Gearing Up and Planning for a Great 2013 in the Blogging World without Being Confused
We all know that SEO is constantly changing and just when you think you’ve got it down, Google and the other big guys change something up to completely throw you off your game. Let’s get a jump on 2013 by going over some of the top changes and things that stay the same when blogging and optimizing your website.
Keep Content Readable:
This goes beyond the general quality over quantity idea. You have to make sure your content is not only quality but readable as well. If people get to the site and yet are having a hard time reading the content due to misspellings, grammar errors, or a wall of words they’re going to quickly click away which is going to increase your bounce rate and lower your overall rank. Be sure to proofread all of your content before publishing it; make sure you have bullet points, great images with relatable alt tags, use heading tags when appropriate, and make the general content easily scannable since most of us scan over a piece, jumping between paragraphs to find what we’re looking for.
Make sure your website works for you:
Use good SEO plug-ins for your WordPress site such as Yoast, All in One SEO (great for beginners), Automatic Post Tagger, SEO Smart Links, and Google XML SiteMap Generator. (All of these can be searched for when adding plug-ins to your WordPress site and make sure you activate them and set them up properly). By simply setting up some good plug-ins mean your website is working for you and you don’t have to work as hard. Automatic internal links are taken care of and appropriately added, and webpages are automatically added to your site map.
Promote your content:
Once you’ve written a great article you’ll want the world to know about it. Post it on your Facebook business page with a catchy title to make readers want to click through; post a link on Google plus with a large picture illustrating your topic; tweet your link with a teaser sentence urging tweeters to follow the link. You can use programs such as HootSuite.com for an all-in-one social media promotional tool or simply take the extra five minutes and post something different on all your social media platforms. You never know where a click (or referral) will come from.
Make your site Mobile:
No matter what type of website you have most of them can go mobile but it’s the ones that are designed for mobility that will really excel. If people can search for properties on your website through a mobile application and find it easy to use they’re more prone to come back to your site and maybe check out your site on a standard computer. With the increase usage of iPads, tablets, and smart phones, this is an area that cannot be neglected. There are several WordPress plug-ins that allow your site to go mobile, IDX providers that offer a mobile application or simply talk to your web host about this option.
And finally, always remember to write for readers not just for search engines. If you’re writing good quality content you don’t need thousands of posts but maybe just a few really good ones that keep people coming back, sharing the content, and wanting to know more. SEO has gotten way more humanized over the last couple years so remember who your target audience is, keeping in mind current SEO tips, and you’ll do great things!
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