Tag: SEO

Categories
Getting Down to Business

WordPress + SEO = Awesome!

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is all the buzz these days, especially with photographers. When I work with clients to help them find ways to improve their SEO, my first suggestion is to blog – and my specific recommendation is to blog using WordPress. That recommendation has nothing to do with my past history with WordPress (yes, my maiden name is Selleck), but rather because of what WordPress can do for you.

Matt Cutts works for Google with the search team. He also loves WordPress. Earlier this year, he spoke at WordCamp, and afterwards he posted his slides online. [via Bare Feet Studios.] There it is, right there on slide #12, where he states:

“WordPress takes care of 80-90% of (the mechanics of) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)”.

Straight out of the box, WordPress is awesome for your search engine results. Optimize it just a bit between your titles, categories, tags, alt titles for images, and good, rich content and you’ll be rocking SEO in no time.

There is one myth that needs to be debunked though. He has pointed out that Google does *not* use meta keywords in their search algorithms. He posted about Google & keywords on his blog recently:

“Google uses over two hundred signals in our web search rankings, but the keywords meta tag is not currently one of them, and I don’t believe it will be.”

I know people ask me all the time why they should use WordPress over Blogger. The awesomeness that is WordPress is probably my #2 reason – right after hosting your blog at the same URL as your portfolio site to keep SEO all in one place.

Want to move to WordPress or improve your SEO for your blog and need help? Let me know!

Sources-
seoconsultantbanglore.in

Categories
Geek Love

Tofurious SEO Workshop – Live!

I’m so excited that my friend Lawrence has launched his SEO Workshop today! I talked with Lawrence while at Skip’s Summer School last week, and he is so spot on with what he is doing for SEO – and is so great at teaching that knowledge! We had fun chatting about our various SEO strategies. We are on the same page on so much stuff! I can’t say enough good things about him!

Want to learn more about SEO and taking your site to the top? Head to California and get in on his workshop! And if you’re in Houston, can you add Houston to the city survey so he will come here? Pretty please? *grin*

I’ll be writing more about SEO over the next few months as I get tips and have discussions with my friend from https://dominatewithseo.com more and more. Attending this workshop will get you all the info at once, all in one dose to get you to the top FAST. It is totally worth it if you want to take your business to the next level in 2010!

Categories
Geek Love

What Does Your Title Say About You?

Stop what you’re doing and open a new browser window and pull up your website. Now look up there in the window’s title – where it says “Christine aka Big Pink Cookie” as you read this site.

What does it say?

If it says something that you think people search for in Google and is a way to identify you, excellent! That is exactly what we want! (I want to be the #1 Christine again, so that is the first word in my site’s title. I know, I’m aiming pretty high.)

But if it says something like what I saw earlier today – “Home” or “About” or even worse the name of the company that designed your Flash template for your photography portfolio, you’ve got a BIG problem. Search engines consider you just another one in the crowd. One of a zillion “Home” pages out there, or one of thousands of templates with that same name.

Make sure your site is set up to display unique, meaningful titles. Your search engine results will improve, and when people go to bookmark your site it will actually have a name that is your own show up in their list so they can find you later!

Categories
Creative Geek Social Media

My Credentials, So to Speak…

I don’t normally like to post the same thing on London Seo more than one of my sites at a time. I’m just know it confuses poor Google. I promise, I won’t do it often – but I wrote this late yesterday over on the wedding & boudoir photography site and it seemed like it belonged here as well.

I started making the list below to be a little sassy because I know there is going to be someone reading this thinking, “Blogging Guru? Just who does she think she is?” Then I realized checking up on my credentials is pretty important.

  • In January 2008, I was one of the first to move the blog to the front of the site for my photography site, replacing the Flash splash page that so many photographers have. This completely changed my business model and has rocked my world. I strongly advocate it to everyone.
  • Last month I had over 17,000 visitors on ChristineTremoulet.com. Over 9000 were unique visits.
  • I’ve blogged since 2000 here.
  • I’ve worked for two large web development firms, helping people determine the best fit for their needs when it came to their online presence. I’m an experienced Internet Image Consultant.
  • My sites have been featured in a number of publications, including Yahoo! Daily Pick Site, the New York Times, the Houston Chronicle, and many others. BigPinkCookie was featured a number of times by Chris Pirillo on his Call for Help TV show.
  • I owned a blog hosting company for over 5 years so I’m familiar with how hosting works.
  • I was one of the first 25 or so users of MovableType when it first came out.
  • I named WordPress. Yes, really.
  • I’ve used WordPress for 5 years now.
  • My husband & I have done countless WordPress installations and customizations over the past 5 years.
  • BigPinkCookie.com has been in the Top 100 blogs on Technorati.
  • I used to be the #1 Google result for “Christine”. Just Christine. I’m still in the top 5.
  • I know a lot about SEO.
  • I also know how to code HTML by hand and can tweak CSS to make it nice and sparkly.
  • If you mention my name in pro blogging circles, some people will actually know who I am.
  • I have over 4000 followers on Twitter. I didn’t get them overnight, but instead by engaging with the community since fall 2006 when Twitter started.
  • I have attended SXSW Interactive 5 times in the past 10 years.
  • I spend more hours per week reading and writing about marketing, blogging, using social media, and SEO then I do about photography. Even on photography forums, I can be found talking mostly about the business side of things.
  • I am constantly learning more and more about how blogging, social media, and the internet as a whole is changing how we do business. It never ends.

In other words I’m not just talking the talk. I’m walking the walk. And in case you wondered, I did in fact answer all of the questions in this article correctly. (What is that good ol’ Southern saying? It ain’t braggin’ if it is the truth? I’m going with that one, because that list was actually pretty hard to write.)

I’m working on the last details of the launch pricelist for base services. As soon as it is ready, I’ll let you know! For those of you that have already contacted me to inquire about more information, you guys blow me away. I love you all. I knew this was going to be big – and I couldn’t do it without your support. If you’ve asked for more details, you’re already in line – I’ll get it to you first as soon as it is ready!

Categories
Getting Down to Business

The All New BigPinkCookie!

BigPinkCookie Business Card - BackToday is the day I put it all out there. The big plan. What I’m willing & available to do for you. Are you ready for it? (I am! I’m super excited!!!)

I’ve been blogging now since 2000. You have seen me talk about a lot of different things. And as you saw me post last week, I’ve been having a big debate about where this blog should go. I would say that it has been an internal debate, but to be honest I called in the experts on this one – from asking you to weigh in here, over on Twitter, to emailing Sean Low and calling Regina Holder, Dane Sanders and Anne-Marie the Soap Queen.

I thought I needed advice, but in the process of talking about it I knew exactly what I needed to do. It was solidified when Anne-Marie said it before I even finished my sentence. Dane & Sean both weighed in that it was time to put my experience to good use and to share it with the world. Regina let me talk through it all like she is so great at doing.

It is time to put some geek spice back into the BigPinkCookie.com. A dash of flavor and a lot of love. It is time to share what I know, from writing to helping you build a better blog.

I’ll still be writing on my wedding photography blog, and I’ll still be posting over at PhotoLoveCat and WhollyMatrimony!. But this site is officially changing … well, back to what it used to be. A hodge-podge of things, but mostly my thoughts on many different business related topics – especially where business and the internet collide. (Personal things might pop up from time to time, but those are still far more likely to appear on my Twitter account then they are here.)

I devour all I can all the time about marketing, branding, seo consulting company, blogging tips, and the whole online experience. Things we all need to make our creative businesses grow. Tips & tricks for small business owners. I am constantly answering questions on how to be a better blogger, how to improve your traffic, how to make potential clients take that next step to hiring you. I also often help people install and configure WordPress, set up themes, optimize their blog — and I’m ready to offer my help to a broader audience. (Pricelists coming soon, but for now I’m happy to provide you with a custom quote if you need anything.)

I am so excited about sharing all of this with you – again! I’m not sure what happened, and why I stopped. I do know a lot of it coincided with selling the blog hosting company and launching my photography business, but my love of the topic themselves never ended. I am officially getting my geek on again. My focus will definitely be photographers (because it is what I know), but what I have to share will apply to all different types of creative people, in the wedding industry and beyond.

That is the back of my new business cards for BigPinkCookie.com over there – what do you think? (I adore it, but I think that looking at a cookie for hours on end while designing makes me hungry!)

If there is one thing I’ve learned in the past year, it is to never set a limit to your dreams, because you will be amazed at where they can take you!

I have to say, it feels pretty good to be home. I’ve come full circle, and I couldn’t be happier.