Blogging SEO Series - The Basics: Keyword Research Is Vital

How Important Is Keyword Research?

Keyword Research could mean the success or failure of your blog.

In my last post I spoke of the importance of using keywords for search engine optimization (SEO).  But it’s important that you don’t just use any old words that make sense to you.  Remember you have to keep your readers in mind.

A few posts back I wrote a post called “Pick Your Passion: What To Blog About”.  I told you that when starting a blog you should pick something that interests you.  This is especially true if you are new to blogging.  You however, being passionate about the topic, may know some words, terms, or special lingo that someone looking for information may not know.  So it’s important to use the right keywords that will allow people to find you when they search for your topic.

I’m Sure I Know What Words People Will Search For.  I Don’t Think I Need To Do Research.

Are You REALLY sure?  Don’t you think you should do at least a little Keyword Research? I think you’ll be surprised what you find

Let’s talk a little bit more in depth about what “keyword research” is, and just why it is so important.

Keyword research does basically three things.

• Helps to discover keywords related to your topic that people actually search for on the search engines
• Shows how much those keywords are actually used
• Shows how much competition there is using those keywords

People are unpredictable as far as what words you think they may use.  Everyone’s brain works a little different and, you never really know what words or phrases people will type in to find the information you want to provide.  

The best way to get the best traffic possible is to use keywords that are often used, but don’t have a huge amount of competition.

You may know all the popular words that someone would type in, but you may find that if you stick with those keywords as your primaries, you’ll end up on page 10, or further, of the results that are returned.  Not because you don’t use the keywords right but because there are other factors used by the search engines.  You see they also look at the amount of content, the age of the site, how many other sites refer back to it, etc.

Since you are starting a new blog you want to generate as much traffic as possible by getting ranked on the first page of the search engines as quickly as possible for good keywords that don’t have quite as much competition.

In my next couple of posts I will be discussing how to do keyword research and how to implement keywords into your posts.  

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Blogging SEO Series - The Basics: The Importance Of Using Keywords

The Importance Of Using Keywords In Your Blog

Why are Keywords So Important?

First, What are Keywords?

In order to explain how important keywords are to your blog (or any website really), I should start by explaining exactly what keywords are.

Keywords are specific words, groups of words, or phrases that best describe the overall theme of the website or page.  

If the overall content on a page is about a particular subject, then it would stand to reason that particular words, or phrases would naturally show up multiple times.

Ok, that makes sense, but why are keywords so important?

Well, the job of the search engines, is to determine which results are the most relevant when someone is searching for a given word or phrase.  It also has the responsibility of trying to make sure that the author isn’t trying to trick it into sending out results use a lot of keywords just to get ranked higher in the results.

When you are writing your blog it is important that you use the correct keywords, in the right way, in order to be listed when someone searches for your topic of choice.  It is very important if you want to get ranked higher and end up on the first page of the search results.

Why is it so important to get ranked higher on the search results?  I use social networking to advertise my blog.

Wow you sure are full of questions.

Using social networking such as twitter and facebook are great.  The more people you have direct access to the more you can promote your blog (or website), and it’s free.  The problem with relying on social networks to promote your site, is that it takes time and has very little longevity.

If you are not actively promoting your site, people will forget about it.  You may have loyal friends/contacts/followers who will occasionally stop by but if you are constantly saying “Hey!  Remember ME?!”, traffic to your blog will slow, if not eventually stop.

On the SEO side, by properly using keywords in your posts, the more the search engines like you.  The more the search engines like you, the better you rank on the results returns.  The better your rankings (in other words your content is relevant to the term being searched and the search engines know it), the better your traffic will be to your site LONG TERM.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) using keywords is also the best way to focus your target audience.  

Think of your blog as an arrow.  It has been crafted finely with keywords.  The search engine is the archer, and your audience is the target.

The search engine has plenty of arrows to shoot out to your audience.  You want to do your best to make sure that your arrow is the strongest, most accurate one so that you hit the bullseye every time.  Especially if you are trying to make a profit with your blog as well.

Keywords Are Important

It is important to use keywords, and more importantly using them correctly.  They are the absolute best way to ensure that your website is being promoted, by the search engines, accurately, passively (no constant promoting on your part), and for the best long term results.

In my next post I will be discussing the basics of how to do keyword research, to make sure you are using the best keywords possible.  This is also very important so don’t miss it.

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SEO Basics For Blogging

Basic Search Engine Optimization For Blogs

Some Basic SEO Information You Need Before You Start Your Blog

There are some basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization) “tricks” that you should know before you actually name your blog and get to writing (and before you register your domain name if you are planning to do that).

In the next several posts, I will be introducing and discussing these points.  As I post each article, I will update this post with a link to that article so that It will be easier for you to find should you return, so make sure to bookmark this post and subscribe to my RSS Feed so you don’t miss anything.

We’re getting into the good stuff... no... the essential stuff for creating a successful blog.

Search Engine Optimization is an absolutely necessary component to creating a successful blog, especially if you are hoping to generate an income from it.

You can advertise all day with paid ads.  You can promote your blog non-stop on social networks till your fingers cramp.  But at the end of those tiring days, it’s how well you optimize your page for the search engines that is going to be the most beneficial for you long term.

SEO determines how well your blog will rank in the search engines and generate FREE traffic, and if done right, a lot of it, for a long time.  Work put into doing it right at first will pay off long term.

Basic SEO Series

Blogging SEO Series - The Basics: The Importance Of Using Keywords

Blogging SEO Series - The Basics: Keyword Research Is Vital

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Starting Your Blog For Free

Blogging For Free

There are a few places that will let you create your very own blog for free.  The “trick” is to find places where you can post your blogging content and, if all goes well, start generating an income from your free blog.

There are of course ways to create a blog for very little money that you have more control over, and I will discuss those options in another post.  Right now, I am discussing how to get your blog started with absolutely no cash and have it pay 100% for itself.

Free Blogging Websites

If you have been on the internet for any length of time you have probably heard of a few of the following blogging websites.  

The internet has become quite a social place.  Many social bloggers also use these free blogging websites as a place share their daily lives with their friends and family, and of course the public at large.  All of the more popular sites are great for free blogs, but not necessarily great for blogging for profit.

I am going to mention in this article just a few of the Free Blogging Websites.  These are sites that allow you to create a blog that they will host for you for free.  However not all of them are well suited for monetization.

As I look over the following blogging site, I want to note first that I like them ALL for what they offer and if used properly can help.  The pros and cons that I will be taking into consideration however is their potential for being the “Primary” blogging site for generating income.  There are 3 major sources of generating income on a blog: Adsense style ads, Affiliate marketing, sponsor or paid ads.

WordPress

WordPress is probably one of, if not the most well known name in blogging.  However there are two sides to the Wordpress “coin”, so pay close attention.  

The free Wordpress blogging website is WordPress.com.  

WordPress also offer the blogging software for free if you want to host your blog yourself.  This is available from WordPress.org.  

Note - Most paid website hosting companies actually have a way of automatically setting up a wordpress blog on your site for free.  It’s quick and easy to do and I will be talking about this in later posts.

For now I am going to talk about the pros and cons of  WordPress.com.  

Pros

The good thing about blogging for free at WordPress.com is that you can get used to using the back end of the WordPress software.  This is where you create and edit your posts, pick your themes (the appearance of the blog), and customize it to a certain extent.

In addition if you ever decide to register a domain name (www.yourname.com) for your blog, you can upgrade from a free to a paid account and use your own domain name, and begin advertising.

Cons

With WordPress.com, unless you are paying for your account, you may not use google adsense as a revenue stream, you are not allowed to use a lot of the more well known affiliate marketing links.  They do provide established free blogs a way of generating some income but you have to reach a certain amount of traffic first.

For what I am trying to do, this kind of defeats the purpose, But it might be worth checking out because later down the road, being familiar with the back end of a WordPress blog will be very handy.

Tumblr

Pros

Tumblr is a fun blogging site that allows its bloggers to create a variety of types of posts and is extremely user friendly.  Tumblr is a very popular site and even if you don’t use it as a “for profit” location, it could be used as a way of generating traffic to your blog for profit site if done wisely.

Good for creating back links however.

Cons

The use of adsense or paid ads are not possible, and creating a blog for the primary purpose of affiliate marketing is not allowed.  This will severely limit your potential income.

Squidoo

Although not technically a blogging site Squidoo can be used to create articles with the potential of earning income.

Pros

The ability to create decent looking “Lenses” (articles) with profit generating links.  It’s also possible to integrate google adsense.  Good for creating back links, and potential for other streams of income.

Cons

Creating continuity is difficult as each “Lense” is a stand alone article.  Unless someone takes the time to look up your profile and other lenses by you, they may only visit a single lense and move on to someone else’s right away.

Blogger (Blogspot)

Pros

Blogger provides a number of themes to customize your blog and since it is run by google, they provide an easy interface to adding adsense to your blog.   It is also allowed to add affiliate links though I would not recommend every post be an affiliate offer (it’s frowned on by both readers and google alike)

Blogger also provides a way to export your blog, I am not sure how easy this task is, but it is a way to migrate your blog from blogger to your own hosted blog site at a later date.

Cons

Customization is still somewhat limited.   Full control of content allowed is subject to terms of service.  

“Which Free Blogging Service Should I Choose?”

This is entirely up to you and what kind of blogging you want to do.  

If generating profit as quickly as possible is not your objective and you plan to make regular posts on a specific topic and build your readership, then WordPress.com is your best bet.  It will allow you get become familiar with the WordPress platform.

If writing about multiple subjects and working with affiliate marketing is your desire then you may wish to check out Squidoo.  The ability to create multiple, separate lenses may be your best bet.

If you plan to be more of a social blogger with the occasional recommended affiliate product, then Tumblr is a great place to start.

For my purposes, the nature of this project, and to maximize my profit potential, I started with Blogger.  As far as potential to earn it seemed to have the most to offer for a free blog.

In my next post I will be discussing “Branding”.  Making a brand of yourself and/or your
blog/website.

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The Importance Of Branding Yourself

Personal Branding

What is Personal Branding?

In this day and age of blogging, and trying to market yourself to the masses, you see more and more people talking about the importance of personal branding, Just as I did in my previous post.  By this, I mean branding yourself as a valuable leader and expert in the field.

This is the very basis of one of the most powerful marketing methods of our time.  You may have already heard about it, but if not, this method is referred as “Attraction Marketing”, or by the name of the course which gave it prominence ”Magnetic Sponsoring”.

Before I go any further, let me tell you right away that this post is by no means a full lesson in this method, but simply meant to introduce you to the concept and one very specific aspect of it... Branding yourself.  

Before The World Of Internet Marketing

If you are like me, then you’ll remember what I am going to reminisce  about.  Before the days of the internet we were told, when we opted in to a network marketing company’s opportunity, to go out and talk to EVERYONE we knew and show them the products and the opportunity.   To “wow” them with how much money they could make and how great the products were.

Well as time goes on, and especially if you end up having been involved with more than one MLM (multi-level marketing) company, the general reaction you get is “Oh God! Not again!” and you find your friends and family quickly heading in the opposite direction.  

Why?  

Because the general tactic is repulsive, not attractive.  Nobody wants to be force fed anything, let alone those things that they are not already interested in.

By following that tactic you end up spending a lot more energy, and probably more money, trying to market the business and the product.  Generally to people who aren’t interested.

The result is, all you end up with is a lot of  frustration.  Both your own frustration, and (if you did manage to sign anyone up) your downlines frustration, because they were told to do the same thing.

Now I know this blog is about blogging but the principle is the same.  Keep reading and you’ll understand where I’m going with this.

What ends up happening is both you and the people you sponsored end up disappointed, and probably end up quitting.  Also you and they end up extremely wary about getting involved with another network marketing company because they put good money toward a bad result.

The next time someone said “Hey check out this new business opportunity” to you or them, their stomach probably did a flip flop and the started looking around for the nearest exit, and checked their watch trying to come up with some excuse of why they had to get going.

Let Them Know You Are More Valuable Than An Exit Strategy

Do you remember those days… I certainly do.  I checked my watch on more than one occasion while staring dreamingly at the red “Exit” sign (real or imagined) over the door, as someone tried to show me their “exciting” new opportunity.

For me it was a little different though, and if you are reading this article, it may be different for you too.  You see I believe, and always have,  in the entrepreneurial spirit.  I just hadn’t received any truly valuable training.

People these days join other people, not companies.  They want a personal “connection” and look for others they can relate too and perceive to be leaders.  People who they believe can show them the way to be successful at whatever they are trying to achieve.

This is where the importance of branding yourself comes in to play.

Branding Yourself is not just pretending to be a leader… It’s believing you are a leader.  It’s believing you have or can get something valuable to share, and then living up to your readers expectations.

Once you brand yourself as a leader, and show people your value as such, then readers will seek you out, instead of the other way around.

Now you are probably asking yourself, as I did…

How you can brand yourself as a leader or expert, if you are new to your niche or to blogging in general?

The answer is actually a lot more simple than you might think.

First you have to believe in yourself.  Believe that you have something to offer someone else who is just getting started.  

You will constantly be learning new marketing techniques and gaining , bit by bit, information that can help others.  Then share it with your people.  

You may have knowledge of a piece of software that may help others.  

Share it.

Maybe you read a great book on your subject of choice.

Share the title.

The more you share,  The more people will think of you as a leader, mentor, expert, etc.

The more you share, the more content you will have for your readers to engage with and return to as well.

But don’t just throw anything out to your readers.  Your obligation should be to take care of them and be genuinely helpful.  In other words...

Provide Value.

All you have to do is know just a little bit more about the subject than the other person.  You will always be learning something new, and there will always be someone who knows just a little bit less than you.  Turn around and share with your “audience”.

I mean I wasn’t born knowing what I know, but I took the time to seek out knowledge, for my own sake, and now I can share it with others.  One of the reasons in fact that I am sharing the information in this article.

Once I actually got the concept of branding myself, and started sharing the information I had with others, people started coming to me and asking questions.  If I didn’t know the answer that was great.... It gave me something new to learn and then share making me even more valuable to my readers.

Take this concept to heart, it works.  Seek, Learn, pass it on.

If you are interested in more on “Magnetic Sponsoring” or attraction marketing Click the link below for a FREE 7 day video boot camp by the creator Mike Dillard.  The dialog is geared toward network and internet marketing, but the principles hold true to blogging for profit as well.

Magnetic Sponsoring Boot Camp

In my next post we'll talk about starting your first blog for free and suggestions on where it can be done in "Starting Your Blog For Free"

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Branding Your Blog

Establishing Your Blog's Brand

Forward SEO Thinking

What Is Branding?

When we talk about “branding” we are referring to creating a brand name.  In regards to your blog the brand may even be yourself.  It all depends on what you plan on marketing or presenting to the public.

Branding refers to establishing a name for yourself and/or your blog that you can build and promote.

In my previous post Pick Your Passion: What To Blog About I wrote about deciding what you wanted your blog to be about.  This is important when it comes to thinking ahead about Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Again this article is not going to be an in depth lesson on SEO.  I am just going to scratch the surface a little bit so you aren’t caught off guard in the future.  When you are getting ready to set up your blog, one of the things you should consider is the best way to name your blog.

Why Is Branding So Important For My Blog?

When search engines index your blog, or any website for that matter, they try to determine relevancy of the content.  One of the ways they do this is looking at the name of the URL or website address, and another way is by looking at the title of the blog.

In other words when people to a search for a particular subject … say, “ant farms”, you may have some great ant farm content, but if your website is “JohnDoe.com” and the title of your blog is called “somewhere over the rainbow” then chances are your target audience is going to have one heck of a time finding you.

How To Brand Your Blog

When selecting a name for your free blog, you are at a slight disadvantage because you are sharing your website address with the domain name of the website hosting your blog.

For instance using Blogger, your free blog’s website address would be “whateveryouchoose.blogspot.com”.  So make the most of it.  Make the “whateveryouchoose” part relevant to the subject matter of your blog.  Alternately, and at the very least, use your own name if you are trying to establish yourself as an authority on the subject matter.

When you choose the website name you should also try to keep it something easy to remember.

There are three things to consider when establishing the brand for your blog.  This holds true for both free and paid blogs.

- Website Address (domain name or URL) as I just mentioned
- Blog Title - What you will call your blog
- Blog Description - a short description of what the blog is about

I’ve already discussed the website address of your blog but I want to mention that If you were to be creating your own website address (yourwebsite.com) the same rules would apply

Now as far as naming or titling your Blog, you want to follow the same principles.  Keep your content or subject matter in mind when you name your blog.  The name of your blog can be anything you want it to be, it doesn’t matter if someone else named their blog the same thing, but it is best to be creative and original.

The description of your blog is more or less a sub-title.  It helps the readers know a little bit more in depth what your blog is about.  It also helps to establish more relevancy for the search engines.

So keeping with the “ant farm” theme, here is an example.

Website address - antfarmfun.freebloghost.com
Blog Name/Title - John Doe’s Ant Farm Fun
Description - The Joys Of Having An Ant Farm

Now you may have to get creative if someone else already has the domain name that you want, but don’t get discouraged and do the best you can.


Not to be redundant but make sure you read my next post. A little bit more on "The Importance Of Branding Yourself".


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