Topic: Search Engine Optimization

Let's talk SEO. At this point, many businesses are understanding the importance of having some form of website or landing page to make it easier to find information. In today's society and business world, it's impossible to get ahead without a website.

Simply put, SEO is search engine optimization. Here's a broken down definition I like from Search Engine Land: 

SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” search results on search engines.

Organic search traffic does not include AdWords  or PPC marketing, a valuable thing for businesses to do if they have the dough.

In the beginning of the internet, SEO meant packing your website full of keywords to try and build relevance in a search. Now, Google, Bing, and other major search engines can pick out these "fake" websites and block them from rising in ranking.

Most people think that SEO is just doing a lot of random tags, keywords, and coding. This is definitely a major part of doing SEO, but not all of it.

So how does one "do" SEO? There are many different things that people can do to make their website easier for search engines to find that don't necessarily mean knowing how to code:

1. Update content regularly. A blog is a great way to keep your website up-to-date. Occasionally back-linking your blog to other relevant articles can help search engines find your content easier. 
2. Do keyword research when writing a blog post. Tools such as Keyword Discovery and WordTracker help you to understand what kind of words to incorporate in your blog post. Know your market and what will be interesting content to them. 
3. USE SOCIAL MEDIA. I can't emphasize that enough. When you link social media to your website, it help boosts your page. Just do it. 
4. Build an inviting landing page that invites people to stay. If your site is confusing and backwards, nobody will stay very long and your bounce rate will be higher. 

To learn more basics about SEO and how you can improve, check out this article from Moz.com. And good luck! SEO is a crazy world but with practice, you can become a master of Google.

Sources:

http://www.business2community.com/seo/9-reasons-blogging-essential-good-seo-results-0866944#ZfmdxGrhm57SzlJp.97

http://searchengineland.com/21-essential-seo-tips-techniques-11580

Meal Plan April 3 - 9

I am loving #LDSConf. Are you enjoying it? Lots of time to sit, enjoy the Spirit and eat tasty snacks. A bag of Cheetohs has disappeared already today. Crazy...but I feel no guilty.

Meals:

M - Shrimp skewers
T - Chile verde pasta
W - OYO
R - Element's Burger Bash (Gift Card)
F - Kuala Pork -- Practicing for class


Groceries: $45

half & half
cream
egg
salsa verde
bow tie pasta, fettuccine pasta, penne pasta (5/$5)
lunch meat
pepper jack cheese
cheddar cheese
 swiss cheese
banana
carrots
snack peppers
strawberries
limes
oranges

I'm still needing people to let me practice photography on them so PM me on FB!

Thick, Cheesy Potato Soup

It has been raining cats and dogs here and I am so over the cold weather. Whenever it gets like this, I just get the hankering for some good ole' potato soup. I whipped out this recipe in 30 minutes today, making it perfect for the busy days when homework and stress are stacked to the ceiling.

Ingredients

• 3 potatoes (baked -- I like to put mine in the crock pot, wrapped in tinfoil, for 8 hrs on low)
• 4 Tb butter
• 4 Tb flour
• 1 c. chicken broth
• 1 quart half&half
• 1/3 c. sour cream 
• 1 cup cheese 

Bake the potatoes (mine is in the crockpot) and when done, set aside to cool off while you bake the soup. 

Melt the butter completely. Whisk in the flour until coooked through. Pour in chicken broth, half&half, and sour cream IN THAT ORDER, stirring constantly. If it's too thick, add a little milk. Too thin, add some flour. 

Next, unwrap the potatoes and scoop out the insides. Using a fork or chopper to mash the potatoes in the soup base. Stir in cheese -- lots of cheese. 

Serve with green onions, bacon, and more cheese. 

I am experimenting with food photos so please don't judge me as I figure out editing ;)

Topic: Management Platforms and Tools

I am so excited to be writing about this topic! It has made my life as a social media manager so much easier. At the beginning of the week, I can sit down schedule all my posts in one fell swoop and then focus the rest of the week on other items.

Agora Pulse gives good reasons to schedule posts:

• Get more posts out at a more frequent and consistent time
• Word ahead of time
• Helps stay ahead of local time if you have global customer

I would also like to add my own to the list:

• One less thing to worry about if all he!! breaks loose at the end of week (trust me, last minute meetings always happen)
• You can change the post if needs be, but it allows you to have some form of structure to your posts. 

Scheduling posts really helps me to stay organized! These are my favorite tools:

1. Facebook scheduling: This is the back-end way that FB allows you to post on timelines at specific times. They let you formulate your posts so you can see exactly how it will look on Facebook. It also lets you boost so you can always have your budget figured out for the week. 
2. Sprout Social: This platform is what I mainly use to schedule my tweets. I am the worst at trying to remember to post on Twitter so it helps me to get that project done. Sprout allows you to make a queue (pronounces "Q"). A queue, by definition is "a line of messages waiting to be sent." What this platform does for you is post at a regular time every day so that you ensure that things go out the way you need. It also allows you to schedule tweets at specific times, if you know something will be happening. I use it to make sure my hospitals show support to the high school sports teams they sponsor. Those tweets get a lot of engagement, so I'm grateful for my ability to tweet. 
3. Gramblr: My new favorite scheduling tool - it schedules your Instagram posts! The only downside is you must keep your computer on and the internet open for the posts to go. Since I work 8-5, I'm always on the internet. I wish more people knew about this tool. When you are ready to use this tool, here's a great step-by-step guide to how to use it.  

And there you  have it! Here's just my thoughts of social media management platforms and tools. 

Things that Make me Happy

On February 15th, I was diagnosed with clinical depression and mild anxiety.

 It was a huge blow to me because I never felt depressed or sad. But looking back over my life, I did have the signs. The last six weeks have been some of the hardest in my life. Adjusting to medication and realizing that I can't control my brain...it's been rough.

But I refuse to let this define me.

I may have depression, my brain might not function correctly, but I can still be happy.

So I started doing things to make me happy, and not care about the depression. Sure it still makes me tired and unmotivated, but I want to still live my life the best I can. .

1. My new pet fish Jimmy. One of my favorite jokes goes: "Why can't Jimmy ride a bike? Because Jimmy is a goldfish." Stupid? Probably but it makes me laugh every time. Because I don't have room for a goldfish (apparently they need 30 gallons of water!) I bought a Betta fish named Jimmy, got a small bike from Hobby Lobby, and now have a pet fish. And it has made me so happy. 
2. My pink tulips outside. They were $5 from Home Depot and they have brightened my day. My favorite color is pink and they fit the bill just perfectly. I love seeing them every morning when I head to work as a reminder that I a happy.
3. This sign from Hobby Lobby. I saw it on Instagram and died laughing. That's when I realized I needed it, because it made me happy. So I bought it. 
   
4. A clean fridge. Lately leftovers have been lingering in my fridge for far too long so I decided to clean out the freezer and fridge, wipe down the shelves and organize it. There is just something rewarding about tackling a project like that and completing it. 
5. My clean bathtub. When we moved in, our tub had a nasty gringy gray look to it. But thanks to Bar Keeper's Friend, it's as white as ever. 
6. My cactus named Fern. I got this tiny cactus as a graduation present from my sister Whitney and it has been with me for over 5 years. I love this little thing. 
7. Connor made me this coat rack a few weeks ago, and it has been so nice to have. 
8. I bought Cheetohs for lunch and didn't even care that they were 310 calories. I enjoyed every last bite. 
9. Me and my youngest sister went to the Library and I checked out a young adult book. Who says that they are just for teenagers. 
10. I stayed in bed and wrote this blog post, just because I could. :) 

What makes you happy? For the record, I am doing fine! I have my days but overall I am doing much better. Still haven't lost weight, but that will come with time. Right now I am trying to focus on healing through proper medical help, therapy, and my Savior's Atonement.

Mountain Dew Steak Kabobs

Summer is rolling around and that means grilling. Connor and I have a little gas grill (like this one) that we have used the heck out of. We love how easy it is to set-up, use, then clean up.

Theses shish-kabobs are AMAZING! I have come up with the greatest marinade for the steak and it has changed our life. Sometimes I can be dramatic, I know, but they really are that amazing. I know that Connor likes what I made when his eyes roll into his head and he sighs really deep. It's only happened on a few recipes, and this was one of them. 

Ingredients:

Marinade

1 can of Mountain Dew 

1/2 c. BBQ sauce - Our favorite is Sweet Baby Ray's

Kabobs: 

4 or 5 sirloin steaks 

1 red pepper 

1 green pepper

1 large onion

1 pineapple 

Cut the sirloin steaks into 2 inch pieces and marinate with the Mountain Dew and BBQ sauce for at least 3 hours. 

Remember to also soak the kabob sticks for at least an hour so the sticks don't burn on the grill. 

Chop the peppers, onions, and pineapple into 2 inch pieces that will be big enough for the shishkabobs.   

Assemble the steak, peppers, onions, and pineapple on the sticks. 

Grill until the meat is cooked and the veggies are soft, brushing with BBQ sauce occasioally. 

Serve with rice and voila!

I use a normal cookie sheet to soak the skewers in water 

Prepping the ingredients takes some time, but if you make an assembly line, it goes by faster

It's always hard to judge just how much meat to veggies you'll need but just make them how you like. I am not a fan of onions so there are a few kabobs with only one or two onions.

 I usually can make 5 to 6 kabobs with this recipe. 

 Connor is the grill master. 

Brush them with BBQ halfway through their cooking

Bad picture, great food. 

Yum! 

Grocery Shopping at 8:00 (March 25-March 31)

I have a lot of new recipes I'm trying this week. I have such a hard time cycling through recipes because there is just so much that I want to make! On my Pinterest page I have created a "Tried and True" board for all the recipes I've made and looooove. It has been nice when trying to meal plan to think about foods that we like to eat.

Here is this week's meal plan:

S: Straatman's
S: Alex & Jeremy's
M: chicken fajitas (my own recipe!)
T: Shrimp and pineapple skewers 
W: Busy night so OYO
R: Baked potato soup
F: Costa Vida - I have a coupon :)

Groceries $50
(Pro-tip: grocery shop at 8:00 in the morning on a Saturday. By this time, all the shelves are stocked but there is nobody in the store. I love getting up, throwing my hair in a pony then heading to Macey's. I always bring home donuts for breakfast so that makes Connor happy.

pineapple
spinach
sweet potato
shrimp
waffle mix
chili
corn dogs
rice
mandarin oranges
raisins
sunflower hearts
half&half
cream
milk
sausage for breakfast :)

And there you have it! Have a great week :)