Creative Ideas for Over-Coming Writer’s Block

Writers Block Ideas

Writer’s block is one the biggest challenges that professional writers have to deal with. Writers Block Ideas

Writer’s block is basically the feeling that there is nothing left to write. For whatever reason the mind shuts off and it is impossible to come up with anything to write about.

This is extremely common in both the creative writing world and the non-fiction world. Fortunately there are many tricks of the trade for over-coming writer’s block.

Here are a few that you may find useful:

Don’t Panic

Panicking about not being able to write is just going to make it worse. If you feel like you can’t write, take a breather. Take a break, take a nap, have some lunch. Sitting at the computer all day with nothing to write is as frustrating as lying in bed when you have insomnia and just as ineffective.

Stick to your schedule, but still work in some wiggle room to just walk away for a few minutes or even a few hours, when things get too tough.

Brainstorm

One thing that adult writers often neglect is brainstorming. There was a purpose to all those writing lessons you had in school. Sit down for a few minutes and make yourself a nice brainstorming chart. Don’t worry about going into detail, that isn’t what brainstorming is about.

Make a web like you would have in grammar school or simply jot down some ideas on what way you could go with your paper. It’s surprising how much this can help with over-coming writer’s block.

Try a Different Project

Most of the time writer’s block is a result of boredom with a topic. This is especially true in the non-fiction world. If you have a paper that is really getting to you and you are running out of stuff to say, switch to a different project for a little while to clear your mind. Many writers find this surprisingly effective.

Clean Your Work Area

Something I have realized is that when my surroundings are messy my brain gets that way too. Most of the time I feel writer’s block creeping in I am in a messy situation. Cleaning up your work area is often a great method of over-coming writer’s block.

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Search Engine Optimisation?

Search Engine Optimization

What is Search Engine OptimisationSearch Engine Optimisation

In the wonderful world of the Internet, specifically when it has to do with making your website the most searchable one on the planet, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO, as it is called) can make the difference between being searchable, but with 100 others, or searchable with 10 or 20 others.

It’s really that important for a website to consider this optimisation, since the whole idea is to drive traffic to your website.

The Definition of SEO

So, what is SEO, you might ask? Well, it is literally a way of making a website the most searchable it can be, by a combination of registering with search engines, utilizing certain criteria for maximum results, thus placing your website as highest-ranking as is possible.

It seems like it is very complex, but it really isn’t, once you get the hang of it.

The Importance of the Keyword

One of the most important components, with regard to SEO, is the keyword, which can be keywords, up to 15-20 per web page in order not to be flagged for “keyword spam” by a search engine.

It used to be, were you could pretty much get away with loading your web pages chock full of “keywords”, but now that search engines have started to search for this, with regard to keeping everything as fair as possible, it’s just best to keep to a maximum of 15-20, per web page, period.

This means if you have 5 articles on a webpage, you only want to put three keywords into each of them, period. If you want to put 10 articles on a webpage, then only 2 per article will get you by, in order to not be flagged as a “spamming” website.

Keywords should be as unique as possible and relevant to the material you are writing about, too.

Creating Unique Content: A Must

The content of your articles, when placing them with keyword saturation on a website, is very important. You don’t want something boring that no one can either care about or understand.

Your goal is to keep someone interested, informed and liking what you have to say.

Specific links, generating from the article, are what keep them interested further in products and services, so it is an absolute must that you keep the content flowing, informative and memorable to the person reading it.

What a Title Tags, Header Tags, and Keyword Meta Tags Are

Tags are just what they sound like: they are labels that, when working together, create the best ranking possible in the realm of Search Engine Optimisation. Each title tag can be at least 60 words, and can contain a few keywords.

This is kind of an introduction that can be put together. Header tags can be numbering 1-7, and should be done, because they are what search engines look for, so this is crucial to remember.

Think about the best, relevant information you can choose, when thinking about header tags.

Finally, keyword Meta tags are not to be overused, as was discussed previously; they need to be used only as much as is required, or they will get your web page or pages flagged, which is completely non-productive for SEO.

Seeing the importance of Search Engine Optimisation is a bit hard at first, since the science behind the search engine is a bit complex, and involved certain algorithms and other mathematical calculations.

The unique content of each web page will put your website up there above the rest, which is the ideal place to be, always.

If you are looking for SEO Consulting or Small Business Web Design services, Contact Us today.

Going Social For Traffic Generation

Social Media Traffic Generation

Everyone who has a website or blog these days is trying to find ways to increase their traffic generation.Social Media Traffic Generation

If you have found this article then you are no different. You are in search of ways to increase the amount of traffic that goes to your website because you want it to rank better in the search engine listings.

Well you have come to the right place, the following tips and tricks will help you to get your website or blog out of the dumps and off the 14th page of Google.

  1. If you do blog then you can enhance traffic generation by adding your URL to every blog post that you make. Persons even if they were not looking for your services before will follow as they may just want to see what exactly you have to offer.
  2. By using a Squidoo Lens, these allow you to make a community for yourself and you can place pages here from your wider community along with your website.
  3. Article writing and submission. There are quite a number of submission directories out there but one of the well known ones is Ezine Articles. Many persons have been successful writing and submitting articles to this directory as well as other directories on the web.
  4. Go on social websites. You don’t have to go on the popular ones; there are some out there that will give you some good traffic although they are not widely known. All you have to do is join them and start posting forums and making comments, all with your major blog or website mentioned somewhere.
  5. If you are a blogger and are familiar with Digg and del.icio.us then you will love blog-buzz.com this website allows you to submit your articles so they can generate you traffic.
  6. Go to the various answers websites and give your answers as well as a link to your page. These websites include wiki answers, LinkedIn Answers and Yahoo answers to name a few.
  7. Be the first to write a post about the ‘Top Ten Blogs’ in your niche. The post will rank highly in any general search for blogs in your niche and other bloggers in your niche write about the post and link to it.
  8. Use your archives, instead of replacing content archive it. There may be people who are looking for the content that you had three months ago who will go to other websites since you have removed yours.
  9. Write on a current topic that is in the news everywhere. Persons like to be in the know and like to see who is thinking the same way that they are. If they agree with your piece they will leave a comment and will come back to hear what you have to say next. If they don’t like it they will leave a comment also and come back to hear your response also or just to see what you are now ranting about this time around.

These tips will be sure to help you with traffic generation, so use them, maybe one maybe use them all and good luck!

Keyword Research

Keyword Research

You could easily consider keyword research and keyword planning the lifeblood of your website.Keyword Research

Your site, which you rely on search engines to index and promote and make no mistake, keyword research is a pivotal element.

Niche tools are an indispensable tool for locating appealing, profitable keywords and subjects to incorporate into your website or blog.

Additionally—what good is even a perfectly crafted, perfectly linked website if you don’t know where to find products to sell with it?

Foundational knowledge in Keyword Research

Finding niche tools is all about knowing where to look. Google, Yahoo and Bing—consider them your new online best-friends.

In addition, carefully consider the following facts:

    • Keywords—and all of the research that accompany them—are vital to SEO rankings, as well as the traffic that you want to elicit. So, center all of your keywords around the title of your website and its content.
    • Keyword density is crucial; this means you don’t litter your web page with keywords, you make them “flow” perfectly with the adjoining text, and you use a one through two percent keyword density. For example, you have a 500 word article—so there must be a maximum of 10 iterations. Six through eight is usually preferable, and spread them out evenly.
    • Just as vital as keywords are to search engine indices, introductions (and headers or top-aligned horizontal menus, to an extent) serve to make your audience want to stay on the your page and read-on; or, they can make viewers click off your website just as fast as they signed onto it. Make an introduction (whether it be text, flash intros, or whatnot) that accurately represents what your page is about and contains finely-tuned words that will bait viewers in
    • Create a “resource box”. This is the link at the end of your article—or anywhere on your webpage you see fit—for a link to your website where you actually sell goods and services.
    • Google Keyword Tools can be a very effective resource in finding the right keywords and keyword phrases; however, with millions of people using the same tool, you’ll have to expand your arsenal of niche tools. Keyword strands, or long-tags, are equally as important. Take extra care to find common search phrases and common keywords associated with your topic; this usually requires dissecting them, and rearranging them to account for dozens of variations of the same phrase.
    • Google Zeitgeist, or Google Trends, can also offer valuable insight as to the current topics and keywords, as well as rising stars in the field.

If you are looking for SEO Consulting or Small Business Web Design services, Contact Us today.

Implementing Successful Search Engine Marketing Techniques

Search Engine Marketing

Using Search Engine Marketing requires you to have an on page HTML code reconstruction and focused keyword strategy. Search Engine Marketing

However, to have real success in using Search Engine Marketing you also need to use off page SEO.

Off Page Search Engine Marketing

Using on page SEO deals with inner-link structure within your website, whereas the off page SEO is what the search engines collect of your data that are the pages not within your domain.

When having a web page, the majority of us know that you need to have a specific keyword strategy and density and an on page HTML code reconstruction. You also need to have off page SEO as these contribute to the success in search engines.

Which means, if you have more off page data, and examples are link popularity, online directories, and a keyword theme, the better you will do in the search engines.

What About On Page Search Engine Marketing?

There are a few important factors in regards to on page SEO and they only holds 44% of the weight when search engines like Google makes a decision based on it. However, in other search engines it could be between 50% – 90%.

When using keywords make sure you have a keyword density, meaning the number of keywords that are used throughout your website. These can be just words or keywords phrases. Having a targeted keyword density helps you to have the right percentage to give your website the right amount of prime results.

You should aim to have a keyword density between 3% and 5%. To calculate your density it is the number of keywords divided by the number of words on your page. Using the right amount of keyword density will help you in getting your website in the first top ten in the search engine listing, which will give the maximum exposure to your site.

One More Tip

Another way to create a successful search engine marketing is by building backlinks. Backlinks allow you to have links from other websites, to your website. If you want to have a high ranking in Google, it is best to have links from other websites. So, in other words backlinks are like popularity votes, the more you have the higher you will be in their search engine.

Backlinks ensure that you will create traffic to your website, and increase attention of your website to search engines like Google. A great way to create backlinks is through article marketing.

Using article marketing will help you in getting a lot of keyword anchored backlinks. There are many article directories that will accept your article such as ezinearticles.com or go articles. You can submit your article and in return you can receive links.

Building a backlink for your website is great way to get your website in the search engines, but this is something that does take time.

To have a successful search engine marketing , you need to ensure that you have the right amount of keyword density for your website. You need to build backlinks to boost your listing in the search engines.

Knowing what on page and off page, will also help in getting the best out of your website and getting the best results for your search engine optimization.

If you are looking for SEO Consulting or Small Business Web Design services, Contact Us today.

5 Search Engine Optimisation Secrets

Search Engine Optimisation

Search Engine Optimisation is the best way to drive traffic to your website, by using just a few tools. Search Engine Optimisation

Below is a list of 5 really important things to perform, with respect to SEO for your website:

Register With One Search Engine At a Time

Websites do not want you to register over and over again with them, nor do they want you to attempt any “mass” registration, since that would mean you could have a robot doing it for you.

Therefore, you always want to register with one website at a time, period. Give them ALL your information, especially all that they require in order to optimize the engine for your website to be searched for there.

Create a Unique Keyword for Each Webpage

This is really crucial, because even thought it might not seem important, the one keyword that each webpage has on it can be included in a sub search, which can place your website ahead of others, depending on what your keywords are.

Be as creative as possible, but also try to keep it different for each webpage, for uniqueness.

Do Not Over Use Keywords

Over-saturating with keywords will not help you out, unless you want your website to eventually be banned by a certain search engine. It is not unheard of for them to do so, either.

Their job being of a benign nature totally contrasts with over saturation and deliberate over placement of keywords, which is something that unscrupulous search engine optimizers do, as one of the many tricks that can place a higher “rank” above others.

Never use more than 15-20 keywords per web page, or you will get flagged for “keyword spam”.

Create Content That Flows

When you use content on your website in order to gain search engine optimisation, try to make it as interesting and flowing as possible. If you list things, they should make sense, for example.

You should always strive to have either yourself or whoever does your writing, do it in such a way as to keep the reader’s interest. This isn’t hard to do, with just a bit of creativity and of course great grammar and spelling.

Give The Search Engines What They Require

Search engines require a few things, in order to best work for you. The first thing to consider is title tags. These can be 60 or more characters, and carry a few keywords at best. Think of them as an introduction, to an article that has a title. The second item is header tags. They work a bit differently, as they are numbered 1 to 7, and search engines easily recognize them.

Be sure to include them, or you will not get the maximum optimisation you could get, were you to do so. Of course, keyword meta tags (as discussed above) are equally important, as are the placement of the one keyword per webpage, itself.

Using all of the above advice will get you some really great SEO for your website, although there are more things you can do, that you can look into by performing a web search.

If you are looking for SEO Consulting or Small Business Web Design services, Contact Us today.

Get Yourself a Local Search Engine Optimizer

Search Engine Optimizer

Having a web presence online is not the only thing you need to do in order to drive traffic to your website, and a local Search Engine Optimizer knowsSearch Engine Optimizer the keys to success.

Now, one of the most familiar terms in “web speak”, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a leading tool for webmasters and site marketers alike to really put a website out there and available for the public to utilize.

Simply put, it optimizes each search, per keyword, for the website desiring traffic to flow to it, specifically using a combination of items in order to put the website as one of the first results from input to a search engine.

What is a Search Engine Optimizer?

The person or company who handles SEO is called a Search Engine Optimizer. Depending on the reputation of the individual or company, it can alternately help your website succeed, through searches that are optimized, or fail; utilizing tactics that are unethical can ruin the reputation for a website, so you must be careful.

What Search Engine Optimizers Can Do for You

The methods used by search engine optimizers, in order to optimize a search for your website , can include the following:

  • Examination of your website, including its content and the way it has been set up;
  • Offering advice, from a purely technical aspect, largely to do with how well the website has been set up from a “back office” perspective;
  • Directly creating content for the site, to best optimize every search;
  • The development and maintenance of marketing campaigns for the website;
  • Research and development of keywords;
  • Educating the client on what SEO is and how it is being utilized for their website and
  • Offering professional advice regarding specific industry-related marketing

Should You Use a SEO Individual/Company or Yourself?

Bearing in mind that not all search engine optimizers are extremely knowledgeable on any of the above subject matter, it is important that you attempt at utilizing a well-known, reliable individual or company, if you are not going to perform the work yourself.

You can learn how to utilize SEO for your website’s search engine, but if you are not totally familiar with all aspects of it, including what is not considered ethical, then you really could damage both your company’s reputation, as well as put yourself in a fool’s light.

With proper education, and perhaps visiting some discussion boards to find out about the more ethical ways of utilizing SEO for marketing your website, your can be a successful campaign that not only will put your website in the top loading front page of potential client’s searches, but you can also keep learning as you go along, in order to put your website out time and time again as a top site.

Common Unethical Practices By Search Engine Optimizers

Two of the most unethical practices that search engine optimizers utilize are as follows:

  1. “Shadow” domains – this involves redirecting traffic to sites other than the one initially desired. This is a common practice among unethical SEO individuals or companies.
  2. “Doorway” pages – this involves placing links to other domains on a client’s site. It takes away from the ideal search capability of your site; it may redirect, additionally, to unsavory websites of the SEO or its clients.

If you are looking for SEO Consulting or Small Business Web Design services, Contact Us today.

Avoiding Scams when Working From Home

Avoiding Scams

Many people falsely believe that all work on the internet is a scam. This isn’t true.Avoiding Scams

Working from home is a great way to spend time with your family and have more control over your day to day life, and there are many great places to find online work.

This is never truer than in the case of freelance writers.

Here are some tips for avoiding scams when working from home.

Avoiding Scams by Using Reputable Freelancer Sites

Freelance writing jobs seem to be less scam-filled than other forms of online jobs. I am not sure why.

The biggest thing you have to watch out for in our business is being ripped off by a client who neglects to pay you.

Once you have a reputation you can set up your own profile with references and ask for payment in advance of your work. When first starting out however, you may not be able to request payment up front.

Going through a reputable freelancer service that either pays a flat rate per article or offers certain protection from clients who don’t pay is the best way to start out. Always check to see what the policy is before accepting work as this is a sure fire way of avoiding scams.

Avoiding Scams by Focusing on Payments

Another way to avoid scams is to set up a personal limit. Clients are apprehensive about paying up front because they don’t want you to scam them. There is a lot of mistrust out there.

However, since you are trying to avoid being ripped off yourself you need to set up some ground rules. For example, you can tell new clients that you have to be paid after 5 articles in order to set up a trusting relationship.

No client should have a issue with that as it shows that you are genuine and are here for the long-haul. Then you can increase it to ten, then twenty, and after that you would simply let the client pay you by the week or on their terms.

Of course every client is different and some cannot afford to pay up front for large orders. You may need to look at other avenues here hen avoiding scams.

Avoiding Scams by using Social Security Numbers

If you are an American citizen working for an American citizen you will have to fill out tax papers that include your social security number for each client that you make $600.00 or more dollars from.

Some clients want this to begin with; others are willing to wait till you hit that mark. Be cautious of this but understand it is the rule. Always keep copies of all 1099 that you fill out and retain the names and addresses of all clients that you work for.

If you are an Australian business you usually complete an order form or provide a receipt which contains your ABN. Your ABN is a unique identifier for your business and all business and tax dealings are carried out under this number, so make sure that you keep copies of everything.

These are only a few pointers into avoiding scams when working from home, however it pays to be diligent with all business transactions to ensure that you don’t end up losing more than you bargained for.

If you are looking for SEO Consulting or Small Business Web Design services, Contact Us today.

The Importance of Building an Online Profile

Building an Online Profile

There are a variety of beneficial reasons for building an online profile. This is a great way to promote your work and get your name out there.Building an Online Profile

Here are some of the many reasons why building an online profile is well worth the effort taken.

A Place to Display your Work

An online profile is a great way to display your work. Online profiles can contain as much or as little information as you would like and it is best to keep them concise and to the point.

Make sure to include examples of your work and accomplishments as well as a reliable source of contact. When potential clients see your online profile it is the first sample they get of you.

Think of it as a portfolio that is available to the entire globe. Only display your best work.

Self Promotion

The right keyword phrases and a little SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can help to get your profile to the top of search engines. This helps to put you ahead of competitors who have poorly written profiles or do not have a profile at all.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be the first name to pop up on Google after a search for “freelance writer”?

Professionalism

One of the biggest benefits by and large of an online profile is that it exhibits professionalism. This is even truer when you purchase a personalized domain name.

Now you have your own domain, an online profile that displays all of your best quality, a contact point, and even some examples of your work. You can even throw in a nice, professionally done portrait.

This really helps to make you seem like a legitimate person to do business with. You can even use this spot to include personal references or better yet, quotes from former clients that illustrate how wonderful you are.

Sets You Apart from the Crowd

Though there may be a writer on the web with the same amount of experience and the same education level, if they don’t have a profile— you will automatically appear more prepared.

Professional profiles really set you apart from the crowd and this is very important in today’s world.

Building an online profile is something that can be very quick to establish and the benefits that you would reap will continue for many years.

If you are looking for SEO Consulting or Small Business Web Design services, Contact Us today.

How SEO Consulting Can Benefit Any Business

SEO Consulting

Whether you are a small business, a medium enterprise or even a sole-trader, the benefits of having an online presence are a must in today’s tech-savvy world. Obtaining SEO Consulting services can give your business the edge over your competition.SEO Consulting

The days of creating a simple website to drive traffic have come to an end and the days of highly optimised websites and social networks are here. Being found online can be the difference between expansion of your business or the loss of clients to your competitors.

To ensure that your online estate is pulling its weight in driving leads, customers and growing your business, you should look at SEO Consulting to give you the advantage over your competition.

Many SEO consulting services provide you with strategies for using your current online estate to be easily found for the product or service that you offer.

SEO consulting services help you by performing Search Engine Optimisation or SEO Analysis on your current online estate and provide recommendations to gain higher search engine results on targeted keywords that your consumers are searching for.

In seeking a professional SEO consulting service, you should ensure that the SEO consultant reviews both On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO. This ensures that the content on your website is written and published in such a way that it helps to achieve greater visibility with search results, while also ensuring that you are seen as a authority for your good or service.

Whether you are looking to build a strong online profile for your small business or increase your local market dominance, SEO Consulting services can provide you with a strategic online business plan to achieve the results you want.

In today’s current technology web-sphere, consumers turn to the Internet first and foremost to find what they are looking for. SEO consulting services by Sydney Freelance help the small business owner by ensuring that they are not left out from the potential customer base that exist online.

By receiving the appropriate SEO consulting advice and implementing the required SEO practices, you can:

  • Access a whole new marketplace for promote your product or service
  • Strategically target your local, regional or national market
  • Lower marketing and promotion costs
  • Track and measure your results

Sydney Freelance offers professional SEO consulting services, with SEO packages that incorporate proven and long-standing techniques, as well as new SEO strategies to give you that competitive advantage while providing cost-effective and strategically created SEO plan to suit your individual business.

If you are looking for SEO Consulting services for your website, contact Sydney Freelance.