5 ways to improve your blog’s SEO
When I first started blogging over two years ago, SEO was not a priority for me. Having a background in project managing digital website builds meant I knew what SEO was, but what I didn’t know was that I would need to take it seriously when it comes to blogging. SEO is important for bloggers to gain trust with Google to help improve your rankings, so that your blog is easily found by search engines and ultimately for your audience to find you. To help you do that I’m sharing five simple ways that you can start doing today to improve SEO for your blog.
I must add that I am by no means an expert, but these are just some things that I have learnt along the way.
To begin with and in case you don’t know what SEO means, it stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It is the way in which your content is ranked by search engines based on its relevance to your users.
Use your keywords correctly and wisely
Your keyword should be related to what your blog post content is all about. For example if could be “pregnancy” or “potty training” if you are writing about a pregnancy or potty training topic. The keyword is set by you, and it should appear in the following locations of your blog post: URL, title, first paragraph of copy, a couple of times throughout your blog post, and in the meta description. If you’re using the Yoast plug-in this will tell you if you’re using the keyword correctly, or guide you on where the keyword is missing. It will also tell you if you are over-using the keyword, as this can go against your SEO.
Write your own meta description
This is the copy that appears in the Google search under your blog post title. It will automatically display the first lines of blog post copy for your meta description, but did you know that you are free to write and tailor this yourself. If you are using the Yoast plug-in you can update your meta description here, and this copy should always include your chosen keyword.
Your blog content should be relevant to your audience
It’s important to keep writing and publishing relevant content that your audience want to read, as the Google spies and bots will pick up on the this. If you are a parenting blogger, keep on writing parenting related blog posts. If you are a interior design blogger, keep on writing interior and home styling related posts. There may be times when you are stuck for content ideas, and it can be a good idea to sign up for blogger outreach services who may be able to supply you with guest blog posts or sponsored posts.
Update your content regularly
You will no doubt have a lot of content on your blog which is still a brilliant source of information. It’s a great idea to go back through your old content and make sure it is as up-to-date as it can be. Check whether it contains the right keyword, does it have an image, does it contain any internal links or new links you can add, are there any tweaks that you can add making it relevant to anything topical that is happening today or in your life. By refreshing your existing posts, will help to boost your SEO.
Use alt tags on all on your images
Lastly always use alt tags on all of your images. This is a description of the image, and is designed to explain to people using screen readers what the image is displaying, which is turn makes your image accessible and helps to boost your SEO. I have also heard that at least one image in your blog post, should contain your keyword in the alt tag too.
I hope that you found this post useful? By doing all of these simple SEO tricks may help to improve your chances of getting paid blogging jobs.
Are there any other tips and tricks that you apply to your blog posts to help enhance your SEO?
Claire x
This is a sponsored post.
7 Comments
Jennifer Wlodyka
Some great tips. I’m doing most of these on my blog http://www.mumversation.com but need to get better at them.
Adrian Crisostomo
Great tips here! What you have mentioned are mostly on site optimization for blogs. I’m no seo expert but I am studying it right now. I hope that you also talk about the importance of link building for bloggers and building relationships with other bloggers. Great read!
Brisbane seo
Advertising your business on the internet via website is really helpful for your business.
Blake Smith
Hey Claire, I really appreciate your tips and tricks for improving blog’s SEO. As an SEO expert, I can say that these all are the perfect strategy for improving SEO and already it’s proven. So now it’s time to implement!
Md Nishath Khandakar
Advertising your business on the internet via website is really helpful for your business.
Beki
Thank you so much. I have literally only just started my blog so learning alot of these things. This toast plug in- is it something I get with WordPress?! Thanks so much
The Pramshed
Yes you can download the yoast plugin from WordPress. Good luck!