By Deryl S. Lampkin
I. What is SEO?
SEO is search engine optimization. It is a strategy for making your website or blog search engine friendly. Search engine friendly is putting the right things in the right places. In essence, giving the search engine what it wants and having those things in the places the search engine expects to find them.
II. Why is it important?
SEO is important because search engines are the primary way Internet users find what they are looking for on the Internet. Users type in keyword phrases to find information relevant to their search terms. When a site is optimized, it highly increases the chance of being listed on the first page of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). If your site does not appear in the first 2-3 pages of search results, you will not likely get the benefit of free organic search exposure.
III. Things you as a blogger should do to optimize the structure of your blog
There are various things a blogger should do to optimize their blog structure. The structure of the blog refers to elements of the blog that gives the blog searchabilty and usability.
Searchability Elements
v Keyword Relevant URL
v Keyword Relevant Page Title
v Keyword Rich Content
v Keyword Relevant h1 Tags for Page Headings and h2 & h3 for Subheadings
v Descriptive Alt Image Text
v Descriptive Keyword Relevant Anchor Text
v Generate XML Sitemaps
v Create Compelling Meta Descriptions
v Use Highly Searched/Low Competition Keywords
Usability Elements
v Intuitive Navigation
v Site Map
v Archive
v Clean Uncluttered Page Layout
v Navigation Buttons at the End of Post
v Sharing Buttons
IV. Things you as a blogger should do to optimize the text content of your blog.
Content Optimization
Some of the key factors that optimizes blog content include:
v Relevancy
v Keyword Richness
v Using H1 and H2 Keyword relevant tags
v Less is More (Don’t make posts excessively long)
v Limit the Number of Post per Page
v Keep IT Simple (Don’t clutter page with too many options and distractions
v Make posts Interesting and Informative
v Make Anchor Text Descriptive and Keyword Relevant
v Utilize White Space
v Use Short Paragraphs
v Use Images and Text Wrapping
v Inbound Links from Trusted Sites with Link Authority
V. How video, images or other media can help your optimization efforts.
Video is a multimedia format for presenting information. It engages audio and visual senses. It can incorporate music, spoken words, sound effects, images, photos, motion, visual effects, text, and animation. This makes it a powerful way of communicating.
Uploading videos to a video-sharing site like YouTube makes it searchable and accessible to large communities that may not otherwise become aware of your site. Optimization of your video content can link to your site and increase link juice, which can help increase your ranking and generate new visitors to your site.
You can careful craft text to accompany your video. You can optimize things like the video title, tags, content description; include keywords and a transcript of what is being said in the video and it is sharable and the number of views are trackable.
VI. Beyond ‘traditional’ optimization; using social media to enhance your blog SEO
Social media is about community, conversations, and sharing. When people find interesting, entertaining, and useful information on the Internet, they often want to share it with friends, family, and community members. Social media is a great way to expose your brand to relevant communities and connect with social brand evangelists and potential new site visitors and customers.
Engaging in social conversations helps build relationships and brand awareness. It helps a company to get a better feel and understanding of their audience’s needs, interests, and concerns. Having these insights positions a brand to better serve their target market.
Summary
Blogging is a critical part of the social media landscape. Blogging is one way to create fresh and engaging content. That content is said to be Search Engine Optimized when that content is relevant, keyword and quality link rich. Social media extends the reach and impact of SEO by giving search engines other media sources beyond text-based content to present to searchers. Therefore, blogging is a very powerful tool for connecting with social communities and pulling in new visitors to your brand website.
