Many people think that SEO is extremely hard. Hate blow it, but it is not that hard. This post is about simple blog SEO tips. All the stuff here does not require you to contact other webmasters or to buy stuff.  I’d say that implementing the things suggested here takes at most 10mins. Yet, the results are guaranteed. You need to use meta tags,  use internal linking, and check for broken links. Continue reading to find out more.

Meta Tags

Meta tags are tags that are shown in the HTML code of your web pages. The most profound are keywords and description meta tags.

There are two good reasons, why meta tags are important. First, when you have the meta tags on your pages, some of the search engines will rank your pages based on them. Second, some of the meta tags, like description, is shown on the search result under the actual link. If the description looks good, then people will more likely click the search result.

Using a SEO plugin

As default, WP is not that search engine friendly. WP does not automatically create the needed meta tags. I suggest to you all, that you add a plugin called ALL in on SEO pack. It lets you configure basically all you need. As a default, it uses the tags that you have selected as your keywords and the first lines of text are shown as the description tag. It also let’s you write these tags for every post if you want to.

Internal Linking

Having internal links in your posts is a great way to expose your older postings to your new readers. It is also a way to provide  anchor texts for the links that are pointing to the page. Even the internal anchor texts are counted by search engines and they will have a profound effect in SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). Usage is simple. When you are writing a post, check for related postings and link to them directly on the new post.

Displaying Similar Posts

Another way to  increase internal linking, is to add a plugin that shows the similar posts. If you are using WP, all you need to do is to install a plugin called Similarity. Just search it in plugins and install. You will be all set.

Broken Links Check

Search engines hate you having broken links. Some pages will loose value for having broken links, so you need to get rid of them. You can check your links manually, but it takes a lot of time. Fortunately there is a WP plugin that helps you a lot and does automatically check for broken links. I use the plugin called broken links checker. It works wonders.

Conclusion

Implementation of these tips, takes only a little while. Important points to remember are,

• Meta tags
• Internal links
• Check for broken links

What type of plugins do you use for SEO? What are your SEO tips for blogs?

Having a community in your blog is one of the best ways to promote. Besides that people in your community are active readers, they are also active promoters. This post is about what are the people in your community, what are the positive effects and how you can build a vibrant community.

What are the People in Your Community

Most of the active people in your community are also bloggers like you. By active people, I mean the people that tweet your posts and comment on your blog entries. The amount of bloggers in your community varies a lot between niches, but you can rest assured that at least 50% of the active people are bloggers. On some sites, like this,  nearly all active people are also bloggers.

Positive Effects

Tweets on Twitter
Active readers tweet your posts a lot. By this you get more visitors, which is course great.

General Promotion
Active people promote your site to their friends. They send emails to their friends and talk to them avout your blog.

Getting Back Links
As I said before, most people in your community are bloggers. They have a blog and these people tend to link back to your articles. Back links effect your ranking in search engines a lot.  More back links you get the better.

Community Building for Beginners

To get a community, you need returning readers. Returning readers need that you have good content and a good first impression of your site. To get started read these articles:

• How to get loyal blog readers with interaction
• How to get loyal blog readers with content

After you have read those two articles, you have noticed that blog commenting is a big part of having a successful blog. To do blog commenting successfully, you should read these article:

• Get traffic with blog comments – The professional way
• How to get more blog comments

If you have understood the concepts from these articles and start applying them you are on your way to building a vibrant community. Just have fun with your readers and interact with them. That’s the way to build a good community.

Conclusion

Community building takes a lot of time. There is no way to rush it. You can blow up your whole community by not being reactive and interactive. Most blog readers are bloggers them self. These guys can help a lot with link building so value them. Every person who is in your blog community is valuable. Treat them accordingly.

Most new bloggers are wondering, where to get traffic and where does the traffic come from. Many people give tips what to do, but they never tell you how much traffic can you expect. Here are my recordings of how much traffic I get and how traffic has developed for my sites.

New Blogs Traffic

As a new blogger, most of your traffic comes as a result of your own activity. The most biggest sources of traffic are social media sites and blog comments. The traffic from search engines will be pretty limited in the beginning months. I takes from 6months to a year to really start getting a lot of traffic from search engines.

Traffic from blog comments

Traffic that you will get from blog comments is around 2-3hits. From some bigger sites, I have been able to get 10hits, but it does not happen very often. By commenting you can get some hits, but not a lot.

Traffic from Social Media

The biggest source of social media traffic nowadays is Twitter. When you tweet your posts there and you have a fair amount of followers, you will get visitors. By tweeting  your older posts again and again, you can get from 10-100 hits per post. Also the amount of retweets that your postings get will make a really big difference. If you write good posts, then you will also get a lot of retweets.

Older Blogs Traffic (1 to 2 years old )

If your blog has been up for one to two years and you have been actively updating, you will start to see changes in your traffic. The most notable difference is that you have started to get more traffic from search engines. I would say that at this point your traffic is around 50% from search engines.

Really Old Blogs Traffic (5 to 10 years old )

Now that the blog is cadillac. The amount of search engine traffic has grown even more. At this point traffic from SEs is over 80%. The social media sites can not compete, because you have so much content. Twitter and social media is focused on new content, where as search engines value older content.

Conclusion

The traffic of your blog will evolve a lot during your blogging years. In the beginning stages it is really important to be active. There is no other way to get traffic, because SEs do not like new content.

Blog load time speed up is a constant topic for all bloggers. Now there are two reasons to do it. First, it is natural that people like fast loading sites. What would you prefer if could choose a slow loading or fast loading site? Second, Google representatives have been saying that site load times will be a factor in future search result rankings. This is a really big thing to consider, just keep reading to find out how you can optimize your blogs load time.

Ways to Optimize Load Time

Image and Picture Optimization

The most simple way to optimize load time is to optimize images. When you use images, make the images so small that they do what they are needed, but are not excessively large. For logos etc, you should use GIF or PNG compression and for normal pictures JPEG is the best way to go.

Widget Optimization

The more widgets you have, the longer your site takes to load. Simply, do not use widgets just for the sake of having widgets. Remove the unneeded ones and try to get along with less widgets.

CSS Optimization

CSS optimization works so that, you shorten your CSS file. There are many ways to write your CSS files and by optimization you can shorten the file a lot. The best thing is that there are free tools on the web that you can use to optimize your CSS. For example you can try to use CSS online optimization to do the job.

Sometimes the optimization does not work, so backup your CSS file before you overwrite the old version.

Have Less HTTP requests

Every http request takes time. Every image load and every CSS load is a new request. On every load there is overhead. The less of these requests you have, the better off you are. One thing that you can do is to combine the CSS files, if you have many of them.

Conclusion

Optimization is pretty vital for your users and in the future for even for google. People will appreciate it and like it. Like Nike says, – Just do it.

Do you think tha load times matter? What have you used to speed up your web page load times? Please share the wealth.

I have been thinking a lot about what are the key ways to make successful blog. What do you think? Do you think that making link exchanges and directory submissions will do it? You are quite wrong. The key ways to make a successful blog are keeping a constant posting interval, engaging your readers and making blogging goals.

Engaging you Readers

Try to engage your readers in anyway that is possible. Tweet with them and chat with them. When your readers post comments on your blog, answer the comments. Do not only approve the post, engage the reader and even ask him more questions. Readers are extremely valuable and commenting readers are worth a fortune . Those readers keep coming back.

Write comments on other blogs that have similar content as your site has. Many other bloggers comment on these blogs and you may get some permanent readers from these blogs.

Constant Posting Interval

Having a constant post interval makes your readers anticipate your blog posts. Normally the best way is to publish one new blog post every day. If you can, try to publish the posts even around the same time.

When your readers come to your site they expect to find new stuff. If they do not find any updates they are disappointed and they may not come back the next day. Just focus your efforts and make a post every single day.

Setting Blogging Goals

By setting goals you have something to strive for. Just remember to make your goals clear and precise. To help you think of clear goals, here are my blogging goals:

• Publish 7 posts per week. One each day.
• Comment on at least five blogs every day.
• Answer all blog comments within 24 hours.

I am sticking to these goals and I am never giving up. It is the only way to succeed.

Conclusion

Now it is up to you. Start engaging your readers, making goals and having a constant post interval. If you do it, you will make it.

What do you think? What is in your opinion the best way to make a successful blog? If you disagree with me, please tell me.

Many people have been wondering whether to have nofollow or dofollow blog comments. If you do not know what they are then read  difference with dofollow and nofollow links first. This post will tell you why dofollow links were implemented and how you can benefit from having dofollow blog comments.

Nofollow vs. Dofollow

Nofollow links do not provide link juice to the page you are linking to. This means that the only reason why you should use nofollow links is not pass link juice to sites that do not deserve it. Google implemented the whole nofollow attribute for links, so that they people could prevent link juice flowing to spam sites.

The first implementation was blogs and blog comments in blogger, so that users could easily prevent people using blog comments to link to bad sites.

How nofollow links work with PageRank

Let’s think of it this way. There are two cases where you have a page that has a value of 100 ranking points. First, your page has 10 outbound links. If all of the links are dofollow, then all of the linked pages will get 10 points of value.

What if 5 of the links are nofollow and 5 dofollow? Does it mean that the five dofollow links get 20 points of value? – It does not. These five dofollow links still get only ten points and the nofollow links get zero points.

The reason for this was that hardcore SEO guys were taking an advantage of this, and increasing the rank of their inner pages by having all the outbound links nofollow. Now you know that by having nofollow comments, you will not get any more link value for your inner pages.

There is an excellent article from Matt Cutss from Google, where he describes how the nofollow links work nowadays. Read it to find out more.

Pros and Cons of Dofollow Blog Comments

Pros

• You get more comments, because people comment more to get the backlink
• Your inner pages will either way loose the value, so why not just spread the wealth
• You can reward the people who actively comment

Cons

• You may accidentally link to bad pages, if you do not pay attention
• You will get more spam comments and have to do more comment moderation
• Setup takes a bit of time, because comments bu default are nofollow

Conclusion

In my opinion the Pros greatly overweight the Cons. Even if the only thing you get is more comments, then dofollow comments are well worth it. Just remeber to moderate your comments and make sure that you do not link to bad sites. By bad sites, I mean spammy or very low quality sites.

Writing is a great way to deliver messages in to minds of the masses. You can paint lively pictures in people’s minds and deliver them feelings of enjoyment. It is important to know, that your attitudes also show in your texts. They come through from your texts from little innuendos like adjectives, sentence structures and such. This post describes the attitudes and thought patterns that will 100% sure make you write better.

Attitudes

I like people

All people who are great writers, like people. The liking comes through in all writing. This concept can be easily explained, when you like people you tend to think how will people feel when they read your text.

Even subconsciously you are thinking, will people like the text that you are writing. If you like people, you will never want to offer bad writings to people.

I am positive

A positive mental attitude shows from your writing in a second. When you are positive, you tend to write more positive posts and less of negative ones. Do you like to read negative or positive texts? – Of course positive. Be positive and you will be a magnet for readers.

I am not all knowing

Having authority in your writing is good, but over doing it is a blunder. You must understand that your texts are your ideas and not the god given thruth. When you leave some room for debate people tend to comment more and take part in your community.

Thought Patterns

What do my readers like to read?

When you are trying to come up with topics to write about, you should think what your readers will be interested in. Why should you write about things that only you are interested about? You are not the reader, think about the average reader and the things they are interested in.

How could I make this text better?

Constantly thinking about how could I improve, makes you find ideas how to better your texts. Texts are not just made so that you write them and that’s that. No one can write a great text by just writing it once, you have to analyse the text afterwards and improve it. This improvement phase is the most important phase in writing.

Writing takes time and I am willing to invest

Yup, you know it, I know it, we all know it. If you want to write well, you must take the time to do so. You can not write an article in 30 mins and expect it to be a success, although it may sometimes happen. Usually all the best texts have been written, read, and rewritten. Be willing to invest your time in the writing and do not expect to be an overnight success.

Conclusion

Mindsets, attitudes, and thought patterns help you keep your focus in the right aspects. By cultivating the mentioned thoughts will make you a better writer, it is guaranteed. The most important concepts are,

• Attitudes
  • I like people and my readers.
  • I am positive.
  • I am not all knowing.

• Thought patterns
  • What do my readers like to read?
  • How could I make my text better?
  • Writing takes time and I am willing to invest.

What do you think about the subject of having the writer’s mindset? What thoughts make or brake your articles?

I often get asked about blog commenting, how does it work and other similar stuff.  Some people even argue, that blog commenting is worth nothing. But the truth is that blog comments can drive traffic to your blog like you would not believe. The only thing required is, that you have time and devotion to do it the right way. Here is my guide on the professional way to use blog comments for traffic.

1. Find Blogs that have similar content that you have

You should not just start to comment on any blog you like. You must select the blogs carefully and make sure that the blog has similar content as your site. Reason for this is, that people visiting a similar site are likely to also visit your site.

Find as many of these sites as you possibly can, but try to focus on the sites that actually get a lot of traffic.

2. Subscribe to the blogs RSS feed

This is a vital point for you to do. Use an RSS reader to stay in touch with the blog. I use google reader to track all the feeds that I follow. Reason for subscribing to the feeds is, that you can pretty simply check for new posts on the blogs of your choosing. It would take a lot more time to visit these sites manually.

Use your reader to check often for new blog posts. I would suggest that you keep the reader always open in one tab of your browser. It makes it really easy to keep track of  new posts.

3. Be the first or second to comment

The people that get most traffic from other blogs are the first or the second ones, that get their comment published. This means that after reading the new post you should comment at once. Do not let your commenting wait and simmer. Do it right away.

Traffic wise, I’d say that only the first five comments get some traffic. If there are more comments, then you are doomed traffic wise. On the other hand if the blog is a dofollow blog, then you can comment just to get the back link. You can read more here about the difference with dofollow and nofollow links.

4. Provide real value in the comment to get it approved

Write real comments and read the blog post before commenting.  Never comment and say, “great post”. Provide real value in the comment and your comment will get published. Read more here from how to get blog comments approved.

5. SEO: Use keywords as your name

Normally, your name is used as the anchor text for the link. This link is used as a vote for the page you have used and if the blog is dofollow, then the back link will be recognised. This is a good reason to use anchor texts as your name.

6.  SEO: Vary the URL of your link

Do not always link to the main page of your blog. Use sometimes some of your inner pages, so that the links seem more natural. Links to inner pages will boost your search engine rankings a lot.

Conclusion

• The first one wins the traffic, strive to be the first.
• If the blog is a dofollow blog you should also use the SEO tips of using keywords as your name and varying the URL of your link.

Feel free to hit me with a comment. What do you think about blog commenting for traffic?

Content is one of the main things that affects the amount of  loyal readers you can get. You can not just write about anything and in anyway and think that people will automatically like it. For loyal readers, your content must be fantastic, focused and posting intervals must be constant.

Fantastic Content

Content must be fantastic that captivates readers. The blog posts must provide value for the reader, so they will see that your site is worth a revisit. Unuseful content will simply push your readers away.

The most important thing is that you can write well. If you write well, then you can even turn a semi-good article idea to a golden post that is retweeted tens or even hundreds of times. Try always to maintain good quality in your articles and your readers will love your site.

Focused Content

Readers expect to get same type of content from your blog that they have gotten before. Do not let them down. Keep your blogs focus the same and do not divert too much. You can make small side tracks once in a while, but try to keep it to a minimum.

When your readers always get what they are looking for, they are pleased. Pleased readers will visit your blog again and again.

Posting Intervals

The idea about posting interval is that people will always have fresh new content when they come to your site. Try to post at least once a day, but for some sites every other day may be enough. I try to post everyday, hope it has been enough

Conclusion

The main idea with content is that the reader is always pleased and you never let the reader down. The way to do it is to,

• Write great content
• Keep the content focused
• Have a regular posting interval

Guess what? Blogs are not like newspapers and people do not want them to be newspapers. Blogs are created to be interactive and provide specific content that meets the readers demand. Continue reading how you can turn your visitors into loyal readers that can’t keep away from your blog.

Comments on Your Blogs

Comments on your blogs are a great way to interact. Ask for honest comments at the end of your blog posts and hope that someone answers the call. When you have gotten a comment, then you must reply to the comment. Be sincere and thank the reader for the comment and make him feel special.

Have the mindset that your readers are valuable and every comment you get is priceless. If you like your readers it will show in your posts and readers will pick that up.

For more detailed reading, you could read my article about how to get more people commenting on your blog

Commenting on Your Reader’s Blogs

If the commenter has a website or a blog, then you should visit the commenter’s website and return the favour. Write comments there and show that you are also interested in them.

Many people do not understand how important this is. It shows real two-way feedback and you both will benefit from it.

Conversation with Your Readers

If one of your readers is so involved that he or she sends you a personal message about your blog, I would recommend that you respond. By responding you show that you are interested. Just any type of sort reply will do, but do reply honestly and quickly.

Tweeting with your readers is a great way to make contacts. People that generally retweet your posts are your readers. Thank them for the retweet and ask them how they are doing. Ask questions from your readers and be interested, then they will be interested in you.

Build a list of people that have retweeted your posts and inform them of your new posts. Many people like it, just don’t be too pushy.

Conclusion

• Appreciate your reader’s comments and answer to them
• Comment on your reader’s blogs
• Have conversations with your readers

What do you think? How do you communicate with your readers? Is there some way that you show appreciation for your readers?