You are not a big company looking to create brand awareness. You are just a blogger with an idea and a tiny website followed mostly by your relatives. You are independent and not backed up by a colossal product to push your blog to the top of Google search results. That does not mean your blog can’t get big and gain hundreds of thousands of followers. You will only need two things to achieve that: original content and several Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tactics. No matter how creative your blog posts are, no one will see them if they are hidden behind the millions of websites out there. The best way to make your humble blog is visible is to employ some savvy SEO tactics like these:
Choose a Keyword-optimised URL
Newbies probably have blogs that end with ‘wordpress.com’. It would be helpful if you purchase a domain name of your own to optimise it with keywords to get better rankings. Companies do this all the time; for example, seocompanysingapore.com, is an excellent domain name to get rankings whenever a user searches online for SEO service providers in Singapore. Likewise, you can enhance your blog URL with relevant keywords. Don’t go overboard, however, as too many keywords in the URL can get your blog flagged as spam.
Don’t Stuff Your Posts with Keywords
Say, you are a travel blogger. It might be tempting to stuff your blog post about a backpacking trip to Thailand with trending keywords like “cheap holidays Phuket.” This is counterproductive. Inserting too many keywords into your blog posts is called keyword stuffing, and it will make your content look low quality and more like spam. Google penalises keyword stuffed content, and that means your blog will be pushed into an Internet blackhole you can’t get out of. Always make sure that you only use keywords moderately and wisely.
Make Yourself Look Legit to Google
Google is more inclined to rank you higher if your blog looks legitimate, meaning that it’s written by an actual, independent blogger. Similar to Facebook profile verification for celebrities, you can give your blog authenticity with a Google Plus page. Create a Google Plus page and link your blog there for better search results.
Promote Your Blog on Social Media
Relentlessly promote your blog post on your personal social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and so on. Create links that directly sends a user to your blog post, so your site gets more visits, leading to better rankings on Google.
Mind those Photos
Be careful when you post photographs on your blog, they may be copyrighted and you could face a Google penalty. Try your best to post only the photographs you take, of which the sole intellectual property rights are with you. Sometimes, bloggers have to resort to stock photos, and in that case, make sure the photographs are free for distribution. Make attributions if such is required in the copyright license. Don’t ever post photographs floating around on the internet without authorship information as these may be copyrighted and you could face legal penalties for publishing without permission. Not just with photographs, don’t publish other people’s work on your blog without permission. It’s always best to publish strictly only your own material on your blog and keep content original for better search rankings.
Above all, know that SEO tactics don’t generate results overnight. You’ll have to be patient and develop your content gradually overtime.