So you want to build a better blog? You’d love to earn more money from your ad space and then quit your day job. But how do you do that? We all know the simple answer – TRAFFIC! But building traffic never seems to be quite that simple.
It doesn’t have to be that way! Employing simple SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategies and developing good writing habits can put you on the road to becoming a blog master. We’ve assembled some must read blog articles to tell you how to do exactly that. Read on!
Before I start with the list, let me say that I actually read each of these articles (and many others). In order to make the list, I had some basic requirements. First, it had to be valuable, well written content. You’d be surprised at how many articles about SEO are out there for the sole purpose of improving the ranking of their own site. Those articles were usually short, not unique, and generally useless. I scratched anything like that off the list immediately.
From there, I read through a bunch of articles that told me what I already knew. I was looking for fresh ideas. What remained were these five. Sure, they all cover the basics like keywords, links and titles. But they offered a fresh perspective and some strategies I hadn’t thought of. With that out of the way, here’s the list:
Steps to Higher Ranking and Traffic – SEOchat.com
Ivan Strouchliak offers an excellent discussion of how to write content with higher search engine rankings in mind. Keyword strategies, simple changes to link text, and the Google Sandbox are all discussed. But he doesn’t end there (and this is why he made the list, since so many others focus on just keywords and link text); he offers strategies on web site credibility, professional design, link length, content positioning, and more. Be sure to read all four pages of this article! And when you are done, there is an endless supply of information at seochat.com to benefit your quest for traffic.
5 SEO Tips for Online Retailers – Online Marketing Blog
This article made the list not only with unique ideas, but they are presented from the perspective of driving sales. If you are going to make money with your blog (that’s why you are reading this, isn’t it?) then you need to have monetization strategies in place such as selling products or services via affiliate marketing, direct sales, or other selling. Michelle Bowles presents some unique ideas for online retailers in this article. Include static pages, optimize your images and PDFs, use unique and fresh copy. These are all important steps you can include in your SEO strategy to drive sales from your blog.
Analytics-Driven SEO: A Lesson In 4 Steps – Conversation Marketing
Do you know what is bringing the viewers you do have? Are you analyzing before you optimize? Ian Lurie says you’d better if you want to compete and be successful. And isn’t that why we are here? Ian teaches you how to use Google Analytics to analyze and then drill down on your content and keywords. Improve your content based on what is bringing people there in the first place. There are some important ideas here that often tend to be overlooked.
21 On-Site SEO Tips You Can Give to Your Online Copywriter – SEOptimise.com
Or maybe you are your own copywriter? No matter. Big or small, there is something here for all! OK, poetry and wit aside, Kevin Gibbons gives a list of SEO tips here that are critical reading if you are serious about driving traffic organically. Titles, headings, linking, and keyword density are all covered specifically and simply. And the kicker that most people miss – use keywords separated by hyphens when naming your image files. If you aren’t already doing that, you NEED to read this post!
If Content is King Then SEO is Heir to the Throne – Inconsequential Logic
Following some simple techniques can improve your SEO results. One often overlooked, but completely obvious strategy presented by Roschelle Nelson is to make sure the titles of your blog’s theme display the article title FIRST before the blog title. If you aren’t doing this, what other simple and obvious things do you think you’ve overlooked or missed out on. Don’t make SEO something harder than it is. Work on the simple and you’ll see an improvement.
And there you have it! Five (simple) SEO blog posts you NEED to read! So get busy, get cracking, and improve your traffic today!
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