Tips Tuesday – Build Content Silo, Video SEO, Canva Alternative, Free Courses
Hello Happy Site Owners and Webmasters!
Tips this week include:
- Your last chance to get the full Gutenberg Ninja course is this week
- How to build a content silo workshop coming up in the DIY SEO course
- Proof that video SEO works
- Why I’m looking into posting on Medium again
- 2 free mini courses from The Tilt on Web3 and building audience and revenue
- Free Canva alternative
- Why I’m checking out JellySmack to follow content creator trends
- Why we’re not quite ready to update to WP 6.0
- What happened with the big Google May core update
- How Microsoft got Duck Duck Go in trouble and what you need to avoid using
- YouTube is now splitting out analytics by video type
- TikTok now allows 3rd party management tools that you’ll love using
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BlogAid Happenings
I’ve been busy this week getting new tutorials ready to make for you and doing a lot of reading and course taking, which I’ll share with you as we get into it today.
Site Services Update
The waitlist for any site services is running into July.
If you’re already a client and ready for your site audit checkup, please fill out the site audit form.
Or, if you want to simply move to better hosting, please fill out the migration request form.
Or, if you want to combine a migration with an audit, please fill out the migration/audit combo request form.
And we’ll get you all squared away for the summer and before your fall and holiday blogging frenzy.
BlogAid Course Happenings
Last Chance to Get Full Gutenberg Ninja Course
I’m currently in the process of updating the tutorials for the WP 6.0 changes to Gutenberg.
And I’ll be releasing them over the next couple of weeks.
This is your last week to sign up for this course, as I’ll be closing it for new purchase next week.
If you are already in another BlogAid course, or a BB Hub member, be sure to see your BlogAid Learning Center dashboard for discount codes.
The subscription is for 6 months, which will give you plenty of time to learn Gute before I take down the course at the end of the year.
FYI, I may be bringing back a mini course under this name next year that will focus mainly on how to build landing pages and other special things with Gute.
But, the full course as it stands now shows you everything you need to know from the ground up. So, it’s a fantastic introduction to Gutenberg and takes you from square one all the way through creating landing pages and such.
How to Build a Content Silo Workshop
Last week in the DIY SEO course we finished up our Content Revamp series of workshops.
And this week we’ll cover how to create a Content Silo, which many folks are discovering can be way more powerful than simply relying on categories for SEO.
In fact, a huge part of my content strategy on Heartwood Art was done with Content Silos in mind – and boy does it ever keep folks on my site forever, which radically increases time on site and drops my bounce rate. And both of those things lead to higher rankings.
Plus, every post was planned to have a video too.
Those videos contribute directly to higher time on site as well.
And that watchtime is tracked by YouTube.
It’s so high now that I’m getting paid from the YouTube Partner Program.
Keep in mind that all of this is on a site I haven’t even posted to in 6 months and only posted about 6 times in each of the past 2 years.
Wonder what would happen if I posted regularly to both the blog and to YouTube?
And then shared quick clips and tips to TikTok and Instagram?
Well, actually I was sharing those quick videos to Instagram and on the Heartwood Art Facebook page and into woodworking groups that allowed it.
Let me tell you, it drove traffic like crazy.
And once they hit those Content Silo pages, they stayed on my site forever and signed up to the newsletter.
Video SEO Works
All of the techniques I used to get those videos to the top of YouTube and Google Search are things I teach in the Video SEO Booster course too.
Plus, there is a whole section in that course for how to storyboard your post and video to make production so much faster.
If you want your videos to bring you traffic and make you money, this course will teach you the stuff that all those “how to be #1 on YouTube” courses leave out – because they focus on video post strategy – not SEO for the video and your post.
The SEO of it all is what my course covers – and it works – like magic.
Courses I’m Taking
Posting on Medium
Did you know that you can also post your blogs on platforms like Medium and LinkedIn and not worry about a duplicate content penalty from Google?
You only need to include a link to the original on your site at the end of the post to help Google figure out what you’re doing and not look at you like a content scraper.
But, you don’t want to copy/paste your blog directly to these other platforms anyway. You will do a lot better on them if you tweak them a bit to suit that platform.
That’s especially true on Medium, as they have their own formatting tools and you’ll want to make use of them.
One of the marketing folks I follow sent a link to a free email drip course on Medium.
I used to post to Medium years ago, but got out of the habit.
So, I’m taking this course to refresh my memory and learn about any new features or tips and tricks to making my content stand out on that platform.
I already have subscribers there too, so I’m sure they’ll be interested to see me post there again as well.
FYI, if you’re only source of income is from ads, then that limits your freedom of what you can post on these other platforms. You have to only give teasers that send folks back to your site in order for you to make money.
But, if you sell your own products, even a digital download, or have a member site or such, you can share a lot more content that sets you up as an expert and points folks directly to your product or membership where you get paid directly.
THAT is the new focus of BlogAid – helping you get paid directly as a content creator.
The Tilt Free Mini Courses
Y’all haven’t heard me talk about Web3 stuff in a while. That’s because momentum has slowed this year with the downturn in the stock market and crypto.
But, Web3 is not solely reliant on crypto and development on Web3 projects is still going strong, and so is the content creator economy where folks are setting themselves up for direct pay as the creator.
The nice folks at The Tilt have a new, free mini course on Web3 in 30 Minutes.
I STRONGLY suggest that you take it and get familiar with all the lingo of Web3 as it will be back.
That’s especially true of the NFT market, which is being integrated with just about every social platform you use now.
In fact, Web3 and Creator Economy is the future for us. And ground floor folks make bank. If you don’t believe me, just poke around The Tilt and see all of the creators who are already making bank – big time.
There’s no reason you can’t get in on this trend now too.
FYI, The Tilt has another free mini course on that page for How to Build an Audience and Generate Multiple Revenue Lines in 7 Steps that I strongly suggest you get too.
Graphics Tips
Free Canva Alternative
Is Canva a little more than you need or do you just want some new templates and inspiration for your graphics?
Well, give the Polotno Studio a try.
It’s free and they have a bunch of templates and tools that are very intuitive to use.
They also have some photos from Unsplash there for you to use too.
What I’m Reading
Check Out JellySmack
Influencers who use video set the trends that the rest of us follow, or at least try to get in on or make use of to get more eyeballs on our content.
Well, the folks at JellySmack help create those trends.
They are primarily a creator service. You give them your content and they make videos to amplify your visibility on multiple social channels.
But, I hope you will check out their Creator Post Blog.
Then scroll down to the Creator Economy section.
It’s full of tips and strategies and creator stories that are sure to inspire you, like recipes for Cinco de Mayo. Even though that has passed, it’s still worth having a look at what that creator is doing.
There’s also a post on video editor tips too.
WordPress Tips
Almost Ready to Update to 6.0 – But Not Yet
I’m doing my final checks on WP 6.0 and waiting word from my Webmaster Training members on how updates have gone for them and their clients.
So far everything looks pretty okay except for images set to align center are now showing as aligned left. The setting is still for center, so when a patch for it comes out, the images should return to center alignment.
BlogAid News subscribers will be the only folks who get my special update instructions when I think it’s safe for us to do it.
So be sure you are subscribed.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, go watch my What’s New in WP 6.0 video tour to see what’s coming.
SEO Tips
Google May Core Update Rolled Out
It took a couple of weeks, but Google has finished their big May core algorithm update.
I’ve been hearing folks say they are suddenly getting a noticeable shift in traffic or rankings, both up and down.
Google makes about 100 tweaks to their algorithm a month. But these big core updates are when most folks see big shifts. So, if you’ve seen a jump up or down in the last 2-3 weeks, this might be why.
Analytics Tips
Duck Duck Go Browser Shares Tracking with Microsoft
Rut-roh!!
The Duck Duck Go browser prides itself on protecting your privacy.
But somebody leaked it on Twitter that their partnership with Microsoft still allows cookie tracking for all LinkedIn and Bing Ad links.
You may also recall that I’ve recently reported on Clarity, which is Microsoft’s brand of site analytics tracking, similar to Google Analytics. And I advised that you don’t use it as an alternative to GA4, as your analytics data will be shared with Microsoft.
I think we’ll be hearing a LOT more about Microsoft’s tracking policies, as well as policies from all browsers, as we get into 2023 when Google is supposed to be dropping 3rd party cookie tracking from Chrome.
YouTube Separates Analytics By Video Type
YouTube will be rolling out an update that splits up your analytics according to the type of video you created, including regular videos, Shorts, and Lives.
This should help you figure out what format is getting watched and engaged with the most.
FYI, while Shorts may get you more eyeballs because YouTube is promoting them heavily right now, watchtime on them is not counted toward your Partner Program credentials, which requires a certain number of watched hours a month to qualify for.
So, be sure that you’re using each format with a goal in mind for what you’re trying to accomplish.
Video Tips
TikTok Now Allows 3rd Party Tool Management
Do you think there is a best time to post on social media platforms?
Some folks do, and not being able to schedule video publishing on TikTok has been a real PITA for a lot of folks.
Well, good news!!
TikTok is now allowing you to integrate with bunches of the most popular social media management tools available, including: Brandwatch, Dash Hudson, Emplifi, Hootsuite, Khoros, Later, Sprinklr, and Sprout Social.
You’ll be able to set the posting time plus track engagement, if the tool/app you’re using has that feature.
What we don’t know about this is if TikTok will lower reach when things are auto posted using these apps. Twitter and Facebook lower reach on automated posts from 3rd party tools.
So, we’ll see what folks say about this as more of them use it.
Wrap Up
That’s a wrap for this week’s Tips Tuesday.
Thanks for sharing this podcast and post with your blogging buddies, and for leaving comments and reviews too.
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Be sure to visit BlogAid.net for more tips and resources and I’ll see you online.
