Website Questions & Answers

How do I get ranked on page one for Google?

This is the top question we get about websites.  The answer is content, content, content then ease of navigation to find the content.  We are an online society now and we want to find what we are looking for online quickly and completely in one place.  Think about how you use search engines and apply it to your website's content and layout.  Remember that search engines must be competitive as well to earn your utilization for those search queries and they want to deliver The Best Answer faster and better than their competition so they will be critical in ranking your site competitively.  Your website must be highly functional and reflect your services and products more efficiently than your competition as well.  These search engines will crawl through your website thoroughly and will rank it based on if it answers the questions or topics of your key words and site information; how thoroughly and easily that information is found;  how new the information is; and how efficient your website is.  My suggestion is to review your website and ask others to do so as well to see if it meets that criteria.  Is it easy to find answers?  Is there a wealth of information reflected within the website on what you do and is it current information?  Are there any broken links?  Has it been updated recently?  

In your business you have continually updated services and products to reflect today's market and your website should do the same.  CMR Inc can assist you in updating the website you currently have to include better SEO (Search Engine Optimization), integration of our Easy News - Information Program so that you can keep the website updated, and add Social Media Integration.  We would like the opportunity to earn your business  Contact Us

How do I keep my online visitors interested?

Internet use is growing faster than can be measured with the utilization of smart phones, notepads, laptops, and desktop computers and most of us have at least two computers.  You have to consider first what type of computer they are using first as they do not all work the same.  Example:  Websites that have a lot of Flash Media Programming look great but you can't open them up on an iPhone or iPad which eliminates your site from use. Test your site by opening it on several types of computers and smart phones to see if this applies to you.

Next:  Look at your site to see how long it takes to load as many of the older sites used extremely large files or photos which take more than the 2 minutes the average user wants to wait to see your website especially if they have limited Internet bandwidth.  This is an easy fix as the image files can be replaced by condensed file size images and you are back in business.

Content.  Do you have enough information in a format to answer the user's questions and the option for them to look at additional information on the same or similar information.  Websites created before 2009 used a beautiful technique that reflected your business well in a graphic way as you would find in a magazine layout but they did not have much information itself in them and are therefore one dimensional.  Your website needs to be 3 dimensional in that it looks great, has lots of data on what your products or services are, and allows the user to to pro-active. 

Users MUST BE ABLE to contact you or purchase items while they are online in some manner with quick return time.  Today's consumer wants to follow through, just consider your own online use.  Your website provides you a larger consumer market and you must take advantage of that.  If you have a retail store, reconfigure your Contact Us feature so that they can use it to preorder their items and you have them ready.   You can also add a basic shopping cart so that they can pay for it and have someone else pick it up for them.  Consider delivery from your website orders in a local market.  There is really no limitations on how your website in today's market can be used. 

Is your website up to date?

Look at your entire website to see if it reflects your current information and works correctly.  Does it need updates?  Are you proud of it?  It is better to not have a website than to have one that does not work efficiently.  You would be better off with one page that looks great, has your contact information, an email link, and a map feature than 8 pages that are difficult to navigate and out of date.   Your website should reflect your business products and services today in graphics and information providing an online look at your business. You update the inventory in your retail store to provide your customers with the newest product lines and your website needs to do the same with your “online store”. The displays in your business are fluid to showcase different product lines and seasons and I am sure you move them often. You want results from your website I am sure so you need to put time and effort into it as well. Your market area potential is global with an effective website.   Review your website and make a list of what products or services should be changed or expanded based on your current business goals. Next look at pure written data or information as that is what a search engine will be doing if you are wanting traffic to your website based on anything other than your efforts

Is your website Search Engine Optimized?

You can check this easily by doing a search for key words and phrases to see what page you show up on in that search.  If your business is local then check for it by product in that state or county.  Check Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Ask but if you don't find it within 10 pages you have some work to do. People are searching for your products and services online every day and you may have a fantastic website design, but for it to be successful, potential visitors must be able to find your site when searching the Web for the information or services you offer.  Search engine optimization is the most economical way to improve your website performance and increase traffic and the most difficult to determine if you are not trained to do so as you can't see the results.  These changes are on an interior level inside your website program. At CMR Inc we have been very successful in obtaining top ranking for our clients who choose to add the SEO packages to their websites.  What is the process?

• Submit sites for review and ranking to multiple organic search engines and top search engines.
• Boost traffic to your website through back links from other sites
• Track changes in your search engine rankings and website traffic to evaluate the effectiveness of search engine optimization
• Website Analysis & SEO Implementation. We strategically place keyword phrases on your Web pages by adding them to the visible text, title tags, Meta tags and alt tags to influence search engine listings. Additional page elements and Link Popularity are also evaluated by CMR Inc’s Search Engine Optimization Specialists.
• Analytics Reporting Program We run periodic search engine position reports to evaluate the effectiveness of your search engine optimization services through changes in your website rankings in popular search engines, such as Google, MSN, Ask, Bing, and Yahoo.
• Pay-Per-Click campaigns, linking campaigns and more. We will work with you to develop a well-rounded search engine performance program using a variety of tools from optimized press releases to link campaigns and pay-per-click management - all designed to drive targeted traffic and improve organic search engine performance.  

Social Media Integration is effective and can be easy?

Using social networks (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn) is not only one of today's hottest marketing tools, but utilizing social media to monitor and manage online reputations is essential for any business.  The issue is keeping it manageable and making it work with your website and not independent of it.  Your website is the center of your online marketing campaign and should be treated as such.  Check your business with a search engine and you will often find that your Facebook page comes up before your website which is counterproductive and an easy - affordable fix.

Simply add a small Content Management Tool to your website and set the program to feed your news, specials, and information to your social media platforms. 

Facebook offers the opportunity to customize your page and that is money well spent as the Facebook fans for your page will see that portion.  Your first line of text should be the key offer or reason to read the rest of the information as it is where you catch their attention and with a CMT they will be directed straight to your website for the added information, specials, coupons, or helpful tips. 

YouTube offers the option to customize a page and is a great way to enhance your website with real time clips of events and product tutorials that can be embedded in your website to feed to the social media programs.  If you are not using it currently consider doing so.

Twitter is dependent on area, topic, and is a basic program that in some areas is catching on well but offers no customization.  I recommend it as an additional feed, however, not as a pivotal point at this juncture.

LinkedIn is a program that all professionals should be using at this point to showcase their expertise and business links.  It serves well and you will note we did use it on our website.  It can be a major source of information and networking and is limited to business professionals.

When should I consider a Web Content Management Tool (CMT)? 

NOW.  No matter what your content or focus of your website to be competitive in Search Engine management or even general queries by your clients, you have to be continually updating your site.  5 years ago if you had someone looking for an address or phone number even for your business, they simply put your name in a search engine.  Today the global market is billions of websites and your name may not even show up. 

If you have any information or news releases that your company issues then a Content Management Tool (CMT) is required as it will take only moments to send out what is now time consuming.

If you currently use Social Media (Facebook - Twitter) to send out information and updates about sales, news, or business information of any kind you can put it on your website first and have it automatically feed to those programs in one step once again saving time. 

If you want to ensure competitive Search Engine Results then a Content Management program will keep your site up to date and competitive.  You will still have to consider the type of content to ensure it maximizes your results but your website can grow with your business readily by incorporating this tool. 

CMTs are cost effective because your own staff can make updates to the site even if they have little or no HTML programming experience.  Your website’s performance in search engines will improve when the content on your site is updated frequently.  

Is there an easy to use CMT Program?   

Absolutely.  A password-protected web content management software tool provides staff members with no programming expertise the means to update content, change "calls to action" and even post graphics, pdf's, and photographs to the site.    Check our Easy News Program on KnoxvilleISURF.com

• CMR Inc’s successful background in software design and development means your site management tools are intuitive.  Our tools typically require less than 1 hour of training for your entire staff.  Just paste your text into the tool, choose where you want to place the text on the site, add a photo, click “Update” and your new content is live.
• Key phrases and information can be built into the program to ensure top search engine optimization.

What are website costs?

Anyone can get a website in today's market with any budget.  There are programs you can work with to do your own site or we can start you with 3 pages for $899.

Standard Website Design – This website design and program is for businesses who are just starting to work on having an online presence and conserving costs. Intended for clients with a smaller budget and less complex site architecture, this design level provides a professional, though not 100% unique, Web presence with a lower cost and faster development timeline. Standard Website Design starts at $1499

Custom Website Design – With unique website design and navigation, a CMR Inc custom-designed site is developed totally from the ground up, just for you.  Custom Web design is for clients who need a strong branding presence or who have unique site organizational needs.  CMR’s graphic artists often create multiple mock-ups before settling on the best, most effective Web design.  Combining CMR’s award winning websites with custom content management tools and search engine optimization produces award-winning results.  Custom Website Design starts at $3400

Premium Website Design – Our premium sites include customized end user programming such as building large shopping carts and specialized listing programs or online newspapers with advertising potential. These sites are exceptionally customized to your specific needs and revenue based sites. Pricing is dependent on your needs and must be quoted on an individual basis.

My policy is that the initial discussion will cost you nothing and you will come away from the conversation with a better understanding of your options and a few tips on how to streamline your marketing either way.   I look forward to earning your business and hearing your other questions on marketing. 

Marion M Miller, President |  (270) 339-4176 Talk or Text  |  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.