Whether you’re a newbie or an expert in search engine optimization (SEO), the field changes so often that it can be overwhelming. That can be pretty frustrating since businesses of any size need to get people to their sites in order to really grow in our web-driven culture. Thankfully, there are a few tried-and-true methods for improving your position in Google’s index.

Make sure you’re indexed by Google

Go to Google.com and search ‘site:’ with your website domain listed after the colon (example: ‘site:acme.com’). If you don’t see any results from your page listed, that means Google hasn’t added your site to its search results yet. Although some advisers recommend filling out a request form that Google offers, there is a much faster way to get recognized by the search giant.

Google is constantly scanning web pages for updates in content to include in their search results. When they see a link to an external site on one of their already indexed pages, Google will add that link to the queue of new sites to be scanned and indexed. If you can get your domain name linked on a popular or trusted page, you’ll start seeing your page in the search results in no time.

Go out and get more links

The more links to your site from external pages, the higher you climb in the search results. Other than getting affiliate businesses to link you on their pages, consider managing a blog or RSS feed. Content generation not only promotes interest and traffic in your site, it also lets you submit yourself to blog directories or news aggregator sites like Feedly and Alltop which compile source materials and get you those external links.

Fine-tune your content

Be very careful not to change any of your core ‘permalinks’. If users have links that direct them to pages that can’t be found, it could affect your site’s ranking. Keep your pages live, and keep them named efficiently. Some website platforms, like WordPress, use default link structures that create complicated, number-based links that can be off-putting to users and confusing to administrators and search engine indexers. If possible, make sure your links use category and page title references for more appealing links and organizational structure.

Measure and track your ranking

Just because you believe your site has achieved a desirable ranking on Google doesn’t mean it will stay there. Stay proactive and never let yourself get lazy with your content production, site management, and SEO monitoring — it could mean the difference between moving up the search page, and disappearing from it altogether. Online tools like Cyfe and Google Analytics give you a more in-depth look at your site traffic and external links so you’re always ahead of the competition.

Optimizing your Google page indexing can be daunting. For more information on how to get your site moving up the ladder. Contact us today.

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Virtualization allows you to eliminate dependency on physical hardware limitations and software requirements. Before you choose any one virtualization solution, it's a good idea to go over the different companies providing virtualization services. Below is a list of five popular vendors offering reliable virtualization platforms.

VMware

Any conversation about virtualization for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) usually starts around VMware. VMware is the company that really put office virtualization on everyone’s action item list. The company offers a number of different solutions for different-sized businesses with a wide variety of needs. Its ease of use and robust security features have secured its reputation as one of the best options for virtualization for SMBs.

Citrix

The average user may not recognize the company name but probably knows their popular remote access tools, GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting. Citrix has specifically geared their virtualization software XenApp, XenDesktop, and VDI-in-a-box toward SMBs and even claims that non-IT staff can easily manage and administer the services. They even provide a free trial to prove it.

Microsoft

Although it may be a little more difficult to manage without an in-house or outsourced IT staff, Microsoft’s Hyper-V option is hard to ignore, considering its integration with the popular cloud platform Azure. Whether you’re a Microsoft loyalist or you just want to minimize the number of vendors in your network, Hyper-V offers everything you need from a virtualization service.

Oracle

Specializing in marketing software, Oracle also offers database management, cloud storage, and customer relationship management software. If you’re using any of their services already, there could be benefits to enlisting their virtualization services as well. Oracle does everything — server, desktop, and app virtualization — and they believe that consolidating all of these into one solution is what sets them apart.

Amazon

Since we’re on the topic of household names, let’s talk about Amazon’s EC2 platform, which hosts scalable virtual private servers. The ability to scale and configure capacity is definitely EC2’s biggest draw for SMBs preparing for the possibility of rapid growth. Although almost any virtualization service is rooted in scalability, Amazon is leading the pack in how quickly and finely you can adjust your solution to your individual needs.

Virtualization is a really hard topic for most SMBs to tackle. This list only covers the most popular vendors, and there are plenty more out there. Choosing one based on its application possibilities and management requirements is not a subject for the lighthearted. Get in touch with us today so we can break down all of the technobabble into easy-to-understand advice.

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