Whether you're running a large business or simply writing blog posts as a hobby, SEO is crucial for making sure your content is seen by some form of audience. Before I dive any deeper on this topic let me answer the question... What exactly is SEO? SEO, which stands for search engine optimization, is the digital marketing force that focuses on organically (non-paid) growing the visibility of your website on search engine results. Google, Bing, and other search engines are like libraries. They hold a lot of information, so their goal is to spit out the most relevant sites to users looking for certain content. nSo, you want traffic to your website, but you're running on a small budget? Check out the list below for ways to boost your search rankings that ultimately leads to reaching more people online! 1. Create an information rich website that is relevant to your business. If you own a company selling organic peanut butter, display webpage content that shows off your product. I don't just mean images. Within your "about us," home page, and other areas of your site, include keywords that are relevant to what your selling. Get into the mind of the consumer. If they are looking to buy organic peanut butter, what might they enter into the search engine to look for you? Another way to create an information rich website is to create a company blog. Post articles that are relevant to both your product/service and your audience. So, using your peanut butter product, create and share recipes for your consumers to make at home. You could also write a blog post about the nutrients and health benefits of PB. Within these posts that you write, include links both to other pages on your website, and to external articles from other sites. This provides more reading content for your audience, while boosting your SEO. 2. Keep user experience in mind when building your website. When building your website, be sure to ask yourself a few basic questions- Does my site load quickly? Is it easy to navigate? Does it feature a responsive design? No one likes a cruddy website. When users visit your pages, it shouldn't be a frustrating experience for them. Although offering a quick, loading website may be self explanatory, let me clarify what is means to have pages that are easy to maneuver and responsive on different platforms. Your site should have a menu that leads to prominent pages across your domain. If you own a restaurant, users should be able to quickly find the hours, location, and menu for your store. Additionally, responsive design means that your site is optimized for the screen size of desktops, smartphones, tablets, and more. 3. Write meta descriptions and tags for your webpages. Including these on your pages increases the likelihood that users will click on your site during their internet searches. The meta description is the text that appears under your pages URL. It is a short summary of what kind of content that specific page includes. Title tags are located directly above the meta description. They should include keywords relevant to your business and page content. The last kind of tags that should be included on your site are alternative text attributes (ALT text). These are short text descriptions connected to the images on your pages. ALT text helps search engine "crawlers" find your content, relevant to users' searches. Depending on the site host that you use (Wordpress, Weebly, Squarespace), be sure to look up how to add these descriptions and tags to your own pages. 4. Utilize social media, even Google+. This may be the last point, but it's a biggie. Even if you are not a professional marketer, implementing a solid social media plan is not hard to do. Having profiles on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, not only get your name out, but they will help your content rank on search results. A lot of times, when searching for businesses, people will go directly to these social sites first, they will not even use Google! Especially if you are having trouble with ranking in search results, be sure you are consistently posting on Google+. With all social media sites, your posts need to be consistent and relevant to the audience on each channel. Demographics can be easily tracked using the analytics tools built into your business pages. I hope this was able to help everyone crack the code of SEO and how to use it for your business. This is a lot of information to digest, and even I am still learning the ins and outs of this concept. For more information on how to get started on it, check out this beginner's guide on Moz.
I would love to hear your questions about this topic. Be sure to include them in the comments below!
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If there is one word that I would associate with Pixar Animation Studios, it wouldn't be "failure." Since the company's first film, Toy Story, they have created several stories that have captivated audiences and worked their way up to the top of the box office. Like for most corporations; however, the road to ultimate success is not always easy. While reading Creativity, Inc., written by Ed Catmull, I had a chance to learn how Pixar was created and how they sustain a positive company culture, while breaking the barriers around creativity and creating films that inspire their audiences. Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Animation, started the company in partnership with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter after brainstorming a way to make computer-animated movies a reality. As described in Creativity, Inc., the leaders of the company fought to overcome the fear of failure that was associated with making their famous movies like Monsters, Inc. and The Incredibles. For years, they worked toward perfect production processes, which ultimately resulted in a few "major meltdowns." Ed urged his team to readjust their outlook on potential failure, which included seeing losses as a challenge to emerge better and stronger. I guess the question for Pixar is... How do we use our failures as a learning experience? The better, more subtle interpretation is that failure is a manifestation of learning and exploration. While you can strive for ultimate perfection in your practices, failures are inevitable. It's okay to know they might be coming, but its important to leave fear behind and look at them in a more positive light. Below, are the ways that Ed and his team at Pixar have learned to adjust their approach to failure. These easily learned principles can be applied to any line of business, but also to one's personal life...
What are the ways you approach failure? Do you agree or disagree with Pixar's approach? Let me know in the comments below! I encourage you to check out Ed Catmull's book, Creativity, Inc., for more information on Pixar's fascinating history and the culture they have build. |
Welcome to my blog! Here, I share posts about my favorite topics, including health, marketing, and lifestyle. My biggest hope is that you are inspired by what you read. Enjoy!
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