Author Archives: ernie

SEO Website level Ranking Factors

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SEO Website level Ranking FactorsSEO website level ranking factors that are important to search engines are a closely guarded secret. However many experts find that the following are considered among the most important factors.  Of course, this also assumes you have fresh up to date content that is original and compelling to your users.

SEO Website level Ranking Factors

HTTPS – security for your customer transactions is extremely important. HTTPS provides an additional level of security for customer transactions involving payment via credit cards etc.

Site speed – If your site does not load quickly, readers will just move to other sites. Fast response, especially for mobile users, is so important these days, that Google considers this factor a major criterion for ranking purposes.

Mobile-friendliness – your content must be readable on a small screen. Users will not take the time to even try to read the small print. There are mobile test sites that will compare your content and give you a pass or fail with respect to mobile-friendliness.

Sitemap – Navigation on your site should appear to be seamless and easy for users to navigate. A site map, an index, and a category map are all tools that users will use to find what they are looking for on your site.

Links to authority sites – links to and from authority sites will also improve your ranking. They give your site credibility in the eyes of the search engines and your users. Consider eliminating links that do not rank well. They could be pulling you down with them.

A number of pages on a site – Regular updates keep posts current. Add new content on a regular basis. It shows a growing healthy site. There is no magic number of pages. Regular updates and additions are most important.

Site downtime – if your site is down, there is no way anyone can get to it. A high downtime for any reason is a death knell for a website. This should be one of the highest priorities for and website owner. Keep your site live all of the time.

Why Small Businesses Must Invest in a Blog

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why small businesses must invest in a blogThis post is about why small businesses must invest in a blog. The primary benefit for Businesses to have a blog and website is to drive more sales to your company. Above all, it is particularly important if you have an online company that depends on traffic over the Internet to drive sales.

For example, a company with a blog will get more search traffic and build a more loyal audience. Further, your website ranking will improve and you’ll have a higher level of engagement via social media which many people are embracing. It is important to build an online brand with useful content for your readers and customers. Loyal readers will generate more leads and you will be able to convert these leads into paying customers. Finally, your blog is a media channel that advertises your business, your services, and products that will give you long-term results.

Why Small Businesses Must Invest in a Blog – Key Steps

  • Choose the right platform
  • Location
  • Define the objective
  • Blog posting strategy
  • Create a checklist for blogging
  • Create a promotional strategy

Details

Choose the right platform – A content management system like WordPress makes your job easier in the blogging world. It is optimized for search engines, there are many themes and plug-ins to provide various functionality that you may need. It is important to also have your own domain name that represents your business. You can build your firm’s authority in the business area that you represent.

Location

Attach your blog to your existing domain name as a subfolder. This provides flexibility and allows you to actually run several blogs if that makes sense for your business, each in its own subfolder.

Define the objective – it is always important to know what the objective is for your blog. You can measure results against the objective and determine the value of the investment that you are making. Objectives could include building awareness about your product and services, building more subscribers, presenting your expertise in your business area, and developing your blog as a source of qualified leads.

Blog posting strategy – each blog post should have it’s own objectives and strategy. You might be announcing new services or products. Your company could also be providing information on frequently asked questions by customers. You should establish a schedule for each post and a schedule for keeping that post-up-to-date as your business changes and products and services are updated. A blog without any new posts on a regular basis will not attract readers and customers.

Create a checklist for blogging

Here’s a general checklist for blogging however it should be customized for each company in the objective set for the company.

  • Every post must add the value of uniqueness for the reader.
  • Each post should be a minimum of 300 words and deliver a specific message to address readers’ needs. Some posts will be as long as 1000 to 2000 words based on the subject.
  • Add appropriate images to add color and to contribute to the subject.
  • Add links to another post on your blog that relate to the subject you’re discussing.
  • Insert share buttons that allow readers to share a link to your post on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media engines.

Create a promotional strategy

Developing a blog is step one in your promotional strategy. Firstly you need to think about sharing links to your blog from other social media engines. Add social share buttons to each post. Build email distribution lists and newsletters. Develop your promotional strategy based on what makes sense for your business.

Are You on track to a secure retirement

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Are You on track to a secure retirementThe question, are you on track to a secure retirement is a common one that many people have. They may be nearing retirement or their company is about to provide a special retirement plan. They wonder if they should take it and whether they will be OK financially in retirement. Whether you are retired or about to retire or have a few years yet to work it is never too late to assess whether you will be comfortable in retirement.

Are you on track to a secure retirement?

One of the best ways to answer this question is to build a retirement budget. First, you should identify where your income is going to come from. Your income may include company pensions, government pensions, income from investments, and other miscellaneous income that is on a recurring basis.

Next, you must consider all of your expenses. Your expenses will include all of the regular monthly expenses such as heat, Hydro or electricity, and utilities such as cable TV, telephone, etc. You should also include your taxes and mortgage payment if you have one. Your home is going to need maintenance over the years and you should budget an amount each year for maintenance of your home. The same applies to your car and whether you have a car payment or car maintenance, insurance, etc. this should be part of your budget.

Once you have totaled up all of your income and expenses you will have some idea as to whether you will have sufficient money during your retirement. You may find that your expenses are going to be greater than your income. You will either have to work longer or cut your expenses. You may also decide that you will increase your savings if you have time.

Another area that we did not mention is all of your expenses associated with your free time. You now have a great deal of free time to pursue hobbies, travel, and even go back to work. Depending on what you decide he may need to budget for this activity.

A good plan developed early, reviewed regularly, and adjusted as needed will help to ensure a secure retirement.

SEO Content Marketing Deadly Sins

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SEO Content Marketing Deadly SinsWhile readers may disagree on what SEO guidelines to follow, one they do agree on is content! If you do not jab great content that readers are interested in, your site will not do well. As we were writing this post about SEO content marketing dealt sins, we wondered what are the worst mistakes you can make.  The following are six SEO content marketing deadly sins that we think apply to SEO content!

SEO Content Marketing Deadly Sins

No Plan, No Gain – you must have a plan! What is your content strategy? What readers are you focused on? How are you helping your readers and customers? Every site is different so each plan is unique.

Are you too Greedy – Broadcasting posts and trying to be something to everyone seldom works. Focus on your niche, help your customers and they will reward you with a loyal readership.

Updates to Your Blog – is your content getting stale or out of date? Does it refer to products you no longer offer or have been updated? Customers get very frustrated when they experience these deadly sins!

Focus on the Reader – Never mind trying to write content for search engines and ranking systems. Focus on high-quality content for your readers and customers using words that they would typically use to find your products and services.

Don’t Focus on Spiders – do your research to find the appropriate keywords and format your content following good SEO rules. You want the spiders to find you and index you. But most importantly, you should write high-quality content that is interesting and helpful to your readers.

Lack of Diversification – diversify your content and then share it across several platforms that make sense for your business and your industry. Facebook, Instagram, slide decks, and pdf documents are examples of what you might consider.

How much do I need to save to retire a millionaire

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How much do I need to save to retire a millionaireEveryone sometime in their lives asks the following question? How much do I need to save to retire a millionaire? The answer is not that hard to come up with. It really depends on how old you are and how much you have already saved for retirement. Consumers who start early and stick to it, have an advantage. Their savings work for them and their investment income continues to build towards their retirement objective. In the following paragraphs, we will give you some examples. You decide where you are and whether you can meet the objective of having a million dollars by the time you retire.

How much do I need to save to retire a millionaire?

Assuming a 10% average annual rate of return which is the historical average of the S&P 500. Assume you are going to be 40  years, a 25-year-old could build a $1 million retirement nest egg by saving just $175 a month in their investment accounts. Their total contributions over those 40 years would amount to less than 10% of that total, just $84,000. All the rest would come from the income from your investments.

If you are 35 years old and starting from scratch, your monthly contributions would have to be more than twice as great as a 25-year-old’s. Saving $470 each month in your retirement investment accounts over the next 30 years will yield $1 million, assuming the average 10% annual rate of return. Your total contribution over the years would be $169,000.

At 45, if you’re starting from scratch, then your monthly payments will need to be significantly higher. To reach $1 million by age 65 with 10% annual growth, you’ll need to contribute $1,330 a month. Your total contribution will be about $319,000.

As you can see it pays to start early! During your 40s and 50s, it can be your prime earning time when you make the most money. However what if you get laid off or there is a health issue? Or perhaps you don’t like your boss. Would you not like to have the flexibility to make your own decision regarding when you retire? Start saving now!

Optimize Website Load Speed

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optimize-website-load-speedOne of the issues that most website managers forget all about is the size of images. When you are working to optimize website load speed, pay attention to the size of your images. Large images just take longer to load for a variety of reasons. The server must upload the image and process it. The transmission network between the server and your computer has to handle more data. Your computer must receive the data, process it and display it. The larger the image, the more the data that must be transferred. Readers are just not willing to wait, and will move on to another site if your page does not load quickly.

Optimize website load speed – Resize Images

Even if your website is ranked well, and on the first page of search engine results, users will move on if your webpage does not load quickly.

Take the time to go through your images. Resize any that are too large and take a long time to load. Content management systems, such as WordPress, make it easy to review all of your images in the media library. You can quickly assess those that are large in size and change them to smaller load size.

This is just one of the many common things SEO website managers can do to optimize their site and make them more attractive to your users and readers. Remember internet surfers are notoriously impatient.

 

Your 5 Point Mid Year Financial Checklist

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Your 5 Point Mid Year Financial ChecklistMany consumers are pretty much focused on their current life challenges. Thinking ahead about retirement, emergencies etc are just not on their radar. Until, of course, something happens to make them realize that retirement is near or there is some kind of emergency. The most important step you can take is to develop a savings plan or strategy. That gets you to where you should be from a financial perspective by a specified age. If you can do that and implement this strategy you will be better off than most consumers. Once you have this strategy invest your savings accordingly. It is now time to complete your 5 point mid year financial checklist which we out line below.

Your 5 Point Mid Year Financial Checklist

Check your Budget – If you do not have a budget, develop one and review it. Make adjustments as needed to balance your budget. If you need to cut back to avoid building further debt, then do it.

Review your Retirement Contributions – What is the status of your contributions, are you meeting them and are the investments performing?

Review your Retirement Targets – consider how much you have saved, the number of years left to work and your retirement targets. Does something need to be adjusted? Review these changes with your family to make sure they are on board.

Adjust your Investment Strategy – review the returns, the level of diversity and your long-term goals. If you are over weighted in one area should you make adjustments? Take into account the cost of balancing your stocks and fees that you may need to incur.

Review your Investments – Diversity, long-term growth, investment income etc need to be reviewed and how each of your investments meets these goals.

 

 

F-Shaped Pattern for Reading Web Content

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f-shaped pattern for reading web contentWhat does an F-shaped pattern for reading web content have to do with ad placement? It turns out a great deal if you want your website to generate income. There are many different ideas about ad placement on web pages. Ad size also is another factor to consider. The number of advertisements on a page and what kind of ads to run on a page. With so many different factors how does a web designer deal with these issues? How do they still have time to write great content that is the cornerstone of SEO?

F-shaped pattern for Reading Web Content

The picture above represents a study that was conducted in 2006 regarding how readers scanned a page. This study leads to the F-shaped pattern for reading web content. It is also one of the reasons, Google decided to remove ads from the right-hand side of their SERPs.

Basically, readers will scan from left to right and also from top to bottom. They will notice and pay attention to information located in these areas. This includes advertisements, content, images, and videos located in these areas. Images and videos have changed this pattern somewhat, attracting readers’ eyes first. After they have digested the image content, they then appear to revert back to the F- Pattern scanning of the page.

If you are running a website with advertising on it, this is one factor you may want to consider in terms of ad placement. Right-hand located ads will not do as well as those located in the upper right-hand area of the page.

Money Management for Kids

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Money Management for KidsThis is a continuation of the previous post about teaching your kids about managing money. In this post, Money Management for kids we will explain some of the terms we discussed in the previous post. These are lifetime skills that will help them and even yourself in the long term. One of the most important rules is the 10% rule. Save 10% of all income, including allowances and pay checks. It is never too late to start, but if you can get them to begin as children and follow this rule into adulthood, they will be financially well off by the time they are in middle age, barring other unforeseen emergencies and lifestyle issues. This is one of the single most important guideline money management for kids that your kids and even yourself can follow.

Money Management for Kids

  • Pay an allowance – and teach them what they can do with the allowance they receive. Many will want to spend it immediately, however the power of saving for a goal is a major lifestyle achievement.
  • Assign age appropriate tasks tied to their allowance – money received that is not tied to some kind of performance teaches nothing. Real life ties work, performance and pay checks. They might as well learn now, even if it is just taking out the garbage.
  • Open a savings account to teach about saving – watching their money grow through savings is a powerful tool. While they will collect little interest on their savings at this time, watching their balance grow is still an important lesson.
  • Establish emergency savings – everyone needs to have emergency savings. You never know when you need some money for health issues, major repairs etc.

Goal Oriented Savings

  • Establish goal oriented savings accounts – saving for a new bicycle, trip, car, education or many other items is a great way to establish goals and save towards them.
  • Young adults should start saving for retirement – most people think that retirement is too far away to worry about, however if you start saving early, it takes the pressure to keep working later in life instead of retiring on your own terms.
  • Learn the power of compounding interest rates and income – tied to saving early for retirement, with proper investment, savings can morph into a large number if all income is reinvested – interest, dividends etc.
  • Older teens should obtain a credit card to learn about credit, debt and credit ratings – focus on repaying the balance every month to avoid the high interest rates charged on overdue balances. It also helps to establish a credit rating.

Saving for a Home

  • Start saving for a down payment on a home – if you want to purchase a home, the minimum amount you will need is 10% of the value of the home. Some lenders will want to see 15% or even 20%. The more you have as a down payment, the lower your monthly payments will be.
  • Learn about debt ratios and the 35% rule – most lenders will tell you to never allow your monthly debt payments and living costs (rent , mortgage payments) to be above 35% of your monthly income. This is the maximum for most people to ensure that they have sufficient spending money for utilities, food and clothing.

That is it for this post, stay tuned for more money management posts. For more posts about life style issues, click here.

Simple SEO Techniques

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Simple SEO TechniquesSearch engine optimization is never really completed. There are always improvements and tweaks that webmasters implement. If you have a large site or many sites to maintain it is important to prioritize. Focus on the items that will return the best improvements for your effort.  If you have a large site, these simple SEO techniques can be tackled using 30 minutes of your time every day. Sure you have lots to do every day, however, if you focus on these items each day gradually your site will improve SERPs.

Simple SEO Techniques

This is our list. If you have others that you feel are more important, by all means, let us know. We will add them to the post and give you a link back to your site.

Update lowest performing posts – update the tags, meta descriptions, spelling and grammar. Program to do one job a day if that makes more sense for your time commitments.

Optimize Images – large files take a long time to load. Speed is essential if you want to retain the reader. Reduce image size to enable fast loading of pages.

Canonicalization of your domain – tell the search engines which one is your main site so that they do not treat www.example.com and example.com as two different sites with duplicate content.

Duplicate data – use webmaster tools to verify that there are no duplicate meta descriptions and title tags.

Update Image Alt tags – all images should have this data filled in so that the search engines can index the image and include them in search results.

404 Error codes – review and repair all broken links on your site.

Internal Linking – identify those pages that you want to consistently link to and ensure that all are in working order.