This post is aimed at both new and more established bloggers who have heard the term SEO thrown around but don’t know what it is, and/or how to implement it!  It is my noble intention that by the end of this post you will understand why SEO is important, and how to optimise your blog for search engines!

When I first heard the term SEO I pretty much thought “what kind of wizardry is this/how do you I understand youuu?!”   Basically I understand how off putting that little abbreviation seems at first.  But today is your lucky day!

Come with me on this journey as I walk you through the digital mine field by breaking down Search Engine Optimisation into accessible steps.

Let’s GO!

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation.  It is the process of  working to optimize your content so that it can be indexed effectively by search engines…ideally this should result in directing more traffic to your site! WOO!

Why is SEO Important?

SEO is a fantastic tool to include in your blogging arsenal. The crux of the matter is, the higher your blog ranks in the search engine, the more likely it is to be found by people searching for content within your niche.

Although there are many factors that affect your site rankings, you can improve your chances by employing some SEO within your online content.  Optimizing your blog using the steps below will literally cost you nothing but you have EVERYTHING to gain.

How to Optimise your Blog with SEO

Step 1 – Choosing your Keywords

A good optimization strategy starts with  the correct  keywords.   Think of these as the words and phrases that searchers enter into search engines to find content.  If you include the right key words within your blog, then the search engine can accurately pull up your content against these search queries.

If you want to learn more about keywords, including how to choose the most suitable ones, check out my post by clicking the image below!

I am currently using MOZ to conduct my keyword research.  I have a free account because I’m a penny pincher!!  But this allows me to search for 10 keywords/phrases per month.  Which is a great!

*Before using the keyword explorer you will need to sign up for a free account.

First type in 1 or more words that describe the topic you wish to discuss.  For the purpose of this demo I have used “seo blog.”  As a quick side note; you can change the area (UK/United States and so on) to which you direct your search as it relates to your targeted audience.  I have conducted two versions (UK/US) because my audience for my blog content isn’t specified solely to the UK.  I like to conduct searches in this way to find potential combinations between suggestions from  both search results.

*Please be aware that this takes 2 from your 10 free searches per month. Once you enter your query a list of keyword suggestions will be generated.  I would recommend changing the order of the list so that keyword suggestions with the most monthly views appear first.  Why beat around the bush?!

Step 2 – Blog Title/Subheading

It is imperative that you include your keywords in your blog title and atleast one subheading within the body of your text.  Whilst we are on the subject of titles;  as a general guideline titles that are 55 characters long and  approximately 6 words tend to perform the best.I also recommend making  use of the CoSchedule Headline Analyzer.  This is a FREE resource that analyses your blog titles and provides clear feedback and actionable steps to take.

Step 3- First Paragraph

You will then need to include your chosen keywords within the FIRST paragraph of your blog.  With steps 2 and 3 you are basically saying Oh HEY Google i’m here!  Try to keep your paragraphs  relatively short.  This makes your blog easier to read for your audience and helps search engines to index your site.

Step 4 – Body of Blog

As a starting point body of your blog should be a MINIMUM of 300 words . Some also argue that you should include a certain percentage of keywords within your content. However from my experience I’m not sure if there is an optimum percentage.

But it is VERY important not to keyword stuff your content.  You will be penalised if you over use keywords in a way that doesn’t fit naturally within the text.  The take away from this is…use keywords within the body of your content in places it makes sense to do so.  The almighty search engines can’t be fooled folks!

Step 5 – Alt Text in Images

The final step in this guide is to optimize the images included within your content! You can achieve this by creating Alt Text for your images. Don’t worry this isn’t as space age as it sounds. I have included a screen shot below to illustrate this.  You can start the process by right clicking on your image to edit.  On the right hand side of the screen on the third row down you will find the Alt Text box. Simply place a sentence including your keywords in this box and click update! 

FIN

SEO is a long term strategy but the sooner you start the more traction your site will gain.  The almighty search engines respond to consistency… if you are consistent in your approach to optimization, your site will gradually start to creep up the rankings.  Maybe creep isn’t such a great word?!  Like with anything worthwhile the results don’t appear over night, but rather over a sustained period of time.

If you want to know more about SEO and Keywords check out my previous post by clicking the image below.

As always if you have found this content helpful, have any questions or if I have missed anything please let me know in the comments below 🙂

P.s. If you appreciate the content I share here, why not buy me a coffee? 🙂