Blogging is a popular pursuit because it is a well known fact that blog posts naturally attract search engine traffic.
Presumably, your blog has a site architecture that is optimised with every page linking to one another. Submission to blog directories is essential as this provides excellent one way links.
Below are some tips on how to further optimise your blog and get the traffic your efforts deserve.
Keywords
By now, you should be aware of the fact that a 1-2% keyword density is sufficient for any blog post. This means a 500 word post should have 5-10 relevant keywords in it.
Any more and you risk saturating the content, making it hard to read and incurring the wrath of search engines.
You have a choice between targeting a high traffic keyword with huge competition or else you can look for targeted keywords without the competition.
Google Keyword Tool is still an excellent method of finding out keyword statistics.
While targeted keywords may not get you as much traffic as popular ones, you’re likely to have a far better return on investment.
To get the most out of competitive keywords, you’ll need to spend a small fortune in order to be seen ahead of other companies.
With targeted keywords, expect your conversion rate to be higher and your expenditure to be lower. Some of the world’s most lucrative websites only get moderate traffic but have an exceptional conversion rate.
It is also worth noting that research shows four word queries to lead to the highest conversion rates.
Your blog should be well-indexed to the point where you can utilise any number of four word phrases that are relevant to your industry.
Links
According to search engines, blog posts that have been linked to have more authority than those without links.
The most value is gained via external links from sites that are already deemed to be an authority in the industry. All incoming links are worth something in the eyes of search engines.
Link important keywords to previous posts as a means of improving credibility along with search engine ranking.
However, you should only have a handful of links in any single page.
The average reader hates reading a page filled with links as there is the possibility that one of these links will accidentally be clicked on. Additionally, search engines tend to penalise websites that overindulge in links.
Blog Post Titles
It’s important to remember that search engines read your blog’s code directly when they are indexing the site.
Most blogging platforms are built in a manner that ensures the title of your posts is the first thing seen by search engines thus making these titles the most important element of blogging.
When it comes to search engine optimisation, you must have the most relevant keyword(s) in the title.
In order to be effective, you will need to consider your target audience and what they might type into the search box in order to find out more information about your industry.
The trick is to include keywords without making the title sound odd.
It’s best to focus on one or two keywords at most in each blog post as this is not only great for SEO, it also makes it easier to write coherent blog entries.
Tagging
The majority of blogging platforms enable you to add tags to each post. The purpose of tags is to organise your blog in a manner that enables search engines and readers to easily find what they need.
Tags will reflect the content of each post. For example, a post on green technology may include tags such as ‘solar energy’ ‘wind power’ and ‘renewable energy’.
Search engines generally recognise tags and use them when it comes to ranking your site.
Tags should also be used as links to other blog posts. As always, search engines are constantly seeking to stay one step ahead of the game and will penalise any sites that try and manipulate the tagging system.
Using too many tags could cause search engine spiders to suspect your blog of tagging irrelevant content in a bid to get more traffic. In general, 5 tags will be sufficient though you can go as high as 10.
Updates
Search engine spiders seldom return to blogs that are rarely updated. If you are constantly adding fresh material, search engine spiders will eventually return regularly.
Google can spider your site several times a day if you are continually adding new posts. As a result, new pages show up quicker. It also shows the reader that you are up to date with new industry trends and news.
It’s important to remember that you don’t have to spend a lot of your time posting blogs. Use software that enables you to set up posts in advance.
Minor changes to your blog could improve search engine optimisation without alienating existing readers. In fact, you can provide more of what they were initially looking for.
About Sara Carter
I think the most important thing in my eyes is the keyword research followed closely by the on page SEO and optimizing the title. As Google keeps changing their algorithms I’m now only getting natural backlinks and not building any.
Thomas
Thomas recently posted..Monthly Income and Downloads Report – September 2012
I agree, Thomas.
I am focusing in connecting with people, writing good stuff and engaging via social media.
I don’t care a lot about SEO. Google keeps changing its algo, I can’t modify the way I write everytime.
Google Ad-words tools is good for choosing a perfect keyword But i prefer market samurai and it is worth also.secondly when someone are on the matter of title then target of Audience will be preferred here rather then relevant keyword.
Bhushan recently posted..Home Inventory Software
Great article, Sara. The often elusive SEO is always good reading. I love this straight-forward approach.
Jespy recently posted..Friday Duet – John Legend and Jennifer Hudson
As informative as always !!!. Your blog has every information to make a blog the coolest. We all need the mercy of Google if we looking to make some bucks with blogging. And Erik, I appreciate your attitude towards blogging as it is not Google-centered.
Vishnu recently posted..Facebook has revamped its product – development efforts to focus on mobile
Thanks for the kind words, Vishnu!
You made my day!
Nice to read this article. This blog post creates awareness within me how to choose a correct keyword for blog post.
senthilkumar recently posted..Facebook has revamped its product – development efforts to focus on mobile
Perfect post for newbies, who just entered into the world of blogging, and don’t know anything about blogging.
BTW Nice Post…
Nishant Srivastava recently posted..Common Mistakes in Email Marketing Campaign
Erik, This is an excellent primer on SEO and keywords. This topic can be confusing, even to experienced bloggers. Your balanced and clear article explains the subject well without overwhelming the reader.
Well done, Sara!
Carolyn recently posted..Bing It On! Which Search Engine is Best for You – Bing or Google?
Hi Sara,
Nice post. SEO algorithms are constantly changing. It’s quite hard to catch up with those changes. So, it would be better we stick with the basic SEO like keyword research, linkback and other basic tricks. But one should never over do the things too like using a pool of keywords for a single post. Often, we should go for nice titles to catch the search engines as well as to attract the readers
Jakes recently posted..Top 5 reasons on why you should be Guest Blogging
What a great presentation for a beginner such as myself. I truly appreciate you ability to speak to the amateur and your willingness to do so. I learned more on key words in your short blog than I have in all the other conversations I’ve attempted to penetrate. A big thanks!
Awesome Article, most of SEO agencies there days are following malpractices so that no one would know their actual work tricks to get your website on first page.
Thanks a lot to all of you for your feedback and your interest! I’m so pleased you found my article useful.
Hi Sara,
SEO has always been a crucial factor on the success of a blog. In order to gain traffic as well as revenue, some bloggers use PPC as well as SEO to further improve their chances not just in getting ranked, but also in garnering traffic. Every blog owner knows that without traffic, there is no potential revenue, and if there’s no profit for them, then what’s the point in blogging.
I totally agree with you Sarah on doing a thorough keyword research, this way you can write more effective titles for your posts.
Thanks for sharing this information here, have a nice weekend, looking forward to new post on this topic. Cheers
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