Marketing with WordPress

I am reading some great books and articles on marketing and Wordpress. I have finally begun to understand why Wordpress is so popular; it does a lot of the SEO for you! There are plugins for everything and I will be exploring many of them as I revamp our Tipping Paint Artists website.

I am going to start with the blog. I have just finished reading Internet Marketing with Wordpress by David Mercer. It’s a concise, easy to read book that covers the ways that WordPress can work for you to get your message out there. There are books on SEO that go into the behind the scenes work; with WordPress you don’t have to go behind the scenes, it takes care of that! You get to concentrate on the most important part of SEO – consistently writing high quality content that is relevant to your topic, and being persistent! I know I have room for improvement in the high quality arena but my weakest area is the persistent one which is why my New Year’s resolution is again ‘to keep up with my blog’!

I want to share with you Mr. Mercer’s list of Dos and Don’ts for blogging.

Dos

• Choose a relevant domain name. Most people have purchased their domain name before getting to the blog stage, it’s hard to set up a blog without one. Is the domain name relevant to your business or what you are trying to promote or is it cute? A cute/fun name only helps if it is directly related to what you are doing. You want the domain name to contain words that would be used in a search if possible. My domain name, skjonesart.com, would have been better if Susan had been available but there are a lot of S Jones and Susan Jones out there on the internet!
• Create relevant page and post titles. This seems like a no-brainer but it is awful tempting to use creative titles that are witty. Search engines don’t understand wit and need keywords to list your blog appropriately.
• Use SEO keywords and phrases in link text. ‘Click here’ doesn’t tell Google much about the link and links are one of the best ways to get Google’s attention. So make the reference to the subject matter you are linking to the active link like I did above.
• Create interesting content that is highly relevant to your niche. First you have to determine your niche… This is very important because it is a waste of time and energy to write good content that is geared to people that won’t appreciate what you do and will not become a customer or repeat visitor. It is also important to think about what will interest your desirable reader; keep them coming back with relevant content.
• Use Alt and Title attributes for images. When you insert a picture into a WordPress blog, a pop-up gives you a lot of options and asks for a lot of information. I’m usually in a hurry and skip the Alt and Title attribute section but no more…Alt makes your site more user friendly, it allows the disabled to use a reading device and know what is on the page. It also shows while the image is loading so that the reader will know what’s coming. Outside of being nice to others, the alt also helps the search bots because they can’t ‘read’ a picture. The more you can include about the image and the way it relates to your purpose, the better for good SEO.
• Use keywords naturally and where appropriate. The previous Dos tell you to use keywords in everything but you have to be careful. Remember you are talking to people and not search bots! It would be very boring to read something that was overrun with keywords and search bots might penalize you, thinking that you are spam. It’s a fine balance!
• Encourage people to link to your site or blog. You have to tell people that you have a blog and website. The best way to do this is through social networking and becoming an active participant in other blogs and forums. You can’t be shy, you have to ask people to link to your blog and to quote your content (with attribution of course). You can interest other bloggers by commenting on their blogs and asking them to comment on yours. Set up and use a signature that contains a link back to your site or blog.
• Proofread every blog at least once. I always find mistakes that the software doesn’t pick up on. Proofreading is also good practice for your comments on other blogs and on forums; if there are too many errors, I always discount the author and wonder if it is spam generated.

Don’ts

• Create duplicate content. I thought I had keeping up with 3 blogs under control. I’d write one blog entry and then post it to the other 2. Not a good idea, search bots are pretty smart! The less obvious problem comes with duplicate content on the same site. The Robots Meta plugin helps WordPress keep search bots from searching legit duplicate content within your web site.
• Copy other people’s content. Information on the web is copy righted just like printed work and those smart search bots will recognize it as duplicate content.
• Link to too many external sites on every page.
• Stuff your content with keywords.
• Write content for search engines – remember to write for the people reading it.
• Create pages with little or no content; you’ll loose your visitor.
• Use images or other media without text or Alt information.

Technorati Tags: wordpress,search engine optimaztion,SEO,blogging,marketing

Getting the shot, a country adventure

The roads to our parents’ houses go through rural NC and VA. It’s interesting to go through the hurried traffic on 40 and 85, which are a normal part of our busy lives, to cows, horses, fields and old barns. This year I’ve been focusing on old houses and barns in and around the Triangle so on a recent trip to my in-laws’ for my father in-law’s funeral, I was particularly attuned to the countryside I was traveling through.  I was traveling alone for a change and as I drove down highway 58, I kept seeing things that I wanted to photograph. The pull was so strong that I finally started stopping. I was dressed and in heels so I must have made quite a sight as I maneuvered through the weeds etc. to get shots from all sides. I had a deadline for my arrival so I made note of interesting buildings to photograph on my way home the next day.

It was rainy on my return trip but I stopped many times on the way home. I rarely make this kind of trip by myself and I hate to ask my family to keep stopping while I take pictures. They have a lot of patience but I still feel hurried knowing that they are sitting in the car waiting.

Most of the property had No Trespassing signs so I stayed on the shoulder of the highway (mostly), close to my car, ready for a speedy get away. I didn’t see a soul, just one dog chained up. I was pumped at my bravery(stupidity) and I got a lot of good images that I can hardly wait to start working on.

In November we went to my sister’s house for Thanksgiving. I had my camera with me but I couldn’t get the courage to ask to stop for me to take pictures. We were due at 1:00 and didn’t have a lot of time to spare. I reconciled myself to putting picture taking on the back burner until I saw an old barn with a tree growing out of it’s roof. I knew I had to come back ASAP and get the shot in case something happened to the barn. It was about 50 minutes from my home, a very doable afternoon outing, so I relaxed and started making plans.

Thursday was a gorgeous day and warm after a very cold week. My best friend and I were going to make a day of exploring the area while we caught up on each other’s lives. Unfortunately her new bath tub flooded her dining room and she was stuck with an understated mess! Exams are over for my son so I guilted him into going with me, my excuse being that I didn’t want to be alone taking pictures on the side of the highway. We had a lovely time and only got turned around once! We decided to go to the farthest point and take pictures on the way back. We kept track of the old barns and the tacky Christmas yards. How I wish we’d started taking pictures right away! When we were near our final destination, we stopped for a bathroom and snack break; for some reason I reached into the back seat for my camera and it wasn’t there!! Fortunately my son has a good sense of humor; we both had a good laugh and turned to head home again. Of course he let me know he wasn’t making the trip a second time!

Luckily we’d gotten an early start and I was able to get back to our starting point in less than an hour and a half. I’d had a fun visit with my son and still had plenty of daylight left to work. This time I began taking pictures as soon as I got off the highway. Once again I tried to stay on the shoulder of the highway so I wouldn’t be trespassing. I did rationalize that people that did a lot of decorating wouldn’t mind my stopping to take pictures so I didn’t worry too much about the Tacky Christmas yards. I became more obsessed with my surroundings and began to stop more frequently; I did a lot of turning around and going back to things I thought I could skip on first pass. It didn’t take long to realize that it was probably best that my son ended up back home – he would have gotten bored before I did!

I made it to the barn just as the sun was starting to set. I still had plenty of daylight but the glare limited the direction I could shoot from. I parked on the shoulder again but had to climb a ridge to even see the barn, so much for not trespassing! I was mesmerized by the old trees that wove in and around the barn but I still kept a look out for an unhappy landowner. A storm was headed our way so the wind was strong, causing the tin roof to creak which made me a little jumpy! From the hill top, I could look across the highway and see Shangri-La. It was an interesting site!

Driving to visit my parents, we’d pass by an interesting stone pillar made of white quartz and concrete. We’d never stopped to see what was beyond the hill, you couldn’t see anything from the road. Several years ago there was a story in the N&O about Shangri-La. When he retired, an old farmer started building a small town with quartz from his property. His intention was to bring happiness to passers by. I love miniatures and was intrigued by the article. I had intended to stop one day and see if that lay beyond the hill but we are always in a hurry.

I parked on the service road and this time I trespassed with intention. Since the story was about a desire to share, I figured that his wife wouldn’t mind. He died several years ago and the article said that it brought her joy to see people enjoy his work. A plaque at the entrance to Shangri-La says:

“Let me live in the house by the side of the road and be a friend to man.” H.L.W. 1972

As it started getting later, I tried to quit stopping so much but I couldn’t help myself. I got careless. I stopped a one spot that had 4 old structures and appeared to be abandoned; yes there was the standard No Trespassing sign and I did read the first few lines which were directed at hunters and poachers. I stayed on the gravel of a side road that led to several driveways. As I was getting ready to leave, I saw a white pickup leaving the house across the field, it was not a good feeling so I jumped in my car and headed out. I looked back after I got on the highway to see which way the truck had gone, I didn’t want it following me…it had turned around and gone back home! That’s what I did too. It was a cool old barn!