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Thoughts about deleting old blog posts -- Mervi Eskelinen

Thoughts about deleting old blog posts

Recently I finally finished a huge project I started a long time ago: recategorising my blog posts. My old categories and tagging system had turned messy during all these years, since it allowed creating new tags on the fly and applying multiple tags to each post. I needed to create some new rules. Now I have 10 preset categories, including my the subjects I blog the most. And each post can have one category. I still use the old tagging system too, because it helps with this site's internal search and linking blog post series. More categories can obviously be added, if needed. But I cannot...

Where do I put the keywords on my site when doing SEO? -- Mervi Eskelinen

Where do I put the keywords on my site when doing SEO?

This is a true story. A person, using a specialised platform for creating a course website was asking a question about adding keywords to the site. They weren't finding a place for their keywords. Apparently they were looking for some sort of a keywords field and since it wasn't there, they were confused. Naturally, they were worried about their search engine optimisation. I get where they come from. With all the misleading, overly complicated and contradictory information about SEO and keywords out there, it all can be perplexing. The messy history of keywords doesn't make it any easier....

Why your small creative business needs a business plan -- Mervi Eskelinen

Why your small creative business needs a business plan

Creating a business plan may seem like overkill, or just really boring, when you are running a small creative business. You think business plans are only for big businesses or flashy startups looking for investors and loans and whatnot. It is true, a business plan is mandatory if you want investors to take interest in your business or when you are planning to approach a bank for a loan. Often, when you research business plans, the concentration really is in finances. However, that's not the only reason you need a business plan. A business plan is an important strategic guideline of a...

Tips for avoiding business overwhelm and burnout -- Mervi Emilia Eskelinen

Tips for avoiding business overwhelm and burnout

Business overwhelm and burnout don't discriminate. You can be a very successful person, as well as someone who barely makes any money with your business. You may be just starting out, or you may have been in business for years. The pressure of succeeding and being perfect, whether it's something you have brought on yourself or it comes from outside, is heavy. The overwhelm and burnout may hit you suddenly, or it can be a slow burn. Either way, it's not fun. There are things you can do to make business and making living by doing something that feels meaningful for you feel less overwhelming...

How to create delightful landing pages that convert -- Mervi Emilia Eskelinen

How to create delightful landing pages that convert

Landing pages are often considered to be structured in a specific way, include specific information, look a specific way and even be made with some expensive dedicated tool. In reality, a landing page can look and feel many different ways. In your website traffic analytics you probably find a section called "Landing Pages", which includes... Kind of anything. This may be a bit confusing. You probably didn't think of that particular page or blog post as a landing page. Basically, any page a person lands on your website after clicking a link somewhere or typing the address to the address bar...

The simplest way to find your best creative business idea -- Mervi Eskelinen

The simplest way to find your best creative business idea

Coming up with creative business ideas is easier said than done. Sure, you can always pretty easily come up with all kinds of bogus business ideas, like a Shai-Hulud Wrangler. But when it's a serious business, your ideas run low. You can always look at what other people have done, but blatant copying is hardly a viable option. Whatever those others have done probably won't work for you anyway. Interviewing people, to find problems you might be able to solve might work in theory. However, it is kind of a broad approach, unless you already have some sort of a basic idea to base your interviews...

How to DIY audit your website for improved performance and SEO -- Mervi Eskelinen

How to DIY audit your website for improved performance and SEO

Your website is never ready and done. It requires constant improvements and updates. For your website to be found through search engines, such as Google and Bing, it must evolve. Content needs to be updated and added, links checked and fixed, design freshened up, the code and security kept up to date. A website audit helps you to fix any problems, search engine optimise your site, and improve performance and conversions. I recommend auditing your site now and then. You can either do it yourself, or hire a professional like me. Of course, it is always best to get someone else to audit your...