Blog Optimisation
Blogs are a fantastic way of attracting visitors interested in particular topics, and they can as easily be attached to a website or run as a standalone site.
Running a blog is an ideal way of providing unique and regular content. There are fewer restrictions on the writing styles, length and types of content you can include in a blog post, so they are quite easy to update on a regular basis. They can also attract new audiences, who may then become customers.
Optimising your blog for search engines is very similar to normal website optimisation. Whether your blog runs on Wordpress, Blogger, or any other platform, the same SEO principles apply.
Blog SEO Factors
The most important aspect of blog SEO is to make sure you publish regular posts and updates so that search engines give them relevance. This often takes longer for new, standalone blogs than the ones that are attached to websites. The latter share the strength of the attached site.
This element of SEO is the hurdle at which a lot of blogs fall. Results take longer to materialise for search terms as trust needs to be built up, leading many blog owners tend to slowly give up posting.
You also need to choose your topics carefully, and ask whether you have enough knowledge or interest in the type of content your blog is targeting. If you write about areas you know little about, the posts will interest few visitors and could even deter others from making a return visit.
Keeping your posts focused on your broad areas of expertise will ensure visitors return for more – quite simply, your posts will be more interesting to them. This affects the next SEO factor: third-party discussions on your blog.
Having regular visitor commenting on your blog posts is an search engine optimisation strength: other people are creating unique content for you.
Other SEO aspects that also apply include:
- Targeted meta data based on keyword research and a good understanding of your audience
- Sitemaps (both static and xml) to inform search engines when a new blog post is added to the site
- Tagging up of images, flash and videos to inform search spiders of the related content
Raising your blog profile
Again, the best way of raising your blog’s profile is with excellent content. People naturally talk about unique and fresh posts, so your blog will grow naturally by word of mouth and external links - as long as you keep posting.
To encourage people to visit your blog, you could add its details to some of the various blog directories. You can provide a brief overview of your site, as well as posting a link to it.
Our blog optimisation services
Coast Digital provides a comprehensive service for creating SEO friendly blogs, and optimisation for existing blogs that will raise the profile and ultimately bring in more visitors.
We’ll not only look at the SEO aspects discussed above, but address the following:
- RSS blog and comment feeds
- Blog structure, including URLs and categories
- Keyword analysis of blog posts
- Blog roll links
So, if you want a blog that’s not only a great read, but gets ranked by the search engines and creates a buzz in your sector, talk to the Coast Digital team today.
