SEO Hosting Blog

The Internet is overflowing with blogs. At last count, well over 100 million blogs are being tracked by Technorati. With so many blogs out there, it’s important for writers to understand the purpose of their blog. That’s why I’m posing the question: what’s the point of your blog?

 
Blogging with No Purpose…

 
It’s safe to say we’ve all come across blogs that seemingly have no true purpose other than to take up space. Blogging simply for the sake of blogging won’t allow you to reap the benefits of this powerful communication tool. (more…)

Blogging is the easiest SEO tool in the business.  Why – because search engine optimization is naturally built in without the user having to be an advanced marketer.  Here’s why:

1. Most blogs will automatically create title tags so that the title of the post becomes the URL of the post.
2. Tagging and categories also have unique URLs, so you’re category could be a primary keyphrase.  So if you have a credit card site, it will appear as www.yoursite.com/category/credit card, which will be indexed separately from your posts with the same keyphrase.
3. Interlinking is easy with blogs.  There’s no reason to struggle with an advanced site map on a blog.  On a traditional website, you’re going to want to link between pages to help spiders travel through your site.  Blogs have interlinking built in: archives, recent posts, categories, and tags all link internally to your blog’s pages.  This is the prime argument for including categories and tags on your blog.
4. It creates a whole new avenue for backlinks, as blogs link to other blogs, whereas they might never link to static website.

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Numerous studies have been conducted to analyze how people read content online. After tracking users’ eye patterns, the results are in: online users tend to scan content rather than read it. What does this mean for your website? It means you have to make your content scanner-friendly to accommodate the reading habits of Internet readers.

How can you make scannable pages? Here are 7 tips to help you out.

1. White Space- Everyone say it with me “White space is my friend.” Every single inch of your website doesn’t have to be crammed with information. In a way, what you don’t put on your website is as important as what you do include. Take advantage of white space as it eases the strain on your visitors’ eyes. Additionally, including white space on your website makes your content look shorter and less intimidating.

2. Bullet Points- Bullet points are great for a couple of reasons. First, bullet points with bold headings are easy to scan. It allows your visitors to quickly scan through an article to understand the main points. It also keeps you focused as a writer. It’s like an outline; bullet points prevent you from getting off point.

3. Numbered Lists- Numbered lists provide the same benefits of bullet points. It’s easy-to-scan, quick to read, and engaging to your audience.

4. Single Column Layout- One of the biggest mistakes I often see is websites with 2 or more text columns. Multiple columns are the opposite of scanner-friendly. They force readers to go top to bottom then top to bottom again. Your readers simply won’t put up with it, and they’ll leave your website instead.

5. Brief Paragraphs- Your website isn’t a lengthy dissertation that people want to sit and read for several hours. Break the content into several short paragraphs so that your content doesn’t seem as long. Use the brief paragraphs to guide your readers’ eyes to the call to action at the end of the document.

6. Bolded Copy- One particularly effective technique for maximizing scanability is using bold typefaces throughout your text. Not only does this help your readers browse the document faster, but it’s also a wise copywriting move because it emphasizes the benefits of your services. Bold the words that let your readers understand the benefits of doing business with your company. Bolding a few select keywords won’t hurt either.

7. Incorporate Images- Many SEO experts have scared everyone away from using images on their website. They have everyone so focused on keyword placement and avoiding anything that doesn’t contribute to furthering a site’s SEO strategy that people are creating bland websites that no one wants to see. There is absolutely nothing wrong with including images on your website. In fact, properly placed images make your content easier to scan and more welcoming for your visitors.

It’s no secret that creating new content is one of the keys to improving your search engine rankings. New content allows you to target new keywords; it gives the search engines fresh content; and the frequent updates to your website build trust with the search engines. But coming up with ideas for new articles can be challenging. If you’re experiencing writer’s block, there is hope.

Here are some tips for creating new search engine friendly content ideas.

• Watch Your Tweets- If you don’t already have a Twitter account, you need to get one ASAP. Once you have your Twitter account setup, follow other key players in your industry. You’ll be able to take part in interesting conversations about your industry, and this could generate some new ideas for content on your website. Always be analyzing your tweets for new, fresh ideas.

• Conduct a Blog Search- The Google blog search feature provides a really great way to come up with new content for your blog or website. Simply search for relevant keywords and a list of recent blog posts will come up with the results. Browse through the blogs to see what the latest topics of interest are, and write about one that you haven’t covered yet. Don’t just copy what everyone else is saying about the subject; come up with your own opinion on the matter so that your article is truly unique.

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On the surface. No Follow tags are a good idea.  The tag rel=”nofollow” was set up to beat comment spamming.  The point of the No Follow tag is to ensure that search engines do not follow the link to the spammer’s website, rendering the link, um, impotent.  No Follow tags have now been adopted by more than just blog comments.  Wikipedia now also uses No Follow tags to cut down on the amount of false linkbuilding.  Basically, you’re going to see these types of open websites, where anyone can add a link, using No Follow tag more and more.

There’s a couple of problems with this.  Though No Follow tags are bad news for search engine marketers who want some easy linkbuilding, there not actually all that effective at cutting down on spam.  Marketers have to worry about incoming spam as much as they have to worry about the quality of links placed on other people’s sites, so a marketer who manages a fleet of blogs is going to have trouble with comment spam using No Follow regardless.
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