Blogs are the current
rage, and many webmasters have blogs but fail to use their blog to it's full
potential. Blogs provide a steady stream of fresh content, and if this content
is written and managed properly, blogs have the ability to increase a website's
ranking in the search engines.
1. Host Your Own Blog
In order to prosper from a blog, be sure to host it on your own domain. Hosting
the blog on your own server will maximize the links to your website. Link
popularity is one of the factors search engines use to rank websites. Resist the
urge to use free hosting services, do not give away your link popularity!
2. RSS Feeds
All blogs should have an RSS feed. An RSS feed will allow for your blog posts to
be easily syndicated. The syndication will result in links back to your blog
from RSS directories or others who display the feed. Blog entries should be
available via an RSS feed. Website visitors who subscribe to the feed will
receive notification when new blog posts are added. If the title is of interest,
they will click through to your website. This gives subscribers an easy way to
know when a blog has been updated.
3. Use White Space
Be sure to make your content readable. Few website visitors actually read blog
posts; most web visitors simply scan a blog entry to determine its relevance or
point. With that in mind, the blog posts should be displayed in short
paragraphs. Overly long posts should be segmented into concise paragraphs or
broken into bulleted lists to make scanning easier. Avoid the urge to "clutter"
the post.
4. Titles Matter
You only have seconds to grab the attention of scanners browsing your blog. Use
keywords and catchy titles to draw readers in. Blog post titles can be bolded
for emphasis and white space should be used to buffer the content.
5. Grammar Matters
You will be judged by your knowledge and use of the English language. Search
engines will make note of blog entries that lack proper punctuation or
capitalization. If a blog post does not respect the rules of grammar and
punctuation, it is possible search engines will make the assumption that a bot
cobbled together the posts leading to a potential ban.
6. Legibility
As with any web design select fonts carefully, do not use micro or macro-fonts.
Colors should be web safe, making it easy to discern and read. The background
and background color should not obscure the text.
7. Navigate
Give readers somewhere to go, include links to additional information resources
or extended information in the blog post. Including links in the actual blog
post will ensure back links should the RSS feed be syndicated.
8. Communicate
If you create a post about someone, let them know, they might surprise you and
link back or they might blog about your blog post, essentially creating a
virtual dialogue. This is an easy way to build link popularity. Be warned
however, simply mentioning a popular blogger on a blog will rarely result in a
link back, the content of the blog post must "grab" their interest.
9. Incorporate SEO
Blog posts should be written as you would write a web copy. Posts should be
natural and make sense while still incorporating keywords and keyword phrases
that relate to the content.
10. Speed Matters
Web pages that are slow to load will frustrate users, be sure to use reliable
web hosting. Compress graphics to maximize load time.
Use your blog to help your website attract traffic. Attention to
search engine optimization details could mean the difference between popular and unpopular. Click
Here!
