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TABLE OF CONTENTS WELCOME! .......................................................................................................................................... 3

HOWSEARCHENGINESWORK ............................................................................................................. 4

TECHNICALSEO

UNBLOCKINGSEARCHENGINES ........................................................................................................... 7

SITEMAPS ............................................................................................................................................ 8

ROBOTS.TXT ...................................................................................................................................... 10

URLCANONICALIZATION.................................................................................................................... 12

404PAGES,MISSINGCONTENT,ERRORPAGES,ETC ........................................................................... 13

STRUCTUREANDSETTINGS

NAVIGATION,SIDEBARSANDFOOTERS ............................................................................................. 14

DOMAINNAMES................................................................................................................................ 18

WEBSITEURLS(PERMALINKS) ............................................................................................................ 19

TITLETAGS......................................................................................................................................... 20

DESCRIPTIONTAGS ............................................................................................................................ 27

OPTIMIZINGIMAGES ......................................................................................................................... 29

INTERLINKING.................................................................................................................................... 32

USABILITY .......................................................................................................................................... 37

CONTENT

WRITINGCONTENTFORSEO.............................................................................................................. 38

LINKBAIT........................................................................................................................................... 43

CONTENTFORMATTING..................................................................................................................... 53

GETTINGINDEXED.............................................................................................................................. 56

TRACKINGANDMONITORING

WEBSITEMONITORINGANDANALYTICS............................................................................................ 57

CLOSINGTHOUGHTS.......................................................................................................................... 58

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Welcome! YounowownthemostupdatedanddetailedguidetooptimizingyourWordPresswebsitetogetthemosttrafficpossiblefromsearchengines.Iwrotethisbookbecausesomanypeoplecanbenefitfromsmalltweaksandchangesthathelpimprovetheirwebsitesvisibilityinsearchengines.Highervisibility=moretraffic!Eachsectionoffersbothaneasytofollowexplanationandastep‐by‐steptutorialforfixingcommonSEOproblemsandoptimizingyourWordPresswebsite.ThegoalofthisbookistogiveyouenoughinsightintohowandwhysearchenginesworkthatyoucaneasilydeterminethebestwaystooptimizeyourwebsiteforbothusersANDsearchengines.IpromiseyouSEOisnothard,eventhoughsomanypeoplethinkthatitis.It’sjustamatterofunderstandinghowtomakeyourwebsitemorerelevant,accessible,andusableforsearchers–whichyou’llseeisactuallyprettysimple.Evenifyouonlylearnfivethingsfromthisentirebook,thosefivethingswillmakeyourwebsitebetterthanitwasyesterdayandimproveit’ssearchenginerankings.

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How Search Engines Work IfyouhavesubstantialSEOexperienceandunderstandhowsearchenginesworkthissectioncanbeskipped.Ifyouaren’tsurehowsearchenginesworkorarestillconfusedbytheconceptofSEOthis

sectionwillserveasagreatcrashcoursetogetyoustarted.

Tobecompletelyhonest,youdon’tneedtoknowmuchaboutsearchenginestogettrafficfromthem.BUT,havingthisbasicunderstandingofhowtheyworkwillhelpyoulearnhowtodecidewhat’sbestfor

yourwebsiteandmaximizetheamountoffreetrafficyouget.

ThemostimportantthingIwantyoutounderstandisthatSEOisnotaone‐time“setitandforgetit”process.It’sacontinuousefforttomakeyourwebsitebetter,faster,andstronger.Thewaytonotonlygetontopbutstayontopofsearchenginesistocontinuegrowingyourwebsiteandfollowingthese

SEOprinciples.Fromhereonoutassumeyourcompetitorsareconstantlytryingtooutrankyouandtakeyourtraffic.Ifyoudothat,youwillalwaysbetheoneatthetopandnottheonetryingtogettothetop.ThinkofSEOasajourneyinsteadofadestination–cheesyIknow,butitworks.

ThisistheprocessthatIusetoapproachSEO:

SEO

Keyword/Niche

Research

NewContentCreabonand

Indexing

OnPageOpbmizabon

OffPage/Conbnued

Opbmizabon

Evaluabonand

Monitoring

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Istartwithkeyword/nicheresearchandmovearoundthecyclecontinuously.AlotofwebsiteownerslookatSEOasmoreofaoneshotprocess,whichiswhysomanystrugglewithit.ThepartoftheSEO

processthisbookfocusesonisnewcontentcreation/indexingandonpageoptimization.ThesearebothnecessarycornerstonesofanysuccessfulSEOcampaignthatareoftenoverlookedordoneincorrectly.

TheTruthAboutSEO

ThemisconceptionthatSEOiscomplicatedmakesineffective“overnight”SEOscamssoundappealingto

trickorhackyourwaytothetopofsearchengines.Youdon’tneedthose–youjusthavetounderstandwhatsearchenginesarelookingforandgiveittothem.Thesetips,fixes,andbestpracticesareallofthemajorandimportantaspectssearchengineslookatonyourwebsite,soit’simportanttogetthemright.

Searchenginesusecomplexalgorithmstogradeandevaluateyourwebsitetodecideifit’srelevant

enoughtoshowatthetopofsearchresults.Youdon’thavetobeamathematician(Ihatemath)oranengineertooptimizeyourwebsite,though.Allyouhavetodoisgivesearchengineswhatthey’relookingfor,whichisexactlywhatyou’regoingtolearnbytheendofthisbook.

HowSearchEnginesFindYou

Searchenginesdon’tshowsearchresultsoftheliveInternetasweseeit.Theyusesoftwarecalled

spiders(alsoknownascrawlers)thatsearchtheInternetfornewcontentandwebsitestoshowinresults.Theyfindwebsitesthataren’tlisted,decideifthewebsitemeetsguidelines,andeitheraddittotheindexormoveson.Thenewwebsitesthespidersfindareaddedtoalargedatabasecalledanindex

–thisiswheresearchresultscomefrom.Thinkofsearchengineindexesasahugedatabaseofwebsitesthat’sconstantlyupdated.

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Thisistheprocesssearchenginesusetofindnewcontentandwebsites:

Thefollowingsectionsinthisbookshowyouhowtomakewebsitesthatsearchenginesloveanddisplay

insearchresultsasfrequentlyaspossible.Youwillalsolearnhowtooptimizeyourwebsitetomaximizefreesearchenginetrafficandsomeotherlegitimatetrickstorankyourwebsiteandpullinsearchers,sogetready!

SearchEngineProcess

NewContentCreated

NewContentFound

NewContentCrawled

NewContentIndexed

Recrawlingand

Reindexing

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Unblocking Search Engines Beforewediveintoofaryouneedtomakesurethatyourwebsiteallowssearchenginestofindanddisplayitinsearchresults.Someone‐clickinstallationsoftwarelikeFantasticowillautomaticallyblock

WordPressfromsearchenginesbydefault.Wedefinitelydon'twantthat,becausethenwecan'tgetanysearchenginetraffic.Beforedoinganythingelse,youneedtomakesurethatyourwebsiteissetupto

allowsearchenginestoaccessyourwebsite.

1. InyourWordPressadminpanelgotoSettings>Privacy

2. ThereshouldonlybeoneoptionontheprivacysettingspagecalledSiteVisibility.Makesurethatthefirstradiobuttonisselectedthatsays,"Iwouldlikemysitetobevisibletoeveryone."

*Don'tforgettoclicksavechanges!

Nowthatweknowsearchenginescanvisitoursiteandputusinthesearchresultswecanstartoptimizing.

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Sitemaps Therearetwodifferentwaysforasearchenginetofindandindexyourwebsite.Thefirstistogetalinkfromanalreadyindexedwebsite,andtheotheristosubmitasitemaptosearchengines.Asitemapisa

listofallthepagesonyourwebsiteinoneneatandtidyfile.Sobasically,asitemapwillletyouholdthesearchengineshandandsay,"hey,theseareALLofmypages,indexthemplease!"

Submittingyoursitemaptothesearchenginesgivesyouanextrachancetoshowthempagesthey

weren’tabletofindbefore.Thesitemapwillhelpgivesearchenginesabetteroverallimageofyourwebsitesstructureaswell,whichhelpsthemcrawlitmoreeffectively.It'safastandautomaticprocesssothere'snoreasonnottohaveafrequentlyupdatedsitemap.

ForsitemapsIusethepluginGoogleXMLSitemaps.GoogleXMLSitemapswillautomaticallygeneratea

sitemapofyourwebsiteandgiveyouinstructionsforsubmittingittothemajorsearchengines.Italsostaysup‐to‐dateautomaticallywhenyoucreatenewcontentsoyoursitemapwillalwaysbecurrent.

SettingUpGoogleXMLSitemaps

1. InstallGoogleXMLSitemapssandgotoSettings>XML‐Sitemap2. Clickthe"Clickhere"linktobuildthesitemapforthefirsttime

3.Nowyoursitemapwillbebuiltautomaticallyeverytimenewpostsorpagesareaddedtoyourwebsite.IfyouneedtoexcludeanycategoriesoraddinanymissingURL’syoucandothatinthepluginsettings.

SubmittingYourSubmittoGoogle,Yahoo,andBingTosubmityoursitemaptoGoogleyoufirstneedtosignintoGoogleWebmasterTools.FormoreinformationandhelpwithGoogleWebmasterToolscheckouttheGWTguidethatcamewiththisbook.Onceyou'reloggedinifyouhaven'taddedyourwebsiteclick"Addasite..."andfollowtheverificationprocess.Otherwise,clickonyourwebsitetoviewyourWebmasterToolsdashboard.

1. Onceyou'reintheGWTdashboardgotoSiteConfiguration>Sitemaps

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2. ClickSubmitaSitemapandputinyoursitemapURL(itwillbeyoursite.com/sitemap.xmlby

default)3. Bam!Yoursitemaphasbeensubmitted,sitbackandrelax

TheprocessisthesameforBingandYahoo'sversionofWebmastertools.Followthoselinksandsubmityoursitemapthesameway.

Note:Isuggestputtingalinktoyoursitemapinthefooterofyourwebsitetohelpsearchenginesfinditagainwhentheycrawlyoursite.

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Robots.txt Robots.txtisafilethattellssearchengineswhattheycanandcannotindexonyourwebsite.Youcanusethistokeepimportantpartsofyoursiteoutofsearchenginesthatyoudon’twantindexedlike

membersonlyanddownloadareas.Ifyoudon’texcludeareasofyourwebsiteyoudon’twantcrawleditwillmostlikelybeindexedandpubliclyviewablethroughsearchengines.Remember:ifthere’s

anythingyouwantexcludedfromsearchresultsTHISishowyoudoit.

Makingarobots.txtfileforyourWordPresssiteispainlessandsimple(likejustabouteverythingelse).Evenifyoudon’twanttoprotectordisallowanyaccesstoyourwebsiteyoushouldstillcreateonejustsothatitexists.IusethepluginKBRobots.txtforallofmywebsitesbecauseitmakeseditingthe

Robots.txtfileeasierthenhavingtouploaditthroughFTP.

MakingaRobots.txtfilewithWordPress

1. InstallandactivatetheKBRobots.txtplugin2. GotoSettings>KBRobots.txt

3. SetupyourRobots.txtfiletodisallowanydirectoriesorareasofyourwebsiteyoudon’twantthesearchenginestoindex–seebelowformorehelp.

TheplugincomeswithatutorialonthedifferentoptionsyouhaveforyourRobots.txtfile,buthereare

themostcommonlyusedoptions:

AllowAllRobots

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User-agent: * Disallow: [Thisoptionallowsthesearchenginestoindexallofyourwebsitewithnoholdingback–everythingwillbeaddedtothesearchenginesindex.Thiswillbethemostappropriateoptionformostpeople.]BanAllRobotsUser‐agent:*Disallow:/[Thisoptionbanssearchenginesfromindexinganypartofyourwebsite,onlydothisifyoudonotwantanyofyourwebsiteindexed]BanaSpecificPartofYourWebsiteUser‐agent:*Disallow:/members/[Thisoptionblocksspecificdirectoriesofyourwebsite.Inthisexampleabovethesearchengineswould

beallowedtoindexeverythingEXCEPTthecontentsofthemembersdirectory.Ifyouhaveamembershiparea,downloadpage,etcthisiswhereyouwanttoletsearchenginesknow,assumingyoudon’twanttheinformationtobepubliclyviewable.]

AssumingIwantedtodisallowthe“members”directorymyRobots.txtfilewouldlooklikethis:

4. ClickSubmitandthat’sit‐yournewRobots.txtfileislive.

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URL Canonicalization WhenyoupublishcontentonyourwebsitesometimesyoucanaccessthatsamecontentfrommorethanoneURL.Agoodexampleofthisisanarticlethathasanormal,printerfriendly,andmobileversion

thateachhasitsownURL,likethis:

• http://mysite.com/news/dog‐training‐secrets• http://mysite.com/news/printer‐friendly/dog‐training‐secrets• http://mobile.mysite.com/news/dog‐training‐secrets

Thiscausesaduplicatecontentissuewithsearchenginesbecauseitlookslikeyouhavethesamecontentonmorethanonepage.It'shardforsearchenginestodecidewhichpagetopickwhenthereare3nearlyidenticalpagestochoosefrom.URLcanonicalizationletsyoutellthesearchengineswhich

pageyouwantthemtopickandrankforkeywordsoutofthe3versions.

YoucantellsearchengineswhichversionyoupreferbynamingoneyourcanonicalURLwiththerel="canonical"HTMLattribute.AcanonicalURListhepreferredURLwhenmultipleareavailableforthesamecontenttofixtheduplicatecontentissue.

Inalatersectionwe’regoingtoinstallaplugincalledAllinOneSEOPackforURLCanonicalization.The

pluginwillautomaticallyselectandapplythecanonicallinkattributetothepreferredURLofeverypage,don’tworryaboutthatfornowthough–we’llgetthere!

wwwvs.no‐www

OnebigmistakeyoucanmakewithURLcanonicalizationisnothavingeitherwwworno‐wwwsetupforyourwebsite.Ifyoucanaccessyourwebsitebytypinginbothwww.yourwebsite.comandyourwebsite.comwithoutbeingredirectedtotheotheryou'recreatingaduplicateofyourentire

website.SearchenginesviewthesetwoURLsascompletelyseparatepages:

• http://www.yourwebsite.com/• http://yourwebsite.com/

Thisredirectshouldbeautomaticallysetupformosthostsbutifitisn'tcontactyour"webguy"togetitdone.Searchenginesdon'tcarewhichoneyoupickbetweenwwwandno‐www,justpickoneandstick

withit.

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404 Pages, Missing Content, Error Pages, etc Sometimespagesonyourwebsitewillchangenamesandbemovedaroundtodifferentplaces.It'simportanttokeeptrackofbrokenlinks,404pages,andcontentmissingthatpeoplearetryingtoaccess

andnotableto.Whenyoufinda404orerrorpagefigureoutwherethenewpageislocatedandredirectittothenewversionofthatpage.

IusetheRedirectionPlugintohelpkeeptrackofanyURLsthatneedtoberedirectedorfixed.Installthe

pluginandcheckittoseeifyouhaveany404orerrorpagesthatyoucanredirectorfix.IfyoueverchangetheURLofapageonyourwebsiteusetheredirectionplugintoredirecttheoldURLtothenewone,thatwaythesearchenginescanpasstherankingstothenewpage.

IalsousetheBrokenLinkCheckerplugintokeeptrackofany404pagesorbrokenlinksonthesite.Betweentheredirectionpluginandthebrokenlinkcheckeryoucanfindallofthebrokenareasofyourwebsiteandfixthemupinawaythathelpsyourrankings.Bystayingontopofyourbroken,404,anderrorpagesyoucanmakesureyourrankingsandlinkjuicearealwayspassedtothemostpreferredpageavailable.

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Navigation, Sidebars and Footers Whensearchenginescrawlwebsitestheypayattentiontohoweasyanduserfriendlythewebsiteislaidoutandstructured.Themoreyouoptimizeyourwebsiteforfastloadtimes,simplenavigation,and

flawlessusabilitythemoreyouprovetosearchenginesthatyoursiteishighqualityandrelevant.Youcanusedifferentthemes,plugins,sliders,orwhatevereffectsyouwantonyourwebsitebutmakesure

youdesignyourwebsiteinawaythatdeliverswhattheuserisexpectinginaneasytouseway.

Navigation

Thenavigationshouldbeusedtoindicatetheoveralltheme(s)ofyourwebsite.IfyoucanrememberbacktotheinterlinkingsectionItalkedaboutthebestwaytostructureyournavigation.Theeasiestthingtodoistophysicallydrawoutyourtoptierkeywordsandanynecessarysub‐topicsinahierarchy.

Usingthenavigationexamplefrominterlinkingthesewouldbemynavigationoptions:

Home–About–PPC–SEO–FacebookAdvertising–MediaBuying–Blog–ContactUs

Tooptimizemynavigationevenfurther,Icansetupeverythingweofferforeachmainservicelikethis:

Thenmynavigationwouldhavealloftheservicesweofferincludingthesub‐topicsofeachofthoseservices.It’sperfectlyfinetoincludeotherimportantpartsofyourwebsiteinyournavigationlikehome,about,andcontactus–justmakesureyougetyourmainkeywordsinthere.

Wheneverpossibleuserealtextinyournavigationinsteadofanimage.Withanimageyouhavetorely

onyourimagenameandalttags,butifyou’reusingrealtextinyournavigationsearchenginescan’tmistakethethemesandkeywords.

PPC

CampaignCreagon

AdWordsManagement

Yahoo/MSNManagement

SEO

SiteAudits

LinkBuilding

OnPageOpgmizagon

FacebookAdvergsing

CampaignOpgmizagon

CampaignSetup

LandingPageOpgmizagon

MediaBuying

GoogleContentNetwork

DirectMediaBuys

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Changingyournavigationisdifferentdependingonyourtheme,butmostthemesthatareeitherupdatedorfairlyrecentwillusetheWordPressmenusystem.

SettingUpWordPressCustomMenus

1. GotoAppearance>Menu

2. Selectyournavigationmenuinthe“PrimaryNavigation”dropdown,ifyoudon’tcurrentlyhave

oneclickthe+Menusymbolandcreateone.

3. InthepagessectionontherightselectthepagesyouwantinthemenuandclickAddtoMenu.Ifyouwanttoaddacustom

URLyoucandothatintheboxaboveit.

4. OrganizeyournavigationslayoutandstructurethenclickSaveMenu.

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5. MakesureyouselecttherightmenuinthePrimaryNavigationoption.

Somethemeswillalsoletyousetupyourfooterthisway,socheckwithyour“tech”guyorthemedocumentationifyouhavetroubles.Ifyourthemedoesn’thavecustomWordPressmenussetup

anothercommonplacefornavigationoptionsisintheWidgetsareaofyourWordPresssite.Seeifyouhaveawidgetareacalledsomethinglike“Footer”or“FooterArea.”

BreadcrumbTrails

AnothertrickIliketouseisputtingabreadcrumbtrailoneverypageofmywebsite.Abreadcrumbtrailisapathoftextlinksthatshowshowyouarrivedonthecurrentpage.Ifyou’re2or3layersdeepintoa

websiteit’sreallynicetohavethebreadcrumbtrailtobeabletoaccessanylayerofthesitewithouthavingtosearchorclickbackabunchoftimes.

FormyWordPresssitesIuseaplugincalledBreadcrumbNavXTanditdoesagreatjob.WeusethispluginonourwebsitesallthetimeincludingourtrafficandconversionmembershipsiteRealWorld

Traffic.

Becausethecontentgoes5pagesdeepthebreadcrumbtrailhelpstheusernavigatetoanyofthepages

aboveit.Breadcrumbtailstakealotoffrustrationoutofsitenavigationandmakesyourwebsitemoreuserfriendly.

IttakesalittlebitoftechskilltoinstallBreadcrumbNavXT–youhavetoeditthetemplatefileofyourwebsite.Ifyouaren’tcomfortableeditingyourthemesPHPfilesyoumightneedtohaveyourweb

developer/techguysetitupforyou.Itshouldtakethemanentire30secondstoinstallandsetupthepluginusingtheinstructionshere.

Sidebars

IntheinterlinkingsectionwetalkedaboutusingtheTabbedWidgetplugintointerlinknewandpopularpostsaswellasourmostpopulartags.ThereasonIchoosetouseatabbedwidgetisbecauseitleaves

therestofthesidebaropenforotherwidgets.Youcanfillthespacewithanythingyouwant–recenttweets/shares,report/newsletteropt‐in,linkstoguides/products,anythingyoucanthinkoftomakeyourwebsitebetter.Iliketogivepeoplemorecreativelibertywiththesidebarbecauseit’sagreatpiece

ofrealestateonyourwebsitethatyoucanusetoengageandinteractwithvisitors.

ChangingYourSidebarinWordPress

1. GotowidgetsgotoAppearance>Widgets

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2. Dragthewidgetsyouwantintothesidebarwidgetandclicksave

Footers

Ifyou’rejustusingyourfooterforcopyrightinformationyou’repassinguponabigopportunitytoimproveyourwebsitesusability.Footersareagreatbonusareatointerlinkyourcontentandcreate

alternatenavigationlinks.Myfavoritecomboistointerlinktoptiernavigationpagesinthefooter(SEO,FacebookAdvertising,etc.)andyournew/popularcontentusingtheTabbedWidgetpluginnexttoit.Thatwayifyournavigationfailstoloadsearchengineshaveasecondplacetheycanusetonavigate

yourwebsite,italsogivesyouanotherkeywordrichlinktoyourtoptierpagesfromeverypageonyourentiresite.

Here’sanexampleofawelldonefooterwithlotsofalternatelinksandotherusefulnavigationoptionslikeprivacypolicy,RSSfeed,andsitemap.

Ihavelinkstoallofmytoptierpages,themostrecent5blogposts,andotherimportantlinksforthesitemap,contactus,andprivacypolicypages.Makesureyou’reincludinganynecessarylegalpagesand

disclaimerswherepeoplecaneasilyfindthem,too.Anythingthatprovesyourcredibilitycanactasahugetrustsignalandgiveyourwebsiteamorelegitimatepresentation.

ChangingandeditingyourfooterwillalsodependonyourthemeandthewayyourWordPresssiteissetup.Ifyoucan’tgettheWordPresscustommenuorsidebarwidgettoshowupinyourfooterlookat

yourthemedocumentationorconsultyourtechguy.

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Domain Names Onewaytomakerankingeasieristouseakeywordrichdomainname.Akeywordrichdomainmeansthemainkeywordyou'retargetingissomewhereinthedomainname.Ifyou'retryingtoselladog

trainingcourseandyourprimarykeywordis“dogtrainingguides”adomainnamelike"DogTrainingGuides.com"wouldbeconsideredkeywordrich.

Whenregisteringdomainnamestrytogettheprimarykeywordyouwanttorankforinthemifpossible.

Havingakeywordrichdomainnameisn'tnecessaryforrankingbutitdoeshelp.Youcanabsolutelyrankawebsitewithoutakeywordrichdomain,sodon’ttakethisasanecessity.Ifyoualreadyhaveawebsitestickwithitregardlessofthedomain,butkeepitinmindforfuturedomainpurchases.

Searchenginesgivearelevancyboosttothesetypesofdomainnamesthathelpsthemrankbetter.The

thoughtprocessisthatifthekeywordbeingsearchedisinyourdomainnameitmustberelevant,right?Myfavoriteexampleofkeywordrichdomainsinactionisthesearchresultsforthehypercompetitivekeyword"creditcards."Youwouldthinkthatoneofthebilliondollarcreditcardcompanieswouldhave

the#1ranking...butguesswhodoes?

ThewebsiteCreditCards.comranksaboveeverysinglemajorcreditcardcompany.Thisshowsyouhow

powerfulkeywordrichdomainnamesareandwhyyoushouldhaveoneifyoucan.IfCreditCards.comcanoutrankVisa,MasterCard,Discover,Amex,andalltheothersforatermlikeCREDITCARDSwhycan’tyoube#1inyourniche?

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Website URLs (Permalinks) BydefaultWordPressmakestheURL'sofyourpostsandpageslooklikecompletegibberish.IfIwroteapostcalled"SEOPractices"onadefaultinstallofWordPressitwouldgenerateaURLlikethis:

tomlambert.com/?p=21

ThattypeofURLtellsmeabsolutelynothingaboutthecontentofthepage.TheURLshouldgiveanidea

ofthepageorpostcontent.WhenasearchenginelooksattheseURL’swhichdoyouthinkappearsmorerelevantandontopicforakeywordlikeSEOpractices?

• tomlambert.com/?=21• tomlambert.com/seo‐practices

Ivoteforthesecondone!Theimportantthingtorememberisthatyouwanttogivethesearchengineseveryreasonpossibletoseethatyourwebsiteisthemostimportant,relevant,andontopic.UsingURL’s

thatdescribethecontenthelpssearchenginesgiveyoumorecreditandrankyouhigher.

WithWordPresswecanfixthisbychangingthePermalinkstructureofthewebsite,here'show:

1. GotoSettings>Permalinks

2. SelectCustomStructure

3. Changeto/%postname%/4. ClickSaveChanges

NowallofourpostURL'swillhavenicehyphenatednameslikeintheexampleabove.

Youcanstillmanuallyoverrideapostorpagenameifyouneedto.Justgotothepageorpostandclicktheeditbuttonnexttothepermalinkunderthepost/pagetitle.

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Sometimesifyouhavealongtitlecreatingacustompermalinklikethisisagoodidea.Ifyourposttitleissomethingsuperlonglike"100OutofControlWaystoGetSuperInspiredWithoutSpendingAnyMoney"apermalinklikeyoursite.com/how‐to‐get‐inspiredwouldbemoresuitable.

Trytogetthemainkeyword(s)you'retargetingonthatpageintheURLwheneveryoucan.Thiswill

showsearchenginesthatthepageisrelevanttothekeyword(s)youwanttorankfor.Don’ttrytotricksearchenginesandstuffallofyourkeywordsintoeveryURL–beaccurateanddescriptive.

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Title Tags ThetitletagisabiggieandoneofthemostimportantonpageSEOelementsthatyouhavetogetright,sopayattention!WhenyousearchforakeywordonGooglethetitletagisthebluehyperlinkdisplayed

intheresultslikethis:

Titletagsarealotmoreimportantthanmostpeoplethinksoyouhaveabigopportunitytotakeadvantageofandmasterthem.Howimportant?Well,theydirectlyimpacttheamountoftrafficyouget,yourrankings,andevenhowmanysearchersclickyourwebsiteslistinginthesearchengines.

ThereareafewdifferentreasonswhythetitletagissovitaltoyourSEOsuccess:

1. It'swhatpeopleseewhentheyfindyourwebsiteWhensomeoneissearchingthefirstthingtheyseeonasearchresultspageisyourtitletag.YouhavetograbtheirattentionandpersuadethemtoclickonYOURwebsiteallinthespanofasplitsecondandwith60charactersorless.Attheveryleastyouhavetoconvincethemtoreadthedescriptionofyourwebsiteunderneaththetitletag(moreonthatlater).Thereare9othercompetitorsonthefirstpagerightalongwithyourwebsitesothetitletagisyourchancetoreelthemin.Togetthebestclick‐throughratepossibleyouhavetomakeyourtitlesexcitingandattractiveenoughtopeaktheirinterestandclick.Spiceupyourtitlesandmakethemstandoutagainsttheotherwebsitessurroundingyours.Insteadofatitlelike"GuidetoCarDetailing"makeitsomethinglike"TheUltimateGuidetoCarDetailing"or"CarDetailing:TheMissingGuide."Whichonewouldyouratherclickandwhichsoundsmoreexciting?Youdon'thavetousehypeortrytomakeyoursitesoundlikesomethingitisn'tbutbecreativeandstandoutsomehow.Thereare4differenttypesoftitlesIusethatallworkextremelywell:

• Curiosity(FatLossTricksTheyDon'tWantYoutoKnow)• Definitiveness(TheUltimateGuidetoSEO)• List(20PlacesYouMustSeeBeforeYouDie)• Hype(HowtoMake$124,532aDayWithoutDoingAnything)

UsetheseasacheatsheetforyourtitletagsandrememberthatyouHAVEtostandoutoryou'llbepassinguponalotoftrafficevenifyou'reinthefirstposition.2. Searchenginesuseitasarelevancy/rankingfactorNotonlyisthetitletagimportantforusers,it'salsoahugerankingfactorforsearchengines.Havingyourkeywordsinyourtitletaggivesyouabigboostinsearchenginesbecauseitprovesthatyourpagecontentislikelyrelevanttothekeyword.

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Whencreatingyourtitletagstrytogetatleastonekeywordinitwheneverpossible.Searchenginesaresmartthough‐don'toverdoitandbloatupyourtitlewithtonsofunrelatedkeywords.Makesurethatthetitlemakessenseafteryouwriteitandthatyou'renotjustshovinginasmanykeywordsaspossiblejustbecauseyouwanttorankforthem.Myruleofthumbfortitlesistoincludetheprimarykeywordofthepostorpageandanysecondarykeywordsiftheyfitanditmakessense.Ifyourtargetkeywordforanarticleis"BestNetbooks"apagetitlelike"The100BestNetbooksontheMarket"wouldbeperfect.Whensomeonesearchesakeywordthat’sinyourtitletagit'sautomaticallyboldedinthesearchresults.Thisalonecanbeenoughtograbthesearchersattentionandvisityourwebsite.Searchingfor"keyword"showsthefollowingresults:

Seehowkeywordisbolded?Searchengineswilldothiswheneverasearchmatchesakeywordinthetitle,description,orURLofthewebsite.Notonlydoesitboldthekeywordmakingitmoreeyecatching,you’reawardedhigherrankingsaswell–areyoustartingtoseewhythetitletagissoimportant?Therearetwomoreimportantthingstonote:theproximityandkeyworddensityofthetitletag.Proximity:Thelocationofthekeywordinthetitletag–alsoknownasitsproximity‐hasaninfluenceonhowmuchcredityourwebsiteisgivenbysearchengines.Ifthekeywordistowardsthebeginningit'sgivenahigherlevelofcreditandifit'sclosertotheendit'sgivenalowerlevel.Ifyoucangetyourkeywordsinthebeginningofthetitleyouwillbecreditedmore,butdon'ttrytoforceit.AbettertitlefortheNetbookexamplewouldbesomethinglike"BestNetbooks:TheTop100ontheMarket."Thekeywordisatthebeginningofthetitlesoitwillbegivingthegreatestamountofcreditfromsearchengines.Noteofcaution:Ifitdoesn'tmakesenseatthebeginningofthetitle,don'tputitthere.It'smoreimportantforthetitletomakesensethantobestuffedwithkeywords.KeywordDensity:Anotherfactortokeepinmindwhencreatingyourtitletagsiskeyworddensity.Keyworddensityisthepercentageofhowmanytimesyourkeywordismentionedcomparedtothetotalnumberofwords.Thehigheryourkeyworddensitythemorecreditthetitletagisgivenbysearchengines.Let'slookatthe"BestNetbooks:TheTop100ontheMarket"exampleagainsoIcanshowyouhowtocalculatethekeyworddensity.Thekeyword(BestNetbooks)wasmentioned1timeandthereare8totalwords.Sothekeyworddensitywouldbe1/8=12%

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Youdon'thavetocalculatethekeyworddensityofeverytitleyoucreate.Justkeepinmindthatshorter,keywordrichtitlesaregivenmorecredit.ThereisnomagicbulletpercentageforkeyworddensitybutyouhavetostrikeabalancebetweenanattractiveandkeywordrichtitletomaximizeyourwebsitesSEO.Yes,thetitle"BestNetbooks"is100%keywordrichbutisitattractiveenoughtogivethesearcheraburningdesiretoclickandread?Don'tbecomeobsessedwithkeyworddensity;justrememberitmatterswhencreatingunnecessarilylongtitles.Ittakesalittlepracticetomasterbutifyoufollowtheserulesyou'llbeonyourwaytocreatinghighclick‐through,attractive,andkeywordrichtitlesforallofyourpages.3. ItinfluencesthewaypeoplelinktoyouThere'sonelastpointIneedtotouchonabouttitletagsthatcanmakeorbreakyourwebsitessearch

rankings.Thewordsinyourtitletaginfluencethewaythatotherpeoplelinktoyourwebsite.Ifyourarticlestitleis"35DogTrainingTips"thosearethewordspeoplewillusuallyusewhentheylinkbacktoyourarticle.Ifyounoticethataparticularpostonyourwebsiteisgettingalotofbacklinksbutisn't

rankingyoucanadjustyourtitletotargetadifferentkeyword.

Forexample,youcouldchangeyourtitletagto"35DogTrainingPointers"ifyoufindthatdogtrainingtipsistoocompetitiveandyoujustaren'tranking.Nowwhenpeoplelinktoyourarticlethey'llbemuchmorelikelytousethekeyworddogtrainingpointersintheanchortextbasedonyourtitletag

adjustment.

Note:Yourtitletagdoesnothavetobetheheadlineofthearticleonthepage.Thetitleisonlyvisibletosearchenginesandatthetopofyourwebbrowser.Youcanusethearticleheadline"BestNetbooksIn2011ForWork"andthetitle"BestNetbooksin2011."Theycanbethesamebutifyou

needmoreflexibilityrememberthattheyCANbedifferent.

Plugin:SettingupAllinOneSEOPack

LuckyforWordPressuserstherearepluginsgaloreforSEOtomakethingssupereasyonus.FortitletagsIuseaplugincalledAllinOneSEOPackanditdoesthejobextremelywell.We'reactuallygoingtousethisplugintotakecareofafewdifferentthingssoifyoudon'tknowwhatanyofthesettingsmean

don'tsweatit‐we'lltalkaboutitinoneofthefollowingsections.

BydefaultWordPresswillusethenameofthepost/pageasthetitletagbutyoucansetittoanythingyouwantusingtheAllinOneSEOplugin.

InstalltheplugintoyourWordPresssiteanddothefollowing:

1. GotoSettings>AllinOneSEO

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2. MakesurethePluginStatusissettoEnabled

3. GotowhereitsaysHomeTitle:andputinwhatyouwantyourhomepagetitletagtobe.Thisisthetitletagthatdisplaysonyourwebsiteshomepagesomakesureyouuseyourprimarykeywords.

4. UnderHomeDescription:putinyourdescriptiontagforyourhomepage.Ifyoudon’tknowwhatto

putherethiswillbecoveredinanothersectionsoyoucanalwayscomeback.

5. MakesureCanonicalURLsischecked.ThisiswhatwediscussedintheURLCanonicalizationsection.

6. CheckRewriteTitlesandmakesurePost/PageTitleFormatlookslikethis:

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ThisisgoingtoletyouchoosehowyourtitletagslookonyourWordPresssite.The%post_title%and%page_title%attributeswillmakethetitlesofpagesandpostsexactlywhatyouwantwithoutanyextratextwedon’twantliketheblogname.

7. Scrolldownuntilyousee8checkboxes,checkthefollowing:

• UseCategoriesforMETAkeywords• UseTagsforMETAkeywords

• DynamicallyGenerateKeywordsforPostsPage• UsenoindexforArchives• UsenoindexforTagArchives

• AutogenerateDescriptions• CapitalizeCategoryTitles

Anoteaboutthekeywordtag:Searchengineshavelongsinceabandonedthekeywordtag.Itusedtobeawaytoindicatewhatkeywordsyourwebsiteistargetingbutbecamesoabusedandmanipulated

it’snowignoredcompletely.Idon’ttalkaboutthekeywordtaginthisbookbecausetheyprovidenoSEOvalueanymore,butAllinOneSEOwillautomaticallycreatethemforyouusingtheseoptions.It

doesn’tHURTtohavethem,sowemightaswelllettheplugingeneratethemautomatically.

8. Clickupdateoptions

That'sallyouhavetodotosetupAllinOneSEOPack.NowwhenyoumakeapageorpostinWordPressyoucanchangeyourMETAtags(title,description,andkeywords)withouthavingtomesswithanycodingortechnicalstuff.

Towardsthebottomoftheeditpost/pagescreentherewillnowbeaboxcalled"AllinOneSEOPack"

whereyoucanchangeyourMETAtagstowhateveryouwant.

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Description Tags Nowthatwe'vegotourtitletagsdownit'stimeforyoutomasterthedescriptiontag.Thedescriptiontagistheblacktextunderthetitlethatshowsupinsearchresults:

Youhave160characterstowriteadescriptionthatreinforcesthetitleandpurposeofyourcontent.

Searchersthataren'tcompletelysoldonyourtitlealonewillreadyourdescriptiontagiftheywantmoreinformation,givingyouasecondopportunitytosellthemontheclick.

Thebestthingtodowithdescriptiontagsistowrite2‐3descriptivesentencesaboutthecontent.Useyourkeywordswhereitmakessenseanddoesn'tsoundspammybutmoreimportantlygiveanaccurate

descriptionofthecontentonthepage.

Thedescriptiontagisalsoagoodplacetoansweranypossiblequestionsprospectivesearchersmighthaveaboutyourcontent.Ifyourarticleisa"GuidetoCarDetailing"yourdescriptioncouldbeusedtonotethatyoucoverwashing,drying,waxing,andvacuuming.Usethedescriptiontagasatoolto

convincesearchersthatwhatyouhavetoofferisexactlywhattheyneed.

Ifyoudon'thaveadescriptiontagorsearchenginesthinkyoursisn'trelevantenoughthey'llgrabrandombitsoffthepagethattheythinkarerelevant.Youreallydon'twantthistohappen‐forsomereasonsearchenginesoftendisplaybitsofcodeorweirdtextintheplaceofthedescriptiontagandit

looksandreadslikehell.

Tomakesurethatyourdescriptiontagisusedfollowtheserules:

• Length‐Useascloseto160charactersaspossiblewhenwritingyourdescriptiontags.Short

(lessthanasentence)descriptiontagsarealmostneverused.Becomesensitivetothespaceyouhave(160characters)andyou’llgetbetterandbetteratwritingdescriptions.

• Relevancy‐Usekeywordsandotherlingothatisrelevanttothepage.Trytothinkofwordsthat

arecommonlyassociatedwiththetopicofthepagethatwouldfitintoadescriptionofit.• Unique‐Ifyouusethesameexactdescriptiontagoneverypagethisislikelytohappen.Using

thesamedescriptiontagonmorethanonepagecangetyourdescriptiontagomittedoryour

pagemarkedasduplicatecontent.Writeuniquedescriptionsforeverypage/postyoucreatetoavoidthis.

Usethedescriptiontagtherightwayandit'llgiveyouasecondchancetoreelinsearchersyoumighthavelosttocompetitors.

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SettingacustomdescriptiontaginWordPressisbundledwiththeAllinOneSEOPackpluginthatwealreadyinstalled.TowriteadescriptionforapagescrolltotheAllinOneSEOPacksectionandtypeitin.

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Optimizing Images Searchenginesareadvancedenoughtofindandindeximagesbuttheystillneedhelpdeterminingwhattheimageis.Eventuallysearchengineswillbeabletoscananimageanddeterminewhatitisbutwe

aren'ttherequiteyet.Asofrightnowtheyneedustotellthemwhatourimagesaresotheycanindexthemintoimagesearchforrelatedkeywords.

Thereareafewreasonssearchenginesgivebooststowebsitesthatuserproperimagenamesandalt

tags.Thefirstisthatithelpsthemunderstandwhattheimageissotheycanputitintotheirimageindexandothersearcherscanfindit.Theotherreasonsearchenginesrewardwebsitesthatoptimizeimagesisaccessibility.Searchengineswantyourcontenttobeaccessibletoasmanypeopleaspossibleandwill

rewardthosewhohelpthemwiththatgoal.Ifyouoptimizeyourimagescorrectlyithelpstheblindanduserswithtext‐onlybrowsersunderstandwhattheimagesotheycangetamorecompleteideaofthepage.

Let'ssayyouwroteanarticlecalled"DogTrainingTechniques"andyouhaveimagesofallthetypesof

dogsthattheparticularmethodsworkfor.Ifyourimagesareautomaticallynamedsomethinglikeimage1.jpgorpostimage2123.jpgitdoesn'ttelluswhattheimageisaboutatall.Abetterandmoreuser‐friendlyalternativeforapictureofagoldenretrieverwouldbegolden‐retriever.jpgorgolden‐

retriever‐puppy.jpg.Thatwaybothsearchenginesandvisuallyimpairedpeopleknowwhattheimageissupposedtobeeveniftheycan'tseeit.Itmightsoundlikecommonsense,butgiveyourimagesaccuratenamesandsearchengineswillrewardyou.

Note:Usehyphensinyourimagenamestoseparatewordsinsteadofunderscores,they'reeasierfor

searchenginestounderstand.

Theothermajorimageattributesearchenginesuseasarankingfactoristhealttag.Thealttagismeanttobethe“alternate”textifanimageisunabletoloadorcan’tbedisplayedonthepage.Whenyouhavealttagsitcreatesstand‐intextifthereisaproblemwithanimageloading.Anyoneaccessingthepage

canatleastseewhattheimagewassupposedtobeiftheimagefailstoload.

Youcanusetheimagenameforthealttextunlessitdoesn'tmakesenseto.Agoodalttagfortheimagegolden‐retriever‐puppy.jpgwouldbe"GoldenRetrieverPuppy."Thekeywithalttagsistouseashortdescriptionofwhattheimageisorwhatit'ssupposedtorepresent.

Youcanpickupalotoffreetrafficeasilybyjustnamingyourimagescorrectly.Sofewwebsiteowners

nameimageswhattheyareyoucansometimesrankhighlyonimagesearchwithoutdoinganythingelse.EasytrafficcoupledwithahighersearchenginescoremakesimageoptimizationanecessitywhenitcomestoSEO.

SettingImageNamesandAltTagsinWordPress

Makingalttagscanbeanextremelytediousprocessifyouhavealotofimagesonyoursite.To

automatethealttagprocessIuseaplugincalledSEOFriendlyImagessoIcanjustsetitandforgetit.

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Thispluginautomaticallygivesallofyourimagesalttextbasedonthenameoftheimage.Ifyourimageisnamedgolden‐retriever.jpgthealttagwillautomaticallybecomegoldenretrieverwithoutyoudoing

anything.ByusingSEOFriendlyImagesyouonlyhavetoedityouralttagswhenyouwanttochangethemtosomethingotherthantheimagename.WhenyouuploadyourimagestoWordPressmakesurethatyounamethemcorrectlyasoutlinedaboveandSEOFriendlyImageswilltakecareoftherest.

Downloadandinstallthepluginthenfollowthesesteps:

InstallingSEOFriendlyImages

1. GotoSettings>SEOFriendlyImages

2. ChangetheboxthatsaysALTattributeto%nameandcheck"OverridedefaultWordpressimagealttag"

3. ClickUpdateoptions

That'sit!Nowwheneveryouuploadanimageitwillautomaticallypullthealtattributefromtheimagename.

Tochangethealttagofanimagemanually:

1. GotoMedia>Library

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2. Clickontheimageyouwanttoedit

3. ChangetheAlternateTextboxtothealttextyouwant

4. ClickUpdateMedia

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Interlinking AsfarasSEOisconcernedournon‐technicaldefinitionofinterlinkingisgoingtobe"linkingtoapageofawebsitefromanotherpage."It'sareallysimpleconceptbutcanbeverypowerfulingettingthesearch

enginestonoticemoreofyourpagesandtipthemoffonwhatkeywordsyourcontentisrelatedto.

Apageisconsidered"interlinked"whenanotherpagelinkstoitinyournavigation,sidebars,footers,content,oranywhereelseonyourwebsite.

Whenyoulinktoothercontentonyourwebsiteitgivessearchenginesanewwaytofindthatpage.

Searchenginesfindwebsitesandpagesthroughlinks,soyouwantlotsofthemonyourwebsiteinterlinkingyourcontent.Themorelinksyougivethesearchenginestocrawlthemorelikelythepagewillbefrequentlyindexedandgivenachancetoshowuponsearchresults.Whenyouinterlinka

websitelikeintheexampleaboveitinstantlybecomesmorerelevantforthekeyword"dogtraining"becauseyou'relinkingtothedogtrainingresourcewiththekeywordastheanchortext.

Thereare3mainareasthatyoucanusetointerlinkyourwebsitetofamiliarizeyourselfwith:

Navigation‐Useyourwebsitesnavigationtointerlinkthemostimportantpagesofyourwebsitewithyourprimarykeywords.

Thisisthenavigationformycompany’swebsite,Ilinkedtothepagesformymostimportantkeywords

likePPCandFacebookAdvertising.Myruleofthumbwithnavigationistousebroad,toptierkeywordsinsteadofbeingtoospecificorniche.Ournavigationuseskeywordslike"PPC"and"SEO"insteadof"AdWordsCampaignManagement"or"OnPageSEOAudit."

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SidebarsandFooters‐Youcanalsouseyoursidebarandfooterareastointerlinkcontentonyourwebsite.Asidefrom

improvingyourSEOitalsohelpsusersnavigateyourwebsiteandfindthingseasier.ForsidebarsIrecommendusingapluginlikeTabbedWidgetstodisplayPopularPosts,Recent

Posts,andTagsinatabbedwidgettoleaveroomforothersidebarwidgets.

Thiswillgiveyoulotsofextralinksinyoursidebargoingtoyournewandmostpopularcontentforsearchenginestofind.

Usingawidgettodothisgivesyoualinkforeverytagyouhave,somakesureyou'reusingyourkeywordsinyourtags!

SettingUpTabbedWidgets

1. InstallthepluginandgotoAppearance>Widgets

2. PutthewidgetsyouwantintheInvisibleWidgetArea3. Putthe"TabbedWidget"widgetinyoursidebar

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4. SetuptheTabbedWidgetwiththetabsyouwantdisplayed(recent,mostpopular,tagcloud,etc.)

5. Clicksaveandyou'redone!Younowhavethetabbedwidgetinyoursidebarinterlinkingyour

content.

InContent‐Whencreatingcontentyoumightreferenceanotherarticleorideathatistalkedaboutelsewhereonyourwebsite.Insteadofmakingreaderssearchforthatotherpieceofcontentyoucanputalinktoitforthemandeliminatethesearchinghassle.Interlinkingyourcontentisn’tonlybeneficialto

searchengines,it’salsogreatforeaseofuseandkeepingvisitorsonyourwebsiteaslongaspossible.TherehavebeencountlesstimesIfoundanarticleusingGoogleandattheendfoundsomethingelseinterestingIwantedtoreadthatwaseitherreferencedinthearticleorlistedasarecommendedpost.

Whenyouthinkaboutit,you’rereallyhelpingbothyourvisitorsandsearchengines,soit'sawin‐win!

Thisimagefromearlierillustratesinterlinkingcontent:

Let'ssayyou'rewritinganarticle(PageA)aboutdoggroomingandyoureferenceadogtrainingguideyouwrote(PageB).Thatisaperfectopportunityto"interlink"yourcontenttothedogtrainingguide.Youcansaysomethinglike"Ialsowroteadogtrainingguidethatanswersalotofthesequestions”and

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createalinktothedogtrainingguide.Thiswillhelpsearchenginesfindthepagemorerelevantandraiseitsscore(andrankings)forkeywordsrelatedtodogtrainingguides.

InterlinkingisagreatSEOstrategybutyouhavetomakesureyoudon'toverdoit.Onlylinktoother

pageswhenitmakessenseandwhereitwouldgenuinelyhelpavisitor.Ifyou'rewritinganarticlecenteredaroundaspecifickeyworddon'tinterlinkthekeywordeverysingletimeit'smentionedinthearticle.Iveryrarelyinterlinkthesamecontentmorethanonceonthesamepagebecauseit'sredundant

anddoesn'timproveuserexperience(orSEO)atall.

ForincontentinterlinkingIuseaplugincalledAutomaticSEOLinks.IuseAutomaticSEOLinksbecauseitautomaticallyinterlinkschosenkeywordswhentheyarementionedinyourcontent.Thebestpartisthatitonlyinterlinkseachkeywordonceperpagesoyoudon'thavetoworryabouthavingtoomanyifyouuseakeywordoften.SettingUpAutomaticSEOLinks

1. InstallthepluginandgotoSettings>AutomaticSEOLinks

2. Click"AddLink"

3. Enterthekeywordyouwanttointerlinkin"Word"andthepageyouwantthelinktogotoin"URL.”

Fortitleenterthekeyword,youcanusethesameoneyouusedin"Word"oravariation‐dowhichevermakesmoresense.Ialwaysuse_blankforthetarget‐thismeansthatthepagewillopeninanewwindowortabwhenthelinkisclicked.Thatgivesuserstheabilitytogobackandforth

withouthavingtoleaveoneofthepages.Makeitaseasyaspossibleforyourvisitors!

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Setthisupforallthekeywordsyou'retryingtorankforthathaveapage/postdedicatedtothem.InterlinkingisabreezetosetupandisextremelybeneficialtoyourwebsitesSEOandcrawlability–

somakesureyoudoit!Useall3typesofinterlinkingtogetthemostexposurepossibleonsearchengines.Justremember

todoitinahelpfulwaythatgivestheuserabetterexperience,don'tfillyourpageswithtonsoflinkstotryandtricksearchengines.

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Usability Ifyouhaven’tpickeduponit,almostalloftheselittletweaksandonpageSEOruleswe’vetalkedaboutincreasetheusabilityoroveralluserexperienceofthewebsite.Searchenginesonlywantonething

fromyou:themostrelevantpageavailableforasearchtermthatcanbeaccessedandusedeasily.Ifyoustructureyourwebsitestomaximizeuserexperienceandusabilitysearchengineswillrewardyouwith

highrankingsandastreamoffreetraffic.

Mostpeoplethinkyouhaveto“trick”or“hack”yourwaytothetopofsearchenginesandthatyou’reconstantlyfightingagainstthem.I’vetrieditthatapproachanditjustdoesn’twork,youneedtoalignyourgoalswiththesearchenginesandsharemutualbestinterests.Ifyouaren’tfocusingonthequality

anduserexperienceyourwebsitecreatesalreadythenyouneedtostartnow.Qualityisthekeyingredienttoahighrankingwebsite,notsomearbitrarynumber,hack,ortemporarygimmick.

Usabilityisatopicthat’sbeenthoroughlycoveredinthewebdesignfieldandthere’salotofgreatresourcesandinsightoutthere.Ifyou’reinterestedinlearningmoreaboutusabilityIhighlyrecommend

Don’tMakeMeThinkbySteveKrug.Don’tMakeMeThinkteachesprovenwebusabilitypatterns/techniquesandhowtomakeyourwebsiteassolidaspossibleallaround.

Ifyouaren’tsurewhat’sbetterasfarasSEOandusabilityit’susuallyprettyeasytofigureout.Youcanalmostalwaysmakeaneducatedguessonwhichoptionisbetterforsearchenginesanduserexperience

justbyweighingtheavailableoptions.

Askyourselfquestionslike:

• WhatwouldAmazondo?• WouldthismakeiteasierforGoogletocrawlandindexmywebsite?• HowcanIpresentthisinformationinthemostrelevantandhelpfulwaypossible?

• Doeseitheroftheoptionsmakeitharderorinconvenientforusers?• Willoneoptionprovemywebsitescredibility,relevancy,orquality?

Youdon’thavetobeausabilityexpertbuthavingthisbackgroundwillhelpyoumakebetterdecisionswhenitcomestoyourwebsite.

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Writing Content For SEO Itusedtobepossibletotricksearchenginesintobelievingthatyourpageismorerelevantjustbyrepeatingyourkeywordsoverandovertothepointwhereitwouldn'tevenpassasEnglish.Thegood

newsforusisthatsearchengineshaveevolvedquiteabitfromthatwayofevaluatingwebsites.Searchenginealgorithmsaresocomplexandintuitivenowtheycantellthedifferencebetweenhighquality

andoveroptimizedgarbagecontent.

Youmighthaveheardsomesortofmythorgoldenruleofcreating"SEOoptimized"contentlike"useexactlya3%keyworddensityonallyourarticles"or"repeatyourkeywordatleast3timesinthefirstparagraph!"Ifyouhaveheardsomethinglikethis,pleasedowhateverittakestoeraseitfromyour

mind.

Thesecretisthattherearenosecrets.TheabsolutebestwaytogetthemosttrafficpossibleoutofeverypieceofcontentyoucreateistocreateyourcontentanddesignyourwebsiteforHUMANS.There,that'sthebigsecreteverybodyneededtohear‐makequalitycontent,getqualitytraffic.You

actuallyendupgettingMOREtrafficwhenyouwritenaturallyinsteadoftryingtousecertainkeywordsineveryothersentenceoroverusingphrasesyouwanttorankfor.

Oneofthemostimportantaspectsof"SEOoptimized"contentisthatyouactuallyknowandcareaboutyourniche.Ifyouaren'tknowledgeableorpassionateaboutthetopicofyourwebsitethencreating

contentisgoingtobeanightmareforyou.Youwillget100timesfurtherwithcontentthatiswrittenbyarealexpertthanbysomeonethatwaspaidtoresearchthetopicandwriteonit.Ifyoudon'tknowanythingaboutyournichefindsomeonewhodoesandhirethemtodoyourcontent,thatwayit's

naturallywrittenandcanactuallybenefitpeoplethatfindit.

PagesandKeywords

MostpeopletakethewrongapproachtorankingformultiplekeywordswhentheystartwithSEO.Theytrytoranktheirhomepageforeverysinglekeywordtheyfindinsteadofspreadingtherankingsaroundyourentirewebsite.IknowI’vebeendrillingitintoyourheadbutthefactremainsthatsearchengines

areallaboutrelevancy.Ifyoucreateapagethatfocusesaroundaspecifickeywordandcreatecontentaroundthatkeywordit’sgoingtolookalotmorerelevantthanabroaderpagetryingtorankfor100separateandpotentiallynon‐relevantkeywords.

Thefastestwaytogetrankedforakeywordorkeywordgroupistocreateapagethatfocuseson

specificallythatkeywordorkeywordgroup.YoumighthavesomesimilarandLSIkeywordsthatfitunderthesamepageandkeywordgroup.Inthosecasesyoucanusethegroupofkeywordsforthatpageandusethevariations,plurals,etcthroughoutthepage.

TovisualizethisidealetssaythatI’mtryingtooptimizeadogtrainingblogandthesearemykeywords:

• Dogtrainingresources

• Dogtrainingbooks

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• Howtoteachadogtosit• Dogtrainingguides

Icanbreaktheseinto3differentpagesandeachpagethenhasitsownkeywordtheme.Assumingmy

websiteisDogTrainingPlanet.commyURL’scouldbesomethinglikethis:

http://dogtrainingplanet.com/dog‐training‐resources(dogtrainingresources)

http://dogtrainingplanet.com/dog‐training‐guides(dogtrainingbooksanddogtrainingguides)

http://dogtrainingplanet.com/how‐to‐teach‐dog‐to‐sit(Howtoteachadogtosit)

Theneachrespectivepagewouldhaveit’sowncontent,article,infographic,etcrelatedtothekeyword/group.Thisistheeasiestwaytofindcontentideaswhenyou’redoingkeywordresearch.Youcanmakeapageforeveryrelevantkeywordyoufindanddominatetheentiremarketbymakinghyper‐

targetedpageslikethis.

Thepointis,don’ttrytorankyourhomepageforeverything.Ifyou’regettingmorebacklinksandmentionstoyourhomepagethanalltheinnerpagescombineditcanlookmanipulativetothesearchenginesandhurtyourrankings.ThinkaboutthewaythatyoulinktoOTHERwebsitesnaturally,how

oftendoyoulinktothehomepageofawebsite?Ifit’sawebsitethathasrealcontentyouusuallylinktoaspecificvideoorpagethatyouwanttoshare,notthehomepage.That’showcontentisnaturallysharedandlinkedtoontheweb,soyouneedtokeepthatinmindwhenitcomestoyourSEO.You

shouldalwaysbelinkbuilding,promoting,andmarketingallofyourcontentandnotjustyourhomepage.Reservethehomepagefortheverybestkeywordsinyournicheandmakethelaser‐targetedkeywordrichpagesforalltheothers.

LatentSemanticIndexing(LSI)

There'sanotherreasonthewriterofyourcontentneedsknowswhatthey'retalkingabout:latentsemanticindexing(LSI).Withoutbeingtoonerdyortechnicallatentsemanticindexingisawayto"identifypatternsintherelationshipsbetweenthetermsandconceptscontainedinacollectionoftext."

So,whatthatmeansisthatsearchenginescannowfindpatternsandkeywordsrelatedtoyourcontent

thatyoumightnothaveevenmentioned.Ifyou'rewritinganarticlethatmentionsapples,peaches,oranges,grapes,andmelonsyoucanpotentiallyrankforkeywordslikefruitthatyoumightnothaveevenmentionedonthepage.TheLSIalgorithmcanfindcommonthemesandrelationshipsbetweenthe

wordsonyourpageandrankyouforallkindsofsemanticallyequivalentkeywords.

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Thistechnologycompletelysquashestheneedtorepeatkeywordsoverandoveragaintogetmoreattentionforthem.ItactuallyfindsMOREkeywordsthatyourpageisrelatedtowithoutyoudoingany

extrawork.SomeonethatiswritingaboutatopictheyarecomfortablewithusesallkindsofLSIkeywordsnaturallywhentheywrite.Theyuseacronyms,jargon,phrasesandkeywordsrelatedtothenichenaturallywithouttryingtohitsomemadeuppercentageofkeywordusage.Allofthesegreat

wordsandphrasesthatsomeonewouldn'tknowiftheyweren'ttrulypassionateaboutthetopicwouldbeleftout,sodothisparttherightwaythefirsttime.

ByusingLSIkeywordsyou'recreatingawidenetofkeywordpossibilitiesinsteadoftryingtorankforsolelyoneortwokeywords.Searchenginesaregettingverygoodatrewardingwellplanned,quality

contentoverspammyoveroptimizedarticles.Mostpeopledon’tknowthat20‐25%ofallsearchesonGooglehaveneverbeensearchedbefore.Bypickinguptrafficforaspreadofkeywordvariationsyou’requalifyingyourselfforallthatlongtailandnewsearchtermtraffic.

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FindingLSIKeywords

Ifyou'recuriousaboutpotentialLSIkeywordsyoucanuseinyourcontentIknowareallycooltricktofindgreatLSIkeywordsstraightfromGoogle!

1. FirstgototheGoogleKeywordTool

2. Searchforoneofyourkeywords3. Lookattherecommendedkeywordsbelow.ThesearekeywordsGoogleissayingtheyfind

semanticallyrelevanttotheoneyouentered,soyoumightfindsomegreatideashere.

Youcanalsouseyouranalyticspackagetocheckkeywordspeopleareusingtofindyourcontent.Ifyou

don'thaveGoogleAnalyticssetup,Ihighlyrecommenddoingthat.GoogleAnalyticsisthemostadvancedfreeanalyticspackageoutthere.MosthostswillhaveastatpackagesetupautomaticallylikeAwStatsorUrchinaswell–sokeepthatinmind.

Ilookatbothstatpackagesandcross‐referencethekeywordstheysharein

common;thoseareusuallythestrongestandmostsearched.Sometimesoneanalyticspackagewillfindkeywordstheotherwontsoit'sgoodtocheckbothregularlyfornewLSIkeywordsyoucanuseinyourcontent.

Youcanfindkeywordsforeverythingyouneedlikeblogposts,articles,

guides,interviews,andanythingelseyouneedcontentfor.

Whenyouwritenaturallythere'sneverashortageofLSIkeywordstobringin

evenmoretraffic.

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OverDeliverandCreateHighQuality

Ifnothingelse,focusonthequalityofthecontentyoucreate.NoamountofSEOormarketingintheworldcansubstitutetheneedforqualitycontentthatdelivers.Evenifyougetallthetrafficintheworld,

ifyouaren'tsatisfyingthesearchersneedsanddeliveringwhattheyexpecteditwon'tdomuchforyourbusiness(andtheywon'tcomeback).

Createnaturalfreeflowingcontentinsteadoftryingtohitmagicalnumbersofkeywordmentionsordensity.Rememberthatlotsoftrafficdoesn'tcancelouttheneedforhighqualityandrelevantcontent.

Makesureeverythingyou'redoingistopnotchanditwon'tjustgettothetop,it'llstaythere.Peoplewillshareyourcontent,linktoyou,talkaboutyou,andbuildupyourwebsiteforyouorganicallyifyoujustgivethemsomethinggreatthat'sworthsharing.

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Link Bait ThewordlinkbaitsoundslikesomescaryunethicalSEOmethodbutit'sactuallyoneofthemostpowerfullegitimatewaystoimproveyourrankingswithoutdoingextrawork.Thatsoundsprettygood

doesn'tit?Allittakesisthethingwejusttalkedabout:highqualityandusefulcontent.

Ifyou’veneverheardofit,linkbaitmeans:"creatingcontentthatissousefulorentertainingitcompelspeopletolinktoit."Whenpeoplestartsharingyoucontent,linkingtoit,andpostingitallover

thewebsearchenginesaregoingtonotice.Getit?Linkbaitisbasicallycreatingcontentthatmakespeoplewanttoshareitandshoutitfromtherooftopswhentheyfindit.Ok…theydon’thavetobethatintense,butpeoplesharethingstheylikeandfinduseful.

Whenyourcontentismentionedonablogorwebsiteyou'recreditedwithabacklinkandyoursearch

enginerankingsgoupappropriately.Facebook,Twitterandothersocialmediamentions(TweetsandLikes)arestartingtofactorintothewaypagesarerankedbysearchenginesmuchliketraditionalbacklinks.SEOandsocialmediastrategiesarebeginningtointersectinsomeways‐tobepopularand

sharedonsocialmediasiteswillsolidifyyoursearchenginerankingsandimproveyourSEpresenceoverall.

Ifyoucanmasterlinkbaitandgeneraterealactivity,sharing,andlinkinginyourcommunityrankingwon'ttakemuch‐youjustapplysamelinkbaitconceptsoverandover.

Typesoflinkbait

Whenyoustopandthinkaboutwhyandhowlinkbaitworksit'sageniussystem.Let'ssayIcreateda

pieceofcontentthatwassohelpfulorrelevanttoauserthattheysharedit.Nowit'sinfrontofallthatpersonsfriends‐youthinkmaybeafewofthemsharehisinterestsandmightshareitthemselves?Thecontentcontinuesspreadingandbeingmentioned,gettinginfrontofpeoplethathaveneverheardof

youbefore,everysingleday.

Linkbaitisveryviralinnatureandcangiveyouexponentialtrafficincreasesifyoufollowtheserules.Highqualitycontentgetssharedallthetime,evenyearsafteritwascreated.Nowthatyouknowwhatlinkbaitisyouhavetostartthinkingabouthowyoucanapplyittoyourwebsite.

Thereareafewdifferenttypesof"bulletproof"linkbaitthatworkseverytime:

CheckLists/CheatSheets/ReferenceSheets

PeopleLOVEchecklists,cheatsheets,referencesheets,etc.Thinkofsomecoolresourceslikethisyou

wouldfindusefulinyournichethenturnthemintoafreePDFonyourwebsite.Ifit'saresourcepeoplereallyfindusefultheywillshareitwithothersandlinktoit.

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Whenthereisatediousjobthatcanbemademucheasierwithacheatsheetorchecklist,makeit!

Peoplewilldoalotforyouifyoumaketheirlifeeasierandactuallyprovidethemwithrealworldvalue.

Askyourselfquestionslike:IsthereanythingIdooftenthatIcanturnintoeasystepstomakenexttimefaster?Whattypeofresourceorcheatsheetwouldmakemyjobbetterorfaster?Whenyouthinkofsomethingvaluablepeopleneedthatisn'touttheremakeitandpeoplewillthankyou.

Infographics

Infographicsareoneofthemostcommonformsoflinkbaitrightnow,andforgoodreason.An

infographicisanimagethatshowssomesortofdatainaninterestinggraphicalway.Allyouhavetodoistakesomeinterestinginformationrelatedtoyournicheandturnitintoaninfographicpeoplecandigestandunderstandeasier.Theinfographicwillhelppeoplevisualizethedataandmakethemmuch

morelikelytoshareit.

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Youcanmakeaninfographicforliterallyjustaboutanything,someofthemostpopularinfographicsthisyearhavebeen:

• TheCurrentStateofSocialNetworks

• HalloweenBytheNumbers• EvolutionoftheCellPhone• TheStateofMusic

Findacreativeandinterestingtopicandpleasedon'tmakesomethingboring‐entertainingoruseful!If

youneedsomeideasorinspirationforinfographicscheckoutCoolInfographics.com.

Nomatterwhatyoudoorwhatyousellthere'ssomethingyoucanmakeaninfographicabout.IcoulddoaninfographicaboutthenumberofnewSEOcompaniesinthelast5yearswithsomerelatedstatsandcharts.HowaboutthehistoryofGoogle?OrInternetMarketingbudgetsoverthelast5years?IfI

hadgoodsourcesformynumbersandusefulinformationdoyouthinkpeopleintheSEOcommunitywouldlinktomywebsiteandshareit?Ido!

Ifyoucanrelateyourinfographicstocurrenteventsit’sevenmorelikelytobeshared.Let'ssayIrunataxpreparationcompanyandwantedtobuildaninfographictobuildtrafficaroundtaxseason.Icould

makeaninfographicaboutincometaxmistakesandfindsomeinterestingstatsthatmakeyousay“wow”togoalongwithit.Doyouthinkitwouldbebettertoputthatinfographicoutduringthemiddleofwinterorastaxseasonrollsaround?Duringtaxtimeanyonethathastofiletaxesisthinkingabout

themsoiftheyseesomethingthatsays:"SimpleU.S.IncomeTaxMistakesThatCostThousands"thechanceofthemclickingorsharingismuchhigherbecauseit'scurrentlyrelevanttothem.

Don’tforgethowimportantagoodtitlethatreelspeopleinis.Studiesshowthatmostretweetersand

sharersoftendonotreadthearticleorevenvisitthewebsite.Contentismostoftensharedbecauseofwhoshareditortheattractivetitle.Oddsareyou’vedonethisbefore,probablymorethanonce–andyou’renotalone.That’showpeoplesharecontentsoitmightbetimetorethinkyourheadlineandtitle

strategy.

Findsomethingworthyinyournicheandturnitintoaninfographic.Makeitrelevant,useful,orentertaininganditwillattractlotsofattentiononitsown.Youneverknowwhomightfinditandtweetit,likeit,orblogaboutittoalloftheirfollowers.

Tools

Whodoesn'tlovetools?Thesmallestautomatedtaskorhelpfromatoolcanbeallittakesforsomeone

toshareyourwebsite.Ifyoucanthinkofausefultoolthatcaneitherautomateatediousprocessorprovidesomesortofhelptouserspeoplewillshareitandlinktoyou.

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Trysearchingforsomekeywordslike"mortgagecalculator"or"currencyconverter."Thetopspotsmadetoolsthatdidsomethingusefulandpeoplesharedit.Youcanrankforkeywordslikethat;allyou

havetodoismakeahighqualitytoolthatdoeswhatitsays.Thinkofsomethingyoucanautomate,optimize,orrefinewithsoftwareanddoit.Ifitdoeswhatitsaysandpeoplefinditusefulthey'llshareitandhelpyoufurtherestablishyourself.Itdoesn’thavetobetechnicalorcomplicatedeither,asimple

excelsheetwithbasicformulascanmakesometasksinfinitelyeasier.

AgreatexampleofatoolaslinkbaitinactionistheWordTrackerKeywordTool.WordTrackerofferstheirkeywordtoolforfreethatgiveskeywordideasforwhenyou’redoingkeywordresearch.RightnowthekeywordtoolpageonWordTrackerhasalmost20,000backlinks.Thosebacklinkscamefrompeople

usingthetool,findingituseful,andsharingit.WordTrackerswebsiteintotalhasjustover26,000backlinkssoyoucanseethatthelion'sshareofWordTrackersbacklinkscomefromthekeywordtoolpage.ByreleasingthattoolforfreeitallowedthemtobreakontothefirstpageofGoogleforextremely

competitivekeywordslike"keywordtool"and"keywords."

Ifyouneedhelpthinkingofsomethingyoucanalwaysaskyouraudience.SurveyyourlistandaskthemwhatprocessesandtaskstheyHATEandwouldtradetheirfirstborntoautomateorsimplify.Eventhe

smallestlittlethingscanhelpsomeonealotlikealoancalculatororcurrencyconverter,itdoesn’thavetobecomplicatedlikeakeywordtool.Peoplelovetoolsbecausetheyhelpsolvetheirproblems

instantlyandmakelifeeasieroverall.Findsometoolsmissinginyournicheandfillinthegapstodominateandwinoverthemarket.

GuidesandReports

Canyoufindsomethingtowriteaguideorreportaboutinyourniche?Dosomeresearchandfindpotentialtopicsyoucanusethatyouthinkpeoplewouldfindhelpfulorrelevanttotheirinterests.Ifyou

needsomecreativeinspirationtrysearchingplaceslikeAmazonforbooksinyournicheandreadthetableofcontentsofbestsellerstoseewhatpeoplelike.Mostbookshaveagoodbreakdownofwhattheycoverinthetablesofcontentsmakingitagreatplacetoscanforreport/guideideas.Makealistof

thebestideasyoufindandpickwhichonesyouraudiencewouldfindmostuseful.

Thequickestwaytomessupagreatpieceoflinkbaitistomakeithardforpeopletoseeit.Ifyou’regoingtowriteaguideorreportwithlinkbaitintentionsyouhavetomakeitaseasyaspossiblefor

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peopletoseeandreadit.Don’taddanopt‐inorsignupformorthrowpeoplethroughanyhoops–justmakeitpubliclyavailablerightwhentheyclickyourURL.Iknowitcanbetemptingtoaskforaname

andemailaddresssoyoucanbuildyoulistaswell,butthelessthreateningyoumakeitthemoreitwillbeshared.

Likeallothertypesoflinkbait,ifyoucanmakeyourguideorreportrelevanttoacurrenteventitwillenforcetheusefulnessandtimelinessofit.Googlerecentlyreleasedabrutalalgorithmupdate

codename“Panda”aka“Farmer.”Thisupdatewasdifferentthanmost,itimpactedover10%ofsearchqueriesandmademarginaldifferencesinalotofwebsitestraffic.

Somewebsiteslost30%+oftheirtrafficovernightwithnowarning.ThewebsitesthattookthebiggesthitsGooglefelthadalotoflowqualitycontentandchangedthewaytheyrankandevaluatethose

websites.Whiletheydidagoodjobeliminatingspamontheweb,therewasalsoalotofcollateraldamage.Asyoucanimagine,thiscreatedagiantwhirlwindofwebmasters,searchengineoptimizers,andwebsiteownerspanickingtogettheirtrafficbackor“panda‐proof”theirwebsite.

TheupdatecreatedaHUGEopportunityforsomeonetostepupandreallydissectwhathappenedand

figureouthowtokeepyourwebsiteintheclear.SEOMoz,awell‐circulatedandpopularSEOsoftwarecompany,releasedalengthy(free)postonthe“farmer”update.Theywroteabouteverythingimportantlikehowtoseehowbadyouwerehitandhowto“panda‐proof”yourwebsite.Todate,the

reportSEOMozwrotehasover600backlinksaccordingtoYahooSiteExploreraswellascountlesssocialmediamentionsandlinks.WheneverpossiblemakeyourreportsandguidesrelevanttosomethingpeopleareexperiencingandfeelingRIGHTNOW.It’saloteasiertosellacurethanapreventative

measure;SEOMozknewthatandtookinitiative.Themorecurrentandtimelyitisthemorelikelypeoplewillshareit,tweetit,likeit,andlinktoit.

Needmoreexamples?Herearesomegreatideasforguidesandreports:

• HowToGroomYourDogin20Minutes• TheUltimateGuideToGuestBlogging

• FlyFishingSecrets–HowToCatch150%MoreFish• EverythingYouNeedtoKnowAboutTheGooglePandaUpdate• GuideToBecomingMoreProductivein5Days

BreakingNews

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RememberhowIsaidbeingcurrentandtimelywouldincreaseyourchancesofbeingsharedandlinkedto?Ifyoucanbetheonetoactuallybreakthenewsyoutakeittoawholenewlevel.Topullthisoffyou

reallyhavetofollowyourindustry/nichecloselyorhaveanestablishedbrandpeoplecareabout.

ThisisexactlyhownewssiteslikeCNNgenerateliterallythousandsofnaturalbacklinkseverysingledayandtensofmillionsvisitorseverymonth.Theybreaknewsandstoriesonlinebeforeanyoneelseandgettonsofattentionandlinksbecauseofit.Thinkaboutwhenbignewsstoriesbreakthateveryone

talksaboutlikenaturaldisastersorelectionresultsthatgetsharedlikecrazy.CNNpublishesanarticleaboutit,thearticlegetssharedandlinkedto,thenwhenpeoplesearchforitusingGoogleCNNranksatthetopbecauseitwassharedandlinkedtobysomanypeoplerightwhenthestorybroke.It’sagenius

modelthatiseasytoreplicateonasmallerscaleforyourwebsite.

Youdon’tnecessarilyhavetobethefirstpersontowriteaboutit,justgetsomethingoutthereassoonasyoucan.Whensomethingbighappensinyourcommunitywriteaboutitrightawayandshareitonforums,blogs,andsocialmediasites.

Ifyoufocusonqualityandbreakthenewsinaninsightfulandusefulwayyou’llgrabupallthetrafficfor

it.Ifeveryoneistalkingaboutthenegativesofxhappeningtalkaboutthepositives,ifthemediaisfocusingoncostfocusonbenefits.Trytohaveanalternativeviewfromthenormwhenyoucantostandoutfromthenoiseandcompetition.

Herearesomecommonthingsthatgeneratealotofbuzzandattention:

• NaturalDisasters

• NewTechnology,Equipment,Regulations,etc.• Elections• Mergers,Bankruptcies,Acquisitions,etc.

• NewProducts,Services,andEvents• UpdatestoIndustryTools,Software,Websites,etc.

• Discoveries,Research,Data,UsefulStatistics,etc.

Youcandothisonamuchsmallerscalethanintheseexamplesandstillcomeoutwithexcellentresults.UseanRSSreaderlikeGoogleReadertofollowblogsinyournicheandkeepup‐to‐datewithwhat’sgoingon.Anothereasywaytostayontopofcurrenteventsistospendalittletimeeverydayreadingforumsandseewhat’sgettingalotofattention.Evenifyoujustdropinfor15‐30minutesyoucanseeifanythreadsortopicsarereallyblowingupandseewhat’snewthatpeoplearetalkingabout.AssomeoneintheSEOfield,InaturallyfollowthemajorSEOblogstostayup‐to‐date.SEOBookisoneofthemostpopularSEOblogsontheInternetandIthinkoneofthebiggestcontributingfactorstoitssuccessistheapproachandangletheytakewiththeircontent.MostSEOblogstalkaboutalgorithmchangesanddifferentwaystooptimizeyourwebsiteforsearchenginesallinthesamethisisthehowthisisthewhyformat.SEOBookdigsdeepintoeverythingsearchengineslikeGoogledoandscrutinizesanyhypocrisyorunfairtreatmenttheygivetobigbrandsandanyconflictsofinterest.Insteadofsaying,“thisiswhathappenedandhereishowtooptimizeforit”

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SEOBookproveshowsearchenginesoftenhaveadoublestandardandbiasforcertainwebsitesorpointoutaflawintheirlogic.ByviewingsearchenginesinthesamelighttheyviewusunderSEOBookconstantlychallengestheethicsandaccountabilityofsearchengines.BecausenobodyelsewritesthatwaySEOBookisautomaticallyaoneofakindblogthatoffersacompletelyuniqueviewofSEO.Ifyoucanfindsomealternativepointofvieworvoiceforyournicheyoucanleveragethatintocreatingauniqueresourcethatpeoplewillhavetosharebecausenobodyelseseesthingshowyoudo.Ittakesabout30minutestosetupawebsiteorblog,anybodycanhaveone–youreallyhavetostandoutandoffersomethinguniquetoseparateyourselffromthenoise.

TopLists

Outofallofthesetoplistsmightbethemosteffectivetypeoflinkbait.There’sjustsomethingaboutliststhatmakespeopleshareandenjoythemmorethanarticlesoralotoftext.Ithinkithassomethingtodowiththeeaseofreadingandbecauseitletsthemskim.Italsoeliminatesanytimecommitment

thatcomeswithlengthyarticles.Betteryet,toplistsareprobablytheeasiestandfastesttocreatetypeoflinkbaitsoyoucanmakethemquickandfrequently.

ThesearesomeofthemostsuccessfultoplistsI’vecomeacross:

• 10MostWealthyCollegeDropouts• 5AmazingVacationDestinationsforUnder$1000

• 20BestWordPressPluginsforMarketers• 100ThingsToDoBeforeYouDie• 10MostEffectiveDogTrainingTechniques

Ifyoucomeupwithideasforguidesandreportsbutyou’rehavingtroublewiththeamountofcontent

youhaveyoucanalwaysturnitintoatoplist.Letssayyouwanttocreateareportabouthowtobemoreproductivebutyoucan’tcomeupwithenoughcontent,youcanjustturnitintoatoplistlike“5ProductivityTipsforComputerUsers.”

IfyouwantagreatreferencefortoplistsIconsiderCrackedtobeoneofthebestexamplesofhow

muchyoucandowithtoplists.Ifyoulookattheirsite,almosteveryarticleisatoplistsuchas“The7MostImpressiveExamplesofAnimalArchitecture.”Peoplelove(andshare)thelistsCrackedmakesbecausethey’reinterestingandmakeyoucuriousaboutthelistcontents.ThetimeandeffortCracked

putsintotheircontentandtoplistshasgeneratedmillionsofnaturallinksfromallovertheweb,top20rankingforalmost40,000keywords,andoveramillionvisitorsamonth.

Myfavoritewaytofindtop10liststhatpeoplereallyenjoyedandsharedistousethesearchfeatureonDigg.com.Diggisanextremelypopularsocialbookmarkingsitewithahugeandactiveuserbase.If

you’reunfamiliarwithsocialbookmarkingit’sawaytostoreallofyourwebsitebookmarksonacentralwebsitesoyoucanaccessthemfromallovertheworld.Theexplosioninpopularityofsocialbookmarkingsitesbroughtinalotofnewfeatureslikepublicbookmarksthatpeoplecanvoteonand

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rate.Whengreatcontentisvotedforfrequentlyitcanbelistedonthefrontpageasatopstoryandreceiveafloodoffreetraffic.

Diggisanexcellentresearchtooltofindoutwhatrealpeoplearesharingandenjoy.YoucanuseDigg’s

searchfeaturetofindthemost“Dugg”(votedfor)submissionsonthewebsitetogetanideaofwhatworks.Whenyou“digg”somethingitmeansyoulikeandrecommendittootherusers.

1. Gotohttp://digg.com/searchandtrysearchingforsomeofyourkeywords.

2. Oncetheresultsappearclickthe“MostDugg”filteroption.

3. LookforcontentandtoplistideasinthesearchresultsonDigg.Youcandothistofindoutexactlywhatpeopleenjoyenoughtoshareandfindwhatworksinyournicheforviralcontent.

Becreativeandtrydifferentkeywordstogetabetteroverallpictureofwhatyourtargetaudiencereallylikes.

Controversy

Isavedthisoneforlastbecauseit’sthemostsensitiveandcandosomeseriousdamagetoyourbrandifyouapproachitwrong.Onethingpeoplecan’tgetenoughofissomegoodoldfashionedcontroversy.If

youfeelcomfortablebeingalittleedgyandputtingyourselfoutthereyoucanusecontroversytoattractalotofattentiontoyourwebsite.

Note:TheInternetiswrittenininkandyouhavetobecarefulwithwhatyousharewiththeworld.Ifyou’regoingtowriteacontroversialarticleforyourwebsitemakesureyoudon’tsayanythingyou’re

goingtopossiblyregret.Ifyououtorexposeanyoneoranythingyouneedproof.Don’tstartmaking

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thingsuporbendingthetruthtogetattention,that’saveryslipperyslope.Ifyoucan’tprovidesolidproofforwhatyousayyoucantarnishyourbrandandpermanentlyruinyourreputation.

NowthatIhavemylittledisclaimeroutoftheway,controversycanbehighlyeffectiveintraffic

generationandSEO.Ifyoutakeastance,belief,orholdanopiniononanissuethatpeoplehavevaryinglevelsofagreementonyoucanattractalotofreaders.Imaginehowmuchattentionpoliticianscouldgetiftheyusedcontroversycorrectlytofunnelpeopleintotheirwebsite.

Letssayafamousdemocraticpoliticianwritesanarticlethat’scalled“10ReasonsYouShouldn’tVote

ForObamain2012”andpublishesitonhisblog.Doyouthinkvoterswouldreadit,feeleitherinagreementordisagreementandshareit,comment,orvoicetheiropinion?Alistlikethathashugeviralpotential,especiallywiththerighttimingduringtheelection.

Youcanuseaclevertitlelikethistodrawpeopleinandone‐by‐onediscussthe10mostcommonanti‐

Obamaarguments,thenyoucanwriteacompellingresponseforeachofthemtopotentiallypersuadethereader.Insteadofbeingboringlikealltheotherpoliticiansyouwroteanedgytop10listandputauniquespinonitthatstandsoutfromtherestofthenoise.That’sthekindofcontentthatspreadsand

buildsit’sownrankingsnaturally.

RememberwhenItalkedaboutSEOBookearlierandhowtheyscrutinizeeverythingsearchenginesdoandoftenexposeorcallthemout?Inotedabovethatthisworksbecauseitsdifferentandnobodyelseisdoingitthatway,butitalsocreatessometensionandcontroversybetweenthetwo.

Googledoesn’twanttolookbadinthepubliceyebutSEOBookwon’tstopwritingaboutunfairpractices

andconflictsofinterestthatarise.ThiscreatesacheckandbalancestypesystembetweenGoogleandSEOBookthatholdsthemmoreaccountable.AlotoftheSEOcommunityseesthatandinturnhasahighlevelofrespectforSEOBook,becausesomebodyhastodoit,right?

ThecommunityismuchmorewillingtoshareSEOBook’scontentandhelpthemgrowbecauseofhowmuchtheygiveinreturnthatnobodyelsedoes.Youcan’testablishthatkindofrelationshipwithyourreadersifyouputoutgarbagecontentandonlymeasuresuccessinimmediatereturns.Themore

resourcesyouinvestinyourvisitorstheymoretheymarketyourwebsiteforyou.

CreatingREALcontroversyinyourindustryisgoingtobringyoualotofattention,sobereadyforit.Ifyoudecidetotrythisyouneedtobepreparedanddoitinawaythatwon’thurtyouandgrowsyourwebsite.Keepthesethingsinmindwhencreatinganytypeofcontroversialcontent:

• Bepreparedtoprovewhatyou’resayingandbackyourselfup

• You’regoingtohavepeoplethatloveyouandpeoplethathateyou.Ifyoudon’tyou’renottakingafirmenoughstance.Thisishowyoumakerabidfansthatloveyouandstaywithyouforever.

• Youhavetobethickskinned–listentowhateveryonesaysbutdon’ttakenegativitypersonally.

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• Don’tbeobnoxiousoroverthetopunlessthat’showyouwantpeopletoperceiveyouandyourbrand

• Ifthere’sasolutiontotheproblemofferyouradviceonhowtofixit.Thiscanhelpyounotonlyattractvisitorsbutcreatearelationshipwithwhoever/whateveryou’rewritingabout.

• Figureoutwhoyou’rewritingforandmakesureyou’respeakingtotheminyourcontent

Whatcanyouwriteaboutthat’scontroversial?Hereareafewideas:

• Calloutaperson,company,brand,orwebsite

• Provesomethingcommonlybelievediswrong• Challengethestatusquoorreinventsomethinginyourindustry

IfyoufollowtheserulescontroversycanbeapowerfultoolinyourSEObattlechest.

TherearealmostaninfinitenumberofdifferenttypesoflinkbaitbutthesearetheonesthatIseecreatingthebiggestimpacteveryday.Youcancombinedifferenttypesandcomeupwithcreative

combinationstomixitup,likethe“10ReasonsYouShouldn’tVoteForObamain2012”toplist(toplist+controversy).

Ifyou'recreatinghighquality,usefulcontentpeoplearegoingtofinditandshareit…that’sreallyallthereistoit.ThinkaboutthingsyoupostonFacebookorTwitter,howoftenisthatcontentmediocreor

boring?Whenyou’reworkingonlinkbaitusethischapterasaguidetomoveforwardfasterandhelpfilteroutgoodideasfrombad.Intheend,allyouhavetodoisputoutcontentyou’reproudtoputyournameonandyou’llalwaysbenefitfromit.

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Content Formatting Thereareafewthingsyoucandotoplacespecialemphasisoncertainwordsandpartsofyourcontent.Whensearchenginescrawlandindexthatcontentthey’llseethatyouwantedthosespecificareasto

standoutbecausethey’reimportantideasandconcepts.

Don’tforgetthatsearchenginesaresmartandcanpickupeasilyonmanipulativebehavioronyourwebsite.Don’toverusethesetotryandimproverankings,usethemwhenitmakessenseandhelps

highlightimportantpartsofyourcontentforusers.

Therearetwoeasywaystotipoffsearchenginesaboutimportantpartsofyourcontent:bolding/italicizingandheadingtags.

BoldingandItalicizing

Whenyouboldoritalicizeawordsearchenginesrecognizethatyouwantittostandout.Themostimportantthingistonotboldoritalicizeeverysinglekeywordbecausetheeffectivenessbecomes

dilutedandruinsthebenefit.

Goldenruleforboldanditalics:Whenyouintroduceanewconceptorideainyourcontentbolditsothatitstandsout.Whenyouwanttomakeakeywordorphrasestandoutthroughoutyourcontentuseitalics.(youshouldbeusingitalicsmorethanboldoverall).

ThebuiltinWordPresseditorletsyouboldanditalicizewordsbyeitherpressingCTRL+BandCTRL+I

orclickingtheBold(B)andItalicize(I)buttonsintheposteditor.

HeadingTags

Htagsarethebestwaytobreakupandformatlengthyamountsofcontentinaneatandeasytonavigateway.Thereare6headingtagsyoucanuseonyourwebsitethatsearchengineslookattofind

themesandtheoverallmeaningofthecontent.TheheadingtagsareH1–H6,H1beingthemostimportantoverallideaandH6beingamorespecificpartofthemainidea.Ifyou’rewritingareallylongpieceofcontent–likeaguideorreport‐youcanusetheheadingtagstobreakupyourcontentand

createanoverallpicture.

Here’sanexampleofhowyoucanorganizeaguideusingHtags:

• DogTraining:TheMissingGuide(H1)

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o DogTrainingTricks(H2) TeachingYourDogToSit(H3)

TeachingYourDogToFetch(h3)o DogTrainingExercises(H2)

WarmUp(H3)

Stretching(H3)

Assumingit’sdescriptiveandaccuratethepagetitleisusuallybestfortheH1tag.WhenyouuseanumberedHtagbetweenH2andH6it’ssupposedtoindicateasub‐headlineoftheheadingnumberbeforeit.IfyouhaveanH2tagcalled“DogTrainingTricks”agoodH3tagwouldbe“TeachingYourDog

ToSit”becauseit’sonepartofthe“DogTrainingTricks”section.IfyouuseHtagslikethissearchenginescanpulloutthetopicsandsub‐topicsofyourcontentandawardyourpagehigherrelevancyforboththebroadandlongtailkeywords.

WhenmakingnewcontenttheH1tagshouldonlybeusedonceperpagebutyoucanhaveasmanyH2‐

H6tagsasyouwant.TheH1tagissupposedtoindicatetheoverallsubjectofthecontent,sohavingmorethanonedoesn’twork.IntheexampleabovetheH1tagisimplyingthatthecontentisaboutadogtrainingguide,andalloftheHtagsunderneathitaresub‐topicsofadogtrainingguide.

Ifyouthinkaboutyourkeywordslikeanupsidedownpyramidyoucanusetheheadingtagstoreally

breakdowntopics.Thehigheronthepyramidthemorebroad,highersearchvolume,andcompetitivethekeywordis.Theloweryougetonthepyramidthemorelong,lowersearchvolume,andlesscompetitiveitis.

It’snotnecessarytousethismanyHtagsoneverypage,infactmostprobablywon’tusemorethantheH1tag.RememberwhatIsaidaboutnottryingtoforcethingsstrictlyforanSEObenefit:usetheHtags

whenithelpsorganizethecontent.

DogTrainingGuide(H1)

DogTrainingTricks(H2)

TeachingYourDogtoSit(H3)

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SettingHTagsinWordPress

1. Gotothepost/pageeditorandclickthisbuttononthefarright:

2. Clickwhereitsays“Paragraph”andchoosewhichHeadingtag(H1–H6)youwanttouse.

3. SaveorUpdatethepost/page

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Getting Indexed Gettingyourwebsiteindexedinmajorsearchenginesusedtobealotmoredifficultthanitisnow.Crawlersareextremelygoodatfindingtonsofcontenttoindex,evenonwebsitesthataren’twell

knownorlinkedtooften.

TocheckifyourwebsiteisindexedinGoogleyoucanusethesite:searchoperator.Don’tpanicifyouhavenoideawhatasearchoperatoris,they’reeasytouse.

1. GotoGoogleandtypeinsite:yourwebsite.comlikethis:

IfyoutypeinthehomepageURLandnotaspecificpageGooglewillshowyouhowmanypagesareindexedforthatwebsite.

ToseeifaspecificpageisindexedtypeinthefullURLlikethis:

Ifthepageisindexeditwillshowupintheresultslikethescreenshotabove,ifit’snotindexedGoogle

willshowamessagethatsays:“Yoursearch‐site:wordpress.org/host‐didnotmatchanydocuments.”

Youalmosthavetotryforyourwebsitenottogetindexed,butifyou’rehavingtroublethere’safewthingyoucantry.First,makesurethatyoursitemapwasacceptedinGoogleWebmasterTools.Sometimesthesitemapwon’tgetcrawledcorrectlyortheURLwasn’tenteredhowitwassupposedto

be.Ifyoustillaren’tindexedafterafewdaysstartbuildinglinkstoyourwebsitefromotherwebsitesthatAREindexed.Theeasiestwaytodothisistocommentonnewarticlesandpopularwebsitesinyourniche.

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Website Monitoring and Analytics YouHAVEtobetrackingandmonitoringwhat’sgoingonwithyourwebsite.Ifyoudon’tknowwhat’sworking,what’snot,andhoweffectiveyoureffortsarewhat’sthepoint?Technologyisadvanced

enoughnowthatyoucaninstallstateoftheartstatsandanalyticsprogramsinafewclicksforfree.

Youcanusefreemonitoringandanalyticsprogramstoquantifyyourresultsandestablishanykeyperformanceindicators(KPIs)thatyouwanttousetomeasureeffectiveness.Regardlessifyourgoalis

sales,uniquevisitors,opt‐ins,backlinks,oranythingelseyoucanmeasureandimprovewhateverisimportanttoyourbusinessandbottomline.

Itmakesmesickhowmuchmarketingisdoneonlineandhowlittleismeasured.Itremindsmeofthatsaying“Iknowthathalfofmyadvertisingbudgetiswasted,Ijustdon’tknowwhichhalf.”Ireallydon’t

wantthattobetrueforyou,youhavetobetrackingandmonitoring!Afterall,itiscalledsearchengineoptimizationforareason.

FormonitoringandanalyticsIuseGoogleWebmasterToolsandGoogleAnalyticsbecausethey’rebothfreeandextremelyintuitive.Besides,whocantellyoubetterhowtooptimizeyoursitethanGoogle

themselves?Youcanusethesetoolstofindandfixanyproblemsonyourwebsiteandkeeptrackofwhat’sworkingsoyoucandomoreofitandcutoutwhatisn’t.

AsabonuswiththisbookIwroteguidesforbothGoogleWebmasterToolsandGoogleAnalytics.Ihighlyrecommendgoingthroughbothguidestogetfamiliarwiththetoolsifyou’renewtothem.

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Closing Thoughts Youmadeit!IfyoureadthroughthisentirebookandimplementedthesuggestionsyourWordPresswebsiteisnowahighlyoptimizedsearchenginemachine.Doesn’titfeelgreatknowingthatyour

websiteismoreoptimizedthanmostontheentireInternet?

Asyouwilllearn,searchengineschangebuttheirgoalsalwaysstaythesame.Theywanttoserveupthefastestandmostrelevantresultstokeepsearcherscomingback.Keeppushingforthatgoalandyou

won’thaveanyissuesoptimizingyourwebsitesandmakingthemevenbettereveryday.

Mynumberonepriorityistokeepthisbookascurrentaspossiblewithanynewsearchenginechangesanddevelopments.Ifyounoticeanythingmissingfromthisbookthatyouthinkitcouldbenefitfrompleasefeelfreetowritemeanemailanytimeattom@tomlambert.com.

I’llbeontheconstantlookoutforanynewsectionsortopicsthatcanbeaddedtothisbook.WordPress

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