The importance of search engine optimization is something we’ve always tried to wrap our minds around at SITS because we have seen firsthand how paying attention to things like headings and domain names and keywords can dramatically improve the way a site is ranked.
Why should I care how my site is ranked?
You should only care about how your site is ranked if you want more people to find your blog so that you can grow traffic, gain readers, increase your influence and ultimately (hopefully) earn some money.
Part of doing this means asserting yourself as an expert on certain topics within your niche and when those topics are searched the goal is for your site to show up on the first page of Google’s search engine.
Why does the word “niche” keep coming up? I blog about everything and I’m proud of it!!
Many of us fight the idea of pigeon holing ourselves into a specific niche, but in the case of growing traffic and improving SEO, it’s actually a good idea. Even if your blog is about everything, you might want to think about honing in on a couple of things you do really well. Bloggers who limit their scope when writing have an easier time being found on the web.
Work on titling, describing, categorizing, and filling those posts with rich (and popular) keywords to become a subject matter expert while building your brand.
What else can I do to start optimizing my site?
I’m glad you asked. Here are some other easy things you can do today to improve your SEO:
- Optimize URLs: Ensure your post URLs reflect your keywords.
- Meta Descriptions: Add a brief and unique description to each page on your blog so your readers will be motivated to click.
- Tag Images: Add your keywords to your images. Change image titles from “image028837.jpg” to “healthy-recipes.jpg”.
- Claim Your Blog: Get access to the information Google has about your site. Add your site to Google Webmasters.
- Read this post on how to get your own domain.
- And read this post on how to use keywords to beef up your posts.
Our hope is that while our focus this month is on content, you will be able to take those next important steps involved in getting your content discovered by a wider audience.
How much do you pay attention to SEO and what are some things you’ve done to improve it?
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I’ve been trying to improve my blog titles so that key words can be picked up in search enginges, but can you tell me more about URL’s? I don’t know how to find them for individual posts or pictures. It’s all greek to me
Thanks so much for the awesome tips!!
Twitter: elizobihfrank
says:
One day this will make perfect sense to me… For now, I read, digest and try to make sense of it all.
Thanks for the reminders Kat!
Best,
Elizabeth
Twitter: CathyWebSavvyPR
says:
One crucial SEO tip for new wordpress.org bloggers on their own Domains: make one of the 1st things you do when you set up your blog – before you write your first post or page – go to Settings, Permalinks and change it from the default to another choice like day/name. This will turn your blog post headlines into your page & post URLs/titles. There are other options, but this is the minimum you should do. I just met three 1 year bloggers who never made the change… Wordpres should change the default…but that;s another story.
I know it sounds like geek speak, but if you don’t do it, your post page title/URL will read like: http:// sitename.com/pg?214
Wouldn’t you rather have it read like:
http:// sitename.com/2010/11/21/how-to-buy-kid-a-friendly-car?? Search engines can read this second one & it’s powerful SEO;Google can’t tell what your post is about with the default permalinks.
If you set this up wrong in the beginning there are redirect plugins, and SEO plugins that can help fix it. Be aware, if you just go in and change it after a site is up for a while – without a plugin or a techy friend to help – you can break all the incoming links to your site (also a part of pagerank) and those cool “25 retweets” buttons will go to 0. But if your site isn’t getting that many incoming links, it may still be worth it – just be aware of the consequences.
I’m working on a post up later this week.
Cathy Larkin, @CathyWebSavvyPR & @WhyDoWeBlog
Great info! Thanks.
great info thx!
I needed to read these!
I’ve been pretty good with my titles & tags and categories…However I never thought to do the same when titling pictures. I always used that slot to credit where I found the pic. But going forward I will do that and just credit below in the text.
Thanks for the tips. I have been trying to improve traffic and these tips are helping.
Twitter: ithoughtiknewma
says:
Thank you for the excellent tips!
My husband has been urging me to do these very things, but you have explained it so much better than him. http://cleverlychanging.com/2011/01/finance-fridays-closet-wealth/
I would love to see some updated info on this topic.
No matter how great your site looks, if no one sees it, then does it really matter?
Twitter: ugojoloms
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