RSS (Really Simple Syndication) March 4, 2009 By Editor The RSS feed symbol can be found on most blog sites, but what is it and what can it do for you. The RSS is an xml feed that has been standardized to be viewed on a wide variety of platforms. The feed (which sometimes is referred as) can be viewed in a web page, on your desk top or cell phone. This “feed” can carry a wide variety of information that can help users find your content efficiently and effectively, by embedding meta tags, images, video and textual content. The best way to get your information delivered to this wide variety of devices is to sign up with feedburner and get the code to paste in your site that will allow users to subscribe to your feed or you can log into your wordpress account and go in to Appearance / Widgets and add the RSS to the sidebar. Once it has been added to the sidebar you can hit edit and enter your RSS feed url (http://feeds.feedburner.com/yourblog). Hit save and your done, now anyone can subscibe to your feed and get your information on the device they prefer.
Blogging Communities and Directories March 4, 2009 By Editor Part of my job is helping smaller business’s achieve harmony on the web. Most clients cannot afford to spend large amounts of money to help boost their online presence. One way to help boost presence and deliver more quality content to their users is through a blog. There are so many different aspects to help achieve blogging bliss it is hard for me to explain them all. One of the biggest boosts I found in the blogging game is to join blog communities and directories. Blogging communities can be found throughout the net and finding a good one takes a little trial and error. It is good to join as many as you can just to get the exposure, but finding a niche community related to your blog may be a little tougher. All blogging communities offer something of value to other users and yourself, and once again it comes down to what you put in, you will get out. [Read more…]
WordPress Stats September 26, 2008 By Editor I great and easy way to track your users is by installing the plugin WordPress Stats. Accuracy is not 100%, but it does work well enough to see progress and hits to your site. The stats plugin will also allow you to see referrers and your top post and pages viewed from your dashboard. It is free andthe only requirement to use it is your API number you get from your WordPress account.
The Importance of Keywords September 25, 2008 By Editor Getting to the top of search engines can be a daunting task. Not knowing where to begin can leave you feeling frustrated, while your site sits on the net unnoticed. Fret not because there is a solution. The best place to start is by using and understanding “key words” and how they relate to your site, while still attracting visitors. You can start by making a list of relevant words and phrases that pertain to your site and search for them in Google to see how many returns you get. This will give you an idea of the competition you are facing. However, it is important to choose your keywords wisely. There is no sense in trying to compete with twenty different sites with page ranks of 7 or higher by using the same keywords they do because let’s be honest; your use of the same keyword is not going to help you out-rank them. Not to say you are not going to have some of the same key words, because obviously, it is essential and clearly works. The point is to find keywords that give you the chance to be a worthy competitor; words related to the content of your site. If you choose words that people Google on a regular basis, only to find that when they get to your site, your content is not even remotely related to it, chances are they will leave and not return. This is what you want to avoid. You want people to visit your page, and keep coming back. I am going to use examples that I used for the site carshowkiosk.com. Remember that these techniques can be applied to any site, under any situation and it is important to find your niche. The site name (carshowkiosk) has little competition so I will focus on other keywords that will have potential to drive traffic to my site. My first choice for a keyword was “car show”. I typed it into Google and got 49,300,000 results. That’s a lot of competition to go up against for a small web site. By refining my keyword to “Michigan car show” I got a return of 2,820,000 listings from Google. By adding Michigan to my keyword, which suited my website better anyway, I was able to go from 49 million competitors, to just under 3 million, which are much better odds in this competitive game. Getting your keywords to work for you to gain higher ranking is the next step. Link exchange is still the best way to get higher rankings in search engines. When you make your links, use your keywords as the anchored text and not the site name. Example link: CarShowKiosk.com, your information kiosk for Michigan Car Shows and cruises. Page optimization is also important. Whenever possible, include your keywords in titles, tags and headings. Make links to other pages within your site that include your keywords. When using alt tags for images, include keywords when relevant. However, do not spam your site with keywords, as this will only hurt your efforts and irritate your visitors. Below is a picture of how keywords are used in the anchored text linking to internal pages, in the title of pages and within the site structure (address bar). Remember to find keywords that fit your niche, are relevant to your particular site and that offer you a competitive edge. Do not be afraid to research misspellings of your target keywords or phrases to gain an edge also; in fact, I encourage it. Try to include your keywords whenever and wherever possible in an applicable manner and get as many links possible with your keywords as the anchored text.
Askimet Spam Filter September 25, 2008 By Editor I can not stress the importance in activating your Askimet spam filter. Your site may be new and have very few readers, but sooner or later the spam bots will find you. You can not hide from them so, sign up for a free word press account and get your API key to activate the filter. It sure is better than deleting a eleventy thousand worthless comments. The API key can also activate several other great plugins…. so do it already.
All in One SEO pack plugin September 25, 2008 By Editor This is a great wordpress plugin to help climb your way through the Search Engine Optimization ranks. When writing a post or page you can scroll down and fill out the form (It really is that easy). This tool allows for each post / page you create to have its own identity for the spyders and bots to index. You do not have to be a SEO wizard to use this plugin. You can download the All in One SEO pack through the word press site.