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Speeding up your site

October 30, 2012 by Peter Mahoney

There is a slew of methods to speed your site up–which is not only the polite thing to do for your guests–but helps with Speed Engine Optimisation (SEO) too. Google in particular looks at how quickly your site loads when deciding how to rank your site in search results.

Now, if you’re familiar with web servers then everything you need to know is written below. If not, this is the sort of thing you want to have an expert do for you; a faster site is too good an opportunity to pass up.

Browser caching is a process whereby we’re able to reduce the number of HTTP requests the server needs to process, which reduced page load times. Your server tells the visitor’s browser not to look for certain files everytime–usually the file that don’t change often anyway.

Edit your .htaccess file for your site, and include this code:

## EXPIRES CACHING ##
# by Peter Mahoney of petermahoney.com
<IfModule mod_expires.c>
ExpiresActive On
ExpiresByType image/jpg "access 1 year"
ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access 1 year"
ExpiresByType image/gif "access 1 year"
ExpiresByType image/png "access 1 year"
ExpiresByType text/css "access 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/pdf "access 1 month"
ExpiresByType text/x-javascript "access 1 month"
ExpiresByType application/x-shockwave-flash "access 1 month"
ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access 1 year"
ExpiresDefault "access 2 days"
</IfModule>
## EXPIRES CACHING ##

Restart your web server, and you’re done!

Noe this isn’t all there is to optimising a website for speed. Especially WordPress websites. As you’ll know by now I’m a WordPress SEO expert so I really pay a lot of attention to speed. There are plugins, image compression techniques and even extra code snippets worth using.

When it comes to plugin choice for WordPress speed I recommend WP Rocket – it does a great job out of the box and with just a few setting changes you can really push the envelope. Using that as well as a series of manual image compression techniques I’m able to improve the average WordPress site’s speed by 40%!

Speeding things up usually does require a few manual tweaks to code here and there – it’s really a job for a professional rather than just trying it yourself (it’s all too easy to stop a site working properly with this stuff.)

I can’t recommend a faster site enough. For your users, SEO – hell even the good of the web itself. Let’s get that content flying.

Filed Under: Code, Nerd-stream, Website Speed, Wordpress Tagged With: code, htaccess, search engine optimisation, seo, site speed, web server

Five tips for making a company Linkedin page

October 25, 2012 by Peter Mahoney

I’m always amazed how often I see the words “If you’re not already using LinkedIn”…there is no excuse not to be.

It’s an essential.

If you haven’t already included LinkedIn in your company’s online social media efforts, then you should certainly consider adding a LinkedIn company page to your web presence arsenal. LinkedIn is considered one of the most influential social media platforms on the web, and can make a huge difference in terms of your business’ social media marketing strategy.

A LinkedIn page can connect you with a really wide net of potential partners, customers, suppliers and helpful contacts, and requires a lot less regular attention than many of your other social media accounts.

via 5 Tips for Creating Your Company Linkedin Page.

Honestly, there are so many good reasons to be using it. I accept that if you’re used to the concepts of social networking that you’ll pick up using Facebook or Twitter it can seem a bit odd, but it’s networking, it’s social, and has a built in professional audience looking to make money.

Filed Under: Social networking

What does your website look like to search engines?

October 25, 2012 by Peter Mahoney

The short answer is “pretty bland”.

While photo recognition, and language techniques are getting more advanced all the time, the raw data most search engines (including Google and Bing) see when they do a first pass on your site is very sparse.

Text will almost always be the most important Search Engine Optimisation feature you have (buy all the link pyramids you want, but if your site doesn’t have key, unique, relevant writing you’re achieving nothing) and using software like Lynx is an excellent way to test it.

Lynx as a browser pre-dates pretty-much every browser you’re likely to have on your computer, and is the browser a lot of search engine spiders use.

You can use it on Linux easily, or save yourself the hassle as use a web based version:
http://www.delorie.com/web/lynxview.html

Check to see that the text on your site is readable in it, that your menu structure shows (and works), and that the text it does show makes sense. That might seem odd at first, but  you’d be surprised how many sites do not make sense when viewed in simple text (i.e. they rely too much on graphics to do their talking) and search engines like to read things they can understand; that a human will make sense of easily.

It’s a little SEO tool in what needs to be a big arsenal.

petermahoney.com as it appears in Lynx

Filed Under: Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Is that name taken?

October 24, 2012 by Peter Mahoney

A fantastic, really quick way to see if the username you want is available at a swag of social networking sites. It’s a very easy way to choose your person brand name.

Check to see if your desired username or vanity url is still available at dozens of popular Social Networking and Social Bookmarking websites. Promote your brand consistently by registering a username that is still available on the majority of the most popular sites. Find the best username with namechk.

via Check Username Availability at Multiple Social Networking Sites.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a lot of signing up to do!

Filed Under: Social networking

SEO, for so many reasons

October 23, 2012 by Peter Mahoney

Reason number {insert bizarrely obscure number here for comic effect}. Branding is highly important, but most of your site’s traffic likely comes from organic search (visitors stumble across you after searching Google, or Bing) and while you might have a fantastic scheme for converting them into customers, unless they can find you in the first place, your scheme means nothing.

Yes, branded search converts at a higher rate since the visitor was looking for you, but what power does non-branded organic search have beyond basic non-branded keyword filtered conversion reporting?

Once again, we step further into analytics and take a look at what wasn’t so apparent on the surface of keyword referral tracking. Look at the Multi-Channel Funnel section of Google Analytics. By assessing the top channel groupings assisting each other to conversions you may quickly see a picture such as this:

via How to Prove the Value of SEO in 10 Minutes – Search Engine Watch (#SEW).

Get people to your site. Make sure they can find you. Otherwise you may as well stick with an advert in the Yellow Pages. (For anyone under 25, the Yellow Pages was a brick like tome made up of thousands of pieces of yellow paper, containing adverts for businesses. And using it SUCKED).

Filed Under: Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

The end of the world is nigh

October 18, 2012 by Peter Mahoney

I can’t tell you why just yet, but suffice to say I really quite like this Facebook page!

How will it all end? Keep your family & friends informed with the latest DOOMSDAY news.

via The end of the world is nigh.

Filed Under: Social networking

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Migration, Hosting, SEO and Speed Work on our new website all completed quickly and efficiently and Peter was most helpful in fixing an issue with a Popover on the site as well. If you’re thinking about asking Peter to do a job for you or hesitating, JUST DO IT! – He knows programming and the internet inside out, he’ll get the job done for you professionally, with a smile. I wish I could call a plumber or a tradesman to do the jobs I can’t do myself with the same level of confidence.
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