Google is the most frequently used search engine in the world. A recent study has shown that over 70% of people use Google as their search engine of choice. For SEO professionals, every day revolves around trying to crack the “Google code”. Through experience and trial and error, we know how we can work with websites to optimize them for search engines, but Google has never explicitly given us the official blueprint to designing a high-ranking website.

Between Google My Business, Webmaster Tools, and Analytics, Google provides plenty of tools that allow you to follow your website’s statistics while also improving its search engine presence.

Google Analytics

Whether you’re a Toronto SEO professional or a business owner, tracking your website’s statistics can be an extremely valuable practice. Google Analytics allows you to track how many people are visiting your website, how long they’re staying on the site, and what pages they’re visiting the most—just to name a few features.

Webmaster Tools

Google Webmaster Tools (also known as Search Console) works in accordance with Google Analytics. Using Webmaster Tools you can claim ownership of your website and make suggestions as to how Google views and indexes your site.

By submitting your XML sitemap though Webmaster Tools, you allow Google index your website page, blog posts, and attachments more easily, which can go a long way towards improving your search engine presence. You can also find information on what search terms people are using to find your site through organic search and which landing page it takes them to, although the information is not as detailed as Google Analytics.

Google My Business

You’ve probably all seen it. When you search for a business’s name on Google, among the results you’ll see their Google My Business listing in the upper right hand corner, complete with their location on Google Maps as well as business info like store hours, phone number, website, and business reviews.

My Business listings are essential for local businesses from a local SEO standpoint. Aside from presenting business info in an easy-to-read format, it gives consumers the opportunity to leave reviews. Google reviews are today’s version of “word of mouth”. Accumulating positive reviews gives your business a sense of trustworthiness. Check out our blog from a few weeks ago on the importance of online reviews.

If you need help optimizing your business and website on Google, give our nerds a call today at (647) 726-2020. Our SEO Jumpstart package includes the implementation of everything mentioned here, along with keyword research and both on and off-page optimization. Google gives us all the tools to succeed. Let us get your business on the right track.

Charlie Ford

The post Getting Right with Google first appeared on A Nerd's World.

Because every website, business, and industry is different, search engine optimization strategies vary from campaign to campaign. All campaigns, however, start in the same place—with keyword research. Keyword research is the practice SEO professionals use to identify what terms consumers are searching for in search engines. By researching and identifying these terms, SEO professionals (like me!) are able to put together detailed optimization campaigns that can target highly competitive keywords while also identifying areas of opportunity that competitors may have missed.

What is a Keyword?

A keyword, in SEO jargon, is a phrase that people search for on search engines in order to find a good or service. To use as an example, if you were looking for a company to design and develop your website, you might search “web development”. That entire phrase is considered a keyword.

If you were looking for the best web design company in Toronto to develop your site, you might search “best web development Toronto”. This is considered a “long-tail” keyword. “Web development” is the base term, while “best” and “Toronto” are the long-tail qualifiers. For most businesses, targeting long-tail keywords with local qualifiers is the best strategy.

Identifying Keywords

There are hundreds of online tools that SEO professionals and business owners can use to conduct keyword research, but the most commonly used is the Google Keyword Planner. The Keyword Planner is designed for planning and purchasing keyword for pay per click (PPC) campaigns, but the information it provides is hugely beneficial for organic SEO, as well. The “average monthly search” number is the most important stat when identifying a good keyword, but the “competition” and “suggested bid” columns can also help to give you an idea of how easy/difficult it would be to rank highly for a certain term.

SEO with A Nerd’s World

Here at A Nerd’s World, our SEO experts work in tandem with our clients to formulate a keyword plan that is custom tailored to their business. By targeting a mixture of high, medium, and low competition terms, we put our clients’ websites (and our own) in a position to rank relatively quickly, while also trying to take down some of the “big fish”.

If you’re looking for the best SEO in Toronto, look no further than A Nerd’s World. Give us a call today at (647) 726-2020 or stop by our 986 Bathurst Street location during our new extended hours. We’re open from 7:30 AM – 8 PM Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and 7:30 AM – 6 PM Tuesday and Thursday. See you soon!

Charlie Ford

The post Keyword Research: The Backbone of SEO first appeared on A Nerd's World.

Not every small business needs to be on social media and even fewer need to be on Snapchat. But if your business is targeting young people, you might want to take notice. Snapchat began infamously as a one-to-one mobile messaging app known for sexting — because its messages disappeared in seconds — but today it’s a one-to-many platform used daily by more than 100 million users. Add us today @anerdsworld1 for a behind the scenes look at our shop and office.

Chris A. Hughes

The post Add us on SnapChat: anerdsworld1 first appeared on A Nerd's World.

1. Get A Professional Headshot, First of all, have an actual photo. No one will take you seriously if you have the default silhouette. Hire a professional to take your shot. They will get the lighting right, coach you to a good expression and maybe even have a makeup artist in tow. If you want to be perceived as a professional, you have to act like one. People can tell if you snapped a selfie or cropped yourself out of a group shot. Whose hand is that on your shoulder and why is it in your photo?

2. Have a Photo That Looks Like You Every time I get ready for a meeting, I check out the person I’m meeting on LinkedIn first, especially if we are meeting for the first time at lunch or a coffee house. If the photo is not what they look like now, I wonder about their credibility and self-confidence. Is your profile photo more than two years old? Has your hairstyle changed drastically? Do you wear glasses, but not have them on in your profile photo? If so, it is time for a new headshot.

3. Fill The Frame With Face No one cares about the third button down on your shirt. They aren’t likely to need to know what the top of your head looks like. If they are thumbing their smartphone looking through photos of the 116 men named Scott Kline on LinkedIn, they aren’t going to recognize you from the shot of you on your mountain bike. Crop the photo from just below the shoulders to no higher than just above your head. I even crop into the top of the head in most cases.

4. Dress Appropriately for Your Industry Hawaiian shirts are great for the politician from Maui. Suits and ties are great for many in the financial industry. What do people in your industry wear? If you are worried, err on the side of dressing up a little. It never hurts to have clean, new garments. Remember to look like yourself, but maybe yourself on your best day. Here are more wardrobe tips.

5. Make Sure Background is Not Distracting Get the background as neutral as possible. I prefer white background for the photo. Other colours can work too. Make sure there is a contrast to separate you from the background. Avoid busy backgrounds like words, complex geometric shapes or lines running through your head. Solid white or grey are hardly ever a problem when your face is well lit. Now that you know how to do it, let us help you update that LinkedIn profile photo for $100 (this offer never expires ). Contact us for a headshot shoot today.

Chris A. Hughes

The post New LinkedIn Headshots? first appeared on A Nerd's World.

Here is a sneak preview at our first app mock-up for our client Toys R Us.

In a co-operative effort along side Open Creative, we created a Facebook app to promote Toys R Us Canada’s 30th Anniversary – Never Grow Up campaign. Our goal was to create an app for users (generally the youth demographic) to create an personal Oath: “I will always….” and fill in a personal goal. ie. “I will always make beautiful websites!” – A Nerd’s World.

The app would then generate a digital oath certificate which would post on the user’s timeline, and onto the TRU Oath Map of Canada, which displays all oaths that have been generated across the country!

We used the Google Maps API to create an interactive map, and we registered dynamic pins displaying the user’s Facebook name and registered oath using OpenGraph. We pulled out all the stops when it came to implementing highly dynamic content between various APIs. We then featured this app as a main tab on Toys R Us Canada’s Facebook page.

Furthermore, we collected analytic to measure and visualize the app’s usage during the length of the campaign, which ran for four consecutive weeks. As a result the total number of Oaths taken between late-September and early-October 2014, ballooned over 250% growth during the interim of the campaign with a consistent positive incline is user activity. This demonstrates that combining good marketing and user experience development, even the most simple ideas will result in successful PR on any platform for any business or person promotion.

Do you need help with your company APP? For a free price quote please contact us today.

Chris A. Hughes

The post App Dev in Toronto first appeared on A Nerd's World.