All About Meta Tags

Are you familiar with Meta Tags? If not, here's a quick definition: Meta elements are HTML or XHTML elements used to provide structured metadata about a Web page. Such elements must be placed as tags in the head section of an HTML document. Meta elements can be used to specify page title, description, keywords and any other metadata not provided through the other head elements and attributes.

The most common meta tag is your title tag which appears all the way at the top of your website browser window in the upper left hand corner. My recommendation for meta tags pretty simple and have worked for me when optimization my websites.

Title Tag
Begin with a well structured title tag that includes your keywords. Try to keep your title tag short as this provides more weight to the words you've included. Longer titles are less effective.

Description Tag
This tag is important because it describes your web page. More importantly, this description is seen in search results. So you want the description to be both accurate and catchy. It needs to encourage users to click through to your web site.

Keywords Tag
Don't put too many keywords in your keywords tag. I like to limit the number of keywords to around 12 which are the most important to your page. Focus on delivering only your most important keywords through the keywords tag.

Other Elements
Robots tag, verification keys, etc. can all be part of your meta data. Some webmasters include other information like authoring data and so on. Don't get carried away. I have found that by including the basic tags you're doing more than enough.

Adding Your Tweet Me Me Button To Blogger

It's pretty interesting, but I had been struggling to add a "TweetMeMe" button to this Blogger blog and others. It took me quite a bit or research to not only place the button but to get it to achieve the functionality I really wanted for my blog.

Problem 1: Finding Code To Add to My Blogger Template
Most of the code out there related to adding Twitter buttons is for WordPress. I know that I may be the only guy still out there using Blogger, but I always thought that it would be a safe bet given the fact that Google owns it... but I guess you never really know. Anyway, it took me a while to find the right source code to drop into a template, but here it is (PLEASE NOTE: All "[" and "]" symbols need to be changed to "<" and ">" symbols in order for code to work. I only changed them for this web page so they will display properly).

Follow these simple steps:
1. Go to Layout-->Edit Html
2. Download Full Template
3. Check the Expand Widget Templates
4. Search for the code below (remember "[]" symbols should be "<>" symbols):

[div class='post-header-line-1'/]


a. For the full retweet button place the following code below the above code:

[div style='float:right; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px']
[script type='text/javascript']
tweetmeme_url='[data:post.url/]';
[/script]
[script src='http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js' type='text/javascript']
[/script] [/div]

This will display the button on the right side of the blog post. To place the button on the left side just replace float:right in the code to float:left.

b. For the compact button instead of the code above place the following code (replace "[]" symbols with "< " and ">" symbols):

[div style='float:right; padding: 5px 5px 5px 5px']
[script type='text/javascript']
tweetmeme_url='[data:post.url/]';
tweetmeme_style = 'compact';
[/script]
[script src='http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js' type='text/javascript']
[/script] [/div]

5. Save the Template and you're done!

Problem #2: Getting the Tweet to Show the Name of the Post
Okay, now that you have the button installed, test it out. The biggest problem I had.. which no blog or forum provided the answer to, was that the button only provided the title of the blog in my tweet. I paid programmers, tried a bunch of stuff on my own, but only got workable solution from Tweet Me Me directly via their forum.

The reason why my button wasn't fully operational is because the title of my blog was too long. I had to go into my template and shorten the title of my blog. Within 24 hours, the problem cleared itself up. Now, if you visit The Marketing Blog (which is where I was having the problem) and Retweet, you'll see the name of the blog and title of the post. Walaaa!

If you're having the same problem, the above should take care of it. If this post was helpful, please retweet!

Focus On On-Page Optimization For Long-Term Success

SEO is made up of two different disciplines that work in tandem. To be successful, you need to master both of these areas. Doing so will allow you to not only reach the number one ranked position for a chosen keyword, but stay there for a very long time.

To be successful with your search engine optimization, start with on page optimization. On page optimization refers to everything that has to do with your actual web site and web pages from a search engine optimization perspective. This would include factors like web site age, URL, Meta tags, on page links, etc. It’s important that you start with on page optimization because it ensures that your pages will be fully recognized by search engines.

Let’s start with looking at your URLs. Many people believe that the only way to get number one rankings is by having your keywords in your domain name. For example, if your keyword is sneakers, you should have a URL that says Sneakers.com. Sure, this would help but its only one of many factors considered in search engine optimization. Not to mention the difficulty of finding a good URL that includes your keywords.

It is true that including your keyword phrase in your URL is beneficial even though it is not the end all be all. This is especially true with search engines like Yahoo and Bing. One thing you can do is to use a sub-domain strategy. This means setting us sub domains from your main site that includes the keyword you’re optimization for. It would look something like this: sneakers.yoursite.com where “your site” is the name of your main web site.

You can also create new pages that include your keyword as part of the URL. This is almost as equally strong as the sub-domain strategy and very easy to implement. Simply create a folder or page on your server that includes your keyword. An example would be: Yoursite.com/sneakers. By adding the keywords as part f your URL, you are improving your chances of appearing in search results given other on page SEO criteria is met.

After optimizing your URL, it’s time to focus on other on page attributes. One of the most important is page load time. This is a function of the number of images you have on your page, scripts, external calls, use of CSS, etc. and requires a good deal of experience from a programming perspective. The best bet is to have someone with SEO experience review your pages to make sure that you are applying SEO best practices from an on page perspective.

Once you’ve covered on page optimization attributes associated with a high ranking web site, it’s time to focus on off page optimization. Off page optimization is really a function of how the search engines see your site and how other web pages link to your own web site or blog. Off page optimization is often equated to link building as building external links to your site is at the core of search engine optimization.

Start with on page optimization to build a strong foundation to your web site. Once you have the proper URL structure and address other on page optimization factors, you’ll be in a good position to roll out your link building strategy. As you develop more inbound links, your search engine results will improve.

Improving Your Rankings With Blog Posts

I was recently asked about using blog posts to improve search engine ranking. Personally, I feel that there are a number of ways to use blogs to build links to your website which in turn can improve your web site's rankings. Here are a few suggestions.

1. Find a list of dofollow blogs and post comments. A great way to build in bound links to your website or blog is by leaving comments on do follow blogs. You want to find blogs that are do follow because if you don't, your links won't provide any value. Tip: Do a Google search for dofollow blogs in your niche.

2. Find top rated blogs in your niche. By searching the Internet for top rated blogs in your niche, you can quickly and easily find opportunity. You can choose to purchase a link on many of these blogs, leave comments (if do follow), or submit your own content for review. Many top blogs love original content submissions, so don't be afraid to provide unique content and ask it to be posted.

3. Partnerships with authority blogs. Some of the most dominant blogs out there are always looking for the right partnership, generating links and presence for your web site. Think about what you can offer some of the top blogs in your niche. Approach the blog owners and gauge their level of interest. You may be surprised by the results.

Working with blogs to establish a presence takes work.. but the rewards are significant. Start by creating a list of blogs in your niche, authority blogs, and others with whom you may have a relationship. By doing so, you can start down a path of link building and partnership development that can help improve your rankings.