The Optimizer - Weekly SEO News

In yesterday's article, I pointed out a privacy leak in Izea.com's support system that allowed anyone that clicked on their Contact Support link to view all other guest user's support tickets revealing usernames, passwords and real names associated with their Izea accounts. Five hours later, Peter Wright, Vice President of Izea.com left a comment explaining the issue and stated that they intend to fix the leak right away.

Peter Wright kept his word. As of today, the My Support link has been removed preventing anonymous users from clicking their way into your private data. You can now feel safe submitting a guest support ticket without your privacy being compromised.


Yesterday


Today

Some say a picture tells a thousand words. The one below has two that stand out for me: Email & Password.

( Click thumbnail for full screenshot )

This blatant disregard for user privacy makes me lose trust in having my blog associated with Izea.com. Although, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt if they fix this issue quickly. We'll see how things pan out.

I was viewing Sir Chow's blog which I don't do that often due to my loyalty and interest in many other blogs. As many of you know by now, John Chow has a blog entitled "I make money online telling others how much money I make online" As clever as that is, I wonder how much of it is self proclaimed and hype and how much of it is actual.

I'm sure he's made money especially with the plaster of ads he has on his site, but how much of that is due to him? He seems to have a following of wannabe millionaires who think they will make it out there if they only follow what he says. But what's he really saying? I came across one of his latest posts, and the comment from the Ohio Realtor is gripping. *Insert smile here*

This article shows you how to optimize your Wordpress blog for search engines so you can capture those coveted top 10 search results.


SEO Tip for Wordpress Titles

Your PAGE title should include your keywords in order to be optimized for search engines. Your POST title should be catchy and written for your visitors. How do you accomplish this in Wordpress?

Get the SEO Title Tag Wordpress plugin. It allows you to have separate titles for your posts and your pages.

Advanced Tip: You'll also want to check your post template (single.php) and make sure your post titles are using H2 tags and are linking to your Permalink URL.

This will give your post titles more prominence in the search engines. An example code:

<h2 class='post-title'><a href="<?php echo get_permalink() ?>" title="Permanent Link: <?php the_title(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>



SEO Tip for your Wordpress blog name.

Make sure your blog name is wrapped in the <H1> html tag.

Check your header.php (Presentation > Theme Editor) and make sure your code looks something like this: <h1 class="blogtitle"><?php bloginfo('name'); ?></h1>.

Don't forget to use keywords in your blog name! If you want to rank for SEO News (like i do :D), then put SEO News somewhere in your blog name title.


Wordpress SEO with Permalinks.

The default structure for your permalinks is: http://www.yourblog.com/?p=123

For SEO purposes, it should be like this: http://www.yourblog.com/your-post-title/

The main reason for this is? You want your keywords in your URL to be bold when someone is deciding which link to click in Google search results.

To change this in Wordpress admin, go to Options > Permalinks, then select Custom and enter
/%postname%/ in the text field.




WARNING: This is for new blogs only. Do not do this step if your blog is already established. It will break all the links coming back to your blog. There are ways around this by editing your .htaccess file to redirect your links correctly using a 301 redirect but it is not for the technically challenged.


Backlinks are votes for your blog.

Getting backlinks to your posts is the most important factor for getting higher rankings in search engines. Think of links as votes for your blog. The more votes you have, the more search engines believe that your page is relevant to the search query. There are many ways to get backlinks, the most important is creating content that people will want to link to. Once you've done that, encourage them to link to it.

You want your backlinks to contain the text that you want to rank for. For example: If I want to rank for SEO News. I try to encourage people to link back to me with this code: <a href="http://www.increased-online-traffic.com/seo-news.asp">SEO News</a>.

Here's a Wordpress plugin I found today that encourages your visitors to link to your posts using your post titles as the link text: Link to Me Textbox Wordpress Plugin.


Follow these steps and I guarantee you will get increased traffic to your Wordpress blog from search engines. If you have any questions about any of these tips, leave a comment and I will try to answer them as quickly as possible.

About Entrecard

Entrecard is an advertising exchange network for bloggers which holds the promise of boosting blog traffic through the use of a simple widget which a publisher can add to his or her blog.

By adding the 125x125 Entrecard widget to your blog, you can publicize your blog on theirs, and they on yours, for free for 24 hours at a time. The time limit ensures that your blog will receive wide rotation through your network of connected Entrecard users.

This advertising is paid for through Entrecard credits, which are earned when you "drop your card" through a simple left-click on their widget, or when they drop their card on yours.

10 Entrecard Traffic Tips for Success

1. Drop cards, lots of them. The number one way to increase your Entrecard exposure is to "drop" your card often. The strategy? Drops cards on active users. Start with your inbox, if they are dropping cards on you, you know they are active. Drop cards on the popular Entrecard users, go to Campaign and drop on the top users per category or find other active users through the Most Popular tab. I also like to drop on the Most Recent users, this helps the new users and shows them that you are active as well. Don't forget the forums as they are loaded with active users as well.

2. Advertise often. If you follow step one above, you will have lots of Entrecard credits to advertise with. I try to make a point of advertising with at least 5 blogs a day. I pick the most popular users I can find and advertise with them. If they are very popular it means they are getting a lot of drops per day which means that more people are going to see your ad, thus increasing your own exposure and click-throughs.

3. Get an attractive ad. You want an ad that is compelling and stands out from the crowd. If you don't have design experience there are plenty of Entrecard users in the forums or in the Entrecard shop that will design a card that fits your brand.

Technet's Entrecard ad evolution: The first two ads, I designed myself. The one on the right is my present ad. Thank you Affiliate Lounge for the attractive design.



4. Entrecard Widget Positioning. If you want people to advertise on your blog or drop cards on your widget, they need to be able to find it! Place your widget in a prominent position on top of your blog.

5. Post in the forums. The first step is to introduce yourself and let people know that you plan on being an active member of the community. Post a few times a day and get involved in the Community section. Don't blatantly advertise yourself. Just be involved.

6. Use the Entrecard mail system. If someone advertises with you or let's you advertise on their blog, thank them for it! This is the best way to get to know other Entrecard users and let them know that you are an active member of community.

7. Watch Statistics. Find which ads are doing the best for you and continue to advertise with users that give you back the most number of clicks.

8. Blog about Entrecard and Entrecard users. When you blog about Entrecard, you are not only stopping other Entrecard users in their tracks to read your blog, but you are also helping the whole Entrecard community to grow which will help your blog grow in return.

9. Participate in Entrecard contests. This is a great way to get extra Entrecard credits in order to advertise more or to hold your own contests. There are tons of contests floating around EC. You can find them in the forums under Promotion and Events or by browsing other blogs and searching their posts for contests as well.

10. Recommend other users. On the top-right of every Entrecard user's detail page is a link that says "Write a recommendation for this site". When you recommend someone, odds are they will recommend you as well. You're not only helping your neighbors, but you're increasing your exposure in the system as well. Check out the site and find at least three things you like about it. While you're there, leave a comment on a post or two and subscribe to their feed.

Labels: entrecard, traffic

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