Getting Started with Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization is an aspect of blogging that many avoid, due to the fact that it can take some time. Once you learn the basics, most of the work is cut out for you, as learning how to properly optimize your site is the hardest part. The first key to understanding how search engines work is by evaluating what and how people search for your content – the basics remain fairly the same for both. For example, having cluttered code and a slow-loading site isn’t good for SEO or for your readers. Writing content that isn’t logical probably won’t garner new readers and it will be more difficult for the search engines to rank it among other sites that use a wording and format that is more logical.
In this post, we’ll be exploring various ways to increase the ranking of your content through search engines and how to make it appeal to your readers at the same time. Like the saying goes, you should be creating content for your readers and not Google (the search engines).
Getting Started
If you’ve never thought about SEO before, now is your time to get started. The first step is to rethink abut each post you publish. More blogs are already ready for some of the topics that will be discussed as the themes that you use are using proper titles. Secondly, CSS coding is used rather than HTML to form the theme layout, so this is better for SEO.
Should you have hundreds of posts already published, it probably isn’t a good idea to go through each and perform the tasks, but from this point forward, it would be a good idea to do so.
Post Titles
A large portion of getting your site optimized for search engines is having titles that are able to draw in visitors and give you a higher ranking for the keywords found in the title or the post. Ideally, the title should tell something about the content within the post. For example, while a title might be attractive and make readers want to click on it, it probably won’t do as well within search engines because you aren’t targeting the right keywords.
If you are given access to configuring the slug URL (making it more “pretty,” not using numbers or other sequences), the ability to edit the permalink, or the meta tags/keywords for the post, you should add keywords related to the post or that may increase the flow of visitors to your site.
Meta Tags
Within the coding of your site, there will be an area to place meta tags, which are essentially the top keywords that should point to your site. For example, a blog that writes about blog tips could contain words such as blogging tips, blogging basics, writing, or any other words that relate to the content. It appears that this method is being used less and less, due to the fact that most blog platforms support the emphasis of categories and tags, however it never hurts to add these words into your header.
Heading Tags
Posts that are greater than approximately four hundred words should be divided into various sections for readability. Despite the fact that this adds time compared to using shortcuts for the bold, emphasis, and other tags, it can be extremely worthwhile in the long-term.
You should use heading tags wisely. Don’t place too much emphasis on what shouldn’t be ranked highly in search engines. For example, a common mistake is placing unnecessary content such as the post date or any other content under the H1 tag. There are some criticisms of what title the H1 and H2 tags should use. Theoretically, much like a pyramid, your site’s title should be in a H1 tag on the main page (making it easier for searchers to find your main page) and other titles on the index page should be placed within H2 tags.
On single post pages, the post title should be placed in a H1 tag (unless you prefer to keep your post title in this tag) and any additional content, such as a listing of post titles, should be contained within H2 tags. Sub-titles should use H3 (or H2 tags depending on your preference) and any further sub-content should proceed with H4 and beyond.
Furthermore, consistency is key. Having one post rank highly and others rank on much lower because you haven’t committed to a single set of rules won’t do you any good if you are trying to “outrank” other blogs with the same content.
Bold Text
When you bold a word, it is meant to stand out against other content. To search engines, this signifies text that should be given more importance than text that isn’t. It should be reserved to words within your content, rather than headings and separated words.
Italic Text
Some believe that using italic text for keywords helps, although it might start becoming obvious to your readers should you overdo this – it becomes apparent to your readers quite quickly that you are trying to write for search engines.
Page Validation
Having your site’s coding conform to W3C Standards can help increase your chance of having higher-ranking pages, as your blog will be more accessible and without errors, which search engines view negatively. This is an advanced step and doesn’t need to be done by all blogs, although it certainly should be kept in mind.
Conclusion
SEO can be time consuming, but certainly worth it in the end. You will not only gain new blog visitors, but you’ll be able to rank for the keywords that others have been struggling to. Relying on search engines isn’t the answer for all your traffic, but it can certainly help when you are trying to expand and grow your blog. Finding the correct balance between writing for readers and search engines is something many struggle with.
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Nice article. Really effective tips for my new blog. THank you
As far as I know search engines primarily pay attention to what is written in
These are some very useful onpage seo tips. Many beginner bloggers just don’t get onpage seo. Since I found this post late I can go check out part 2 & 3 now. Thanks!
Nice insights about onpage optimization. It helped me a lot, thanks!
I have a lot of doubts regarding these meta tags in SEO. I have read in many forums that these meta tags are no more serving any benefits in SERP. Is it true?
Is it possible to add unique meta tag for blogger hosted blogs?.. I see that my blog has duplicate meta tags when i referred in my google webmaster tools.
I never realized that bold and italics made a difference. Thanks
Nowadays, no company could actually afford to go without online marketing approaches such as email marketing or ads on social networks.
In order to lead your own online marketing into success, it’s necessary to check the marketing approaches of different kinds of websites and try to follow the pattern of the websites with similar nature to yours.
Good work. Thanks a lot for sharing so much helpful information. We have experienced an increase in traffic recently but I think that can be increased using the tips that are outlined above.