SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can seem so mysterious and complicated that a lot of business bloggers would prefer to ignore it and hope their content somehow optimizes itself. But it doesn't have to complicated.
Recently I listened to a podcast episode of Internet Marketing for Smart People published by Copyblogger and Brian Clark. The subject was SEO and really, how simple it is. In Brian Clark's own words, SEO is:
Optimizing web site content so that it is friendlier to a search engine in the sense that the search engine finds that piece of content more relevant than other pieces of content for a specific search term.
It boils down to having excellent content as well as keywords, and links coming into your blog so Google thinks your content is important. And most importantly you want to use the "language of your audience" because it is people who use search engines. The search engines are responding to the words your target audience is typing into the search field. [I highly recommend you listen to the podcast with Brian Clark.]
How do you know what keywords to use and how do you know if what you've written is optimized to your best ability? The tool I use is Scribe (fee) because it practically does all the optimization for me. From suggesting keywords to scoring my content, to suggesting links, it saves me a lot of time. You can use the web-based tool or the Wordpress plugin.
You can also use free tools for keyword suggestions, like freekeywords.wordtracker.com, but you won't get the added support of analyzing your content and offering suggestions for improvement.
In the same podcast, Brian Clark talked about the recent Google Panda update* and the problems with "content farms." This is something you need to be aware of if you do a lot a article marketing with backlinks to drive traffic back to your blog.
With all content you create, whether it's for your blog or for articles, quality reigns supreme. With a few minutes of careful optimization, you will see see more traffic which means more people reading your content so you have more opportunities to create trust, credibility and relationships.
What tools do you use to optimize your content for search engines?
Related Post:
How to Get Backlinks: 3 Easy Ways to Boost Your Search Engine Rankings
How to Get Incoming One Way Backlinks to Your Blog
How to Use Your Text Editor to Improve SEO on Your Blog
*If article marketing is a big part of your online marketing strategy, I recommend you check out a 75 minute program from Nicole Dean and Susanne Myers on Article Marketing Revisited that covers the Google Panda changes that affect article directories.
Very good article, as always, Denise.
I just wanted to add that bloggers shouldn't get hung up on "pleasing" the search engines only, as ultimately it is people who will read the content, judge it relevant or not, and based on their judgment decide to hang around that blog and hire the blog author or buy from her.
Therefore, I suggest to my clients this strategy:
1. try to find a good subject to write about (e.g. listen to you most frequently asked questions from your clients and try to answer them)
2. do some keyword research around the topic, by using some of the tools you mentioned, Denise, but also the free Google keyword tool I mentioned in my blog post on search engine optimization.
3. use the keyword phrases you compiled as Titles, heads, sub-heads, lists, bullet lists, and highlighted phrases in your copy.
4. Write a readable, simple article, using layperson's terms around those keyword phrases in such a way that it reads as an article and not as fodder for the search engines.
Posted by: Boris Mahovac | Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 02:15 PM
Its really fun to listen to the podcast of Brian Clark as he shares and gives you lot of tips, ideas and techniques in SEO. He also mentioned the problem of having quality content farms; this happen when you trust a black hat SEO specialist that usually does spamming. So, beware in choosing an SEO company.
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Posted by: real estate seo | Tuesday, August 09, 2011 at 01:52 AM
I also listen to Brian Clark's podcast, and I have to agree I've learned more about SEO thanks to him. Google's attack on content farms is a prime example of why sites need to take a diversified SEO approach.
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Posted by: Noel Sydney | Monday, September 12, 2011 at 03:00 AM