A beginners guide to SEO for bloggers

I’ll be honest and say I’m no expert in this field and also that it’s not really a service I offer my clients but over the last year, through many hours of research, I’ve learnt a great deal about the subject. It’s a huge topic that’s why today I’m only going to be scratching the surface by sharing this simple beginners guide. My hope is that whether you’re a small business owner or blogger who’s seeking to get more hits, like or comments you’ll find this post helpful.

1. Consistently create high-quality content for your readers
   By creating helpful, information-rich and relevant content on your blog you’ll attract a high level of visitors which will entice webmasters to link to your site. Yes it’s easier said than done but the hard work will pay off and you’ll eventually get all the recognition that you deserve!
2. Write Epic Blog Titles
   The title of your blog post is the one of most important factors that search engines take into consideration when ranking your site and in addition to this it’s the first line that people see when they perform a search.  The perfect blog post title is no long than 70 characters, with 55 characters being the optimum length. CoSchedule Headline-Analyzer is the perfect resource for writing better headlines.
3. Look at writing 400 – 1200 words per post
   Longer posts usually perform better because the higher word count typically results in more keywords and search traffic, in addition to this use facts to back up your research and keep your content relevant for the future.
4. Add Alternative and Title Text to your images
   Optimising your images can generate a ton of traffic to your site, if you’re not sure how to do this you can refer to this post I did last week. Remember the alternative text describes what the image is and the title should be what the post is about.
5. Make sure your site is visible to Search Engines
   If you’re site isn’t set for search engines to index then you’re never going to get anywhere. To check to see if you’re site is visible go to Settings > Reading > Search Engine Visibility and make sure that this box isn’t ticked. Another quick tip to see if your site is currently included in Google’s index is to do a site: search for your site’s URL. For example search [site:yoururl.co.za].
6. Include links to back posts
   A great way of making your posts stronger and by showing authority on any subject is to link back to any relevant content you may have posted in the past. This also encourages readers to stay on your site and browse through other posts they may find interesting.
7. Make your permalinks SEO friendly
   Compare this link nicolatweed.co.za/?p=23 to this one nicolatweed.co.za/work-with-me – which says more about the page? By making your permalinks SEO friendly it helps search engines find and categorise your content easily. To change your permalinks in WordPress go to your Settings > Permalinks and select the second last one ‘Post Name’.
8. Make sure others link to your site
   In the beginning getting links to your site can be quite tricky but after some consistency people will start to like and share your content and perhaps make reference your posts on their site. Guest posting is a great way of getting organic links to your site, put yourself out there and contact some blogs you’d like to write for or network on one of the many Facebook groups out there.
9. Make sure your site is responsive
   In April 2015 Google changed their algorithms to favour sites that are mobile responsive because more and more people are accessing blogs via smartphones and tablets. Make sure your blog or website is fully accessible and enhances the users experience as it will keep your readers on your site for longer and encourage them to come back. A handy tool to use to check if your site is responsive is Google’s Mobile Friendly Webmaster Tool.
10. Install the SEO Yoast Plugin
    I use this plugin on all my client sites because it is truly the best SEO plugin out there. One thing I’d like to stress is that if you are going to install it then please set it up properly! Setup the general and social tabs and submit your sitemaps to Google.
11. Use Google Web Master Tools
    Webmaster Tools is a free service offered by Google that helps you monitor and maintain your site’s presence in Google Search results. There is so much to the Google Search Console I really don’t know where to begin. I’d suggest signing up to an account, submitting your site and having a play around with it. Perhaps one day I’ll do a blog post about it?!
12. Have a little patience
    Getting your business or blog ranked on Google doesn’t happen over night, it requires patience, consistency and a few trials and errors. Note: In the words of Google “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google” so be careful when choosing an SEO for your site.

---

If you’ve got any more questions about SEO let me know in the comments below…