Blogging is hard work, blogging about your business is even harder, but everyone wants that sweet, sweet SEO, right? The term SEO (search engine optimization) is definitely a buzzword that has catapulted into the mainstream vocabulary and everyone wants to know how they can get to the coveted first page of Google. Basic on-site optimization is how a web development company, like Powderkeg, sets up and develops your site to be as SEO friendly as possible. This includes things like URL structure, Meta tags, H1 tags, etc, but there are many other factors that you will need to consider if you plan on ranking for a competitive keyword in your industry.
One of those other factors is content. Content is the most important aspect to your SEO efforts. Including your keywords within the actual content of your pages is essential. You want to make sure to make it as natural as possible without forcing or overdoing it. You want to maintain a good keywords density so that you are not stuffing in a keyword every other word. You have to understand that Google’s goal is to make their search results as useful and relevant for the person searching as possible. They do not want companies “gaming” their algorithm to boost their ranking in their results, and they actively change their algorithm to accomplish this. That being said, as long as your site is relevant and valuable for the keywords you are targeting then you will be fine.
Once your pages have been properly optimized whats left? You do not have anymore pages to add or optimize, so there is no more content for Google to index. This is where blogs come into play. Having a blog allows you to create pages and pages of keyword rich content for Google to index. The hardest part about having a blog is writing the content. Most business’s can not convince themselves that it is worth the investment, this assessment is wrong. Getting visitors (traffic) to come to your site organically (non-purchased) is hard work. Traffic = money and if it was easy, everyone would do it.
If you are willing to invest the time to keep up an active blog, to truly improve your SEO, then here are the steps I would take to take full advantage of your hard work;
- Write as many blogs as often as possible. The more articles you post, the more content Google can index and the more people will want to visit your site to read the updates. Make sure to include keywords you wish to be found for. Link to other internal content on your website, or other posts on your website within a blog post (if relevant, don’t force it) and make sure that the link text is a keyword that you are targeting for the page you are linking to. For example I could link to our services page in a blog post and target the keyword “web services” like this: web services.
- Try to get your blog posts in front of other bloggers in hopes that they might link to it. This is SO important. The more people linking to your website the better, in Google’s eyes. They see back links to your website as validation that your website is a valid source of information and not just spam.
- Ask to guest blog on someone else’s website in exchange for a link back to your site. You write a blog post on their site (exclusive to their site, do not post on your site) and include links in the article pointing back to relevant content on your site. If other industry related blogs enjoy your articles then usually they would be more then happy to let you write a guest blog on their site.
- Continue to build your social media audience. The math there is simple, the more followers you have, the more people you can push to your site. Don’t ALWAYS post JUST links to your site, make it worth their while to follow you. Pose intriguing questions, encourage user engagement, post pics, or even post links to other news stories that are industry relevant. Become the expert voice in the industry.
- Everywhere you go, always encourage people find you on facebook, twitter, linkedin and follow you, word of mouth is a very good source for your website and social media presence.
I know these are all easier said then done, but as I said earlier, if it was easy, everyone would do it.