http://www.writersroundabout.com Rebecca Laffar-Smith: Freelance Writer, Editor, and Web Tech Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:15:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en At Word Camp 2008 in San Fransisco, Stephan Spencer talked about mistakes bloggers make when it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Take thirty minutes today to learn these mistakes, how to avoid them, and how you can optimize your blog for better search engine results. http://www.writersroundabout.com/2008/12/take-30-for-seo-mistakes-most-bloggers-make.html Through the month of November, Jen Nipps participated in what has become an international event, National Novel Writing Month. She was kind enough to share her post-NaNoWriMo thoughts with us. Do you have any reflections post-NaNoWriMo to share? Another National Novel Writing Month ended a few days ago. Whether I won ... http://www.writersroundabout.com/2008/12/musings-on-the-nanowrimo-mechanism-guest-post.html Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been a concept that has been around for years. It predates Google if you can believe that. I remember, because my first web designs predate Google too. In 1998, Google was small fish against MSN, ruler of IE browser search bar, and Yahoo, the hub ... http://www.writersroundabout.com/2008/12/what-i-know-about-seo-i-learned-from.html Blog writing requires a different tool set. A blog entry is not a magazine article or a newspaper clipping. To connect with readers we have to break some freelancing rules and discover that what is right and acceptable from one medium will not work in this one. When I started my ... http://www.writersroundabout.com/2008/11/how-freelance-writing-almost-destroyed-my-blog.html After a year of blogging I've noticed that growth happens in spits and bursts. There can be long periods of stagnation and during these it becomes hard to keep blogging. This phenomenon echos a challenge writers come across known as "The Wall". These days, weeks, or even months of stagnation ... http://www.writersroundabout.com/2008/11/bloggers-and-the-wall-breaking-through-barriers.html Time is, perhaps, our most valuable commodity. Whether you collect your pay by the hour or spend hours playing video games there is a wealth an energy to be gained by using your time effectively. Do you know how you spend your time or how much time each task requires? ... http://www.writersroundabout.com/2008/11/rebecca-reviews-rescue-time-at-zen-working.html Making choices and changes in any aspect of your life is never easy. While some decisions can be made in an instant others need to be carefully considered. Which is the best course? Which furthers our goals or creates inner harmony with our needs and desires? I've come to that ... http://www.writersroundabout.com/2008/11/direction-decisions-choices-changes.html If you've been by Writer's Round-About recently (drop by if you're in a feed reader) you might have noticed I've done a little tweaking here and there. Adding the header and buttons has been on my to-do list since I launched the new design. What do you think of the ... http://www.writersroundabout.com/2008/11/blog-themes-love-that-design.html In fantastic news, friend and author, Hope Wilbanks, released a beautiful little book, just in time for Christmas. Hope has flourished through some of life's most challenging adversities and comes out the other side with a message of Hope, Love, and Joy. Her book, Cup of Hope, shares spiritual insights, personal ... http://www.writersroundabout.com/2008/11/cup-of-hope-now-available.html It can be a dizzying online world when it comes to social media in our Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 society. It is easy to feel lost, overwhelmed, and confused as each latest fad or gadget flashes through your inbox or feed reader full of invitations. Thankfully, there are sites ... http://www.writersroundabout.com/2008/11/blog-review-su-comments.html