I am pretty opinionated about SEO and PPC. I've been a longtime advocate of SEO and I've traditionally steered well away from PPC. But I'm not older and wiser and I see the writing on the wall. Search is shifting, Google is becoming a lot more greedy, and most companies cannot exist with SEO alone. Up until this last year, I would have told you PPC is "cocaine for marketers" because money is spent in hopes of a quick high and zero long-term value is derived. I view SEO as just the opposite. ... Read More
Organic SEO
Optimize Your WordPress Website With Yoast SEO Plugins
I've been a longtime user of the free Yoast SEO plugin and I've been starting to utilize more and more of their premium extensions. I'm not alone. Over five million WordPress website owners use Yoast SEO too! But are these users truly helping their SEO? In most cases no, but it's not the plugin's fault. I would estimate that 95% of my SEO or website audit clients have the Yoast SEO plugin installed, but the implementation is far from complete and the actual on-page SEO usage is haphazard ... Read More
Embracing the Google Knowledge Graph
The Google Knowledge Graph was first introduced in 2012. Since then it has diversified in the types of data presented and it has greatly expanded in usage. It now dominates search results and many people don't even know what it is. The Knowledge Graph can sound really intimidating, but it really isn't that scary. It's a huge database of the people, places, and things that are popular in the world around us. But that isn't the cool part. The cool part is Google understands how those ... Read More
An Introduction to Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
What is Search Engine Optimization? Search engine optimization (SEO for short) is simply the process of obtaining website visitors (or traffic) from “free” or “organic” search results in search engines like Google or Bing. All major search engines have primary search results that are ranked based on what the search engine considers most relevant to users. We call these organic results, because they are free and not driven by paid advertisements. Search engine optimization helps maximize ... Read More
Basics of SEO Webinar Series
In December I had the pleasure of presenting a four day webinar series to the iThemes community. My friend Cory Miller, founder of iThemes, had invited me to perform the Basics of SEO webinar series for his very loyal community of end users and WordPress developers. We had a great week and each session had between 400-700 attendees. I'd like to share this series with our own readers and allow you to view the content presented as well as the follow up Q&A we did at the end of each ... Read More
SEO Week: Four Part SEO Webinar Series
I can 100% tell you that everyone struggles with search engine optimization. I've worked on SEO for well over a decade, so I know this is pure truth. If someone tells you otherwise, they're fooling themselves. There’s so much information available on SEO that it is difficult to know who to listen to and what to believe. Google and Bing provide great information on the subject, but this is cluttered with millions of blog posts, white papers, and courses that may or may not provide reliable ... Read More
Content Marketing vs. SEO
The topic of content marketing vs. SEO baffles me and honestly it has always confused me. I thought this discussion had been addressed and marketers knew it was no battle at all, but last week I realized it is still alive and well. I was on a sales call and the marketer I was speaking with said she didn't believe in SEO. She said she believes you simply need to focus on content marketing and you'll be fine. I'm paraphrasing, but that sums up the comments. The SEO consultant in me felt a ... Read More
My Epic SEO Fail
Ten years ago I had an epic SEO fail. I’m not referring to a little mistake that I was embarrassed to discuss. I mean a full on epic failure that should have cost me my job and reputation. Today I was reminded of this colossal mistake while I was sitting in church. Pastor Chris’s sermon was on managing failure. He began his message by discussing his epic failure and in turn he asked the congregation how many of us remember our epic failure. My mind immediately went back ten years to the ... Read More
Are You Missing the SEO Basics for WordPress? Let Me Tell You Why Your Website is Underperforming
So many users feel their website is underperforming and they wonder if they're missing the SEO basics for WordPress. After working with lots of WordPress website owners, I can validate they are indeed missing the basics! These users thought WordPress was supposed to be super SEO friendly and they thought they would add an SEO plugin and rank on page one. Yet their websites or blogs don’t rank well in search engines and they can’t figure out why. This is especially true if that little dot ... Read More
One Hour of WordPress SEO Training Can Produce Big Results
One hour of WordPress SEO training can have a major impact on your website or blog. If you can allocate sixty minutes, I promise I'll change the way you think about SEO and how it applies to your WordPress website or blog. I've been educating people on WordPress SEO for over six years, so I see the impact quality training can have on a website owner. It's impactful because it's one-on-one training that is highly personalized and it is presented using your content and your existing SEO efforts ... Read More
WordPress Accordion and Tabbed Content Can Negatively Affect SEO
Late last year Search Engine Roundtable posted an article about the usage of tabs, accordions, and hidden content in websites. This article was a quick overview of how these design elements will negatively affect SEO within a website. The article seemed to lie under the radar and most people missed it. It’s so far under the radar, I haven’t heard much about it since I read the post in November. I decided this topic needed further discussion because a lot of designers and website owners are ... Read More
Natural SEO is a Seed and PPC is an Over Ripened Banana
Natural SEO represents the planted seed that brings long-term growth and produces endless amounts of nutrients. PPC is the ripened banana you purchase to obtain a quick potassium fix. I have long believed in the power of natural SEO. I’ve been preaching it for about a decade and I’ve been screaming it from the rooftop for over five years. This isn’t just an idea or thought, it is a strong conviction that is rooted in the core of who I am and it is central to what I believe. This weekend ... Read More
Web Design Produces 353% Traffic Increase in Two Months
Many of my website design prospects frequently ask me “what they can expect” when we discuss converting their static website into a dynamic WordPress website. I answer them honestly by saying it depends on a lot of variables because no two projects are exactly alike. While this answer is not a concrete one, it is the best one I can give because I don’t yet know the variables. What I can tell them is that there are great examples of success when the process goes right. Does SEO Really ... Read More
Social Media Can be a Band-Aid and Not the Cure
This week I had a call from a very nice gentleman who wanted help with social media and blogging. He also mentioned the need for a little organic SEO. Great I thought, this is my thing and we’re a perfect fit for each other. I love the combination of social media, blogging, and SEO. To me this combination is like “Rebecca candy”. What Lies Beneath is Always So Scary At the end of our discussion I promised to review his website and dig further into his online presence. I’m not going to offer to ... Read More
Keyword Research for the Average Joe
Good keyword research is imperative for organic SEO. We SEO consultants typically view this practice as common sense, but it’s only because we do it all the time. In the real world, keyword research isn’t necessary easy for the average marketer or webmaster. But keyword research doesn’t have to be some big crazy formula. I read a lot of SEO articles and blog posts and the internet is full of great content and advice for performing elaborate keyword research. While this works, the activity ... Read More
Internet Marketing is a Battlefield
Winning the Internet Marketing War Requires a Marketing Recognizance Mission, Bulletproof Armor, and a Strategic Plan of Attack Make no mistake, internet marketing is a battlefield. You’re going to war against a million other websites and you need to have sufficient weaponry to compete and to walk away unscathed. You need to know your enemy, you need armor for proper defense and you need a clearly defined plan of attack to win the online battle. When was the last time you performed a ... Read More
Bad Website Architecture: The Silent SEO Killer
My focus is small business marketing, so I encounter a lot of people who have tried a do-it-yourself SEO approach to internet marketing. The semi-savvy business owner thinks his SEO knowledge is pretty darn good, yet he just can’t figure out why he isn’t seeing increases in website traffic. In our conversation he provides obscure long-tail keywords to illustrate his SEO tactics are working. He also tells me he lacks traffic and real revenue resulting from all the time he has allocated to his ... Read More
SEO Can’t Help a Website That Sucks
Each week I speak with potential SEO clients who ask me to “make their phone ring”. It is an honorable request, but I struggle with this because in many cases, SEO alone can’t solve their problems. SEO can help, but once the website visitor arrives to their website, they’ll run screaming for the hills. I’m not a website snob and I value the small business owner and his desire to bring sales in through the internet. I think internet marketing is critical for many small businesses, because it ... Read More
The Magic Formula of Great SEO
This weekend I looked back at SEO related statistics for a B2B website I launched in November of 2009. A full year has passed and I wanted to see the progress this company made over a twelve-month period. After launching the new WordPress website, the client retained me to work on their internet marketing efforts. It helped free up time for the client, it gave their internet marketing a cohesiveness it would not have had otherwise, and it gave me time to nurture my new baby. I believe it was ... Read More
WordCamp Detroit: My Top Ten List
Over the weekend I had the pleasure of attending WordCamp Detroit. What the heck is WordCamp Detroit you ask? It is a local WordPress conference designed to share and promote all that is good within the WordPress community. While I referred to it on Facebook as “chicken soup for the geek girl’s soul”, my husband defined it as geekfest. Regardless, I enjoyed my time and I truly loved seeing a sold out venue for the conference. When I was younger (aka pre-kids), I would send out a top ten list ... Read More
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