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A Bloggers Introduction to SEO

SEO is quite often something that is neglected by bloggers and left until a later time. However it can be difficult to correct mistakes later so it is a good idea to think about SEO right at the beginning.

Does SEO Even Matter?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. Search engines are an excellent source of completely free traffic that continues to pour in for years to come but it usually takes a long time for a brand new site to begin getting traction in the search engines which is another reason why it makes sense to consider it from day 1.

To do SEO you need content that ranks in the search engines and of course with blogs being so content-rich they make excellent candidates. However if you don’t consider your SEO from the outset all those posts may not be at all optimised and your efforts go to waste and hordes of potential traffic could be lost.

Making Sure Your Posts Are Optimised

For your post to rank in the search engines, you need to know what keyword you want to rank for. Keyword research is another article in itself so I’ll just say that you can’t go any further without picking a phrase to rank for. However if you really don’t have a clue then don’t obsess over it as you also want to always make sure that you are writing for your readers and not just the 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 - mention your keyword (and variations on it) throughout the post itself. Don’t go overboard though - keep it natural.

3) Tags - WordPress and other blogging platforms allow you to add tags to posts and this is a great way to add keywords to any post.

4) The URL - make sure your post links have the keywords in them and not something cryptic. Software such as WordPress allows you to convert your post title into a permalink.

What If You Have An Established Blog?

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.

One thing that you can change quite safely is the text within your post though. You can tweak titles, body copy and add tags to make it more keyword friendly. For example one tweak you might want to make it putting your keywords earlier in the title. For example if you wanted to rank for “make money blogging”, which of these two titles is best? :

- 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.