By Larry Stopa and Molly Guendert
Blogs are an important tool for improving branding and search visibility. According to a Search Engine Journal study, companies that Blog have 434% more indexed pages than companies who don’t, which means better visibility and more leads. If your brand isn’t seeing the results it would like from its Blogging efforts, you may want to use these tips on how to make your Blog perform better on search engines.
Have the Blog Under the Same Domain as your Website
Your Blog under your Website’s domain will work more effectively because the links to your Blog will also assist your Website, as well as the other way around. Plus the Blog creates more pages for your website which boosts search visibility. This is important because search engines find Blogs and Websites by following links and rank them based on the quality of those links. It is also important to keep in mind that if you have your Blog under a different domain than your Website, search engines will treat them as two completely different Websites which means you will have to double your Search Engine Optimization efforts to gain search visibility.
Use Keywords in the Title and Content
Finding the keywords searched by your target audience is the first step toward online search visibility (we use and recommend the Google Keyword Tool). From there, incorporate those keywords naturally into your Blog post title and content. This puts you on the path to successful search optimization. Appeal to humans and search engines by smoothly incorporating keywords so your content doesn’t become choppy or unnatural to read.
Link Keywords to the Page on your Website That is Most Relevant and Optimized for those Keywords
Take your keywords to the next level by linking them to a page of your Website best search optimized for those keywords. The purpose of your Blog is to provide your readers with information, so link to pages of your Website that give them more information. Keywords and links help your search visibility, so link a keyword on your Blog that goes to a web page that is search optimized for those keywords. That will give you a bigger boost from search engines.
Link to Other Websites Relevant to the Content
There are several ways linking to outside sources can benefit your Blog. For SEO, linking to other websites helps boost your credibility with search engines. You look like a hub or portal, which makes you more important. Linking out to other relevant and credible pages will help you seem more trustworthy to Google and Bing. An added SEO bonus of linking out is that the source you linked to may choose to link back to your Blog or website, which will also positively impact your search visibility.
Promote your Blog Across your Social Channels
Regularly sharing your Blog posts across your Social Media channels is a great way to promote your Blog and increase branding. Social Media has SEO benefits of its own, with the number of Shares, ‘Likes’, Follows and +1’s you have impacting how you rank on search engines. Use your brand’s Social accounts to share new Blog posts with fans and followers in order to increase visibility and branding. If your Blog content is interesting or relevant enough, readers will share it and each time your content is shared on Social Media, a backlink is created. The more backlinks you have, the more authority you build and authority is another factor that search engines use to rank pages.
Blogs are a powerful online marketing tool that can help drive traffic, build branding and enhance your Website’s organic search engine optimization. Keep these tips in mind to make your brand’s Blog more visible and successful.
About the Authors:
Larry Stopa is President of E-Power Marketing. Since establishing E-Power in 1998, he has followed the evolution of the web and search engines to guide businesses to best use constantly changing online marketing strategies.
Molly Guendert is Search Engine Marketing Specialist at E-Power Marketing. She has been with E-Power since 2011 putting her journalism degree to use by writing copy and keeping up with all of the changes in the world of Social Media.
Do you have a question or a situation about online marketing that you want to discuss? Email Larry Stopa at larry@epower.com
