Many people don't think about SEO in the beginning and believe that it is something that can be saved for a leter time. However this isn't true because when done properly, SEO would be incorporated into your blog setup and it is much better to think of it from the outset rather than trying to correct mistakes later.
Why is SEO Important?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and it is a great way to get traffic because it's completely free and once the traffic begins to flow it can continue to pour in for months or even years. However it can take a while to get to this stage which is a good reason to bear it in mind from the start.
The cornerstone of SEO is content - you need text on your site that will rank in the search engines. Blogs are pure content so they make excellent targets for SEO. However it is also very easy to write a blog post that is not optimised for everything in which case you could be leaving a lot of potential traffic on the table.
Optimising Your Posts For On-Page SEO
The first step is to know what keywords you want to rank for. Keyword research is a large topic of its own and there is not room to cover it here so if you are not familar with that do a little research first. However, don't obsess over this because of a blog has to primarily appeal to humans and not just search engines.
Having said that, some blogs that are in more specialised niches can be quite easy to pick keywords for. For example if you write some kind of photography blog and you are writing a post which reviews a particular camera then a good candidate for a keyword would be the make and model of that camera as that it what people will be looking for in the search engines. There are several places that you need to insert your keyword:
1) The title - at the very beginning if possible. This is the single most important element.
2) The post content - your keyword should sppear a few times throughout the body of your post but don't go over the top with it.
3) Tags - If your blogging platform allows you to add tags to your posts then ensure that you add one that matches your keyword.
4) The URL - it is preferable for your keywords to be embedded in the actual URL rather than having something like www.myblog.com/?p=123
What About Existing Blog Posts?
Even if you have already started your blog and written several posts without SEO in mind there are still some tweaks you can make. One thing you must NOT do is change your URL though as otherwise your blog will start reporting broken links.
However you can change the text within your posts. You can tweak the titles, the text within the post itself and you can add and modify the post tags. Probably the most important change would be to alter your titles to make sure your keywords are as early as possible. For example, which one of these two is better if you want to rank for "make money online"? :
- 10 Great Ways to Make Money Blogging Today! - Make Money Blogging - 10 Killer Ideas!
The second title would be preferable because the keyword is the very first part of the title. You will also want to make sure your keyword appears liberally sprinkled throughout the body text.
These kinds of changes can take a while to take effect though as Google may not visit your blog very often, especially if it is new. - 16036
Why is SEO Important?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and it is a great way to get traffic because it's completely free and once the traffic begins to flow it can continue to pour in for months or even years. However it can take a while to get to this stage which is a good reason to bear it in mind from the start.
The cornerstone of SEO is content - you need text on your site that will rank in the search engines. Blogs are pure content so they make excellent targets for SEO. However it is also very easy to write a blog post that is not optimised for everything in which case you could be leaving a lot of potential traffic on the table.
Optimising Your Posts For On-Page SEO
The first step is to know what keywords you want to rank for. Keyword research is a large topic of its own and there is not room to cover it here so if you are not familar with that do a little research first. However, don't obsess over this because of a blog has to primarily appeal to humans and not just search engines.
Having said that, some blogs that are in more specialised niches can be quite easy to pick keywords for. For example if you write some kind of photography blog and you are writing a post which reviews a particular camera then a good candidate for a keyword would be the make and model of that camera as that it what people will be looking for in the search engines. There are several places that you need to insert your keyword:
1) The title - at the very beginning if possible. This is the single most important element.
2) The post content - your keyword should sppear a few times throughout the body of your post but don't go over the top with it.
3) Tags - If your blogging platform allows you to add tags to your posts then ensure that you add one that matches your keyword.
4) The URL - it is preferable for your keywords to be embedded in the actual URL rather than having something like www.myblog.com/?p=123
What About Existing Blog Posts?
Even if you have already started your blog and written several posts without SEO in mind there are still some tweaks you can make. One thing you must NOT do is change your URL though as otherwise your blog will start reporting broken links.
However you can change the text within your posts. You can tweak the titles, the text within the post itself and you can add and modify the post tags. Probably the most important change would be to alter your titles to make sure your keywords are as early as possible. For example, which one of these two is better if you want to rank for "make money online"? :
- 10 Great Ways to Make Money Blogging Today! - Make Money Blogging - 10 Killer Ideas!
The second title would be preferable because the keyword is the very first part of the title. You will also want to make sure your keyword appears liberally sprinkled throughout the body text.
These kinds of changes can take a while to take effect though as Google may not visit your blog very often, especially if it is new. - 16036
About the Author:
Caroline Middlebrook has been blogging in the Internet marketing niche since August 2007 and her popular blog earns a 4-figure revenue-stream each month. She teaches people how blogs make money and offers downloads of her free ebooks, guides & courses on her blog.
