1. Keyword Research
You must have heard this one a lot of times before, but it is very important when trying to rank your post/pages at the very top.
You want to follow certain guidelines to get the best out of them. These past year I learned that the best combination when doing keyword search is Jay's +100/-100 Rule.
Jay's +100/-100 Rule states that you should aim for keywords that have 100 or more search volume while having less than 100 QSR (your competition). These keywords are the ones I've found to be more optimal for you rankings.
The keyword HAS to make human sense. This means you should make sure that your keyword has written sense (e.g. use keyword sentences like 'The benefits of an Ereader' instead of something like 'Benefits of Ereader').
In some cases you will see that the keywords that don't make sense rank higher or get better searches. But (in my opinion) those keywords don't represent a true value. Plus they are harder to write into your content to boost your ranking.
Later on I will create a in-depth tutorial on how to do this using the Keyword tool here on WA.
Let's move on!
I went on a little research spree today to find out a bit more about Image optimization plugins.
I found some good stuff on the internet, here are two of the things that stood out (due to their dates).
Sources:
Video on youtube By PixenWeb - Aug 23, 2016
He compares these plugins and others to see which are best for your website). In this video, Smush proves to be better for image compression which gets a faster page speed on your readers' end.
Post in WA by ChrisScott (Teddy) - January 02, 2017
In this post, Teddy recommends another plugin 'SEO Friendly Images WordPress Plugin' but mentions Smush and Ewwww Image Optimizer as equals.
I know there are many plugins for this and that we get EWWW Image Opt installed but, unless WA hosting does have a conflict with other plugins except for this one, I would say that you are fine with either of them.
I personally like Smush because it has always worked for me and hasn't caused me any problems.
All I'd say that you should use the right one for you, but the important thing is that you use one. Image optimization is a must when using images in your content.
All the best,
Luis