Small Buisness Web Sites


Website Ranking, SERP’s, Google Updates and more

February 7th, 2015 ernie Posted in SEO No Comments »

Website RankingIt used to be that you could just develop a website, upload it to your server, and presto you were live and even ranking well in the Search Engine Results Pages or SERP. Unfortunately, this dream is long past with many webmasters scratching their heads regarding what to do next in regards to developing content and managing ranking on the SERP results. With Google updates coming on a regular basis, it is really difficult to know what will be hit and what will be enhanced. For example, Penguin 3.0 impacted thousands of websites that had less than optimum linking strategies. If you had bad links if you had links to sites that were unrelated and on and on, then you were probably impacted by Google’s penguin.

To make matters worse, those webmasters who spent thousands of hours cleaning up the links have not seen a resurgence in their ranking since Penguin has not been rerun and is not part of the regular algorithm update. It is not part of the normal Google search engine refreshes.

Website Ranking – What to Do

If you are building a new site, stick to basics with high-quality information and content. Link to other sites that are legit sites that also have quality information and respect. Before approving links to your site, ask yourself if they are similar in content and quality as well. But beyond everything focus on content to make sure that it is something that your visitors will want to read.

An existing site may have more issues to deal with. Clean up your linking strategy and unlink to any questionable sites. If you find links to your site that are also questionable, request that they also unlink. Clean up your content so that it is clean, grammatically correct, and has value for your clients. Even with all of this work you may have to wait a while until Google decides to rerun the Penguin algorithm. If your site might be considered spammy, clean this up as well.

Website Ranking – Next Big Thing

No one knows except Google what the next big change will be. The only recommendation that we can make is that your site is pristine. This includes content, links, and the spam index.

For example, never link to a site that you would not spend time on. Don’t link to a site that does not somehow relate to your content. To the extent that you can, only allow sites to link to you that also are of high quality. It should have content on the same subject as you. Sites that are in direct competition with you may also be avoided in terms of inbound and outbound linking.

Follow the blogs and the chat rooms, you may pick up some hints, however, if you follow a quality strategy, you should be ok!

for more ideas and changing trends with regards to managing SEO, click here.

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What should you spend on SEO services

January 30th, 2014 ernie Posted in SEO 1 Comment »

SEO servicesMany business owners might be wondering what SEO is, let alone asking what they should pay for it! SEO services is short for search engine optimized content for your website. This content is designed and developed so that search engines will properly index your website and rank so that your customers will see your website presented in the search engine results. The ranking is extremely important if potential customers are going to find your site.

Building a website with content that reviews your products, services and whatever else that you decide to provide about your company is a requirement however that alone will not cause the search engines to rank your website highly enough for people to find. It is equivalent to building a brick-and-mortar building, not placing the sign on the front of it, and not advertising in the newspaper or on TV or on radio. You must also advertise on the Internet and to do that you make sure that your website is optimized for the search engines.

What should you pay for SEO services

There are many models available in terms of payment structure, as well as the amount that you might consider paying. Regardless of the amount that you pay, you should set objectives. They should include  the development of content and optimization of content so that you can measure what you’re receiving for what you pay.

Payment methods include a monthly retainer, contract services, fix prices, project-based pricing, and hourly consulting. If there are promises or guarantees, instant results, the number one spot in Google, or shady link building services you may want to ask more questions and or avoid this type of service. There just cannot be any guarantees of results given the competition, and given the way the search engines change their outlook algorithms on a regular basis.

Some issues to consider

Search engine optimization takes time and results can take as long as six months to be achieved. Search engine rankings and search engine changes will take place overtime and your rankings will change as well. Not all SEO services are the same and you must compare cost versus services.

SEO is not an option, you must do it if you want your website to rank well. Hiring an agency with the expertise is the best way to go compared to trying to do it yourself.

Search engine optimization is another form of advertising expense. It can be compared to other marketing approaches such as direct mailing, broadcast advertising and online ads. You need to compare the results that this will provide. Invest for to get the best return on your investment. In our opinion search engine optimization for your website is not an option. It is something that you must invest in, to enable customer conversion into sales for your services and products.

Give us a call today for further information on this subject. We can discuss pricing for search engine optimization of your website. For more posts about making your web site more SEO friendly, click here.

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Google Adsense – Optimize Your Site

November 7th, 2012 ernie Posted in SEO 5 Comments »

Optimize Your SiteEvery day I learn a little bit more about the online advertising business. Today was one of those days were I attended a Google Adsense in your city Optimize Your Site forum sponsored by who else, Google. This was specifically sponsored by the Adsense team and not the search team. Over the years many of us have focused on SEO or search engine optimization. I really did not think about the major differences. Optimize your site from a google Adsense perspective as well as Google Search perspective. My definition of the difference between these two activities can be defined as follows:

SEO – are specific steps that a web owner takes to try to make sure that his or her site will rank well in the search engine results delivered to people who are searching for something. If you rank well then you might end up on the top page of the search results and someone might visit your web page, particularly if you are in the top 3 of 10 or so results that are on the first page.

Optimize Your Site – Adsense Optimization

is something totally different. This is the process of making sure that your advertising on your web page is noticed by your users, it is relevant and that you maximize your click rate once a user ends up on your site. It has nothing to do with getting them to come to your site. It has everything to do with ensuring that the content of the ads relate to what the user is looking for when they arrive on your site.

We are going to spend a lot of time talking about what we learned from this forum so that we can share this information with readers. If you have a web site and have put Adsense ad’s on it you will want to read this. If you are thinking about putting Google Adsense on your web site you will want to read this, otherwise don’t waste your time.

NOTE: This information does not in any way replace what Google has on its site and it does not in any way try to circumvent what Google is doing.

Here is a summary of what we learned at this seminar in no particular order:

Optimize Your Site

Opinions Expressed by other publishers

  • The location of you host can affect the source of your traffic e.g. host in the USA may decrease traffic for a Canadian web site
  • Use Meta tags with the address of your business included
  • Place the address of your business at the top or in the footer

Adsense Information

  • Set up search on your site to search your site and not the Internet
  • Adsense crawler looks at keywords, word frequency, font size, and link structure
  • Content above the fold is a higher priority than content below the fold
  • Pictures and image ads impact the amount of content above the fold and hence the type of ad that is served
  • Ad’s should be above the fold
  • Advertisements should be near navigational aids on your site
  • Ad’s should be easily distinguished from your content
  • Some color blending is acceptable
  • If you receive an email from Google telling you that you have a policy infraction on your site, you have 3 days to fix it and then they will check back to confirm that it is fixed.
  • There is a policy team to provide support in a situation that is not clear
  • Text/image ad’s are the most profitable as are
  • 160*600; 728*90; 300*250; and 468*60
  • Ad’s are displayed based on user surfing history. If you have been surfing sites on bananas and then switch to a site on apples, you will probably still see ad’s for bananas on the apple site.
  • Use Google analytics to decide which pages to optimize, especially with hard coded pages.
  • Content is king, always make sure your users experience great content
  • Use Google Chrome – open an incognito page to see how a fresh user will see your page; shows the performance of your ad’’s

Mobile

  • By 2015 there will be more mobile users than desktop users
  • 50% increase in mobile-focused advertising this year
  • Expect 30% of traffic to be from mobile
  • Recommended ad size is 320*50 and 300* 250
  • Note that the iPhone has an option to auto-remove all advertising
  • Use gomo.com to test your site

Double click for Small business

  • Allows publishers to deliver the highest paying ad regardless of whether it is served from Google or a competing network
  • First 90 million impressions per month are free
  • Schedule ads by location, time of day, start and end dates etc
  • Assists in reporting requirements of 3rd party advertisers
  • Can target down to postal code or zip code
  • This is really for a publisher who has Google Adsense, plus private advertising business they wish to place on their site and manage

I was a bit disappointed with the optimizing section of this session. We each had ten minutes and it felt rushed. However, we did get some good points such as ad sizing, color, positioning, search, etc.

Overall I thought it was time well spent. However, the real advantage will depend on the results of the changes that I plan to make and if there is any impact on the revenue I earn from my sites. Will let you know in a few months.

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Some SEO Guidelines

May 7th, 2012 ernie Posted in SEO No Comments »

SEO GuidelinesThe only people who really know what the SEO guidelines are might be some of the Google employees and only the ones who are in charge of the overall strategy for their search engine. The rest of us can only guess and learn by experience. There are many lists out there about do’s and don’ts associated with optimizing your page for SEO or search engine optimization. some make sense and some don’t and many people are trying to take advantage of this situation to obtain more traffic.

SEO Guidelines – Quality Content

We happen to think that in addition to all of these so-called rules and guidelines which are ok and not wrong at all, you must have quality content. You must have not only quality content that is well-written and informative to the reader, but it must also be popular if you are really going to do well with advertising on your site. Writing poorly written stories about something that no one cares about is just not going to be of interest to very many people, even if you optimize the page perfectly, whatever that might mean.

Focus on High-Quality Content in Popular Areas of Search

So focus on good quality content,  interesting to the reader that appeals to a lot of people. Good quality content means that the post is well written, has no spelling mistakes, has good grammar, and has structure. A post should have an introduction, a discussion of the topic, and a closing summary of some kind or action statement that takes the reader to the next stage of your website.

Always optimize every page so that it also rises in rank for the search engines. We have compiled a shortlist and will add to it from time to time. These are rules/guidelines for making sure that your page is also optimized for SEO.

If you disagree or feel we missed something, feel free to leave us a comment and we will add to it to assist our readers.

Here we go:

  • Post Title
    • The title contains the keyword
    • The Title should begin with the keyword
    • The title should be at least 3 words long
    • The title should have at least 66 characters
  • URL
    • permalink contains your keyword
  • Metadata
    • Description meta-tag always contains the keyword
    • The Description meta tag should have at least 160 characters in it
    • The description meta tag should begin with the keyword
    • Your keyword meta tag must contain your keyword
  • Heading
    • The H1 tag should also contain your keyword
    • The H1 tag should begin with the keyword
    • The H2 tag should also contain your keyword
    • The H3 tag should also contain your keyword
  • Content(probably the most critical of all)
    • Must not be junk content
    • Must be informative and useful to the reader
    • Should contain at least 300 words, some say 500, and others at least 1000. We think you should vary the size of your posts, but never less than 300 words
    • Keyword density should be 2 to 5%, don’t spam your content
    • Keywords should be used in the first 50 to 100 words
    • Always use one image with your keyword in the ALT attribute
    • Bold your keyword at least once
    • Italicize your keyword at least once
    • Underline your keyword at least once
    • External link anchor text should also contain your keyword
    • Internal link anchor text should contain your keyword
    • Also, use your keyword in the last 50 words

While this is certainly not all-inclusive, it is a good start on how to optimize your posts for the best SEO ranking with the search engines and against your competition. Even if you do all of these things, it really comes back to content that people are interested in and causes them to want to spend some time on your site.

As we mentioned comments and thoughts are welcome.

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SEO Firms in Ottawa

April 21st, 2012 ernie Posted in SEO No Comments »

SEO Firms in OttawaThere are many SEO Firms in Ottawa that have recently hung out their shingle online and are advertising their capabilities to anyone that will listen. Another has joined the fold, Calgary SEO Specialists and you wonder why should I even consider these guys especially when they are not even from the area. Well, there are a number of reasons that you may consider, all of which are important when it comes to making business decisions on how you will spend your marketing and advertising dollars. SEO marketing is the reason.

Too many of these companies focus only on SEO i.e. get the search engines to index your page and list you in the top 10 search results. Calgary SEO Specialists also focuses on the marketing side of the job as well. Not only do you want someone to come to your site, but you also want them to call your company or buy your products. Conversion of the searcher into a customer is were it really counts. That’s what SEO Firms in Ottawa focus on.

Local SEO Firms in Ottawa

The first point that should be considered is that we have a local presence so although our name is Calgary SEO Specialists, we have a local member of our team who has been building Web sites for many years and in particular following SEO guidelines to attract traffic to their web sites. They have also been involved in marketing activities throughout their career and bring this expertise to the design of the site and the content that will be added to your site. This is a specialized business and it is important to hire someone who understands the business and not just someone who talks SEO.

Web Marketing

Secondly, what you are really looking for is web advertising or marketing. SEO is just the technical way that one implements a web site to achieve better results from an advertising perspective. If the company that you hire does not understand this nuance, chances are that you may have a great looking web site, but no one is going to visit it. SEO Firms in Ottawa do understand these issues.

Have you ever wondered why your web site never appears on the first page of search results? Then some guy comes along and builds a web page with your companies name in it. They do a search showing how he got you on the first page. Sure he got you on the first page. He used your companies name or a unique phrase that no one will ever search for!

SEO Catch Phrase

The objective is to use phrases that people commonly search for. The objective is to get you on the first or second page of those search results. There is a scientific method for making this happen. If you are on the first page you stand a much better chance of having customers select your web page! Next, you need a great catchphrase right at the front that is displayed with the search results. Now you are on the first page. You have the best catchphrase which attracts customers to your web site and not the competition! This is what makes them chose your site over the other 9 results that are displayed on the page.

This is what SEO is all about. Only firms with the experience can really put it all together to provide this type of service and results together. In fact, Calgary SEO Specialists are so confident of the service provided that they do not even ask for a contract or a down payment. They do suggest that you give it three months to see the results before making a decision. There are a variety of service levels and pricing to choose from. The services offered are fully outlined on their web site along with testimonials. There are even keyword studies that have been completed for various customers.

Check us out and give us your full consideration. Spending your money is always a decision that is taken carefully, regardless of the business that you are in. With web marketing using an SEO firm with experience is always a better way to go.

For more information about our services and pricing, take a moment, and visit their web site. Click here for more information.

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No Contract SEO Services in Palm Springs

April 7th, 2012 ernie Posted in SEO No Comments »

No Contract SEO Services in Palm SpringsIf you are looking for a company to develop a web site for you that is search engine optimized, (SEO), Calgary SEO Services is one company that you can consider. They provide no-contract SEO services in Palm Springs as well as in other cities across North America. They do not require a contract for small business customers. Also, they will deliver a quality website that is SEO optimized. The group will maintain it as well for you. They are supplying fresh well-written content for as long as you participate with their subscription service. For more information about no contract SEO  services in the Palm Springs area as well as pricing, take a moment and visit their web site. Click here for more information.

Read more about what SEO is all about. Read how it can be a good thing for your company and your web site to attract visitors and potential customers. Many customers really do not understand what SEO is all about and how it can help your business. It is the new marketing for the internet!

Search Engine Indexing

They do suggest that you subscribe for a minimum of three months. This provides time for the search engine Bots from Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines to find your site. Also to index it and rank it in their search results. We submit your web pages to all of the search engines. But occasionally it takes them a bit of time to for the search engines to do their indexing.

Many companies require a contract to be signed before they do any work. We ask you to pay a month’s subscription upfront and then we get to work building your SEO site. All of this with no contract SEO services in the Palm Springs area. You are free to stop anytime. However, we are confident that once you see the results, you will want to continue the service.

No Contract SEO Services – SEO Web Marketing

Many companies are turning to web marketing as an alternative to traditional methods of attracting customers. They find that radio ads, TV spots and advertising in yellow pages and newspapers just do not work as well as they used to. Many people use their smartphones or desktop computers to search for the information they need about products and services. If you are not on the net with an SEO website, few people are going to find you.

Lot’s of companies have web sites, some quite fancy with videos, etc. But they never rank well because they have static content and they are not optimized for the search engines. It is so important to use the proper keywords and have fresh quick loading content to ensure that you are found on the internet. Once they are on your site, your customers may call you, or order online or send an email with more questions.

Fresh Up To Date Content

Fresh up to date content is highly ranked by the search engines.  This is why we suggest a post of 500 to 1000 words long every week for as long as you stay with us. This is the best approach to getting noticed by the search engines. We do not copy the content, it is all unique and written by writers in North America. We employ writers here and do not send the work overseas.

You might wonder why Calgary SEO services choose Palm Springs to launch their services outside of Calgary. Well, the answer is that the principles of the company spend a lot of their vacation time in Palm Springs. They want to help the local business continue to succeed in a very competitive market place. We think we can help you be more successful by attracting more leads to Palm Springs regardless of what industry you are in. That’s why we offer no-contract SEO services in Palm Springs.

For additional information about no contract SEO  services in the Palm Springs area as well as pricing, take a moment and visit their web site. Click here for more information.

 

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Affordable SEO Services in Palm Springs

March 21st, 2012 ernie Posted in SEO 3 Comments »

Affordable SEO ServicesAre you a  frustrated business owner? Perhaps you are not getting the results you think you should from traditional media. These could include radio spots, TV ads, newspaper advertisements and yes even the old stalwart , Yellow pages. You may have a really nice looking web site, yet you are not getting much traffic to the site and as a result there are little or no conversions to sales from your web site. You know that you need to spend some money on advertising, yet you are frustrated with spending money on something that is not delivering results.

Affordable SEO Services in Palm Springs

This is were Affordable SEO Services in Palm Springs comes in. There is a science to bringing web site traffic to a web site and if you are not following the rules and guidelines associated with web marketing, you simply are not going to get the traffic that you need. Of course you don’t want just any traffic, you want qualified traffic. Customers that are looking for your products or services and have a high probability of converting to paying customers.

Calgary SEO services is now offering SEO to clients in the Palm Springs area. In case you are wondering why Palm Springs and Why Calgary SEO services, well it is pretty simple. The principles have spent a great deal of vacation time in Palm Springs and really like to promote a place they enjoy so much. All of the work is done from Canada, however we do subcontract much of the content creation to US citizens so there is a win win for both countries.

How Does SEO Actually Work

Well much of the information is actually a trade secret, however we can tell you that there are few main attributes that you must adhere to. We have listed some of these below in no particular order:

  • Fresh content every two weeks or even more often
  • Unique well written content
  • Judicious use of keywords weaved naturally into the content
  • Fast content loading from your hosting provider
  • Domain name supports product or services you are selling
  • PPC – Pay per click advertising campaigns
  • Over 100 other parameters that must be taken into account

Most business owners do not have the time to manage all of this. They do not have the time to learn all of the intricacies of SEO management.  As a result their web sites are ranked low on search results. They show up well down the page list of results never to be looked at by anyone browsing the internet.

What About Mobile SEO

More and more consumers are using their mobile smartphones to search for things and to browse the internet. If your site is not configured to provide content that matches the browser capabilities and the screen sizes on these smart phones then you simply are going to lose access to this market.

All of our sites will be configured for mobile browsing.

Calgary SEO services can and does provide affordable SEO services in Palm Springs and other cities across North America. We do not ask for a contract. We do ask you to subscribe to our service with an expectation of signing up for at least 3 months, longer is preferred to really demonstrate the results of a well-engineered SEO site. Once you subscribe, we will conduct a telephone interview to understand more about your services and products and the specifics of the web marketing campaign that you want to get started. All of this is explained in much more detail on our partner web site. See link below.

For more information about our affordable SEO  services in the Palm Springs area as well as pricing, take a moment and visit their website. Click here for more information

 

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Affordable SEO Services in Ottawa

March 7th, 2012 ernie Posted in SEO 1 Comment »

Affordable SEO Services in OttawaIn a post 4 weeks ago we talked about how a Calgary company had teamed up to provide affordable SEO services in the Ottawa area.  Calgary SEO Specialists and Global Com Team Up discussed the services and pricing that they offered and why customers may want to consider this service. If you have a web site that is not receiving the traffic that you think you should be receiving, why not give us a call. We can discuss your needs and how we can help get on the first page of Google search results.

This post is focused on just how affordable SEO service in Ottawa can be compared to other SEO companies and certainly compared to the old-style advertising media. The first point we wanted to make is that people talk about SEO all of the time which means Search Engine Optimization. before your eyes glaze over and you head off of this page, think of SEO as really efficient web advertising! That is only if it is done right and managed on an ongoing basis. Anyone who tells you something different is just selling the concept and not delivering web marketing to you that will bring results.

Web Marketing and Web Advertising

Web marketing or web advertising is all about attracting consumers who are browsing on the internet. They are surfing from site to site looking for information about subjects that they are interested in. To do this they use search engines, they use twitter, they use facebook and they use referrals. Consumers are also increasingly using smart phones to do this searching so if your web site is not also optimized for mobile browsing you are also losing a huge market.

This web site for example automatically recognizes what hardware and browser you are using and delivers content to you that is optimized for your device, regardless of the type of smart phone or desk top device. So when we talk about affordable SEO services in Ottawa, these are just a few of the things that you need to take into account while deciding what company to use when hiring a web advertising firm.

Affordable SEO Services in Ottawa – No Down Payment

There are other points we wanted to emphasize regarding affordable SEO services in Ottawa. Do you have to sign up for a contract or not and  is a big down payment?  Many companies are afraid of doing a lot of work. They are worried their customer will cancel on them just as the web site is ready to launch.

As a result they demand an upfront fixed price. Then a monthly fee after that. In our case, we simply suggest that you commit to a three-month commitment of monthly fees. This gives us sufficient time to build your web site and start delivering traffic to you. This is qualified traffic that could be potential sales for you. There is no contract so if you do decide to opt out, you can with no problem. However, we believe that our service will more than meet your demands and expectations. There will be no question that you will want to continue with our service.

Affordability is a Big Issue for Many Companies

There is no question that budgets are tight. Companies both large and small can ill afford to throw money at something they are unsure of. Yet every day business people throw money at traditional advertising media. They have no idea whether it is being successful for them or not.

The world moving to smart phones to surf the web and everyone is avoiding traditional advertising on the TV. Don’t you think it is time to switch to something that delivers results that you can monitor and review. Confirm how many customers visit your web site and convert to paying customers? We think so. That is why we teamed up with Calgary SEO Specialists to deliver affordable SEO services in the Ottawa area.

For more information about our services and pricing, take a moment and visit their web site. Click here for more information.

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Calgary SEO Specialists and Global Com Team Up

February 18th, 2012 ernie Posted in SEO 3 Comments »

Calgary SEO SpecialistsGlobal Com, owner of this website, and several others has recently teamed up with Calgary SEO Specialists to offer SEO services in the Ottawa, Ontario area. Both companies have been building web sites for customers for the past 8 years. They have decided to merge their expertise to offer small and medium businesses an SEO service. It is designed to bring additional business to them through optimized web advertising. This is all about spending your online advertising dollars efficiently and bringing your business qualified customers. For more information and a quote for our services, visit Calgary SEO Specialists.

Why Team Up with Calgary SEO Specialists

Many companies are beginning to realize that advertising through traditional mediums such as the TV, and Newspapers is no longer effective. More and more people purchase smartphones and browsing the internet on their phones. The value of traditional advertising to attract customers has declined. Today many people search online for products and services that they need. When they find it they click on a link, an email, or a telephone number. They expect to immediately be put in touch with the company that provides these products and services. If you are not taking advantage of web advertising, then you will not see these clicks. You could be missing these customer opportunities.

It is not enough to just have a website. Regardless of which search engine you use, if you are not on the first or second page of the results you are not going to be seen. Developing an SEO optimize web site that ranks high with all search engines is extremely important. It is a competitive world addition of new content and optimization is required to maintain this level of search results.

The combined expertise of Calgary SEO Specialists and Global Com provide not only optimized web sites with content management services. But they also provide continuously updated content that stays fresh and current. All search engines prefer this type of site. They rank even new sites higher as a result when they have continuous new content on their web pages.

Services Offered

If you are a small business owner and wish to find out more about this service, prices, etc, click on this link which will take you to the launch page of the combined service offering for the Ottawa area. All services provided are described along with links to our pricing and service packages for small, medium, and large business needs.

Contact us for a free consultation or sign up for service and one of our associates will be in touch with you within 24 hours or the next business day. We will need some basic information about your business and the products or services you are trying to promote. We can also provide you with a free keyword report and analysis. It is that easy and rest assured that we will do all of the work needed to drive customer qualified traffic to your business.

We recommend a minimum of three months’ commitment. This provides time to get the site up and running and customer traffic coming your way. Google and the other search engines will index your site and rank it according to their formula. When they do you will be at the top of the ranking and on the first page of search results. With an excellent call to action on your pages, you will begin receiving calls about the services that you offer.

For more information on these items and much more, visit our main website at Calgary SEO Specialists. Give us a call today about how we can help increase your sales in this new advertising world.

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