Search Engine Optimization is something that makes many blogger’s heads spin – I know this because every time I write an SEO article I get comments from bloggers telling me that its too big a topic and that they’d rather just write ‘quality content’.
Whilst I’ll never argue that quality content should be anything but a first priority in blogging, the fact is that there are many millions of pages of great writing languishing around at the bottom of search engines results pages that deserve to be read by many but which rarely see the light of day because their authors have failed to understand that just a few simple tweaks in the writing process could see them ranking considerably higher.
So it’s time for another series – this time on Search Engine Optimization for Blogs!
People often ask me ‘how do I get ranked number one in (((insert favourite search engine here)))?
My answer usually starts with – ‘I don’t really know what I’m talking about….but….’
You see whilst some of my blogs rank very highly on different search engines – I often don’t really know why. Much of what I do is educated guessing and experimentation. I do read a lot of other people’s advice on the topic, but the more I read the more I realize that I’m not alone in my guess work – virtually every article I read is a ‘best guess’ of some kind.
My main advice to people wanting to optimize their blogs for Search Engines is to keep it simple. Start with quality content on a specific topic and then tweak it using the best current advice going around.
When I think about SEO for my blogs I tend to divide the things I focus upon into two parts – offsite and onsite search engine optimization techniques. Offsite techniques are more about what others do on their websites in linking to you, onsite techniques you have more control over as you write.
Over the next week I’ll share around 20 Search Engine Optimization Tips for Blogs. I’ll post a link to each one on the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog and at the end of the series will post the complete post in a single post to have it all in the one spot. As I go feel free to leave your comments, suggestions and experiences – but keep in mind each post is just part of a larger holistic approach.
I’ll finish by encouraging bloggers not to be overwhelmed by Search Engine Optimization. Whilst it can seem complicated and can become something of an obsession for blog owners you should know that blogs have many of the things I’m going to write about built into them and are more often than not pretty well set up for SEO. What follows in this series is intended as a primer or a background briefing on some of the issues we should be aware of – don’t fall into the temptation of becoming an SEO addict – rather file it away and allow it to naturally impact the way you blog.
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