The Maine SEO Blog

Flyte recently finished an SEO project for KimsCrafts, a company that makes gorgeous handmade slate signs right here in Maine.

With an intuitive site structure in place and a developer who’s willing to try anything (don’t you just love those?), we got our hands dirty optimizing the pages at the deepest product levels.

Copy is often where Ecommerce websites fall short – putting product images and big, beautiful “buy now” buttons far ahead of content on the old list of priorities. So adding bits of unique content to each product page has been where a lot of the KimsCrafts team has been spending its time.

Instead of a typical “breadcrumb” navigation so many Ecommerce sites favor, “Find more like this” was preferred for KimsCrafts’ product line; much like Amazon’s “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” widget. (See my favorite slate, the Black Lab Welcome Sign, as an example.)

A few more tweaks, and the newly optimized site was ready for the holiday rush. Don’t worry, though, it’s not to late to grab a unique, personalized gift for a loved one!

Nicki Hicks
Maine SEO

Maine boasts some of the most gorgeous scenery, nature, and outdoor splendor of most of the country. On the edge of Moosehead Lake, Maine’s largest lake, sits The Birches Resort: the perfect place to enjoy your Maine wilderness vacation and the wonder of nature.

Like many of our recent WordPress launches, The Birches has the ability to update their website quickly and easily, with no need for HTML knowledge.

Why do we love WordPress so much? Not only is it easy to update, but it’s great for SEO. An easy-to-crawl platform, you can quickly update and change pages on a whim (perhaps incorporating new keywords), use the helpful SEO plugins, and even incorporate a blog.

Unlike other resorts, The Birches has a myriad of wonderful winter activities including snowmobiling, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and so much more. Book your winter excursion at The Birches today!

Nicki Hicks
A new year means new web sites!

Flyte recently launched another WordPress website, this one for Goldbelt Tours, a company equipped with the entire Juneau Alaska experience: hotel, marina, excursions, and even a tramway!

Unlike many other websites, Goldbelt’s can boast pictures actually taken in the area. Not only that, but with WordPress, any of the Goldbelt employees can update the website at any time. [Needless to say, gorgeous photos, a great new design, and the ease of WordPress made my job pretty easy.]

There were a few things we could do though. Local search was the name of the game here; as well as taking advantage review (and partially social) websites like TripAdvisor.

While the flyte crew wasn’t able to venture to the beautiful Juneau ourselves, if you’re ever in the need for a beautiful stay, somewhere to dock your yacht, or just some exciting Alaskan adventures, give Goldbelt Tours a call.

Nicki Hicks
Maine SEO

Recently, flyte began a relationship with Mentoring Minds, a company that sells educational tools with a goal to help teachers help students.

Like many Ecommerce websites, there was originally little content to be found on the site. While little content is good from a usability standpoint, we know there still has to be content.

How do you create the balance for Ecommerce?

One issue I’ve seen a lot in Ecommerce sites is the insatiable urge to force the user to make an obscene amount of clicks (less so an issue for this particular site). But if you have an ecommerce site, with a myriad of categories, subcategories, and finally individual product pages; ask yourself: Can I condense and simplify?

When you do have necessary category pages, like Mentoring Minds’ Response to Intervention page, make sure you use it as an opportunity to create content around the subject. Contrary to popular belief, people will scroll. That doesn’t mean you should force them to scroll a lot; simply that (nearly) gone are the days when everything has to be above the fold.

So if you (or the teacher in your life) need better tools for success in the classroom, be sure to give Mentoring Minds a call. If you need help optimizing your Ecommerce website, then be sure to give flyte a call.

Nicki Hicks
Maine SEO

A few months ago, flyte finished another web site/SEO project for Reliable Networks – a company right in downtown Portland, Maine that specializes in technology services.

Initially, Reliable Networks had an entirely flash-based website. While search engines are getting better about indexing flash, they still can’t see it as well as HTML text. So we popped the site onto WordPress, giving the folks at Reliable Networks a spot to blog at the same time.

What’s the big deal with flash? Here’s what the cache of the site originally looked like:

And now, Google can see the site!

So if you need help with your network security, sick of using Exchange, or need help becoming HIPAA compliant, contact Reliable Networks. If you need help converting your website from flash-based to WordPress, contact flyte.

Nicki Hicks
Maine SEO

A few weeks ago, flyte relaunched a WordPress website for SelectDwelling: a site that lists long-term home rentals in the Southwest Florida area.

The premise is simple: there’s a space for renters and a space for owners. Through some pretty extensive programming, the owners are able to create their own account, upload photos, add information – the whole nine yards.

Then, when a renter looks in a specific town, that property comes up in the search results. [There are more fantastic programming morsels that my marketing mind cannot grasp, you'll simply need to try it out for yourself.]

From a search standpoint, there’s an issue (as there often is with dynamically created content): how can we help individual listing pages rank better? Why, with a blog of course!

So if you’re planning on heading to South West Florida for an extended stay, be sure to check out SelectDwelling for the perfect long term rental and great things to do while there!

Nicki Hicks
Maine SEO

Flyte recently relaunched a website for a local Bed & Breakfast that we converted onto a WordPress platform. The Elms Bed & Breakfast, located in Greater Portland, is a gorgeous little Inn right on the riverbank in Westbrook, Maine.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with the owner, Scott Balfour, who’s shared many wonderful stories on his new blog: mainly covering tales of the trials and tribulations of being an Innkeeper.

Scott has already seen the benefits of being on WordPress – with the ability to update his site (and blog) whenever he pleases. For the benefit of his guests, this means that Scott can upload up-to-date photos of every room.

So if you’re looking for a great place to stay in Southern Maine – with all that’s exciting in Portland, with the peaceful ambiance of Maine – look no further than the Elms Bed & Breakfast. If you’re looking to convert your website to a WordPress Platform, look no further than flyte.

Nicki Hicks
Maine SEO

Last week, we launched a website for Energy Services Group. ESG provides billing and transaction management, scheduling, and forecasting for energy companies of all sizes. Essentially, they provide all of the behind-the-scenes infrastructure necessary for energy providers to do what they do best.

While Energy Services Group participates in one of the most complex business models I’ve encountered, that simply makes them better at what they do. In other words, they’re the experts. What’s more is they are willing to share their expertise.

Like so many companies embracing Web 2.0, ESG is helping the energy industry with their new blog. I’ve talked a lot about the SEO power of blogging before, but here’s proof as to how much it can really help. If you Google “Is there growth in retail energy markets?” you’ll see a blogpost ESG did on the topic not too long ago, which is ranked #6 on the SERP. (Granted, I cheated a little by Googling the name of the post; but you’ll notice they are in such company with the likes of the Wall Street Journal and Newswire!)

If you (or someone you know) needs help with the transaction management for their energy company, head over to Energy Services Group. If you need help with your blog, head over to flyte.

Nicki Hicks
Maine SEO

Earlier this week, flyte relaunched a new site for Acadia Center for English Immersion – courses for learning English as a second language. After a redesign, SEO, Web marketing, and finally relaunch…I must say, it’s a beautiful website.

As far as the SEO portion was concerned, I had my first experience with internationally optimizing. It soon became clear that folks who want to learn English as a foreign language aren’t altogether familiar with Maine. How bizarre.

What did we do? We quickly found out that international searchers look for things like “english courses USA” or “learn english united states”. At the same time, it was important to not forget local search, as some students do come from the New England area.

So, if you’re in need of English lessons – be it to master English as a second language or simply to remaster it as a first language – look no further than Acadia Center for English Immersion! Check out Acadia Center on Twitter and Facebook too. And if you need help optimizing on an international level, look no further than flyte.

Nicki Hicks
Maine SEO

Last week, we finished another SEO project: for Michele Hernandez, a college consultant who helps students get admitted to Ivy League Schools. Hernandez College Consulting is the second site that, while we’ve been doing SEO work, has been ported over to a Content Mangement System (CMS).  In this case, it was WordPress.

WP is such a functional platform for SEO – I can’t say enough good things about it.  All of the great plugins are what makes my job so much easier (especially in a world where you no longer have to know HTML).  This is especially good for a business owner like Dr. Hernandez, who now has the ability to go in and change her copy, add pages or links without having to call up her developer.

Plus, there’s always the matter that search engines like content management systems.  They use CSS and are incredibly easy to crawl with all that nice, clean code.

There are a ton of benefits to have your site built on WordPress, just as there are having a college consultant.  If you want to help your child get and Ivy League education, give Dr. Michele Hernandez a call!

Nicki Hicks
Maine SEO