Over 5 and a half BILLION searches are processed a day just by Google alone. We need to find ways for our site and our books to get noticed!
I let you skate for a while with easy tasks. Today, Day 25, have a seat. We’re going back to your website and looking into “SEO” or “search engine optimization” which is a fancy way of saying “making sure your website has the right words for search engines to notice, so it pops up early in search results.”
A good overview that explains how search engines work and what they look for (along with tips specific to WordPress but likely work on other sites) is here: https://aioseo.com/ultimate-wordpress-seo-guide/
Wouldn’t it be great if when someone typed in “children’s book author” and your name popped up in the top ten? One way of course is to have a website that has a million hits, which means you have a best-selling title or five. But there are ways to pad your website to up the chances a little bit.
The bad news is, I can’t tell you exactly what to do because we all have different sites and different focuses and reasons and audiences. But here are general guidelines the experts say to bear in mind:
- Images and videos are better than simple text. It not only makes people stay at your website longer, it can up your name on image and video search queries. Caption your images!
- Pick a scalable template or see if your web host will optimize your site for mobile devices.
- Keep your website up to date. Regularly adding new content keeps readers coming back for more. It also improves SEO by showing search engines that your website is active and relevant.
- Add internal links and make sure they’re current.
- Use keywords repeatedly, such as in headers and in summaries (I have heard this doesn’t work as well as it used to though).
- Simplify language and URLs if you can, so search engines know how to find you.
The best advice I can give you is to go back to your website host and check their FAQ for SEO. They are bound to offer specific steps you can take. Wish I had a plug-and-play answer for you (and myself)!
[Oh, and have you followed 10 new people yet?]
Hey there! Came across your post on the WordPress feed and couldn’t resist saying hello. I’m already hooked and eagerly anticipating more captivating posts. Can’t seem to find the follow button, haha! Guess I’ll have to bookmark your blog instead. But rest assured, I’ll be keeping an eye out for your updates!
Thanks – TheDogGod
So glad you found and and extra glad you’re excited about it! Since the posts started in May and are already live now, subscribing will only get you notices on new blog posts (vs the daily 31 Day Author Platform Challenge reminders). I’d still love you have you do that! If you’re on a desktop, there SHOULD be a SUBSCRIBE button at the top right column, under the yellow FB and Twitter boxes, that has a blank space to type your email.