Search Engine Optimization is a fast growing tool for internet marketing
and has become a key approach for businesses operating on the web. SEO
helps to make a website’s content more visible in the search engines.
Why is this so important?
These days, the internet is one of the first places people turn to for information, products, and services that they used to seek elsewhere. This being the case, there are millions of blogs and websites in competition with each other for the same internet traffic. By optimizing your website or blog with SEO you can greatly increase your readership and the likelihood that people will choose you for their business needs.
There are some basic principles for how optimizing a webpage works on a very elementary level: the content you provide needs to be relevant, fresh and engaging. Your content is the building block for the rest of your website. Once this is in place, you can move onto SEO practices that will help increase traffic to your site.
Utilizing basic SEO practices is much easier than it seems. Let’s say that you have a blog you are trying to rank for a specific product. Try to find your blog in a search engine by typing in the product you want to sell. Chances are that if your blog is new, or if you have never tried to optimize it before, that you are nowhere near being on the first or second page of Google. If you have a biking blog and want to sell hybrid bicycle tires, you probably want your site to show up when people search for “hybrid bicycle tires.” There are ways to make this a reality.
Know Your Audience: The first step is to determine the audience you are targeting. For hybrid bicycle tires, you are likely looking for bicycle commuters.
Target Your Audience With Keywords: Once you have figured out your audience, it is time to determine which keywords will rank the highest when it comes to your blog’s subject, in this case, bicycling. You can figure out what keywords to use by searching for other similar blogs and seeing what they use. You can also type your subject into a search engine and see what comes up. If you are more serious about finding keywords, you can also download and use SEO tools to help you perform more detailed research.
Utilize Keywords in Tags, Headings and Post Titles: Keywords aren’t just useful in blog posts. When you can, use them in your blog’s tags, as post titles and headings, and when labeling any graphics you might be using to accompany your blog post.
Be Link Smart: Building links is an important part of SEO. The more links to your blog that exist between you and other sites, the more likely your blog is to be picked up by a search engine. You can build these links by linking to sites that rank well in search engine results, and you can also direct traffic to your site by guest posting on another blogs with similar topics. While it takes a bit of effort, guest posting is a substantial way to grow your audience.
Update, Update, Update! In order to maximize your blog’s SEO potential, you must update regularly and often. Search engines often rank current posts higher than older ones. It’s a constant battle to stay at the top, and if your blog hasn’t been updated in a month, you will probably start to slip in your ranking. Posting often will give your site more content, and the more content you have, the more you can utilize keywords.
These are a few simple ways that you can incorporate SEO practices into your blog or website. If you don’t see results immediately, don’t lose hope. SEO can take anywhere from three months to a year to generate the readership that you desire- it all depends on what your website or blog is about.
About the author: Jenni Sunde is a freelance fashion writer and pop culture junkie. Her title pegs her as an editor at a website that specializes in providing people with car insurance quotes, but her passion leads her into writing with a little more substance and a lot more heart.
These days, the internet is one of the first places people turn to for information, products, and services that they used to seek elsewhere. This being the case, there are millions of blogs and websites in competition with each other for the same internet traffic. By optimizing your website or blog with SEO you can greatly increase your readership and the likelihood that people will choose you for their business needs.
There are some basic principles for how optimizing a webpage works on a very elementary level: the content you provide needs to be relevant, fresh and engaging. Your content is the building block for the rest of your website. Once this is in place, you can move onto SEO practices that will help increase traffic to your site.
Utilizing basic SEO practices is much easier than it seems. Let’s say that you have a blog you are trying to rank for a specific product. Try to find your blog in a search engine by typing in the product you want to sell. Chances are that if your blog is new, or if you have never tried to optimize it before, that you are nowhere near being on the first or second page of Google. If you have a biking blog and want to sell hybrid bicycle tires, you probably want your site to show up when people search for “hybrid bicycle tires.” There are ways to make this a reality.
Know Your Audience: The first step is to determine the audience you are targeting. For hybrid bicycle tires, you are likely looking for bicycle commuters.
Target Your Audience With Keywords: Once you have figured out your audience, it is time to determine which keywords will rank the highest when it comes to your blog’s subject, in this case, bicycling. You can figure out what keywords to use by searching for other similar blogs and seeing what they use. You can also type your subject into a search engine and see what comes up. If you are more serious about finding keywords, you can also download and use SEO tools to help you perform more detailed research.
Utilize Keywords in Tags, Headings and Post Titles: Keywords aren’t just useful in blog posts. When you can, use them in your blog’s tags, as post titles and headings, and when labeling any graphics you might be using to accompany your blog post.
Be Link Smart: Building links is an important part of SEO. The more links to your blog that exist between you and other sites, the more likely your blog is to be picked up by a search engine. You can build these links by linking to sites that rank well in search engine results, and you can also direct traffic to your site by guest posting on another blogs with similar topics. While it takes a bit of effort, guest posting is a substantial way to grow your audience.
Update, Update, Update! In order to maximize your blog’s SEO potential, you must update regularly and often. Search engines often rank current posts higher than older ones. It’s a constant battle to stay at the top, and if your blog hasn’t been updated in a month, you will probably start to slip in your ranking. Posting often will give your site more content, and the more content you have, the more you can utilize keywords.
These are a few simple ways that you can incorporate SEO practices into your blog or website. If you don’t see results immediately, don’t lose hope. SEO can take anywhere from three months to a year to generate the readership that you desire- it all depends on what your website or blog is about.
About the author: Jenni Sunde is a freelance fashion writer and pop culture junkie. Her title pegs her as an editor at a website that specializes in providing people with car insurance quotes, but her passion leads her into writing with a little more substance and a lot more heart.
