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WordPress Insider Maximize Your Online Visibility Attract More Visitors Increase Your Revenue 1 http://WpInsider.org 7 Actions You Can Take RIGHT NOW to Optimize Your WordPress Website The WordPress Insider Guide To Maximizing Your Online Visibility, Attracting More Clients And Creating The Income You Need By: Michelle Castillo Disclaimer: WordPress® and its related trademarks are registered trademarks of the WordPress Foundation. Michelle Castillo and Spot On Digital Marketing are not affiliated with or sponsored by Automattic, Inc. or the WordPress Foundation. Copyright © 2016 by Spot On Digital All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the written permission of the author.

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Page 1: 7 Actions You Can Take RIGHT NOW to Optimize Your ...bbot.ca/.../7-Actions-You-Can-Take-RIGHT-NOW-to-Optimize-Your-Wo… · WordPressInsider(,(Maximize(Your(Online(Visibility(,(Attract(More(Visitors(,(IncreaseYourRevenue((

WordPress  Insider  -­‐  Maximize  Your  Online  Visibility  -­‐  Attract  More  Visitors  -­‐  Increase  Your  Revenue        1  

http://WpInsider.org  

   

   

 7  Actions  You  Can  Take  RIGHT  NOW  to  Optimize  Your  WordPress  Website  

 The  WordPress  Insider  Guide  To  Maximizing  Your  Online  Visibility,  Attracting  More  Clients  And  

Creating  The  Income  You  Need      By:  Michelle  Castillo  Disclaimer:  WordPress®  and  its  related  trademarks  are  registered  trademarks  of  the  WordPress  Foundation.  Michelle  Castillo  and  Spot  On  Digital  Marketing  are  not  affiliated  with  or  sponsored  by  Automattic,  Inc.  or  the  WordPress  Foundation.      Copyright  ©  2016  by  Spot  On  Digital  All  rights  reserved.  No  part  of  this  book  may  be  reproduced  or  transmitted  in  any  form,  or  by  any  means,  without  the  written  permission  of  the  author.      

Page 2: 7 Actions You Can Take RIGHT NOW to Optimize Your ...bbot.ca/.../7-Actions-You-Can-Take-RIGHT-NOW-to-Optimize-Your-Wo… · WordPressInsider(,(Maximize(Your(Online(Visibility(,(Attract(More(Visitors(,(IncreaseYourRevenue((

WordPress  Insider  -­‐  Maximize  Your  Online  Visibility  -­‐  Attract  More  Visitors  -­‐  Increase  Your  Revenue        2  

http://WpInsider.org  

Table  of  Contents  Introduction  ................................................................................................................................  3  

Improving  Search  Engine  Rankings  ..............................................................................................  4  

Technique  #1  Use  Keywords  in  the  URL's  of  Your  Pages  .........................................................................  4  

How  to  Choose  a  Custom  URL  Structure  for  Your  Permalinks  .............................................................  4  What  is  the  Most  Effective  Permalink  Structure  for  SEO  .....................................................................  5  Editing  the  Slug  .....................................................................................................................................  5  Important  Considerations  Before  Changing  your  Website's  Permalink  Structure  ...............................  6  

Technique  #2  Increase  Website  Loading  Time  Using  W3  Total  Cache  Plugin  ..........................................  6  

Measuring  your  Website  Load  Speed  ..................................................................................................  6  Installing  the  W3  Total  Cache  Plugin  ....................................................................................................  7  Configuring  the  W3  Total  Cache  Plugin  ................................................................................................  7  

Technique  #3  Use  and  Optimize  Your  Images  ........................................................................................  8  

Preparing  an  Image,  Before  Adding  it  to  Your  Website  .......................................................................  9  What  to  Do  After  Adding  Images  to  Your  Website  ..............................................................................  9  

Technique  #4  Improve  Your  Coverage  in  Google  Index  ........................................................................  10  

How  to  Create  A  Website's  XML  Site  Map  .........................................................................................  10  How  to  Submit  Your  Website's  XML  Site  Map  Using  Google  Webmaster  Tools  ................................  10  

Getting  Clicks  on  Your  Search  Engine  Links  ................................................................................  11  

Technique#  5  Take  Control  of  How  Your  Website  Looks  in  Search  Results  ...........................................  11  

Grabbing  Attention  and  Encouraging  Action  .............................................................................  13  

Technique  #6  -­‐  Make    Your  Site  Mobile  Friendly  ..................................................................................  13  

Mobile  Responsive  Themes  ................................................................................................................  13  Using  WPtouch  Pro  ............................................................................................................................  14  Test  Your  Website  on  Different  Mobile  Devices  ................................................................................  14  

Technique  #7  Make  Your  Home  Page  About  Your  Visitors  -­‐  Not  You  ....................................................  15  

Conclusion  .................................................................................................................................  15  

Appendix  A  -­‐  Keyword  Research  ................................................................................................  16  

How  to  Perform  Keyword  Research  ...................................................................................................  16  

   

Page 3: 7 Actions You Can Take RIGHT NOW to Optimize Your ...bbot.ca/.../7-Actions-You-Can-Take-RIGHT-NOW-to-Optimize-Your-Wo… · WordPressInsider(,(Maximize(Your(Online(Visibility(,(Attract(More(Visitors(,(IncreaseYourRevenue((

WordPress  Insider  -­‐  Maximize  Your  Online  Visibility  -­‐  Attract  More  Visitors  -­‐  Increase  Your  Revenue        3  

http://WpInsider.org  

Introduction  The  main  goal  for  most  business  owners,  when  they  setup  a  WordPress  website,  is  to:    

Ø Attract  more  visitors.    

Ø Grow  their  business.    

Ø Increase  their  revenue.      Unfortunately,  most  WordPress  guides  and  tutorials  focus  on  the  technical  aspect  of  installing  WordPress  on  a  website,  and  neglect  to  mention  the  important  details,  which  help  make  the  difference  between  a  website  that  simply  exists,  to  a  website  that's  designed  to  help  website  owners  achieve  their  goals.    If  you  want  to:    

Ø Increase  your  online  business  exposure.      

Ø Bring  in  more  clients.      

Ø Generate  the  income  you  need.      Then  this  guide  is  for  you!    When  a  potential  client  is  looking  for  the  services  or  products  your  online  business  offers,  three  things  will  need  to  happen  before  they  turn  into  a  client.    

Ø First  they  need  to  find  your  website  in  the  search  engine  results.    This  requires  your  website  to  score  high  in  search  engine  results  and  rankings,  for  the  keyword  they  are  entering  at  their  favorite  search  engine.    

Ø Next,  they  must  choose  to  click  on  the  search  results  that  show  your  website.    To  get  search  engine  users  to  click  on  your  website  from  the  results  (aka  snippets)  that  are  shown,  your  search  engine  listing  must  be  enticing  enough  to  make  them  click.    

Ø Finally,  when  a  visitor  decides  to  click  on  your  website,  and  then  makes  the  decision  to  take  an  action,  they  begin  to  become  a  valuable  client  to  you.    I  order  for  that  to  happen  your  website  must  look  professional  and  have  content  that's  valuable  enough  to  convince  them  that  your  website  has  what  they  are  looking  for.    

In  this  guide  you  will  find  7  professional  strategies  and  techniques,  which  we  use  every  day  to  optimize  our  clients'  websites.  This  helps  our  clients  to  achieve  peak  performance,  in  the  3  steps  we've  describe  above.      

Page 4: 7 Actions You Can Take RIGHT NOW to Optimize Your ...bbot.ca/.../7-Actions-You-Can-Take-RIGHT-NOW-to-Optimize-Your-Wo… · WordPressInsider(,(Maximize(Your(Online(Visibility(,(Attract(More(Visitors(,(IncreaseYourRevenue((

WordPress  Insider  -­‐  Maximize  Your  Online  Visibility  -­‐  Attract  More  Visitors  -­‐  Increase  Your  Revenue        4  

http://WpInsider.org  

Improving Search Engine Rankings  When  it  comes  to  your  online  business  success,  ranking  high  in  the  results  of  search  engines  is  vital.  After  all,  how  else  are  people  going  to  find  your  website  if  they  can’t  see  a  result  linking  to  it?      When  you  want  a  webpage  to  rank  high  in  the  search  results  for  a  certain  keyword,  it's  your  job  to  convince  the  search  engines  that  your  webpage  is  about  that  keyword.    The  search  engines  use  various  algorithms  to  analyze  the  content  of  web  pages,  and  figure  out  what  they  are  about.  The  actual  content  of  the  webpage  is  one  very  important  factor.      Using  the  following  techniques  will  ensure  that  are  all  parameters  of  your  webpage  have  been  optimized  to  convince  search  engines  that  the  webpage  is  about  this  keyword  you  want  to  rank  for.    

Technique  #1  Use  Keywords  in  the  URL's  of  Your  Pages  

 In  WordPress,  the  URL  of  all  your  pages  is  controlled  by  permalinks.  Permalinks  are  the  individual  URLs  of  every  page  on  your  website.  These  include:    

Ø All  website  pages.      

Ø Posts  you  make.    

Ø Categories  you  add.    

Ø Page  tags,  etc.    

How  to  Choose  a  Custom  URL  Structure  for  Your  Permalinks    By  default  WordPress  uses  URLs  that  look  like:    http://mywebsite.com/?p=N      Here  the  "N"  represents  the  post  or  page  ID  number.  This  default  structure  should  never  be  used.  It's  not  readable  by  visitors  and  by  using  it  you're  missing  a  significant  opportunity  to  further  optimize  your  webpage  for  specific  keywords,  which  will  benefit  your  website  in  search  engines.    WordPress  gives  you  the  ability  to  create  your  own  custom  URL  structure  for  your  website's  permalinks.  Creating  this  structure  can  be  found  in  your  WordPress  admin  area  under  Settings  >  Permalinks.        A  typical  custom  URL  structure  includes  a  slug.    

Page 5: 7 Actions You Can Take RIGHT NOW to Optimize Your ...bbot.ca/.../7-Actions-You-Can-Take-RIGHT-NOW-to-Optimize-Your-Wo… · WordPressInsider(,(Maximize(Your(Online(Visibility(,(Attract(More(Visitors(,(IncreaseYourRevenue((

WordPress  Insider  -­‐  Maximize  Your  Online  Visibility  -­‐  Attract  More  Visitors  -­‐  Increase  Your  Revenue        5  

http://WpInsider.org  

   What  is  the  Most  Effective  Permalink  Structure  for  SEO    There  are  an  infinite  number  of  combinations  to  chose  from,  when  it  comes  to  permalinks.  We  recommend  that  you  use  the  simple  "post  name"  option.    Using  cofigurations  which  include  date  details,  such  as  month,  year  or  day,  is  only  recommended  for  websites  which  are  news  centric.  On  these  sites  the  post's  dates  are  significant  to  the  content  of  the  posts.  Newspaper  websites  are  a  good  example  of  this  structure.      When  you  want  to  use  a  category  name  in  your  permalink,  do  so  only  if  your  domain  name  and  category  name  are  short  and  descriptive.  Be  aware  though;  if  your  slug  is  long  and  you  have  the  category  in  the  URL  as  well,  this  creates  a  long  URL,  which  is  harder  for  people  to  share  and  won’t  provide  much  benefit  with  search  engines.    Editing  the  Slug    Once  the  permalink  structure  has  been  defined,  WordPress  will  automatically  use  the  title  of  each  post  or  page  to  create  the  page  URL.  A  page  titled  "The  Best  Plumber  in  Vancouver"  will  automatically  have  a  URL  that  looks  like  this:    http://mywebsite.com/the-­‐best-­‐plumber-­‐in-­‐vanouver    The  permalink  structure  of  your  pages  is  shown  under  the  title  of  the  page,  and  can  be  edited  by  clicking  the  "edit  button."  The  editing  option  is  useful  in  cases  where  the  title  is  too  long,  and  includes  words  that  have  no  impact  on  search  engines  results.  For  the  example,  you  may  want  to  change  the  slug  to:      best-­‐plumber-­‐vancouver    Your  slug  should  be  no  longer  than  5  words,  with  3  being  preferable  if  possible.  If  your  slug  is  longer  than  that,  Google's  algorithm  program  will  typically  give  those  words  less  value  or  importance,  and  not  give  you  much  credit  toward  your  ranking.        

A  slug  is  a  number  of  words  that  you  use,  which  helps  describe  what  your  post  or  page  is  about.  Slugs  are  a  URL  friendly  version  of  the  title  of  your  post,  which  is  automatically  generated  by  WordPress,  but  more  importantly  a  slug  may  also  be  anything  you  choose  to  create  and  use.  Slugs  are  used  along  with  permalinks,  because  they  help  to  describe  the  content  of  your  page  by  putting  it  in  your  URL.  

Example  post  permalink:    

http://wordpress.org/development/2006/06/wordpress-­‐203/  

The  slug  being  used  for  the  post  is  "wordpress-­‐203".  

Page 6: 7 Actions You Can Take RIGHT NOW to Optimize Your ...bbot.ca/.../7-Actions-You-Can-Take-RIGHT-NOW-to-Optimize-Your-Wo… · WordPressInsider(,(Maximize(Your(Online(Visibility(,(Attract(More(Visitors(,(IncreaseYourRevenue((

WordPress  Insider  -­‐  Maximize  Your  Online  Visibility  -­‐  Attract  More  Visitors  -­‐  Increase  Your  Revenue        6  

http://WpInsider.org  

Important  Considerations  Before  Changing  your  Website's  Permalink  Structure    It's  important  to  be  careful,  when  changing  the  permalink  structure  of  your  WordPress  website,  as  this  will  impact  the  URL  of  all  individual  pages  on  your  website.  If  your  website  has  been  around  for  a  long  period  of  time,  there  are  probably  many  back  links  from  other  websites,  which  link  to  the  pages  you're  considering  changing.  Changing  the  permalinks  structure,  without  taking  any  other  action,  may  create  broken  links  which  could  have  a  negative  impact  on  your  website  rankings.    If  you  decide  to  change  the  structure,  make  sure  that  you  do  redirects  from  your  old  structure  to  your  new  structure.    

Technique  #2  Increase  Website  Loading  Time  Using  W3  Total  Cache  Plugin  

A  few  years  ago  Google  announced,  that  a  website  load  speed  is  one  of  the  parameters  (also  called  signals),  which  is  now  taken  into  consideration  by  their  search  ranking  algorithms.    When  you  ensure  your  website  loads  as  fast  as  possible,  it  may  help  you  improve  your  website's  ranking.  In  addition,  a  faster  loading  website  improves  the  visitor's  experience,  which  improves  the  likelihood  of  that  visitor  converting  into  a  valued  client  for  your  business.    For  WordPress  users,  this  process  is  simplified  by  using  the  W3  Total  Cache  Plugin.  Our  experience  shows  that  when  installed  and  configured  correctly,  this  plugin  can  double  the  load  speed  of  most  WordPress  website  pages.    Measuring  your  Website  Load  Speed    Before  using  this  plugin,  you  should  evaluate  the  current  load  speed  of  your  website.  This  helps  you  measure  the  improvement  you  see,  once  the  plugin  has  been  installed.      Below  is  a  list  of  free  tools  we  compiled,  which  will  help  you  measure  the  load  speed  of  your  website  and  its  pages:    

Ø Pingdom  Website  Speed  Test    Easy  to  use  and  gives  you  a  straight  forward  result.    

Ø Google's  PageSpeed  Insights      Google's  own  tool,  which  provides  results  for  both  desktop  and  mobile  devices.  Be  aware  though,  you  may  find  some  of  the  results  very  confusing.  We  suggest  you  use  it,  only  as  a  tool,  to  compare  the  before  and  after  performance  of  your  website.    

Ø YSlow      This  is  a  free  tool  from  Yahoo  which  suggests  different  ways  to  improve  the  speed  of  your  website.  

   

Page 7: 7 Actions You Can Take RIGHT NOW to Optimize Your ...bbot.ca/.../7-Actions-You-Can-Take-RIGHT-NOW-to-Optimize-Your-Wo… · WordPressInsider(,(Maximize(Your(Online(Visibility(,(Attract(More(Visitors(,(IncreaseYourRevenue((

WordPress  Insider  -­‐  Maximize  Your  Online  Visibility  -­‐  Attract  More  Visitors  -­‐  Increase  Your  Revenue        7  

http://WpInsider.org  

Installing  the  W3  Total  Cache  Plugin    To  start  using  this  plugin,  log  into  your  website’s  admin  area  and  locate  the  Plugins  >  Add  New  Screen.      In  the  search  box  enter  W3  Total  Cache  and  then  click  on  the  Search  Plugins  button.  In  page  results  locate  the  W3  Total  Cache  plugin,  and  click  on  Install  Now.    Important  Note:      Before  you  install  W3  Total  Cache,  make  sure  there  are  no  other  caching  plugins  installed  or  activated.  If  you  do  not  uninstall  other  caching  plugins,  W3  Total  Cache  may  experience  issues  when  you  attempt  to  activate  it.    Once  your  installation  is  complete,  a  new  item  titled  Performance  will  be  added  to  your  WordPress  admin  sidebar.    Configuring  the  W3  Total  Cache  Plugin    W3  Total  Cache  is  a  powerful  addition,  designed  for  WordPress  websites.  Part  of  its  power  comes  from  the  wide  variety  of  options  to  customize  within  the  plugin  itself.  Although  there  are  several  options  available,  we  recommend  you  use  only  the  options  described  below.  If  you  are  a  beginner,  or  someone  who  is  not  experienced  with  plugins,  stick  with  the  basic  options  we  provide.  In  our  experience  the  basic  options  will  double  the  load  speed  of  most  WordPress  websites.      You  can  access  the  settings  for  W3  Total  Cache,  by  clicking  on  the  “Performance”  menu  item  on  the  sidebar  menu.      The  first  option  you  see,  on  the  general  settings  page,  contains  settings  for  the  Page  Cache.  These  settings  are  responsible  for  creating  the  static  cache  pages,  which  will  prevent  pages  from  having  to  load  dynamically  from  your  server  every  time  they  are  accessed.  Make  sure  you  have  the  Enable  page  cache  box  checked,  and  then  be  sure  to  save  your  settings.  This  is  all  you  need  to  do  to  edit  your  page  cache  settings.    The  next  option  to  modify  is  the  Browser  Cache  option.  This  option  sets  a  time  limit  on  the  files  which  are  cached.  This  is  a  handy  tool  for  files,  like  a  logo,  which  doesn't  change  often.  It  allows  these  files  to  be  cached  for  an  extended  period  of  time.      This  means  your  pages  will  load  faster,  which  is  what  visitors  to  your  website  want.  The  same  is  

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true  for  other  files  on  your  website,  such  as  other  images,  CSS  files,  JavaScript  files,  and  other  static  files  you  use.  Simply  click  on  the  Enable  checkbox  and  save  your  settings.      When  this  is  completed,  go  back  to  your  sidebar  menu  and  select  the  Browser  Cache  option.  You  will  now  be  able  to  edit  other  options  in  your  cache  settings.      You  should  enable  all  the  options,  as  seen  in  the  image  here.  Make  your  selections  and  then  save  them.  Once  completed,  the  rest  of  the  settings  on  the  bottom  of  the  page  will  take  care  of  themselves.    That's  it!  You're  all  set.  Now  go  back  and  measure  the  website  load  speed  again  to  see  the  difference.  

 

Technique  #3  Use  and  Optimize  Your  Images  

Did  you  know  that  images  are  used  in  image  search  and  in  regular  organic  search?    When  a  search  engine  indexes  a  webpage,  it's  trying  to  understand  what  the  page  is  about  and  looks  for  keywords  which  are  located  in  various  parts  of  the  page,  including  the  images  embedded  in  the  page.      In  order  to  give  your  website  an  extra  boost,  you'll  have  to  optimize  your  images.  Optimizing  your  images  is  achieved  in  a  number  of  ways  and  we’ll  cover  some  of  the  best  ways  to  optimize  images  in  section  below.      Search  engines  are  not  able  to  see  images  or  read  them.  Because  of  this  you  need  to  perform  certain  actions,  which  results  in  search  engines  understanding  what  each  image  is  about.  You'll  provide  important  information,  which  they'll  use  when  describing  your  website.        

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Preparing  an  Image,  Before  Adding  it  to  Your  Website    The  Image  File  Name    

Make  sure  your  image  file  name  describes  what  the  image  is  about  and  included  important  keywords.  Make  sure  the  name  is  not  too  long.  Usually  3  to  4  words  is  the  standard  and  more  than  enough.  When  naming  the  image,  use  dashes  to  replaces  spaces  between  the  words.  For  example,  an  image  which  was  originally  named  IMG00027.jpg,  would  be  renamed  to  wedding-­‐photographer-­‐vancouver.jpg  

The  File  Size  of  Images    

Search  algorithms  for  images  normally  rank  big  images  higher  in  search  engines  results.  The  down  side  to  this  is  that  the  size  of  your  image  impacts  the  speed  with  which  the  page  loads.  Never  use  an  image  which  is  bigger  than  1000  pixels  wide  or  larger  than  100KB  in  size.  Make  sure  to  resize  your  images  before  you  upload  them  to  your  website.  

 What  to  Do  After  Adding  Images  to  Your  Website    ALT  Text    Another  way  to  tell  search  engines  what  an  image  is  about  is  by  using  the  ALT  text  tag.  Alt  Text  tags  were  originally  used  to  provide  alternative  text  for  the  reader,  in  place  of  the  image.  An  example  is  when  someone  is  using  a  text  only  browser  or  a  visually  impaired  person  is  using  a  screen  reader.    Search  engines  now  use  ALT  text  tags  as  a  way  to  figure  out  what  an  image  is  about.  This  is  similar  to  readable  text  on  the  page.    Image  Title  Attribute  

Although  the  image  title  attribute  is  not  known  to  be  a  ranking  factor  in  SEO,  we  recommended  that  you  use  the  title  attribute.  You  may  use  the  same  text  used  in  the  alt  attribute,  or  simply  describe  what  happens  when  somebody  clicks  on  the  image.    WordPress  Provides  an  Easy  Way  to  Add  the  Alt  Text  to  Images  Image  properties  can  be  accessed  when  editing  any  page  or  post  by  clicking  the  image  and  then  clicking  the  small  picture  icon  that  shows  up.    

     

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Technique  #4  Improve  Your  Coverage  in  Google  Index    

Is  your  website  connected  to  Google  Webmaster  Tools?  If  you  are  not  using  Google  Webmaster  Tools,  I  suggest  you  do  so  as  soon  as  possible.    Google  Sitemaps  is  an  easy  way  to  improve  your  coverage  in  Google's  index,  and  ensures  Google’s  robots  will  find  all  your  website's  pages.  If  your  website  is  new,  submitting  the  XML  sitemap  will  trigger  the  first  indexing  of  your  site,  and  get  the  ball  rolling  faster  than  it  would  if  you  did  not  use  it.      How  to  Create  A  Website's  XML  Site  Map  

Creating  a  sitemap  is  easy  when  your  website  uses  WordPress.  There  are  few  plugins,  which  will  create  an  XML  sitemap.  We  recommend  that  you  use  the  WordPress  SEO  plugin.  It  generates  the  website's  XML  sitemap  and  automatically  updates  it  when  changes  occur.  This  ensures  your  XML  sitemap  is  constantly  updated  to  include  the  most  recent  changes,  including  new  pages  you  add  or  new  blog  posts.      When  using  the  WordPress  SEO  plugin,  all  you  have  to  do  to  is  to  make  sure  that  the    "Check  this  box  to  enable  XML  sitemap  functionality"  is  check.      How  to  Submit  Your  Website's  XML  Site  Map  Using  Google  Webmaster  Tools    You  start  by  logging  into  your  Google  Webmaster  Tools  account.  Then  select  your  website  name.  You'll  find  the  Sitemaps  screen  on  the  right  sidebar  under  "Crawl."  Click  on  the  Add/Test  Sitemap  button  and  enter  the  sitemap's  file  name.  When  you  use  the  Wordpress  SEO  plugin,  your  sitemap  will  always  be  named:  sitemap_index.xml      Click  on  "Submit  Sitemap"  and  you're  finished.  We  recommend  you  check  your  account  in  few  days  to  ensure  Google  has  indexed  your  website,  and  that  no  issues  where  found.  

     

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Getting Clicks on Your Search Engine Links  When  people  enter  words  or  phrases  into  a  search  engine,  which  are  relevant  to  your  website,  your  website  is  not  the  first  thing  they  see.  What  they  are  shown  is  a  snippet  of  your  website  page,  which  the  search  engine  feels  best  matches  the  search  terms  they  entered.      On  the  right  is  an  example  of  one  such  snippet.  Think  about  snippets  as  being  advertisements  for  your  website.  Your  main  goal  is  to  grab  the  person's  attention  immediately  so  they'll  click  on  your  website  link  and  visit  your  website,  so  they  experience  what  your  business  offers  them  and  see  the  value  of  the  information  on  your  website.    The  good  news  is  that  you  have  the  ability  to  control  how  your  website  and  snippets  appear  in  search  engine  results.  Next  we'll  discuss  how  you  can  make  this  happen.  

   

Technique#  5  Take  Control  of  How  Your  Website  Looks  in  Search  Results  

 In  order  to  ensure  that  search  engines  show  what  you  want  in  their  results,  you'll  need  to  use  the  title  and  description  Meta  tags  for  each  page  or  post  on  your  website.    Meta  Tags  are  part  of  a  webpage's  syntax,  which  provides  additional  information  about  your  page,  without  it  being  displayed  on  your  page.  Originally,  Meta  tags  were  created  as  a  way  to  provide  search  engines  with  concise  information  about  a  website.      Meta  tags  such  as  title,  keywords  and  description  used  to  play  an  important  role  in  how  search  engines  ranked  a  website.  Unfortunately,  they  were  abused  by  many  on  the  internet,  and  their  importance  for  ranking  in  search  engines  has  now  declined.  Google  search  engine  ranking  algorithms  have  ignored  Meta  tags  for  a  number  of  years  now.    The  title  and  description  Meta  tags  remain  important,  because  they  are  the  main  mechanism  for  search  engines  to  create  the  snippet  for  each  webpage.      An  accurate  description  of  a  website  informs  prospective  visitors  about  the  relevancy  of  the  content  on  the  page,  and  allows  visitors  to  decide  whether  or  not  to  click  on  the  website  link.  If  you  don’t  

Tip:  If  you  want  to  know  what  your  snippet  looks  like  live  on  Google,  type  site:yoursitename.com  into  the  Google  search  box,  changing  the  URL  following  the  colon  to  your  exact  URL  of  your  website.  Once  you’ve  completed  the  search  you’ll  see  what  Google  is  showing  people  when  they  find  your  website.  

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create  an  informative  snippet  and  leave  the  Meta  information  blank,  search  engines  will  create  a  snippet  for  you,  and  choose  the  text,  which  they  feel,  is  relevant  from  what  they  see  on  your  web  page.  This  mean  you'll  lose  control  of  what  the  search  engine  snippet  describes.      As  discussed  earlier,  we  recommend  that  you  use  the  WordPress  SEO  plugin.  Once  you  install  this  plugin,  you'll  be  shown  an  interface,  which  will  allow  you  to  edit  the  title  and  Meta  tags  of  each  webpage.    A  unique  feature  of  this  plugin  is  that  it  allows  you  to  see  what  your  webpage’s  snippet  will  look  like  in  Google’s  search  results.  If  you  don’t  like  what  you  see,  the  plugin  helps  you  edit  your  snippet  until  you  feel  it’s  just  right.  You  will  find  the  WordPress  SEO  interface  at  the  bottom  of  the  page  or  on  the  post  editing  screen.      Important!  -­‐  If  your  website's  home  page  is  dynamically  created,  as  many  WordPress  websites  are,  you'll  need  to  define  the  Meta  tag  for  your  home  page,  inside  the  WordPress  SEO  interface.  You'll  need  to  select  WordPress  SEO  from  your  menu,  choose  the  Titles  &  Metas  option,  and  then  click  on  Home.    

   

 

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Grabbing Attention and Encouraging Action  Once  you  have  attracted  visitors  to  your  website,  you  need  to  do  everything  you  can  to  keep  them  there  as  long  as  possible.  Not  only  does  additional  time  on  your  website  give  people  the  information  they  need,  to  make  a  decision  about  doing  business  with  you,  longer  website  times  are  noticed  by  search  engines.  When  someone  arrives  at  your  website  and  leaves  quickly,  it  will  send  a  signal  to  search  engines  that  your  website  was  not  actually  relevant  to  the  search  query.  When  this  happens  too  often,  it  may  lead  to  decreased  rankings  over  time.  

 

Technique  #6  -­‐  Make    Your  Site  Mobile  Friendly  

 The  importance  of  traffic  from  mobile  devices  is  higher  than  ever  before.  Ignoring  consumers  who  visit  your  website  using  mobile  devices,  such  as  smart  phones  or  tablets  is  no  longer  an  option.  If  you're  not  convinced,  consider  the  statistic  below:    

Ø Global  mobile  traffic  now  accounts  for  15%  of  all  

Internet  traffic.  

Ø 48%  of  users  say  that  when  they  arrive  on  a  

business  site  that  is  not  setup  for  mobile,  they  feel  it's  an  indication  that  the  business  does  

not  care  about  mobile  users.  (Source:  MarginMedia)  

Ø 62%  of  companies  who  design  their  websites  for  mobile  see  increased  sales.  

(Source:  Econsultancy)  

 Mobile  Responsive  Themes      Responsive  web  designs  will  adapt  to  the  screen's  dimensions  and  capabilities  of  the  device  being  used.  They'll  ensure  that  a  website  appears  correctly  on  any  type  of  device  that's  being  used,  no  matter  what  the  screen  size  may  be.      You  will  save  a  lot  of  money  when  you  use  a  responsive  website  design,  since  it  enables  you  to  maintain  a  single  website,  instead  of  multiple  versions  with  each  needing  to  be  updated  individually.    Google  looks  favorably  upon  websites  that  use  responsive  designs,  because  they  are  seen  as  being  able  to  serve  a  larger  number  of  visitors.  Having  a  mobile  version  of  your  website  is  ideal  in  Google’s  

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eyes,  and  you'll  likely  rank  higher  than  a  website  who  is  not  mobile  ready.  A  responsive  website  design  is  the  best  option  for  your  visitors,  and  for  your  website’s  search  engine  rankings.      The  easiest  way  to  get  a  mobile  responsive  theme,  is  to  install  one  on  your  website  that  is  already  mobile  responsive.  The  next  question  is  where  can  you  get  this  type  of  theme?  

Ø Recent  WordPress  default  themes,  such  as  Twenty  Thirteen  and  Twenty  Fourteen  are  mobile  

responsive  designs.  These  will  come  with  your  WordPress  installation.  

Ø There  are  a  number  of  premium  themes,  which  offer  a  mobile  responsive  design.  You  can  

purchase  these  themes  from  StudioPress,  WooThemes  or  any  number  of  premium  theme  

providers  online.  A  simple  search  will  yield  numerous  results.  

Ø If  you  already  a  have  theme  you  really  like  and  do  not  want  to  change,  you  can  hire  a  developer  who  will  add  the  mobile  responsive  behavior  to  your  existing  theme.  

   Using  WPtouch  Pro      WPtouch  is  a  premium  plugin,  which  automatically  enables  a  simple  and  elegant  mobile  theme,  for  mobile  visitors  who  visit  your  WordPress  website.  The  administration  panel  allows  you  to  customize  different  aspects  of  its  appearance,  and  will  deliver  a  fast,  user-­‐friendly  and  stylish  version  of  your  website  to  mobile  visitors,  without  modifying  any  code,  or  affecting  your  regular  desktop  theme.  The  theme  includes  the  ability  for  visitors  to  switch  between  the  mobile  WordPress  theme,  and  your  website's  regular  theme.  WPtouch  Pro  pricing  starts  at  $49  (one-­‐time  fee).  A  free  version  is  available  with  limited  features.    Test  Your  Website  on  Different  Mobile  Devices    The  only  thing  worse  than  not  having  a  mobile  friendly  website,  is  having  a  mobile  version  of  your  website  which  does  not  work  properly.  It's  important  to  ensure  that  the  appearance  and  behavior  of  your  site  works  on  as  many  devices  as  possible.    One  tool  which  you'll  find  handy  is  "StudioPress"  mobile  responsive  testing  tool.  You  can  find  it  here:    http://www.studiopress.com/responsive/      This  tool  provides  an  easy  way  to  test  how  your  website's  design  looks  on  different  devices,  including  mobile  phones,  tablets,  and  different  web  browsers.    

   

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Technique  #7  Make  Your  Home  Page  About  Your  Visitors  -­‐  Not  You  

Your  homepage  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  important  pages  on  your  website.  It's  the  virtual  front  door  of  your  business.  There  is  a  lot  to  be  said  about,  what  makes  for  the  best  home  page  design  and  content.  We'd  like  to  highlight  one  very  important  aspect  of  it,  which  is  way  too  often  over  looked.      When  a  first  time  visitor  lands  on  your  website,  odds  are  they  are  searching  for  the  answer  to  a  specific  question,  about  something  that's  going  on  in  their  lives  right  now.  They  went  searching,  on  Google  or  another  website,  where  a  link  pointed  that  visitor  to  your  website.  They  clicked  because  they  thought  your  website  might  have  the  answer  they're  looking  for.  Remember  -­‐  a  good  homepage  resonates  with  a  target  audience.    Ask  yourself  these  questions:  

Ø What  problem(s)  do  your  visitors  need  to  solve  when  they  visit  you  website?  

Ø What  question  will  my  visitors  have?  

…and  make  sure  to  have  the  information  your  visitors  need,  right  there  on  your  home  page.    For  example,  if  you  are  a  chiropractor  you  would  choose  the  most  common  problems  you  now  your  visitors  would  need  to  solve.  Then  you'd  make  sure  they  were  highlighted  on  your  home  page.  You  need  to  understand,  that  a  person  with  a  back  pain  is  looking  for  pain  relief,  and  is  not  likely  to  be  interested  in  your  education,  when  they're  looking  at  your  website.  They  want  to  know  about  your  expertise  in  relieving  their  pain.  

When  a  visitor  to  your  website  sees  that  you  have  a  solution  to  the  exact  problem  they  have,  they  are  much  more  likely  to  stay  on  your  website,  and  take  the  first  action  that  eventually  will  make  them  your  client.  

Conclusion  Owning  a  website  is  not  easy,  and  there’s  always  something  new  to  learn.  We  hope  the  information  presented  above  will  give  you  valuable  ideas  for  improving  your  website,  and  its  rankings  in  top  search  engines  like  Google.    

If  you  ever  have  questions  or  feedback  feel  free  to  email  me  at  [email protected]    

Thank  you  for  reading  our  information,  and  we  wish  you  the  best  of  luck  with  your  WordPress  website.  

To  your  success!      

 

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Appendix A - Keyword Research  Understanding  what  keywords  are  and  how  to  do  keyword  research,  is  an  essential  part  of  optimizing  your  website.  The  reason  is  simple!  Understanding  keywords,  which  are  being  used  by  potential  visitors,  helps  you  to  know  what  words  to  use  on  your  website.  Potential  visitors  will  use  these  words  to  search  for  your  products  or  services.      Keyword  research  is  a  process  of  finding  actual  search  terms  used  by  people,  who  are  looking  for  your  services  or  products.    Keyword  research  will  provide  you  with  answers  to  the  following  questions:    

Ø How  many  people  are  searching  for  your  services  or  products?    

Ø What  language  do  people  use  when  they  search  for  your  services?    

Ø What  is  the  competition  doing,  and  what  do  I  need  to  do  to  rank  high  on  search  result  for  a  particular  keyword?    

When  you  know  what  people  search  for,  you  are  able  to:    

Ø Create  content  that  answers  your  visitor's  questions.    

Ø Optimize  your  website  pages  so  they  rank  high.  Then,  when  a  potential  visitor  searches  the  web  for  the  services  or  products  you  offer,  they  find  your  website.    

How  to  Perform  Keyword  Research   To  gain  access  to  this  useful  information,  you'll  need  to  use  the  research  tools  currently  available  in  today's  market.      Google  Keyword  Planner  Tool  -­‐  This  tool  has  recently  replaced  the  Google  Keyword  Tool.  It  is  an  excellent  start  for  doing  keyword  research.    Market  Samurai  -­‐  This  software  provides  a  set  of  tool,  which  will  streamline  critical  search  engine  marketing  tasks.  It  includes  a  very  powerful  keyword  research  tool.      TrafficTravis  -­‐  Another  popular  software  that's  available,  which  provides  a  set  of  search  engine  marketing  tools.    Note:  Both  Market  Samurai  and  TrafficTravis  use  data  which  is  provided  by  Google.  It's  important  to  have  a  Google  AdWords  account,  in  order  to  use  the  keyword  research  functionality  they  provide.    If  you  would  like  to  learn  more  about  Keyword  Research,  I  suggest  you  read  the  following  article:  http://www.seobook.com/learn-­‐seo/keyword-­‐research-­‐strategies.php