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Leverage These SEO Tips to Improve Blog Search Results

Yes, Google, Bing and other search engines have made their algorithm updates complex. Yes, staying current on the latest search tricks and techniques takes time. However, you still want and need the highest search results for your blogs. Landing high in searches means gaining more traffic to your website. That's why you must use every SEO arrow in your quiver to be noticed by the search engines and thus by customers. Here's how to do just that.

RE-EXAMINE YOUR APPROACH TO USING KEYWORDS

Some believe using as many keywords as possible in blogs elevates your search standing. However, that leads to poorer results from search engines like Google, which penalizes "keyword stuffed" content. A better approach: first, use one or two "long-tail" keywords, meaning those featuring two- or three-word terms. Next, ensure those long-tail keywords are woven into content in unforced, natural ways. Visitors using long-tail keywords in searches are more likely to become customers.

We present Part 1 of our conversation on using SEO to gain improved search engine results for blog content. Part 2 will be unveiled next month.

Google bestows higher search results upon content providers offering the most helpful information sought by its users. If you do this more effectively than anyone else providing similar content, your results will gain a higher search ranking.

Read Google SEO for Bloggers: Easy Search Engine Optimization and Website Marketing for Google Love, by Joseph Hogue.

Gauge keyword search popularity by using such websites as Google Trends, Google AdWords, Wordtracker or the Yahoo! Buzz Index, each of which can quickly give you a sense of most used keyword searches.

Email or call us at 708-246-4211 for more SEO tips on how to improve your blog search engine results.

FOCUS ON PROPER KEYWORD PLACEMENT IN MULTIPLE PLACES

It's not enough to simply use the right keywords. You also must insert them in the right places in blogs. Ensure one of your chosen long-tail keywords appears within your headline's first 65 characters. Also place keywords in headers and body, in ways naturally flowing with messages addressing your audience's needs. Your chosen keyword must also appear in your meta description, which describes your content for search engines and the eventual readers.

For more about leveraging SEO to ensure your blogs garner top search results, here are several additional tips to ensure your search results beat those of your competitors.

• Fill your blog content with the most valuable information possible. Before posting any blog article, ask yourself what mission you're looking to accomplish. Why should audiences care about this content?
• Optimize your blogs for use on mobile devices. For instance, Google lists mobile-friendly content higher in its search results. That means when all else is equal, the more mobile-friendly the content, the higher the search results.
• Liberally use images, and make sure you alter photo tags in your blogs so that cryptic numbers are replaced with words reflecting what your images illustrate. Google favors images featuring this kind of "alt text."