WordPress Training Expert

Author: WP Training Expert

  • Basic Search Engine Optimization For Online Success

    Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the cornerstones to an effective online presence. It is estimated that almost 90% of all web traffic is from a search engine of some sort. A good SEO plan is a great first step in any inbound marketing efforts. If you can consistently rank on the first page of any web searches, you will be positioning your business to be found by eager consumers.

    This short report will cover the most critical items you need to be aware of when it comes to search engine optimization.

    Google Rules: As of today, Google has a stranglehold on the search engine market. They hold about a 70% market share. When you are optimizing for the search engines, it usually means Google. It has the best chance to consistently send you leads.

    It’s All In The Keyword: The strength of SEO is that you can attempt to rank for whichever keywords you want. Keywords are the terms users search for on a search engine. The strongest SEO campaigns will begin with properly researched keywords. The basic cycle is to brainstorm a list of words you think people would search to find your business or offering. Then you plug this list into online tools like the Google Keyword Tool, and you will be given even more options. You can also view the competition and the amount the keywords are searched. This way you can figure out which keywords are worth ranking for.

    Think Local & Long-tail: Quite often ranking for a location based keyword is easier than just the keyword itself. Similarly, ranking for keywords that are 3-4 words long is also easier than one word queries. For example, ranking on the top of Google for “Bakery” would probably be very hard. If you add a local flair to it, it becomes much more likely. Ranking for “Tallahassee Bakery” will be a lot easier. Even easier than that would be a long-tail term like “Tallahassee Wedding Cake Bakery”. Each of those keyword terms are progressively easier to rank for, but the trade off is they are searched less. Counter that by trying to rank for as many related long-tail terms as possible.

    Your Web Platform Matters: While any type of website can rank in the search engines (so breathe easy if you already have a website built), the platform you build it with can speed up the SEO process. The single most powerful platform I have used is WordPress. Google seems to love it…and for good reason. WordPress was initially a blogging platform, so it makes it very easy to add new content. Google loves new content (more on that later), so WordPress is favored since it likely includes fresh content. WordPress also includes many free plugins that are designed to boost your SEO rankings. The navigational set up of WordPress is also more inline with the type of interlinking Google values. They want to send people to sites that are easy to navigate. If you are choosing one platform to build your website with, seriously consider WordPress.

    On-Page and Off-Page: Once you have your website platform chosen and list of keywords you can begin to optimize your website. The two major ways are on-page and off-page. It is a widely held belief that you should spend 20% of your time on-page optimization and 80% off page.

    On-page optimization is making your site search engine friendly. One of the major concerns you want to address are the title tags on every page. Each page should have it’s own title and include a different keyword term. This way each of your websites pages can rank for a different search engine term. If you use WordPress you can install plugins like All in One SEO to help with this. You will also want to make sure your keywords show up in your site’s content but do not stuff them in. They have to be used moderately and naturally. Other on-page concerns include cleaning up any broken links on your site, including a sitemap, a privacy policy and proper working navigation.

    Off-page optimization comes down to almost purely link building. One of the best ways to get your website into the search engines is if lot’s of people link back to your site. Actively building backlinks can be a grueling process but it works. For best results you will want your keyword to be the actual text of the link. Whatever words form the actual link are known as “anchor text”. You want your anchor text to be your chosen keywords! To get started add your website link to any online profiles you may have.

    Consistent Content: This is one of the best ways to properly optimize your site for the search engines. You must be creating and posting content on your site regularly. It doesn’t have to be daily (although that would rock!) but I think weekly is a great goal. If you can’t do that yourself, you can get an employee to take that on, or find cheap outsourcing solutions.

    Content is the lifeblood of your website. It is why people come to it and why people stay. Creating content also gives you more chances to rank in the search engines. If you are posting helpful articles to your site, make sure to get some keywords in the title so they can show up in the search engines. This is why WordPress is so powerful, it makes adding content easy.

    Google loves fresh content as well. Sites that have fresh updated content are more relevant by their very nature in Google’s eyes. Commit to creating content consistently and you will see your search engine rank grow along with your traffic and revenue.

    Search Engine Optimization is one of the best advertising opportunities online today. Start your SEO efforts today, and soon you won’t have to worry about cold calls because your customers will be finding you.

  • Call People Into Action Today

    Let’s start with a clear understanding of what a call to action actually is. A call to action is an element or that entices a reader or viewer to take note or make a decision based upon it. Relating this directly to the Internet and websites, a website call to action could be something like “Add to Shopping Cart”, “Buy Now” or “Subscribe to Newsletter”. The main goal of a call to action is to persuade the visitor to click on or interact further with your website, hopefully ending in the visitor buying a product or service or another conversion goal. It is often seen that blue underlined text is clicked on more by website visitors when given a choice because these have been the default standard for many years. It is also believed that the blue text is associated with calming and trust so it more likely to be clicked.

    Having described what a call to action is it should be clear that every good business website have at least one call to action on every single page within the website. Given the nature of websites it is often important to give a couple of call to action options to users. When a visitor progresses through your website, you should be able to follow the path your website visitors have made along the path of persuasion towards your conversion goal. Ideally this would give you a clear idea on what calls to action are working and what ones aren’t along the desired flow of your conversion process. A good website will be laid out in such a way that when a visitor wants to make a slight detour to find out more information correctly placed and worded calls to action are there to guide them back on your conversion path.

    So, why do you need a call to action on your website? Many studies have shown that if a website visitor does not find what they are looking for within 3 seconds they will exit your website. Many SEO experts will only focus on getting a website into the top few results but there should also be focus on the overall online marketing strategy. Any good SEO and Online Marketing company will be able to guide you in a complete online marketing strategy. It is important to know that selling the websites product or service and using calls to action to get visitors through your conversion path is of equal importance to the overall SEO plan.

    A well thought out call to action in an overall online marketing campaign will provide you with more sales, lead generation and constant predictable results.

    When choosing an SEO and Online Marketing company it is important to take some time and do your own research. The simplest form of research is to search in Google for SEO or Online Marketing and see how good the SEO firm is at selling their own products and services. If they are positioned well for their own services then they are likely to be able to successfully market your products and services online.

  • What NOT to Put in Your Social Network Profile

    Your social networking profile is important when it comes to meeting other Internet users. This is because, in most cases, Internet users are looking to chat with someone who has the same goals, views, beliefs, and interests as they do. Without a personal profile, it would be difficult or impossible to tell what your interests are. That is why social networking profiles are not only important, but they are needed.

    When it comes to social networking profiles, a lot of focus has been placed on what you should include in your profile or display on your profile page. It has been said that pictures produce the best responses, as well as detailed personal information. Although a picture and detailed personal information may help to increase your page views, you may be getting views that you do not necessarily want. Despite what you may believe, most social networking websites do not have restrictions on who can view your personal profile. In fact, Internet users, even those that do not belong to your online community, can easily see profile.

    Since anyone, literally anyone, can see your social networking profile, on most social networking websites, you are advised to be cautious. Essentially, this means that instead of focusing on what you should put in your online profile, you should be focusing on what not to put. This is one the best ways to protect your safety, both on and offline.

    Pictures (again!) are often recommended with social networking websites. If you are interested in posting a personal picture of yourself in your online profile you can do so, but you are advised to carefully choose that picture. While you will want to look your best, you are advised against posting a picture that is too revealing or seductive in nature. Most Internet users can look at these types of pictures without feeling a thing, but for others these types of pictures spell danger.

    If you make the decision to post a picture of yourself in your social networking website profile, you need to be careful about the rest of the information that you post. Although you may not necessarily think about it, a picture is just a picture, but combined with your name and address, it could be a deadly combination. You are advised to only post your first name in your profile. This will make it more difficult for anyone to try and contact you off of the Internet.

    It is also advised that you carefully choose your location. A large number of online social networking sites require that you select a city, as well as a state. If it is allowed, you may only wish to list your state and not the city. If you are required to list the city and the state that you live in, you may want to think about using a nearby city or town, especially if you live in a small town. If an Internet predator wanted to contact you and you lived in a small town, it could be fairly easy for them to find you. That is why it is advised that you carefully select the answer to the location question.

    In addition to the above precautionary measures, it is advised that you do not post detailed information on your children, the location of your home, your income, or when you will be leaving for vacation! By keeping these and the above mentioned points in mind, you should be able to enjoy online social networking without having to always look behind your back.

  • Free Tools To Grow Your Online Biz

    Best things in life are free, as many would say. This especially holds true with efforts in advertising one’s products or services. With free Internet marketing services, one can save a lot. Instead of shelling out for the marketing aspect of your product or services, that chunk of money could be put to other important elements of your business since many information websites now offer knowledge regarding Internet marketing services that comes with no price tag at all.

    This is not to tell you that better focus on plain Internet marketing. It still will do your business a lot good if you mix traditional advertisement efforts such as traditional and new marketing media.

    Here are few of the free methods that you could employ to make your products and services be in their most visible, thus saleable, form.

    1. Promote your business through free search engine submission and optimization.

    Submit your website to various search engines monthly. This will make many more people know that your website actually exists. Aiming for the top search engines will help a lot in this endeavor.

    2. Improve your articles.

    Remember that information on articles with good content as traffic-bringer of websites? This time it’s about making these articles serve your website better by using keyword suggestion tools that are offered for free. Update your web site’s content by regularly checking the standing of your keywords with the current market.

    3. Acquire free content.

    If you have no time to increase the SEO or search engine optimization-friendliness of your articles, you can look for free content from article directories. All you need to do is retain the resource box of those write-ups.

    4. Avail of free comprehensive web traffic analyzers.

    These are tools that you can make use of without costing you a cent. Your website’s hits statistics will be produced by this kind of Internet marketing tool for your own analysis.

    5. Learn to manipulate web design templates.

    You don’t have to be too techie-geeky to be able to design your web site. Oftentimes, web design templates or custom-made layouts are available for the Internet marketer to use.

    6. Monitor your website’s visibility.

    Tools such as search engine position trackers may be used to see your website’s standing.

    These processes are very convenient to use as long as you keep in mind that you use and try to master their use for your own benefit. Just don’t get obsessed with your achievements when you finally learn how to use them and incorporate them in your Internet marketing feat.

  • 3 Secrets to Knocking Out Big Competitors

    Nobody likes a bully… especially small business marketers. If you’ve ever felt like the little guy taking punches from a heavyweight champion, you know what I’m talking about. Big business has donned its gloves, and is waiting to put small business down for the count.

    I’ve got good news!

    Sometimes the little guy wins. Heck, it isn’t easy and sometimes it’s a close call, but little guys do win and when they do… victory is sweet!

    What can you do when you’re being threatened by the bully down the street?

    1. Take a careful look at the Competition

    Every business has its strengths and weaknesses. You need to be aware of both… your competitors strong points, and the places where room for improvement is quite obvious.

    2. Be Flexible

    Don’t expect your competitor to broadcast his next move so that you can be prepared to block it. You’ve got to think a step ahead, and be ready to outsmart his next maneuver.

    3. Use a little Judo

    You don’t have to be big and brawny to successfully use Judo. Why? It’s an art that uses your opponent’s momentum to trip him up. So what if you don’t have thousands of dollars to invest in a campaign.

    When you’re competition has invested his tens of thousands in one, you’ll be able to make a quick about turn and counteract quickly with a smaller campaign of your own.

    He’ll either forfeit his investment or continue through, but loose steam.

    I’m going to let you in on a little secret about your competitors that might encourage you. Although big businesses often have a wide variety of products filling their shelves, they often don’t have depth.

    Think about it this way.

    You may run to your local department store and find everything ranging from make-up to camping equipment. The problem with that? …chances are they don’t have an extremely wide assortment of their products.

    This means that if you’re an avid outdoorsman, you probably wouldn’t be satisfied choosing between two cheap brands of tents when there is an amazing variety on the market. An outdoor related store could get one over on the big department store by offering the widest variety of fewer products in a focused field.

    Another asset about being the small guy, is that it’s easier to make a quick turn. Hey, how many managers do you have to get okays from to make a quick decision? Think of the weeks it takes for a local department store to send a request from a customer for a certain product to the regional or national management? Yeah, too long!

    As a small business, you can have a new product on your shelves within a week. If I were a customer wanting a new tent, I’d prefer to not wait until summer was half over to get it.

    There are a lot of benefits to being the small guy. Don’t take bullying lying down. You have what it takes to get the best end of the stick and come out a winner.

  • More Clicks With Low Competition Keywords

    One of the best ways to advertise these days is through pay per click advertising. Done the right way, it can literally boost your site hits and even your revenue by millions. For those who understand how applications like Google Adsense works, pay per click advertising can be cost effective and just plain old effective in an overall sense.

    However, if mismanaged, pay per click advertising could be extremely costly and just as ineffective. Many people who use pay per click advertising spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year for clicks that don’t go through . What’s the difference between those who use pay per click advertising effectively and those who do not?

    One of the major things you can do to up your success rate (and lower your costs) when it comes to pay per click advertising is to go for low competition keywords. For example, a very high competition keyword might be “car.” This is the most common word that comes to mind when people think of motorized vehicles, so the cost of “buying” this keyword for pay per click purchases is very high. Any time somebody clicks on that ad that’s targeting the word “car,” the cost to the company putting out the ad is quite high.

    For bigger businesses, this might be fine. However, if you’re a smaller car dealership, you might have better luck going for “auto,” which is a synonym for “car” yet a keyword with a lower competition level. These words will still show up when potential customers are doing searches (most people who are searching for “car” will likely search for “automobile”), and even if the event that the customer doesn’t search for “auto,” the keyword is related to “car.” Google and other search engines understand the magic of synonyms, and you could get included in a search for “car” even if you didn’t buy the keyword!

    Using low competition keywords is a great way to get a lot of attention for much less money. When you sign up for pay per click advertising, be sure to do some research first and come up with commonly searched for terms that are lower competition. Don’t just go for the most obvious words – while it might seem that this would get you more advertising bang for your buck, remember that you’ll be paying out considerably more bucks for what might not even be a worthwhile bang.

    In following articles, we talk about the best routes of finding these low competition keywords that will help you keep costs down while boosting site viewership. It might sound too good to be true, but effective pay per click advertising is a great way to get the attention of niche markets – and it doesn’t have to be expensive!

  • How to Track Traffic

    Video: How to track traffic stats on your WordPress site.

  • How To Monetize Your Online Business

    Video: Brad talks about when and how to monetize your online business.

  • Using Guest Posts to Drive Traffic

    Video: Using guest posting on other blogs to drive traffic to your WordPress blog

  • Making Mobile Web Count

    Many people who own cell phones surf the Internet using them. Smartphones are no doubt the best arena to be surfing the web in, but the truth of the matter is that even the simplest cell phone these days likely has Internet capabilities. With this in mind, remember that more and more people are sitting around, stuck in traffic or waiting for their date to show up, tinkering with the Internet on their phone.

    If you’re a business with a marketing mindset, then this information is doubtlessly making you wonder how you can best turn this to your advantage insofar as getting your message across to the consumer is concerned. Having a website in general is one of the best ways to get yourself out there to the masses, and business websites are all but considered necessary these days to any business who wishes to get off the ground and advertise to a wide range of potential clients. But what about clients who are surfing on their cell phones?

    The truth of the matter is that no matter how good your site looks on the computer or how well organized it is, it’s likely a little awkward for those who are working with mobile browsers. Regular websites are simply not calibrated to handle mobile browsers, and the result is often squished graphics and confusing layouts.

    What can assist in this matter is a website that is specifically calibrated for the use of Internet surfers using mobile phones. These specialty websites are often known as “WAP” websites, and generally project a truncated version of the company’s full website. WAP websites are a great way to get headlines and multimedia downloads to your consumers in a mobile format.

    Spending the money to develop a website that is specifically calibrated for a mobile web browser is another great way for a startup to break into the mobile marketing craze. Lots of people surf the Internet on their phones, and being able to reach out to these surfers is a great way to make your mobile marketing dollar stretch farther than with other methods. Also, if you’re worried about certain kinds of mobile marketing being too “intrusive,” having a mobile website is a more latent way to take advantage of mobile marketing while still getting in on the trend.

    In order to find people who can help you calibrate your business’ mobile website, you can search online for companies that specialize in “mobile web development.” Those who do work in this department are different than traditional web designers, so be sure that you know who you’re working with and what their capabilities are insofar as mobile web design is concerned before making a commitment.