Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
I participated last week in #blogchat, which was moderated by @LeeOdden, CEO of TopRank. There was a lot of dialogue about SEO (search engine optimization) and the importance of employing an SEO strategy to build blog traffic.
the . rule
One common strategy is to investigate popular keywords, create a list of them and use them frequently in your blog posts. Although there’s no defined rule of thumb, it’s common to use the top keyword in the title, description, metatags and then at least 3-4 times in the text (in a post that has a 500-600 word count). AKA Keyword stuffing. Not only does this strategy sound like a lot of work, but it can lead to you sacrificing the quality of your content, the style of your writing and the personality that is unique to you. In my opinion, focusing the content of your website around most commonly used keywords, although great for achieving high rankings on Google, is counter intuitive to building a strong and unique brand.
Yes, it would be wildly unfulfilling to invest hours every week into writing your blog posts if no one was to read them. Otherwise, you’d just keep a journal. I understand that it’s important to get noticed. But it’s more important to get noticed by the right people.
getting noticed . by the right people
My approach has always been to be less concerned with numbers and more concerned with creating quality readers. There are a few things I’ve done over time to help me get there…
Content . This may sound obvious, but ensuring your content is always relevant to your target is paramount. To do this, you need to start by clearly identifying who your target is going to be – and ensuring you ask yourself each and every time you post “will this be meaningful to them”? It’s also important to have unique content and an equally unique voice. Why subscribe to a blog if you can get the exact same content somewhere else?
Make comments on other blogs . Other blogs, especially well established ones, have strong reader bases. Commenting on blogs that share the same type of readers as your target introduces you to people who might otherwise not know you exist. The key is to add something valuable to the topic you’re commenting on – not to blatantly promote your blog. And, don’t make it too difficult to find you – ensure you add your blog address in your signature.
Reciprocal links . As you may have noticed, a lot of blogs have something called a blogroll. This is where they list blogs they recommend. Getting listed on a blogroll is like getting a 3rd party endorsement. I get a lot of ‘curious’ traffic from blogrolls and I also find a lot of great blogs by lurking other people’s blogrolls. To get listed, you can contact the blog’s author and ask to create a reciprocal link (i.e. you create a link on your blog in for a link on theirs). This can be a good strategy if you’re contacting a blog that is relatively new and equally as interested in building traffic as you are.
Guest post . What better way to get noticed than by guest blogging on a like-minded blog. Approach a blog author with some ideas for stories. But before you do, put some thought to stories that will either fill a gap that isn’t currently being filled on the blog or complement what the blog author is trying to achieve.
Post a response to a story you read on another blog . This is a similar strategy to making comments on other blogs except you can get a little more creative. If you’ve read a post on another blog that you think you can add a unique perspective to, think about creating a follow up post on your blog. Then be sure to let the blog author know by commenting on the blog post.
Links . Over the years, I’ve looked at a number of creative ways to link to other people’s blogs. Because when you drive traffic to someone else’s blog (as long as they’re tracking referring sources) they get introduced to yours. Some creative examples: Desire to Inspire’s WINKS, Kim Vallee’s Quick Links, and Wedding Blog Awards.
Conversation. When people see that you’re engaged with your audience, they’ll be more inclined to participate and feel a part of the community. Actively respond to your reader’s comments.
Promote Sharing . Make it easy for people to advocate your posts to others by including social bookmarking icons. You’ll notice that accompanying every post I write, I give my readers the ability to share via Delicious, Facebook, Stumbleupon, etc. But nothing has been as successful as the addition of the ‘Tweet‘ button counter – I suspect because it’s large & easy to see, there’s instant gratification when people tweet out a post because they are counted, Twitter is a natural broadcasting tool, and many of my readers are actively participating in Twitter.
More ways to get noticed…
Add your blog to facebook
Add your blog to your linkedin profile
Tweet it out . Twitter is a wonderful way to get your blog noticed. Be creative. If you hear a topic that is getting a lot of traction in your Twitter community, write a blog post about it and tweet your perspective out to your followers. Also, promote other bloggers’ posts and they will in turn promote yours.
Add your blog to facebook
Add your blog to your linkedin profile
Tweet it out . Twitter is a wonderful way to get your blog noticed. Be creative. If you hear a topic that is getting a lot of traction in your Twitter community, write a blog post about it and tweet your perspective out to your followers. Also, promote other bloggers’ posts and they will in turn promote yours.
Add your blog to your email signature
Promote it at tradeshows . Why not create a business card for your blog to hand out when you meet people at shows?
Get it in front of the influencers – media, industry glitterati (but, only do this after you’ve built a solid body of work)
Get it in front of the influencers – media, industry glitterati (but, only do this after you’ve built a solid body of work)
closing . comment
SEO and strategic targeting are not mutually exclusive. Using SEO as a part of your promotion strategy can be important, but it should never overshadow the need for great content.
question
What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree? How have you built your readership?
Lara McCulloch-Carter
Author of the Special Event blog ready2spark
Director of Marketing – Regal Tent Productions
Past-President – ISES Toronto
. Follow me on Twitter
. Connect with me on LinkedIn
. Become my Peep at EventPeeps
. Befriend me at Events Network
Helping smart businesses attract more customers
(289) 937.0141 . hello@ready2spark.com
You might also like these posts
Alas...I realized after deleting one comment above, which was spam, that 1 person didn't learn from my post.
Kim - as usual, great comments!! I would definitely agree that ALT tags have driven traffic to my site. However, when reviewing the stats on their visits, they usually have very short stays on my blog - could mean that they stopped by to steal my picture montages or they're the wrong traffic for me. Being a B2B blog has made me be more focused with my target - but it might be a better strategy with a B2C blog. You're such a big inspiration when it comes to being found. Type in a keyword relevant to style, design and entertaining and you'll find At Home with Kim Vallee. And Kim has never sacrificed the quality of her posts - always wonderful to read!!
Justin, AMEN! Only 1/2 the battle is getting people to your blog. The other 1/2 is keeping them coming back.
Liese, thank you! I'm just glad that you found the information useful!
King, wow!! Coming from you that's a huge compliment. I'm just delighted if I can help others in their blogging journey like other bloggers helped me in mine.
your tips are valuable and definitely your blog is nice.MARIA Cash Online Get Easy cash at your door step
Lara,You are truly an inspiration to new bloggers like myself, and seasoned ones as well. These tips are so incredibly valuable.You have certainly set the bar high in all areas of social networking. Your professionalism, as well as the sheer volume of your output, is inspirational.
your tips are valuable and definitely your blog is nice.
MARIA
Cash Online Get Easy cash at your door step
Lara,
You are truly an inspiration to new bloggers like myself, and seasoned ones as well. These tips are so incredibly valuable.
You have certainly set the bar high in all areas of social networking. Your professionalism, as well as the sheer volume of your output, is inspirational.
Thank you for this blog info! Being relatively new to blogging, I'm soaking everything about this medium in. You always have such an easy, no-nonsense way to imparting so much information that is MUCH appreciated!And thanks to Kim also for her input and tips!
Thank you for this blog info! Being relatively new to blogging, I'm soaking everything about this medium in. You always have such an easy, no-nonsense way to imparting so much information that is MUCH appreciated!
And thanks to Kim also for her input and tips!
Thank you! I find businesses, or old school marketers, can easily cling to the idea of keyword injection as a model. While that makes scientific sense, it often makes for an article that looks like it was put together as a formula. I have seen a few blogs lately that are composed that way and I unsubscribe fast because it lacks feeling. Feeling is what prompts my interest.
You pinpoint the right actions to stimulate your blog growth.For SEO, I concentrate on one term by post. The most important thing is to have the main keyword in your title and use that term or its synonyms a few times in your text as the flow of your writing leads you. Quick tip: Instead of saying it, replace it by the keyword once in a while. Goggle Image Search can bring you lots of visitors. Therefore, if you use lots of pictures, like on my blog, make sure to describe your pictures (ALT and Title attributes).
Thank you! I find businesses, or old school marketers, can easily cling to the idea of keyword injection as a model. While that makes scientific sense, it often makes for an article that looks like it was put together as a formula.
I have seen a few blogs lately that are composed that way and I unsubscribe fast because it lacks feeling. Feeling is what prompts my interest.
You pinpoint the right actions to stimulate your blog growth.
For SEO, I concentrate on one term by post. The most important thing is to have the main keyword in your title and use that term or its synonyms a few times in your text as the flow of your writing leads you. Quick tip: Instead of saying it, replace it by the keyword once in a while.
Goggle Image Search can bring you lots of visitors. Therefore, if you use lots of pictures, like on my blog, make sure to describe your pictures (ALT and Title attributes).
Alas...I realized after deleting one comment above, which was spam, that 1 person didn't learn from my post. Kim - as usual, great comments!! I would definitely agree that ALT tags have driven traffic to my site. However, when reviewing the stats on their visits, they usually have very short stays on my blog - could mean that they stopped by to steal my picture montages or they're the wrong traffic for me. Being a B2B blog has made me be more focused with my target - but it might be a better strategy with a B2C blog. You're such a big inspiration when it comes to being found. Type in a keyword relevant to style, design and entertaining and you'll find At Home with Kim Vallee. And Kim has never sacrificed the quality of her posts - always wonderful to read!!Justin, AMEN! Only 1/2 the battle is getting people to your blog. The other 1/2 is keeping them coming back.Liese, thank you! I'm just glad that you found the information useful!King, wow!! Coming from you that's a huge compliment. I'm just delighted if I can help others in their blogging journey like other bloggers helped me in mine.
- spam
- offensive
- disagree
- off topic
Like