How to Conduct On-Page SEO for Your Blog
Search-engine optimization is an important way to help your blog get traffic. It encourages Google to push your site higher in search results when visitors are looking for content that’s related to your blog. Taking advantage of every opportunity to optimize your blog “on page” — or on the site — can maximize your ability to rank well and get more visitors to your site.
Here are some basic steps for conducting on-page SEO for your blog:
Title Tags
The title tag on your page is what search engines will pull and display in search results. Title tags are pulled for each page on your site, and each title tag should be unique for each page. Duplicate title tags can hurt your SEO efforts as much as missing title tags. Keep your title tags short and to the point, using your primary and secondary keywords.
Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions show up under title tags in search results. If you don’t write them yourself, the search engines will automatically populate it for you, usually with the first line or two from the page. By writing your own descriptions, not only will you help search engines rank your site better for the keywords you want, but you’ll also have compelling copy that will entice readers to click through to your site.
Alt Tags
Photos are an important part of your SEO strategy, as well, and they help your site rank for keywords overall and in image searches. You can optimize your photos by naming them with keywords and using alt tags, text that appears over the photo when you hover the cursor over it. Alt tags also tell search engines about the content of your photos — important since there is no other text there to provide the information.
Headers
Headers — using H1, H2, and H3 tags (and so on) — help to divide your page into readable sections, and they also tell search engines about the content of your page. Use your keywords in your headers for maximum SEO value. Using headers is akin to bolding your words — it tells readers and search engines what is important on the page.
Keyword Density
Finally, using keywords in the body of your copy is very important, and the number of times you use those keywords can have a significant impact on page rank. Keyword density refers to the number of times you use your keywords compared to the number of words in your content. There is no magic formula for keyword density, but a good rule of thumb is to use your keyword (s) once every 100 words in your content. It is important not to overuse your keywords, as this can negatively impact your SEO.
On-page SEO is critical to helping your blog rank higher in search results and get more traffic. These on-page SEO basics can help your site start generating traffic from day one, encouraging rapid growth. Of course, on-page SEO is only one part of your overall SEO strategy, so these tips should only be seen as first steps for marketing your site.
What else do you include in your on-page SEO? Share your tips in the comments!
Kim Willington is a freelance writer and researcher for Helpdesksoftware.org, where she has recently been researching methods of live customer support. In her spare time, she enjoys antiquing and taking long walks with her retriever, Spencer.
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