Webcraft Webmaster Services

If your site is hosted on a server with various other URLs, Google may ding your rankings. It is now recommended that you have your very own dedicated server, so as not to be affected by the mistakes others make. Ensure your caching and compression tools are in top shape, with adequately fast response times. Most importantly, monitor your site's stability and note any significant downtime; if you're down for more than 24 hours, search engines will notice and likely penalize you. Stability is critical. my motto is "Keep it simple" and "don't leave anything for tomorrow that can be done today." Regards Gerald Crawford Stellenbosch South Africa Cell: +27-0720390184 (mobile) E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws

If you really want to see your SERPs plummet, create a user-interface that's confusing, convoluted, and slow to load. Page speed does in fact matter, as does intuitive navigation. Studies show you have less than 3 milliseconds to establish engagement and trust with a new visitor. This means the site needs to communicate what it is, and in a clear manner, quickly.   If your site doesn't pass this test, Google will notice eventually. More importantly, so will your users. If you're not doing a decent job of guiding visitors down the ideal path, your conversion rates are surely reflecting this failure.   Next, clock the speed it takes for your site to load. Many argue the validity of a fast loading site; the fact is, even if only a small percentage of pages are affected by this stat, it's foolish to have a sluggish site from a user perspective. Aim for a score above 90, and you might see an increase in rankings – but you will surely see a dro

No matter what size your business is, everyone knows the value of developing a web presence. But like most investments, online marketing can be risky and expensive, especially if you're a small business with a tight advertising budget.   Investing in online marketing doesn't have to be a gamble; there are plenty of marketing strategies that are cheaper than you think, and plenty of businesses have succeeded using inexpensive tactics.   Marketing doesn't have to be difficult, either – in our digital age, there's an abundance of tools to measure and focus your marketing efforts. It's easier than ever to gather valuable information and quickly switch up your campaigns.   If you're willing to be proactive and get involved in the industry, you don't need a large advertising budget to market your business successfully online.   Start Small   There are plenty of tools on the Internet that are free or less expensive than the

As with everything in this world, quality trumps quantity. What you're after are targeted links and referrals full of visitors that are truly after what you offer. Your marketing strategy no doubt contains a myriad of efforts to generate these quality visits. To really be a player in SEO these days, these campaigns should involve the following:   * Organic search * Paid search * External links, from articles, bloggers, news sites, etc. * Press releases and other PR efforts * Social signals from Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, etc. * Local map listings * Online advertising * Direct traffic via offline strategies   Yes, organic search still sits at the top of the list above, but if it's your sole focus, you'll definitely waste your efforts. Failure to consider the other factors means you'll experience just a smidgen of your potential success.   Pay attention to your analytics so you can understand where your site is

According to Wikipedia, advertising is a form of communication for marketing and is used to encourage, persuade, or manipulate an audience (viewers, readers or listeners; sometimes a specific group) to continue or take a new action. More simply put, advertising is letting people know about your business and showing them you have the solution. Advertising began thousands of years ago when ancient Egyptians started carving out announcements and notices in steel. Now, we have so many forms of advertising, it can be hard to choose which mediums to use. Online marketing has taken the business world by storm. Some of the standard online advertising strategies consist of banner ads, newsletter ads and website link exchanges. These methods can be effective, but you need to get out of the box and find new and clever ways to advertise your business. Below are 10 fun and creative ideas that could breathe new life into your advertising success: 1. E-Mail Sigtag B

When most people set out to write PPC ads, they simply lay fingers to keyboard and begin to rattle off whatever they want to tell customers. If it fits into the allotted space, the ad copy is uploaded and run without too much thought. I've always been astonished that PPC copywriting takes place with such a nonchalant attitude, considering how vitally important it is. After all, if you can't get people to click your ads, nothing else you do will matter. Your campaign will come to a grinding halt. One of the most overlooked elements in writing PPC ads is the audience. While you hear the marketing command to "Know your target customer" often repeated, what you might not consider is how those customers actually behave while interacting with your ads online. For instance, is yours a passive or active audience? Passive Behavior Put yourself in your customers' shoes for a bit. Take an imaginary trip over to Facebook. What are you do