Blogs can be business related or personal. The blogger may choose to
write about what’s going through his mind at that time or he may post
something about the work he does. In any case, it is one should optimize
the blog for readers as well as search engines because it is imperative
that readers keep returning to the blog.
Most blogs run on standard blog platforms or are hosted on other domains. As a result, optimizing a blog differs from the standard website search engine optimization (SEO). There are also design issues that can be unique to blogs which impact blog rankings. When you optimize your blog, you also make it easy for users to return and engage in your blog.
1) Make it pleasing to the eye: Create a distinctive look for your blog using templates and/or color schemes. Color upgrades and unique logos also help customize your blog. It should be kept in mind that the color scheme chosen should suit the content. Flashy colors are not a wise choice for factual blogs whereas subtle shades complement personal/philosophical blog postings.
2) Providing RSS, feed subscription and e-mail: Most viewers won’t bother to subscribe to your blog if the process is tedious. A potential subscriber will seek the orange RSS logo or logos of other standard aggregators. It is thus conducive to put up RSS links in the most obvious locations whereby people need just a click to subscribe to your feed. Various hosted blogging solutions do not provide RSS automatically. But it is imperative that the effort be made as it yields greater subscriptions. There may be viewers who don’t get RSS. Accommodate them by giving them an option of getting your blog posts by email instead.
3) Offering Full or Partial Feeds: This is a very individual decision, but also depends, to an extent, on the market space you are blogging in. You can offer two feeds, one including the ads as well as the RSS, and the other being an ad-free snippet copy of the feed, where readers will have to view the blog to read the full entry. While using snippets, it should be kept in mind that they are engrossing. It isn’t necessary to pick the first few lines of your piece and put those up. The excerpt should be compelling enough to draw readers to the blog.
4) The Content and Presentation: It is important to remember that the content should not bore the reader. It should be precise as well as comprehensive. Moreover, it should be presented properly. It isn’t a good idea to choose highly stylized fonts or layouts. Sometimes, everyone may not have all stylized fonts installed. In that case, they’ll view your blog in the simple fonts. It is thus preferable to choose simpler fonts which can be viewed by everyone.
5) Quick Response: It is important that your page doesn’t take time to load. Not all readers would bother to wait! This should be remembered while adding widgets to your blog. Too many javascripts tend to slow down your site. Thus, add only those that are necessary.
6) Importance of your Title: You should ensure that your title complements your content and doesn’t make the reader wonder what blog entry could be about. Initially when you are relying on search engines for your readers, it is important that you optimize your blog and use a great title. Using the proper keywords in the title is a good idea.
7) Blog Regularly: The more regularly you post, the more are the chances of Googlebot and other bots stopping by on a regular basis. If you post once in a blue moon, it might take a while for Google to stop by and see your updates.
8) Spread the Link: It is a good idea to link up your post to an original story, if any, or to commentary’s on the same topic. By doing this, you make those bloggers aware of your blog. There may be a chance that they will in turn link back to you on that story or some other time in the future. When you link to someone’s blog, make sure you link well. Rather than writing a direct ‘click here’ it will be more effective to create a link on some content in your post. The best way to get links to your blogs is by posting something original and innovative. When some blogger likes it, he may link to your post and eventually your work may go viral!
9) Putting a Related Posts Plugin: This allows readers to view older posts which may have got buried under newer posts. You also have an option to deeplink from your current page to older entries you made.
10) Ping other sites: Sites like Technorati and FeedBurner allow you to ping when you make a new post on your blog. This leads to faster indexing on search engines. Blog platforms like WordPress and MovableType give the option of automatic pinging. It is a good idea to ping and update!
11) Manage Your Trackback & Comment Spam: It isn’t very nice if spammers can link to irrelevant sites through your blog. It is thus important that you use the necessary tools to fight spam and manage comments on your blog.
Most blogs run on standard blog platforms or are hosted on other domains. As a result, optimizing a blog differs from the standard website search engine optimization (SEO). There are also design issues that can be unique to blogs which impact blog rankings. When you optimize your blog, you also make it easy for users to return and engage in your blog.
Some tips towards effective blog optimization are:
1) Make it pleasing to the eye: Create a distinctive look for your blog using templates and/or color schemes. Color upgrades and unique logos also help customize your blog. It should be kept in mind that the color scheme chosen should suit the content. Flashy colors are not a wise choice for factual blogs whereas subtle shades complement personal/philosophical blog postings.
2) Providing RSS, feed subscription and e-mail: Most viewers won’t bother to subscribe to your blog if the process is tedious. A potential subscriber will seek the orange RSS logo or logos of other standard aggregators. It is thus conducive to put up RSS links in the most obvious locations whereby people need just a click to subscribe to your feed. Various hosted blogging solutions do not provide RSS automatically. But it is imperative that the effort be made as it yields greater subscriptions. There may be viewers who don’t get RSS. Accommodate them by giving them an option of getting your blog posts by email instead.
3) Offering Full or Partial Feeds: This is a very individual decision, but also depends, to an extent, on the market space you are blogging in. You can offer two feeds, one including the ads as well as the RSS, and the other being an ad-free snippet copy of the feed, where readers will have to view the blog to read the full entry. While using snippets, it should be kept in mind that they are engrossing. It isn’t necessary to pick the first few lines of your piece and put those up. The excerpt should be compelling enough to draw readers to the blog.
4) The Content and Presentation: It is important to remember that the content should not bore the reader. It should be precise as well as comprehensive. Moreover, it should be presented properly. It isn’t a good idea to choose highly stylized fonts or layouts. Sometimes, everyone may not have all stylized fonts installed. In that case, they’ll view your blog in the simple fonts. It is thus preferable to choose simpler fonts which can be viewed by everyone.
5) Quick Response: It is important that your page doesn’t take time to load. Not all readers would bother to wait! This should be remembered while adding widgets to your blog. Too many javascripts tend to slow down your site. Thus, add only those that are necessary.
6) Importance of your Title: You should ensure that your title complements your content and doesn’t make the reader wonder what blog entry could be about. Initially when you are relying on search engines for your readers, it is important that you optimize your blog and use a great title. Using the proper keywords in the title is a good idea.
7) Blog Regularly: The more regularly you post, the more are the chances of Googlebot and other bots stopping by on a regular basis. If you post once in a blue moon, it might take a while for Google to stop by and see your updates.
8) Spread the Link: It is a good idea to link up your post to an original story, if any, or to commentary’s on the same topic. By doing this, you make those bloggers aware of your blog. There may be a chance that they will in turn link back to you on that story or some other time in the future. When you link to someone’s blog, make sure you link well. Rather than writing a direct ‘click here’ it will be more effective to create a link on some content in your post. The best way to get links to your blogs is by posting something original and innovative. When some blogger likes it, he may link to your post and eventually your work may go viral!
9) Putting a Related Posts Plugin: This allows readers to view older posts which may have got buried under newer posts. You also have an option to deeplink from your current page to older entries you made.
10) Ping other sites: Sites like Technorati and FeedBurner allow you to ping when you make a new post on your blog. This leads to faster indexing on search engines. Blog platforms like WordPress and MovableType give the option of automatic pinging. It is a good idea to ping and update!
11) Manage Your Trackback & Comment Spam: It isn’t very nice if spammers can link to irrelevant sites through your blog. It is thus important that you use the necessary tools to fight spam and manage comments on your blog.
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