When I search for some marketing internship or jobs online, I always see "Require good understanding on SEO and SEM" on some job requirements. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) becomes a very popular topic in marketing career now. If you have a strong SEO skill, you can become more competitive in the job market.
I don't have advanced SEO skill, but I tried to use SEO to increase my blog ranking on Google. Even though it took some times to practice, I can see my post links get a higher ranking! I would love to share my SEO insights based on my experiences. I hope those ideas can help you.
How could you improve SEO ranking for your blog post?
1. Create A Simple Title--Make Audience Easy To Search!
When I start writing a new post, it always takes some time to come up with a new title. What kind of titles can improve your post ranking? My suggestion is to think about Audience Behavior! For example, when I wrote newsjacking topic, the first question came to my mind was " What is newsjacking?". I thought it would be a very common question when people start to search on Google. Thus, I named my post as "What is Newsjacking?". After I published my post, I typed this question on Google. And, I saw my post ranking was the top three on the list! This is an "Aha" moment for me!
Thus, when you are going to name your post title, you need to think what kind of keywords audiences are going to search in common. The post name can start with a simple question. Creating a simple and easy-to-search post title can significant improve your post ranking.
2. Build Relevant and Valuable Content--Let Audience Engage with You!
In the digital class, my professor Joanne told us "Content is Queen". I learned that valuable and relevant content is a significant factor that impact on SEO rankings. Whenever I posted a new article, I always want someone to enjoy reading it. Great content can build your blog loyalty, too. If people like your posts, they may follow your blog in the future.
If the content is highly relevant to the keywords which people search for, people are more likely to click the website. As more traffics on your website, the higher your website ranking will be. Thus, I tried to put the keywords or major topics at the beginning of the post, so people are more likely to select the my sites if they see the keywords appear on the first two lines. Again, in the newsjacking example, you can see all of the top websites shows "newsjacking" in the first two sentences.
Only building valuable information in the content is not enough for keeping your audience. You also need to create interactive or visualized content by inserting relevant pictures or videos. Creating visualized content can make your content more attractive. Most importantly, you need consider your audience feelings. They need a break, too. Most people don't like read a article with thousands words because they feel bored. Thus, inserting one relevant picture between two short paragraphs can let audience feel much relax. Pictures or videos can also help them understand your message quickly.
Most importantly, let your audience take control. You could either highlight the key points on the post or create different short sections. If audiences don't have time to read the whole article, at least they can get the key points very fast. Or, audiences can just select the part which they want to read. The whole purpose is to let your audiences feel relax and happy.
3. Link to Others' Blog or Website--Build Your Credibility!
I always search for some good information before I start writing. Learning useful concepts from others' blogs or news can provide good insights for your topic. If you are going to use others' points into your writing, don't forget to link to his or her website! It is a way to show your respect to others' work. Linking to others' website not only can increase your credibility, but also can increase your website ranking. If your post linked to the relevant news which people search for, people may read your post, too. As more people review your posts, the your website ranking will get higher.
4. Tags! Tags! Tags!--Think All Keywords Audience Would Search!
Once you finished your writing, don't forget to create TAG! Tags or labels are not only the key phrases of your article, but also the keywords that people are going to search. Creating good tags can help people to find your article. Thus, when you create tags, you need to think all keywords that audiences may use. For example, in my "Big Data" post, I tagged the keywords such as "big data", "digital marketing", and "insights about big data". The more varieties of keywords in your content, the more opportunities your content get better ranking position.
5. Share Your Blog in Social Media--A Great Way to Promote Your Blog!
If you want to get people know your blog, the simple way is to share your blog with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus. Your followers and friends can help you to promote your posts. Sharing your blog on Google Plus is a very effective way to reach new audience. For example, if your future employers want to search you on Google, the top three personal websites they could see would be Google Plus, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Thus, Google Plus provides a great platform to allow others to learn your work. As more people visit your blog, the higher ranking you can receive.
Overall, I think blog is your personal brand with your unique style. As the "CEO" of your blog, you need to engage with audiences by creating easy-to-search title, building meaningful and interactive content, adding simple tags, and sharing your posts publicly. When you provide a great "customer service", it will make people easy to find you, feel relax to read your articles, and be able to learn! Then, as you generate more and more audiences, your blog SEO ranking will increase incrementally in the long term. All you need to do is to Practice! Practice! Practice!
I don't have advanced SEO skill, but I tried to use SEO to increase my blog ranking on Google. Even though it took some times to practice, I can see my post links get a higher ranking! I would love to share my SEO insights based on my experiences. I hope those ideas can help you.
How could you improve SEO ranking for your blog post?
1. Create A Simple Title--Make Audience Easy To Search!
When I start writing a new post, it always takes some time to come up with a new title. What kind of titles can improve your post ranking? My suggestion is to think about Audience Behavior! For example, when I wrote newsjacking topic, the first question came to my mind was " What is newsjacking?". I thought it would be a very common question when people start to search on Google. Thus, I named my post as "What is Newsjacking?". After I published my post, I typed this question on Google. And, I saw my post ranking was the top three on the list! This is an "Aha" moment for me!
Thus, when you are going to name your post title, you need to think what kind of keywords audiences are going to search in common. The post name can start with a simple question. Creating a simple and easy-to-search post title can significant improve your post ranking.
2. Build Relevant and Valuable Content--Let Audience Engage with You!
In the digital class, my professor Joanne told us "Content is Queen". I learned that valuable and relevant content is a significant factor that impact on SEO rankings. Whenever I posted a new article, I always want someone to enjoy reading it. Great content can build your blog loyalty, too. If people like your posts, they may follow your blog in the future.
If the content is highly relevant to the keywords which people search for, people are more likely to click the website. As more traffics on your website, the higher your website ranking will be. Thus, I tried to put the keywords or major topics at the beginning of the post, so people are more likely to select the my sites if they see the keywords appear on the first two lines. Again, in the newsjacking example, you can see all of the top websites shows "newsjacking" in the first two sentences.
Only building valuable information in the content is not enough for keeping your audience. You also need to create interactive or visualized content by inserting relevant pictures or videos. Creating visualized content can make your content more attractive. Most importantly, you need consider your audience feelings. They need a break, too. Most people don't like read a article with thousands words because they feel bored. Thus, inserting one relevant picture between two short paragraphs can let audience feel much relax. Pictures or videos can also help them understand your message quickly.
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| Example of inserting relevant pictures in your content |
Most importantly, let your audience take control. You could either highlight the key points on the post or create different short sections. If audiences don't have time to read the whole article, at least they can get the key points very fast. Or, audiences can just select the part which they want to read. The whole purpose is to let your audiences feel relax and happy.
 |
| Example from "Big Data" |
3. Link to Others' Blog or Website--Build Your Credibility!
I always search for some good information before I start writing. Learning useful concepts from others' blogs or news can provide good insights for your topic. If you are going to use others' points into your writing, don't forget to link to his or her website! It is a way to show your respect to others' work. Linking to others' website not only can increase your credibility, but also can increase your website ranking. If your post linked to the relevant news which people search for, people may read your post, too. As more people review your posts, the your website ranking will get higher.
4. Tags! Tags! Tags!--Think All Keywords Audience Would Search!
Once you finished your writing, don't forget to create TAG! Tags or labels are not only the key phrases of your article, but also the keywords that people are going to search. Creating good tags can help people to find your article. Thus, when you create tags, you need to think all keywords that audiences may use. For example, in my "Big Data" post, I tagged the keywords such as "big data", "digital marketing", and "insights about big data". The more varieties of keywords in your content, the more opportunities your content get better ranking position.
5. Share Your Blog in Social Media--A Great Way to Promote Your Blog!
If you want to get people know your blog, the simple way is to share your blog with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus. Your followers and friends can help you to promote your posts. Sharing your blog on Google Plus is a very effective way to reach new audience. For example, if your future employers want to search you on Google, the top three personal websites they could see would be Google Plus, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Thus, Google Plus provides a great platform to allow others to learn your work. As more people visit your blog, the higher ranking you can receive.
Overall, I think blog is your personal brand with your unique style. As the "CEO" of your blog, you need to engage with audiences by creating easy-to-search title, building meaningful and interactive content, adding simple tags, and sharing your posts publicly. When you provide a great "customer service", it will make people easy to find you, feel relax to read your articles, and be able to learn! Then, as you generate more and more audiences, your blog SEO ranking will increase incrementally in the long term. All you need to do is to Practice! Practice! Practice!
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