Foundation: Focus, Focus Focus (And Keywords)

Writing SEO content is not as simple as plugging in keywords to articles that you’ve already written. Rather, you have to go into the writing knowing that you’re writing SEO articles, search engine consumption, rather than those intended for human consumption. To be ranked highly in the SERPS, you must focus on the keyword you want to rank for, and write explicitly for that purpose.

Naturally, your blog posts should contain those same keywords for SEO purposes, not just in the content of your blog posts, but also in your tags and title, too. It’s also important to use those keywords in headings between your paragraphs. However, you don’t simply want to recycle the same keyword endlessly. Rather, you’ll want to include variations of your keyword, because visitors won’t always use the exact keyword that you had in mind.

Remember, as you write your SEO blog posts, to try to make them look natural and avoid them becoming difficult to read because of your keyword usage. At this point, your articles will stop being optimized and become penalized, instead.

Ways of Putting Content in Motion

Once you’ve written your SEO blog posts, you will want to disseminate it to attract readers, who may be potential customers. Social media and networking are your friend when you want to put your content in motion. When you submit your optimized blog posts to Twitter or Facebook, for example, this gives other the users to “Like” and “Retweet” your links, allowing your content to reach an even larger audience.

Other ways of marketing your blog entries include linking to your own posts from other pages on your website and related microsites, including excerpts and links in newsletters and mailing lists and using paid text link or banner advertisers to attract new consumers. Consider other marketers a resource, because they will often write about your posts and include excerpts and links for their own readers.

Podcast and Video

In the age of iPods and Vevo, podcasts and videos have become instrumental in marketing. Viral videos include LOLcats and advertising campaigns, and television shows now exist solely to showcase this content. When you diversify into these areas of content, you have the option to reach a large and more varied audience than if you simply stuck to the same community or corner of the Internet. You can reach potential readers who were far less likely to know about your blog by uploading a video to YouTube and included your URL in the videos itself or in the video description.

Digital cameras and integrated webcams make it easier than ever to create your own video, and sites like YouTube or Vimeo allow you to easily upload it for millions of viewers to watch. You can even use native video creation tools to turn your presentations into narrated videos for viewer consumption.

If you’re not comfortable with being seen on-screen or editing videos, podcasting is your method. With a headset from your local electronics department and an Audacity account, you can get started. Develop a 30-minute show where you Interview bloggers and creators like yourself. Brainstorming questions is quick and the back-and-forth will fill your time-slot. If you distribute with iTunes, which millions of consumers already use, you’ll be easy to find.

Conclusion:

Blogging the SEO way means developing an adaptable marketing strategy to make the best use of your time. Keyword usage is just one step of several, including content promotion and diversification, that will help build the your blog. You can then measure that success with tools like Google Analytics.

Citations:

• Photo with CC license. Taken from Flickr. Author: kbedi

Benjamin Sawyer is a passionate blogger and SEO consultant. He often write about blogging and Internet marketing in general. He is also content contributor for well known matrimonial law firm from New York – www.newyorkstatedivorce.com