Blogging Tips – HiP Blog Challenge (Part 3)

HandmadeMarketing.org reader Tara Gentile, from Handmade In PA, is back bringing with her the third installment of her “HiP Blog Challenge” post number three.  To review her previous posts, check out Tara’s tips to write a mission statement and increase blog comments.

This week, Tara takes us through SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.  “SEO is the “art” of making your website easier for search engines easier to read,” Tara explains.  “Which means you get more random hits from people that are interested in your craft! SEO is a free and easy way to attract new customers – something that is normally difficult and expensive to do.”

Tara explains that there are many technical ways to achieve great SEO.  “I will discuss a few that I pretend to understand at the end of this post. Luckily there are also many effective techniques that require no technical knowledge and will actually improve your writing!”

Her first step is to take a look at your blog’s keywords.  “Are your posts full of specific, descriptive words? Or do you use a lot of pronouns?” Tara asks.

She suggests avoiding pronouns, i.e. “he”, “she”, “it”, and other non-descriptive words, such as “piece”, “project”, “art”, “do”, “make”.  Instead, Tara says to try incorporating keywords that actually describe your work.  “Not only will this make your blog more attractive to search engines, it will make you write better! Writing better equals better content equals more [engaged] readers!” Tara says.  “Describe your craft, your style, colors, techniques, etc… and do it often. Don’t just assume that your readers know what you do. Some might, many will forget, and hopefully you’re getting new readers daily.”

Next, Tara explains the role of a “permalink” in a blog’s SEO.  “Don’t forget that search engines will also bring you traffic to specific posts – a permalink. A permalink displays a single post on a single page,” she says.  A permalink, or permanent link, is a URL that points to a specific blog entry or web page. Once a blog post, or web page, is not accessible on the front page of the site, users can find that post using the permalink.

HandmadeMarketing.org likes to think of the permalink as an address in a large neighborhood.  Just because your house is no longer at the very front of the growing subdivision does not mean it cannot be found – it’s simply a matter of navigating through the streets to get there.  Understanding that your information can be searched even after leaving the front page of your blog can help a blogger understand every post matters.  Moreover, each post can be a “stand-alone” body of text for readers.

“A permalink will show any comments to that post and all of your usual formatting. But it won’t include the posts before or after so there won’t be any context for your readers if you don’t provide any,” Tara explains.

“Now put your keywords where they’ll be noticed!” Tara says.  “Maybe you’ve noticed that I like using headings, bold and italic formatting, anchor text for links, bullet lists. Each of these formatting options provides special clues to search engines. Words contained in this formatting have more value to search engines,” she explains.

There is a second benefit to Tara’s tip.  “Using different formatting options also make your posts easier to read! When we read writing on the internet, we skim,” Tara says.  “The sites that we remember most, the ones we’ll come back to time and again are those that make it easy to absorb the message while skimming. Putting your keywords in headings or bold text will alert your readers to key points in your writing and allow them to fully comprehend what you’re saying without reading word for word.”

“Using anchor text properly when inserting links will also help readers and popular search engines find out what your site is about,” Tara tells us.  “Anchor text is the words you choose to make up your hyperlink. “Click here” has become so cliche…and it’s also bad SEO form. Tell people what you’re linking them to – and use those words to create your link.”  Check out a previous article about writing better anchor text to learn more about how to use anchor text to optimize your site traffic.

Tara’s next tip for increase your blog’s SEO is to “share link love” with others.  “Link love is simply linking to those sites you find useful, inspiring, and interesting and sharing them with your readers,” Tara explains.  “Sharing links to other sites (i.e. handmade sellers, helpful blogs, or tutorials) will gain you credibility in your field. It will also endear you to those that you link to! Then, they’ll link back to you, which is the action that increases your standings with the search engines.”

HandmadeMarketing.org reader Jim Juris told us in an online photography tips article, “Taking good photographs of your handmade products is essential for selling products online.”  Tara agrees.  “Images have become a key way to increase search engine traffic, as well,” Tara says.  “Because what you are trying to sell is image based, your posts should be full of bright, clear images that display your craft. Make sure that you are using descriptive, keyword-based “ALT” text – the text that appears if your image takes a while to load – for your images. ALT text is another clue for search engines!”

“If you don’t mind delving into your code a bit and you have a Wordpress.org blog – which is what I recommend, by the way – check out this article on optimizing your blog for search engines,” Tara told us.  “I would also suggest using the All-in-One SEO plug-in which will help you do many of the things in the aforementioned article without using code.”  For more information about the All In One SEO plug-in for Wordpress, have a look at HandmadeMarketing.org’s summary of the WordPress plug-in.

Check out Tara’s homework assignment for this week:

“Write a review of a blog/post/shop you think your readers would appreciate,” Tara says.  “Make sure that sharing that site is in line with your mission statement and the purpose of your blog. Consider keywords that are relevant to your post. Make use of text formatting to let search engines know what’s important. When you’ve finished your post, bring us the link and leave it in the comments on this post!”

Have questions about information Tara discussed regarding SEO?  Tara encourages readers to post questions on her handmade in PA blog and she will answer them.  HandmadeMarketing.org readers can also check out our “SEO” tab in the site navigation to learn more about how to read a Google analytics report, finding the web’s most searched keywords for your item category, and much more!