Adding another layer of personalization, LinkedIn now lets you present your profile in the order that best represents you and your profile.

Customizing your profile’s section ordering is quick and easy. You will notice that the headers of each of the sections on your “Edit Profile” page now have handles that can be dragged. To reorder a section, all you need to do is click and drag one of these section headers up or down the body of your profile. When you release the mouse, the section will drop into place where you dragged it, and your adjustment will take effect immediately. LinkedIn Blog

Former LinkedIn Profile Layout
Summary
Applications
Experience
Education
Recommended By
Additional Information
Personal Information
Contact Settings

Now, it’s up to you to rearrange your profile in the way that best represents you.

Want more connections? Move personal information up.

Have some really cool app action? Put it at the top.

Profile brimming with recommendations? Size it up first to see how the list looks to the reader.

And, while you’re at it . . . check out the top 10 ways to quickly become a subject matter expert using LinkedIn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG6nJ_SVgjo&feature=player_embedded

What will you place first, last?

California and Illinois tied for top state with the most readers.

That’s one of my more interesting findings from July’s end of month statistics.

In June, I reported on the most read posts. This month, I decided to build in Google Analytics, a free service you can sign up for to track your web and blog traffic, and MyBlogLog, another free service that combines social media and traffic metrics.

July’s Top Five Posts

LinkedIn PR | Top 10 Ways to Become a Subject Matter Expert

My best-seller?

Twitter Guide |Talking in < 140 spaces

This one goes out to new followers as www.thetwitterguide.com

Tasting PR | Branding Consistency: A Tale of 2 Dairy Queens

Short and sweet, this post is a table that compares two ice cream stores.

What does “PR” stand for? Initials only . . .

Written in March, this one keeps popping back up – thanks to a reader who suggested “PR” stands for punk rock. Here’s to The Ramones!

BlogHer08 Buzz | Widget Tunes You In

Google Analytics

Where Readers Came From

Top States: California, Illinois, New York, Texas, Florida – now I know where I should do seminars

New Visits: 86.48%, need to do a better job on conversion

Search Engines: 96% Google, all others are insignificant from my blog’s perspective

Top Clicks and Links on MyBlogLog

Some of these anchor text links read like mini-headlines. Click on the image to enlarge. Almost one of every three visitors clicks on something. Although lots of people click on the invitation to connect with me on LinkedIn, few people send the invitation – is there a better way to ask?

Your Turn

What monitoring systems do you use to track your blog visitors and readers?

Every Thursday, I share a few random Google keyword search rankings with my newsletter readers. [Want to be on the list? Email wiredprworks AT aweber DOT com.] Today, I’m sharing them with you.

Here’s how it works . . .

keyword-search term ranking/number of results for term

conveying expertise = keyword-search term

4/1,580,000 = number 4 on Google page one out of 1,580,000 results

Ideally, you want to see a match up between searches and your list of preferred keywords. What’s on one list should be on the other.

Since search is organic, these reports take you behind the screen to see what people type in to find you. Now you have clues to help you revise and expand your keyword list. Your results will vary, depending on your locale and search preference. What comes up as number 1 for me, may show up as number 5 for you.

Random Google Search Rankings

conveying expertise 4/1,580,000 

Twitter Profile PR | Conveying Subject Matter Expertise in Four Lines

how to become popular in linked in 2 and 3/3,980,000

How to Become a Subject Matter Expert on LinkedIn: 10 More Ways

YouTube and PR 2/19,000,000 [maybe I should upload a video?]

Want Wedding Publicity? Take it to YouTube | PR Takeaways

blog Influence top blog 4/1,980,000

Measuring Blog Influence | PR Friendly Index Ranking System

These stats come from MyBlogLog, which tells you where readers came from, what readers viewed and what readers clicked. I use these stats and rankings to:

- get insights on keywords people use to find me

- find out which blogs drive traffic to mine

- see what clicks, literally

- monitor the real-time stats of posts and popularity

- measure long-term results

- compare number of readers to page views

So far, July’s stats show 1.97 pages per reader with an average of one out of three readers clicking on some kind of link.

Your turn

How do you see yourself in your Google keyword search profile? Do you recognize what people are looking for?

Image: super-close up of hemerocallis center

Given the title “Wired PR Works,” you might think this blog is about marketing, social media and public relations?

Not really, it’s mostly about RSS and search engines – at least that’s what Google says.

How does Google review you and your site? What keywords does Google suggest you use? What terms should you bid on – or use in your online marketing?

You can find out when you test Google’s revamped keyword search function that now includes volume data.

Cool Tool Profile

Challenge: Constructing a keyword list that resonates with your audience

Solution: Target successful sites and mine keywords

Tool: AdWords Keywords Search

Option One: Find out what Google thinks your site is about

To save you the time of trying to track my success code – I know you have much better things to do, I ran Wired PR Works through the keyword tool and got these results:

Showing keywords grouped by these terms:
rss feed reader (5), rss feed (15), search engine (13), internet marketing (7), email marketing (4), marketing (31), rss (10), blog (16), email (9), pr (12), advertising (4), website (5), Miscellaneous keywords (20)

What do my AdWords keyword search results tell me?

Clearly, I need to work on my keywords. Do readers come here looking for rss information? Even if they do, that’s not what I write about.

CoryWest Media, my company site fares better:

Showing keywords grouped by these terms:
online business (4), pr firm (7), small business (7), business plan (2), market (54), business (16), pr (22), blog (7), Miscellaneous keywords (13)

Next step: select keywords and drill down based on search volume and competition, then develop a list of keywords to use in online marketing efforts.

Option Two: Let Google suggest keywords for in this case, iPhone

Here, you can see how the new reporting format works. You get real numbers. What surprised me is that the only keyword that came back was: iphone. [Ten minutes later, a follow up search turned up multiple suggestions, but I like the pristine simplicity of one singular result so I kept the screen shot.] To see how the term comes up on Google and to find out who’s bidding on it, enter the keyword in Google’s search box. Here’s what you get:

With over 233 million search results, would you expect more than three ads?

In addition to this post, you might also want to check out these resources:

SEO Design Solutions tells you how to use Google AdWords keyword tool for gap analysis. Welly Mula walks you through how to identify a popular niche using Google Adwords.

Your Turn

What do you think will be most helpful about this cool tool for you?

In thinking about how we write and distribute optimized press releases – every time – for our clients, I decided to share the same strategies with you.

What Makes Writing Online Press Releases Different

One of the big differences between releasing a news story online and sending a press release to your local paper is: you have complete editorial control. So, use it. Sit in your reader’s seat and write about what they need, not what you offer. Tell their stories, not yours.

Ask: Why do your customers want to work with you? What urgent need do you solve? At what point do they make the decision to contact someone like you? What search terms do they use to find you? The answers to these questions will help you develop a keyword list.

How to Use Keywords to Optimize Press Releases

Thanks to Jason, a web designer who asked me about my search terms, I learned how to turn on this keyword search tool. To use it, you enter a term, click submit and the site reports back on the number of searches per day. You can also download an Excel file that breaks the searches down by engine.

What I found out . . . “press release” gets a total of 232 searches per day or 6960 per month or 84,680 per year.

So, if you optimize for “press release” you have lots of competition and possible traffic. However, it’s better to niche out your keywords to reach your audience. Why? Less competition with a higher probability of click-throughs. For example, “tips for a press release” gets only 7 searches every day.

Once you select your keywords, here’s how to get the most mileage from your online news releases:

- headline: lead with your keyword, if you can

- anchor text: use your keyword

- copy: work your keyword in 3-5 times

- URL: PRWeb allows you to add in two keywords to a designated site address

- Domain: set up a domain redirect with your keyword

What other ways can you think of to optimize your release?

Need help making making news online?

Technorati Tags: online press release,optimized press release,how to write a press release,keywords,Barbara Rozgonyi,Wired PR Works