All You Ever Needed To Know About Blogging SEO, But Were Afraid To Say So
I know what you are thinking…”not another SEO article, please…”
SEO focused companies have secrets.
They want you to think that you need them to get you to the top of the search engines.
They want you to think that you need to learn the complex details or you will fail.
They want you to think that it involves so much that you’d be a fool to not have faith in them.
They want you to think that your success depends on their knowledge and tools.
They want you to think that their advice will make “all the difference”.
Well folks, the truth is, when it comes to blogging, SEO consulting is a lot like cold medicine. When you catch a cold, if you don’t take medicine you are going to be sick for seven days. However, if you do take cold medicine it is going to only be a week before you’re healthy.
The fallacy of SEO advice is that Correlation does not always imply Causation. Just because you took your cold medicine, and then got better in a week, it does not imply that it improved your health. It just made you feel like you were doing something positive.
When it comes to blogging, many of those that are currently holding the top spots in the search engines have done it without much concern for SEO. In fact, it may have never even crossed their minds.
Well Then, How Did They Do It?
They blogged, they blogged and then they blogged some more.
They blogged on topic. They blogged on the topic for which they were looking to be found.
So, if you want to be found in the Search Engines for terms that you expect will generate an audience that will develop into leads, then you need to blog those topics.
Is it really that simple, Jim? Yes it is.
But what about all those advertisements and remedies we hear about that are designed to help us be found in the search engines? Should I not be taking those as prescribed?
You can. And they may make you feel better about everything. But an active blog, on target and on topic is a hwhealthy blog.
So what’s the SEO equivalent to “stay home, get some rest, and drink lots of fluids”? Surely you can’t completely ignore some advice.
There are some basic guidelines, but once you read them, you’ll realize that they mostly common sense, and not some packaged remedy.
1. Blog on topic.
If you want to be found for something, blog about it. If it’s Coconut Grove Real Estate, or St. Paul Real Estate, or Chico Short Sales, or even Blogging Advice then make sure you are blogging about those topics.
2. Use keywords in the titles of your blog articles.
Search Engines, like your readers, put a lot of weight on what it says in the title of your post. Put your topics in there and you will see success.
3. Make sure your site was set up properly by your web designer.
Go over these two subjects:
1. Meta elements (titles, tags, keywords, etc.)
Is all of it relevant to your needs and meet the general guidelines?
2. Pinging and Crawling – Are you notifying the ‘powers that be’ when you hit publish on your blog? Are they listening?
4. Be social. YEO = SEO.
You.Engaging.Others online builds an inbound interest to your content.
Get people to notice you by getting out and commenting. This leads to all sorts of beneficial consequences that we’ve already written about here and here.
5. Blog, blog and blog some more.
The more content, and instances of it, the better you will do naturally.
I have intentionally left out dozens of other suggestions that you can spin in the comments.
We recognize that in order for blogging to be something which trail-blazing real estate agents are going to embrace, then we need to keep the routine realistic and comprehensive.
Keep it simple. It works.
(I can hear the shouting already…)
