Archive for Search Engine Optimization
Getting Your WordPress Blog Found With a Sitemap
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When you build your blog, you just expect Google and other search engines to just find it. Well, it doesn’t actually work that way and if you just wait for Google to just “find” your blog, you’ll be waiting a long time.
Here’s the thing: in order for a search engine to find your site, it’s got to find a way to it. A few ways to do this is linking to your blog from an established site, going into Webmaster tools and submitting the site for crawling or having a sitemap with notification to the search engines.
In this post, I want to briefly go through how to install a sitemap on your blog and get search engines to know about it. For this, I’m assuming you’re using WordPress for your blog.
Installing a XML Sitemap in WordPress
- From your dashboard, go to the left menu and select Add New under Plugins.
- Then, do a search for Google Sitemap Generator.
- Search the results and find Google XML Sitemaps and install it.
- Now that it’s installed, go the left menu and select XML-Sitemap under the Settings menu.
- Just keep the options default for now, unless you know what you’re doing and then click on the link to “rebuild sitemap.” This will automatically generate your xml sitemap and notify Google, Bing and Ask about your site.
There you have it – a simple how-to on getting a XML sitemap on your WordPress blog and letting search engines know about it. Now Google and other search engines know about your blog and will index your pages based on the information in your new sitemap.
For even more information and in-depth instruction on how search engines work and how your site can benefit from search engine optimization, check into my EBook, Search Engine Optimization, at my website store.
Why You Should Choose Your Link Anchor Text Carefully
Posted by: | CommentsDo you know what anchor text is and how it impacts your SEO efforts? Basically, anchor text is the words that show up in a link. For instance, click here or contact us are some of the most common types of links you see on a web page. Now, why would it matter what words you use in a link?
Lots, actually.
Why Anchor Text Matters
For one, the right anchor text heavily impacts your SEO efforts. When you’re trying to attract inbound links, you would want someone to link to your site with the keywords that describe your business. The reason being is this: search engines rank keywords in search based on the relevancy of the words in links to sites.
So, if you wanted to rank higher for “business consulting, “ make sure inbound links use those words as the anchor text for the link to your site. This also goes for links inside of your site as well. Search engines take into account internal links as well as outgoing and incoming links.
Anchor Text Helps Conversions Too
Now, there’s another reason you would want to use better words for anchor links: conversions. Think about it, if you want someone to visit your sales page, would you want a link like click here? Nahhh…make sure it’s something compelling, like get your free business consulting report now.
So, remember, when you’re looking at linking anything in or out of your site, choose the right anchor text for each link – the words matter more than you think!
Produce Quality Content or Google Will Slap Your Search Rankings
Posted by: | CommentsAlthough you can still send articles to places like ezinearticles.com as part of your article marketing strategy, make sure you think beyond just sending out any type of article. Why do I say this? With the release of Google’s panda update to their algorithm, many content sites got a slap. Unless the sites keep quality content on their sites, they will rank lower in the eyes of Google.
Why did Google do this? For a long time, the lower quality content farms would rank higher in search rankings compared 
to those sites with less quantities of content. Now, Google has made a decree: if you’re content isn’t quality content, prepare for a slap from us.
This is why ezinearticles and other content driven directories are now implementing more stringent measures in their editorial processes. So, yes, it’s still good to submit articles, but you better be sure it’s quality content.
Other ways to get your content out to the world is distribute it through your social networks, guest post on blogs that target the same audience as you do and make sure you send out quality content to your mailing lists.
If you’re looking for all the details of the changes at Google, Search Engine Land has a great write-up on it:
http://searchengineland.com/who-lost-in-googles-farmer-algorithm-change-66173
From what it shows, this is just the first phase as Google cracks down on content farms. More changes are in store and if you want to be sure your content keeps its rankings, make sure it’s quality content or you may be in for a Google slap.
How to Use Page Heading Tips to Increase SEO Rankings
Posted by: | CommentsA lot of emphasis has been placed on how to increase SEO rankings using keywords.
Using correct html on page headings is one of the best ways to make this happen. The tag on the heading is the signal to search engines to increase SEO rankings and bring your site to the top.
Tip #1: Use Correct Code in Headings for good seo rankings
The first heading on your website is the <h1> tag. This page heading is the most important part of your website or blog and should be filled out with keywords. It should also incorporate a phrase that lights up search engines and interests readers who come to the site.
The next headings are <h2> to <h6>, which are all additional subheadings. These might be other bolded places that you want to draw attention to. You might use subheadings to organize your body copy into various sections with headers.
Tip #2: Make Sure No Headings Are Missing
Take a look at your html code and make sure you have all the codes for the headings filled out. If you have missing code, make sure to fill it out. For example, if you have a great <h3> heading, but the first two levels are missing, this should be fixed.
Tip #3: Put Keywords Into the Tagged Headings
To increase your SEO rankings the most, put your most important keywords in the first heading, but don’t stop there. Use keywords in all the headings. This is actually even more important than putting keywords into the body copy because the search engines scan for headline tags first.
Try these easy page heading tips to increase SEO rankings. Even though this is one of many strategies, this could be your ticket to more visitors.
For a checklist of more tips on seo rankings visit the Search Engine Journal blog.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) the Series – Part III: Submit and Monitor
Posted by: | CommentsDuring this three-part Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Series, we’ve discussed the crucial coding that goes between the head tags: a unique and accurate title tag, a good description, and appropriate keywords and phrases, as well as the content of your web pages between the body tags.
To conclude, I’ll discuss submitting your website to the search engines (SEs) and then how to monitor the results.
The Process of Crawling
