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Interested in becoming a business owner? Into the entrepreneur life? Lifestyle With Kris features tips and resources for newbie business owners and entrepreneurs that you will find helpful in starting a business
What Is Seo And Why Is Seo Important For My Website?
Search Engine Optimization is a vital digital marketing tool.
Picture this. You own, manage, and run your own website. Your website is filled with entertaining, informative, and valuable content, but no one is reading it. You’re stressed because you’ve spent so much time, energy, and money invested in your website. However, it’s not thriving due to low or no traffic. You want to know how to increase your website traffic because you are passionate about seeing your business succeed. You landed here because you discovered SEO during your research, and you have no clue how to increase your traffic. You’re also not sure if you really understand how SEO works and how important it is.
SEO consists of many elements. Knowing what they are and how they work is key to understanding why SEO is so important.
Search engine optimization is crucial for your website because it helps make it more visible. This then equates to more traffic, builds brand awareness, and positions you as a trustworthy expert in your niche.
This post discusses the importance of SEO for your website and how to use SEO to rank on search engines. You will have a better understanding of how SEO works and a step closer to increasing traffic to your website.
Quality Content is what Search Engines Look For
Content is the most vital part of Search Engine Optimization. It is what the people will see first when they visit your website. The content you create is what you use to reach and engage with your target audience. You most likely know by now that you should be creating and posting content that readers will find valuable. Quality content varies in many forms for many website creators (blogs, videos, podcasts, e-books) and needs to be shared consistently to rank on search engines. A lot of content = a lot of chances to increase your website’s online visibility.
For example, website pages and posts should have a minimum of 500 words for search engines to crawl the content on your pages. Even then, depending on which SEO expert you’d ask, they would say 500 is considered to be generously low and should really be around 700-800 minimum words. Valuable content is just one key element to increasing traffic with SEO.
Keywords Will Help Search Engines Find Your Content
Your content will also need to feature some keywords to rank higher on search engines. Keywords are words and phrases that consumers use to find what they are looking for online; and that brands can then use to connect with prospects looking for their products and services.
Finding out what keywords you’ll need for search engine optimization is not a simple task. A general rule of thumb is to look for keywords with high search rates (but low competition). Choose short-tail keywords (such as kid), long-tail keywords (such as adolescent children’s books for sale), and local keywords (such as children’s books for sale in Biloxi) to work into your content. Use keywords to optimize your titles, URLs, and the usability of your website. All this work you are doing to optimize your on-page SEO content will be crucial to improving the visibility and traffic of your website.
You Can Create SEO Opportunities Off-Page
Off-page SEO refers to actions taken outside of your own website to impact your rankings within search engine results pages (SERPs). Backlink building is a popular tool for establishing off-page search engine optimization. There are many tactics for backlink building. Some of the current best practices include guest blogging, advertising, creating a lot of high-quality content to be shared, and using influencer marketing in your content. You will need to network to start building backlinks to your website. Networking and backlinks are great ways for your target audience to find out about who you are and what you do. Take advantage of collaboration opportunities!
Search Engines Love Websites With Quick Load Times
A responsive and speedy website will make a user-friendly experience for all your mobile and desktop visitors. By increasing the load speed of your website, readers will be able to browse longer, decreasing your website bounce rate. You should find out what your website’s load speed is before you decide to make any changes for search engine optimization. If it ain’t broke, do not fix it!
Word of advice for pages with low load speeds: if your load speed is low, take steps to improve your speed by optimizing high-resolution images, fixing JavaScript issues and excessive HTTP Requests, and bad hosting.
Think about it: you have spent a lot of time putting content on your website. It would be a disappointment if your audience cannot access (or gives up waiting to access) the content because the website/page does not load.
Some things to remember about SEO:
- SEO does not happen overnight
- search engines are not perfect
- You do not have to be an expert to optimize your website content
I recommend researching and using SEO tools to continue learning how to use search engines to increase website traffic and brand awareness. Websites like Moz and Semrush have been extremely helpful for me and my journey to understanding SEO. There are plenty of SEO courses and e-books to help you create a consistent SEO strategy plan for optimizing your content, increasing traffic, and reaching your target audience.
I have been working to understand how SEO works for years, and each time I learn something new about how important it is to rank (and rank higher) on search engines. The more elements of SEO we incorporate into our growth strategies, the more opportunities for increasing brand awareness, visibility, and site traffic.
What do you think about SEO and its importance to organic website traffic? How will you use SEO to help grow your website? What else do you think is important to know about SEO and search engines? What advice would you give someone who wants to rank higher on search engines and increase website traffic?
Leave me a comment below.
Should I Trademark My Online Business Name?
Your name is your superpower. What you call yourself (personally or professionally) is your unique identifier. Your name, aka your identity, sets you apart from people/ businesses with similar names. Entrepreneurs realize that it takes hard work to establish their brand and create an identity different from their competitors. So, how will you stand out without blending? How will you organically grow your business? As a result, business owners must establish their rights to ensure that their name is one of a kind. Therefore, it is important to trademark your online business name.
Scroll on to learn why you SHOULD trademark your online business name. Learn how to start the trademarking process and resources to help you start trademarking your business or brand today.
So, what is a trademark?
A trademark is a symbol or word(s) legally registered or established by use as representing a company or product. Registering a trademark helps protect a name or brand from intellectual property theft or misuse as a business grows (Forbes). The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website is where entrepreneurs can go to begin the trademark application process, search the trademark database, and check the status of a trademark. Filling out the trademark application is an easy beginner’s first step to trademarking your business.
How does a trademark help my business?
It gives you a legal avenue to protect your business or brand from copycats replicating your identity. Trademarking your business name, product, or symbol can protect you from scammers looking to make a profit off of your name. In other words, a trademark establishes your exclusive business owner rights to use your name, symbol, or word(s). Trademarking also helps you run a successful company. You will also be able to use the ® symbol next to a successfully registered trademarked name. Completing your trademark registration will make it much easier to file for trademark registration in other countries.
I have an LLC, sole proprietorship, and DBA business. My brand is already protected.
That’s great that you formed your online business. However, you should still decide to trademark your business or brand. A trademark is different in the sense that:
- Forming an LLC (limited liability company) only protects you from individuals using your business name/symbol in your state. It does not protect you nationally or internationally.
- DBA or doing business as; only protects you from individuals using your business name/symbol in your state. It does not protect you nationally or internationally.
- A copyright will protect original artistic and literary works. Copyrights apply to logos but usually do not apply to names.
How to Trademark Your Business Name
Here’s how you can start trademarking your online business today:
First, remember filling out the application is the initial step. If you do not have the necessary information for your application, an attorney can help you with this step. Next, you should figure out what trademark class you want your business’ name or symbol recognized in before submitting your application. (There are 45 trademark classes, and each trademark class covers a wide range of goods or services.)
Example: If a beauty company with the name “Enchanted” wanted to register this name in the cosmetics trademark class, it could. However, if this company also produced jewelry, it might require an added listing in the jewelry trademark class. Therefore, the beauty company has to file for each trademark class that the business will be listed under.
Additionally, if you want to trademark the same name for multiple classes, it might be a little costly. It costs as low as $250 to file a trademark application. To file for a trademarked name for multiple classes, that’s $250 for each trademark class.
Attorneys Can Trademark Your Online Business Name
Sometimes it is best to talk about things like this with your lawyer or attorney. If you are not sure how to fill out your trademark application, schedule a time to consult with your attorney or lawyer. If you do not have an attorney or lawyer, I have an available online resource for you.
Attorney Kiara Taite is a licensed Mississippi trademark attorney dedicated to protecting your legacy. She provides her trademark services to business owners and entrepreneurs anywhere in the country!
Attorney Taite is an attorney equipped to help you understand why trademarking your online business is key to protecting your brand, filing the trademark application, explaining trademark classes/ fees in greater detail, and getting your business trademarked.
If you are looking for quality legal service in the U.S., then look no further. The Law Office of Kiara Taite’s mission is to ensure that clients are equipped with the knowledge, tools, and quality legal representation required to create, protect, and preserve the legacies they intend to leave behind for their children, loved ones, community, or the culture. Visit the Law Office of Kiara Taite website to learn more about her services, fees, and to schedule a time to consult with her about trademarking your online business today!
Enjoying these trademark tips? Check out these similar posts for online business tips:
How To Get Sponsored Posts On Instagram
Have you ever wondered how to get sponsored posts? Sponsored posts are advertisements created by a brand or business for a product/service. Companies are looking to work with content creators daily to reach consumers through sponsored advertising. Many Bloggers and Influencers use sponsored posts (also known as promoted posts) to generate more traffic and link clicks to their website or social media. Sponsored posts are just one of the ways you can create additional income online and monetize your blog.
In the past, I worked with brand companies such as Amazon, Jenell B. Stewart’s DCU affiliate program, Influenster, and The Raw Dosage. I continue to work with businesses on collaborations through sponsored ads and partnerships. In this blog, you will gain insight into how sponsored posts work and how to get sponsored posts. Are you ready to generate website traffic and revenue for your website, blog, or social media? Let’s get started!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate marketing is designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to brand websites. This is at no additional cost to you!
Photo by Olya Kobruseva on Pexels.com UGC is Key to Sponsored Posts
It is important to remember that when promoting a company’s services and products through sponsored posts, you are introducing your community to brands that they’ll be interested in purchasing from and learning more about how they can benefit from them. Brands are looking to reach communities and audiences through UGC, user-generated content. You want to collaborate with brands related to your niche to create the authentic, quality image and video content that brands are looking to use to attract consumers.
For example, my blog is a lifestyle blog. I am inspired to create content around my interests and daily activities. I create brand awareness by sharing content from companies who express interest in reaching consumers with interests in many topics (beauty, health, wellness, finance, travel, food, etc.). I love to promote products and services that are relatable to my everyday life and my brand.
How To Get Sponsored Posts With Influenster
The bulk of my sponsored posts are from my collaborations with Influenster. Influenster is a product discovery app that allows consumers and influencers to try products for free; in exchange for an honest review of the product on your website or social media. By signing up and becoming a member of the Influenster community, I save money by not spending it on products, connected with lots of cool brands to establish long-lasting partnerships, increased traffic to my blog, and gained followers on social media. Let’s look at some of my favorite campaigns that I have been a part of so far:
TurboTax Ambassador Campaign MAC Cosmetics Campaign Are you ready to land sponsored posts to gain website traffic and grow your business? Are you ready to land sponsored posts as a way to generate a source of income? It’s time to figure out what your next steps should be. Here are 4 ways that you can get started today:
4 Ways To Get Sponsored Posts
Start a Blog or Create a Social Media Account Now!
Having a website is a no-brainer decision. It’s time to start building your online platform if you haven’t already. Online marketing is crucial for brands in 2021. I recommend beginning with a blog to share quality content that you know your audience will want to see. Do research. Learn. Apply what you learn! Establish what you want you think your niche should be and create good content. If you aren’t on social media already, the decision to join is something that you will want to make soon. It’s free to create an account on all popular social channels (TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter) and most blog platforms (WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, ).
Pitch Ideas to Brands
If you have an idea for a sponsored post, it’s time to pitch that idea to the brand or business. Don’t let imposter syndrome set in! Pitching content ideas is one of the ways that you can start landing brand partnerships. Create a media kit before reaching out to brand PR to showcase yourself and your business. Most media kits contain:
A list of services that you offer
Statistics (website/blog stats, engagement rates, followers/subscribers)
A bio (one for yourself and your brand biz)
Network Within Your Niche
Most collaboration opportunities come from networking and meeting other business owners and content creators. It’s time to get comfortable with the competition by getting to know them. There are opportunities out there for everyone! I have met some amazing content creators in online groups and through taking blogging courses. Blogging and Engagement Groups are great ways to learn about partnerships, sponsorships, and collaborations. Facebook has a wide variety of blogging groups for you to research and join.
Join Influencer Marketing Platforms
There are several influencer marketing platforms online that you can join to help you get sponsored posts that can help you grow your business and generate traffic to your website. I recommend researching each one to find out which works best for you. Most of these influencer marketing platforms will allow you to join for free; after approving your website and social media accounts. I compiled a list of the influencer marketing platforms that I have had success with so far. These websites allow me to generate traffic to my blog, grow my brand, and make money. Click the jump to download the list.
FREE DOWNLOAD
Did you find this post helpful? Leave a comment below. Tell me your niche and what brands you are interested in collaborating with.
Top 10 Reasons To Use Lightroom
There are many photography apps on the market these days, so I can only imagine that it can be hard to find one that you’ll enjoy. You might have found yourself asking, Do I need to pay for an app to get the best option? Do I need something to do quick edits? Do I also need to think about being able to store and organize my photos? Adobe Lightroom is a powerful photo and video editor for managing and processing thousands of stunning images.
Thank you Tracey Jones for contributing this post to lifestylewithkris.com
(more…)10 Creative Post Ideas for Social Media
You’ve started a business, you’ve created a brand. You’re ready to start marketing your business/brand on social media, but there’s so much overwhelming information out there. Everyone is telling you that you should post at least 3 pieces of social media content per week, post to your social channels every day, and create high-quality content, but where are you going to find inspiration to post interesting, engaging and relevant things to share with your audience? Here are 10 creative post ideas for social media that can work for you!
Thank you Tracey Jones for contributing this post to lifestylewithkris.com
(more…)5 Proven Tips For Starting Your Online Store
Photo by Ann Nekr on Pexels.com You have been crafting for some time and now feel it is time to start selling your masterpieces, but you have no experience running a business. You aren’t sure where to start and the whole thing feels a bit overwhelming at the moment. You’re interested in starting an online store but not sure where to begin.
(more…)Secrets Exposed: Black Girl Culture Is The Moment
The day that I decided I was going to get back into writing again, I did a little bit of exploring for inspiration. For some creative minds, when you haven’t been practicing with your craft/talent, it’s likely due to falling out of love with your passion. I started taking the beginner steps necessary to change my life. I stumbled across BGC, (Black Girl Culture) a blog engineered by black women, for black women. Pop Culture, Politics/Activism, Lifestyle, Music, Health & Beauty, Fashion–all curated by Black women.
After hours of reading posts and drawing inspiration, I saw that this blog was looking for writers for the winter. Moreover, they were looking for writers for any topic, wanting to center their voice. My inner voice started speaking to me and I said, “Hey, girl! Let’s do this!” Let’s get out of our comfort zone! This could be life-changing for me. Sometimes, you have to stop holding yourself back.
I submitted my writing for what was considered the application process.
The Culture Is You, Black Girl!
See what happens when you… leap? Faith can bring many things your way when you just believe. Now, your girl will write weekly blog articles for Blk Girl Culture, from January 2020 to March 2020. I will be starting and continuing conversations in Health/Beauty for an audience of 100,000+ readers. Blk Girl Culture also has posts featured in magazines and new sources like Complex, Teen Vogue, CNN, BBC, and Blavity among others.
I am so excited about this opportunity! My life is changing and pulling me in the direction of my passion. I was only looking for the light to spark a bit, and with opportunities like this, the passion came right back. I hope you get to catch some of my posts!
Get to know me:
Leave me a comment and tell me which posts are your favorite!