One of the best things you can do as a blogger to get your blog to stand out, is use some basic SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and social media functions. There are some really easy things you can do to integrate your SEO with any social media you are already using. This is especially useful when you are new to blogging. If you want to reach a bigger audience and create your own niche identity, using the right SEO techniques and ensuring your social media is optimised alongside can make all the difference. Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Optimise Your Blog for Reading and Sharing
Is your blog well laid out and easy to navigate? If there are a lot of drop down menus, no descriptive information on your home page, or no navigational tools other than scrolling down a page, you might want to consider editing the layout. Make it easy for your audience. Are your articles easy to find? More importantly, are your articles easy to share? Many blogging platforms (the most popular being WordPress), have plugins that let you add social media buttons to your site and to your articles. Make sure all of your articles are obviously sharable via Twitter and Facebook at least. Pinterest is also a growing social media picture sharing platform, so if you have a lot of beautiful pictures, make sure they are ‘Pin-able’.By simplifying your layout, you will optimise both your SEO and social media sharing.
2.What Social Media channels are best for you?
What kind of blog are you? There are so many blog topics, so choosing the right social media channel to enhance your blog is important. Think about what your audience wants. Blogs about themes such as beauty, DIY, or cookery, can benefit from using more visual channels. YouTube is great for tutorials, where you can share your skills with others, and Pinterest is also a great way to curate images that you find inspiring. Blogs that are review or article based, such as lifestyle blogs, hobbies, and tech, may be better off focussing on Google+. Twitter is a great way to keep your followers informed, and attract more like minded people, so embedding your Twitter feed in your blog is a good idea. Try to update your social media channels as you update your blog.
3. Post Regularly
You’ve spent all that time writing an article, or editing some photos. It is tempting to post articles as soon as you’ve written them. Followers respond well to regularity. Decide on a day or days you will put up a post. If your followers know that you will post every Tuesday, you are more likely to get more views. If you do get any comments you should always try to respond (especially if you are fledgling blogger). Your followers will appreciate it and will be more likely to comment again, and you will maintain and cultivate a following.
4.Look at Google Analytics
Don’t be scared of Google Analytics! It is really useful to look at the analytics for your blog. What pages are getting the most views, and which ones have a high bounce rate? Have a look at what keyword terms people have searched for your blog posts under. It is a really basic way to spot search trends, and see how you can optimise your articles.Having a look at what search terms or blog posts are the most popular is a good way of planning future posts that are more likely to be read, comment upon, and shared on social media.
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