Bloggers write to let people know about their personality. It is every bloggers goal to gain a huge fan base and loyal following. Now how does one get a lot of eye-catching attention? If you did a search, on any search engine, about a topic you wrote and found a hit, then you my friend have accomplished it. Regrettably, a lot of bloggers fail to value the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you want people to find your blog, then you have to get it where it can be found, hence search engines.
The SEO this article will describe are organic (un-paid), unlike Search Engine Marketing (SEM). These SEO mistakes happen to the best of bloggers. Knowledge of these mistakes and their workarounds will ensure you get that potential reader to your blog.
Listed below are 12 mistakes concerning SEO in blogging. There are more mistakes, but these are the usually common ones bloggers commit.
a. Auto Generating Title Tags
Though you have written a unique article, the title has to be dazzling enough to even want the user to read your article. Auto generation (provided by some blog softwares) can save you a lot of time editing those permalink pages, but re-use of title posts in tags won’t impress your readers and will come across as dull. An example of a post title would be “Uploading Pictures on Multiply”. The perfect title tag match would be “Step By Step Picture Uploading on Multiply, Multiplying into Your Life” as it gives a broader keyword selection for the search engine and user. If you opt to keep using the auto-tag generator, at least hand code some of the keywords as adding a personal touch will certainly show users your personality and uniqueness.
If you’re using Wordpress, then there is a great plug-in called ‘SEO Title Tag’ created by Stephan Spencer that even allow mass edits.
b. Indexing Pages That Should Never Be Indexed
It so happens that there are times the search engine indexes (or remembers) the wrong link. These should never be indexed as they are content-less. Indexing links such as ‘Email this to a friend’ will give you the appearance of an amateur.
To get rid of them, double check your indexed pages in Google by using the site-query operator, and delete those not needed. Also edit your ‘robots.txt’ file.
c. Multiple Homes/URL
Having one home will guarantee uniqueness. Having multiple homes will make users think your site is just copy of the original and therefore skip it during searches. If you can get to your site through multiple URLs, then you have multiple homes.
d. Duplicated Content
Typos and duplicates are fine and alright, but having excessive mistakes can cause your rankings to drop. In Wordpress you can use ‘optional excerpts’ to define alternate copies to show up anywhere except the permalink page. This will give your blogs a more professional and search engine friendly finesse.
e. Neglecting ‘rel=nofollow’
Leaving internal links open can leak link gains to spamming suboptimal anchor texts. Therefore, use the ‘rel=nofollow’ to ensure directional link gain.
f. Date basing
Some blogs are organized by their dates created/modified. This does not use the full potential of SEO as engines tend to use anchor text by keywords rather than dates. Skip your date archiving and tag your blogs so you can optimize your blog for search engines.
We’ve barely skimmed the surface. Head over to the second part of the article to view the other mistakes.
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