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Consider this Amandah’s Freelance Writer’s SEO guide to optimizing your company’s blog/website. Take the struggle out of optimizing your blog/website with these ridiculously easy SEO habits.

SEO doesn’t have to keep your management team up at night. Although there’s a science behind SEO, it doesn’t have to be tricky or complicated. Basically, you use keywords/phrases and tags within web content to drive traffic to your website. The caveat is to have well-written content and not a bunch of copy stuffed with keywords and phrases. Google’s not fond of that.

Ridiculously Easy SEO Habits to Start

1. Review the company’s current keyword/phrase and tags. Perhaps, it’s time to analyze the effectiveness of your current keyword/phrase and tags. If your company’s website isn’t receiving the web traffic you thought it would, it could be your keywords/phrases and tags.

2. Review web content. How well are the keywords/phrases and tags incorporated into blog posts, articles, and pages? Your optimization is too low. Or, the content may not be that compelling. Don’t forget about writing SEO headlines. It’s important to put the keyword in the beginning of the headline. If you’re using a secondary keyword, place it in the middle or end. It’s not a good idea to have the primary and secondary keywords next to each other.

3. Check out the competition. What’s your competition up to? How’s their content? Read their web content and compare it to yours. If their web content is better, it may be time to hire a freelance writer to revise your company’s.

4. Review the number of internal and external links. Perhaps, your company’s link building isn’t what it can be. If you don’t link to high-quality pages within your company’s website, you’re missing out on the opportunity to optimize the website. Also, it’s important to provide customers with helpful, high-quality external links that complement your company. 

5. Look for ‘stop words‘ within permalinks. Search engines disregard common words as the ones listed below. It makes no sense to have them in your permalinks. 

Sample List of Stop words

about
above
after
again
all
and
for
get
to

6. The company’s website doesn’t have a search engine friendly design. It’s important that your company’s website is clean and easy to use. More importantly, it needs to be search engine friendly. If images are used it’s imperative to utilize the ‘alt text’ feature that’s available in blogging platforms such as WordPress and Blogger. This provides a text description of images.

7. Your company doesn’t provide transcripts of audio and video. Let’s face it; some visitors may prefer reading a transcript of an audio recording or video. More importantly, developing these SEO habit will help your company help search engine index these materials. This can lead to more web traffic which can increase customer conversion rates.

8. Your company doesn’t take advantage of SEO services. If your company doesn’t have an RSS feed (Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication), they’re missing out on web traffic. These are easy to maintain and code. They’ll update when new content is added to the website.

9. Your company doesn’t take advantage of SEO tools. Most companies use Google Analytics to analyze their website’s traffic. It’s easy to set up and use. You receive information on keywords and searches. It’s a great way to set up an ‘A/B’ test to see which keywords/phrases work for your company.

10. Pay attention to Google Panda. This is a job for your web master. Rather than having as many URLs indexed as possible, your company should have its best, highest quality URLs indexed. Have your web master remove all unnecessary, extraneous, low ranking, and duplicate URLs from the index. As mentioned in Point #4, link to high-quality external links. Google Panda is pushing everyone to put their best foot forward and publish high quality content. 

11. Stay up-to-date with SEO trends. Technology trends come and go. It’s important to keep up-to-date with the ever changing world of SEO. I myself am self-taught when it comes to SEO. However, I’ve been looking into SEO certification courses and programs. I just began my search.  

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Question: Is article marketing dead?

Answer: According to Jeff Herring, “No, it’s not.” However, the way you approach article marketing needs to shift if you want to attract the ‘right’ people to your website. These people will purchase your products and services.

Article marketing includes the following:

• Content creation includes audio, text and video. Content is king; however, building trustworthy relationships trumps content.

• Online visibility means people need to be able to find you online. It doesn’t matter how good your web design or layout is. If people can’t find you, no one will purchase your products and or services.

FYI: Write compelling articles and you’ll have something of value to add to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, your Blog, etc.

• Traffic generation matters. Even if you’re receiving 1 million hits per day, don’t stop utilizing article marketing because you want to continue to earn an income.

• List building: Who do you want on your list? It’s important to connect with the right clients and customers. Stop wasting time marketing to those who won’t purchase your products/services or can’t afford it right now.

Tip: Review the traffic rankings on Alexa. For example, Google is #1, Facebook is #2, Twitter is #9 and LinkedIn is #13. Post your articles to these websites or give a synopsis of your articles.

• Product creation:  What problems are you solving? You could solve your clients and customers problems by offering them a book, eBook, online or home study course, teleseminars and webinars, etc.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that article marketing is dead. What has changed is how articles are written. They have more of a ‘sales’ undertone to them without selling to your target market. Remember, most people are tired of being sold to. They want to know, “What’s in it for me? What problem are you solving for me? How does this benefit me? Why should I care?” Pay attention to the above criteria and you’ll be successful with article marketing.

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Many small business owners and solo professionals are D.I.Y enthusiasts or do it themselves because they haven’t found a business with the products and services (customer) they’re looking for or expect. I tend to fall into the latter. When it comes to web design, I cringe and run screaming from the room when I view web designs. I have no idea what web designers are thinking. I often wonder, “Where did you learn web design? Was graphic design a part of the program? What makes you think the layout looks good? How does a huge photo at the top of a website look good? Do you understand the meaning of white-space?” Finding a clean, chic, elegant, optimized and streamlined website is like finding a needle in a haystack; at least it is for me. That is, until, I discovered the ‘Foundation’ web design. It was neat clean lines and looked very professional and seemed easy to customize. Little did I know the web designer used an outdated timthumb.php file (had no idea what this was) that could potentially open up my website to uninvited guests known as hackers. I was flabbergasted. Luckily, Blue Host (hosting company) is vigilant. They noticed the ‘outdated’ timthumb.php file and patched it. I decided to delete the WP theme and use my former theme. I’m determined more than ever to learn web design.

Here’s the email I received from Blue Host regarding timthumb.php:

Dear customer,

This is a courtesy notice that we have found and corrected exploitable timthumb.php file(s) on your account. While we have corrected these files, we do recommend you ensure all potential exploits are corrected on your account. This is best done by updating all scripts, plugins, modules and themes on your account to the latest version.

As the owner of the account, you are responsible for keeping your hosted content free of malicious software. For technical assistance, you can also reach our chat team from Bluehost.com or by going directly to http://www.bluehost.com/chat.

The timthumb.php file is a script commonly used in WordPress’s (and other software’s) themes and plugins to resize images. The exploit allows an attacker to arbitrarily upload and create files and/or folders on your account, which can then be used for a number of malicious tasks, including but not limited to defacement, browser high-jacking and infection, data harvesting and more. After a site has been exploited, it may lead to becoming labeled a “Malicious Website” by Google or other security authorities.

Any timthumb.php file below version 1.35, but above version 1.09 is considered vulnerable, unless patched. To prevent being compromised, we advise you update all instances of timthumb.php to version 2.0, or patch the existing vulnerable files. Note that patching the files requires more in-depth knowledge of the PHP scripting language.

Additional information regarding the compromise can be found at the following two websites, as well as others; note that all external websites in this email are not affiliated with Bluehost.com in any capacity, and are for your reference only.

http://markmaunder.com/2011/08/01/zero-day-vulnerability-in-many-wordpress-themes/

http://redleg-redleg.blogspot.com/2011/08/malware-hosted-newportalsecom.html

How to protect your website from hackers

1. Use WordPress themes and templates from reputable companies. If you download ‘free’ themes make sure there is no timthumb.php or the file is up-to-date.

2. If you hire a web designer ask questions such as, “What is timthumb.php and do I need it? What is the security level of the web coding?” and other questions.

3. Learn about web coding.

4. Use a reputable hosting company such as Blue Host, HostGator, etc. to ensure your website is secure.

5. Always check your website. Test out links. Review your pages and make sure everything looks alright. Update plugins or limit the amount you use. FYI: You could always install the WordPress Firewall 2 plugin which “monitors web requests to identify and stop the most obvious attacks.”

Rebecca

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Question: Which web browser is better and faster, Firefox or Google Chrome? I’ve been a loyal Firefox user for many users but have been told Google Chrome is faster and more efficient. I read an article on the internet about Google discontinuing support for the Firefox toolbar. Maybe it’s time for a switch.

Answer: With the onset of Google+ about to take over the internet ‘cyber’ waves, you may want to ‘test drive’ Google Chrome. I am.

I began testing Google Chrome last Saturday and admit it seems faster than Firefox. I’ve used Firefox for many years. Before that, I used Internet Explorer and dabbled with Safari. I’m enjoying Google Chrome because it seems to load my log-ins and websites faster. I don’t tap my fingers on my desk and count, “One, one thousand; two, one thousand; three, one thousand; four, one thousand; and so forth. I can get in and out and do what I need to do without any fuss.

Firefox has served me well, but it seems to be slower than Google Chrome. I appreciate the constant updates from Firefox; however, it doesn’t seem to be faster. Then again, maybe Firefox can’t handle the multiple toolbars I use such as Yahoo, Ping, and AVG. I could probably delete one or two of them. But, I enjoy listening to internet radio; one of the toolbars has an app for it. Google Chrome has many internet radio apps; however, I’m not sure if they’re available on a toolbar.

Change can be good — it can be easy. I imported my bookmarks from Firefox to Google Chrome with ease. I haven’t bookmarked anything with Google Chrome, yet.

I’m amazed at how fast Google Chrome loads. One of the issues I’ve had with Firefox is receiving the following message, “Firefox is still running” when I close Firefox but try to reopen it because I forgot to check one of my email accounts or research something. How can Firefox still be running when I closed the browser? This has been frustrating. When I close out of Firefox and want to reopen the browser — it takes multiple tries before it opens. I haven’t experienced this with Google Chrome. I can close and open the browser without any problem.

I haven’t completely abandoned using Firefox. Like I said, “I enjoy listening to internet radio.” It’s easy to click on the app on the toolbar and select stations or search for new ones. Also, Firefox can be customized more so than Google Chrome. For example, I use add-ons like SEO for Firefox and others. For now, I’ll toggle back and forth between Firefox and Google and keep testing and comparing. Stay tuned!

Rebecca

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Savvy-Writer.com is my creative, freelance, and ghost writing website. I also have an animal/environmental advocacy and personal development websites, respectively. By the way, creating and maintaining blogs/websites that you’re passionate about is another way to showcase your writing ability. You can submit your blog posts as writing samples to editors and organizations.

Anyway, I use a program called Zemanta which finds links to blog posts and or articles that complement or match your topic. Lo and behold, I received an email from a guy who responded to a pingback that was created because I listed a link to his blog post on my personal development website. The website owner graciously approved the pingback because I didn’t write a negative or condemning blog post. However, he’s more ‘conservative’ when it comes to certain topics. Next time, I will take more time to ensure links and websites match or complement my websites.

Lesson: Before you list links on your website, make sure they complement or match your blog post and or article topic. If you receive pingbacks or trackbacks, you can delete them. Or, you could check them out to make sure they’re not spam. Delete pingbacks and trackbacks that aren’t helpful.

If you receive pingbacks to your blog posts, “Remember, you don’t have to read it, just delete it.” If the blog or website isn’t in alignment with what you’re writing, delete the pingback. There’s no reason to send an email voicing your concern. This will create negative energy and you don’t want that. Do you? However, if the pingbacks are in alignment with your blog and or websites, send an email “thanking” the blog owner for mentioning your blog posts. I receive many emails from blog/website owners “thanking me” for featuring links to their posts and websites on Savvy-Writer.com. Of course, I send the owners emails that have the following words in then, “Your Welcome!”

Rebecca

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In case you don’t know, Facebook has a fan page feature that allows you to communicate with your readers. How well you communicate with your ‘fans’ could determine how successful you and your book will be. Most authors (public figures) are creating Facebook fan pages for their ‘fans’ and aren’t really participating in the conversations that are taking place on the page. This could work against you.

There’s no doubt that a Facebook fan page is a fast and easy marketing tool. You can post your latest YouTube video, links to your latest book, teleseminars and webinars events; radio and television appearances, book signing events; hold a contest, and provide other pertinent information for your ‘fans’ to share with their friends. It’s an easy way to generate income. However, if you’re constantly selling and selling, and not giving your fans anything else, they could leave you and your fan page high and dry.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Author Facebook Fan Page

1. Take an interest in your fans. Let’s face it, without your fans (consumers) your book won’t be #1 on the New York Times Best-Sellers list. Unless, of course, Harry Potter comes along and waves his magic wand to make it happen. Take an interest in your fans. A “thank you” here and there will go a long way.

2. Post relevant information besides your own. It’s all right to post other links besides your own. Who knows, you could end up with a great business partnership because of it.

3. Engage in conversations. What do your fans want? What do they like about your latest book? What don’t they like about it? Be transparent and become a part of the conversation.

4. Stop posting ‘automated’ content on your fan page. If you don’t have time to post thoughtful comments or information, hire an intern or part-time person to do it for you. Fans may not appreciate the ‘coldness’ of your fan page.

5. Be active on your Facebook fan page. How active are you on your fan page? When you create your writing schedule, make sure to include time for social media. You don’t have to spend hours each day — 15 minutes per day will do. Of course, if you’re a social butterfly, be as active as you want to.

Rebecca

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How much time do you spend on social bookmarking for your freelance writing and other websites? Have you considered purchasing a social bookmarking software program? It could be worth the money if it generates a ton of traffic and sales. The best part is you’ll more free time to do whatever it is you want to do. That’s a sweet deal!

Social bookmarking drives traffic to your freelance writing website. This means you can earn revenue from selling your own materials such as books, eBooks, apps, teleseminars, webinars, workshops, web designs (for authors and writers) or promote products and services of others that resonate with your website. You can easily increase your page rank and web presence.

According to We Build Your Blog, “Social bookmarking is a way of leaving a trail of breadcrumbs online. You might have the best product in the world, but if you can’t generate the traffic you’ve just got a nice website on your hands with no customers.”

How much time do you spend creating backlinks by posting thoughtful comments on blogs and forums? If a social bookmarking software can do some of the work for you, it could be a worthy investment. The alternative is to hire a part-time intern (paid or unpaid) or hire a part-time member of your staff. However, the reason you probably became a freelance writer is to be work from the comfort of your own home and without any co-workers. Purchasing a social bookmarking program may be the best route for you.

Social bookmarking tips

1. Get over your fear of internet marketing.

2. Provide quality and relevant information.

3. Use keywords and phrases tailored to your freelance writing website.

4. Make sure readers can easily share your content.

5. Don’t blatantly sell to people — this is a turn-off.

6. Interact with visitors to your websites.

Blogging complemented with social bookmarking will increase web traffic to your freelance writing website.  Make sure you continue to provide well written, informative articles and blog posts. Don’t oversell visitors because this could deter them from visiting your website. Remember, a freelance writing business is about marketing and solving problems. The latter is very important.

Rebecca

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I read an article in Daily Variety about filmmaker Richard Cunningham who created a “fictionalized” Twitter account for one of his character’s from his short film “Year Zero” which was featured at the Tribeca Film Festival. This isn’t a bad idea. If you wrote a book, screenplay, or teleplay, consider creating a Twitter account for the protagonist and antagonist (or both). It’s a great way to engage readers and followers of your work. They can interact with the character(s) and get to know them better. Take advantage of social media platforms. They’re a fast and easy way to interact with your audience or readers.

Creating a fictionalized Twitter account for one of your characters or an interactive game on Facebook is the next big thing in marketing. In the Daily Variety article Fest Fosters Social Ties, Marc Schiller, CEO and founder of the digital marketing firm Electric Artists says, “Filmmakers have to engage and inspire their audience and make them feel a part of the film with an intimacy and closeness that allows them to be true advocates of their success.” Filmmakers are chronicling the production of their films on Twitter. Audience members can follow a filmmaker every step of the way. Authors can do the same with characters from their books. It’s quite exciting!

Authors, screenwriters, and filmmakers can hold a contest, soliciting poster art, book illustrations, and song submissions from fans. It’s the ultimate experience for any fan of a book or movie. To see their artwork, illustrations, or songs become a part of a book or movie is a dream come true — they won’t forget.

As an aspiring author and screenwriter, I love it when authors and filmmakers engage their fans. It’s a bit disappointing when you “Like” your favorite author or filmmaker on Facebook and they don’t interact with you. I’ve experienced this recently and am considering “Unliking” Facebook Fan Pages. After all, there are plenty of interns or experienced social media experts (and firms) who can take over social media activities. There’s really no excuse not to engage with your fans. After all, fans are the ones buying books and tickets to movies along with merchandising that’s created from these endeavors.

Marc Schiller, a moderator of the Tribeca Talks panel on social media called “Amplify the Message” says, “It’s not enough to create a Twitter or Facebook account. Artists must engage with their audience and fans.”

The Daily Variety article Fest Fosters Social Ties really hit home with me. I finished my non-fiction book for teens and have a couple of short films that I’d like to have made; the feature film is next on the list. I’ll take what I learned from the article and apply it to my social media outlets. I actually want to engage with fans — I enjoy meeting new people. If fans take the time to buy and read my books and watch my movies, I can take the time to interact with them (great feedback) and provide them with a memorable experience. After all, what’s the point of being in the arts and entertainment business or publishing industry if you’re not willing to meet your fans?

Rebecca

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Lately, I’ve been receiving requests from business owners to review and provide feedback on their websites. Savvy-Writer will be receiving a makeover. I have a graphic design background and an eye for design which is why I want to learn web design. I love WordPress but am not a fan of the ‘free’ web templates available for it. Sometimes I wonder why web designers choose the color schemes they do. Why do they use graphics that take up half of the home page? If you enjoy designing, consulting, or teaching, you could add these services to your freelance writing business. You may think, “I don’t have the time to do this additional work.” You could always outsource it!

It’s good to have multiple streams of income. If you love computers and understand how to install software, you could offer this as a side to your freelance writing. If this doesn’t appeal to you, create a new business. For example, some baby boomers and senior citizens may not be computer literate. You could create a side business by offering services such as installation of software, teaching computer classes to boomers and seniors, or writing an eBook especially for them. Use your skills to help others and earn additional income at the same time.

Add These 5 Services to Your Freelance Writing Business

Graphic Design. I’m very grateful I have a graphic design certification because it allows me to create my own graphics and ‘tweak’ web designs. I still have a lot to learn and plan to further my graphic design education. If you have an interest in graphic design, check your local adult education centers to see if they offer a certification program. The alternative is to take classes at the local community college or enroll in a B.A. program.

Web Design. If you’re like me, you like to adjust your website. Not only will web design serve you, it will serve your clients. You can offer consultations on how they can improve their websites or you can totally redesign their websites.

Social Media Consultant. Most business owners still don’t understand social media or why they would need to use it. You could add ‘social media consultant’ to your freelance writing business and help owners take advantage the free social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and others.

Computer Consultant. Are you secretly a techie? You know who you are! You love to install software and figure out how to ‘debug’ programs. If you add computer consultant to your freelance writing business services, you could triple your income. Business owners don’t want to deal with installing new programs or figuring out how they work. You could install new software and make recommendations for upgrades. If you have a computer programming background, perhaps you could write them a program that works for them. It’s something to consider.

Teacher. How are your communication skills? Are you able to articulate information in an easy, understandable way? If you answered “Yes,” consider teaching classes and workshops. Obviously you can teach others how to become freelance writers, but how about teaching them how to use social media? How about teaching them how to write query letters? What teaching them how to market their services? You’d be surprised how many people want to become writers but are either afraid or don’t know how to get started. You can help them realize their dreams. Go for it!

Rebecca

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How would you like to increase your Facebook page? Many freelance writers, authors, businesses, and professionals have Facebook fan pages for different reasons. Authors and freelance writers use them to increase book sales and or gain clients. If your fan page doesn’t have many fans, talking about Facebook could change that. This sounds off beat but it’s true. People like to read about Facebook. Freelance writers can write blogs or articles about FB as a way to engage fans to discuss the posts.

Remember, there are many Facebook fan pages to select from on Facebook. What makes your fan page special? I’ve been asking myself this lately. I have a strong Twitter following but would like to increase my FB fan base. How can I do this? I can talk about Facebook on my fan page, hold contests, encourage discussions, and provide ‘unique’ content. These strategies are a good start to attracting fans.

Other ways to gain fans for your Facebook page

• Talk about Facebook.
• Write unique content.
• Be controversial.
• Ask your fans what they want.
• Encourage discussions amongst your fans.
• Buy advertising on FB.
• Hold contests and give away a product or service.

If you have a desire to be a best-selling author, you’ll want to market and sell your books. Authors can use a FB fan page to interact with fans and strengthen their communication skills. If you’re shy (some writers are), your FB fan page is a great way to get over your shyness. Remember, your fans paid money for your books and want to feel a connection to you. Encourage fans to discuss the characters in your book or how they relate to the topic of your non-fiction book. You’ll increase your fan page in no time.

Increase your Facebook fan page by talking about Facebook. Test it out and see what happens. You may be surprised how you attract fans. Make sure you ask family, friends, and colleagues to ‘like’ your fan page. In fact, they could spread the word for you. After all, word-of-mouth advertising is still the #1 way to advertise!

Rebecca

Do you have a FB page? What are you doing to increase the number of fans? Share.

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