Do you know what an XML sitemap is or how to optimize your blog for SEO? Organic search traffic is a very effective method of driving free traffic to your website. This week’s #FridayFinds is a roundup of posts that can help you get found in the SERPs (search engine results pages).
How Can You Get Started With SEO


From http://keepupwiththeweb.com 3236 days ago
Made Hot by: logistico on May 19, 2014 11:35 pm
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“Martin: Only technically. I've done nothing with it. It's in the long-term...”
“David: Do you have a video channel?...”
“Phil: Thanks for adding your two cents to the conversation!
All the...”
“Lisa: Thanks for your input. I have to figure out a way of getting into my...”
“Hi Shawn, and David,
Though I watched the video on time and dropped a...”
Comments
3176 days ago
3228 days ago
Cheers :)
3226 days ago
3237 days ago
I was just experimenting to see what my post would look like in the SERPs. I doubt very much if anyone would search on those 4 exact words but I wanted to make sure that I would be able to see it on the first page. (That way, I could quickly get back to writing my post.)
My article (on my blog) appeared as the 10th result but the same article (that I shared on Scoop.It) ranked second. One take-away that I got from this is that: ScoopIt and social shares from influencers (like Pam Moore and Adrienne Smith) have a high potential of ranking high in the search engines. Another take-away is that 2 of the 4 keywords that I was focusing on (Google and SERP) were highlighted in the SERP snippet.
I always try to incorporate my main keywords in both my title and the meta-description of my post and (at least in this case) Google pulled both of them into the search results. One note is that I searched for a recent post of a blogging friend of mine. He blogs about “financial freedom” but I don’t believe he uses Google authorship or meta-tags. In the SERPS, Google pulled the image from his post (rather than his profile pic) and the snippet was about a “mango vendor” in “Thailand” (the caption of the post). That tells a lot. (I’ve made him aware of this.)
3237 days ago
Interesting post on SEO. Just two questions. First, how high was your post listed in the results? I'm also wondering what the likelihood might be that someone's going to list this exact combination of keywords when doing a search? I think anticipating how people might search for your content online is probably the hardest part of the equation.
3226 days ago
I did see and appreciate your very complete response. Thanks very much for participating in the community.
3226 days ago
I just realized that I replied to your 2 questions but I posted it as a new comment. So, you may never have seen it! Here's what I replied:
Hi Heather,
I was just experimenting to see what my post would look like in the SERPs. I doubt very much if anyone would search on those 4 exact words but I wanted to make sure that I would be able to see it on the first page. (That way, I could quickly get back to writing my post.)
My article (on my blog) appeared as the 10th result but the same article (that I shared on Scoop.It) ranked second. One take-away that I got from this is that: ScoopIt and social shares from influencers (like Pam Moore and Adrienne Smith) have a high potential of ranking high in the search engines. Another take-away is that 2 of the 4 keywords that I was focusing on (Google and SERP) were highlighted in the SERP snippet.
I always try to incorporate my main keywords in both my title and the meta-description of my post and (at least in this case) Google pulled both of them into the search results. One note is that I searched for a recent post of a blogging friend of mine. He blogs about “financial freedom” but I don’t believe he uses Google authorship or meta-tags. In the SERPS, Google pulled the image from his post (rather than his profile pic) and the snippet was about a “mango vendor” in “Thailand” (the caption of the post). That tells a lot. (I’ve made him aware of this.)