SEO Blogging – Top Professional Blogging Techniques

Blogging is big business but there are definitely ways to do it better than others. Here are my top tips for blogging like an SEO pro.

  1. Make sure your blog post title contains your top keywords. Sometimes even this style may be best- keyword then a hyphen then the post title. Review my blog post title above as an example.
  2. If and when you include hyperlinks in the blog post, make sure the hyperlink text (that’s the content that is underlined is keyword rich. Here’s an example: make sure to visit our website for search engine optimization pricing and our client results. I like to not only use keywords in the hyperlink, but also force the browser to open the link to a site off my blog in a new browser window. This way I will not lose the customer from my site.
  3. Make sure to use the link title field in WordPress. For the link listed above, I get even more keyword traction by inserting in the link title field the same keywords as in the anchor text. This is a simple but overlooked feature to help build keyword density in a blog post.
  4. Keyword density is important for a blog post done for SEO purposes. I try to repeat the top keyword phrase at least three times in a post done for search engine optimization purposes.
  5. Keep the blog post short and sweet and focused. The shorter your blog post, the better your keyword density will be, but don’t stuff you keywords. Remember you have to say something in the blog post too, not just string out keywords. Offer something of value to your readers.

Many people who are doing blogging for SEO do not want outbound links. Here’s were we differ on perspective. I will never link to a competitor, but I do routinely link to information rich sites so that my blog readers will get real value for following my blog. I do not feel that I am bleeding off search engine optimization capital by linking. From my perspective a blog is about linking to great informational sites on the topic you are blogging about. If you want to link and it has meaning to the blog post do it. Don’t take too hard of a line on outbound links. You want other blogs and websites to link to you right? It is a reciprocal two way street.

Another reason why you should consider the judicious use of quality information rich out going links is that Blogger has targeted as “spam blogs”, blogs that mainly link back to one website over and over. It may be a better long term “Google Tactic” to spice up your links so Google will not perceive your blog site as a “spam blog” site.

Got any other great SEO blogging tips you want to share? Add them by clicking comments below.

Tips for Crafting the Perfect Blog Post Title

This is an art, yet something that you can learn to be proficient at easily for your own blog with a bit of practice. The best blog post titles are ones that catch your eye in a feed reader and entice you to click in. You’ve got just seconds to make an impression and if the feed reader being used only shows post titles (like mine does on MyLive), your post title absolutely has to hit the mark.

My two top tips for blog post titles:

1. Word your blog post title as you would a Google search query. Here are a few examples:  What is SEO?, Best Organic Search Engine Optimization, you get the gist – use keywords in the title and even consider using a question format. This type of format gets excellent results on search engines in the organic results.

2. Create a shock factor or spark reader curiosity – I always click into the blog post that is titled with an eye catching phrase. Here’s one I just found on my feed reader for the Merjis blog: Recession – Killing Me Softly, from Matt Cutts blog: How Many Links Per Page (who wouldn’t want to know what Google says about links?), or from the Blog Tutorials Blog: Launching a Blog? Do It With a Bang.

Your blog post title is key and should reflect the content of your blog post, so make sure it is crafted to work for you on search engines AND to entice readers to click in.

SEO Firms Trawling for Business – Don’t Get Fooled

I have a number of clients who have been forwarding me emails from SEO firms saying that there are problems with their websites and these clients ask my advise. “Are these real problems?”

I have to say even with great organic placement on many of my keywords, I get these emails too! Don’t jump to a conclusion that you need help based on an email from a firm trawling for business hoping to scare you into action.

One email I saw said that if you did not have a robots.txt file it would impact your organic placement, another mentioned link references in the content with a complete URL versus a relative URL, and another mentioned that real estate in their content was killing their results (the site was an attorney’s site that specializes in real estate law).

You just cannot believe everything that someone sends you unsolicited. Yes there may be opportunities that should be addressed, but with the business economic climate the way that it is, you will see more and more of these type of emails as firms start looking harder for clients and try to scare some into action using questionable practices.

So watch out, ask a reputable firm their opinion before you react and buy so you don’t get fleeced without knowing what you are really paying for.

Is SEO Really Dead? That’s What Webmaster World Says

I read with interest one of the main page articles titled is SEO dead? at Webmaster World. I have long felt that the combination to organic search placement success was a number of many factors and not just links or code optimization. But it is interesting to read the thread of comments with some professional webmasters agreeing that SEO is dead and that social networking has become king.

Here’s my take. The typical SEO program as we used to know it, is not totally dead, but needs a refresh and new life. What we recommend is great keyword research, excellent site architecture, unique and well-written content with good use of important keywords and keywords in the cross linking of pages. We know that this is actually just good design technique, but many web designers simply do not follow these guidelines much to the chagrin of the end user. It takes time and thought to implement these components into a new site design and the consideration of organic placement needs throughout the whole process. But it does not stop there…

No real program for organic site improvement is complete without a blog to continue to build unique and on-topic content. Search engines reward interesting content that is on-topic and builds “Web Authority” over time. We know this and understand this concept. In fact it has worked for many of our customers as an overall approach for improving organic placement. In addition to blogging, we strongly recommend articles and press releases as great ways to build additional quality incoming links.

If you have time to also embrace social networking like Facebook or LinkedIn and even Twitter you can get even more traction with links and traffic activity, but it all starts with the right website and concept to market your products and services on the code side of things.

So is SEO dead? No not really, but maybe it has mutated into something better. Something  that actually works to draw in web readers and engage them in ways that pure SEO did not. Content has always been king on the Web and that hasn’t changed, but where you put your efforts and budget dollars certainly has.

Best Organic Optimization Plan

From my over eight years of experience with websites and organic optimization, I have found what I consider the best organic optimization plan of attack.

  1. Strong initial and comprehensive keyword research
  2. Good use of source code optimization to include unique title tags, and a meta description
  3. Strong keyword density in h1 and h2 tags in the site’s source code
  4. Inclusion of well-written and engaging keyword dense content with keyword dense anchor text links in the content
  5. Integration of a blog with well written keyword dense blog posts published a minimum of three times per week
  6. Monthly creation of a feature article that is syndicated on various article sites and archived back on the parent website
  7. Quarterly press release on new topics, services or interviews and distributed via PR Web.

With this organic optimization plan you are bound to build “web authority” and over time improve your organic placement.

This process is not rocket science, but must be done carefully and by a knowledgeable team with a strong focus on optimization. I know from experience, as I have performed this process, on a number of websites that this is the very best organic optimization process and will provide results in the long run.

To find out more about our organic optimization services if you need help with your own web visibility, I invite you to review our code optimization process, blog writing services, and press release writing program.

Remember improving your organic search engine position takes time, but this process WILL work for you regardless of what business or service you promote.

Proof Blogging Helps Your Organic Placement

You know I was surprised by a customer yesterday. He called to chat about our organic search optimization services. He told me that he had done a Google search on best organic optimization and that my site was placed highly.

In fact I checked it out after our chat as I do not optimize on that keyword phrase and the optimization business is very competitive on the Web and he was right my site was placed but in position 41. What was even more interesting was that it was not my website that had caught his eye, but my blog post titled “What Should You Expect to Pay for Optimization”.

He found me and liked what he saw from a web search that had returned my blog and then followed links from my blog into my website and then picked up the phone to call me.

You never know how a client will find you, but this is clear proof that topical blog posts that are keyword dense will place organically on search engines and act as entry points for prospects to find you and purchase your services.

Now he thought my placement was great, but I had never even optimized for that phrase and think that actually number 41 is low relatively, but I got the phone call not someone else.

If you want to get blogging working for you, now’s the time to visit our blogging services page to review our program and then pick up the phone to call me to chat about your needs and how we can work to bring you leads too.