6 Things to Know About Search Engine Optimization

By Jeffrey Branover 

SEO Services Consultant

Los Angeles, California

Prospective clients often ask an SEO expert about tools and strategies to drive in more traffic to their website. They’re curious to know how SEO Services works and ‘what are the different strategies one can incorporate for effective results?’, and ‘how long will 1st-page rankings last?’ I’ve compiled 6 things about SEO Services that can benefit readers in learning more about online marketing so prospective clients can learn more about search engine marketing. SEO is an online marketing strategy/plan to help local businesses maximize their exposure and visibility on search engines (such as Google, Youtube, Bing, and Yahoo). SEO is currently used as part of a digital marketing campaign for visibility for important keywords/phrases that are relevant to one’s business. 

1. Search Engine Optimization is commonly referred to as SEO Services. While it’s true that a beautiful and well-designed website will get quality recognition and a positive response from people, SEO Services increases online visibility to your target audience on an exponential level. Quality Search Engine Optimization ranks your website for relevant and competitive keywords that are appropriate and important for your business. An SEO strategy may be designed for particular web pages, and/or for the totality of the website. It’s assumed that about 50 percent of websites that have a physical storefront will need SEO to increase their visibility, traffic, sales, and recognition. Of the local businesses, most will try to do SEO themselves or hire a consultant to rank their site for keywords/phrases their consumers are searching for.

2. SEO is also commonly referred to as online website marketing and digital marketing. That is, if one seeks a talented digital marketing expert to drive in relevant traffic to their site, they’re most likely going to consult with an SEO company. However, just because SEO is short for search engine optimization doesn’t mean that an SEO company will not have social media marketing talent to maximize exposure and customer conversion. The impact of various digital channels is profound. These various platforms (if used correctly) can be used to capitalize on an audience that has expressed a lot of interest from users that are consistent on their social media accounts. Of the social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Snapchat are powerful drivers to attract and convert users to customers (from a business perspective). In more advanced cases, utilizing an AD campaign for Social Media and Search Engine Marketing may (will usually) increase your exposure a lot quicker and with better results than conventional organic SEO. Organic marketing can take about 3-6 months to kick in for rankings (sometimes even longer depending on the competition). Make no mistake, SEO is an effective online strategy and can drive enormous traffic, sales, and consults.

3. While there is no doubt that SEO Services is a great online traffic booster because it gets your website/webpage to the top in Search Engines, the time it takes to rank a website compared to running a sound AdWords campaign may prove to be less effective. Almost always, a business owner wants to see results immediately. Otherwise, he/she may feel that he is wasting his/her money. There are some exclusions to slow rankings such as the website’s age, domain authority, and on-page factors. In some cases, a website may have immediate rankings because of a number of quality factors and just needs excellent backlinks for that extra boost.

4. There are no shortcuts to rank websites. There are a lot of gimmicks and sophisticated automated machines that promise rankings. Prior to buying into such strategies, it’s wise to do your homework and ask a local SEO consultant if it’s a good idea. Many SEO consultants offer free complimentary consultations to earn your trust and business. Quality Search Engine Optimization is a diversified strategy of incorporating white-hat strategies. It’s wise to stay true to the fundamentals of on-page and off-page SEO marketing. Integrating a strategy of fundamentals will most likely ensure your rankings, even after dramatic algorithm updates for long-lasting results.

5. The effect of bad rankings is often caused by not following the SEO guidelines. In such cases, poor rankings may be a result of over optimization, no optimization, too many links, or not enough links. SEO is complicated to the newbie, yet simple to the pro. A site’s ranking is determined by how relevant its content is to the person searching on the web. The more quality your content is, the more visibility it will get among searchers. It’s wise to incorporate “HOT” PHRASES (keywords) in the content of your article or webpage to ensure that you’re covering all your corners for exposure. A list of bad strategies includes duplicate content, too many “of the same” anchor texts and backlinks from irrelevant sources. 

6. SEO Services can include article submissions, on-page optimization, backlink cleanup (disavow links), and citations. Particularly in new websites, a strategy should include on-page, citations, press releases (which includes article submissions), and blogging. It’s wise for the website to continue to grow and expand by writing new (and compelling) blog articles, and engage on social media channels.

SEO Services

Consultations can be booked by calling SEO Services Los Angeles Jeffrey Branover at 323-449-6623, or by completing a contacts form online on his website. Jeffrey’s Los Angeles SEO Company is focused on providing his clients with the highest quality SEO Services that are up to date. For more info on his services and SEO packages, visit http://www.SEOservicesLosAngeles.biz. Stay up to date on his latest posts and SPECIAL DEALS on Facebook and Twitter. 

The Tricks and Treats of SEO Services

The good, the bad, and the definite no-no's of SEO written by Jeffrey Branover. To read his latest article on SEO featured on The Huffington Post, click here.

SEO Is NOT Dead

Many people debate to what extent SEO is needed anymore now that it's 2016. Waying out the pros and cons, and the benefits of Search Engine Optimization is essential when you hope to be a top ranked business, website, or blog. Read more by clicking here.

If You Want the Best Results, Do It Yourself

There are many different methods and ways of having your business become more visible. When it comes to having good quality SEO, it's important not to get fooled by trying any black hat methods which will likely result in long-term darkness for you, your website, and essentially your business. Black hat SEO methods will not only cause long-term darkness, but they will lead you down a wrong path. 

Bad karma isn't something that was invented to prevent those from doing bad, and to cause those that do wrong to be afraid. Despite how enlightened someone is or what their spiritual beliefs are, when it comes to doing something that will cause long-term darkness, it's important to avoid it, despite whether or not you believe in having good karma. 

We all work very hard towards getting what we want in life, or at least we should. To those that work hard and strive towards their goals, you likely know what I'm talking about when I say that it takes a lot of hard work to get what you want. The saying is true, "Nothing good comes easy." When it comes to gaining more visibility, more popularity, and a bigger following on all of your different social media platforms, you need to put in the work, despite whether or not you hire an SEO specialist, or an expert in the field of marketing. 

The fact of the matter is, despite the fact that you should either hire a professional SEO expert who specializes in white hat SEO, or have someone help you out by doing favours, you should also maintain the integrity of your blog or website for your business on your own. You should never hand over all of your hard work to another person and expect the best results. 

Despite what business you're in, and despite whether or not you believe that others have your best interest at heart, no one will ever love your business as much as you. The closest person to you which would be your partner in life, your spouse, or even your best friend won't even love your business or take care of it in the way that it should be. At least, not as much as you yourself will. 

The closest people to you will likely care about what you do, and want to support you in all of your endeavors in life. However, the fact remains that no one will cherish, take care of, and support your journey and your goals as much as you. You need to put in the hard work, despite who you hire, and despite who helps you get to where you want to be. I wrote this article as a little reminder to those that think that just just by paying someone to help them out, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't put in most of the hard work yourself.

To read a recent article about my views on SEO on The Huffington Post, click here.

2 Questions to Ask an SEO Strategist

The following is a guest post by Jeffrey Branover:

When hiring an SEO Strategist or Company, it’s important to ask the right questions so that your hard earned money produces an ROI you’re happy with. In case you're wondering, ROI stands for Return On Investment. Having a thorough understanding of what you want in terms of your SEO campaign is very important. You should know exactly what type of SEO marketing you want to achieve. Having front-page visibility on Google, Youtube, Yelp, Yahoo, and Bing for five to ten competitive keywords is a lot different than having great exposure on Facebook’s newsfeed platform. In a recent article I read regarding visitors to your website, it stated that Facebook brings in more visitors to third party websites than all other media platforms which include all the major search engines. So with that in mind, it’s equally (if not more important) to know how to use Facebook like a pro for SEO (and digital marketing).

Utilizing social media platforms such as Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, and SnapChat are important to drive in visitor traffic and increase brand exposure. Here’s a list of the top 2 questions I get from clients:

1. What Can You Do To Drive More Traffic To My Website?

It depends on your particular business. There are certain websites that need SEO to get clients and than there are certain websites that need an amazing Social Media presence. It depends what you’re selling or offering. So here’s the game plan: if you’re running a plumbing business, dentistry, appliance repair service, insurance consulting, rehab, caregiving, or commercial painting services (to name a few businesses/services) developing an awesome search engine marketing strategy to get ranked locally is the way to go.

Customers/Clients/Consumers will search probably on their mobile phone for a dentist or plumber and the search engines (such as Google, Yahoo! And Bing) will offer their user the most relevant information per their algorithm of indexing quality search results.

2. How Can You Help Sell More Of My Merchandize On The Internet

Creating e-commerce accounts on ebay and Amazon is an intelligent start. These two mega e-commerce platforms have already developed the digital infrastructure to help people sell their products by creating their own page and integrating their payment solutions.

Partnering with blogs (such as Anne Cohen) can improve sales as well. Many bloggers establish a loyal fan base, where their readers will want to buy from a direct referral, especially coming from their favourite blog or blogger. Bloggers play a pivotal role in trend setting and sales acquisition. Bloggers tend to be more relatable than A-list celebrities and because of the social thread, there’s more trust flow. Millions of consumers go on blogs to see what they’re wearing, eating, and where they go on vacation. Because of the impact social engagement, partnering with a local blogger, or even an international blogger can dramatically boost merchandize sales on an exponential level.

Thanks for reading this latest post on SEO Series. Leave a comment or question on or about any type of SEO strategies you may have. Thanks everyone! Have a great week!

SEO Etiquette 2016

SEO in 2016 is a combination of a few things. Some of which are not what you may actually think. You need to develop friendships with other bloggers, maintain good manners, be giving, grateful, and SEOing the heck out of your blog! Well actually, you never want to overdo it. Moderation is the key with everything, but damn, SEO is addicting! Everyone seems to have their own method of what they feel works and what doesn't when it comes to Search Engine Optimization. You can even hire an SEO Specialist professional, and yet disagree with some of his/her methods on how to get better visibility, rank better, and improve your blog/website. Having said that, sometimes it's important to listen to what your SEO guy tells you, but you should also do your own research as well. After all, two minds are better than one. 

When it comes to SEO etiquette, it can be a make it or break it for relationships that you're building with others. When it comes to blogging, many times bloggers will join blogging groups throughout social media so that they can ask questions, get advice, follow other blogs, and to basically acquire a good support system. There's a great benefit to bloggers developing friendships with other bloggers. When a blogger starts out, they usually need a support system, and people that will be there for them, give them advice, and even share their blogs throughout social media. As many of us are aware, one of the greatest ways of improving one's ranking is to have your posts shared throughout social media platforms. In other words, being genuine is everything, but hey, blogging with benefits doesn't hurt one bit. 

SEO can be tricky as we all know. Despite how many different methods there are for doing SEO, sometimes bloggers become selfish. There's a certain type of karma that bites people in the ass when they act selfishly. As I've mentioned previously, there are many types of groups that are designed to help bloggers promote their blogs, and develop relationships with others that can relate. At times, those relationships become one-sided. I've personally known a couple of selfless bloggers, and I can honestly say that they leave their mark, and it resonates. They give to other bloggers, by usually asking nothing of them in return. It's incredible how some bloggers can be this way, while others leave you hanging so to speak.

Etiquette is everything in life, and as well when it comes to blogging. Social media is a big deal now in 2016, and it's important that whether or not you're active on it, it's important to remember your pleases, thank yous, appreciation, and to reciprocate any love that others show you, and that includes reciprocating the love that a fellow blogger gives. There are endless threads in blogging groups that say things like, "Read my latest post and leave me a comment, and I'll do the same." Meanwhile, selfish bloggers leave their links and run, without even acknowledging the person's post or request. It's important to remember your etiquette, and converse with another blogger's request, and help each other grow. 

Getting to the top of Google with your blog is what every blogger wants. As is getting a great page ranking. Kindness, being giving, selfless, showing gratitude, and being loving are all essential for SEO, for developing friendships, and for networking with others in the world. When people comment on your posts, whether directly onto your blog, or throughout other social media platforms, it's important to try and acknowledge them whenever possible. Remember, SEO is just SEO without building a following, and that includes having and maintaining healthy, and strong relationships with other bloggers.

The Benefits of SEO Services

The following is a guest post by Jeffrey Branover:

Digital marketing is made up of many components which include SEO Services and social media. It’s now a lot easier to promote your brand or service on the Internet than it has been a couple years ago. Technology became less expensive, and resources are more available. The benefits of SEO Services include the following:

• Increase in traffic

• You appear more relevant than your competitors

• Sales may potentially increase

• Your content is more authoritative

I’m an SEO professional. I do SEO because of the many benefits it offers to business owners and companies. I believe digital marketing helps keep many company website sales in check. I decided to look more into SEO Services a bit deeper and see what are the most benefits for individuals, brands, and services for 2016.

Why SEO Services in 2016?

SEO has been used for many purposes, which include leads for service based companies, sales for e-commerce websites, and information visibility for promotion. SEO is a digital marketing strategy for a number of years, originating with Yandex, Google, Yahoo, and Bing. The reason that SEO has more benefits in digital marketing than other departments is due to its visibility in search engines.

With the continuous evolution of technology, one’s attention span has lowered to only a couple of seconds according to some experts. SEO is cultivated in a way that allows potential customers to see your product or information a lot sooner than the traditional word of mouth marketing. As a result of this new phenomena, SEO Services offers many businesses an increased amount of exposure and sales than traditional forms of marketing.

Increased visibility in search engines are one of the amazing benefits one can utilize SEO in 2016. With the rollout of new quality updates and algorithm changes from Google, it’s vital to keep your SEO strategy on point and professional. Too many backlinks and a messy design can potentially harm your ranking.

To check out more tips and strategies for SEO Services in 2016, click the link here. Another thing to point out is that there are social media platforms that may serve your business better than ranking high on search engines. Social Media is a great a way to connect with your friends, family, circle of influence, and show them what you can offer in more of a personal and relatable manner.

Thanks for reading and staying up to date on the latest SEO Series on this blog. Thanks everyone for subscribing!

5 Quotes From Warren Buffett I Apply to SEO

The following is a guest post by Jeffrey Branover:

Warren Buffett is known as the Oracle of Omaha because of his masterful skills in finance and investing (and obviously calls Omaha his home). He has made billions over the years investing in companies that he understands to have a strong durable competitive advantage in it’s unique industry. He owns tons of shares which include Coca-Cola (stock: KO), American Express (stock: AXP), Procter & Gamble Co (stock: PG), and many more. He believes in long term value and stays true to his investment strategy. He’s CEO and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and has a net worth of $65.1 Billion as of 3/7/16 according to Forbes. He’s ranked third richest in the world at the age of 85. He expresses his outlook of the American economy with optimism and confidence.

To lay out a solid foundation for success in any endeavor, it’s wise to assume that everything is technically connected with everything else. SEO is all about ranking competitive keywords in search engines and digital platforms that consumers use to get information. Finance is the best metric to understand the economy from a micro to a macro level. Financial Analysis is the core science in understanding and interpreting financial statements which include: The Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and The Statement of Cash Flow.

How does SEO and digital marketing apply to finance, and more specifically to investment strategy?

My passion has always been to learn from great thinkers that have proven a method that achieves successful results. It’s not easy and it’s certainly not meant for everyone to understand. To be able to learn wisdom and apply it to your practice requires one to ‘think outside the box’ and have the guts to move forward. Most people usually stick to their routine and apply to opportunities that make them feel “comfortable.” Comfort is the enemy to the wealthy in my opinion. They build mansions (not Warren though), drive in fancy cars, and travel the world in style, but they’re not comfortable. They’re thinking, planning, and building their next opportunity. They’re focused, they push boundaries, and they stand up for what they believe in; even if it’s contrarian to popular belief.

Here’s my list of 5 quotes from Warren Buffett that provides basic insights that I use to create an awesome SEO plan:

Quote #1: “You can’t make a good deal with a bad person.”

It sucks to find out that you’re in business with someone that’s bad. You can end up losing money and gain a lot of stress. In SEO, a major strategy is in finding awesome backlinks. The Internet has evolved and there are billions of websites that let you create a backlink; but it’s important to stay relevant to your industry. It’s important to find websites that are related in one way or another to your industry and try to create a “deal” (backlink). Make sure their metrics match up well and are essentially “good” for your business.

Quote #2: “Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls-Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.”

It’s funny how much truth there is in that quote. In SEO, there are a lot of smooth talking “experts” that claim that they will rank your website to the top. They have fancy testimonials and seem to know what they’re talking about. They show graphs that are hard to understand in the hopes to hook you as a new client. I think it’s important for the client to see where their SEO Specialist is ranked on Google. Every SEO professional should have front page visibility for their city and for related keywords. This let’s their marketing speech speak for itself.

Quote #3: “It is easier to stay out of trouble than it is to get out of trouble.”

SEO is becoming more complex than ever. Content needs to be well written, link building needs be done right, and your web development needs to be optimized for search. By applying the best methods for your SEO strategy, make sure you have a trusted content writer, otherwise, don’t publish. Bad content can worsen your ranking and it can be very hard to gain it back. Many experts in SEO would advice to build a brand new site with quality content, than to attempt to rank your money site that sits on the 7th or 8th page; and I agree with that. Link building is critically important and needs to be done right. If you don’t know how to link build, consult with a professional. Every link should follow a special ratio with various anchor texts with no-follow and do-follow attributes. The ratio that most SEOs advice is 60% do-follow and 40% no-follow.

Quote #4: “The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.”

Habits apply to everything we do. In SEO, one must constructively assess goals and objectives and evaluate results. Warren Buffett has learned that his habits have yielded him plenty of wealth along the years. He sticks to what he knows and as a result, made himself the 3rd richest person in the world. As an SEO professional, I stick to what I know that provides favorable results.

Quote #5: “It’s not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results.”

Warren Buffett understands the basics of what makes the economy move. He gets it that people want a Coke with their burger. People also like ketchup with their fries and consumers pay with plastic now. That’s why he owns shares in Coca-Cola Co (stock: KO), The Kraft Heinz Co (Stock: KHC), American Express Co (stock: AXP), Visa Inc (stock: V), and MasterCard Inc (stock: MA).

As an SEO expert in ranking keywords, I understand the basics of what makes a search engine tick. I stick to the fundamentals which consist of quality content, quality back links, and an optimized website. Consistency is fundamental for progress.

Warren Buffett definitely knows ‘what’s up’ with investing. He made a huge fortune following a wise plan of action and reaction. I will definitely follow up on this SEO Series with more cool quotes from Warren Buffett as well as other notable leaders in the world. Stay tuned and thanks for reading.

7 SEO Tips That Will Blow Your Marketing Mind

The following is a guest post by Jeffrey Branover:

Every great webmaster should utilize the best SEO tips to rank their site. But what are the best strategies in SEO? That's a question many SEO professionals have been asking, especially with the frequent algorithm and quality updates from major search engines. There are a few tips that I have learned and have applied to rank highly competitive keywords. 

Here's a list of my favorite SEO tips: 

1. Quality over quantity. 

Many folks write a lot of nonsense articles just to submit another piece of content on the web. That may have worked in 2014 and 2015, but times have changed in SEO. It's 2016 and Google (the current leader in search) favors quality content. Keyword research has changed over the past year. Google bots are now able to differentiate between keywords and offer a more relevant search. For example, let's say you're interested in learning about the health benefits of organic green juices. That search query will factor in e-commerce websites including Amazon, and specific drinks such as green tea (that's not a juice at all). These days, especially in the SEO world, green drinks are synonymous to green tea just like appliance repair (which can imply all residential and commercial appliances) is synonymous to refrigerator repair.

2. Social Signals matter. 

With the evolution of Web 2.0 and social media platforms, social signals became a huge factor in ranking websites for keywords and keyword phrases. Every person that has a social media account has created a unique personality on the web. By liking and sharing someone else's article, picture, info graphic, or website on their social media account, this shows the Google bots a vote of confidence (if the share is open to the public and not just for friends or set to private). Sharing someone else's post on your Facebook or Twitter is like a back link. When you write awesome content be sure to tell your friends and family to like and share your posts. You'll get a lot of SEO love.

3. Alt tags are important. 

Your pictures are also considered content. Content tells a story, or a description. The pictures that you upload should have a relevant alt tag to what your article is about. By placing a relevant alt tag on your pics, you're optimizing your images and increasing its visibility on the web.

4. User acquisition is key for growth. 

Yep! The more visitors your website gets, the more relevant it's considered in the eyes of the Google bots. But how can you increase the amount of visitors you would normally get? That's a good question that many of us SEO professionals ask ourselves. Contests, quizzes, and fun facts have been proven methods in engaging with new users in furthering our reach within the digital community. Many professional writers state something like: "17 facts about how hip-hop changed our culture in the 90s that will blow your mind." Funny and quirky statements are definitely a way to capture the attention of an audience.

5. Use headers appropriately. 

A header is considered like a chapter in a book. It tells the reader what the chapter is about. Because headers are in a descending order, it's imperative to start with header one and work your way down to header two, header three, and header four.

6. Over optimization is a burn. 

Just as you have to play it cool when asking a girl out on a date, you also have to play cool with winning the favor from the Google bots. They will know if you're trying too hard and that is a turn off. SERPS know what you're saying or writing about, and if it's good enough, you'll get the visibility. Trying too hard could actually make matters worse in SEO.

7. Effective back linking is your doorway to front page visibility. 

I wrote a post in SEO series where I wrote about the best practices in 2016. You can check it out by clicking here. Finding relevant websites, reputable Digital magazines, and all-star bloggers are amazing ingredients to run an effective backlink strategy. It's important to create a solid collaboration so that your content will be handled with care and your anchor text will be a do-follow. 

I hope you enjoyed these seven SEO tips I laid out for you guys in this weeks SEO series. Stay tuned for another awesome post where I'll be writing about effective strategies in improving your sites rankings. If you have any questions about SEO or digital marketing, don't hesitate and leave a comment below.

Seo Services in 2016

The following is a guest post by Jeffrey Branover:

4 Easy steps to increase visibility on Google and make your website more relevant

STEP #1:

Google offers their users the most relevant information for what they’re searching for. Publishing fantastic content doesn’t guarantee that the content will be pushed on the front page of google. Being relevant takes time because you need to establish a reputation on the web as a creditable source. Google does offer other options to refine your search in regards to time (such as 24 hours, one week, or one month options on the top right corner). Time and being relevant are not aligned and one should strategically create a model plan to boost keywords they want to rank for.

Every page should be strategically optimized for one keyword and should have a minimum of 400 – 500 words of relevant (unique) content. Content is considered king to most SEO Services and I personally think that it’s an effective strategy. Offering your readers information that’s informative to what they’re searching for will boost your rankings on the web.

STEP #2

Be smart about the keyword you want to boost. I would advise to do a lot of research about how much volume the related keywords get every month that you want to optimize for. Here’s an example, If I’m managing a dentistry website in West Hollywood, I would research all the keywords that’s related to: Dentist West Hollywood. I would create a model SEO plan to effectively write unique and great content with the emphasis of targeting related keywords to the dentistry website. It’s imperative to keep the content original and offer your readers something new and interesting about your practice.

Step #3

Execution is so important for optimum results. SEO is not a hobby. SEO requires a plan of action and sound modeling to effectively distribute information. One should calendar a do to list of how much content will be distributed within the week, months, and three month's cycle. It’s also wise to calendar a to do list for all your social media campaigns. Incorporating a solid execution and maintaining a log of your seo results will help better align your seo campaign.

There’s a saying that goes: “It’s not what you do, but who you are that will make a difference.” I can’t stress enough the importance of providing value to your readers through writing and distributing great content. In today’s SEO landscape, quality content and quality links that point back to your website (or webpage) is more important than quantity.

Step #4

Link building is important and it’s wise to get links from other sites to point back to your site. This SEO strategy is called back linking and it works (see: Backlink 2016). There are two types of backlinks: do-follow and no-follow. Do-follow links usually get indexed by the Google bots and your website essentially get’s a vote of confidence. No-follow links do not get indexed, so accordingly, it does not get a vote of confidence. It’s critical to research websites that have a great SEO score from the leading SEO tools such as MOZ, Majestic SEO, Alexa, and Ahref. Many sites that offer no-follow links still have some serious link juice and can help boost your website nonetheless.

Reach out to web masters, bloggers, and journalists that write for a reputable digital magazine (or website) and ask to guest write. Guest blogging helps with increasing your visibility outside your normal digital bubble and helps expand your reach. Being featured has helped many writers increase their readership. If there’s a great article that’s related to what you write about, leave a comment with a link to your site. Even if it’s a no-follow, it still carries some weight. Every new visitor you get is an opportunity to showcase your website.

Hope you enjoyed this SEO series and stay tuned for upcoming articles regarding SEO strategies. Leave a comment below and let me know if there’s something you would want me to write about. I’m always interested to get your feedback and discuss seo topics. Thanks!

This Is so Blog Life

A friend told me that it was a sign from God that I needed to make a change in my life. When I heard that, something hit home. I realized that not only did this person just instantly inspire me, calm me, and make me feel better, but they helped me realize what I needed to do. I've been blogging for over a year now, and despite what recently went down as far as getting hacked, having malware issues, or perhaps certain haters out there were purposely spamming my blog posts, but, for whatever reason, I got to the point where I realized that she was right, and I needed to make a change. But, definitely a change for the better. I knew that I needed to pick myself up again, and start all over, or at least, brush the dust off, and continue on my path.

I realize that not only shouldn't I feel bad about myself, and not stress out so much about this temporary downfall, with not being able to share my blog posts on Facebook, my emails getting hacked temporarily, my social media sites getting disabled, and whatever else. But instead, I needed to turn the negative energy into positive energy. So I decided to do a couple of things. First, I decided to face my fear (once again) of public speaking by creating a Youtube channel. Secondly, I felt the desire to create a blog of my own, and with a very special domain name that will be mine, and only mine, and not owned by this lovely Blogspot. Now that I know that I have this passion inside of myself to write from my heart and help others, and now that I see that I'm confident enough to put it all out there, I'm going to take it to the next level. As well, I'm interested in learning a bit more about web design, and I'm hoping a dear friend of mine will help me out with that (winky face). Well, if I'm lucky he will. 

I find it truly amazing how we have the power within ourselves to turn negative energy into positive energy, We have the power within us not to let people bring us down. When we let others bring us down, they're getting what they wanted. But, why give them the satisfaction of seeing you stress. When people say that you shouldn't sweat the small stuff, it's true. Although, this doesn't feel like small stuff, it is, because look at all of the problems that there are in the world in which we live today. Clearly, things could be a lot worse! I'm going to consider what went down to be a small and insignificant hiccup in my blog life, and I'm going to reach for the stars. Another thing that I find beautiful and amazing is the fact that when stuff hits the fan so to speak, the people that actually care about you stick around, and the people that never really cared disappear, or act as if they don't know what's going on (even if they do).

Going through tough times, whether big or small, it's always nice to have a few friends who stand by your side, reminding you to keep your chin up. You should cherish the friendships that you have. Having a million friends on social media isn't going to be your ticket to happiness. It's rare to meet a good friend, and it's rare to find that spark in a friendship, a lover, or a companion. When you find that special friend, lover, or a companion who provides the friend, lover, and best friend all in one, don't let them go. Cherish and embrace them, and do so with all of your heart, so they know just how much you care. Show them in your actions, not just in your words. Remember, when they tell you to keep your chin up, be strong, and not to give up, be a good listener, and take their advice.

Keywords and Titles 2016

When it comes to blog life, and creating blogs that will attract new readers, it's important to remember that you shouldn't only be interested in attracting new readers, but new readers that will find your articles useful, and will want to come back for more. Using keywords in your titles is a well known way of improving one's SEO and visibility on the web. It's definitely important to use keywords some of the time. However, even now in 2016, search engine optimization is at a point where we're all starting to wonder, how much SEO do we really need to get better visibility, and are keywords really that important. Every SEO specialist will have a different opinion if you ask them how important it is to use keywords in your titles. 

I believe that keywords should be used in titles, but attracting new readers with titles that will make them click is a whole other thing. Sure, when people Google things, they're usually searching by keywords only, and how could they find your amazing blog post if they're only searching by keywords. Well folks, that's the power of SEO, and why having a good page ranking can help. It's more important to build traffic on your blog, get a decent following, and get readers that will come back for more so to speak, as well as have great content that will make them want to return as subscribing readers. Keywords are important, but drawing in new readers with fun and enticing titles is everything if you want people to click on your blog throughout social media (which is where you should be sharing your blog posts).

Keywords in titles are imperative for people being able to find your blog, but if you don't have a good PR (page ranking), they'll likely never spot you. First things first, in my humble, little opinion. First, get a decent following, build traffic on your blog, use fun and enticing titles, and share your blog throughout all of your social media. Share your blog posts in relevant groups on Facebook, Pinterest, Google Plus, Twitter, Instagram, and everywhere else. As we all know, that social media list goes on and on. 

Never use titles that are too long, because the Google bots don't like long titles. Neither do I! Once you've built somewhat of a decent following, and have a certain amount of readers, then I'd mix it up and use keywords in your titles. Keywords don't have to be in every, single title, and especially not once you've built a big enough audience. However, having relevant keywords is a great way to come up in search results. I think that the best way to have great SEO and keep readers interested is to use keywords and fun and enticing titles, and hey, what's better than to combine the two.

As every blogger knows, it takes many different things to get a good page ranking. When a page ranking is good enough, you'll no longer have to reach out to businesses, but they'll start coming to you. Every blogger's dream! It's important to understand that it takes a lot more than having good, catchy titles, keywords in titles, or having good SEO at all. The most important thing is to have good, quality content, and have it be all original, unique, and entice readers to want to come back for more. As important as it is to use those keywords in your titles, or even to spice things up, and use an enticing keyword-filled title, you need to have some SWEET A$$ content, so you'll build up your following that in turn will improve your page ranking.

What Is Guest Posting and Why Should You Do It?

In case you haven't heard of guest posting or guest blogging, it's a great way to increase your visibility on the web. Whether you have a business, a blog, or any type of website that you're hoping to build more traffic on, guest posting is the way to go. Many times people don't know what exactly has to be done, what blogs to guest post on, and what's exactly involved in the process, so I'd like to explain a bit about what guest posting entails in this article.

What is guest posting?

Guest posting is when you write a blog post (an article), and instead of posting it on your own website, you give the content that you've written to the person that you're going to guest post for, and they publish it on their site. It's a way of expanding your audience, increasing your visibility towards new readers, and bringing in more exposure and traffic to your blog. 

It's a way of bringing in more traffic by the subject matter being different than what you or they might usually write about, or it could be similar. It all depends on the subject matter. But, either way, it's written differently than what people are used to reading on that blog, and that makes it enticing to read in itself. This is also one reason why guest posting is good for both people (the person that owns the blog and the person guest posting). Guest posting is also a way of helping your website, business, or blog get towards the top of Google Search, or towards the top of other search engines as well. 

How do you guest post?

Guest posting is pretty simple. First, you find a site that appeals to you in some way. Make sure it looks like a healthy site (I'll go into more detail on the specifics later), then you ask them how long it should be. A usual request for a guest post would be 500 words minimum, and all unique and original content (not something that has ever been posted yet). Give the person the link to your blog, make sure that they're giving you a do-follow back link to your website or blog, so that you get some good link juice (which is what you need to build more traffic to your site), and come up with a good and catchy title. Then find a few pictures or how ever many the person is okay with (after all, it will be posted on their blog), and remember to write your best work. 

Do you pay someone to guest post?

Yes, many times people have to pay to guest post, but not always. Many times people are in need of content, just want to build friendly relationships with other bloggers, or maybe they're simply trying to do you a favour. It's possible that they really like your blog or business, and it's worth it to them to give up some of their link juice and give you a do-follow link, just in order to have your business post on their site. You must be pretty cool if that's the reason, or at least your site must be. It's important to try and get as many do-follow links as you can, and from sites that have good rankings. 

Sometimes people pay to do a guest post when a person's site has a great PA (Page Authority), Great Alexa ranking, great MOZ ranking, has a great PR (Page Ranking), or maybe your site has an immense amount of potential to be great, and sometimes even though it may appear to be a new site, one can tell that it's gonna be big, and they're willing to pay to guest post. Either way, many sites are worth guest posting on even when you have to pay, because it's basically advertising on a site that gets a lot of visibility on the web, whether it's from their large social media following, their high profile name and blog, or perhaps they have a great ranking on the web.

Remember that search engines will be able to find your business, blog, or website when you do a lot of guest posts. Just remember that you shouldn't guest post on just any old blog or site. You should be cautious if a site has a high spam count and remember, spam in this regard is probably not going to help out your ranking, so be cautious that a person's blog is not hitting above a seven. You should download the Alexa toolbar to your desktop, and MOZ as well, in order to tell what a site's spam count is. MOZ will let you know a site's spam.

Guest posting should be quality content

Many times a person might think that they don't want to give away their best work and writings to another blog for them to post. Perhaps they get attached to it, and feel that it doesn't have to be the best writing, and that the sole purpose of guest posting is getting the other person's link juice. False! When you guest post on someone's site, you should put out your best possible work so that not only other people will see your writing, click on your link, and check you out, but you'll have more opportunities to guest post on other sites. Think of it this way, the better the blog post, the more likely you'll be to get a bigger following, and bigger, better, and more sites will likely see that you have experience guest posting, and they'll want you to post for them as well. Especially, when you write so well, and with so much heart, and effort.

Gratitude and common courtesy 

Being appreciative and kind to people is everything in life, and this includes when you're guest posting on someone's site or when someone is guest posting on your site. It's important to show your thanks, appreciation, and there are many ways in doing so. A great way to show gratitude and appreciation for the guest post is by saying thank you of course, but also by both people sharing the guest post on their social media accounts. The more sharing that one does, the more visibility that post gets, and it's a way of saying thank you, and I like your work.

If anyone is interested in doing a guest post or renting out a widget to advertise on the side of my blog, send me an Email at arcwrites@gmail.com.

Alexa Ranking Obsession

We all know what an obsession is, so now I want to explain to those that don't know what an Alexa ranking is. An Alexa ranking (or rating) is a measurement comparing how much traffic your site gets in the world and in the country you're in, compared to other sites. It determines how much traffic you get by how many unique visitors head to your site, as well as how many page views you get. It's a way of knowing how well your site is doing. Alexa can keep very close track to your ranking, but then you have to pay for it (not much I hear, but still). An Alexa toolbar is an extension that you can download free onto your computer, and it will still give you a pretty good estimate as to what your ranking is, keeps track of your web traffic metrics, as well as other web analytics. In other words, Alexa lets you know how well your site is doing. You can imagine how one could get so obsessed with knowing how well their site is doing. Especially, when they're so passionate about their site, and how much effort they're putting into it.

I started wondering the other day, as I usually get carried away brainstorming on new ways to improve my blog's Alexa ranking, how can I keep checking my rating, when I'm not by the computer. Yep, you guessed it, I'm addicted to checking my Alexa ranking. I have the Alexa toolbar and all! It's kind of ridiculous, because many people and businesses these days don't even consider an Alexa ranking that big of a deal, and they look for other things like your PA (Page Authority) or your PR (Page Ranking). But for some reason, I'm into it, and I get happy when my global Alexa and U.S. ranking improves. 

I hate to admit it, but I have index cards taped to my computer desk, and I write down my daily ranking every single day (and night sometimes). I realized that I'm checking a bit too much, and paying such close attention to watching as my ranking hopefully improves. But, yesterday, when I started brainstorming, I figured, they should make an Alexa Toolbar for your cellphone, so people can check throughout the day. Oh boy, now I know I'm taking this too far! 

What many people that also have an Alexa Ranking Obsession might not realize is that your world ranking (or global ranking) doesn't change from how much traffic you get each day, but over a duration of about 3 months, and it's relative to how well other blogs and sites are doing as well. So every day checking, despite that I love doing it, doesn't change that drastically for a few months. In other words (note to self), chill with the non-stop checking! In the past, sometimes I've wondered when I get so many shares of my blog posts on social media, why does my ranking get worse, and the reason is because not only does it take 3 months to get a long term result and positive improvement, but other people's traffic and Alexa rank changing affects yours as well. Blog life and SEO is kind of like the stock market if you think about it.

Blog Life and SEO

I started thinking, it was only about a year and a half ago that I didn't even know what a blogger was. Now, I can't stop brainstorming, writing, typing, and learning new SEO tricks to gain more visibility for my blog on the web. It took me until the age of 35 to know that I wanted to write. I didn't plan it. I didn't intend to gain popularity, or help anyone by giving relationship advice, etc. I merely decided one day, "Wouldn't it be cool to have my picture on Google more?" I know, that's kind of ridiculous. I just wanted to figure out how so many people had so many pictures of themselves on Google images. It wasn't that I wanted to be the face of Google images, but that I wanted to know how to be, if I wanted to be. Then I realized that one way to do that would be to start a blog. So I started a blog on Blogspot, because it was free, and hey, why not. I didn't really know what I was doing or how the darn thing worked, but I tried, I explored, and eventually I figured it out. 

I started out writing my first blog, brainstorming something that I've always been into, which was medicine, natural herbs, increasing memory, and improving my chess rating. I started getting really into juicing at the time as well. So I wrote a couple of blogs about those things. Then I stopped writing for a short while, but soon got reintroduced to blogging by one of my best friends. Then I started writing about the Lakers, and I was like, "Wow, this feels right!" I was truly enjoying that tomboyish, post Lakers game writing, despite the fact that I had (and have) yet a great deal to learn about basketball. Shortly after, I got into writing about love and relationships, as well as self help, and that's when I really knew that I wanted to be a writer. My writing just started flowing, and I couldn't stop. It was and is the best feeling.

This morning I woke up maintaining my drive and momentum from last night to write, and work on my blog. As I was doing so, my grandmother called, and I just adore her so much. She's one of my best friends, but still, if I picked up the call when I was working, she'd ask the thing I wasn't ready to speak about yet. Yep, you guessed it; my dating life. I feel like I've been avoiding my phone, and that particular call for too long (some best friend I am, I know!), and so I picked up. We started talking a way, and yes, of course she asked if I have much of a dating life. I'm like, "Yes Grams, yes, but I don't want to talk about it right now." She's like, but just answer this one question, "Is he Jewish?" Ay yay yay! So we kept talking a bit, and she started saying, "How's the writing going?" As well as insisting about 8 times, "You should write a book!" She started asking me if I make a good income from my blog. I told her that it takes time, and I'm headed in the right direction. She kept insisting for me to write a book, and not just a blog, to the point where I'm like, "Grams! I'm not just a blogger, I'm an entrepreneur!" She let it go after that, and either thought I was cute, crazy, or a little of both. 

Blogging (writing) is fun, but she's right, as grandmothers usually are. If you're going to blog as your job, you need to make money. If you're going to blog as a hobby, then it might not be as big of a deal. However, when you're writing day and night, learning the ins and outs of SEO, social media, and how to gain more of a following, build more traffic, develop and improve your Alexa, MOZ, and other rankings, it can be completely time consuming. To be a blogger and half ass it, is one thing. But, to be a blogger that writes from their heart, has an entrepreneur mentality, the desire to help others, and has an immense creative side, it takes effort, drive, time, and persistence. Like anything that you want in life, it takes hard work and motivation to achieve your goals.

Many people don't understand blog life. Bloggers need to do certain things in order to turn their blog into a business. This is where SEO (Search Engine Optimization) comes in. This is also where a blogger turns into an entrepreneur. Making money from your blog doesn't happen overnight. You have to do many things in order to turn your everyday lifestyle, fashion, relationship, sports, or medical blog (or website), etc. into a business. 

When a person gets extremely involved and passionate about what they're doing, they end up becoming not only consumed, but motivated, and driven to succeed at it. At times, there will be sleepless nights, endless worrying, as well as feeling deflated some days from not getting enough love, traffic, or attention from all of the hard work that they put in. What you need to remember is that no one snaps their fingers and becomes a billionaire, and even if and when that one person that you might be thinking of to prove me wrong did become incredibly successful overnight, it's not something that you'll ever get the same type of accomplished feeling from. 

This is a new section on my blog, and I hope to share my personal feelings on blog life, and some tips on SEO that I've learned along the way. I hope to share things about SEO in which people that don't live a blog life, and don't even know what SEO is, can start to understand, and develop an appreciation for what a blogger does, the hard work it takes, and that it can in fact turn into a career, and bring in a decent income. As well, I hope that Blog Life and SEO will be a way for family, friends, and networking buddies to start supporting their blogging friends by doing things that I'll be mentioning in this section.