Phone:Phone spacer763-537-3231
sales@midwestwebs.com
Web Design Offer!
Click Here to Learn More!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and your website

Everyday, websites spring up all over the world. Many of these websites are not correctly optimized for the search engines. Search engine optimization is the process of making your website correctly display your information so that the search engines can read through your website content and deem it relative to an online searchers query.

Many small businesses today are just starting to realize the potential that search engine optimization can have on their businesses. Everyday more and more people are turning to search engines to conduct research on local and national topics, and the searches are very user specific. This is the main reason why the search engines are getting as much publicity as they are. It is almost impossible to pick up a publication and not read an article that mentions blogs, websites or search engines.

It is important to make sure that your investment in a website is used to its fullest. Investing in a company that offers search engine optimization can return many times over what was actually paid initially, and this is why optimization services are so popular. Our advice to all of our clients is to invest in their websites. Leave the optimizing to the professionals and have the tool work for you.



Make Your Website Useful to Online Visitors

With the abundance of online visitors finding your website through the search engines, it is important to give them some incentive to come back and use your website. It is important to have useful information that keeps the reader wanting to find out more about what you have to offer. This can be accomplished many ways on your website. Here are a few examples of ideas that we have seen over the years.

Online Newsletter

Offering an online newsletter is a fairly popular way to keep users informed about new happenings with your company and different products and services that you have to offer.

Online Calculators

This is popular with accountants and mortgage lenders. It makes sense to have a calculator in front of a user so they can calculate the expense of certain fees and interest rates.

Offer Email Updates

This differs from the online newsletter by just sending little bits of information rather than a full blown online newsletter. This can also be a more effective use of your time, than to come up with a monthly newsletter.

A Color Wheel

We have seen this used on a few powder coating websites or on websites that deal with picking colors. This can be a great tool to have the user pick their color online rather than explain it over the phone.

Online Coupons

This can prove to be a very popular way to bring users back to your website and make it useful to them. Offers can appear like a coupon and the user can print them out. There are many websites online dedicated to showing coupons for different products and services online.

Links to Other Related Services or Products

If you have a landscaping business, why not have links on your website where a user can get a siding job done on their house? Or a sprinkler system put in that you would recommend. May be a place to buy a fantastic looking concrete statue? These online links will position you as a knowledgeable professional that knows the in’s and out’s of the industry.

Articles and Tips about Your Services

Articles are a great way to showcase your knowledge about your business and make your website useful to online visitors. Writing articles also helps your business show up in the search engines for longer keyword phrases. Writing a quick article can sometimes be the difference between building that little extra piece of credibility for that online visitor to pick up the phone and give your business a call.



Minneapolis Web Design Services for Your Business

Midwest Web Design offers many web design services for Minneapolis businesses, and surrounding areas in Minnesota. There are many Minneapolis web designers that can help your business grow, but it is important that you know how their services could actually impact your business in the long run. Midwest Web Design designs unique packages for many of its clients that fit their specific needs. Budget continues to be a main factor in whether or not a company is able to have a website presence or not. This is why Midwest Web Design uniquely builds website packages so a company can benefit from having an online presence. This type of Minneapolis web design company therefore offers a huge benefit to online searchers who are looking for information that only a specific type of business offers.

Being a local Minneapolis web design company that offers a wide spectrum of services, businesses can benefit from our experience in the web design field. Whether your business is looking for:

  • A local Minneapolis web designer
  • A professional website appearance
  • Search engine optimization (SEO)
  • Pay Per Click (PPC) website campaigns
  • Cross browser compatibility (viewers see the same website in Internet Explorer or Mozilla, etc.)
  • Website content creation
  • Maintenance to most, already built websites
  • Help with emails
  • Increase targeted traffic to your website
  • Optimizing images for the web
  • PDF creation
  • Complete consulting solutions for your website
  • A specific multi-micro website solution for multiple products

Midwest Web Design can help you realize the potential your business can have online.

We have talked to many businesses that would love to have a website presence, but may not have the large budget to accommodate. This is the type of client we love to help and have helped since 1998.

So, if you have been thinking about how your business can benefit from having an online presence, get in touch with us today to find out how we can use our experience to help build your business.



Does Your Business Need Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Search Engine Optimization

Now more than ever, business owners trying to find ways to make money to stay in business. A website that is built with the search engines in mind can definitely help in a business trying to build their bottom line. So, when we hear the question, “Does my business need search engine optimization?”, then we like to ask the question, “What is your website trying to accomplish for your business?”.

If the business owner says, “Our website is just to portray an image.”, then search engine optimization is usually not a big concern to them. However, if you are the business owner that says, “I would like to use our website to generate business.”, we would highly recommend search engine optimization for your website.

What are the benefits of search engine optimization?

There are many benefits to search engine optimization.

  • Higher rankings in the search engines
  • Website easier to navigate for users
  • Easy to scan and read text
  • Website images optimized for faster web page load times

Obviously higher rankings in the search engines is one benefit, but also websites built with search engine optimization in mind are usually easier to navigate because of a more structured website navigation hierarchy. Text on each page of a website with search engine optimization is structured in a way that is easier to read, with headlines and html “H” tags (H1, H2, H3 etc.). Images on the website are optimized for faster viewing and enhanced with html “alt tags” that help with ranking in some regards and image searches that online users may use.

Ultimately, search engines and your online visitors make a decision about your website and where to rank your website or whether or not to do business with you.

When should I start with search engine optimization?

As soon as possible. Of course we are going to say that, right? We are in the business! We all know that it will require a decision to spend some money. We recommend that you talk search engine optimization over with your business partners or decision makers and come up with some questions that you may have. As we all know, it is better to make an educated decision than to jump right on the bandwagon.

However, finding out information as soon as possible so you can make a decision is highly recommended. The faster a business makes a decision to implement search engine optimization the better. It can have a drastic effect on generating leads and ultimately more business.

So if your business has been hearing more and more about:

  • online advertising and being found out on the search engines
  • increasing conversions from online visitors to customers
  • having your website being more effective for your business

Get in touch with us today!



Local Web Design Hints & Tips

Local Web Design

If you own a business in a specific geographical area, we have some tips for your website. These hints and tips are focused to help your website in the search engines and make it easier for online visitors to find out more about the products or services you have to offer.

Place a Google Map on your website

It is a well known fact how helpful Google can be. Their Google Map program isn’t any different. It can help online visitors get directions to your business and show them where you are located. Just a word of caution, make sure that when you type in your address, that it is in the correct location. We have had instances of the map data not being up to date!

List the names of the cities where you conduct business

This can be good information if you drive as part of your service and drive only to certain areas within a 30 mile radius. Naming the cities you conduct business in is also good information that Google likes to see. You may rank high in the search engines by just naming a small city you can do work in!

Link to other local businesses that compliment your specific business

This is a great way to build some trust with online visitors. Listing other businesses that compliment your business gives the user a little more information about other services you work with. When that user contacts you, they know they are dealing with a company that is experienced in the industry.

Write an article about how you helped a local business or consumer

This is great information to show your online visitors and it looks good to the search engines. Not to mention, customers that are featured somewhere like to brag that they are featured and it may drive traffic to your website.

List testimonials of your work on your website

This is great information for online visitors to see. Consumers like to see that the company they are dealing with has a good reputation to work with.

List your business address on each page of your website

Having your website address on each page is great information for online visitors and for the search engines. When your contact information is listed on each page, an online visitor has instant information. This can be a critical component for your website. It is also a great way to help your website appear in local search engine results.

Place pictures of your work online or of local businesses or consumers that you’ve completed work for

As stated before, online search engines like to see instances of city names somewhere in your web page. Having a picture and a description not only shows online visitors where you’ve conducted work, but also is another instance of a local city name where you conduct business.

Now get out there are let your customers know where you are so they can do business with with you!