unique Archives - K.V. Fischer

Publish Don’t Perish: Tip #4 – Get Started On Your Website

Get started on your website regardless of how far along you are on your first book. The idea is to build a following of readers before you release your first book. If you wait until after, it may be quite difficult or even too late for that first book. The good news is, if I can do it, just about anyone can — no joke. In my SEO for Writers Series, I provide guidance on how to get started and optimize your readership. For your convenience, I listed the articles below with a brief summary and link for each.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Writers

Discover:

What a website provides that social media does not; and
An incredible tool to get you started: The Author Toolbox — Practical Tools to Build a Book, a Platform, a Business, and Career, by Candee Fick.

Search Engine Optimization for Writers — Unique

SEO, writers, unique, Google, content, websites, authors, books — Unique

Our definition of unique is not necessarily the same as how Google and other search engines define it. When it comes to your website, being unique as Google defines it is what’s important in growing your reader base.

SEO for Writers — Key Words

Readers use key words to find what they are looking for. Identifying these words and terms are critical to increasing the number of people who visit your website, in other words, increasing your hits.

SEO — Make Your Content Stand Out

When you make your content stand out, you will increase your hits. Ensure your content stands by focusing on these critical areas:

bloggers, writers, copyright — Make your content stand out.

Be Appealing and Useful
Purpose
Value
Answer a Question
Relate
Variety
Entertain
Visual
Inspire
Scannable
Compatible
Shareable
Regular Publication

SEO — Increase Your Hits

We’ve been looking at ways to increase your hits, from the key words you use to making your content stand out. This article provides the last of the tips to increase your hits and entice the reader to stay a while. After all, a reader who hits and immediately jumps off tells “Google” that they did not like what they saw, but one who stays … .

SEO — Your Website Topic

The last article in the series discusses your website topic. For those who write nonfiction, this won’t be a challenge, however fiction writers are another story. Receive inspiration for your topic in this article.

Don’t be afraid — Go for it!

Search Engine Optimization for Writers – Unique

A few years ago, an SEO firm contacted me to write nutrition, business, and law related articles for its clients. The owner knew I was a Registered Dietitian and an attorney and he needed help. This opened a new door and I realized that one of the most important areas of expertise that SEO firms handle, is not just the behind the scene software pieces, but even more important is the content.

And ladies and gentlemen, as writers, content is what we do best.

It used to be that if you wanted people to find you and your business, you picked names for your business that would place you at the front of the phone book rather than toward the back. The days of the phone book are gone. What matters most is whether your name or business comes up in the first pages of a key word search. Instead of your fingers doing the walking, Google does the hunting.

Google/Yahoo, is like a battery operated toy — it is programed to find certain things, to like certain things, and to reject other things. The more it likes, the higher your ranking which increases the chance that your web presence will appear at the top of people’s search results — the top 10 is best.

Let’s take a look at some of those things:

Unique. If your content is unique, Google likes it. But how does Google define unique? The information itself doesn’t have to be new, but the way it’s expressed does. You can say the same thing many different ways and it can still be considered unique by Google. This is because search engines like Google use mathematical equations (algorithms) that take words literally. The rule of thumb is 3 words. Don’t use more than 3 of the same words in a row from something else that’s been published whether it was your own, or something you have permission to use. One of the SEO’s clients was an orthodontist who had different pages for 15 different locations. Each of the pages expressed the same type of content, who he was, the services he offered, and the outcome his patients could expect. I took his one page that expressed the information he wanted to present to the public and rewrote it 15 different ways. Google saw each page as unique and his ranking rose.

Hits. The number of visitors who visit your site and stay awhile. It’s not just how many visit, because if they visit and immediately bounce off, Google registers that they must not have liked what they saw since they made a quick exit. This decreases your ranking. Next, we’ll look at what draws people to your site and how do you increase those hits in a positive way.

Any suggestions?

Beautiful Bridesmaids Dressed to Perfection

Every bride wants their beautiful bridesmaids dressed to perfection, with specially designed jewelry that sets off the gown and accents each girl’s beauty with just the right sparkle. My daughter chose a beautiful, reasonably priced, Christmas green dress in a style designed for many body types (the dress I was not going to touch, and you know why). Now the jewelry was right up my alley — about the only thing I was uniquely qualified to handle with the necessary experience.

bride, bridesmaids, jewelry, the Stanley, wedding planner, wedding, unique, original, rehearsal dinner, bridesmaids gifts, gifts, Swarovski Crystal, sterling silver, Christmas, bridesmaids dresses — Bride & Bridesmaids
Courtesy of Laura Grace Photography

A Little History

It all started when my daughter was just 13 years old. She asked for a small Swarovski Crystal necklace for her birthday. We lived in South Florida and at that time, the going rate was about $200. As a frugal, conscientious mom, my response was brief, “Sweetheart, unfortunately that’s a little steep and not in the budget.”

As a very creative young lady who thought outside the box, she responded, “What if I can find the crystal at a good price and we make it?”

I shrugged, “Why not?”

In short order, she found the Swarovski Crystal in bulk and at a fair price. Although the cost to make one necklace was reasonable, the up front cost to make the necklace with the remaining materials was not. Of course my creative, business minded daughter had the solution … . Since we already enjoyed making jewelry together, we’d make high quality jewelry to sell at art shows. Once we earned back our out-of-pocket expenses, we’d help others in need with the profits.

One of our offerings included original jewelry sets for the bride and bridesmaids …

Victoria designed the jewelry for her bridesmaids and I made it.

Oops

Last week it was all about the wedding cake, but that wasn’t my first major faux pas. My first lulu didn’t come to my attention until the rehearsal dinner. It was toward the end of a lovely dinner when my daughter gave the bridesmaids their gifts — a Swarovski Crystal and sterling silver jewelry set designed by her and made by me.

“Mom? We’re missing a set.”

“No we’re not. I made 6 sets.”

“But there are 7 bridesmaids with the maid of honor.”

“Uh oh… . Give the 6 bridesmaids their gifts and tell your maid of honor (my niece, Elizabeth) what happened. I’ll make the 7th set before the wedding….”

Unique

The designs we make for each bridal party are unique, and in this case, I didn’t know if I had the materials left to make another set. Although we were staying at the Stanley because of the distance, I had to

make it back home before the wedding,
in bad weather,
with the closure of the main road closest to my house.

Beautiful Bridesmaids Dressed to Perfection — Bridesmaids Jewelry, Original Designs by Victoria

My husband and I left early the next morning and made it back with plenty of time and materials to make just one more set (and I do mean just one more down to the last sterling silver tube bead). And fortunately, I had a photo of the set from which to work.

But that also meant, if I had the wrong count for the bridesmaids gifts, then I also had the wrong count for … . Stay tuned next week for the next twist of the lemons… .

What was your biggest event planning oops?

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A Little History

Oops

Unique

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