SEO Tricks for Blogging That You Need to Know

Many people know that strategic SEO tactics get your website to grab the top spots on Google, but you should also be applying SEO tricks to get your blog content ranking high in search results.

I recently participated in the insightful Building the Perfect Web Marketing Storm webinar, presented by Web strategist Andy Crestondina and Spin Sucks. The only way to learn and perfect new tactics is by doing, so I put some of the master’s lessons to the test.

Five SEO Tricks for Blog Writing

If you intend to use your personal or business blog to position yourself as a leader or expert on a subject, don’t start writing your next post without adding these tips to your bag of SEO tricks:

• Tweak the target key phrase: Think of your target keyword or phrase as search engine ammunition – take enough strategic shots, and you’ll hit the SEO bullseye. Include it in your title, meta description and tags, and work it into your post two to five times.
• Craft an easy read: Use headers, subheads, bullets and bolded words. This structure translates easily in the human mind, and Google views these as important points. Try to keep posts around 400-600 words.
• Think social: Increase visibility of your post with your social network. Think of likely retweeters, including fans, friends, family or clients.
• Scrap spam words: Email newsletter information can be easily repurposed as a blog post. However, search engines consider certain words spam. Some duds to avoid in titles (and email subject lines) are “raffle”, “rewards” and “confirm.”
• Credibility counts: Two-thirds of Google’s algorithm is comprised of trust and credibility of your domain, anchor text linked to external sites and popularity of the links. Strategically choose hyperlinks that will squeeze some “link juice” into your post. (For a master explanation on link building, check out this interesting SEOMoz article.)

Five Tools to Refine Your Aim

Add these basic tools to your SEO arsenal to pinpoint your target key phrase and shoot it through your network.

1. Google AdWords Keyword Tool: Pick a keyword and do a little research to find a key phrase you could snag a winning position with. Look for phrases with a higher search volume and lower number of page results from an actual Google search (5 million page results rather than 1 billion).
2. Google Insights: Scope out the “Interest Over Time” graph for your topic by entering your keyword or phrase and choosing a time frame from the third filter. If you see that the popularity of the subject has passed or isn’t very relevant, tweak your keyword phrase to link it with a trending topic or recent event.
3. Google+: Many people don’t utilize their Google + profile, but since Google is the top search engine, you’d be wise to use its social networking site to help your content show up higher in searches results (especially more important now thanks to Google’s recent implement of Search, Plus Your World). To ensure your Google Plus page adds link juice, verify your email address, apply for verification if you’ve been added to at least 1,000 circles or have a brand page. Also, fill out the “Contributor to” section at the bottom of your profile with blogs you’ve written for.
4. ManageFlitter: To find Tweeps in your network to share your post, enter the keyword or phrase to identify the most popular users that include it in their tweets. These are your likely advocates. You can also link your Google+ account to find more connections.
5. FilterTweeps: Make new connections with “Tweeps” outside your network interested in the topic and frequently share relevant information. Check their number of followers, location and topic authority. Mentioning them can drive a lot of traffic to your post.

By adding these SEO tricks to your blogging strategy, prepare to fly up in Google PageRank results “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” style!

What are other SEO tips you’ve used to move your content or site higher up in search results?

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