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12 Tips and Tools to Making SEO For You Easy

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There’s so much talk about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), it’s impossible to keep up.

Maybe you’ve read posts on writing copy that is “search engine” friendly, but you are not really sure what it means, or more importantly, how to do it.

Never fear! This post gives you 12 tips to make SEO for you as easy as possible. We’re covering everything from keywords to Google Analytics to Google sitemaps.

seo for you

12 Tips for Making SEO For You Easy As 1-2-3

We’re here to help make SEO work for you. These are the secrets all bloggers need to know!

Understanding Keywords and Phrases

Keyword usage is confusing to many bloggers. You want to optimize your blog and get some Google juice, but you’re not sure what keywords to use, where to put them, or how often to use them.

Here are some basic tips:

How to Use SEO to Increase Traffic To Your Blog

The importance of search engine optimization cannot be denied. We’ve seen firsthand how paying attention to things like backlinks and domain names and keywords can result in big changes in the organic traffic Google directs to a blog.

Create a Domain Name for Your Blog:
Rather than being under the umbrella of a “blogspot” address and giving your good SEO to another company (like Blogger), strike out in the world and register your own domain name.

get backlinks

How to Increase Traffic to Your Blog Using Blekko:
Backlinks are important to every blogger. They contribute to our Page Rank and where our blogs show up in the search engines for keywords we are targeting.

SEO Browser:
Search engines like Google send software (often called “bots”) to crawl around your blog and pick up information they can store in their engine and report back to those who search. If you understand how search bots see your blog, you can more easily see where your most important content should be.

Google Plus and SEO

Google+ is the latest social media / SEO craze these days.

What makes Google Plus unique is that it integrates social and SEO with your identity into the Search Engine Results page. If you do not have a Google+ account, you need one.

How To Set Up a Google Plus page For Your Blog:
Take time to explore and familiarize yourself with this tool for your blog-branding toolkit! Setting up a basic page for your blog takes about 10 minutes.

Google-plus

Why You Need to Be On Google Plus Yesterday: Get the skinny on why your relationships to other Google Plus users play a role in determine your Google ranking.

How Google Plus Events Are Redefining Social Media:
What sets Google Plus Events apart is the Party Mode function where guests can contribute their own pictures during and after the event. Invitees can also add their comments. All of this extra functionality creates a new dimension to a typical “get together.”

Google Analytics and Other Tools

You spend a lot of time crafting excellent content for your blog. However, it’s important to understand how to interpret the results from your SEO efforts and ensure that Google and other search engines can find your blog on the web.

Easy Guide to Understanding Google Analytics:
Maybe you’re like other bloggers and know about this great tool, but have no idea how to interpret the information you receive, or find it overwhelming and confusing. This post makes it easy for you use Google Analytics.

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How to Submit a Google Sitemap:
There is a quick process required to submit a Google sitemap. While Google regularly crawls content, submitting a sitemap ensures that your content is not missed, or even crawled a bit sooner.

Get the Yoast Plugin:
If you are on WordPress, the easiest way you can work on SEO and improve traffic is with the Yoast plugin. It quickly allows you how effectively you are utilizing keywords in your posts and ensures that your site is Google friendly.

Let’s Talk SEO

Do you have a post on SEO to recommend? We’d love to hear about it! Head over to our Facebook fanpage and let’s discuss. You can also leave a link here in the comments. If you post has a pinnable image, we’ll get it linked up on our SEO Pinterest Board.

About Francesca

Francesca has an extensive background in content marketing, public relations, and social outreach. She oversees all Operations at Sway Group, including our robust metrics capabilities. Prior to joining the online world, Francesca oversaw viticulture and oenology at various wineries in both California and Italy, and managed regulatory affairs and facility approvals at the biotech company, Genentech. Francesca has been featured on CBS Sacramento and Food Blogger Pro’s podcast. She has also hosted an AMA webinar and spoken at Social Media World.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. kelly louise says

    …and I’m still confused lol. There is so much to learn. I’m gonna save this post so I can go thru all these links 🙂
    thanks!

  2. Recreate and Decorate says

    I have a couple of questions with using Yoast.
    Can we go back and change the name of our past posts and make it more SEO friendly?
    If so do we change the permalink or leave the perma link the same?
    What is subheading tags and do we need to use it?
    what about meta tags? I keep reading contracting ideas about adding a meta tag.

  3. K.H. says

    Thanks for the great information! I have done the whole Google+ for myself and various companies but I can’t seem to make it work. There are lots of people are on there, but I can’t find a way to really talk to my audience. Its not that I don’t have content, but I just can’t seem to capture a moment on their feed. Any advice?

  4. LydiaF says

    Very helpful. I’m a Google+ virgin so the info on how to set up a Google+ page for my blog was useful.

  5. Brenda's Wedding Blog says

    Can’t wait to go thru and read all these links. I had wanted to stay away from google + as I didn’t want another thing to manage, but I’ve recently joined and seeing where it takes me.

  6. Brenda's Wedding Blog says

    Can’t wait to go thru and read all these links. I had wanted to stay away from google + as I didn’t want another thing to manage, but I’ve recently joined and seeing where it takes me.

  8. Vivi says

    This is WONDERFUL! Thank you SO much for being very clear. My site is in a state of becoming (has been for awhile), & part of the reason is this confusion re: categories, tags, & SEO. This post & the related links are like manna from heaven! I read & took notes & will come back for more. I wish I’d had this info. months ago. Perhaps I wouldn’t have bald patches from pulling out my hair. Thank you!

  17. Ashley - Embracing Beauty says

    Information overload!!! lol Thank you for sharing such great sites to check out!

  18. ElizOF says

    Perfect! This is just what I needed to share with my readers who wanted more information on SEO.
    Thank you,
    Elizabeth

  20. mohd akbar says

    Hiii Francesca, I have started blogging just two months back and yes its quite interesting. And thanks for such an informative post.

  22. Christina says

    The “rules” of SEO have become so complicated over the years that I’m finding it difficult to keep up. I created a Google+ account two weeks ago, but I have so much to learn. Thanks for the short, but sweet information. This information makes it less intimidating, which makes me less inclined to put off learning more about it. BTW – I love the Yoast plugin for WordPress. It’s so easy to use.

  23. Amanda Powers says

    This is great, I have needed these tips for the longest, and will most definitely be using them for the remainder of my blogging life. I really appreciate all the tips shared, they are all so very helpful.

  28. Dana says

    I’ve been putting off creating a Google+ profile, but this article finally prompted me to do it. Thanks for the links to all the easy and clear instructions!

  29. Amberly Lambertsen says

    I’ve been thinking about registering my own domain. How difficult is that to do, and could you still publish to it from Blogger and keep the same layout/design? Does anyone have experience with this or know?

    • Kristen says

      Without opening the can of worms that is the Blogger vs. WordPress vs. Other Self Hosting debate, yes, you can purchase your domain for your blog through Blogger and still use it to publish. You can also still keep your layout and design. Basically, the only thing that would change would be that your blog’s website address would be http://www.yourblog.com instead of http://www.yourblog.blogspot.com. I believe it costs about $10 a year if you go through Blogger.

  30. Emelie says

    This is interesting… I don’t know if I should say this or not, but sometimes I feel like SEO is kind of… well, BS?

    Let the ridicule begin…

  31. Pam says

    Thanks for these tips. I have not yet ventured into Google Plus. I wasn’t sure if it would be worth the time. Now I need to rethink that.