Have you ever typed a search term into a search engine and wonder how a seemingly obscure, yet wonderful, resource pops up? Well, whether or not you’ve pondered this question its answer is largely search engine optimization (SEO). Search Engine Optimization is a way of using content to boost your prominence in a search. Large search engines, like Google and Yahoo, use bots to troll sites for certain types of content and keywords in order to help produce a useful targeted search. Playing with SEO on your blog can help your blog to be uncovered more easily.

There is no exact method to increasing your SEO and experts often all have different advice. However, there are a few almost universally agreed upon ways to increase SEO on your blog.

1. Quality Content

The importance of quality content cannot be stressed enough when blogging. As Darren Rowse at www.problogger.net likes to say “Content is King”. Strong quality content is not only good in making your reader believe that you are an authority in the area that you are talking about but it helps search engines pick up on this too but not for the same reasons. If your content is really good people are more likely to share it by passing it on to others or linking to your content from their own blog. Sharing and linking are great and important parts of increasing your SEO.

1. Targeted Titles

Similarly to how you want to target your content to a relevant audience bloggers should title their posts in a targeted relevant manner. This helps when thinking about SEO because if you use a targeted title it will likely include important keywords. For example, this title could have read “Way’s to Direct Readers to Your Blog” or “Searchability and Blogging”, they are both relevant titles to the article but they do not contain the kind of targeted keywords that search engine bots and crawlers like. By including “Search Engine Optimization” and “Blog” in my title I have narrowed in on specific keywords that will help to increase my relevance in a search.

1. Interaction

Blogging is social in nature and being “social” with your blog will help with SEO. In regards to SEO interaction largely refers to linking to other bloggers information and providing links to yours in comments. Bloggers can’t just lead a discussion, they need to participate; because of this, it is important that you, as a blogger, spend time interacting with others in the blogging community. If you comment frequently on a blog, be sure to provide a link to your blog in the comment. This will encourage others to not only visit your site but to comment and participate in your discussion. Frequent commenter’s and shared links also help to improve your SEO.

Thinking about SEO is important for growing your blog but it is important to remember to NEVER sacrifice your content to increase SEO. Using too many keywords and links will make a blog post look messy and difficult to read.

Again, there is no specific way to improve your SEO. There are many great resources from people who work primarily in blogging and search engine optimization. Some other helpful articles include Darren Rowse’s “8 First Step SEO Tips for Bloggers” and “Search Engine Optimization for Blogs-SEO” on www.Problogger.net and “The Blogger’s Guide to SEO” by Aaron & Giovanna Wall.