Website Beginners Guide

Learn How to Start Your Own Internet Site & More

SEO

Website Hosting and HPPTS Options

Filed Under: Seo Basics

Google now has the HTTPS website URL as their favorite in their search results

Last year they already mentioned that they will identify https sites as save in Chrome (https://www.searchenginejournal.com/https-required-collecting-sensitive-information-chrome-january-2017/182342/). And you can see for yourself that the Lock icon and the save mark ar on this website.

I recently checked the results for a common search like “build a website” and found that the first 10 results all show https websites.

The first website without https showed up on the 14th spot, all the others on page 2 are also https sites.

Moving from HTTP to HTTPS

Important!!
  1. Always backup your website, including database before you start.
  2. Remember, for Google, this is a site move! So if not done correctly you might lose traffic.

Getting from HTTP to HTTPS need to be supported by your hosting company.

You can buy a full SSL certificate for your domain, and if you have an e-commerce store that should be your first choice.

For a standard website or blog like this one, a Free LetsEncrypt option will do just fine.

With the Siteground Hosting company where this site runs, they support both options.

It's also really easy to get a LetsEncrypt certificate. Just go to your Hosting Cpanel en click on Let's Encrypt.

You then get a list of your domains that already have a certificate and you get a selection box where you select the domain and request a certificate.

Wait a couple of seconds to let the process complete and you are done with this part.

Now you need to login to your Content Management System and change the base URL from HTTP to HTTPS.

I use WordPress on this site, so for me, it meant going to Setting -> General and change the URL to HTTPS and re-login.

But with the image and other links on the website still pointing to http:// resources you don't get a full save icon, its mixed content.

For WordPress there is a plugin called Really Simple SSL that fixes this, it also makes sure that the http:// links get redirected to the https:// version.

Something that is really important for Google and your visitors.

If you want to take it a step further, get the Pro version of Really Simple SSL, as that works it's magic to get HSTS.

I don't have the Pro version on this website, but I do use it on my dutch WordPress Magazine website and it has a 100% secure rating on the Dutch Internet.nl website making it into the Hall of Fame.

Doing a basic check on this site via https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/ gives me an A rating.

SSL test result

So to keep your rating and stay in the Google search results, move your site from HTTP to HTTPS.

If your hosting company does not have an option like Let's Encrypt, ask them if and when they will implement it.

If you don't get it or if you are not getting a clear answer, you might want to consider moving your website to a new hosting provider like SiteGround.com, I did and I am very happy that I did!

How to Start A WordPress Website Consolidation Project

Filed Under: WordPress

I created lots of websites during the past twelve years working with Joomla and WordPress.

The problem was that I not only created websites for clients but also for myself leaving me with a whole lot of sites to manage.

So this year I wanted to scale down on the number of sites to manage by consolidating different sites into one big site. This is that new website: https://www.websitebeginnersguide.com

Which Sites to Consolidate?

Taking that decision is one thing, getting into action is something completely different.

First off all I needed to determine which sites would be good candidates to move to a different domain and if it was possible to do so with a minimal loss in Google rankings.

When the whole project is done, it should even improve on the rankings and the number of visitors, creating a website that is bigger than the sum of its parts.

Criteria to take into account:

  • Website topic should match the purpose of the new domain
  • Permalinks structure should also be the same to be able to do a 301 redirect form the old website
  • Export and import of data should be easily doable
  • Number of RSS feed subscribers

For me that meant that the first sites to consolidate where:

  • www.herbertvandinther.com
  • www.pathosseoblog.com
  • Others to follow

Setting the First Steps

First off all I needed to setup the new website with the same CMS, in this case WordPress.

Decide on the Layout / design of the site. I now use Genesis with the News Pro theme from StudioPress. Not cheap, even for a premium theme, but well worth every dollar I spend on it.

After WordPress basic installation was done, I checked the common plugin usage in both sites and make sure the permalinks settings were identical.

The main reason for this was that it is a lot easier to do a complete site redirect than creating a lot of single 301 redirect rules per site.

The actual moves were done by creating a WordPress export file from the old sites and import them into the new one. If you want to do the same, make sure you check the box to import the attachments as well, that saves time and prevents some image link problems.

Search and Replace Old stuff and General Housekeeping

Some of the things I did after the migrations

  • Using this plugin to change the URLs of the images and old links form http://pathosseoblog.com/ with the correct new uploads path.
  • Check Old comments to see if there is nothing left that point to the migrated domains.
  • Used Ajax Thumbnail Rebuild for resizing the images for use on archives and layout options.
  • Update the Contact form
  • Set SEO Options -> I was not sure on using a Plugin or the Genesis SEO Theme settings. I decided to go the Genesis SEO options to see if that would work out better than WordPress SEO. Update: WordPress SEO by Yoast is now the main SEO function for this site.
  • Installed the Google sitemap.xml plugin to get the standard xml file to put into my Webmaster Tools account. Update: Sitemap.xml is now handled by WordPress SEO Plugin.
  • Deleted the two other site entries in Webmaster tools. You could do better to just inform Google webmaster tools that the site has moved.
  • Set up a new Subscribe widget
  • Cleaned out old and duplicate post categories

Other this to look out for in the coming weeks:

  • Check the error logs for 404 errors that need to be addressed
  • Check Stats and Tools to find other problems that might occur
  • Decide what other domain could be consolidation candidates
  • Write new articles and guides especially for WordPress and Joomla Beginners
  • Regain focus and have fun!

Website Beginners Guide Base

Basic SEO Settings in Joomla 3.x

Filed Under: Joomla Seo

With the new Joomla 3.x version, you get a completely different Administration panel with basic SEO Settings.

Joomla! 3.x Global Configuration
Joomla! 3.x Global Configuration

Once you are logged in, go to the Global Configuration. It will open with the Site tab on which you can manage the main site setting. You will also find the SEO settings and the Metadate settings on this Tab.

Joomla Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Settings

Joomla! 3.x Search Engine Optimization Settings
Joomla! 3.x Search Engine Optimization Settings

As you can see there are no checkboxes but slider buttons. This makes it clear to what option is active and what's not.

You should always use the Search Engine Friendly URLs, so set that to on.

If you want to use URL rewriting, make sure you are on a hosting server that supports .htaccess. With that option on, you get the best results.

If you are unclear about an option and need more information, hover over the text in front of the slider buttons and you will see direct help information.

Joomla URL Rewriting Explained
Joomla URL Rewriting Explained

With the add suffix option on your get a URL suffix .html as ending part of your URL.

The last option is for getting your site title into the Page HTML title. Either Use No or After. You want the article title as the first part of your HTML title for best results, use the after option for branding purposes.

Joomla! 3.x Metadata Settings

Joomla! 3.x Metadata Settings
Joomla! 3.x Metadata Settings

The Metadate settings are also on this Site Tab.  Site Meta Description and Site Meta Keywords in a global setting has always been a point of discussion for me, I don't like it.

You are better off writing the Meta description on content items and not fill in the same date for every article from this setting. Clean it! Meta Keywords are no longer used by several Search Engines like Google.

The Author Meta Tag is good so set that to yes. Showing the Joomla! version will only help Hackers and Crackers, so set that option to No. As an administrator, you can see the version you are running once logged in.

Joomla 3.x Cache Settings

Using a Cache can really make a difference in your page load. For SEO you want your pages to load as fast as possible as it is a measurement that is used by Google.

It also gives a better visitor experience. Your page load time can determine if a visitor will open and stay on your site or not.

You can find the Cache Settings on the System Tab

Joomla! Cache Progressive Settings
Joomla! Cache Progressive Settings

You get to choose from

  • OFF – Caching disabled
  • ON – Conservative caching
  • ON – Progressive caching

Check with your hosting provider if they have a caching component active on their server. If so you want to keep this caching off as it might interfere with the server caching component.

If you run into trouble with the Progressive caching try the Conservative option. Check your speed via http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/ and run some tests with different settings.
The Cache Handler is set to File, which is basic. There used to be a Database option, but that doesn't make sense.

Cache Time is something you need to think about. If you have a news based website where you post several times a day, keep it limited to your standard posting timeframe.

For me, a 24 hour period works just fine so time is set to 1440 / 60 = 24 Hours. After that, the cache is cleared and with a new visitor rebuild again.

So these are the basic SEO settings you need to get into place in Joomla 3.x. Next time: How to SEO your menu and content items.

Link Building For Beginners

Filed Under: Seo Basics

Search Engine Optimization has two distinct area’s the first being On-page optimization and the second, off-page optimization.

On-page optimization is what you can actually do to your website that will affect your ranking on the search engines.

This includes changing your title tags, H1 Tags etc.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) like anything else adheres to the 80/20 rule, whereby on-page optimization accounts for 20% of search engine rankings.

Link Building

The other 80% comes from link building, which is by far the hardest part when it comes to SEO.

Link building is getting other sites to link back to your own website.

Like everything else in the world, links have varying degrees of quality, you get really poor quality links which can actually harm your website or you can get excellent links which will help your rankings tremendously.

Obviously, the best quality links are the hardest to obtain.

For your information, the best kind of links to get, are links that come from Universities or Government websites.

Search Engines love these links and if you do manage to get one your website will almost certainly help get your website on to the first page within a couple of months.

The worst types of links are backlinks that come from Porn Sites, Pharma Sites or Gambling Sites.

I will list the ways in which a person can obtain links for their website.

1) Buy Links – The better the link, the more expensive they are.
2) Ask For Links – Either via Phone or Email.
3) Link Exchanges – Swap Links with other webmasters.
4) Register with Directories – Register your site with a number of directories.
5) Write Articles – Submit your articles to article directories like Ezine.
6) Write Press Releases – Submit to sites like PRweb.
7) Use Viral marketing techniques – Use sites like pay per post (link baiting).

I would suggest doing all of the above when you first start to do SEO on your own site.

A good mix of links is always good, try not to buy too many “cheap & cheerful” links as these will not do your site much good.

Your Basic SEO Guide

Filed Under: Seo Basics

Here is your Free Basic SEO Guide with some basic information you need to know about SEO and how to find out how your site is currently performing in the Search Engine Results pages.

1. Alexa Ranking Tool:

Alexa is a very powerful tool used to rank web site traffic. Find out how your website traffic stacks up against all your competitors! This is one of the most accurate freely available tools to find out how well your site ranks up against millions of other sites on the Web.

Remember:

“The lower the Alexa ranking number the more heavily visited the site.”
Some examples are:
Traffic Rank for Google.com: 1
Traffic Rank for Facebook.com: 2
Traffic Rank for YouTube.com: 3
Traffic Rank for Yahoo.com: 4
Traffic Rank for Amazon.com: 11
Traffic Rank for Wpsitebuilding.com: 160,111

These rankings are generally consistent with the amount of traffic they have.

2. What is PageRank?

In short, PageRank is a “vote”, by all the other pages on the Web, about how important a page is. A link to a page counts as a vote of support. If there's no link there's no support (but it's an abstention from voting rather than a vote against the page).
How many links do you have from other websites are the votes you get for your website?

3. How is Page Rank Used?

Page Rank is one of the methods Google uses to determine a page's relevance or importance.

It is only one part of the story when it comes to the Google listing, but the other aspects are discussed elsewhere (and are ever-changing) and Page Rank is interesting enough to deserve a paper of its own.

Page Rank is also displayed on the toolbar of your browser if you've installed the Google toolbar.

4. What is SEO and why is it so important?

It is the process of increasing the number of visitors to a Web site by ranking high in the search results of a search engine. The higher a Web site ranks in the results of a search, the greater the chance that that site will be visited by a user.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plays a vital role in Internet marketing, this also helps your site get the exposure it deserves and increase your website traffic instantly.

5. Sitemaps?

Sitemaps are useful in at least two ways:

1. If a user types in a bad URL most websites return a really unhelpful “404 – page not found” error page. This can be discouraging.

Why not configure your server to return a page that shows an error that has been made but also gives the sitemap? This can help the user enormously.

2. Linking to a site map on each page increases the number of internal links in the site, spreading the PR out and protecting you against your vote “donations”.

6. Your Link Popularity:

Utilization of the search engines is a very important aspect of marketing; they are usually the first means by which prospects can find your site. That's why link popularity is so essential. If the customers can't find your website, you will not see any sales.

The term “Link popularity” refers to the ranking assigned to your website by the search engines. It determines the position your page gets displayed on when people search for certain keywords in a search engine. I can already hear you screaming… “Cool, tell me how to get my link popular!”

7. Link Exchange?

Link Exchanging, is important because it can drive more visitors than search engines, once established. Directories add valuable content for your customers/visitors, and thus it improves your SEO.

8. Reciprocal links:

1. Reciprocal linking is another name for swapping links.

2. That's a link from you to someone and a link from them to you.

Steps in DIY SEO

Do It Yourself Search Engine Optimization for Your Website

Filed Under: Seo Basics

If you want your website to perform well in the search engine results, you have two options:

  • Pay a high fee to a professional search engine optimizer
  • Learn how to do it yourself for free

As you might have seen by the domain name and title, this is where you will find information for the second option, do it yourself!

I am not going to tell you that it is easy or that it is not going to cost you any money. I will tell you that if you do it the right way, you will see the benefits and with every step, you take it will get easier.

So what topics this site going to target?

SEO Topics covered

  • Basic SEO like onsite improvements,
  • SEO Tips that you can use directly on your site,
  • SEO tools that help you to take that extra step,
  • Cms information to improve their SEO capabilities,
  • SEO News if there are interesting developments,
  • and SEO Articles to give you more in-depth knowledge about certain topics.

Topics NOT covered:

  • Google Adwords because we are targeting organic results here,
  • Search engine marketing because it is such a broad subject that it would divert you from your primary focus,
  • Social networks, although we will point you to some of them when the time is ripe to do so,
  • Link Directories and Link Exchange programs, because I think they don't work for SEO anymore like they used to.

So, now we have that clear, lets start…

Do It Yourself Site Search Engine Optimization

So you want to know how your Joomla site is on SEO?

Filed Under: Joomla Seo

It has been a while since my latest post, but I really have been busy working on new website building projects.

So my time is already limited, because I do all this stuff on the Internet after my normal daytime job.

Why? because I like to share knowledge, get in touch with new idea's and try them to see what happens, and of course communicate with others about Joomla and SEO.(See the Blog-roll for my favorites!)

But today I found a little website that will gives you an impression on how well your are doing with your SEO efforts.

You do have some idea from your visitor counts I hope! But here is the URL to get a really nice overview of SEO Information like:

  • PageRank
  • Backlinks
  • Indexed Pages
  • Rankings
  • Social Bookmarking
  • RSS Feed counts and more

So go and check your own domain at http://www.xinureturns.com/

Below you can find a sample image of one of my websites.

Xinu Check page for SEO

O, and yes, I will try to post more with the coming weeks and months to come… most will be on Joomla 1.5 I think!

The New and Improved Joomla DS Feed Syndication Component

Filed Under: Joomla Seo

If you have read this Blog for a Longer period of time (or have gone through the Sitemap..:-)) you might have read about the DS Syndication Component in my post Overcoming the Joomla RSS Feed Problem Well, there is a new version of this component since August of this year and I must say it is better then before! Putting in multiple categories in to one Feed. Not limited to the Frontpage any more.. choose to show HTML, Images or not in your Feed, using your special images. You can create multiple feeds with different categories and different images for the feeds. There is also a module that can show each of these feed images to subscribe to or just the ones you selected Running your Feeds through Feedburner I always like to run my Feeds via Feedburner, because they have some great options! So for my new website a used the DS Syndication component to get two separate Feeds Joomla and WordPress Feeds from Hummerbie.com And I have written a Tutorial for you on how to use the DS Syndication Component and where to find it! You can find it on Improve you Joomla RSS Feed and if you don't know why you should have Feeds? Read Why Every website should have a Feed