Alexander - Alexander Higginson

Google Core Algorithm Update In June 2019

August 20, 2019 By Alexander Leave a Comment

In June 2019 Google released a Core Update. This is a Broad Core Algorithm update that was rolled out on June 3rd. It has been reported that websites have experienced both positive and negative results.

To be honest I never noticed any big impact but I have observed positive experiences with rankings on my websites.

One of my websites in the past would go down in rankings if I did not blog much on it. However, I have noticed that this is no longer the case and the main keywords for the website are staying in the top 4 positions on the 1st page of Google.

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What Is The Best SEO Plugin For WordPress? A Review of All-In-One and Yoast

June 13, 2019 By Alexander Leave a Comment

I have seen a number of arguments about what is the best SEO plugin for WordPress to use. Should you use All-In-One or Yoast? What is best for a beginner and should you change plugins? In this review, I will discuss these questions offering my thoughts and suggestions. We will look in detail at Yoast and All-In-One (AIO) SEO plugins for your WordPress site, highlighting the pros and cons.

Yoast Plugin

Let us look at the Yoast Plugin and see what challenges people face. One of the frequent issues observed with many users of this plugin is it offers a menu of guidelines on the readability of the content within a WordPress blog post. Along with suggestions of SEO to be implemented for what is written within the content.

In addition, it also gives a numeric rating and informs you if the post you have written has a quality user experience with being easy to read and if it is suitable for SEO.

On the surface, this all seems like really good bonus points for the plugin in terms of its usefulness and being helpful to the publisher or blogger.

However, I would like to point out that this can be a negative thing as it means you are being distracted and unnecessarily caught up in debates about if their SEO rating the plugin provides for every post they produce is of concern if it highlights issues.

It will mean that the blogger will be getting mislead and focused on being worried about all the statistics the Yoast plugin is revealing rather than just focusing on writing great content.

what is the best seo plugin for wordpress — Image by kalhh from Pixabay

When you are starting out in the blogging world with your new website the last thing you should be concerned about is measuring statistics about traffic, ranking and SEO. What is important especially with a brand new website is just focusing on building out excellent content that is fantastic for the internet community.

Once you have got a lot of unique and awesome content and it is naturally ranking in the search engines then, later on, we can look at things like measuring SEO, Meta tags, Google Analytics, and Google Console.

In this way, you are focusing and getting into the right frame of mind for just being immersed in your chosen niche and building an amazing website.

All the technical stuff, on SEO and improving your rankings can come later on.

The plugin has some rather bizarre guidelines like suggesting your chosen keyword must be at the front of your blog post title. While this may be true in the argument for ranking well in the search engines, in my experience I have ranked equally well when the keyword or phrase is within the middle of the title.

So there is no rule of thumb on this. You must right naturally and forcing the keyword to the front of the title of the post will come off as looking weird and not making any sense.

This will undermine your success with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as the search engine algorithms will determine that you are trying to ‘keyword stuffing’ rather than expressing your creative writings naturally.

If the user is completely new to building their very first blog in WordPress and learning the ropes then they may not realize this mistake and being misled by these guidelines from the plugin.

Here is a screenshot for one of my posts on this site that ranks at the top of both Google and Bing search engines. This is the analysis for readability by Yoast:

I am targeting the keyword “eleven40 pro theme review” and it has been staying constantly up at Position 3 on Google and Position 2 on Bing since it was published back October 2018 despite the competition. Here are Yoast’s guidelines for the SEO Analysis for my post:

As you can see above, these suggestions offer a number of steps to follow in improving your content.

However, newcomers who are just starting out can get frustrated about the score ratings that Yoast is giving. Yet these guidelines are irrelevant here as you can see this post is ranking at the very top of the search engines with great success.

The Yoast suggestions are just that suggestions and they are not mandatory pursuits for success.

It is just to give information for your guidance. However, it is really unnecessary clutter as I ranked this post without using Yoast and its Guidelines. Here are two screenshots of Google and Bing Ranking Positions for this post:

And the rankings in Bing search engine:

Seriously, all this stuff about guidelines and suggestions for guidance is a waste of time! What is important is your readers and the user experience they are having when they visit your site.

Always remember to write from the heart thinking of your readers and never the logic of rules and suggestions.

As you can see here in one of my posts, what one should be focusing on is producing valuable content for the internet community in your chosen niche. What we see here is proof that Google with its algorithms will work out and ‘read’ your content to determine the value of what you have written.

Just because my post above is not being given a good rating from Yoast it does not mean that SEO is not being done correctly. Rather, you are not doing SEO correctly if do not write great valuable content on your website.

Therefore, the lesson learned here is that people get lost and go down the wrong path that they are doing something wrong with SEO or worry about it too early. What they need to do is deliver great content for their visitors viewing their WordPress blog.

Personally, I have never used Yoast that much as I found it was full of distractions and a lot of irrelevance.

Google has always said try not to get too distracted with keywords and SEO, instead, just write naturally. If you do that then the magic will automatically start to flow.

All-In-One Plugin

The All-In-One (AIO) plugin is what I use and recommend for beginners or indeed advance users as well. There is no complicated rules and suggestions which as I have mentioned before can cause confusion for people just starting out learning WordPress blogging.

I cannot emphasize this enough no matter your niche you should be totally immersed in the subject and its universe focusing on delivering great content for your readers.

Eventually when you have built out your content and website then you can start to optimize it with SEO and target relevant keywords. This gets you into the correct frame of mind of focusing on giving your readers a wonderful user experience when they visit your site.

This is the correct approach to SEO.

Google and Bing will take care of the rest.

The AIO plugin is very popular with bloggers using WordPress and it is what I personally use for all of my sites.

It is nice, clean and uncluttered.

You are not distracted by figures and ratings.

If you are using the SiteRubix Platform Technology which is built on the WordPress CMS framework and is free to use inside Wealthy Affiliate for your website, then you will already have the All-In-One plugin installed.

To give you more background of the AIO plugin I have provided a video tutorial that shows how to use it correctly. It does have a lot of unnecessary settings but you can ignore them as the tutorial points out.

This tutorial below gives you everything you need to know to use AIO correctly when setting everything up inside WordPress.

Having your site optimized with SEO creates a long term sustainable business online allowing you to bring in a phenomenal amount of traffic organically. It means that you may never need to pay for traffic at all as your content ranks in Google which cover 70% of the search engines on the internet.

The Verdict: AIO or Yoast?

As you can see from the video and from my own experience of success online, the All-In-One plugin is highly recommended and I don’t think I will ever switch to Yoast.

They both have their own advantages and disadvantages but I reckon AIO is much better and gets rid of the baggage that comes with being pedantic around keyword density and SEO analysis.

What we need to be focusing on is great content.

If you are doing well with Yoast then don’t change for the sake of it as likely you are doing just fine. If as a beginner you are starting out and looking for a suitable SEO plugin then All-In-One is the way to go.

In my opinion, AIO is the best SEO plugin for your WordPress site and I think it will always be.

When using Yoast and you like it I think a note of caution is warranted.

Do not allow yourself to be pedantic by its suggestions and guidelines on readability and keyword densities. As you can see above the scoring for my article, the plugin was showing issues with an SEO analysis and readability.

However, you do not want to be rating really well all the time since your content is always going to be different!

This shows that you are a human and not having content written by a robot. And that is one of the elements that the search algorithms use for ranking the keywords and content on your site.

If every single post you write is perfect every time then it would look suspicious. You are going to have a mixture of content that is good and some not so appealing to your audience.

Do let me know what your thoughts are below. What do you think?

If you know people debating on or asking questions on what is the best SEO plugin to use on their WordPress site, kindly share this post with them.

Thank you for reading and Happy content creation!

SEO and Keyword Research, The Never Ending Story…

January 8, 2019 By Alexander Leave a Comment

This is something I want to address urgently about Keyword Research and SEO. It is time to expose the myths! I have read in the weird and murky world of the internet that keywords are history and even SEO is dead. It is being stated that keywords and even SEO are no longer going to be relevant to Google.

Causing mayhem and chaos in the online world apparently.

I want to categorically say that is complete disinformation being projected by dark false internet marketing prophets of the make money online underworld. In the light of more calmer waters and unity, we need to remember that keywords and search engine optimization will never disappear.

Let us look at this sensibly and not give our power away to the fake news and dark gurus of the blogging world. Let us stop being the sheeple and start thinking for ourselves and not rush into any hype.

When the collective consciousness of humanity starts running wild with ideas, concepts, and stories, we need to take a deep breath and hold ourselves back. We need to do our own research.

Let us remain in the calm, peace and stability at the eye of the storm and just observe the swirling chaos around us from a distance and not get pulled in.

Keywords and SEO are here to Stay

To say that keyword research is a goner does not make any sense when you think about it.

If you are focusing on SEO keywords and researching the search engine competition then this is targeting on the customer’s needs and desires, along with a quality user experience.

This means that you are going to deliver content that is based on what the reader is searching for online.

seo and keyword research — Image by Wokandapix from Pixabay

Far from Keywords and SEO disappearing, they are going to flourish and blossom as the internet matures and starts to come out of its infancy. In fact, the internet is barely born and is going through an interesting labor.

You see, keywords are the foundations of the fertile soil where everything germinates from. Such as:

How Google Indexes Content
Local SEO
Google Ads (Formally Adwords)
Retargeting

So if keywords and SEO fade away then how will people search for what they are looking to find?

Google uses artificial intelligence to determine what information you are looking for and an initial query has to be based on a keyword.

It is the foundation to everything. This is how your content is built on and is the foundation of your blog’s user experience.

It is time for the soap box to be de-vibrated into the quantum soup of nothingness.

Its a safe bet, keywords and SEO will never go away. They are the key to success.

What do you think?

Do you stand by me and agree with what I have said?

What stories have you read about Keyword Research and SEO?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

How To Rank For A Keyword In Google, My 9 Step Master Formula!

December 31, 2018 By Alexander Leave a Comment

In this article I will show you how to rank for a keyword in google using my 9 step formula. Once you understand this process you can simply rinse and repeat your SEO engine!

Step 1: Research Your Keyword You Are Targeting

Study and look for the different keywords that have a high search volume but also possess low competition in the search engines especially in Google.

This low competition is called ‘low hanging fruit’ and means instead of targeting the high traffic volume keywords that are saturated and difficult to rank in Google. Instead we go for low traffic and low competition keywords. Trying to rank for such keywords makes it easier to get on the first page of Google and other search engines.

The amount of traffic and people searching for those keywords are less but when you add up all of the different keywords for those separate articles, the volume of traffic soon adds up. Also these low-hanging fruit keywords are very niche specific and targeted.

Step 2: Investigation Of The SERPS Competition Based On Your Keyword

One of the challenges you have to look at is even with low-hanging fruit keywords, you need to make sure your competition is not too tough to beat. It is important to investigate that your targeted keyword is not competing against authority websites or that far too many competitors are ranking for the same keyword.

However, that being said from my own experiments and experience you can still out rank them with good quality content!

Step 3: Create Content Using The Keyword You Are Targeting

How To Rank For A Keyword In Google — Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I would recommend you have the keyword in the title of the article you are writing and then once within the first three sentences. After this do not worry about it and just write naturally. Keep in mind that your content is very readable.

Try to avoid long sentences and instead use shorter ones. Break up the content into small paragraphs.

Absolutely avoid long paragraphs as they are difficult to read on the screen. So always use small frequent paragraphs as the way we read on the internet is different from the off-line world. Also use headers or sub-titles so your content is broken up into different sections.

Similar to what you see in this blog post.

Step 4: Configure The Meta Title And Meta Description For SEO

The targeted keyword needs to be in the meta title and also the meta description. The recommended length for the title and description does change from time to time.

At the time of writing use the following lengths that are compliant.

Meta Title ==> 60 Characters
Meta Description ==> 160 Characters

Anything more than this will not get displayed in the Google search results. This means that the remaining words beyond the 60 characters for the Title and anything beyond 160 for the Description will not get displayed.

Step 5: Insert Images Inside Your Content

Find images that are relevant to the discussion in your Content. There are many excellent resources that contain a great repository of visual content. For example, I find that Pixabay is an fantastic free resource for high quality images.

The placement of your images should be right justified especially for images above the fold. Also use the keyword in the alternative text field for the image inside WordPress. This helps the image to become searchable under that keyword.

Step 6: Insert Internal Links For Previously Written Posts

When you get your creative spark firing and your website starts flourishing with great content, there will be opportunities to add in what are known as internal links to previously published content.

The best approach with internal links is using the previous keyword for the other content that you are referring to inside your article. Have that keyword inside your new content and link to that article that is using that keyword.

Google loves internal links as a ranking factor and is a massive boast for SEO of your website. Not least as it reduces the bounce rate.

Step 7: Sharing On Social Media

After you have published your blog post or page, it is highly recommended to share it on social media. My favorite social media platform is Facebook, Twitter and until recently Google Plus.

The later is being discontinued by Google so I have been using the Discussion and/or Community section in my Youtube account. This is currently being experimented with Google and Youtube and it is possible it will be used as a replacement for Google Plus.

It does hold a positive factor for incoming external links to your website and thus improves the rankings of your content, along with how many people have shared your articles.

Step 8: Make A Youtube Video As A Supplement

There is power in video so try to overcome any fears about making Youtube video. Make a video as a supplement to your article targeting the same keyword and publish it on Youtube. In the video description be sure to add the link back to your article that the video will be referring to.

Embed the new video into your article on your website. Youtube provided the embedded code for this and it is quite straight forward. Perhaps add the video just below the fold under the second or third paragraph.

Step 9: Submit To Google Console / Webmaster Tools

After your content is finished and you are happy with it. It is time to submit it to Google so it can appear in the search engines right away.

You do this by fetching your new article’s URL as Google. Once the “fetch as google” is complete, click the ‘submit to index’ button.

This basically instructs the Google Crawlers to start reading your new content and get it indexed. You do not have to do this for every single blog post but it is recommended to see it get indexed right away. Also, it is advisable to do this for lengthy content and where this is a lot of competition.

Some Thoughts And Last Steps…

Finally just rinse and repeat for your other articles using this steps. You also need to be using good keyword research tool. I highly recommend Jaaxy as the best free keyword research tool to try out.

I have been using Jaaxy for about 5 years and have never looked back. It is extremely accurate looking for the right keywords for your niche.

You can get started today by entering some of your own keyword ideas in the Jaaxy search bar below.

What I have described here is an initial bare-bones on how to rank a keyword in Google for your blog posts. To build quality content and become a master as a blogger, you can learn how to get started online with the powerful Free Wealthy Affiliate Training.

What is your opinion of this post? Have you been struggling to get ranked on the first page of Google? Be sure to comment below and leave your thoughts or questions. I look forward to helping you out.

Merry Christmas, To You and Yours Truly from Wealthy Affiliate!

December 23, 2018 By Alexander Leave a Comment

I love Christmas as you probably do to. It is such a great time of year. Not just for the food (which is very important!) but also with family and friends.

Recently my parent’s local church got the Christmas Tree in and it was massive! Like very wide and well over a 12 footer. It was very elegant and while it took some doing in terms of getting the tree up, it was worth it.

Perhaps configuring the lights on a tree this size was much more challenging and while faulty at first eventually we got the lights working.

The Minister of the church, who also help us get the tree up, said she absolutely loved it! Considering the effort we gave into getting the tree up we pondered about what it would take after the 12th night to bring it down! 🙂 However, the minister commented that there is no rush, and she recommended the Tree can stay as long as it liked.

Christmas Tree Decorating

The beginning of the last week we got our own Xmas tree sorted in our home. Again like the Christmas tree in the church it was taller then previous years and that can only be a good thing! But not as wide so it was more convenient for decorating and moving around the tree.

I always believe in using real Xmas Trees, due to the genuine nature, the freshness and the adorable pine scent.

The children certainly had a blast decorating. It was really the beginning of last week that we finished putting up the decorations in the house.

So I would say everything is almost sorted and now about to chill out and relax, although I will be blogging through this festive season. Along with a good dose of eating.

Speaking of which, we went out to celebrate my mother’s and father’s wedding anniversary last night at a regular restaurant we go to every year.

xmas tree — Image by Larisa Koshkina from Pixabay

I had a 12 Oz sirloin steak, medium-rare with pepper corn sauce. It was cooked to perfection and with the spicy sauce, this was a good start to the Christmas Season or should I call it the eating season!

Remember to keep up your red meat proteins which are important for correct DNA/RNA replication!

The Cold

Recently I got a cold with flu-like symptoms this past week and was even in bed for a whole day. Needless to say I have not been out much until the end of the week. I just stayed in-doors for the most part and haven’t done much work but took plenty of rest with using a Healing Meditation CD.

I still have a nasty cough on my chest but my voice has recovered. After a week and I think this is the first day I have not used any medication! The good news is that at least I had the cold before the start of Christmas and New Year!

Be sure to look after yourself this festive season and if you come down with anything during Xmas, well at least it will be the perfect time to get plenty of rest.

Website Migration…

A few days ago, I moved this blog over to Wealthy Affiliate Hosting after being on SiteGround. WA really is the best in the world and I highly recommend them, not least when it comes to speed and security!

I will be moving all of my sites over to WA as the platform including the knowledge base and Training gets bigger, bolder and better. You will see me blog about this over the next couple of months and considering that I invested in an annual membership when renewing, this all makes sense.

In fact, when comparing with SiteGround and Wealthy Affiliate I saw it as a complete no-brainer.

The required annual fee for SiteGround will be around $220 renewal in February and unfortunately as these hosting companies don’t tell you, you cannot purchase month by month. In addition, while you are aware the first year is discounted, what they don’t tell you is the price above for the second year is almost 3 times the original price!

WA is a locked in $299 when I decided on the annual membership renewal but you can choose to just pay $49/month instead.

Wealthy Affiliate has always given a good reputation of staying consistent in the price since its inception back in 2005. There is no upselling or nasty price hikes year after year.

I considered it far better value for money as it is not just Quality Hosting you get but the Training, Community to help you, Mentorship and Guidance.

Plus everything you need to setup and run you online business. Hand on heart, with all the scams online out there, Wealthy Affiliate is the only safe option for newcomers to try out and all for free.

So sorry SiteGround, while you are very good and fast hosting provider, I will be leaving you and moving everything over to the WA’s servers.

Santa has come early this year for me and I recommend he does for you with getting Wealthy Affiliate as it is the only way of life!

Thinking of the Homeless

Anyway, the real reason I wanted to create this blog post is to wish you a very Merry Christmas to you and yours truly!

Christmas Card Spirit — Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

However, I wanted to finish with some thoughts of those in great need with thinking about those less fortunate than ourselves including the homeless. I always think there is nothing worse than sleeping on the streets late at night trying to keep warm especially at this time of year with the low temperatures.

So please do think and give to the homeless. Something as simply giving a coffee or a hot cup-a-soup can make all the difference.

In this world that seems to be losing the plot at times and in the mists of chaos, there are still plenty of bright sparkling spiritual lights whom are doing good to others. It is a true blessing for those whom are in the position and gifted in helping others in time of need or going through a healing crisis.

Thinking of Women in Prison

Another final thought, is for women whom are caught up in prison and often needlessly when there are better humane, and compassionate ways. What are the reasons that many are locked up for? Certainly not a danger to society. Children and families are separated and let us not forget the suicide rate of women in prison is increasing due to lack of support and care.

Decorating Christmas Tree — Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

Many years ago I came across a support network for anyone whom wanted to be a pen friend or ‘counsellor’ for women whom were lost and alone in prison without any support group. I saw it as a great way to help those in need especially women whom are feeling rejected.

So lets ponder on this at Christmas time and think of those like teenagers, drug addicts, women on the streets and single moms in prison. Society should offer better support and more humane programs than incarceration.

Merry Christmas!

So again, think about those whom are less fortunate such as the homeless or woman in prison whom need support and also for those whom go out of their way such as the Samaritans helping others. Also finally I want to wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and I will catch up with you real soon.

If you have a story that you like to share about Christmas, the homeless, a teenager, or a single mom in prison. Or perhaps using the internet to turn the tide in your life around, comment below and I would love to hear from you.