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Thursday, May 17, 2018

5 Proven SEO Strategies To Try In 2018

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SEO is overwhelming, right? Most people don’t understand the importance of having an SEO strategy to grow their website’s traffic or sales.

If you’re also one among them, you need an effective SEO strategy to build a high traffic website because search engine traffic is the most valuable source of traffic which can boost your sales and conversions.

Here are 5 proven and most effective SEO strategies for bloggers who are looking to get better rankings from search engines like Google.

Proven SEO strategies to try in 2018

#1. Keyword research for SEO

Your website’s SEO success depends on your keyword research. Most bloggers struggle to increase their website’s organic traffic because they don’t do proper keyword research.

If you’re also one among them, start focusing on finding better keywords and your traffic will never be the same. That being said, here are few to keep in mind while doing keyword research for SEO.

Long tail keywords are golden.

Most beginner bloggers don’t realize the importance of long tail keywords. Whether you know it or not, long tail keywords contribute to 70% of search queries are long tail. Have a look at the below illustration.

So if you want to rank better and get more traffic from search engines to your sites, start focusing on finding long tail keywords.

You can use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs etc to easily find a ton of profitable and low volume long tail keywords no matter what industry you are in. Just make sure to pick the keywords with less search volume (monthly searches under 1000) to get better search rankings on Google.

Find and use LSI keywords

Google loves LSI (Latent Semantic Index) keywords which are simply synonymous keywords to the primary keyword that you want to rank for.

LSI keywords help you easily optimize your content without stuffing the same keywords again and again. You can use tools like LSI Graph, KWFinder etc for finding LSI keywords in any niche.

You can also use “related searches” on Google to find LSI keywords easily.

Consider search intent

While doing keyword research, it’s essential for everyone to focus and consider “search intent”. Search intent has everything to do with the “searcher’s intention”.

Why are they searching? What’s the intent behind those searches?

Once you know your target audience pulse and search intent, you can easily pick better performing keywords which not only bring you more traffic but also sales and conversions to your website.

#2. Rethink your content marketing strategy

Gone are the days where you can get first page results by creating 500 word articles. Google is getting smarter and better each day and rewarding the sites with long form of content.

In fact the average content length of top 10 search results is around 2000 words.

Brian Dean also concluded the same that, the average length of your content directly impacts your search engine rankings.

So if you’re still creating those 500 to 1000 word articles and expecting great results from Google, you’re going to be disappointed. Read here for my detailed analysis on how long your blog posts should be.

I’m not saying that you should create 2000+ long form of articles every single time but make sure to create detailed articles especially if you want to rank for popular and competitive keywords.

That being said, here are few quick tips for you to create long form of content easily.

  • Research is the key. The more time you spend on researching the topics, genres, references for your articles, the easier you can create massive blog posts. Always make sure to go through all the top 10 results on Google search for the keywords or topics that you want rank for.
  • Outlining is everything. When it comes to creating long form of useful content, make sure to outline cleverly. You can use Google Docs to easily break down your content into separate sections with subheadings so you’ll find it much easier to create longer blog posts.
  • Get into the habit of writing daily. The more you write, the easier it becomes for you to churn out massive articles. It’s as simple as that.
  • Create a solid social media strategy: Social media should be an important part of your off-page SEO strategy and you should make sure you have a strong social media plan to build your brand’s following and active community.

#3. Competitor research is the key

One of the easiest ways to win at SEO is to analyse your competitor websites. Firstly, make a list of all the important competitor websites so you can start analyzing them for better results in terms of traffic and sales.

Competitor analysis allows you to find out everything from keyword research to backlink analysis to content marketing strategies your competitors are using to get better results.

So if you’ve decided to perform a thorough research of your competitors, make sure to analyse the following things.

  • Find out their top performing keywords: When you are doing competitor analysis, you should start with the keyword research. Find out what keywords are generating more traffic to your competitors websites so you can also repeat the same with your blog by covering similar topics or keyword ideas.
  • Find out your competitors backlink sources: If you want to quickly boost your search rankings, you need to attract as many quality backlinks as possible because Google gives top priority to the pages with more links. The best way to attract more links is to analyse your competitors backlink sources so you can use tactics like blogger outreach, broken link building etc to get links to your own sites.
  • Analyse their content marketing strategy: How often your competitors are publishing new contents on their sites? How long their content is? How many comments, shares or tweets they are getting? Once you’ve answers to these questions, you can easily develop or tweak your own content marketing strategy which drives you better results.
  • Look for content gaps: The biggest benefit of doing competitor research is that it gives you content ideas as well as content gaps which you can use to strategically improve your website’s content.

For all the above things, you can use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush etc so consider investing your money on these premium SEO tools if you want to get better results.

#4. Don’t forget the importance of on page optimization

On page optimization is a must and it refers to all the things that you can do to your website in order to rank better and higher in Google search for various keywords that you want to rank for.

On page SEO comes only after keyword research. So make sure to find out your primary and secondary keywords in order to properly optimize your content for various keywords.

That being said, you don’t have to stuff your keywords left and right on your web pages (which is called keyword stuff and you should avoid it at all costs) for getting better rankings.

Here are few places where you can insert your primary keywords for better on page optimization.

  • Heading
  • Page title
  • URL
  • Meta description
  • Image optimization

Apart from the above places, you can also insert your primary keyword here and there within your article (mostly at the beginning and end of the content) to better optimize for search engines like Google. Just make sure NOT to insert your primary keywords deliberately and let them flow naturally within your content.

Quick tip: If you’re using WordPress, make sure to install WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin which is free to use and helps you easily optimize your content for particular keywords.

#5. Website audits are essential

Last but not least: you need to find the reasons why your website is not getting the results it deserves. That means, you need to find and fix all the website technical related issues to start getting better search rankings.

Here are few vital reasons why every website needs an audit.

  • You can check your website’s health and find out all the issues it has (to rectify and get better results)
  • You can find out if your website has any penalties or negative attacks (so you can act quickly to fix your website penalties)
  • You can compare where your website stands against the competition (and also gives you a ton of ideas to improve your rankings)

So how can you perform site audits regularly?

You can use tools like SEMrush if you want to carefully analyse your website’s performance in search engines and it also gives you overall website health score along with the list of all the issues that your site has.

You can also use free SEO audit tools like Seoptimer, The Hoth etc for easily find common issues that your website has.

In a nutshell, an SEO audit helps you easily find all the website issues including missing title tags, image alt tags, lengthy descriptions, broken links etc so you can get better rankings by fixing them.

Conclusion about the best SEO strategies for bloggers

Creating and developing an SEO strategy is a must for every blogger who wants to build a profitable website online. If you’re someone who’s looking to get ahead in your industry, you need to focus on getting better at SEO.

The key here is to test everything and stick to the best SEO strategy that works well for your website and audience. So what do you think? Do you have an SEO strategy? Share your thoughts in the comments.



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May 14, 2018 at 03:02AM
5 Powerful Blogging Lessons I Learned in New Zealand

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Hey guys!

I have been a busy bee for the past 2 months.

That’s me above holding up my paperback aka eBook in Arthur’s Pass, New Zealand.

My wife Kelli and I have enjoyed the stunning beauty of this nation near the end of the earth.

I also learned 5 blogging lessons here to help you build a successful blog.

Let’s dive in.

1: It Takes Work But the View from the Top Is Worth it

I busted my tail to work my way up tracks in Arthur’s Pass. Ditto for hiking up tracks at world famous Mount Cook.

The view from a higher elevation left me gaga. Gorgeous!

The time and energy and sweat was well worth the jaw-dropping view.

Same deal with your blog. All the smart, persistent, generous work you put in now will help you enjoy a successful blogging career. Always worth it.

2: Be Vigilant to Avoid Headaches

The roads in New Zealand are different.

Not only do I drive on the left – as opposed to the right side in New Jersey – but the narrow, winding nature of roads here forces you to be vigilant unless you want to get into an accident.

Zac, me and fellow NJers are also used to driving on the Parkway, Turnpike or any number of big, 2-3 lane, major highways. Here in New Zealand though, especially on the South Island, virtually all highways are narrow, 1 lane country roads. Avoiding accidents or other headaches means you need to be vigilant.

Ditto with your blog. Be on the ball. Spot problems early. 2 months ago my site crashed for a handful of my readers. Turns out my old host had a tough time handling my blog traffic and tech support. I changed hosts and switched to a VPS before things really took a nose dive for weeks. Vigilance prospers.

3: Keeping Things Natural Produces an Eye-Popping Experience

New Zealand is the most beautiful country I have seen in person. Many travel bloggers deem it the prettiest country on earth. I agree!

Why?

The government and Kiwis – aka people from New Zealand – fully committed to preserving this country’s stunning natural beauty. From being reminded 10 times at the airport to dump all your food and drink from foreign lands before hitting the customs gate to seeing garbage cans everywhere to the local’s focus on biking and jogging around Kiwi cities versus driving everywhere, New Zealand is drop dead beautiful and virtually polution-free because the locals vowed to keep things natural, largely.

Bloggers heavily focused on creating helpful content and strong bonds in organic, patient fashion become the most successful bloggers on earth. Stop looking for tools and hacks to shortcut your way to success. Good old fashioned generous, hard work creates the most eye-popping experience for you and your readers over the long haul.

4: Expect Unexpected Wins

I feared the culinary side of Kiwi-land may come up short after leaving foodie paradise Thailand 2 months ago.

Was I ever wrong!

New Zealand produce is among the best on earth but more than that, the dairy here IS perhaps the best in the world. Yogurt, ice cream and cheese? Amazing. On dairy overload here, on certain days.

I did not expect the food here to be so good. Pleasantly surprised.

Focus on creating and connecting persistently. You will see unexpected wins in the form of interview requests coming out of left field, prospering partnerships popping up out of the blue and income streams flowing in from unknown directions. Happens to me regularly.

5: You Get What You Pay for

New Zealand is the most expensive nation I have visited but this is the best trip we have ever taken and it’s my favorite trip too!

You get what you pay for blogging-wise, guys. Spend money on premium hosting, a premium theme and drop some dough on a CDN already. Act like a pro blogger. Invest money in your blog. You get what you pay for.

Your Turn

What blogging lessons have you learned today?

The eBook

If you want to become a full time blogger you can buy my eBook here:

How to Retire to a Life of Island Hopping through Smart Blogging

GET INSTANT ACCESS TO

My Exact Blogging Strategy!

Want to know how I continually make six-figures a year blogging from the comfort of my home? Then you need this free course!



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May 17, 2018 at 08:18AM
Simplest Ways To Find The Exact Google Keyword Planner Search Volume

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Find Google Keyword Planner Search Volume

Keyword research is the first step towards preparing for your blog post. I’m sure most of you use the Google keyword planner tool to get help in the research. But the problem is Google keyword planner has now stopped showing you the exact search volume of keywords. Instead, it only shows you the range of monthly search volume which is not the correct solution.

If you want to get the exact keyword planner search volume, continue reading.

In this article, I will show you how to find the precise keyword monthly search volume.

Before diving into it, I want to explain the essential keyword metrics that help you find the best profitable keywords for your business.

  1. Keyword search volume: It is the estimate search volume of a particular keyword that people search on Google on a monthly basis. It tells you the maximum potential of a keyword that you are willing to rank in Google’s top positions.
  2. CPC: Cost per click indicates how valuable your keyword is. If more advertisers are bidding the keyword, it means your keyword is more competitive and valuable.
  3. Google AdWord competition: It tells you how popular your keyword is among the advertisers.
  4. Keyword Difficulty: It indicates how hard it is to rank for a keyword on Google’s top positions.

The Google keyword planner tool shows you the first three metrics. It doesn’t tell you anything about the keyword difficulty. So make sure you check the difficulty by using another keyword difficulty tool like KWfinder or SEMrush.

Now let’s get started…

1. By using the Google keyword planner tool itself

The first method to find the exact keyword planner search volume is by using GKP itself. It is effortless and takes only a few seconds to tell you the correct search volume of a keyword upon which you intend to work.

Let me show you how you can use the keyword planner tool to find the estimated volume of keywords.

First, open your Google keyword planner account. Once you are in, type in the keyword in the search bar.

Google keyword planner tool to search for keyword

For instance, if I search for ‘chocolate cake recipe’and hit the ‘get started’ button, it will show you all the related keyword ideas.

No surprise yet, but as you add this keyword to your AdWords review plan, AdWords will start showing you the default estimation of impressions and clicks that you would get if your keyword ranks on top on Google.

But there is a problem. Google’s new keyword planner is not as perfect.

No worries, I have a solution.

Use the old keyword planner console instead of using the new one. Scrolling down to the bottom and click ‘Open previous Keyword Planner’.

Once you’ve done so, you will see the old version of it, which is much more straightforward than the new keyword planner.

Old google keyword planner tool

 

As you enter in, you need to click the ‘get ideas’ button again. And then click under the ‘add to plan’ shown in the last column.

Ways To Find Exact Google Keyword Planner Search Volume

As you click this little arrow icon >>, it will show you the review plan on the right-hand side. It shows you the default review data.

You can change the plan by clicking the ‘review plan’ button. Once you put the maximum bid in the ‘enter a bid’ section, the magic happens.

It won’t show you the full potential of the keyword until you put the maximum bid. For that, you need to keep suggesting a bid (like $1000), until it notifies you that the value is too big.

Once you find the maximum valid bid and take your cursor out, it will start showing you the full potential of your keyword regarding impressions.

By default, it shows you the daily forecasts. If you want monthly estimates, multiply the daily impressions value by 30.

Find the exact forecast of your keyword using keyword planner tool

For the keyword ‘chocolate cake recipe’, the maximum average daily search volume is 423 to 517 which is more precise than earlier. And the monthly keyword planner search volume is (423*30 = 12690) to (517*30 = 15510).

You’ve successfully got your keyword monthly search volume by using this method.

Let’s move on to the second method.

2. Using ‘Keyword Anywhere’ chrome extension

One of the best tools I have ever come across. The best thing is it’s free. Let’s see how to find the keyword planner search volume without wasting money.

This method is faster than the first method. Because in the first method, you need to check for every keyword repeatedly which makes the entire process rather slow. So, better you use this method to proceed with it in a quicker manner.

First of all, download the keyword anywhere chrome extension.

Now, go ahead and open your keyword planner tool.

Type in your keyword and hit enter. Within a second it will show you tons of keyword ideas. As you enable the ‘keyword anywhere’ tool, the magic begins.

It adds three new columns in the keyword planner. The search volume, competition, and CPC. The volume column gives you the exact keyword search volume correspondingly.

Find the exact keyword planner search volume by using keyword anywhere tool

Conclusion: Finding Exact Search volume using Google Keyword Planner

I hope this article helps you in your endeavor. However, there are tons of keyword research tools that can help you find the search volume for any keyword.

The Google keyword planner is only an option for newbie bloggers to conduct the keyword research. So I think this could be a better way for those who don’t want to spend money on keyword research.

If you liked the article, please share it with others on social media platforms.

Here are a few hand-picked guide for you to read next:

This is a guest post by Shailesh. If you would like to submit something new to ShoutMeLoud, read our submission guidelines.



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May 17, 2018 at 10:38AM
How to Move Icons on Android

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This wikiHow teaches you how to move any app icon to a different place on your phone or tablet's home screen, using Android. If your device allows customizing the Apps menu, you can also use this method to move the icons here.

EditSteps

  1. Open your Android's home screen. Unlock your phone or tablet with your security code, or press your Android's home button to get to the home screen.
    Move Icons on Android Step 1.jpg
    • If your phone or tablet allows customizing the order of apps on the Apps menu, you can tap the icon, and use the same method to move icons here.
  2. Tap and hold the app icon you want to move. Find the app you want to move on your home screen, and long-press on its icon. This will highlight the app, and allow you to move it around your screen.
    Move Icons on Android Step 2.jpg
  3. Drag the app icon anywhere on your screen. While holding the app icon, move your finger around to move the app on your screen.
    Move Icons on Android Step 3.jpg
    • If you want to move an app to another page of your home screen, drag it to the right or left edge of your screen.
  4. Release your finger to save the app's new location. When you find a new spot for the selected app icon, release your finger to save it.
    Move Icons on Android Step 4.jpg
  5. Drag the app icon onto another app to create a folder. This will create a new folder on your home screen, and group the two apps together in this folder.
    Move Icons on Android Step 5.jpg
    • Once you create a folder, you can drag and add more apps into it.

EditQuick Summary



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May 17, 2018 at 11:07AM
Bannon and Cambridge Analytica planned suppression of black voters, whistleblower tells Senate

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Appearing before the Senate Judiciary committee today as part of the ongoing investigation of Cambridge Analytica and various forms of meddling in the 2016 elections, former employee and whistleblower Christopher Wylie said that the company and its then-VP Steve Bannon were pursuing voter suppression tactics aimed at black Americans.

Although Wylie insisted that he himself did not take part in these programs, he testified to their existence.

“One of the things that provoked me to leave was discussions about ‘voter disengagement’ and the idea of targeting African Americans,” he said. “I didn’t participate on any voter suppression programs, so I can’t comment on the specifics of those programs.”

“I can comment on their existence, and I can comment more generally on my understanding of what they were doing,” he explained under questioning from Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA).

“If it suited the client’s objective, the firm [SCL, Cambridge Analytica’s parent company] was eager to capitalize on discontent and to stoke ethnic tensions,” read Wylie’s written testimony.

“Steve Bannon believes that politics is downstream from culture. They were seeking out companies to build an arsenal of weapons to fight a culture war,” he explained at another point in the session. He suggested questions on the nature of those weapons, and the specifics of any potential race-based voter suppression tactics, to be directed to Bannon.

That such a system might work, however, he did address.

“How specifically, then, did they target African American voters,” Sen. Harris had asked, “understanding as you do that the African American population is not a monolith? How did they then decipher and determine who was African American so they would target them in their intent to suppress the vote?”

“Racial characteristics can be modeled and I’m not sure about the studies that my colleague here was referencing but we were able to get an AUC score, which is a way of measuring accuracy for race that was .89 I believe,” Wylie answered.

AUC, he then explained, stands for “Area under the receiving operations characteristic. It’s a way of measuring precision, which [the .89 figure] means it’s very high.”

In other words, black voters could be identified based on their social media presence and other factors, despite the fact that the black community is, obviously, far from homogeneous.

It’s not particularly surprising that Bannon, who has aligned himself repeatedly with alt-right and white nationalist figures and movements, would be contemplating ways to decrease the number of people of color voting. But it is new that it was being pursued relatively openly under the Cambridge Analytica banner.

Sen. Harris and others requested any “evidence of the conduct you’ve described” Wylie may have.

Wylie also testified that Facebook, when it asked Cambridge Analytica to certify that it had deleted the data it was using in violation of the company’s rules, “did not require a notary or any sort of legal procedure. So I signed the certification and sent it back and they accepted it.”



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May 17, 2018 at 01:30AM
YouTube’s streaming music service is launching next week

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YouTube has announced that it’s launching YouTube Music – a new streaming service that brings millions of tracks and videos in both free and paid flavors – next week, on May 22.

The company says you’ll be able to find entire albums, covers, remixes, live versions, and artist radio stations in its new mobile and desktop apps. The app will also bring personalize your experience by surfacing tracks it thinks you might like on the home screen, and recommending playlists based on your listening history and location. Oh, and the search tool will also support esoteric queries or lyric lookups, similar to Google’s engine, like “that hipster song with the whistling.”

“It's both terrifyingly interesting and interestingly terrifying”

According to VICE, TNW Conference is quite the event

The free tier will be ad-supported, naturally – but if you’re already subscribed to Google Play Music or cough up $9.99 a month, you’ll get YouTube Music Premium, which allows for offline downloads, listening while the mobile app is in the background, and no ads.

It’s worth noting that Google was previously expected to replace Google Play Music with a YouTube-based service; it looks like that will indeed happen at some point, but it could take until 2019. So, for the time being, both services will be available.

That’s not all: there’s another subscription called YouTube Premium, which costs a bit more at $11.99 a month and brings YouTube Music Premium as well as access to all of the video platform’s content ad-free – including its original series and movies that were previously available to Red subscribers.

The new music service will see YouTube compete with the likes of Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Deezer, and its own Google Play Music. But it remains to be seen whether fans will take to it: on the one hand, YouTube has a huge library of content like alternative versions of songs that aren’t on other services, while rivals like Spotify boast a vibrant community and top-notch curation.

It’ll also be interesting to see what becomes of Google Play Music. While YouTube is set on killing it off at some point, it’ll need to secure all the necessary licensing approvals to make it available internationally.

YouTube Music will roll out on Tuesday, May 22, in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea. The company says it will subsequently become available in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. You can sign up to be notified when the service arrives in your country on this page.

The Next Web’s 2018 conference is just a few days away, and it’ll be ðŸ’¥ðŸ’¥. Find out all about our tracks here.



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May 17, 2018 at 08:29AM