Can You SEO Your Blog?

There are many different theories on the concept of making sure that one’s blog posts are set up properly using SEO tactics. The initial question of whether one can SEO their blogs may seem like a stupid one, because the answer seems to obviously be “yes”. However, if you look at it more thoroughly, you might find that the real answer you’re looking for isn’t where you thought it might be.

For instance, say your blog is on flowers, any type of flower. The first thing you’ve done is, hopefully, purchased a domain name that has something to do with flowers. Next, you’ve coded your site so that it’s indicating that your site is about flowers. Then you start writing your articles about all sorts of flowers such as roses, violets, whatever. Many times you may or may not use the word “flower” in the post; are you missing out on SEO opportunities by not using those words, or by not finding keyword phrases to use in your copy?

The answer is no. The reality of blogs is that if your earliest works are what establishes how you’re going to be found on search engines, everything else basically just enhances what it is you talk about. For instance, when people go looking for roses, they don’t type “flowers roses” into a search engine. They type in “rose”, “red”, “growing roses”, or something like that. Sure, someone along the way might type in “rose flower growers”, but it’s probably rare and it won’t matter much anyway.

I have found that when I review my statistics in Google Analytics that quite often words I think people are finding my blogs for aren’t close to the truth. Sometimes, people find my blog for terms I’ve never even wrote about, that must have somehow come up through a combination of words I used in a post.

Does this mean one shouldn’t try to use proper SEO tactics when writing their blog posts? Not at all. What it does mean is that it’s probably better for you to sound natural when you’re writing your posts because that’s how people are going to search for whatever it is you’re writing on. Trying to set up a campaign where every article you write uses a particular word or phrase 5 times or more makes your post look stupid. It’s possible that you might bring in some traffic, but no one wants to read that. If no one’s reading your posts, then the point of SEO is null and void.

Don’t get obsessed with the concept of SEO for your blog. Just write your articles as naturally as you can, be conversational, and make your blog both a pleasant and educational experience. And if you can be entertaining as well, it’s all good.