3 Simple Strategies to Improve SEO on Your Blog by @AlmostPractical

by Neena Nandagopal | Featured Contributor

Small business owners often think of Search Engine Optimization or SEO as this magical process that people apply to your website to make it rank on page one of the search results.

Well, I have news for you – there is no pixie dust that can be sprinkled about to make it happen.

There are legitimate strategies that professionals use to make your site more attractive to search engines – things like using an optimized theme and proper tagging of photos and text, to name a few.

But even if SEO is not your specialty – there are certain things that you can do on your own to improve the rankings of your website.

What is SEO?

Keep in mind that at it’s most basic level – SEO means giving the search engines what they want.

And what the search engines want is solid, relevant, and accurate information that solves the problems of what people are searching for.

Luckily, by pleasing the search engines you will also please your real readers in the process.

3 Things You Can Do To Improve SEO On Your Blog

1. Have a Clear Focus for your Website

What is your website all about?

Generally, if you have a business – all of the information on your website will be geared towards helping, informing, and pleasing your customers.

Let’s say you are a hair salon. You will probably be writing about color, cuts, styles, and hair products.

It will be very clear to your readers and also to the search engines what your site is all about.

So when someone searches for “hair salon in anytown” – Google will deliver your website as a result.

Now, let’s say you are a blogger that writes about a wide variety of topics. Maybe one day you write about travel, and another day you write about your dog, and yet on another day you write about fashion.

Maybe you are clear on the direction of your blog – but you are confusing the search engines.

In this case, take a step back and think about what people might be searching for to find your website and try to come up with a central theme.

You can still post a variety of content – but try to tie it all back into one thing.

2. Organize Your Website

Just like that junk drawer in a kitchen, it is very easy for a blog to become cluttered and disorganized.

Remember that the search engines send robots to read your website.

These robots read text and follow links.

So, your website should be easy to navigate from one page to another.

Tighten up your categories, and make sure that you link to these from your homepage. Also, make sure that each of your blog posts is assigned to one of your categories.

This way both real people and search engines can find exactly what they are looking for.

3. Linking to Your Own Content

Another way to boost your SEO is to link to some of your own content from within your posts.

For example, I am writing this article about SEO for Melissa’s website, right now.

I found an article about blog formatting techniques you can use to improve to improve the SEO on your blog that Delia Rusu wrote for Melissa a while back. Since this is related content that will likely help you to improve your blog I am linking to it right here.

These internal links will help the search engines find relevant content on the same site.

Remember not to overdo this strategy – one or two relevant links per post is probably enough. In the past, people abused link building and as a result their websites were banned from Google and other search engines.

Do An SEO Audit of Your Website

You can improve the SEO on your website by having a clear focus on your message or topic, organizing your content, and guiding your readers and the search engines to other relevant content on your website.

Take some time this week to do an SEO audit of your website and see what you can tweak to make it better.

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Neena Nandagopal is Almost Practical Small Business Coaching and Consulting. She lives and breathes her business – so they are one and the same.

She is passionate about giving creative and talented women concrete guidance on how to establish an online business that is in line with their lives.

Her services include everything from blog coaching packages to creating individualized policy and procedure manuals and business processes.

Neena believes that working more efficiently is the key to business success. However, her philosophy is that time management is outdated. Instead, she works with her clients to manage their focus and attention, because that is what brings maximum results – both online and offline.

When she is not working, Neena enjoys spending time with her husband, four teenage children, and her little shih-tzu.

Neena’s Website: AlmostPractical.com
Neena on Social: Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | YouTube

Neena Nandagopal