Search Engine Optimization Tips For Black and African-American Related Blogs

It's All About The SEO Baby!

Search Engine Optimization is important for any business with a Web site.

And for those small businesses who depend on web traffic to sell their product and get the word out, it's absolutely crucial.

There are plenty of firms out there who will help you do this – at a cost. Fortunately, there are a few tricks you can implement yourself to help move your Web site to the top of a search.

1. Keywords are key. You can't be found if a search engine doesn't know what your site is all about. Make sure all of your pages contain a good amount of search words that relate to your company's area of expertise. To figure out what keywords are good for you, just think about what someone who was trying to find information about your business or industry would type into a search engine.

Include your keywords anywhere you can: your titles, URLs, image descriptions, etc. But be careful to only put them where it's really appropriate; getting labeled as a "keyword stuffer" will drastically reduce your SEO standing.

2. Link back to your own site. Make it a habit to add in a few links back to your own pages within the text of every new page you create. Search engines spiders love links that contain descriptive keywords (like those found in your content).

This is one of the easiest ways you can increase your search traffic, and it's especially applicable for blogs.

3. Make your URLs clear. The average website URL is pretty ugly, with random letters, numbers, and symbols. Make yours clear. When you see something like "http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-ace-your-next-presentation-2010-3", you know exactly what you're going to find... and so do the search engine spiders.

4. Take advantage of video and images. There are far fewer images and videos online than there is text. Include these on your site, and your odds of being found will skyrocket. And, of course, make sure your descriptions, in both cases, are packed with descriptive keywords.

5. Update your content frequently! Stale Web sites are not going to get pushed to the top of a search. Frequently-updated ones full of fresh information, hot links, and juicy keywords will. A CEO or corporate blog is an excellent example of sites that could benefit from this – it is a move that has the added benefits of adding a little more personality to your company, and lets you connect with your customers on a more personal level.

6. Make sure you track your standings. You won't know if you're improving unless you regularly measure your traffic. Free tools like Alexa or Google Analytics are simple to use and offer you invaluable information about your search standings and web traffic.

APPLE'S IPOD IS A STROKE, ERR... STRIKE OF GENUIS!

Since Every Living Creature On The Planet Will Soon Own The Ubiquitous Device, These Warnings Apply To Us All

The ever-popular mp3 player, Apple iPod, is now coming with some warning labels after a number of happy owners suffered extensive burns and damaged eardrums after lightning struck nearby while wearing the device.

One jogger was treated after lightning struck a nearby tree while he was jogging past, listening to his favorite jams. He was thrown about 6 feet from the tree, but it was the iPod's headphones that appeared to do the most damage.

The electric shock from the lightning strike left second-degree burns on his chest, neck and ears, while the surge through the headphone ear buds ruptured his eardrums and harmed his hearing. His jawbone was also broken as a result of clenching his jaw muscles.

Just last year, an 18 year-old boy was knocked unconscious when lightning struck nearby while simultaneously mowing his lawn and listening to his iPod. Every place on the boy's body where the iPod touched him was burned. The cables that laid on his face left burns there, along with singes to his hip where the actual mp3 player sat in his pocket, and his ruptured eardrums went through rounds of surgery in hopes of repairing them.

While this devastating phenomenon needs to be addressed, maybe the countless victims should have paid attention in 1st grade, when we all learned that lightning is a discharge of electricity that occurs mostly during thunderstorms.

If you’re unlucky enough to be caught out in a storm, its always been told to us that it’s a good idea to stay away from conductors that enhance a lightning strike, like, say, electrical devices.

Do doctors also have to remind us that you shouldn’t dance in the largest puddle you can find when you see lightning making its way to earth?

In case we have gotten too advanced for our own good, let’s remember that while iPods are time-saving, easy to carry, and incredibly advanced technologically, they are still electrical devices.

Although they don’t necessarily attract the devastating lightning burns to the victims, they definitely increase the damage due to the headphones of an iPod acting as a conductor, directing a bolt of electricity straight inside the listener's ear.

In light of how long it’s been since we first learned this, we will review. Don’t light a cigarette while pumping gas at a gas station, don’t stick your tongue on a frozen pole, don’t haphazardly grab broken glass, don’t stare directly into the sun, and don’t touch a hot stove, it will burn you.

Class dismissed!

Keep talking, it’s the only way they’ll ever hear you.--JJJ

BLACK PEOPLE NEED TO BE MORE TECH SAVVY - SO YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS!

Stay tuned for more tech tips family. We got your back!

QUICK TECH TIPS FROM A BLACK WOMAN WHO'S GOT YOUR BACK

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Keep watching for more tips from Bonique Edwards of Kaleidoscope Consulting