To gain these benefits, install Yoast SEO and treat it as a valuable tool. It is the key to hitting targets as it makes the site search-engine friendly.

Installing Yoast SEO Plugin

Photo by WP.All Club

To set up the plugin, select the “Plugins” option from the site’s admin dashboard on the left side of the screen. Hovering over it shows the ” Add New” option. Clicking on it brings you to a page with featured, popular, recommended or favorite plugins. There is a search box available if Yoast SEO doesn’t appear in the current selection. Click “Install Now” to download install. Afterward, WordPress asks to activate the plugin.

Setting Up and Getting Started

Here’s how to get started with Yoast SEO on a WordPress site without importing settings from prior SEO plugins.

1. Locate “SEO” from the admin dashboard. It’s on the left-hand side of the screen.

2. Select “General” to set the basic SEO options of the site through the ‘Introduction Tour.’

3. Go to the “Your Info” tab upon skipping the tour.

The tab has fields for ‘Website name’ and ‘Company or person’ information. Fill them out, so Google shows the WordPress site’s name on the SERP. Meanwhile, the company or person drop-down selection is for Google’s Knowledge Graph. This info appears as metadata on the site.

4. Head to the ‘Webmaster Tools‘ tab to verify the site.

It’s necessary to create an account at Google Search Console to connect and verify the site. To create an account at Google Search console, add your domain and click on the “Add a Property” button. Select the Meta Tag Verification option. Copy and paste the Meta Tag HTML into the Google Search Console section of the Webmaster Verification section of Yoast SEO and click “Save Changes.” Return to Google Search Console and click on the Verify button.

Besides Google Search Console, Yoast SEO makes the process of site verification on Alexa, Bing, and Yandex Webmaster Tools quick and simple.

5. Change user access.

Yoast SEO has a ‘Security’ tab with an option to disable the Advanced part of Yoast SEO metabox. Unchecking this option may be helpful to sites with multiple authors. It doesn’t allow other users access to redirects and ‘noindex’ settings.

Visiting these tabs covers the ‘General’ section of SEO. It also takes care of the basics of the plugin. There are other sections to view and *adjust for total optimization of the site.

On-site and Off-site SEO Settings

Site optimization has two factor areas. These are on-site SEO (also called on-page SEO) and off-site SEO. Aligning your Yoast SEO settings on these aspects ensures the optimum performance of the site.

Title and Meta Data

Part of on-page SEO is title and metadata. Yoast SEO has a “Titles & Metas” section with seven tabs focused on the site’s appearance in SERPs. The first tab has settings for titles. It shows options for changing title separators to make the appearance of page titles consistent. It also has a ‘force rewrite titles’ option to override built-in SEO title displays and prevent using the same title on different pages.

Next up is “Homepage.” The contents of this tab depend on the blog’s set up. It is useful for making changes in the title and meta descriptions for the front page and pages for blog entries. If there’s nothing to edit, proceed to “Post Types.” It has fields to set a template for post, page, and media titles and meta description. It also has checkboxes for ‘noindex, follow’ tags, ‘Date in Snippet Preview,’ and ‘Yoast SEO Meta Box.’ Filling these out inserts the information to pages, titles, and meta descriptions. Leaving the meta description box blank allows search engines to pull an excerpt of content from the page.

The ‘noindex, follow’ option instructs meta robots not to index the page and crawl for links. At most cases, it’s unnecessary to check this box. This option is useful to pages that could be a duplicate content or irrelevant to site rankings such as a ‘Thank You’ page or ‘About Us.’

XML Sitemap

Yoast SEO automatically generates a comprehensive sitemap for the site. It is an XML or extensible markup language file listing all the site’s URL available for crawling. Besides the URLs, it also has the relevant information regarding each page that helps bots to crawl the site. The plugin categorizes the URLs for easy access and clear structure. Submitting the sitemap to the Search Console is essential. It helps the search engine can make sense of the organization of the site’s content. A large site can have multiple sitemaps so web crawlers can access all areas, information, and files on the site.

Submit the sitemap to Search Console by clicking on the “Crawl” > “Sitemaps” on the sidebar menu of the site property management dashboard. Click the “Add Test/Sitemap” button to add the sitemap URL.

Robots.txt

The site’s robots.txt file is available for edit through the ‘File Editor’ link on the plugin. The file tells search engine bots the pages to crawl. Specified crawl instructions help bots crawl the site quickly to leverage SEO methods and raise site ranking. Search engines have a crawl budget so hacking the file by disallowing some pages one way to optimize the site.

The format of a robots.txt file has two lines – the user agent and directives. Directives are crawl instructions such as disallow, allow, and crawl-delays.

Alternative Text

Since Google doesn’t have an algorithm for image recognition, it’s a must to fill out the form field for Alt Text on WordPress. Use descriptive words and SEO-friendly keywords to highlight the elements of the image and optimize it for search engines. The alt text increases the chances of the image to appear in the SERP. Moreover, it helps blind and visually-impaired users to make sense of the image.

Social SEO

Yoast SEO has a social section to link the business or brand’s social media accounts. It has tabs for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+. The primary tab, “Accounts,” has form fields for various social platforms. Filling these out associates the site with the corresponding social media profile. This feature covers a part of social SEO or social media optimization (SMO).

SEO Ready

The following changes and settings are ways to optimize a WordPress blog. Using the Yoast SEO plugin makes it convenient for bloggers and webmasters to hit their goals, increase traffic, gain subscribers, and expand consumer base. Dabble with each option on the plugin to explore different ways to boost the site’s existing on-site and off-site SEO strategy.

The post SEO Techniques: Optimizing WordPress Blog with Yoast SEO appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

However, managing a blog isn’t a walk in the park. Imagine handling a corporate blog. It gives everyone a headache especially if there’s no path or list to follow. Thus, it becomes a must to streamline the workflow. Whether you are on WordPress or some other blogging platform, laying a path as a guide makes a difference. Corporate and personal bloggers will appreciate the fact that their workload is less than ever.

The tips below are useful in streamlining the blogging workflow. Read on to find how you can turn them into a marketing strategy.

Tip #1: Get organized.

Being organized is necessary to bloggers and other online publishers. Each one has their editorial workflow the works for them. It can be a simple brainstorming session of content ideas. The workflow will depend on the number of people in your team. The writers, editors, reviewers, and publishers who produce, edit, and publish content will take a toll on the entire blogging continuum. Therefore, everyone must understand their role especially on the expectations regarding deliverables.

Creating a content calendar is a way to organize thoughts and task delegation. Since time management is essential to bloggers, a plotting the content to post and publish ahead of time leaves additional room for editing and improvement. Enforce a soft and hard deadline if work tends to pile up. The soft deadline is the time and day the content must be ready. The hard deadline is the period you must not postpone.

Tip #2: Find the time.

Avoid making excuses and commit to the task you must accomplish. Make blogging a part of daily life. Don’t just do it during free time or during the times it’s convenient. Corporate bloggers must be consistent, so they have to be serious about the process. The brand or business online presence relies heavily on continuously publishing fresh content. A schedule of the specific days and times of the week is a must for blogging alone.

Set a frequency of publishing on the blog. Those starting out can post one to two items per week. Still, new and existing blogs must continue to stick with the frequency of publishing to avoid looking dead. Getting back on the blog once a week or a month will push blogging efforts down the drain. Remember, it only takes at least an hour to create and publish a new post.

Tip #3: Save all ideas.

A creative mind almost never runs out of juice. Ideas sprout here and there like mushrooms in damp forests. It’s best to have a notebook – paper or virtual – nearby to jot down a bunch of topics for the blog. Maintain a filing system so you can quickly move to the writing stage. It will also help you formulate impressions and opinions when in dire need of a topic.

Most of the ideas in the mind fleet with the passing of time. Whenever you have thoughts worth discussing, grab a notepad, phone or laptop. Record the idea. The impact of the topic generated is what comes out of sparing a minute from your usual workflow. Once in the process of writing, prepare at least ten articles in advance. Write three more in case of emergencies. That way you won’t scramble to produce posts whenever you get sidetracked.

Tip #4: Use text editors.

WordPress won’t be available all the time. Hence, you must look for alternatives. Use text editors instead. Desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones have apps and software for composing and editing long-form texts. Writing will be as easy as 1, 2, 3 since the text editor is highly portable. Not to mention, text editors are distraction-free and easily formatted. It cuts the job in half and makes the transfer to WordPress hassle-free. Copy and paste the content into a new post then add images. The result: a fresh content to publish right away.

Tip #5: Optimize images.

Accompanying images brings life to an article while capturing the interest of the readers. Photos, illustrations, and vectors are available in Google images, but some of them are subject to copyright. Ensure the visuals you plan to use are free for everyone yet always include an image credit. Most of all, resize images. WordPress has a plugin that drops free re-sizable photos right into your blog. Photo editors and enhancement apps and software have this feature, but some of them aren’t available in a trial version. Still, there are several websites for resizing images on the web.

Tip #6: Consider other types of content.

Long-form content still dominates the SEO field, but nothing can stop the market demographics from changing. Generation Y (Millennials) and Z quick to consume content. They prefer videos for its authenticity and rawness. It shows people in action which breaches the gap between the screen and the audience. On the downside, using other content format requires new people on the team. Coordinate your needs, timeline, and plans to have content in time for publishing.

Time is the most precious asset in the world. Becoming an efficient blogger becomes a catalyst for success. Applying the tips above streamlines blogging workflow which results in staying ahead of strict schedules and deadlines. Eventually, there won’t be a need to struggle and chase contents but a list of content to publish on well-organized and relevant blogs.

Note: This post was published on July 22, 2014. It has been revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

The post Successful Blogging: Tips on Streamlining Blogging Workflow appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

It may seem simple to produce and publish content on a regular basis. Even websites who subscribe to a digital marketing agency are in danger of putting great material on top of the other. Looking at the other side, marketers – which can be bloggers or content writers – face the risk of getting stuck. Experiencing mental block is a real thing as well as having no interest in the topic at hand.

A successful blog continues to attract audiences, capture the attention of influencers that can expand audience reach and inspire trust, likeability, and loyalty. On top of that, viewers must gear towards action for the website to rank in search engines.

If you are a content producer struggling to come up with new material, it’s possible to come up with a topic and write about it even when it’s not up to your alley. The methods below will guide you to produce posts as you write about anything under the sun.

Ask questions

You can make things interesting when you ask questions. Researching on related problems and coming up with ideas gives you a clear purpose and directs you to seek the answers. Thus, the task becomes an opportunity for you to grow as it allows you to expand your knowledge.

The questions you come up with can be the same as the ideas brewing in the mind of audiences and viewers. As audiences vary at any given time, they may be waiting for answers to the same or related problems. Habitually seek solutions, so you continuously create meaningful content.

As a blogger, you must focus on the primary questions until you come up with blog content. Having a lot of questions is a great way to expand ideas. Consequently, it makes your job easier.

Research

It’s your responsibility as a writer to produce an easy-to-consume version of the things you gathered from your research.

If you can’t come up with questions, diligently pursue them the way you would with the answers. That’s when research becomes a valuable asset. Organized forums such as Quora and Topsy are goldmines for various topics. Utilize the knowledge from other users. Create value out of them.

Research on the questions that spark your interest. Since the bulk of your time will depend on your research, it helps when you look for ideas and gather as much as you can. The information you collect and your way of providing answers are the basis for the value of the content you produce. When you take the time to impart knowledge in an easy-to-view and quick-to-digest format, you provide actual value.

Start writing

Some writers are full of concepts and ideas yet fail to relay them to their audiences. Writers miss out on the window to provide value as they go back and forth between the drawing board and working table. Scratching out ideas whenever they don’t seem to work or come through is allowing the fear of uncertainty to devour your work.

Though not all content you produce will be as green as the turf in spring, starting out with an existing idea can lead you to something better. Immersing yourself in the strokes of the keyboard and letting your thoughts and ideas flow is one way to clear your head. You gain clarity and become organized to explore the topic you wish to expound.

Without content, SEO and online marketing are not possible. These elements go hand in hand, so a lot rests on the hands of a blogger and writer. The great thing about writing is the fact that it’s a skill that can be learned or mastered. There are various ways to go about writing. You just have to find what works for you.

The post Successful Blogging: Writing About Anything Under The Sun appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

1) Overwhelming innovation

We get it – designers and developers are very creative people. However, it takes serious consideration of what interaction design (IxD) to put into a particular website otherwise it won’t be as interactive as it should be. Remember that a user craves for the familiarity of both design and navigation. Also, a user bails fast if he or she finds your site overwhelming enough to leave.

Here is an example of a too innovative a site. The site is fantastic, but there are so many things going on. It is not intuitive, leaving the users wondering what to do.

2) Confusing navigation

And innovative as they are, some developers even came up with not-so-ordinary names for the site’s pages without realizing its relevance. Such a practice is very effective in confusing the users. By not showing them what to expect from the site and what they should do while exploring it, you are telling them to get out of the site quick. Don’t do that.

Here’s a perfect example of a not so navigation-friendly website. There is some value to the site and what it wants to do. However, it failed at having clear calls to action in a big way.

3) Blurring contrast

Unfortunately, developers are aware of the virtue of using contrast, but some are awful at implementing such. Without clear contrast, it would be hard to establish visual hierarchy. In IxD, it is all about the right combination of colors, sizes, shapes and positions so that the site will succeed at drawing the user’s attention to the most important elements of the site.

Here is another poor example of a site with blurry contrast to think that this site is offering free and premium WordPress themes. It uses black and white and yet its background image is gray, drawing prominence away from the calls to action.

4) Neglecting form

Form style and design are basic to IxD. However, although the developers are not to be blamed for this, some website owners still ask for too much information from their users. This bores the users and is a good motivation so the user leave your site. Again, we all know that a website always has a purpose including generating leads. However, if you are going to utilize the default form, don’t expect that your users will easily and willingly signup.

Here is an example of a site that asks a lot from its users including their Twitter names. While it is good to ask, still, there is no clear reason why the site is asking for such.

5) Unappealing clutter

All of these are considered ‘noise’ that ruins the momentum and makes them very unappealing at the aesthetic and experience level. These can be considered as clutters aside from the actual clutter, that is. These websites tend to have a busy above-the-fold that borders confusing and annoying.

An example of a cluttered website is the below. In fact, this website was featured as one of the World’s Worst Websites, and for good reasons.

Web designers and developers, listen. As a final advice, don’t forget to test until you reach the optimal design for your website. Testing should not constrain your creativity because, in the first place, you are designing a website with the users in mind, right? Such a cliché but this cliché holds true today and, perhaps, for all the days to come.

The post 5 Interaction Design Mistakes Designers and Developers Make appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.