Hi there! I'm not riding right now either....and I haven't for years, but I'm really getting the bug to get out there. I've always had it but this is the first time I think I will actually follow through and find a barn. I'll find a photo of me on my old hunter and put it up here. As far as your sites, I will take a look. If anything it's just a matter of time. Plus I have to admit that it took me a while to start automatically writing in an seo frame of mind where I didn't have to go back and tweak too much. One of the things that has helped some clients of mine a lot when they were first getting into SEO is the scribe plug in. After using it for a couple months several of them told me that they were consistently writing perfectly seo'd posts with very little tweaking. If you're interested in discussing a tool like that more just let me know, I may be able to hook you up with some free runs through the system so at least you can have an idea of where you need improvement. One piece of advice.....if you concentrate on anything the first time around before you publish your post, concentrate on your titles, make sure your keywords are in them, first words in the title if you can (though don't sweat it if they are second or third). Ok... Now that I've written a novel, I should get to some writing for my sites! Hope you're having a great weekend!

Thanks for the gold! My first ;) posting photo of horse now....Berganza, was his name. Sold him a couple years ago but still keep in touch with his owner. She rode him for a while and then he taught her daughter how to ride... Guess he is totally push button at this point! :)

Hi! I finally found a photo of him and put it up. :) do you have a statistics program installed on your sites? Take a look and see what keywords people are using to find you. Sometimes they align with your goals, and sometimes they don't. If they don't it is a clue that your content isn't targeted correctly. Let me know if I can help... We could always meet on skype or another IM program and work on things together. I find that helps me a lot, to have a buddy to work along side, even if it is virtual. :) :)

Hi Stacey, I've been away and only got back online today. I'm the same as you - used to event all the time but can't risk jumping anymore as I have had a broken leg, both wrists broken, a broken vertebra and a broken finger in the last 4 years - all separate injuries, not all of them horse related (but most are), and only did the broken finger thing three weeks ago (bucked off and didn't let go of the reins) (I'm on Facebook Arlene Palmquist) if you want to see what they've done with my finger). So I can't ride at the moment, even flatwork, and I'm going NUTS! Are you riding at all at the moment?

I would love to get to know you - you sound like you know a lot more than I do and you might be able to help me lots. Have a look at my current websites if you want to - I am open to all improvements/suggestions. They are both receiving some traffic (which is odd for the 2nd site as it is very new and I haven't done ANY intentional SEO for it yet), but I also don't think I am hitting any profitable niches yet. I too spend so much time analyzing but not knowing which way to go because I DON'T KNOW. Frustrating, but the good thing is that I know a lot more than I used to. Just need to crack the right formula, which I haven't done yet. Will persevere - hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks for the tips. I will go through my sites and double check re the keywords. I'm not using the scribe plug in at the moment but will google it and suss it out.

I'd love to see some pics of you and your boy(? girl?). And if you want an accountability buddy to help you get back into the saddle, just ask! I'm sweating on going back to the doc next week and seeing if he is going to take the contraption off of my finger, after than I'll have to recuperate again but hopefully THEN I can put my horses back into work. In the meantime, I'd better get onto google ... (PS I've given you some gold - hehehe

Cool. Have another gold then. I look forward to seeing pics of your boy. I did another 2-day stint away doing more bookkeeping for my daughter's photography studio (check her out on www.jennilorraine.com - I'm really proud of her) and got back at 3am this morning (it's a 2-hour drive). Now it's back to IM and implementing your previous suggestions. Dare I hope I just might have made a sale while I've been gone? (I know the answer is probably no, but I'm sure us (we?) IM'ers constantly live in hope ...)

Your boy looks fantastic! What breed? He looks a bit heavier build that a TB. You obviously loved doing it. What heights were you jumping?

Wow - thanks for the skype offer. I have absolutely no-one I can physically talk to about this stuff - everything I have learned has been over the internet. My partner has recently learned how to skype so I'm sure he can show me (I've just never had the need to use it). I'll let you know how I go. I'm actually getting excited !!! (which is a change from feeling discouraged because it's been such a HUGE learning curve to date to learn everything from scratch). THANK YOU !

Whoopy-doo - that was a quick reply! It's 10.30pm Tuesday here - what time is it in the good ol' US of A? I guess I'm really, really rich - or I would be if I lived in Virginia. I live on 80 acres and have 6 horses, two dogs (used to be 3) and a cat. Believe me, though, I am in heaven - this is the lifestyle of my dreams, except I have very little cash flow (to pay the mortgage, feed the horses, rugs, vets, gear, competition entry fees, transport costs, etc - and that's just the horse stuff, not general living) - I'm no founder of anything in particular. Hence WA, so I don't go broke and have to give it all up. Incidentally, I was born in Seattle (but moved Downunder when I was five) but technically I'm a Yank (that's what we call them here - absolutely nothing to do with North and South). Thanks for the chat. (and the Whoopy-doo! at the beginning was very intellectual, n'est pas?) (Sorry)

Another horse kindred spirit! I too have had several injuries in the past few years (broken leg, both wrists, a vertebrae, all separate accidents) which have consistently disrupted my riding to on-again-off-again. I'm currently "off" after being bucked off about 5 weeks ago. I didn't let go of the reins and ended up with a broken & dislocated right middle finger - had surgery on it last week and have been in and out of reality ever since due to painkillers. See the surgeon again tomorrow. Oh, the joys of horses. But I can still use the computer so this is the way to go. Good luck to us both! Keep in touch. PS have a blue cattle dog myself - my old red cattle dog died at Easter aged 16. Great dogs - I agree! Yours looks like a red.

Hi Jamie, thanks for the welcome. What a coincidence - although I live in Australia, my dad was born in Milaca MN way back in 1906 and often talked about the time he spent in St Paul (which is obviously a different place now than when he was there). Anyway, I hope to learn lot here and have added you as a buddy - thanks again.