FAQ

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHAT IS CMS?

The ‘easier way’ when it comes to developing a website is utilising a content management system (CMS). A CMS is a program that lets you edit your website’s content without needing to know any programming language. An example is WordPress CMS, developed for free public use by the online community.

With CMS you can:

Create and publish web content
Present it to your audience in a professional way provided it has been set up correctly in the first place
Store it safely

A CMS also allows you to create new pages in one click, and inactivate old pages, without worrying about breaking the overall design/functionality of the site.

Having a content management system is likely to save you money as if it is a user-friendly one, and you learn the ropes, you won’t need to pay a web developer every time you want to modify the content of your website.

A good CMS will also let your online business grow and develop over time, and will allow you to add new functionality quickly and easily such as photo galleries, blogging, shopping cart etc.

2. WHAT IS OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE?

Open-source software or CMS is free and basically means it is developed by a community of developers around the world. WordPress started off life as a blogging platform but has now developed into one of the world’s most popular CMS’s. Open source means flexibility and not being locked into a particular service or company.

3. SO EXACTLY HOW DO YOU HELP ME?

Using WordPress is free, but you will need to buy hosting and may need some assistance in installing it if you are not techie enough to do it yourself. It has a variety of available modules (known as plug-ins), but as it is ‘open source’ software, it’s a case of ‘plugging in’ the module and ‘trying them out’.

This is where I can assist - by helping you choose an ‘organic’ domain name, providing cost effective hosting for your website, initial set–up (directing nameservers, uploading wordpress, creating a dashboard and log in details) and 4 lessons in managing your website. I continue to support your business needs as appropriate to the package chosen.

What are the advantages of choosing WordPress as my CMS?

Simple to use - no need for modifications
Excellent for blogging or sharing thoughts in a sequential manner and categorising articles/videos/music
Most users can get the hang of it quickly
A wide variety of themes available (see:org/extend/themes/)
Someone with a good grasp of it can turn out a reasonably good looking website
Syndication potential
Tags and SEO plug ins can help you ‘SEO’ any given post or page
System is automatically updated with the latest security fixes

What is Search Engine Optimisation?

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERP). The search engine result pages are also referred to as ‘natural’, ‘un-paid’, ‘organic’ or ‘algorithmic’ search results. This is because you can appear in the search engine results naturally without payment if you are optimising your website in a way that Google algorithms can recognise.

Search engine optimisation is often about making small modifications to parts of your website. When viewed individually, these changes might seem like incremental improvements, but when combined with other optimisations, they can have a noticeable impact on your site's user experience and performance in organic search results.

5. Why is Keyword Research so important?

A big part of optimising your website is picking the keywords (singular words) and key phrases (combinations of keywords) you want to be found for. Undertaking keyword research is really just working out what words people associate with your services, products and business. For some businesses selecting your keywords is easy and for other businesses the process can become very technical and involved. For example, if you own a local business, like a hairdressing salon in Cairns, then you could almost guess your keywords:

“Hairdresser Cairns, Hairdressing salon Cairns, haircut cairns, barber cairns, kids hairdresser cairns” and so on…

However, if you want to promote multiple products or if your business can be explained in many different ways then finding your keywords is a little more complex. For example if your business was ‘retirement accommodation’ then your keywords may not be so straight forward:

“retirement living, over 50’s housing, retirement accommodation, assisted care accommodation, independent living, senior living options, retirement real estate” and so on...

Or, if your business is an online shop selling 200 different ‘organic skin care products’ then you might find that you have two of three keywords per product = that’s 600 keywords!

6. Mistakes to avoid when selecting keywords:

Before you start your keyword research, there are some common mistakes that you should be aware of:

1. Choosing competitive single-word terms:

If your business is ‘Computer repairs'then avoid selecting a keyword like 'computers'

Terms that are too broad and not focused to what you offer:

If your business is ‘Computer repairs' then avoid selecting a keyword like'computer virus'

Terms that nobody searches for or are unpopular:

If your business is ‘Computer repairs' then avoid selecting a keywords like 'Electronic binary device repairs'

Highly-competitive terms which you can't hope to rank well for:

If your business is 'Computer repairs in Bondi-Junction' then'Computer repairs Sydney' may be too competitiveNow you have this basic knowledge, you’re ready to go and select the keywords or key phrases you think will work best for you.

Some helpful exercises to develop your online business plan:

a) Write down a list of the words that you (and your customers) use when referring to your business.
b) Go to the Google AdWords keyword tool and enter your keywords https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal .
Make sure that you change the settings (under the keyword box) so you receive Australian keyword data.
c) Review the results, add or refine the keywords in the search box and look at more results
d) Enter your website URL and have a look at what keywords Google thinks your website content is related to.
e) Pick a handful of keywords that have the highest amount of search volume
f) Pick a handful of keywords that are the most relevant to your business (they may not necessarily have high search volume).
g) Ask yourself: “Do my customers use these words to describe my business/products and services?"
h) Go to ‘Google’ and enter your keywords one at time and look at the results that are displayed.
i) Look at the number of search results for each keyword to gauge which keywords are more competitive. This will display in google as ‘About 825,000 results’ or similar.
Note: The more specific the keyword/s, or the more words in the key phrase the less the competition for the search term. And generally, the less the competition, the easier it is to rank well on that term.
Example:
Competition Keyword
11,600,000 writer
1,200,000 real estate writer
48,000 freelance real estate writer
9,000 freelance real estate writer los Angeles
Webpage Content

Last, but not least – it is important to:

Make sure you mention your keywords in your web page content. It sounds obvious but we often see web pages that don’t mention their keywords!
Consider whether you have enough web pages. Generally speaking, if you have selected 10 keywords then you should have a web-page per keyword. In 8 out of 10 cases websites need to add more content.
Try to sprinkle your main keywords throughout the copy.
Try to mention each keyword in a natural way as you are writing.
Try to include at least one keyword per 1-2 paragraphs, depending on how large your page is.
Google can easily detect keyword repetition & stuffing so don't overdo it. Search engine optimisation is certainly not a competition about how many times you can mention the same keyword on one page. Read your content out loud, if it sounds like you are 'stuffing' your copy with keywords you probably are!

A final note about content

Content is the KING! Search engines love content. A great example is an asphalt client. Not a particularly exciting subject and not one that you would initially think there is a whole lot to write about. Well the true test of a good writer is their ability to write 250 - 400 words on anything, so if writing isn't your forte, recognise this weakness and look to sub contract this component of your search engine optimisation exercise out. The asphalt client managed to create various pages on topics such as 'asphalt v concrete', 'residential driveways', 'acreage driveways' and so on.

Now you may say – "there's no way people are going to read all of that" and the truth of the matter is that people don't read websites at all – they tend to scan them. The thing is though, Google and the other search engines will 'read' the words on the page, at least their 'spiders' or 'crawl bots' will, and that is who we are really writing for, so that MORE people can find you.
Here is a free tool that will check your webpages and report back which keywords get the most amount of mentions.
Use this tool to check that your keywords are some of the most regularly mentioned keywords on your web-pages http://www.seocentro.com/tools/seo/keyword-density.html
[toggle state="closed" title="1. How does the payment process work?"]
You can contact me at [phone] outside of school hours. After a free consult, I will deliver an action plan and written quote tailored to the needs as discussed. There will be an option to pay yearly or monthly, by direct bank transfer, paypal or cheque.
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Local Jack Themes

[toggle state="closed" title="1. Do the themes work with the latest version of WordPress?"]
Yes, the themes are kept up-to-date and working with the latest version of WordPress. The themes are developed and fine-tuned for WordPress 3.1 or higher, any version prior to that may have problems with some theme functionality.
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[toggle state="closed" title="2. Which browsers, browser versions and operating systems do you test the themes on?"]
We test all our themes on Internet Explorer 7 and 8, the latest versions of Firefox, Safari. and Chrome. Regarding operating systems, our themes are independent of the operating system you use and will work as long as WordPress is installed correctly.
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[toggle state="closed" title="3. How often are the themes updated?"]
We update our themes any time we discover a bug or there is a new feature that we feel should be added. We will inform you as soon as we make some update in our themes.
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[toggle state="closed" title="4. Can I edit content for my theme?"]
Yes, you can also easily edit the content like in any other WordPress website. If you are unfamiliar with working with WordPress, personalised training is an option. Just let me know.
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[toggle state="closed" title="5. How do I request an update?"]
Please send me an email to and include any relevant images or text. Please be as specific as possible in your request.
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[toggle state="closed" title="9. What is the turnaround time for the updates to be completed?"]

This will depend on the size of the update. It should be dealt with no sooner than 2 days and no later than a week.
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[toggle state="closed" title="10. Can you create a custom Update Service Plan for me?"]
Yes. Just let us know by email what your goals are for the upcoming 12 month period and we will work with to make sure your requirements are met.
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[toggle state="closed" title="11. What if I want You to do it all... write my blog posts, manage my social media, and keep my website fresh and exciting however you deem is best. Can you do this?"]
Yes. Please request a custom quote.
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[toggle state="closed" title="13. Do you have any links that could provide more information?"]

Here are just a few:

http://www.bing.com/toolbox/submit-site-url

http://www.musemarketing.net/how-to-setup-install-google-analytics-on-your-website/

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/submit-url?hl=en&mesd=AB9YKzKG5nQVcu0YI08mu23YmPZWmrTT4aW5LAAzG-ng5nUAGNycll_P5S4FcHrpvmaHdLd08OyDLPPQTdhjLWBe5-a0loaOYgpd2qZserw6Kc-5OZ1Pste2PzHN8wlwh09eYKuTSJ2T

https://www.google.com/analytics/web/?hl=en&pli=1#home/a41231929w73862863p76284352/

http://themekraft.com/

http://pixabay.com/

http://www.feedthebot.com/googlesubmit.html

https://www.google.com/search?

http://www.submitexpress.com/free-submission.html

http://www.paulbarrs.com/local-business-wordpress-themes