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To be honest, I get a little nervous when someone asks me how to make sure their site ranks well in search engines. It’s not because I don’t know anything about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)–it’s because I know enough to know how much I don’t know! I won’t promise results I can’t be sure of delivering. That being said, there are some simple things anybody can do to help their site rank better.

Search engines carefully guard and constantly tweak their processes to stay one step ahead of people trying to game the system. That’s a great goal, but makes it harder for regular folks to make sure they get their content seen.  But by developing a few good habits, you can get significant improvements in your search engine rankings without an huge time commitment.

Solid SEO is Not Magic

Content for SEO

The first thing you’ll always here regarding ranking well is “content is king.” Kinda trite, but a lot of truth there. Original, focused, keyword-rich niche content that is frequently updated will do best in search engines. The better your content is, the more sites will link to your site, and the more often it will be visited when it does come up in  a search, all of which helps get you higher in search results. Get in the habit of providing original, high-quality content regularly.

You also have to tell the search engines about your content. One of the easiest ways is setting up an XML sitemap and submitting it to Google and other search engines you want to court. If you’re running WordPress or a similar content management system, there may be plugins you can add to do this automatically. Get in the habit of notifying search engines when you update your site.

Structure for SEO

Using clean, standards-compliant code without errors will help your search engine visibility. Search engines crawlers are not as forgiving about coding problems as a visitor’s browser will be. Get in the habit of making sure your site has clean code (or hire someone if you don’t know how).

Likewise, don’t think of headlines in your code as simply a visual detail to change text size. Search engines look at document structure and consider the weight of a headline tag vs. boldfaced copy. Now, if you turn everything into headlines, the search engines will catch on. But breaking down your content into managable sections, with appropriately structures headline tags, will help both the search engines and your readers. Get in the habit of using keywords in your headlines, reflecting the structure of your document in the HTML code.

Also, don’t forget what you can’t see! Hidden content in your pages, called “meta tags” commonly include keywords and page description; these tags also play an important role for some search engines. Your description may be used to represent the page’s content in the search engine results. Get in the habit of adding unique, keyword-rich meta tags to every page.

Copy for SEO

It goes without saying your content should contain the keywords you’d like to rank for. One of the most important is your page name. Get in the habit of  including keywords in your page titles.

And headlines are especially important. But in addition to headlines, certain other copy also gets extra weight from search engines. Bold or italicized text gets extra attention.Get in the habit of using bold or italics to emphasize keywords in text.

Link text matters for SEO. Just like headlines and bold text, linked text is treated as more important. So instead of linking “Click Here”, consider linking the text “Get a Blue Widget” instead. Get in the habit of using keywords in linked text.

Naming matters for SEO.   The name of images, link titles, and image alt attribute all provide test that search engines read, even if your visitors don’t. Get in the habit of specifying alt text and link titles for all of your images and links.

And while you’re uploading images, pay attention to those names! Search engines read file names, too. Get in the habit of naming your images with keywords.

Summary of Habits to Improve Your Search Engine Ranking

See, that’s not so bad, huh? Here’s a quick recap of good search engine habits:

1. Get in the habit of providing original, high-quality content regularly.
2. Get in the habit of notifying search engines when you update your site.
3. Get in the habit of using clean code.
4. Get in the habit of using keywords in your headlines, reflecting the structure of your document in the HTML code.
5. Get in the habit of adding unique, keyword-rich meta tags to every page.
6. Get in the habit of  including keywords in your page titles.
7. Get in the habit of using bold or italics to emphasize keywords in text.
8. Get in the habit of using keywords in linked text.
9. Get in the habit of specifying alt text and link titles for all of your images and links.
10. Get in the habit of naming your images with keywords.

If you follow these simple tips, you’ll get more visitors over time though improved positioning in search results. If you carefully craft your keywords, they’ll be the folks you want to reach. Good luck!

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10 Simple Habits for Search Engine Love

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“Serendipity led me to Dixie (a real cool chick) and when I walked through her (business) door, I immediately knew I’d found what I was looking for.  ‘Web Hosting with Free Warm Fuzzies!’ is what Dixie promises, and boy does she deliver! Over the past year, I have been in the process of designing, developing and launching a number of web sites, and Dixie has been there for me every inch of the way, throwing me a rope when I got myself snagged and tangled in mosquito infested jungles. (Yes, sometimes I bite off more than I can chew! But Dixie always has my back!) Dixie is also all about making the world a better place and ‘doing something good for someone today,’ and again — Dixie walks her talk! If you need a hit of  ‘feel good vibes,’ go poke around her site, like a tourist or a quester. It’s better than Paris, better than Nepal. Oh, and if you end up doing business with her, know that you will get the promptest, most attentive, most thorough (and friendly) service I’ve (n)ever encountered anywhere else!”

–via LinkedIn, Lise Heroux, Information Developer at IBM

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Dixie Always Has My Back

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When people ask me about setting up a content management system (CMS), they almost never think of WordPress. Even if they have used WP, like it, and are running several sites on WP, they still don’t think about using WordPress unless they are setting up a blog.

Please be aware we’re talking about self-hosted WordPress as a CMS, and not the free blog setup available at WordPress.com. The blogs at WordPress.com have less functionality and far less flexibility than a WP installation set up on a commercial web host, and would probably not make much of a content management system.

And while WP is the defacto standard for blogs, truth is that it can do a whole lot more. Fact is, you can have a WP site with all static pages. No blog required! With a little planning and the right choice of theme and plugins WP makes a fantastic, lightweight CMS that nobody will be able to recognize as WP (if you don’t want them to).  [1]

WordPress is widely used and supported with a huge community behind it. There are countless tutorials, plugins, themes and other resources for bending WP to your will. It’s easy to learn, easy to use, and flexible. Non-technical folks can easily create content in WP, and even the technical ones spend their energy focusing on the content–at least, when they’re done tweaking the site to their satisfaction.

When to use WP as your CMS

• Are your needs simple? Can you find a few plugins that fill the bill for all required functionality?
• Do you have experience with WP? Do you like it?
• Do you need non-technical people to update the site?

When Not to use WP as your CMS

• Would required functionality require hacking core files?
• Does your site have to interface with other systems in a way that would be difficult for WP? Bridges and forks can work, but will complicate your life in maintaining.
• Would the required functionality necessitate a large number of plugins? Or use plugins in non-supported ways?

Each CMS has it’s strong points and weak points. If you have straightforward needs, can find actively-supported  plugins that do what you need without a lot of trouble, and are already comfortable in WP, it’s a great choice. There’s no law your WP site has to have anything in common with a blog! Chances are a number of your favorite sites are actually running on WP, but you just don’t know it.

If you find that you’d have to do backflips to force WP to do your bidding, would have to hack core files, or would need to juggle a staggering number of plugins playing together nicely to pull it off, another CMS that’s more closely suited to your site’s needs would be a better choice. If WP is the round peg and you’ve got a square hole, look for a square peg.

The trick here is looking beyond what you think WP is about–blogging–to understand that you can design and organize your site content however you want. Forget the blog: ask if what WordPress can do well is well-suited to your requirements.

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WordPress as a CMS

1. See this terrific list of WP plugins especially useful to CMS-WordPresss users.

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Need better business ideas? How to Brainstorm Business Ideas over at the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur has you covered with brief suggestions from over a hundred real-life entrepreneurs in what works best for them to brainstorm brilliance.

This is my contribution, listed #47. It works for me!

Opening The Natural Connection

I absolutely do my most insightful brainstorming when connecting to the natural world in some way.

If the weather allows, sitting beneath a tree, standing barefoot in the grass, potting a plant, or even gazing out the window, turning a crystal in my hand. Focusing on connection to the larger world energy and feeling grateful prompts a receptiveness and positive focus, where inspiration flows much more freely.

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Business Brainstorming Ideas

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Many folks currently finding themselves without traditional employment are reconsidering ideas for their own business. The biggest barrier by far doesn’t seem to be lack of enthusiasm, the economy, poor ideas or anything related to the sustainability of their business model. Instead, it’s fear that stops them.

This article on the Business Worst Case Scenarios from the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur looks at business owners’ fears–and how they overcame them. It’s a must-read for anyone considering (but fearful of) starting their own business, as well as a good read for those that already are running their own business.

Dixie from Good Karma Host contributed #39 to the list. Check it out…

photo credit: MarcelGermain

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“I had a question,” Mom says. I know what that means–it’s tech support for Mom time!

“Yeah?”

“Do you think I could type something on the internet to see if hotels in certain cities are pet-friendly?”

“Well, that’s what I’d probably do if I wanted to know that, yeah.”

“What would I type? ‘Pet-friendly hotels’ and the city?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’d try.” Mmmm hmmm.

“Well, I wasn’t sure if that would work.”

“I dunno, Mom. I haven’t tried that specific search. But the internet has lots of information, and lots of hotels are online. There’s a good chance you’ll be able to find some that way.”

“Where do I type it?” she wants to know.

“Whatever search engine you use. Do you use Google?”

“I don’t know. I type stuff in. Sometimes I get the Google, sometimes I get the Yahoo. I have that little e thing I  use…”

“Yeah, that’s Internet Explorer, Mom. That’s your browser. I don’t know what start page you have set.”

“How do I get that Google?” she wants to know.

“You type ‘google.com’ in the top. Of your E-thing. It takes you to the Google.”

“Ok, I’ll try that.”

She’s happy. And why not? Now, she’s got the Google!

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Tech Support for Mom: Getting the Google

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Mom’s having trouble with her computer.

“And it came up with that thing, ‘Do you want to report this error to Mircosoft?’ and I said, ‘Yes.’ I’ve reported it to Microsoft several times, but they’ve never done anything about it.” She’s clearly displeased over the company’s inattentiveness.

“They won’t, Mom. Microsoft won’t do anything to help you. They just want to know about things for themselves.”

“Oh. So they won’t help me, huh? They will just fix it for other people later?”

“Yeah. They aren’t going to do diddley for you, Mom.”

“Well, I’m not going to bother telling them again!” She’s offended.

“No reason, Mom. No reason.” I explained cutting and pasting, so she could copy the error messages to send to me. I’m certainly going to be more helpful than Bill Gates! I wouldn’t have much faith she’d remember how to do it, but I think she was writing it down.

She apologized for the computer questions. I told her it was no problem.

“After all, Mom, I owe you. You did give birth to me and everything. What’s a couple of computer questions next to giving me life? I’m happy to help when I can.” [1]

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Tech Support with Mom: Microsoft Won’t Help You.

1. Who would have guessed that chubby, squirming little girl would grow up to answer her Mom’s computer questions?

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I contributed #17 to this blog post on locating a good accountant over at The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur blog.  I was evidently in good company starting with my professional network in selecting new folks to do business with, although there were some dissenting opinions  to consider as well. But for anyone in the market, there are sure to be some helpful ideas here.

And if you don’t follow Mike Michalowicz’s hugely helpful TPE blog, why not? You’re missing out, seriously. Mike’s got a been-there-done-that perspective on building successful business–and more importantly, sharing his insight with others–that makes his work invaluable to those looking to prosper and grow their business in any climate.

photo credit: alancleaver_2000

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Finding A Good Accountant? Lots of Tips!

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A customization for the Thesis WordPress theme, designed by Dixie Vogel of Good Karma Host, is featured on the Art of Blog in the article “180+ Thesis Design Customizations You have to See to Believe” as one of the “best modifications of the Thesis Skin” they’ve found online. If you’re interested in trying out Thesis, the sites pictured in the article will also give you a very good indication of the theme’s flexibility.

You’ll have to scroll down a while to find us listed at #162, for the political blog,  Zombies Uncensored. A big thanks to Nick Reese of Art of Blog for including us in such an impressive roundup!

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