Even the most seasoned bloggers can forget an important step when publishing a new blog post.

And forgetting a step usually means a lost opportunity to optimize your post for the search engines, to get found by your ideal clients online, and to attract new readers to your website.

Use this blog post optimization checklist each time you publish a new post to ensure that it is ready to attract visitors, and optimized to improve your search engine rankings.

Select a single keyword or key phrase to focus on for your blog post.

To increase the effectiveness of your post and the probability it will gain traction in the search engines, focus on one main keyword or key phrase that you want your post to rank for.

Write a compelling headline and include your focus keyword or key phrase.

To attract attention to your post and get readers to click-through and read it, your headline must be compelling. To improve your chances of ranking with the search engines, your focus keyword or key phrase should be included in the headline (preferably toward the beginning in the first four or five words).

Write the content of your post and include your focus keyword or key phrase.

Your focus keyword or key phrase must appear in your content at least once. The longer your post is, the more times you want to include it. Also, think about including variations of your keyword or key phrase or similar keywords in your content as well to show depth in your content. Just don’t overuse your keyword. Avoid being seen as a “keyword stuffer or keyword spammer.”

Add at least one image and optimize it.

Posts with interesting images that support and enhance the content are read more often — Just remember to optimize your images for search engines with a descriptive name, keyword-rich title, and keyword-rich, descriptive ALT text (alternative text).

Add at least one optimized link to an older post on the same or a similar topic.

Internal links (links to other pages and posts on your own site) are critical to increasing the number of pages and posts that get indexed with the search engines. Adding a link to older posts on the same or a similar topic not only helps keep older content relevant, but it is another chance to optimize your post. Each link should use keyword-rich anchor text and have a keyword-rich HTML title assigned to it.

Format your post content to make it easy to read.

Utilize short paragraphs separated with a blank space, subheadlines, bold and italic formatting, and bulleted and numbered lists to help readers view your content as easy and quick to read.

Insert a customized and optimized More tag.

Insert the More tag to display only a snippet of your post on your main blog page, and encourage readers to click-through to read the full article, share your content, and leave a comment — Don’t forget to optimize the More tag by including your focus keyword or key phrase in the text of the link.

Assign your post a unique title.

Every page and post should use a unique Title tag that is no more than 60-70 characters in length. The title should explain what the individual page or post is about and should include your focus keyword.

Assign your post a unique description.

Every page or post should use a unique Description tag that is no more than 150-160 characters in length. The description is one short targeted sentence that includes your focus keyword or key phrase. It is typically displayed in the search engine results pages, so make sure it will attract attention and get searchers to click-through and read your post.

Select the proper category or categories to file the post under.

If your blog is like a giant file cabinet for your website, the categories are like the drawers of your file cabinet. Use your categories to organize your posts by subject/topic and make it easy for your visitors to find the information they need.

Select the tags that should be assigned to the post.

If your blog is like a giant file cabinet for your website, the tags are like the individual file folders inside each drawer. The tags can also be looked at as keywords and key phrases that are used in your content. Instead of defining keywords with the meta keyword tag, bloggers define their keywords with tags.

Not sure how to do all of the items outlined above? No problem! Download our complimentary 7-Part SEO Course and learn how! It’s simple and easy to understand, even for the most tech-challenged!

Implementing these strategies will increase your search engine rankings, increase traffic to your website, and in some cases you’ll notice results in one day!

The internal links on your website, and more important, the words used in the internal links are a very important part of your organic search engine optimization efforts and can make a big difference!

Here is a quick guide to maximizing the click-throughs and effectiveness of your internal website links:

1. Do not ever use the words “more info” or “read more” or “click here” as the text for a link. That information is pretty much useless! Make sure your link text uses keywords or longtail key phrases that tell the visitor more about where the link will take them and what they will find when they get there.
2. Include more than one link to each page on your website. Do not rely on ONLY the link in the navigation to direct users to the pages in your site. Include links throughout the content of each page where appropriate to interlink the pages and make it more intuitive for the visitor to move through your site.
3. Make sure your links are appropriate and relevant. If the web page is about “tips for knitting scarves” a link for “best yarn for knitting scarves” or “learn to knit a scarf” would be great link choices. A link to “Crocheting a Baby Blanket” wouldn’t be very relevant.
4. Include a title for your links in the HTML code to give the search robots more relevant keyword rich text to search.

The HTML of a typical link looks like this:

The HTML of an optimized link looks like this:

Don’t over do it! Too many links on your page can affect your ranking as well. Make sure all of your links are purposeful and add to the ease of the users experience.

Do me a favor please. Open up your internet browser and do a Google Search for your own website.

Do you see results like the one below? The two lines of black text that appear below the link? That text is known as your “meta description” and it can make a big difference in your website traffic from organic search.

Your meta description is a pretty valuable tool when it comes to enticing searchers to click to link in their search results and visit your website. If you do not define your meta description, the search engines will usually do it for you by pulling a snippet of text from the web page or blog post.

Often, the meta description is overlooked when it comes to search engine optimization, but in reality writing a good meta description is really important.

The meta description, those two lines of text below your link of the search engine results page helps searchers decide whether or not they are going to visit your web page. A good meta description will not only give the searcher the information they need, but persuade them to click and take action.

Your homework is to improve the meta descriptions for your website home page and its “money” pages. Your meta description needs to be compelling and interesting, but it also needs to be practical. It should include the main keyword or key phrase you are targeting and communicate the benefit of the page.

To change your meta description, you’ll need to access the HTML code for your website. It looks like this:

If you use WordPress, the Platinum SEO Pack or All in One SEO Pack are plug-ins that will allow you to easily update your meta descriptions. For more advanced users, you may want to check out Yoast’s SEO plug-in, which we recently switched over to. You can see a screen shot of the Yoast SEO Plug-In Here:

This is usually the point where I crush the fantasies of those I am chatting with and explain to them that while WordPress is the best platform for small business websites, it isn’t magical. You can’t do nothing and expect to receive results just because you use WordPress.

WordPress isn’t a magic pill marketing solution that will miraculously get your website at the top of the first page of search results without any effort. With that said, at Bourn Creative, we not only offer marketing coaching and marketing training, we build amazing, custom WordPress websites. Why? WordPress is a great tool that allows you to update your site yourself and helps make the process of getting your website ranked in the search engines easier.

In fact, using WordPress for search engine page rank benefits is a very smart move that will start you off on the right foot when it comes to SEO. After that, it’s up to you to put in the effort to get your site ranked well.

First, let me explain why search engines love business blogs so much:

1. Blogs are designed and coded to be easy to crawl by the search robots
2. Blogs are typically updated frequently with fresh content that is highly-targeted and focused on one specific topic
3. Blog templates typically include several internal links to help the search engines and the user access more content faster
4. Blogs allow commenting and social interaction and bookmarking, which in many cases adds links back to your website and helps build online credibility
5. Blogs have the basics needs for search engine optimization built right into the templates.

If your website is integrated with WordPress, you’re already one step ahead of your competition when it comes to optimizing your website for the search engines. It’s a great start, but achieving high search engine rankings for your site requires ongoing effort.

To optimize your website, you need at minimum:

1. Research the keywords and key phrases that you want to and can compete on
2. Publish new fresh optimized content with great headlines to your blog frequently
3. Build quality inbound links to your website
4. Utilize internal links between related web pages and posts on your website

As a WordPress user, you have a few plug-ins available that will help make optimizing your website to increase your search engine page rank easier, such as:

Option One: Platinum SEO Pack and Google XML Sitemaps. Platinum SEO Pack makes it simple for you to add a unique title tag and meta description to each page and choose whether or not the page should be indexed by the search engines. Google XML Sitemaps automatically creates a new XML sitemap for your website and submits it to the search engines each time you update your website.

Option Two: Yoast SEO Plugin. The SEO Plug-in by Yoast is a plug-in for the more advanced WordPress user. It lets you easily add a unique title tag and description meta tag to each page and post and if you add your main keyword or key phrase, it will double check that you have used it in the headline, title, description, and body of the page or post for maximum effectiveness. It also shows you what your page listing will look like on the search engine results page. The automatic creation of an XML sitemap, the ability to edit your robots.txt file, and the ability to edit your .htaccess file are also included in the functionality of this plug-in. (We use this plug-in)

Hope this helps! I’d love to hear your thoughts…
 

Search engine optimization is important to your online business success, and when done right, SEO can have a big impact on your website traffic and sales conversions.

Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs don’t understand how search engine optimization can help their business and as a result, they don’t invest in it – with their time or their money.

Here are some of the basic benefits investing in search engine optimization can create for your business:

1. More visitors to your website, which means more sales conversions or more list conversions.
2. With high search engine rankings, comes increased credibility and expert positioning in your niche.
3. Higher rankings (for the right keywords) mean more people will find you online. When more people find you, you’ll receive more inquiries from new leads and prospects.
4. Following a search engine optimization strategy results in increased visibility for your brand and a much wider reach and span of influence.
5. High search engine rankings show the average consumer that you “know what you’re doing” and results in more opportunities.
6. Being listed ahead of your competition in the search engine results pages, means you’ll more likely capture the new lead.

As you can see, investing in search engine optimization can yield impressive results for your small business, and those results can have a big impact on your bottom line.

If you’re thinking of hiring a search engine optimization consultant, be careful. If they make any promises such as, “I can get you to page one in Google,” without explanation, qualifications, or showing you the keywords you’re going to be competing on, run away quickly.

The search engines change the way they index websites regularly. Google tweaks their algorithm almost everyday. That means that your approach to SEO isn’t just a one time “optimize my website,” but instead is a long-term ongoing process.

The age of hiring search engine optimization companies and paying them thousands of dollars to get your site to page one of Google is crumbling. By making search simpler and focused completely on the end user, the search engines are making it harder and harder to manipulate the results.

This is great new for the entrepreneur and small business and bad new for the SEO companies. Why? Because search engines are basically cutting them out of the loop.

The good news is that SEO doesn’t have to be hard and complex. You don’t have to actually spend any money to achieve great results from optimizing your website. With that said, I do recommend you work with a professional to determine what keywords and key phrases you should be competing for.

The bottom line is that with the right information, you can optimize your website yourself and get found more often online.

If you’re interested in learning how do-it-yourself SEO, check out our complimentary seven part search engine optimization training course and take control of your website ranking.

You know the people, the ones that never miss an opportunity to tell you that they rank number one on Google for all of the keywords relating to their business.

Yeah. Right. Sure You Do.

I know for a fact one of these so-called Google Braggers uses this line to woo new clients who don’t know any better… Ah the illustrious promise of the Google Promise Land.

Here’s my problem with that. Those statements 99.9% of the time are FALSE!

Yep. They are false. And, here’s the even bigger problem… the people claiming to have reached this state of Google Nirvana with their site ranking number one for every keyword, usually have no idea that they are making false claims because they don’t understand search engine optimization (seo) and rankings.

Take for example a local Sacramento company that makes this claim often. They aren’t even in the search engine optimization business, so it clear that they don’t realize how silly what they are claiming really is.

After about the fifth time I’ve seen them make this claim both in person and on Facebook, I decided to check it out. I cleared my browser history, I cleared my cache, I logged out of Google and I searched. Yes, they ranked number one for their business name and the two owners’ names – but everyone should rank number one for their branded keywords. Then I searched for them under the top seven keywords and key phrases I could think of that would fit their business and they didn’t even crack the top three pages. For several keywords, they didn’t even crack the top ten pages.

Here’s what you need to know. Your search results are relative.

The sites that come up in the results when you search for something are affected by your browsing history, the links you click on, whether or not you’re logged into Google, your location, whether you search for yourself 100 times a day, and more. That means that just because you come up number one when you search for yourself, it doesn’t mean you will when other people search for you.

Now, you can log out of Google, wipe your browser history clean, and clear your cache, etc. to get a fairly accurate and clean look at where your site stands. You also can use Google’s Webmaster Tools and other tools available to see your true stats.

If you get one thing out of this article, I want you to understand that everything online is relative and as we move more toward the socialization of the web, it will become even more so.

Also, don’t get sucked in by the promises of reaching the number one spot on Google for every keyword that applies to your business. There are companies that get paid millions of dollars a year to achieve that and if they have a hard time getting it done and have to work on hitting that goals day in and day out, your local entrepreneur, for whom SEO isn’t even a part of their business, isn’t going to make it happen.

What you can do, is hire a reputable company to do some keyword research for you and provide you a report back on the appropriate keywords and key phrases for your business that you can successfully compete on, and which keywords and key phrases that, no matter how hard you try, there is just too much competition in the market to be successful without a lot of money and a lot (and I mean a lot) of effort. That way you can get the best results for your efforts.

Or another favorite of mine is, “The SEO Company I spoke with told me they would optimize my site, make me number one on Google, and keep me there. They told me it would get me so many new leads that it more than pays for their fee of $3,000.”

Well guess what? I can get you to the first page of Google.

Yep. I said it. I can get you to the first page of Google and I can do it FAST.

And, do you know what? I can get you to the number one spot on Google fast and I will even guarantee it just like all the other “SEO” experts who are selling you this line of crap.

Oh, wait. Did I just say that line of crap? Yep I did. Because that is what it is – a line of completely, stinky, icky poo.

But let’s be serious. Here’s the overall problem with that statement and what you need to be asking the “SEO specialist” you’re speaking to if you hear a statement like that:

You may be able to get me ranked number one in Google, BUT…

• Will it be for a keyword or key phrase that people actually care about?
• Will it be for a keyword or key phrase that has enough people searching for it to make it worth my effort and investment?
• Will it be for a keyword or key phrase that actually converts sales?

For example, we’ll look at my own site. We rank depending on the day somewhere in the top three spots for the keywords holes in underwear, Ali Brown business card, and .net is for losers. These keywords have absolutely nothing to do with my sales funnel or message. It doesn’t matter to me at all if I rank high for those words.

When implementing a serious organic search engine optimization campaign, you need to be working with an expert who lives in the real world of business. One who will be honest and tell you that as Google continues to simplify its alogorithm, it is getting harder and harder for “SEO experts” to manipulate the search results.

I honestly think that with Google’s quest to purify and personalize search results and push businesses to their AdWords platform, the days of the organic search engine optimization firms may be coming to a close.

Here’s what this means for you:

• You don’t need to stress out about trying to compete with businesses spending thousands on organic search engine optimization.
• It’s all about doing the right research up front. Know exactly what keywords and key phrases you can and can’t successfully compete on, and which ones get searched for enough to be worth the effort.
• Highly targeted, keyword-rich content in multiple forms and in multiple places does work and will continue to work. Google and the other search engines will reward you for focused, valuable, relevant content.
• Applying ethical organic search engine optimization strategies enhances your results. Don’t forget about the title tag and meta tags for each page and blog post and don’t forget to optimize links and images.
• Don’t freak yourself out about link building. Commit to providing and linking to high quality, valuable content of your own and of others’ and the links will happen naturally. And, natural links are much more valuable than those from directories, link farms, and link swaps.

Now, Can you work with me to reach the number one spot in Google? That depends.

• It depends on your business, your target market, the market you’re competing in, and the Internet savvy of those competing with you.
• It depends on how well designed and customer-centric your website is.
• It depends on whether or not you’re willing to put in the work and time needed with us to get you there.

I’ll be frank. Most aren’t willing to invest the time or money in quality organic search engine optimization. But they want the results, so instead, they try to find someone who sounds too good to be true and promises them untold Google riches.

And the sad thing is that they will hire that expert, spend a bunch of money, and then be disappointed when they don’t get the results they want.

Don’t get me wrong… It’s not like I am a pessimist or anything. It’s just reality.

SEO isn’t a magic pill and it isn’t a single solution.

If you have a site that is not performing, not getting any traffic, or not converting, hiring an SEO expert to “pimp your website” isn’t going to fix your problem. And, it most definitely isn’t going to get you the results you want.

Instead, you need the whole package. Can I get you to the first page of Google for a keyword or key phrase that matters to your business and your sales process? Yes I probably can.

But it isn’t going to be by simply “SEO-ing” (I hate it when people use that term) your website. It will happen as an ongoing result of several different strategies working together, including:

• A comprehensive audit of your website, traffic patterns, analytics data, sales process, and what you’re selling
• Goal setting, marketing planning, and sales process refinement
• Research into what keywords and key phrases you can and cannot compete on
• The development of targeted, focused, value-added content
• Possible website enhancements or a redesign (you can’t drive people to a crappy site and expect it to convert!)
• Organic search engine optimization strategies
• “Buzz Building” and traffic generation strategies

Now, with all that said, I hope you think twice before you jump in bed with an SEO expert promising you Google Nirvana for little effort and a single outlay of cash.

Or, if you do … well, your results will reflect that.

Jennifer Bourn of Bourn Creative One of Only 12
Women Experts for List Attraction Week, March 8-12, 2010

Sacramento, CA – 2010 is shaping up to be the year for building business, thus increasing the need for low-cost, high-return marketing tactics by entrepreneurs. With the exponential growth of social networking for businesses in 2009, online marketing is one of the fastest growing marketing trends. However, most entrepreneurs don’t know how to get started with the most basic element, their “marketing list”.

Jennifer Bourn of Bourn Creative is a web designer and online marketing expert who helps her clients leverage the power of the Internet and use it to effectively attract new clients and leads. Bourn was recently selected by the International Association of Women in Business Online (IAWBO) to sit on a panel of 12 experts who will host a teleclass series during “List Attraction Week”, March 8-12, 2010.

Online marketing is fast becoming the most important marketing resource for entrepreneurs. In December 2009, Entrepreneur unveiled its “10 Web Marketing Trends for 2010” and e-mail marketing was in the top three. John Arnold writes, “…invest in your e-mail list and in producing valuable content to nurture leads and attract repeat customers.” The Harvard Business Review also stated that “with groups, lists and niche networks becoming more popular, networks could begin to feel more ‘exclusive’,” thus making it even more imperative for entrepreneurs to start building their list immediately.

“I’m honored to have been selected to join such an esteemed group of talented women entrepreneurs and online marketing experts for this teleseries,” explained Bourn. She will be in good company with some of the most respected online marketing experts and information marketers in the U.S. such as Gina Bell, Alexis Martin Neely, Mary Kay Morgan, Kim De Young, and Amy Porterfield.

Bourn will lead a teleclass which will focus on the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) and website traffic generation for online marketing. “From web design and coding, to copywriting and blogging, or even developing press releases, SEO is a critical piece of any successful online marketing strategy. Smart SEO will directly impact your Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engine rankings and thus the unique visits to your web site,” added Bourn. “Those web hits are what you are then able to monetize.”

Bourn was chosen as the SEO expert because it’s been her number one priority when building client web sites as a web and graphic designer for the past twelve years.

Other teleclasses in the series will focus on other important aspects of effective list building including:

• Autoresponders
• Double opt-ins
• Squeeze pages
• Ethical bribes/freebies/pink spoons
• Ezines/newsletters
• Virtual events
• Joint ventures
• Speaking
• Copywriting (i.e. article marketing)
• Blogging
• Social media
• Follow up strategies
• How to monetize your list
• And much, much more

“Registering for this teleseries should be a no-brainer for entrepreneurs,” explained Bourn. “The live teleclasses are FREE and only $25 if you can’t listen live and would like to listen later to online recordings. A gold VIP IAWBO membership is only $225 so there is tremendous ROI with any package.”

To register for the List Attraction Week Teleseries please visit www.listattractionweek.com.

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Bourn Creative’s network of contacts, partners, affiliates, and clients extends throughout the United States and around the world, and thanks to today’s internet technology we are able to serve clients that we have never actually met in person.

With that said, we still conduct a large portion of our business services with clients that live within 2 hours of our office. Our website also receives the highest volume of traffic from cities within the same radius.

That means local search and search engine optimization for local search results is important to online business success.

It is also proof that entrepreneurs and small business owners still want to work with businesses that they know, like, and trust.

Proximity to your business location can be a big factor when a potential client is making the decision of whether or not to hire you. In fact, some businesses still rely 100 percent on local business to sell their products and services.

Google has a great resource for local business listings, and it’s free! Check out the Google Local Business Center at www.google.com/lbc.

In the Google Local Business Center, you can watch a quick video, and in about ten minutes create a free Google Account (or use the one you already have) and a local business listing page for your business.

Your local business listing includes your address, phone number, website, and business hours, along with a 200 character description and up to ten photos. A Google Local Business Center also gives you a marker for your business on Google Maps. This is another free way to get your site and business information in front of as many people as possible.

So, if your business relies on local customers and local search results, or is global like Bourn Creative, a Google Local Business Center listing is quick and easy way to help increase the traffic to your website, improve your search results listings, and make the phone ring.

A BONUS QUICK TIP!

Check out Getlisted.org and see how your business is listed at Google, Yahoo, and other top local search engines. Getlisted.org exists to help small businesses claim and enhance their listings at major search engines. You can also check and see if you’re not taking advantage of free opportunities to promote your business online and drive traffic back to your website!

Search engine optimization or SEO is one of the top three most important components of your business website success. You can read about the other two components of successful business websites, good design and quality content, in the blog post Search Engine Optimization: The Two Most Important Things Your Website Needs.

The web design, website content, and SEO make up a trifecta of search engine results page power.

Search engine optimization is a process not a single event. With that fact in mind, your search engine optimization or SEO efforts should begin before the design and content development of your website and continue for the life of your website.

But you may be wondering what is search engine optimization or SEO anyway?

SEO is made up of all of the action you take to get found online and improve your search engine results page rankings. It encompasses everything you do to make sure you audience can find you online.

Here are the absolute minimum SEO strategies you need to implement in your business website:

Page Title: This is an HTML title that is unique to each page on your website and is no more than 70 characters in length.

Page Description: The meta description tag is a short keyword-rich sentence that describes why someone would want to visit the page. The description should be no more than 160 characters in length and unique to each page.

Keywords: Each page should target a specific and focused set of keywords. Those keywords should be included in the page title, description, headlines, and main page content.

Headlines: You should use the Headline HTML tags or H tags to format all headlines and subheadines. The H1 tag carries the most importance on the page, H2 has the second most importance, H3 has the third most importance, etc.

Alternative Text: Search engine robots or spiders can’t “see” what you images and graphic look like. Alternative text tags or ALT tags are a way to assign text to an image or graphic that appears in the HTML of the site. The ALT text is great for SEO because it can be crawled by the search robots or search spiders, and it is also used as a tool for the visually impaired when using the Internet.