Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, is talked about all the time in the online world. If you are new to blogging, you’ve probably heard it thrown around here and there and may be wondering what it actually is. Well, search engine optimization in simple terms is how people find your website when they search for something. Think about everytime you Google search something, that is search engine optimization working! If done correctly, search engines can send so much traffic to your blog.
It may be a little confusing to understand when you are first starting out but the more you learn and understand it, the better your blog will do! Essentially, search engine optimization will help your blog be found by potential readers. Here are a few basic tips to help you understand SEO better.
The Basics
Essentially, when you search for something on Google, Google will index the information found on websites to create that list of websites that pop up. The search engine will list them in their own idea of relevance for you. I know when I search for things, I usually click on the websites that pop up on the first page of results. For most bloggers, showing up on the first page of results is the ultimate goal! Creating content that is relevant to your readers and updating your website will help your SEO improve.
The Best Practices
SEO tells the internet what your website is all about. From your content on your blog all the way down to what you name your photos, the search engines will take all of that information into account when it comes to ranking your website. From the topics of your blog posts, to the pages you create, everything will support your SEO ranking. It’s important to keep in mind that you want to create content that is best for your audience and what your readers will really love. You never want to create content strictly for search engine optimization, not only will it not help you in the long run but your readers will catch on.
When it comes to SEO, I recommend being as genuine as possible! Always have your readers in mind when you are creating and planning out your content. Share your blog in your social media platforms, your newsletter and even encourage your friends to share. Having your blog link out there as genuine shares actually helps your search engine optimization too!
The Strategy
SEO is often looked over by a lot of bloggers. It can seem overwhelming and confusing which tends to lead to ignoring the whole topic all together. SEO can be really beneficial for your website so it’s important to think about it when you are blogging. There are a few little things that are pretty easy to benefit your blog.
Try to keep your keywords to a minimum. You don’t want to overrun your blog post with keywords because it won’t be an easy read. Your readers are going to get bored of confused reading those posts and most likely move on to something else. Also, Google can usually tell when you are jam-packing your blog posts with keywords and they will push your blog further down in the ranking.
When you add photos into your blog post, be sure to take the image name out and actually name the image something relevant to your blog. When you name your images, they can actually show up in the image search section of Google. Be sure to keep your images relevant to the blog post topic, this will help you when readers are searching for specific topics.
Linking older blog posts that are relevant to your newer posts are a great way to keep readers on your website and for search engine purposes. The search engines crawl through these links to see how relevant they are and having search engines on your site is a good thing!
Once you learn the basics of SEO, you can always dive deeper into the topic. Search engine optimization is a huge part of running a blog and can be time-consuming to learn but once you do, your blog will grow more and more. These are just a few basics about it to help you get started on your own SEO!
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