WordPress Multisite Can Be Structural Advantage For SEO

By Phil Singleton

WordPress is by far the most popular content management system for small businesses.  It’s super easy to use and when structured properly, great for search engine optimization.  WordPress also gives you the ability to create a ‘website of websites’ or your own network of sites, on a single installation.

You can find the official networking explanation of WordPress Multisite here.  We will not get into the background or specifics of WP Multisite in this post, but there are some great posts around the net of this topic such as this beginner’s guide.

In a nutshell, WP Multisite enables you to create a network of websites on a single installation of WordPress.  This means, you can have one ‘super admin’ with network wide control, then create an unlimited number of separate websites, each with their own unique moderators and users.  In one common application, for example, you could have a main domain with generic content and a subdomain with niche specific or geographically specific content.   OK, so what does that mean in real world applications?

The following is a practical example of a WordPress Multisite website.  This following link is to the main or ‘parent’ of a WordPress multisite installation website which shows content geared for a national audience:
http://bloggerlocal.com

Next, here is an example of a secondary or ‘child’ website on the same domain and WordPress installation.  In this case, all of the content is different from the parent website, including the content, images and meta data, and in this example, all content is geo-targeted for a city:
http://kansascity.bloggerlocal.com

Another example of a targeted use of WP Multisite is for niches.  So, as an example on the same domain, here is a child site niche-targeted for photography:
http://photographers.bloggerlocal.com

How does this help for SEO?
While there may be some subdirectory vs subdomain debate regarding the importance and influence of domain structure for search engine optimization, it’s pretty clear that subdomain structure is treated differently that subdirectory structure.  Regardless, using WP Multisite is not appropriate for all businesses nor is it pure SEO structure advantage.  The main benefits of using a subdomain structure in WordPress Multisite for possible SEO advantages are likely only realized when using this technology with a genuine and comprehensive approach, and for the following reasons:

1. The subdomain address is technically a separate website address.  Yet, search engines likely neutralize any potential benefits of trying to use subdomains in and of themselves as and SEO advantage.

2. The subdomain website is technically a separate installation of WordPress, meaning, it’s a separate CMS, with a separate blog and users.  Chances are that installing a full website on a subdomain shows this is a website and not a thin microsite or page.  This is why you can see that free Web 2.0 blogs on blogger.com and wordpress.com, etc. subdomains can achieve rank when they publish high quality content.

3. The child site content is quality and unique: this shows the search engines that the child site should achieve rank for its niche or territory.  Then each child site’s SEO potential can be further strengthened with unique social signals and NAP (name-address-phone number) citations if appropriate.

4.  It’s possible to map a unique domain, ie a separate domain to a child site.  Having a unique top level domain (TLD) mapped to a child is clearly be an SEO advantage as a child site with a unique domain to the parent site would have to be treated like a separate site by the search engines.

While WP Multisite may not be a fit for most small businesses, it certainly offers an awesome, cost effective structure for many types of businesses. Businesses such as restaurants, franchises, chapter-based organizations, property management firms, etc.  could all benefit from this type of “site of sites” networking structure.  By having the ability to carve out niche and geo-targeted child sites, there may be significant SEO benefits as well.

Find + Analyze Influential People & Blogs On the Web

by Dave Guindon

This new software is simply AWESOME!! ...

It's called Authority Spy ...

We all know that Authority and Influencer are becoming a MUCH bigger part of Google's algorithm and is the wave of the future when it comes to SEO, Social Media and Online PR. 

Which is why its so important to be able to search and connect with influencers in your niche. AuthoritySpy does just that.

-  Search the web for authoritative/influential people based on your keyword/niche you provide.

-  Find/Aggregate their social media profiles found from across the web.

-  Provide an Influencer score for each result

-  Filter influencers based on specific criteria you assign

-  Allow you to add people to a project and export the results

Watch the video demo here:

authorityspy.com

Interesting new approach to "wiggle" higher conversions?

BY Dave Guindon

I recently saw this brand new approach to increasing your WordPress blog's conversion rates!

See it here

The idea is actually very simple ...BUT impressively innovative!

 ... it's a WordPress plugin called:

 "WP Sore Thumb" ... funny name lol

 

This plugin uses some attention-grabbing effects that your visitors CANNOT MISS

 - shaking, flashing, bouncing, pulsing, swinging, wiggling, and more!

So, if you have a WordPress blog, or working on getting one ...

 .. then, this new plugin offers a fresh new approach to getting higher conversion rates from your blogs!

Also .. this is a PERFECT fit for your Amazon affiliate blogs!

Simply install the plugin, and quickly turn your Amazon affiliate ads into fresh new attention-grabbing ads!

New Software Shows How To Publish On Kindle Faster

BY Chris Guthrie

I gotta admit, I was a Kindle skeptic for a long time.

I never wanted to be a best selling author, I wanted to be a marketer. But things changed when I saw the results that people were having. Now I have several books in the works and today there's a brand new tool that makes it possible to more quickly and easily format and publish books on the Kindle.

In fact, I was just about to release my latest brand new Amazon Wordpress plugin this month, but I'm actually going to give you a chance to get it as a free bonus.

Check out this video of this new Kindle software here:

http://chrisloves.com/kdpbonus/

As with anything I recommend I've spent some time using this software and it's a huge time saver because it helps you more easily format and publish books on the Kindle.

3 Steps to Creating a Killer Mobile Site

BY Amy Gahran

For many people, mobile devices, especially cell phones, are fast becoming the most popular route to the Internet. They want quick, easy access to information that will help them make decisions on the go -- including whether or not to patronize your business.

Unfortunately not every small-business website functions well on cell phones. Many fail to load quickly, prove hard to navigate and make key information difficult to find.

To make your website more mobile friendly, consider these three steps, which put a priority on usefulness, speed and easy navigation.

1. Test your site on a cellular network.
Turn off your cell phone's Wi-Fi connection so you're using your wireless carrier's data network. Then, launch your web browser and type in your business site's URL.

Now, start counting. If it takes five seconds or less to fully load your home page, that's pretty good. If it's 10 seconds or more, there's significant room for improvement.

If your site first displays a decorative splash page, video or a large image, it isn't mobile friendly. These items take extra time to load and get in the way of useful information. Also, if your home page features Flash animation, it won't display at all in many mobile browsers, and your site might appear to say nothing at all.

If your phone simply displays a miniature version of your complete website, that means mobile users must pinch, zoom and scroll to see what's there. That's more work, plus they're more likely to accidentally click the wrong link or button. Your business's most basic and vital information -- such as address, hours and phone number -- should be immediately visible when your site loads on a mobile device.

To get the most comprehensive results, repeat this exercise on several types of mobile phones. Consider asking your friends to access your site on their phones while you watch. Observe but don't coach them on where to scroll or click.

2. Start with easy improvements.
Depending on the results of your tests, your site may need a major overhaul or just some tweaks. If a redesign seems necessary but is more than you can manage at the moment, you can start with a quick and easy fix.

If it isn't already there, put the following information at the top of your site's home page:

    Business name
    Brief description, such as "tax accountants," "auto repair" or "fine French dining"
    Street address
    Hours of operation
    Phone numbers for inquiries or reservations
    Email address
    Link to the mobile version of your site (I'll explain this later)

This information should appear above any background or banner graphics so it loads first. After all, this is what most mobile visitors want to know.

There are several advantages to displaying this information as plain text rather than including it in an image. In most mobile web browsers, simply clicking a phone number starts the call. Similarly, clicking a street address launches the phone's mapping app, and clicking an email address opens the mobile email app. If you make it this easy for mobile users, they're much more likely to do business with you.

3. Build a user-friendly mobile version of your site.
Creating a mobile version of your site can be fairly straightforward. If you built your site with tools that offer a mobile theme layout, then you simply need to select a theme and apply it to your site. WordPress, one of the most popular site-building tools, has many free and inexpensive mobile themes.

You also can build a separate mobile site. There are many inexpensive services that nontechnical people can use, including Mofuse.com and Landr.co. Both let you create and publish a basic mobile site for less than $10 a month.

Mobile sites have a slightly different web address than the full site. The mobile version usually starts with "m." before your regular web address, or ends with the suffix ".mobi" rather than ".com." If a mobile user types in your regular URL or follows a link to your site from a search engine, the mobile version should load automatically.

But that doesn't always happen on every phone. Include at the top of your website a link to your mobile site, and vice versa, just in case.

If you follow these three steps, not only will your business be more attractive and useful to mobile visitors, but you also may become more visible in mobile search results.

4 Low-Cost Ways to Turbo-Charge Your Website

BY Jonathan Blum

Creating the most dynamic and effective business website doesn’t have to break the bank. With reasonable effort, investment and a modicum of Web know-how, you can either build a website or significantly improve your existing Web presence -- for less than $200 in one-time costs.

To do so, you’ll need to know which tools are essential and how to use them. Here are four low-cost ways to get your site not only functional, but attracting customers and helping you close more sales.

1. Get a professional look.
One of the easiest ways to create an effective, low-maintenance website is to combine off-the-shelf content management systems with a pre-made Website template. That way you have a unique-looking site that’s distinguished from basic Web tools such as Google’s Blogger format or Typepad that can also support complex live content.

Among the most popular website hosting services that support free content management systems are WordPress, Joomla! and Drupal. All can manage dynamic content without any tricky or costly coding on your part.

The basic software packages for Joomla, Drupal and WordPress are free. Premium features and extensions, such as e-commerce tools, can be purchased but prices vary. Downloading and installing the basic and advanced versions of these tools does require an understanding of Web software. WordPress, however, offers a hosted version which doesn’t require any software installation.

You’ll also need a professional-looking template for your site that is compatible with your content management system. Options include New York-based Template Monster, which lets users narrow down themes based on business type and website purpose. Templates can cost about $50 each.

2. Analyze your website.
Not getting an accurate picture of how customers use your site might be the single biggest mistake online businesses make. Analytics tools can help you find out how many people visit your website, how much time they spend on each page and what service referred them.

One option is Visistat, which not only offers a number of web analytics services but also tracking of your online marketing campaigns and behavioral data on your site’s visitors. The average package costs about $50 per month.

But the most popular and perhaps the most effective analytics tool is Google Analytics. This free service generates deep, constantly updated visitor statistics. Installation usually only requires you to copy and paste a line of tracking code into your Website code, although some content management systems including WordPress make it even easier through plugins.

3. Get feedback.
Constructive criticism can be key to any business website. While full-on website testing technologies can be effective, they can also be costly.

Southborough, Mass.-based uTest offers access to a global network of 50,000 Web-connected testers and can create custom testing templates for everything from usability to security. Basic usability testing starts at several thousand dollars per engagement.

But there are numerous low-cost online testing services that can provide reviews. For example, Washington, D.C.-based Feedback Army lets businesses post four to six questions about its website, which are answered by online testers. Prices start at $20 for 10 reviews. For $39, Mountain View, Calif.-based UserTesting.com, can provide you with a video of an actual human tester using your website and talking about it as he or she navigates it.

4. Integrate social media.
Your website should link to your business’ social media accounts, but it’s even more important that your visitors be prompted to share your website through their own social media identities.

Most social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter, provide detailed instructions for how to insert “Like”, “Share”, “Comment”, and “Tweet” buttons onto your Web page. Depending on how your website is hosted, can be installed as simple as copying and pasting some code into a website template or downloading and installing a plugin.

They also provide feeds showing your Facebook updates, Tweets and other ways people are interacting with your website -- which can be some valuable information when it comes to knowing your customers.

Bottom line: Working through the fundamentals of good design, compelling dynamic content, properly installed social media and user data can be the fastest and most affordable ways to gets results online.

How to Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly With 'Responsive Design'

BY Amy Gahran

Virtually every business needs a website, but these days the web isn't just about what you see on a computer screen. People are using the internet on an increasingly diverse array of devices, from smartphones to gaming consoles. Some experts predict that by 2014, most web traffic in the U.S. will be on mobile devices.

The trouble is, most business websites are still designed with only a desktop or laptop computer in mind. When you view a typical business website on the browser of mobile device, it usually requires pinching, zooming and scrolling just to see what's on the page. And interacting with the site via a touchscreen can be clumsy at best.

To compensate, more businesses are deploying one or more mobile-optimized web designs, or "themes," that the web server sends to a user when a mobile device is detected. That's a first step, but mobile devices come in many sizes and shapes. What looks great on, say, an iPhone may look and perform poorly on a Kindle Fire.

It is possible to create designs for each of the major screen sizes and devices types, but ultimately that's a losing game. New device types will outpace any designer's ability to spin off customized themes.

One solution is something called "responsive web design," which can make your website easier and cheaper to manage, while giving mobile users a better experience. This allows you to create one design that will fit almost any screen and device type, and can also enhance your search visibility. Additionally, it avoids the hurdle of expecting users to type in "m." before your site URL to access the mobile-friendly version.

When a user accesses a responsively designed website, the site senses the constraints of that user's device and automatically "responds" or reconfigures itself to display and function reasonably well. It reorganizes the layout, for instance, swapping out images and navigation features.

As new web-enabled device types become popular, such as Android-powered cameras, you'll only need to tweak your responsive design to accommodate them.

To create a responsive site for your business, you can either hire a designer or use a site-building tool that supports responsive web design. Either way, these five tips can help you make the switch to responsive design.

Decide when to make the change.
Responsive design is a radically different way of managing the elements of a website, which means it's hard to introduce responsive design to an existing conventional website. You'll probably want to wait until you're creating a new site or rebuilding your existing one.

Track your mobile traffic patterns.
Check your site statistics for the number of mobile visitors, plot how that segment of your online market has been growing and project it two to five years into the future. The steeper that growth curve, the more important it is to implement responsive web design sooner rather than later.

Check out competitors' sites on various devices.
Keep a list of URLs for businesses similar to yours. Periodically check them all out on a variety of computers, smartphones and tablets. Which are easiest to navigate and use, requiring the least pinching, zooming and scrolling? Use the best as guidance for your designer.

Hire web designers with responsive design experience.
Many designers serving small-to-medium business clients are still focused on designing sites intended for viewing on computers. Be sure to ask for recent examples of a designer's responsively designed sites. Don't just get screenshots -- ask for the URLs and check those sites on a variety of device types, paying attention both to how they look and how well they function.

Use effective, affordable tools if you do it yourself.
If you decide to create a responsively designed site on your own, consider trying the latest version of Squarespace. It's an inexpensive web hosting service that lets you create a responsive website via a drag-and-drop interface.

There are also many pre-made responsive themes (both free and paid, usually between $30 and $100) for sites built with WordPress, a popular open-source platform. The hosted version of that platform, WordPress.com, is starting to offer responsive themes, as well.

Check out the Beginner’s Guide to Responsive Web Design.