Google + & Search Engine Optimization

What exactly is search engine optimization (SEO)? And where does Google + come into this? We know that we want to be found on the Internet. If our readers can find us, and get to know us, they might even buy our books! Bottom line - SEO is a process that enables search engines to find us, index our website, and rank it on the search engine result pages. 

When we are setting up our sites, and site pages, we have to pay attention to things like page titles, subtitles, and keywords. One of the benchmarks that Google uses to rank a page is the number of links from other sites.  To do us any good, these links have to be quality links. Google + is a new player here ... and an important one.

Google collects user data from Google + the same as other sites, such as Facebook, collect from  their users. I think we are all fairly conversant with this concept ... although we don't always appreciate it. Google + gets information from user profiles, comments on posts, user sharing, and +1'ing. We may not like this, but it does give the Google search engine greater accuracy. Sites are ranked as to how they fit in with the information that Google + gathers.  

Google + can help us as authors to brand ourselves, including Google + authorship. (This is something that I did as soon as I found out about it/ You can find out more about Google + authorship here - Google + Authorship.)

Links that are in Google + profiles are added with something termed "do follow", which means that they are treated as web pages, which allows for increased visibility and page ranking. 

I may not understand SEO or Google + as well as I should, but I was there close to the beginning, an have been able to grow my understanding as Google + grew. This is something that we all need to pay attention to.

(c) 2000 - 2013 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited in all venues without the written permission of the author,  

Making Social Media Work For You

This week I am setting out on a stream of consciousness writing related to social media. All this means is that I am going to toss stuff out there, and make no attempt whatsoever to link it together! It’s all good!

Social media for the most part isn’t something that we look at as being expensive – in terms of finances, anyway. We can all use the social media sites, and recommend them to our friends, without anyone going broke. However, there is a cost or two that I am seeing more and more people addressing, and that is the time that we have to spend consistently putting up well written, relevant content, in an SEO savvy manner. That, IMHO, carries a very high price!

What are some of the best ways to spend our time? A priority for me is following people that interest me, that have something to say, both in my professional worlds, and in special interest areas. I skim posts on Twitter, Face Book, and Google +, taking the time to read only those that I have both the time and the interest to read and respond to. I have an active RSS feed that I add blogs that I am interested in to, so that I catch new posts as they are coming out.

Thanks to my friend Anna Burroughs Cook, I can now work with Google Images, and quickly find decent images to use with my posts, and in my webinars. When I was moving from site to site looking for appropriate images, I just about tore my hair out! Now it’s one and done!

I am also paying a bit more attention to my Linked In page – updating as needed and adding connections as necessary. I can connect in a relevant manner with all of the worlds that I venture into on Linked In, as credibility (to me, anyway) is relatively easy to determine on this site.

I have a tendency to share links as I run across them, and I share them on Twitter, Face Book, and Google +. Yes, this does take up some keystroke time! I just ran across this site, and have not worked with it yet, so please do not consider this a recommendation. It is a simple “Check this out.” Bufferapp.com is a site that lets you collect and send relevant material from the Internet at preset times. http://bufferapp.com/ The one issue that I have here is that it appears to only post to Twitter and Face Book, and not to Google +.

Last, but not least – e-mail newsletters. I have friends who do this, and do this well. I have done this on and off over the years, and am currently of the mind that, at least for me, I don’t need both a blog and a newsletter. However, I do feel that a well written newsletter, sent out on a consistent basis, keeps the sender’s name out there, along with quality content.

Whatever you choose to do – make the social media work for you!

© February 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

Keyword Research

It is not enough to find interesting content for our blogs. It is not enough to write our blogs in a cohesive manner. For most of us, our blogs are one part of an overall strategy to get our name and work out into the public eye. What can we do to make our blogs stand out, so that they reach a larger audience, and encourage that audience to come back for more? Make best use of keywords!

Keywords? Okay, most of us recognize that keywords are a part (okay - a large part) of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). So what are they, exactly, and how do we know when we are using the right one, and using them correctly? It's called research! We do what is called keyword research. What we are looking for is the word(S) that an individual types into a search engine (such as Google) to find specific information. Making best use of these keywords in our blogs, and in the titles for our blogs, will place us higher in the search engine ratings, and drive more visitors to our blogs.

There are two groups of thought here: one group holds the position that if you write quality content with a specific audience in mind, you should not need to use keywords - that people will seek you out. The second group holds the position that you need to find the best keywords, and base your article around them. I think that most of us combine these methods - starting with defining our audience, deciding on the content, then writing the content,keeping the keywords in mind. I have written site content where I was required to use certain words a given number of times - not a heck of a lot of fun!

Sigh. Where do we start. Review what you blog is all about, and who your audience is. Make a list of words that are appropriate to your content and your audience. Keywords will change as content and intended audience changes. This will give you a good foundation for your writing.

Now life gets fun (not!). It is time to take your most prominent keywords, your strongest keywords, and run them through a keyword research tool, such as Google Keyword Tool, Keyword Tool, or Keyword Tool, all of which are free. Make a list of your results, so that you don't need to do this very often!

Have fun with this - but take it seriously, too. Make best use of your time - perhaps do this in phases, so that you don't burn yourself out. The results will be that your blog, and your work, will gain a wider audience, and you will be creating opportunities for the growth of your blog and your work!

(c) January 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

Best Use Of Resources

This pic was taken in my mother's back yard - journal, pen, cup for coffee/tea, and red candle for energy. I would love to say that I have gotten better at setting pics up ... but I haven't! The intention and effort is there, so that will have to suffice. ;-)

I have been sitting here thinking about where I want to go from here. I already know that I want to focus on my writing. First step is down - I actually have a book out there with a brick and mortar publisher! Next steps include moving into the fiction genre, focusing on e-books, and promoting them.

Promoting - I am a little lagging with that! Thank heavens I have friends like Linda Marson, Mary Nale and Anna Burroughs Cook that can help me get my work out there! Non-techie that I am, I had one heck of a time finding a way to get this post up! What I didn't realize was that this lovely site had an ad over my account information! Way to go, Blogger!

Thanks to Catherine (Kate) Chapman from www.tarotelements.com, I do know a little about SEO. She knows a lot, she tried to teach me a lot, but, me being me, only a bit of it stuck! I am trying, Kate, I really am! I make sure to do what she told me to do on my site and on all of my blogs. Now I need to seriously work with Google to get my ranking up for my site and for my blogs! I have a giftie from my host company that I need to use in that regard. Have to check and make sure the darn thing doesn't have an outdate!

I still have to put my review links from my blog to my site - I put off doing that for so long that it becomes a chore. I know - I should do that every time I put a review or interview up. Point taken!

There are so many wonderful resources out there - and I do know about a lot of them. I will always pick and choose what I use, so that some poeple will think that I am really not making best use of what is available. I look at it this way - the level of what I do has to fit the level of life that I want. I want my writing to fit into the other things that I am interested in.

It will all work out! The good thing ... I am well on my way to accomplishing this years goals!

(c) October 2011 Bonnie Cehovet

The Importance Of SEO

We all nod our head that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is important. As writers, we want our work to be found, and to be read. Unless we wear two hats - writer and techie - we are probably a bit (or more than a bit!) haphazard with our SEO work. The importance of SEO was brought home to me this past week, when I was contacted by an individual that was looking specifically for information that was contained in an article that I had just written. It was a two part article (with the second part going up this weekend), and she was looking for the second part to use in work that she is going to be doing int he coming week. I was thrilled that she found my article, and even more thrilled that she was searching out Part 2!

Here are some things that should be taken into consideration in optimizing your site:

1. Is your content relevant?
2. Are you linked to other sites?
3. Is your site frequently updated?
4. Is your header relevant to your content?
5. Are your keywords repeated?
6. Does your content provide something of value to your site visitors"
7. Are your site pages linked in a logical manner?
8. Is your content clear, concise, and does it offer value?
9. Do you have a clear picture of who your site visitors are?
10. Do you have a clear idea of what is currently important/of interest in your market?

Note: SEO as I am addressing it here is for unpaid, or algorhythmic search results. If you are looking for paid results for your site, you would need to take different steps towards optimizaiton.

One last note - I just came across Google's Website Organizer, whic is a free service that checks your site for . While i have not used it yet, I am going to run my site through it, and see how bad a shape I am in! To try this on your site, go to .

(c) October 2010 Bonnie Cehovet