SIMPLE SEO TIPS AND ADVICE FOR NEW BLOGGERS

Use these SEO tips to plan blog posts that will attract readers.

Starting a new blog takes self-motivation and commitment. Planning and creating content is only the beginning of what it takes to grow an audience.

A key factor in attracting readers to your blog is search engine optimization, or SEO.

It’s important to have a baseline understanding of SEO before you begin creating all your content so you can optimize it accordingly.

There’s a LOT of information out there but let’s start with some basic SEO tips:

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and refers to the practice of increasing the amount and quality of traffic to your site by improving organic search results.

The ultimate goal of implementing SEO on your site is to improve your ranking in search results. The higher quality and more relevant your website is to the searcher, the higher your site will rank.

How does SEO work?

To explain it simply, search engines like Google will constantly “crawl” your site, and organize their search results based on relevancy and authority. Listed below are SEO tips to help grow your blog and increase your reach.

Quick SEO tips:

1. Create quality content.

First of all, writing quality content is the most important aspect of building a blog. While SEO tips can help, it’s important to remember that there is no quick way to create a successful blog. It takes work!

Focus on connecting with your readers while writing something that they want to read. Use your unique voice and point of view.

2. Link building – Link to other sites with quality content.

Link building is important, but you should only link out to other quality sites which offer value to your readers. Include a few high-quality links where relevant.

3. Give the people what they want.

If you’re not sure what to write about, write about what your audience is interested in. If you notice topics that people are asking about on social media, try writing about them in your blog posts.

What are your fellow moms talking about, or asking about? What is trending online?

Poll your audience or your e-mail subscribers. Ask them what they would like to read about.

4. Use keywords.

Keywords define what your content is about. They are the topics that readers are searching for online. Long-tail keywords are combinations of keywords or several keywords put together as a phrase.

You should use keywords that are relevant to your content. There are free and paid-for tools that you can use.

Some examples of the free ones are Google Trends and Ubersuggest.

Look at the number of searches for each of your keywords and see how competitive they are. What you’re looking for is keywords that have a good number of searches but that aren’t too competitive.

5. Add SEO plugins

If you’re using WordPress, you can use the SEO Plugin, Yoast. Tools like this will automatically check to see how SEO-friendly your content is, scanning headlines, headers and even the voice of your content.

6. Ensure your site is in optimum health

Is everything on your website working correctly? If you have broken pages, incorrect links and don’t include alt text where needed, your on-page SEO is not where it needs to be.

There are many factors that you might want to consider before and after launching your blog. Once launched, you will still need to maintain your site correctly and make sure that the site complies to SEO best practice.

Your website needs to be accessible, clear and technically sound with a rich user experience.