October 2013: SEO Unmasked

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Detailed answers to your most pressing questions about SEO

What is Google+ Local?

A Google+ Local page is a “platform” where users can learn relevant information about your practice, leave reviews, browse photos and more. These pages typically show up in the search engine results when a user searches for a local product or service. Having an optimized Google+ Local page is an important part of SEO because it improves your visibility in your target market.

Why does Google not like duplicate content?

It is Google’s goal to provide users with the most relevant, interesting and accurate information in response to their search queries. To identify which website is the authority on a given subject, Google evaluates a number of factors, including the quality of each site’s content. When content is duplicated on other web pages, it is difficult for Google (and other search engines) to decipher the original source and give the website credit. Therefore, having duplicate content can be harmful to your site.

What is Schema.org markup and how does it help?

Schema.org is an effort to improve the Web by creating a structured data markup that is supported by all major search engines. This markup helps search engines understand the information on web pages and provide more relevant search results. By adding schema.org markup to your local business listing, you give the search engines a better idea of where your business is actually located, so that they can serve this information to users who would find it relevant.

How does my site get Google Authorship and why does it benefit my site?

A website is able to display authorship in search engine results when an individual has a Google+ profile page and a specific code is placed on his or her website. Google Authorship benefits your site because it helps to establish trust between your website visitor and your brand. It also allows Google to identify who is producing content so that they can continue to work to eliminate web spam. The more high-quality content you share as an author and the more users interact with that content, the more benefit your site receives.

Do I really need a blog?

Yes, because search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) favor sites with fresh content. Blogs are a great way to add new, relevant content in a natural way and add depth to your site. Blogging also helps increase opportunities for traffic and can strengthen your site’s authority by encouraging back-linking (links to your site).

Does Social Media Signals help improve website rankings and/or authority?

There is strong evidence of a correlation between social media signals (“likes” and other activity on Facebook, regular Google+ posts and positive reviews, etc.) and better rankings. We suggest all our clients build up their social media sites in an effort to improve site authority and rankings. At the very least, social media is an easy and inexpensive way to connect with your patients and increase traffic to your site.

What are Google Panda and Google Penguin?

Panda and Penguin are changes to Google’s search algorithm that are aimed at lowering the organic rankings of websites with low-quality content and irrelevant backlinks, many of which obtained using “black-hat SEO” techniques. Since Panda’s launch on February 24, 2011, there have been at least 25 verified Panda updates affecting search rankings. It is important to note that Google stopped confirming Panda updates in March and is now rolling them out gradually, over a series of days, without warning.

What is Google Analytics and why is it important?

Google Analytics is a free service offered by Google that lets you measure conversions and detailed statistics about your website’s traffic, including how visitors use your site, how they find your site, where they are located, and more. With Google Analytics, website owners can determine how well their marketing efforts are working by viewing their traffic after a major marketing campaign, public speaking, or even social media posts such as Facebook and Twitter. This is very useful for measuring ROI and helpful in figuring out which marketing methods are actually working for your website.

What is considered “black-hat” SEO?

Black-hat SEO refers to any unscrupulous SEO technique used to manipulate search engines in order to achieve higher rankings in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Often violating a search engine’s terms of service, black-hat SEO can get your website penalized or even banned completely from the search engine results pages. Over the past two years, Google’s guidelines have been getting stricter and stricter, and we are seeing far less of these tactics being used. Some examples of black-hat SEO include: content automation, article/content spinning, keyword stuffing, hidden text, and link manipulation schemes.

If you have further questions regarding SEO, don’t hesitate to contact our team today by calling 858.454.5505, or by emailing us at contactceatus@ceatus.com.

CEATUS Case Study of the Month

Dr. Delilah Alonso – Dermatologist, Coral Gables, FL

Extreme Makeover: Website Design, Content, SEO and Online Citations Updates

Background: Dr. Delilah Alonso is a successful dermatologist with experience in general, pediatric, surgical and cosmetic dermatology. Though her Coral Gables, FL, practice was doing well, she was searching for new ways to grow her business.

Problem: Dr. Alonso approached Ceatus with several goals. First, she wished to gain a stronger presence online and increase the number of leads she generated from the Internet. She also asked Ceatus to create a modern website that would produce a higher visitor conversion rate. In addition, she had noticed that inaccurate or outdated information about her business was displayed on several unaffiliated websites, so she tasked Ceatus with correcting this information.

Solution: Ceatus developed a strategy customized to Dr. Alonso’s target markets and to the services she offers. This included a custom website to help her stand out from her competition. The website contains unique, high-quality content that is engaging to visitors but also optimized to provide high rankings in the search engine results pages. Ceatus also scoured the Web in search of incorrect information about Dr. Alonso’s business on other sites, and updated the information to ensure that potential patients were not lost.

Results: In the months following Ceatus’ efforts, Dr. Alonso’s search engine rankings for her target keywords surged dramatically. Unique visitors to her website have increased by 151% and visitor engagement has increased 17%.

Contact Ceatus today to learn how we can create a customized Internet strategy to increase visitors to your website!

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Ask the experts

Q Does the size of a website matter?

A In the past, the overall size of your website did matter. For a period of time, larger websites with numerous pages seemed to outrank smaller websites. Now, however, the rules have changed, with search engines placing more importance on the quality of the pages than on the total number of pages. Specifically, pages with original, in-depth content, images and video are deemed to be higher quality because they deliver a better user experience.

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Events: Maximize Your Internet Strategy

Come by the Ceatus booth for a FREE website evaluation!

Plastic Surgery The Meeting

San Diego Convention Center
October 11-15, 2013
Booth 2021

Join Ceatus, Consumer Guide to Plastic Surgery and Breast Implants 4 You in beautiful San Diego, our home base. Sponsored by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the 88th Annual Plastic Surgery The Meeting brings together the best and brightest surgeons in the specialty. Stop by Booth 2021 to meet the Ceatus team and see if your Internet strategy needs a facelift. Hope to see you there!

AAFPRS Fall Meeting

Sheraton New Orleans
October 19-21, 2013
Booth 707

Join us in jazzy New Orleans for the AAFPRS Fall Meeting. Look for Ceatus CEO David Evans’ four presentations on SEO, website ranking and ROI from Internet marketing. Don’t miss them!

“SEO Strategies for Premier Plastic Surgery Practices”
Oct. 19
10:00-10:30am
Napoleon Ballroom/ Exposition Hall

“Your Website: Does it Convert? Does it Rank?”
12:30-1:00pm
Napoleon Ballroom/ Exposition Hall

“Maximizing Your Online Marketing ROI”
Oct. 20
12:00-1:00pm
Napoleon Ballroom/ Exposition Hall

“Why Should I Pay More for My Internet Marketing Strategy?”
October 21
4:40-5:30pm
Borgne Meeting Room

Obesity Week

Georgia World Congress Center
Atlanta, GA
November 11-16, 2013
Booth 1221

Ceatus and Consumer Guide to Bariatric Surgery will be attending the The Obesity Society (TOS) and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) Obesity Week in Atlanta. Come meet the Ceatus team at Booth 1221 and learn how we can grow your practice!

American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting

Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
New Orleans, LA
November 16-19, 2013
Booth 3224

Meet the Ceatus team at Booth 3224 to learn how to maximize your Internet Marketing ROI at AAO in New Orleans!

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Read about our Case Study of the Month

Haunted Houses and Ghost Tours

Find out why the Queen Mary is known as “the haunted ship.” Search for ghosts by candlelight in Charleston. Walk in the footsteps of the Salem “witches.” All this and more awaits you in our list of haunted houses and ghost tours!

They are dying to show you around…

The Queen Mary: Ghost and Legends Tour
Long Beach, CA

Do You Believe in Ghosts?

Find out why the Queen Mary is known as “the haunted ship” in this interactive, special-effects adventure. Watch your step as you are guided through the innards of the Queen Mary, because you never know what lurks. Explore the old boiler room where sweltering heat and tight quarters were a recipe for disaster. Visit the damaged hull that split the ship, leaving few survivors, and check out the old swimming pool where swimmers are regularly spotted despite the fact the pool has no water. Relive tales of paranormal incidents, accidents and ghost sightings. The Queen Mary is full of mystery and lore, and the Ghosts & Legends Show is sure to leave you asking the question, “If it wasn’t a ghost, what was it?” Summoning believers daily.

Monday-Thursday: 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Friday-Sunday: 11:00 am to 9:00 pm
Boarding here: http://www.queenmary.com/attractions-events/ghosts-legends.php

Charleston’s Candle-Lit Ghost Hunts
Charleston, SC

To See or Not to See?

As evening descends and the shadows of the night emerge, you embark upon the most unusual adventure of your life… an adventure into the unknown! This unique tour takes you through historic Charleston’s most infamous haunted locations. In the tranquility of the night, your guide explains the unearthly details of murder in cold blood, suicide, lost love, hanged pirates in the Provost Dungeon, voodoo curses and alleyway duels! All by candlelight!

7 days a week: 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm
Fridays and Saturdays:  extra 10:45-midnight tour
Call or E-mail for Reservations: (843) 813-5055 / nsherron@gmail.com / http://www.charlestonghosthunt.com

French Quarter Phantoms: Ghost and Vampire Tour
New Orleans, LA

Would You Like Some Southern Hosfatality?

Disease, disaster, sinister spirits, and murder most foul: French Quarter Phantoms’ New Orleans Ghost tour and Vampire Tour combo is spooky fun! Join the walking tour for historically accurate tales of local hauntings and vampire lore. Your Ghost and Vampire walking tours are guided by master storytellers who are fully licensed by the City of New Orleans. It’s the French Quarter you want to know, as only we can show it to you!

7days a week: 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm nightly
http://www.frenchquarterphantoms.com/ghost-and-vampire-tour

The Myrtles Plantation’s Mystery Tours
St. Francisville, Louisiana

Can You Hear the Pitter Patter of Feet?

Voted one of the scariest places in the world and one of America’s most haunted homes, the Myrtles Plantation is home to at least seven documented ghosts, including one very revengeful maid, Chloe. She was hung in the home after she poisoned and killed the plantation owner’s wife and two children. She is said to walk the halls every night at 3 am. In addition to Chloe, there are other spirits, including a man who was shot on the 17th step of the front stairs, a Civil War veteran and a murdered caretaker, who is often found at the gates urging people to leave. Enter if you dare!

Friday-Saturday: 6:00 pm, 7:00 pm, 8:00 pm
http://www.myrtlesplantation.com/tours.html

Salem Haunted Footsteps Tour
Salem, Massachusetts

Would You Like to Hang Around?

Arguably another of the country’s most haunted cities, Salem has seen its fair share of scary phenomena. Home to the infamous witch trials in the 1600s, Salem was the site of at least 20 so-called “witch” executions. Voted one of the best haunted tours in the world, your witch hunt starts at Salem’s oldest cemetery then continues to the Witch Trials Museum and ends at the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion. This mansion is said to be haunted by Susannah Ingersoll, the cousin of Nathanial Hawthorne who presided as judge in the Salem witch trials.

Nightly in the month of October: 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm
http://www.salemhistoricaltours.com/?page_id=67

Waverly Hills Sanatorium
Louisville, Kentucky

Will You Commit Yourself?

Described by Belanger as “a downright creepy place,” the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, KY, was the spot where thousands of tuberculosis patients died. People report seeing shadowy figures and Belanger says he has even heard of a shadowy figure crawling toward someone on the tour. One of the most famous aspects of the Waverly Hills Sanatorium is the Body Chute or Death Tunnel, once used to transport the bodies of deceased TB patients from the hospital to the bottom of the hill to trains or hearses, according to The Waverly Hills Sanatorium site.

One Sunday Each Month, March-August: 2:30 pm
For private tours and times visit the website below.

Patient Intake here: http://therealwaverlyhills.com/newsite/

The Stanley Hotel
Estes Park, CO

Will You be Staying Awhile?

Host to the filming of “The Shining,” the Stanley Hotel is also the home of many haunts and ghosts of centuries past. Room 217 is still kept up by the ghost of Ms. Elizabeth Wilson, the chief housekeeper, at The Stanley Hotel in its very early days. Guests staying in that room encounter extra housekeeping services, including having their things put away or unpacked. Stay the night or take a tour of the various paranormal areas of the hotel. Come out, come out, wherever you are.

For tour times and dates call the hotel at 970-577-4000 or check in here:
http://www.stanleyhotel.com/tours.

The Whaley House
San Diego, CA

Are You Dying to Visit?

Located in San Diego, California, the Whaley House has been called “the most haunted house in the U.S.” Built in 1857 by Thomas Whaley on land that was once a cemetery, the house has since witnessed dozens of ghost sightings.

Some of the other ghostly encounters include:

  • The spirit of a young girl who was accidentally hanged on the property.
  • The ghost of Yankee Jim Robinson, a thief who was clubbed to death and who can be heard on the house’s stairway where he died, and has sometimes been seen during tours of the old house.
  • The red-haired daughter of the Whaleys sometimes appears in such realistic form that she is sometimes mistaken for a live child.

September 27: 10:30 pm – midnight
October 4, 5: 10:30 pm – 11:45 pm
October 11, 12, 18, 19: 10:30 pm – midnight
November 22: 10:30 pm – midnight
Start your ghost haunt here: http://whaleyhouse.org/tourghosthunting.htm

Read about our Case Study of the Month

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