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Why are backlinks important for SEO?

Backlinks are one of the most important factors in search engine optimization (SEO). They are links from other websites that point to your website, and they play a crucial role in helping search engines determine the relevance and authority of your site. In this blog, we’ll explain what backlinks are, why they’re important for SEO, and how to get high-quality backlinks for your website.

What are backlinks?

Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. They can be in the form of text links, image links, or even a mention of your website without a link. When another website links to your site, it’s like a vote of confidence in the quality and relevance of your content.

Search engines, like Google, use backlinks as one of the main factors in determining the relevance and authority of a website. If a website has a lot of high-quality backlinks from other reputable websites, it’s likely to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for the keywords and phrases that are relevant to its content.

Why are backlinks important?

Backlinks are important for SEO because they help search engines determine the relevance and authority of your website. As mentioned earlier, when another website links to your site, it’s like a vote of confidence in the quality and relevance of your content.

If a website has a lot of high-quality backlinks from other reputable websites, it’s likely to rank higher in search engine results for the keywords and phrases that are relevant to its content. This can drive more traffic to your site and ultimately increase your revenue.

In addition, backlinks can help improve the user experience on your website. By linking to high-quality, relevant content on other websites, you can provide your users with additional information and resources that they may find useful. This can help reduce your bounce rate and improve the overall user experience on your site.

How to get high-quality backlinks for your website

Now that you understand the importance of backlinks for SEO, let’s take a look at how to get high-quality backlinks for your website. Here are some tips to help you get started:

  1. Create high-quality, informative, and engaging content that is relevant to your audience and your industry. This will make it more likely that other websites will want to link to your content.
  2. Use social media to promote your content and engage with your audience. This can help increase the visibility of your content and make it more likely that other websites will link to it.
  3. Reach out to other websites in your industry and ask them to link to your content. Be sure to provide them with a compelling reason to link to your site, such as providing them with valuable information or resources.
  4. Participate in industry forums, blog comment sections, and other online communities to build relationships with other industry professionals and potential link partners.

By following these tips, you can start building high-quality backlinks for your website and improve your search engine rankings. Remember, it’s important to focus on building high-quality backlinks from reputable websites rather than trying to get as many backlinks as possible from any website.

Kelly Website Design has been awarded the Expertise Award for Best Web Developers in Philadelphia

We are excited to announce that Kelly Website Design has been awarded the Expertise Award for Best Web Developers in Philadelphia! This is a significant accomplishment, and we are grateful to have received this recognition from such a respected organization.

At Kelly Website Design, we are dedicated to delivering high-quality web development services to businesses in Philadelphia and beyond. Our team of skilled and experienced developers is committed to creating websites that are not only visually stunning, but also functional and user-friendly.

We believe that a website is a crucial tool for any business, and we work closely with our clients to ensure that their website accurately reflects their brand and meets the needs of their target audience. From custom website design to e-commerce development, we offer a range of services to help businesses effectively reach and engage with their customers online.

We are honored to have received the Expertise Award for Best Web Developers in Philadelphia, and we are committed to continuing to provide top-notch web development services to our clients. Thank you to Expertise and everyone who has supported us along the way. We look forward to continuing to serve the Philadelphia community and help businesses succeed online.

Effective On-Page SEO Strategy

On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing individual web pages to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. This includes optimizing the content, HTML source code, and other elements of a page to make it more search engine friendly.

What is on-page SEO?

On-page SEO is the process of optimizing individual web pages to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. This includes optimizing the content, HTML source code, and other elements of a page to make it more search engine friendly. The goal of on-page SEO is to help search engines understand what a page is about and determine its relevance to a particular search query.

Why is on-page SEO important?

On-page SEO is important because it helps search engines understand the content of your website and determine its relevance to specific search queries. By optimizing your on-page elements, you can improve your chances of ranking higher in search engine results, which can ultimately drive more traffic to your site.

In addition, on-page SEO can help improve the user experience on your website. By optimizing your page titles, meta descriptions, and other on-page elements, you can make it easier for users to find the information they’re looking for. This can help reduce your bounce rate and improve the overall user experience on your site.

Furthermore, on-page SEO can help establish the credibility and authority of your website. By optimizing your content and other on-page elements, you can show search engines that your site is a trusted and reliable source of information on the topics that are relevant to your business or website. This can help improve your search engine rankings and drive more organic traffic to your site.

How to do on-page SEO effectively

To do on-page SEO effectively, you should follow these steps:

  1. Identify the keywords and phrases that are relevant to your business or website.
  2. Optimize your page titles and meta descriptions.
  3. Use header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to structure your content and make it easy for users and search engines to understand.
  4. Optimize your images and videos by using relevant file names, alt tags, and titles.
  5. Use internal and external links to improve the user experience and provide additional information for search engines to crawl.
  6. Optimize your website’s loading speed by reducing the size of your images, minifying your CSS and JavaScript files, and using a content delivery network (CDN).
  7. Monitor and track your on-page SEO efforts using tools like Google Analytics and Search Console.

By following these steps, you can effectively optimize your on-page elements and improve your search engine rankings.

Blocking Spam: How to Protect Your Inbox and Keep Your Emails Safe

If you’re like most people, you probably receive a lot of spam emails every day. These annoying messages can clog up your inbox, steal your personal information, and even infect your computer with malware. But there are steps you can take to block spam and keep your emails safe.

One of the simplest ways to block spam is to use a spam filter. Most email providers, such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook, have built-in spam filters that automatically send suspected spam emails to a separate folder. These filters use various techniques, such as analyzing the content and sender of the email, to determine whether it’s spam or not. While they’re not foolproof, they can be effective at reducing the amount of spam you receive.

Another way to block spam is to be cautious about giving out your email address. Avoid signing up for emails from unfamiliar websites or companies, and be careful about providing your email address to online forms or surveys. You can also use a disposable email address when signing up for services or websites that you don’t fully trust. This will help keep your main email address private and reduce the risk of it being sold or shared with spammers.

In addition to using spam filters and being cautious about giving out your email address, you can also protect your inbox by being wary of suspicious emails. Be on the lookout for emails with urgent or threatening subject lines, as well as those that contain typos or other errors. Also be cautious about opening attachments or clicking on links from unknown senders, as these can contain malware or lead to phishing scams.

By following these tips, you can block spam and keep your emails safe. While it may not be possible to completely eliminate spam, taking a few simple precautions can go a long way towards protecting your inbox and personal information.

Here are five steps you can take to block spam and protect your inbox:

  1. Use a spam filter: Most email providers have built-in spam filters that can help reduce the amount of spam you receive. These filters use various techniques to identify and separate spam emails from legitimate ones.
  2. Be cautious about giving out your email address: Avoid signing up for emails from unfamiliar websites or companies, and be careful about providing your email address to online forms or surveys. You can also use a disposable email address when signing up for services or websites that you don’t fully trust.
  3. Be wary of suspicious emails: Be on the lookout for emails with urgent or threatening subject lines, as well as those that contain typos or other errors. These are often signs of spam or phishing scams.
  4. Don’t open attachments or click on links from unknown senders: These can contain malware or lead to phishing scams.
  5. Use an email security tool: If you’re concerned about spam and other threats to your email, you can use an email security tool to help protect your inbox. These tools can help filter out spam and phishing emails, as well as identify and block malware and other threats.

How Website Design Could Affect Your Sales

Online sales continue to grow. In fact, 2019 saw a 14.9 percent increase in online sales over the previous year, accounting for $601.75 billion nationally. Sales through your website are a crucial aspect of your business because so much consumer spending now occurs online. A difficult reality to face for many businesses is that website design could have a large impact on your sales.

When a website visitor lands on your site, you only have a couple of seconds to draw them in and convince them to make a purchase. The experience they have within those first few seconds will dictate whether or not they leave and go to a competitor whose website is more attractive or better suited to their needs.

As you evaluate your website, here are some ways in which website design can affect your sales and what you should do about it.

Lack of Design Fails to Guide Visitors Through Your Site

Websites that have effective design showcase the various aspects of your products or services that help users make a purchasing decision. Websites with a strong design never leave a visitor wondering what they should do next on the site.

For example, product pages should have clear “add to cart” buttons. And below the main product, you should be showcasing similar products that generally accompany that product. This helps highlight the overall value you offer and the breadth of that offering.

Website visitors who land on your homepage first should be able to ascertain your key consumer benefit and understand your brand story at a glance. As you consider the flow of users through your website, you should know that website design is about more than making a website that looks good. It’s about simple, effective navigation that nudges your visitor to where you want them to go.

Slow Load Times Can Lead to Abandonment

When your website loads slowly, you could be losing customers. People’s lives today are busy and they expect speed and immediacy from websites. No one wants to wait around for your website to load, especially when there are so many competitors out there that do the same things you do.

Well designed websites load quickly to ensure your visitors get the crucial information they need to make a purchasing decision. You should discuss with your website developer how you can use file types appropriately and cut down on unnecessary code to ensure a speedy website so you don’t lose the sale.

Misplaced or Poor Calls to Action

When your calls to action are weak, misplaced or nonexistent, you risk losing sales. Some websites are so cluttered with calls to action that they don’t guide the user at all and can cause overwhelm.

There are three elements to a good call to action. They should be inviting, clear and bold to ensure your website visitors want to click them and can’t possibly ignore them.

Consider what your call to action should be on every page. Even your about the company page should have some call to action. It could be softer, such as a contact us instead of a purchase from us button. Nonetheless, it should be present on your page. Failure to include a call to action on every page could lead to missed sales opportunities.

Dull, Outdated Websites Don’t Invite Sharing

One of the best ways to earn new customers is through referrals. And to invite referrals, your website should be something that your customers are proud to share with their friends. The more inviting and neater it is, the more likely your customers will be to share it.

Websites that are extremely out of date or hard to read won’t compel your visitors to share them. Ensure your website is modern and sleek to get more referral marketing.

Kelly Website Design can modernize your website and ensure you get as much sales value as possible from it. Contact us to get started with your website design project.

A Guide to Using Third-Party Reviews on Your Website

What you need to know about using third-party reviews on your website

Reviews and testimonials can have a major impact on drawing in new customers. And because of that, many people copy and paste reviews from third-party websites onto their own website. But that doesn’t mean this is a good idea because you should not use someone’s name or review on your website without their permission.

Engaging in this practice can actually cause copyright issues. And these reviews don’t offer the same credibility that embedding recent reviews from these third parties could have.

What are third-party reviews?

A third-party review is any review left about your business on a website that is not yours. Some examples of third-party review websites include:

  • Google
  • Facebook
  • Yelp
  • Amazon

Customers can easily provide their thoughts and opinions on these websites. Some allow for anonymous posts while others include full details including profile images and other reviews from that same user.

Issues with copying and pasting reviews

Without including information from the original third-party site, copying and pasting reviews feels a bit ingenuine. When using this method, you can pull only the best reviews, which makes it feel staged.

Not only are copied and pasted reviews ingenuine, but they can also cause copyright issues with sites like Google. Reviews posted there are copyrighted information for that website. Taking that content from there could mean you face legal battles.

Finally, the person provided their permission for their name, likeness and details to be posted on the third-party website. They did not provide that consent for your website.

Alternatives to copying and pasting third-party reviews

Instead of copying and pasting reviews, you can look to these alternatives.

  1. Ask the reviewer’s permission to use their review or have them write one specifically for your website. Sometimes this option gets you better content anyway because it’s tailored to your website and your needs.
  2. Use a WordPress plugin. This way, it pulls in your reviews and embeds them directly from these third-party sites. The WordPress Business Reviews plugin offers a free option to pull in up to five Google reviews and three Yelp reviews. To get more than that, you’ll need to upgrade to premium. The premium option also offers a page showing merged reviews on a neat landing page.

Embedding the review from its original source is not the same as copying and pasting the content from the review over to your website. That’s because it provides the appropriate attribution from the third-party website and displays the source of the review. And, it doesn’t look like you’re posting that review as your own.

Why third-party reviews matter

Third-party reviews are more credible than testimonials on your website. That’s because you can’t pick and choose which reviews you like and show only the good ones on your website. That way, no bad information is out there about you.

This isn’t as trustworthy as showing the reviews from their original source. In addition to being more credible, these review sites can also show overall results on a larger scale by showcasing how many stars a company has based on how many total reviews. Showing total review counts can demonstrate the breadth of the customer base and offer greater context for a rating.

Third-party reviews are one aspect of your website strategy. For a full website strategy, design and hosting, contact us. We offer free quotes based on your needs!

How Case Studies Could Increase Your Website Conversion Rates

Finding ways to increase website conversions is one of the most common requests we get as a website design company.

And as you look for ways to do this, you need to dig deep into understanding your customers in a more meaningful way. Once you understand them, you can start building out content on your website that resonates and invites them to continue the buying journey with you.

One of the best ways to do that is to share case studies. These are stories about another company’s experience with you. It helps relay their positive experience and the impact your organization had on them.

A case study brings to life a real example of how your business helps other businesses or people. The result should show how you solved problems for that organization by increasing revenue or traffic or solving an everyday problem for them.

Case studies do far more than a simple testimonial. That’s because the testimonial doesn’t always provide a clear beginning state, end state and data to showcase the impact.

Important case study elements to produce website conversions

To succeed with having your case studies increase your website conversions, you need to include these crucial elements.

1. Business overview

Compelling case studies are real. To make your story seem as real as possible, you need to include real business information. This information should include:

  • Business name
  • Location
  • What they do
  • A logo or visual aid

Some businesses might want to tell their story anonymously. And while you can accept some anonymous case studies, just know that the ones that include this information are far more impactful.

2. Pain points

To understand the impact your business had on another business, you need to showcase the challenges or pain points that they faced before coming to you for help.

This might highlight operational or functional challenges. For example, some of the pain points that organizations come to Kelly Website Design to solve include low website traffic, poor website infrastructure, challenges with updating their website, outdated design, slow hosting servers, etc.

Highlighting the problem will make the next step of explaining the resolution simpler.

3. The resolution

Explain how you helped the business move from their pain points to the resolution you provide. If possible, include graphics of renderings or plans to bring this part of the story to life even more.

Or when no graphics make sense, describe this part of the process in clear detail. Consider including your consultative process to showcase the customer service you provide, if applicable.

4. Process for improvement

Offer details on how long the transformation took and what steps it included. You could even include challenges you faced along the way and how you overcame those challenges.

5. Outcomes/data

This is where some good data can be extremely helpful. Showcase the impacts your organization had in improving your customer’s business or life. Go back to the pain points they experienced before and describe how those changed.

6. Testimonial

Ask for the customer to put the resolution and their satisfaction with working with you into their own words. This will further confirm their experience and showcase their impression of working with your company.

7. Graphics/images

Including visuals in your story can help bring it to life and engage your reader. Otherwise, your case study will just be black and white text that is easy for the reader to navigate away from or get distracted while reading. And good visuals can bring the story to life through showing impacts or putting a face to the story.

How to set up a case study on your website

Remember that visuals are an essential element of your case study. So consider how you format your case study. For most businesses running WordPress websites, putting a case study into a blog post is an effective method.

Use different blocks and formats to keep the case study visually interesting. You might consider setting up a category specifically for case studies if you plan to develop a few so that you could link to the category landing page from other areas of your website.

You must put a form at the bottom of your case study for the website visitor to share their contact information to get on your distribution list or to schedule a free consultation. This is how you convert them from being a casual case study reader into being a prospect.

If you need help creating a case study template within your website or creating a plan for increasing website conversions, contact Kelly Website Design.

Where to get Free Images for Your Website

Visuals help draw in website visitors and visually demonstrate your brand and what you do. But stock images are also quite expensive and can use up your marketing budget quickly.

There are many free image websites that offer full commercial use without attribution. Using these sites can help bring your website to life with attractive photos that help lower your bounce rate and engage website visitors. Here’s a look at the top free image libraries you can use on your website.

Why are these photos free?

Photographers provide their images for free on several sites as a marketing tool. And hobbyists can get their images in front of hundreds of people by offering them for free commercial use. It’s a win-win because you get free images for your website and the photographer gets the opportunity to do what they love and market their skills.

You’ll also find images from brands that have subtle or not-so-subtle product placement. The brands release these photos for free commercial use to gain greater exposure.

Terms you should know before using free images sites

You should familiarize yourself with some of the legal terms surrounding image terms of use before you begin downloading photos and placing them on your website because you don’t want to face legal troubles.

  • Creative Commons: This nonprofit organization oversees a range of licenses for use for creative elements like images. The uses outlined by Creative Commons could require attribution or state that you cannot alter the image.
  • Public domain: images can become public domain once the rights to the image have expired or been forfeited. Placing an image on the internet does not automatically make it public domain, so don’t take photos from Google Images or other websites where the rights are not outlined.
  • Royalty-free: these images are not truly free, generally. It means that you pay a one-time fee for access to the image but you don’t have to pay royalties to its owner for various use cases.

If you’re unsure about your rights to an image or how you can use photos you’ve contracted with local models or actors to have taken, you should consult with your attorney and reference any applicable contracts.

Top 10 Sites to Download Free Website Images

Here are the top 10 sites to download free website images based on quality and the diverse selection of photos available.

1. Unsplash

The license for Unsplash provides free use for the images for everything except for building a competing company to market the images.

2. Pexels

This free image website outlines what you can and cannot do with the photos you download, but you have few limitations on commercial use, which is why this website is great for commercial use. Read up on the Pexels license for more information.

3. Pixabay

Images on Pixabay have a Creative Commons Zero license, meaning you can use them without the need to ask permission or document that permission. You also don’t need to add attribution to the images.

4. Canva

Using Canva, you can download free images and add them to graphics templates for everything from lead magnets to social media graphics. To get access to more images, you’ll need to pay for a Canva subscription, but you’ll find that to be affordable. Plus, a subscription offers access to even more templates, icons, etc.

5. Life of Pix

Life of Pix features stunning high-resolution images. And if you like what you see, there’s plenty more from the free image website’s partner Adobe Stock. Life of Pix basically serves as a marketing tool for Adobe Stock, but you don’t have to buy anything to take advantage of the free images.

6. PicJumbo

Browse free images on PicJumbo or sign up for a subscription to get new images delivered directly to your inbox. The benefit of the email subscription is that you’ll get inspiration for images to place on your website or use in your marketing.

7. Death to Stock

Much like PicJumbo, Death to Stock offers a monthly email subscription that delivers new images to your email inbox. Unlike the cheesy stock photos where all subjects are smiling and looking at the camera, photos from Death to Stock offer creative and attractive images you won’t find anywhere else.

8. FreeImages

FreeImages offers hundreds of thousands of free photos. It does outline clearly how you can use those photos in its license, but you’ll find it fairly inclusive. So long as you aren’t selling the images or listing them for download, you should be able to use them in most website use cases.

9. Kaboompics

If you’re looking for brand images that fall within your color palette, Kaboompics is the place to go. You can search based on colors within the images to provide a cohesive website experience.

10. Stocksnap.io

Photos on this website are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license, meaning they are free to download and use for both commercial and non-commercial use.

Need help making your website attractive and inviting for visitors? Kelly Website Design helps you convert more visitors into leads. Contact us now for a free quote.

Tips for Increasing Website Traffic

Many businesses set a goal of increasing website traffic year-over-year. But finding ways to increase quality visitors is challenging and takes work and strategy.

As a website management team, our clients often ask for tips to get more quality website visitors. We offer insights on how to improve your website traffic in practical, sustainable ways.

Post to Social Media

Social media can help build traffic to your website. But you’ll need a strategy for how often to post and to where.

Take advantage of groups where users are more engaged. Groups are most prevalent on Facebook and LinkedIn and can be fantastic for growing traffic. You’ll need to post new content in these groups regularly though to continue to see benefits.

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for publishing. Your connections know you on a personal level and will be likely to check out your content. Invite your employees to all share your content on their personal profiles to gain even more traffic.

Blogging

Blogging is something that most businesses try at some point. But the problem is, they don’t stick with it or start with a dynamic strategy. To make content marketing efforts really work for you, you need to do the following.

  1. Create irresistible headlines. Even with the best SEO targeting, you’ll be one of 10 results a user sees. You need to entice them with great headlines to pick your article.
  2. Target long-tail keywords. Many companies do some basic SEO research and target keywords that hundreds, if not thousands, of other businesses are already targeting. Instead, use long-tail keywords to reach the very specific audience who will benefit from your content.
  3. Write content and create visuals that entice referral traffic. Getting links to your content will help build organic traffic to your site from other websites.

Write a Guest Blog

Guest blogs help in improving SEO value due to having more backlinks. But they also help in building awareness for your business with people who have no previous relationship with you. While it’s great to write for your own blog, writing for other blogs is also beneficial to grow your following.

Distribute Content via Email Marketing

If you build it, they may or may not come. Don’t rely on SEO too heavily to the point where you don’t take full advantage of your owned audience.

Email marketing, text messaging and social media are all great ways to reach existing fans and followers with your content. If you’re publishing blogs or content marketing of any kind and not emailing it out to your list, you’re missing out on a great opportunity.

Build a Community

One-way content is not nearly as inviting to return to as interactive content is. When you build a community, you have an excuse to reach back out to customers to ask their thoughts and input on various topics.

Communities can be through Facebook groups, forums or other website tools. Just be sure you’re monitoring and managing the community as failing to do so will make you look uninterested in the interactions.

And while you’re building communities, consider adding to other communities you don’t own. Interacting in comment sections can build awareness for your business and provoke some clicks from curious people who want to learn more.

Use Video

People engage with different kinds of content. Some people prefer to read a blog while others prefer to get their content from videos. YouTube is essentially a search engine for videos. Get more traffic to your website through posting videos.

And when you post those videos to your website, be sure to use schema markup. Ask your website team about video schema and the benefits it provides your website.

Purchase Well-placed Ads

Sadly, not all traffic-building efforts are free. But paying for well-placed ads can do wonders for generating the RIGHT traffic to your site. Ads help build your following and bring quality traffic to your website.

Think about ways you can use ads to build your owned audience, such as getting new social media followers or increasing your email marketing distribution.

If you need help building your website’s traffic, consult the Kelly Website Design team. We have extensive experience in building high-functioning websites that encourage repeat visitors. Contact us to learn more.