Search Engine Optimization Update 2015

SEO updates for 2015Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is key to raging fans finding your website, brand, and even your books. In my last post, we examined the new Google algorithm that changes everything. You can read about mobile optimization and its impact here. I thought this would be a good time to review what good SEO looks like and bring you up to date on the tweaks you can make to stay visible.

Like most things in technology, the tricks that worked in the past may not work so much in the future. Here are some tactics that are important to keep in mind when optimizing your site. Continue reading “Search Engine Optimization Update 2015”

Link Building: The Basics for Your Blog or Website

Link Building Basics Link building is a method used to increase visibility and improve your search rankings. Without getting into a lot of mumble jumble, search engines examine the links to and from your site to assign it a certain ranking. Links aren’t everything in search engine optimization (SEO); however, it accounts for a large percentage of weighting in search results as shown in this survey by MOZ.

If you are interested in growing traffic to you blog or site, growing the link profile will gain attention, traction and traffic from search engines. In addition, the strength of the link plays a big role as well. Spam hits in your blog “comments” do not help in establishing links that matter (which is why you have a “nofollow” option in your settings.) Links acquired from your target community, such as indie writing or publishing, matter more than off topic links.

How do we go about link building? Here are the top ten basic methods to build links and improve your site’s visibility. Continue reading “Link Building: The Basics for Your Blog or Website”

Snooping Around the Engine Room – Web Source Code

We looked last time at how to assess the traffic a website receives when deciding whether it’s worth your attention and/or hard-earned cash. But suppose the idea is so new that the website hasn’t been around long. Or maybe traffic isn’t vital for you; perhaps you’re happy in a niche where the right people will find you, even if that’s not very many of them. In that case it’s handy know how SEO-savvy the website you’re considering advertising with, or writing for, really is. And yes, there’s a dirty little snooping tool.

When you look at any website, you have access to its source code and here’s how to find and assess it.

To get into the code you need to right-click somewhere on the web page. Make sure you’re clicking on the body of the page and not a picture. Right-clicking on the picture will give you a completely different menu. When you click on the actual site, you’ll see these options: Continue reading “Snooping Around the Engine Room – Web Source Code”

Google Plus is a +1


5 Billion clicks per day

A bird whispered in my ear, and no, it wasn’t Twitter, that some peeps in the IU universe have requested a post on Google Plus. I had a couple of choices on what I was going to do today—real work that earns money, brand myself with a hot iron, or, write about Google+. Well, Google+ won!

There are many differing opinions on the effectiveness of this social media platform. I’ve always said, “If over 100 million people are on it, then it can’t be all bad.”

Not too bad for a platform that’s only been around since June of 2011. It’s estimated that the Google “+1” button is triggered over five BILLION times per day. An amazing stat considering how tricky it is to actually hover over that button and hope you can type something. Continue reading “Google Plus is a +1”