Archive for the Category »SEO «

Aug

We all know the importance of blog titles.

If we optimize them with keywords or keyword phrases, we could possibly attract more search engine traffic. If we make them catchy sounding, others may click to read more.

When I published the Lose Weight While Blogging?” post, I later said on Facebook, “maybe I should have named it, “Can’t Stand Blogging?””

Today’s Lesson

The above mentioned post links to an article which states how sitting more than six hours a day can possibly cause health problems plus lead to an earlier death. As a solution, I shared how I decided to build myself a work walk station for my treadmill even though there are prefab ones available.

My comment on Facebook made me wonder, “If that same topic had been written by other bloggers, what would they have named it?”

Here’s what I’ve come up with based on what fellow bloggers blog about, and how they could formulate their titles.

I know my outspoken blogging friend Cath Lawson would chose:

“Get Your Rear In Gear”

And she would include the acclaimed photo of Betsy Wuebker’s derriere (which can be found on Cath’s homepage)

Friar, who is also an artist and cartoonist would include sketches of Vikings and name his post:

“Don’t Say the Vikings Didn’t Warn You”

Patty of “Why Not Start Now? might name it:

“Why Not Start Now?”

Public Speaking Expert and blogger Keith Davis,

“Step Up To The Podium”

Chase March, teacher and hip hop blogger,

“Hip Hop Your Way to Health”

Proofreader and writing coach Davina,

“Treadmill Walk Stations – Rendering The Right Impact”

Vered, professional blogger would use keywords:

“Use A Work Walk Treadmill To Extend Your Life”

Patricia of Patricia’s Wisdom would keep it simple.

“My Review: The TrekDesk Work Walk Station”

Debbie, mommy blogger and author of Three Weddings:

“Who needs a treadmill when you have three kids?”

Silly Girl, a reporter in real life,

“Reporting Live From The Office of the Future”

Tom Volkar, author of Delightful Work and life coach might use:

“How A Treadmill Could Improve Your Life”.

Barb Hartsook likes to serve imaginary coffee on her blog.

“Sip, Standing”

Singer, songwriter Jannie could write a poem or song titled:

“The Wedgie Work Walk Station Blues”

Hilary, our resident historian,

“How the treadmill was invented. How it’s helping people to stay fit. And its Place in the Office”

Colleen, blogger and Realtor from Washington State,

“Kennewick Realtors Stand Behind Their Listings”

Julie Walraven who provides a resume writing service:

“Stand Up For What You Believe”

Heather Villa, business coach and blogger,

“Don’t Take It Sitting Down”

The Bold Life author Tess, being true to her blog name might choose:

“Be Bold – Take A Stand”

George Angus, writer and author of Tumblemoose.com could title the post,

“We’ve Got A Standing Date”

Lori Hoeck, martial arts expert and author of Think Like a Blackbelt,

“Kick it Up A Notch! “

Sara Healy of Sharing Connection would include a photo and a challenge.

Story Photo. What Does This Look Like To You?

Tracy would tie in a link to her post which went viral.

What Does A Chicken in a Can Have To Do With a Treadmill?

Raul of Alien Ghost might title his,

“Don’t Just Sit There”

J.D. Meier of Sources of Insight would go all out.

“2000 Lessons Learned While Using The TrekDesk Treadmill Desk*”

Tony Single of Trottersville would include a cartoon in his post,

“How I Killed My Treadmill”

Evelyn Lin’s blog concentrates on abundance, awareness and self alignment:

“Forge Your Own Path With A Walk Work Station”

Mike Goad blogs remotely as they travel.

“Put Some Miles Behind You”

Linda, our resident “green blogger”,

“Environmentally Friendly Desk Option Could Save Millions in Health Care Costs”

Joy over at Unfolding Your Path To Joy,

“Find Joy, Stay Fit While Blogging”

Joella helps new bloggers on her blog, Blog with Wings,

“Stand Up For Your Writes”

Zeenat of Positive Provocations always has encouraging words for her readers,

“Positively The Easiest Way To Take A Stand”

Lisa does intuitive readings and blogs at Practically Intuitive,

“I See You Standing”

Mandy Allen likes to ask questions on her blog.

“Is Your Job Killing You?”

John Hoff, author the fabulous blog security book and video series WordPress Defender*,

“Stand Up To The Bullies“

Junk Drawer Kathy would come up with something funny.

“What I’ve Gained From Blogging Besides Thirty Pounds”

Kelvin Kao, is a puppeteer who also likes to make videos, He might make a video of a puppet on a work walk station and title it,

“It’s So Easy, Even A Puppet Can Do It”

Jay Schryer of Porsidan is in a wheelchair, and since a treadmill work walk station wouldn’t be conducive for his life style, he might teach others with disabilities how to stay fit.

“Alternative Ways To Incorporate Exercise Into Your Day”

Patricia Singleton of Spirtual Journey Of A Lightworker would share more of her knowledge,

“How To Stay Fit As You Journey Through Life”

Jodith of Administrative Arts could teach office managers,

“How To Improve Productivity In The Office”

Walter of Lionslinger shares life lessons on his blog,

“Another Lesson In Life. Don’t Sit. Get Fit”

Chania Girl shares happy thoughts at Living Happiness,

Don’t Worry! Be Happy! Work Standing!

Julie is always so cheerful as shares her thoughts from Italy. She might title hers,

“Hello Gorgeous, Wanna Go For A Walk?”

Miguel de Luis could do a post in Spanish.

“Si Si” (Sorry Miguel, that’s all the Spanish I know )

Lance might turn this into a “Sunday Thought For The Day”,

“Embrace Life, One Step At A Time”

Lori at Jane Be Nimble shares wonderful stories on her blog,

“Be Nimble. Be Quick. Blog Your Way To Fitness”

Wendi Kelly at Life’s Little Inspirations blogs to inspire others,

“Latest Innovation Sparks Creativity”

From Roses to Rainbows author Linda might title hers:

“From Flab To Fab – Stand Up And Blog”

Julie, author of Random Meanderings enjoys hiking.

“Take A Hike”

Evita at Evolving Wellness would share her wisdom on health.

“Easily Fit Fitness Into Your Day”

Eliza of Silver and Grace who writes for women over forty, might title her post:

“Stand and Stop That Middle Age Spread”

Angela Sims at Living, Loving, Laughing… might say,

“Don’t Laugh, It Works”

So, there you have it. How one blog title could be written fifty-two ways.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Today’s Assignment

How do your choose your blog titles?

Do you try to use catchy ones? Or do you prefer using keywords?

Care to share?

*Affiliate Link

Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Keywords, SEO, Writing Tips 93 Comments

May

Most Underrated and Overrated Blogging Tips

Barbara Swafford

Good Day Class!

Today I am honored to introduce our substitute teacher (guest writer) Greg Blencoe, from the fabulous blog, “Positive Waves Baby”. Greg will be discussing and analyzing a topic we hear about quite often – blogging tips.

Grab a seat, have a listen, and share your thoughts in the comment section.

Welcome Greg.

The floor is yours.

Hi Class,

I really appreciate the opportunity to guest post at BWAB. It’s great to be here.

Most overrated and underrated blogging tips

Photo Credit:

Let’s get started.

Most of us have probably read countless articles on blogging tips. While there is a lot of great advice about blogging on the Internet, some of it is underrated and some of it is overrated.

Today’s Lesson

My most underrated blogging tip is sharing a lot of information about who you are somewhere on your blog.

When I read blogs, I not only want to connect with the writing, but I also want to feel a connection with the writer. However, I often visit blogs where there is little or vague information about who the blogger is. And this puts distance between me and the blog.

Although I have a pretty standard About page, I share a lot more information about myself on my “100 things about me” page. On this page, you can learn a variety of things about me including that a family joke growing up was that I was born at the State College Zoo (#4).

Although most of the information on this page has nothing to do with my blog topic, it allows people to feel a much closer connection to me. For example, while I just started this blog a couple of months ago, I have already gotten several e-mails from readers about various things on the “100 things about me” page.

Therefore, if you aren’t already doing this, I highly recommend thinking about sharing a lot of information about yourself on your blog.

My most overrated blogging tip is focusing too much on SEO (search engine optimization).

While search engine traffic is certainly a wonderful way to get more people to your blog, I think having an obsession with SEO can be very counterproductive. The following saying comes to mind with SEO:

A strength used to excess can become a weakness.

While I also believe that responding to readers who comment on my blog, commenting on other blogs, and guest posting (thanks, Barbara!) are very important in building a blog, my number one priority by far is trying to publish great content. In my opinion, no matter what else I do, I won’t get very far with my blog if it doesn’t have content that people really want to read.

In order to achieve this, I have to put my heart and soul into my writing. And I have found that worrying about SEO totally destroys the creative process for me and results in a watered-down version instead of something that is genuine.

Therefore, even if the lack of attention to SEO results in less search engine traffic, the people who do find the blog through a search engine are much more likely to stay.

Today’s Assignment

What do you think about my most underrated and overrated blogging tip? Agree? Disagree?

What is your most underrated blogging tip?

What is your most overrated blogging tip?

Raise your hand and share your thoughts.

This has been a guest post from Greg Blencoe. He writes about personal development at his blog, Positive Waves Baby.

Photo Credit: Burning Karma

Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, SEO 47 Comments

Sep

SEO and Blogging – Keeping It Simple

Barbara Swafford

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

Sep

Readers vs Bots – Making Everyone Happy

Barbara Swafford

We know what Google wants from us bloggers.

They like (in part) to see blogs that are updated often (it appears more often is better), inbound links from reputable sites and the use of SEO (search engine optimization) so they can index our posts correctly.

That way, when someone types in a search string, they (the search engines) will look good by providing THEIR readers exactly what they ask for.

Today’s Lesson

As bloggers we often fall into the trap of wanting to please the search engines. After all, it’s the search engines that can bring us the most traffic plus visitors who may click on our ads. It’s also search engine traffic that can drive up our rankings.

Hence, we crank out search engine optimized posts and the bots smile down on us, reward us with more traffic and everyone is happy.

Or, are they?

By posting too frequently are we missing out? Are we pleasing the bots but deterring loyal readers from sticking around?

Are we closing the door to comments because we’re not giving our readers enough time to think about what we wrote and then write a response?

Are we forgetting about OUR readers?

When Ann-Marie, co-author of Wilma’s Blog contacted me, she shared what she sees happening.

With her permission, I’m quoting what she said/asked in an email:

Myself and Wilma have been talking about how many times a week we post on our blog.

We recognize that a post is the starting point of the conversation and it is in the commenting that the conversation takes real form.

As other bloggers get involved we begin to see an opportunity to really ‘nut out’ our thoughts.

The dialogue begins to flow and with it comes new understanding and learning for everyone.

It ends up being an interactive discussion about a subject in which people have something to say.

So if we post too frequently, are we in danger of stifling this existing conversation and stopping it before it comes to a natural end?

Ann-Marie and Wilma are concerned about what THEIR readers want; not what the search engines are looking for.

They realize if they slap a new post on top of one that’s still alive with conversation, they could kill it.

And in the process of killing the conversation, they may also lose their loyal readers.

So, what’s the best route?

Today’s Assignment

What advice would you give to Ann-Marie and Wilma?

If you have a post and the comment section is buzzing, do you throw a new one on top of it, or do you let the conversation on the older post die down?

Photo Credit: Google Bot? by fabiofco

Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Comments, Posting, SEO 68 Comments