By now we all know SEO changes (search engine optimization) very often. We, the SEO specialist have
a very hard job in keeping up with Google and other major search engines
because they adjust their SERP (search
engine results page) almost every day. However, there are several little
tasks anyone of us can do to improve rankings specifically on Google, which
owns most of the market anyway. I’ve tested several methods and I’ll go over
them so that you can apply them to your own website.
#1 – Try to get content that
is share worthy
Finding the right content can sometimes be daunting. By
using simple tools offered by Google, you can discover subjects that are
related to your field and are popular. Here is a list of Google tools I use
before I start any content strategy:
·
Google Adwords
·
Google Traffic Estimator
·
Google Insights
·
Looking at other popular blogs
By using these simple and very affective tools, you can find
out your keyword strategy for your blog without guessing what users are
searching for.
Search engines have taken social media and raised its
importance when it comes to their result page. So what you want to do is pick
something that’s popular, relevant and useful to your users. Otherwise, your
blog posting will be one in millions, which will never see the light of day.
Remember, content doesn’t just mean written text. It can be
a visual as well. For example, using images/videos/infographics gets the
attention of any user (boring or not). I’ve noticed people link to content with
visuals more often as well. And if you create your own media to publish, your
blog posting will see much more traffic since it’s nowhere else to be
found.
Courtesy of
SEOMoz
#2 Use social media to
promote your blog
Of course social media is a huge outlet to let users know
what your blog is all about. The best part is, social media will yield results
much faster then search engines. Once you publish your blog post or site on
social media sites, your site will get instant recognition in your network. I
have a client who installs artificial grass and with simply blogging and
sharing he got these results in less then two months.
As you can see the number visitors grew greatly. This is
huge because I targeted specific keywords on each blog posting. It ranged
anywhere from sustainable building to the benefits of synthetic grass.
Here is a list of social media sites I like to share my
information on:
·
Stumbleupon
·
LinkedIn (their personal LinkedIn page)
·
Facebook (their personal fanpage)
·
Google+
·
Reddit
·
Twitter
·
Pinterest
·
Folkd
Keep in mind you have to have an account with each social
media site and make sure you interact with others in the same field. Sharing
and not being active will not get you anywhere.
#3 Reference
your blog post to blogs on your own site & other sites
The whole point of having a
content strategy is to get your message across attractively that is beneficial
to your readers. Don’t just write a blob of text and not link it to references
or other interesting blog postings. Remember, other bloggers will read your
post and might share your site on their own if you put their link on your
site.
Also, if you have an article
that will explain a subject you briefly talk about link it. Don’t link every
single primary keyword but keep it organic and not artificial (in other words
don’t be a link horde). Interlinking is a part of SEO and it’s also very
important to Google. What I do is have a spreadsheet with all my blog posts
with their links. When I write a new article I check if I can interlink between
1-3 blogs for a better user experience.
Check out my online marketing blog for an in
depth look at how you can score huge rankings and visitors through SEO.
#4 Never give
up and stay consistent with your goals
A lot of bloggers and new
sites tend to start off great. Were writing everyday, sharing our articles
through out the web, interacting with users and other bloggers etc… But
something happens after a few weeks or months. Our human nature kicks in and we
tend to get lazy and give up. This is when you fail your site.
Courtesy of
SEOMoz
Stay consistent and you are
sure to reap the rewards. I guarantee it!
Puya Turkiyan
is a SEO specialist and information architect @ New Media Sources in Beautiful Vancouver,
Canada.
