Blog SEO using Keywords for Increased Blog Traffic and Better Blog Marketing

Apples and blog keywords

Bloggers can increase their blog traffic if they use keywords and phrases strategically, taking advantage of blog seo (search engine optimization) techniques.

If you’re an ordinary blogger who is not commenting much on other blogs, and not promoting like crazy on Twitter, Facebook and Digg, chances are that the majority of your blog traffic comes from search engines. In the past month, for example, my blogs’ traffic from search was: 41%, 46% and 50%.

The repetition of certain words and phrases can help search engines understand the subject of your blog post, and increase that post’s rank in search for those terms. You have to be conscious of this repetition, these keywords and key phrases, in blog post titles, initial paragraph, category and tag assignment, image tags, and subheadings in your copy, as well as the title tags for the blog itself.

I’m summarizing the advice of pros referenced below, teaching myself about all this and sharing it with you, my fellow bloggers.

Blog Keywords

blog seo search volume in Google's Keyword Tool

Search volume of the keyword phrase "blog seo"

Before you start or when your post is in draft, you should do basic keyword research to learn the terms searchers use to find your topic. For example, if I enter “blog seo” and “blog search engine optimization” in Google’s keyword tool, I find that users search more often for “blog seo,” as graphics above and below show.

Search volume of the keyword phrase "blog search engine optimization"

If you are primarily blogging to attract local, not national, business, remember to add geographic terms to your posts. For example, if I were writing about my nonprofit, SCORE Chicago, I should use the word “Chicago” in key locations described below, just as I might any other important keyword. Didn’t know there was such a thing as local SEO? Check local SEO expert Miriam Ellis’ description.

With the most-searched keywords and phases for your post topic in mind, you are ready to start “SEOing” your post. To get the most SEO bang for your buck, target a main keyword phrase in each blog post, and you will find that secondary and long tail (those with low search volume) phrases fall naturally into place as a result of this focus. If your main phrase is ‘blog SEO’, you’ll also be using phrases like ‘optimizing a blog’, ’seoing a blog’, ‘how to optimize a wordpress blog,’ etc. Just keep the main phrase in mind and related terms should occur naturally.

Blog Post Titles

Advice: Use the most important keywords in your blog post title. SEO expert Tim Grice warns us “How your words are ordered in your title tag makes a difference to your search engine position.” The words you use earlier in the title will have more weight than those used later.

We’ll talk in a later post about what you can do on fancier blog platforms like Wordpress.org to edit your blog titles for search engines. The basic advice for all, including those on Blogger/Blogspot or Wordpress.com, is to use a frequently-searched phrase or two in your blog title.

Example: In the title to this post, I find a way to use both “keyword” and “blog seo.” I confess that in earlier posts, I’ve also done it totally wrong. For example, I used “biz” instead of “business” in a post title. Sounds cute but who’s typing “biz” in a search when they mean “business”?

Initial Paragraph of Post

Advice: Repeat your most important keywords in the first sentence or, at minimum, the first paragraph of your post copy.

Example: I’m using “blog seo” and “keywords” in the first sentence.

Blog Categories and Tags (“Labels” in Blogspot)

Advice: Place each post in the single best category. SEO pro Michael Gray says that this “maximizes the value of each category page in getting posts indexed.” Here’s a good link on the topic: Category SEO for Wordpress Blogs. My understanding is that tags are used primarily by humans, not search engines.

Example: For this post, I have to decide between the categories “Blogging” and “Search Engine Optimization.” I choose Blogging, because I’m targeting bloggers here. I add tags to give readers a clearer idea of my topic.

Use of Blog Heading Format

Advice: Heading tags, also called H tags, are sometimes integrated with formatting options in platforms like Blogger and Wordpress.com. In Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org, by default, the format button is in a “paragraph” format. But if you click the dropdown next to that word on the task bar, you can select “heading 1,” “heading 2,” etc.

You should use these to create subheadings in your post for two reasons. First, subheadings make the copy easier for the reader to scan. And second, the search engines may look for keywords in these headings (Some, like SEOmoz’s Rand Fishkin, question H tags’ relevance in search now.)

Grice advises “Don’t cram each keyword into all your headings but be mindful of your H1 and 2, try to use keyword variations that are relevant to your main, targeted keyword.”

Example: After I write this advice, I add the words “blog” and ” SEO” to some of the headings on this post to reinforce my keyword phases.

Tags for Blog Images

Advice: When you insert an image, add keyword-rich text that will be displayed if your image is not downloaded. This is called the “Alt Tag” for an image. Search engines read this text, and it is another opportunity to restate your keywords in a different context. This post by Timethief explains how image SEO works.

In Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org software, the alt tag text is added at “Edit Image Title.” This is separate from the caption, “Edit Image Caption.” In Blogger software, you cannot add these tags unless you know html coding.

Example: When I inserted the graphic showing keyword volume for the phrase “blog seo,” I added “blog seo — keyword search volume in Google’s Keyword Tool” in the Edit Image Title line. I also added the caption “Search volume of the keyword phrase ‘blog seo.’”

Blog Title Tags

Advice: The title tag of your blog itself is defined as the words that appear between <title> and </title> in your blog’s template. In essence, it is the name of your blog and its tag line. Guess what–you need to use keywords and phases that reflect the main focus of your blog there. See this Problogger post on the topic of blog title tags.

Example: The title of this blog is “Web 2.0 Marketing for Small Business” and its tag line is ” Helping small business understand online marketing, Twitter, Facebook, blogging, and more.” These words are the main topics, the most important keywords, of this blog.

Moderation and Usability

Advice: No keyword-stuffing just to increase keyword density, say the pros. Blogsessive’s post advises: “Use as many keywords as you feel that are relevant to your content, which means they are present on the page and have value to a visitor. A list of 50 keywords means that most probably at least 40 of them are almost totally irrelevant.”

Vary your keyword phrases and — above all — make it relevant to users. Miriam Solas states: “What I try most to stress is writing naturally and thoroughly . Yes, definitely do keyword research and be very aware of the focus of each piece of writing, but put your heart and soul into writing in a way that educates, informs, entertains and engages. This makes not only for good optimization, but also for great reading!”

Example: You be the judge here. Does the keyword repetition in this blog post seem forced or natural?

How’s the Keyword SEO on Your Blog?

Please leave me a comment and tell me about keyword usage on your blog.

Upcoming posts in this Blog SEO Series concern blog content, internal and external linking, Wordpress.org features like permalinks, Metatags and metadescriptions, and more.

Are blog keywords and phases are like apples in baskets, grouped strategically at certain locations in your post? The first pic in this post is from a recent trip to Michigan.