I have been really busy launching my new social media service, but that doesn’t mean I have forgotten my roots! My latest SEO customer is SB Power Generation, a company that offers used generators for sale.
My task was to optimise the site, which was fairly tricky due to the small amount of copy used on site. SBPG also sell new Perkins generators and new Cummins generators to the industrial and domestic markets.
Here’s hoping for some Google page 1 results any time soon…..
There’s a new UK charity fundraising concept on the scene called M.A.D. (Make a Difference) and I am proud to say I am part of the team. They’re offering charities a risk-free way to fundraise by donating all of the profits to your chosen charity when you buy jewellery from their online store.
Clever! This should provide a MASSIVE boost to UK Charity Fundraising.
The M.A.D. store launches on the 1st May – but in the meantime they’re launching the concept on Facebook and you can get involved with the chance of winning a £1,000 donation for YOUR chosen charity!
Here’s how it works:
Visit and like the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/chooseMAD
Vote for your favourite charity : http://apps.facebook.com/easypromos/promotions/78828
The top voted charity at the end of the campaign will win a donation of £1,000!
PLUS: once you’re following M.A.D.’s page you’ll get the chance to take part in daily giveaways, as well as fortnightly competition with high value diamond prizes. I can also let you know on the quiet that a fabulous new prize worth £1,500 is about to be launched…ssssh!
Like I said, UK Charity Fundraising just got really interesting. Now please SHARE the news!
SEO Copywriter UK has pulled together a team of Social Media experts to run a new budget social media service under the brand name ‘Social Network Builder’. I am so pumped for this!
Predominantly Facebook management, the service also offers competitive pricing on all social networks, with low base rates linked to further incentives for growth of page – can’t say fairer than that!
Social Network Builder has a shiny new website, which details our budget social media pricing.
We know our methods work. Two pages on Facebook have gained over 2900 likes between them, in just one month.
If you are looking for a budget social media service, Social Network Builder is ready to help! And, we will deliver!
What size should my Facebook cover image be? Or, for that matter, any other image sizes on Facebook, Twitter, G+ and all the others???
This is such a useful image dimension cheat sheet, Thanks to Luna Metrics…you legends!
Seriously, this is the business! Big thanks to ABC Copywriting for producing such a valuable resource for all copywriters.
If you want to be a (better) copywriter, you really need to read this.
WordPress.com kindly prepared a 2012 annual report for the SEO Copywriter UK blog. A great year for me personally, with page 1 Google search results for my clients. Here’s to an even better 2013.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 4,800 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 8 years to get that many views.
Colossus Security are now fully equipped to offer SIA Training In London, meaning they are pretty much all you need for security, from close protection services, door security and now training too.
I was asked to optimise one specific page, relating to this training. let’s see how this one ranks in Google!
Sometimes a specific sector of industry throws up some surprises in terms of competition. Flags, seemingly, are a competitive SEO area! I worked with client to identify best keywords to use. It’s always sensible to target a relevant keyword, so our main keyword was ‘Feather Flags‘.
Kind of obvious really, but some SEO’s might be scared of a competitive keyword and try and persuade their client’s to go for a less competitive keyword…That’s not how I work.
Wishing Adam and his team at this flag printing company all the best for the future and expecting some high results in search for the keywords we have selected.
WordPress is pretty much set up for SEO, Self hosted sites using WordPress.org have the advantage of using SEO plugins, but what about SEO for WordPress.com blogs? If you want to know how to Search Engine Optimise your WordPress blog, read these simple steps.
1) Run Keyword Research. Sounds daunting? It’s not. Follow my Keyword search guide for help. Using Google’s free keyword tool, you can type in relevant keywords (what people might be searching for to find your blog article) and get info on how many estimated searches a month for each phrase. You can then search on Google to give an idea of competing sites using that phrase. Then, simply work out which keywords have the highest search against the lowest competition. All the info you need on Keyword research can be found in the article listed above.
2) Use those Keywords. (duh!) There’s little point having researched strong keywords if you do not use them in your wordpress article. As an example, I want to push the keywords ‘SEO for WordPress.com blogs’ and ‘How to Search Engine Optimise your WordPress blog’.
I am using both these phrases in the title and in the first paragraph of article. Craftily, I even used them again in the paragraph above!
Do not overuse your keywords. There are 2 general rules here –
a) Use keywords to a maximum of 3%. (If you have 200 words, you could use your keyword up to 6 times). The longer the keyphrase, the less you should use it.
b) If it looks too much to you, it will look too much to the reader and also Google. Keep to that max 3% rule, but lower if you feel it looks keyword stuffed.
3) Use Headings. The <h1> tag should be used for the titles of your posts only. After that, use <h2> and <h3> tags for sub -headings in the posts just like above ‘Use Headings’. You are effectively highlighting specific keywords or phrases within the article for Google to see.
4) Change your Permalinks settings. This is a simple one time process that really gives good value to SEO for WordPress.com blogs. Go to Settings – > Permalinks from your WordPress dashboard. Select the Custom Structure option and type in /%postname%/. Your link address (URL) will now have the Keywords from the article title in it. A really strong SEO signal.
5) Use Category descriptions. Go the Posts – > Categories page in the WordPress admin area and edit each category description, ensuring it has keywords within. Do not overstuff with your selected keywords. WordPress takes whatever you enter in these fields and uses them as meta descriptions for the categories.
6) Optimise your images. What I mean is, do not name your image ‘Samsung P1234567’ or ‘image 1’. Here is another opportunity to add a keyword to your article, and it’s a quick process. When you upload your image to WordPress.com, you have the chance to rename it. Do so. It is also very good practise to fill in the Alt. text box during the same process. Effectively, you could have added 2 keywords, where you might have had ‘image 1’ before.
7) Write Amazing content. If you can produce an article that is genuinely useful, interesting and unique, you are doing exactly what Google wants you to do. The chances are that human readers will feel the same. If someone finds your article so useful that they link to it from their site, Google will pick up on this. They will give your article a better standing as it will see your article as a resource for others.
A link is useful, but if you can get a link using a keyword as the text used to link (anchor text) you really will get better value from that link. If you find that someone has linked to you, try to make contact with them and ask them to change the link using your selected keyphrase as anchor text.
(Warning – use anchor texts wisely. Do not have the same anchor text linking back to your blog too many times, mix it up a little. You need to use a selection of different keywords, rather than just focusing on 1 keyword – those days are over, Google has got wise).
Social shares are also worth their weight. Google is using social signals more and more in their ranking factors, so you have a better chance of being found if you have a good social following. Individual shares from your blog article could make a huge difference. If you need help with Social Media, I run a budget Social Media service which may be of interest.
So, now you know how to Search Engine Optimise your WordPress blog! SEO for WordPress.com blogs is straightforward. Follow these steps above and you may be seriously impressed with your site stats soon.
Who needs an SEO Plugin?!
My 100% record for clients for page 1 results is under threat. This will not do….
Before the Summer, I worked with Colossus Security. We chose as our main target keyword ‘Security in London‘. Sure enough, it was found on page 1. Then….the biggest security event in London occurred, The London Olympics 2012.
The internet was flooded with concerns of Security in London and pretty soon, colossus disappeared in Search results. There is a lesson to be learnt here…look ahead when researching keywords and never take for granted your position on Google.
It’s not all bad news though, ‘door supervisor security in london‘ sits on page 2, as does ‘close protection uk‘. I do expect these two to join ‘residential security in london‘ which is on page 1 very soon.
You can be assured I’m not done with ‘Security in London’ yet. I do not give up easily….
I have recently worked on the SEO for Arco Doors, who specialise in Home Security Doors. The website is looking really well (Web site design by DDL) and it needed the same attention for SEO.
I have targeted two main keyphrases for the site, which are very competitive but offer huge volumes of traffic. The Security Door Systems are high end and high security. Let’s hope their position in Google is also high!
My Maison UK are a new online furniture and home furnishings company. Their stock is as fresh as the company and they are already attracting some great press coverage.
This was a highly competitive market for SEO, but I have already managed a page 1 google ranking for ‘Contemporary home furniture‘.
I’m working on getting ‘Contemporary home accessories‘ up there too and expect a good ranking soon.
SEO tip – Google places a higher importance on the first link within text, meaning ‘Contemporary Home Furniture’ will get more Google juice than ‘Contemporary home accessories’ from this post. (For me, this is fine. I wanted to push the first keyphrase higher up page 1 – I’m working elsewhere on the second keyphrase!)
Wardrobe consultant London, Fiona Rocks The Shops is a new fashion site that is really starting to look fabulous! The site owner made contact and asked for some help. In fact, some of the questions have formed articles within this blog under the section WordPress Advice. (So guys, if you have any questions…..!)
Fiona Rocks The Shops is in the first stage of SEO process, but we would like to see some high rankings for specific key phrases, such as ‘Personal stylist Surrey‘. High hopes for the site, Fiona is a lovely person who really knows how to style – Good Luck!
I use WordPress on a constant daily basis and because of this I have encountered problems and more importantly, how to fix those problems. Although I am no expert, I have the experience to offer sensible and simple WordPress advice to help you through.
I make no secret of the fact that I love WordPress. I am not alone either – Google has had a long term affection for this blogging / content management system.
I have even tested this out using three blogs (one WordPress, two other), using the same keywords, format and density, published on the same day. The results in search engines was impressive. Page 1 for wordpress, page 3 and 7 for the other two.
So SEO is great on WordPress. WordPress.com comes ready for SEO, WordPress.org is more powerful, with a choice of SEO plugins. My wordpress advice on SEO plugins? Go for ‘WordPress SEO by Yoast‘. In my experience, it is more effective than the others.
Here’s a screenshot of that SEO plugin in action!
I have experience of many other blogging / content management systems and none can match up to WordPress for ease of use. You are here because you need some WordPress advice – But believe me, it could be a lot worse!
Some blogging platforms are headache inducing….
More WordPress advice will follow, I hope it helps! If you need specific help, leave a comment and I will do my best to give you the simplest answer!
My Buddy Akis at Digital Design Lounge has done his usual fine work in producing this Plastering London website for Barnet Drylining.
SEO for this project is on a recommended ‘suck it and see’ process. Google has warned of ‘over optimisation’ recently, so we are running the SEO in stages, good practise for all SEOs.
Barnet Drylining are one of the most professional Dry lining companies London, and it’s only right they get an optimised, great looking site.
In my opinion, for their continued excellence, Digital Design Lounge are fast becoming the leading web site design companies in the UK.
It’s important to get your content out there into the Social Networks, you will be amazed at how much referral traffic you may get from your facebook page or Twitter account.
So, How do I feed my WordPress.com articles onto facebook and Twitter?
First up, create a facebook page for your blog. This is easy enough to do within facebook and means non friends can follow your content, much better if you want your blog to reach more people than just your friends.
WordPress.com have a great function called Publicize, which can be found in your ‘Settings’ section, under ‘Sharing’. Just connect your blog to the networks listed and you are away.
I gave some WordPress advice on how to add an image to the widget area in WordPress, but you might be asking how do you make an image in widget area link to another page?
Once you have uploaded your image to the ‘Image’ box in widgets, just add in the URL that you want the image to link to in the same ‘Image’ box in the ‘Link URL’ field.
The image ‘I love my job’ in my sidebar is now linked to my .com site. You can use this process for any image, you could even use it as an alternative way of adding social media buttons to WordPress widget area, giving you a far greater choice of which social network images to use.
If you have any questions or need some wordpress advice, you can leave a comment or email me at paul-handley@live.co.uk.
I covered how to add social network buttons to widget area on WordPress.com recently, and thought it might be useful to show how to add an image to the widget area too.
Follow these simple steps!
1) Select the image you want to display in widget area and resize to 200 pixels.
2) Go to ‘Media Library’ in your dashboard and select ‘Add New’.
3) Upload the chosen image and copy the ‘File URL’ – See below:
If you need to add social media buttons to widget area in WordPress.com, just follow these simple steps. I cover facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Pinterest below.
Is it tricky to add social media buttons to the widget area in WordPress.com? Can you cut and paste?!
The widget area is a useful part of your wordpress.com blog, the ‘Text’ box being the most important widget. In this box you can write whatever you want, you can also add images to the widget area too. (‘Widgets’ is found in the ‘Appearance’ section of your WordPress dashboard).
Rainbow London, retailers of the asthma remedy home vacuum system, received a well produced site by Akis at Digital Design Lounge. It needed a little SEO push and I am excited by the prospect of the key phrases we have selected.
It is still work in progress, but it would be great to see some page 1 rankings for this site very soon. The product looks to be one of the most effective treatments of asthma and the web site looks great. I expect the SEO to be in the same league.
So you’ve searched ‘How do I get Side By Side Images on WordPress’….frustrated?
Don’t be, it’s an easy process. To get your images to align side by side on WordPress, as below, just follow these simple steps.
1) If you want two images side by side, resize the images to 275 px max. If you want three images side by side, resize to around 180 / 185 px max.
2) Upload each image as normal, but here is the important bit. Make sure you have your resized images aligned to the left (in image upload) as above.
3) Um….That’s it! Not so tricky (like most WordPress issues – there’s always a simple way, it’s just knowing what it is!).
If you have any questions or need some wordpress advice, you can leave a comment or email me at paul-handley@live.co.uk.
How do I add borders to my photos in WordPress? Follow these simple steps to give your images a bit of ooomph!
This is an aspect of wordpress that doesn’t really seem simple, so here’s the WordPress advice you need! The correct method is a Custom Design upgrade and some CSS additions and adjustments. Find out more below.
http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/
http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-css/
http://en.support.wordpress.com/editing-css/
But!!! There is an easier way (it’s a bit of a cheat but the end result is the same).
To add borders to your WordPress image, use an imagery package – something like Photoshop or Microsoft Paint. As I promised simplicity, I will use Paint. The image I wish to add a border to is below. 
1. Check what size your image is. The image above is 225 x 225 pixels.
2. Go to Paint and resize the blank space to a greater image than the one you want to add a border to. I am making this 250 x 250 pixels.
This one is still very much work in progress, but I have been asked to work on herbal alternative treatments site, Dream Remedies. To start, the client has selected three products which require better optimisation.
‘Sun Kissed Tanning Pills’ are now targeted for the term ‘Tan Pills‘, the flipside to this is a product which lightens skin, Fairtone – now seeking a high ranking for the phrase ‘Skin Lightening Creams‘.
Lastly, a breast enhancing tablet gets a very simple (but overlooked?) term ‘Bust Pill‘.
I haven’t quite completed exactly what I want to with these phrases and their placement on site, but it will be interesting to see how these all rank.
High – I’m guessing!
I am still working on this site, taking control of both the design and SEO. I am excited by the prospects of Galactables. They sell vintage, graded Star Wars figures and needed the site to have a little more sparkle as well as a better e-commerce platform.
I have gone for a highly competitive (and high converting) keyphrase – ‘Star Wars Shop‘.
This is still work in progress, but I want big things for Galactables, I want that Google page 1 for Star Wars Shop! I have already achieved page 1 for ‘We Buy Collections’ and ‘Vintage Action Figures For Sale’.
Lussorian – The True Essence Of Luxury Lifestyle Iconic Gifts – Inspirational Gift Review site
