At the beginning of this series on SEO, we promised to provide you with the SEO basics. And – that’s what 

we did! Yet, there are a few more things to add. (But of course, there always are…remember what a big subject we said this was? Oy vey.)

Your SEO strategy is a process

Once again, there is no magic bean to plant, button to push, or lever to pull to improve your ranking in the search results. You can’t simply “turn on” your SEO. Sorryyyyyyyy, it just doesn’t work that way.

Optimizing your site for the search engines takes time. Why? Because, as we explained in the post “What the heck is website SEO, anyway?” the search engines store their search results rather than performing a new search every time a search term is entered. By building what is essentially a library of optimized content at your site, you give them search results they can store for the next time your keyword is used in a search. Boom, done…

SEO techniques change over time

Yeah, sorry again (aren’t we just the bad news bears today…) but, the techniques that are used today to maximize SEO, even the SEO basics, are different than they were just a few years ago. They’ll be different again a few years from now, too.

As the search engines develop and become more refined in their techniques, information providers, those of us who own websites and blogs, must also become more refined in the ways we make our information available to them. Don’t take it personally that you have to change with the times; it’s just progress.

Website SEO requires diligence

If you want to improve your ranking in the search results; if you want to move to the top of the page on Google, you can’t afford to do some of the things some of the time. Since the search engines are relentless in their pursuit of information, you must be equally relentless in providing it for them.

Content SEO requires creativity

Content SEO requires the creative use of keywords, as well as the creative generation of content. As the search engines become more focused on quality of content, you must provide that quality if you hope to be found. Besides appealing to the search engines, quality content also appeals to the reader, who is your ultimate target, after all.

Stick to the SEO basics…for now

Remember this, as you see the results of your own web searches improve, providing you with higher quality information every time you enter a search term, it is the refining of search techniques which makes this possible. Your response to these refinements, as a website or blog owner and web-based information provider, should be enthusiastic. Why? Because, this means it will actually become easier for your target audience to find you.

For now, stick to these SEO basics to improve the SEO of your site, but don’t allow yourself to become complacent. You can’t afford to – none of us can.

[<--- go back to the article on Content SEO]

What the heck is content SEO, anyway?

Content is the text you post to your blog or website…Duh, thanks for nothing! (Be patient, young grasshopper!). Content SEO, on the other hand, is the practice of making your text easy to find for the search engines, as well as relevant to the search they are performing.

How do the search engines do it?

First, you need to know that Google, and the other search engines, don’t actually search the web every time a search term is typed into the search box. They search their servers. Huh…?

That’s right, Google and all the others have literally millions of servers around the world which are constantly “crawling” the web for content relevant to search terms they’ve stored in their systems. They could never search the entire web for you as quickly as they do if every search was a new one. With literally billions of websites to search, there is just too much information out there. Plus, they rank the quality of the info they deliver to you and that takes time too. So, they store it up for you and everyone else, and make it available in seconds. Cool, huh?

Why do the search engines prefer text?

Since text is the easiest type of information to crawl, that also makes it the cheapest to crawl. That means the search engines absolutely love text – and they always will. Beyond that, as the web began to develop as an information-sharing platform, and due to the relatively prehistoric technology available at the time, it developed as a text-based platform. So, text-based searching became fundamental to the development of search engine technology. It is now so deeply ingrained, it will never go away. And, again, it’s cheap.

Here are some tips on Content SEO:

Content SEO techniques…

1. Use your Keyword in the first 50-100 words of your text
2. Use your Keyword in the approximate middle of your text
3. Use your Keyword in the last 50-100 words
4. Text should be no less than 300 words
5. Highlight your Keywords with bold, underline, and italics, once each

For more information on content SEO techniques, check out this article at SEOmoz.

The final step to effective content SEO…

You knew this one was coming, didn’t you? Just as with website SEO, to make your content SEO efforts pay off for you, you must do these things consistently and relentlessly. This means – every time you post!

In other words, if you don’t want to waste all the effort of creating quality web content, perform these few simple tasks on each and every post to maximize your optimization efforts.

(This is post 3 of 4 in a series on SEO and SEO Basics)

[<--- go back to the article on Website SEO / go to the next article on THAT's What SEO is --->]

What the heck is website
SEO, anyway?

The simple answer to this question is, “Use WordPress.” If the response to this recommendation is, “OK,” then boom, we’re done. If you ask me, “Why?” well, that’s what this post is about.

WordPress is SEO-friendly – by design

When we talk about website SEO, what we’re really talking about is the structure and design of your blogging platform, or Content Management System (CMS) [non-techy people - don't fade - it gets better]. This structure and design can make it easy, or hard, for search engines to scan, or “crawl,” each website for useful information.

The beauty of WordPress is that it was designed and structured specifically to be Google-friendly, which also makes it search-engine friendly (to those “other search engines. Yes, there are others). Without going into a bunch of technical detail, we’ll just say that no other CMS is as SEO-friendly as WordPress (this is a good thing).

What do the search engines look for?

The search engines look for key words, what we now call keywords, to help them judge the relevancy of your site to a particular search term. A search term is what you type in to Google like: “videos of cute cats” (come on, you KNOW you do that). They first look in the most obvious places, then they dig a little deeper, if necessary. What are the most obvious places? The search engines will look for the keywords you’re using in the content or page title, of course, and in the permalink (aka the URL of the page, aka the web address, aka the thing up at the top of the screen that starts with www….), plus the headers, especially H1, and in the Meta information.

Here are places to place your keywords (if this list of things makes you cry because you don’t know what it means, skip to the next paragraph).

Website SEO techniques…

• Keyword in the Title
• Keyword at the beginning of the Title
• Keyword in the Permalink (the page/post URL)
• Keyword in the first Header (H1)
• Keyword at the beginning of the first Header (H1)
• Keyword in the Meta Description

For more information on website SEO techniques, here’s a great article at SEOmoz.

WordPress does much of this for you…

Do you remember that we talked about WordPress being a great CSM, above? Well, here’s why. WordPress does a bunch of these website SEO thingies for you! That’s right, WordPress will automatically use your title as the H1 tag, as well as placing it in the permalink for you (you have to set this up though – as your web person). Plus, with a WordPress plug-in such as “All-in-One SEO Pack,” which is FREE by the way, the Meta title and Meta description are taken care of for you, as well.

The last step to effective website SEO…

The final thing to remember is this; to make your website SEO strategy effective, you must do these things consistently and relentlessly. This means – every time you post! Since, with WordPress, some of the most important website SEO functions are automated, it is the CMS of choice for the savvy web entrepreneur. You do want to be known as a savvy entrepreneur, don’t you?

(This is post 2 of 4 in a series on SEO and SEO Basics.)

[<---- go back to the first article on SEO basics] [go to the next article on Content SEO --->]

A lot of businesses still are debating whether or not to do social media. I understand the concern. When you come from a “traditional corporate” background, it may be really hard to imagine personalizing your business. But let’s take a look at one of the biggest social media sites out there: the amazing YouTube. It is not JUST a social media site. It is not JUST a place to find videos of cute cats and kids. It is also a search engine (the second most popular search engine, actually) – yes, really!

Are you on YouTube? If not, here are three reasons why you should be if you have a business:

1. YouTube is FREE. It is a free channel that billions of people view every day. That’s right! In fact, Mashable reports that YouTube just surpassed 2 billion views daily. YouTube is like basic cable now because everyone who has Internet can access it and watch it. So your business could have free promotion and ads with thousands of views at no charge.

2. YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world according to UPI.com. 28% of Google’s searches are referred to YouTube.

3. YouTube is great to boost your Website SEO by embedding the videos. Google helps out its own comrades, (which, YouTube is, since it is owned by Google). Google loves YouTube and will help anyone who searches for your keywords find your videos in the search results. With the keywords tool on YouTube you can easily reach your target demographic.

With YouTube videos, you will be able to reach your target demographic and spread your brand. Now, knowing this, all you have to do is create a YouTube Video!

Don’t know how to make a YouTube Video?

Don’t care how to make a YouTube Video (and just want it boom, done)?

We can help.

[Also - if you are in the Los Angeles or Orange County Area (or will be), Ana is available for filming.] 

Ana Levley is the resident Go2Girls Video Guru. Her social media experience comes from a broad background including, film and comic books. She is great at driving traffic in niche markets. Ana graduated from UC Irvine with a major in Drama and minor in conflict resolution, which we are convinced is the driving force behind her sense of humor and ability to deal with Laurie’s “Ana! I have the BEST idea for a video!” late night calls.

Ana believes in giving back to the community. She is involved in a variety of charities including Walk for Alzheimer’s and Relay for Life and also donates time working with Families Forward and Invisible Children. A lover of all thing outdoors, Ana enjoys camping, hiking and kayaking. She also knows how to cook tofu. All around, she is an impressive gal.

So, here’s what you do:

1. Make sure your Excel file uses the first row as headings (first name, last name, street address, etc), and then save your Excel file as a .CSV, preferably somewhere that you can easily find it, 45 seconds from now.

2. BACK UP your address book by clicking on File –> Export –> Address Book Archive.

3. Save it somewhere that you can quickly recover it in case something goes awry (you never know!)

4. Import your .CSV file by clicking File –> Import

5. Navigate to where the .CSV file is, and then click “open” (Leave “text encoding” to Automatic)

6. Make sure that the little box in the lower left that says “ignore first card” is checked (this is going to refer to your header column that you made sure was there in step 1)

7. Take a look at the left window to make sure everything looks like it is matching up right. If it’s not, you can change what gets imported where by clicking the up/down arrows next to the thing you want to change.

8. If you want to see the first few cards that will be imported, you can click through them by using the left and right arrow buttons in the bottom center.

9. Click ok.

Boom, done!

(Welllll…. almost…You still have to follow up with all those people)

We get a lot of questions about SEO and SEO basics. Here’s a summary of how the conversation usually goes:

Client: “Does your team do S-E-O?”

Me: “Uh, you know, SEO is a pretty big subject. What sorts of SEO support are you looking for?”

Client: “I don’t know…I just heard I should do it.”

Me: “Do it? Do what?”

Client: “You know, turn on my SEO! Can you do that for me?”

Me: “Err…”

I know, a lot of you are waiting for the answer, right? Can we turn it on, or not? Seems like a simple yes or no question… Here’s the answer: It doesn’t quiiiite work like that. Optimizing a site for the search engines is a wee bit more complicated than “turning it on.” Getting the most out of the content you post is what Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is all about. It sounds simple, right? The “How to do it” part though, that takes some work.

SEO Basics, and keeping it simple

Listen – It took me quite a while to figure out the SEO basics too. It’s complicated, and everyone has an opinion on it. So, what we’re gonna’ do, is a series of posts to cover the SEO basics for you. We certainly can’t include absolutely everything you need to know about SEO. Heck, there are books galore on the subject, big books too, as well as online and college classes. So, we’re just going to hit the high spots for you and – keep it simple.

We’ll share some ideas about website SEO; why it’s important and how you can help yourself with some basic SEO techniques and strategies. Next, we’ll go over the basics of content SEO; how to do it, why you should, and how it will help you improve your ranking in the search results

First – here are some things you should know:

SEO traps to watch out for

1. No one can promise to get you to the top of Google, except Google – and those ads at the top of the page are paid for, folks. So, ignore anyone who makes you that promise (to get to the first page of Google, because it is…what’s the word…We’ll just call it “B.S”
2. You can’t hire a company to “do SEO” for you for a month, and then expect to get big results. You have to keep doing it…and revising it…over and over and over…endlessly and relentlessly.
3. Your friend’s teenage son, who is “good with computers,” might not be the best choice to hire to do your SEO (even if he DOES know how to use Facebook).

The basic summary is that this is a big specialty, with many parts, and if you want to see results you need to go with a pro. After all, if you’re going to bother to spend money on it, and also expect to get something out of it, don’t skimp. If you don’t really care, and just want someone to categorize your blog posts then, yeah, your neighbors’ geeky son might be the right choice after all.

As we move through this little series on SEO, we’re also going to provide some resources for you to grab more SEO info from the web, if you want it. In fact, Let’s do that right now.

SEO basics on the web

When you want to know more about SEO, the best place to begin looking is the web, specifically at companies who offer this service as a specialty. One of these is: SEOmoz blog. These guys are the go-to-guys of SEO. Go ahead and check them out to begin your SEO education. If you don’t care how it works, and want someone to check out your website and tell you what to do, I also think the folks at Titan SEO are great too!

We don’t know if we’ll be able to answer all of your, “What the heck is SEO, anyway?” questions in this series of posts we have planned. Admittedly, we don’t have ALL the answers about content SEO or website SEO ourselves. But, we know some stuff. We do promise, however, to share the SEO basics with you.

(This post 1 of 4 in a series on SEO and SEO Basics)

[go to the next article on Website SEO --->]

(you don't have to be this guy)

(Written by Guest blogger, Jane Garee)

If you’re a business owner, you may have come to the realization that your business is not making enough money.  Often, people don’t see the direct correlation between “sales” and the revenue that’s coming in.  Although I understand the bad rap selling often gets, it’s really just a way of saying, “My company is making money”. If you own a business, this is rather necessary, don’t you think?  Although sympathetic to anyone who doesn’t want to sell, it still has to be done.  Kind of like when you don’t want to do the cardio but want to eat the cake.  So, here are two of the top items you may want to check off your list on your way to becoming a salesperson (also known as, “Hey, I can keep my company going!”):

1. Get comfortable with the language.

It’s become very popular to change the semantics so that we are no longer required to sell, we can just “share”, “explain”, “inform” or “educate”.  The fact that people are now wandering around doing this and are surprised that they are not thriving financially may be the biggest sales job of all.  If you share, explain, inform or educate anyone about what you do and they don’t pay you for it, is that going to keep your business afloat?  The very definition of selling is that there is an exchange of products or services for money.  I love goodwill as much as the next person but when it comes times to pay the bills, well.  I don’t know about you but I’m only allowed to send money, not testimonials from people who say I’ve imparted great information.  I’m of a firm mindset that you can’t say you want to prosper financially and hate sales and expect to see a happy outcome.  If you keep in mind that selling is an exchange of something (money for goods or services) and that’s all it is, you’ll be one step ahead in embracing sales as a profession.  Go on, just say it.  “I sell!”  “I’m in sales!”  No one has to hear it but you.

2. Be you and not some cheesy “salesperson”.

You don’t have to be one of them to succeed in sales.  Embrace sales as something you do, not some personality you have to become!  We’ve all experienced the pushy, insincere salesperson who has you screaming for joy when they leave.  That’s NOT what I’m talking about and in the long run, this doesn’t work anyway.  You can be everything you strive to be in your business; real, sincere, caring, genuinely interested and still close a deal. To do that however, you will need solid sales training to get you the tools you need to be successful. Great sales people aren’t born, they’re made.  When you get good sales training, you’ll understand there is a system and specific language that can influence the outcome so that your client’s life will truly improve.  I can’t think of anything sadder than someone needing you and not having the chance to understand how much you can transform their life or business.  What’s the downside of that?  “Gee, Mary. I’d love to help and can but to do that, you’d have to pay me and that just goes against my integrity.”  Really? Again, if you love being self-employed and love being able to pay your bills, start to love sales…fast. Believe it or not, good sales training with a good mentor will actually start this process.

The bottom line is, every business has a bottom line and that alone determines your success as a business owner.  If you’re serious about your business, you need to get serious about sales.

Join us for her call, or download the recording: If you’re in business, you’re in sales: How to discover and unleash your inner Sales Rockstar!” 

Known as the “Sales Strategist for the Non-Sales Person”, Jane teaches business owners and entrepreneurs how to discover, unleash and embrace their inner Sales Rockstar so they can earn the income they deserve and live the life they’ve always dreamed of. She is the founder and owner of Lilyflower Entreprises, which includes the brands Write Expressions Inc, Lilyflower Publishing and the widely popular “Rockstar Sales Strategies” courses. Jane helps business owners gain confidence to take their brand and services into the world through sales strategies that don’t feel sales-y or pushy. Her sales training teaches her clients how to uncover their strongest business traits, position themselves for success and how to stand out in a crowd so their companies prosper.

• I personally enjoy getting to know the “human side” of the people I work with or admire – especially since a lot of my connections are made online. I feel that there is a lack of human connection these days, and it’s just nice to know that there are…real people out there. (NOTE: there is a fine line between “ooooh, look at that cute puppy he bought” and “OMG, why did he tell us about the hairy wart on his toe?” TMI people – know where that line is, and DO NOT APPROACH!)
• Most of the people I am connected to are solopreneurs. They are business owners, founders, and CEOs that are going it alone. More than I probably know are parenting kids. I hope that some of what I share inspires you on some level. For us business-owner-mom hybrids, it’s important to know that there are others out there doing the same thing. More importantly, it’s important to find out HOW they are doing it. I love hearing the creative ways that people find time to create great memories with their families. Life is important. Our kids, our families, and the things we do, are all important. For many of us, our businesses provide a way for us to do these things that we want to do, and it’s important to know how to balance it all.

That’s pretty much it. My short and sweet philosophy.

You, on your own entrepreneurial journey have to decide if it’s okay for you and your “peeps”. For me, you know the deal.

What do you think?

The Number One Reason to use WordPress for your blog or small business website is…wait for the drum roll here…GoogleLoves WordPress. Of course, WordPress also loves Google, but that goes without saying.

As it turns out, the developers of WordPress and their company Automatic, were smart enough to design the platform with the full intention of seducing Google. It worked too. As a result, WordPress has quickly become the most popular blog and website platform in the world, servicing about 12 % of the entire web and, it continues to grow. In fact, at this point, it looks like Google and WordPress will be together forever. There is definitely no divorce in sight here.

Google and WordPress, a match made in heaven

Why do Google and WordPress get along so well?

1. Google loves text because text is easy to read.
   
2. Google loves blogs because blogs are text-based and…text is easy to read.
   
3. Google loves logical architecture in a website and WordPress is designed logically.
   
4. Google loves cheap crawling and text is easy – therefore cheap – to crawl.
   
5. Google loves good SEO and WordPress, because of its structure and blog-based design is very SEO-friendly.
   

Google and WordPress, a great match for you

What does all of this mean for you, the novice blogger or website owner? It means that being found by Google, and any other search engine for that matter, is much easier when you place your blog or business website on WordPress.

1. WordPress is free for blogging, and as a small business website.
   
2. WordPress is easy to use for the novice, with no coding involved.
   
3. WordPress has wonderful features like themes to enhance the look and plugins to broaden its functions.
   
4. WordPress has an international group of programmers creating new and exciting additions to the basic design.
5. WordPress will only get better over time, based on the history.
   

For even more on the love affair between Google and WordPress, expand2web.com has a great article on the subject.

Using a blogging and website platform that the search engines love, especially the most popular search engine, Google, makes so much sense that it should not have to be mentioned by anyone. There are other platforms available, after all. With the relationship between Google and WordPress being so strong though, it just doesn’t make sense to go with any other platform. Really, it doesn’t.

Bad Ezine Layout Example

How many newsletters do you receive per month? How many do you actually read? How many do you even scan, for that matter?

A newsletter that looks like the New York Times Sunday Edition is going to scare people away faster than a timeshare salesman offering one of those “free vacations” (BTW – if anyone wants to buy a nice timeshare in Vegas, just email me) . lol One of the simplest newsletter basics is – don’t overdo it.

Newsletter Basics – What to Include

• KISS is the rule of thumb for a newsletter these days. Keeping it simple will get the best response, and will improve the chances that your newsletter will actually be read.
• Do not complicate your newsletter message. It can just be a simple “Hey, look what I posted on my blog last week, and here’s what we’re up to lately.” People appreciate brevity more than ever these days.
• The more complicated your newsletter message becomes, the less likely that you will actually write it – AND the less likely that anyone will actually read it. If you’re too busy to read a long newsletter message, you should assume that your readers are too.
• Offer value for value. Your readers have given you something valuable (their email address). In return, you should offer valuable information (if you wish to keep them on your list).
• Think about the newsletters that you read – and brazenly copy them (no, I don’t mean the CONTENT!). Do you read the newsletter that has 15 sections of four page articles – or do you read the simple message that offers value?

People are simply too busy today to spend an hour or two reading your newsletter; or they think they are, which basically amounts to the same thing. A shorter newsletter published more often will be of much greater benefit than a monthly tome. Remembering these newsletter basics will improve your relationship with those on your list because you are not demanding more time than they have to give.