Search Engine Optimization. If you blog, then it’s something you just absolutely need to
know. That’s if you want your blog to make any sort of impact.
Estimates place the
number of web pages that exist at over a trillion. That’s more than the neurons
our brain can hold (100 billion if you’re curious).
With 70 million Wordpress blogs, 39 million Tumblr blogs and 3 billion Google
searches daily, the right SEO techniques can make your own blog stand out from
the crowd to a degree. Here are a few tips on just how to do that:
Marketing
Robin Hood didn’t get to
be the best by aiming all over the place. When he shot an arrow, he aimed it at
the person it needed to be aimed at. This is true for your blog. Marketing it
to an audience that is most likely to share your content will enable you to
boost the number of visitors. It’s common sense. If you have interesting and
relevant content aimed directly at people who want to read it, they will tell
others. Simple maths.
Video
Basically, the internet
loves video. Presenting Exhibit A….YouTube. Audio visual content can have
a huge impact on your site. If you focus mainly on the written word, it might
be beneficial to throw in a few videos as well. A planned video strategy can be
very useful. Cisco conducted a report in 2010 and found that 30% of traffic
is video. It’s estimated by 2013, this will rise to a staggering 90%.
Analytics
To paraphrase The
Godfather, although it may be Yoda; “to improve your blog, you must first know
your blog.” Or something like that. Using an analytics tools such as Google’s (which is free and very user friendly) will
enable you to do several things; conduct keyword research to see what people
are searching for, tracking just where visitors are coming from, what referral
traffic you are getting, display advertising and e-mail marketing. Using this
information, you can formulate the best strategy for your own blog when it
comes to enticing new visitors.
Guest Posting
Writing for other blogs may seem detrimental at first, but if you
include a link to your own blog then you can gain a share of the other guy’s
audience. Also, accepting guest posts for your own blog is something you need
to be doing. Building communities through unique and optimised content will
garner more visitors in the short term as guest bloggers tend to promote their
own work socially (and link to it).
Although guest posting
is not the only way to boost your traffic, it’s a tried-and-tested one that
works. If you are interested in different strategies, then visiting Think
Traffic is an idea, as they regularly update with great tips
and insights into building an online audience.
Finally
Be consistent. Don’t
give up. It takes a little while to see any effects. Don’t get disheartened
when your traffic doesn’t immediately spike. Persevere and stick with it.
