2020 Challenges: May Update

2020 Challenges: May Update

Jo Linsdell   07:00:00

2020 Challenges: May Update

May brought with it some changes to the laws here in Italy, and finally a little freedom. We finally left our apartment! 

We've not really been out and about much but it has made a huge different being able to take the kids for a walk in the park near our apartment. Days are still mainly filled with distance learning, but we get up early so we can get our walk in before they have to log on for their video lessons. Also, there's less people around early morning which means we can relax properly and enjoy being outside.

This small shift in our daily routine has really helped pull me out of my slump. Whilst I'm no where near as productive as I'd like to be, I am doing much better with my challenges. 

You might also like: 2020 Challenges: April Update

The Blog Audit Challenge 2020

This is a challenge I created aimed at improving our blogs. You can find full details here in case you missed the introduction post. The goals for May were all related to SEO. 

1. Keywords In Headlines

I've been going through my older blog posts and making notes about the keywords that should go with each piece of content. I've then gone on Google and done a  content search for each and made notes from that too. I'll slowly be working my way through them all to improve my blog post titles. In most cases I'll be strengthening my SEO with the use of sub-headings. 

2. Labels, Tags, and Descriptions

This is another time consuming task. I'm actually not too bad at adding labels to my blog posts so I've not spent much time on this part of the task.  

Blog post descriptions however are a whole different story. I've discovered that some of my older posts didn't have the blog post description section filled out at all (blogger sin, I know). In my defense, it was back in my earlier blogging days and I didn't know any better back then.

I've also discovered that a lot of the time, although I was using the description section in blog posts, I wasn't including text that actually added to the SEO power of the blog post. 

Needless to say, this part of the task is taking me ages. 

3. The Blog Post

I have quite a lot of experience as a content writer, but realised through this challenge that some of my blog posts were a bit flat. I'm slowly making edits to bring them up to standard. 

This is of course one of the big reasons for doing a blog audit challenge. Over time we get better at blogging, writing, editing, etc... We discover our writing style, and develop our brand. 

4. The Comments Section 

I've been going through the comment sections of my blog posts and was horrified to see there were a few comments that I hadn't replied to (I'm so sorry!). I've therefore been making sure all comments left have a reply.

I've also been looking into ways to increase engagement on my blog posts. 

The Audiobook Challenge

This challenge is was created by Eline from Lovely Audiobooks. I'm doing it as a year long challenge. 

I've really entered a slump with this challenge.  I didn't listen to any audiobooks this month. 

Audiobooks listened to this month:

• 0

The A to Z Reading Challenge

Next up is the A to Z Reading Challenge. I did better this month.

Books read this month:

B- Breakup Boot Camp by Beth Merlin (if you remember I started this last month. Finally finished it)
E- Even Good Girls by Nicholas Jordan

And another T - The Never Have I Ever Club by Mary Jayne Baker 

Armed with a Bingo

I did better with the Armed with a Bingo challenge this month too. 

Books read this month:

• The Never Have I Ever Club by Mary Jayne Baker (A book published in 2020- Pub Date June 2020).
• Even Good Girls by Nicholas Jordan (A Young Adult Novel)

You might also like: Exploring Audiobooks: Where To Find Free Audiobooks

Blog Audit Challenge 2020: June Challenges

Blog Audit Challenge 2020: June Challenges

Jo Linsdell   07:00:00

Blog Audit Challenge 2020

Welcome back for another month of challenges for the Blog Audit Challenge 2020!

I hope you did well with the May challenges. Remember to link up your progress reports on 6th June in the May Link Up. 

Each month we'll concentrate on a different area of our blogs.

Life is strange for most of us at the moment with Coronavirus, Lock-downs, etc... If you fall behind with the monthly tasks don't worry. Just catch up when you can. This challenge lasts the whole year. 

The Challenges:

January- Plan of action

February- Information pages

March- The trimmings

April- Design

May- SEO

June- Links

July- Quality content

August- Content gaps

September- Developing readership

October- Get social

November- Press and collaborations

December- Know your stats

Monthly link ups

In order to keep us all on track, and give us a way to see each others progress, I'll be hosting link ups on the first Saturday of every month where participants can share their links and discuss their progress. 

#BlogAuditChallenge2020

June Challenges

Our focus for June is on links. 

The June challenges:

1. Internal links

Internal linking is when you link one post to another post on site. 

Why add internal links?

1) Decreases your bounce rate

2) Increases user interaction time

3) Improves indexing

4) Increases SEO score

By adding internal links you increase Dwell time and CTR (Click Through Rate). Dwell time is the length of time a visitor spends on a page before returning to the SERPs. More time is what you're aiming for. So what you want to do is create content that hooks readers for a longer time.

In a perfect world a reader would come to your blog, read a post, and then go on to click through to another post on site, and then another, etc...

Make sure every post on your blog links to other posts on your blog. 

2. External links

1) Natural backlinks. 

These are SEO gold and what we all hope for. This is when someone from another website finds your content useful and so they link their page to yours.

2) Manual backlinks.

This is when you ask other bloggers to link their website with yours by emailing them or submitting sites to directories.

3) Self created backlinks

These are created by you by blog commenting, forum signatures, etc...

High quality backlinks offer most value for SEO so you should be looking for highly authoritative sites that fall into your niche. 

Free downloads: You can grab copies of all the extra materials for the Blog Audit Challenge 2020 for free here. 

Save the Date!

The July challenges will be posted on 1st July. The monthly link up post for sharing your June progress will be on 4th July. 

You might also like: Exploring CTA's: Different Types of Calls To Action To Use in Your Blog Posts

Don't forget to promote your participation in the Blog Audit Challenge 2020 by using the following graphic in any blog posts you do connected with the challenge along with a link back to this site. 

Book Review: Poison Orchids by Sarah A. Denzil & Anni Taylor

Book Review: Poison Orchids by Sarah A. Denzil & Anni Taylor

Jo Linsdell   07:00:00

My thoughts about Poison Orchids by Sarah A. Denzil & Anni Taylor

Trigger warning: Sexual assault/rape, suicide, kidnapping.

A compelling novel from bestselling authors Sarah A. Denzil and Anni Taylor 

A dark, medical thriller. An enigmatic chemist tends his prized orchid collection on a remote farm. International backpackers find their way there each season, desperate for work. The Chemist welcomes them all in with open arms. But what chilling, twisted secret is he hiding?

Young backpackers Gemma and Hayley arrive at the farm one summer. The farm's handsome owner, Tate Llewellyn, seems eccentric but kind, running his hobby farm and cultivating rare orchids in his greenhouse.   
The weeks go on, a blur of fruit-picking, parties, campfires and wading beneath waterfalls in the nearby hot springs. Tate calls the girls his orchids...his pretty orchids. 

Until the night the girls find themselves on a dark highway, bruised and bloodied.

How did everything go so wrong? 

Senior Detective Bronwen McKay and psychologist Megan Arlotti question the terrified girls. But Hayley and Gemma are telling two very different stories of what happened to them over the past three months. 

Which story is the truth and what are the girls covering up?

 Amazon

Goodreads

You might also like: Book Review: Killing Me Softly by Bianca Sloane

Book Review: Breakup Boot Camp by Beth Merlin

Book Review: Breakup Boot Camp by Beth Merlin

Jo Linsdell   07:00:00

My thoughts about Breakup Boot Camp by Beth Merlin

“Merlin gives off Sophie Kinsella and Emily Giffin vibes only with an execution of plots that is all her own….Beth Merlin is totally going to grow in popularity. I'm calling it." - Book and Broadway

After weeks of training to whip Joanna Kitt into shape for her big day, her picture-perfect engagement to her high school sweetheart is torn in two, and Joanna is left out on her perfectly toned rear end. To put the past and her heartache behind her, she sets off for two weeks at the renowned Retreat House Breakup Boot Camp in Topsail Island off the coast of North Carolina.

Despite her sadness, Joanna throws herself into the experience hoping surfing, yoga, spa treatments, meditation, and talk therapy will be enough to help her get over the one man she’s ever loved. But she soon learns the Boot Camp is only the first step to healing her broken heart. Joanna will have to come to terms with the career she abandoned, the loss in her life she never fully accepted, and the role she played in the ending of her relationship.

When she meets Todd Aldrich, the handsome and mysterious hotel chef, she has the chance to take her renewed heart out for a test drive and see if she is ready for new beginnings and new love.

Will 12 steps be enough to get her life back on track? Or will her getaway to get over him prove healing the heart takes a whole lot more?

 Amazon

Goodreads

You might also like: Book Review: Us, In Pieces by Tasha Cotter and Christopher Green