Learn how to quickly create an Author Bio for all your blog posts. This demo Includes how to add bio text, a picture, and social media icons.

In this video Dave shows Anna Neto of Connecting Software how to run reports on on Google Analytics for the CRM Software Blog. With these reports she can see traffic stats for her posts as well as the source of the traffic. Any member can run these reports to see traffic to their posts on the blog. Just log in to Google Analytics with groupbloggers@gmail.com and PW: analytics4blogger.

On this call we review Encloud9.com’s website checking for errors and improvements by using scanning tools that Google provides. In the video, Dave discusses two tools used for checking the health of a website and finds a couple of dead pages on an otherwise excellent website. Video and link to free link check tool: https://youtu.be/DT8jXfErFA0 https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/free-backlink-checker-by/nifeadedgedikheglfngocdgfidiiimi/related Link to backlink checking tool: https://analytics.moz.com/pro/link-explorer/ Google Core Web Vitals info and tools: https://web.dev/vitals/ https://web.dev/measure/

In this session, we review why Google appears to be ignoring a description tag to make the search listing more compelling. We also talk about how to promote important posts by creating summaries on other sites like Linkedin and then linking back to the full post. We also discuss CTA placements and link building to your company site.

Dave Foreman explains the importance of Core Web Vitals on your Google rankings. Core Web Vitals are a set of specific factors that Google considers important in a webpage's overall user experience. It is made up of three specific page speed and user interaction measurements. Industry experts say that websites need to optimized by August 2021 (delayed from earlier in the year) or risk penalties or a ding in ranking. Dave showed blog members how to check their Core Web Vitals score, and gave tips to increase the score to the goal of 90 points or more. Videos and Explainer Pages from Google and Others Full explanation of Core Web Vitals on Google.com: https://web.dev/vitals/ One among many confusing videos from Google that does not give much useful info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggpZA5U2rZk This video from a smart SEO is a good and quick overview that explains some of the tools and processes for improving scores. Plugins Plugins for WordPress mentioned on the call WP Rocket and Autoptimize as well as Asset Cleanup for Removing Unused CSS and JavaScript https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-asset-clean-up/ Contractors nitropack.io has free and paid services for page speed optimization but can limit functionality. wpspeedfix.com/ offers a one-time service for page speed optimization. interactivelimited.com co-owner of the ERPSoftware Blog provides a comprehensive optimization of of all ranking factors for 1200 dollars.

In this Q&A session, Dave explains the custom formula used to rank blog posts on the Group Blogs. The formula uses article quality metrics such as time on site as well as visitor count. The combination ensures that the top-ranking posts are not always about the same popular topics, so posts about niche topics can get some attention in the sidebar of the Group Blogs sites. Dave also demonstrated how to use the free Moz Link Explorer to evaluate how much energy and time you should devote to posting unique content to sites that link to your company site. He also discussed the importance of capturing backlinks to websites that were acquired as part of the purchase of or merger with another company. Watch the video below to get all the details. Recording Highlights: 1:10 – Review of “Posts with Highest Quality Ratings” section on our blog sites and the criteria used to list your posts there. 3:37 – Tips for getting ethical back links. Review of BrightLocal.com Citation Builder tool including best practices on how to add links with this tool. 6:27 – Insider trick to get backlinks from community.dynamics.com only for our members. 9:44 – Using Moz.com Link Explorer to check domain authority and backlinks. Check your own website, competitor sites and sites that want your content. Dave reviews URLs of a few member sites. Discusses the value of links from Microsoft.com that one member has collected. 17:00 – Even though Google says these types of links don’t count, Dave doesn’t agree. 18:28 – How to get value from backlinks during a company merger and acquisition. 20:53 – Next call plan to discuss new Google ranking factor called Core Web Vitals re: page load times and user experience.

This question and answer session explains how to use calls-to-action effectively and it shows how to use canonical URLs to avoid duplicate content penalties. It also explains how to use post summaries to link to the original post to boost search engine rankings.

A few specific things you will learn: -how to disable distracting “popular channels” suggestions -how to optimize the “About” tab -how to get more subscribers -how to drive more traffic to your YouTube channel -how to get featured on the ERP/CRM blog channels -How to add Featured channels and use this as a way to promote your partners and get them to promote you (great for ISV’s) -how to add more videos to show on the home screen -how to customize the view for returning subscribers vs new visitors. Download PowerPoint Slides Follow up notes: Would you like Brittany to optimize your YouTube channel? Check out the offer here. Here is a link to read more about end screens with setup instructions: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6388789?hl=en It looks like YouTube/Google has changed things up again…as of about a year ago, you now have to have to be a member of the YouTube Partner Program to add a link back to your website via end screens—the requirement is no longer 100 subscribers. Here’s a link to read more about the YouTube Partner Program: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/72851?hl=en. The program requires 1,000+ subscribers, 4,000 watch hours and more. End screens are still very useful for adding playlist, video and subscribe to my channel links, so I highly recommend those.

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About 4 years ago Google Analytics stopped showing keyword data in Google Analytics. The primary reason they did this was to prevent 3rd parties from creating marketing lists based on keyword traffic to large websites. Now finally there is a way to view the keyword data in Google Analytics for your organic traffic with about 70% accuracy. The new tool is called Keyword Hero. Keyword Hero is free as long as you have less than 750 visitors organic per month. But, even if you have more traffic than that and don’t want to pay the 19$ per month fee each month, you can still learn a lot about your landing pages and keyword traffic with this new tool. The training call will show you how to setup up Keyword Hero and how to view the keyword data and analyze your keyword traffic and optimize your meta-tags better with the data. Download PowerPoint Slides

How to structure white papers Should you gate your white papers? How to market a white paper—press releases and more How to participate in the ERP/CRM Software Blog white papers How to get the most from your white paper investment PowerPoint Slides

Local inks increase search rankings and are very low cost if you use a service like Bright Local. Also learn the best sites to get national directory listings for your proprietary software and services. Download PowerPoint Slides

In this call we discussed how to protect and maintain a valuable business asset – your website. Including backups, updates, hosting, content delivery networks, image compression, form testing, uptime monitors and eMail sending applications. Download PowerPoint Slide

We will discuss how to create an editorial schedule and build a content strategy. Including tasking writers and creating summaries around blog posts published on your own blog plus developing content around videos. And then how to generate more traffic from your posts. Download PowerPoint Slides

We will discuss using goal tracking, bounce rates, click maps, and other reports. And you will learn how to use Google Analytics to check your site for dead pages that are getting traffic from old links and ad campaigns. Google analytics can overwhelm you with data. This session will teach you how to get information that your organization can use to increase traffic and lead flow. Download PowerPoint Slides

In this session we covered: How to test and improve your website page load times to improve SEO & site performance. How to track, in Google Analytics, visits to your website referred from the group blogs. And how this can be used to prove the ROI of your blog membership. How to interpret the performance data for your posts in your own “page stats widget” when you log in to the group blog sites. Download PowerPoint Slides

Most ISVs have niche product offerings and only compete against a handful of other companies in their product market. Follow these best practices for your company to appear in Google organic search results and Google paid search results for your niche product offerings. Including tips on how to: Develop Collateral Appear in Directory Listings Optimize Landing Page & Blog Posts Manage Search & Retargeting Ads Use Email Lists Download PowerPoint Slides

Copyright infringement is a complicated topic, but something each of us as bloggers should be aware of. We have invited Stacy B. as a guest speaker to answer some common questions. Stacy is not a lawyer and will not give specific legal advice. But she will answer our questions based on her many years of experience working as a paralegal at a law firm specializing in Copyright Infringement cases. So certainly she knows much more about this topic than any of us and is a valuable resource. Download PowerPoint Slides

As of July 7, 2016 the Microsoft Pinpoint site was replaced by the Microsoft Partner Center site. After much research on the sites by and testing of the search algorithm, we will be presenting a treasure trove of information about how to optimize this potential source of leads. Learn about critical dos and don’ts for making sure your profile on Partner Center generates the most lead flow. Download Power Point Slides

Find out what makes your site difficult to navigate and how to make simple changes to improve time on site and conversions. Download PowerPoint Slides