Category: Search Engine Optimization

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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.

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Two New Websites Launched

The Taoist InstituteMan, this has been a busy year so far for my firm. I have moved from one large project to another with another already in the queue. In fact just this past week I have launched two custom SEO web design projects – The Taoist Institute and The Core System Store.

Both sites are owned by the same client and are set up as sister sites to each other, using the general design and feel for branding and recognition. The first www.TaoistInstitute.com is the main site and showcases Dr. Carl Totton’s services and classes in martial arts. The second site www.OneCoreSystem.com is the store site for the main site. It showcases all of his Tai Chi and Kung Fu training videos and supplies. The second site utilizes PayPal add to cart shopping buttons and facilitates credit card transactions through PayPal for an easy start into e-commerce.

The main site is a huge change from the original website which was done with a template in Network Solutions. The new site contains custom content written by the owner and resident martial arts expert and is built to grow. The site is already getting great feedback from visitors and clients.

Isn’t it time for you to consider updating your website too? Check out our custom SEO web design services today.

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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.

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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.