How Can You Get Started With SEO? #FridayFinds

How can you get started with SEO?
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Love it or hate it, organic search traffic is a very effective method of driving free traffic to your website. People search the Internet when they’re researching and buying. It’s a fact. So, what can you do to optimize your website to be search engine friendly while still writing quality content that your visitors will want to read? Last week, in my #FridayFinds series, I focused on new SEO tactics that you can use to help website visitors find your blog in Google’s SERPs (search engine results pages). One of the resources that I cited suggested that we limit the length of our post titles to 55 characters.  In this week’s finds, you’ll learn  SEO tips and tools to either get you started with SEO or help take you to the next level.

Tips for Optimizing Your Blog for the Search Engines:

In his post, Starting Over, Part 3 – Optimize by Dr. Peter J. Meyers on MOZ.com, Pete talks about 4 tools that bloggers can use to get a snapshot of how well you’ve optimized your site for the search engines. He uses one of his sites as an example and has included screen shots to illustrate his points. The four tools that he discusses include:

1) Google’s SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages):

One of the simplest things that a blogger can do is to Google on the keywords that you think someone would search on if they were looking for your article. For example, last week, I used the words “google website signals serps” in my post title and I used those keywords throughout my article. Following Pete’s suggestion, I Googled on those 4 words and found my article in the SERPs and this is what I saw in the results:

Screenshot of a Google SERP results page

As Pete mentions in his article, the results pulled the meta-description that I had entered and it pulled my profile pic from my Google authorship. Also, my title did not get cut off. So, that quick look provided quite a bit of insight into how my post appeared in the results.

I also saw that my post appeared in the 10th position of the first result page. #2 was my post on Scoop.It, #3 was a tweet of my post by Pam Moore, (@PamMktgNut), #4 was a Google+ share by Adrienne Smith (@AdrienneSmith40) and the 5th position was my article on BizSugar.com. That was interesting too since it confirms that social shares have the potential of driving more traffic to my site than my SEO efforts.

2) Google Webmaster Tools:

I’ve blogged before about the importance of creating an XML sitemap and submitting it to Google using their Webmaster Tools and this made Pete’s list as the second thing that’s worth a look. In his article, Pete shares screenshots of some of the things to look for including: the number of pages indexed and crawl errors.

3) MOZ Analytics:

As we probably should have expected, the third set of tools that Pete recommends in his article (on Moz.com) is Moz Analytics. Personally, I use some of the free tools that Moz offers but I have not invested in any of their paid products. (Hopefully, some readers here are subscribers and will share their insight with us in the comments.) Their premium plans start at $99 per month and they offer a 30-day free trial.

4) Google Analytics:

While Google offers an extensive amount of help in their official Analytics Help Center, there is also an abundance of tutorials, eBooks and videos available on the web. I know many of you here are already using Google Analytics. For those of you who are looking either to get started  or for more information, a good place to start is 50 Resources for Getting the Most Out of Google Analytics on KISSmetrics.com.

A Public Service Announcement by a Bodiless Matt Cutts

In her post Bodiless Matt Cutts Explains Why Body Content Matters to Google on SearchEngineWatch.com, Jennifer Slegg shares a Google Webmasters video where Matt talks about the importance of meta tag information but he also stresses the importance of content. In summary, Jennifer closes with the following statement:

“Since Cutts did this video as a PSA, it does also raise the question if the upcoming algo update that he has hinted about will also more heavily stress quality content over thin content than webmasters have seen up until now.”

Getting Started with SEO:

I was wrapping up this post when I thought to myself that I really wish I could share an article with more actionable items. That’s when I did one final search and I came upon Your First 9 SEO Tasks by Eric Enge on PlusYourBusiness.com.

One of my favorite things about writing this series is that I discover new blogs and new resources for helpful information. Up until today, I had not been aware of Eric but I certainly will be following him now. (He has 16,429 followers on Google Plus as I’m writing this.) In his article, Eric shares nine things that we really should be doing if we’re hoping to optimize our sites and increase our organic search traffic.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time explaining what Eric has discussed in his article. Instead, I highly recommend that you give it a read yourself. What I will do is bullet-point the nine tips to pique your interest:

  • Set up Google Analytics
  • Set up Google Webmaster Tools
  • Check your Indexing Status
  • Check for 404 Errors with a Crawling Tool
  • Do some Keyword Research
  • Optimize your Title Tags
  • Eliminate Duplicate Content
  • Create Quality Content
  • Spread the Word

In summary, I found Eric’s article to be a fairly easy read packed with useful tips and screenshots to get you started. For another easy to follow post with tips that apply specifically your WordPress blog posts, check out my article 4 SEO Tips to Optimize your WordPress Blog.

Over To You:

What are your thoughts? Have you ever Googled one of your posts to see if (and how) it shows up in the search results? Do you use Google Analytics and/or Moz tools? What are some of your favorite SEO tips? We’d love to know.

To learn more about this week’s featured authors, you can connect with Pete Meyers, KISSmetrics, Jennifer Slegg, Eric Enge and me on Google+.

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Author: Sherryl Perry

Welcome! If you're looking for help building an Internet presence that fits your needs and works for you, you're in the right place. I blog common sense articles about WordPress, social media and SEO. My goal is to help small business owners and entrepreneurs understand their core business. Together, we can develop and implement business strategies that make sense to you.

53 thoughts on “How Can You Get Started With SEO? #FridayFinds”

  1. You really shared some critical points about Google SERPs that were difficult to find. It will helpful to increases deep knowledge about how to work Google search engine. Thanks Sherryl for sharing useful post with us.

  2. Hi,

    This is fantastic as usual! Just took an awesome post for myself then shared and tweeted. I have just gone through the guide and it’s really awesome.

    Really fabulous and awesome post.Thanks for sharing your guide. I always love getting freebies and this one will definitely help me out with my own blogs. Impressed me a lot. I like it much.

    I always looking for such great and fabulous posts like this. No doubt this will help me to improve my skills and knowledge.Always enjoy your posts.

    Thanks so much
    Ghulam Mustafa recently posted..How to Reduce Spam Comments in WordPress Blog?My Profile

  3. I definitely think that content needs to be high quality. Second to that comes knowing how to market that content online. Businesses have a great linking opportunity if they have a blog or if they guest blog elsewhere. I’ve seen it build trust among online users interested in the business’s product or service. Thanks for sharing!

    1. Hi Catherine,
      Blogging is a wonderful way for businesses to build trust and brand awareness. It’s also a great way to entice Google to visit your site. (The days of static websites is over.) People like to do business with people that they like and blogging is a great way to build trust online (as you said).

      Thanks for taking the time to join the conversation.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Tips for Bloggers | Before You Press that Publish ButtonMy Profile

  4. Every business with a Web site would surely do Search Engine Optimization , trying to get their site as high up as possible on search-results pages as a part of their growth strategy. You obviously put a lot of work for writing this article which is highly appreciated. This is my first time here and I found couple of great article at my first glance which I’ll be reading shortly 🙂 I’ve tried all the SEO tools you’ve listed except the Moz Analytics. I’ve heard quite a lot about it but I never tried it.

    Great one Sherryl 🙂 Keep writing , I’ll be around 🙂
    Sourav Sudhi recently posted..The Epic Guide to Drive Massive Traffic from RedditMy Profile

    1. Hi Sourav,
      Thanks so much for the positive feedback and for letting me know that you appreciated my article. When I used to write my blog posts, I would edit them down to make them shorter. Now that Google is focusing more on content it seems that the trend is moving towards longer articles. This is something that I’ve been trying lately. So, it’s good to hear that you like that.

      I haven’t tried Moz Analytics either. Any chance that you’re a client of NameCheap? In Diana’s comment (below), she mentions that they offer Moz Analytics as a perk to their customers. I hadn’t heard of this before but it sounds like something worth checking out.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..What Blogging Tips Are You Missing?My Profile

        1. I was just curious if you were a client of NameCheap. I know Diana is and she had mentioned that (as a long-time client of theirs), she can access MOZ analytic tools for four months (for free). I had never heard of that before. I figured that chances were that you weren’t using them but it didn’t hurt to ask. 🙂

  5. Hi Sherryl,

    Nice post again and I felt to add my opinion to this. I often Google my posts and see them coming up and it feels nice then.

    However, I have one question here – Like you said, when you Googled your post, above your actual post from your blog was Scoop.It, Google+, BizSugar and so on. Do you think it’s good to share your posts on communities such as BizSugar immediately after publishing a post or after a week of publishing a post? Should we allow our articles on our blog to get indexed first before sharing them to content syndication sites?
    What’s your take on it?

    I am really more into SEO these days now and finding it more and more fascinating. But I have slowed down a bit these days due to our harsh weather conditions here. 🙂

    Hope you’re fine and have a nice evening.

    Mainak.
    Mainak Halder recently posted..The Step-By-Step Guide To Migrate From Blogger to WordPress Without Losing TrafficMy Profile

    1. Hi Mainak,
      Thanks for letting me know that you like my articles. Usually when I’ve Googled my posts it’s been to check to make sure my authorship is still working (and that my profile pic was being pulled in). Until I had read Peter Meyers’ post about Google’s redesign of the SERPs, it hadn’t occurred to me that my titles might be truncated (I was in the habit of taking advantage of all 70 characters) or that they may not be pulling my meta-tag description.

      As for waiting a week before submitting my post to BizSugar, I’ve always been in the habit of promoting my posts within hours (or a day or two at most) of publishing it. I’ve never tested anything else. Honestly, I don’t know if that would help or not. Is this something that you have experience with? (Maybe other readers here can weigh in on this too.)

      Off-hand, I don’t believe my site gets re-indexed that often. Sure, whenever there’s an algorithm update or other action on Google’s part, they’ll crawl my site but other than that, I don’t see it being indexed frequently.

      One reason that I like to submit my posts right away is that the content is still fresh. I often link to articles that have been recently published and my hope is that, (if people view my articles soon after I publish them), it gives me a bit of an edge in being on top of what’s happening rather than being a copy-cat.

      Thanks so much for making me think this morning! 🙂 BTW – How harsh are the weather conditions where you are? When it’s raining or snowing out, I’m more apt to delve into something like SEO.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..How Do You Know Which Bad Links Caused Your Google Penalty?My Profile

      1. Sherryl, I have tested this out. After publishing an article, I immediately shared it to communities such as BizSugar, BlogEngage and others – I got many visitors from those sites but when I Google that post, the articles on BizSugar and BlogEngage was rankign higher on Google than my original website. My blog post was ranking on the second page whereas the post on BizSugar, BlogEngage and others where I shared ranked on the first page. Next time, I tested with another article where I shared the article after two weeks, but the same thing happened again. So, I am really confused. I don’t know if sharing immediately has any advantages or disadvantages in terms of SEO but I would like to test this out for my other posts as well.

        BTW, the swinter and rains aren’t too harsh here in India, Kolkata but the summers are harsh. This time the summer temperatures have reached 43 degree Celsius along with high humidity, so the situation is very unpleasant. Rains are approaching , so it will be pleasant from June now till September. The winter is very pleasant with temperatures fluctuating around 5 to 12 degree Celsius. We are more working during the rains and the summer, but oh my gosh, the 3 months of summer, we almost have to keep ourselves locked and away from the computers or for a very little time we can work. 🙂

        1. Thanks for sharing the results of your experiment with us Mainak. I believe that the overall page rank of BizSugar and BlogEngage (5 and 4 respectively) is why our blog posts rank higher on those sites than on ours.

          We could look at the page rank of individual posts as well. (I tried checking the rank of this post but it hasn’t been indexed yet.) At this point, I’m going to continue submitting my posts to those sites within a couple of days of publishing. I would definitely be interested in knowing if you learn that there is an advantage in waiting.

          Wow! I just converted 43 degrees Celsius to Fahrenheit and that’s 109! I can’t imagine that sort of heat on a daily basis.
          Sherryl Perry recently posted..What Blogging Tips Are You Missing?My Profile

  6. The blogs I read online never cease to amaze me. I have been a writer since 2009 and now lately have I reached into professional writing. So, this is why I like reading other blogs online, to see the different types of writing styles.
    I like reading about cooking, health, budgets, savings, and home improvement blogs. Lately I have been reading allot about SEO and SMM work as well.
    Thanks for what you have written here and I hope I get to read more from you soon!

    Kristina

      1. Yes, I guest blog on several sites. I have been diving into SEO and SMM for my company as well as my own business. I got your FB request, nice to connect with like minded people!

        1. I enjoy connecting with people I meet online. I’d love to read something that you wrote. Maybe you could leave a link to one of your articles in a comment sometime.

  7. Hey Sherryl,

    This is my first visit on your blog as i’m trying to be active again as a blog commenter, i reached your blog through Adrienne’s blog.

    I’ve been working as a blogger since 3 years and too much obstacles came in my way towards search engine success and what i think that focusing too much on search engines isn’t good for bloggers or marketers as Google is turning to be a strict teacher from the past 2 years. I have been focusing on social signals instead of focusing on Google and i get good traffic on one of my blogs through both Social Media and Search Engines.

    Thanks for sharing the article, i’ll surely implement these tips improve my blog ranking in SERPs. After all i’m a blogger and i’m always ready to work for my blog’s success.

    -Siraj Wahid
    Siraj Wahid recently posted..5 Best Online Payment Systems for EcommerceMy Profile

    1. Hi Siraj,

      It sounds like your strategy to focus on social signals is working for you. I took a quick look at your site (and shared one of your posts). My first impression is that you have incorporated SEO tactics. So, it makes sense that you are getting traffic from the search engines as well as social media. (Congrats!)

      I’m glad there are some tips in my post that you can implement. After all, organic traffic is free, so if a little SEO can help, why not try it? (As long as we don’t over-do it and risk the wrath of Google!)

      Thanks for joining the conversation and for letting me know that you found my blog through Adrienne. That’s always good to know!
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Tips for Bloggers | Before You Press that Publish ButtonMy Profile

  8. Hi Sherry,
    This is my first visit on your site and i am glad to know more about seo techniques.
    Really you have shared all most all optimizing techniques with step by step which is very easy to learn for the newers.
    Thanks for sharing.

  9. Hi,

    Nice and informative post Sherryl. Can’t even think for such a post like this.. Thanks for sharing this content here love to read this.:)

    Regards!!!!

  10. Hi Sherryl,

    I was never an SEO fan, but realize that I need to pay attention to it. I was more of the social school of thought. But SEO is important. Recently I’ve been using my SEO check on my WordPress Blog. Oh my gosh…the results were terrible!

    So I did a little tweaking and see that the SEO is good before I hit the publish button.

    You have prompted me to pay more attention to it. And I want to give you a great big thank you for this post. I’ve learned some new tricks! 🙂

    -Donna
    donna merrill recently posted..Marketing Your BlogMy Profile

    1. Hi Donna,
      Social and SEO are both important. I think most people find that one or the other comes easier to them. For me, it’s SEO. (I now need to concentrate on my social media strategy.)

      That’s good that you’ve begun paying attention to SEO. I know you will have no problem implementing the tricks that you’re learning. In no time, they will become habits for you.

      As always, thanks so much for joining the conversation.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..SEO Should Be A Habit Not A HeadacheMy Profile

  11. Nice and very informative post

    Search engine optimization mainly known as SEO is an important part of online marketing.Online business has grown to a very high rate so the use of online marketing is also high.The best way to start any online marketing project of any website is by using SEO.

    The Search Engine Optimization process is the methods or practices that are applied on websites such that they get ranked by search engines and can also be located in the top SERP’s. The SEO process is mainly divided in two stages on-page optimization and off page optimization.

    The on page optimization is the work on website internally and off page optimization process is the work done externally that is promotion or link building to the website or blog. Both combined together is called SEO.

    The above post explains some points by which we can get started by SEO on any project. The usage of analytics and web master tools are very important.
    Other important factors are having unique content, keyword research , 404 page indexing, and other promotional practices.

    Great post and I hope this post would help many especially beginners

    Thank you for sharing.
    Sagar recently posted..How to Generate Best Leads with Social Media: Top 22 WaysMy Profile

    1. Very nice explanation Sagar. I appreciate your adding this. It helps to demystify SEO to the layman.

      Sometimes, I feel badly when I read a comment online where a blogger is so frustrated with the overwhelming amount of info that they have given up on optimizing their site. There are so many simple habits that we all can incorporate into our writing without having to obsess over it. Every little bit can help and organic search traffic is free. (Well except for our investment of time but there are simple things we can do that won’t take a lot of time.)

      I’m so glad you joined the conversation. Hopefully, we’re helping people here.

  12. Hey Sherryl,

    Yeah, I’m going to have to call you my SEO gal now. I know you just continue to study it after being penalized by Google which is never fun and people don’t realize how much of a royal pain that can be to fix. So even if we aren’t purposely writing for the search engines we need to stay on top of what’s right and what’s wrong. We all know how quickly “what’s right” can change.

    I appreciate the detail you go through putting these posts together and you’re able to introduce us to some bloggers I’ve not yet come across either. Let’s face it, SEO is not my thing but I sure as heck enjoy learning from people who know it well.

    I’m glad my share on Google+ showed up in the search results. Remember when I shared my stats with you about my top traffic sources? Referral was #1 and social was #2? Well there ya have it girl. It doesn’t hurt to focus on them but I think you leaving a little SEO in there is also very smart.

    Thanks for continuing to educate us all.

    ~Adrienne
    Adrienne recently posted..Walking On The Blog (Wild) SideMy Profile

    1. Hi Adrienne,

      Your “SEO gal” . . . I like that! You can be my “relationship building” gal. 🙂 Our skills are complimentary for sure.

      That was interesting that the social shares showed up so high. (That got me thinking.) I know you’ve been sharing some posts just to your Google+ circles rather than public. Now, I’m wondering what sort of impact that has on search. I would think that greater visibility may increase the ranking but I could be wrong.

      It would be interesting if you compared the position (in the SERPS) of two different posts (one that you shared publicly and the other to your circles only). The down and dirty way of comparing them (and probably less accurate) would be to search on two posts with a similar number of comments. Another way would be to compare two posts with a similar number of page views (which would take longer to identify in Analytics). Neither method is really scientific (and I’m sure some people would question the validity of the experiment) but it would be interesting to know.

      As always, thanks for joining the conversation. It’s definitely interesting to openly discuss what’s working for each of us.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..How Can You Get Started With SEO? #FridayFindsMy Profile

      1. I love that Sherryl, we have new names! LOL!!!

        Well I remember reading some time back how people were getting ticked when we would share our posts to everyone in our circles when they might not blog or be in our niche. It’s like someone tagging me in a photo that I’m not in. So I decided to just start sending them only to the people I have in certain circles so even though I don’t have a huge amount of people in those particular ones I don’t want to offend anyone ya know.

        I use to share them to everyone but I also have friends that follow me in Google+ and like a lot of people aren’t into what I’m into. I’d like to keep them as friends ya know! My circles are growing but those notifications can get really annoying.

        That might be something to test but all I know is that it was shared with that select group and ended up on the first page. So there ya go, it works! 😉
        Adrienne recently posted..How To Easily Remove Broken Comment LinksMy Profile

        1. I wondered why you weren’t sharing publicly anymore. I don’t get many notifications of people sharing their posts with me on Google+. I can only think of one person who I get notifications from regularly. (I thought she shared to me by name).

          Anyways, I have muted a few people who are total strangers to me who were sharing with me. So, I’m rethinking this. As of today. I’m no longer going to share my posts with everyone. As you say, what you’re doing is working. I‘m going to follow your lead on this one. Thanks!

  13. Thanks for the great post and helpful info. I checked out Eric Enge’s, “Your First 9 SEO Tasks” that you mentioned and will be following him on PlusYourBusiness.com too.

    1. Great! Thanks for letting me know that you found my post helpful Susan. I like Eric’s style of writing. I think he tries to keep it simple too.

  14. Sherryl,

    I wish I had more time to concentrate on SEO. All what you say are great tips. I had two people arguing that SEO (one said) is not as simple as it used to be. One needs to get involved with Google Authorship and get content endorsed by the right people. The other argued, no, get the basics down, that’s still good. Most of us can spend plenty of time just working on the basics.

    Also, if Eric Enge says so, it’s worth listening. He offers great tips.
    Leora recently posted..Update WordPress: How To and Scare TacticsMy Profile

    1. Hi Leora,
      You seem to be doing a fine job with SEO to me. It’s tough to juggle WordPress, graphic design, SEO, social media all at the same time (while providing great content). It’s no wonder you witnessed two people arguing about it. There are so many facets to search, that they both make valid points. I’m at the point now, where my organic search traffic significantly outweighs any other source. So, my main goal is to try to stay out of their webspam team’s view and stay in their good graces.

      I can’t believe I just discovered Eric! There are so many bloggers out there who are wonderful resources. I’m always discovering new people to follow and learn from.

      It’s great to see you here! Thanks for dropping by and joining the conversation.

  16. Sherryl — I took your advice and searched the key words for my most popular post (based on Google traffic) of how to write a LinkedIn invitation. I was number 4 on the SERP but my image doesn’t show. I went to Google+ to double check that my Google authorship was registered and it is. I searched your name and see your image next to your post. I searched my name and my image doesn’t even show in the return from my Google+ account. Is a mystery.
    Jeannette Paladino recently posted..A Fuzzy Personal Brand Didn’t Help Jill Abramson Duck the AxeMy Profile

    1. Hi Jeannette,
      4th position is great! I didn’t think of Googling on my most popular post. I’ll have to try that.

      I just Googled on “how to write a linkedin invitation” and your post came up #4 for me too – along with your profile pic! So, your Google authorship is working. If I were you, I’d try clearing my cache and try again.

  17. Hi sherryl,I Read This Post And How Can I Explain You How Much Knowledge I Earn Today For Optimize Blog On Search Engine’s,

    I am using webmaster tools and the first tips in this list, You make me realized in your article, What mistake done in my blog. I always miss in choosing the wrong keyword, It spoil my total SEO work.
    This Is Really Very Useful Information For New Blogger.Thank you
    sivani recently posted..How to Build Quality Backlinks For Your WebsiteMy Profile

    1. Hi Sivani,
      Thanks for letting me know that you found my post informative. That’s great that you’re already using webmaster tools. As for keywords, I know a lot of bloggers research their keywords before writing their posts but not all of us do.

      My primary focus is writing posts with my readers in mind. So, I write first and then identify which terms I believe they’d search for. I also keep in mind keyword stuffing.

      Did you know that Google has a “Synonym Team” that works on interchangeable terms like car and automobile? I keep that in mind when writing and I’ll often use the thesaurus function in my word processor for ideas of alternative words that I can use.

      Thanks for taking the time to join the conversation here.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..How Do You Avoid Keyword Stuffing on Your Website Blog?My Profile

  18. Hey Sherryl,
    Very informative post and Yes, SEO is really an important factor in blogging and it is like a big ocean, the more we try to learn about it, the more it enhance our knowledge. Creating a sitemap is very important part and submitting it to webmaster is very important process as it helps in indexing our post. These tips really gonna help many newbies. Thanks for sharing these tips with us.
    Sudipto recently posted..Best Android Phone Of 2014My Profile

    1. Hi Sudipto,
      Thanks for for letting me know that you found my post informative. I fear that many newbies have never heard of an xml sitemap before.

      SEO can be an overwhelming topic even for those of us who have been blogging for a while. Just today, I was on the LinkedIn Bloggers Helping Bloggers group and I saw a discussion about choosing between writing for our readers and writing for the search engines. The members of the group who were commenting on this thread seemed to be primarily authors and the consensus seemed to be trending towards write for your readers. It doesn’t have to be a choice. (Of course, I felt compelled to leave a rather lengthy comment with 3 tips to help them.)

      I hope you’re enjoying the weekend!
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..How to Change a WordPress Theme and Keep your SEO Meta Tag DataMy Profile

  19. Hi Sherryl,

    You always bring such an informative post to us.
    SEO is always a greater concern of bloggers. There are many SEO mistakes done by beginners which have to be corrected if they want to boost up their blog through Google.
    You have mentioned the points related to content. As it’s necessary to provide quality content if bloggers want to increase the SEO of their blog.
    Using right keywords is really important. Sometimes we target wrong keywords which kill the SEO.

    Thanks for sharing such a wonderful post with us.
    Have a great weekend. 🙂

    ~Ravi
    Ravi Chahar recently posted..Provide A Better Search With Google Custom Search Without PluginMy Profile

    1. Hi Ravi,

      Thanks for letting me know that you find my posts informative. I just hopped over to your blog and read your post about adding the Google Custom Search function to our blog. That’s a great tutorial and I am definitely going to add this function to my site. I love the fact that you’ve shown us how to do this without adding a new plugin.

      I’m off to share your post. Thanks so much for weighing in on this and I hope you have a great weekend too.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..How To Set up Google Authorship & the Rel=Author TagMy Profile

  20. Good reminders, thanks, Sherryl! I don’t have anything to add about SEO 101, you covered it well. But I wanted to share something I discovered recently. You say Moz have a 30 day trial. I found out that NameCheap have some kind of an arrangement with them. Depending on how long you have been there client and how much money you have spent for their services, you have different perks – one of them is free access to Moaz premium features for certain amount of time (I am currently at a level 4 months for free but I have not activated it yet).

    Mentioning this because I stumbled upon this ‘feature’ by accident and in case there are others like me among your readers (name cheap longterm clients who don’t know about this work) and want to give it a try 🙂
    Diana recently posted..5 Lessons Learned from My First Indiegogo CampaignMy Profile

    2. Diana,
      Thanks so much for sharing that tidbit of information with us! I do not use NameCheap and I’ve honestly never heard of an arrangement that they have with Moz. It’s definitely worth looking into and I’m sure many readers will value your input as well.

      I hope you’re enjoying the weekend.

    1. Hi Ryan,
      It’s so good to see you here. Even though you may not be concentrating on SEO, you seem to be doing a lot right. You have such a carefree way of writing that I wouldn’t want to suggest any SEO improvements that would possibly take away from your content.

      I’m a fairly frequent visitor to your blog but I was curious if anything would jump out at me. So, I followed the link to your post and searched for your post on Google. Here are a few observations:

      The length of your title is only 55 characters and it displays well in the SERPs. Also, Google pulled a photo which is good. However, it’s the pic that you attached to your post and not your profile pic. (Are you using Google authorship?) That would be more recognizable and if Google displayed your profile pic for all of your posts, it would help build brand recognition and reinforce top-of mind awareness.

      I also noticed that the text that displayed (in the snippet on the Google results page) was the text from the caption under your picture. That talks about the mango man in Thailand rather than financial freedom. So, that would be an opportunity to improve the SEO on that page. (Do you use meta description tags?)

      I hope you don’t mind the feedback. For some strange reason, I find SEO fascinating and I couldn’t resist. 🙂

      Enjoy the day and thanks again for joining the conversation.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..What Google Authorship Means for SEOMy Profile

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