SEO Archives: Search Engine Optimization in Blogging

SEO

SEO involves the optimization of each individual post and static page to make its meaning as clear as possible to search engine spiders/crawlers/robots/algorithms. These are different terms for the same thing. Robots use statistical analysis of character strings to establish what each post is about, and also to establish the authority of your entire site in relation to its general subject or topic.

The way you apply SEO to your entire site – all the posts and pages – can determine whether or not your individual posts are indexed, and for which keywords (search terms) they will be listed in the search engine results pages. The fine detail of your SEO, will partially establish your ranking – your listing position in the results for specific searches. An intimate knowledge of SEO is therefore a very useful skill to have, although there are tools and plugins available to help you.

SEO Plugins

Basic search engine optimization is easily carried out by using an SEO plugin such as Yoast SEO. This plugin provides boxes for the insertion of the Title tag, Description Meta tag and the focus keyword. It also analyzes your use of that keyword within the text of the post or page, and indicates whether it has been over – or underused.

The Title tag for your post is the snippet that Google publishes as the heading for your search engine listing. The Description Meta tag is not visible on your page to human readers, but is used by Google as the description of your page below the title in the listing. SEO plugins enable you to write each of these to the correct length, thus assuring that they will not be cut short by Google.

Write for Your Readers

So SEO is an important aspect of blogging. SEO plugins can help, but the way you write your posts is also very important. Negatives include overuse of keywords and lack of apparent knowledge or authority in your subject. A big positive is to write for your readers and not for search engine robots. Google algorithms are very sophisticated and can easily detect good from bad writing – including spelling and grammar rules.