4 Tips for creating your killer blog content

By Jonathan Camp

1. FOCUS on PROBLEMS, PASSIONS and FEARS – what is it that people are searching for? Normally they are searching for answers to problems – like:

• How do I …. find a hotel venue with a marquee.
• Where do I… go to get a free eye examination.

THINK: what is it that bugs people – then write a post with the solution!

2. RESEARCH the Competition (simply look at Google and put in the questions people may be asking) -

Check the total number of results – look for NICHE questions that do not have millions of hits – but would attract people to your website.

3. Do your KEYWORD RESEARCH. Ok, we are definitely falling into the space of SEO specialists here, but simply look at the competition, look at their articles, check out their keywords and phrases and if it works for them…

4. Finally: FIND YOUR CONTENT! This does not necessarily mean re-inventing the wheel. Look on EzineArticles and do a search. Look at what other people are writing and think about creating a post with the “TOP 10….” or “The Best way to ….” etc.

Remember keep it short and succinct – People like brevity. Throw in a picture or two, keep to bullet points and on track.

Once you’ve done all this, do your article and make sure you add in all the ONPage SEO stuff I bang on about – it works

Solid SEO Advice That Ranks You Higher In Search Engine Results

By Jonathan Camp

Search engine optimization is something any company that desires to have a successful web presence needs to do right. Whether your website is selling yourself, your company or a product, you need it to work. This article has some great tips on how to make search engine optimization work for you.

If you are looking to climb up the search engine ranks then provide a plethora of content going across many different topics. For example offer articles on baseball and football, and then some articles on personal health and wealth. By providing a plurality of content you make it more likely a user will find your site at the top of the charts.

When looking to ramp up your online profile, don’t forget that image names count in search results – quite heavily, in fact. Be sure to give your images names that searchers will easily find. If you’re writing about a particular product, be sure to include keywords for that product in the image name itself, so that the image will pop up in a Google image search result.

If you must use Flash on your website, boost your search engine rankings by providing an alternative HTML-only option. Not only will the search engine spiders have an easier time crawling and ranking your page, but your human site visitors will appreciate it, as well. The easier your site is to use, the more links people will make to it, which also boosts your search engine ranking.

TIP! Utilize the AdWords tool kit from Google, to increase the effectiveness of your keyword selections for SEO. By using these tools, you can increase traffic to your site and increase traffic that translates into sales.

Although novice search engine optimizers believe that HTML must be complex and thorough, it’s actually the exact opposite. You should keep your layout as simple as possible. The easier it is for a search engine to index your pages, the higher you will rise in the rankings. Remember, the goal is to optimize your site, not to create a jumbled mess of code.

In important tip regarding internet marketing is to do all that you can to avoid anyone not having trust in your site. This is important because you do not want to lose potential customers due to having a suspicious looking website. Your design and overall layout are extremely important in showing your legitimacy.

If you feel you are not ready to do your own SEO, then it would be best for you to hire a company that can do it for you. Make sure to do the proper research so that you know who you are dealing with. Do not hesitate to ask any questions about the methods they use and what type of results you should expect.

Try to frequently include different types of offers or sales on your website. Not only will sales optimize your search criteria, but it will keep visitors on your site longer, as most people are psychologically drawn to a deal. This can improve your overall profit and success during the course of the year.

Why Use a CMS?

By Jonathan Camp

A CMS, or content management system, is one way of constructing a website that has many advantages over the traditional method. A CMS can be described as a dynamic website; this means that there are no pages as such, just a template for a page that is filled with content at the moment the page is viewed. The content itself, and this can be text, pictures, audio files or video, is stored in a database until it is needed. The database and all the other files required are stored on a web server — a powerful computer in what is called a “remote” location, which could be anywhere in the world. Transferring files to a web server from an individual computer requires a technology known as FTP (file transfer protocol), and this is normally used in conjunction with the interface to upload files, particularly things like images

Server technology

When the page is viewed in a web browser the content for that page is pulled from the database and inserted into the template by a piece of computer code called a script. There are several scripts that will do this job, but the one that most open source technologies use is PHP. This integrates beautifully with MySQL, the open source database and can be controlled easily by the user through a web-based interface.

Open Source Vs Commercial CMS

By Jonathan Camp

Any business or individual contemplating the purchase of a Content Management System in order to create a website in today’s environment is faced with a dilemma: should they purchase a commercial CMS, which will be quick to deploy, have a dedicated support team (and very likely a maintenance contract) but can cost a lot of money; or should they use an open source CMS, which is usually free of charge but offered without warranty and is still regarded by many as an inferior product. So which is best?

Open source software has been one of technology’s “movers and shakers” over the last 10 years and is now finding favour with many industry sectors, including governments. The traditional software house now finds itself running to stand still, with open source alternatives competing on virtually all levels and dominating on price. There are many, however, who still believe that open source products are not suitable for commercial applications, a theory without any substance but one that commercial software manufacturers are keen to uphold.

The number of open source content management systems now available is large and shows no signs of shrinking. The best-known alternatives are WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and CMS Made Simple, but there are many new products coming onto the market all the time. Examples of these include Hippo CMS, Tomato CMS, Automne CMS and Gazelle CMS – there are currently in excess of 200, but most of these will have little, if any, support and many will have no documentation to speak of. The more established brands, on the other hand all have strong support communities, particularly the larger ones. Joomla for example has one of the largest forums on the Internet and WordPress is the world’s most popular blogging platform accounting for a massive 12% of all websites globally.

About this Blog…

By Jonathan Camp

In this blog you will find articles about the following:

• Web design
• Social networking
• Search Engine Optimisation
• Mobile Application Development
• Business applications

Modern, fresh and maintainable websites need a combination of design, layout, social networking, should be able to be maintained by the customer, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) to get you ranked highly with the search engines, hosting, content management systems, mobile phone integration – hopefully here you will find articles that help you on that journey – some technical – some light hearted.

There are now millions of websites, Micro Update (a business based in Newton Abbot, Devon) help to make sure that your web presence reflects your personality as a business and that you are visible to your customers and prospective customers. That’s why we like local businesses – people we can talk to, face to face, and find out exactly what YOU want.