience hoping they will reminisce your brand later. You would have also designed a good looking 404 page. However, you would have forgotten to provide a link back to your page. This might seem a tiny issue and web masters tend to miss it quite often. This can lead to loss of rankings on the search engine.

4) Unwanted pop up ads

pop-up-ads-01

These ads will not be indexed by the search engines. They aren’t even actually a portion of work plate of the designer. Such intrusive ads might compel the users to hit the close button the moment they pop up. That is the reason Google chrome blocks them by default. However, they still make it to the mainstream usage because of extraordinary results they get.

5) Using too many frames or flash

seo-images-01

Flash can be attractive visually, but search engines do not index them. A home page designed on flash can be one of the biggest blunders in SEO. 78% of users say that they dislike flash. You should not be using flash even in vital aspects of your website as it can affect usability of the website.

6) Filling up the webpage

crowded-webdesign

All those visually attractive animations, graphics, widgets and redundant codes will result in slower loading of the page. Besides being a bad experience for users, they are also one of the essential factors in deciding search engine rankings. Avoid stacking your web page with such images.

 

Is SEO a Good Investment For Your Business?

Business Advice, SEO Tips No Comment

is-seo-a-good-investment-for-your-business

This might come out as a surprise for you, but actually, Search Engine Optimization or SEO isn’t at all a good deal of investment to promote your business. As a digital marketing company it is not easy for us to admit that because we offer SEO services.

For few businesses, SEO is not quite a good choice when compared to other marketing strategies. Nonetheless, SEO could prove to be highly beneficial for most of the businesses by generating greater sales and leads. So the next question would be how you will know if the SEO is actually good investment for your business.

  • The demand factor

For SEO to work, you must have enough potential customers who look online for the services or products you offer. If there are less or no audience at all, who would be searching for it, there is no point even if you rank high in the list. There would be no one to look at your site. And thus, there is no need for SEO. Don’t forget SEO is all about engaging online customers – if your customers don’t exist online, what’s the use?

  • The competition

When we talk about competition here, we are not pointing at the businesses that are similar to yours and competing with you. When we say competitors, we are particularly talking about the “SEO competition.”

Your competition in the SEO is with all those businesses who are already trying to rank higher in the keywords that match yours. If you have to rank higher in the Google’s search list, you have to outrun all of those businesses to make it to the top. Hence, the second step is to decide the strengths of your competition. If they are potentially unbeatable when it comes to ranking high, it is better you don’t choose SEO. However, if the competition is not too strong, you can always go for it!

  • The number factor

You must know that the target of SEO is not to obtain high ranks in Google. The mission is to effectively create sales and leads, so that it turns out to be a prospective investment. This implies numbers play a prominent role. The numbers may differ for various businesses. However, the procedure is quite similar. You must ensure that you can efficiently make more money than you are planning to invest in the SEO.

So, what exactly are the numbers we are talking of?

  • The number of searches your target keywords
  • Estimated click-through rate
  • Estimated conversion rate from visitor to customer
  • Total revenue per customer

Here is an example my Mainstreet ROI:

  1. 2,000 searches per month
  2. 30% click-through rate (assuming you’re ranked #1 according to this research.)
  3. 2% conversion rate from visitor to customer
  4. $500 revenue per customer

“To calculate your estimated revenue from SEO simply multiply all 4 of the numbers above to get $6,000.  Next, compare your estimated revenue to how much you need to invest in your SEO to determine if the numbers make sense.”

The three factors to consider will help you determine if you really have to pick up SEO for promoting the business you are running. Think over carefully about all the tiny aspects that matter, and then only come to the conclusion.

 

Good experience

★★★★★
5 5 1
SimplioWebStudio did a great job

Project accomplished

★★★★★
5 5 1
Project accomplished

Plugin developed successfully

★★★★★
5 5 1
Plugin developed successfully

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL PROJECT

★★★★★
5 5 1
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL PROJECT

Thank you Simplio team

★★★★★
5 5 1
Great experience

Working with Simplio Web Studio was a fantastic experience.

★★★★★
5 5 1
Working with Simplio Web Studio was a fantastic experience. The service provided was amazing and professional. It was a delight to work with Nir, who went the extra mile to meet our demands in a timely manner. He really made our vision a reality by creating us a classic site, but moreover the relationship we formed is something our company really appreciates. It was a pleasure working with Nir and the team at Simplio Web Studio. We highly recommend them to all and we look forward to working and doing more business with them in the future.

a great project

★★★★★
5 5 1
a great project

All the best

★★★★★
5 5 1
All the best to Simplio

My website is Live

★★★★★
5 5 1
My website is Live , thank you Simplio

From beginning to end, the team at Simplio provided top of the line customer service.

★★★★★
5 5 1
From beginning to end, the team at Simplio provided top of the line customer service. The web developers are incredible and made sure we got exactly what we were looking for! They truly went above and beyond to make us happy and we couldn’t have been more pleased with their talents. We would highly recommend them. Thanks so much Nir!

After over two years of research we chose Simplio.

★★★★★
5 5 1
After over two years of research we chose Simplio. We are so far very satisfied. These people answered the phone on a Sunday and fixed a problem that was not even their fault. It was the host company which I had chosen that had caused our site to go down.

Outstanding in both knowledge and professionalism.

★★★★★
5 5 1
Outstanding in both knowledge and professionalism. Nir and the staff at Simplio are Excellent in branding, web design and overall web presence. Definitely recommended!

I cannot even imagine having another company managing my Presta shopping cart.

★★★★★
5 5 1
They are now part of the Diastasis Rehab business team after working with them almost a year now. I cannot even imagine having another company managing my Presta shopping cart. After a bad experience with a programmer, I needed a new programmer (one that knew prestashop shopping cart) and most important one that I could trust. Finding all three was a difficult process! Lucky for me I found them. I cannot say enough about the diversity of services that this company provides. Every step of the way they make amazing suggestions to increase my sales and they get back to be right away either by email or phone. They have even created a simple and easy check out program for Presta Shop. They are actually a one stop shop! They updated my SSL, are setting up and changing my server to a dedicated one, setting up streaming of my DVD, website design, creating a specific program for address verification on Presta cart and handled the integration of Presta cart with my fulfillment house. I am now working on developing an APP with them

Simplio really helped me out of a jam.

★★★★★
5 5 1
Simplio really helped me out of a jam. They did exactly what I needed on a very tight time frame (with little notice too!!!!) They are my new go-to guys for any Prestashop needs! Thanks Simplio!

Excellent service!

★★★★★
5 5 1
Excellent service! Nir was exceptionally helpful in solving a lot of issues with our website and making the user experience more smooth. He understood the needs of our school and helped improve the website tremendously.

impressed

★★★★★
5 5 1
What impressed me most about working with Simplio was their attention to detail and excellent communication. Not only are they talented developers, but, they are also pleasant to work with and highly professional. Highly recommended!

professional service

★★★★★
5 5 1
What a profissional service Simplio offers.I hired them to rebuild my website for my business and they were creative and professional. Nir was on top of the whole project from day one, until he delivered the project on time. I will defiantly recommend Simplio to anyone who is looking for website services. From creating, designing to maintaining your image online. Good Job Nir and the rest of your group.

Great Logo

★★★★★
5 5 1
Great Logo, Very happy

fantastic to work with

★★★★★
5 5 1
Simplio was fantastic to work with. They were fast, communicative and incredibly helpful to me. I highly recommend them to anyone who needs help with their digital needs!

Awesome experience

★★★★★
5 5 1
All details and requests were met in prompt an friendly manner. Would recommend on any day to anyone who wants to feel their business is in great hands.