WordPress SEO Blueprint
July 25th, 2010Strong On-Page SEO Theme Development for WordPress
In past few years I have tested and researched what could be the very best layout for my themes and what can deliver superior results with Google and other search engines as well and this is what I have come up with. No, nothing really new but never used on any other WordPress sites out there, at least not too my knowledge.
Proper WordPress SEO Structure
If your theme is anywhere near the above image your site or a blog is Search Engine Friendly and that is how WordPress themes should look like after properly optimized. Changing H2 to H1 isn’t really an SEO. This image is just an example, sidebar can be placed anywhere you want, as long as it doesn’t take the presence over your content or your header. Structure like this one has been proven to rank your posts higher than just standard theme design, followed by unique well-written content and proper keyword density.
Theme Structure and Content Placement
- Content comes first and there is nothing that should block search engines from getting to your posts first and as fast as possible. Not only that you will “wrap” your titles in H1, but also you are pushing the content above everything else listed on your site.
- Header comes second and it could be connected to your main menu (top navigation where you list your pages and categories).
- Sidebar comes third, the place where you list your recent post, categories maybe, blogroll etc, it is completely up to you what you want there.
- Footer is as always the very last thing you want search engines to crawl.
If you have any questions about this structure, please don’t hesitate to ask me, I will be more than happy to give you more details. OnlinePress runs on one of the versions I developed, in case that you would like to see the actual example. Maybe in near future you will have an option to download this as well.
O Site Traffic Where Art Thou?
May 24th, 2010
Website Owners inpatient, SEO Consultants getting the blame
Business owners are hiring Online Marketing Firms and/or Consultants to help them make higher Search Engine Result Page (SERP). In many situations site owners are pretty flexible and understanding when it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Internet Marketing in general.
The problem arrises when a company loses interest and understanding of how important “Organic Placement” really is, or that if example.com hires an Search Engine Specialist on contract basis for short period, (usually 3-6 months), their website will be optimized and there is nothing further required from an SEO. After contract expires or gets terminated because example.com gained enough of traffic followed by fantastic ranking that same ranking will drop soon enough, why? because this is not a product, or something that we all make to stay, SEO is rather process that requires constant attention.
On another hand there are another group of people who will not wait more than 2 months and if the marketing company did not make their site a “Superstar” (in two months) it is more likely that example.com will give a “boot” to their consultants.
According to Rand Fiskin from SEOMoz.org the process of SEO requires several steps such as:
- Keyword Brainstorming & Research
- Site Analysis – Identifying SEO Problems
- Creating High Quality, Link-Worthy Content
- On-Page Optimization & Keyword Targeting
- Site Structure & Internal Linking
- External Link Acquisition Campaigns
- Measuring Success and Improving Using Trackable Data
It is impossible to make any impact on SEO in just two months, unless you hired an entire battalion of Search Engine Optimization Consultants. (A battalion is a military unit of around 300-1300 soldiers). It is highly suggested that every business owner gives an SEO Company a chance and little more time to get things right and in their place.
SEO Back to Basics
February 22nd, 2010Is your site performing badly on Search Engines and you have no idea why?
Almost every day for many years now I would go and search Google Blogs just to see what is going on around, as well as Twitter and Facebook. From what I hear many site owners are complaining about terrible rankings, they say “my site was #3 on Google top 10, now we can’t even find any of keywords that were leading to our site”.
This is very simple folks, every time something goes wrong you must go back to basics, all the way where you started and backtrack. Just like when you lost your car key, what did you do? you tried to remember where you had the key last and backtrack. Same goes with search engines, start with your main page, open your Google Analytics, go back few months and compare. Sometimes when time permits I would also analyze some of this sites, just for myself to see what could be preventing them to gain their ranking back.
In most situations site owners are doing the SEO by themselves and that is great, some of them can’t afford SEO Consultant so they have no choice, but if and when you decide to take this in your own hands, please don’t push the optimization way to hard, don’t place the keywords where they shouldn’t be and for Pete sake do not stuff your pages with H1 titles from top to bottom of your page, that doesn’t help, it will only hurt you.
WordPress (Self Hosted) site owners!
If you are running a site that is powered by WordPress.org, please make sure that your index.php or home.php is properly SEO coded. If the title of the theme you purchased or downloaded for free says “SEO Optimized WordPress Theme” that doesn’t mean it’s true.
Here is what the properly optimized WordPress Theme should look like:
index.php or home.php if you downloaded a customized there, page.php and single.php should start with H1 title, not H2. sidebar.php headings should not be H2, sidebar importance level must be lower than your main page or a post. H3 is acceptable, however the perfect solution is no headings at all.
Also, don’t download anything from those site where WordPress Premium Themes are available for free and the main reason why is because the theme your downloaded will NOT be the same theme you purchased from sites such as woothemes.com, studiopress.com or wpnow.com. Why they are not the same? When you purchase one of the premium themes, you will also get their support as well, so in case something goes wrong, they will assist you. When you download the premium theme free of charge, there is no support and you will have some extra codes in your theme, as well as some missing codes too, which will make your site look good from the outside, but performing so bad from the inside.
SEO for Local Business
January 19th, 2010
On Site, Off Site SEO and ROI for Local Business Owner
Was this for real?
SEO Dude: “Every business owner should take full advantage of Social Media, they are free and it can benefit if used properly”
Bob the Builder: “Oh yeah, that Twitter thingy, yes we opened the account with them long time ago, we also listed our website with them”
SEO Dude: “So you do, that is great. Can you please tell me how often do you use Twitter and what are the things that you Tweet about?”
Bob the Builder: ”What do you mean how often do we use Twitter, Tweet? I don’t understand, can you explain?”
SEO Dude: What is your monthly advertising budget, if I may ask?
Bob the Builder: Let me get this for you, can you please hold, I have the list of the stuff we’re paying for every month?
SEO Dude: Sure, no problem I will hold.
Bob the Builder: All right, let’s see what we have here. We pay: $1700 for Yellow Pages (this is where we also have the toll-free number as well), $350 for Local Business Listing (I am not even sure what kind of listing this is), $95 for Google Business Listing Inclusion (This really helps, if you search for Bob the Builder on Google local search, our site is ranked #3, the SEO Consultant really helped with this one). There is also $500 for online version of Yellow Pages, (the guy told us that it’s very important to have this)
SEO Dude: So basically you pay about $2645 a month for all this, correct?
Bob the Builder: Pretty much!
SEO Dude: How do you keep track of what brings the customers in and what “pays off”?
Bob the Builder: Most of them e-mail us with some reports, I don’t really know if they are or not, if they told me that performance is good, me and my stuff never doubt that. However that is why we were told to contact you and tell us if this is waste of money or not.
SEO Dude: I have one more question. Do you have anyone that does your Search Engine Optimization at all?
Bob the Builder: Oh yes, I am sorry, that part slipped out. There is a guy who designed our website, he also does the optimization as well.
SEO Dude: Is that included in your site maintenance, or you pay something extra?
Bob the Builder: We keep the site related expenses separately from the list I gave you earlier. The maintenance is $300 per month and additional $1500 for Google optimization. We pay for many things and I am not sure what works and what doesn’t.
SEO Dude: Let me get this straight, your total out-of-pocket pay, every month is almost $4500? And you are not sure if you are making money from this, or even if your ROI is back?
Bob the Builder: Yes, that would be correct.
What the heck was this all about. Comment if you like.
PS I hate to put anyone on the spot, but people what the heck are you doing?
SEO For 2010
January 6th, 20102009 is over and your 2010 SEO plans are?
You, your Business and Search Engine Optimization in 2010
Don’t fall for the title saying “Marketers are revealing the Secret…” there is no such thing as secret and there is absolutely nothing to hide when it comes to an online marketing or SEO
This is not hard people; however you must pay attention and religiously follow everything around your personal site, blog and even more if you are running a Business online. It is January great time to look back and analyze what and how you did in 2009.
- Educate, educate and educate yourself, your team and collect some knowledge about an online Business.
- Know your competitors from top to bottom. Every move your competition makes, you must be there and know about it. If they post something interesting on Twitter or Facebook, you post right back and triple the amount of quality resources and always back everything up with facts. People respect facts.
- Analyze your site and analyze your markets even more. If you have any doubts that your current SEO Consultant(s) is/are not doing his/their job, don’t just make an assumptions and make quick decisions such as (You’re Fired!). Instead, get a list of known, recommended SEO Consultants and every single Search Engine Optimization Consultant will gladly give you a free “overview”
- Spend a Little, Make a Little! solo SEO is often not enough to reach the very top, you must combine your Search Engine Optimization with PPC campaign. If your company hired a new employee, write something about that and publish a Press Release. It doesn’t have to be anything big, just enough to get the word out. If you changed something on your site and it doesn’t have to be complete site re-design, talk about it, let the world know that you are still in business and that you just make some improvements that will benefit all.
- Twitter, Facebook, YouTube if you are not using the free/instant traffic from Social Networks, you’re missing out my friend. Be anywhere where you can be, publish, write, talk, tweet, make friends, connect, make groups, create videos, come on now, this is all 100% working and it doesn’t cost you a single penny.
I think that this will cover some basics and things that you should really consider in year 2010, however don’t wait to see how your competitors will to in first quarter, if you do that, they will be one step ahead of you.
Monitor your competition, “spy” what they do and “copy” but never follow. – Emil
