Jen Smith's Blog, page 5

My First Book Reading

My First Book Reading at the Artists Group I’ve read aloud before.  I’m in 12 step recovery so it’s often my turn to read a paragraph or two in front of people.  No big deal, I’m not so caught up … Continue reading →

Richard Nash- Literary Savior?

Richard Nash- Literary Savior? Richard Nash at Muse and the Marketplace I recently attended the Muse and the Marketplace literary conference in Boston.  My hope was to learn more about the publishing industry, rub shoulders with some agents, and meet … Continue reading →

Fiction is Often the Best Fact

Guest Post by Anthony Caplan You often hear the writer’s maxim to “write what you know.” Well what does a fiction writer know in order to write if it’s essentially a made up story, a fabrication from the imagination? There … Continue reading →

Richard Nash- Literary Savior?

Richard Nash- Literary Savior? Richard Nash at Muse and the Marketplace Richard Nash is a leader and forward thinker in the fast changing world of publishing.  He ran Soft Skull Publishing for several years than sold it to start Red … Continue reading →

The Biker by JD Mader 5star Book Review

The Biker by JD Mader 5star Book Review The Biker is a classic good guy versus bad guy tale that I sum up as a pleasurable page turner.  I’m not going to tell you anything else about the story because … Continue reading →

Breaking the Rules of Writing in Non-Fiction

Can you break writing rules in non-fiction? I recently attended a great writer's workshop at Grub Street Boston called Breaking the Rules in Non-fiction.  This was an encouraging day for me in a very subtle yet powerful way.  I'll explain … Continue reading →

Is Truth in Non-Fiction Really Just Perception?

Is Truth in Non-Fiction Really Just Perception? What is truth?  Is truth a fact?  I can look at my car and say there are four tires.  That is a fact.  I can look at my car and say it's red.  … Continue reading →

SEO 101

Tips for Better Google Search Results Using SEO.

How to get your name, book, and blog posts to come up in Google searches.

When I finished my book SICK and had it edited I felt like I had really accomplished something.  Of course the dream of an agent was fluttering around in my brain like a beautiful brightly colored butterfly.  I proceeded to write the most interesting gripping query letter I could possibly muster up and sent it out to eighty agents.  Yup, that's an exact number I carefully logged them on an excel spreadsheet. (geek)  My beautiful dreamy butterfly quickly turned into an ugly moth as the rejections flooded in.  Add the bad timing of Borders closing to the fact that agents now get hundreds of submissions sometimes daily, and I realized that I didn't stand a chance.  Borders was now sending back its entire inventory to the publishers at the cost of the publishers.  That's how it works.  So no one was willing to take a chance on an unknown author.  (I'm not ready to ponder the possibility that I suck as an author)

I was going to get my book out there one way or another so the self publishing route was the next logical step.  With book cover design and formatting lined up again I really started feeling like I had accomplished something.  Little did I know the real work was just about to begin- book promotion!  You can write the best literary novel of the twenty-first century and if nobody knows it's out there nobody is going to buy it.  Being a geek, as I mentioned earlier, I started reading everything I could get my hands on about book marketing.  My two favorites so far that I would recommend are Mark Coker's Book Marketing Guide which he gives away for free and the much more intense Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah.  The latter gets deep in the weeds of social media but in my opinion is amazingly well written, educational, and forward thinking.  I am fortunate to also have the help of a friend and Google search guru Scott Wasserman of WSI Internet Marketing. http://www.wsiwikipro.com/  I'm writing this article to share some great tricks of the trade that I have learned mainly from Scott.

So the real work began.  I needed a blog, a Twitter account, Facebook, Linked In, blah blah blah yatta yatta- Ahhhhh!!!  And then I saw the letters SEO.  What the heck is SEO?  Secret Encryption Overload?  Service Entry Order?  Then I read it, Search Engine Optimization.  Well that didn't really help.  Then I put two and two together.  Remember, like I said before, you can write the best book ever and if nobody knows it's out there no one is going to buy it.  Search Engine Optimization is all the stuff you can do to help Google, and more-so the searcher, find you and your book.  Here are some facts from the book Inbound Marketing.  In the month of April 2009 over 13 billion searches were conducted in Google, in all other search engines combined there were roughly 22,000 searches.  So Google rules the world and if your book and blog are not being found in Google you don't exist in the search world.  Another hard fact is that there are only about ten search results on a page and very few people ever bother going to the second page so you have to be in the top ten.  This really isn't as hopeless as you may think it is and I will explain why.  This is where SEO comes in.

First of all, if you are an author, you have your name and book name.  I'm Jen Smith SICK, that is my product.  Your name and book name are your key words with perhaps another key word or two about the subject matter, for example zombies or World War II.  You need to let Google know these are your key searchable words over and over and over.  This is where tags come in.  A tag is exactly that, a key word or words that you want Google to associate with you.  The more specific the better, like your name and book name.  The more general your key words, like World War II, the more search competition you will have.  WordPress blog format allows the input of tags for every blog post.  Do not overlook this significant and important step.  I add my name and book name in the tags of every blog I post.  Also try to use your key words in the content of your blog as much as possible, but please not to the point of destroying the readability of your piece.  Be sure to use this option of imputing tags and be precise about tags that are specific to the post, and repetitive always adding your name and your book name.

Another easy, free, and great way to increase your chances of being pulled up by Google is a no brainer!  Join Google plus!  Ok I'll admit I didn't think of this myself despite the fact that it is a no brainer, but my brain has been compromised by a past filled with debauchery and other shady unmentionables, what's your excuse?  Anyways, think about it like this, who rules the search world?  Google!  So why wouldn't Google choose to be partial to pulling up results from its own platforms?  They are!  Not only do I belong to Google plus, I have a share button for Google plus on my blog and I share every one of my blog posts to the Google platform by clicking the Google plus share button.  The way Google rates a page has to do with sites they deem as 'authority sites' linking to your site.  I know that's confusing but stay with me.  Think about it like this, what site do you think Google thinks has the most authority?  Well Google of course!  So by sharing your blog post to Google plus you are greatly increasing the chances of it coming up in a search.  I just Googled myself again, Jen Smith SICK, and of the top four links, three of them were Google plus shares of my blog posts.  It works!

Is any of this new information to you?  Do you find it helpful?

Get better Google search results for your blog

How to get your name, book, and blog posts to come up in Google searches.

What comes up when you Google your name and your book?  Anything?  Try mine- Google Jen Smith SICK.  I come up in eight of the top ten listings most of the time and my book and blog have only been out since mid February.  How does this happen?  I'm going to share with you some of the top trade secrets that have been shared with me by Scott Wasserman of WSI Internet Marketing.  http://www.wsiwikipro.com/

First off have the Platinum SEO Pack plugin installed in your wordpress blog.  SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.  This is free! http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/platinum-seo-pack/   When the SEO plugin is installed it is simple to use.  You will be prompted to fill in additional information before publishing a new blog post.  There will be a box for you to fill in the title of your article and a description.  Make sure your title is brief and accurately descriptive.  If your blog post is pulled up in a Google search this exact title and description will be viewed.  This gives you control and the ability to write a catchy description that will hopefully cause someone to click on your link.  I am a control freak and love this feature!  Before my SEO enlightenment I had no idea we could control the wording around a Google search listing.

Another advantage to SEO is better URL structure.  Google loves this!  I have no structure in my life and kind of flip flops around from project to project day to day but that doesn't mean my URL's can't have some structure!  Instead of a long mish mash of letters and symbols, my URLs are now easy to read for people and Google.  First is the name of my blog, the date of the post, and the name of the post.  Here is a sample.   http://jensmithsick.com/2012/03/01/when-is-an-author-really-an-author/

Pretty groovy don't you think?   And most importantly, don't forget the tags.  Tags are words that you choose to help Google find your page.  Use distinct tags for each individual post that are relevant to that particular blog post and I always include my name and the name of my book.  Google will sometimes use these tags to pull up your page.  Other times Google will choose to use a section of your page's text.  The SEO will have a special box for you to include your tags.  WordPress also has a box to add tags.  Make sure you always fill in both boxes.  If you want to get into the nitty gritty of SEO here it is.  http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/www.google.com/en/us/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

Another easy, free, and great way to increase your chances of being pulled up by Google is a no brainer!  Join Google plus!  Ok I'll admit I didn't think of this myself despite the fact that it is a no brainer, but my brain has been compromised by a past filled with debauchery and other shady unmentionables, what's your excuse?  Anyways, think about it like this, who rules the search world?  Google!  So why wouldn't Google choose to be partial to pulling up results from its own platforms?  They do!  Not only do I belong to Google plus, I have a share button for Google plus on my blog and I share every one of my blog posts to the Google platform by clicking the Google plus share button.  If you don't have a Google plus share button, check out Shareaholics.  It's free!  http://www.shareaholic.com/

Shareaholics can give you an additional row of share buttons in your blog post.  Put share buttons at the top and at the bottom of your post.  The bottom is important for those folks who actually read entire posts before they decide to share them.  WordPress does have share button options that can be utilized but Shareaholics will give you additional share buttons.  In my opinion the worst thing you can do in today's social networking world is have a great blog post and no share buttons for me to tweet it and share it on Facebook and Google plus.  Nothing annoys me more and screams social network newbie!

If you can't figure this stuff out on your own pay someone else to do it, like my friend Scott.  Shop around as prices vary greatly for Web support.  But hopefully, at least, this article will help you understand what you need to ask for.  The next thing you need to know about Google is that they love content.  The more (preferably good) content on your blog the better chances of it being pulled up so go blog your brains out!

Google This!

How to get your name, book, and blog posts to come up in Google searches.

What comes up when you Google your name and your book?  Anything?  Try mine- Google Jen Smith SICK.  I come up in eight of the top ten listings most of the time and my book and blog have only been out since mid February.  How does this happen?  I'm going to share with you some of the top trade secrets that have been shared with me by Scott Wasserman of WSI Internet Marketing.  http://www.wsiwikipro.com/

First off have the Platinum SEO Pack plugin installed in your wordpress blog.  SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.  This is free! http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/platinum-seo-pack/   When the SEO plugin is installed it is simple to use.  You will be prompted to fill in additional information before publishing a new blog post.  There will be a box for you to fill in the title of your article and a description.  Make sure your title is brief and accurately descriptive.  If your blog post is pulled up in a Google search this exact title and description will be viewed.  This gives you control and the ability to write a catchy description that will hopefully cause someone to click on your link.  I am a control freak and love this feature!  Before my SEO enlightenment I had no idea we could control the wording around a Google search listing.

Another advantage to SEO is better URL structure.  Google loves this!  I have no structure in my life and kind of flip flops around from project to project day to day but that doesn't mean my URL's can't have some structure!  Instead of a long mish mash of letters and symbols, my URLs are now easy to read for people and Google.  First is the name of my blog, the date of the post, and the name of the post.  Here is a sample.   http://jensmithsick.com/2012/03/01/when-is-an-author-really-an-author/

Pretty groovy don't you think?   And most importantly, don't forget the tags.  Tags are words that you choose to help Google find your page.  Use distinct tags for each individual post that are relevant to that particular blog post and I always include my name and the name of my book.  Google will sometimes use these tags to pull up your page.  Other times Google will choose to use a section of your page's text.  The SEO will have a special box for you to include your tags.  WordPress also has a box to add tags.  Make sure you always fill in both boxes.  If you want to get into the nitty gritty of SEO here it is.  http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/www.google.com/en/us/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

Another easy, free, and great way to increase your chances of being pulled up by Google is a no brainer!  Join Google plus!  Ok I'll admit I didn't think of this myself despite the fact that it is a no brainer, but my brain has been compromised by a past filled with debauchery and other shady unmentionables, what's your excuse?  Anyways, think about it like this, who rules the search world?  Google!  So why wouldn't Google choose to be partial to pulling up results from its own platforms?  They do!  Not only do I belong to Google plus, I have a share button for Google plus on my blog and I share every one of my blog posts to the Google platform by clicking the Google plus share button.  If you don't have a Google plus share button, check out Shareaholics.  It's free!  http://www.shareaholic.com/

Shareaholics can give you an additional row of share buttons in your blog post.  Put share buttons at the top and at the bottom of your post.  The bottom is important for those folks who actually read entire posts before they decide to share them.  WordPress does have share button options that can be utilized but Shareaholics will give you additional share buttons.  In my opinion the worst thing you can do in today's social networking world is have a great blog post and no share buttons for me to tweet it and share it on Facebook and Google plus.  Nothing annoys me more and screams social network newbie!

If you can't figure this stuff out on your own pay someone else to do it, like my friend Scott.  Shop around as prices vary greatly for Web support.  But hopefully, at least, this article will help you understand what you need to ask for.  The next thing you need to know about Google is that they love content.  The more (preferably good) content on your blog the better chances of it being pulled up so go blog your brains out!