As many of you probably know, Google has an algorithm that they use to determine if a website will add value to its readers. In a lot of ways, I think this Google algorithm is sort of like Regina George in Mean Girls. It decides if your website is cool enough to be seen, and if its not, Google is kind of like, “Your website doesn’t even go here! Stop trying to make Fetch happen!”
I digress. It used to be easy to rank for a certain keyword or term, back in the day. Now, in the days of Back to the Future, Google is actually super complex, and looks at many factors to determine if your blog or website should rank well. While good content will ALWAYS be the best determining factor as to if your website will rank well, there are a few things you can do within your blog posts to help Google decide for you, if your website is cool enough to be seen. Here are a few tips to help optimize your blog posts for SEO:
Tips for Blog Post SEO Optimization
Use Custom URLs
Nowadays, if you buy a blog template, or have a company set up your blog, more often than not, the default setting for your URL structure will be customized. With my wordpress blog, the URL structure will automatically copy whatever my blog title is. For example, if my blog post were entitled “Bellagio Wedding Photos | Las Vegas | Mark and Stephanie” my URL (you’ll sometimes hear this referred to as a ‘slug’) would look something like this: http://www.amberlightcollective.com/blog/bellagio-wedding-photos-las-vegas-mark-and-stephanie
There are a few things to remember when using customized URLs.
– Never use any special characters
– Only use lower case lettering
– Only use a dash (-) to separate words
– Do not keyword stuff your URLs
If you haven’t changed your URL settings on your blog, or are not sure what the settings are, go do this today. Its one of the most important aspects of a well optimized blog post.
Use Headings, especially H2 tags
Any good blog post should have a great structure; an introduction, great post content, compelling images, and headers. Its not a good idea to duplicate your title or keywords in an H1 header, but it is a great idea to reuse your keyword in an H2 header. It is super important, though, when using H2 headers and your keywords that you’re actually using the header properly, naturally, and in a location in the blog post which makes sense. For example, if I’m using a venue name as a keyword (which I often do), then I will dedicate an entire paragraph talking about the venue, and will title this paragraph the venue name with an H2 header.
Use H2 headers only when needed, and only use your keyword once in an H2 header in an entire blog post.
Use alt image tags
Don’t leave your alt image tag spaces blank. Google has an entire image section on their website. We’d like to think that Google is smart enough to know what is in the content of our photos, and maybe they are, I don’t know their super hero secrets, but in the mean time, until they make their super powers known to the world, the best way to let Google know what is in the content of our photos is to use alt image tags. Use your keyword, followed by a short, unique, description of whats happening in the photo. Example: Bellagio wedding photos, bride kissing groom on cheek.
Use 300 or more words per post
Content is king. I’ve heard it SO much, I don’t even know who said it first. Its totally true though. When SEO became a thing, it used to be really easy to tip the scale with little tricks like keyword stuffing, or buying a URL that literally was your keywords, but as Google has grown, and improved upon their algorithm, you’re no longer able to “trick” the system. Google truly does value good content. They like well written content, and they like content that can actually add value to someone’s life. They’re all about enriching lives.
You can’t really enrich someone’s life if you are typing one paragraph and calling it a day. This isn’t a “one and done” type of relationship guys. You need to commit! Ideally, 2,000 to 3,000 word blogs are best, but ain’t no body got time for that. Well, maybe you do, I don’t know. I don’t know you.
Realistically, 300 words per blog post will work out just grand. Its really not a hard goal to achieve. It takes me about 15 minutes to whip up a minimum of 300 words. This is enough to give you multiple paragraphs, and a 300 word minimum goal also gives you plenty of space to add valuable content.
Since we’re talking about content, and word counts, one thing I WOULDN’T do is keyword stuff. Keyword stuffing is a black hat SEO practice that can actually get your website or blog penalized by Google, which means your rankings will go down instead of up. Using keywords is a tricky business, and to be safe, I wouldn’t use your keyword more than 4 times in your entire blog. Once in your title, once in an H2 tag and one or two times in the content itself. Thats it. Sprinkle it around sparingly, and naturally. Don’t be all like, “Today is a gorgeous day BELLAGIO WEDDING PHOTOS and I love puppies!” Use it in context, where needed, sparingly. And just in case you were wondering, this blog post has 1,034 words. You’re welcome.
Conclusion
These tips are just the beginning. Like I said before, content will always be king with Google, so nothing is going to replace a valuable blog post, but these tips will certainly help you along the way to greatness! (Like Gryffindor)
If you have other tips that have helped your blog posts succeed in Google, I’d love to hear them! In the spirit of community of competition, feel free to share them in the comments!
Have a great week, and happy blogging!
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