Issue 3 | DecoNetwork

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Issue 3: May 10, 2012

Welcome to INSIDE issue #3 which caters to a hot topic indeed - SEO, or in long-form Search Engine Optimization.

This issue is PACKED full of content! I'll walk you through how to ensure your website has enough content to make Google loves your site and also understand what makes good content. We'll address some myths about META keywords and description tags, plus high-light some great tools in DecoNetwork that can help you improve your SEO ranking.

By the way, if you've missed a previous issue of INSIDE you can read them all online at www.deconetwork.com/newsletter

Enjoy and see you around Decoworld!

Brenden

What you see is not always what Google gets

So you've invested hours and hours into building a beautiful site packed full of bright, inviting images but when it comes to website visitors and sales you have crickets. Silence... Zippo... Nada...

So what went wrong?

Putting aside the obvious such as product, prices and reputation, you should take a real hard look at your site and find out how much your most important site visitor, Google, knows much about you. And it all comes down to content.

This one is a much! If you are a business with a physical address that clients can visit then you MUST list your website in Google places. Google Places is what appears when a 'local' Google search is performed.

A local search from Google's perspective is where someone combines a product or service with a city or town. i.e. "t shirt printing Los Angeles".

Various map entries appear which show the business name, street address, and telephone number of companies that offer the product of service in the area specified. It's how most of us find the business we are looking for!

So how do you list your business in Google Places for free?

Website title best practices

A website title is important. It is typically the first thing a human sees when they see your websites listed in a Google search result. Therefore, you need to think about what makes the perfect title to attract the user's attention.

The myth of "keywords" meta tag

It's a cold, dark night and you've sat down to write the perfect collection of keywords to use in your website's <meta name="keywords"> tag to work your way up that elusive and exclusive club of the first page of Google search results.

Well, I hate to burst your bubble but it would have been more constructive to watch re-runs of Bold and the Beautiful. When it comes to your page rank in Google <meta name="keywords"> has zero affect!

Now the reason.

Don't spill your Google Juice. rel="canonical"

The term 'Google Juice' refers to the value (or love) Google gives your website based on a number of factors such as links and good, original content.

Many factors can have a negative effect on you Google juice such as poor content (of course) and duplicate content on multiple websites. A common cause of duplicate content from Google's perspective is multiple domain names pointing to the one site.

i.e.www.mysite.com, www.myothersite.com or even myothersite.com (without the www) all point to the one website and Google will index all URLs.

Google see's the content and knows they are the same. This is a problem for Google, as Google does not like to show duplicate content to its users so in some cases will rank the URLs lower.

So how do you ensure your DecoNetwork does not spill some of its Google juice?

Issue 4 sneak peak

In issue 4 of INSIDE we'll continue down the path of SEO and share some more tips on building awesome website content plus discuss ways to drive traffic to your site.

SEO is great but it's not the silver bullet. Like a real sales person, you need to work with your site. Update it, introduce your customers to it. List it everywhere from your signs, brochures, business cards to bumper stickers for your car. Your website IS a sales person and would you go days without speaking to or working with your sales team?

What's new!

We're delighted to welcome Rena Findlay to the DecoNetwork product sales team! Based in Dundee, United Kingdom, Rena comes with a wealth of industry experience.

If you are based in the UK you can reach out to Rena any time by contacting her on:

Mobile: 07884 497 001
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Skype: rena.findlay2

Value-add services

Also residing in the UK is Dean Roscoe of DecoNetwork Solutions, an independent company specializing in DecoNetwork training, support and set-up services.

Aside from being an accomplished DTG printer with over 25 years experience in the industry, Dean has become one of the foremost experts on DecoNetwork offering a series of products and services which include:

- Store set-up options:

£650: Store set-up
£1,000: Store setup plus basic design work and theme
£2,000: Full site build with custom theme and one days training at DecoNetwork Solutions.

- CSS / HTML modifications and site theming

- Graphic design work

- Confidential DTG printing for new start-up or overflow work

To take advantage of these great value-add services contact Dean on:

Mobile: 07947 664 422
Phone: 01297 631 955
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.wilcomsoftware.co.uk

Featured video

Missed our webinar "Create Custom Designs in DecoNetwork with Digital Art Solutions Interactive Templates"? Don't worry, here is the recording!

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