The Basics of SEO – And Why YOU Should Care
by Feels Like Home Blog™ on August 5, 2011
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Today and tomorrow, I am working with 25 other bloggers to hold a conference.
There’s no registration fee, no lousy food, no bags of swag to cut off the circulation in your arms. There’s no need to brush up on FAA regulations, no need to leave room in your suitcase, no need to get on an airplane.
Want to learn? Grab a pen.
Today, I’m talking about SEO (one of my favorite subjects). Tomorrow, I’m going to share some tips for creating an awesome About page for your site.
Why Do YOU Need to Know About SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. In short, SEO can help your site to show up closer to the top of search engine results.
SEO is a great way to get found, to broaden your audience.
Good SEO means that more people will find you. If they like your voice, if they like what you have to say, they’ll keep coming back.
What Can Good SEO Do For You?
SEO first came on to my radar in 2009. I started optimizing my posts, and I increased my traffic from search engines tenfold in 12 months.
From February 2009 to February 2010, I saw a 900% increase in traffic.
Need any more convincing?
The Basics of Good SEO
Good Writing
Are you tired of hearing that Content is king? It still is.
Write for your readers first. Write good posts that are useful. Write things that people will be searching for in the first place.
Make sure your writing is good, clear, and concise.
Think about SEO only after you’ve written a killer post.
Searchable Posts
Some posts are less searchable than others.
When I post craft tutorials and recipes, I definitely spend the time to include good SEO.
When I write personal stories, post pictures of my kids, or lists like Things I Enjoy, I don’t bother. The odds are low that anyone would search for those posts or that people searching would be interested in what I’ve written.
Write Good Titles & Headings
Your title and headings should reflect your post. Period.
The title and headings should not be cute, clever, or a play on words. They should reflect the content of the post.
The content of your post should include the keyword phrase – the words someone would type into Google if they wanted to find your post – often (but not so much that they’re annoying your readers or distracting from your message).
Use Smart URLS
The URL of your post should reflect the title, headings, and content of the post. This is a really simple change to make, and it will help a lot.
This is a setting, usually called Permalinks.
Bad URL – FeelsLikeHomeBlog.com/?p=134Good URL – FeelsLikeHomeBlog.com/heart-shaped-pancakes
My URLs have the month and year in between the blog address and the post name. There are drawbacks to doing that, but it’s okay to have them in there.
Want to learn more about SEO?
I’ve shared the slide shows that I present at blog conferences. If you want more SEO help, read 10 Tips for Improving Your Blog’s SEO and 10 More Tips for Improving Your Blog’s SEO.
This post is part of the BlogHop Blog Conference at Home. To see the full agenda of learning sessions visit Blog Conference Newbie.
© 2011, Feels Like Home Blog™. All rights reserved.
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Previous post: 100 Things I Enjoy, 11-20
Next post: Creating an About Page for Your Blog
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
I had no idea you could even change that!!!!! FANTASTIC!!
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You sure can. Now, a word of warning. Don’t change it more than once. All of your existing links will break because you’ve changed your URLs. It’s still a good move to make, especially if your URLs were numbers or codes, but don’t keep changing it to see what you like best.
Make one change and be done.
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You were the one who taught me SEO originally, and I have to thank you! I am still working on creating consistent “killer content.” I find that I too often get lazy….
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Absolutely. It’s like being a mom in so many ways, don’t you think? Like, I can do this half heartedly and get it done, or I can spend the time and energy to do it perfectly. Sometimes, we don’t have the time and energy, and that’s the end of the story. But when you do have the time and energy, the payoffs are great.
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SEO sometimes feels like a game to me. I need to stop thinking of it like that and not to start looking at it as a way to improve my blog.
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Don’t think of it as a game. Any more than using a GPS to find the fastest route instead of the “shortest” route is a game. It’s a way to get where you want to be (Readers visiting your site who WANT to be at your site) faster and more effectively.
Bad SEO doesn’t just hurt traffic, it is also unkind to your readers. If I’m searching for something, I want the title and intro to clearly reflect what the post is about so I don’t waste my time clicking through to something that won’t give me the information needed.
Think of it as telling Google what you’re talking about, so the people who WANT to read you can find you.
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Very well said, Angela. Thanks for joining in!
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Exactly, Jodi.
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Content, I can do. I’m afraid I pay so little attention to SEO that I’m relieved you put content first on your list. That means I can skip the rest, right?
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I didn’t say that.
There are a couple of very simple things you can do that will bring readers in. I’m willing to bet that people are out there searching for the things you’re writing about.
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And what would you charge a friend for a consult? ;0)
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Thank you for this, and of course, your top 20 tips! It’s so appreciated
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You are welcome
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Like Cindy, I’ve been a writer all my life and the story was my main focus. Foolishly, I filed SEO under a technical art–a study onto itself. And while it is, that doesn’t leave me off the hook for implementing all the tricks and doing the due diligence in each communication. This post is a good kick in the butt!
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I’m glad. It can be a study in itself, but all of us can use some of the basics to bring in readers who are interested in what we have to say. At this point, roughly 60% of my page views come from Google. Can you imagine doubling your current traffic?
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I’ve been slowly working on SEO. My worst enemy is keyword phrases. But, slowly I’ll get there. Your tips put it into perspective with easy to follow instructions.
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I’m glad, Connie. What bugs you about keyword phrases? Is it coming up with them? Using them naturally? Maybe I can help.
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Coming up with them. I write a blog post and then get to the All In One SEO plugin with no idea for my keyword phrases. Ugh!
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Thank you for this easy to understand info!
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You are very welcome.
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Thank you for this. I try to work on SEO, and then I sort of forget. all of the SEO type plug ins seem to make it more complicated than it really has to be, right? I’ll keep reading and working! Thanks for the time to put together the tutorials!
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Such a great post and so helpful. I am still struggling with good use of SEO but I’m starting with very baby steps.
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I’m learning lots hopping around to all these great posts. Thanks for sharing so much information! Now I’ve got a question that will surely expose my ignorance — How do you know what keywords people are searching?
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You can use Google’s Keywords tool. If you search for that, you will find it. The first SEO slideshow that I shared has an explanation of the keyword tool, if you need help with it.
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It is amazing how many things you can find online, without even really trying. Thanks for sharing this!
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Thank you! This is a great post and a wonderful starting point!
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