Speed and performance of Web dev, SEO, and marketing agencies websites

 

Ever since Google announced that page speed would be a ranking factor in its mobile-first index in 2018, the need for speed became one of the most important aspects of web dev trait. A lot of businesses jumped onto the speed train. 

Sure enough, one year later, Google reported that sites are faster, and abandonment rates are down since making page speed a ranking factor.

With performance being one of the top-selling points of a modern-day web dev architecture Jamstack that we are so into, it was only natural to take a deep dive into the industries that tackle website performance and see how we stand against our peers.

Source: Speed and performance of Web dev, SEO, and marketing agencies websites

Or call 888-443-2112  We love to talk to people. 

The two most common website security vulnerabilities we see all the time | Krohn Media

It’s a rare occurrence when we see a website have their security headers set with no JavaScript library vulnerabilities.

Since we’ve been beta-testing our website auditor, we’ve reviewed enough sites to have a good handle on the common security vulnerabilities that plagues the web.  There are two main topical issues that are almost a certainty for new audits, even though they’re easy fixes.

Very rarely do site administrators properly configure, or configure at all, their HTTP security headers.  These are instructions sent by the website to the visitor’s browser telling it what it can and can’t do by enforcing restrictions, making connections tighter and secure, thereby narrowing the attack surface.

Security headers are very easy to configure and low hanging fruit for improving security posture.  The Open Web Application Security Project sets guidelines for best security practice that every website should adopt, including security headers policy.

Source: The two most common website security vulnerabilities we see all the time

What to Look for When Hiring a Local SEO Agency

There are a lot of different concerns a small business owner needs to stay on top of to ensure their enterprise is a success. In this modern era, one of those elements is their ability to get word of their business out to potential customers on the internet. 

Optimizing your web presence for the benefit of search engine optimization is an important task all businesses must take in today’s world. The better your search results, the more business you can generate.

If you’re not a web expert, you might consider hiring a local SEO agency to help you with this kind of task. What do you need to keep an eye out for when hiring for SEO services? Read on and we’ll walk you through what you need to know.

Hiring a Local SEO Agency

888-443-2112 We love to talk!

What is the most secure smartphone that won’t compromise my security and steal my data?

 

If you’re searching for a smartphone with bulletproof security and privacy, you’ll love GrapheneOS.

If you’re an iPhone user and you’re happy with it, this solution won’t apply to you, but this phone could be a good secondary or backup for when you want to stay off the grid or engage in secure communications and web browsing.

If you’re an Android user but dependent on Google apps or use the maximum capabilities of the camera,  this solution may not be of interest to you either, yet still an excellent secondary secure privacy phone.

If you’re willing to give up Google services and use open source alternatives as a trade off to not being tracked, and to have confidence that your personal identity and data is extremely secure, you’ll love this phone.

This solution is an open-source operating system (OS) called GrapheneOS, and it’s for someone looking for an alternative to smartphones constricted to Google (Android) and Apple (iPhone) devices that are horribly unsecure and purposed specifically for collecting your personal data and tracking your locations and habits.

This solution re-purposes an Android phone to the most secure phone on the market; specifically, at the time of this writing, a Google Pixel 5 or Pixel 4a phone.

The first question one might ask is if it’s an OS that runs on a Google Pixel Android, doesn’t that mean it’s dependent on Google?

The answer is no.  Google releases an open source OS project called the Android Open Source Project (AOSP).  The GrapheneOS engineers take AOSP and perform deep modifications to it, gutting it of all Google services and code responsible for tracking and leaking your personal information.

The engineers remove known vulnerabilities and further improve security by providing more secure components of the OS (like how memory is allocated and managed).  Here’s a snippet from the GrapheneOS web page:

GrapheneOS improves the privacy and security of the OS from the bottom up. It deploys technologies to mitigate whole classes of vulnerabilities and make exploiting the most common sources of vulnerabilities substantially more difficult. It improves the security of both the OS and the apps running on it. The app sandbox and other security boundaries are fortified. GrapheneOS tries to avoid impacting the user experience with the privacy and security features. Ideally, the features can be designed so that they’re always enabled with no impact on the user experience and no additional complexity like configuration options. It’s not always feasible, and GrapheneOS does add various toggles for features like the Network permission, Sensors permission, restrictions when the device is locked (USB peripherals, camera, quick tiles), etc. along with more complex user-facing privacy and security features with their own UX.

The features of GrapheneOS are impressive, and are a breath of fresh air for anyone looking to detach from the surveillance state of Silicon Valley and remain “off grid” while enjoying the functionality of a smartphone.

If you’re interested in GrapheneOS, we recommend you watch the following short review video on the pros and cons of this solution.  If you have any questions, we’re more than happy to answer them.

We’re happy to answer any questions , seriously we love to talk to people.

Visit Us At: Krohn Media

Call Us At: 888–433–2112

Source: What is the most secure smartphone that won’t compromise my security and steal my data?

Retail Search Optimization for E-Commerce | Krohn Media

Off the top of your head, where do you think most people go to find a brand or product: Google, or Amazon?

If you said Google, congratulations!

You’re wrong.

Google may be the king of search engines in general but more shoppers are looking elsewhere for their buying needs. In fact, 51% of online shoppers start their search at Amazon compared to just 16% at Google.

This is being referred to as retail search, and you need to get on it.

Retail Search Optimization

E-commerce platforms like Amazon, Target, Walmart — you name it — are becoming the go-to place for online shoppers looking for products to purchase..

It makes sense. Online shopping is so prevalent that most people now have an e-commerce platform they trust and feel comfortable using. These platforms are usually the top results on Google when looking for what you want, so why not just cut out the middle man?

Retail Search Optimization is based on the same principals and best practices as SEO — a mix of organic and paid content to create awareness, drive traffic and convert leads.

Organic RSO

How do you drive organic retail search results?

The same way you do with organic Google results: keywords.

When users search for an item or product category on an e-commerce site, the site trawls all of its entries to find the most relevant content to share.

Accurate product descriptions laden with relevant keywords that people search for on an e-commerce site will help to drive organic retail search results.

Take note of the word “accurate” — if you write misleading keywords (say, listing a stuffed toy as a puzzle), your product is going to quickly find itself right at the bottom of the list.

Much like with Google, algorithms are in play. These are a bit less vague or temperamental than Google’s; Best Seller Ranking and customer Search Behavior are the biggest driving forces.

Benefits of RSO

Retail Search Optimization can convert buyers to a sale much faster than traditional SEO. Consider that the user is already on an e-commerce site, most likely looking to buy.

Even if they’re not in a buying mood, the more often a person sees your product, the more likely they will buy it when they are ready. The conventional wisdom is a person sees your product seven times before they buy — and with RSO, they’ll get their seven quickly.

This will also convert into offline sales. People regularly use e-commerce platforms to research an item yet still buy in-store. The more people research your product online, the more likely they will buy it when they visit shops.

Should I Focus on RSO or SEO?

This one is easy.

Both.

SEO and RSO function similarly but in different contexts and with different benefits.

SEO can introduce your product or brand to someone long before they’re a potential buyer. Raising awareness, attracting leads, education, relationship building, trust building — these are all crucial aspects of SEO that RSO can’t really provide.

That said, RSO can be crucial for capturing those people in an immediate buying mood. They’re already researching the product or product category you offer. RSO can introduce your product or brand to shoppers who never heard of you. It most certainly can be that final act of exposure that gets them over the line.

Tips for your RSO Strategy

• Combine Paid and Organic Results: Like your Google SEO strategy, a mixture of paid and organic work is best for finding the widest variety of prospective buyers. Start strong with the paid results and ease off as you build momentum.
• Perform Competitor Analyses: Like with any marketing activity you undertake, you want to know who your competition is, how well they’re doing and what they’re doing to get there.
• Capture Brand and Generic Keywords: A popular tactic on e-commerce platforms — and en effective one — is to work with brand keywords that people associate with your product. For example, if you sell toothbrushes and you know Braun is a popular brand, you can use RSO to capture people searching specifically for Braun toothbrushes.

Need help with your E-Commerce platform?

Give us a call at Krohn Media: 888-443-2112

The Rise of Vertical Search Engines |Krohn Media

The recent antitrust case against Google opens the door for vertical search engines that serve businesses and niche industries.

On October 20, 2020, the Justice Department sued Google, an Alphabet subsidiary, claiming the company’s internet search platform is an illegal monopoly that is harmful to both competition and consumers. The case aims to prove that Google’s position as a dominant search provider limits consumer choice and partnerships with companies like Apple suppresses competition.

Taking on Big Tech has been a mainstay in the national conversation ever since the 2016 Presidential election, but this is the first antitrust action taken against Google. While we might not reach the end of this story for years, the DOJ’s suit signals a larger shift in the search industry, which hasn’t been disrupted in over 20 years.

The unintended consequence of Google’s conquest to broaden search is limited depth for some. Businesses tend to be affected more than consumers because of how results are ranked. Therefore, in the wake of Google’s antitrust suit, a new market for specialized information has emerged.

Despite its size and tremendous growth, web search dynamics have begun to shift. Google has taken a super-aggregator and partnership approach to many growing verticals. Google Maps, for example, aggregate Booking.com, TripAdvisor, and Yelp.

Google Shopping and Google Finance are aggregators for e-commerce and financial information, respectively. Vertical search has always been at odds with aggregators, wanting to be found but also wanting direct traffic.

Vertical search engines have built their own mobile apps to lure users away from the Google search bar.

 

Defining a vertical search engine

A vertical search engine is a search engine that focuses on a specific domain, or vertical. Think of LinkedIn for people search, Zillow for housing search, or Kayak for travel search. The benefits of using a vertical search engine are:

1. More precise information due to narrowed scope
2. Calibrated systems for providing users with vertical expertise
3. Purposefully designed to facilitate a specific task or workflow

The third point is particularly noteworthy, especially when comparing vertical search engines to Google. It’s unlikely that you’re searching for car prices and inventory for fun.

The price tells you if you can afford it; location information tells you where the nearest dealership is. Search is part of a workflow. Google, in most cases, acts as a middle man, guiding users from point A to point B.

Like web search, vertical search also supports various workflows. Where they differ is providing users with both the pathway and tools to complete an intended action. Here’s an example: Zillow users start by searching for homes, weighing data on home prices and taxes against other factors like school districts and proximity to work.

The user’s workflow ends with an appointment for an open house with the listing agent. Workflows differ greatly depending on someone’s need, which is why the market for vertical search engines is so vast.

In recent years Google has attempted to compete with certain consumer search workflows. Google Flights, a Kayak competitor, brings users closer to booking travel all within one platform.

Interestingly enough, Google’s purchase of ITA Travel in 2011 (which became Google Flights) was reviewed and cleared with the DOJ. If history is any lesson, Google is surely capable of competing with certain vertical search engines and capturing market share for consumer-based search.

Business to business search, however, is a different ballgame.

Source: The rise of vertical search engines 

Importance of direct traffic. Why is direct traffic important? | Krohn Media

What is Direct Traffic?The direct traffic that you get direct will probably is the most slated traffic that you can obtain. People are following your blog cause they want to detect something distinct. Or see what new posts have been released. With added awareness and direct traffic, you will obtain more replay guests.

Need help with increasing your web traffic?

Call Krohn Media at 888-443-2112 to discuss further.

Source: Krohn Media

How to improve SEO using data science|Krohn Media

Data science focuses on eliminating guesswork from SEO. Brands like Airbnb and Netflix are doing it and so can you. Tips to improve SEO using data science.

Gone are the days when a single tweak in the content or the title tag was able to get your site to the top of the search results. 

Google algorithm is now much harder to crack than before. Besides, 75 percent of online users do not scroll past the first page of the search engine results.

As you can imagine, this makes the SEO space highly competitive right now and companies can no longer rely on basic techniques.

However, you can always make sure that the odds are in your favor by using data science.

Source: How to improve SEO using data science

How to optimize images for SEO | Krohn Media

There are many ways to make your articles easier to read on the web – lots of paragraph breaks, short snappy sentences, headings, sub-headings, Gifs of Kanye West’s mood swings – but one of the key ways to make your content seem attractive is with the use of images.

And the best thing about images, is that they can be used to bring in organic traffic via search engine image results.

But in order for this to happen, they need to be optimized accordingly.

Choosing images

It’s important to use images related to the text of the article. This is mainly from a user experience point of you, as you don’t want to baffle people with an obtuse choice of image.

Your images need to be of a good quality, in the correct aspect ration, with good resolution and of a size large enough to be visible across devices.

Another thing to consider is your use of ‘stock-photos’.

We introduced a strict ‘no stock photos allowed’ policy.

They make your website look like a marketing brochure for a characterless business that ‘leverages thought-leadership into hot leads’ or some such rubbish. They’re also over-used and cheesy as hell

You should also be creating your own graphs, charts and visual designs too.

But if you don’t have the time or resources to do that – and frankly who does? – there are plenty of free and easy-to-use resources out there…

Flickr Creative Commons

Flickr is an awesome resource for photos, and you can use any that are labelled with a Creative Commons license.

It’s an alternative to full copyright, you just have to make sure you give full credit and link to the Flickr profile of the person who took the photo.

Unsplash

One of my favorites, Unsplash images are all copyright free, you just need to credit and link to the photographer. Occasionally they border on ‘stock photo’ but they are all of a much higher quality than your standard ‘model looking at iPhone and smiling’ images.

Image size

You’ll definitely want to resize your photo so it’s not such a massive file. It’s very easy to overlook the fact that most iPhone photos can be in excess of 3,000 pixels wide (which can be 2,500 pixels bigger than you really need).

Huge image files can drag the page-load time of your site down and directly affect your rankings on search engines, so be sure to resize them before you upload.

File/Title name

Before you upload the image to your site, make sure you give it an accurate file name.

Alt-text

Most important of all is how you describe your image in the Alt section (can be known as Alt-tags or Alt-text). Google can’t ‘see’ your images, but it can ‘read’ them and what it reads is what you write in the alt-attribute.

Need help with your image optimization? Call Krohn Media at 888-443-2112

Source: How to optimize images for SEO

Customer experience optimization (CXO) for online stores| Krohn Media

SEO and customer experience go hand in hand. These three SEO tactics won’t just fetch you higher rankings but also improve your customer experience.

Your modern online store has a lot of moving parts, with hundreds to thousands of different product pages, numerous variations of the same page, and dynamic elements.

And you’re well aware of the importance of having your store rank on the first page of Google — more traffic, brand awareness, trust, and sales.

However, SEO today is not just about including the right keywords and building backlinks to your online store but is closely knit with providing a great user or customer experience (CX).

When you work on your SEO by keeping the customer experience aspect in mind, you’ll build a store that not only garners top rankings and tons of organic traffic but also converts that traffic into customers.

Need help with your Customer Experience Optimization and SEO?

Give Krohn Media a call at: 888-443-2112.  We’d love to help you out.

Source: Customer experience optimization (CXO) for online stores: Three proven SEO tactics