Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

I have heard quite a few people ask about keyword density. It spurs from either not exactly understanding the term or how they can apply the concept to their site. However, what does that mean for you and what you want to write about?

According to Wikipedia:

Keyword density is the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page compared to the total number of words on the page.

When you write an article, you have a topic. Usually that is what your keywords pertain to, but some people write articles and put a relevant keyword. For example, if I was writing about designing a site and decided instead of using web design as a keyword and linking it to another site, I want to do that to web hosting. I could and that would be a keyword.

It does not have to do with tagging your posts. Tagging is something like categories, they are both used for organizing your site – categories for general topics, and tagging is more specific topics.

For anyone who has professionally written for article companies that focus on keyword density, a lot of them ask that a keyword not be used more than 1.6%, but at the least .6%. This could mean you could use that keyword any where from 1 to 5 times depending on how short or long your article is. After that, search engines like Google may believe you are trying to keyword stuff your article which is a big frown face no-no.

The beauty of language is that there are many words that are similar and you can avoid keyword over usage by consulting a Thesaurus.

If you are concerning about keyword density, you can use the keyword density analyzer, which is free for anyone to try out.

If you are using WordPress, you might want to try out Keyword Statistics.

What other tools might make monitoring your sites keyword density more convenient?

Most people who start a blog do so because they have a great idea or cause that they want to promote, or because they are passionate about a particular subject or issue (or all of the above). Because there is a certain amount of dedication involved in the upkeep of a blog, you must have a good reason for starting (and continuing) or you will inevitably allow your posts to lapse and resign your blog to the graveyard of ignored cyberspace. But over time, even the most devoted bloggers can hit a wall.  It’s not really writer’s block, because you are ready to write. The problem is that you’ve run out of ideas for what to write about. Or if you’re a freelance writer, you may be contributing to blogs that have a subject matter you don’t find particularly interesting (or maybe they’re even downright dry). Whatever the case, there are ways to get around a lack of inspiration and continue producing posts that are interesting and engaging.

The first thing you need to know is that inspiration is not some ambiguous entity that is impossible to harness. You don’t have to wait around for an idea to come to you. You can seek it out. If you’re struggling to come up with a topic or you just can’t seem to spice up your content, take advantage of the fact that there are literally billions of other blogs out there that you can peruse to get started. Now, I’m not advocating piracy. You absolutely should not copy content from another blog, ever. But sometimes just reading other people’s work can spark an idea that gets you going, or helps you work through a trouble spot.

You can also try to introducing material that deals with related subjects that have some personal interest for you. For example, if you’re working on a blog for new moms, and you feel like you’ve worn out predictable topics like how to nurse and burp, which products to buy, and the effects of postpartum depression, you could throw in a little fun (and work in your love of movies) by creating a top-ten list of baby movies every mom should see. Or if you’re contributing to a blog about health and fitness, write about a personal experience with sports massage (it gives you a good excuse to do “research”) and how it can help other athletes. You can even relate a recent news story to your writing, even if you think your subject doesn’t lend itself to current events. Are you running a sporting blog? Put together an article about Paris Hilton’s recent arrest at the World Cup games and how certain sports lend themselves to certain types of fans.

The point is, there is no such thing as running out of topics. You can always find a way to keep your posts topical while mixing them up with related (or even seemingly unrelated) subjects. And there is a world of inspiration at your fingertips, so be on the lookout for other articles or media that will put you on the path to your next best blog post. Even though you might sometimes feel like you’ve finally reached the point where it’s all been said, if that were true, a lot of bloggers would be out of business (and that is clearly not the case).

Freelancing is something that has its own risks. Like any business, you are dealing with all sorts of clients. Those who are new to the game may not have a set policy, but they should.

Whether you are new to freelancing for writing or even web design, here are some ideas to include into your policy.

Have a clear policy written from the beginning before the project begins. Everything that is expected should be included:

1. Define your duties. Go into detail. There are some clients who believe you will do more for free and it ends up being a time consuming job.
2. List an estimated time of completion or a timeline. Your client might be on a deadline, so make sure you agree on one and set it to paper. Even if you might be a little late, you should always give room. Some clients may try to pay less for your services. Make sure to include in the policy a clause that prevents this. If a client brings in another developer to help, make sure you get paid from your time.
3. Define payment method. If you require 50% of payment up front and the rest upon completion, you need to have that in your policy. This goes double for web designers. Just google about it – there are a lot of stories where web designers have been completely stiffed.
4. Make a transfer of project policy upon completion. This is a big one. If you give the final draft or load the live site up before being paid, are you sure the client will pay you? Once the client has approved the project, make sure you get paid. If you have to include a clause in your policy on a third method of payment just for transferring, all the more power to you.
5. Define methods of communication. Some clients require more communication than others- some ridiculously so. Outline your hours and expectations of communication. Some clients feel communication might involve chatting while you are trying to get a project done. This is distracting and could push your time. If the demands can be listed outside of phone or a instant messaging program, insist that they send an email with their list of requests. While you might be happy to give your phone number out, you might have to put a policy on it. Some clients might be obligated to call you whenever they feel like.
6. Define your support policy. If you have finished a project and the client is getting use to it, especially in web design, they might have questions. You need to specify how long you will provide support for a project after the main project has been completed. You will also have to define what is included in the support. There will be times when the client actually wants you to add something. That is not support… that is site maintenance and you should be charging them. That needs to be listed in your policy.
7. Define copyright and disclosure. This is where you define what type of project – whether the client allows you to put a credit line or it is a non-disclosure agreement (NDA.) You also need to include the disclosure for the sources of your images and what the rights are. For web and graphic designers, this is important, especially if you purchased a license to use certain images.

The bottom line is that even if you feel like your policy might be a bit strict, it is there for a good reason: to make sure you get paid. Your rights are protected. If you do not, it is like your car being hit and the culprit is no where to be found. You end up stuck paying the insurance. In the case of freelancing, when this happens, you end up eating your time or sometimes get your work stolen.

If you freelance, what do you include in your policy?

The internet is sustained through a continuous supply of up-to-date information through often exasperating human effort. This network, analogous to a human vascular system must be kept alive with nutrients, and a readily available supply of “Blogsxygen.”

This supply is provided by the multitude of avid bloggers and midnight-oil-burning writers.

Keeping the internet’s heart pumping takes a lot of input.

So for the general online blogger, who has no newsroom experience, what can be done to reduce the pressure to keep up to date?

The real answer to organization in the workplace is the no-clutter approach. Ever noticed that successful executives have nothing on their desks? It’s not that they have nothing to do, they are very busy people – and VERY expensive to hire, so their techniques are the best management training can buy. Another thing you may have noticed is that they are not all rocket scientists either, so what these execs do, anyone can too!

The key to good working organization is to be clutter free – not by color coding Post-It notes!

Effective organization can easily be achieved by following some simple steps

• Keep an address book either written in an A-Z book or on your computer, do not write contact info anywhere else.
• Use a written or computer-based desk diary, written is better. Do not write/ anything down that is time-sensitive anywhere else.  The diary should be the daily bible. Do not use loose inserts/post-its in the diary either.
• Maintain a system of file naming for everything you write that is not immediately published. The filenames should include the date, version and title. This makes retrieval of archives so much easier.
• If you have multiple blogs and updates that can be categorized, make multiple desktops/logins so that you can have a customized workspace relevant to each project that you are undertaking.
• If you need to be note-taking constantly, keep all the notes in one journal. If computerized, the key to selecting effective desktop organization software is to keep it simple – organizers that offer too many features are invariably counter-productive.

Most of all get rid of the irrelevant clutter in your workspace! Some people thrive under an umbrella of momentarily interesting desk toys and trendy stationery items. This often translates through to the computer desktop they work with. This haphazard approach to work is not effective. A de-clutter of all the digital desk-toys and must-have system tray items has a detrimental effect on productivity. Constant adjusting, updating and fooling around with feature-rich and function-poor software is very time-wasting. A productive workplace requires focus on relevance.  For the many that have a daily responsibility to meet a deadline, keeping both the physical and the digital desktop clear of abstract data and irrelevance is the ultimate goal.

Only once the suffocation of trivia and distraction is removed, can effective blogxygen be successful.

Though there are a lot of people who do plan posts, there are also many who do not. In fact, a lot of times, creating a post might be something done on a whim. However, it might be better to think ahead.

Every day you read a lot of articles and view a lot of pictures. In return, you might even be motivated to blog about it. The problem is that you might end up having a lot of ideas. You could write it down on paper, but why do that, especially if you use a content management system like WordPress.

In WordPress and most CMS, you can save your articles in ‘draft’ and publish at will.

How?

When you are inspired to write something but might not have the time until later, write a temporary title and a few notes in the post. Save it on draft mode. A lot of times you might need to find a little more information, so when you are ready to write the post out, it is there for you any time you want.

In fact, you can have many posts in draft mode. You can use it like a “to do” or “to blog” list. This eliminates you having to write down a list of topics on paper. It also gives you a guideline to try to stick to instead of coming up with something impromptu.

If you decide that an article is not worth writing, you can just delete it.

It really is a convenience to plan your posts on any website. It will save time and you can always add to your blog list, making it easier for you to know what to write next – eliminating the dreaded ‘writer’s block.’ Yes, it can help prevent writer’s block or to some – blogger’s block! For social media marketers, it can be a tool to get content rolling out faster to stay on top of your niche.

Do you plan your posts? Have you tried it and it did not work for you?

In 2009, I wrote How to Overcome Bloggers Block. After recently reading How To Keep Blogger’s Block at Bay by Sarah Harris, I have decided to do a bit of a refresher. This is because I still see people having issues with coming up with material.

Fixing your Blogger’s Block (also known as Writer’s Block) is easy. You constantly see and read all sorts of things and actually have an opinion about it. In your own niche, you can use this to your advantage. Sometimes another blogger only covers so much of the topic and miss out on a few points. It is not always on purpose, but it is something you can cover on your own website. Just remember to give a little link love to the post that inspired you.

Inspiration is not hard to come by at all. If you are having trouble coming up with something, then you are not truly looking in the right places. If websites in your normal niche are not doing it for you, look outside your normal niche circle. This could allow your website’s community to grow some more.

It is important that you keep your options open as the potential to finding inspiration is everywhere – videos, images, articles, television, life experiences, and more.

How do you find your inspiration?

Finding blog post ideas is not difficult. Seeded Buzz wrote an article called Blog post ideas that prevent writer’s block, which covered the fact that they noticed 1600 people a month were searching with the keywords “blog post ideas.”

Although, for some sites, this is not a significant amount. For others, it might actually work out well for their site, especially if you are a site that helps bloggers improve. Finding ideas is very easy and can be found anywhere.

You have an opinion about some things, right? Well, if it is relevant to your blog and you believe your readers would be interested, this would be the opportunity to share that article while also sharing your own opinion. This is not just for articles, but also art, videos, forum conversations, and other media.

Like art, inspiration can be found anywhere and applied in some form.

Although a lot of people worry about originality, this is not the case if you have more to say on a issue that could be said better in a blog entry, rather than fill up another site’s comment stream. In fact, it is a way to carry on the conversation and even attract people to your site.

Where do you find blog post ideas?

National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo is around once again. This is the third year I have participated. Every November thousands of people take up a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel before the end of the month. Insane? Cool?

I am really excited about it and although I missed the first meetup of my area, I can say that there are regional NaNoWriMo meetups, so if you like to meet people who are writing fiends, then it is definitely something to join and participate in. There is no shame if you cannot meet the challenge, but it is fun to at least try. Last year I beat the quota, and this year I am sure I can do the same this year.

NaNoWriMo might be a time you could write a tutorial book, something about social networking, or even blogging, or just write for fun. If you are already a member of NaNoWriMo, my ID there is taiyoukai.nile and you can add me as a writing buddy if you want.

Have you participated in National Novel Writing Month? How did you fare – did you meet the challenge?