All great questions that our Green Golf Designs clients ask us all the time.

We’re happy to assist our clients as best we can, and saying that, we have pulled a recent exerpt from some email communication with one of our clients.

Chris Martin, Green Golf Designs Lead Programmer, was asked “How do we Blog Post to increase website traffic”, which in turn would effectively improve online sales for one of our E-Commerce clients. Here is a brief, but succinct part of his reply;

“The more blog posts the better, as long as you pack it full of keywords that you want to be found with on search engines. Also include internal links, mentioning of other posts and linking to them, as well as links back to the products pages on your website. Also when you do a post, if you post a tweet about it and put something on your Facebook about the post, your search engine rankings will increase.

Here are some other tips for SEO on the blog:

The best way to pack posts with keywords is to figure out which keywords you want to use first and then write the post, it usually makes the post sound more natural rather than adding the keywords afterwords. Also, an SEO plugin was installed in the blog so below the WYSIWYG is a section for Title Tag, Meta Description, and Meta Keywords. Make sure that you fill those in. Also, by adding tags to the post, that helps for SEO if tags are the same as your keywords.

When adding an image to a blog post, name the image file something that includes a keyword from the post, so if the post is about the snap mount, then name the image snap_mount.jpg or something like that. Also, before clicking “Insert into Post” make sure that you enter something into the Title, Alternate Text, and Description but also make sure that in those fields you use your keywords for the post. 

As for your website, which is hosted and managed by the team here at Green Golf Designs, I will go through and make sure that the keywords on the site are up to date and working correctly. If you guys can send me a list of keywords, say 10, that you want to be found by on google that would be great.  I will add them and then go through the content and get them in there as much as possible.”

In this first part I will be walking you through the steps to setup how Google and other search engines will find your Green Golf Designs website. When creating or editing a page, you will notice that right below the content area is a section called SEO Settings.

This section has 3 areas, Title Tag, Meta Description, and Meta Keywords. We will be focusing on these sections for this post.

First is the Title Tag. The Title Tag has three main uses, it is used to define the title in a browsers toolbar, it provides a title for the page when adding it as a bookmark or a favorite, and it allows search engines to display the title in search results.

When choosing a title, you want to make sure that it is something that is not too long, otherwise it will not show up in its entirety in the browser’s toolbar but at the same time give a fast impression on what the page is about. It is also important to include a main keyword in your title, Google likes that

Next is the Meta Description. The meta description is used to provide a more in-depth description of what the page is about. The meta description used to be a big part of search results, but more and more search engines are not using the meta description in terms of SEO ranking, but it is still very important when it comes to search engines.

The reason that it is still important in search results is because the meta description is usually what you see on search results. When you search for something, lets say golf clubs, you get page after page of results, so how do you choose which result to click on? Usually that choice is made by reading the text that comes up with the search results.

The text that you see below the link in the above image is usually pulled from the meta description, so even though it is not used to rank your website, it is displayed in search results so that people can get a better idea of what you site is about and if it meets the requirements of the search. Most people believe that whatever they put in the meta description area will automatically show up in search results, this is not always the case. Search engines will show what is most relevant to the search terms, sometimes the entire meta description will show up, sometimes a sentence or two will show up, and sometimes a sentence from the page will show up. The above image is a perfect example of this. Golf Town displays part of the information in their meta description, where Titleist and Wikipedia both show sentences pulled directly from the page.

This demonstrates the need to have accurate meta descriptions along with the proper keywords.

This ties into the final section in the SEO Settings area, Meta Keywords. Keywords are what search engines use to determine your SEO ranking and display your site in search results. A lot of people believe that if you put a keyword in the meta keyword area then you will show up on search engines for the keyword, this just isn’t true anymore. This used to be the case, but it became abused so search engines started to use the keywords to determine keyword density rather than just what you want to be found with.

Because search engines do not weigh keywords on their own like they used to, some other factors now come into account. The main factors are Keyword Relevancy, Keyword Density, and using Keywords in other Meta Areas. The first is the biggest, keyword relevancy, you don’t want to add a keyword that has nothing to do with the content of your page. For example if your page is about golf lessons that you provide you don’t want to add keywords that have to do with say golf shoes. Using the keywords that you choose in you content is key. If your page is about golf lessons in Vancouver and the terms “golf lessons” and “Vancouver” are used many times on your page, then using those two terms as keywords is perfect. The more a keyword is in your content, the more a search engine sees that term as being relevant. And lastly, using your keywords in other meta areas, like your Title and Meta Description, help show search engines that the keywords that you have chosen are important to your content and your reader.

These explanations just touch the surface of SEO but they should help with the understanding of how search results are gathers. In the coming weeks I will be explaining some of the other ways that you can increase your SEO and help get your Green Golf Designs website found on search engines, so keep checking back to see updates.

Chris Martin / Green Golf Designs Owner & Lead Programer

How many different website pages can there possibly be? Quick answer…apparently lots!

We are continually conducting research on Golf Websites for the Canadian Golf Industry, and the following recent revelation was quite surprising;

“Out a sample size of 32 Golf Course Websites in Canada, there were a total of 280 different page titles. For example, there were 13 pages that started with the letter “B” alone; Book a Tee Time, Banquets, Become a Member, Book a Lesson, Bar & Grill….”

The reason for our Golf Course research was quite simple, we wanted to be able to assist our Golf Course Clients who have asked us “What are the core pages for a golf website?”. Although there are some easy ways to attempt to get a clear and defined answer (Google it!), we decided to conduct our own reliable research.

So, out of those 32 Golf Course Websites in Canada, we uncovered the following;

• • 280 different web pages total. From “About Us“ to “Weather“.
  • “Contact Us” page was used by all 32 courses…and that was the only page used by all courses!
  • The second most used page was “Tournaments“, used by 17 golf courses.
  • “Book a Tee Time” was only used by 6 golf courses.
  • Only 15 golf course websites had a “Photo Gallery“. Photos are one of the most critical features on your website!

The main result of our research is this….Canadian Golf Course Websites, as a whole, tend to have the following 9 Core Pages as part of their website (in alphabetical order);

1. 1. About
2. 2. Contact Us
3. 3. Clubhouse
4. 4. Employment
5. 5. Golf
6. 6. Links
7. 7. Photo Gallery
8. 8. Rates
9. 9. Tournaments

If you or your Golf Club are interested in seeing our complete research results, just send us an email and we’ll forward you the details.

We have created 4 various themes (visit our Golf Professional Themes page) that are ready to go…..we just fill in your personal content, post up some of your own images (you swinging, your facility, your students..), add some Social Media links (you are on Twitter, Facebook and all those right?) and you’ve got your own brand ready to promote in a matter of days.

The following Press Release was sent out yesterday and we’re already recceiving some great support from the Canadian PGA Professionals across Canada.

One common question that Professionals are asking is “How long does it take to get my website up and running?”. If you know what pages you want, have some content ready to go and some pics……we’ll get you up and live in a matter of days.

Contact us at scott@greengolfdesigns.com for more details on this exciting new Program.

Press Release from Canadian PGA:

The iPING app will be a free download for the iPhone 4 and the 4th generation iPod Touch. Along with the app PING is releasing the PING cradle. The PING cradle will allow you to mount your iPhone/iPod Touch to your putter’s shaft.

“Innovation takes many forms,” said John A. Solheim, PING Chairman & CEO. “My father, Karsten Solheim, started PING with a single putter design. The engineering principles of that design and subsequent models ignited a revolution in golf club design and putter fitting. The Anser putter, which he designed in 1966, still dominates the Tours today more than 45 years later. The iPING app continues in our long tradition of innovation by allowing golfers to analyze their putting strokes more closely than ever. It works like a launch monitor for putters by measuring key aspects of your stroke. It will help every level of golfer see better results by adding more consistency on the putting green. Besides that, it’s a lot of fun to use and has several other features.”

The new app will take advantage of the Iphone’s/Ipod’s accelerometer and gyroscope. By using these sensors the app will be able to record the data from your putting stroke. The iPING app will measure your stroke type, impact angle, and tempo. The app has 3 different modes; Measure Mode, Practice Mode, and Compare Mode.

Measure Mode requires the golfer to hit 5 putts and it will record the stroke type, impact angle, and the tempo for that session.The iPING app will calculate a consistency score for your putting and then over time will use these measurements to create an average for each score and then calculate a Putting Handicap (PHcp). Much like a normal handicap, as a player plays or practices more they will see their PHcp lower.

In Practice Mode, a user can focus on one of their putting aspects, such as tempo, and tune it in to create a more consistent putting stroke.

With Compare Mode, a user can compare their results with previous results or even their friends results. Users can even do a side-by-side comparison with several PING Tour professionals that have been pre-loaded into the iPING app.

The iPING app and cradle will be available on June 20th. The app will be free but the cradle will cost you $30.

Take a look at the iPING app in action in this video. The video features Jeff Ritter demoing the iPING app

I’m a little late on this batch of Golf Industry Graphics for Golf Courses and Golf Professionals. Feel free to copy and paste to use on your Golf Website, E-Newsletter or anywhere else you can think of.

Need a Customized Graphic done with your Facility Logo or Personal Logo, let me know and I’ll whip one up for you asap.

One has to simply view the recent video posted by Scott Pritchard on the www.cantour.com website and you’ll quickly understand why.

Stuart Anderson, (Twitter handle @stuandersongolf) who is one of Canada’s top Touring Professionals, testifies in the video that Canadian Tour players can compete with players on the Nationwide Tour and at the highest level, the PGA Tour.

Based on today’s technology with instant messaging and Social Media being as big as it is, Golf Professionals such as Stuart Anderson are no doubt extremely careful with what they say to the media, specifically during a video interview.

Watching the video interview by Scott Pritchard (which, by the way, looks to be an awesome new feature added by the www.esportsdeskpro.com staff…well done Harvey!), you’ll notice Stuart’s answers are carefully verbalized. You can tell Stuart is completely aware of the fact that anything he says can, and will, be interpreted as fact.

This transitions into the question, “Are Canadian Tour Players THAT Good?”. When a respected and highly successful Canadian Tour Player such as Stuart Anderson stares into a media camera and states point blank that Canadian Tour Players can compete alongside Nationwide Players and PGA Tour Players, I think that answers the question.

After witnessing first-hand this past Sunday how a Canadian Tour Player can navigate around a golf course, I now believe 100% what Stuart stated. I played my $&* off on Sunday with a group including Candian Tour Player Mitch Gillis and Brad Clapp , and fell miserably short of my expectations.

My advice to all the young aspiring Golf Tour Professionals out there across Canada, do everything you possibly can to play some rounds of golf with our top Canadian Tour Professionals. While you might think you have some pretty good game, you need to measure yourself alongside these Professionals that are dedicating their lives to pursuing their dreams.

It is, to say the least, a very eye-opening experience and one that will have you believing what Stuart stated in his video interview with Scott Pritchard…..“Canadian Tour Players can compete with the best in the world!”.

One of the top Canadian Tour Players, Mitch Gillis (www.mitchgillis.com) of Williams Lake, invited myself, Brad Clapp and Len Bosch (one of Mitch’s sponsors) for a round of golf prior to the Western Championship at Rivershore.

Here’s just a few of the key lessons learned watching Mitch play his practice round;

1. Patience. Mitch hit a few drives on the front 9 I know he wasn’t happy with. He straightened them out on the back 9 and shot 4 under on the back…enough said.
2. Complimentary. Always compliment your playing partners on their good shots. Mitch was careful not to make comments early on in our round because (I am assuming) he hadn’t played with 2 of us before and he wanted to gauge our quality shots from our weak ones. Every quality shot we hit was recognized. What this tells me is that Mitch was into our game just as much as his own…..we appreciate that.
3. Pace of Play. Be considerate of the group behind you.  Mitch hit some extra shot into some holes, but, only after taking a look behind to make sure the following group wasn’t waiting. There’s nothing wrong with taking extra shots, especially during Tournament week. It’s encouraged. You need to instill confidence in what shots you want to hit during the competition.
4. Green Reading. Not sure how many reading this are at the level that Mitch is at, but I noticed Mitch spending the most time reading the greens. Not so much reading the breaks and contour, but analyzing the overall layout of the green and how many different pin placements could be set during the 4 day Tournament. Even Tour players miss some shots, so I’m sure they just want to measure a green for some “safe” approach shots and where not to miss (short side, for example). On the other hand, they need to be sure that if they are aggressive to shoot at a select pin location, they have a little spare room to allow for a “slight” miss.

There were plenty more lessons learned, but I am saving those for another Blog Post.

Good luck this week Mitch!

There are 34 Rules in the game of golf. Rule 14 addresses “Striking the Ball” and Rule 14-3 specifically addresses “Artificial Devices, Unusual Equipment and Unusual Use of Equipment”.

This week at the Rivershore Golf Club in Kamloops, the Canadian Tour’s Western Championship is making its debut. The entire local golfing community has been anticipating this event for a long time, and from what I witnessed early on in the week, the event will no doubt live up to all the hype it’s received to date.

On Monday, known as “Qualifying Day” to the many Golf Professionals looking to secure a spot in the Tournament, the Rivershore Golf Club looked to be in pristine condition. Rivershore has always been a premier golf facility, top to bottom, but on Monday morning there was definitely an added surreal feeling in the air.

Brad Clapp, a local Canadian PGA Golf Professional employed at the SunRivers Golf Resort in Kamloops, was one of the 24 golfers registered to play in the Western Championship Monday Qualifier. And on this Monday morning, with the sun shining and the glorious smell of freshly cut grass in the air, there was absolutely no denying the fact that Brad and the 23 other competitors were eagerly, yet nervously, anticipating a great day.

I was just as anxious as the Professionals and Amateur players competing, as this was my first experience as a caddy at a Tour Event. Brad invited me to join him for the Qualifier to provide an extra set of eyes to help read some greens and confirm precise yardages. Brad and I typically use Bushnell Rangefinders when competing at our local, provincial and national Canadian PGA Events, but they are prohibited at Canadian Tour Events. Here’s where things go sideways for both of us.

Firstly, I want to point out that, among other things, golf is truly a game of honesty, sportsmanship and integrity. Integrity implies “doing the right thing even when you know no one else is looking”.

As mentioned, there’s no denying the fact that all the golfers for the Monday Qualifier were nervous, including Brad. Being a highly respected local Canadian PGA Professional at Sun Rivers, along with being one of the top playing Professionals in British Columbia, there’s some added pressure on Brad’s shoulders to perform well and represent the Kamloops community in the Event.

Drawing the first tee time at 7:50 am, Brad was excited to be the first group of the day out on the perfectly manicured Rivershore greens (which are by far the best putting surfaces I have played on in the Thompson Okanagan area). Brad was coming off a solid practice round the day before where he held his own playing with regular Canadian Tour Player Mitch Gillis, a classy and consistent Tour Player who’s travelled the world competing in Golf Events.

Watching Brad hit range balls alongside the other “dew-sweepers” who would be teeing it up early, I could tell his ball striking was sharp. Putting is the only area of his game where he occasionally lacks confidence, but after seeing him roll some putts on the practice green, confidence would not be an issue today.

With Canadian Tour Player Kent Fukishima’s custom yardage guide and Sharpie in hand, I waited for Brad and his playing competitor to receive their instructions from the Canadian Tour Official at the Starter’s area. I couldn’t hear anything being said, but Rules Official Jack Croucher was sure glad to see Brad take the Rules Sheet and briefly read it. After reading the Rules Sheet, Brad handed it to me and I quickly flipped it over to look at the hole placements. Hole #1 pin was 7 yards from the front edge, and 12 yards short of the middle of the green.

Actually, I did hear one point stressed by the Official. He mentioned that there would be at least 13 spots available in the Western Championship. From an anticipated 4 available spots, Brad was now informed that there would be 13. As one of the top Canadian PGA playing Professionals in B.C., I can only imagine what Brad was thinking. His mind must have been racing. What an opportunity.

Brad’s tee shot off the first tee veered a little off to the right into some tall grass. I pulled another golf ball from his bag and he hit a provisional. That one was safe. Leaving the tee area, Brad was visibly shaken by his wayward shot. No golfer likes to start a round of golf, especially an important tournament round, by having to play a provisional ball. Brad found his original ball in the tall grass and had no other option but to chip out safely onto the fairway.

I placed Brad’s bag near his ball on the fairway, pulled out our yardage guide and walked back to look at the yardage on a nearby sprinkler head. 156 yards to the middle. I turned back towards Brad and before I could say anything he announced “148 yards”. As an act of habit, Brad had pulled out his Bushnell Range Finder and looked through the lens to get an exact yardage to the pin.

Confused, I replied back “I didn’t know you could use Range Finders today”. Brad looked me straight in the face with a stunned expression and said “What’s the Rules Sheet say”.

Pulling the Rules Sheet out, I read out loud the second item listed on the Sheet, “The use of any distance measuring device is prohibited. Penalty for breach of Rule 14-3: Disqualification”.

Brad, without any hesitation whatsoever, said “That’s it, I’m D.Q’d”. He briskly walked over to his playing competitor, explained that he had used his Bushnell, and that he was calling himself on the act. Just to ensure the correct decision, Brad called over Rules Official Jack Croucher and explained what had transpired. Jack politely confirmed what we already knew, Brad was disqualified.

Brad signed off on his playing competitor’s score for that first hole, shook his competitor’s hand and wished him success on the remainder of his round. We turned around and looked for the quickest and easiest route back to the Clubhouse.

In typical Brad Clapp fashion, he turned to me and said “that was one expensive hole of golf!”.

What had just happened? I know what happened. In a game that offers so much opportunity and success for those who seek to better themselves both as golfers and individuals, sometimes we are faced with a situation that can truly and honestly define us as a human being .

As much as Brad has played the event over and over in his mind, and has probably spent a lot of time and energy on the negative consequences of the situation, being disqualified will be a life’s lesson that he should be proud of.

Did anyone actually see Brad use his Bushnell to measure the yardage. Maybe, maybe not. It really doesn’t matter. As mentioned above, Integrity implies “Doing the right thing even when you know no one else is looking”.

I am proud to know Brad and even more proud to witness his true character which reflects positively upon the 3,700+ Canadian PGA Professionals across Canada who are leaders in the game of golf.

Brad will have countless more opportunities to prove himself with his golfing talents, but he only has a few opportunities in life to prove to his friends, family and fellow Canadian PGA Professionals that he truly is a man of strong integrity.

I’m sure Brad’s back at Sun Rivers, working his 8 hours in the Pro Shop today, and then heading straight for the driving range to either teach a lesson or two to make some extra money, or working on his own game. He is teeing it up next week in a Canadian Open Qualifier in Vancouver, where by the way Brad, Bushnell Range Finders are prohibited. Good Luck bud!

Recently, one of our Professional clients, Class A Professional Kyle German, wrote an excellent piece for the www.golfnewsnow.ca news website on this particular subject. Below is an exerpt of the article;

A Website Is A Necessity For An Independent

March 16, 2011 by  Kyle German

Now that I’ve become an independent teaching professional, I’ve started my own website, which you can see by clicking here.

A long time ago, I was involved with a website for our Lower Mainland professional tour, but to be honest, it was pretty pedestrian.

When I decided to go with this site, I just started looking around at other websites to get ideas, see what I liked, what I didn’t like, things I thought worked and didn’t work. After jotting ideas down, I got to the point where I needed someone to host and develop the site.

One of the nice things about being a golf professional for a long time is that you meet a lot of people and make a lot of contacts. One of our B.C. PGA members, Scott Allan, along with Website Developer Chris Martin, has started a website design company, so I got in touch with Scott.

There will be information about me. Students can book lessons, etc., but it’s also a way for me to promote myself. It’s also a nice way for me to promote my sponsors.

I’ve had a lot of people who have been really good to me over the years and one day, if the site gets a lot of hits, maybe it will help them as well.

I think in this day and age, whether or not the website generates a lot of revenue, from a professional standpoint, it’s important to have a website because I think nowadays, it’s expected. It’s a very good image-enhancer and it almost does you harm not to have one.

It’s another way to promote your brand and that’s what you have to strive to do as an independent. You’re hoping that after a short time, it ends up paying for itself.

My only hesitation was not being able to control the site or if it went online and I wouldn’t like it, but I’ve been shown the ropes, I can change what I want and if I can’t, help is just a phone call away.

About Kyle German.

Kyle German is the 2008 winner of the Canadian PGA Club Professionals Championship and is a teaching professional at Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey, BC. He is also a longtime member of the PGA of British Columbia and the CPGA.