As I write this, another day of networking and education is taking place in the City of Brotherly Love.  Our Philadelphia Bloggy Boot Camp stop happens today and brings together Tiffany, Mama Kat, and many other of my most favorite people in the blogosphere.

If you’re like me and will be watching the #BloggyBootCamp hash tag from the sidelines today, we can still reap the rewards from the information being shared.  Tara from Feels Like Home is giving two talks today, both focused on SEO, and has generously passed along her presentations to us.

Unraveling the mysteries of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be daunting, but it really doesn’t need to be.  By following Tara’s step-by-step approach, you can learn how using SEO can boost your traffic, readership, influence, and income in blogland.

Tara’s first talk focuses on 10 ways to improve your blog’s SEO, including:

1. Get Your Own Domain
2. Research Key Words
3. Use Smarter URLs
4. Name Your Posts Correctly
5. Rename Your Photos
6. Use Keywords in Your Posts – But Don’t Overuse Them
7. Use Headings
8. Use Your Blog’s Meta Tags and Descriptions
9. Use Your Post’s Keywords and Descriptions
10. Keep Track of Your Stats

Today, we’ll focus on Tara’s first recommendation:

Get Your Own Domain

Translation: Own your space in the blogosphere!

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.  A short, memorable domain name can make the difference between creating a successful web presence and getting lost in cyberspace.

An example of a not-so-searchable domain name: www.thesitsgirls.blogspot.com
An example of a SEO friendly domain name: www.thesitsgirls.com

There are millions of sites where you can register your own domain, such as GoDaddy, Dreamhost, and Bluehost.  Use their search function to find a website name that hasn’t been registered yet and that is personal to you.

If it happens that you cannot get the domain name of your choice, then you have two options:

1) Tweak your idea!  Try manipulating the URL by adding words such as “the” or “my” to the beginning of the website address.  That’s what we did for SITS.  Our web address is www.thesitsgirls.com, rather than simply www.sitsgirls.com.

2) Buy the domain name from the current owner: Check the “whois” information for the domain, and contact the person listed to see if they’re willing to sell it.  You should know that they are likely to charge a higher fee than you would normally pay when buying a brand new domain name.

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It’s Sharefest Saturday here on SITS!  Link to your favorite post you wrote this week and then go and visit the SITStah’s link ahead of you in roll call.  Let’s see some of that comment support in action!

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Interested in becoming an official SITS Girl and being featured on our website? We’d love to showcase your blog! Read how to get involved here.

And, as always, when you see this button:

Be sure to support your fellow SITStah & leave a comment!

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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.

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