• Research

    • CREATE KEYWORD-RICH APP STORE METADATA

    Posted on
    Nora

    App Store Optimization (ASO) is a big topic for anyone working on a mobile app. For those new to the subject, it basically means futzing around with the title, description, keywords, and images that you upload to the App Store.

    There is plenty of advice out there that gives you up-to-date practices for the latest algorithm changes in iTunes and Google Play. Rather than write a massive blog post about the ins and outs of all the strategies, today we’ll be giving you a quick and dirty guide for getting started today with choosing keywords and building great metadata for your app.

    Hollie

    This SOP will give you a jumping off point and is designed to get you going in the right direction. Once you’ve completed this task however, the job isn’t done. In fact, with ASO the job is never done. Working on ASO is a constant tweaking process. Check out the More Resources section in the sidebar once you’ve finished this task to find out where to go next.

    THE ASO PERSONALITY TEST

    Nora

    Those who like tinkering with the details thrive in the task of finding the perfect mix of keywords, imagery, and content for ASO. These are the types of people who probably took apart the toaster as a kid, once they had discovered Daddy’s toolbox. If you’re not one of those people, it’s best to outsource ASO if you have the budget for it. You need a detail oriented person who loves statistics to get the most out of your ASO. If your budget is tight, you can at least get started with this SOP in order to get a baseline and decide how much effort to put in later.   

    IS ASO REALLY NECESSARY?

    Hollie

    Getting your app seen in the App Store is the best way to generate organic app downloads from your audience. There is no exact formula for completing this task, but there are some pretty stable principles that you can learn in order to get started.

    The two most important things for ASO is the title of your app and the keywords associated with it. When you choose to name your app, you should try to be as descriptive as possible. Make it obvious what the app helps people do. This is important when people are searching for your app in the App Store, because they have likely never heard of you or your company before.

    Nora

    Apple and Google both have their own set of requirements when creating the metadata for your app. For example, with regards to the title, Google only allows you 30 characters while Apple allows you quite a bit more. It used to be recommended for Apple that you utilize all of the characters available to you in the app title field in your meta-data however it seems to be the trend lately that Apple penalizes you for keyword-stuffing or adding unnecessary data in this field. The point is, create a title that is relevant and descriptive without keyword-stuffing.

    ASO is very similar to web SEO in that if you overuse specific keywords, you’ll be penalized. So when creating your keywords, try using some synonyms as these may be keywords that your competitors have not thought of.

    Hollie

    The next thing you should consider is your competition. If you rank for a keyword that has very high traffic but you rank in the 200s, this would be a waste of keyword space because no one will scroll down 200 apps to find you. Instead, go for more specific keywords or phrases for which you are most likely to rank in the top 10 slots within the App Store.  

     

    There are several free tools available for monitoring and choosing keywords which have high traffic but low competition in the App Store. Here’s a list of some of the good ones to get you started:

    1. AppTweak
    2. Sensor Tower
    3. SearchMan
    4. Mobile Action
    5. Appcodes
    6. App Annie
    7. Gummicube
    8. App Mind

    When using these tools, the most important thing to consider is relevance. The next thing you should consider is competition.

    Nora

    Google Play doesn’t have a separate keywords field in the metadata for your app on the App Store. For an Android app, you’ll need to strategically place your keywords inside of your app’s description. Google will also penalize you for over-using specific keywords so again, follow good SEO principles like you would on a blog post. Use descriptive words which excite your user about your app while using relevant keywords- but don’t overdo it.

    Google’s app description is also quite a bit longer than the description you’re allowed in iTunes, so feel free to be more informative and use this space to its entirety. Keep in mind however, that the user will most likely only read the first paragraph and decide based off of that whether not to download the app. Make sure the first paragraph clearly describes the benefits to the user and functions available your app.

    Hollie

    For Google Play, organic search makes up 80% of app downloads. Similarly to iTunes, Google Play has an algorithm for ranking apps. Most of this is a mystery, however there are some things that we do know. Among these is certainly ratings. If you have 200 reviews this will definitely have a positive effect on your ranking. A consistently high number of downloads will also improve your ranking in Google Play.

    Users may also stumble across your app when doing a keyword search in Google when they’re working on a computer. Take advantage of this by making sure that your metadata is suitable for both experiences. Whether the user is on a small screened phone or at their work computer, make sure the metadata looks great and is easy to read.

    Nora

    Google also allows you some extra fields to enter information into that iTunes does not have. For example, there is a promotional text area which gives you the opportunity to write a one-sentence description that summarizes your app. This description is all that most mobile users will read of your app’s metadata because they will have to click down to view the full app description.

    STRATEGIES FOR TRACKING YOUR ASO

    Hollie

    Once your metadata is finalized, decide how you’re going to measure its performance. If you make any changes to the metadata, make sure you do it little by little so that you’re able to accurately measure the impact that it has on your app downloads and visibility in the App Store. Also consider that the strategy for each App Store will be different. Don’t be afraid to change the Google Play app description so that it’s totally different from the iTunes app description if it will improve your downloads or rankings. As long as it’s telling the story of your app, that’s all that matters.

    The SOP download provided above gives you detailed instructions for how to create optimized metadata that will fully utilize all of the opportunities available in the App Stores, both for Google Play and for iTunes. It lays special emphasis on walking you through the steps to do good keyword research. This is a task you can and should outsource from time to time in order to discover new keyword gems that can make a big difference in your App Store visibility.  

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  • SEO

    • HOW TO GET YOUR SITE FOUND BY SEARCH ENGINES

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    HOW CAN WEBMASTER TOOLS HELP GET YOUR SITE ON SEARCH ENGINES?

    Hollie

    Put simply, Google Webmaster Tools is a set of extremely useful tools (obviously) that help you to see what is happening on your website. Sounds like yet another way that Google can spy on you? Well, that’s kind of the point. One of the key features of Google Webmaster Tools is to get your website to show in Google search results, also known as indexing. This means that when people begin searching for a keyword that you are trying to rank for, it will show in their results. Basically, Webmaster Tools is essential for SEO and there’s a good chance you’ll get more traffic through Google if you’re using it. Although Google Webmaster Tools can’t guarantee you a top 10 ranking keyword, it will help your customers find you.

    Nora

    Connecting Webmaster Tools to your site is one of the first things you should do when setting up a site, especially since you want Google to begin indexing you as soon as possible. If you’re still in the design stages of your site, you can hold off on the indexing part, but once you have connected Webmaster Tools to your site, all you have to do is click a button to complete the process!

    Hollie

    Many of Google Webmaster Tools features allow you to track your sites performance in order to make improvements. For example, there are several additional resources such as speed testing your site. Once your site has been tested, you will be provided with a score out of 100 and ways in which you can improve the site’s speed across all your devices. This kind of test may seem simple, but can be the differences between disgruntled users fed with up with your slow loading site, and customers who enjoy browsing your user friendly site.

    HOW IS WEBMASTER TOOLS DIFFERENT FROM ANALYTICS?

    Nora

    You may have heard about or used Google Analytics before, but Google Webmaster Tools can be in used in addition to Google Analytics. In fact, some of the information provided in Webmaster Tools is not available within Google Analytics and we strongly recommend using both on your site.

    Hollie

    Google Webmaster Tools helps you to discover errors and spam that may be affecting your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as well as their user experience.  Like Google Analytics, it provides you with information about keywords that people can use to organically find your site. This information can be used to strengthen your position in Google search results.

    Nora

    One of the most useful features of Google Webmaster Tools is its sitemaps function, which shows Google what pages you have on your website in order to index them. if you don’t submit this index you’re unlikely to get as much traffic as if you do. In order to create a sitemap for your website you can use XML Sitemaps and upload it to Google Webmaster Tools.

    Hollie

    As well as showing Google what pages you do have on your website you can also use Google Webmaster Tools to prevent access to certain pages. So, for example if you have a private login area you might not want search engines to access these pages. You can use the Crawler Access feature to block Google from crawling or taking data from these pages.

    WHEN SHOULD I SETUP GOOGLE WEBMASTER TOOLS?

    Nora

    Even if you have no idea how to use Google Webmaster Tools and don’t have time to learn right now, it’s a good strategy to set it up as soon as possible in order to start collecting data. Data that you have collected will be available to you in the future, but if you decide to wait to implement Webmaster Tools you can’t go back and collect data from the past.

    Hollie

    Not only is Google Webmaster Tools free, but it’s also pretty simple to set up, made even simpler with our SOP template that you can download above. The SOP gives you step by step instructions on how to connect your website to Google Webmaster Tools in order to start measuring your website immediately.

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  • Design

    • CREATE A STUNNING EBOOK COVER WITH THIS SOP TEMPLATE

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    Nora

    If you want to be an author, or if you’re a business wanting to attract potential customers by offering something of value to collect emails, writing an ebook is a great way to get your content out there. Whether you are a budding fiction writer or you trying to generate leads for your online business, creating an ebook can be a great stepping stone accomplishing your goals.

    The phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” is frankly complete nonsense when taken literally because most people will certainly judge the quality and value of your ebook based on the design that you have on the cover.

    TYPOGRAPHY FOR YOUR EBOOK COVER DESIGN

    Hollie

    If you’re not sure where to start with the design of your ebook cover, you should look at similar books that are in your genre. Carefully consider colors, images and even blank space.

    Another element that you should definitely take into consideration is the typography that you use on the cover. This tends to account for the largest portion of the design. The typography will instantly convey a meaning to your potential customer.

    Nora

    If you’re hiring a freelance designer, they should already understand the basics of typography and will choose a style which matches with the type of book.

    As Hollie mentioned, the blank space also makes a difference in the ebook cover because more and more users surf the web on mobile devices. These users will likely see a smaller image of your ebook. This means that if you utilize every pixel of the design with detailing and text that your overall message will be muddled and confusing to the user. As most designs for mobile, keeping it simple is the best strategy to communicate a clear message.

    GETTING AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE FOR YOUR EBOOK COVER

    Hollie

    Depending on the genre of your ebook, the cover should also invoke some emotional response from your customer. You’ve all seen books or novels, especially romantic novels, that have been turned into motion pictures. The books often have an image from the movie because the movie provokes an emotional response from the viewer. You’re probably not writing a romance novel, but the principal still rings true for other genres of books.

    Color is often also an important factor when choosing your design. Certain colors tend to evoke certain emotions. Also adding a small picture or icon to the ebook cover can be a great way to make a connection with your audience.

    Nora

    Statistics show us that people are more interested in clicking on things with human faces on them as opposed to abstract designs or plain text. While creating the cover for your ebook is often one of the last steps before publishing your ebook, it should not be thrown together thoughtlessly. This is the not the part of your project that you should save money on. In many cases, it is the most important factor when it comes to attracting your audience.

    You don’t want to spend so much time and effort on your content only to chase people away with a crappy or cheap-looking book cover. In the past it was more common to show an ebook cover as a 3D image, making it look like a physical book.

    That same design style today often looks outdated and cheesy. It’s important to be aware of the current design trends when creating your cover. So take a look at Amazon or wherever you might purchase ebooks and scan over some of the hottest selling books in your genre. This will give you a general feel for how your cover should look.

    EBOOK COVER DESIGN FORMAT

    Hollie

    The format of the cover should also be considered when creating the design. Different e-readers have different specifications in regards to the size of your ebook cover. For example, the dimensions for an ebook in Amazon Kindle may be different from books offered in iTunes.

    The SOP above describes all the design constraints in more detail. You can use it yourself or pass it to your designer when they are creating your ebook cover.

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  • SOP Library

    • Set Up a Personalised Email Address for Your Niche Site

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    Hollie

    If you’ve decided to create your own niche website and have purchased your domain, you’ll almost certainly want to create a personalised email address that includes the name of your website.

    Nora

    There are some domain name registrars such as godaddy.com who offer email as part of their web hosting packages, but Google Apps offers lots of great additional tools that you will find extremely useful for your business.

    Hollie

    When we were setting up SOP Templates, we looked at quite a few different services, even some free ones (and who doesn’t like a freebie?!). But, we both agreed that Google Apps was the best option, because frankly we can’t live without all the apps, integrations and features that have become essential to us in our business.

    Nora

    Although Google offers a free email service, Gmail, a personalised email address such as  ‘email@yourdomain.com’ is far more professional and helps build trust between you and your customers.

    Hollie

    Even though I used it myself many moons ago, I would stay away from the other well known free email service providers like hotmail and yahoo (sorry!) if you’re going to use your email address to communicate with your customers. I also recommend keeping the first half of the email simple by using a first name or a noun.

    Nora

    Google allows for a lot of versatility and functionality in its business tools. Whether you are using Google Analytics to track website data, or are using Google Draw to create graphs and diagrams for your business, the Google suite is definitely made to integrate well across its Apps.

     

    While creating a business account with Google does have a small fee, it is incredibly affordable considering all the benefits you get that is useful for any business, including storage and access to Google sites where you can create and share company information.

    Hollie

    Some of the great functions of Google Apps include being able to sync across all your devices. Not only can you access your Gmail account and Google Apps on your desktop computer but also on your mobile devices. With Google Apps, you get 30GB of storage to store your emails plus Google Drive documents, spreadsheets and slides that you need for your business.

    Nora

    Since I started to use Gmail and Google Drive, I save all my files as a Google document or a spreadsheet. That way, if I ever need to pass on an SOP to a freelancer, or just check a file on my phone, they’re always accessible.

    Hollie

    If you’re going to be working with other team members, you’ll almost certainly be taking advantage of Google Drive. The permission settings in Google Apps are highly flexible and allows you to set very specific sharing settings between you and your co-workers or freelancers. You can give people full access to your documents and folders and allow them to edit files. Alternatively, if you only want to share a single folder, you can give ‘read only’ access to certain people in your team. Another setting allows your team members to leave comments on your work, without changing the actual document.

    Nora

    Luckily, Google keeps a record of every change you make on a document, so if you accidentally makes changes to a file (I’m talking from experience here), you can revert back to a previous version (phew!).

    Hollie

    If you’re using Google Apps for Work on your site you’ll probably want to create email addresses such as ‘support@yourdomain.com’ or ‘info@yourdomain.com’ that you can add in the initial setup of Google Apps, or go back and create them later.

    Nora

    Setting up Google Apps for Work can easily be outsourced by passing this SOP on to your freelancer.

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  • Content Creation

    • 6 SIMPLE STEPS TO SETUP YOUR PRE-LAUNCH PAGE

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    WHAT IS A PRE-LAUNCH LANDING PAGE?

    A pre-launch site is a single web page that can easily be set up on your purchased domain  before your website is complete. Although this may seem like additional work, there are several good reasons why you might want to create a pre-launch landing page.

    Hollie

    If you’re creating a niche site, presumably you have already done some keyword research to find your specific keyword. In which case there’s a good chance that your keyword has high-level of traffic. This means that many people are already searching for the specific content you will deliver once your site is live.

    Nora

    If, like many of us, you’re creating a niche site in your spare time as an additional form of revenue to your day job, then it might take you some time to set up your site in the way that you would like it to be, not to mention creating your valuable content. Having a pre-launch landing page will allow your customers to see that your site will be up and running soon.

    WHY SET UP A PRE-LAUNCH PAGE?

    Hollie

    Once you have chosen your domain name, you might already start talking to your friends and colleagues about your project. Having the pre-launch page available shows that you are actively working on your site, and this allows you to start spreading the word about your site, instead of sending people to a blank page.

    Nora

    You may also have used keyword research to select your domain name, in which case, the sooner you get your domain indexed in Google the better. Google tends to put a lot of emphasis on the age of a site in order to create trust, so you don’t want to waste this time, while you’re working on the final version of your website.

    Hollie

    If you begin to get traffic at your site during this time, you can create an email capture in order to start forming your email list for the future. This is a good indicator that your site, and the content on it, is what people are looking for and are interested in your niche subject. If you really want to entice your customers, you can always offer them a PDF, or short eBook to provide them a glimpse into your future products and content.

    Nora

    Don’t panic if you don’t receive a lot of traffic during this time, without content and time, it will take time for your website to rank in Google, highly or otherwise.

    Hollie

    You might be surprised that people stumble across your site organically. You can start checking Google Analytics and see which keywords people are using to find you in Google. To see keywords in Google Analytics, you first need to connect your site with Google Webmaster Tools. Viewing your search keywords can help you create your final site and content, by giving you insights into what your audience is looking for that they are unable to find elsewhere.

    Nora

    While it’s not the end of the world if you don’t create a pre-launch landing page while you work on your final content and the structure and design of your site, you may be wasting a good opportunity, especially when setting up a landing page will only take a few minutes.
    By following our SOP to setup your pre-launch page on your WordPress site, you can create a clean and simple pre-launch page to get your customers excited about your products and your site.

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  • Content Creation

    • THE SIMPLE GUIDE TO SETTING UP A THEME ON WORDPRESS

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    WHAT IS A WORDPRESS THEME?

    Hollie

    A WordPress theme is a group of files that work together to create the structure, design and features of your website. WordPress makes it easy to customize many elements of a theme, which makes it a great platform for beginners creating a niche site, portfolio or store.


    Setting up a theme on your new WordPress site is one of the first things that you need to do once you have signed up for WordPress. There are a number of things you need to take into consideration when choosing your theme and it is better to know what your requirements are before hand.

    CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORDPRESS THEME

    Nora

    It’s really easy to get lost spending hours searching for the ‘perfect’ theme. Before you begin to look for your WordPress theme, make a list of features or functions you want you site to have. Do you want to sell products? Do you want people to create an account? Will it just be a blog, or a library of content? All of these things need to be considered before diving headlong into the ocean of WordPress themes that are available.

    Hollie

    We made this mistake when starting SOP Templates, and it took us a long time to settle on a theme that we were happy with. Eventually, we ended up working with a freelancer to make specific changes to our theme that fit our needs and those of our customers (that’s you btw!).

    In order to get what you want, create a list of your site requirements, considering the following:

     

    • What will you site be used for? Blogging, eCommerce, branding?
    • How well do you know WordPress? Does the theme offer support?
    • How much customization will you want to do?
    • Do you want a responsive site? How important is it that your site works well on mobile (hint: it’s pretty important since 51.26% of people use mobile devices over their desktop computers.
    • Is the theme ‘SEO’ ready? How important is it that you rank well in Google?
    Nora

    Since there are many free themes available on WordPress, and other external sites, it’s tempting to choose one of these options to save money, but they might not fit with your needs and specifications.

    If you find themes that don’t fit your requirements, then move on. Many sites, including within the WordPress dashboard, allow you to narrow down your requirements instead of spending hours having to scroll through thousands of themes.

    Hollie

    If you have really specific ideas about what you want your site to look like, you can work with a designer and a PHP developer who can create the site of your dreams. However, a beautiful site does not bring customers to your site, and you really need to prioritise and strike a balance between design and the user experience.

    Nora

    As we mentioned before, make sure that when you choose your theme, that it is responsive. A responsive theme adapts your website to be viewed correctly on any device, regardless of size. Since more and more people are accessing information via their mobile phones and tablets, this is really essential to ensure that all functions work correctly and look great too!

    Before buying and downloading a theme, you can test drive it with a site demo. You should also be able to see how the theme will look on your mobile as well as your desktop computer.

    Hollie

    When you’re considering purchasing a theme, you should definitely make sure that the plugins and features that you need for your site are already included. For example, if you plan to sell products on your site, you will need e-commerce plugins and designs within the theme. If they don’t come with the theme, you will need to see which options are available and also compatible with your theme to undertake a specific role on your site.

    Some themes may also provide you with ‘demo’ or basic versions of a plugin that you will need a full version of in order to update in the future. For example, full versions of site ‘builder’ plugins will often be an additional, and unexpected cost that you should think about before purchasing the theme. To make sure you understand the limitations of the theme, read the details and reviews of the theme where possible.

    Nora

    Envisioning what you might want your site to look like in the future is also important when choosing a WordPress theme. You don’t need to have figured out every detail before making your site live, but thinking about how you want your project to develop in the future will help you consider the features necessary for your site.

    One of the mistakes I made in the past was concentrating too much on what the site looked like instead of focusing on the business model which delayed the project and created additional expenses.

    Hollie

    You can begin with a simple theme, and once your business expands and grows you can consider making changes to your site and your theme. So, bear in mind how customizable your theme is if you go down this route. Alternatively, you could purchase a new theme or work with a designer to create a new site. After all, lots of companies redesign their sites, whether it is to rebrand, cater for new levels of traffic or purely give it a new burst of life.

    Nora

    The most important thing to remember when choosing a theme is it to consider what will be the ultimate goal of the website and how the theme will get your users to achieve that goal. Don’t get romanced by some fancy animations or bells and whistles that you see on the theme,  at the end of the day the purpose of your website is to achieve your business goal. The team should just be a vehicle to get your users from point A to point B.

    There are plenty of resources online for free and paid themes, which are perfect if you’re just starting out.

    Hollie

    Since it’s easy to get swept up on spending lots of time on the design details of your website, we recommend that you set a time limit for how long you’re willing to spend choosing your theme.

    For example, giving yourself 2 or 3 hours will probably more than ample time for you to choose a theme that fits your specification. Spending more time on this will overwhelm you with ideas, and you will waste a lot of time searching for a theme that probably doesn’t exist!

    Nora

    Once you’ve chosen your theme, you need to set up the theme in WordPress. Although the process is not overly complex, you may want to outsource this task, as you may have more specific customizations that someone with a more advanced skill-set can complete easily and quickly.

    Hollie

    If you have specific requirements, you can pass them onto a freelancer who is WordPress savvy, by first filling in the details in our SOP.

    You can get our SOP by returning to the top of this page and filling in your email address. You’ll receive an email containing instructions on how to fill out the document and the SOP.

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  • SEO

    • FIND BROKEN LINKS ON YOUR WEBSITE (AND FIX’ EM GOOD!)

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    Hollie

    Broken links can sometimes happen accidentally if a page or post on your website has been deleted, moved and not redirected or if an outbound link on another site no longer exists. They can be difficult to find and fix if you don’t regularly check your site so to save time, you can use a plugin, which checks your site and fixes the broken links automatically. Alternatively, you can outsource the task and systematise fixing the broken links on your site.

    Nora

    A broken link checker will search your entire site for issues and invalid web pages. This SOP will show you how to use both a plugin for your WordPress site, or to use a link checking site. Both options will help you find broken links and achieve the same positive results for your site.

    Hollie

    Another method that we have added to the most recent version of the SOP is to use Google Webmaster Tools to find broken links. This is probably the most reliable and thorough method to use, although you do need to connect your site to Webmaster Tools, which you can do simply by following the SOP. The crawl will specifically show errors of bad searches or links that have clicked on your site that you can then correct. The console also provides a date for when the error was first seen and allows you to fix in bulk if you have a major issue on your site.

    WHY ARE BROKEN LINKS SO BAD?

    Nora

    If you have affiliate or outbound links that are embedded into your blog posts or resource pages on your website, they may break without your knowledge, and could provide your customers with a bad user experience (ouch!). 

    This kind of thing has probably happened to you personally, even on well-developed websites. A blank screen or PAGE NOT FOUND message can be frustrating and distracting and may cause some of your customers to leave and not return. Apart from upsetting your audience, it will also affect your ranking within search engines such as Google and Bing.

    Hollie

    You should always be aware of potential problems that harm your website’s SEO, as this is often one of the best ways to build your site through organic traffic, so that in the future you don’t have to rely on expensive advertising or marketing tactics.

    Sometimes, a dead link can bring up a 404 page. If you see a 404 page it means that the URL you are looking for cannot be found. To prepare for potential 404s, (and sometimes they happen, even on the best kept site) some sites will create an attractive looking 404 page that might redirect a customer to another page, or offer them a free download.

    Nora

    You can also track how many times your 404 page has been clicked which may be a cause for concern. You can easily see 404s if you have the Redirection plugin installed on your WordPress website. From the Redirection dashboard, you can easily setup a redirect for defunct links.

    HOW CAN I FIND BROKEN LINKS?

    Hollie

    There are many different ways to find broken links on your site, and sometimes you may want to use more than one in order to thoroughly check your site. Having used all of these, I’ve noticed that some links are found by some services, but not in others.

    Here’s a rundown of the different options detailed in this SOP for fixing broken links:

    WordPress and Chrome Plugins to Fix Broken Links

    Nora

    Using a plugin will allow you to find broken links and instantly fix them within the WordPress dashboard and is therefore one of the most convenient ways to fix broken links.

    For all those Google Chrome extension fans out there (like me!), there are now several extensions out there that can scan individual pages, find broken links and provide you with a short summary of problems. The one included in this SOP even highlights the page with traffic light colours (red for warning for example) and allows you to export the results as a .csv file.

    This method is great if you want to check a few pages of a website, but not really feasible for checking a whole site with hundreds of pages and links.

    External Broken Link Checking Sites

    Hollie

    Using an external link checking site will provide you with URLs that you then have to fix manually. There is a space within the SOP where you or your freelancer can fill out the broken links and add the correct URLs to replace them with. If you’re using Google Webmaster Tools, you can also download the problem links in a .csv file.

    Once you’ve checked your site to find broken links, there are several different options you can take to fix them, regardless of whether you use a WordPress plugin or use a link checking website. If the page no longer exists, you may want to remove the link completely, or link to another page.

    Nora

    Once you’ve downloaded this SOP from the top of the page, and decided on the method of fixing links, you can begin checking your site regularly. Set a reminder for yourself or your freelancer to check the site routinely. I personally check all of my sites at least once a week using one or more of the options above.

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  • SEO

    • Add Google Analytics to WordPress

    Posted on
    Hollie

    This SOP will help you or a freelancer add Google Analytics to a WordPress hosted site. One of the most important reasons to do this is in order to measure your website traffic and other useful statistics. Although at first, the data you see in Google Analytics may seem small and insignificant, you can track even the smallest of increases in traffic and the source, which may well help you strategize for the future.

    Nora

    What’s nice about Google Analytics is that it’s free and all you need to get started is a Gmail account. Setting up Google Analytics on your site should be done sooner rather than later as you’ll have more data to look at in the long run (which is a good thing!). Google Analytics can’t look back in time, so adding Google Analytics to your site should be one of the first things you consider doing.

    Hollie

    Even on its most basic level, it’s extremely useful, and kind of cool, to see increases in visitors to your site and to see which posts and pages are the most successful. Adding Google Analytics to your website is also essential to set goals, both short and long term, for your site and company, whether it be measuring monthly traffic or assessing which social media platform has been the most successful.

    Nora

    The data that Google Analytics is tracking can also help you make changes to your website and to your marketing strategy. You can see realtime details, such as who is on your site and where they are in the world, which may help you market your products and content to a specific set of customers. It’s really amazing to see how your users behave on your site, especially once you learn more about Google Analytics and all its features, including the Behaviour flow, which shows how visitors move from one page to the next on your site.

    Hollie

    One of my favourite sections of Google Analytics is the ‘Acquisition’ dashboard, which shows you where all users are coming from. So for example, you can tell whether they found your site organically through a search engine, from your social media accounts or were referred from another website. You will be able to see from your social media referrals how successful your social media campaigns are or which platform you should focus your efforts on. Your outreach campaigns can also be measured by viewing the links in the referral section.

    Nora

    Don’t forget to set up some goals that can track how your customers are using your site. Google Analytics now has templates that really make setting goals easier. The templates set up goals for revenue, acquisition, inquiry and engagement. If none of these templates fit a goal you want to measure, you can still create a ‘custom’ goal.

    Hollie

    Although Google Analytics has A LOT of advanced features, you can get to grips with them over time. There are plenty of blogs that teach about the great ways you can use Google Analytics, as well as online courses on Lynda and Udemy.

    Nora

    Setting up a Google Analytics account is free and although integrating your Google Analytics account with your WordPress site is not too time consuming, there is code involved and so you may want to have someone with coding experience carry out this task for you. 

    If you return to the top of the page, and enter your email address, we’ll instantly send you the SOP for this task. Our SOPs are specifically designed to walk you through a task step by step.

    But if you choose to take the stress out of completing this task, it’s also easy and convenient to fill in the details and pass it onto a freelancer.

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  • Content Creation

    • Format a WordPress Blog Post Using the Visual Editor

    Posted on

    Although there are many website hosting platforms out there, we use WordPress for many of our sites both professionally and personally, and even use it for this site! You can use WordPress for free (!), or buy your own domain and host your website with WordPress. 

    “It’s probably the easiest and most powerful blogging and website content management system (or CMS) in existence today.” – iThemes.com

    The visual composer, or WYSIWYG editor found on the pages and posts on WordPress resembles that of a word processor. Similarly to writing on Microsoft Word or Google Docs, any formatting that is done on screen will be the same as when the document is printed or published online. You can see what the finished post will look like, while you are editing it, which can make it easier and more convenient to work on. Most of the formatting can be completed by simply highlighting the text you wish to format and clicking the relevant button in the menu, which makes it perfect for beginners to blogging or WordPress.

    WHY SHOULD I USE THE WORDPRESS WYSIWYG EDITOR?

    Hollie

    If you’re new to WordPress, using the WYSIWYG editor is the easiest way to create new pages or blog posts for your website. Following these simple steps can really help turn your valuable content into reader friendly blog posts.

    Nora

    It doesn’t matter how good your content is, if it’s not formatted correctly, your readers may be turned off and not return to your site. Spending some extra time to create an aesthetically pleasing and logical format for your content is really important to get your readers to stick around (and keep coming back).

    FORMATTING YOUR BLOG POST USING THE WYSIWYG EDITOR

    Hollie

    One of the first steps in our SOP, is to make sure you add headers. These are a practical addition to the format of your blog, in order to separate your content into logical sections, create digestible chunks for the reader and also make it more visually appealing.

    Nora

    Very few people enjoying reading large chunks of text, and it’s possible that long prose will scare off your readers. If you think about a newspaper, the columns are often long and narrow so that the reader’s eyes can easily jump from one part of the text to another without losing their place. They’re also peppered with images or videos. Since blog posts are generally scanned and sometimes not read in details, having headers to separate your content will make it easier for the readers to move through your blog post with ease.

    Hollie

    Including headers in your blog posts are also good for SEO, but that’s another SOP Template!

    Another great way to make it easier for your readers to view your blog post is to use bullet points or numbered points to break up chunks of text.

    Nora

    Yes, that’s another great way to split up your text. We all know how much people like lists. Let’s be honest, we’ve all had a guilty peek at those “10 reasons to leave your boyfriend” list-type posts that are plastered all over your social media news feeds!

    Hollie

    As an alternative to spammy titles to attract the attention of your readers, you can use bold text. Use it sparingly however, as too much bold text is like shouting “Hey! Hey! Read my blog post!” at your readers and can look a little desperate.

    Another great way to make it easier for your readers to view your blog post is to use bullet points or numbered points to break up chunks of text.

    Nora

    On the WordPress WYSIWYG editor dashboard, there’s a button called the ‘toolbar toggle’. Clicking this button will open up another row of buttons and functions that you might not have seen previously, such as adding colour to your text, or entering a special character.

    Hollie

    One of the default features of the visual editor is ‘Add Media’. All you need to do is click the ‘Add Media’ button and import your own photos, documents and GIFs. You can also see a gallery of images you’ve already imported into WordPress. It’s a good idea to give your images clearly defined names before you upload them so that you can easily find them using the search bar.

    Nora

    When it comes to video, you should never directly add them into WordPress, as the file will be too large. You’re better off using a video hosting platform such as YouTube or Vimeo to upload your video first, and then paste the video link into your WordPress blog post or page. If you have lots of videos on a YouTube channel, there are plugins available that will automatically pull any existing and newly uploaded videos from YouTube and add them to a ‘library’ on your website or blog.

    Hollie

    You will instantly see your video once you’ve pasted the video link onto your post using the visual editor.

    Nora

    One thing to remember with your images is to make sure you get lots of space around them to keep your blog posts looking clean. Bear a similar thing in mind with your text content, and create spaces between paragraphs or sections of text to make it easy-to-read. White spaces will prevent your reader from being bombarded with huge blocks of text and inevitably leaving your blog post unread.

    Hollie

    Although many of you will be using your blog to promote products and paid features, it’s best not to use too many links within your blog posts. Try to only link relevant words, and keep the linked text short. Lots of links within your blog will begin to make it look ugly and too much like a bad advertisement!

    Nora

    While you may want to format your blog post really beautifully to match your personal style, it’s best to keep your format consistent across your website, making sure that aspects such as hyperlinks are a standard colour and font types compliment each other. Choosing an easy to read font type, will ultimately give your reader a more comfortable reading experience and allow your content to come through without distractions.

    Hollie

    Also consider using a size 12 or 14 font to make sure that your readers don’t need to squint to read your article. Before you publish your post make sure you do a thorough grammar and spell check of your article. Luckily, WordPress has a built in spellcheck.

    Nora

    To make sure the grammar and structure of your article is acceptable, you can outsource this to a freelancer with editorial skills. Alternatively, you can use a great tool, Grammarly. You can download the desktop app and the chrome extension, that will automatically check your blog posts for grammatically errors.

    Hollie

    Don’t forget to save your blog post as a draft, and click view post to see what your blog post will look like before you publish it to your site. If you see a mistake, just go back to the post and make the changes. You need to save again to see any changes. When you’re happy with your post, hit the publish button and your blog will appear in your blog feed on your website.

    Nora

    You can use this SOP Template to format your own blog posts using the WordPress WYSIWYG editor, or pass it on to your freelancer if you outsource your blog posts.

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