Tag: google+

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Work

Why SEO Is Important

A while ago I attended an SEO course.  The course was run by Michael of Digital Class.

I knew a bit about SEO already, but a refresher and more info on current trends is always a good idea.

An overview of the SEO Process.
An overview of the SEO Process.

So, what is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation.

It is important to have your site optimised so that search engines and people can find you.

SEO is also about making your website friendly to search engines but also for users as well. If your website is hard to use this will not be good for usability and can impact your listings on search engines as well.

This is not a short term fix for your website. An SEO Strategy is a long term strategy, which can take up to months to see results. Even though it is a long term strategy and you will not see immediate results it is a good idea to have an SEO Strategy for your website.

How does it work?

There are a number of things you can do to improve your websites SEO.

One part of the SEO process is that you add keywords, phrases to your pages. These terms are searchable via search engines and then indexed to have your article get found more easily.  

Keywords can be added to meta data, tags, keywords and titles. If these keywords are popular search terms then your article will hopefully appear on page 1 or close to of the Google Search results.

The Google Search Engine is the main search engine used by users. Optimising your site with Google in mind is a wise idea.
The Google Search Engine is the main search engine used by users. Optimising your site with Google in mind is a wise idea.

An SEO Strategy means that it is also more than keywords, it is content, building links on other sites and much more!

  • On page SEO – Make sure that your titles for posts have a searchable term and your keywords in it. Search for popular terms using web tools, Ensure that all images have ALT Tags on them. This is helpful for accessibility and is the most important SEO factor for images.
  • SEO Content – Your content needs to be relevant and helpful is best for SEO. Website with strong content builds better relationships and fuels more ways to showcase via different channels. If your content is fabulous, more people will share it and therefore help with SEO.
  • Link Building – Google uses links as votes so, therefore, it is great for SEO. Build links from other sites, industry listings, sites you like or recommend and more. Google does not like follow links if you have paid advertising on your website. This violates Google’s webmaster guidelines. If you do promote a site that you are paid to review it is advisable to use a nofollow link.

 

Keyword Research

It is advisable to research what keywords to add to your posts or articles. Having an idea of what people would search for can help your article get higher up search results, and also improve your organic reach.

I look at the topic I’m writing about and do a Google search on similar posts. I see what keywords they have used and to see how popular these content pieces are.

Michael mentioned that  Google Keyword Planner is a good tool to use.  This tool is free, as long as you have an adwords account.

I use Google Keyword Planner namely because it is free and secondly due to the fact that the data is coming from Google.  Google corners the market in Australia with 90% of search traffic in Australia coming from Google it is one to make sure

This tool gives me phrases to add to my posts as well as keywords. Having long tail search terms I feel is good as I like to search on Google for a certain combination of words and I’m sure others do this too.

Another tool which Michael said was the next best option, and the most affordable is KWFinder. You can do a few free searches per day.

One thing that Google is prioritising, mobile friendly websites. 

“We will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results,” said Takaki Makino, Chaesang Jung and Doantam Phan in a blog post for Google webmasters.” (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/20/google-mobilegeddon-will-shake-up-mobile-search-results)

On the first of January this year I updated my website to be more mobile friendly. It is now great on all devices and looks amazing (well I think so). 

 

I know there is more to do and I will get to more of my SEO Strategy soon. There is always something to do with SEO on your site.

Another tool that is a must have is to install Google Analytics on your website. Keeping track of popular content is ideal, you then can optimise your best articles and then write more content that your readers want.  The data that Google Analytics gives you is gold as this can show you so much to understand how your content is doing. Without this analytics tool, you are really flying blind.

This  SEO course from Digital Class was great and made me think of all the things I need to do to make my site better. As said, I’ve optimised my website to better for mobile. On my site over 30% of my readers are using a mobile device. If your site is not able to be seen easily on a mobile screen you are missing out on readers.

I need to focus on making sure that all my posts are SEO optimised, some of my articles from when I first started the blog are not great and need to be improved.

Speed Test for your Website

Google is concerned with speed and load time of your website. If it takes forever it is not great for SEO.  Check out your website with this great tool from Google, it also gives you what needs to be fixed: Anazyle your Site Speed from Google

Other sites that test your website are: 

 

Google Analytics helps you with your SEO Strategy. You can determine what is popular, what isn't working and where to direct your energy.
Google Analytics helps you with your SEO Strategy. You can determine what is popular, what isn’t working and where to direct your energy.

 

Want to Learn more about SEO?

Do you need a refresher course on SEO or need a great course on the fundamentals? If you do consider Micheal from Digital Class

The course covered everything you need.  You get digital notes that you can follow online or print out.

Micheal put things into everyday language that everyone can understand, so don’t freak out if you are not technically minded.

Thanks Michael for a great course.

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Categories
Pre-School

Maria Montessori’s 142nd birthday

Maria Montessori’s 142nd birthday
Maria Montessori’s 142nd birthday

Today is Maria Montessori’s birthday, if she was still alive today she would be 142 so that is a lot of knowledge she would have by now. Google have special doodles on their search page to honour her birthday and her as a person.

My twins go to a Montessori pre-school and have thrived with this environment. Have you sent your kids to a Montessori school? Has this helped them? I know this way is not for all and other kids benefit from different schools.

My girls seem to like the structure and the fact that they are hands on, and can learn to do practical things that adults do as well. Both girls are keen to help out more around the house, and are able to do more as they have practiced at school with the practical skills like scrubbing, washing, grating, whisking and other things like this.

More about Maria Montessori.

Send in your comments of your experience with Montessori education.

Categories
3 years and beyond

Hanging Out With Daddy

Daddy is in Melbourne for work and will be there for the rest of the week. Previously when daddy has been away he has connected with me and the kids, more so for the kids via online. Tonight we used a Google + Hangout and it works a treat.

You just click the button to organise a hangout, which is just like a private room but in this private room you can have a video conference with just one or more people. It is dependent on how many attendee’s you invite.

So as you can imagine the girls were excited to speak to daddy and also see him, but the main draw card of the evening was funny faces and silly movements. Not much was said and the girls were in such a giggle fit that it was hard to hear anything. I thought you might take some joy out of the picture that daddy was able to save from our online chat.

Hoping that tomorrow’s online talk with daddy and the kids is less crazy. Does your husband/wife work interstate or overseas? If so have you Skyped or used Google to catch up? It is a wonderful tool the Internet to stay connected. Although Julia was rather upset at first to see daddy as she wanted him home. Both my girls kept thinking that daddy was coming home tonight. I told them again that he is in Melbourne, and this was met with “When is he coming home?” I then explained that he is interstate for work and he will be home soon.

Do you have any funny stories or things you do to make it easier on the kids when one parent is away? Send in your stories. Why not continue this discussion on our twitter or facebook pages.

Online with Daddy
Online with Daddy
Categories
News

Working Through Maternity Leave

I read with interest that Yahoo has hired Marissa Mayer who is expecting her first child soon. I congratulate Yahoo for seeing that pregnancy is not an issue.  However there has been much talk of Ms Mayer’s comment that she is only going to have a couple of week’s maternity leave and that she will work all throughout the leave as well.

Many women take less leave after a baby and this is not news. I for one did not, but I am not in the league of Marissa Mayer in earnings or at the CEO level (I wish I was, maybe one day) Why not continue in your field? Have the good job with a great salary. Men don’t get criticised about working hard when they have a new baby, although they are not the person that has the child or will breastfeed.

I for one don’t have a problem that Ms Mayer is going to work throughout her maternity leave, it is a personal choice. Many women don’t have an option but to work when their kids are babies, the family needs to pay the bills somehow.   Someone that has been successful in work has the ability to hire help, nannies, and carers.

Jill Cordes from Fearless Feisty Mama is questioning if women can truly have it all? I do understand and feel that sometimes we cannot, that we can have the career and then the family and then go back to the career.  It never seems to all happen at the same time, however if I had more money and help maybe I could have both?

Currently I am enjoying looking after my girls, and I would not do it differently, but there are moments where I long for work and wonder what I would be doing and what my position/role would be if I continued in the corporate world.  Would I be a manager? Would my earnings be greater? Who knows, it is a guessing game now as I’m a stay at home mummy to my twins.  As you would have read from previous posts, for me to work would do us a financial disservice, so it is better for me to be home with the kids. Also my work is in the city and we are two hours away, just not a good fit right now. So as stated, home educator/carer is better for now, hoping the work will come later.

While writing this my nearly four year old twins want me to play with them, cuddle them and be with them. It is a hard balance, trying to get some things done for you, and spending time with your little ones. I do enjoy playing with the girls, although it does not get a lot done with the house. This is where a cleaner/nanny would come in handy. I could spend time with the kids while hired staff helps me keep the house. Oh how that would be nice… Universe I am putting it out there, when we get rich I want a housekeeper to help with the house.

Jill Cordes does make a good point that you have ideas on how it will be with the baby and reality never equals your ideas of how it was supposed to be. My girls were good and slept well after 3 months, however during their first three months; I was up every 2-3 hours feeding them. They did sleep well in the first three months, but it was just a blur with no sleep and hard. After the first three months they slept about 12-14 hours a night… thank god for that. What would happen if the baby/babies did not sleep had reflux or some other issue?

A quote from Jill Cordes article: “I worry though, that Mayer could also send a message to the rest of the world that women can push through their maternity leave if they want; that all it takes is “a few weeks.” She could ultimately be hurting the case for the majority of us who actually want to enjoy our babies–and take care of them–before returning to the workforce.”   I hope that others don’t see this as the norm in maternity leave and that some people just would rather to work and have less leave, it should be seen on a case by case basis.  Let’s hope that women don’t get pressured to have shorter leave.

I am sure that when Ms Mayer’s first baby comes she will adapt to the new person in her life and make changes accordingly, as the CEO she will have the ability to make changes to her schedule within reason.

With the idea getting work after kids are at school, not sure how this will work – I hope to be able to do something part time or from home. Maybe setting up a business from home might be the way to go? Well you never know.

I see the point of sticking with your great job, why move if it works for you, and they are flexible with family. If I was Marissa Mayer I would not listen to others about her choice, it is up to her and other women in the same situation. Why feel even guiltier about your choice. It is not for me to judge. Do you believe that other women will get pressured to work and have less maternity leave due to this example? Did you take less maternity leave? Did you work through your maternity leave? What are your thoughts? Send in your comments.

Why not continue this discussion on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MummyToTwinsPlusOne

Categories
News

Serious Gear Lust

I have had serious lust over the iPad’s and would just love to own one. I know it is a terrible thing to admit, but it is true. Having a tablet would definitely be a help in life, while out with the kids I could be doing work, and at home I could take the tablet to bed (how strange to say take a tablet to bed, you know I mean a laptop device, not a bex or a tablet) to read articles for university, and of course if I have any further spare time, I will use it to surf the web or just read for my own interest.

Finding out that there is a mini iPad about to be launched is great news, and that it might be cheaper than the other iPad’s on the market. This mini iPad will be launching in October some time so I’m keen to find out more, although the article about the mini iPad claim that the launch will be more likely for September. We will have to wait and see.

It is not just the iPad’s that have managed to wake my gear lust; it is also Microsoft’s Surface, again coming in October. From what I understand there is no cost listed currently for these devices and I would love to have one also. You might just say that I am keen to have a portable device that I can take with me, out and about or to just retire and read books or articles with. The desktop computer just does not cut it anymore. One amazing thing about Microsoft Surface is that the cover for the tablet becomes the keyboard, no need to purchase the keyboard separately.

Do you lust after products that you cannot have? Is it just me that wants a tablet? I also find the term tablet a bit strange…I feel like I am asking for a pill/medicine. I know it is not, but that is what it sounds like. A bit like when I first heard of the Nitendo Wii, it took me a moment to understand that people were talking about a product and not wanting to go to the toilet. I know silly, but how many others have had the same issue? I am up with technology and very savvy with it, and sometimes the names for products just throw you.

Send in your comments, or stories about what things you lust over. My list is getting longer and longer, however I will stick with either an iPad or the Microsoft Surface for the moment.  It will be interesting to see how Google, Apple and Microsoft go with very similar products and what prices they will sell at.  Having a price point that is more competitive might mean the organisation that wins the business will corner the market.

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Features of the blog

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Hi all mummy to twins readers. We here have thought that it would be nice to be more social, to do more of this we have added buttons that you will see under each post.

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