Getting Better Ranking
For example, if you have a site that sells cell phone accessories, then inbound links from articles like “The latest cell phone accessories for youngsters” should have some key phrases like “sleek leather covers” or “Trendy cell phone covers for girls” etc. Here are some simple link-building SEO pointers. This will help in getting your website a better ranking: 

• Relevance- The website that holds your link has to be “relevant” with reference to its topic or theme, to the service or product that your site deals with 
• Quality- The actual quality of the site which is linking back to yours is crucial. It is best to focus on linking quality sites and do not get tempted to  link-up too many sites that are low relevance
• Credibility- The links that come to site should be of a high quality. This simply means that the links should not be coming in from irrelevant sites like gambling/ adult sites 
• Page Rank- The site that links back to yours should ideally have a page rank above 2 or 3. A higher ranking will add credibility to your site 
• Website Age- The age of the sites that link to your business site should be a minimum of 2-3 years
• Do Follow Links- This means your webmaster will ensure that the links on the website will be able to pass on “link juice” to other sites
• Anchor Text- Ensure that your content has the right anchor text. For e.g.- in a cell phone accessories website, instead of having a link that says “ click here”, it’s MUCH better to have some text like “popular cell phone accessories”

In addition to all these factors, make sure that the link is also positioned high up on any page and that the content surrounding it is relevant to your business. Links from social media should come in from sites like Twitter and Facebook. For the perfect website optimization and linking solutions contact us or visit our website, www.alcowebdesign.com. 

Talk about current trends brings to the fore the aspect of the fast pace at which smartphones and other mobile devices are now being used to source information and search for products and services. This fact is very important from the viewpoint of online marketing. 

The “Where” Factor
Marketing is a lot of positioning a product or service in the right manner; but it is also a lot of reaching out to customers, where they are going to be. In this case, that “where” are their mobile devices. It’s important to ensure that your business website is mobile responsive. This means that the look of the site will remain unaltered regardless of the device that it is being viewed on. There will be no warp and no loss of resolution and the site will be visible on a mobile phone screen, as well as it is on a desktop screen. 

Improving Customer Experience
In effect, this improves the customer experience. It goes without saying that if a user is looking for a particular product or service and finds it difficult to look for it on your site; they will immediately go to another site. Enhancing the user experience is about ensuring that customers are able to get all the information they are looking for in a user-friendly manner. At the end of the day, online marketing is about making an impact and that is exactly what Responsive Web Design helps you do. 

Users do not want to be shackled to a PC any longer- they want to surf the Internet and buy and order products while they are on the move. The minute you reach out to these customers in the zone that they want to be in, it gives your online sales effort a distinct boost. This is the impact of Responsive Website design.

Being the Change
This is something your Web Designer will be able to help you with. It increases your conversions, improves your Return on Investment and adds to your bottom line. When it comes to online marketing strategy, do not leave any stone unturned. For more information about Responsive Web Design, contact us or visit our website, www.alcowebdesign.com.

​Creating an impactful website is not child’s play and there are a number of aspects that have to be taken into consideration. Take a look at how you can get your web page layouts right.

By Alain Houle, Alco Web Design LLC

• ​Simplicity- This is probably one of the most important aspects of Web design. Your site should be easy to read. Simply put, this means that the background colors and text have to be chosen with great care. Do not use jarring backgrounds as this will only obscure the text. The colors that are used should also be easy to read. Use a good font size and avoid using all capitalized letters. Ensure that the content is left-aligned, has a proper header and sub-headings where required. Use bullet points where applicable. 
• Navigation- All graphic images like tabs and buttons should be labeled clearly and reading them should be easy. All the special effects and textures on your page should be picked very carefully and the navigation should be seamless and simple. The link colors that you use should also be familiar. All the content on your site should be positioned in such a way that a user will find the information they are looking for – in 3 clicks. 
• Consistency- This is a crucial factor and you must ensure that the web design, layout and the labeling is very consistent across the sire. This adds a very professional look. For example- if you have used drop shadows along the bullet points on one web page, use the same for bullet points across the site. This consistency should be carried through in the typefaces, the main text as well as all the headings and sub headings.  
• Special Effects- These can be created with the use of graphics and themes. Just as these should be colorful, interesting and relevant, it is important that they should not be overdone. Flash animations can sometimes get very distracting and so can too many moving effects.  

Subtle Impact 
All-in-all, make an effort to give your web pages a very cohesive look. Let there be no jagged edges, no stilted navigation and no sudden pop-up graphics and effects. There are times when you will be able to make the biggest impact with simplicity and subtlety. Incorporate your ideas and insights but be objective while creating your site. After all, it is your online face. For more information, contact us or visit our website, www.alcowebdesign.com.