Getting your blog viewed through Search Engine Optimization

Why do we blog? We blog to express our opinion on a subject we have a passion for so others will read it. But like the tree in the forest, does my blog really exist if it doesn’t get read?

Paid vs. Free Exposure

To get your blog exposure you can always throw money at Google Adwords but that costs money. And we all know that money is something that a blogger doesn’t usually have lying around. So as a blogger there needs to be another way to get my blog posts read, other than by family and friends. Enter SEO or Search Engine Optimization.  And it’s free.

What is Search Engine Optimization

Searched on a phrase that got my blog to the top

I have always wondered what was so special about the Web sites that come up on the first page after I type a subject into a search engine. What did those people do to make them so special? And could anyone do it. Well, the search engines are searching for the words I type into a search in all the Web pages in the universe! (It has to be because I have been able to get my blog to appear on the first page.) All it takes are the right words included in the copy of your post (or Web site). The optimization part comes in when you start including specific words and phrases that are high on the list of highly used words and phrases.

David Meerman Scott

Now you may think “Well I’ll just get that list and include all those words and my blog will appear.” Well it may appear, and someone may read it, but it may be the last time they do. As David Meerman Scott writes all throughout his book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, you want to make sure you have great content before you do anything else.

Once you have great content you can see if your blog will accommodate some of the keywords that people search on. In addition, it isn’t always just a word, but may be a phrase. You need to think of how people word their searches as you may be able to include a full phrase which may get you a higher rank. Just don’t forget, never compromise content for the manipulation for search results.

It’s Also What It Looks Like

When I started blogging, only a few weeks ago, I considered what I wrote and the fancy graphics I used but that was about all. But there is a difference in how your blog looks that affects your chance of placing on the first couple pages of a search. I have been trying to come up with catchy titles for my posts, and I think I have, but if you look at them on their own, you would not know what the blog was about. And that is exactly how it looks to search engines — a headline that does not fit the search. So you can be creative but make sure to include something specific about the content.

In addition, subheads make it easier for the search engines to review your post. So if you look at this post and my previous posts you can see the changes I have made. I have been able to keep the flashy things I really like and also make it easier for search engines to see what I have.

And it all comes to an end

There are so many things to learn when starting a blog that I sometimes wonder how so many people have gotten large and loyal followings. But they started from nothing and got somewhere so maybe I will be able to also.

***Words/phrases in bold italic are places that I think could trigger a search engine to find my blog.