Wow. Website Grader Gives My Blog a Top Ranking
By · CommentsWebsite Grader is a HubSpot program and gives your site an overall grade. Today I received an email from the company that said: “Your Website Grade improved by 4 points, from 93 to 97.” That means writespeaksell.com scores higher than 97% of the 2,646,608 websites that have been ranked so far.
Now I’m going for a grade of 100! Don’t know if I’ll make it, but I’m ready to try, with the help of my blogging buddies and my loyal readers.
Here is what the program analyzes:
- Content: blogs, Google indexed pages and readability level
- Optimization: metadata, headings, images, and interior page analysis
- Promotion: how you rank on social media sites
As I read through the report, I also found that my Alexa Traffic Rank is… Read more
Analogies and Metaphors Paint Images for Readers
By · Comments“Buzz is already taking a chunk out of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media services. That’ll only grow as brands and advertisers better understand what they can do with Buzz and its millions of users. Buzz is equivalent to throwing a giant super magnet into a room filled with nails.”
I don’t know about Buzz challenging its rivals, but this paragraph is a lively example of how analogies and metaphors enrich our writing and paint images for our readers. Buzz is like a giant super magnet attracting new users – a powerful visual image.
Writers often confuse analogies and metaphors. In a story on the CBS News Opinion page “Political Analogies Are Like Toothbrushes,” the headline is an analogy comparing two dissimilar things… Read more
Letter Writing is Not Dead
By · CommentsI’m constantly surprised that a post I wrote almost a year ago entitled: “Is Letter Writing Dead?” is consistently at the top of key words that bring people to my blog.
I received a letter today (OK, a direct mail piece) from L.L. Bean asking if I would like to register to receive emails from them with product information and special deals. Now I believe that the company has my email address because I’ve ordered from them online and received a receipt online.
I think they sent a letter because it was more likely to catch my attention – which it obviously did because I opened it. Much as we complain about the junk mail we receive, there sure is a lot less of… Read more
I don’t know about you, but I’m writing more guest blogs and inviting more people to write guest blogs for my site. It has happened sort of organically, but I’m also aware that it helps SEO if you link to another blog or they link to you.
So, if I’m going to continue to ask for guest posts, I need to create some guidelines for writers so that there are no misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Just as important, I need to be more strategic in asking for columns that align with my brand and are providing useful information for my readers. In turn, I need to be sure that I’m not saving the best for my own blog, but offering content-rich posts for other… Read more
