I’m a big fan of simplicity when it comes to SEO. I am not into following every latest trend or trick. I think far too much detracts from the most important part of blogging - writing.

Therefore, when I work with my bloggers, I keep it simple.

TOP 10 SEO TIPS:

  1. Set out strong categories. It’s a very basic step, but often not considered effectively.

    • Keep it simple
    • Research - know your top search terms, and compare like searches
    • Emphasize your keywords, even if it requires repetitiveness (like celebrity names or show names used in various ways)
    • Organize - I have moved towards using category hierarchies on almost all our b5 blogs in order to increase the number of categories for SEO while also maximizing navigation ease for the readers
  2. Name your images. This populates greater keywords into the post, and also promotes Google Image traffic

    • image-name-01.jpg where "-" is a space and numbers are used for multiple images
    • "Image Description Text" in Title / Alt Text areas
  3. Use effective titles. Short, with strongest keywords first.
  4. Use text effects (bold or header code) - also good for readers on longer posts
  5. Use bullets and other lists, when appropriate - they tend to lean towards search friendly phrases
  6. Use tags - both general tags (which lend themselves well to general searches) and specific tags. As many as appropriate.
  7. Promote yourself - use services such as Digg, Reddit or Stumbleupon, as well as forum participation, to promote your posts
  8. Participate on other blogs - leave useful comments on other sites. In many cases, this becomes a link back, and in best cases, will lend to those authors noticing you and linking to you in future
  9. Watch your text length - don’t let images or video clips live on their own. Describe them in enough text for search engines to appropriately identify your posts.
  10. Use Pages to summarize and link to important posts

    • Depending on your setup, these can be more optimally positioned for SEO as they will usually be blog-name/page-title.
    • Effective pages will give you the opportunity to highlight your most popular content - to link to many posts on your site. Examples include Top 10 lists, Popular Post excerpts, TV Spoilers, Celebrity Biographies

SEO does not have to be complicated. The best SEO tips are things you can do every day to make your site better.

At b5, I can skip past one important area (posting regularly), because of our contract & topic areas, but for many sites, this should not be overlooked.

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