Archive for the Category »Keywords «

Sep

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a HUGE topic. So large in fact, many blogs are dedicated to just that. Books are written about it, and some businesses are built around it.

In the comments of the Readers vs Bots, Making Everyone Happy post, Patricia of Patricia’s Wisdom asked if I could write more about SEO. I promised her I would.

A search engine optimization expert, I am not, but I do know if bloggers want to get search engine traffic, some degree of SEO must be used.

Today”s Lesson

In a nutshell, here’s what I feel is true about search engine optimization.

If we are targeting readers who are searching for widgets, then we need to write about widgets.
If we are trying to get search engine traffic to a article (or a blog) which is about widgets, but we go off track and start writing about shoes (for example), the search engines aren’t going to send us people who are looking for widgets. Our posts need to stay on topic.
We can rank high with one search engine, but not on another.
Many bloggers concentrate on ranking high with Google, however Yahoo, Bing or another search engine may be a better choice. With Google currently being the biggest search engine, it may be best to concentrate our efforts on getting more traffic from the smaller search engines where there may be less competition.
Search engine optimization can change the way we write.
If we want search engine traffic, we need to tell the search engines we have a relevant post about a specific topic. This is done by using keywords and/or keyword phrases. Although those posts may need to be worded differently than how we normally write, challenging ourselves to write for the search engines (and our readers, too) may help to gain a larger readership.
Every post does not have to be search engine optimized.
On this blog, I seldom use SEO. It’s not that I don’t want search engine traffic, but I either forget to include it, I get lazy, or I’m not sure how to optimize a specific topic. Having said that, just having a handful of posts that are optimized can help to keep search engine traffic coming our way.
Catchy titles can attract the wrong audience.
In a previous lesson we learned how using catchy titles can deceive our readers and the search engines. Although we may get traffic based on the words we used in our title, chances are we are not reaching our target audience.
Even the most carefully optimized post may not get found.
Because the search engines use parameters other than just optimization of posts, even a perfectly written post may not get highly indexed by the search engines. Search engines consider page rank, inbound links, the credibility of a site (plus other algorithms), therefore, if our post is on a subject in an already saturated market, search engine optimization could all be for naught.
When we pick keywords or keyword phrases, we’re just guessing others will use the same terms
If we look at our stats and see how others find us, they often use search terms we wouldn’t even think of. Although we can’t possibly know what search strings people will enter, it’s important we consider possibilities other than the obvious.

So there you have it, my seven simple tips on SEO.

Today’s Assignment

Do you use search engine optimization in your posts?

If so, do you have any tips to share with the class?

If not, what about SEO confuses you?

Raise your hand and share your thoughts.

And now, seven fabulous resources on search engine optimization:

SEO Tips For WordPress Bloggers (Video) by Matt Cutts (a Google executive) – posted on John Hoff’s blog. I strongly recommend watching this video in it’s entirety.
Google Webmaster Central
Yahoo.com. Log into your account and search “help” for webmaster resources.
Bing.com/webmaster plus their toolbox
Best SEO Practices for Creative Writers – courtesy of Jan Geronimo
SEO and Accessibility by Joe Dolson
101 Great Blogs You Should Be Subscribing To Starting at number 36, Kevin lists 12 blogs which specialize in SEO

Category: Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Increase Traffic, Keywords, SEO 73 Comments

Jul

How Writing Catchy Titles May Hurt Our Blog

Barbara Swafford

Custom Search

It’s no secret, when we blog, many are searching for the information we’re providing, and as bloggers, we’ve learned it often the title that captures our readers attention.

Some have also found, by writing catchy titles we pick up more search engine traffic. In fact, many of us have written posts showing our readers which search strings bring visitors to our site, and it’s often the keywords in our titles that caught the attention of a search engine.

Reviewing how others are finding this site, I realized if I don’t use blogging terminology to attract other bloggers to this site, some of those that are finding it via search engines are here for the wrong reason.

In fact, many of those visitors aren’t even interested in what I have to say, and I’m guessing they’re quickly clicking off.

Why?

Because my titles are not relevant to the content of the blog post.

Today’s Lesson

Case in point.

Last year I wrote a hypothetical post and titled it, “Wife Sues Husbands Blog for Alienation Of Affection”. It was a silly post that shows how we can get so wrapped up in our blogs, our significant others may begin to feel neglected. So neglected, they begin to think “the blog” is like a mistress.

Nearly every day, I’ll get traffic coming to this site based on search strings such as “how much money for alienation of affection”, or “how to sue to alienation of affection”.

Those visitors who land there, do not want to read a post about blogging. I would venture a guess they’re looking for the site of an attorney who may be sharing this type of information.

As much as their visit adds to my statistics, in my eyes it doesn’t count. In fact, too many of these types of visits can skew our numbers as they are not actual “readers”.

On the How To Capitalize On Your Blog Statistics post, J.D. Meier said the same,

…Otherwise, readers land for the wrong reason and relevancy is queen, if content is king. That said, I still sacrifice a post title now and then if it’s stickier … I just accept that I’ll potentially get the wrong traffic.

That’s right.

By using what we think are catchy or clever titles, we can attract the “wrong” traffic.

If I’m blogging about blogging, having people land on this site who are looking for something totally different, doesn’t benefit me or the person who is doing the searching. In some ways, I am misleading the reader, plus confusing the search engines.

The more traffic I see coming in based on non blogging search strings, the more I realize I need to change the way I write.

What do you think?

Today’s Assignment

Are you attracting the wrong “readers”/traffic to your blog based on your titles?

If so, do you care?

How do you ensure those who land on your blog are the audience you’re writing for?

Raise you hand and share your thoughts.

P.S. If I used Google AdSense on this site, the ads displayed could also be totally off base (but that’s a post for another day).

Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Keywords, Lessons Learned, Writing Tips 82 Comments

Feb

SEO – Are We Getting It All Wrong

Barbara Swafford

Whether we have a website or a blog, we often ask ourselves, “How can I get my site found?”.

We either learn SEO (search engine optimization) or hire an expert, begin using it and carefully choose search terms relevant to our content. We sit back and anxiously wait for the traffic to start rolling in.

Ironically it’s often not the well thought out search strings that drives traffic to our blogs/websites.

Sometimes it’s the unexpected.

Today’s Lesson

Recently I was analyzing my statistics to see how people find my blog. One would think common search terms would have something to do with “blog”, as I have the word “blog” twice in my title and blog about blogging, but that’s not always the case.

Here are some recent search strings that brought visitors to my site.

“color me gone – color me gone” This search string took this person to a post I did when I was being interviewed on Jeremy’s Day’s blog, Insight Writer. The name of my post is “Color Me Gone” which announced to my readers I wasn’t here, but could be found on Jeremy’s blog.

“frisky libriarian” Although the person using this search string may be looking for something more erotic, it takes them to any of my posts when a commenter who uses the online name of “Frisky Librarian” responds.

“lazy people” I’m not sure why someone would be searching for lazy people, however the post they landed on would have taught them how to get “Increased Search Engine Traffic For Lazy People” – a guest post written by Catherine Lawson.

“twitter why do i care?” This sounds like a search I would do. In fact, I wrote a post titled “Twitter – Do You REALLY Care What I’m Doing” asking the same question. Since then, I’ve joined Twitter.

“the hunter who doesn’t do his homework” I had to giggle at this one. I was puzzled why someone would use these particular words, but they did land on a guest post written by Hunter Nuttall titled:Twitter – Social Media’s Hidden Gem. It’s a fabulous lesson on Twitter, so even if they didn’t learn anything about hunters, they got to meet a guy named Hunter who did hand out homework to those who read the post.

“candy store layout” I’m assuming this person either has or is interested in owning a candy store, however I’m sure they were disappointed when the landed on the post Blog Visitors – Like Kids In A Candy Store where we discussed the navigation of our blogs and if is easy for visitors to find previous posts we’ve written. The article may not have helped them, but I did include a photo taken inside a candy store.

“when to tell if your bff likes you” This search string puzzled me. BFF stands for “best friends forever”. Wouldn’t you know your best friend likes you? Unfortunately my post BTW Your BFF Is ROTFL @ Your SERPs wouldn’t have answered their question, but they would have learned more online abbreviations.

“husband don’t show affection to wives” Here’s a search string that can be interrupted read several ways. 1) Husband – DON’T show affection to wives!!! – as a command. 2) A wife isn’t getting affection from their husband, or 3) I’m looking at the “s” on “wives” and wondering “are they talking about multiples?” Hmmm…. Anyway, what this person landed on was my post titled. Wife Sues Husband’s Blog For Alienation of Affection, a hypothetical situation where a wife feels abandoned by her husband because his blog takes up so much of his time.

When I look at how people conduct online searches, I realize there are millions of possibilities. We often get hung up on using search strings WE think should be popular, when in truth, we’re only guessing.

Today’s Assignment

How are people finding your blog or website?

Is it what you expected?

Or do we have search engine optimization all wrong?

Please feel free to share your findings. I’m guessing the results will be interesting.

Photo Credit: Danard Vincente

Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Increase Traffic, Keywords, SEO, Search Habits, Writing Tips 51 Comments

Mar

Increased Search Engine Traffic For Lazy People

Barbara Swafford

Photo Credit miguelb’s photos

Hello loyal readers,
This is a very exciting , but nerve racking day for me, as Catherine Lawson and I are guest posting on each other’s blogs. Although my post on her blog, can’t match the caliber of Catherine’s writings, I’m hoping I haven’t made a complete fool of myself. I am honored share with you, the first guest post on BWAB, authored by a favorite blogger of mine, Catherine Lawson. So without further ado…

Increased search engine traffic means more people reading your content. But, if you’re lazy, like me, trying to get more traffic to your blog, without spoiling your content may seem too much like hard work.

Until recently I didn’t bother trying to drive search engine traffic to my blog at all. Then I discovered that it’s quite effortless, and you don’t need to ruin your content at all. And now I rank on the first page of Google for many keyphrases and you can too. Just follow these simple steps:

Concentrate On Keyphrases As Opposed To Keywords: Optimise for keyphrases, not keywords. Eg: Instead of cookery, business or money, choose “cookery for dummies”, “improve business growth”, or “making money at home”.

Remember, each time you write a post, you can choose a different phrase according to your content.

Titles Are Important: Aim to include your keyphrase in your blog post/article and somewhere in the first paragraph of your post. But, don’t worry about including it in the remainder of the post. If you choose your phrases carefully, you won’t need to do any more to compete.

Have The Title In Your URL: Does your title appear in your URL like this: http://cathlawson.com/blog/2008/02/28/5-business-writing-tips-you-can-profit-from/ If not, go into Wordpress and change your settings. Click “options” then “permalinks” and change the settings from default to date and name based.

Keep It Real: Don’t optimise every single post for the search engines. Remember that you also need titles which will appeal to social networks and your regular readers, who will be viewing them through a feed reader. Also, write the post first then look for a suitable keyphrase. This way, your writing will appear more natural, as you won’t be trying to write a post around a particular phrase.

Who’s Looking For you? You need to know what keyphrases people are searching for, before you can optimise your titles. I use Wordtracker (www.wordtracker.com) as it brings up hundreds of different options.

What’s the Competition Like: Wordtracker will tell you how much competition there is for each keyphrase, but you want to know how good that competition is. Since it’s your titles you’re optimising, you need to know how many competitors have that keyphrase in their title.

Here’s how to do that:

To discover how many websites have optimised the title, type the following into Google search:

allintitle: keyphrase

allintitle: florida weddings

The search results show that 34,100 websites have the search phrase “florida weddings” in the title.

But wordtracker also shows that a lot of people are also searching for “florida beach weddings”

And if I type:

allintitle: florida beach weddings

And I discover that only 2210 sites have that phrase in the title. And when I click on the first few results, none of them have the phrase in their first paragraph, which is even better. So, this is obviously a better title to choose.

Make The Title Appeal To Real People: Remember when you’re optimising titles for search engine traffic, you still need real people to click on that title. Now, having the keyphrase close to the beginning of the title will give you a better chance of ranking higher, but it won’t necessarily attract more clicks.

You could simply use Florida Beach Weddings as the title. But, you might attract more clicks if you use: Florida Beach Weddings: The Ultimate Guide; or Planning Florida Beach Weddings: 10 Must Do’s.

And that’s it – it’s not complicated and it works. Have a go yourself and keep checking your stats to see where your traffic comes from and how you’re ranking. Then you’ll begin to get a feel for how good your competition is for particular phrases and what works and what doesn’t.

If you have any questions – please feel free to ask in the comments section.

Useful Resources

All In One SEO Pack is a useful plugin if you have a Wordpress blog. I’m too lazy to use it to its full potential though. So, if you want to take it a step further, check out this excellent guide by Ciaran. How To Herd Organic Search Traffic To Your Blog

If you want to learn even more about SEO – check out Aaron Wall’s SEO book.

And if you want to get all the SEO tools and gadgets you can lay your hands on – here’s 136 SEO tools

Category: Archives, Increase Traffic, Keywords Tags: Blogs, feed reader, google, keyphrase, making money at home, money at home, search engine traffic, SEO, social networks, WordPress, Writing Tips 36 Comments

Feb

How Keywords Attract A Larger Audience

Barbara Swafford

Photo Credit john_a_ward’s photos

As bloggers, we often take time to study about SEO ( search engine optimization), Google’s page rank, and keywords, in order to get our posts ranking high in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).

Today’s Lesson

Sometimes I try to use keywords in my posts, but often that technique goes by the wayside, as I get to writing, and keywords and SEO are the last thing on my mind. Even though I don’t always concentrate on those issues, my blog still gets found.

Researching how my visitors find my blog, is something I do on a regular basis.

I recently noticed some funny and/or unusual search strings used to find my posts. Read the following search terms, and you’ll know, these visitors were not looking for a blog about blogging.

Here are some examples:

“wife sues husband -chicago”

“how much money for alienation of affection”

“blogging about wife”

“alienation of affection rules”

“how to get your wife to give affection”

These search strings took them to m my post titled “Wife Sues Husband’s Blog For Alienation Of Affection”

“list of profanity words” took them to “Blog Loses Massive Traffic Due To Profanity”

“how to save the mountains” and “candy mountain”, result in visits to my OM blog.

When writing the above mentioned posts, SEO and/or keyword density were not foremost on my mind, however, keywords and keyword density, played a part in attracting new visitors to my blog. My hope is that those visitors who found my blog in an “unexpected way”, may end up being “regulars”.

Whether you are a new blogger, or one who has been at for some time, having your blog “get found” is essential. Researching, and using keyword and keyword density is a “must” for achieving the goal of larger traffic numbers.

Today’s Assignment

Have you ever had funny or odd search strings that brought visitors to your blog?

Should a blogger change the way they write in order to incorporate SEO techniques?

Do you use keywords, keyword density, or other SEO techniques?

Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Increase Traffic, Keywords, SEO Tags: Blogging, google, Page Rank, SEO 9 Comments

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