Lizzy Ford's Blog, page 64

SEO Blogging Tips for Fun and Profit

Even if you don't put any effort or thought into SEO, there are a few SEO blogging tips you should keep in mind when you're writing an article or making a landing page. You should never decrease the readability of your content in exchange to improve the SEO, but I've found that by having a small checklist of things that can help, I often find ways to use two or three of these methods in my pages.

For this article the term I'm trying to optimize for is "SEO blogging tips". That is the first tip right there. Pick one term for your article or page and try to optimize for that and that alone. You can try to use a second term a few times in your article but you can really only have one as your main target. Once you've identified your target, here's a list of things that can all help your on-page SEO.

Titles

Use your keyword in your page title and post title. Notice that SEO blogging tips is in both the title of this post and in the title of the page itself that you see in the tab at the top of your web browser.

URL

Use your keyword in the page's URL. If you have control over this make sure that your post title is "seo-blogging-tips-for-fun-and-profit" instead of "post?53535″ which is the WordPress default.

Meta Tags

Make sure to put your keyword in the description meta tag and keywords meta tag. Make sure to keep your description tag under 160 characters and to only use 2 or three terms in your keyword tag. Stuffing your keyword meta tag is a big red flag to search engines that you might be trying to artificially increase your pages relevancy. If you use WordPress, make sure you download the "All in One SEO Pack" plugin to make this step quick and easy. If you're taking the time to read an article on SEO blogging tips then you want that plugin

Headings

Try to use your keywords in headings (h1, h2 & h3 tags). In the line below I'm going to wrap my targeted phrase with a "" before it and a "" after it.

SEO Blogging Tips

That's a medium sized HTML headline tag. If I had used a h1, the font would have been bigger. If I had used h3, the font would have been smaller. By default the title of my post is an H1 so I try not to use another H1 in my post but a well placed h2 or h3 with your keyword in your post helps a little but.

Keyword Density

This is probably the trickiest one of the bunch. Some people say your keyword density should be 1%, others say 5% and many say it's in between those numbers. While you would like your density to be at least 1% I always keep it natural above all else. I can use SEO blogging tips several times in this article and still sound ok but if I injected it into every other sentence my content would come off as spam and I wouldn't turn readers into fans which would defeat the purpose of bringing them to your site in the first place.

Location

If you're going to use your term a few times in your article, try to spread out it. Have one near the beginning, one towards the end and then in the middle as needed. Having them bunched into one area could make it look like you're trying to artificially raise your keyword density.

Alt tags

One of the easiest of the SEO blogging tips to do, and it never gets in the way of your content! Make sure you use a picture in each one of your posts and make sure the alt tag contains your targeted keyword. the alt tag for the picture with this article is "SEO blogging tips picture".

Links

You can use your targeted keyword as part of the the anchor text in a link.

Bold or Italicized

Try to make one usage of your keyword bold or italicized. I rarely do both to avoid making the page look unnatural.

The last tip is the most important tip of all. Don't do each of these things in every post! Doing too much of any of these things can make it appear to Google like you're trying to artificially inflate your keyword relevancy.

Even if you're not a big believer in SEO, it's always easy to make a keyword bold, insert a picture and make sure you use your keyword in your title. Doing a few of these in every post will help your page rank higher in Google's search engine results and may help bring visitors to your site. If you know any good SEO blogging tips I didn't mention here let me know!

Book feature and Giveaway: I, Zombie, I by Jack Wallen

Happy Halloween!  What better day to feature a zombie book?!  Today, we've been visited by another of my Indie Eclective friends, Zombie King, Jack Wallen.  "I, Zombie, I" is the first in Jack's zombie trilogy.  The second book of the trilogy, "My Zombie My," is also available and the third will be available soon.  I featured the cover art for Jack's first two books – they're guaranteed to give you the creeps on All Hallow's Eve!

As always, to enter the drawing: leave a comment here OR click one of the tweet or share buttons following this post OR retweet my tweet OR share or like the post I create on Facebook OR share or 1+ the post I create on Google+

"The virus has spread."

In a moment of pure chaos, the majority of the Earth's population has become the walking dead. One man promises to help bring the truth to light.

"The lies have spread."

When journalist Jacob Plummer is infected, Jacob turns to the written word to not only ease the pain of change, but to bring to surface a truth far deeper and deadlier than anyone could have imagined.

"The truth must now be spread."

With some new friends, Jacob helps to fight off the growing undead horde in hopes of saving himself and the planet from the rot growing within.

About Jack:  Jack Wallen was teethed on horror and has lived most of his life in the hunt for the perfect fright. Although he has yet to find it, he has not given up…but now hopes to be the one to pen that work. Jack has been many things during his adult life. Among those many things, Jack has been an actor, hair stylist, computer engineer, bike mechanic, radio personality, and of course a writer. Over the past decade Jack has written thousands of technical articles (mostly about the Linux operating system), theatrical scripts for young audiences, as well as thriller, horror, and other forms of fiction. Jack now concentrates on horror, thriller, and fantasy fiction.

Jack lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his incredibly wonderful wife, three step-children, and six (count 'em…six) cats! And spends his time, when not writing, zipping around the area trails on his mountain bike thinking of ways to put his characters in mortal danger.

For his inspiration to begin reading and writing, Jack thanks the ever-incredible Clive Barker for penning in a genre with words of grace and horror.

Jack can be found at his website, Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr!

Sunday Special: Book feature and giveaway – Indie Chicks Anthology

Hello, Lizzyland readers!  It's Sunday, and I have a special giveaway treat!  I'll be rewarding ten copies of this special book to readers with Kindles (or Kindle apps !)  The Indie Chicks Anthology features the inspiring stories of 25 talented women writers from around the world in addition to sneak peaks at chapters from their novels.  (Yes, I'm in there, too!)  All proceeds from this book are being donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. This ebook is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

As always, to enter the giveaway: comment on this post; OR click the share or tweet buttons at the bottom of this post; OR retweet my tweet; OR share my facebook post or G+ post. (Don't have a Kindle but still want to enter?  You can download the Kindle App for your computer, iPad/Mac, Blackberry, or Android here.)

This exciting anthology contains stories from twenty-five women from different parts of the world. Their ages differ, as do their backgrounds and locations, but one thing they all have in common is a spirit of independence and a

determination to not only succeed, but prevail. Whether their struggles are to maintain balance between motherhood and career, escape from an abusive

relationship, or to step out in faith and pursue a dream, all of these women have forged their own path.

As women, one of our most powerful "gifts" is the ability to encourage one another. This book is an effort to encourage

women across the world. These twenty-five women share stories that will make you laugh, inspire you, and maybe even make you cry. Their hope is that these stories will inspire YOUR independent spirit and allow you to live the life you were meant to live.

In addition, each woman has included a "sneak peek" into one of her own novels.

All proceeds from this book will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation which fights breast cancer – a disease all too close to home for many of us. Our prayers and best wishes are with those who are struggling with this terrible and devastating disease. Buy a book for yourself and "gift" one to the important women in your life. Together, we can make a

difference. Thank you for your support.

Stories included:

Foreword by Karen McQuestion

Afterword by Beth Elisa Harris

Knight in Shining Armor by Shea MacLeod

Latchkey Kid by Heather Marie Adkins

Write or Die by Danielle Blanchard

The Phoenix and The Darkness by Lizzy Ford

Never Too Late by Linda Welch

Stepping Into the Light by Donna Fasano

One Fictionista's Literary Bliss by Katherine Owen

I Burned My Bra For This? by Cheryl Shireman

Mrs. So Got It Wrong Agent by Prue Battten

Holes by Suzanne Tyrpak

Turning Medieval by Sarah Woodbury

A Kinky Adventure in Anglophilia by Anne R. Allen

Writing From a Flour Sack by Dani Amore

Just Me and James Dean by Cheryl Bradshaw

How a Big Yellow Truck Changed My Life by Christine DeMaio-Rice

From 200 Rejections to Amazon Top 200! by Sibel Hodge

Have You Ever Lost a Hat? by Barbara Silkstone

French Fancies! by Mel Comley

Life's Little Gifts by Melissa Foster

Never Give Up On Your Dream by Christine Kersey

Self-taught Late Bloomer by Carol Davis Luce

Moving to The Middle East by Julia Crane

Paper, Pen, and Chocolate by Talia Jager

The Magic Within and The Little Book That Could by Michelle Muto

Write Out of Grief by Melissa Smith

War of Gods (Damian) Series by Lizzy Ford

The War of Gods (Damian) Series

The War of Gods series depicts the ongoing war between good and evil – and the special women with unique gifts who can prevent evil from prevailing.  The White God, Damian, battles the Black God with the help of his adopted brothers: the once mortal assassin, Dustin, and the expelled immortal, Jule.

Each of the men meet their matches  in Sofi, an Oracle who can see the future and read the souls of those around her; Bianca, a Healer who can bring people back from the dead, and the Magician.  These women and their gifts help a once-dead god heal while they themselves find love with heroic men and a cause unlike any other: to prevent the destruction of the human world.

Book One: Damian's Oracle

Inspired by Slavic mythology, Damian's Oracle is the entree into the ongoing battle between good and evil over the fate of humanity. The White God, Damian, and his Guardians protect the world from the Black God and his monsters while rescuing Naturals – humans with extraordinary paranormal gifts – from the Black God, who would kill or convert them.

Re-released October 2011.

Purchase from:
Amazon

Barnes and Noble

iTunes

Smashwords
Book Two: Damian's Assassin

Re-release: 19 November 2011

Sequel to Damian's Oracle. With the White God in Europe, Dustin is left alone in Miami to protect the Grey God, a man-god struggling with his identity, and the White God's mate. One of the Black God's vamps in Miami suddenly goes rogue and starts killing humans by the dozen. Dustin initially doesn't think much of the ruthless, human-hating thug, Talon, until it becomes clear that the vamp is receiving help from otherworldly beings whose intentions are nothing short of destroying humanity.

 

 

Purchase from:

Amazon:

Barnes and Noble:

iTunes

Smashwords
Book Three: Damian's Immortal

Available: 02 December 2011

[image error]"Damian's Immortal" is the tale of Jule, the White God's most trusted friend. Jule's powers are stripped by the Watchers, who seek to punish him for crimes committed thousands of years ago in the immortal realm.  His only hope to rejoin the battle against the Black God is to find the mysterious Magician, a woman afraid of her own powers and whose death has been ordained as necessary to prevent her gift from falling prey to enemies.

Jule must choose between protecting the beautiful Magician or regaining his powers by obeying those who want her dead.

 

Interview with Nicole Zoltack: Writer, Blogger, Editor, and Unicorn Whisperer

[image error]Nicole Zoltack is the author of the Kingdom of Arnham series (Woman of Honor, Knight of Glory, Champion of Valor) and Seeing for the First Time, among an eclectic mix of short stories and other reading treasures.  She's also – wait for it – a junior and freelance editor, mom of 2 1/2 kids, unicorn whisperer, and a Renaissance Faire aficionado.  This woman keeps super busy!  I featured her book, Seeing for the First Time, for Monday's book feature and giveaway.

Please welcome Nicole to Lizzyland! 

1. Holy smokes, you've managed to conquer the writing trifecta: blogging, editing, and writing.  How has involvement in all three worlds helped your writing?

Writing every day (or as often as I can – with two little ones and another one on the way, I don't always get the chance to write everyday) makes my writing better, stronger, and tighter.

Editing is great because not only do I get to help other authors make their work shine, it helps me figure out in my own writing whatworks and what doesn't. There's a lot more to writing than just grammar rules -the intangibles can't always be taught.

Blogging keeps me accountable and helps to build up myplatform. I love the writing blogging community – I've met so many wonderful people through blogging.

2. Given your multi-faceted involvement in the romance genre, are you seeing any emerging patterns as far as what might be the next big thing?  Paranormal romance has been HOT for a couple of years but fantasy romance not so much.  Do you think this will change?  What's next?

I think that thrillers/horror will be the next big thing.  After paranormal was dystopian so I think the trends will either go to science fiction or thriller/horror. I'm guessing on the latter. After that, who knows? Maybe romantic suspense which will come round to contemporary. It's hard to guess with any kind of certainty though.

3.  If you could spend a day with one of your characters, which one would it be and why?

Definitely Aislinn, the girl who followed her dreams and became a knight. And managed to win the heart of a prince, too. She's strong and capable and loyal. She'd do anything for her friends.

4. What's the most inspiring comment or review you've ever received from a reader/reviewer?

"In the future, we will see Nicole Zoltack ranking with many of the top authors we have come to love over the years. We will have a section of our bookcases or hard drives waiting for her newest release." Quote from Em Epe of Dark Diva Reviews

 I cried a little when I first read that, I must confess!

5. Did you really get married in a castle?

I wish! We got married in an old, gothic-style church. Our outdoor pictures were taken at a park that had gorgeous medieval-looking arches. Although it was swelteringly hot and we were all sweaty, the pictures turned out beauiftully. I could not have been happier…unless I really did get married in a castle! Who knows? Maybe for a vow renewal sometime down the line?

 

 

6. Pls list where we can find you online.

 So many places!

My website

My blog

My twitter

My personal facebook page is at the friend limit but I also have a fan page

As a book lover, of course I'm on Goodreads

I'm also on linkedin

And Klout

That's all I can think of right now.

 7. About Nicole:  Nicole Zoltack loves to write fantasy/paranormal, romances, horror, historical, for adults and young adults, novels, short stories, and flash pieces. She doesn't want to get boxed in by genre — she might be claustrophobic!

When she isn't writing about girls wanting to be knights, talking unicorns, and zombies, she spends time with her loving family. She loves to ride horses(pretending they're unicorns, of course!) and going to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, dressed in period garb. In addition to being a writer, she's also an editor for MuseItUp Publishing and eTreasures Publishing, and a freelance editor for Passionate Writer Publishing. To learn more about Nicole and her work, visit her website or her blog. 

 

An Update to my Facebook Ads Adventure

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article detailing my experience trying Facebook Ads to build our Facebook fan base. If you didn't read that article, the synopsis is I got crushed. I targeted a very specific and relevant niche and decided to try a CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) ad. I ended up with a click through rate near 0.02 and paying around a dollar per new friend. That isn't very friendly! Figuring out the value of targeted Facebook friends can be tricky, but I know our magic number isn't one dollar.

I thought because I did my research and had targeted such a narrow audience, that CPM would be the more cost effective method of using Facebook ads. On paper, it should have been.  In reality, it wasn't.

After a week break, I decided to give it one more try. I would leave my targeted niche the same, my ad the same, everything the same except switch from CPM to CPC (cost per click). After a few hours, I could see I had made the right decision.

Facebook Ads CPC campaign 1 results

[image error]

Facebook Ads CPC campaign 2 results

$51.51 spent for 300 clicks and 233 'likes.' That's $0.22 per 'like,' which is one fifth the cost of the 'likes' I got through CPM. For those of you keeping score at home, my click thru rate was more than TEN TIMES higher with CPC vs. CPM. These were based on several days' worth of results. Same ads, same targeting - the only change was CPM vs. CPC.

This is a really, really gray area for Facebook Ads. I expected to see lots of articles on this phenomenom but I didn't. It could be a coincidence, or it could be some logic in the Facebook ad system to place CPC ads higher the CPM ads. I'm not saying that Facebook Ads does this or any other form of shenanigans, I'm just sharing my results to say that - if you're going to experiment with Facebook Ads - you should definitely do a small CPC vs. CPM test to see what works better for you.

Everything I said in my last article and video about Facebook ad targeting and ad design still holds true, I would just ad in one more small test to measure CPC vs. CPM.

If an indie author emailed me today and asked for advice in testing a Facebook Ads campaign I would tell them this.

Read my two posts on the subject and watch my video
Get a Facebook Ads Coupon (if your eligible) so you can do $50 worth of testing for $8
Dedicate your first $10-$15 credit to finding the right targeted niche. Pick two or three small niches and run a $5 daily budget with each of them to see which one performs better.
Once you've got your niche, the next $10 should go to settle the CPC versus CPM debate for your niche.

After these steps you will have: starting getting new connections, figured out what your optimum niche and pricing type is and still have $25-$30 left in credits to spend to bring in new connections. If you're eligible to set up an Facebook Ads account and get a coupon, then that's a pretty good return on an $8 investment.

If you have any specific questions feel free to post them here or email me via our contact us.

Autumn of Gods update

Quick announcement: I'm um, no longer employed, so it looks like we'll start phasing in charging for books as of 1 November EXCEPT FOR MEMBERS OF THE MAILING LIST!

Ok, that aside, let's talk about the War of Gods series!  I'm embarking on two blog tours, one in November and one in December, to promote the War of Gods.  When I have a schedule, I'll post it for you!

This week's giveaway alerts: win paperback copies of "Damian's Oracle" by visiting:

25 Oct – 08 November: Goodreads giveaway

27 October: Jenn's Blog

Below you'll find the new cover for "Damian's Assassin" and the cover (and description!) for "Damian's Immortal!"

[image error]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Damian's Immortal:" The White God's most trusted friend, Jule, has his powers stripped by the Watchers, who seek to punish him for crimes committed thousands of years ago in the immortal realm.  His only hope to regain his powers and rejoin the battle against the Black God is to find the mysterious Magician, a woman afraid of her own talent, whose death has been ordered by the Others.

Finally, the "Damian's Oracle" book trailer is almost ready and will probably be launched within the week!  Woohoo!

10 Sites that Make Free RSS Directory Submission Easy

Yeah I want a RSS pillow

As part of my constant SEO self-audits, I decided that I needed to submit our site's RSS feed to RSS directories other than Feedburner. I didn't expect this free RSS directory submission exercise to be fun or to bring us much traffic, but I haven't had nearly as much time as I would like to link build lately. I thought this might be a quick and easy way to expand our exposure.

Last weekend I started with a list of what claimed to be 40 of the internet's top free RSS directories. Some of them wanted to charge me money to submit my site. I instantly left those sites. Some of them took everything short of a DNA sample before they would consider our site. I submitted our site to those but it probably wasn't worth the time. Some would only list our site if we back-linked to their site with a large, obnoxious button. I'm not in the business of creating a directory of directories so I didn't take them up on their offer. The ones that upset me the most strung me along through step after step with promises that this step would be the last, only to then try to charge me for the listing. If I ever meet the people responsible for those…..

Out of this list of 40 I found 10 sites that made free RSS directory submission a blast. They asked for nothing in return, didn't waste my time and tried their best to make up for the 30 other sites. I'll share these with you now so that you can submit your site to them and then take the rest of the day off without the guilt that "You didn't do any work on the site today".

10 Sites that make free RSS directory submission easy

http://blogdigger.com/add.jsp

http://www.plazoo.com/

http://rssmountain.com/

http://www.millionrss.com/

http://www.feedsee.com/

http://rss-one.com/

http://www.5z5.com/Suggest-A-Feed/

http://www.rss-directory.us/

http://4guysfromrolla.aspin.com/func/...

http://www.feedplex.com/

All of these sites have a Google PageRank of at least 3, and none of them have blown up my inbox with spam yet. Submitting your blog to these 10 free RSS directory submission sites won't bring you a flood of traffic, but it will be a tiny bit more search engine visibility for your site for very little effort.

Regarding the aforementioned lack of time to do link building, I'll bring this up for the first time ever on the site. If you have a writing related blog or site and are interested in doing a link exchange with us, use the contact form and let me know.

Book feature and giveaway: Nicole Zoltacks's "Seeing for the First Time"

Another giveaway!  Today, Nicole Zoltack has offered up an ecopy of her young adult paranormal/horror novel, "Seeing for the First Time." In addition to being a writer, Nicole is a prolific blogger and a junior editor at MuseItUp Publishing out of Canada.  I found her unique corner of the world intriguing, and I'll spotlight her Friday in an interview!

As always, to be entered into the giveaway: leave a comment; OR click one of the social media buttons at the bottom of the article; OR retweet my tweet about the giveaway; OR comment, share, like, or 1+ what I post to Facebook and Google+!

[image error]For the last ten years, Ana has spent summers with her Gram. With nothing to do, the closest beach two hours away, and Gram, who Ana is convinced is crazy, always in her garden talking to things that aren't there, Ana is bored out of her mind.

One day, Ana sees strange colors floating around Gram as she works in her garden. Gram says they're fairies. She can "See" them, and there are others who can see things. Ana's a Seer, too.

When Gram gives Ana a book that explains about the many different creatures, like selkies, unicorns, vampires, and others, Ana gets curious. She is shocked when she comes across the entry about famous werewolf hunters – her parents.

Determined to learn where she fits in, Ana's summer gets a lot more exciting as she sets off to find out what she can "see." Only problem is, she's not sure what to do when she finally discovers the truth. And she's not sure she'll live to tell anyone.

About Nicole: Nicole Zoltack loves to writefantasy/paranormal, romances, horror, historical, for adults and young adults,novels, short stories, and flash pieces. She doesn't want to get boxed in bygenre — she might be claustrophobic!

Whenshe isn't writing about girls wanting to be knights, talking unicorns, andzombies, she spends time with her loving family. She loves to ride horses(pretending their unicorns, of course!) and going to the PennsylvaniaRenaissance Faire, dressed in period garb. To learn more about Nicole and herwork, visit her website or her blog. You can also find her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter!

Week of 24 Oct in Lizzyland: Giveaways, Autumn of Gods updates, tech talk, and more!

We're getting organized! Woohoo! Every Sunday, we'll try to post what's coming up the next week in book features/giveaways, author/blogger interviews, tech talk, and Autumn of Gods updates.  The schedule for our website for the week of 24 October is below!

Monday: Book feature and giveaway: Nicole Zoltack's "Seeing for the First Time"

Tuesday Tech Talk: Ten sites that make free RSS directory submissions easy

Wednesday: Autumn of Gods updates: link to the weekly "Damian's Oracle" paperback giveaway; new "Damian's Assassin" and "Damian's Immortal" covers; "Damian's Oracle" trailer

Thursday Tech Talk: Update to our Facebook ads adventure

Friday: Interview with writer, blogger, and editor: Nicole

Zoltack

Saturday: Book feature and giveaway: Teresa Edgerton's "The

Goblin Moon"