While I just learned how-to put images here on WordPress blog late last week…this is a perfect way to traffic to our blogs…not just because people have a ‘pretty visual’ to look at within a post; but people actually search the web for images!

Like dah! I knew that…whenever I wanted a picture/image of so-and-so, and run a search.

Here’s all the details at Chris’s Personified blog .

What’s ever SO cool about adding images to WordPress, is that all the details needed to optimize the embedded images (the necessary html codes) are nicely positioned in adding an image in one pop-up box of questions–and size defaults itself!

So, here are a few things I learned:

1. While I love my neat cartoon-characters, I will also look for great original images from my personal photo stock, and use “real-life” photos, that will be expressive of my blogpost, as well as an image title someone on the web may be searching for.

2.  I will start from this day forward, and not go back…as my time would be better used. But, then agian, I only have one-week’s worth of images to optimize, any thoughts?

3. I’ll look at my stats specific to my image posts and non-image posts…should I have an image on every post? Any thoughts?

4. I need to learn how to make little unique badges, or images, like for these SEO Tips Marathons…hmm…

Always learning, so please share below.

I’m so glad I got the news early enough, because there were some loose ends. I got a hold of my VA Jen, and she quickly installed 2 plugins we had yet to get up and running.

We have Thirdsphere seeing if the server is upgradeable, because I desperately want to utilize the WordPress Link Directory (Alec of eBranding, all the way in Australia–with the time difference, is sitting patiently to hopefully install it too, once we get the hopeful “Okay” from Thirdsphere.)

And, I got to put a bunch of live links in, since we did finally move to WordPress almost one-month ago, and I never got back to these posts.

So, as much as Wendy and I are practically soul-sistahs and in constant contact…this totally took me for surprise, but I’m glad she pushed me to producing better, more updated posts for you–my loyal reader!

BTW, she did take out the “women entrepreneurs” part of my titles, as SEO/search engine optimization is universal. As long as you’re online, regardless of your profession or gender, you can gain from these tips…remember, I am some-what a Computer-Dummy, and proud of it!

Oh yeah…and, Wendy pointed out that I can’t count…I double-counted 7’s.  But, I don’t have two 13’s…so maybe my inability to count is rubbing off on her now. hee hee

• Understand Search Engines and How Their Spiders Crawl
• So, your website looks “flashy”…but how does it rank with the Search Engines? Here’s some tips to help out. [I'm obviously not a flashy-person/website...but I know I'm going to succumb to some multi-media soon, so it's best to learn how to implement SEO practices when I unveil them rather than wait, right?]
• All the SEO Tools are here: The Developers’ site themselves. The one I’m using right now is the Backlink Builder…to find link partners directly in my women entrepreneurs’ niche. Pretty sweet, eh?

I didn’t find these hefty resources myself. Thanks to Matt of the Copywriters’ Crucible’s post here. Matt gets his very own post. next.

But, for starters: Here’s his :First Top 10 list that helped him see great success in his first 51 days of starting his blog.

He shares more “key” blog directories, that’s on my “to do” list today.

And, as you can imagine, I love his supports is online press releases, such as at PRWeb.com.

But, he has an interesting-take on making at least 500-word posts. Stay tuned for a highlight of his latest series of intriguing posts…

(a) Keyword Advisor provides:

• Listing of top 10 ranked websites on a search engine for queried keyword phrase
• Listing of link popularities values of the top 10 websites.
• Listing of PageRank values of the top 10 websites.
• A competitive rate for your keyword, indicating whether you should invest on it.
• An estimated number of text links you should build to rank high on your keyword.

(b) SEO Book keyword suggestion tool! Wow~~ this one outdoes all the rest!

(c) Other critical ones are conveniently in one place now! Like Google PageRank Predictor & Backlink Checker (that I recommended before) but Glen has other important ones that I just tried out:

• Link Extractor – Find out how many links are coming from a Certain website, great for finding hidden links on potentially spammy sites, or seeing how many pages the big sites do actually link too!
• Keyword Density Checker – What a great tool for when fine tuning an SEO campaign. Use our Keyword Density Checker to see the frequency/density of keywords on any given webpage!
• Google Banned Checker – Check if your site is likely to have been banned from the Google Banned Checker! If so..contact us for free and find out how we can help you get re-listed, and we will take care of it all.

If you know other tools W.E. (women entrepreneurs) should be using, please share the links below. Thanks in advance!

I have yet to find a more ingenious and charitable way to create a flood of incoming links with one’s appropriate title tags anywhere in the blogosphere, then here:

Alex Shalman at Practical Personal Development (a blog about self help and personal growth) is hosting a Donation Contest in which you press a button and he donates a dollar.

A 3-month young-blogger is definitely a blogger-extraordinaire! Alex truly understands what makes a blog-sticky, and how to jazz up his Search Engine Optimization efforts by simply giving back to his visitor’s choice of charitable foundations. Hop over Alex’s for details. His goal is to reach $500 in donations…let’s help him now!

I’m so at awe at Alex’s 30-day donation contest, that I’m hard-pressed to think of an equally impressive way to encourage others to link back to us, without totally stealing his idea all together.

Any suggestions?

[Update: Excerpt from this article:]

Link Text: Onsite and off, the text which appears in a hyperlink pointing to your page is of great importance. Link text or anchor text should contain your keyword or some variation of it for best results.

Obviously, you won’t have control over your link text in every situation. You can’t control the way a blogger who finds your site will link to you. However, you can use suggestive language in your press releases or on your pages pointing others in the right direction. If you state on your page that “Dogsforeveryone.com is a Dog Health Site dedicated to…” your linker may use the same “dog health” lingo in their link.

See how ingenious Alex really is!?

Seeking more suggestions for us still…

Here are other ways shared in comments and elsewhere:

- John Chow’s Review My Blog 

- Win an iPod at Mark’s Productivity501.com blog 

- Win $50 by reviewing Church of Jacin

Be sure to stay posted, as reviews will follow in the near future…

Although we successfully launched our new website/blog…our SEO tips marathon continues! We have an on-going list of things to implement, and build to this nice solid foundation.

Please refer to the comments in our Welcome Tour post for all the wonderful feedback and comments we received, as well as answers to issues and concerns shared by other visitors.

Now, back to some high-quality SEO implementation:

We’re feverishly registering our new blog to ever blog directory possible. With multiple reputable lists, where do W.E. (women entrepreneurs) start?

Well, here’s how we’re doing it:

**A. SponsoredReviews’s Giant List of blog directories, ranked by PageRank and Alexa**

1. Easton’s 23 most critical URLs to submit to.

2. Niche blog directories.

3. Problogger’s 56 Blog Directoris to submit to.

4. Ari Paparo’s list

5. RSS Top 55 Best Blog Directory and RSS Submission sites. As of today, the list has a grand total of 207 sites…yikes!

Rather than feel overwhelmed by the 100s of sites to logon to, I took Easton’s advice and completed his recommended list.

Our plan is to just set aside time to add a 5-10 new blog directories a week…one at a time, as time allows. Again, build your foundation, and set a system to follow…step-by-step we will succeed!

[Update: I made a new priority of blog directories to list to submit to, because 200+ blogs is totally overwhelming...so, I started submitting to women ad mom blog directories recently, then found #3 & #4 from Problogger...then, I'll tackle the 200+ list, hopefully getting a bunch done in the process. Also, I needed a list stating which ones were free, I was wasting time logging in, only to find it cost $29 - 69 to submit...yikes!]

More to come,

Reasons Online Press Releases are critical for Search Engine Optimization:

- One-way link generation,

- Viral affect of website/blog authors/publishers to pick-up the press release, increasing the number of one-way links,

- With an optimal size of 350 – 800 words, one press release serves as one search engine optimized webpage (maintain 1-2 keywords or phrases per press release *only*),

-  Life-long link-backs with the opportunity to increase in PageRank over time, with the opportunity to be first published on the homepage with excellent PageRank (depending upon the distribution service site),

- Anchor text link backs, excellent for search engine optimization (option),

- Title tags, search engine optimization tags, etc. (option),

- Social bookmarking tags (option), and

- Ability to trackback to your own blog, connecting the press release directly to your website/blog (option).

Here are the place where to submit: (These are the websites I use to distribute my press releases, in priority
order) : [UPDATE: we always submit our monthly press releases to PRWeb.com, and all the free distribution sites, the Ultimate List is available here]. 

[PR = Google Page Rank]

1. http://www.prweb.com PR7 [Minimum $10 donation]
2. http://www.free-press-release.com PR 6
3. http://www.24-7pressrelease.com PR6
4. http://www.clickpress.com PR6 [I'm trying them now for the first time. It obviously knocked others off my top list to get its #4 placement.]
5. http://www.pressmethod.com PR4
6. http://www.express-press-release.com PR4 [I'm trying them for the first time, as a colleague highly recommends them.]
7. http://www.prfree.com PR3 [Time to take this one off the list. But, I
usually only make it down the Top 4 anyways.]

For more on how to write one, I’ll give you samples later (if not sooner than tomorrow I apologize)…

[Update: Thanks to John Kremer, he has a more complete list of online press release distribution center. We're looking to rank them with Google PageRank...anyone finishes before us, please post below! Here's The Ultimate List of Online Press Release Distribution Centers, we're keeping it updated and current too!]

FREE $200 PRWeb.com Press Release Is Yours! Click here for details.

[Update: Still working, and will continue to work on all these 'current/new techniques' as time allows]

Given Yaro’s success,

I was curious to see who’s on his blogroll for SEO Tips: Search Engine Weblog
This post is a hodge-podge of issues further justifying my past points, but I’ll just share the main “new” points below:

1. ) How Loyal are your Blog Readers?

The study also found that 67.3% of the respondents follow links to learn about new blogs while 22.9% of the readers rely upon recommendations on blogs. This number is greater than those who simply find a blog via a search engine (19.9%).

Ponn’s Personals: So, what’s all my fuss with this SEO Tips Marathon!? Wait…at the end of this post you’ll find out!

In order for a weblog to be a hit in the blogosphere, the study noted that it should be well-written and focused on specific topic.

[Phew--I'm saved here. ! I write unique, detailed, informative, helpful posts...don't I?]

2.) Things a SEO Consultant should do.

There’s a comprehensive list, but it all winds down to Numero-Uno:

1) Understanding Client’s Business Objectives & Strategic Marketing Plan. But I think the most important is task#1. It is always necessary to understand what the client’s business objectives are. Is it for branding, for lead development, for selling products..etc.

[What I appreciate in working with Jen, is that she understands my short and long-term goals. Whether related, or not, when it comes to business opportunities, I share everything with her...so she keeps in the back of her mind how the little pieces fit the whole. We have our brand, we're growing our network, we're developing product, and much more. What's perfect is, she has first-hand experience in all these areas in her own business too. Check her out here.]

3.) New School SEO Opportunities:

[We're just starting out sistahs! So don't be bummed out with all these "new school SEO opportunities". I wasn't "really" into all the ideas prior to this post. But, now seeing its SEO implications, I'll have to rethink unveiling some of these tactics within this upcoming year...what do you think?!

a. Social Media Marketing (SMM). The technique is to delve deeper to what social communities are searching for and applying it to the website for better SEO results and web traffic.

[I colleague/friend is gently nudging me to join myspace.com or at least linkedin.com]

b. Video promotion. Insert your url as a watermark in some online video websites like YouTube. The simple effort could mean more.

[There's so much room for your imagination! The ideas are endless. I particularly like the use of a PowerPoint presentation to make a slideshow of your main points.]

c. Onebox optimization. There is a good opportunity for websites to make it to the top of the SERPS and other online search niche areas using onebox optimization.

[Never heard of this...so, like my other examples, I checked Wikipedia.org found nothing...then, Yes, I did a "search" and found: The OneBoxer.com
Here's a beginners video (~5 mins...I didn't really time it).

Sweet! This is good for Product Sales only. So, I looked at keyword searches for my book...and, I noticed each book is a member of Google Books...I am too, but I haven't sent them a copy of my book yet to scan and post. On my "to do" list now!]

d. Society participation. Find a forte and become increasingly developing in that field. Bear in mind that credibility is not a commodity hence; the more you should value it.

[Due to health limitations, I'm forced to follow my own advice...so valuing my brand "empowerment" is dear to my heart...family and life in general. I will not jepordize this, nor do I recommend any of you should. Practice what you preach and admit when you are wrong. Honesty and humility goes a long way to keeping you "human" during your entrepreneurial ventures.]

e. Execute your own ideas. Concepts, ideas and innovations may just be floating on your mind. Never disregard them.

[Yes. I think I got this one down-pat to at least keep us on our toes for the next six-months! I'm so excited!]

4.) 5 Guaranteed Ways to Develop Quality SEO

a. Concentrate on your readers. One problem with keyword SEO services is the repetition of words that they lose the readability factor. When you write, consider both the readers and SEO. You can cater to both so why compromise?
b. Avoid using misspelled keywords. Though, there is the fat finger principle, preclude from using misspelled and intolerable words.
c. Proofread your articles. Be sure that elite keywords SEO are appropriately used so as not to confuse readers.
d. To make it easy for your online readers use headings and bullets in your keyword articles.
e. Make your articles relevant to your SEO keywords.

[The whole editing bit...this blog is my writing outlet. I don't edit like I would for a best-seller, and I appreciate spell check...but...hmm, I'll try better, I promise.]

6.) Search Engine Visibility Stripped

The fact is obvious: if your website does not show up on the first 3 pages of a search query, you won’t be yielding any traffic for that particular search. If your website is like that, it means you have low search engine visibility.

Another fact is that 80% of the web traffic goes to those on the first half of the natural search engine results on the first page. A recent study on Google found that searchers spend more time looking at natural search results compared to paid ones. Only 38% of the clicks generated were on sponsored or paid results.

Moreover, engine ranking search visibility is crucial to lure more web visitors. To improve visibility, excellent web site search engine optimization is necessary. Search engine rankings are important in the sense it give website owners to take advantage of the search engine rankings.

So, to end this post and keep my Marathon alive…W.E. (women entrepreneurs) must work on our SEO–together!

Okay, now I’m looking for your thoughts on this one.

[Update: We're leaning here: WordPress Link Directory .

Our problem is that we need: MySQL to versions 4.1 or above...a server issue. Thirdsphere is looking into this now. I'll keep you posted!]

Looks like I’m leaning towards eSyndiCat Directory Software

According to their home page:

Top Rank and High Search Engine Positions – that’s the dream of nearly every website owner. On this page you’ll learn how to achieve that goal!

Using eSyndiCat Directory Software your website can achieve top rank and take the leading positions in the most popular Search Engines!

And the best part?
There is no need to waste your time and money searching the web for a great directory script. You can get it right now!

[Update: Major downloading headaches!] 

Girl! If you can remember…way back when I ventured online…I did all my link exchanges manually! I had great partners, but I had to weigh and score who to add, where and when. Then, periodically check to make sure there was a reciprocal link…yowser!

So, whether we use eSyndiCat Directory Software (aff) or not…with free link exchange directory software available to automate the process…

I’m curious what your experiences are good, bad or indifferent?

Any other software you prefer?

Please share your comments below.

After reviewing, researching and asking the experiences of Tag Cloud users, I’ve decided on Ultimate Tag Warrior 3.

Ultimate Tag Warrior (UTW) is an internal tagging that keeps people on the site and boosts SEO. As stated on their homepage:

Ultimate Tag Warrior is a multi-headed hydra of a plugin. It allows you to add tags either through the Write Post page in wordpress in a tag box, on posts using an AJAXy box, and in posts using special syntax from external editors (or internally, if you’d like). From the write post page, you can also get suggestions for tags using the Yahoo! keyword suggestion service.Once you’ve got your tags entered; you enter a realm of interesting ways of doing things with your tags. At the complicated end, AJAXy search is included with the download (it may need some customisation to match your theme). At the simpler end, you can automagically have tags included at the top and bottom of your posts without making changes to themes.

So, a little download and that’s it!? We’ll soon find out…

Any experience or feedback you can share, please comment below:

And, then…there’s a BUT: UTW’s Creator is currently soliciting thoughts to reconstruct her baby…fortunately, the very first post made on Feb. 20, 2007 shares he just installed and very happy with it…we can always upgrade later, right?

[Update: Just got another "Thumbs Up" for UTW from a colleague. Based on his experience, I'm using Internal clouds].