SEO Basics for Bloggers & Beginners

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Search engine optimization (SEO) is extremely important for anyone posting original content on the web. That goes for businesses, bloggers, and content creators of all kinds. The basic idea behind SEO is that you want your content to be easy to find through search engines. The higher your search engine rankings are, the more web traffic your content will get. This is becoming more important than ever with the near infinite amounts of competitors on the internet, especially when you consider that most users don’t scroll beyond the first page of search results.

This may sound intimidating and feel like SEO is a nearly impossible battle, but that isn’t true. In reality, you aren’t in a direct competition with the entirety of the internet. You simply need to stand out in your particular niche. Here are the basic ideas you’ll need to get started on your road to a better SEO campaign:

Have your own domain

If you’re serious about your content, you’ll need your own domain and hosting. While there are plenty of blogging and hosting services out there, search engines won’t generally be seeking out that content. This is because search engines want to point to sites with high authority, as these are more likely to be useful to their user base.  Hosting your own website is a basic indicator that you have serious goals, and these sites will be much more likely to appeal to search engines.

Build on links

This has been one of the most basic concepts of SEO since the dawn of the internet, and it’s still just as important today. If you want to increase your traffic, as well as your authority, you’ll need to link out to useful content as well as have others link to your own.

It’s possible to get others in your niche to link to your content by asking and offering to help them as well, though this approach may come off as a bit desperate if executed poorly. You could also produce content as a guest on other sites, which would earn publicity for your own. You may also decide to hire a link building service like linkgraph.io. Such SEO services may be able to help your site grow significantly in as little as just a few months.

Incorporate keywords

If you’re posting content online, you should be familiar with the concept of keywords. These are words most likely to grab the attention of search engines, and they need to be worked into your content whenever possible. Of course, these can be phrases instead of just single words as well. Generally speaking, you’ll be aiming for an idea that’s general enough that you can imagine lots of people searching for it but specific enough to fit naturally in your content.

If that sounds difficult, it’s because it definitely can be one of the toughest parts of SEO. Even if your site has a good deal of general information, it’s likely that you have some sort of focus. No one can write about everything, after all. Try to think of keywords that relate to your site’s topic or general focus, and incorporate them into your titles early on in each piece, in the URL when possible, and even in your site’s metadata.

Optimize for your users

Don’t neglect making your site easy to access from all devices, either. These days, most web traffic comes from mobile devices rather than home PCs, so you’ll likely need to have at least two different versions of your site to cater to each audience. Poorly optimized sites will be difficult to interact with on mobile devices, and this is a sure fire way to convince users to never return. You also might consider creating some content with more natural keywords to take advantage of voice search. It’s important to use every advantage possible to establish your brand and become a standout source in your area.