How I unexpectedly discovered (and solved) my first duplicate content issue

When I first learned about duplicate content, it was due to good ol’ fashioned trial and error. Nothing fancy.

I didn’t even realize duplicate content could be an issue (or that it even existed). Who would do that?! Anyway, due to my never-ending curiosity on all things SEO, tons of research, and in sheerly-devastating-absolute-total-frustration, I resorted to one last ‘Google.’

~ ~ ~ ~ I was then catapulted (redirected) to a WordPress plugin called Yoast. ~ ~ ~ ~

The funny thing is, I was already using Yoast! However, they mostly focus on things like SEO formatting within pages/posts and not finding SEO issues like duplicate content. So, they had some SEO tool suggestions!

LIFE. SAVER!

Now let’s get to … Read More

Be in the kNOW: Local SEO for Small Business

Small business SEO can be a monumental task when first starting and becomes even more overwhelming when you find out there’s more to it.

If you already have the “regular” search engine optimization stuff down, then what about the Local stuff?

If you say to yourself, “WAIT — local SEO is different?!“, don’t fret!

You’re not going to have to “redo” your small businesses SEO or anything like that. For the most part, it’s adding some new pages and a few other things.

Before we begin, let me clarify the difference between SEO and Local SEO.

→ SEO has many names, but it’s not all the same! For example, if you’ve heard of Organic SEO, Global SEO, or Traditional SEO then you know where … Read More

Improve by Checking Website Speed

Slow site?! UGH! Checking website speed and improving it can be a pain, especially if you don’t know where to start.

So how fast should a website be?

Google expects e-commerce sites to load within 2 seconds? 2 SECONDS! To add to that, the average load time for web pages that are 3Mb is 5 seconds, but over a 3G network (for an average mobile website) could take as long as 19 seconds!

Reminder: Check website speed!

Luckily, there are many ways to check page load times, the actual speed of your site, etc. Plus, many of the tools out there let you know what to work on, and some even provide step-by-step instructions. Keep in mind that there isn’t necessarily a “one size fits all” tool because ultimately, each site has … Read More

What is SEO Over Optimization?

First, is SEO over optimization even possible?

Absolutely! But not in the trying-to-make-everything-supER-DUPER-PERfect sense. We’re talking in the TOO-much-focus-on-SEO-doesn’t-appease-to-search-engines-or-your-audience sense!

Now, there’s a vast difference between regular SEO and over-optimizing SEO.

Believe it or not, when you over-optimize, it’s obvious! Content doesn’t flow and the wording lacks substance. Not only that, but your audience will notice. Even if they don’t know what’s exactly amiss. Plus, search engines notice high bounce rates and bots are programmed to flag a multitude of over-optimization tactics.

Below you’ll find seven tips on what not to do to help avoid over-optimization in the first place.… Read More

Helpful WordPress Plugins for Small Businesses

Raise your hand if you’re on the lookout for easy-to-use and super helpful WordPress plugins!

Now, raise your hand if you find it challenging (and time-consuming) when trying to find the perfect one!

We all know how easy it is to spend countless HOURS researching and then testing a new WordPress plugin only to discover that it’s not what we want.

So what’s the next best thing to do instead of spending tons of time researching and testing them out? Word-of-mouth, of course! Which is the whole point of this post!

Below you’ll find 7 of the best WordPress plugins that we’ve utilized before. Also, each of them has a different functionality — from automation to security. None of them are the same!

Let’s get to it!… Read More