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Write SEO Friendly Blog Posts That Customers Will Find (In 7 Easy Steps)
Securing Your Mobile Payment System
Business Productivity: The Importance Of Playing To Your Strengths

Write SEO Friendly Blog Posts That Customers Will Find (In 7 Easy Steps)

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 01:57 PM PDT

The blogosphere is a highly competitive environment. There are now approx 175 million blogs producing around 1 million new blog posts every day. Creating SEO friendly blog posts, that customers will find, read and engage with - has become a big challenge for content writers and those businesses - that use blogging as part of their online marketing strategy.

Previously, I've written about what you need to consider before you start blogging and how best to format your blog posts for online readers. In this post, I will describe how to write SEO friendly blog posts that will help ensure your content gets found and seen by the right people: your prospects and customers!

SEO Friendly Blog Posts

"Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users" wikipedia.org

How to write SEO Friendly Blog Posts?

# 1. How to do Keyword Research

I've spoken about the importance of doing keyword research before and it's the critical first step! There are many tools available incl:

Keyword research allows you to confirm or find out about what people (in this case: your prospects) are searching for. When deciding which keywords will work best, consider those that offer you:

Relevance
Lots of searches
Less competition

If I built apps?

Say, I was an app developer and I wanted to write a blog post to target businesses who might like to build an app. I might consider that "We build apps for your business" is a good title for a blog post, but is it?

If I go to Google keywords tool and search for "We build apps for your business" I get 0 searches! Next, let's input "apps for your business". OK, that's better, it shows 2900 searches per month.

However, If I scroll down the page, I see the keywords "How to make apps" which has 450000 searches and is of medium competition. I like this keyword opportunity because:

It has lots of traffic potential
It is not too competitive
And the people who are searching for it, are looking for actionable information

However, it still has some weaknesses:

It's very broad
And it only weakly relates to my target audience

# 2. How to Optimize your Blog Post Title

So how can I optimize "How to make apps", so that I'm targeting the right type of reader? In my example: businesses that might be considering building (and paying for) an app?

Let's look at some titles that will make my blog post more razor-sharp:

"How to make apps to get your business downloaded"
"How to make apps that deliver new customers and more sales"
"How to make apps that return on your business investment"

Note: Position your keywords nearer the start of your title as search engines and people put more weight on the early words

# 3. How to Optimize your Meta description

Meta descriptions are the short descriptions that show up in search results along with the link to your blog post:

They should be no longer than 150 characters
And front loaded with your chosen keywords

# 4. How to Optimize H2 and H3 headings

Ideally, you also want to include your keywords in your H2 and/or H3 headings.

My H2 heading above is "How to write SEO Friendly Blog Posts?"
Includes "SEO Friendly Blog Posts" which are the focus keywords for this post

To do this in the HTML version of your website, write the following text:

<h2>Headline Text</h2>

<h3>Headline Text</h3> for H3

Note: WordPress and other content management systems have this option in the format menu.

# 5. How to Optimize Your Images using "Alt Text"

When an image is unavailable, "Alt Text" ensures no information or functionality is lost. However they are rarely used by content creators.

Use the alt text to incorporate your chosen keywords, adding additional SEO value to your post.

# 6. How to Optimize your Links

Readers, other bloggers and even search engines (such as Google) love links.

When linking internally or out, the text that you choose to hyperlink (called "Anchor Text,") is very important. Rather than using words like "click here" - incorporate links into suitable keywords.

Do this within the text of your blog post using words that best describe - where that particular link goes to.

Where linking to another site, make sure readers are opening a new browser window. This ensures that they are less likely to permanently leave your website, for the other site.

# 7. How to Optimize on your Keyword Density

Your keywords need to be sprinkled in the text of your article, but you need to also be careful of overdoing it (called keyword stuffing). Aim for a ratio of between 1-3%.

For example: In a 600 word article, repeat the keywords between 6 and 18 times.

So there you have it, my 7 steps to write more SEO friendly blog posts, rank better, drive more search traffic and ultimately help you to get found by new customers. If you liked this article or have any suggestions to add, please let us know in the comments below.

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Images: "silhouettes of concert crowd in front of bright yellow stage lights/ Shutterstock.com, Google Keywords and WordPress"

The post Write SEO Friendly Blog Posts That Customers Will Find (In 7 Easy Steps) appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

Securing Your Mobile Payment System

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 08:12 AM PDT

More and more businesses see the benefit in utilizing mobile credit card processing. USA Today reported, "In February, about half the retailers polled by the National Retail Federation say they will use a mobile device as a cash register within a year to 18 months, compared with 6% that use them now." Not only is it cheaper, but convenient.

However, while convenience is a significant factor in the popularity of mobile credit card processing, security has been an issue with retailers and customers alike. With over 270 password hacks in 2012 alone, everyone has reason to be concerned with any form of online transaction. Still, as a mobile retailer, there are a variety of security options for your mobile payments.

Third Party Security

The most important aspect of mobile payment security is ensuring that your customer's data is safe and secure in your hands. Because security has become a hot topic within the industry, many third-party payment companies are now offering safer payment options.

Encrypted swipe: Many card readers now have multi-layered swipe encryption which follow PCI DSS standards. This means the card data is protected from the moment it's swiped in, all the way through the payment process.
Counterfeit card identification: An authentication process that checks cardholder data and the host and session, ensure that the card being used isn't counterfeit.

Digital Receipts

After a digital payment it makes sense that you would send out an e-receipt. Well, these have been notoriously unsafe in previous years. Mark Johnson, president of Loyalty 360 told MicroBilt.com, "These email addresses now can be as valuable as a credit card number because they have huge data insights into the individual." However, utilizing new technologies, you can reduce a hacking risk significantly.

NFC validation: The most common way for a hacker to gain information includes emailing the retailer for personal information. To avoid this, you can use NFC validation which will check the information against their data base.
Barcode: Including a barcode on your e-receipt that will identify the exact transaction and personal information.

Mobile Payment Security Basics

If nothing else, it's important that you've taken care of the basics before taking any mobile payments. There are simple ways to protect the data on your phone that can make all the difference.

Use only one device for payments, and use it for nothing else. Phones are susceptible to being lost, and you decrease those chances by having a payments specific device.
Use a password for your phone. While this is a basic security tactic used on most personal devices, it's your first line of defense if the phone is misplaced.
Enable remote swipe in case the phone is lost. This way you can ensure that whoever finds it won't be able to access any important info.

Accepting payments on your mobile device is a smart way to make more sales in a convenient and cost effective manner. However, it's important to address the issues surrounding security, for both you and your customers. Whether you make a few basic device changes, or investing in secure scanning equipment, it's important that your customers feel safe purchasing with you.

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The post Securing Your Mobile Payment System appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

Business Productivity: The Importance Of Playing To Your Strengths

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 08:02 AM PDT

It's a statement we hear throughout our lives. As school-leavers, when it comes to making those all-important decisions about our career and later, our business productivity - those around us are often heard recommending "playing to your strengths".

Simply a Proverb?

I have to admit using [and abusing] this exact statement over the years - advocating it to many - and not always sticking to it myself. However, like many such proverbs, there is a clear undercurrent of truth to it, and a message we should all take on board.

Your Business Productivity

# 1. Find a Job You Love

Sticking with the subject of proverbs, I always remember my first Management Theory lecture, when my lecturer opened with the following teaser: "find a job you love, and you'll never work a day in your life... the challenge is finding that job".

Most of us who follow that challenge into self-employment have actually fulfilled the task... however, that doesn't completely eradicate irritations or frustrations [aka, not always 'strengths'].
The key is in recognising that this is the case, and not dwelling on it.

For every hour you spend undertaking an element of your workload that bores, frustrates or exhausts you, you deny yourself the time to spend on things you relish. The irony being, the things you relish and enjoy often generate positive outcomes for your business.

# 2. Be careful around Energy - v - Exhaustion

We can all relate to that task we abhor: the monthly accounts report, the marketing budget, those pesky forms... they drain us of energy, focus and motivation, and worse still, leave us feeling negative towards our business.

Not a good 'place' to be when you're working on growth plans, exploring new services or products, or preparing for a special client presentation.

What can you do? Well, it's not quite as simple as waving a magic wand, sadly, but you can manage more cleverly...

# 3. And Manage the Negative Tasks

Well, of course, in an ideal world, we'd all be able to outsource or delegate them away... so if you can, then... DO!

For those of us with limited resources, a better way of managing the *yuck* tasks, is to break them down into smaller chunks, minimising the impact the job has on your general motivation [and head-space!].
Another good idea is to actively reinforce the success you feel when the job is done [giving yourself a pat on the back]. This tends to help in attacking similar work on a regular basis.
Depending on the person, allocating a specific period of time to manage the piece of work also pays dividends [an end is in sight!].

The Proof is in the Pudding

Yes, yet another proverb. Undoubtedly, spending more time on the things we enjoy, our strengths - propagates more energy, creativity and enthusiasm in all of us. Defining ourselves by the things we dislike or are not strengths of ours, is detrimental to the way we communicate, interact and sell our businesses.

Considering the things you enjoy and contribute to positively - do you spend much or little time on them?

Ultimately, when we consider the times we excel in business - it's easy to understand why. There's harmony, ease and alacrity in our actions; things just seem to 'work' and adversity feels minimal. It's called playing to your strengths.

Being realistic, of course, there are times when we have to do the *yuck* stuff, however - we can minimise and manage its impact on our business productivity - and ultimately ensure that we're playing to our strengths as much and often as possible. Make sure you do, and the proof will be in the pudding.

This post was inspired by Mike Gaffney of LEAP Consultants.

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The post Business Productivity: The Importance Of Playing To Your Strengths appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

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miercuri, 3 octombrie 2012