Tag: tools

Posted on

Google Webmaster Tools: Must-Have SEO Toolkit

Excerpts from my latest article at NBC 5 Chicago’s Inc. Well blog: “6 Reasons Why You Need Google Webmaster Tools.”

Along with their web analytics, the first account I ask my SEO clients for access to is Google Webmaster Tools. It’s an invaluable source of insight into your organic search performance for the following six reasons:

  • Keyword data you can’t get anywhere else
  • Link data you can’t get anywhere else
  • SEO tools you can’t get anywhere else
  • Messages from Google
  • It doesn’t give Google anything it doesn’t already have
  • It’s free.

Read more detail about these 6 reasons at the source — NBC 5 Chicago’s Inc. Well blog: “6 Reasons Why You Need Google Webmaster Tools.”

Web PieRat logo.

Originally posted on Web PieRat.

Posted on

5 Favorite Free SEO Tools

Excerpts from my latest article at NBC Chicago’s Inc. Well: “Five Go-To SEO Tools You Should Use Immediately”

Search engine optimization is a discipline practiced by people halfway between creative marketing roles and technical developer roles. SEO folks need to understand and be able to communicate with both sides of an organization. These five SEO tools are my go-to sources for data to help me analyze sites and develop strategies that will meet the marketing and technical needs of my clients.

Details on each in the full post at NBC Chicago’s Inc. Well: “Five Go-To SEO Tools You Should Use Immediately.”
Web PieRat logo.

Originally posted on Web PieRat.

Posted on

14 Excel Tips for SEO and Beyond

Excerpts from my latest article at Practical eCommerce: “SEO: Using Excel for Keyword Analysis.”

Excel is without a doubt the SEO tool I use most frequently. Excel helps me organize my thoughts, decide which keywords or pages to focus on, illustrate key concepts, and even draft rudimentary content. Of course you can use these tips for far more than SEO analysis. Unfortunately, some of these features are only available in Excel 2010. For full descriptions of each item and how I use them in my daily SEO work, please click through to Practical eCommerce: “SEO: Using Excel for Keyword Analysis.”

Favorite Excel 2010 Formulas

  • VLOOKUP
  • SUMIFS
  • IF ISERROR
  • CONCATENATE

Favorite Excel 2010 Menu Items

  • Freeze Panes
  • Remove Duplicates
  • Manual Calculation

Favorite Excel 2010 Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Highlight Range: Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Key.
  • Move to End: Ctrl+Arrow Key.
  • Filter: Ctrl+Shift+L.
  • Delete: Alt+E, D.
  • Insert > Cells: Alt+I, E.
  • Paste Special > Values: Alt+E, S, V.
  • Transpose Rows and Columns: Alt+E, S, E.
  • Escape.

These are some of the commands, formulas and shortcuts I use day in and day out in Excel 2010. Sometimes it’s ugly, sometimes it’s kludgy, but it always gets the job done. What are your favorite time-saving Excel shortcuts?

Read the article in full at Practical eCommerce »

Web PieRat logo.

Originally posted on Web PieRat.

Posted on

Google Webmaster Tools: A Practical Guide

My latest on Practical Ecommerce: “Guide to Google Webmaster Tools“

Valuable search-engine-optimization tools that provide unique data tend to be expensive. Tools with limited data sets or limited capabilities tend to be free. Google Webmaster Tools bucks that trend by offering — for free — a unique data set and features that can’t be found in any other tool.

I’ve previously addressed reasons to register for Google Webmaster Tools, in “Top 5 Reasons to Use Google Webmaster Tools.” The purpose of this article is to explain how to use this amazing free tool set to improve your site’s search engine optimization.

Before Google opens the doors to its treasure chest, you have to prove you own the site by going through a verification process.

The best way to learn more about Google Webmaster Tools is to dive in and play with it. It’s free, relativelyeasyto verify, and packed with help topics and tips to speed you on your way.

Read the entire guide for tips and explanations on every tool and report » “Guide to Google Webmaster Tools“

Web PieRat logo.

Originally posted on Web PieRat.

Posted on

Custom Tag Clouds Made Easy

I like to use a tag cloud generator to visibly demonstrate the keyword density on a page. It’s a great way for a client to visualize which words are most frequently used on their page from a search engine’s perspective. Yes, keyword prominence (where you put the keywords) is more important than keyword density (number or times the keyword is being used), but as a quick way to help the client or your team understand which words that are really on the page for search engines word clouds are great tools.

For instance, the owner looks at their homepage and sees a beautifully branded design with promotions and marketing messages and navigation and calls to action. But what they don’t consider is that all of that lovely information that may or may not contain valuable keywords is hidden inside of images or other areas that search engines can’t read. For example, from this tag cloud you can easily see why my daughter’s favorite online game site Poptropica won’t be ranking for “online kids games” anytime soon:

poptropica word cloud
Look how few words are available for search engines on www.poptropica.com

Continue reading “Custom Tag Clouds Made Easy”