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Ponderings: Do You Use SEO on Your Blog

Do blogs need SEO? What is SEO? Does everyone have SEO? These are the things that I was pondering this week along with a few friends of mine.

Ponderings: Do You Use SEO on Your Blog

I am a fairly new blogger with limited SEO knowledge so when I first started my blog it had none at all. I am lucky to have friends who helped me along the way with my blog launch and Josepf Haslam gave my blog a special SEO makeover.

Here is what Josepf had to say about my SEO makeover:

“I like your blog and I want people to be able to find you. Without SEO, people cannot find your blog in the huge ocean of the blogosphere. There are 2 ways that SEO can help the right people find you.

  1. Your site must be “organized” properly for SEO
  2. Pingbacks or other reputable sites linking back to your site

When you organize your blog, you create the opportunity for the Search Engines to find you. This creates organic traffic which creates real relevance for bloggers. You want the right people, folks who will enjoy your message, to find your blog and return.”

Think of your blog SEO as playing with Legos. You have two choices with Legos: the big huge overwhelming tub of pieces or a focused kit of Legos to build a castle. With the large tub, you will have lots of fun building creative, fun things but no one might see them except your mom (only if you can get her to read your blog). Or you can use the custom kit for a castle, use the pieces and instructions to build a beautiful castle that people will find on a Google search using the keywords “castle and Legos.”  Build your blog, or castle in this scenario, with the goal of having people find it and enjoy it. Share your creativity, smarts and hard work with the right people who will love it!

Here is what a few other friends thought about SEO and blogs: 

Thoughts from Keith Privette: 

I use a plugin called All in One SEO – Pro Version by SemperFi Web Design this plugin for KeithPrivette.com has overall SEO for the site and does a real nice job of per post SEO also. The best thing about this product is you plug and play SEO and not have to code it for yourself. This makes for better utilization of the SEO structures, keywords, and functionality. If you don’t learn and understand how to utilize SEO you are fighting an uphill battle if you want people to actually read what you are putting out.

Here is what the per post input screen looks like (click to enlarge):

My suggestion for new users to producing a blog for themselves or providing guidance to a client or your own business invest time in learning, understanding, and using SEO products. Secondly, find local folks that know about this and can help you understand, it will be time or money well spent!

 

Thoughts from Melissa Stewart: 

I do not use SEO on my current blog SheOwnsIt.com. My previous ventures where mostly offline so I’m new to SEO and blogging in general. My site is fairly new and a work in progress, so while I decide on the direction I’m going with this project, I’ve been reading up on SEO instead of jumping in. I have however found a wealth of SEO information on Jill Whalen’s (@jilwhalen) site “High Rankings” and am definitely beginning to see the value.

 

Your turn! What do you do for SEO on your blog? If you don’t use SEO, why?