What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization

It’s now been 6 months since I’ve started blogging, and boy, have I learned a lot!  A lot about SEO, Search Engine Optimization. I just got asked what is SEO today, so thought I would share a few things that I’ve learned in the last few months that have taken this beginner blogger from only a couple of viewers a day (my friends and family) to almost now 10,000 views on my blog in six months time.

SEO writing is a form of writing that helps websites and blogs become more visible and more easily found in the search rankings.  On the internet, a highly visible site with good content and good SEO writing will appear high in the search rankings and to a larger audience. Which means, in turn, your writing and content become more valuable to the viewer.

Some of the ways I’ve learned to optimize my writing are using keywords and meta tags.  Learning how to carefully categorize my content according to these keywords and remembering to always use headers in my posts.

What are Keywords?

Keywords are those words that people use when they are looking for information in searches.  Those words that describe exactly what your article or your image is about.  These are sometimes called meta tags, they define and describe your article.  For example, if a reader wanted to learn about “Macro Photography” they will probably go to the search box and type in exactly that: macro photography.  Thus, using the phrase “macro photography” within an article or the title of the article allows the search engine know that the article can help people learn about macro photography.

Because search engines determine relevancy and popularity by basically crawling a site for factors that influence relevancy,  the writer that is aware of SEO should always use  keyword phrases exactly as a whole, for example, if you are speaking about photography you may want to specify macro photography in parentheses,

There are many types of photography skills (macro photography, included) that are useful as an artist.

However, you, as the writer should also remember to write, not for the search engines but for your users and viewers.  Make your content relevant to them. Make sure that each page can be reached from at least one static hyperlink and have a clear and concise hierarchy navigational system on your site.

Tips for Better SEO Writing

Write for your Readers

Writing content-rich pages with clear and concise descriptions of your images, aid in accurately describing your elements.  These descriptive in the “ALT “ tags can be your keywords and your readers will have no idea that keywords are involved.This alt tag attribute is the alternative for non-visual browsers when they come across images. Many browsers also display the alt text when the reader rests their mouse on the image.

Another tip about images:  If you are going to put text on your image that you want to use as keywords, remember to repeat these in your “ALT” tags, the search engines can’t read the text on the images. This includes any company name, phone number, etc.

Don’t forget your featured image in WordPress, either, otherwise when your post appears in the reader feed, there usually isn’t any representative image associated with your blog.

Remember to always use

elements in your text.  When a search engine reads a site the first paragraph and title are the items displayed in the search results.  Make this introductory paragraph concise and descriptive.  Repeat your keywords in the title and in your paragraphs.

Using your keywords in your titles or categories, I’ve noticed will ensure that your URL is also rich in keywords and this will also improve your SEO.  So, carefully consider your categories for your article.

I admit, when beginning a blog you aren’t quite sure exactly what your categories might be.  They evolve over time.  Mine did, but after 6 months, I finally saw a clear pattern of keywords and categories in which to label and categorize my posts.  It is tedious and time-consuming, however, well worth the time to retrofit, so to speak, your site and blog to these categories.  You will find that you will now have a more organized method of posting your articles and images, more concise keyword list,  and now your URLs will contain those keywords.

Another benefit of organizing this way is that you, with WordPress, can create an automatic navigation system based on these categories and keywords.  Users will not only be able to find your posts more easily but even you will be able to what you have posted in the past and keep fresh content on your site and not repeat yourself.

Read your article out loud and spell check

I’m one who writes basically how I talk anyway, but when you read your article out loud before submission you will find places that sound awkward and not as clean as it should. Now is the time to clean it up.

Spell check your article and use a grammar checker if you have one available.  I use a product called Grammarly, it is a free download I use at home that has caught so many errors for me.  I find it indispensable.

Insert keywords before or after writing

Before you start writing SEO content, look at your major headers or opening sentences. Can you use any keywords? Look for natural opening or see how you can change sentences to sound more natural using your keywords phrases. You might find it easier to insert keywords after your first draft.

In WordPress, you have the opportunity to insert keywords. Look carefully at your content, and choose descriptive words that you would use to search for your article. Words that you want your audience to find your article by.  Feel free to use phrases. If you have created all your categories and subcategories, you’ll notice that now your keywords are more unique to the article itself and you will not only check your categories for the post and now can add these unique descriptives to the keywords section.