What you first install WordPress it uses a a structure that is not friendly for SEO or humans. That being said there are many different structures that you can use that will better your odds for people remembering links and Google indexing the post. WordPress offers two other variations and a custom option.

How To

Changing the structure is easy to do and for that reason alone I recommend doing it. When you are in your dashboard click on the settings tab, which will expand the tab and show you the rest of the options under setting. Click on permalinks, which should be the 7th one down. On the permalinks page you will see the different options you have to choose from. So lets look at those options.

Dashboard > Settings > Permalinks

Preset Structures

You do not want to stay on the default, that is why I’m writing this post in the first place. The next two options include the date, the first is the full date and the post name – /%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%postname%/. The second is only the year and month – /%year%/%monthnum%/.  For a long time people told me these were the better options, but recently Matt Cutts of Google said in a video that the doesn’t actually affect how that page ranks on Google. The date is already a part of the post, so the title is what you should focus on. So do I use one of these options, yes. I find having the date in the post gives me a quick place to look to see if the post I am reading is recent and relevent.

Custom Structures

The customs structure option gives you the ability to create any structure you want. The structure I use for this site is /%category%/%postname%/. This structure displays the category and post name. I use this structure because in my opinion it helps categorize my posts. Below are some of the structure tags you can use, which are self-explanatory:

• %year%
• %monthnum%
• %day%
• %hour%
• %minute%
• %second%
• %category%
• %postname%

Time to Decide

At the end of the day it is all up to you. Like I said above, I strongly recommend you change the structure from default, but after than it is on you. Do you add the date or add in the category or both. How do you want your readers to see it. What is best for your kind of website. For more information about WordPress Permalinks check out their Codex.

Once you figure out which structure you like, let us know in the comments. If you don’t agree with me, let me know what you’d do differently.

So, 2 questions you need to ask yourself are: Does your business have a website? Can you be found online?  Can you answer yes to those? If not, here are some reasons why you should be able to.

1. Do you have Google Juice, are you google-able?This is probably the most important thing, just read Jeff Jarvis’s What Would Google Do book.  How many of us will “Google it” if we don’t know the answer, need a location, want a review, a definition or just want more information about anything? It’s also a common habit for potential customers to look up a company’s credibility online before making a purchase (even if it’s an in-store purchase). Google is a highly beneficial tool to have on your side. They will help you as long as you play fairly.
2. 24/7 is where it is at.We always hear about online stores being “open 24/7″ and even though we may not think twice about it, it is a huge convenience. How many of us tend to do our research in the evenings, outside of regular business hours or from somewhere we can’t leave. The old system is dead, more people work from home, the coffee shop, airport and on the go, so it’s important that content is available 24/7.
3. Automation.Many of us don’t know what this word means in terms to websites, but probably use it on a daily bases. Take for example a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). How easy would it be for potential customers to read something like that instead of asking a staff member constantly. Or a Contact Form, rather than giving your e-mail address out online for spam. It could be for just general inquires or a more detailed submitting. The possibilities are almost endless
4. Advertising. Marketing. Branding.Online presence is a great way to advertise your brand, service, or company. The options here really are limitless. You can advertise on other sites, or on search engines like google that all directly link back to your website. A Social Network presence is almost as important as a Google presence. Are you on Facebook or Twitter? No, well you should be. People like interaction with company’s they may deal with.

So are you ready to get online today? Contact us for more information.

I mean I love my readers and I’m very happy that they continuously come back to see what is new, but sometimes some post are not directed toward my readers but more Google. In hopes that I will find new readers. Some of these posts are “Yellowknife Food Prices” “Where to Rent” and some of the big news topics. Often I’m not informing my readers with unique news, because other news sources already have, but my hope is that Google Searchers will see my blog and at least check it out.

I am often very “smart” as to the tags I use in certain posts. If the post is about anything I know people will be searching for I will make sure the tags describe exactly that. Often some post will even be shaped around Google searches.

When you blog, is this something your think about?

I have found one way of doing this which involves the RSS feed. Most people use FeedBurner to maintain their RSS feed because it offers some many thing for customizing and promoting you feed. If you do not already use FeedBurner I suggest you check it out. It is very simple to set up, it is run by Google so you can use your Google account for it. Then all you have to do is set up a new feed by entering in your old one.

Once you have done that you want to click on the Publicize and then BuzzBoost, which is built into the feedburner site. BuzzBoost is the tool used to publish your posts on to your static page. You can change the settings to however you like and then activate or save it. It will then give you the code you need to use on your HTML page for the posts to show up.

Example:

The script can be configure by you to the shape desired to fit where ever you need it to. I have the same script in both, above and in the sidebar(wont be in the sidebar forever)

That’s it, simple right? You are also able to delete the FeedBurner logo by simply taking it out of the script.