My friends ask me what I do all day and now I can pull out this handy info-graphic and show them.

It is not just one job, it’s more like 8 distinct disciplines. I know because I try to do them all and there is not enough hours in the day. Having a few part time employees is helpful.

You have a WordPress website.

If you are looking for a Premium WordPress theme, StudioPress Genesis Theme Framework and Thesis Theme for WordPress are both rock solid and have excellent SEO tools built-in. I use both and they are rock stars.

Now what do you do?

Where should you start? There are so many elements to online marketing that it’s hard to know where to begin.

Bearing that in mind, I’d like you to take a look at this:

The cogged wheel of 50 tasks broken down by discipline.

Pro Tip: Print it out. You can tear off each slice of pie or use a marker to check off each job as you progress.

Pro Tip 2: Not everyone is going to use Pay Per Click and not every business is suited for landing pages. Start with what makes sense for your business.

1. Keyword Rich URL

One of the best ways to let search engines know that your website is highly relevant to a specific keyword phrase is by having it in your URL. There are two ways to go about this.
First, you could buy a domain name that includes your keyword phrase. For example, let’s use the keyword phrase “Atlanta WordPress Designer”. Our domain might look like this:

http://sanfranciscowordpressdesigner.com

Depending on how many keywords you plan on targeting, this could become expensive very quickly.
An alternate option is to add a subpage to your already existing domain.
That URL would look something like this:

http://webdevils.biz/sanfrancisco-wordpress-designer

Note, when either of these results is shown on Google, our keywords will be in bold. Also, if you already have a URL set for an existing page, I don’t recommend you change those URLs because you may lose backlinks.

2. Title Tags

Title tags are one the most important elements on your page. It’s the first chance to to tell search engines what your page is about, and search engines weight this particular tag very heavily.
As a best practice, most SEOs agree that your keywords should be near the beginning of the title tag because it helps with rankings.
Many times, you may make your title an exact match of your keyword. However, writing for search engines isn’t the best idea. Better to write for people, and then tweak your pages later for search engines.

3. Content Title

For this “title,” I am referring to the copy on your page.
Generally, it’s a good practice to include your page title towards the top of the page. This is beneficial for your readers and search engines. Additionally, you should wrap your title in an H1 HTML tag, which Thesis theme for WordPress does by default.
I often use my exact keyword phrase as my title. While I don’t recommend writing for search engines, you can launch your article with a reader friendly article, and then go back and optimize it later.
Note, be sure to keep the keywords as close to the front of the title as possible. It helps with rankings.

4. Optimize Images

For every image you use, there are 3 opportunities to drop in your keywords.
• filename (san-francisco-wordpress-designer.jpg)
• title (title=”san francisco wordpress designer”)
• alt (alt=”san francisco wordpress designer”)
Here is an example of what the image code should look like.
alt="san francisco wordpress designer">
Remember, you don’t want to spam your keyword on your page, so use it sparingly.

5. Description

While the description doesn’t affect your search engine rankings, it’s great for increasing the click through of your existing search results. Let me explain.
When your website gets listed in search engines, your description and title tag often becomes your search listing (some search engines are moving away from this, but for now, it still works).
When you include your keyword in that meta data, when a searcher types in a specific keyword, if that keyword is in your meta data, it will become bolded in the search results, successfully calling more attention to your result.

6. Links

There are a few different kind of links. Inbound links from other websites, outbound links to other websites, and interlinks to your own website. First let’s review outbound links.
Links on your page outbound to other pages looks good. To the search engines, this is like saying “I am paying my dues.” Give some link love.
If you are linking out to another page that is relevant to your page and keyword phrase, it can be helpful to use your keywords in the anchor text and title=”keywords” for your outbound link. Not only will you be helping out the other web site, you will also have the keywords in your page one more time.

A strong link would look something like this

<a href="http://webdevils.biz/san-francisco-wordpress-designer" title="san francisco wordpress designer">San Francisco WordPress Designer</a>

Notice the anchor text, the actual text that is linked there, has our keywords in it.

Notice the anchor text, the actual text that is linked there, has our keywords in it.

7. Interlinking

Interlinking is the act of linking to other pages inside your website. This gives you a really easy opportunity to create a strong backlink to another page in you are trying to SEO.
While you certainly can and should link to other internal pages inside of your post or page content, there are other ways as well. Interlinking can also be the links to your categories in your sidebar, links to your pages in your navigation, a Similar Posts listing after your content, etc.
Keep interlinking in mind when you are naming Pages, Categories, Navigation, and writing your content.

8. Sign up to Google & Bing Webmaster Tools

When you sign up for Google Webmaster Tools and Bing Webmaster Tools, you’ll receive a lot of incite into how your website is doing in search engines.
For example, you’ll find out how many times your website was shown for a specific keyword, a listing of keywords that your site ranks for, what site links you, and more.
Overall, running these two tools in tandem with a stat-tracking program like Google Analytics will supply you with more data and information than you could ever dream of. By studying this data, you can see your click through rates and rankings, and then make changes accordingly.

9. Add Custom Content Above Category Pages

If you have taken the time to properly name your blog categories, you probably have put some effort into using certain keywords in those names.
Not only that, but many of the posts in that category will most likely also include some of those keywords, so will the titles which are also links, so these pages are already highly relevant.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could beef up the SEO for those category pages even more?
If you don’t want to mess with code, Thesis empowers you to add content to each category page in your WordPress dashboard…
All you have to do is, in your WordPress dashboard, go to Posts > Categories > Specific Category and you’ll see two custom sections called Introductory Headline and Introductory Content.

When you add content into those two sections, and then press update, custom content will appear above that specific category page.

For example, if you check out Sugarrae’s Affiliate Marketing category, you’ll see the custom content, a YouTube video, and then a listing of her affiliate marketing articles.

Pretty cool, right?

This is great for search engine rankings because you add more content to your category pages. Plus, it’s more beneficial for people who are exploring your site. Think about it. This content helps prep your readers for the type of content they’ll find in a specific category.

Thank You!

Thank you for reading. I hope this information helps you out and encourage you to start trying some of these techniques. Remember, you will never rank high if you never even try!

by Bret Phillips

What can you do? You could hire a SEO consulting firm like Webworks, but if you lack a budget, this article is perfect for you.

Everyone knows that creating fresh, engaging content helps build a loyal following and attract links. However, if you’re looking to improve your SEO with no budget, you can tweak your existing articles to prime it for high search engine rankings.

Now I’m not saying that your website will shoot up into Google’s top 3. I’m also not going to tell you to stuff as many keywords into your post as possible.
If I did, that would be cheesy and I would be lying.

Instead, I will say this: if you focus on these 7 key areas of on-page SEO, you can improve your search engine rankings. How do I know this? Because it worked for me.

Conduct Keyword Research

You could try and guess what what people type when they use a search engine, but with free Keyword Research tools available, it’s wasted effort.

What are some of the best, free keyword tools? You could use the Google tool, or one that I like is Wordtracker. In addition, you can use this tool from Google to research trends in search phrases.

If you’re looking for a premium keyword research tool, look no further than SEObook.com, SEOmoz.org, or Raven Tools.

Focus on Low-Competition Keyphrases

Don’t waste your time going after highly competitive keywords with on-site optimization because you won’t be able to nab them.

So, how do you know if a keyword or keyphrase is competitive?

Take one of the phrases you found while conducting keyword research, type it into Google search using quotations (ex. “how to install Thesis Theme Framework”), and then look at the number that appears below the search box.

Figure 1: See the 12,900 results below the Search Box? That’s the number you’re looking for.

Figure 1: See the 12,900 results below the Search Box? That’s the number you’re looking for.

If the number is large (over 75,000), I’d avoid it because it’s highly competitive. If it’s small, I’d focus on it because it should be much easier to score a top ranking.

Note, just because a keyword or phrase isn’t competitive doesn’t mean it won’t send traffic. And if it doesn’t send much traffic, that doesn’t matter either because the traffic it does send is highly targeted. For example, I once optimized a post that landed the #1 position in Google and it helped me make a $1500 sale.

Choose One Keyword or Phrase, and then Write or Tweak Your Article

While you want a keyphrase with little competition, you’ll also want it to have some search traffic (greater than zero). Then, either write a post that targets that keyphrase or go back through some of your older articles and tweak them for a specific phrase.

I’m not saying that you should let that keyphrases dictate what you write about. Instead, find a phrase that relates to your topic, and craft a helpful article around it. Remember, quality content matters. The higher the quality, the better chance it will garner links and then rank in search engines.

For example, if you run a blog about Kangaroos, and one of your researched keyphrases is “what do kangaroos eat”, then you might want to write a blog post about that.

Use Your Keyphrase In Your Post Title and Title Tags

Yep, simple as that.
Use the keyphrase in the title of your post and in your title tags.
Repeat the Keyphrase in Your Article.

You want to build a loyal following, so don’t go crazy with this. Instead, what I mean is, if you want to rank for your keyphrase, you must use it. Avoid creating nicknames or trying to be clever.
In the end, clear and concise wins. As a rule of thumb, try to include your keyphrase early on in your article or in a H2 tag.
While this may have little impact on your rankings, it will help show your readers that they’re reading the right piece of content.

Use the Keyphrase in your Meta Description tags

Using keywords in your meta description tags does not help you rank higher. However, when you include them, when people search on Google for a specific keyword, Google bolds the keyphrase in the search results. So, while it may not help you rank higher, it will encourage people to click on your search results.

Find Images Related to Your Keyphrase

Think about it. If you were looking for information on Kangaroos, when you visited a website, would it make sense to have a picture of a Kanagaroo on it? Absolutely.

So, when you publish your articles, ensure that you find related images and use your keyphrase in the alt description of your image. This is beneficial for two reasons: first, it helps search engines see that you’re trying to create a complete piece of content, and second, it’s great for accessibility.

Other SEO Factors

There are, of course, other factors that influence your search engine rankings that I don’t talk about here. However, if you want to focus on building your business and creating great content, these 7 areas can help kick-start your SEO without becoming a full-time job. If you have any other quick hints that you think people will find useful, feel free to leave a comment.

by Paul Suntup

Google said Thursday that it had made a major change to its algorithm in an effort to improve the rankings of high-quality Web sites in its search results — and to reduce the visibility of low-quality sites. While the company did not say so explicitly, the change appears to be directed in part at so-called content farms like eHow and Answerbag, that generate articles based on popular search queries so they will rise to the top of the rankings and attract clicks.

Google has been facing criticism from some users for allowing articles that aren’t useful to appear prominently in search results. That has now changed, according to the company.

“This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites — sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other Web sites or sites that are just not very useful,” Amit Singhal, a Google fellow, and Matt Cutts, who leads Google’s spam-fighting team, wrote in a company blog post. “At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites — sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on.”

Google has said that it makes about 500 changes to its algorithm a year, but most are so small that the company doesn’t announce them. This one will affect 11.8 percent of search queries, Google said, so it is big enough to significantly change the results that people see.

Google’s announcement did not mention content farms. But Mr. Cutts has spoken in recent weeks about the problem and said Google was working on algorithm changes to fix it. “In general, there are some content farms that I think it would be fair to call spam, in the sense that the quality is so low-quality that people complain,” he said in a recent interview.

While the content on these sites can be useful, much of it is closer in value to the eHow article on making friends in college, which includes tips like “consider joining a sorority or fraternity” and “remember to have a good time, smile and laugh.” Many of the articles on these sites are phrased as how-tos, and even after Thursday’s change they still show up as top results in searches for how to do something — if someone phrases a search query that way, they might want to read such an article. In the blog post, Google said the updated algorithm rewards high-quality sites, so the effect will become clear over time.

Last week, Google introduced an extension to the Chrome browser that people can use to block certain sites, and said it would study which sites people block to figure out which ones bother users. On Thursday, Google said that it did not use this data to change the algorithm, but that the new algorithm caught 84 percent of the most-blocked Web sites.



If you are overlooking your written content, you’re potentially making a huge error that will prevent repeat visitors and potential customers. As important as a visually appealing website is, its appearance can only take you so far with a weak message. Once a visitor starts looking around, if there isn’t adequate content to engage them, then they’ll end up clicking away from your site just as quickly as they found it.



An effective website only has to be a few things—clear, to-the-point, and fresh. Your potential customers have a wealth of options to visit on the web, including your competitors, so you want to ensure that you maximize their experience while you have their attention. A great visual interface will be the bait, but content will be what keeps them exploring your pages and having relevant, timely content will give them either the information needed to pursue your product or service, or at least come back to your site for further research and knowledge.



What Does ‘Content’ Mean?

Web content generally refers to textural or visual information displayed on a website, not limited to articles, blogs, company history and product descriptions, case studies, slideshows, and photo galleries. While the images on a site are important, it is the writing that is too often neglected. Effective written content can include product news and announcements, interviews you or your team have done with the media, customer testimonials, how-to guides, and much more. These items let your site project your business vision and share your enthusiasm about your people, products, knowledge and success with your readers, and in a competitive landscape, can make all the difference.



As great as that traditional content is, the most popular (and worthwhile) type of writing today is through blogging. When your business blogs, it can make appear that you have your finger on the pulse of your industry, that you are engaged, and very importantly—that you are active and working. Even if you don’t have regular, formal press releases about your latest product offering or media mention, a blog is often all it takes to have a regular web presence that can draw repeat visitors to your site. The content is up to you—it can be an end-all center of information on your complete industry or an informal series of posts about your daily activities, promotions, or general musings. Whatever shape it takes, the key is to remember that your blog, if done right, gives your business a clear voice, a personality, and can ultimately earn your readers’ trust.



Keep It Fresh

Stagnant websites discourage visitors from visiting again if they continue to see unchanged content each time they visit. You should always try to be updating your content, as it can better project your business as one that is knowledgeable, current, and attentive to its customers’ needs. You should consider your written content to be a work in progress, and you should take it seriously. Think of it this way—if you put out a quality product even before you’ve won their business, they’re likely to feel more confident in you once they’re ready to select a vendor.



Your Next Move

So now you understand why it’s so important that you have great content. But what if you don’t consider yourself a master wordsmith—what do you do? 

The reason you should avoid tackling content on your own is that the time you spend racking your brain over new topics to keep your content fresh is time that you don’t have to run your actual business.



You’re the pro when it comes to your business and that should be your focus. For everything else, in particular your web content, leave it up the pros in their industries. You (and your future success) will thank you in the long run.

When producing videos in-studio and on-site, we offer custom videos that will be tailored to your exact needs. We also provide monthly analytics so that you can track the progress of your investment. Webworks provides options in affordable packages.

If you are looking for San Francisco video production, YouTube video for business, business video production, or internet marketing and website development for your business, Webworks can help you! Start Basic with a company video, blog, and customized YouTube account, or go big with our all-inclusive Premier package that includes everything that your business needs for a professional internet marketing program. Call today for your free quote!