How To Ensure Success When You Redesign Your Wesite URL Structure
Recently here at CKMG, we've added to our arsenal of abilities the following: Massive Site Overhaul and Complete Restructuring of URLs. And by massive, we're talking about a website that is no less than 3,000 pages. How does one make sure to deliver on the promised and necessary improvements to a website, while maintaining the all-important Page Rank that the current iteration of the site has amassed? A troubling question, on some level -- but another terrific challenge for the team at CKMG.
Some Things To Consider When Changing URL Structure
I think the number one consideration when changing around a site's URL structure really doesn't shift too much from a major point of consideration for all web development practices -- and that's logic. Does what you are doing make sense? For instance, in the project mentioned above, the website had grown and grown with the addition of hundreds of pieces of unique SEO content over a period of months. As the website moved into a period of greater maturity, the need arose for a tighter, more logical structuring of the URLs.
Specifically, there were a number of articles on the site, all of which seemed to stem directly off of the root URL of the site. As it became more obvious how to properly and logically organize the information on the site into more clear compartments, the use of sub-categories in the URL structure became mandatory.
Think about it like this -- if you merely collected bills for months on end, and then one day ended up with a file cabinet full of manilla folders, you'd get confused. Sure, they are all bill folders, and that's all that is in the file cabinet, but good luck trying to get to the exact folder in any short amount of time. So you add some extra hanging folders and label those -- maybe you add one for "Utility Bills" and another for "Credit Card Bills" -- you sub-categorize. This makes finding things that much easier, and shortens your bill-paying time. In a word, you add more logic.
The Key To URL Structure Is Organization
The project we are currently around the corner from concluding is really quite similar -- we added subcategories. This logic reads well with the search engine spiders, and makes more sense to the site users. And that is always the goal. Beyond that, when considering how to maintain PageRank -- the number one goal is always proper organization. Keep all of your old site version URLs in a logical order, gathered into a single column in a spreadsheet and then map out against that column the new site URL structure, so that every single old page has a corresponding new page that makes more sense. And make sure you have someone fastidious with details on top of the project!
--Matty Byloos
Fresh Content: Good For Rankings
During the previous week, I had to edit essentially an entire campaign…alone (thanks again Chris!). This, as you can well imagine, was just oodles of fun. However, it got me to thinking about content as it relates to the web.
Now, don't take this too literally, but as far as I can tell, getting up fresh content -- even if it's a little grammatically wonky -- is still better than not getting up any content at all.
Hold your horses there! Don't go just tossing up un-edited filth because I said it was fine. ;) What I'm saying is that any content (especially
SEO content) is better than no content at all. The search engines will see that you have up fresh content, they'll see that it relates to your topic (by looking at the words, not by reading it like a human would) and you'll get better rankings (if you've done everything right).
Don't take this to mean that you should put up trash -- because when the people get to your site, they will actually read your content.
However, don't stress the details too much. Have you split infinitives? Do you have a bit too much passive voice? I promise that I'll notice, but your normal, average, every-day consumer won't really mind a little passive voice here and there.
The thing is, as long as your content is good, relevant and fresh, you'll get the rankings and keep the users. Now go forth an multiply!
Framing The Question: Wireframes at CKMG
Even with a background in SEO and content production,
I’m still discovering something new every day at CKMG, especially when
it comes to the work involved in creating a web page from scratch. I
recently learned the term “wireframe.”
Essentially, this is just a basic visual guide of the home page. The intriguing part is the design aspect.
Navigation bar on top or on the side? Bright colors or a more subdued effect? What kind of consumer are you trying to attract?
My
knowledge of design is painfully minimal, but my desire to learn is
insatiable. Hence, why I was able to act as if I knew something about
web design around a friend who is actually studying it, “Yeah, we threw
together a wireframe for a client.”
The wry smile on his face
meant either I was able to impress or failed to succeed. In any case,
this is just the initial stage of the site, which means I will get to
learn more fun design language I can show off.
--Nadia Osman
Yes! Back in the office after a 2-Day trip to SF for Ad-Tech and it feels great. Am I tired? Yes, this is mandatory after a trade show. Am I excited? Absolutely, our sister company AKMG had a great show. Am I fired up? While being fired up is also mandatory, it was great to see our new network up against it's competitors in the Moscone Center. Often times it is difficult to see how much you've progressed when you're in the trenches hammering away on the day to date stuff, so for me it was great to see how we matched up against the competition.
For those of you that haven't tapped into Performance-Based Advertising - it should be a mandatory part of your upcoming initiatives. There are many great networks out there that fly under the Performance-Based flag; some with a unique niche or method of driving traffic.
The biggest thing you need to know about Performance-Based Advertising is that you, as an advertiser, only pay for actions. An action may mean a website visit, a form being filled out or a sale being made - it all depends on what you're trying to accomplish with the offer you're promoting.
With the economy forcing advertisers to mind their money closer than previous years this model of only paying for actions generated is truly a beautiful one. The obstacle an advertiser faces now is on the creative side. He who creates the best offer wins...
And this is precisely where CKMG comes into play. We're developing a team to support our Ad Network advertisers on the creative and development side because the more we help our advertisers come up with compelling offers the better conversions we'll see which will benefit everyone in the funnel from our Advertisers >> to AKMG >> to our Affiliates.
The affiliates within the AKMG network are always on the lookout for the next best offer.
What makes an offer great?
-
Timeliness - the offer should address a need or a want based on factors such as: time of year and the economy
-
Brand Recognition - ideally it's always great to have a trust worthy brand supporting the offer. Consumers are more apt to make an instant decision when there is a recognizable brand representing the offer
-
Creative - the offer should contain compelling design elements with clear calls to action and third party endorsements.
-
Payout - the offer needs to have a payout that makes the affiliate do one of these: "Uh... yeah. It's mandatory we run this". :-)
If you're an existing client of CKMG, an Advertiser looking to run a performance-based advertising campaign or an affiliate looking for some great offers, feel free to contact the appropriate parties at
AKMG and one of our advertising or affiliate reps will be happy to answer any questions.
This post is in response to those of you that have basically sent me "WTF" emails re: our corporate blog and the lack of activity. Yes, we at "Content Kings" should be blogging daily and that goes for everyone in the organization - starting from the top down. That said... you can be on the look out for more blog postings from the leadership of CKMG throughout the remainder of the year and beyond.
CKMG has maintained steady growth over Q1 supporting our key clients and our sister company and performance based ad network - AKMG. Over the last three months we've been focusing on our "FOCUS" which happens to be the motto for Q2. Last year we evolved from a seo content solutions company to a full fledged web development and design company built on a foundation of seo and content. While this evolution was great for the company and our clients it also brought more opportunities - which in most cases is a great thing but for us it actually caused a bottle neck and forced us to re-think our strategy in regards to who we really want to work with.
By aligning ourselves deeper into our clients business models we can provide better results and more of an ROI. Even though we're capable of simply filling in gaps where needed our time is better spent working closer with our existing clients to help them lead their verticals. Now that we have AKMG off and running we're able to provide our clients with immediate gratification while developing their brands and fighting for search engine results.
//Tom Elliott
Happy Holidays
Posted by: Keion Moradi | 2007-12-17 16:00:00 | Posted in: CKMG News
Happy Holidays
Some of you know we’re in the process of
redesigning our corporate site which will include an updated team and
individual section (pictures, videos, etc…). Part of the redesign
included a half day photo shoot in and around Santa Monica where the
photographer did his best to capture notable Santa Monica features.
He just sent over the first batch of photos and I thought this one was pretty great do decided to post.
Not a bad looking crew if you ask me… We’re missing quite a few
people though: Matt Tuens, Tony Wang, Kim White, Tara Zottola, Steve
Hawke, Mark Emmenegger, Henry Baum & James Sheldon.
Since the inception of Content Kings, Inc.
in January of 2006, we’ve wanted to build a strong network of
demographically targeted brands to increase the value of our company.
The obstacle we’ve faced as a self funded start up has obviously
been staying focused on what drives revenue today… which is providing
the highest level of SEO & SEM services to high profile clientele.
By focusing our time and energies on helping our clients make money we
knew it would only be a matter of time before we’d be able to begin
investing into our own brands and projects.
In the last 12 months our team has grown from the fab four to the
current team of 16 working out of the Santa Monica office. For those
of you that know us, you know we of course have a team of contracted
writers; just under 100 at this point and it’s always been our goal to
slowly transition the top writers into head writer and editor roles
working out of the office.
Last week I had the pleasure of spending some time with our client AcreageAnywhere.com at their Cabo San Lucas retreat - Villa Las Palmas. Their Villa is positioned atop one of the Pedregal Mountains with a gorgeous east facing view of downtown Cabo, the boat port and bay.
In Cabo during Memorial Day Weekend there is a World Championship Bill Fish Catch and Release Tournament where fisherman from all over the world take 3 days to see who can catch the most Striped Marlin. The Tournament was Amazing to see. I was only able to actually fish on the Sunday prior to Day 1 of the Tournament but got a chance to go out on Gary’s boat - Spartacus at Sea, to witness the memorable event.
At 630am all boats gather in the bay awaiting the 7am start time:
It was a beautiful morning…
It gave us a great chance to discuss the upcoming sites along with a few new ideas that are now in the works.
In the coming weeks we will be launching two sites under the AcreageAnywhere umbrella. ReferMyClients.com & AcreageAnywhere.com…
RMC will assist realtors with broadening their offerings for clients allowing them to make great commissions for referring clients allowing the AcreageAnywhere marketing team the ability to market the land, ranches, ranchettes and second homes to these prospective buyers. AA will further assist the realtors by allowing them to customize their own version of AA with a sub domain owned and operated by the individual realtor.
Ex: CarrieSellsDallas.AcreageAnywhere.com. This will be a great tool for the new and old realtors out there… allowing them free access to land opportunities they wouldn’t of otherwise known about providing their prospective clients with a compelling reason to consider purchasing land or properties in outside markets that may be performing better or a smarter investment.
All in all… the trip was a great success. If you’re curious to learn more about the fishing to Cabo, I suggest you take a look at my personal blog - The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Force. I had an experience with a Marlin that inspired me so much I haven’t stopped talking about it all week.
CKMG Trivia Night
Posted by: Chris Stout | 2007-06-04 16:00:00 | Posted in: CKMG News
This past Tuesday night, the CKMG crew
headed down the street to compete in the weekly “Trivia Night” held at
Barney’s Beanery on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. It was
the first time any member of the CKMG team entered the weekly trivia
battle, and of course, we crushed the competition.
The regular contenders were no match for the all-star trivia team
assembled from the CKMG office ranks. Craig Berger, our head writer,
put forth a particularly heroic effort. The taste of victory fired the
crew up for future battles. If you’re going to be in the Santa Monica
area anytime in the foreseeable future, head into the Beanery on
Tuesday night. Put your trivia force to the test and see if you can
dethrone the reigning trivia champs from CKMG!
Posted by: Chris Stout | | Posted in:
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|
| Results 73 - 81 of 101 |
